Not using ES3 meshes...

[Oht_Nought]

If you're going through all that work to replicate the ES3 meshes, and you simply want high poly counts with the new engine's rendering abilities, why not just import the ES3 nifs, optimize them in max, then re-export them? If moving around the vertecies is enough to avoid 'ripping' them, why not do that?

I'm also a bit confused about the use of Chyd. architecture. I know it states in-game that Chyd architecture is 'influenced' by Dunmer architecture... but what House style is it influenced by? In ES3 we see all but Dres architecture, so, do you think Chyd. arch. is influenced by Dres arch, (because it looks nothing like any of the other 4 Houses), but the Dres are supposed to be anti-imperial, and Chyd arch looks very Imperial... Also, because Chyd. arch is only 'influenced' by Dunmer arch, and you've taking the actual Chyd arch and used it in Morrowind, are you planning on replacing these buildings with Dunmer style ones at a later date?

[TheImperialDragon]

Originally posted by Oht_Nought
I'm also a bit confused about the use of Chyd. architecture. I know it states in-game that Chyd architecture is 'influenced' by Dunmer architecture... but what House style is it influenced by? In ES3 we see all but Dres architecture, so, do you think Chyd. arch. is influenced by Dres arch, (because it looks nothing like any of the other 4 Houses), but the Dres are supposed to be anti-imperial, and Chyd arch looks very Imperial... Also, because Chyd. arch is only 'influenced' by Dunmer arch, and you've taking the actual Chyd arch and used it in Morrowind, are you planning on replacing these buildings with Dunmer style ones at a later date?

Reich Parkeep (the area with retextured Cheydinhal architecture) is an Imperial district - it doesn't belong to any of the Great Houses. The reason we used Cheydinhal architecture (from what I understand) is because it wouldn't be out of place in Morrowind having Dunmer influence, and at that time, our resources were nowhere near what we have now. We didn't have the Oblivion-friendly programs that are available today for modelling (like various NIF exporters and NIFSkope). We could have halted progress until we had more available to us, but you wouldn't see this mod for what it is now, in fact, it probably would have died - just like any other mod that doesn't have any progress to show.

I don't think we're planning on replacing those buildings again (IATE did a nice retexture job). The interiors are already made and match the exteriors. And a lot of effort from many people went into them.

Though we appreciate the thought.

[Razorwing]

Originally posted by Oht_Nought
If you're going through all that work to replicate the ES3 meshes, and you simply want high poly counts with the new engine's rendering abilities, why not just import the ES3 nifs, optimize them in max, then re-export them? If moving around the vertecies is enough to avoid 'ripping' them, why not do that?

There's a few reasons for why I don't do that. One is that messing with imported models screws up the uv mapping. Often enough it's more work to mess with a low-poly model that way and try to get it working properly than it is for an experienced modeller to create a hi-poly model from scratch. Another is that it just isn't fun creatively to do that since you can't take any real pride in the work. And whether it's legal or not to do that it just doesn't feel right.

Originally posted by Oht_Nought
I'm also a bit confused about the use of Chyd. architecture. I know it states in-game that Chyd architecture is 'influenced' by Dunmer architecture... but what House style is it influenced by? In ES3 we see all but Dres architecture, so, do you think Chyd. arch. is influenced by Dres arch, (because it looks nothing like any of the other 4 Houses), but the Dres are supposed to be anti-imperial, and Chyd arch looks very Imperial... Also, because Chyd. arch is only 'influenced' by Dunmer arch, and you've taking the actual Chyd arch and used it in Morrowind, are you planning on replacing these buildings with Dunmer style ones at a later date?

Much like TheImperialDragon said, Reich Parkeep is meant to be Imperial through and through. If Cheydinhal is a mixture of Imperial and Dunmer influences then it makes sense that Reich Parkeep should be too - or at least makes more sense than the other architectural choices. I never noticed any similarities either, both Redoran and Hlaalu favored stone-like materials and Telvanni were wildly different. Maybe they wrote that information before designing the architecture.

Given the vast number of models we needed to create it didn't make sense to vest time and energy into something Oblivion would provide a suitable alternative to, so it was never prioritized either before release or after.

I don't believe the houses will be remade, at least not in the Oblivion mod. We'll have to for The Elder Scrolls V since we can't reuse the Cheydinhal houses, and hopefully by then we'll have both Imperial castle- and Imperial common architecture inspired by TES3.