Road Claim: Bitter Coast - Latrys South

[TheImperialDragon]

Road Claim: Road through Bitter Coast (Latrys South)
STATUS: Finished

You'll need the 3.25 version of the ESM (pathched with M1277) or higher to mod this road.

Note that water and trees do not appear on these generated maps.
Download higher resolution maps from here! (~2MB)

[title]Description[/title]
Those familiar with TES3: Morrowind will no doubt be familiar with the Bitter Coast region. The Bitter Coast is the largest region in our mod, being so large that we split it into four smaller areas for reasons of convenience and organization (these regions are South, Latrys South, Latrys North, and North). Its terrain is salty, humid swamp. Many bandits and smugglers have found refuge in this region, as guards and lawmen rarely enter.

There is a single settlement nearby: Llothyn Mokamer. This road leads away from the settlement and to the ferry that takes people to the mainland (near Steadhelm). The road should only lead up to the ferry location.

Bordering this area of the Bitter Coast are the Steadhelm region (west), more Bitter Coast (north and south), and the Inner Sea (east). See our map webpage to see where this region is in our mod.

[title]How to mod the road[/title]
Above is a map of the region, with a rough layout for the roads sketched in tan. Keep in mind as you're modding that the road doesn't have to match the image exactly - the road should generally go through the same cells as on the map, but exact bends and so on are 100% up to you, the modder. The important thing is have a layout similar to the one shown on the map (there is a fair bit of flexibility), with road endings in cell (81, -1), and in cell (62, -2).

After loading up the CS, you should load the area where you wish to start in the Render Window. The Silgrad Tower worldspace is STLand. After that, you'll want to open up the Landscape Editor, then find and select the texture called StIdBcMainRoad01.

Now you're ready to start modding the road. Use a brush size of 2 to paint the road, and make sure you use vertex shading (with a value of 160 for each of RGB) along the edges of the road. Please make sure the road has bends (so it's not completely straight). In addition, please mod a "pathspear" fence along at least some segments of the road - you may find individual pieces of pathspear fences under Static->ST->Walls->Fence->Pathspear. You may move, delete, or place Bitter Coast rocks and trees along the road path as you see fit, whether to make way for a road, or to add more detail. A list of Bitter Coast objects is given below. You may also paint the area around the road with other Bitter Coast textures if you wish*. The road should not be modded beyond the area of the region shown in the map (that is, do not mod in any cells above the y = -1 coordinates).

Most Bitter Coast objects can be found in the following list locations in the CS:
[INDENT][/INDENT]Trees:
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- Trees->SilgradBlackGum (please use the trees beginning with StIdBc)
[INDENT][/INDENT]Cypress Knees:
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- Static->Landscape (all models beginning with StIdCypressKnee)
[INDENT][/INDENT]Rocks:
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- Static->ST->Rocks->BitterCoast
[INDENT][/INDENT]The flora that are used in this region are all under Flora->ST:
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraBiCoSloughFern (models 01 and 02)
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraBiCoLuminousRussola (all models)
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraBiCoVioletCoprinus01 (models 01, 02, and 03. May also be placed in shallow water)
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraBiCoAmpoulePod (all models, but only in shallow water)
[INDENt][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraBiCoDraggleTail (all models, but only in shallow water)
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraBiCoBunglersBane (models 01 and 02, but growing only on the trunks of trees, alive or dead)
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraBiCoHyphaFacia (models 01 and 02, but growing only on the trunks of trees, alive or dead)
You may also copy and paste other objects you see in this region.

There are several rivers and pools in this region - it is likely that you will need to mod at least one bridge to cross water (I would actually encourage bridge-building for this region). To build a bridge, I suggest using the models StExDunShackWalkway and StExDunShackWalkwaySupport made by SACarrow. Try to combine sections of the walkway to make the walking surface, and then adding the support pieces.

An optional task for this claim is adding static, green sheets (Static->St->Environment->StIdScumsheet) over the small pools near the road in this part of the Bitter Coast. Drag the "Scumsheet" so that it is just above the pool, and if necessary, scale it so that it covers the entire water surface.

When you're done, upload the ESP either to the forums, or to a free file-sharing website such as http://rapidshare.com or http://www.filefront.com.

* All textures beginning with StIdBc are Bitter Coast textures.

[title]Claiming[/title]
If you want to claim this road, please post saying so. Likewise, if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in this thread.

[Razorwing]

I would please like to claim this road.

I think your claim description is perfect and I don't suppose I have any question before starting the work. The Filefront link seems to be broken, but I think the inline image you posted is clear enough for me not to have any problems.

[TheImperialDragon]

Originally posted by Razorwing
The Filefront link seems to be broken...

Thanks for mentioning that. The site has changed a fair bit. It looks as though they removed all of the files I had stored there. I'll look into re-uploading the images ASAP.

[Razorwing]

TheImperialDragon: Okidoki. There's no hurry on my account, I've already drawn out the road I'm in the process of tweaking it now. I'd estimate I'm about 35% finished at the moment.

I'd like to add signposts here and there along the road. Which destinations would you suggest I include? And to be on the safe side, whether that destination would be shown as pointing westward or eastward along this stretch of the road.

[Razorwing]

... or in other words, is the village Llothyn Mokamer mentioned in the claim description still actively planned? If not then it would seem to me the best destination for a sign pointing eastward would be the Shrine of St. Delyn. But that's just my interpretation of it and I'm open to alternatives I'll go ahead and add signposts pointing west to Steadhelm for the time being.

[TheImperialDragon]

Sorry for the delay in replying, I've been really busy in RL the last few days.

I think Llothyn Mokamer is already modded, so feel free to have signs pointing there. The shrine of St. Delyn I think is still a WiP (pending the large Velothi tileset).

[Razorwing]

Originally posted by TheImperialDragon
Sorry for the delay in replying, I've been really busy in RL the last few days.

I think Llothyn Mokamer is already modded, so feel free to have signs pointing there. The shrine of St. Delyn I think is still a WiP (pending the large Velothi tileset).

No worries. Oki, I added a sign for Llothyn Mokamer

I think I've finished working on the road, and have attached my plugin for review/merging.

[sandor]

The file has been merged, revisions (as per TID's review) have to be modded with the current esm update (M1353).

[Razorwing]

Originally posted by sandor
The file has been merged, revisions (as per TID's review) have to be modded with the current esm update (M1353).

Great, thankyou for merging it.

I'm happy with the way my modifications turned out, but I started to wonder about it since I didn't get any replies. But I can't think of anything I did that might come up as an error in a review.