Shipal-Shin inspirational stuff

Why · Post by **Why** » Sun Aug 31, 2014 8:15 pm

I've been away, but you guys are always on my mind. I'm also terrible at art, even though I have very clear ideas of what I want certain parts of TR to look like. That's why, for the past year or two, I've been saving images that resemble what I'd like the Shipal-Shin to look like.

Important: this is just a collection of images. It is not an official kickoff for Shipal-Shin concepting or discussion, that will probably be later (I honestly don't know). I'm also not an authority on concept art and haven't involved myself in (master) planning as of late so don't attribute too much weight to what I'm about to post. I just want these images to be out there for when discussion does start in earnest. And who knows, maybe they'll inspire people with more art-related talent than myself.

1 - rock layers & erosion. Not sure if feasible in-engine.
2 - more erosion, one of the many small streams that join to form the Thirr
3 - flat, dry mountaintops, water drains onto verdant slopes, eventually forms Thirr river.
4 - I like tiny streams. Again, have the Thirr spring from everywhere, not just one point.
5 - small waterfall, erosion, vegetation against a backdrop of dry, layered cliffs
6 - similar to 5
7 - further downstream, the Thirr is wide and winding.
8 - imagine Narsis being hugged by a massive river bend
9 - Thirr carves out a massive valley in the Shipal-Shin plateau (imagine more green where the river is, less useless flats, level mountaintop plateaus where Thirr/streams are not)
10 - Border Shipal-Shin/Deshaan. Plateau ends to make way for the lower, windier salt plains. Saltwind-related erosion.
11 - Grand Canyon colour reference. I love red rocks. Maybe even more red.
12 - more colours. My favorite.
Bonus: Hlaalu farmers cleverly using the flat, windy mountaintop plateaus to generate electricity.

This is what I personally see when I think about the Shipal-Shin. Again, I'm no authority on the matter and I don't mind if it ends up going in a wildly different direction, I just figured I'd share.

ViroGlacia · Post by **ViroGlacia** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 6:57 pm

I've made a rough Hlaalu windmill model. Which might work well for your bonus photo idea.

https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/416x5 ... mLfhLO.png

Some of your cliff ideas will mostly need to be handled through meshes. Especially the grand canyon varieties. However some of them, like number three should be managed through ordinary terrain, or so I suspect.

sasquatch2o · Post by **sasquatch2o** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:39 pm

I really like what has been posted here for concepts and the windmill model! This type of brainstorming and image collection is really important to creating the best possible areas. I'm especially impressed by the dry rocky landscapes with buttes and "pillar" formations posted by Why. Part of the beauty of these is that they can be achieved with the vanilla models we already have. I don't intend to detract from what has already been posted, but I'm leaving some visual ideas I collected in another thread to add to the ideas here:

"The following links are mostly for reference and later use:

High sierra:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2264/2126 ... 075347.jpg
http://runnerbeans.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/yosemite-mountains.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4106/496 ... 5996_o.jpg

Highlands:
http://i.imgur.com/vuEsCTg.png
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4048/5138 ... 5f40_z.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1207/5134 ... 6c87_z.jpg
http://www.forkingitup.com/jamie/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Pisac-Sacred-Valley-Cusco-Cuzco-Peru-Pisac-Ollantetambo-Urubamba-4.jpg
http://www.praisephotography.com/uploaded_images/categories/Leslie_Gulch_canyons,%20Leslie_Gulch,%20Eastern_Oregon.jpg

Highlands River:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Marsyangdi_valley_near_Pisang_%284518299825%29.jpg
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/08/21/travel/21EXPLORER1_SPAN/21EXPLORER1-articleLarge.jpg
http://www.lesstravelednorthwest.com/oregon_southeast/upper_owyhee_canyons/data1/images/north_fork_owyhee.jpg
http://www.liskgallery.com/data/photos/890_1090225_004.jpg

