The Illiac Bay Mod

[1mjolnir1]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/metalicaboy/HighrockBanner2-5.png

Hail Elder Scrolls modding community! I am pleased to announce the development of my very own mod project, the Illiac Bay Mod. This mod aims to add the northwestern region of Highrock and northern desert regions of Hammerfell to the Oblivion game world. I want to completely redesign the way Oblivion feels when you travel between lands, which is why I chose to use the TWMP heightmap to keep Highrock in the same world as Cyrodiil and not a separate world space for the character to have to load via transport activator. Most people would think an Oblivion sized Highrock would be small, but the TWMP heightmap is double in scale compared to Cyrodiil so it's generous in size enough to be believable! The idea is to give the character the option of either traveling there by npc ship, (or Side's sailing ship mod which will be highly encouraged to download along with this mod!) or by foot which is my favorite aspect and one I will be concentrating on most in terms of quality landscape transitions between Cyrodiil, Hammerfell and Highrock, as well as cleverly bordered pathways that will keep you on the right road to Highrock and not to Southern Hammerfell.

The reason for this is because there are some very good Hammerfell mods that allow you to explore these landscapes, and I will try my best to make this mod as compatible with them as possible.

Not to say there won't be any landscapes for Hammerfell, north Hammerfell will be worked on when a descent mod team is assembled, but for now, the mod mostly concentrates on Highrock. And speaking of which, if there are any free modders out there who would like to help out by either adding a model or taking a claim the help would be much appreciated! Currently the mod has about 50% of the regions completed but not smooth out or cleaned up. After that I will firstly be working on the cities of Daggerfall, Wayrest and Evermore, as well as the Orsinium dungeon (yes Orsinium dungeon :) ) and the exterior of Dragonstar. If anyone would like to help with these cities, or claim the cities of Sentinel,Northpoint or even Skaven let me know and I will work something out.

This mod, along with other Tamriel World Map Projects like Summerset Isle and Black Marsh, should combine to make a very interesting traversable Oblivion unlike ever before!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/metalicaboy/modmap-1.jpg

This is a snippet from Shadowbeast368's Tamriel world map, which is the map you will use ingame when you download the mod, and a map you should probably already be using... all of the cities shown on this map will be featured in the full version of the mod.

 

The mod is using the heightmap from Onra's Under the sign of the dragon - Tamriel Heightmaps -

It will also feature resources from the Dragon Captions Resource Mod (Cyrodiil upgrade overhaul) and the Tamriel Resources pack. Links will be posted with the beta test of this mod.

 

I will be making my own models for the mod including new spiky orc armor and weapons, and bretonian armor like medieval british style kettle hats, kite shields and halberds! If anyone wants to donate their own models I would be very grateful. Also if anyone has or knows of any good jungle style tree resources I would be equally grateful for that as well, as Totambu is going to need alittle personalization if it will be believable! Hopefuly down the road I can get voice acting to distinguish the different kingdoms of Highrock, but I hope to release the mod before then.

I want to personalize the mod npcs aside from Oblivion's renaissance-ish appeal. And Immerse the character in a completely different environment. Highrock is, after all, the home of feudal kingdoms and feifdoms in Tamriel. Through character names and lore we know that Highrock, like many other Tamriel provinces... takes after a reference to medieval/feudal history. In this case, the isles and coastal hills of feudal Britain and France, even the names "Dwynnen" and "Bouljsae" take after celtic/norman culture. You can find many different types of names that take after these nations, but they are predominantly British and French which is what I want to strongly portray through this mod. A more grim... Fuedal Dark Fantasy Epic.

 

Hopefully with the help of others I hope to make a mod worthy of being another expansion in it's self! Original concept art and screenshots will be posted soon so check back often to keep updated. Any suggestions on lore topics feel free to discuss, I'm eager to brainstorm.

In the mean time... I hope you enjoy this little compilation of TES Bethesda concept art from A Pocket Guide to the Empire. These art pieces serve as very influential concepts for the cities I have in mind. And I will be looking upon references to Beth lore for guidance and ideas. I find that The Imperial Library is the best source for TES lore on the web right now, I use it frequently to look up in-game books that reference descriptions of cities.

And again... mssg me if you want a claim... cheers!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/metalicaboy/Illiacbaycities-1.png

These two pictures are especially influencial, I will be basing the concept of the Evermore scheme from the left picture, and Skaven from the right to serve as inspiration! I cant wait to see the result :)

Edited February 3, 2011 by 1mjolnir1

[jefthereaper]

can there appear beta download links please?

im more of the "download a beta and update it every time" kind of person

and i bet a lot of other people are to,

and if for some unknown reason (im not saying it will and god i hope it wont!)

this project was to shut down or be layed to waist at least a lot of people around the world will have at least a part of all your hard work instead of nothing