Alrighty then. While Minecraft has been 404, instead of working in the server I've put some efforts towards some pre-construction that can be used to help build the server.
While it looks simple, it's the blasted elevation changes that makes Hoenn so frustrating. Inev, I wish you the best of luck in trying to figure out how to put this beast together (especially the end)... (To help out I've taken a look at some preliminary positioning of the hideout's first "room". It should be able to fit underneath the Fiery Path; if some of the rerouting runs through the "lower exit" of Fiery Path, that's ok - I can just change that exit to accommodate. The actual entrance into the map itself should be four or five blocks ahead from the block that is the hole for the J.Pass Entrance.)
I'll get those ash-routes Mudson, they fall under the purview that is the "Mt Chimney Death Cloud" after all 8). (Are you sure about the Mach Bike areas of the desert? I didn't really see like you gave it any area...)
I've got some complex plans for how I want to bring water into that western area, so just all be warned that it's a WIP.
Right, I'm gonna propose an idea which is going to be unpopular now. Or if it's what we're already doing, make a fool out of myself. As far as I'm aware, we're doing Johto after Hoenn. This does make sense, as it's easily the highest demanded area. However, we're doing the HGSS version. Might I recommend we do Sinnoh first, to wait for HGSS to actually be released. At current rates, Hoenn should be finished by early to mid February. Probably mid (for both sides). Sinnoh is larger and will take longer, maybe until mid-March. In Mid-March (the 14th) HGSS will be released. Thus giving people a better idea of what the maps entail. After all, Sinnoh may be unpopular as a choice to do after Hoenn, but we all at least know it better than we know the HGSS Johto (which is not at all)...
As much as I've been waiting for Johto so that I can actually help some, this seems like a good idea to me.
I just finished my first real "mountain". Wat wat. (No, Mt Chimney does NOT count; it's not really a mountain if you're just following the pattern by the game. Mountaining as part of a route/area doesn't count as landscaping. :V)
Speaking of landscaping: MUDSON. Stair phobia or not, you REALLY need to finish what you start! Where you drew a cliff line to the edge from Route 111 there was actually a considerable chunk of earth that still continued from that point. Where you broke off wasn't even the edge of Route 111. :/
Now I've got almost that entire route 111 on which I need to build the cliffs in order to accurately and jointly build the landscape cliffs. (I knew I should've just done 111 myself...)
Just to point out, I haven't found a single good map of Sinnoh yet that I, a non-D/P/Pl- player would be able to interpret. I feel sad. :sad.gif:
Bulbapedia appears to have them all.
However, it needs to be noted that those Sinnoh maps on Bulbapedia are not only incomplete, but that they also are often not official tilesets and colors. Several (from what I've looked at/through) are custom tile sprites that resemble a mix between 3gen tiles and the 4th gen 3D tiles.
If we need to, I can scan maps from the strategy guides. There may be labels and whatnot on them (berries, where pokeballs are, etc.), but at least they can help. If nothing else, they can be cross-referenced with those from Bulbapedia. (I'm just wondering if someone might end up using a different color of block for an area because they're going off one of those custom tile maps...)
Alright, enough with Sinnoh, Hoenn still needs finishing. On that note, I want to start a discussion meant to help standardizing the East's many water routes; how to handle the shallows, the deep sections, and etc.
I don't know who did the West's Route 133/134, but I like that idea of using the periwinkle blue blocks for shallows. Cieran however seemed to have started to change the shallows into actual "shallows", with one tile of water over sand. (This did lead to some experimenting; it wouldn't need to be sand as the tile walked on, it could be something else to get closer to that pale blue of the in-game shallows. One tile of water seemed to magnify the colors of the cyan and blue blocks, but I haven't tested what others look like.) Beyond that, two blocks of water on another block darkens the color even more; the color stays the same from there on down. (This is the view from the surface, keep in mind.)
I think a good way to handle these sea routes would be to treat them as mountains. (I think it might even be a good idea to keep East Hoenn water routes dry until their structure is completed. Treating it like mountains above land more or less.) Where there isn't deep dive areas, the water can be two deep. Either keeping it two deep like that, or having it vary between two and five deep and landscaping that regular-surf deep underwater as if on land.
