[WIP] Redoran Building Exteriors, by Mooncactus and Plasmax

I think your feedback is more about claws (if this crab had it distinguished from lesser legs).
My comment was more about lesser legs - level designers can place them more random, more chaotic,
because many time have passed.
this can even be separate showplace, inhabited by beggars and stray animals.

> THE END TIMES ARE HERE.
= huh. I hope we/team will finish island to end of 2015.
 

ok, if u want 2 slightly different claws, break off the pincers of 2nd one and make sepereate, so we can place them elsewhere.

Aldruhn shares the west ashland rock, and the molag/RM rock, and those i start soon, so you'll have to find quite a few days free to find to do those, and we'll have to skype to sort them out.

That would be good to have separate models of scar-body, big claws/pincers, and two models of smaller legs (proximal and distal elements slightly different). Then you d place it more free, and maybe some lesser elements can be used not only in Ald'ruhn.

all good. Now its the 2 claw varients.

I'm wondering if its worth colourin this hp? blacks and greys on the stone that fades into a ashey yellow in the fossilised shell, with some darker areas around the hardest shell parts.

Thats a quick job that will give us the option of baking colour regardless of which method we use ingame.

What do you mean by that color? Would it be 'natural' color of old mineralised carapace of this creature, or would it be colored by dunmers?

I am not sure about paint, but here is a crab. Consider colors and textures close to this. 

[External image]

^ This. Brownish or black (due to carbonization) color would be nice.
However mostly color is just equal to color of environment mineral.

Maybe u could use different material for screenshots. Too dark.

.[External image]

IMHO, you could use simpler model without intererior/exterior differentiation - hollow as tree trunk from side of joint.
it would better for landscapers to make right-left claws more different. And this will be less work.
Make what you see more tenable.

[External image]details is what  makes it so much nicer 

also is this 1 of those crabs whit 1 claw biger than the other or same size

See? No one is against. Then it's all right. :P

Just a pic to illustrate

 

Aly..Come on you're not telling me your claw looks better. [External image]

i edit it away because i was stupid sorry for using the space 

@Shushine: my post is only about:
1. Model without separate interior world - it could be part of exterior like a cave or tree trunk.
2. Use of natural hole of joint as a door.

@No1: Sry, if i cant understand you right, but i think that this model is suggested to be home.
Actually, no. Fossils can be hollow. This is possible for giant pneumatized shells.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ammoniteplit.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ammonite_fossil.JPG
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia_mobile_app,_article_for_ammonite_in_Japanese.jpg

Also they can be filled with sand, ash and recrystallized lime.
 

[External image]sorry it was a stupid comment from me i see it nowe  it does have a door and smal windows

also it probely depends howe big is it enough to have a separate interior? is it gone be a house?

I honestly feel that the walls and some of the buildings aren't to my liking. There are just too much shells and crab bits, and it does (as someone posted earlier) look like some sort of marine park, or themed seafood resterant.

There was nothing wrong with the morrowind style of redoran buildings and walls, in fact their architecture was actually quite beautiful with all the simple sandstone curves, and tacking on a bunch of dead crab parts doesnt make any sense, and doesnt improve the design or add to the lore. In some places of course they would add some fanciness to their town, such as stairs leading up to skar or even the "tail" parts of their buildings, but imagine finding the parts to build a wall around their entire town of that intricate junk in a harsh environment, when you could build something just as useful and just as nice, of sandstone (or whatever their buildings are made of)

All in all, it seems too complex for something that should be so simple, like a gate and a wall. Here and there it would be great to see that style and their liking for shells and Insect parts exapanded on, like using insect legs to prop up market stall roofs. The model for Skar is incredible, but I honestly preferred the older model for the wall in this thread, which used bricks and plaster.

@TheDjango I believe these are designed to be used in conjunction with the standard redoran style and give Ald-ruhn a bit more going on in terms of density and layout.

I understand the want to diversify the town to avoid it looking bland, but to me, AldRuhn is a desolate, windblasted ghost town on the surface, with a rich and busy culture underneath. The Insect/crustacian idea is a good one but it shouldn't be an integral part of their architecture, which should look dead and basic on the outside, due to the ash storms. This is especially important for the walls and the gate, because that is the first thing a player will see and will therefore create a first impression of the town. House Redoran is not the "house of crabs" just because they live under one. Crab/insect related assets should be present but not prevalent over building designs.

Besides, the world will feel more alive and have things "going on" regardless of the design of buildings, due to the cluttering which will busy the place and make it feel more like a town.

I hate to be the "ideas guy" but one way you could diversify buildings while still maintaining the Redoran style could be to have glass mosaics or shells set into the stone, like when you push shells into a sandcastle. This would make things less plain, and more colourful but not completely redesign the architecture. It would also be just as functional, and show the ornate interior style seen inside. We dont want the town to be crabby on the outside and ornate on the inside.

Thats just one idea, and I wont clutter the whole thread with them because I know its annoying.

I have to agree to @TheDjango here in many aspects and also to a lot of things @Sasquatch said are true.

I realize it might be too late for a lot of things, and also that it is difficult to say anything about these things before seeing them in the final game, but I have to agree that a few of the designs and renders I've seen here take it a step to far and might destroy the feeling that Ald'Ruhn is supposed to give off. (I think I don't have to specify any further, there's been quite the discussion about this here.) Clearly all of them look super awesome and unique and I bow my head before Skar. (Hell, I'm not sure I've seen anything that impressive in any game in the last 10 years.)

But I think we all agree that the goal of this project should not be to simply have as many great and uniquely looking 3D models as possible but to make the game as a whole great.

And in that aspect often less is more. A few of the things presented here just seem to be too ornate to fit the theme of Ald'Ruhn. I undertand that as somebody who worked hard to get the models that complex, that ornate and that good looking this may sound harsh, but at least in my opinion it is more important to get them to convey a certain feeling to the player that to make then as breathtaking as possible.

And that's why I'd say: Try to take it down a notch, ditch some of the parts that are purely decorative (the decorations of the silt strider port e.g.), make the architecture a little more functional. This wouldn't just express the way Ald'Ruhn should feel better, but also help to make Skar and the temple shine and look even more impressive. After all: When everything looks unique, nothing looks unique anymore.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not demanding anything. I'm just trying to communicate what I think is best for the quality of the project. Also, as I said: Of course all of this is just my personal opinion, if you think I'm wrong then so be it.

I think we're more happy with your getting a cool job tbh.
talk soon.