Reaven Fenlands

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Please post up suitable name suggestions for this small region that borders with: Murkwood to its South-West, the Vudai Marsh to its North-West and the Hankaj Coast / Klamahee Glades to its East.

Considering the bog itself what I'd like to do, besides making it a very dead-looking place with the use of plenty of dead trees, is to have quite a lot of long-grass. At the moment, the height-mapping I've been doing is very low to the waterline with the parts above water only rising slightly out. The water is generally about knee-height (as opposed to the waist-height of the swamps) but I'd like to get the proper razor-grass effect here.
This could be achieved one of three ways:

1. Use a high-grass type for the ground texture that will appear in knee-height water.
   
2. Use some high hand-made reed / cattail models and place them all in clumps.
   
3. Use a model that is the same as an original reed / cattail model but in large, spread-out clumps that are easier to place.
   [/list=1]
   This sort of consideration is very low in priority at the moment (so modellers needn't add this to their growing list yet) but does anyone have any ideas on this matter?
   
   Edit - This region has now been renamed 'Reaven Fenlands'. Other points that were agreed in a poll include the naming of 'Foggy Bog Inn' at Riverbridge and a murky cave by the name of 'Gloaming Shallows' somewhere in this region.

[Koniption]

How about "Hazy Fen"? (I used an online thesaurus to find suitable synonyms)

As for the high grass type , I would choose option #1, as it should be able to be easily enough done, in Nifskope itself.

Just take an existing swaying grass nif, open it in Nifskope:

*expand the NiTriStrip/Shape, go to NiTriShapeData and it's Block Details page..

*expand "Vertices", find all the vertices that have the highest "Z" value number, and then tweak that number to be higher value. In the render window, you should see your changes taking effect, with the grass being made taller.

*Be sure to save your changes. You can then retexture the grass nif accordingly, if wanted.

I don't know if one can make custom grass for Oblivion that sways, straight up in a modeling program - I never tried. But if you tweak it in Nifksope, it should be higher, but still sway, I think.

KP

[jucklesjenk]

Whazzup, thought I could help try and contribute here.

A couple of suggestions:

- Leatherleaf Bog
- The Grim Marshes
- Blackswamp / Darkswamp
- Python Bog

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Cheers for that, folks. I just finished height-mapping this region so there should be plenty to work with once sandor is available for region generating again.

@ KP - The real problem with grass types is ensuring that the grass appears in knee-height water. I've experimented with such things before with only marginal success because I don't really know what I'm doing when I'm altering the settings. I managed to sort out the Talu swamps textures through trial and error but it always tends to happen that whenever I try something like this, I can't get it to show up properly as I'd intended.

Meanwhile, my first suggestion for the name was along the same lines as KP's original suggestion. I went with 'fens' too and produced the name 'Matlock Fens'.

I think we should poll our favourites once more suggestions come in. I'd switch JK's suggestion to 'Leatherleaf Sump' and I quite like 'Python Bog'. At the moment, these three are my favourite candidates.

[Koniption]

Originally posted by Ibsen's Ghost
[...snip...]
@ KP - The real problem with grass types is ensuring that the grass appears in knee-height water. I've experimented with such things before with only marginal success because I don't really know what I'm doing when I'm altering the settings. I managed to sort out the Talu swamps textures through trial and error but it always tends to happen that whenever I try something like this, I can't get it to show up properly as I'd intended.[...snip...]

Is most of the water "knee-height"? If so, I think certain grass can be linked to appear where only certain landscape textures are used, so color the ground under the water to be that particular landscape texture, that is linked to the tall grass. Of course, I've only read marginally here and there about this stuff, so I could be wrong.

KP

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Yes, it's pretty much all knee-height. I'll have to look into this. I think sandor knew something about it the last time we spoke about it regarding the Talu swamp region.

Anyway, the idea is to get the tall grass working in the watery sections. In the meantime, I did a little trial section on the landscape and these were the results. They're very basic at the moment but you get the idea. It's kind of like an extension of Murkwood, only wetter and more dead. Murkwood is intended to be weirder though.

[Deeza]

I'm definitely liking the sound of Leatherleaf Sump. The pics are great too - I like the way it looks barren without being desertlike.

So Murkwood is going to be (relatively speaking) drier? Because I thought it was going to be a sort of caldera with this kind of thing http://www.imperial-library.info/sites/d...-marsh.jpg in the middle. Perhaps I misunderstood?

[morcroft]

That pic's more like Talu Swamp, isn't it?

[Deeza]

Yeah. I think the idea seems to be that it gets wetter as it goes south and east, so that you have relatively dry areas up in the north and west near the Cyrodiil/Morrowind borders.

[Xae]

The place looks so ghostly with that shining fog. I don't think Leatherleaf Sump would do, it sounds like more of a bog (unintentional rhyme). Something that expresses wetland, forest and haunting I think would be a better fit. Phantom Shallows, Bleakwood, Starklands, Shadewood Thicket, Lurid Lowlands, Pallid Mire etc. Can also name it after something that isn't a real word, like Reaven Fenlands.

Cool place, though. Very otherworld. That shipwreck leads my mind to the Bermuda triangle legend. This seems like a good place for that mirage idea we discussed some time ago. And, have some giant spriggans roam the place.