The Parchlands and Darkmoor

[Ibsen's Ghost]

I'll be posting up some WiP shots of what I'm doing on the Parchlands and Darkmoor regions here. I showed a few samples of what I've experimented on with Darkmoor fairly recently but I thought I'd share my notes with you on what I've set out for the regions for anyone who's interested (see below).

The main additions include the new black, red and brown heathers I've been creating for Darkmoor (see the screenies - sorry about the lack of light!) and a fair amount of new textures for the Parchlands including some of the stuff from Liana's 'Arid Regions' mod. I'll be adding Siegfried's Palmettos later but one of the biggest things (about Darkmoor at least) is the inclusion of many of the trees that have lain dormant in our archives in the past. This includes KP's mangroves but also the largest features of Senten's legacy that he left for us: giant swamp trees, new cypresses and his own mangroves....besides lots of really cool new textures.

Btw, despite what it looks like below, the Parchlands will not be a desert, just some rather arid grasslands.

LANDSCAPE PLANNING

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DARKMOOR

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TEXTURES

BMMangroveGrass01 (*) - Black-Brown Heather
BMMangroveRock01 (*) - Sage Grass
BMDirtySwamp02 (*2) - Swampy ground cover and Red Heather
BMDirtySwamp01Heath - Black-Red Heather
BMMangroveDirt01Fern - Ferns
BMDirtySwamp01Grass - Long & Sage Grass
BMDirtySwampNoGrass - No Grass
BMDarkMoss02 - Long & Sage Grass
BMDarkMud01Grass - Swampy ground cover & Ferns

Water - TerrainWetSand02Dark (seaweed), BMDarkScum01 (No Grass).

TREES

BM Giant Swamp Tree
BM & KP Mangroves
BM Cypress Trees (*)
ST Black Gum Trees
Others - TreeWeepingWillowSU, SandboxTree?

SHRUBS

Ohelo Tree

FLORA

Red/Yellow Bromeliads
Pink Bromeliads
Spike Plant
Lumberry
Sugar Cane
Nirn Worms
Possibly some mushrooms

ROCKS

Mangrove Rocks

* = Prominent Asset

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PRESET CELLS: Tamriel Preset Cells: 2 to 4,-3 and 2 to 4,-4

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OTHER IDEAS - Series of small hills, copses, fog, possible SkBridge into Darkmoor from Chasepoint

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PARCHLANDS

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TEXTURES

BMPLDryGrass01 - Grass (*)
BMPLDrySoil01 (rare)
BMPLDrySoil03 (rare)
BMPLRedSand02
BMPLRedSoil01 - Sparse Grass

BMPLDesertSand02
BMPLDesertTerrain01 - Scrubland (*)
BMPLDesertRockSand01
BMPLDesertRock01
BMPLDesertRock04
BMPLDesertRock05 (not for landscapes - rock folder only)

For merging with other landscapes = TerrainHDGrass01SU, TerrainBWMossGrass (Blackwood) & Various Darkmoor and Chasepoint textures.

TREES

Palmettos
Hala Trees
Palm Trees
TreeGCSycamoreSU
TreeCottonwoodSU

FLORA

PinkSphere/ZebraStripe Bromeliads
Desert Rose
Plantago
Corn Plant
Pineapple Plant
Sugar Cane
Palm Leaf?

+ All coral varieties in oceanic areas

ROCKS (+ Other Items)

Desert Rocks
RockBeachShell along coastline
Fossil Logs
Trunks of Fossil Logs?

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Tamriel Preset Cells: Use a Gold Coast Preset

PRESET CELLS: Tamriel Preset Cells: -42 to -40,3 and -42 to -40,2 (or -40 to -38,1 and -40 to -38,2)

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OTHER IDEAS - Offshore isle to be reached along a sandy causeway with a turtle hut on the end, extra-large seashells acting as rocks and maybe even as 'shell-houses', oases, quicksand, fort ruin complex with ruined farms.

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PRESENT STATE: TL has offered to reconstruct Rock Grove so it will need to be adapted using a blend of both of these sets. Chasepoint may also undergo some small revisions (only very small though) and Soulrest will need some of the rocks replacing.

At the moment, I'm adding grass types to the Parchlands textures then I'll be creating the rock archive for the same region. After that, it should just be a case of height mapping and setting final presets. This should keep sandor busy when he gets back..... =).....although I'll send things to him bit-by-bit. This will mean that we'll be ready to go with the final beta regions whenever sandor can spare the time from ST.....bless him!

[Deeza]

It's great to see the final regions being started!

[Ibsen's Ghost]

This is a trial run-through of the Parchlands assets. You can see most of the assets I outlined above here and, although it went rather well, I nonetheless noticed some issues. The 'drygrass' texture which you can see in one of the close-ups merging with the red soil is a little too bright in daytime and may need adjusting.

The biggest problem is that there was a missing land bug with my esp file. I'm hoping this is nothing too serious and I do have version copies but it means I'm being delayed...I'm looking into it but if I lose shedloads I'm going to start killing children with a rusty scythe... X(

[Ibsen's Ghost]

The latest esm is on the way...

Once downloaded, you should be able to check these cells out for yourself at -23,-20. If you then take a look around, you'll see Chasepoint and, just beyond it, the tester cells for Darkmoor....it might make for an interesting preview before I commence the height mapping and finalising the assets.

[Koniption]

Ahhh! Dry land goodness! It'll make for a refreshing treck compared to the other wetter parts of Blackmarsh. Did you resolve the missing land bug?

Koniption

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Apparently so! sandor says the merge went perfectly okay and I trust his judgement. It's bound to be some sort of load order error on my part. I haven't been into the gameworld since though. Let me know if anyone experiences any issues, folks....

...and yes, I welcome the arrival of the Parchlands too. I was feeling, um, somewhat 'swamped' (cringe).

[DoZeNt]

It Looks Amazing, but I think the Pineapple plant should be a bit smaller...

[Ibsen's Ghost]

That might just be the perspective of the screenshot that makes if look big because my PC is quite low down there on that shot....

[Ibsen's Ghost]

A brief update here: I've height-mapped the Parchlands region although I noticed a few rough ground errors still occurring on playthrough so it's a case of nuking those, adjusting a texture or two and a little bit more asset manipulation and additions. Then I'll be ready to send stuff to sandor for the region generation.

In the meantime, here's one of the areas I've set up for development. I'm calling it Scorpion Pass for the moment but there is a separate WS I created containing the same thing. I was originally thinking that if I created it that way, it would be a case of having the PC travel to the point in history when a great battle was fought so that they can make a significant change in its outcome. However, it could just as easily be fought in the 'now'.

The idea is that I can assist the FPS drags created during a large-scale battle by creating a separate WS which can then be adapted. This works particularly well in terms of having a historical conflict as it would explain any differences between the current WS and the past WS. The PC would be effectively cut off from the rest of the normal WS as they fought through the Pass and on to a 'Thermopylae'-style conflict.

On the playthrough I figured I would be better off having a very narrow section at the top end where the main battle gets condensed as the area does seem a bit too wide as it is...the whole thing leads out to clifftops overlooking the sea....

[Koniption]

Sounds intriguing, IG! So even if we don't do "time travel", we can still use the same work for something else...sounds like a good Plan B.

Koniption