Plains:
http://www.thedailytea.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/kenya-105815_1280.jpg
http://hitchhikershandbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Tigris-river-and-the-plains-surrounding-Diyarbak%C4%B1r-Turkey.jpg
http://orsierraclub.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/dscf0752.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6191/6090 ... f56a_z.jpg

Plains Hill:
http://i.imgur.com/RlXG1Pi.jpg

Plains Valley:
https://onda.org/events/images-for-even ... 6fbfc.jpeg

Agriculture:
https://lh4.ggpht.com/B9S-Hsy7OwXlFL_kd ... l79Eg=s649
http://travellerguide.asia/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Cameron-Highlands.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Cameron_Highlands.jpg
http://travel.sndimg.com/static_files/imagesource/imageoutput12/editors-picks-cash-sweeps_001_596x334.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QeuFCRv.jpg?1
http://www.worldofstock.com/stock-photos/olive-trees-growing-on-a-hillside-farm/TEI2589
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_proff ... 434882759/
http://i.imgur.com/zH4bOGR.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Tm3YcXB.jpg
http://topwalls.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Cameron-Highlands-Malaysia.jpg

Transition Zones: (regional mixing)
Example 1
-part a http://i.imgur.com/LnuteDW.jpg
-part b http://i.imgur.com/zWuGAP0.jpg
-part c http://i.imgur.com/yzPkxjy.jpg

Example 2
http://i.imgur.com/ksS8ocx.jpg

Mountain and Highlands:
http://www.elmorecountypress.com/Owyhee%20News_files/image022.jpg

Plain & Highlands:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/2579777404_e93d7b7d82_m.jpg
http://jaysjourneys.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/7155115881_9049d79a16_z.jpg

Agriculture & Highlands:
http://alanmajchrowicz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/succor_creek_gulch_oregon_47896.jpg

Ashland Assets in Transition Zones
http://www.hewlett.org/uploads/images/North%20Fork%20Owyhee%20River.jpg
http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7341/8925805332_1ea0ee1082_m.jpg
http://www.aaroncowanphotos.com/The-Owyhees/i-NdrGsQR/0/S/Juniper-Between-Canyons-S.jpg

Coatline:
http://i.imgur.com/1LGbv.jpg
http://www.travelportland.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/NR_OregonCoast_Overview_12855646_ZachSchepf_.jpg

Webpages:

agriculture
http://permaculturenews.org/2011/09/03/a-small-productive-fruit-farm-in-cambodia/
http://urbancampesina.com/tag/swale/"

taken from here: http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=24686&highlight=

st.Veloth, The Repenting · Tue Apr 21, 2015 7:24 pm

once again, parts of narsis should be redoran, redoran are much more suited to deserts and wastes than they are mountains.

Yeti · Post by **Yeti** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 9:21 pm

st.Veloth, The Repenting wrote:once again, parts of narsis should be redoran, redoran are much more suited to deserts and wastes than they are mountains.

Narsis is House Hlaalu's capital and will not feature Redoran architecture under any conceivable circumstance. In the future, please find a more appropriate thread for posting ideas and feedback, as your post has little to do with the topic of this one.

Also, I think you've been mislead by that map, st.veloth. Narsis is not located in a desert (though the surrounding Shipal-Shin will be an arid region). For the most part, we haven't started at all on Morrowind's southern regions, hence why that map shows the placeholder landscape texture covering the entire bottom portion of the province.

st.Veloth, The Repenting · Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:24 pm

when i said narsis i meant the region not the city, also,what will the hlaalu territory look like? sorry for the last post there, and if you could direct me to the forum you're talking about?

Post by **Gnomey** » Tue Apr 28, 2015 11:59 am

Shipal-shin and Othreleth Woods will both have reddish soil and rocks. [url=http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2010/147/8/a/Mushroom_forest_by_Tamriel_Rebuilt.jpg]This[/url] is a rather old concept of Othreleth Woods; it will be the larger region, and despite its name will probably have areas with less tree cover, where the Hlaalu plantations would mostly be found. It should be discussed [url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=24627]here[/url]. Shipal-shin hasn't been discussed as much, and lacks its own thread. I still don't have a strong impression of the region myself, but I think Why's post [url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=24697]here[/url] gives a good idea of the region, and while a concept for Gnisis, I think the cliffs [url=http://www.imperial-library.info/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/gallery_files/mw_TAoM_p12.jpg]here[/url] look about right as well.

