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Post by blackfoxx on Mar 4, 2016 20:35:01 GMT
Possible configurations of a Hive separate from the iconic hive. imgur.com/ayPKvQdThe Iconic hive is what seems to be a live or once live tree plastered over with adobe. I tried to incorporate various tie ins where trees are the internal structure. These designs are elevated by man made structures. Roots could be an interesting textural element inside and outside the dirt supports. A large hollowed root could be the ingress point into the village. [side note: an interesting demonstration of this principle IRL www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoUFw0s2PcI]Next I focused on Honeycomb structures, which I took to mean integrated hexagonal structures. Hear is a digital sphere I pulled from online as it was difficult to reproduce by hand. imgur.com/9z9Xc1xIn the next drawing in the top right is a extruded sphere model imgur.com/Ryp0YZm. imgur.com/8VOa69CI thought it would be interesting to see an apartment complex where the architect didn't care at all about the levelness of the floor relative to the main structure. Each cell would have it's own internal level floors and features but relative to the ground only the equatorial cells are level. Just an idea. You could much more logically extrude the sphere to support leveled cells. Apart from that is various layouts of hexagonal cells against a wall. In the top left I prefer the stair steps rather than the transverse platforms but I don't think the platforms are a terrible plan. It basically amounts to this stairwell design for a water well in India. imgur.com/8hYoOukIf you don't want the crawl-in doors on the transverse platforms, you could just doubled the size of the cells and each one would have two floors worth of living space. Mostly we've been talking about a raised pit design in previous posts. I like that three column design as well. How do you feel about the number 5? Should we build it into all the architecture as a sort of superstitious and historical reference to Riven? The way the Free Mason's in real life build in detailed numerical religious references to their buildings. |
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Post by blackfoxx on Mar 4, 2016 21:03:32 GMT
Some Google search images Neat form imgur.com/VE9TRj3Interesting hexagon shape imgur.com/5tDKEvVI like this texure as an internal cell shapre imgur.com/YH7odDU A hotel design demonstrating a single tower from the 3 tower design in the previous post. imgur.com/1HDhDOjDrawing [probably not applicable to the wetlands project] Had a thought about vertical cell architecture imgur.com/DjsixKtEach cell has a ladder that reels up instead of locked doors. probably for more of an underground cave type situation. A cave would make it interesting. The arched ceiling of a cave removes the need for supports shown in the drawing. It also acts like a road system. could be a nearby paid attendant's office to reel down ladders when you arrive home to an empty house. |
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Post by Yali on Mar 4, 2016 21:41:26 GMT
For the adobe pod hive in Tikome I was thinking more that they would just be regular spherical pods that are lined up against one another making a larger sphere, but the honeycomb idea is interesting, particularly the Indian basin concept. I was actually thinking of using hexagonal forms in another area entirely, that being the Ashlands. After playing some Solus I realized that a part of Tay needed to be more alien. I think the north-east could benefit from being a much more alien environment considering the constant ashfall. My idea was that there would be hexagonal basalt columns like those in Amateria that line the rocky cliffs of the Ashlands. Maybe the Moiety who live out in this region have built homes out of the stone columns, carving elaborate basins where they keep water for growing grain. That's one idea. Its still to be determined which faction or clan of Moiety live out near Mt. Gehn. I know for the mountain itself it will be the Golden Page's base of operation, but I'm not quite sure yet for the mainland Ashlands.
I'm also not sure about usig five as a symbolic number. I feel that the Golden Page would definitely revere five as a mythical and divine number yet I feel as though the main Clans would be indifferent to its symbology, perhaps valuing another number in reaction to Gehn's obsession with five. The question is, which number if any would the Moiety identify with or come to venerate?
