[WIPz:Oblivion] AFK_Mausoleum

[Dwip]

Dear lighting: What did I ever do to you?In other, frightening moments, it only took me like 15 minutes to UV this large static. I'm not sure I like what this says about me.

[AndalayBay]

Well since I have no idea what UV'ing is... it says nothing about you? :lol:Since I'm guessing that UV'ing a large static should take longer, then I would say you are very efficient, how's that?

[Arthmoor]

Let's just say it's one of the more arcane arts involved in making meshes and getting textures to work with them. It means Dwip is becoming aware that he is in fact a Blender God.

[AndalayBay]

My husband is a blender god too - he makes great daquari's and margaretta's! ROFLAnd he's gradually learning the fine art of 3DS Max too. We'll have to get him on the new forum so he can give you an update on things Arthmoor.And now I'll stop spamming Dwip's thread :grinning:

[Dwip]

UV mapping is roughly the process described here. For the most part it's a huge pain in the ass even when you don't need to do new textures. I'm also pretty anal about it, so it usually takes me forever, and was actually the reason I quit in despair after my last Blender session. Then I show up last night and I'm like "Oh, of course you do this this this and the other thing and oh hey that looks just fine."Kinda biffed the vertex shading though, so I'll need to work on that.And your husband has my sympathies. I hear Max is an easier road than Blender, but ain't none of this stuff easy.

[AndalayBay]

Max is much easier to use than Blender. It has menus for one thing. And help files!All I know is when I take a vanilla mesh like a statue, shrink it down and create a new collision mesh for it, I get a very nice psychedelic effect. So if you want psychedelic Oblivion statues to clutter your house, I'm your gal. ROFL

[Dwip]

Help files? Workable UI? HERESY. I bet they weren't written by pretentious open source assholes, either.The other seems...difficult...to achieve.

[AndalayBay]

The current 3DS Max NifTools plugin can't handle meshes that have a vertex colors array. It flips them all to weird colors on export.My husband will be fixing it when he rebuilds the plugin - the main reason he's learning 3DS Max :grinning:

[Dwip]

So it's been a little while since we've had screenshots. And since I just dropped a bunch of time on getting various things in order, I think we should have some. Barring textures, we're pretty much down to doing dialogue, a couple of mini-quests, and the last bit of decoration.This dude is standing at the road gate, and is one of 12 guards patrolling the area. I'm not wholly satisfied here yet - I think the area needs something a little more than it has, but I'm not really sure what could be added.This is more or less the final downstairs with the exception of statues. That's Heedul there in the front, next to some placeholder tombs. In the background, you can see that I went berserk with candles, and it looks pretty great.A much more beta upstairs. That's Uriel's tomb, and it's going to look sweet once Hanaisse gets done texturing. You can sort of see one of the tombs for his sons in the background. I'm not really happy there yet, but I'm not entirely certain what I can do to make them better beyond a few candles. A small dais for each one, perhaps? I welcome suggestions. That's Mangevar down there in front, holding vigil over the tomb of his emperor.Another shot of the upstairs, which highlights how epic Uriel's tomb is going to look when I textures finally happen. I also need to do something slightly different with the bronze dragon, but I'm unsure as to what, precisely.

[Arthmoor]

The outdoor area could use a small garden and/or small pond.Uriel's tomb section could stand a bit more light. It's too hard to tell what all is there already.

[Dwip]

Does being right next to Lake Rumare count? And actually the whole bottom part you can't really see looks just fine - lots of grass and plant life and things. It's just this top bit by the road that could use some help.Once I figure out how I want to add more light, the upper tomb will definitely be getting it. Probably going to be lanterns on the walls or pillars unless I figure out a better way. Those giant chandeliers look rad, but you can't really fit many of them.

[Hana]

Outside cluttering could use scattered flowers of various colours by the wall and by those huge rocks. Just a few for visual appeal. Speaking of rocks, why is that huge one blocking the wayshrine? Could be me being picky but if someone was going to build an epic mausoleum for an epic Emperor and his family... you'd think they could clear a few rocks in the front yard.Inside, yeah, lighting. Personally I would experiment with common white and gray bulbs, then plunk down a bunch of fake candlesticks.I can't quite see the son's tomb, so can't offer suggestions. Try a dais, see if it works. Or a lectern, and write a book of his (their) life.Bronze dragon maybe could use a decorative border. I'll see how creative I feel.

[Dwip]

I don't suppose anybody knows of anything going on in 17,11 at all.

[AndalayBay]

It's one of the few areas we aren't touching... :grinning:

[Ysne58]

I can't imagine why not. :headbang:

[Hana]

I don't suppose anybody knows of anything going on in 17' date='11 at all.[/quote']Are we supposed to know off the top of our heads? Screenshot of the area, maybe, or is this where the Mausoleum is?

[Dwip]

Very roughly, it's across the street from the All Things Alchemical ruins and the Mausoleum.

[Arthmoor]

You'll be right on the western edge of the Ancient Yews UL, so as long as you don't edit landscape or path grids east of the cell border you should be ok for anything major.

[Dwip]

So, changed the topic title because I can, and because it's well past that time.Spent a while today doing some more cosmetic stuff:Did some more stuff to the exterior, mainly with plants, but also a few banners and braziers and things. Looks much better than it did.New interior shot. Decided I didn't like the tombs, so replaced them with something better. Also figured out what to do for lighting, as you can see. Also added a couple of candlesticks to brighten up the area by the stairs some more. Note also the bronze statues in the alcoves. Added a whole lot of those, and I like 'em. Wish they were a tad bigger, but if I did that they wouldn't all fit correctly, so oh well.This is the glimmer of an idea. I'm not sure where I'm going with it yet, or even if I really am going anywhere at all with it, but I kept looking across the road and saying "If there was ever a spot for a village, this has got to be it." Still not much of a village, but it does brighten things up a bit.

[Arthmoor]

That's all looking damn cool. Also we can never have enough villages, even if it's only 2 or 3 buildings

[Ysne58]

I agree with Arthmoor.

[Dwip]

Apparently, it was a good idea to spend all day messing around with candles. Whee. Relatedly, it sure is liberating to go "Man, I need $OBJECT! Huzzah, Blender!" Really it is.The texture limit for cells is really obnoxious. I also wish there was a better way to deal with grass. Oh well.

[Dwip]

Cluttering shots are boring, but it's been a while, so:

[Arthmoor]

Any news? (oh look, just like the irritating BGS posters!)

[Dwip]

I've had a bunch of stuff that isn't this to take care of, plus had some writer's block with some of the quests. However, as of last night I've got all that worked out, so I should be able to hammer something out relatively quickly. Unless I get leaped by Yet More D&D Stuff this weekend (unlikely, I think), I'm probably going to start writing some dialogue.I'm also operating with the knowledge that my critical textures aren't coming in until you guys deal with Sutch, and Hanaisse is pretty busy with that, so I haven't been killing myself about it.Funny how that biweekly D&D game cuts into your time.