I think a range of four blocks of cloth could be used to indicate depth. The regular blue block could be the shallowest waters at that two to five deep range, then periwinkle seems to be good for the upper deep dive areas. At the very bottom where the underwater maps show blackness could be the deep purple block; two or three layers (I haven't counted the underwater heights) between the deep purple and periwinkle could be the next purple over. It can be debated which color would be more suiting for the underwater dive routes - periwinkle blue (which looks better) or that lighter violet (which is a little closer to the color on the in-game maps.)
Please, I'd like to hear more input on/about this subject. It's best to agree on a standardized model now rather than bungling through standardizations later!
I changed the searoutes. I think it looks better with the sand under the water like that, and no I didn't change the shape of the islands. All I did was move the shape down two layers so I could fit sand on it. I don't like the blue at the surface. I really think it looks crappy. Hence why I started to change them to actual shallow areas (which they're obviously so). As for being able to mark the dive areas, putting a dark colored block at the bottom might help at least portray the idea we're going for.
It's not over just yet. Bidoof did inform me he left alone about half of the route for me to experiment with and see how my idea looks.
I also have my own idea of how that underwater route to the sealed chambers of braille looks, so while I will be once again doing more landscaping underwater, it will give me an opportune chance to showcase my idea of using the colored blocks for simulating depth and the loss of light.
Just an FYI to anyone looking at getting on the server at the moment, don't do any building; it won't be saved. Meteor Falls is so vast and messed up that I'm turning to Omen in order to figure out just exactly WHERE to place it... <.<
The actual falls themselves will be built by hand in-game, but the hollowing will be done by omen.
The bad news is that two secret bases I made with the intention of leaving them as options for the player to dig into are totally in the way of the falls. D: (the good news is that the two tree bases I made AREN'T in the way of the falls... XD)
EDIT: I just realized something about the maps' geography. I don't know how many people noticed it, but there is a westward stream exiting from that lake to the west of Fallarbor. I had dug that stream to the ocean, because I thought that was where it would naturally exit; however, there is a second possibility. It's entirely possible that the stream would make a left instead of a right and head into the mountains, feeding the Meteor Falls...
This is something I can change on a whim, so I'm wondering what you guys think would look cooler/feel more appropriate.
Sorry Mudson, but the map copy I took was before you came it seems. :sad.gif:
It doesn't look like too much work... unless there's a lot of areas around the map that required fake grass that I didn't see other than petalburg and fortree.
(Speaking of Fortree... on another note, I would think that for a place touted as the forest city the forest it was in would be larger than we're making it out to be. IE: that straight mountain border on the south edge looks far too unnatural, there should be more forest there before the mountain.)
There appears to be a mountain being built south of Fortree, yet nothing on the map suggests that there is a mountain here. Indeed, from what I can see, it's forest. Maybe slightly raised forest, but I doubt it's brown mountain...
*checks routes*
Yeah you're right, it's raised up, but still grass covered.
We're taking artistic license, that area makes no sense and having it flat with just trees seems improbable.
And what? We gave permission for the Archives to have OUR map?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Co-Founder of the PokeCraft Pokemon World Mapping Project
Also known as 'Rils'
Oh and something I caught from loading in my own Indev map, it's kinda pointless to fakegrass because in v0.31 the grass will grow underneath fences and bridges. And very deep as well. In fact, some caves would get grass in them this way.
We're a long ways off from Creative Mode getting updated to 0.31. Notch said creative most likely won't be getting any updates till beta.
Inevitable, here's that floor plan of Magma Hideout, ugurhk... http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/305/ ... orplan.png
While it looks simple, it's the blasted elevation changes that makes Hoenn so frustrating. Inev, I wish you the best of luck in trying to figure out how to put this beast together (especially the end)... (To help out I've taken a look at some preliminary positioning of the hideout's first "room". It should be able to fit underneath the Fiery Path; if some of the rerouting runs through the "lower exit" of Fiery Path, that's ok - I can just change that exit to accommodate. The actual entrance into the map itself should be four or five blocks ahead from the block that is the hole for the J.Pass Entrance.)
Come visit us!
Also known as 'Rils'
I've got some complex plans for how I want to bring water into that western area, so just all be warned that it's a WIP.
Come visit us!
Come visit us!
As much as I've been waiting for Johto so that I can actually help some, this seems like a good idea to me.
Speaking of landscaping: MUDSON. Stair phobia or not, you REALLY need to finish what you start! Where you drew a cliff line to the edge from Route 111 there was actually a considerable chunk of earth that still continued from that point. Where you broke off wasn't even the edge of Route 111. :/
Now I've got almost that entire route 111 on which I need to build the cliffs in order to accurately and jointly build the landscape cliffs. (I knew I should've just done 111 myself...)
