Valenwood (WIP)

[Ga-Knomboe Boy]

Sure man, thats why I've provided the files in folder format. :)

[samv96UK]

Sure man, thats why I've provided the files in folder format. :)

 

Cool stuff, I'll probably get round to using them in the mod eventually then, probably when I've finished the Beta of Rochebere. :thumbsup:

[samv96UK]

Here's a couple of images of the first settlement I've started to develop- Haven. Haven is situated in the South-East and is a fairly small, but pleasant village. Unlike most of the other settlements in Valenwood, Haven is a place that is safe and friendly for nearly all races.

 

http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/images/4286516-1340821322.jpg

 

http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/images/4286516-1340821551.jpg

[Deleted4240918User]

Here's a couple of images of the first settlement I've started to develop- Haven. Haven is situated in the South-East and is a fairly small, but pleasant village. Unlike most of the other settlements in Valenwood, Haven is a place that is safe and friendly for nearly all races.

 

God!!! It's looking very nice Sam!!!

 

Now, I promised you some ideas and so far I think I've got one or two that you might like or not :thumbsup:

 

So here we go......

 

These are just some ideas I randomly thought of.

 

The player should gain the Bosmer people's trust for them to let him into their habitat, perhaps by doing them a favor and getting rid of someone or something (mythical creature maybe). So, before entering Valenwood the player should encounter the guardians of Valenwood protecting it from evil spirits and dark necromancer forces along with ferocious creatures, etc.

 

After completing the quest, the player would be allow to enter and do business, get quests, trade, purchase a house, etc.

 

And this is how I imagine Valenwood:

 

The entrance to Valenwood should be something beautiful and a great sight to look at (something like the Oblivion expansion pack "Shivering Isles")

I had in mind a small narrow dirt road surrounded by trees and trees and more trees, something like this:

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/8/88873/2159383-2rf8zms.jpg

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2328/img0779au8.jpg

 

Various small settlements scarcely scattered around the highest concentration of inhabitants. Where the market, shrines and most monuments will be at. Also; I've read that the coastline of Valenwood was home to Bosmer people as well.

Most of the houses should have a natural forest look, blending in nicely with the forest and nature itself; stone and metals are very rare since Bosmer dislike the use of modern building materials (don't quote me on that, :blush: )

Valenwood is supposed to be a nice peaceful and quiet landmass where mother nature reigns over and protects her children. "Sea of endless green" :D

 

Tree houses should be considered; since it would look appealing to the eye and let's be honest....tree houses are cool.

All the houses and settlements should be built with foreign wood materials, since according to the "Green Pact", no Valenwood building materials of vegetative origin can be used; only wood building material coming from alien places can be used.

 

A "Forbidden Dark Forest" where a group of necromancers live would be a nice addition.

It would forbidden since Bosmer people have a inherent fear of this dark magic. "A dark and seclusive group of Bosmer (or any other race) manipulate the forces of evil to gain eternal knowledge and life" (something dark and mysterious).

 

A "military" outpost of agile and very skilled archers to defend the Bosmers from intruders and enemies is a must.

The outpost should be in high ground, where the archers would have the definitive advantage.

Imagine being aimed and shot at by 50 Bosmer with a skill of 80-100 in Archery; there is no way you could survive... which makes not want to mess with them and screw them over. All arrows poisoned and lethal. A sharp leaf flying through the wind and making its way through the player's heart (or knee).

 

Alternatively, you could choose to screw them over and create a quest where you become allies with the Dark Forest necromancers and plot against the Valenwood townspeople and at night you poison their food, kill them while sleeping, sneak and slit the throat of the guards and such. (what fowl creature would enjoy doing that to the Bosmers? :( )

 

Another nice quest in favor of the Bosmer would be to use the mod "Dragonkiller Cart" and script a quest where some Bosmer trader asks you to transport a shipment of foreign wood building materials from Skyrim, so Valenwood has enough materials to build with.

This also could be a chance to create an awesome mod similar to "Build your own home".

How about "Rebuilding Valenwood" or "Expanding Valenwood". Of course; to keep it close to the "Valenwood" concept limits should be considered as to how much can you build.

 

 

 

Mythical creatures that usually inhabit Valenwood should be added in order to give the forests more life. Creatures to consider would be, Sathyr, Minotaur, Hydra, Griffin, Centaur(master archers and protectors of sacred forests), Basilisks, Fairies....and Apes....(I think I've read somewhere that apes used to inhabit Valenwood)

((I CAN totally help you model some of the creatures. I can sculpt in zBrush and know a trick or two for retopoplogy in 3dCoat :). I'll post some images of a couple of creatures I'm working on and if you think you can use my "talent" you can count with me. I'm not experience, so my skills end at "retopologizing")).

 

These creatures should be placed in an area according to their theme. For example; the Hydra would probably look more natural in the "Forbidden Forest" or near a mangrove swamp or at the coast line of Valenwood. A Sathyr nearby sacred forest shrines. Minotaurs are isolated creatures, so they should be placed in caves or a quest could be created in which the player battles a great Minotaur after finding his way through a dark maze hoping to find "X Item/treasure" or rescue some unfortunate NPC.

