Rootworm Tunnels tileset

[Koniption]

I got the files you attached. I'll see what I can do.

Koniption

[llamaranger]

Black Marsh is also home to rootworms, which a smuggler casually introduces to Scotti as a type of 'Underground Express.' The rootworms are useful to travelers, swallowing them whole and taking them on with the current. Their digestive systems are apparently quite slow, and travelers "could live in a rootworm's belly for months."

Straight from UESP wiki...

Poissibly have warders on the inside to guide the root worms, so it becomes like an organic train, similar to the way siltstriders were used in morrowind... just a totally lore-abiding thought

Edd

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Originally posted by llamaranger
[QUOTE]....just a totally lore-abiding thought

Sweet research. :goodjob: I changed the title of this thread (again). =)

[Koniption]

So they are called rootworms and are used like vehicles...

Ibsen, I had an idea:

Remember the siltstriders in Morrowind? All the game did with them was give them an idle animation where they occasionally moved their legs, and when you traveled with them, the screen blanked out and reloaded you at your destination. With similar idea, what if I made just a rootworm head and part of the neck that sticks out of a hill or cave, and the worm sways a little to the sides with the mouth opening and closing just a tad (animated - it'll be the idle animation). Then your character goes to talk to a rootworm guide who is standing next to the worm and you say you want to go somewhere. The guide goes up to the worm, tickles it with a stick or something, and as trained, the worm lays it's head horizontal, and opens its mouth wide (a different animation) for your character to enter. You basically go up to the mouth and activate the head, and then you fast travel to your destination. (If done properly, fast traveling via the Blackmarsh map in Oblivon can be deactivated, and use only the rootworms instead - sort of like Morrowind style of travel). What do you think of this?

I can still model the rootworm head and separate body section for the dead rootworm, too, as separate feature.

I had a question regarding the dead rootworm head: The tileset sample you sent me has tree trunks as an exterior feature....did you want me to scale the rootworm's head to fit inside the tree stump, lined up with the cave tunnel? If so, I don't know if I'll have enough room to fully show off the head of the rootworm, in such a cramped location.

I was wondering if I could make the head as if it would come out of a hill, or maybe out of a cave entrance without a tree stump in the way, so the whole head is seen?

I have not modeled anything yet, btw, though I went on a texture searching spree early this morning and downloaded some.

Koniption

[Ibsen's Ghost]

I love the idea of travelling like that. Our WS is small so disabling fast travel would be a cool option and probably work. A lot of people don't like fast travel, anyway. You could use a worm near every major settlement as long as it was within map-sight of the city walls. And an animation would make it extra-special!

Yes, separate features for the dead ones would be cool. There might even be a reason why the rootworms are all dying. There's a cool story idea in there somewhere.

No tree trunks needed! It just so happens that my tileset is based on the rootcaves. Otherwise, they bear no relation except perhaps by means of your own ideas.....I quite like the idea of positioning one of these things so that it pokes out of one of our tunnels though.....and I now have plenty of rock tunnel and cave models to do such a thing. However, I'm thinking that rootworms wouldn't be seen too often near rocks. They would prefer the environment of the Everglades and the deeper swamps and marshes.

[Koniption]

Here's what I've got so far for the dead rootworm's head part (and some WIP shots of healthy worm's head, for the traveling worm):

http://s301.photobucket.com/albums/nn62/...irit_2008/

I've slapped some quick textures on the dead worm, so the contours can be seen. Oddly enough, the texture on the body exterior lends pretty well to having one see the worm as putrifying, so I might keep that particular texture, with some tweaks, of course. The neck lulls and spreads around the head on the ground and is bloated, like what dead, gaseous, saggy carcasses do. I made upper and lower lips sag a little in places. Some teeth are chipped or knocked out altogether to suggest the beast being in a battle and having been killed, or even scavengers just picking at them. The tongue curls to the side of the mouth, to show loss of muscle control upon death. There is a grey/black-ish human Oblivion male nif next to the head in each pic, to show scale.

I also showed untextured WIP of the healthy rootworm's head, that has supple, perky skin, just like a newborn's bottom (lol). I have yet to finish modeling the healthy rootworm and all the other stuff.

Tell me what you think. Anything you don't like?

I'm pretty pleased with how the heads turned out thus far. I'm gonna call it a day for today.

Koniption

[Senten]

Damn,this project would be the most exciting thing in the world.I really like the Black marshes.

Koniption: Its amazing!Really really nice,but one thing.Could you put the textures in the body to bigger resolution?And it will be perfect. :yes:

`Senten

[Deeza]

Looks absolutely fantastic! I never thought I'd see the rootworms actually getting made. And I love the new tunnels as well.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

:bananarock:Looks superb! The only thing I would criticise is the texture. I'm sure I can get better textures than this. I would like the dead worm to have really rotten textures to enhance that sagging effect. I think I can handle this though. I'll send you my wormtunnel textures by PM so you can experiment with those and see if they match up okay. It doesn't matter too much if the colour on the outside is not the same as on the inside because they're not going to look the same anyway.

[Senten]

Originally posted by Ibsen's Ghost
:bananarock:Looks superb! The only thing I would criticise is the texture. I'm sure I can get better textures than this. I would like the dead worm to have really rotten textures to enhance that sagging effect. I think I can handle this though. I'll send you my wormtunnel textures by PM so you can experiment with those and see if they match up okay. It doesn't matter too much if the colour on the outside is not the same as on the inside because they're not going to look the same anyway.

Sounds nice,can't wait to see the model with your textures! :yes: