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+--- Forum: Akavir (https://www.silgradmodding.net/forum/Forum-Akavir)
+---- Forum: Progress (https://www.silgradmodding.net/forum/Forum-Progress)
+---- Thread: Kielanai's work (/Thread-Kielanai-s-work)
- Kodama - 08-18-2007
O wow! :pop:
I really like your work Kielanai :applause: :goodjob:
And i would love to add the entire village to the Akavir mod :yes:
Progress and Frustrations - Kielanai - 08-19-2007
Hm, I must be doing something wrong on the creature. I tried copying and saving new file names (like "magic dog" instead of "dog") to the actual files for the body and skeleton, but it told me it needed a "skeleton" file. So, I tried again and kept the file names the same, but simply redirected it to a folder with the name "magic dog". Still got error message. Both times when I tried to copy into the render window, it couldn't be seen at all.
I got frustrated with that and gave up for now. Instead I've been making lots of teapots (and starting on the temple now that the smithy is almost done).
My teapots are filled with potions that restore fatigue and sometimes have one other benefit -- just like the real teas and tisanes they are sort of named for. (Example, koucha is black tea with lots of caffeine, so fortify speed comes with that one.) Cheapest teapot is boiled water. :p (Because ceremony of tea was so important in China and Japan in the past that when draught and poverty prevented people from buying tea, they would still hold ceremony with boiled water.) Anyway, they looked beautiful in Nifskope! But then I put them in the game and they are all reflective and spotty. 
What is causing this? Is it the same thing as the glow map with the takoyaki? I failed at learning how to remove that too.Lots of discouragement lately. For everything I want to do, there is something about it that I can't do.
Glad to see you are back, Kodama!
I will post more later when I catch up on reading posts. I am fighting with CS right now. -_-* ... And looking for a fat buddha type statue for the temple. ... Hm, ... might have to settle for a dragon or some other kind of icon for them to pray at.Meanwhile, ... teapots/kyuusu ...
![[Image: Kyuusu.jpg]](http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m61/Kielanai/Oblivion%20Screenshots/AkaviriKojima7WIP/Kyuusu.jpg)
- Beremat - 08-19-2007
Those are really beautiful, Kielanai! :yes:
- Kodama - 08-20-2007
Yeah, they look fine :yes:
RE: Progress and Frustrations - ra5946 - 08-20-2007
If you want Kielanai, you can package up some of the nifs and textures that you have having problems with and I'll see if I can fix them.
I have a few buddha statues- I'll look for them when I get home.
RE: Progress and Frustrations - Kodama - 08-20-2007
Quote:Originally posted by ra5946
I have a few buddha statues
That would be cool
We will need to come up with some lore for an Akaviri version of buddha =)
- Ysne - 08-20-2007
I love your work too Keilanai.
Thanks! - Kielanai - 08-21-2007
But I wouldn't be able to do any of this without the makers of the original meshes and textures. Honestly, all I'm doing is putting their art on display in a different way.
Update news ... The forge is finished. The smith's shop is mostly finished. (It will take me a while to fill it with armor and weapons.) I've added Corthian's kyuudou set and made statics of everything so it can be displayed on walls. (So it can get the oohs and aaahhs it deserves when PC walks into the shop.) I found a mesh I might be able to sub for the pearl that fixes the takoyaki. I will check permissions. I have added Throttle Kitty's war fans to the arsenal and will try to retexture one from my large gold leaf fan at home. I have made statics of each fan so they can be used as wall decorations. I have made TEA PLANTS! Yosha! ^_^ So, now there is a source for all those teas -- well, some at least.
Ra, I will try once more to kill the glow on the teapots, or possibly look for a new teapot mesh that is more Asian than this one, but I'm not good at putting new models into the game. This teapot was the ONLY one I have been successful, though I've tried several others with bad results. If I can't do it by then, I will forward the files to you and see if you can fix it.
Also, started work on the temple, and this has really made me stop and think. Because a temple has to have a purpose other than just offer restore spells, ne? Here is real timeline history for Kojima and how it affects the temple:
1. New Oblivion game told me my PC should be bard. Never played a bard before, so ... why not. I had never played a gold elf before either. Kielanai was born. But when I was designing her face, I had the idea of making an Asian Elf -- a half-bred Akavir/Altmer. She needed a background story to explain this strange mix, and some Akaviri stuff, but not much for mods at that time. So, ... I decided to make her an Akaviri home. Kojima was born.
