Author Topic: Medieval City  (Read 9932 times)

Legacy_Tonden_Ockay

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 891
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #465 on: July 13, 2015, 08:25:28 pm »


               

Nice work on a fantastic looking city.


 


I love this tileset as well, but I have found when I use it that I want to make the area's nice size so I can show it off.


 


Question if I may what size are these area's?



               
               

               
            

Legacy_Tonden_Ockay

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 891
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #466 on: July 13, 2015, 08:32:41 pm »


               

Oh and I like the music as well  '<img'>


 


 


 


Zwerkules like I have said before I love your work. So I look forward to see what all you do for NWN. Thanks again for what you have given all of us so far.



               
               

               
            

Legacy_Tonden_Ockay

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 891
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #467 on: July 13, 2015, 08:44:13 pm »


               

Will allies ever be apart of the Medieval City Tileset?



               
               

               
            

Legacy_The Mad Poet

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 715
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #468 on: July 13, 2015, 08:46:46 pm »


               


A version with winter textures and some models changed to have deeper snow at some places and the walkmesh materials adjusted is something I'll make after I finished this tileset and about five others and two placeable haks and a few robes and this and that and when my module is finished, probably around 2020 '<img'>




 


LOL. Look forward to it!


               
               

               
            

Legacy_VeeTpl

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 23
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #469 on: July 13, 2015, 09:05:11 pm »


               


Nice work on a fantastic looking city.




Thank you, kind Sir.


 


 




Question if I may what size are these area's?




Now, without even referring to the recent debate about module area sizes (which I found very infomative, BTW, I'll try to contribute some thoughts of my own) I find it vitally important to highlight the scope and importance of certain districts.


 


Take the Docks section for example. It is a 32x32, yes. While they cover all 32 tiles in the tileset's width, the length takes only about 5-6 tiles starting from the North. Some of the dock elements stretch over to 7, 8 or even 9 tiles Southwards. Why? Because I wanted to show off the scope of the Virmiya Gulf (geographically speaking of my setting), therefore I have filled over 70-80% with stretching water tiles to give that feel of an expanding water South of the docks. Yes, I know tilesets give that generic extension but it didn't feel quite right. The sudden change in lightning (the 'off-limit' areas are significantly darker) imposed a strange contrast that just didn't feel right. That's why I opted for stretching water tiles and put a few occasional ships here and there to give an illusion of constant sea traffic near the docks (lore-wise, Nelveris, the city is one of the major trading hubs in the Carsarate of New Veritum).


 


To build up on the concept, I have taken some ocean/sea sounds and put them at the very Southern edge of the area with the sound stretching all the way to the most exposed parts of the dock. You won't hear them while traversing through the urban segments (you can see on the screens they are in the background on a higher elevation) but by wandering about the docks, the faint sounds of the wild water can be heard. These sounds are on a constant loop and include two versions - Day and Night. At Day, the sound is pretty faint and I found it disruptive when paired with the rest of the Docks ambience sounds therefore left it quiet and subtle. The Night version has increased volume and it feels only natural, given how the docks themselves are rid of any major traffic that happens there during the day. Merchants, sailors, soldiers, armies, wanderers, workers, labourers, engineers, officers, diplomats, smugglers and what have you are gone by night.


 


 


For the Market area I started at first with a 20x20 area. But it literally felt unnecessarily large. Given also how many placeables are present (all the stalls, statues, food baskets, etc.), the number of NPCs present (with a very modest schedule but enough to give it life) and the exhausting work I put into creating sound ambience (ie. there were NUMEROUS sounds within the area of the stalls; butchers cutting meat, wooden planks being lifted and put down, groans, laughs, whinings, conversations, groups applauding, general populace and that one general sound on a loop that was to create this striking ambience of a busy square) - it just slowed performance by a little too much for comfortable use. After all, what I wanted to highlight is the market itself and the Bank of Nelveris (the big Romanesque temple above the Market area).


The idea at the beginning was to use a general 'city crowd' looping sound that came from the centre of the Market area and extended onto the outer edges of the same toolset area. The result was that I didn't need it to be this big, especially at the cost of performance. A small little trick I applied (taken actually from one of the sound design tutorials on the New Vault, really helpful stuff) was to put that looping sound at the edges of SURROUNDING areas in the toolset so that there was a clear audio clue that you were heading towards one of the busiest parts of the city. Of course, the sound itself had to be quiet enough as to be subtle and give clues rather than force the ambience.


 


The last kind of features district you can see on the screenshot (castle on the elevation, group of soldiers, the altar with the two statues) is the House of Vorius. Even that only ended up about 12x20. The difference in shape is because the House of Vorius has this sort of this large balcony extension to their mansion that gives somewhat an overview of the city. For that purpose, I literally just filled it with the Buildings tile and being 2 elevations lower - it just created this sort of indistinguishable mess of an urban space.


 


 


In general, I try only do largest areas for the outmost exterior parts of the town. My city gate area is 12x32 with the longer bit extending the Imperial Road because the revelation of arriving at the place should be delivered in a subtle manner. I don't find the (main) city gates suddenly popping up after the loading screen that immersive.


 


I am by no means a professional or even experienced builder, although I did work with it for so many years. Except I think now it's time to share a little bit more with the community rather than nothing. '<img'>


 


 


Sorry for the long post, folks. Had to.



