Reich Parkeep's new house style

[Razorwing]

I've been thinking on and off for a long time that ultimately, I'd like Reich Parkeep to have a different house style. It made sense to use Cheydinhal when I started because modelling for Oblivion was in it's infancy at the time and people had barely begun using the Civ4 exporter. Not that I would have had the skill to make an acceptable house two years ago in either case so it was kindof a moot point, and to add to that I wanted to get started right away.

But it's a different ballgame now, not only is the exporter nigh-on perfect but I feel I have the skill to make a medieval house that looks close to Bethesda quality. I would be rather daft to think I have the skill of someone who models for a living, but still, I think I can make the houses look nice enough. In any case the Cheydinhal style is just... wrong for the city. Perfect for the serene paradise in Oblivion that uses the style, but not for the domestic branch of an Imperial fortification like Reich Parkeep.

If you've modded a claim in Reich Parkeep I want to assure you your work won't be lost. I'll make every effort to keep your modded work, only adapt it to the new architecture models and maybe update some stock models to Imperial stuff we've created along the way.

So I've been mulling the matter for awhile to try and draw up some inspiration. The city's name is pretty original for being an official Elder Scrolls city, sounding distinctly German. Maybe we could play into that theme? Making the houses look like they did in medieval Germany. Another idea I thought of was that maybe it would be logical to make the houses tall and instead have a smaller base area, since space is hard to come by in the districts. They can't very well make the hills larger or move the fortifications, so what they have is what they get. I don't mean to make them so stretched that they wind up looking like towers, because that would look pretty bad and be hard for the player to navigate. But maybe the standard house size would have three floors, not counting a possible basement.

The next idea is a bit more... out there. Maybe I could make artificial ground for a whole district in 3D Studio Max and then in each interior cell build up a rudimentary exterior with ground, house exteriors and other basic decoration. Then - :idea1: - I'd make the windows in the interior transparant! They wouldn't be clear as glass since the player could then easily tell that he wasn't really looking outside, but they'd be clear enough that he could see the perspective change in 3d and recognize house shapes, but tinted enough that he wouldn't think so much about the fact that there aren't people outside or mountains in the distance. I don't know if the idea would work in practice, but it could be a pretty cool effect if it did. As long as it works technically then whether the idea flies or not would depend on how much work it would be to create the fake ground. But the fact that the windows would be tinted would help, because I wouldn't have to be exact - just exact enough that no-one would notice. Unless they like stared out the window for half an hour and ran outside and back again over and over and took notes, but heh, what player would. Well, I'll know when I start working on it if it will work or not.

Ok so those were my thoughts on the new Reich Parkeep. I'm looking forward to your comments, if you have them

[sandor]

I like your ideas.


Concerning the transparent windows / fake exterior.
I think it's possible and it would be a great feature. :yes:

[blackbird]

2 questions:
1. What will happen with the interiors? Will those interiors be redone?
2. Doens't the houses from cheydinhal look like a little bit those from medieval germany or not?

[Razorwing]

sandor:
That's great to know! I look forward to testing it out

blackbird:
1. They wouldn't be redone as much as they would be adapted. I would create new interior models for each house type I'll make, and those will differ a lot from how the Cheydinhal interiors look. But I don't plan to delete the current interiors or reopen claims or anything like that.

I think the process would be such that I delete the interior house model and then place the new nterior house model I would have created. Then I would move everything the modder created over to the new house model, chunk by chunk, and adapt it to the geometry of the new model. That's the basic idea, but beyond that I would also update the use of stock models to our own models if and when we have a suitable alternative. For instance Ghogiel created an exquisite line of Morrowind-Imperial silverware that I will use a lot in the upperclass homes.

I would be open to the idea of a former claimer reclaiming his house if he wants to handle the adaptation himself, but I don't expect anyone to do that since the change will be "my fault", so to speak, and it's my responsibility to make the change work. But at the same time I wouldn't stand in the way if a claimer really wanted to handle it himself.

2. Hard to say. I've run some google image searches and I've found medieval german houses that could be said to resemble several architecture types in Oblivion. At the same time you're not wrong either, since -this- medieval german house does look very similar to a Cheydinhal house. The closest image I've found that resembles what I thought of was this one... and it's pretty corny because it's not a real house I'll make much more in-depth research before I start though nd will post early 3d drafts before I get in too deep.

[Lady Nerevar]

why not just recreate the TES3 imperial set? it fits in quite well with what you are thinking and is essentaily right out of medieval germany. and it would fit in with the whole "remaking MW" thing better then a whole new set imho.

however... my personal opinion is that maybe yall should get 3.0 out first or something so that you arent piling on even more work...

[Alasdair]

I think it's great as it is, but if you wanted to create a new set I would follow Lady N's advice and re-make the TES3 imperial set. Killing 2 birds with one stone, as they say.

I'm not sure about the see-thru windows idea either, it doesn't really fit with the precedent set by the rest of the game, and it may just look awful.

[Siegfried]

I third the motion for the Morrowind Imperial Set, though you'll probably want to go beyond and expand it some since Reich Parkeep is quite large.

[Razorwing]

The thing with that is that Phitt has already created Morrowind-Imperial architecture. At least his screenshot seems to suggest so, but I think he also mentioned it in writing. We (and in time everyone else) can use what he created, and in light of that it seemed unnecessary for me to make my own variation of it. Especially since his version of the architecture set seems so true to form.

At the same time I believe Phitt has only created the exteriors so far, and I need both exteriors and interiors to remake Reich Parkeep. I don't know where on his timetable the Morrowind-Imperial interiors are, so I'd rather not wait for them in the case of this city.

Originally posted by Lady Nerevar
however... my personal opinion is that maybe yall should get 3.0 out first or something so that you aren't piling on even more work...

Silgrad Tower v3 is always the ultimate goal but we have to have some fun getting there, too Like making the theatre, for instance. Or correcting less serious problems that has weighed on one's mind, like the fact that Reich Parkeep doesn't look like I would ultimately want it to look. Not by a long shot, actually. I tried finalizing Reich Parkeep a year ago (almost to the day) but I didn't make a very good job of it. I spent a buttload of work on the citywall and by the time that was finished my interest had veined. I'm taking another stab at finalizing it now, and I dare hope I will be successful this time.

[sandor]

Originally posted by Razorwing

I would be open to the idea of a former claimer reclaiming his house if he wants to handle the adaptation himself, ....

I would like to fix my former claims because I already planned to update these interiors, so I'll wait for the new models.

[TheImperialDragon]

Ditto here.