Melchior

Thanks aL, Darin, and Tyddyner! @Tyddyner: I definitely want to make a "Guide to Lyithdonea" scroll like the "Guide to Vvardenfell" which has small sketches of various areas. It'd also be nice to have a detailed full map of the isles for decoration and player usage as well. Oh, and I actually replaced the links with links to my dropbox account. I only uploaded them directly because I couldn't access my db account where I was. I assume we like to keep the file attachments to a minimum here? But that's awesome that you guys have a dedicated image hosting site! I'll check it out. :)

большое спасибо!))) I'm honored. Thank you for featuring me and my work here on Fullrest! Morrowind will always be my favorite game and it's great that my work on it can still be appreciated even after so many years! In light of this interview, I've added a little surprise to my Lyithdonea project thread here. ;)

In honor of my recent interview here, I've compiled a simple annotated map for Lyithdonea. Enjoy! Annotated Map Blank Map

Depends on what I'll consider 1.0. I'd say it shouldn't be much longer for the Exteriors, Interiors, and NPCs to be completed (provided I can get enough help with the interiors). But I have a quest line written as well which may be further down the road.

Thanks, aL! I've updated the progress for this mod (Scarab, may want to update and translate the OP with this new information). ;) As you can see, I've been hard at work on the exteriors. There's been some reduction of scope, with several settlements being downsized or replaced with wilderness areas. And a couple of the remaining settlements may be redesigned. Especially the City of the Dead (Drakhis) and the Islander City in the swamps (Bnay)

Took a break from the Thousand Isles region to work on some of the "mountains" of Lyithdonea. They aren't technically tall enough that I'd call them mountains, so we can call them peaks. Either way, they help create an eye-pleasing contrast to the low, smooth beaches. Screen 01 Screen 02 Screen 03 Screen 04 Screen 05

Ah, so more likely portions of the apocrypha. That makes more sense. :)

The Dissident Priests acquired a shit-ton of Elder Scrolls? The Moth Priests will be most displeased to learn of that. Did you consider making the scrolls more ornate, like in Skyrim?

That is a very valid point... and one I'll keep in mind... Hahah! Hey! I was experimenting. :D

Scarab-Framer for Lyrkhat!

I've always pronounced Pyandonea as Pie-un-do-nee-ah. The "y" pronounced as in "why" or "asylum". And the "ea" being pronounced like "aurorean" or "caveat". Therefore, I pronounce Lyithdonea as Lie-ith-doh-nee-ah. However, being almost completely unfamiliar with Russian phonetic practices, I'm not sure those pronunciations would translate well! With that said, I kind of liked the way Pyandoea sounded when pronounced as Pee-un-doh-nee, it sounds exotic and rolls nicely off the tongue. But I don't think Lie-ith-doh-nee sounds quite as good... Lie-doh-nee sounds better... but still not quite right.

Ah, thank you! I was just curious if it lined up like I intended. :D

That's a clever way to showcase the model. I'm looking forward to seeing how that area turns out!

Nice to see the text getting translations! I'm curious, how is the Maormeri island Pyandonea spelled in the Russian version?

Here's a Fullrest exclusive; I made a proper looking mountain for Lyithdonea. Crystallize, maybe this has that imposing feel you're craving. ;)

Well I'm making good progress, so keep your eyes out for that beta! I'm hoping to get it out this spring! But they can have grasping limbs and roots and oppressive canopies. ;)

Worked on the exteriors a lot tonight, mostly in the Thousand Isles area. But I also messed around with the mountain in the southeast. I took an overview shot of the isles so you all can see how it's shaping up. The colors look funny because it was barely visible in game so I toned it up in PS.

I'm of the same opinion as you, I think Azura simply likes to take advantage of her foreknowledge. Though I'm on the fence about what really made the Chimer->Dunmer change in appearance occur. Boethiah was definitely responsible for the philosophical switch from Aldmer->Chimer, but I've hypothesized that the skin change could have been a side-effect of the Tribunal's actions on the Heart of Lorkhan. Thank you for the kind welcome, Ivar! I finally got the gist of the question, lol. Thank you, Phoenix! Do you prefer Phoenix or Phoenix-Neko or Scarab-Farmer? It seems I'm at a loss for people's aliases here. Siberian Crab said he didn't care what I called him, lol.