I feel as though the Wetlander's architecture should look really rough and unelegant. Something you'd see on Jungle Island. Huts molded with adobe and wood but lacking any finesse or hint of D'ni craftsmanship. The only thing I can think of that hints at higher tech would be the weathervane signage on the roofs of the huts (written in Rivenese script (presently in D'ni)). The silos I'm seeing as a joint construction between Clan Rem and and Clan Hiva. Rem having the necessary clout and ties to D'ni to construct such machinery using metals and piping systems. Clan Hiva is much more tied to the earth culturally and technologically. I think very sharp and refined architecture is best suited to the Moiety Temple of Allatwan (who have a lot of wealth), the Golden Page faction who are ardent D'niphiles and followers of the cult of Gehn, and Clan Wahrk and Rem who are the wealthiest and most powerful Clans. Wahrk being more traditionally entrenched in Moiety cultural pride and thus aesthetics (think silks, elegant metalwork, jewels, massive stone and adobe structures) while Rem being the Clan in charge of breeding the ink beetles and harvesting ink would have close ties to the D'ni aesthetically and technologically speaking. I'm picturing a lot of bronze metalwork in their structures and items. Their geometric stylings when it comes to architecture would be more D'niish in some respects, while still holding a tribal/eastern flavour. I'm picturing their architecture being somewhat less refined than Wahrk's structures but more D'ni influenced ever-so-slightly.
The Hiva Clan is much more African inspired and thus they are less likely to use fine metals or construct architecture with a lot of geometric precision and refinement. Atam on the other hand is almost completely naturalistic, their structures being built (or molded I should say) out of mud, wood and foliage native to the Western Jungles.
So on a scale of "refined" I'd say each faction and Clan goes:
Golden Page
Temple
Wahrk
Rem
Ytram
Gapoto tribes
Hiva
Atam
We could definitely use a lot of those hexagon concepts for temple structures and the Ashland culture (which we will develop more). Some of those reference pictures are quite good, particularly the pointed hexagonal tower.
Maybe we could use this as an opportunity to imply that 6 is a symbolic number to the Moiety perhaps? Thoughts?
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Post by blackfoxx on Mar 6, 2016 7:59:52 GMT
As far as mud huts are concerned have you heard of/looked into either cob housing or Earthship design? Earthship youtu.be/Xks8w6iB1rIThe recycled materials aren't as important for our purposes as the passive energy systems and the non-box shape of the molded walls. My personal favorite modern housing design. Cob houses have an even more elastic walls shape youtu.be/Frkps9jmCVMOverall having an architectural obsession with the number six works out better. It allows you to use a lot more Sacred Geometry. You don't even have to mention Sacred Geometry but using it will make everything much more subconsciously appealing. Sacred Geometry which is a mathematical set of geometries focused around 'the flower of life' has overlapping interests with Geomancy and Lay lines[little more off the deep end]. Long story short The earth has a net over it shaped like a 20 sided dice. the points of the dice are places like the bermuda triangle which are a sort of natural stargate zone when it lines up with Astrology alignments. If you want more information about that and you believe that sort of thing. David Wilcock has a video series on the website Gaiam Tv interviewing supposed Secret Space Program officer Corey Goode. I found it interesting and at the very very least imaginatively inspiring. If you listen to some of the episodes about going into the deep earth several details significantly line up with the D'ni of the Myst series and well as Jules Verne. but I digress... One last note about Permaculture architecture youtu.be/NYJyxptclos========== Can we get 2 screenshots on the height map for each of the 2 sites we're working on in the wetlands with descriptions about your thoughts and intentions. 1 google maps shot and 1 street view shot from a local viewpoint that sees the whole area. Or multiple, However much work you want to do. ========== A thought about 5 and 6. 5 is significant in D'ni because it's the first symbol that is reused to express a new number. If there is an obsession with the number six, it might be interesting to see them use an alternate symbol outside the D'ni standard number system for only the number six. It still looks like a mark in the square but it's not the 5+1 combo. What exactly are we trying to demonstrate to Cyan when we show them the Demo Area[It's my impression through listening to your videos that you were building the wetland villages on the height map as a prof of concept and bartering point for Cyan]. Clearly we are going to show them commitment, and at least minimal CG skills. are we also setting up a mini puzzle?