Port City of Abeacia WIP

[Genzel]

The idea for this mod began as a test of the landscape editor a few days ago, and now it has become the basis for a beautiful and exciting city.

I would like input of any kind, or even help from modders, who can give advice and such. Know of any resources that might fit? Helpful aesthetic ideas? Feel free to post.

 

Here is a little intro:

The port town of Abeacia is located about a mile or two out at sea from Anvil. The island is a highly active port, and is a thriving fishing and trading town. he towns cliffs face Cyrodiil and Anvil, and the port, and beach areas face out to sea. Unlike the measly port of Anvil, Abeacia can accomodate ten plus sea-faring vessels, and is home to a fair market and warehousing area for ease of trade. Goods are also then shipped out on the easy journey to Anvil for further distribution.

The views from the cliffside are stunning, and fishermen dive into the sea below for pearls and slaughterfish. The reef is home to a variety of floura and fauna, as well as beuatiful rock structures. Housing juts out from the breathtaking cliff, and a network of homes span throughout the inside of the tall island.

The lower areas of the town are home to tradesman and fisherman, by the docks and by the beaches. A few small islands nearby, house citizens as well. Due to the high flow of ships, two lighthouses are neaded in this bustling port town. A majority of Abeacia's inhabitants are not permanant residents, so the town is home to many apartmants, inns, taverns, and trading shops.

The arcitecture of Abeacia is almost identical to the nibanese town of Bravil. These buildings are be cheap, generally tall, and replaceable in the event of strong sea storms. Despite their shambly appearance, Abeacian homes grip strongly to the bedrock beneath the sand and are easily repaired with wrecked ships which use almost identical wood.

 

Okay, I have like 20 picture to show, and there have been further changes after these screen shots, and more changes will obviously come. The biggest change from the pictures and what the city is currently are the docks. The docks are double what are shown in the picture and have an open aired market. Anyway, here are links to the basic shots of the city and of various concept ideas for the "cliffside commons" area.

http://www.imagebam.com/image/3ce8c387464232

http://www.imagebam.com/image/b7cad787464243

http://www.imagebam.com/image/628b4c87464252

http://www.imagebam.com/image/64f8b587464261

http://www.imagebam.com/image/21d05287464269

http://www.imagebam.com/image/3a50f687464273

http://www.imagebam.com/image/ee004c87464283

http://www.imagebam.com/image/6e2e5c87464292

http://www.imagebam.com/image/f9960c87464297

http://www.imagebam.com/image/e4231187464309

http://www.imagebam.com/image/8b268587464320

http://www.imagebam.com/image/e399bf87464327

http://www.imagebam.com/image/7f91fe87464338

http://www.imagebam.com/image/f9ada387464356

http://www.imagebam.com/image/e2d16a87464366

http://www.imagebam.com/image/0cdf3d87464376

http://www.imagebam.com/image/aa984787464383

http://www.imagebam.com/image/eb1f3687464387

http://www.imagebam.com/image/9c0c4987464397

http://www.imagebam.com/image/06323587464402

 

I feel the most challenging aspect will be the integration of Bravil interiors and cave tunnels while keeping a welcome, homey, feel. The underground Cliffside Commons will be a sort of apartment common area with homes linked by caves. The amount of cavework will be somewhat minimal, and the cave areas will not feel dungeon-like. What the pictures do not really show well are the surrounding small islands. So far, 3 are worked out. They are only big enough for about 1 or 2 homes. I would also like to expand the cliffs and have young fisherman NPCs with spears ready to dive into the reef. Some warehouse type buildings will also be added near the docks and open air market which was not shown.

 

Once I feel I have the exterior at a near final stage, I will make the interiors, starting with the central city, then the commons, then the remaining building. The ships will most likely not have interiors, and areas of the commons may also not. I am going to take my time building this mod, as I have other obligations and want to do things right the first time.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and hopefully you will have some input.

[Dyshein]

I link together strange interiors all the time, doors stones work well for the bottom and for covering left/right/top seams there are plenty of pillars you can use like freepillar01 or kvatchpost01 which are good at linking and still keep the transition looking realistic in the sense that wooden beams were constructed to support the tunnes. I like things with varied elevation and walkways/cliffs, my only concern is that perhaps with your sandy terran texture and the abudance of wooden bravil homes makes the island looks a bit too "brown", though I can see how you might be aiming for that look when it comes to a port town, but I think it might look a bit more lively in you worked in some color (maybe a few different buildings here and there or just some stone walls or trees or even rocks) have you given any thought to a backstory and/or npcs?

[Genzel]

I do have trees worked into the town, and I just now remembered a palm tree resource that could be of use. I do see the color issue though, I was thinking bushes and maybe some sort of walking paths could help with that. As for the back story, Abeacia was settled after Anvil. The sea directly around Anvil could not accommodate the growing Imperial trading and imperialism, so a nearby island which was easily accessible was colonized to allow trade to grow. As for NPCs, I will have fisherman, both on the cliffs, and in the lower beach areas. Those on the cliffs and area by the reef will be mostly young spear fisherman and pearl divers of varying races, but a fair amount will be argonian. Around the beach area, there might be a mix of young and old fisherman using nets and poles. Many of the other inhabitants will be traders and sailors. The sailors will stay for just days at a time, while the traders will mostly be permanent residents. I may look into using leveled lists to "randomly spawn" new trader NPCs around the docks and in the apartment commons.

[ub3rman123]

You'll want to add some rocks to the steep cliffs, as well as smaller ones scattered across the island. Landscapes look odd without them.

[Genzel]

Ooh thanks, I didn't even really think about rocks on the cliffs. I'm having trouble with the leveled list, I cannot add any NPCs to a leveled creature list. I do not see a leveled NPC list or anything. Do I need to enable something on the NPC to allow it be on a leveled list?

 

Here is an updated picture of Abeacia: http://www.imagebam.com/image/78bb4a87492930

 

Would this palm tree resource look too out of place? http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=31313

 

EDIT: It seems that "no low level processing" would enable use on leveled lists.

[ub3rman123]

Indeed, I figure there'd be all kinds of bugs if there were low level processing when the NPC doesn't exist.

 

The palm trees would probably fit a lot better than the deciduous trees.

[Genzel]

The palm trees won't load, so I guess I'll be sticking to vanilla trees until I figure it out. I lodged some stools and benches on the docks and on the Cliffside overhangs to allow you to sit right on the edge. http://thumbnails28.imagebam.com/8762/e917e987615775.jpg

I made a few interiors for the Cliffside Commons area. The general store is the main link into the cave areas. I also put in a sort of bait shop, the Abeacian Fishing Shop. So far, I have not cluttered the caves, but I do want to build a very welcoming feel.

I am thinking of having a fishing pole weapon, a fishing spear, and a fishing net shield for this. I picture having an old fisherman sitting on a dock, or a young spear fisherman jumping off the cliffs, net and spear in hand.

[Genzel]

If anyone cares, I have done more work on interiors and some work on a small quest.

 

Here is a look at the fishing/bait shop. It shows where some of the daily catch is held: http://www.imagebam.com/image/2cf05a88197351

Here is the general store and main cliffside commons entrance: http://www.imagebam.com/image/c0962e88197360

Here is the second to last majority cave interior that needs finished: http://www.imagebam.com/image/85130d88197370

This is the top-most level of the cliffside commons: http://www.imagebam.com/image/c256bf88197377

 

A new fishing spear weapon is also about finished.