Silgrad Tower from the Ashes - BWRS0102 "Hixinoag" (Completed

Official 'Black Marsh' Claim for Settlement Claim: Hixinoag

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Hixinoag
AVAILABILITY: Completed by Ibsen's Ghost

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Swampland Huts: http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq70/...ndHuts.jpg

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Description & Details

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Hixinoag was a village originally captured by the Blackwood Co. during their attempt to return the wilderness areas of the province to Imperial rule. It was here that they found the Hist tree that the player encounters in the Fighter's Guild quest. The village was occupied, and closed off to avoid any suspicion about what they were doing to the Hist. In the centre of the village is a crater filled with roots, marking where the tree stood. Now it has been taken over by Southlanders and some nervous Argonians who are on guard against any further threats. Many of the Blackwood Co. are suspected to have fled to Cyrodiil or Tenmar Wall.

There may be some burnt rubble around to signify the loss of some swamp huts. Unlike nearby Sloughpoint, Hixinoag is now an unsettled place but it represents the first introduction to Argonian culture in the Black Marsh given that other Blackwood settlements are more Imperial by nature. It now provides a stop-off point for the mysterious travelling Southlanders who are partly responsible for the wooden barricades erected around the small village.

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At-a-glance Details

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Settlement Type: Village
Architecture: Black Marsh Huts set & MEO's settlement set
Exterior cell coordinates: approx. -11,11 and -10,12/-11,12
Claim Size & Difficulty: Easy. 3 cells maximum.
Inhabitants: 'Normal' and/or 'Draconian' Argonians, Southlanders and maybe trusted others.
Mission Connections: None as yet.
Amount of Loot: Low.
General Info: Please maintain an up to date discussion thread on this claim here: Claims Threads .

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Modding Directions

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You'll find the location for the village of Hixinoag in the cell area BlackwoodRegionHixinoag (-11,11 and -10,12/-11,12) of the BlackMarshes worldspace. Use the latest esm here:Latest esm and esp updates and the latest bsa here: Latest bsa .

The first thing you should be looking for is how to set up the combination of the remaining Argonian huts and MEO's settlement resources so that there is some evidence of the history described above along with a general look of martial panic. Note that you should sculpt the area and, if needs be, provide palisade fortifications with careful deployment of regional trees.

You will find the typical architecture in Static\blackmarsh\architecture\bmhuts. The settlement resources can be found under Static\blackmarsh\architecture\Hixinoag.

Clutter and Flora - You may decorate with the following rocks and flora: Great Forest mossy rocks, local trees (see surrounding area), pitcher plant, Somnalius plant and various fungi. You may also use some of Koniption's flora such as the Victorian water lily, bird of paradise, bromeliads (only the green ones), a little sugar cane (there will be a field nearby), Monstera plant and perhaps some small amounts of hibiscus. Corn Plant and Green Ti Plant might also be used. Please ask about anything else but use the local environs as your guide to making it look convincing.

You may wish to use a combination of the regional textures used already in the area (just hold down Ctrl and right-click on the local area whilst in the height mapping mode) and our own textures (look in the list of textures in the height mapping window for textures beginning with bm...some appear at the bottom for some strange, unknowable reason).

Otherwise, ask if you'd like to use other stuff. I'm sure you'll make sensible choices but it would be best to check that out by posting screenies or offering a suggestion in this thread.

Please ensure that, despite the lack of walls for a village, it should nonetheless be protected. Try to provide a buffer between the exterior world and the village so as to make sure that creatures are not placed too close and that perhaps there are stakes or fences around the settlement. The entrance, meanwhile, should probably be slightly more 'scattered' and disorderly to reflect the temporary nature of the settlement and its threatened history. Try to make use of the custom clutter objects where necessary.

Bear in mind the need to create interiors and AI at a later stage so there will need to be room for the NPCs to engage in appropriate activities and to use suitable path-grids. For Hixinoag's inhabitants, this probably means trade, perhaps some Hist worship in the Shaman huts and patrol routes.

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Further Development

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Once the interiors are completed (you may wish to help with this yourself) then the AI will help to give the place more character. You should then consider the settlement as a permanent claim and assist with such things as pathgrids and house decorations once the AI are included.

You should also ensure that the region surrounding the settlement is fully landscaped, equipped with trees, rocks and flora and vertex shaded. DO NOT CLAIM THE SETTLEMENT AS IS BUT TREAT YOUR CLAIM AS A STOCK SET OF CELLS for which you have responsibility over. The landscaper has the ultimate decision on which textures remain etc but to consider the settlement as a landscape feature as well as a functioning town is part of the task.

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Lighting your settlement

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Besides using torches where necessary, please make use of oilplants and Glo-shrooms (you need to provide a blue light bulb next to these) besides various other items of custom clutter.

I updated this claim with extra details including MEO's settlement resources and directions. :check:

you should note that the new wooden stairs for the bmhuts set are at a different angle, so any modder should wait for the replacement set (about a day Tongue

) before starting this claim, or using the wooden stair model.

x

edd

Thanks, llamaranger. People will have to wait anyhow. I'm in the middle of landscaping this area. I should get past the Hixinoag area by the next update.

During my landscaping of Northern Blackwood, I began the outlines of Hixinoag and couldn't stop. This is now almost complete except for a little more clutter. Screenshots are on the way. I think you'll like it.... =)

Welcome to Hixinoag!

Some obvious errors that need fixing:

The land textures need to be set to 'NoGrass' types...doh!
I will have to use non-grabbable rubies or something for the dog's eyes as the textures automatically go purple for static creatures.
The portcullis doesn't open...it was in the 'doors' section but it doesn't work...not entirely sure why although I have a few ideas.
I experienced another strange 'black screen bug' on the road from the mine.

Some interesting features:

You CAN climb up to the top of the towers.
You can also climb up to the top of the Chieftain hut via a little door I created and sit on a seat there....although because the space is EXTREMELY tight, you can only see a little through a slit onto the town below.
There is a very basic road to Hixinoag Mine from the entrance.
All the starter cells have been created for the interiors.
I could use a large sign over the front gate.
It would look a lot better if I'd used a 'NoGrass' texture....gah!

Nice!

Koniption

Very nice. Actually, I think it looks pretty good with a few of the ferns on the ground - makes it look a bit less polished than the imperial towns. But I agree you need less of them. As for the rest, it's perfect. Are you going to add some Southlander huts as well?

Not sure. I still don't have the Ashlander yurts from Dave_91. I'll have to remind myself to ask for them. I may just replace some of the swampland huts as I don't want Hixinoag to be particularly large...

Hopefully, I have fixed an issue to do with Hixinoag's portcullis-gate not opening. There is also an issue related to the old swamphuts which once crashed my old PC and is showing up with a weird light effect right now.

Otherwise, it's all going very nicely, as you can see.