Griffins are rare creatures and could be used to travel from Skyrim to Valenwood and vice versa after speaking to some Bosmer elder NPC in Skyrim and completing a quest for him/her.

 

Don't forget about vegetation!!! Vegetation is a key feature in Valenwood. There should be many hundreds of the green beauties all around the land. You already have access to over 50 new green models and the author says he's working on more; maybe you could ask him to make a model of the legendary tree called "Falinesti".

 

Swamps!!! There are swamps in Valenwood (I've never been there but according to the Elder Scrolls wiki there are).

http://inchinapinch.com/hab_pgs/marine/mangrove/images/mangrove4.jpg

 

I think that's all for now :D

 

Here are some of the models I've been working on. None of them are finished but they're work in progress still.

The fat dragon head is a creature I'm working on for another mod. The Minotaur you could totally use it for your mod :D. I've got some ideas for a nice quest too :thumbsup:

 

 

Minotaur

Fat Dragon Head

Leaviathan (deep sea monster)

Edited June 28, 2012 by Guest

[samv96UK]

Here's a couple of images of the first settlement I've started to develop- Haven. Haven is situated in the South-East and is a fairly small, but pleasant village. Unlike most of the other settlements in Valenwood, Haven is a place that is safe and friendly for nearly all races.

 

God!!! It's looking very nice Sam!!!

 

Now, I promised you some ideas and so far I think I've got one or two that you might like or not :thumbsup:

 

So here we go......

 

These are just some ideas I randomly thought of.

 

The player should gain the Bosmer people's trust for them to let him into their habitat, perhaps by doing them a favor and getting rid of someone or something (mythical creature maybe). So, before entering Valenwood the player should encounter the guardians of Valenwood protecting it from evil spirits and dark necromancer forces along with ferocious creatures, etc.

 

After completing the quest, the player would be allow to enter and do business, get quests, trade, purchase a house, etc.

 

And this is how I imagine Valenwood:

 

The entrance to Valenwood should be something beautiful and a great sight to look at (something like the Oblivion expansion pack "Shivering Isles")

I had in mind a small narrow dirt road surrounded by trees and trees and more trees, something like this:

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/8/88873/2159383-2rf8zms.jpg

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2328/img0779au8.jpg

 

Various small settlements scarcely scattered around the highest concentration of inhabitants. Where the market, shrines and most monuments will be at. Also; I've read that the coastline of Valenwood was home to Bosmer people as well.

Most of the houses should have a natural forest look, blending in nicely with the forest and nature itself; stone and metals are very rare since Bosmer dislike the use of modern building materials (don't quote me on that, :blush: )

Valenwood is supposed to be a nice peaceful and quiet landmass where mother nature reigns over and protects her children. "Sea of endless green" :D

 

Tree houses should be considered; since it would look appealing to the eye and let's be honest....tree houses are cool.

All the houses and settlements should be built with foreign wood materials, since according to the "Green Pact", no Valenwood building materials of vegetative origin can be used; only wood building material coming from alien places can be used.

 

A "Forbidden Dark Forest" where a group of necromancers live would be a nice addition.

It would forbidden since Bosmer people have a inherent fear of this dark magic. "A dark and seclusive group of Bosmer (or any other race) manipulate the forces of evil to gain eternal knowledge and life" (something dark and mysterious).

 

A "military" outpost of agile and very skilled archers to defend the Bosmers from intruders and enemies is a must.

The outpost should be in high ground, where the archers would have the definitive advantage.

Imagine being aimed and shot at by 50 Bosmer with a skill of 80-100 in Archery; there is no way you could survive... which makes not want to mess with them and screw them over. All arrows poisoned and lethal. A sharp leaf flying through the wind and making its way through the player's heart (or knee).

 

Alternatively, you could choose to screw them over and create a quest where you become allies with the Dark Forest necromancers and plot against the Valenwood townspeople and at night you poison their food, kill them while sleeping, sneak and slit the throat of the guards and such. (what fowl creature would enjoy doing that to the Bosmers? :( )

 

Another nice quest in favor of the Bosmer would be to use the mod "Dragonkiller Cart" and script a quest where some Bosmer trader asks you to transport a shipment of foreign wood building materials from Skyrim, so Valenwood has enough materials to build with.

This also could be a chance to create an awesome mod similar to "Build your own home".

How about "Rebuilding Valenwood" or "Expanding Valenwood". Of course; to keep it close to the "Valenwood" concept limits should be considered as to how much can you build.

 

 

 

Mythical creatures that usually inhabit Valenwood should be added in order to give the forests more life. Creatures to consider would be, Sathyr, Minotaur, Hydra, Griffin, Centaur(master archers and protectors of sacred forests), Basilisks, Fairies....and Apes....(I think I've read somewhere that apes used to inhabit Valenwood)

((I CAN totally help you model some of the creatures. I can sculpt in zBrush and know a trick or two for retopoplogy in 3dCoat :). I'll post some images of a couple of creatures I'm working on and if you think you can use my "talent" you can count with me. I'm not experience, so my skills end at "retopologizing")).