{could even be a minor lore puzzle involving journals in different huts} Are we demonstrating culture notes? Is this the place where the player starts when the game is finished? Will there be people in the village. {It might be funny to CG in literal life sized cardboard cutouts of people who might be seen in the village instead of live figures. Or a live figure gives the viewer a tour of the village full of cardboard cutouts.} I'm also pretty decent at photoshop. I don't currently have it installed on my home PC because I don't think it's strong enough to run the version I have. As we pin down the look of each village I want to do fancier digital paintings. I've got a few options for other machines to operate from. I just have to go and spend time there. I liked that other color concept art of the mud huts you posted, that I commented on. You should re-post that here for continuity and explain where that is putting inspiration towards. It looked like it was wood shingle huts, where the wood shingles were potentially fastened to an adobe like wall. Science note: I think Adobe is water resistant and Cob is not. Cob structures are always built with an overhang roof to protect the walls from erosion or the walls a coated in an outer concrete layer. We should also talk about what Wetland farming looks like and the various things that they farm. I've been looking at current wetland farming techniques. It looks like what generally happens is that water is irrigated from a lake or river onto a floodplain where it is guided and controlled into descending linked corrals divided off by Small mud walls that only barely poke out of the water like the rice paddies often depicted in Vietnam. Not particularly the terrace farming but I believe terrace farming would be a subset of this method. I think these mud barriers are often used as walkways and walkways would be bridged at gate sections of the corral. These gate sections are used to lock water into the individual corrals. I personally think a Cattail plant would make for an interesting alien crop. To get a variety in visual plant growth and theoretical dietary vitamins you might try a "Three sisters" type farming arrangement. The 3 sisters are beans, corn, melons. Its a symbiotic relationship. Corn is support for beans and shade for melons. beans enrich the soil. We could build a similar symbiotic relationship with fictional plants in the wetlands and incorporate it into the narrative of the game. Perhaps one of the plants in the symbiosis is "ambitious" and only maintains symbiosis when properly pruned. Not sure. something along those lines. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(agriculture)I've been watching a lot of documentaries about native cultures from Africa, Australia and the Americas. There aren't many good ones on YT. I'll probably turn to library books. When I collect my thoughts I'll move my research to one of the culture threads. This documentary is A) poorly named and B) talks about how Plains indians cultivated food by "taming the land" instead of taming the buffalo. Essentially they burned the grassland in the fall so it grew greener in their area when spring rolled around. Buffalo come to you. Buffalo are better fed. everybody is happy. It would be good to think about those principles as we develop the biology and the look of the region. youtu.be/7FItlStGMY4 |
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Post by blackfoxx on Mar 6, 2016 8:23:15 GMT
I stole all of these from the google search "Cob Architecture". I have no idea what they're from but they demonstrate various concepts. imgur.com/a/tVbpZIf you want to know more about the either reenter those search term OR if you go to the front page of Google's image search you can drag and drop pictures into the search bar and google will search by image. There are city images in here. I think the descriptions said they were from a town in Yemen. Might be good imagery for a more civ developed place on the map. Apparently pintrest and tumblr also have a stock of Cob related photos |
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Post by blackfoxx on Mar 8, 2016 6:41:05 GMT
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Post by blackfoxx on Mar 8, 2016 6:52:02 GMT
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Post by blackfoxx on Mar 8, 2016 16:02:00 GMT
We should bring back the Out House. Each of these little villages would have 1-4 out houses. The out houses would have government depicted comic books depicting myths and legends. Some of the more civilized area might have written reading books.[places with higher literacy]. Could do the temple beetle image style from Riven about the games Myst and Riven. Depict the stranger like Muhammed, no face. Could be a fun place to hide jokes. Maybe on of the more rural villages has an additional book where they let their kids draw in it. Not sure if they'd be able to afford a blank book, but laws about book defacement or what propaganda is allowed in bathrooms might be a little more relaxed. In addition we can take the Ash from the hearth building to make lye. Lye can be used by itself to sanitize pit toilets and it can be used with rendered fat to make soap. Make and ashery as a separate building. youtu.be/ZuzCD7EP1ZM We should do a water dwelling bird for egg production instead of chicken. Could either pick Cormorants or Ducks youtu.be/MsfskVr_raY |
