Sannea - Seeking direction

[Winna]

So the art got away from me and now I have no idea what to do with this incarnaton since the story fell through. I have some puzzle ideas, but without a direction for this age, they'd mostly just... be there. It was originally meant to be a vacation age with the settlement having been partially buried from a volcanic eruption post-Fall, but now I really have no idea.

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A style sheet I did during lecture


Blockout I've been doing between labs. Just experimenting with lighting, which I probably shouldn't even bother with. After a while I decided to try and make it look like original D'ni architecture.

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So! Anyone got any good suggestions?

[Aikijitsu]

I don't see any sky, so I assume it's underground. In all my travels through my imagination, underground cavern+lake+city= dwarves....

Since this isn't the place for dwarves, unless these were D'ni dwarves, I'd say it it could be a tribe of underground people. Why are they near an underground lake? Because all the precious jewels are underwater. it was either that way from the beginning or someone sprang a leak when mining. It's up to you. If this civilization failed, it was because their methods of mining underwater didn't work or they were insufficient (Not fast enough) to make a good income off of exports.

Other reasons for failing:
Someone accidentally opened another cave filled with flesh eating beasts.(Water or land)
There was war between tribes.
(If a vacation place) Tourists were too afraid of something or the trip was too difficult to vacation there.

I'd definitely have to think of a story for this one. Do you want me to think up a solid one for you? You can feel free to edit it of course. If you're going with a certain theme, tell me so I can fit it in too.

[Chacal]

Winna, this is too good to be thrown away. You have captured the essence of D'ni architecture.
This looks a lot like a neighborhood, or an estate for a powerful family like K'veer was.

Aikijitsu, the cavern with the lake is D'ni itself. It is the same cavern and lake you see through the window in EoA, where Yeesha and Esher greet you at the start and where you return with the tablet at the end. Once you've played Uru you will understand.

[Lontahv]

I really like it.

Nice to see it blocked out in 3d since that's half the battle of age-building.

[Aikijitsu]

Winna, this is too good to be thrown away. You have captured the essence of D'ni architecture.
This looks a lot like a neighborhood, or an estate for a powerful family like K'veer was.

Aikijitsu, the cavern with the lake is D'ni itself. It is the same cavern and lake you see through the window in EoA, where Yeesha and Esher greet you at the start and where you return with the tablet at the end. Once you've played Uru you will understand.

I feel dumb now. I did try looking out that window, but I couldn't see much.
My apologies. I get excited about stories easily.

[Winna]

Chacal, thank you - I guess that means I hit my secondary objective perfectly. And there's no way I'd toss it - I want this made, darnit. Just the story stands in my way. :shakefish:

From the get-go I wanted the architecture to have that D'ni' feel, but once the story seemed to fall through, I decided to go all the way. I mean, I could easily turn it to a hood or an estate if you guys think that'd be a great direction to send it in. I was just worried about it from RAWA's guidelines (do they still apply with Open Source upcoming? I'd think they would...) because I'd have to work out where it was in relation to Ae'gura and then keep the exterior updated (which I really don't have a problem with, though...)

Originally it was a private Age belonging to a Writer's family, but not their Family Age. Just one that had been Written and belonged to them. During Kedri's reign, the head of the family gave it to the people inspired by the king. At that point, the story started getting hazy. There was a geothermal power facility on the other side of the mountain that provided power and maintained a non-hazardous pressure level in the volcano, while at the settlement it was all vacation, maritime/agricultural economy, or educational for the kids like a trip to the science museum. Alternatively it could've been an alternate residential Age anyway, written early in cavern history for those that just couldn't stand living underground 24/7 (Look, it's great in the Caverns, but living there for two centuries each lifetime?)

original concept blockouts

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the upper reaches of the settlement half-buried under old ash and lava, with Siraleh in background


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the causeway just seemed too random.


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[IMG]the red herring path to the geothermal facility, it would branch off halfway down the tunnel and getting there would have been one of the puzzles


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Kahsel as I was calling it was supposed to be part of a binary planet system, with mekahmorini crystals that orbited both, providing additional light and warmth to get trapped in the planet's greenhouse gas-heavy atmosphere. the average light levels of the Age would be a little brighter than the cavern's currently are.


So the idea was that something happens to make the volcano blow its top either before the Fall or after, and I even started researching the delights of volcanoes for it. Pre-Fall just didn't seem quite right. Post-Fall due to lack of maintenance seemed great, but then it was like, 'getting to the facility to open the release valves and tunnels could border on suicidal depending on the disrepair of the facility... that'd be dumb.' Anyway, I tried working with it, but nothing seemed like it would hold up logically in my head, so then I thought about doing it in the side of some cliffs but the cliffs became a cavern. I do have a non-D'ni cavern option visually, though.

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there's some holes in the cavern ceiling, too. they're just fugly primitive tris right now XD


Regardless of what happens, here's the layout, and it stays mostly the same I think.

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Alright, Chris! You sir are a plot-point powerhouse. The mining failure sounds neat, and I'll definitely muse on that, though I'd think the D'ni would be able to get around that (if it's not the D'ni, then I'll have to review my reference photos and maybe even pick another stylistic reference for the architecture.) If not beasts, perhaps a group from the other side of the Age finally got to exploring that area and was like, 'omg foreigners with crazy culture, kill them all.' People can be pretty lame like that on occassion.

Lontahv, thanks. ^_~ I guess I cheated a little, I'm working in Maya for comfort. Blocking it out is the easy part!

