Silgrad Tower from the Ashes

Road Claim: Roads through Soluthis (northeast)
STATUS: Finished

You'll need the 3.25 version of the ESM (pathched with M1277) or higher to mod this road.


[title]Description[/title]
The large area outside Soluthis consists of many different regions, ranging from rocky wastes to lush forests. The region this claim deals with is the grasslands to the northeast.

Far to the west lies the city of Soluthis, a major Redoran city where Archmaster Areya lives. To the south, and slightly closer, is the farming village of Ald Nium, which is where crops and livestock are grown for the people living in Soluthis. The road leading north of Ald Nium (the road in this claim) connects civilization to the vast wildernesses that call for adventure (and also leads to Ebbedin in the Bitter Coast ).

Bordering the Soluthis region are the Velothi Mountains (north), Borderlands (northwest), Forgotten Forest (southwest), Deepen Moor (south), Ashunor Valley (southeast), and Bitter Coast (east). See our map webpage to see where this region is in our mod.

[title]How to mod the road[/title]
Above is a map of the region, with a rough layout for the roads sketched in tan. Keep in mind as you're modding that the road doesn't have to match the image exactly - the road should generally go through the same cells as on the map, but exact bends and so on are 100% up to you, the modder. The important thing is have a layout similar to the one shown on the map (there is a fair bit of flexibility), with road endings in cell (5, 42) (connecting Ald Nium), and in cell (23, 60) (which just reaches outside the Bitter Coast).

After loading up the CS, you should load the area where you wish to start in the Render Window. The Silgrad Tower worldspace is STLand. After that, you'll want to open up the Landscape Editor, then find and select the texture called StRPRegionCobblestone2.

Now you're ready to start modding the road. Use a brush size of 2 to paint the road, and make sure you use vertex shading (with a value of 160 for each of RGB) along the edges of the road. You must mod the road using the landscape texture StRPRegionCobblestone2. Please make sure the road has bends (so it's not completely straight). In addition, please mod a "pathspear" fence along at least some segments of the road - you may find individual pieces of pathspear fences under Static->ST->Walls->Fence->Pathspear. You may move, delete, or place Soluthis Grassland objects along the road path as you see fit, whether to make way for a road, or to add more detail. A list of Soluthis Grassland objects is given below. You may also paint the area around the road with other Soluthis grassland textures if you wish*. The road should not be modded beyond the area of the region shown in the map.

Most Soluthis Grassland objects can be found in the following list locations in the CS:
[INDENT][/INDENT]Trees:
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- Trees->SilgradOak
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- Trees->SilgradBuckthorn
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- Trees->SilgradBush
[INDENT][/INDENT]Emperor Parasol mushrooms and vines:
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- Static->ST->Flora->Ambience (models beginning with StStaticFloraParasol)
[INDENT][/INDENT]Rocks:
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- Static->ST->Rocks->WestGash
[INDENT][/INDENT]The flora that are used in this region are all under Flora->ST:
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraChokeweed
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraStoneflower (models 01, 02, and 03)
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraKreshweed (all models)
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraRoweed (all models)
[INDENt][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraDandelion01
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraRoobrush
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraGoldKanet01
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraProria (models 01 and 02)
[INDENT][/INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT]- StFloraToadstool (models 01, 02, and 03)
You may also copy and paste other objects you see in this region. Please note that kreshweed, chokeweed and roobrush are the dominant flora of this region. The other flora in the list above are by no means uncommon in this region, but if you want to for instance mod a large patch of flora then kreshweed is the way to go.

The road immediately north of Ald Nium (in the cell that doesn't have many objects) should require less detail overall, as that area will likely be converted into more farmland at some point in the future.

When you're done, upload the ESP either to the forums, or to a free file-sharing website such as http://rapidshare.com or http://www.filefront.com.

* The textures that are suitable for the Soluthis grassland region are:
- StRPRegionForestMossGrassDirt
- StRPRegionForestDirt
- StRPRegionForestGrassLeaves
- StRPRegionGrassClover
- StRPRegionGrassMoss
There are a few exceptions, like if you mod riverbanks (StRPRegionDirt) or make a crop field (TerrainTilledSoil) or if you use a rock texture to make the ground underneath a rock group blend with the models. But for normal land you must use the five listed landscape textures, to ensure a consistent look of the region and also preserve the diversity of the regions around Soluthis.

[title]Claiming[/title]
If you want to claim this road, please post saying so. Likewise, if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in this thread.

Done.

I painted the road as close to the map provided as I could. I ran the road in game and there were no sharp points that I noticed and the road is clear. I added no detail.

Nice work Zurke! :goodjob:

@TID
I would like to merge the file or do you want me to wait?

The file has been merged, revisions (if required) have to be modded with the next esm update.

Thanks. I downloaded the file a few days ago, but I've been really busy and I haven't had a chance to sit down and look at the file. I'll take a look as soon as I can.

I sent you a PM Zurke.

Very, very nice, btw. :goodjob: