This mod has been released, see
https://forums.elementalgame.com/398661
This thread is the result of an idea I've been tossing around lately. This run is an experiment - either people will show interest, or the project will wither and die.
TL;DR: We need your help to design Elven city tiles.
A selection of a few of the completed buildings:
Right now, we have a few modders doing a lot of work on big projects. Joining a project can feel like a big commitment. The individual modder can sometimes feel that he wants to do something, but don't really have the time to see a project to the finish line. He wants to contribute, but not sign away his soul. Enter the community project. Your participation and contributions are just as much as you want them to be. A community project is many modders doing small parts to form a greater whole. The intention is to push content to the end-user as soon as possible. Rather than a few modders doing work on mods over many months, a community project is intended to reach maturity within a week or two. Once the project is done, the mod becomes public property and anyone can use it in the future for anything they want to.
For the first community project, I thought we'd put an elf race in this fantasy game. More precisely, I thought we'd put something that LOOKS like elves in the game.
General outline for mod to meet release conditions:
- Elves play as Kingdom with Kingdom technology and Kingdom magic (no custom technology or magic planned at this stage). This will ensure that the mod stays viable after the community project is finished.
- Elves have unique unit textures - they will look like elves ( http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn195/summersong/Elemental/Gaediila_0_2106408875-24.png )
- Elves live in Elf cities. In this case, they are Sylvan or Wood elves, so city tiles should look like they were built inside a forest. See more info below. (examples: https://forums.elementalgame.com/396593 )
- Elves ride Elf mounts (a larger variety of horses, including white ones).
- Elves wield elf bows. They have kingdom stats, but look elven.
- (Additional outline, not required for release): Elves wield elf melee weapons. They have kingdom stats, but look elven.
- (Additional outline, not required for release): Elves wield elven armor and elven shields. They have kingdom stats, but look elven.
Nit-picking stuff: For this community project, I will be the moderator. Translated to reality, that means that if a situation appears where the community is split between two choices, I choose one. It also falls on me to make sure that tasks are not duplicated (update this thread), and that the project stays usable after the game is patched. In extreme cases, I may turn down contributions if they lack quality.
If you are interested in helping out, post in the thread what you intend to contribute with. You can also e-mail me at outelf@gmail.com
Required Tasks
Red means the task has not been assigned
Orange means the task has been assigned, and you should preferably choose something else to contribute with
Green means the task has been completed (and the files have reached me)
Note: You don't need my permission to start working on a tile. This is just so that if you want to take your time working on something, you can reserve that task so noone can steal it from under your feet.
XML framework (Heavenfall with ideas from Wintersong). The mod requires an XML framework to link everything together. Specifically, the framework should include a non-invasive way to link the buildings together, a raceconfig, and a racetype so that custom factions may use everything.
Unit Textures (Raven X). Both female and male elven skins need to be made, I strongly suggest that you adopt the skins from fallen units, as they fit the models with pointy ears. In particular eyes, eyebrows and mouths need to be cleared up to appear less goth.
Bow models (3dgrunge)
Melee Weapon Models. In this area, anything is welcome.
(3dgrunge)
Extra assets:
New colours for apple trees and swamp trees
Example of completed buildings: http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/5113/elemental1285328784.jpg
City tiles. By far the largest part of the mod, and the part where we will need the most contributions. There is a HUGE freedom here for contributors to put their own flavour on buildings, but keep in mind that the theme you go by will not be reflected in all the other buildings.
There are two key words that I want to stress here. First, the elves live in the WOOD. That means their city should look like it could be part of a forest - elves are one with the forest, and all that. No cleared fields, no huge arenas for training. And please, try to mix the trees you use - both leaf trees and pine trees. Secondly, the elves live in a CITY. They do NOT live in tents, or miniscule huts on top of large trees. Buildings are absolutely okay.
I strongly recommend that you do NOT use a ground decal, for example something that makes the ground look beige or dusty. These decals have significant clipping issues in game, and frankly look off in a forest city.
I strongly suggest that you use LESS than thirty models in total. This is to make sure that the city can be viewed like any other city. In this area, I will be rather strict and may edit buildings.
Buildings MUST be built on the right amount of tiles. If a building requires 1 tile, it MUST use 1x1. If it requires 4 tiles, it MUST use the 2x2 format. Any building that doesn't follow this rule will be instantly rejected.
I must also insist that you provide TWO tiles for each building. The game can use a different tile while building something. I recommend that you first construct the final building and save. Then load, and remove some parts, add workers and ropes and whatnot, and save as something else.
I strongly suggest that you use the following colours when using the tile editor
While the colours may change for release, they will not change a lot.
City Cores (all are 4 tiles!):Being Built (oddrheia)Level 1 (oddrheia)Level 2 (oddrheia)Level 3 (oddrheia)Level 4 (oddrheia)Level 5 (oddrheia)
Regular Buildings:Workshop (Heavenfall)Watchtower (Jharii)Study (Jharii)Arcane Laboratory (Jharii)Merchant (Novaburst)Hut (crystlshake)House (Kalin)Barracks (Kalin)Command post (Kalin)War College (Kalin)Market (Kalin)School (4 tiles!) (jshores)University (4 tiles!) (John_Hughes)Trade Center (Kalin)Bazaar (4 tiles!) (Kalin)Pub (HooblaDan)Inn (Kalin)Great Theatre (oddrheia)Town Hall (Heavenfall)Palace (4 tiles!) (oddrheia)Irrigation System (Heavenfall)Guild Tribunal (Kalin)Mining Guild (Kalin)Smelter (oddrheia)Blacksmith (oddrheia)Farming Guild (crystlshake)Granary (crystlshake)Great Mill (4 tiles!) (oddrheia)Construction Yard (Heavenfall)Temple of Essence (oddrheia)Monastery (Heavenfall)Tower of Ereog (fairwater)Abbey of Izil (4 tiles!) (oddrheia)Missionary Hall (John_Hughes) Embassy (oddrheia)
Harbor (crystlshake)Super-unique buildingsMint of Ruvenna (4 tiles!) (oddrheia)Hosten's Library (4 tiles!) (John_Hughes) Wall buildings (the improvement built to make walls - these automatically upgrade)Hedge Wall (oddrheia)Fort (oddrheia)Fortress (oddrheia)
City wallsCitywalls (level 0) (Heavenfall)CityWalls_Hedge (level 1) (Heavenfall)CityWalls_picket (level 2) (Heavenfall)CityWalls_Advanced (level 3) (Heavenfall)
Shards (all these are 4 tiles):Fire Shard (Kalin)Water Shard (Djohaal)Earth Shard (Djohaal)Air Shard (Djohaal)World Resources (all these are 4 tiles):Iron Mine (John_Hughes)Ventri Mine (John_Hughes)Stone Quarry (John_Hughes)Clay Quarry (John_Hughes)Marble Quarry (Heavenfall)Farm (Heavenfall)Wheat Farm (crystlshake)Apiary (crystlshake)Orchard (crystlshake)Stable (crystlshake)Crystal Foundry (Kalin)Scenic View (oddrheia)Refugee Camp (John_Hughes)Oasis (John_Hughes)Gold Mine (Heavenfall)Lost Library (oddrheia)Ancient Temple (oddrheia)Lumbermill (be gentle!) (John_Hughes)
Diplomacy buildingsShrill (Kalin)Drath (Heavenfall)Dragon (oddrheia)Spider (oddrheia)
Contributions are mailed to outelf@gmail.com or uploaded and linked here in this thread.
That would be me for the harbor and grainery. I noticed in the native files there is a second harbor file (the one that doesnt have docks but a stone building) is it an upgrade version or an alternate? I'm not sure how well the impression of them growing the ships from trees worked out on the harbor one.
I might take a crack at a new apiary (putting the bee hives in a tree probably) if i have the time
Market?
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3213/elemental1286053906.jpg
Can I just say that I am officially drooling over those horses? Can we have one for sovereign creation option?
And that bazaar building, wow. I swore off trade buildings after the mint of ruvenna, really have trouble with making it appear like one, and I'm green with envy (in the nicest sense) how you pulled it off with bazaar .
And I've finished the great mill. I've kept the original water tower and the mechanism, changed the building, put around a less intrusive fence, uncluttered some ground and added trees.
Built tile:
XMLs:
Great Mill
Great Mill WIP
Cleaning up.
