Gideon Castle Thread

[Deeza]

This is just as a reminder to myself to this still needs doing. The interiors are fine but they need updating with BM assets.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Consider a rather plush interior with our own four-poster beds and perhaps this little thing: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=28044 ....bear in mind also that Castle Giovesse, an old residential tower converted into a dungeon adjoins the building to the North.

[Deeza]

Hmm. As it is, Tlo appears to have used the Anvil interiors with all the potted plants. Might be nice if I replaced them with more twisted BM flora. You're right, it needs to be plush, but also have a sinister vibe due to the Governor's infamous reputation.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Check out the static menu in the CS under 'flora'. There are some non-harvestable items that can be used there. They are mainly intended for use in Soulrest but the darker ones could also be employed here. Oh, and there are things like a 'tree decoration' that can be used indoors for Argonian servants hankering after their filthy, native land.

Oh, and if I remember rightly, there should be an animated Gideon banner too.

[Deeza]

Interesting factoids for the loading screens of the castle:

It is said the Gideon Castle has been destroyed and rebuilt so many times that behind its walls lie a maze of sealed, forgotten chambers, only a fraction of which are inhabited today.

In the Second Era, Gideon Castle was known as Castle Giovese. The parts of the structure dating from this period are currently in severe disprepair, and are used as the castle dungeon.

The lowest layer of the Castle was built when the first Governor of Black Marsh, Gideon Praxatel, excavated the ancient Merethic Era ruins of Myriarsel, the Hall of a Thousand Arches, one of the oldest Barsaebic ruins in Argonia. Traces of this structure can still be seen today.

[Deeza]

Aaargh! I've been hammering away at the Castle for near an hour now... it seems never-ending! I'm off to Chasepoint for a change...

[Xae]

Originally posted by Deeza
It is said the Gideon Castle has been destroyed and rebuilt so many times that behind its walls lie a maze of sealed, forgotten chambers, only a fraction of which are inhabited today.

Thought I'd just mention that this really caught my eye. It's a very interesting premise. It seems like we could connect the entire city through tunnels and have a Shadow Over Hackdirt thing going on in the dark corners of Gideon.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Yes, we kind of already have a premise for that in the sense of using the sewer system...which might well be connected. However, having traces of lore in there gives it an extra dimension.

Regarding the thousand arches thing, such a structure has been on my mind about these sewers for a while. Something like the Granary at Meknes in Morrocco springs to mind. I've actually been here myself (see pic). Using the Barsaebic arches shouldn't be hard as we'd just create a kind of maze-like hall out of them that can look quite impressive. Do it right and it gives you that dizzy feeling you get from looking at Escher paintings...

[Deeza]

Yes, that was the kind of thing I was thinking of. I've already tried to go for an effect like that in the Castle entrance hall, but it's not quite big enough (the castle was only built over part of the structure). It's full of transitions into Barsaebic and ruined fort sections, which could be made use of by dungeon designers later.

And yes, I was a bit inspired by Hackdirt in my thinking about how the sewers would work. I was going to use the excuse that the city used to be much bigger before the Khnaten Flu, in order to allow us to build a really huge underworld.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Careful about doing too much. Eastern cities of BM may be better locations for more ambitious stuff and Western BM is probably already going to be very much more populated than elsewhere in the map....