Plot Fluff

[gopher65]

First off, here are a few pictures of my plot from various viewpoints. It's purty. They are less than 120KB each, so you shouldn't have any problem viewing them:

http://gopher65.com/images/hz/plots001.jpg
http://gopher65.com/images/hz/plots002.jpg
http://gopher65.com/images/hz/plots003.jpg

Anyway, as you can see there are large areas that are too small to put anything significant in (except a silo or a tent maybe, and those are fugly. Just like the human housing is ugly.). This isn't intended to be a utility plot, but rather a "looks good" plot. But when putting it together I've noticed a serious lack of fluff items for plots. There are 300 different types of palm trees. 3 different rocks, all the same model, just resized. And a few seasonal decorations. That's pretty much it. My trees and rocks (which require essence and cloth to build hehehe. Apparently they are some form of paper-mâché rock) aren't build yet, but I've placed as many of them on my plot as I can stand; there are only so many trees one plot should have.

I was wondering if there are any plans to allow the use of other models that are in the game as plot decorations? There seem to be a great many models that are scarcely used (if at all) ie, giant mushrooms, certain types of trees (noooo, not more trees), and numerous little things like lamp posts.

[Hal`cyon Sskyler]

Seems to me that it's more of an attempt to keep the client from exploding by having to load even more models and textures when near plots.

[gopher65]

That's what view distance is for. Set it at min and you'll never have a problem.

[tramsan]

With an appropriately low load distance for fluff items, that needn't be a great problem.

[Steele]

Wow... VERY nicely designed, Gopher. You could prolly add different colored tiled walkways under and near the center fountain for accent, if you like. Perhaps a small gazebo next to the library for a place to read those books. Yeah the rocks are uninspired, but they might be a decent compliment if placed adjacent to the dwarven house. Maybe an ivy covered arch or two covering the path from the fountain toward and away from the plotstone?

And kinda like Jell-O, there's always room for shrubbery! If you don't like the look of bare walls, you can always line the interior of those external walls with 9' shrubs.

I dunno... just a couple of thoughts.

They definitely could use a few fluff items tho. I'd LOVE to have lamp-posts actually ON my property. Having a road bonus added to stone pathways and tile walkways would be a nice touch too. A couple of different types of rocks/boulders (sandstone, marble, obsidian) would be cool, certainly. Seeded grass/sod would be great if you have an area you want to look natural - I mean hey, these plots are all dirt looking areas anyway so why not have the option to plant grass on areas you're not actively using (even if it simply means changing the ground color from brown to green). I always thought a couple of small pools of water to choose from would be great, too, but that might be harder to implement because ya have to build an indentation into the world.

[gopher65]

I've been thinking about shrubberies. They would probably go well behind the Large Dwarven House. I already have 2 gazebos waiting to be built (both small and large cause they are different models instead of the same model resized) in my arboretum area.

Does anyone know if there is an option that can control the distance that World Objects load at? I wonder if there are different classes of world object? IE, set class 1 objects to load at <userdefined> meters...300m-400m say (bridges, non-player built objects like machines), class 2 objects at 150 meters (player built houses and machines), and class 3 objects at 75 meters (yar, furniture, plot decorations, and other fluff items). Or more likely you could just have them all user-defined.

EDIT: Oh, and just to advertise, my plot is in Aiya at 29193/29072. It has a fair amount of tier 1 work left (sandstone, cedar timbers, dim essence spheres, flaxen bolts), as well as ~300 units of slate blocks, 65 Kenaf Bolts, 50 Elm Timbers, and ~200 units of pale essence. All paid.

[C`gan]

Nice design, gopher. I would agree on the flooring walkways up to the fountain, but around the fountain, I'd think hedges just to make it a bit greener and lively at the heart.

But, yes, having a few bench seats there would be nice, too.

[Henry Redacre]

Well done gopher! color me impressed. and bonus kudos for not turning it into a silo farm - the true Istarian blight, imo.

for what it's worth (it is*your* plot after all), i'd have to agree with c`gan in that some shrubs against the walls facing the fountain would be a nice touch.