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Post by blackfoxx on Mar 9, 2016 16:17:35 GMT
Adobe hut interior. imgur.com/SHOefP8Has a column of shelves, 2 bed, a counter for hot stones next to a basin for fresh water and a great view. Basin comes with an actuated drainage control. A ceiling vent allows for state of the art atmosphere control. When the temperature is better outside or you'd like to dehumidify your accommodations simply pull on the lever to open the vent. You probably wont be able to afford books but if you can shelves are provided. These shelves are multi purpose. If you don't have books you are able to set other personal effects like painted rocks. This house is perfect for the Small-house homesteader seeking a similar life, closer to nature. Please inquire with the Tikome Real Estate Office for purchase and rental details. New Luxury Model - The Double long imgur.com/CTV1wQ2Do you have a large or growing family? We have the perfect frontier home for you. Twice as much bedding as the standard home. Twice as much storage space. And now with enough floor space for baskets containing your favorite assortment of fabrics. In these NEW Luxury dwellings we're sure that your growing family will be very comfortable. Please inquire with the Tikome Real Estate Office for purchase and rental details. |
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Post by Yali on Mar 9, 2016 18:01:03 GMT
Wow! These are all amazing concepts! The houses on stilts would also really suit the Lake Moiety at the upper River Ira region as well as the Eleem Basin.
Love the concept for Tikome and the hut interiors! Keep it up!
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Post by Yali on Mar 10, 2016 22:41:47 GMT
Just saw the Cob architecture link. Perfect! That's exactly how I see Tikome and Velah. Velah being more thatched with circular huts fitted with thatched roofs and geometric triangular paintwork on their walls.
Your comment about the three sisters is perfect for the region. I think an alien version of cattail could be quite interesting. I myself was picturing some sort of strange yellow gourd, along with something corn-like.
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Post by blackfoxx on Mar 20, 2016 22:13:52 GMT
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Post by blackfoxx on Mar 21, 2016 14:05:36 GMT
How are things going from the modeling side? I don't have the modeling programs so I can't download any of the assets. Do you want me to keep working on the wetlands or should we start a new area? If you have screen shots of whats current either email me or post them here. I'd particularly like some shots of the area we're developing on the height map to fit the sketches into the space.
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Post by Yali on Apr 22, 2016 18:25:02 GMT
Sorry for the late reply. I had to take a leave from the project for several weeks due to ongoing medical issues. Thankfully, everything seems to be resolved now.
Right now the main issue concerns how to approach Cyan and what avenues we wish to take the project in. Right now, we've realized that potentially kickstarting a concept of this magnitude without industry experience seems to be a bad idea. What we really need is concept art. We have the heightmap and a rough draft of the Wetlands minus the villages. The point is that Cyan holds the rights to Myst, so going to them with a concept on how to expand it while using existing ip in the case of Tay is going to be hard. Chris Spencer recommended we develop the game concept/lore/language first and create a hefty document for Cyan, along with the existing version of the heightmap and region as a kind of "what's been done". We're going to need to find modellers not just within the existing Myst community, but in places related to modelling like polycount.com etc.
I'm afraid of doing a lot of physical Unreal work before getting approval from Cyan. Ideally, I think the goal is to create an outline, albeit pretty with some nice art and layout showing the extent of the lore and vision before we seek out modellers. However, maybe finding modellers first might not be such a bad idea either. It depends what will impress Cyan and move the project forward. Right now I'm busy with my graphic design program but I have July off so that will be a ripe time to finalise the document.
Any ideas on anyone else's end on how to proceed without reaching a breaking point and finding good modellers?
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Post by blackfoxx on May 17, 2016 21:29:07 GMT
I'm working on a commissioned mural right now. I'll be back here in a week or 2.
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