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[Bannor Bloodfist]

Many of you may remember the DLA team, formerly known as Dragon Lance, that had at one point in time spoken about and even released a few screenshots of a tileset in the process of being built.    Of course, as time went on, DLA was diverted by Bioware into creating the final Premium Module released as "Wyvern Crown of Cormyr".  That Premium Module required the creation of a HUGE new tileset, that is fondly remembered under the name TNO but was released under the name "Castle Exterior, Rural" by Bioware in the final 1.69 patch.

So, that entire Wyvern project is what STOPPED DLA from further development of their Solace set(s).  Exterior and Interior as well as a few tiles from another intentionally Oriental set that really doesn't have much at all.

Regardless, once DLA folded, I was finally able to get permission to release what versions of these sets that I had a copy of.  The copy I had was incomplete and no one that I contacted had anything more up to date than the version that I had at the time. Since these sets were never truly finished, I started working on them on my own, and over the years have asked for help from multiple members of the community.  A few have offered to help over time, but OMB + TheOneBlackRider actually joined in to lend a helpful hand.

 

In fact, if not for TheOneBlackRider, These sets would not even be considered for release at anytime.

These two sets are still NOT ready, but they are much closer than they were.   However I am notifying everyone  NOW due to the disheartening message from Bioware stating that we will lose these forums at the end of August.

I don't currently have a good set of pics to display, only a few of "in-work" types of shots as TheOneBlackRider and I discuss what needs to be fixed to get these sets out the door.

They will eventually be released on the new vault pages, once we get them to a point where they make sense to be released. Currently, with broken bridges between the various building groups, and other issues, the set is still basically unusable.  These issues make them a bit less than releasable as well.  Missing, blocking, ground objects for places where the overhead bridges block all walking for instance, missing doors, missing textures on a blank wall type of thing.  IE basically a tileset that is obviously a work in progress.  Work does continue though.

Anyway, just letting you know that we continue to do as much as we can to get these sets out to you all and not lose all the beautiful work that has already gone into them. Be patient, and I guess you will have to wait until we actually get files uploaded onto the new vault before I can provide any real links.  So, for those of us that remain with this ancient game, we will benefit a bit more than those that have chosen to move on to other things. 

 

As to pics, I have a fairly major issue with the current ground texture in the entire set as it is NOT the texture that will be used at time of release, however since I don't have the new texture finalized yet and will have to perform a mass rename in every single exterior tile to get that bit done it will still be a bit before I have pics that I can show you.  Currently the set still has the original Bioware rural grass and we all know how horrendous that looks, most especially in an Autumn/Fall related type of set.

 

Again, the primary thing I am attempting to say is that there WILL be a new release of a completely new tileset pair (interior and exterior although the exterior will be the larger of the two) sometime in the future, if we are lucky enough and work hard enough, it may even be released sometime in the First Quarter of 2017, but please don't hold me to that time schedule, a lot of things may still hold us up.

 

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I know i have asked this in the past but I will beg once more for SERIOUSLY interested persons that are willing to help get a NEW tileset completed with all the work that entails, to please contact me here or preferably at "j p l y n c h 9 at g m a i l . c o m" without all the extra spaces of course, please be sure to make your current Bioware forum and NewVault Forum nickname available to me so I might be able to figure out who I may be speaking with! 

 

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Ok, Ok, just one teaser shot:

 

 

Edit: Maybe not... seems photobucket forgot that I have a premium membership there and it won't allow me to link

Check back in a day or so to see if I can smack photobucket around a bit....

 

Edit 2:  Ok, I forced it to work.  I had to cheat as the link that the bucket provides adds something to the filename to make the extension other than .jpg which is what it really is.  The other bit about kicking them, doesn't seem to matter, they STILL forced me to trick the link to work as I had to copy/paste then manually edit that darned link.  Things have certainly changed on Photobucket since I first purchased an account there 7 years ago... and paid for yearly since then too!  Well over $240 in that 7 year span.  Oh well, at least you can see a bit of what the set might look like once it gets finished.  Obvious smoothing issues in this shot from the toolset, they are less obvious in game, but are still indicative of some of the types of work still required.

 

Edit 3:  Please note that you are NOT seeing the FULL foliage on these trees as the toolset auto-hides the tree tops so the buildings up in this shot look a bit bare when in game they will almost be hidden from straight on sight.

Modifié par Bannor Bloodfist, 06 août 2016 - 12:16 .

[T0r0]

You're such a tease !   Can't wait to see it..

 

I remember a canyon sort of tileset by DLA or CODI maybe that never got released... 