Shipal Shin and Othreleth Woods, as with most of western Morrowind, used to belong to House Redoran, more specifically the Waters March, the southernmost of the three Redoran marches. In the wake of the Armistice, however, House Hlaalu more or less grabbed all of the land of the Waters March with the exception of the twin strongholds of Marak and Iuval, which will likely fall just within the Shipal-shin region, as seen here. As such, House Redoran will have a minor presence in Shipal-shin.

As far as discussing the visuals of Shipal-shin is concerned, I'd either take the discussion to Why's thread linked above or make a Shipal-shin region brainstorming thread in the Master Planning sub-forum. Otherwise, for discussing House Redoran or House Hlaalu the respective [url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=24005]brainstorming[/url] [url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=24220]threads[/url] would probably be the best place to post.

Ironed Maidens · Post by **Ironed Maidens** » Tue Apr 28, 2015 3:32 pm

I was just in Sedona recently and I think we can look at it for reference to Shipal Shin, honestly. It was an incredibly beautiful place.

https://www.google.com/search?q=sedona+ ... 99&bih=734

Ironed Maidens · Post by **Ironed Maidens** » Wed Apr 29, 2015 3:51 pm

One interesting thing of note about Sedona is that while I was there I was dicking around and gathering dirt (because it's pretty, duh), and I noticed that there were different textures of dirt all around. Some of it was soft and fine and some of it was coarse and grainy, with different colors. Some was red, some was light brown, some dark brown, and some was black and even orange-ish. So this is something to keep in mind as well with Shipal Shin; I would imagine it to be an arid climate but also diverse in natural warm tone colors; but not too desert-esque. I'm thinking more of a 'repository' of different sands and dirt with natural Sedona-like rock formations. Look at the images link I supplied and you can easily see how amazing the mountains are; I could easily see there being a lot of exploration and hidden items being able to be placed along such ravines/table tops/mountains/rock arches/formations. And in keeping with the Redoran theme I can see a lot of Lorkhan symbolism being able to be placed in the region; vistas that glorify Masser and Secunda, natural fortifications provided by the unique mountain formations, and a sense of desolation and hardiness. I wouldn't say the area has to be Native-American inspired, but I think a splash of some kind of tribal influence would really bring out the character of this region. Almost giving it a primal beauty.

Bahamut · Post by **Bahamut** » Sat May 02, 2015 12:51 pm

Ironed Maidens wrote:One interesting thing of note about Sedona is that while I was there I was dicking around and gathering dirt (because it's pretty, duh), and I noticed that there were different textures of dirt all around. Some of it was soft and fine and some of it was coarse and grainy, with different colors. Some was red, some was light brown, some dark brown, and some was black and even orange-ish. So this is something to keep in mind as well with Shipal Shin; I would imagine it to be an arid climate but also diverse in natural warm tone colors; but not too desert-esque. I'm thinking more of a 'repository' of different sands and dirt with natural Sedona-like rock formations. Look at the images link I supplied and you can easily see how amazing the mountains are; I could easily see there being a lot of exploration and hidden items being able to be placed along such ravines/table tops/mountains/rock arches/formations. And in keeping with the Redoran theme I can see a lot of Lorkhan symbolism being able to be placed in the region; vistas that glorify Masser and Secunda, natural fortifications provided by the unique mountain formations, and a sense of desolation and hardiness. I wouldn't say the area has to be Native-American inspired, but I think a splash of some kind of tribal influence would really bring out the character of this region. Almost giving it a primal beauty.