2. I planned for Kojima to be an Akaviri village and started learning how to use the CS. I did the little house first because she was a peon at the time. I put the large house at the other end for her to earn. I was going to fill in other shops with NPC's that were Akaviri slave refugees next, but realized too late I had hit the edge of the game map. -_-* So, two homes it is. But the dead end bridge inspired a story for the island and the character. I wrote a fan-fiction based on that idea. Decided to share the mod since so little was available when I searched. Was asked to join Akavir team while building the final stages of the island, because of taiko model release for a bard mod I really wanted to see released. (Kielanai can never have too many Akavir or bard mods, and Akaviri instruments are harder to come by than ... well, ... -any- instrument. Bethesda obviously didn't -really- expect anyone to pick "bard" class because they have nothing to "bard" with except speech.) :/
3. After getting several comments and requests from players wanting more people on the island, finally decided to take the plunge and try for the original machi/village plan one more time. But now the island has a history, in my mind. I can't just dump buildings and people on the island without good reason. Should I follow its history in making it for Kielanai, like original plan? Or should I keep it generic for general public use? It wouldn't feel the same to me with generic NPC's. The story is what inspires creation, ... for me, anyway. So, it is still Kielanai's island, and the NPC's are the slave refugees she and Rin brought back from Akavir. Therefore, Kojima must remain in Tamriel. However, that Bridge to Nowhere is a mononoke hashi in the story -- a portal that uses spirit magic to teleport to Akavir.
4. So, all of that helped me decide that the alter in the temple should be something symbolic of the connection between Kojima and Akavir. The mononoke hashi is the logical link, I think. It might be better than trying to fit Kojima into different lore on different continent, to make Kojima more of a gateway. Ne? Thoughts?
I saw in the other threads (and will answer later) about using Kojima for beta trailer thingy. ^_^ Suge~. That would be fun. Feel free to use Kojima for testing ground of any kind. Use it "as is" and add to it, or strip it and replace things, if you like. Or if you want to release a few teaser models I can give them a "home" on Kojima. I would be very honored to showcase things! :bow: (I have certainly been drooling over some of the model pictures I see flowing around here much like everyone else anxious to experience them in the game). But Kojima has always been open source, as long as credits are given. I have strong feelings about that, so Kojima would not be good for anything not meant to be shared with public.
... By the way, Corthian's priestess outfit is on the monks right now. ^_^ I might change that to a bright yellow or a dull gray -- can't decide yet how "traditional" their uniforms should be. I don't want someone to see them and think "Ah! Buddhist!". Akaviri people should have a fictional faith, but to feel like Asia, it should resemble those faiths in some ways. I will have papers or books to explain Kojima's temple and shrine.
More update screens: (Ra's lanterns are a wonderful addition and Corthian's bows join a display of exotic weapons.) ^_^ I'm hoping to release the final "public" revision of Kojima by September.
Edit: An updated picture of why the shining teapot is a problem. :| It should look like the other dishes, but I think a glow map is breaking it up into all those glowing, spotty faces.
Otera ya
![[Image: FansBows2.jpg]](http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m61/Kielanai/Oblivion%20Screenshots/AkaviriKojima7WIP/FansBows2.jpg)
![[Image: NastyGlow.jpg]](http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m61/Kielanai/Oblivion%20Screenshots/AkaviriKojima7WIP/NastyGlow.jpg)
- Kodama - 08-21-2007
Better to be a half-bred Akavir/Altmer, then an inbred Altmer
A portal is a bad idea because the Imperial soldiers would have found out about it and used it to get to Akavir, they would also build a large fortress at either side of the portal (that's what i would have done if i was the Emperor).
Since the location of Ko-jima in Cyrodill is very lore breaking, i ask you to rethink your original ideas for it, although they will fit fine in-game as a small mod right now, dispite the fact that it's lore breaking, eventually it will be better if the village will just fit in Akavir itself (it should be removed from Cyrodiil eventually, to make your mod 100% lore correct).
Once the village has been placed in Akavir (where there is more space to work with), the lore about the people being refugees should be altered, like instead of having fled from the Tsaesci (as a lot of the humans did), they would have founded their village in the North-East of Akavir to avoid the Kamal invasions (as they tend to go South-West).
But no worries, for now you should just make the village in Cyrodiil as you intended with any lore you want.
Once it can be placed on Akavir, things will change to fit the lore and the local situation.
About showcasing our models, we can't just have everyone use them as a resource, so a solution will have to be found, like everything can be used for people's mods exept certain buildings or armor.
Another solution would be to have the permission to use resources revoked in your new releases that would include our models, i don't think many people would mind (i just don't want to see one or two of our armors/buildings to show up in some random mod)
Pherhaps we should talk about this a bit more, i'm sure we can fix all problems
P.S. Tea plants! That's cool, so will they include tea leaf ingredients?
And i can see how the glow map on the teapot is a problem, just give the thing to Ra and see if he can fix it for you, ok?
EDIT: Does your island have distant LOD? If the land does not show up from a distance, you could ask Carpet Sample to fix the LOD for you (Carpet Sample is a good Heightmapper from the Void mod that died recently, and was looking to do something for us).
- Ysne - 08-21-2007
I love hearing about the creative process. It is just so wonderful to watch this grow.