[RELz] Molag Amur Region

First off I think they all look great do whatever you want second holy crap that looks good please gimmicks more before and after pics

that 2nd pic looks great, very foreboding. 

My vote is for variety. To put it in perspective Mogar Amur is probably over 300 cells worth of area. Both the Red Mountain and the Ashlands are pretty similar in the way they look. Combined they are about a third of Vardenfell.

Giving these vast areas some discoverable points of interest will be great.

And making 300 cells all the same would drive any level designer insane!!! It only makes the gamer slightly insane, but that may also be the corpus disease doing that.

It could be a good way to implement some Dark Elf children. Since Skyrim actually has children, it would make sense for Dark Elf Children to be in game, though some people may not like new NPCs showing up Morrowind Vanilla areas. 

And that's where all that empty space comes in.

In my own inexperienced opinion, I think that you should avoid anything like a whole new camp or fort. Something natural like a cliffracer nest and areas that wouldn't have map markers would be better. But do what you think is best.

I meant put them in a settlement since there's so much empty space and the guys up there were suggesting adding more things there. If anyone wants the meshes and textures, I can give you the nexus link for the kids (but it will come with a lot of other junk too) or I can just upload the relevant files on mediafire.

I'm fine with creating some camps, as long as they aren't vampires/necromancers/bandits. There's already quite a bit too many outlaws in Morrowind. Maybe some small camps of friendly hunters and traders. People who don't really fit in and just end up in the ashy wastes making a living off of what comes down the road.

As for more creatures...Vvardenfell has enough Cliff Racers and other hostile things. Scribs would be the only thing worth adding I think, because they're non-hostile and add to the idea that there are actually some herbivores that the Cliff Racers prey on. Perhaps have a wild Kwama den or two to explain where the Scribs are coming from.

Now as to replacing the smooth hills, the Skyrim engine itself has a lower maximum climbable slope (horses excepted) IIRC, so even before you add things, many hills may no longer be climbable. You should add some pathways between rocks on hills, but don't be afraid to make players who forgot their levitation spell be mildly annoyed for their mistake. Not that I mean you should have a lot of hills that require levitation, but that you should make some hills be less obvious about the path or paths to their tops.

Why don't we use that empty space to add world encounter nodes? I've been contemplating all kinds of encounters we could add to Skywind... >:D

Yeah, we could add a radiant cliffracer attack where 250 cliffracers come from the sky. Just like back in Morrowind!

I love the design in the pictures up there. I just have one majer concern. As you've stated certain hills will no longer be climable for obvious reasons. Are you leaving some paths to get up into the higher areas here and there? It's always nice to be able to get up high to look at everything.

I like the 2nd picture (your version) a hell of a lot more!

Very nice screens, keep it up.

I don't think those would be included, as it's not exactly lore-friendly. There may be some sort of Sky Forge equivalent, but when you choose a sign during character gen, that's the standing stone stand-in. At least from what I understand of the project.

Awesome, my trailers are picking up lots of views lately and I'd love to use your new rocks in it sometime :)

I'm a pretty hardcore lore guy, but I think this is way better than the original, yet still keeps in tune of the atmosphere of TES3. I kinda look at it as a way more updated fresh version of 3, which I'm all for. I like the idea of maybe adding some simple things like trading posts, or bandit camps, but I wouldn't add anything big like forts or town, because that would be wayyy off of lore.

Can I make a request to add some flora to Molag Amur at some later stage? As much as I respect the original idea that it is ashen wasteland, there are still creatures living there, and they need something to eat (apart from the unsuspecting Nerevarine :P ) Some patches of greyed out grass or some sort of moss would be really nice :)

i prefer the jagged rocks as oppose to the classic round ones too, and i would actually like them to be all over the ashlands ideally. 

SquallyDaBeanz

Mooncat: I'd love to hear some ideas for random encounters, but it's still going to be awhile before I add them and NPCs.

If we added Skyrim-style random encounters, you'd just have to add the encounter x-markers wherever you think a good place is for an ambush/encounter/whatever, and we could use the radiant story system to manage the rest.

Some cool encounters off the top of my head (none really specific to Molag Amur, but we could add some just for that region):

- Dark Brotherhood ambush if the player is Nerevarine
- Morag Tong hits if the player ranks highly in a Great House but isn't in the Morag Tong
- Camonna Tong ambush if the player is in the Thieves Guild
- At night, run into battles between two of the vampire clans
- At night, encounter Twin Lamps members sneaking slaves to a safe house
- Tribunal Temple worshippers on their way to one of the holy sites

Then of course, there are more generic events that we could implement:

- Bounty hunters if you have a high bounty
- Hired thugs if you stole something from someone
- Adventurers who want to duel you if you have a high combat skill

We could design all sorts of neat encounters based on the outcomes of different quests. But that'd only work if all of our level designers agreed to add event spawn points to their regions. If it's something we want to do, I could write up a quick guide on how to set all that junk up.

True. I'd hate for an extra like encounters get in the way of the much-needed landscaping you're doing. :)

i think my brain just exploded these are amazing!!

I think something exploded in my pants...ok too far...

niiiiiiiiiiice

Amazing work, Squally!

Looks really amazing, but you should really consider adding some basalt cliffs from dragonborn, more diversity is always nice ; )

Congratulations, you are hired for landscaping of entire Skywind (except BC) :)

SquallyDaBeanz

Here is another before and after shot

Those must be Dragon Eggs in those mutant nests?

SquallyDaBeanz

So, I'm currently working on the Molag Amur Region, and I wanted to get some public opinions before I start getting too crazy.

First off, due to Morrowinds design, it'd be hard to make a really detailed landscape without changing a lot of things. Before, Molag Amur consisted of a lot of rolling hills and rocks. It's difficult to make every hill or mountain that was climbable in Morrowind still be in Skywind due to the mountainous pieces and need for detail. Because of this, I wanted to create my own "sub-regions" in the area. For example, a boring set of hills could be turned into a Cliffracer nesting peninsula or an Ashlander bandit camp/fort. It would stray from the original, but the design needs to be updated with small areas to explore to keep it interesting. So, instead of just covering the hills with rocks and cliffs, generally keeping the same shape, I add new areas to discover. Of course, none of these are completed yet, and the first picture of each isn't detailed. Here's an example.

     

 

I love this idea. 

And I don't think Forts/Nests/Just random points of interest to explore would be lore breaking in any way.

Skyrim had tons of things like that which REALLY weren't important at all, and only served to make the world feel populated, most didn't have any quests attached to them, they were just places to find loot essentially. So in my opinion add as many as you think are necessary. And AMAZING job so far.

jk

Can I make a request to add some flora to Molag Amur at some later stage? As much as I respect the original idea that it is ashen wasteland, there are still creatures living there, and they need something to eat (apart from the unsuspecting Nerevarine :P ) Some patches of greyed out grass or some sort of moss would be really nice :)

Things like Scrathecraw and the like, Ash Yams would be pretty good, I bet.

 

Looking very nice, Squally.

SheepDogWoof

SquallyDaBeanz

So, I'm currently working on the Molag Amur Region, and I wanted to get some public opinions before I start getting too crazy.

First off, due to Morrowinds design, it'd be hard to make a really detailed landscape without changing a lot of things. Before, Molag Amur consisted of a lot of rolling hills and rocks. It's difficult to make every hill or mountain that was climbable in Morrowind still be in Skywind due to the mountainous pieces and need for detail. Because of this, I wanted to create my own "sub-regions" in the area. For example, a boring set of hills could be turned into a Cliffracer nesting peninsula or an Ashlander bandit camp/fort. It would stray from the original, but the design needs to be updated with small areas to explore to keep it interesting. So, instead of just covering the hills with rocks and cliffs, generally keeping the same shape, I add new areas to discover. Of course, none of these are completed yet, and the first picture of each isn't detailed. Here's an example.

     

 

I love this idea. 

And I don't think Forts/Nests/Just random points of interest to explore would be lore breaking in any way.

Skyrim had tons of things like that which REALLY weren't important at all, and only served to make the world feel populated, most didn't have any quests attached to them, they were just places to find loot essentially. So in my opinion add as many as you think are necessary. And AMAZING job so far.

 

well i wouldn't say they were completely pointless. They all had the radient quest system attached to them.

ok this stuff is seriously AMAZING!!!! I can't believe the transformation this is. it's rediculous.

Pee'd myself with excitement when I saw this thread at the top of the forums.

Private message Dragomir, he's a REALLY good concept artist I asked to join us fairly recently.

And he's really easy to bounce ideas off of, give him your ideas and I'm sure when he has the time he can make some pretty great landscape concepts for you.

 

Looks absolutely stunning! Keep up the wonderful work!

Remember that you don't necessarily have to use set pieces that "fit" that region. For example, often in vanilla Skyrim you may run across something that might seem odd given the location, like a ritual table out in the frozen wastes for no readily apparent reason. This helps players want to explore and get that classic sense that they're discovering a story. So you might put some dwarven architecture out in an area that isn't close to any Dwemer ruins. This catches the eye of the player and they go to investigate. On a platform is a skeleton with a bloody dagger next to it. And so the player starts coming up with ideas about what happened and the story that took place without having to be told like a child. This will make the world feel active and increase immersion.

Well I thought if there is a bit of a flat area somewhere that a burnt out creepy forest would be cool. Not very big area, but enough that when you are walking through it that you can't get a sense of where you are going. We will make sure that it has fog (smoke) at all times and the trees need to be high enough so that it feels claustrophobic. We have heaps of dead branch trees to choose from so I can bundle them up for a bit of variety :)

 

It seems shadow of morrowind uses lava ressources from this mod: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/25676/?  , maybe you can ask them?

[External image]

SquallyDaBeanz

Incredible ideas so far, I love them all. TheMaskedFelon, you make a really great point and it's definitely something I should work on. And the forest idea is also fantastic, I think I have a good spot for it already. I'll also check out the lava. Keep the feedback coming guys. Thanks!

 

I completely agree with TheMaskedFelon, what I loved about the very old days of WoW was all the hidden paths and little secret locations, which weren't tied to any quest, or any major story. They were just there, and made you feel like you were really exploring.

Morrowind, especially Molag Amur is the perfect place to put little winding paths up the cliffsides, or behind a boulder, leading to burned down house, or an abandoned campsite, etc.

 

 

Yeah, one time when I was playing Skyrim I ran across this small island off the northern coast of Haafingar, and it seemed like there was nothing there but mudcrabs and rocks. But then I noticed this flag on a hill, with a skeleton still clutching it. There was no explanation or journal or anything, but I think I spent around 20 mins. just walking around that island wondering what was so special about it. That kind of stuff has always been my favorite part of the Elder Scrolls games.

Ok, we absolutely must have a big lava fall somewhere. This is from ESO and it must Morrowind I think i.e. Molag Amur and Azura Coast maybe?

Also I like the idea of lava flowing into water, which they have in above picture, but with lots of steam rising off to make it dramatic. I thought Lake Nambia would be the best option for this.

My suggestions come because I don't want you to become bored with such a massive area of same old same old (plus I think it would look awesome), so I was thinking some lava tube shaped rocks over some of the lava pools would look nice :) I can't give you any assets that look exactly like below, but we can get some stuff going with a bit of effort.

...and I was thinking the lava could have caved/melted an area under ground that you can only see through large cracks in the ground. So you can't get to it, but it looms as you walk over it. A bit harder to explain this one, but imagine an area under the existing height map. There might be one large hole so that you can grasp the depth of it, but the rest is covered in ground with only cracks to show the lava underneath.