Custom Content Challenge: January 2015: Elemental Planes Stuff

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               

The theme for this month's challenge: "Elemental Planes Stuff":

  

Elemental Planes Stuff: Creatures, structural placeables, tilesets, weapons, armor, environmental effects (scripting is CC too!), sounds, etc.

 

 

This theme was suggested by The Amethyst Dragon.

 

Guidelines:

•  

• It must be fully working in game.

• Use of vanilla NWN or publicly available texture is fine.  Just remember that NWN textures must have dimensions in powers of 2 (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc.).

• Teamwork is welcome.

• Beginners most welcome. Don't be afraid, just try, you'll be surprised!

• "Custom Content" includes many sorts of things: models, scripts, prefabs (areas, items, creatures, conversations, quests, etc.), sounds, portraits, or anything else new for the game.

• All submissions must be finished, working, and emailed to NWNCCCMakers@gmail.com (or a non-Vault link provided) by February 1st, 2015. Sooner than that is perfectly fine too. ;-)

 

 

Somethings you could include in the download/email that would make packaging everything up easier and faster:

•  

• 2da lines needed.

• Screenshot from in game for use on the vault page (this also gives me hints on how to display the new goodie). Formats: .bmp, .jpg, .png, or .tga

• Portraits (if needed) of your new goodie. Placeables and monsters should include a portrait.

• Inventory icons (if needed) of your new goodie.

• Any credits you would like listed.

• If this is your first entry, please tell me what name you would like your work listed under and provide a link to your other NWN content if you want that displayed as well (the link bit is totally optional).

• Also if you would like an invite to the CC Makers group, send Rolo Kipp a friend invite. The group is nothing spectacular, mostly just documentation on 2da lines.

 

Remember, the Challenge is all about fun, sharing, creativity, and surprise!

 

This thread is for all sorts of discussion about this month's theme: ideas for things to make, questions/concerns, announcement of what you intend to make, screenshots of work in progress and/or finished projects.  

 

If you want to discuss the Monthly Custom Content Challenge idea as a whole or wish to submit ideas/themes for future monthly Challenges, please post in its thread here. 

 

When submitting a new theme, please provide a title and short summary of the theme.

 

If you have a technical question about some custom content creation, please create a separate thread so that the answers can be found later by anyone, not just people interested in this Challenge. 

 

We'll try to help!

 

Have no fear and join the fun!

 

And finally, you can: 

 

Submit theme suggestions. 

Vote for February's theme.

Email content to: NWNCCCMakers@gmail.com

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               

Announced/Intended Projects:

 

Ice Lances/Spears (weapon models) by MerricksDad

 

 

Emailed/Downloaded Projects:

 

Ash Zombies (creature models) by MerricksDad

Dao (creature model) by Shemsu-Heru

Djinni (creature model) by Shemsu-Heru

Efreeti (creature model) by Shemsu-Heru

Janni (creature model) by Shemsu-Heru

Marid (creature model) by Shemsu-Heru

Earth-Assimilating Human (creature model) by The Amethyst Dragon

Elemental Earth Weapons (weapon models) by The Amethyst Dragon

Falling Water Set (placeable models) by The Amethyst Dragon

Giant Bubble Interior (placeable model) by The Amethyst Dragon

Guide: Placeable Visibility Limit (placeable model) by The Amethyst Dragon

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               

At one time, we were very short on new theme suggestions, and Elemental Planes Stuff was brought back from the orphan themes list for a 2nd chance (it originally got 0 votes in the poll for May 2011).

 

This would be a great month for reskins of existing creatures (to make them better fit air/earth/fire/water elemental planes), perhaps with added emitters (fire), crystals or rocks (earth), transparency (air), or txi texture animations (water).

 

This could also be a great month for exotic elemental planes themed tilesets. Maybe a City of Brass set with metallic buildings (could be a reskin of something else), islands of rock within the planes of fire, water, or air (and marked with strong traits of the surrounding element). And such tilesets would go great with new elemental plane skyboxes (or skyspheres that work better with unlocked camera angles).

