I am presently in the middle of the countryside, stuck for the whole week end in the middle of a family reunion I wasn't supposed to take part in; and although I've been enjoying it a lot (got to see a lot of people I hadn't seen in years) I haven't been able to spent time working on Ahra Pahts (or anything for that matter; I really need a laptop). I am glad I was able to find a computer with a net access.. Tomorrow when I get back home I will release the fix for the Prin Pahts nexus linking panel bug. For now here are just a couple of assorted thoughts and news:
First of all I want to thank the people involved in the great response over the need for a sound designer. I'm not able to properly listen here to what was posted (or even to take the time to answer everything), I can't wait to be able to listen to all this tomorrow and take time to discuss it. Since I am not much of a sound guy (no pun intended) I don't get to hear much about what the great sound & music people from our community can produce; so I was quite impressed by the little I could hear today. First reaction: wow, the sound atmosphere and the music in the Ages should be really great!
Progress on v1 is coming along OK. I got around to replace the canal railings which is a decent improvement. While testing those I found a new collision issue that plagues some courtyards.. Those seem to be so random at times.. I am pulling my hair over the new textures, and how they reflect the backstory of this peculiar Age. I recently heard a couple comments about how the Age looks 'new' compared to most Uru & D'ni Ages.. For now the only answer I can give is that this is not a D'ni Age, it was not abandonned 200 years ago during the Fall of D'ni; so that explains at least some of it. Any further details about the story of the city (and the Age as a whole) will come when version 1 is released. At any rate, these days I am pulling my hair about how to properly reflect that in the textures.. (and so are Robert and J'anim actually)
Also of concern are the courtyards that will be customized. I will need to do those at the very last minute when all the rest of the Age is done and stable (especially the textures which I will need). I will have to make sure over the next week that my blueprints are ready to the tiniest details. I foresee a couple of very intense modelling sessions..
I'm sure there are tons of things I wanted to talk about but I'm forgetting right now, and I don't have the time for more.
The more I type, the more I realize how this version 1 will be very different from all the previous versions that were realized (but in a good way I hope); so many changes and improvement in a single version. This will actually be the first 'true' version of the city, following numerous drafts. It is essentially the version I 'had in my head all along' but only got around to do now. I can't wait until it's complete so we can all check if it was just a dream or not..