Heightmap Discussion

[KuKulzA]

As of now, the official heightmap maker is Axen... :goodjob:
I am no expert in this so I do not pretend to know what i am talking about

Limits I know of...
I heard there were limits due to LOD and going beyond it screws things up....
However...
I heard you can use Geocontrol and make a mesh of the landmass which can be assigned a LOD of any size...

I would also like to say that in TES4 Vvardenfell... I am looking forward to making the landmass...
[1] at least 3x larger if possible
The character is faster and the distance is seen so the isle will look smaller if in TES3 scale. Also we want to make the island grander than it was, so if we proportionally fit it to meet what it felt like in TES3 except in TES4, we will have to make it larger than that....
[2] making the Ashlands bigger
I feel as Ashlands are a main theme of Vvardenfell, they should be bigger... in early Bethesda concept art, Ashlanders took up like 80-90% of the map. We might not go THAT far.... but... a bit more than wasin TES3
[3] making the Gashlands narrower
this is will help facilitate a larger Ashland, and also give the feel that the land is a strip of rivets and grooves and high rocks and ravines... like a large broken land... which is kinda what the West Gash means... badlands...
[4] expanding Bitter & Azura's Coast slightly
I want to expand the Bitter Coast slightly at both ends, I don't know why the weather should suddenly change when gone up north or south just a little. The Mainland's Bitter Coast must be quite large, Vvardenfell's should be larger as wel in my opinion. Also I want Azura's coast to have the space for a small mushroom forest. Not the sparse groves in TES3, but a small and dense area with LOTS of mushrooms...
[5] flatter Grazelands
I feel that there should be low hills at the base of the mountains to the west, but the Grazelands should be mostly flat...
[6] Red Mt., taller
this is one of the biggest mountains on Tamriel, and is a super volcano... think Mount Doom...


you guys are free to disagree... but I feel my ideas have good base and support for them please feel free to give your own ideas... I don't want TES4 Vvardenfell to just be a copy, but also an improvement on TES3


EDIT:
I hope to get a map of what I mean soon

[TheImperialDragon]

I liked the old layout of TES3 Vvardenfell, now, as we already know, we could probably get away with using 80 * 64 MW cells (160 * 128 OB cells) if we plan on having mainland LOD, but I feel that if we are going to go with that, then it is small enough so that we might as well just go with the old landmass shape. I agree this should be more than just a copy, so we should not only use the old as a base, but improve it as well, for one making Red Mountain a wee bit taller (I for one agree with KuKu on that). As for city LOD and the viewing distance between cities, I think if we creatively place natural barriers so that the cities aren't visible from one another, we should be alright. For example, between Balmora and Caldera, there is a mediocre sized mountain (part of the Caldera Mine), we could shift that to the east or something so that it blocks the view between those two cities. What do the rest of you think, and if you disagree, suggest something!

[KuKulzA]

that might work.... carefully placing geography in a way making the land seem much bigger...
actually that IS sorta how TES3 was... so much uneven land that as the crow flies might be short, but as the man walks is a very long distance....

I think the size may be good... but I still want the Ashlands bigger, Gash narrowed, and swamps of Bitter Coast extended farther as well as a little more room for a dense mushroom forest

[Axen]

I wanted to do quite a few huge changes to the landscape, to make it wilder, more majestic, more beautiful.
(And, about making the ashlands bigger: I don't see a need to. They already took up the majority of the land in TES3.)

- Molag Amur: Many tall, rocky mesas with narrow gaps between them, many "towers", lava cracks in the gaps.
- Ashlands: Dunes. Well, that's not a whole lot different from TES3, but, um...
- West Gash: Uhh, remember before I said they're like the Scottish highlands? I take that back completely, I didn't know what I was talking about. More like mountainous, rocky highlands with cuts in them (GeoControl recently got a cut filter added to it, I'll have fun with that here). I want to add sharp, thin valleys through the northwest area that go down to sea level. Perhaps a ridge or two that go out a little into the Inner Sea. Elevation past Caldera would be higher.
- Azura's Coast: Much more rugged and rockier. Some ridges extending off of some of the Molag Amur's mesas to the Inner Sea. The coastline would be raised a little and mostly rocky cliffs (think the US west coast).
- Grazelands: Make the transition between the Ashlands and the Grazelands much, much less straight. Flatter, of course. However, maybe the northeastern part with Tel Vos and Vos would be raised a little on a cliff. Yes, I like cliffs. They're fun.

[KuKulzA]

well I meant ashlands as in Ashlands+Molag Amur, which are volcanic ashlands...
but West-Gash i think should also have geographical wonders like awesome wind-carved tunnels and smooth mountain sides... and cool stuff...

but your ideas sound good so far...

[Axen]

Er, I suppose I should have mentioned that I wanted the elevation of the West Gash near the Redoran towns higher.

[KuKulzA]

Originally posted by Axen
Er, I suppose I should have mentioned that I wanted the elevation of the West Gash near the Redoran towns higher.

as in the towns are made on plateaus or they are surrounded by mountains making them valley towns?


EDIT: we should also set a heightmap deadline...
we need to be able to have expectations, and I hope to have modding start before 2007

[Axen]

Gnisis would be on a plateau (it already was in TES3, actually). The fishing villages would obviously have to be at sea level, so they'd be surrounded by mountains.

[KuKulzA]

so what sort of deadline should we expect for heightmap?

[Axen]

Not before GeoControl v2 comes out, of course... and then it will take time for me to paint it and add filters to it.