@crystlshake thanks for helping out! I think the harbor turned out fine. These guys aren't really seafarers or navigators, so it's nice that it looks a bit suburban. The granary was also nicely done.
@Kalin looks like a market to me (also reminds me of the bazaar hehe).
@oddrheia I'm going to sit on the mount barding for now. They represent a significant time investment, the solutions were the exact opposite of straight forward, and my plan is to release them when we release the elf race (as a separate mod as well as included in the elf race) to draw some extra publicity. Good job on the mill.
@John_Hughes I love it. The trees look a bit odd, however. It's like you've set them up as a background, but people will move the camera around. Also, I see a few dead trees in the background. It doesn't go well with the whole "guarding the forest" thing.
I would like more comments on what Kalin brought up - is the heavy cavalry TOO heavy cavalry for the elves? Do you prefer the lighter barding or the heavier barding?
Heavy: http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/4552/elemental1286045647.jpg
Light: http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/9490/elemental1286043786.jpg
Submitted an orchard. The original 'hanging garden' idea didn't quite pan out as the trees would make the platform pretty bland with how I was constructing it.
I think the Heavy looks fine. It looks like a more 'serious' unit where if these guys are running around the elves mean business.
Beautiful. Don't be afraid to post screenshots in the thread if you want some feedback from the other guys.
Elf Orchard:
By [URL=http://profile.imageshack.us/user/crystlshake]crystlshake[/URL] at 2010-10-02
Elf Harbor:
Elf Grainery:
I had to find my account password.
John, also, try Heavenfall's tree recolors. They are less swampy, more foresty.
Heavenfall: it's all good . As long as there is a possibility to acquire those white horses in game (i.e. they aren't exclusive to diplomacy units), I'm happy. And I have to say that while I like the idea of elves using lighter armors and thus lighter barding, for the concept you have the heavier looks more 'in place'. If that was, say, mounter archer in leather, then lighter barding would look better.
Ideally, I'd like to see elven equivalent of 'heavy' armor be something with less defence and more dodge (less bulky), like elemental's equivalent of mithral chainmails. But a) we doing a mostly cosmetic mod, and no modelers graced us with the armor models as of yet So, yah... no avoiding heavy armor.
Edit: hiya, Crystlshake! Those tiles are very neat, like the orchard, especially!
There will be white horses, and many more colours, but the barding will be unique for the diplomacy guy.
Here's the problem as I see it. I can include it in the elf race mod, but I think the models are too good to waste on just being a graphical asset. I'd like to give them stats. Maybe 1 healthpoint and 3-5 defense, on top of the movement and combat speed.
So, do I include the mod in the elf race, and make the barding available to everyone? Or do I release it separately, since it constitutes a balance change. Keep in mind, there's nothing like it for wargs or wolves. It's up to you guys, really. Either way, I will almost certainly release it as separate, for those who don't want the elf race but want the barding. The real question is, should we include such a balance change in this mod?
You could include the graphic, but I'd hold off on the stats and stick with cosmetics for this one. The stats should be implemented with a tech tree/ race mod to keep all the game changing elements together in one mod. That should make tracking down pieces when balancing or updating a mod for a new game version simpler.
Elf Apiary:
Heavenfall: separate/modular release for anything that alters balance or mechanics, definately. I like the idea of stats on the barding, and also like to be able to get it from the tech tree, but imho, that's beyond the scope of this particular mod. As I've said before ideally there are lots of things that I'd like the elves to have, but that would kind of go beyond the original design concept.
First pass at the Sovereign: everyone, feel free to edit/add to it. I've kept the description length on par with the core soveregns, but it doesn't mean it needs to remain like this.
I'm thinking warrior, either tracker or natural leader, earth book. Same stat buy as a vanilla custom soveregin (would be nice to have one AI soveregn that starts on par with the player for once)
suggestions:
survors= survivors
ansestral= ancestral
Bearing the power= Bearing a power
But like a tree = But like the willow
Market and UC:
http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/1033/elemental1286078707.jpg
Dls:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11827581/Elven_Market.rar
Admittedly, it's just a rip off of my bazaar design, just vastly simplified to fit the smaller space. I had some spare objects under the limit so I toss in some people seeing as how it's a market, but if specialist slots happen in v1.1, we might want to just pull the people to save resources, since I doubt anyone actually see them, and there will probably be a lot of markets.