 

These creatures should be placed in an area according to their theme. For example; the Hydra would probably look more natural in the "Forbidden Forest" or near a mangrove swamp or at the coast line of Valenwood. A Sathyr nearby sacred forest shrines. Minotaurs are isolated creatures, so they should be placed in caves or a quest could be created in which the player battles a great Minotaur after finding his way through a dark maze hoping to find "X Item/treasure" or rescue some unfortunate NPC.

Griffins are rare creatures and could be used to travel from Skyrim to Valenwood and vice versa after speaking to some Bosmer elder NPC in Skyrim and completing a quest for him/her.

 

Don't forget about vegetation!!! Vegetation is a key feature in Valenwood. There should be many hundreds of the green beauties all around the land. You already have access to over 50 new green models and the author says he's working on more; maybe you could ask him to make a model of the legendary tree called "Falinesti".

 

Swamps!!! There are swamps in Valenwood (I've never been there but according to the Elder Scrolls wiki there are).

http://inchinapinch.com/hab_pgs/marine/mangrove/images/mangrove4.jpg

 

I think that's all for now :D

 

Here are some of the models I've been working on. None of them are finished but they're work in progress still.

The fat dragon head is a creature I'm working on for another mod. The Minotaur you could totally use it for your mod :D. I've got some ideas for a nice quest too :thumbsup:

 

 

Minotaur

Fat Dragon Head

Leaviathan (deep sea monster)

 

Thanks, that's a lot of nice ideas you've got there! At the moment I'm working on the coastal regions down in the South-East, which is why the atmosphere is a little exotic. The trees are very vibrant, and it's not too congested with trees in this area. As I work my way up further North, I'll begin to make some more Swampy regions and dense forests (Like the classic forest type that comes to mind when you think of Valenwood).

 

I've been retexturing some of the wood so that it doesn't look to much like the wood you see in Skyrim, but I've made the wood down in the costal region look like the trees there so that it really blends into the forest :thumbsup:.

 

I've done some sketches of what I think some of the towns look like, and for Fallinesti I imagined a huge tree with houses that look like they're almost gowing out of the tree :biggrin:.

 

I think I am going to make the first settlement the player arrives at Southpoint. I'm planning for this town to be a port area (With a Wood-Elf style of course) that has more dense forests than further South in the costal regions. This way the first time a player enters the forest they'll be like "Wow, look at this forest!"

 

The only concern I have is that the FPS will drop severely if I put down too many objects. I have had this problem with Rochebere, but I am unable to sort it as all the objects I have placed down are essential parts of the town. I don't want to be limited in the number of objects I use, but I don't want a mod that has poor FPS all the time.

 

The creatures you have made look great by the way! I haven't really got to grips with modelling just yet myself, so if you want to help with some of the creatures then feel free! :biggrin:

 

It hurts my head to even think about scripting quests yet, there is so much work to be done! :pinch: I think once i've got to a solid state in Valenwood (Made all the basic landscape and LOD etc.) then I think i'll go back to solely working on Rochebere for a bit, so that I can get that done and uploading.

 

Again, thanks for all the suggestions!

Edited June 28, 2012 by samv96UK

[fattycakes47]

Great work so far! Really looking forward to this mod! :thumbsup: I hope you make it 1/3 the size, that would be awesome :biggrin:

[samv96UK]

Great work so far! Really looking forward to this mod! :thumbsup: I hope you make it 1/3 the size, that would be awesome :biggrin:

 

Thanks for the support :thumbsup:

 

I'll try and make it as big as I can, I would hope it will be at least 1/4 the size of Skyrim, but like I said, it could end up being 1/3 :smile:

[tetsuoswrath]

Hey I like what you came up with and I think you might like this site:

 

http://www.darkcreations.org/forums/forum/119-beyond-skyrim/

 

I'm trying to put together a group to work on the Valenwood province if you're interested.

[DragonDude1029]

This is all completely unrelated to the OP, but it belongs here anyways because this page went a long way for what I'm working on.

Here's some screenshots of my project: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/377540

I'm not trying to weasel my project into this thread, I just wanted to thank some people at the source of where I found my inspiration.

 

I made a pack containing 49 green foliage models for modders to use to make green forests, not only does it include trees, but also branches so you can make thick canopies.
It might save you some time, so I thought I'd give a shout out.

http://forums.nexusm...gkb-green-trees

Thanks a ton for this! This resource is spectacular and I highly recommend it for this project!

had in mind a small narrow dirt road surrounded by trees and trees and more trees, something like this:
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2328/img0779au8.jpg

Thanks for the inspiration! I used this a lot.

Edited January 2, 2014 by DragonDude1029

[DemongelRex]

This thread hasn't had any progress in a year. I am not sure if this is still being worked on, considering he isn't done with Rochebere.