[WIP] Ashlands Landscaping

Looking really good, are you going to include DB weather?

Hey Squally I have good news and bad news. Firstly the good news, new style for the Mountains. I did a blanket replace of all the models that correspond to mountaincliff02, mountaincliff04, mountaincliffsm01, mountainpeak01, mountainpeak02, mountainridge01, mountainridge02, mountainridge03. Also good news is that it looks awesome. Bad news is that there are inevitable issues object clipping as the are not exactly the same. Its not that bad, but enough that regions would have to be reviewed. Now I'm not saying we have to do it, but trust me once you have a little look around Molag Amur, you'll be like oh shit, why the f*ck didn't we have these to start with!  Hind sight and all, sorry.

Skyrim based mountains models...boring...no offense, that's all i gave you to work with, bad me.

New models, much more in theme with Morrowind

ohohoho huge improvement!

Yeah, they look a lot better!

These look like proper volcano rocks! Awesome :D

@happy and @squally please synchronize with me if you have new assets records to share from one another. I can do a quick dev release.

Hey just sending out a request to whoever gets around to doing the NE ashlands around Dareloth ancestoral tomb and Zergenipal (it was hit up briefly by anthelius, when he was doing the grazeland ridge) that Airan's Teeth have disappeared in the relandscaping process. They should be located north of dareloth at the mouth of this valley known as the valley of the wind (wind noises probably also important in the valley). Dialogue states the following: "Airan's Teeth are two stone spikes at the mouth of Valley of the Wind." So the should be made noticeable markers! thanks all.

edit: screenshot included with them highlighted in yellow in vanilla morrowind. region south of them is the valley of wind.

I'm hoping there is room to add some really breathtaking areas.  Perhaps we could lay out some spaces that are organized it terms of viewpoints as has been suggested on another thread.   I think these source images would suit Ashlands regions really well.  Having some mountain ridges to travel on and valleys to walk through would add a lot of variety that the original game lacked.  In Morrowind the player had to mostly travel through narrow paths in Ashlands that were very similar.  With Skywind we can break that trend by giving the player access to more unique paths to travel and add interest by varying the amount of freedom of movement between tight interesting passages and more open spaces with impressive views.

See images #13 & 18:

http://www.birdingisfun.com/2013/05/three-forks-of-owyhee-river.html

This image here would be another interesting way to break up the Ashlands by have  narrow walkable ridge connect two peaks with a deeper valley to one side.

http://www.pbase.com/briansolar1/image/119581142

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Formations like these could act as boarder that allow for some really cool narrow passages that the player could walk though to find caves and eventually enter into another region type.  This would make the transition seem more nature and the player's path more interesting.

http://cpluhna.nau.edu/images/canyonlands23rw.jpg

http://utahoutdoorfun.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/031520110315_mg_0084archessurprise-arch.jpg

For passages see slot canyon.

[External image]

[External image][External image]

I think we can use the assets in "meshes\morrowind\landscape\volcanic" folder for more scarps (enbankments)

Sorry if I'm necro'ing an old thread, but I couldn't find any other 'official' Ashlands threads on the forum.

In my opinion, the Ashlands screenshots at the moment look amazing with the rocks and trees, but the ground is too golden and sand-like. If you see the original Morrowind's Ashlands: 

Ashlands

The ground is much greyer and certainly doesn't have a tint of gold in it. It may look more boring, but in my opinion, it was part of what gave the Ashlands so much depth, and made it into that harsh, oppressive area which I loved and hated at the same time. You'll notice the sky is also a dull grey, and while it's true that sometimes the Ashlands had blue, clear skies some days, still the ashy-grey ground, the plants, the rocks and the lava were still there. Speaking of which, I haven't actually seen any lava pools in any of the screenshots yet. They were there, in the original Morrowind. 

Maybe I'm trying to be too faithful to the original game, but a yellowy ground would take away from the depth of it in my opinion, even if the rocks and the trees are spot-on (which they are).

Also, hi, I'm new to the forums!

Agreed.

we're in agreement over this, ash has to be entirely dull grey, light and fluffy on the surface.

Would it be possible to actually sink a little bit in the surface ? Ankle height or deeper. That way you could make everything that traverses the ashlands leave a trail. Real handy for hunting and other purposes and it adds to the immersion. The landscape looks beautifull by the way. Very much Kirkbride.

-edit-

I am not sure why I received negative karma here, so allow me to elaborate some more as this is a serious suggestion, not a spur of the moment poorly thought of idea.

The idea is to make the collision surface a hidden model that is beneath the ash layer. That way you could potentially be knee deep in ash, which would slow you down real good. Combine this with a good old blight storm and you're in for a real struggle. 

It has always baffled me why anyone would want to be on the road or generally outside during a disease spreading ash storm. Traversing a hostile land should be hostile, not a walk in the park.

Oh wait, I just resurrected a thread right? My bad.

That would be pretty cool. I believe there is a mod for Skyrim that makes it so you leave footprints in the snow. They could maybe incorporate it into this mod and make the ash act in the same way.

could it be possible to change the atmosphere  in the ashlands? i find it too sunny, or too bright