 

Placeables that fit the elemental environments would be great, too. Columns that ripple/shimmer with glowing light like embers in a fire, walls that look like flowing water of various shades, subtle placeable VFXs to show currents under the water or in the air, giant "bubbles" to surround pockets of breathable air the plane of water, new fire/lava placeables that give off dynamic light (for illuminations, shadows, etc.).

 

Onto item ideas... How about earth elemental armor that uses OldTimeRadio's plt + tga trick (plus self-illumination) to add glowing crystals, glowing (but not flaming) metal spears (for the salamanders released a while back), air/water weapons with built in trailing effects or txi files to make them mostly transparent, crystal-edged blades, solid stone bludgeoning weapons, new ioun stones, armor with fainty glowing (self-illuminated) edges in various elemental colors (orange, green, blue, white, whatever).

 

On the scripting side, the elemental planes are foreign places with their own unique environmental effects, be it on movement, breathing requirements, damaging energy (heat), or even changes to the effects of spells. There's also room for strange quasi-magical radiations from crystals, stones, magical flames, magical pools/fountains, and more that could have uniquely scripted effects. And do you dare eat what's considered by the denizens of the City of Brass to be a "hot pepper"?

 

And don't forget prefabs. This theme is a fertile field for those that want to use existing content to create something small scale (a single item left behind by a slain earth elemental) to large scale (perhaps an entire colony of halflings that started as a small group of pilgrims sucked into a portal to the elemental plane of water, only to settle on an island paradise within a permanent air bubble).

 

Yeah, just throwing out some ideas to get everyone's creative juices flowing, since the original theme description is kind of sparse.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Shemsu-Heru]

               

Some ideas for placeables and/or Tilsets:

 

Elemental Plane of Air:

 

Flying Castles

The weightless nature, empty disposition, and hospitable environment  makes  the  Elemental Plane  of  Air  ideal  for powerful  individuals  seeking  privacy.  These  individuals include  wizards  and  sorcerers  who  want  uninterrupted time for long-term studies, clerics of all alignments escaping  the  threats  of  more  dangerous  planes,  and  even monasteries and  libraries  whose  users  seek  solitude  and reflection. Any chunk of rock or mineral large enough to support  a  building's  foundation  is  the  site  of  somestructure (or at least it has been in the past).

 

 

 

Djinni Strongholds

The  djinn  are  among  the  most  accommodating  of  the outsiders that make the Elemental Plane of Air their native realm.  They  tend  to  settle  the  larger  chunks  of  physical matter on the plane, shards of rock and earth ranging from a  thousand  feet  to  several  miles  across.  Each  of  these islands  has  its  own  gravity,  and  the  guests  of  the  djinn move around as on the Material Plane.

 

 

 

Elemental plane of Earth:

 

The Great Dismal Delve

The most civilized race on the Elemental plane of Earth is the dao (as they will undoubtedly tell you). These genies are  found  in  a  number  of  communities  and  are  often  at odds  with  the  native  elemental  life  because  the  dao continually  desire  to  deal  with  extraplanar  races.  The greatest of the dao communities is the Great Dismal Delve, also  known  as  the  Great  Mazework.  It  is  here that  thegreatest leader of the race makes her home. The  delve  itself  is  a  maddening  maze  of  passages, memorized by the dao but confusing to the traveler. The dao and their slave races live here in dark splendor, eagerly mining gems for trade. Slaves, often the losers in bets and bargains  made  with  the  dao,  build  and  rebuild  passages, fend  off  elemental  attacks,  and  are  otherwise  slowly worked to death by their uncaring masters.

 

 

 

Elemental plane of Fire:

 

The City of Brass

The  City  of  Brass  is  populated  by  powerful  efreet,  and  is considered  by  many  efreet  to  be  their  home  and  their capital. Efreet may be found elsewhere on the Elemental Plane of Fire, but even far-flung settlements owe fealty and allegiance to the grand sultan who rules the City of Brass from his burning palace.

