Yinfara Temple

[Chacal]

Justin, about the waterfall, have you decided if you want it to come from the tank as in your last sketch, or from the sea as in lontalv's model?
In the first case it could be either spring water or sea water. Spring water could be natural, but sea water would have to be pumped, and one wonders why anyone would do that.
On the other hand it could be for powering something or for solving a puzzle. It reminds me of the way water is used on Serenia in Myst IV.

If it's sea water coming in because the ground is lower than sea level, then where is it going? It would have to be pumped up back into the ocean, or fall into some endless void, thus slowly draining the ocean.

Also, having salted or unsalted water will make a huge difference when you get to choose the terrain, texture and living creatures in the pond and the swamp.

With sea water, your pond could be a salt-water lagoon wich from my diving experience in Mexico can be quite beautiful and vibrant, with blue water, corals and colorful life.
Here are some pics I found on the net. Also think of places in Riven, like the village lake or the beach with the creatures sunning themselves.


http://g8.no/images/20060729084657_coral3.jpg
http://www.cruisewhitsundays.com/images/CoralLagoon.jpg
http://windom.cybox.com/photos/2005/02/ ... Lagoon.JPG
http://travels.edsventures.com/Philippi ... medium.jpg
http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/coral-microb ... ure2LG.jpg
http://www.gallerystthomas.com/images/a ... lagoon.jpg
http://www.coris.noaa.gov/about/what_ar ... on_186.jpg
http://www.wwf.org.ph/_userimgs/001-Cor ... als-13.jpg

With spring water, your pond could be a cozy, shaded place, still beautiful but less vibrant, with rounded rocks, moss, etc. Something like the pond in Eder Kemo with trees.

[Justintime9]

Hmmm... I think Springwater sounds like it would create the best Atmosphere for the Pond (I did kinda want it to be cozy) and... Lon, I think that looks great with the steps, that was a great Idea. Once again though, I think we should have a pedistal still, cuz personally I think it looks just like a rock that just happened to be left there. there would have to be something more that would tell the player that it's something Important. O, and Lon, wat texture are u using on the floor? is it marble? wood? It looked kewl... something about it on the steps looks... I dunno, maybe you should add some more prominent edges, maybe a bit darker texture on the edges of the steps... maybe I"m just Imagining it, but it's worth a try

[Lontahv]

I'm very happy to announce that I have gotten the Yinfara geode palace to a stage that I can release a version for testing.
And also by putting it online Justin, you don't have to look at little pictures anymore you can see it in its full 3d glory.
link here: http://www.mediafire.com/?1zvb9rybk1y

Notes: all textures are optimized for the game engine(plasma) all textures are either 128x128 or 256x128 etc. And I have also modeled the place realizing that it will be just a small part of a bigger age (i tried to use verts/faces wisely) Also you will notice that the file is only 3mb this is small for a high profile building in an age--I'm hoping that the whole Yinfara download will only be about 50mb when it's done.

Additions: I have put a small pedestal under the geode. I'm also planning on soon adding a railing to the platform that the geode sits on.

Known Issues: There is a bit of sparkling on the pedestal when you start to run toward the palace. Stairs are a bit hard to get up because I haven't put the helper-ramps in yet. And the geode is a bit too high/big.

[Justintime9]

kewl! I love it! I'm not sure if u can make it bigger, but if u can, it would be kewler and... I'm still not sure about the Geode thing... we'll have to decide that with a poll or something... and, I noticed that I can't run up the steps, I have to jump up them. can u fix that? and... it was a bit dark... try making it a bit brighter. other than that, it's Awesome!

[jordd]

is there any way to run this on a mac?

[Lontahv]

If you mean the files that I put up online, the answer would be "no" because if you can't run the off-line Uru you're pretty much sunk sorry.

But I could give you some more pics.

[jordd]

agg wait till i get my windows fixed

and yes some more pics would be nice

[Nek'rahm]

Hey with all the info on here, I could come up with a few concept art sketches for ya if you want...

I did something like this for my age proposition: Putan, but if you want I can try to take the pictures you got and spice em up/give em more depth and make your ideas more profound.

Just say what ya think

[Justintime9]

That's a great Idea, u mean, like just take my sketches, and make them look more... real, and easier to turn into an age? that'd be great!

[Pryftan]

Somebody's gotta start making new topics in here. The 15 pages in one thread thing is a little difficult ;p