This area features part of a forest, a river, a lake, mountains and a druid grove. It represents a part of Chondalwood and in specific the region near a druid grove. Chondalwood was selected because it was the place where Silvanus appeared during the Time of Troubles.
With the help of a friend, some lore was created to facilitate the existance of the druid grove, the Guardian and the Heart of Silvanus. Hopefully, there aren't any major inconsistencies with the general FR lore and the Time of Troubles. Not sure how good this attempt is, but it is what i had in mind when deciding to create such an area.
Regarding performance, i apologise in advance for the heavy use of trees and vegetation, as it may cause problems. It is my belief that environmental shadows should be turned on for this area, as they heavily impact the feeling of the forest (as well as fps unfortunately).
Some parts of the ground may seem a bit jaggy but i doubt they can be improved more, taking into consideration the variety of heights for the area and the absence of mesh refinement abilities from the toolset.
And an issue with the creatures: some of them (such as deers) have been placed outside the occlusion grid (buildable area) on decorative purposes. While they do show up in the toolset, they are not visible ingame. Perhaps it is a nwn2 engine issue, since placeables, npcs and creatures that can battle the player are displayed (ingame). The problem seems to be with creatures with a decorative purpose.
Two versions are availiable, one with haks and one without any haks. Be warned however that the second will seem more or less incomplete as almost all the effects (and i also think the overall feeling) of the area will be missing.
Updated version with hak to proper pond/stream colour and removed flock of birds. Any suggestions are welcome, thank you.
Version with haks/overrides:
1)Camb's creature FX/Camb's light FX: Link 2)Sorceress Ashura's VFX Pack: Link
Hello, thank you for your comments. I am not really aware of the rule you say, but in my view you can't depict a forest properly with 20 trees (i am still not very happy in some parts of the area with the current tree density to be honest). I agree that they do impact the performance (i mention it in the description of the area as well).
However, given the module format of the area, it is up to the individual creator/builder or whichever person wants to use it, to customise and optimise the area to his needs/wishes. If someone thinks the amount of trees used is excessive, he can simply delete as many as he finds necessary.
Regarding your offer, unfortunately my free time is quite limited. Using the toolset is more like a hobby and i only work with it whenever i find some time, will and motivation to do so. I wish you good luck with your pw, i will be happy to see my area used. Thanks again for your comments and vote!
Posted by _Flailer_ at 2007-11-20 06:39:41 Voted 8.00 on 11/20/07
Hey very nice!
I would guess you probably exceeded the recommended number of trees for the area though, no? According to OEI devs, their rule of thumb is 5 types of trees with 4 different seeds (which yields a total of 20 unique trees). Go over and that and you start taking a performance hit on the client side...
Ever think of doing any development work with a team? I'm the lead dev for the Neversummer persistant world for NWN2 and we're well on our way to getting our server going live, but are always on the lookout for talented area designers. If you might be interested, email me at [email protected] and I'd love to talk to you about it.
Cheers!
Posted by HellBlood at 2007-11-03 20:18:51 Voted 10.00 on 11/03/07
Actually, yes, the blue colour of the bottom of the pond and stream was selected to emphasise the water colour. I will give a shot at your suggestion, thanks for the advice!
Posted by SGK73 at 2007-10-31 15:22:21 Voted 8.50 on 10/31/07
Good texture selection and blending. Good Day/Nightcycle settings(no blowout fog which is rare:)). One thing, the pond/stream bottom should be brown or brownish green not blue, I'm guessing you made it so to boost the colour of the water. Try boosting that by upping the reflect/refract value in the watersettings so it reflects more of the sky and surroundings and set the waterplane colour to a bit more saturated and darker blue than the default.
I have to agree regarding the walkmesh. As this was my first exteriorregion, i realised this issue when i had already spent many many hours working on the area. Making any significant changes to the area's walkmesh would mean i would have to throw away a big chunk of invested time. Thank you for the observation however, next time i will definately keep it in mind.
Posted by a_chan at 2007-10-29 19:12:02 Voted 9.00 on 10/29/07
I downloaded the HAK-less version and it was stunning even without the fancy FX. It's a great choice for any hilly, temperate wilderness region.
One thing kept the area from being completely perfect. The walkmesh is basically one long path to a dead end grove-area, which can lead players to feel as if they're being railroaded. The area would be much better if the walkmesh a branch or two, so the player could get a sense of exploration. It doesn't matter if the other paths are just dead ends - the impression of exploration is what's important.
Hello, i made a version that requires no haks, however i think much of the feeling is lost without them, but at least you can see the area and modify it to your needs/pw.
As for the advice for the creature, unfortunately it didn't work; the animal still is at the bottom of the lake ingame.
No, I can't use this without the hacks, else I would definatelly have voted as the screenshots really look promising. Would have wished to test this, but the flock of birds hack is a bit unnecessary to my opinion as I do not want the players to download even more.
Your screenshots look very promising, unfortunately I cannot have a look at your area due to not using all of your hacks. Can I just make a recommendation? Perhaps note the link to the original author's work as to make it easier for the downloaders.
And for the creature placed on a branche: have you tried to convert the branch into an enviromental object and place a walkmesh helper underneath the creature?
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