The  city  itself  is  cradled  in  a  brass  hemisphere  forty miles across, floating above a plate of cracked obsidian at the heart of the Elemental Plane of Fire. Stairs of burning basalt  and  rivers  of  flame  stream  up  from  the  surface below  to  the  well-armed  gates  of  the  city.  The  city  walls may  be  reached  by  flying  creatures,  but  the  efreet  take  a dim view of interlopers who refuse to present themselves at one of the city's gates.

 

 

 

 

Elemental plane of Water:

 

The City of Glass

For  travelers  with  less  of  a  taste  for  palace  intrigue,  the City  of  Glass  is an ideal gathering spot on the Elemental Plane  of  Water  (especially  for  travelers  who  breathe  air). Located  at  a  stable  collection  of  portals  to  other  planes (stable  in  that  they  do  not  move  in  relationship  to  each other),  the  City  of  Glass  consists  of  a  great  sphere  of unbreakable glass, half filled with water. Visitors enter the city through any number of openings along the water side, or  through  magical  portals  in  the  air-bubble  half.  Many buildings cross the boundary between air and water, there are  buildings  filled  with  water in  the  air  half,  and  buildings equally stocked with air beneath the water's surface. By  mutual  agreement  of  the  city's  resident,  “down”  is toward the water half of the sphere.

 

 

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

oh...It's on '>

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Mecheon]

               Hello! Anyone have a texture for salt? I need it for my plans. My project, if you will. Odd plans, but something that's been around

As for other things, take a look at these utterly -majestic- mineral creatures.

How about places like the Skywall from Warcraft? Its their city of the Djinn, made of solid cloud. Or the Deepholm, with its rivers of mercury and shuddering spires, along with odd creatures like the rotating Gyreworms or the Shale Spiders. Or the Molten lands of the Firelands, along with fierce creatures like fire spiders, fire turtles or the Hellhounds

Unfortunately Warcraft's water plane isn't looked into all that much. But in terms of that, I've always thought a neat placable would be something like a tube of water, because, heck, elementals. They don't give any dangs about the rules of reality and if they want a giant tube of water to go up through air, then they're going to make it happen. Best thing like this is the Skyway levels from Ecco 2, or Hanging Waters from Defender of the Future, but I can't find any good pictures of those
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

I've got a ton of mineral books, but you might want to just look up halite mineral on google. You can get a ton of different colors of salt. Some have great closeups of the crystal shapes. There are also some excellent mineral pages out there, both for identification, and for posting gps locations of deposits. Their online specimens rival those of national museums.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Mecheon]

               Nah, salt salt. Like, a big ol' pile of it

Cause the critter I'm making is made from salt, y'see. TXI'd to be constantly flowing
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

 

Good enough? Need an alpha channel?

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

I made this salt weird years ago, which is why I knew how to animate the maggots a few months ago. It uses a skin, but because of all the goings-on with the texture/skin combo, I had to only use a texture of 256 size with no more than 32 fps distortion. Not the texture above, but the smaller texture I used has an alpha channel which highlights the horizontal and vertical edges of the individual salt cubes. Due to the distortion type I used, I wasn't able to make a good flowing texture for the weird, but I'd love to see somebody come up with a flowing water txi to use instead. Itching to see what you come up with!

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               

So how about the inside of 4000 years dormant volcano? I was about to post an image here but to be honest a 360 degree panorama is so much better. But to give you a taste

 

 

I am guessing that one of the inspirations for Jules Verne's "Jouney to the Centre of the Earth" was this volcano. Today, if you get to Iceland first, you can take a tour of this interior for yourself. In fact the tour website has a wealth of information on it.

 

So you could use this for the elemental planes of Earth and/or Fire.

 

TR

 

PS anyone able to pronounce its name? Thrihnukagigur volcano, Iceland

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

On a trip to the inner planes, I once brought back some interesting foods.

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Carcerian]

               

On a trip to the inner planes, I once brought back some interesting foods.

 

 

Recalls the Wormy Comic's "Old Brimstone"

 

 

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Carcerian]

               

Elemental Refreshments? (PLCs / Holdables?)

 

 

 

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               

How about this picture (at the end of the link) as a reference for the demi-plane of ice?

 

TR