[Chacal]

I feel dumb now. I did try looking out that window, but I couldn't see much.
My apologies. I get excited about stories easily.

Actually I'm the dumb one. Looking again at the first set of pictures, the lake isn't yellow, so it isn't D'ni after all.

[Xindhus]

Hmmm. A customs building. Customs implies tourism. Perhaps after its mining days, this was converted to a small spa age for D'ni citizens with agoraphobia. Sub tours of lake + mine, clinical properties of mud/crystals, etc. Lost popularity in the buildup to the Fall, as such towns inevitably do, and built amphitheatre/arts complex + museum in vain attempt to boost attendance. Emptiness of age drew D'ni malcontents, either unsavory characters or objectors to corruption in civilization. (You just can't overuse that one )

Are you planning to have a puzzle based on getting the power plant to work? That's a bit of an old chestnut, but works. There's a big quayside there; the lakefront in the cavern was pretty bare, but it had Kerath's arch to make up for it - you'll need either a nice artsy backdrop or a puzzle involving boats or nice railings or something. It'd also be cool to see the inside of a D'ni apartment. Maybe a Bahro stone up to one of the cliff balconies (think Baron's office) with private letters and diaries to further the storyline. Another few ideas: rich families vying for control of glamorous resort? one rich family split by feuding? law enforcement trying to prove guilt/innocence of someone (in rich family)? administrative headquarters of major guild (e.g. the West Wing - intrigue, espionage)?That black dot just below apt. group B- a telescope? a parking meter? a milestone? a monument?

There's no reason why this can't be in the cavern, either. Just turn the water yellow. Unfortunately, I'm not so keen on additions to the cavern- that's cyan territory IMO.

Looks good! When's it coming out?

[UnixMonky]

My first impression of the initial pics was "Wow, here's one of those all-inclusive resort ages that some of the D'ni vacationed/honeymooned to." Kind of like the Sandals resorts that seem to be everywhere tropical. And I couldn't get that concept out of my head when viewing the rest of the pics, so maybe there's something there.

[Winna]

Thanks for the input, Xindhus, I think I'm on the right track now. I understand what you mean on the 'D'ni = Cyan's gig' thought. Looking around the forums, I've noticed that sentiment arise often. I really want to see at least a little sky in the Age, so I think we can write that path out now.

It was customs originally in a scrapped subculture idea, like a separate group, thus the need for customs. I think I'll still have need of a customs office, though, so I'm not worried.
I think I'll have it set up that other than maybe being able to use some minor repairs and maintenance later, the power plant could still be working fine. If puzzles really become an issue, I can make one for it, or have it randomly break down once in a while with some fancy scripting (ha, not likely.)
I planned to do a matte painting from the beginning for the exterior of the cavern, but you're right - I may place something in the middle of the cave for puzzle purposes. Still going to do the matte painting - I need the practice.
Heh, trust me, I aim to make a couple apartments and offices open. I have one (simple) puzzle in mind that will hopefully get an 'aww' in response.
I do aim to leave journals and the like about, and I'd like to make this a somewhat IC experience later if anyone'd want to 'provide translation services.' I'll worry about that part later, but yes, journals, diaries and letters shall be had.
I'd seriously consider making an addition to the Caverns beore making something of mine the administrative headquarters of a Major Guild. That's definitely infringing upon Cyan's territory without a doubt. Perhaps in the area of the mines having a Miner's Guild office, that's one thing since it would just be a local matter anyway.
It's a telescope for at least one puzzle and sightseeing.

:3 Thank you! To be safe, I wouldn't expect it in GoMa hands before Fall (hoping elsewise, though.)

^_^ The hotels are all empty right now - think of the deals you could get, UnixMonkey.

So. This is what I've put together with y'all's help.

11/23/08
...From what I've gathered, the original name of the Age was Kasel, but someone slashed the leather binding where that was embossed and scrawled 'Sannea' beneath. I feel pretty confident Sannea was what the last owners of the Age called it, as that's the only name for it later on through the journal. It looks like it varied between private and public at different points. There were mining operations and private residences before it was turned to some form of tourism. Guess my rusty D'ni isn't as rusty as I thought. I'll study them a bit more during my flights...

4/6/09
Been looking at the Sannea book and journal of late between classes to keep my brain active and ward off the stress of Finals Department. I keep the journal with me and study it during animation and rigging lectures so I don't fall asleep. People shoot me wierder looks over it than they ever did when I'd randomly lapse into runic or Egyptian Demotic script.

The Descriptive book looks like it was written very early on in D'ni history, probably two or three millennia after reaching the Caverns at most. I don't know if it was unusal for an Age or not, but it began with mining operations for the Guild of Artisans - very fine decorative stones there, as well as a vein of fire marble. Mekamorini crystals formed in sheltered waters, covering the floor of the lake where the initial settlement was established. They seem similar to fire marbles, but sound more like Gehn's power marbles. Dunno what's up with that.

As the mineral veins around the settlement were exhausted, tourism took over. The settlement grew for vacationing D'ni and those who managed to develop anxiety disorders about living several miles underground. I don't blame them. Later on the arts complex was built in an attempt to keep visitors coming, but it just wasn't worth it in the eight centuries prior to the Fall.

Now from what I'm gathering from the later entries in the journal, the Descriptive book was stolen by the Writer's descendant and hidden in the pedestal. Something about a debate between the family of the Writer who wrote it and the family for whom it was Written. It was used for some group's purposes in the century before the Fall, but not certain what it's all about at the moment. Can't focus too much more on it for now - I'll mostly have to put off further work until after graduation...