[Bannor Bloodfist]

I think that Canyon type of set was the one by Codi and all anyone ever saw was the pics, I don't think anyone in the community ever had a copy of any of the actual tiles.  It looked great in the screenshots, but never actually made it anywhere.  CODI got turned down on the premium module things that happened towards the end of NWN 1, and once that happened, well, feelings were hurt and folks just left.  At least that is the story I was told back then.

 

Anyway, yeah, I am teasing just a bit, but it is truly more of a promise than anything else.  A promise to not completely lose a set that truly looks promising and may actually be a worthwhile addition to anyone that wishes to build a mod based around the Dragon Lance multi-verse?  Anyway, you get my meaning I hope.

 

I am STILL kicking photobucket... sorta makes me mad, why am I paying for the abilitity of unlimited bandwidth for sharing photos when they won't even give me the links?  aarrrgghhhhh...

[Tonden_Ockay]

Was this the canyon your talking about?

 

 

[Tonden_Ockay]

Here are some of the old screenshots of the tree village tileset

 

[yetanothername]

Was this the canyon your talking about?

 

 

I think more likely it was this, just one of those things that was forever lost to time. (Edited to add that there are various threads of longing about it, I'd search around if you had not heard the story before as it's been relived a few times to no avail.)

 

This is pretty exciting Bannor, regardless of the timeline. I have lurked for a long time and have always been a little sad thinking about the private content that never made it into the world via recycling or vault-dumping. What exactly does serious mean in this case, though? Does it relate to skill level needed, time commitments, something? 

[TheOneBlackRider]

Was this the canyon your talking about?

 

 

Ah, Tonden - another Dragonlance collector. Nice, that you have some of the original DLA screens (post #5).

Just for clarification: That screen above (post #4) is from the DLCR (Dragonlance Chronicles Reborn) server = the praying hand rock formation on Prayers Eye Peak - so NOT DLA.

[Bannor Bloodfist]

I think more likely it was this, just one of those things that was forever lost to time. (Edited to add that there are various threads of longing about it, I'd search around if you had not heard the story before as it's been relived a few times to no avail.)

 

This is pretty exciting Bannor, regardless of the timeline. I have lurked for a long time and have always been a little sad thinking about the private content that never made it into the world via recycling or vault-dumping. What exactly does serious mean in this case, though? Does it relate to skill level needed, time commitments, something? 

 

 

 

What I meant about being serious, is not just someone wanting to see the sets without being able to actually do the work involved.  IE, if you can use gmax or 3dsmax and have built or at least edited tiles OR creatures OR placeables... not the 2da stuff, but the actual mdls themselves, AND you must be willing to work on it. 

 

I have passed out copies of this set a few times to folks that never contributed ANYTHING back, I won't be doing that again.  Skill level wise, that is a bit negotiable as I can help teach a person willing to learn, but I can't really spend the time to teach them from scratch right now, not and actually spend any time working on the set(s), which is my only priority at this point in time.

[Bannor Bloodfist]

Here are some of the old screenshots of the tree village tileset

 

 

 

Yes, that is the EXTERIOR set I am working with.  Those shots imply a bit more usability than actually exists in real life though... 95% or so of the exterior buildings have been started... well, maybe not quite that high as there are groups mentioned in the .SET file that actually do NOT exist in any form right now but I am not sure I will hold off on release just to create completely new buildings either. 

 

As you can see in those shots, the current tiles are using a horrible version of the original Bioware grass and it detracts so much from the possible beauty of these sets.  I hope to fix that as a small fix, shouldn't take too much effort, but having a true texture artist around would make life sooo much easier on us all.

 

I am primarily concerned with getting what has already been at least started on, into a finished state that is truly usable.  Probably about 75% are actually usable in exterior mode... Interiors are another story altogether and requires quite a bit of work as most of the groups have NOT been created and some of the ones that have were badly scaled by people switching between US and Metric etc. and corrupting them OR just did not have enough time spent on them altogether.  The old import/export scripts also did damage to some of the buildings so those bugs have to still be worked out.  Since each group/building  is at least 4 tiles wide and is up inside a tree, you can see why work progresses slowly.

 

DLA did do quite a bit of design on these sets and actually accomplished quite a bit on SOME of the groups... I feel it necessary to match that level of detail prior to release.  Not really hard so to speak, just time consuming.  Those Valenwood trees are supposed to always look like what we would consider to be fall colors and are supposed to grow to VERY large sizes.  However, from a stylistic and a realistic point of view, I think the set does still need some smaller versions of the Valenwoods as young growth types etc. to help fill in an area for a more typical Forest type of look.  ALL of the tiles need ground growth plants, hedges, whatever to fill in are you would have players get very frustrated when they attempt to run across what appears to be open ground but is actually blocked by the Z level of the walk-mesh for the various bridges between the buildings.

