Guild of Writers

By the way, remember the phases we were going to release the ERC Age in, so that we can have produce something solid to show to the public within the timeframe of a few months? Well, the first phase (not set in stone!) was to release a section of the outdoor gardens and the exterior of the ERC (no interior yet). So, here was a first approximation of the area that we might release for the first version. Suggestions, comments, queries? Here was the description to the pic:
"The upper and lower cliffs define the top and bottom boundaries of the explorable space, while the creeks/rivers to the right and left define the left and right boundaries. These boundaries can be easily crossed by bridges or ladders during later phases, as desired. The big purple square is the ERC; the pavilion isn't shown as I thought that it would be most enjoyable if it felt isolated. This could probably be achieved the best mainly by moving it further away from the influence of the main building and into the shielding woods. Which of course would mean releasing it in the next phase."


So let me see here...we need to define these boundaries a little better, and then figure out how to wind the path around our land. Therefore, I need a volunteer to take this rough area map and make a larger, clearer, version, showing how the streams wend around, and adding in the outline of the cliffs and positioning the waterfalls. Sort of a blueprint diagram of the area.
After the landscape is completed, we can then decide how to wind the path so that it passes through interesting views, figure out where to put the display areas in, and finally start pinning down the smaller details i.e., placement of trees, lamps, rock formations, etc.

Tell you what, we have a lot of freedom in this design choice, so go ahead and make the terrain as you think it would look the best and be the most interesting for the players. So no need for multiple layouts, I'd say. In terms of detail, well, that just depends on the scale of the map. I guess the map should be big enough that we can see a person drawn in for scale as a little more than a teeny point. You don't really need to pin down the layout of the garden in detail since that would be pretty hard to do from an overhead view point. Sound good?

Well, all this stuff would be useful too--and if you think of anything more, go ahead and add it.
1. Contours and elevations
2. Streams
3. Upper and lower cliffs
4. Museum
5. Waterfalls
6. Any other scenic stuff you think would look nice (large boulders, groves of trees, ponds, etc.)

And after we have our elements arranged, then we can figure out what path arrange would be the most interesting to stroll around on.

How goes it, Ruvinka? Got any preliminary sketches done that we could peek at?

No worries Ruvinka; sometimes it just doesn't work out! I only just now got some work done on the exterior of the ERC. I'll try to get those processed and posted here within the next few days if I can so that we'll have something to work on.