Come visit us!
However, it needs to be noted that those Sinnoh maps on Bulbapedia are not only incomplete, but that they also are often not official tilesets and colors. Several (from what I've looked at/through) are custom tile sprites that resemble a mix between 3gen tiles and the 4th gen 3D tiles.
If we need to, I can scan maps from the strategy guides. There may be labels and whatnot on them (berries, where pokeballs are, etc.), but at least they can help. If nothing else, they can be cross-referenced with those from Bulbapedia. (I'm just wondering if someone might end up using a different color of block for an area because they're going off one of those custom tile maps...)
Alright, enough with Sinnoh, Hoenn still needs finishing. On that note, I want to start a discussion meant to help standardizing the East's many water routes; how to handle the shallows, the deep sections, and etc.
I don't know who did the West's Route 133/134, but I like that idea of using the periwinkle blue blocks for shallows. Cieran however seemed to have started to change the shallows into actual "shallows", with one tile of water over sand. (This did lead to some experimenting; it wouldn't need to be sand as the tile walked on, it could be something else to get closer to that pale blue of the in-game shallows. One tile of water seemed to magnify the colors of the cyan and blue blocks, but I haven't tested what others look like.) Beyond that, two blocks of water on another block darkens the color even more; the color stays the same from there on down. (This is the view from the surface, keep in mind.)
I think a good way to handle these sea routes would be to treat them as mountains. (I think it might even be a good idea to keep East Hoenn water routes dry until their structure is completed. Treating it like mountains above land more or less.) Where there isn't deep dive areas, the water can be two deep. Either keeping it two deep like that, or having it vary between two and five deep and landscaping that regular-surf deep underwater as if on land.
I think a range of four blocks of cloth could be used to indicate depth. The regular blue block could be the shallowest waters at that two to five deep range, then periwinkle seems to be good for the upper deep dive areas. At the very bottom where the underwater maps show blackness could be the deep purple block; two or three layers (I haven't counted the underwater heights) between the deep purple and periwinkle could be the next purple over. It can be debated which color would be more suiting for the underwater dive routes - periwinkle blue (which looks better) or that lighter violet (which is a little closer to the color on the in-game maps.)
Please, I'd like to hear more input on/about this subject. It's best to agree on a standardized model now rather than bungling through standardizations later!
Come visit us!
I also have my own idea of how that underwater route to the sealed chambers of braille looks, so while I will be once again doing more landscaping underwater, it will give me an opportune chance to showcase my idea of using the colored blocks for simulating depth and the loss of light.
Come visit us!
The actual falls themselves will be built by hand in-game, but the hollowing will be done by omen.
The bad news is that two secret bases I made with the intention of leaving them as options for the player to dig into are totally in the way of the falls. D: (the good news is that the two tree bases I made AREN'T in the way of the falls... XD)
EDIT: I just realized something about the maps' geography. I don't know how many people noticed it, but there is a westward stream exiting from that lake to the west of Fallarbor. I had dug that stream to the ocean, because I thought that was where it would naturally exit; however, there is a second possibility. It's entirely possible that the stream would make a left instead of a right and head into the mountains, feeding the Meteor Falls...
This is something I can change on a whim, so I'm wondering what you guys think would look cooler/feel more appropriate.
Come visit us!
It doesn't look like too much work... unless there's a lot of areas around the map that required fake grass that I didn't see other than petalburg and fortree.
(Speaking of Fortree... on another note, I would think that for a place touted as the forest city the forest it was in would be larger than we're making it out to be. IE: that straight mountain border on the south edge looks far too unnatural, there should be more forest there before the mountain.)
Come visit us!
Feel free to check if I missed any of your spots Mudson. (Poor mud, we really should figure out why his full hax like noclip don't work D:)
Come visit us!
We're taking artistic license, that area makes no sense and having it flat with just trees seems improbable.
And what? We gave permission for the Archives to have OUR map?
Also known as 'Rils'
I was talking to the owner of The Archives about him giving us custom serverware. I never agreed to let him have our map.
Also known as 'Rils'
Yeah, I got that now, I was just mentioning the in-game version of it and why I chose not to go with it. Hill with Trees sounds great.
Also known as 'Rils'
We're a long ways off from Creative Mode getting updated to 0.31. Notch said creative most likely won't be getting any updates till beta.