I am not certan of your distance from Sedona, but I live say 30 miles away in Camp Verde.
The reference quoted above is very spot on. Solid sandstone of many different colors. Pale white to blood red and dark brown. There are 3 types of soils. Soft and sandy type, general dirt, and rough rocky dirt.
For the strange plants found in the extreme south by the border on TR's Alpha....Sedona and the surrounding desert region would actually match that kind of flora perfectly. It has a Southwest quality in the models. Colors are quite common throughout the region. I do not work on TR, (Sorry my own mod keeps me more than busy) But I would go with it as well.

Post by **Gnomey** » Sat May 02, 2015 3:38 pm

The seven previous posts were moved here from the [url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?p=328252#328252]Maps[/url] thread.

Ironed Maidens · Post by **Ironed Maidens** » Sat May 02, 2015 4:08 pm

Huh, cool, another AZ-er, and none other than Bahamut himself. Weird.

The Mars rover took this picture and sent to it NASA today.

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00971/mcam/0971ML0042890030404125E01_DXXX.jpg

The layered look of the rocks could also be inspirational to Shipal-Shin.

Bahamut · Post by **Bahamut** » Sun May 03, 2015 2:54 am

Ironed Maidens wrote:Huh, cool, another AZ-er, and none other than Bahamut himself. Weird.

The Mars rover took this picture and sent to it NASA today.

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00971/mcam/0971ML0042890030404125E01_DXXX.jpg

The layered look of the rocks could also be inspirational to Shipal-Shin.

I actually think so too. That picture is kind of what I was picturing in my mind for the Shipal-Shin. Shrubbery, and the mushrooms. Really cool looking.

st.Veloth, The Repenting · Wed May 06, 2015 10:25 pm

omg yes! just imagine a velothi city protruding from those cliffs...

Bahamut · Post by **Bahamut** » Tue May 19, 2015 11:22 pm

I kind of tinkered a bit with this idea (Can't make cliff models like the image, but I used some from the game itself. I went to Sedona, and found the most common color. I then came home and tried to match it. And this is my results thus far. (Sorry, could not figure any other way to directly load the images here.)

Ironed Maidens · Post by **Ironed Maidens** » Wed May 20, 2015 4:34 am

Hi Bahamut, cool that you went there to get some inspiration! Did you kind of see where I was coming from then? How I could see Shipal-Shin being kind of like Sedona?

klep · Post by **klep** » Wed May 20, 2015 7:46 am

There are people who can go to places like Sedona just to check it out for inspiration for a game mod and think it's normal. I'm jealous. T_T

I like the colours!

Post by **Gnomey** » Wed May 20, 2015 8:14 am

Yeah, those are excellent colours. The earlier textures we had for Othreleth Woods rocks was too vibrant and orange-y; I think these are the perfect tone.

I'm also jealous that you're able to just up and go to Sedona.

sasquatch2o · Post by **sasquatch2o** » Wed May 20, 2015 11:31 am

I like the textures for city pretty well. I'd prefer lighter colors for shipalshin though. I think it'd look like a dryer hotter heat and transition better with plains and more Mediterranean agricultural and coastal areas.

Plain & Highlands:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/2579777404_e93d7b7d82_m.jpg
http://jaysjourneys.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/7155115881_9049d79a16_z.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4048/5138 ... 5f40_z.jpg

http://www.liskgallery.com/data/photos/890_1090225_004.jpg

http://www.forkingitup.com/jamie/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Pisac-Sacred-Valley-Cusco-Cuzco-Peru-Pisac-Ollantetambo-Urubamba-4.jpg

http://hitchhikershandbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Tigris-river-and-the-plains-surrounding-Diyarbak%C4%B1r-Turkey.jpg

Nomadic1 · Post by **Nomadic1** » Wed May 20, 2015 11:37 am

Looks nice thoughhe rock texture in the second picture is too vibrant - comparing to the Hlaalu building next to it doesn't make for nice aesthetics IMO.

st.Veloth, The Repenting · Wed May 20, 2015 8:13 pm

the dryer the better! think gnisis

Bahamut · Post by **Bahamut** » Wed May 20, 2015 11:20 pm

To answer everyone lol

Thank you for the kind words on it. I am also having some trouble with the buildings and it. I love the GL_Grass_02 with it, and the dirt road look great. But it has a clash. Still working on it.

