Preamble

This proposal has been cut out from my main Dres document because there are multiple ongoing discussions about the Dres set that are preventing progress on the assets.This proposal is primarily aiming  to get Dres development moving again. The current assets have been lagging in development for long enough that so many contradictory opinions and inputs have built upon one another it has become impossible to proceed. Hopefully, a totally fresh and clear direction for the set can make it workable. Therefore, this proposal includes several concepts generously done by Athcliath to better illustrate the desired end-look and provide an alternative to continuing to struggle with the canton concept.

Overview

The concept of using cantons for every Dres settlement has proven to be a bad idea. For nearly a decade now asset devs have struggled to find a way to make the canton bases be able to work and each time they've come up against issues with the implementation, either too big, too small, too modular or not modular enough. All of this, and cantons don't even make much sense for the Dres in the first place. Dunmer cantons are built on the water and the majority of Dres settlements are inland, in fact the quote that originally inspired cantons for the Dres (from the Last Scabbard) is only referring to Tear which is actually a port. To that end I’m proposing we do away with the cantons except for Tear (and maybe one other city) with the cantons being built to fit a pre-designed layout rather than an awkward one-size-fits-all approach like is the current concept.

Another major issue is the set being colored purple, it makes it that neither ancestral tombs or temples look good in or around Dres settlements, despite the Dres being very tied to these two institutions.

Now, on the other hand, the current base design for Dres standalone buildings is solid, being a nice variation between the Hlaalu, Indoril and Velothi. So my solution is that Dres buildings should instead be a washed out Tan with a greenish hue, ala the Redguard comic, thus allowing the same freedom as the other Dunmer sets.

Tileset Guidelines

Main Dres Set: Used across the board where Dunmer are living, it should be used as the Velothi, H|laalu or Redoran sets are to make settlements, as well as the center of plantations.

Bug Set: The Dres bug set should still be the lowest class option, as in how it’s portrayed in the Redguard comic. They should primarily be used around plantations or the minor clansteads as storage or slave housing. The Dres are not the Redoran who model their homes off of bugs because they act as shields for the weather so there shouldn't be this “romantic” attachment to living in them that old TR added to the Dres’ characterisation. They are a product of necessity and their use should reflect that.

https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/asset/dres-bug-structures 

We currently have multiple assets going for Dres containers/furniture which both don’t fit the art direction (now or previously tbh) but are just housing low-poly assets no one is likely to spend time fixing.

https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/asset/dres-containers 

https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/asset/dres-container-set-1 

https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/asset/dres-container-set-2 

These, along with the currently merged orange-red urns should be scrapped outright due to not meeting quality standards or matching the art style. In the future when the interior set has been finalized we can maybe re-open discussion about a few bespoke furniture pieces (in the vein of redoran shelves and hearths or Hlaalu fireplaces) but not these full sets that just detract.

Concept Art

Credits

Athcliath

Jack

Fluxbender