[Tonden_Ockay]

Has anyone tried contacting Cory reguarding his " Blood War Battlefield Tileset "?

 

 

[yetanothername]

Has anyone tried contacting Cory reguarding his " Blood War Battlefield Tileset "?

 

The short answer is yes, heh. That's what I meant about searching around. Try here here or here. 

 

Bannor, I know you probably hear this kind of thing all the time and it isn't worth anything, but I'm sorry I can't really be of any help in that area. I really appreciate everything you've done and shared over the years and the thought that one of those old things could come out of retirement someday after all this time is really neat. I hope that you find some people that can help with the things you need a hand with. 

[Bannor Bloodfist]

The short answer is yes, heh. That's what I meant about searching around. Try here here or here. 

 

Bannor, I know you probably hear this kind of thing all the time and it isn't worth anything, but I'm sorry I can't really be of any help in that area. I really appreciate everything you've done and shared over the years and the thought that one of those old things could come out of retirement someday after all this time is really neat. I hope that you find some people that can help with the things you need a hand with. 

Yes, it truly is too darned bad about that CODI set, and I know that many people attempted to contact them and get a copy but I remember that someone mentioned in one of the threads that CODI was very upset with Bioware over the cancellation of the premium mod and likely a few other things.  Someone somewhere mentioned that files were deleted on purpose out of anger, and believe me, I can completely understand how something like that could happen.  I have had the urge myself more than once while attempting to get the various sets completed for/from CTP.  Finally I just had to lower my hopes and take what help I could find, AND shorten, vastly, the total number of sets we could actually get out the door.

 

Tileset works seems soooohhhh simple to people until they actually dig into the job and attempt it.  The amount of labor and time involved can drain anyone.  Especially when you are attempting to fix a mess left behind by other folks... that gets the least attention by people willing to do the work.  We all have an ego of sorts, and we all desire to be known for something.  I have had to fight my own ego more than I care to admit.  

 

However, having said all of that, Solace melted my heart when I saw what was possible, and I truly can't just let it die completely.  Biggest hurdle is my desire for perfection, which slows things down.  I have decided that perfection is not possible but I still strive to fix the things that I know would annoy the heck out of everyone if the were not fixed.  That is sort of where we are at with Solace.  Attempting to save it, yet still fighting some really time consuming issues.

 

I will give a short list of things we definitely need help with.

 

1) A true, NEW, grass texture that is colorized and detailed enough to fit with the tree foliage that we have for this set.  From the pics above you can see how bad the standard grass really looks with those high detailed tree foliage above it.  So, that means someone good with textures.  I had a new grass texture, but I can't seem to find it now.  Not sure where I hid it so I wouldn't lose it... you know how that goes

 

2) Someone to create a NEW texture for creating plants or blocking objects for certain aspects of various tiles, quite a few tiles have these walkway bridges that are way up in the air... currently there is nothing on the ground to explain why your toon can't walk there.  This one  is basically critical.

 

3) Some "building" work where I mean we still have some groups that are unfinished enough that almost a complete rebuild is necessary.  Just about anyone that has really worked on creating something in NWN can accomplish that sort of task, they just might need a few pointers here or there if they haven't worked with tiles before.  Meaning someone that has created new clothing, or a new creature would already have the skills necessary.

 

4)  Someone willing to take the time to paint objects into multiple tiles, IE once we create some foliage type objects for the ground, be willing to open the various tiles that need it, and paint those plants or other blocking objects into the tile.  This won't be hard at all, simple copy/paste would work here but it has to be done inside either Gmax or 3dsmax or it just won't work... unless someone is using some other 3d editor that has an export script for tiles... I have not really followed the other tools that some folks use, so I have no real idea what might work for that.

 

1 and 2 are the most critical and both of which require someone that is skilled with Photoshop or Gimp to create the textures.

3 and 4 we can handle it is just taking us time.  Extra help would always be welcome though.

 

There is also a 5 where we need some new sorts of textures that can be created with copy/paste from existing walls or buildings we already have but those walls or building sides just need the extra detail built into the base wall texture that is currently painted on them.  We could, and will if we have to, create new planks or wooden braces to fill those spots, but doing that increases total poly count and this set will be high enough that we need to avoid that if we can.  I might be able to figure out how to mash together the textures using layers, but it is something I will have to learn how to accomplish, which of course takes time away from actually fixing the rest of the set.  Anyway, 5 is not truly all that important.

