Integration with the Mainland

[Proditus]

A video has been surfacing lately about a rather peculiar pathway that leads into Morrowind , but is interrupted by the infamous border barrier.

If you look on a map, the path leads into the southernmost part of the Silgrad region.


Because there's a path right there, it might be a good idea to simply build off of the mainland with that as the entry point. Perhaps make the mod centered around northern progression.

The only problem is that the path may be there for a reason. It's entirely possible that Bethesda plans on exploring that region themselves for DLC, as many have speculated. And it could be a long time before anyone figures that out.

[Proditus]

You have no idea how large of a reply I just wrote here, only to accidentally close my browser with a goddamn key combination I don't know.

[Proditus]

So I was exploring the region and learning as much lore as I could, and I'll share what information I can. This is not nearly as long as my last post, but I'll try to include as much information as I can remember.

GEOGRAPHY

The locations of cities is an important factor in this mod. We're working with a limited space, yet we need to include as much logical content as possible.

When entering Morrowind from the path near Riften, the first city encountered should be Silgrad. When I compare the region's geography to a map, the relative location should be about here. I don't believe earlier iterations of Silgrad were located on a hill, but I think that allowing it to remain in this spot would be an effective means of conveying the majesty of the city, and also because cities on hills are unique structures that haven't been attempted much in Skyrim. It is located a good distance away from the border and players should have plenty of time to explore the region before being plopped in civilization.




Soluthis is the next city up the coast and is located approximately in the center of the region. This region is bordered by mountains and the sea, and filled with rolling hills. To the south, you can see the distance between Silgrad and Soluthis. The original Soluthis contained a river running through it, but that could be easily reimplemented.




Blacklight is the northernmost city and rests on the tip of Morrowind surrounded by the sea. To the south, you can see the landscape that separates it from Soluthis and Silgrad, and to the west you can see the city of Winterhold in Skyrim. This region contains a very open border and can be considered a second starting region for players to enter the area.



While the region itself seems large enough to hold an adequate amount of content, there is one feature that will be hard to tackle, which is this.




Vvardenfell will be a constant presence in this region, and at some points the distance between it and the mainland are so small that it can be crossed by swimming in only a minute or so. I don't know of any viable solution for this aside from teaming up with another mod team that is working on the region and implementing the two together. But if we're doing this, we may as well do the entirety of Morrowind with a larger team.

ENVIRONMENT

(Region comparisons are not accurate representations of Morrowind content, but instead reflect an idealized version that can compare to the current quality of Skyrim)

The environment of this region should accurately capture the feel of Morrowind while at the same time blending with surrounding regions in Skyrim in a way that makes sense. To this effect, I propose three basic regions. One to the south that will blend with Riften, one to the north that will blend with Winterhold, and one in the middle that will bridge the two. This also gives each city its own surrounding region, and can help make each environment a unique experience.




The southern region surrounding Silgrad should be like the Ascadian Isles region of Vvardenfell with a touch of Autumn flair. The famous mushrooms should be kept to the coastlines, and populated areas should contain a sizable amount of farmland. This should be the most pristine section of the region.

The middle region that surrounds Soluthis should feature the mountains prominently. Soluthis in prior iterations of this mod were mostly based on the Ascadian Isles region, but given events between Oblivion and Skyrim and its proximity to Red Mountain, I would say that this should no longer be the case. The region this time around should be reminiscent of the West Gash region with a Grazelands -style shift along its southern edge. There should still be plenty of foliage, but it shouldn't look very healthy.

The northernmost region that Blacklight calls home should be a mixture between a West Gash region in winter and a frozen Sheogorad region. It should also contain elements of the region surrounding Winterhold, as they share an open border and the region shift shouldn't be too obvious.

CITIES


I included a section about the cities themselves in my original post, but I now need to go to work and I haven't the time to do it again. I will come back and add this last section when I'm home again.

[AnImpatientFan]

Hi Proditus,

Welcome to Silgrad Tower!!!
I apoligize it took so long for me to reply,

Thank you so much for compiling this. I know for sure that this could be of good reference later as you have clearly searched the net for lore surrounding or region.

__________________

In the core we have decided to focus on the "Silgrad" Region first. If we get that up to standard we will probably build north towards Blacklight.

The core has not yet decided whether to use our own worldspace or Bethesda's. I do not think Bethesdas heightmap is in a moddable state. It will probably require extensive tailoring to our liking.

The core also is yet to decide what Morrowind region type our area will be based on, although our TESIII and TESIV mods are probably very good guides. This all will be sorted out once the Creation Kit for Skyrim is released.

One of the things we should work on in our worldspace is the ability for the player to navigate it. Our cities are very, very close together and therefore we need to make the players journey between them longer without actually increasing the distance. For instance, in our TESIII and TESIV mods there was a marsh called the Deepen Moor inbetween Silgrad City and Soluthis. In our Skyrim mod we could make this very thick and dangerous with non-leveling creatures.
I'm sure you get my drift.

So to recap:

-We are focusing on the Silgrad Region first. That has been decided.
-The core is undecided about our WS. Perhaps we are to use our own?
-The core is undecided about region types.


Once again, thank you very much and welcome to Silgrad Tower!

[Candlemaster]

You folks might be interested in checking out the Beyond Skyrim forums, here:
http://www.darkcreations.org/forums/foru...iscussion/

Basically we're trying to build a meeting place where all the "landmass" modding teams can get together, share ideas, co-ordinate plans, and share resources. Right now, we're working on building a heightmap for all of Tamriel that any team would be able to use. Come check us out, and please add Silgrad Tower to our wiki (Here)!

[TheImperialDragon]

I still need to read this thread fully, but it's clear you put a lot of effort into this Proditus! =)

Candlemaster: That's very interesting, I'll check out the site. I'm curious though - how is a heightmap being built before the CK has come out?