High Elven City Tileset

[Legacy__six]

               

Hm. I think you'd do well to replace the wood textures. There's something a bit too rustic log cabin about them to me, I like to think elves would keep their buildings a little cleaner, or maybe paint them white or pale greenish?

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Estelindis]

               

Hm. I think you'd do well to replace the wood textures. There's something a bit too rustic log cabin about them to me, I like to think elves would keep their buildings a little cleaner, or maybe paint them white or pale greenish?

 

Several people have pointed out the main wood texture as a weakness, yes.  I'm still thinking about what to replace it with.  In terms of changing the colour entirely, that's always a possibility, though I was thinking that making it white would be better in a total reskin of the set, in which the branches/bark of the trees would be white and the leaves pure gold, like Lothlorien.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy__six]

               

Something I found that's similar in construction style to the existing wall texture but a bit fancier looking http://cgtextures.co...0gv0g9j48r9ue92

 

if that's any inspiration '>

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_rjshae]

               

Several people have pointed out the main wood texture as a weakness, yes.  I'm still thinking about what to replace it with.  In terms of changing the colour entirely, that's always a possibility, though I was thinking that making it white would be better in a total reskin of the set, in which the branches/bark of the trees would be white and the leaves pure gold, like Lothlorien.

 

Most of the woodwork looks fine to me--the trim, columns, frames, and decorations all look good. The surface of the upper deck looks like it could do with a remapping though; the radial borders seem a bit untidy. (Not sure if it matters though, if it can't be seen from ground level.) Other than that, perhaps the borders on the vertical wall slats are bit too broad and contrasting with the middle of the boards? Elven woodwork I'd expect to be tight fitting and nicely arrayed hardwood, almost like marquetry. But the current look works too.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Jedijax]

               

I find these new screenies to show a perfect concept. We've all been liking the tileset for some time now, but the way you tackled the rooftops and windows tied it all together. The project has evolved steadily, and while I certainly thought it was a good idea, your choices over the months have turned it into a beautiful sight. Sure, there's details here and there that can be polished, but I think the overall style and intention have found the mark.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Estelindis]

               

I decided to make a couple of gazebo groups, basing their roofs on the roofs of some existing groups in order to keep things consistent.  However, taking a look at the 2x1 gazebo, I realised it would be better to make it a bare-bones crosser, as this still uses a budget of just two tiles, but allows people to make gazebos as long as they like.  Even when I try to make groups, I end up making crossers!  '>

 

2x2 Gazebo

 

Gazebo crosser, two tiles long

 

Gazebo crosser, three tiles long

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_rjshae]

               

Here's something that's on my to-do list: a dovecote.

 

As a suggestion, having an elven equivalent might make a nice addition to your set. Basically it's a small, (usually) round building with a roof top that has openings to accommodate pigeons (or equivalent birds). As these were mostly build by the well-to-do, some of them could get pretty elaborate. It seems like something that elves might build.

 

For example:

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Estelindis]

               

Excellent idea, rjshae!  Thanks for the suggestion.  '>

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Carcerian]

               

Reminds me a lot of the steampunk game Arcanum:

 

 

They definitely had some of the prettiest elven cities...

 

 

 

 

 

 

With some interesting interiors...

 

 

With no underdark, Dark Elves lived in dead trees, of course...

 

 

 

 

There is even a sort of Spiritual Successor in the form of a Kickstarter sequel "Pillars of Eternity"

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Wall3T]

               

those are probably the best screenshots of a tree city in a long time. they just dont make like they used to anymore...

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Estelindis]

               

I thought I should try making something a bit like Carcerian's pictures: some round platforms, supported by a large tree.  This took way longer than I ever thought it would!  '>  The version I've just mostly finished is plain, but I intend to add another version later, with some buildings on the platforms.

 

However, I am having a problem with this group.  It doesn't paint down properly - and, when I try to paint it, the toolset locks up and freezes.  I'm not sure what I'm missing, which is embarrassing, because I thought that I had tilesets fairly well sussed out at this stage!  I'd love to get some suggestions from people.

 

The group is 3x3.  It's supposed to paint on High Forest, with the top of the top-middle tile connecting to the Walkway crosser.  As best as I can see, it's set up properly for this in the Set file, but there must be something I'm missing.  The strange thing is, some of the tiles in the group do paint down when I try to paint the group, just not all of them.  The tiles that paint are w01_04, 07, 08 and 09.  

 

Here are some pictures of the central tile of the group, taken from NWN Explorer, as well as the error message when I try to paint down the group.  (I put all of the "main" geometry into the central tile.  The other tiles only have the low tree canopy, walkmesh, and the usual dummies.)  I have also uploaded the latest version of the hakpak to my OneDrive, if people want to check out the set file and/or models.  Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

 

 

 

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

I ran the tiles through CM3 which did some minor cleanup and fixes. Then I loaded the group in 3DS Max and found the issue. when the group loads the walkmesh gets destroyed...

 

This first shot is the tiles after CM3 was used on them. You'll see that several of the walkmeshes are distorted.

 

 

This is a picture of your raw tiles in 3DS Max. You'll see the same walkmesh scattering and some of the walkmeshes look like they have faces pointing down or lying under other faces.

 

 

So, I'd say its definitely a walkmesh issue. With the faces of the walkmesh positioned off tile, the toolset is trying to paint them over adjacent tiles that already have walkmeshes. Thus, the toolset crashes. 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy__six]

               

Heh, that's one familiar looking error message. Walkmesh - always walkmesh.

 

Still, group looks amaze!

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Estelindis]

               

PSM, that is some fairly tragic walkmesh!  '>  Thanks a million for identifying the issue.  I really never thought that would be the problem, because I was careful about the pivots and positions before exporting, but no doubt when I reimport the tiles the problem will become all too apparent!

 

Thanks for the compliment, Six.  '>

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Michael DarkAngel]

               

First off, you do beautiful work!

 

That type of "explosion of meshes" typically means a "Reset-X-Forms" was needed prior to export.  Now I know you're a vet at this and you've probably already done that.  So I'll move on to my next assumption. that this was caused by mass export.  Try exporting each tile individually, by moving each tile to center point 0,0 and performing a "Reset-X-Form" prior to export.

 

If neither of the above is a correct assumption of your workflow, I'm sad to say that I'm out of advice '>

 

MDA