Game Plan for the Alpha 1.0 Release

[The Old Ye Bard]

Originally posted by jb3
So what do we actually have? My understanding is that the region generation was done, so the whole Khajiit continent landmass is there. Then we have the excellent maps. Then really magnificent objects, like the Lunar Temple.

Other than that I see we mostly struggle with the northern regions (landscapes), which was divided into eastern and western parts. The eastern one seems to be partially done, while the western one is mostly open.

I'm not sure what is the status with the cities.

With quests, I can see some first chapters are laid down.

Is the above correct pretty much? Or do we have more?

Quest design has begun, but as of yet no quest claims have actually been put up -and because the mod will be transitioning to the TES5 engine after it's release, we'll likely only see the 'introduction' chapter of the MQ made for TES4 version of the mod (essentially, just the quest that gets the player to Elsweyr).

[jb3]

I see. It's a good base to work on. Not sure how you want to export stuff to Skyrim's editor. Not sure if anyone has an idea how TES5 editor will look like. Maybe they will release some kind of an export tool. I think it's possible to move stuff from Morro to Oblivion, although I have never done this.

Yesterday I tried Anequina's Elsweyr mod. I had no idea that such a mod existed. Surely the author put a lot of work into it, but it was incomplete and IMO some issues could have been planned better.

[morcroft]

We're expecting to be able to re-use our heightmap (possibly with some tweaking) and the models will be convertable - Bethesda are still using nif, and while there's bound to be some format changes we can always bring stuff into Blender / Max and export to the new format once the tools are updated. I doubt it will be practical - or even legal - to port actul modded content to the new esp/esm equivalent.

Any major quests will need to be rewritten or replaced as the political situation has changed by the tinme of Skyrim.

I've looked at "Desert of Anequina" a while ago and yes, it's very good - but the vision of Elsweyr is just too - well, "Desert" for me. Beyond that I'm really not looking at it any more so I don't get influenced by it.

[1234yersiman]

Hey, I have a question: is this mod different from "Elswyer: The Deserts of Aqueinna"?

If it is different, I think that efforts should be done to finish that mod, rather than compete, since that mod already has complete environments as well as 4 major cities. So all that is needed to be done is simply add the other cities, and this can be done.

Also course, we need to ask permission first if it is alright with the owner to use her material. I think that she would happily agree though, since she had a burnout, and would love her mod to be finished.

1234yersiman

[morcroft]

Thank you for your interest, but Deserts of Anequina is an utterly different mod, and not really to the taste of the mod leaders here. Elsweyr Confederacy has been around a lot longer than DoA and we have given a lot of consideration to making a TES-Lore compliant mod.

All credit to Illiana - her energy and drive has produced a popular mod. I'm not surprised if she is no longer able to sustain that pace.

Our mod is completely incompatible, being based in a separate worldspace which is fully region generated. Most of our effort has gone into the heightmap and resources which will all be carried forward to Skyrim when the appropriate support tools become available.

To be honest, I think everything we might want from DoA is already in the public domain.

Our region generation was comprehensive so the entire world is fully landscaped - grasslands, badlands, rainforest, Valenwood border forest. No part of the worldspace is unlandscaped, although it all needs cleaning up, pathgridding and populating. Sadly that part cannot be ported either to a different mod or to Skyrim.

In the meantime we are carrying on with the TESIV implementation as a prototype and showcase platform. If you care to look around this forum you will find many screenshots from the Elsweyr Confederacy that demonstrate just how different our vision of Elsweyr is from any other.

We hope to get to the stage where our mod can be released as a beta - there is a vast landscape that we would love to share but at the moment we are only releasing it to modders in our team as we wish to protect the uniqueness of our resources.

If you're interested in helping us out, of course, have a look around and see what there is to do - it's mostly landscaping at the moment, but there are a few settlements and dungeon locations available.

[Mizreg]

just a little question, are you guys the same who made the Elseweyr: Deserts of Anequina mod, if so, good job, if not, Elsweyr is already made......

[t3h_pwn3r_ii]

Hi Miz;

No they did not, and it has been asked two posts above. and was answered, one post above. And they are fully aware Elsweyr has been made but as I think, cause' I didn't care for the mod, that it is not at all 100% finished. So these people are going to make it 100% complete, with story, dialogue, quests and beautiful landscapes that Elsweyr call home.

If I am wrong I apologize, i am utterly embarrassed and sorry if I am wrong.

PWN

[Mizreg]

no you are actually right!

[morcroft]

PWN - you are absolutely correct.

Elsweyr Confederacy has been in progress for far longer than DoA, and the content has been debated, analysed and fought over for years. Toys have been thrown out of prams and people have stormed out in a huff vowing never to return. There have been a fair number of mod leaders, too. All this has meant we've been a little slow at modding.

We completely restarted the whole mod last autumn and now have what we consider the best Elsweyr heightmap and landscape ever made.

DoA is mainly one person's vision. One, very dedicated and hard-working person: which is how she managed to achieve so much; but what she's made isn't to everyone's taste.

Ultimately, our aim is to create the most lore-compliant version of Elsweyr possible. I'd really love to release the current version if we can just get enough of it made to be worth exploring. Whether that's possible or not, we will be moving over to TESV as soon as the most critical tools are available - notably the mesh exporters for 3DS-Max and Blender.

If you are interested in joining in then do let me know - although I'm not going to pull you away from Black Marsh as I don't want Ibsen coming after me with a machete....

[Vintra]

Originally posted by morcroft
Ultimately, our aim is to create the most lore-compliant version of Elsweyr possible. I'd really love to release the current version if we can just get enough of it made to be worth exploring. Whether that's possible or not, we will be moving over to TESV as soon as the most critical tools are available - notably the mesh exporters for 3DS-Max and Blender.

If you are interested in joining in then do let me know - although I'm not going to pull you away from Black Marsh as I don't want Ibsen coming after me with a machete....

Morcroft,i know i have gone so much times, but i can promise you one thing.
At the same day, when TES V is released, i will join to the new elsweyr team as a modeller, texturer. With all my knowledge and decision.