Iron maidens: I completely get (I think) what you mean. The spire rocks, and buttes all over the place.

Kelp: I am wondering though....what places are you near? I am upset that I cannot go see those places as well.

I love seeing new things big time. New places, colors, textures etc.

Sasquach2o: Those are the kind of rocks and cliffs I would love for this area of mine.

Here was my overall thought process on my mods region.
Sedona colorish rocks and cliffs. BUT Not the same foliage. My mind constantly wanders to what is called the 4 corners area, and Monument Valley for the feel of the place. High rock buttes, not a lot of forestry. Very dry desert look.

[img]http://www.parkerpress.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/2012-02-26-Monument-Valley-223_HDR.jpg[/img]

Something similar to this. Small trees and shrubs. I loved the idea. When wandering through my area (central to the landmass basically...I was imagining this kind of area. And great cities nestled into the alcoves of the cliffs.

st.Veloth, The Repenting · Thu May 21, 2015 2:39 am

YES YES YES
keep the red, cities protruding from the cliffs, skyrender nests clinging to the sides... oh god i think i'm in heaven. oh wait, nope i'm just high on skooma. damn khajiit slaves! always slipping something into my canis root tea!

klep · Post by **klep** » Thu May 21, 2015 8:25 am

Lovely indeed. I love the colours, but would prefer slightly more vegetation. Though it was designed for the Deshaan plains, I think something like 10Kaziem's "[url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=24954]Saltstrap[/url]" would look great in such area.

As for where I live at the moment.. It's not too bad either I guess. French Alps.

I actually just moved closed to the city a few weeks ago, but i used to wake up to this: (still just 20km from my current location)
[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

I often go biking, which makes me quite happy in this area. These photos were taken before it started springing, except the last one which was taken midsummer. Now in the spring it's beautiful with all the blooming different colours.
[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

This last pic isn't in the Alps, but was taken during a cycling holiday of mine also in France. Not far from the Spanish border, nearing the Pyrenees. It may inspirational for other Hlaalu lands.
[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Bahamut · Post by **Bahamut** » Thu May 21, 2015 5:42 pm

klep wrote:As for where I live at the moment.. It's not too bad either I guess. French Alps.

Not too bad either...? The French Alps are some of the most stunning mountains I have come across in my readings! Mountains and beauty there trump the "ahem" mountains we claim in Az. San Francisco Peaks are our highest at 12.000+ ft. Stunning pictures of everything but that white stuff. Hate snow. It is why I live in Arizona

Bahamut · Post by **Bahamut** » Thu May 21, 2015 5:47 pm

I worked a bit more, and got the rocks I wanted for the area. I made a grass_dirt, as well as a dirt texture to match.
Here is what I do have for the area now. I am still considering lightening the color of the rocks. But I enjoy the rest of it a lot.

ihavefivehat · Post by **ihavefivehat** » Thu May 21, 2015 6:13 pm

Very cool! That first picture is beautiful. Did you model those rocks too?

But I have to agree that the red texture is a little bit too vivid, especially next to the buildings. I think if you just made it somewhat more pale it would make a huge difference.

10Kaziem · Post by **10Kaziem** » Thu May 21, 2015 6:14 pm

EDIT: Why had the idea of this being the other way; Shipal-shin is up on the plateau, Deshaan is the lowland. Discussion encouraged!

So, I looked at the map earlier today with political boundaries. I notice Shipal-Shin is adjacent to the Deshaan plains.

If I understand correctly, the current idea for the Deshaan plains is that it is basically long and flat, salty soil, and people have mentioned holes, tunnels, and crevasses in it.

So far, we're imagining the Shipal-Shin region as primarily like Arizona, the grand canyon, etc. Notably, this implies the entire area has been carved away by water, which fits the current map having a river in the middle.

So what if the border between the plains and Shipal-Shin is one of the cliffs? The Deshaan plains would then be up on the plateau, and the Shipal-Shin region is the part of the plateau that has been worn away over the ages, exposing all the different soil types and allowing cool rock formations.