On another note, have anyone test the harbor ingame or in map editor? I thought about giving this one a go a while back, but I saw that harbors actually have 8 tiles (2x4), one half (out at sea) is very low and under the "floor" of the workshop, making it rather difficult to edit, so I passed it over. Just wondering if that was taken into account.
Here is what I mean:
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/4281/elemental1286076935.jpg
Polis Harbor (actually 2 different tiles)- Empire Harbor (K_Harbor_02) - Kingdom Harbor (K_Harbor_01)
I'll test the harbor, thanks for the headsup.
I'm releasing the following buildings now, from people who reserved tiles but haven't finished them.
Workshop, Hut, Barracks, Inn.
Okay, definitely holding off on the barding then. I'm just going to link it to mounted warfare, for now. The heavy piece will be 1 extra health and 7 extra armor, and cost 25 gold, 10 materials and 1 crystal. The lighter version will be +1 extra world movement, +3 defense, and cost 20 gold, 3 materials and 1 crystal. Those bonuses are added to the original +1movement / +1 combat speed.
Since the tech tree for the elves is done, I can link it up to the elves in that separate mod.
Not counting those tiles that have already been reserved, there are 14 tiles left to do. In addition, there are 2 tiles to do for diplomacy building (I'm using/modifying the unicorn spring from Kalin for the mounted guy, which is the 3rd). I'll leave those tiles for whoever wants to do the custom unit deisgn. In addition, the Dragon Roost may need an Elven touchup.
I'll do the dragon roost. Embassy's done. Or was before my editor crashed before I saved, again, grr. But the concept is easily recoverable, so I'll post it up today.
I'd built the harbor tiles off of the existing ones so they should be ok (though shrinking the docks on the build one could have an issue). On that note how do you go about testing the tiles?
I may take a shot at one of the other ones when I get home. Maybe a grown in hut or weighted scale structure for the merchants guild.
About the harbor... I think that tile automatically upgrades one time ala city hub in vanilla game. Not sure when.
Does it need to, for custom race?
No, it doesn't. Frankly, I've never even built a normal harbor.
I test the tiles by hooking them up to XML like vanilla buildings and trying to build them in-game.
Finished embassy. (again)
WIP:
Embassy
Embassy_WIP
Guys, I'd like some opinions, please.
For the reference, this is unclaimed scenic view resource:
How do you feel about it forestified with unintrusive architectural structure? I kind of like this one, since it is supposed to be a beautiful view and it felt kind of wrong to slap another castle-like structure on it. Then again, I like doing castle-like, so if you feel like it needs it I can do that instead of the whole 'preserve the spot' thing.
Edit: the water effect's there. Just didn't show in the editor.
I've hit a snag with the XML. It appears that the diplomacy stuff is using something hardcoded to spawn new resources. That means I can't change what kind of tile appears. So even if I researched Elven Heavy Cavalry, it would still spawn Shrill. But I would then build something completely different on the tile. I hope that's an OK tradeoff. This will also make sure that you can recruit from random world resources of those types of monsters, or (as it happens sometimes) resources spawned by your enemy, or even (down the line) resources spawned by minor factions.
So to be clear
-> research new diplomacy unit
-> old thing spawns, like a shrill hive
-> build tile on it that looks elvish, and enables you to build the elven unit
-> train elven unit
oddrheia, I like the building better. Something has to say "elves claimed this".
oddrheia: I'd say your current scenic veiw holds the appeal of a vacation spot, and holding the 'natural' look. Though that temple on the top makes me want to go exploring.
I really like the embassy roof. The masive tree and arc combo is cool. Did you combine smaller trees to create it?
I actually shamelessly borrowed Kalin's style for that element Crossed arches and stacked apple trees (recolored here) are in several of his designs . That one on the embassy is scaled up 'straight' apple tree plus 4 more bent ones that are smaller scale and further rotated to stick out from the side of the main stem. Different y offset too.
Okay, back to the drawing board for the scenic view. If it urges to go explore, it's definitely not 'claimed' .
Meanwhile work in progress forest dragon roost. Walls need more green, and dragons are missing, but I was thinking overall shape's this:
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