Yinfara goes public

[Justintime9]

Shorah everyone! It's been awhile since anything has done with this project publicly and I look forward to hearing feedback and hopefully getting some help to move things along.

For the past few years since discussion (and interest) seems to have died down, Lontahv and I have been working on this via PM. Things went well for awhile, but now it is in a rut yet again. Lon unfortunately does not have the time to work on this project extensively, so I have been attempting to move things along. However my skill level has been severely lacking in the areas that most need progress.

For this reason I have decided that things should go completely public. Considering it began as a team effort, it is only fitting that it continues as such. To that end, the Age and Blend file are being released.

But first, here's what needs to be done. The island is to be enlarged. I originally attempted to do so by scaling the existing island to be larger, and that seems to be moderately effective, but the problem lies in making sure all of the trees are placed on the ground where they belong, and not floating.

Here's the island at it's original size:



As you can see the trees all seem to be at ground level where they belong



Here however the trees are no longer lined up and getting them so is next to impossible. I was hoping then that someone might be able to lend a hand, or may have a better alternative to my method of enlarging the island. This is the first and most important task that needs to be done, because it will give us something to build on.

I've found that the island does not export properly without the PyPRP plugin Lon used to make it. Although it may be outdated, using the current plugin makes the trees look all black. Here's the files: (this includes the age files, and the Island and Glass hut blendfiles)
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=2776 ... 082f1c2cd0

Note: the texures are NOT public domain

[ZURI]

It looks good Justin!

Instead of enlarging the island, why not add a smaller one adjacent to it - with a bridge connecting the two. This way you could add landmass to your age without making any massive modifications to the existing models.

Just a thought.

[Justintime9]

hmm, interesting idea that just might work. Perhaps it could be instead of the swamp, a sort of sandbar connecting the two islands.

[ZURI]

There you go. After chatting with you on Yahoo, I understand you would like to add a village? A while back, I make some sketches for some raised huts. I don't have any plans to use them. If you would like to implement the sketches into your age, you are more than welcome. I could even help you with the modelling.

http://forum.guildofwriters.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4248&start=40

[Justintime9]

Ah, those might come in handy! Perhaps we can combine the concept made by Linger and yours. Now that I think of it, perhaps the second island could be strictly the village, with some un-explorable forest beyond it. That way we would take care of the swamp, and the village.

[dendwaler]

Very nice age justin! It has the right atmosphere.

I think with Zuri that expanding it with another Isle is the most simple solution to continue.
Besides that, its very boring having to rearrange everything you already did once.
If I can be of any help, let me know.
I noticed some strange behaviors in the age. for example sometimes the trees are seen as squares.
After studying the blend file, i saw these are the dummy trees from layer 3. seen inside the normal trees from a different layer.
Is it done with a reason?

[Justintime9]

I assume it has a reason, but since Lontahv did all the work I can't be sure. I'm thinking it's so that when you see the trees from a distance, and the real tree isn't visible, the dummy tree is supposed to be similar enough when seen at a distance. Perhaps when we add more plants and things to distract from that it might be less noticeable.

Ok, well if we do go with the second island idea (which I think would be our best bet), We need someone to model the second island. I tried it and came up with something, but I'm hoping someone else can come up with something better. Sculpt mode seems to be the best method. Then we'll have to texture it (which could be a bit complex if done like the first island.) Then we add a few real trees and maybe some billboard trees in the background and the terrain of the 2nd island will be done.

[dendwaler]

Well,i can give it a try if you want.
what size?
I might have to change the dome a bit as well, because of the extra Isle.
If you want buildings on it , don't forget that these takes lots of space.
Only a few buidings will be as big as the isle you have now.
May be you have to think this over.

[Justintime9]

Well it should be smaller than the original island, but not too small. It'll have to be big enough for a small village, and some more forest in the background (which will be unexplorable). Feel free to edit the skydome any way you like, my understanding is that it was not meant to be permanent. Remember too, nothing has to be set in stone. If someone makes a second island, and we don't like it we can always throw it out and start over.

[dendwaler]

ok, i will add some things and post the blend file again.
a little isle, a waveset with swimregion, and a moving sky as a beginning.
Then you can swim to the other isle until whe have something else.
It will take me some time (being away this weekend.)
But must be possible to be ready somewhere in the next week.