Thank you! Obviously changing the color isn't high on my list of priorities right now. But after I get the exteriors done, I'll have enough breathing room with finessing the color palette of the isles! Yes, there will be a sub-race of Dunmer in the Thousand Isles region. They are unofficially known as the Ouamer. And as far as Chimer go, I have not yet decided what the exact split will be. It is entirely logical that the entirety of House Azura escaped the Azura's curse at Red Mountain... unless, she wasn't actually responsible for the Dunmer skin-change... but there will definitely be some representation of Chimer and possibly half-Chimer (Vivec-style) in the isles. As to your last question, no, they are no secret. see? I have picked up a recent interest in the Men of Akavir and the Men of Morrowind... and a slim possible connection between the two. So, they could also be a possibility...

Well, as long as you guys don't mind my use of the Latin alphabet on your forum, I'll continue on. I enjoy seeing what's going on in the Russian modding community, usually there are things going on here that you don't hear about on the official forums. Yes, those poor folks best beware that the rich don't come crashing down on them! And I'm glad you like the look of the city. :) Thank you for the suggestion on adding an ambient sound to that area. I really like that idea! I will do so. The grotto the shacks are built into would naturally amplify the sound as well. As for the population, yes it is mostly Dunmer. A higher population of Dunmer than on Vvardenfell. But the Dunmer in Lyithdonea are divergent from their Mainland brethren. Many in the priestly line still bear the appearance of Chimer. And the Dunmer who settled in the Thousand Isles region have diverged from the typical Chimeri or Dunmeri appearance due to their unique environment... there is also a small population of Argonians who are comprised of both ex-slaves and immigrants from nearby Black Marsh. There are representatives from the other races, but they are recent arrivals. For instance, the Guild of Mages has a campus on the isles. Oh, and you just might meet some individuals from Mysterious Akavir as well...

Lol, go right ahead, Tyddner, you have my blessing. I'd considered recoloring their buildings.., I may toy around with the idea again and see if I get any results I like. However, I'd probably be editing the vanilla textures if I did so... or else making my own from scratch. I've never been happy with any of the Velothi retextures. Wel, actually, is this replacer yours? Maybe I could use that as a base... by the way, how'd you get that ripple effect under the waterfall of this picture?

I'm flattered, Frikky. My favorite work is as a левелдизайна! Making tropical islands and swampy backwaters is such fun! Hahah, well for what it's worth, I really like the sound and look of that word, мимопроходимцем. I think the closest English equivalent I can think of is "wayfarer". And you're saying Skyrim did it well by keeping the open feeling of the landscape? You felt you had no protection from the predatory mountains? I will say that some areas in Lyithdonea will feel that way, there are plenty of open beaches. But some areas will contain dense foliage. You can't expect that Argonia would look the same as Skyrim, no? Perhaps the trees become the predators rather than the mountains...

Thank you both for the responses. And sorry for causing the off topic in my own thread, but I was curious. :D As to the storyline... hmmm.. how much do I want to share? Well, for you guys, I'll share a small snippet of what I have planned; I haven't shown this anywhere else yet! I have the first chapter of the storyline completely written out with dialogue and everything, though it is not implemented in game yet. But here is the intro to the story overview: Note, that I picked the name "Umbrage" before the novels came out with their city of Umbriel... so I may change the name of the realm in the future. And my plan is to achieve the impossible! Thank you. No worries, I'm over here not even attempting to write in Russian.

That's very interesting how that works out in language. Well I am definitely striving to make my mod as лор вписался as possible! I enjoy the challenge of expanding upon existing лор without overwriting or ignoring it. As you all can see in the OP, I've written several short "books" to help flesh out the лор of Lyithdonea some more. If you read, just remember that history is written by the victors and is never unbiased. ;) edit: I'm curious, what does the Мимопроходимец under my avatar mean? Google Translates translation is useless: Mimoprohodimets. I assume it is saying what group I am part of... I'm also curious what the image under my avatar says. Looks like it's phonetically "grazdanin"

Thanks, Scarab! Okay, so лор is phonetically "lor" in English. Well, that makes sense then! I'm not 100% done with the tigers or many of the other creatures. As I've said, making creatures isn't my forte, but I think I could do better now, especially on the texturing, than I did several years ago on that tiger! :D So once I get through the exteriors, expect me to start focusing on clothing and creatures a bit more. After all, I'll need to populate the wilderness! Thank you for the critique, morrow. I will definitely keep your comment in my mind and try to have a good balance between thick swamp lands and open islands. Thanks, Crystallize! I made the name up, no direct inspiration was used; but I wanted it to fit in with the names of other Daedric shrines. But I wanted to avoid having "ash" in the name like many Daedric ruins on Vvardenfell. I thought it sounded good as well; and I am glad that you agree! I plan to make a couple other ruins on the islands. edit: also, that is a rather humorous meaning in your Russian rendition of the name! :D