 

There was some other stuff but my brain is not working right now and the other half is giving me heck for sitting down once today already so I have to log off.

[the_isolator]

It's certainly a great idea but it might be a little too ambitious as you describe it. It could be more practical as a standalone tileset rather than as an addition to the Rural Set. In fact I don't think it really needs the ground level at all. Maybe instead go for a chasm effect with the tops of trees visible. Then just add a few transition tiles to the Rural set as needed. Alternatively if you are going to add the tiles to the rural set, maybe edit it so that it is painted over the tree terrain instead of grass. 

 

Also, it might be worth using a more detailed tree foliage model (something like those from Project Q or Six's tilesets). 

 

Either way good luck with everything, I'm looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

[yetanothername]

It's certainly a great idea but it might be a little too ambitious as you describe it. It could be more practical as a standalone tileset rather than as an addition to the Rural Set.

 

I may be the one confused but I believe Bannor's only mentions of the rural set were to a) say their set still has the ugly rural grass and to namedrop TNO, presumably reminding people of the team behind it to explain how this tileset got abandoned to begin with. 

[Eurgiga]

Sent you an email, I'd love to help with this.

[Bannor Bloodfist]

It's certainly a great idea but it might be a little too ambitious as you describe it. It could be more practical as a standalone tileset rather than as an addition to the Rural Set. In fact I don't think it really needs the ground level at all. Maybe instead go for a chasm effect with the tops of trees visible. Then just add a few transition tiles to the Rural set as needed. Alternatively if you are going to add the tiles to the rural set, maybe edit it so that it is painted over the tree terrain instead of grass. 

 

Also, it might be worth using a more detailed tree foliage model (something like those from Project Q or Six's tilesets). 

 

Either way good luck with everything, I'm looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

 

Solace is now and always would have been and will always be a STANDALONE tileset.  The mention of the Rural grass was the TEXTURE that was used and the fact that they started with a wiped out version of rural to have a clean set to start building from.  It was never intended to be an addition to Rural and will have NO features or groups or tiles from Rural.

 

As to the ground level access, YES it MUST have ground level access.  There are various bits of the set that require ground as the set was intended to reflect the areas mentioned in Dragon Lance.  Yes, there will be a pit section, but it will be a single group that you can choose to paint or not.    Some of the major groups have ground level access built into them (except they will require a dummy door jump to get up/down from ground level.  Mainly, the Inn of the Last Home in the description, has ground level access AND a barn at the base for travelers to leave their horses overnight while visiting the Inn.  The pit section mentioned is there to throw the dead bodies of the enemy down into...

 

There is also a Blacksmith shop... which as you would guess, requires FIRE, which you would not want to have  a huge furnace capable of making armour to be mounted on a wooden platform connected by wooden bridges to wooden homes etc... so the Blacksmith shop will be a ground level building, so will the water mill building which of course requires running water to turn the water wheel to fun the mill.

 

So basically, there is a need for ground level, and since those three buildings have already been created and at least one other group on the ground, then there will be a need to block sections from walking.  Technically, you could create another area with a transition between them, but if you are like most folks, why waste time with transitions (I hate loading screens wasting my time while I am attempting to get somewhere else in an area) then having the ground access is needed.  Unfortunately, due to the height of the bridges, there will not be a straight walk-up type of access to the bridge level unless I go create a raised section of land for a bridge to connect to.  That terrain has not been created and I don't think I am going to waste the extra time to create something like that right now, not unless I am able to get a lot more help along the way.

 

I do understand where you are coming from, but you have not seen the set yet, so please wait to bring criticism until after you get your hands on it.  I think you will be pleasantly surprise by how much work has been done and how well this set truly does look. 

 

For real Dragon Lance fans, there will be quite a few buildings that you will be glad to find in the set.  There may be some you might not have expected but who knows, NWN fans in general have quite a large expectation AND knowledge of what can be accomplished with tilesets.

 

 

I am basically attempting to keep this set from looking like a general re-skin of a known set.  Believe me, NONE of these buildings have been seen in another tileset so you will enjoy at least your first exposure... after that... well, we all get bored over time I guess.

 

A builder, creating a mod, could choose to NOT allow access by simply not using the various ramps / doorway links etc.  But the physical aspects of those options will be part of the set.  Just as in any other tileset there are likely things you may or may not wish to use, but the options are there.

[Bannor Bloodfist]

Sent you an email, I'd love to help with this.

watch for an email reply!