[CallakDW]

I love the designs Gopher, good planning! However....

Regaurding your request for fluff, to my knowledge one of HZ's biggest problems is the fact that too many textures can be placed anywhere at a player's desire, without any tactical thought to the limits of PC hardware (contributing to framerate problems -notice how it's allways worse in player plot development areas). However, if they can manage to use the same textures that are allready in use on other objects, and make them look good on on fluff objects, I don't see how it would hurt anything.

[Nanain]

well if they added furniture, u could have a BBQ area, and deckchairs ^^

[Tryagain]

That's what view distance is for. Set it at min and you'll never have a problem.

set it all to min and its like walking in a fog cloud. You might be able to see what is a minimum of 50 feet ahead of yourself.

Don't know about you but I can play LOTRO at max view on high graphics. Why would anyone want to adjust their settings downward just to accomodate your fluffy plot ?

I paid good $$ for my machine. I would expect any game that runs on it to fly.

Then again perhaps vitrium will fix those problems down the line.

[Helious]

Regaurding your request for fluff, to my knowledge one of HZ's biggest problems is the fact that too many textures can be placed anywhere at a player's desire, without any tactical thought to the limits of PC hardware (contributing to framerate problems -notice how it's allways worse in player plot development areas). However, if they can manage to use the same textures that are allready in use on other objects, and make them look good on on fluff objects, I don't see how it would hurt anything.

Just took a quick look around the buildings in NT for clickable fluff and you have

Table Wood Cedar Generic Benches
Table Wood Cedar Generic Round
Clock Wood Oak Generic Gold Trim
Screen Wood Maple Gnome Iron Border
Table Wood Maple Gnome Small
Trunk Wood Cedar Generic Curved Top
Pottery Clay Stoneware Generic Bowl
Cabinet Wood Cedar Generic Bookcase
Chair Wood Cedar Generic Single Armrests
Cabinet Wood Oak Generic Bookcase Carved

Now that there is the start of a decent indoor fluff project

The only thing i would suggest is that there be a new craft school to go along with it - Cabinet Maker, as it were the armorsmith to the carpenters weaponsmith.

Or are we talk exclusivly outdoor fluff?

In that case contact your local alchemist and give your house stainglass windows ... you might not be able to see out of em but hell do they look nice

you heard it here first!

[gopher65]

I was talking outdoor fluff since there isn't a furniture system in the game yet. Basically I was looking for "greatest possible content additions with the least possible expenditure of time". Which means using existing models, and existing tech.

Outdoor benches would look great though. And maybe some of those little wooden fences too.

[Guaran]

Good idea's gopher. I hope some of these get added.

[Drevar]

If they can continue thier pass on bloated models and invalid occlusion models for all the structures the perfomance should increase. Then you can bog it all down again with tons of flufff..lol.

Drev

[Bulgrim StoneCleaver]

I really like your wall design on that plot - it would drive me crazy to build all those walls - so I repect that work.

If you play on Chaos - go to Aiya and look at my plot under way - "Bulgrim's Rest". This is also a "looks good plot".

It's been something I've worked on for a long time and took in a lot of ideas of how to make a biped plot interesting with a "Mansion style" setup and gardens.

[Krystine]

I love trees and have been building a forest around my manson in Cliffside on Chaos. I used T3 T4 T5 and T6 human houses placed so they look like one huge structure. Added a small tavern, T2 guildhouse, T4 T2 connies, T2 PB, expert pottery, and jman mill. Stuck in 16 T4 and 20 T2 silos. With the addition of storehouses to game I planned 6 T5s and an expert confectioner shop which I'm working on. Have a small cemetary out front. Still have a bit of space left to landscape so will be working on it for some months to come. Still need some rose bushes or flower beds.

[gopher65]

I used T3 T4 T5 and T6 human houses placed so they look like one huge structure.

I don't like the design of the human housing, but that is a good idea. I have never even considered that before. I'm going to drop by and look at this place. Wow Bulgrim, I thought I had the only active plot in Aiya heh.