(Incidentally: if the plains used to be watery, then dried up, that would explain the salt. Then, if geologic action pushes them up and water erodes them down, that explains the crevasses and then the transition to Shipal-Shin.)

I attached a really rough sketch of the idea. (I will also post this in the Deshaan plains focus thread.)

st.Veloth, The Repenting · Thu May 21, 2015 9:12 pm

in the screenshots i saw alot of greenery, and dry grass. replace those things with sand dunes and dust animations... give it a red planet feel, with velothi tower/cities...

Ironed Maidens · Post by **Ironed Maidens** » Thu May 21, 2015 10:53 pm

Wow Bahamut! Looks awesome. You've inspired me to take another trip up to Sedona next week, I will be sure to take pictures as well. Thanks, for all your work.

klep · Post by **klep** » Fri May 22, 2015 7:43 am

I like what I see, Bahamut and 10Kaziem. The Shipal-Shin-Deshaan border could definitely be something like that. Also adds some nice lore to the landscape!

Ironed Maidens wrote:another trip up to Sedona next week

Stahp!

Bahamut · Post by **Bahamut** » Fri May 22, 2015 1:22 pm

Ironed Maidens wrote:another trip up to Sedona next week

Stahp![/quote]

I am less than 50 miles from there

Camp Verde

After toying around a bit more with this and that. I have made my final choice for my region.
Rather than the WG texture, I went with the Coastal Rock. I did lighten it more, as I did the road and dirt. And Kelp, I believe, was right. The lighter looks better. With the Coastal Rock, I still have streaks of my darker color. But this is my regions final result. I cannot wait to see TR's, as nothing that is done is anything short of stunning.

10Kaziem · Post by **10Kaziem** » Sat May 23, 2015 1:40 pm

Bahamut: I just had a thought about the Hlaalu architecture in your screenshots. They look really out of place, not because of the style, but because of the color. In Vvardenfell, Hlaalu architecture shows up in green areas and the sort of green cast to the buildings reflects the landscape.

What if the buildings were retextured by just tweaking their colors slightly to reflect their new dry, arid, reddish surroundings?

st.Veloth, The Repenting · Sat May 23, 2015 2:38 pm

i like where you're going with this!
keep it dry, vegetation like pale white towering mushrooms...

hopefully we could have a mars red desert for redoran territory...

Bahamut · Post by **Bahamut** » Sat May 23, 2015 3:36 pm

st.Veloth, The Repenting wrote:i like where you're going with this!
keep it dry, vegetation like pale white towering mushrooms...

hopefully we could have a mars red desert for redoran territory...

I was thinking the same thing. Dry area, small amount of rain. Mushrooms, and shrubs were the idea....but there is a type of Juniper tree around the Sedona area, that flourishes in this climate. I am looking around for something like that. (The ones Vurt released you get stuck in) I almost thought of the flowering mushrooms found in the southern grids of the Alpha release. I hesitate only because the color might be wrong for it. (Thus why Sedona's McDonald's is the only one in the world to NOT have yellow arches.)

10Kaziem wrote:What if the buildings were re-textured by just tweaking their colors slightly to reflect their new dry, arid, reddish surroundings?

I think that would be an awesome idea....save for having to do new models, and re-texture them for it. I would not want to change the other Hlaalu buildings found in Western Isles or Vvardenfell. I have actually been weighing the option of altering the Hlaalu buildings in this town to match a bit more, or to switch it with a town that is Indoril. Indoril looks great with the colors. (It's the turquoise

)

Add one more thing...the rock formation in the screenshot of sunset. That was done with the BM rocks 40 - 49 & 66 - 73. I thought of a "Grey Sedona" the first time I saw these rocks in Bloodmoon. And it works! I will through a couple of screens of my Indoril city Laiquamar, and just some region work in a bit.

Bahamut · Post by **Bahamut** » Sat May 23, 2015 3:55 pm

Here are a couple of screens for the Indoril/imperial representations, as well as one of the general terrain look.

SACarrow · Post by **SACarrow** » Sat May 23, 2015 5:08 pm

Bahamut: With NifSkope, it wouldn't be too bad to create "new" retextured Hlaalu building components. The new textures would still need to be created, but once that was done, then the Hlaalu assets could be copied and renamed and NS used to sub the new texes.

10Kaziem · Post by **10Kaziem** » Sat May 23, 2015 6:13 pm

Bahamut: The Mournhold buildings have the same problem. It's not their color scheme. I mean, the environment is very reddish, which in real life results in reddish light playing off the buildings and making them look red, too. Morrowind's engine doesn't do that, but mimics it with clever textures.

Without fixed textures, Mournhold buildings look just as pasted on as Hlaalu buildings.

Speaking of which, I made some really quick replacement textures and NIFSkoped two models to use them, they are attached in a RAR.

Feel free to play with them.

Bahamut · Post by **Bahamut** » Sat May 23, 2015 7:39 pm

So essentially add a touch of pink/red to it? Kind of what I am getting from it.

Also the images are being taken with MGE....I have noticed a lot of "pasty" look, until you are right up on it. Especially in the "opposites" department.
My city of Levende and Valaina (Necrom models) looks really wrong against the volcano peak Mt. Doemberg. Thank God you do not normally see 5 - 10 grids away, or I would wipe those towns out. Right along with the white trees/rocks in the Nerevar Coast region it sits in

Dually noted....my first regions are kind of clumsy when seen together. Emeraude Coast, which borders the majority of this regions East side, hosts WG rocks, scrub, and AI grass. Several different trees, as well as the mushrooms of Ascadia Isles. Stark contrast to Inner Plains.

Luckily I caught this quick enough to blend in things to different regions. IE Dennenbos Mountains hold the same rocks as Lethe Valley, which holds some of the same trees as Kemina Mountains, which holds the same rocks as Mephala Mountains.

[EDIT]
After taking a peak at the textures, I think I might just bring these buildings used here into that texture. It will make it look just a bit better I think.
As for the Indoril, might just need to be the grey walls. My eyes see nothing wrong with the contrast of the roof and rock...mostly because everything in Sedona/Oak Creek is the same color, against a much darker rock

10Kaziem · Post by **10Kaziem** » Sat May 23, 2015 9:27 pm

If you want a more technical explanation of colors, you can click here: http://www.kaziemdesigns.com/blog/paint-your-colors

But in summary: part of what makes things look "real" is the muddy mix of colors that happens because objects have, not just their own colors, but also the reflected colors of everything around them.

In many old games, particularly Morrowind, if you actually look at the textures, you will notice that they are muddy and mixed. Hlaalu buildings have many of the same tints and shades and colors as the natural landscape around them in the West Gash or Bitter Coast region. This helps the buildings sit naturally and appear as though they are actually there, with the environment, rather than being pasted on like a magazine clipping.

In Arizona or any other place, we can paint our buildings any color we want, but they still reflect colors from their surroundings, which lends them a little of the look of their environment. I can paint a building bright blue, but it will still have a red cast from the dirt.

In real life this happens automatically, but in Morrowind, objects are exactly the same color no matter where you plop them down. On Vvardenfell, the textures made all share similar sorts of colors, so most of the time, we don't run into this issue.

With the very bright red rocks you have, though, the original assets stand out very awkwardly. Part of fixing this is shading the original assets, as I did, to fit in with the landscape. Another thing is to edit the landscape texture to have some subtle color variation.

As an example, check out this [url=http://kaziem.deviantart.com/art/Luminous-Russula-524965653]Luminous Russula I drew[/url]. What color is it? Green. But it's not just green, and the other colors enhance, not diminish, the green-ness.

By the way, I really like what you're doing, I just wanted to express more specifically what I meant by the colors.

Tamriel Rebuilt

Shipal-Shin inspirational stuff

Shipal-Shin inspirational stuff

Just a shot of some colorizing