New area design - Scale and detail.

[Void]

I finally got to soulhaven and, basically, it looks like this:




There are HUGE areas with large swatches of empty uniformly colored space which has nothing in it.
There are no placeables, no particle effects, no lights, just a huge open area. Even having some sort of trail on ground would be nice (because monks are supposed to walk there every day). There ARE nice areas in there, for example, library, or corner with the cook, but there's a lot of emptiness.

Outdoor area is much better, especially garden, but. In bird eye view, this happens:


This kind of ground appearance (greenish-yellowish mostly uniform color) is common in areas like lake minmir, where there are, again, swathes of large areas covered in uniform color.

Now, if you zoom in, there is grass and all, but this is a CRPG and those are often played in bird eye view perspective, and grass disappears with distance, leaving underlying texture.

For comparison, here is cordor, with Kesha Derlson going for her daily dip in the fountain again.


The feeling of size is there, but there are patterns on the ground hwich are visible in bird eye view, buildings are surrounded by "sidewalk", and so on.

Large open area in certain dungeon:


This is basically an arena area with nearly no obstacles. But. There are symbols on the ground, several pieces of tiles that were broken off and so on.

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Just sharing my thoughts.

[Seven Sons of Sin]

This was what that entire thread I started a few days ago was entirely about.

But I guess some concrete examples help.

I already miss old Soulhaven.

[Void]

This was what that entire thread I started a few days ago was entirely about.

But I guess some concrete examples help.

I already miss old Soulhaven.

The reason why I started separate thread and not continued existing one (not sure if it was locked), is because I felt your thread was dealing with distances to traverse, rather than detailed work. At least that's the impression I got.

Unfortunatley, I have never seen the old soulhaven. Some screenshots could help.

I had some experience with map building in NwN2, and one issue with huge areas is that you sorta need to fill every nook and cranny with details, which turns into a rather tiring endeavor very fast. It is much easier to make a one-two room location filled with bazillion things to examine and look at.

At least I finally figured out what I actually don't like about those grass tiles aroudn minmir.

[DM Wraith]

Hi Void,

I will be locking this thread after this comment. Regarding your thread, you are entitled to your feelings about aesthetics, but at the end of the day, these are the additions cleared and decided upon by the Creative Lead and Server Owner.

To that, these are specifically designed that way; as these are inspired from Real world. Look outside, its not always a magical effect, or etc. Much of the world aside from developed places is open expanses. To that, I encourage you to not play from a Birds' eye perspective in which these are taken; and immerse yourself visually in what these areas are meant to represent.

Cheers,
DM Wraith

[ActionReplay]

For the record I agree with some of the feedback here, especially for the new monastery interior. It lacks lighting and looks monotone and also agree with the open spaces there that could be filled or rather reduced. A cave would be darker and dimly lit. But I am Underdark biased.

I get we can aim for more realism but at the end of the day players are gonna watch these areas on their monitors and I'd prefer something astethically pleasing that is interesting for the eye rather than realistic shades of grey.

Seems some of those new tilesets are offering the grass as seen there but it gets culled away by distance which results in what can be seen on those screenshots. This is unfortunate could be remedied by adding some decoration there but I wonder if its possible to alter the tileset itself to set these culling props. 90% of players, probably more, play from a bird's eye perspective.

I think this sort of feedback should always be welcome, as long as its constructive and points out possible improvements that can be done. Now creatives will always disagree and that is okay, we're all doing it because we want the best for the server and are passionate about it.