               
               

               
            

Legacy_Tonden_Ockay

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 891
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #470 on: July 13, 2015, 09:40:56 pm »


               

No need to apologize for the length of your post. I for one found it very informative and love to learn from others experience’s.


I enjoy making large areas that shows off a tileset like this as well. It’s always a struggle to find what size gives you the look you want but doesn’t hurt the performance of your module.


 


Thanks for the insight



               
               

               
            

Legacy_VeeTpl

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 23
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #471 on: July 13, 2015, 11:43:02 pm »


               

Just out of interest, just posting the Docks area in question. (area is turned counter-clockwise by 90 degrees)


 


hvi47zE.jpg


 


The key was to make it appear it is busy - three main ways to go about it.


- Density of ships docked, in docking or out in the sea


- Lots of crowded space towards the edge of the map which connects with the rest of the city


- Narrow and numerous docking extensions to the mainland


 


And of course, the question of music, sound effects and NPCs that populate the area. Can't really much about the latter two at the moment, but the music choice was quite clear for me. I wanted something that felt like a busy dock, full of life and dust, and had a good Renaissance vibe to it. Enjoy.


 




               
               

               
            

Legacy_Tonden_Ockay

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 891
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #472 on: July 14, 2015, 12:37:43 am »


               

Looks great, I really do like it a lot. But I wonder how something like that will do in a module with a few hundred areas in it.


 


Oh and I like the music as well. 



               
               

               
            

Legacy_NWN_baba yaga

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1944
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #473 on: July 14, 2015, 04:54:03 pm »


               

Outstanding use of this tileset. Shows how beautifull it realy is '<img'>


I guess a builder can do the showcase much better then the one who is working on it. I know this from my case... '<img'>



               
               

               
            

Legacy_The Mad Poet

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 715
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #474 on: July 14, 2015, 05:06:53 pm »


               


Outstanding use of this tileset. Shows how beautifull it realy is '<img'>


I guess a builder can do the showcase much better then the one who is working on it. I know this from my case... '<img'>




 


I think every builder can show something different. With the sheer nigh-infinite number of possible combinations a tileset can make every builder can show a different side of what can be accomplished. It's precisely that reason I like multiple builders on any project. Someone may do something you never thought of trying.


               
               

               
            

Legacy_VeeTpl

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 23
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #475 on: July 14, 2015, 07:48:12 pm »


               


Looks great, I really do like it a lot. But I wonder how something like that will do in a module with a few hundred areas in it.




Thanks again. I really did not design it with PW-scale in mind. However, I do want to use the city for private DM'd sessions for my friends and players interested. We'll see, but I figure with a DM and maybe a team of 2-3 players it shouldn't be a large issue.


 


Besides, I do plan to split the campaign into chapters, the first focusing almost entirely just on the city I'm building which shouldn't be more than 30-40 exterior areas.


 


 




Outstanding use of this tileset. Shows how beautifull it realy is '<img'>


I guess a builder can do the showcase much better then the one who is working on it. I know this from my case... '<img'>




Thanks a lot. But do remember without the contribution to the community like yourself we wouldn't have even a chance to show off! People like you have a much greater hand in all these showcases than you might think.


 


So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for continuing to support the Custom Content Scene for this game to this very day and hopefully in the future.


 


 


And 100% agreeing with The Mad Poet here. I personally didn't see someone going for such a theme like the one I'm building myself therefore I decided to capitalise on it and explore to what extent I really can utilise the tileset for.


 


I still think Avernostra is one of the BEST examples on how to use the tileset to its full potential, and the Victorian/Gothic theme compliments that so amazingly well. I played a bit on Avernostra (a Kurz character) a while ago myself and was very impressed with the design. This might as well be a reason ON ITS OWN why you should give that server a proper look.


               
               

               
            

Legacy_The Mad Poet

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 715
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #476 on: July 14, 2015, 08:26:21 pm »


               

Though I'm totally in appreciation of the compliment (seriously), this thread is about Zwerkules work. I'd much rather compliment him.  '<img'>



               
               

               
            

Legacy_Tonden_Ockay

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 891
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #477 on: July 14, 2015, 11:30:42 pm »


               

Ok I am using


 


Project Q


Medieval Extras hak


Medieval City hak


 


In this order from top to bottom. I added the doors and placeables lines from the Medieval Extras 2da file to the q_2da.hak files. Some of the doors (generic doors I think) and the placeables are now working for me. However the medieval custom dummy door window’s and a few others like double doors still isn’t working. I’m not sure what else to do. I went line by line making sure I updated q_2da.hak with all the lines form medieval.


I’m new at this and not sure if I may be missing something?   



               
               

               
            

Legacy_henesua

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6519
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #478 on: July 14, 2015, 11:49:36 pm »


               

put the medieval city stuff above Q.



               
               

               
            

Legacy_Tonden_Ockay

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 891
  • Karma: +0/-0
Medieval City
« Reply #479 on: July 15, 2015, 12:08:01 am »


               

Thanks " henesua " I put medieval stuff at the top with medieval extras (with the updated 2da files) above everything and Bing it works.


 


Ok I need to post this somewhere so people can just download it. May be I could help save someone some time or something.