Project 1999

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-   -   Reconstructing Norrath & Imaginary zones. (/forums/showthread.php?t=363586)

Jibartik 07-17-2020 03:07 AM

Reconstructing Norrath & Imaginary zones.
 
Hello my friends. I have been noodling with a little project during the pandemic that has been quite fun and I wanted to share with you all. I really didnt know how to start this thread so I decided go with this insane image. Please excuse that menu I didnt intend to share this image until after I was like naw I should post it!

https://i.imgur.com/ERSFrCy.jpg

What Ive done here is started laying out the zones connected by their zone connectors with only some minor futzing to get them to be where they should be on the actual hand drawn maps.

https://i.imgur.com/nsZhWYw.png

Now, in doing this you start seeing how clearly stupid they are for placing the karanas crooked (with east north of north and north west of south but we'll get into that later..) So lets go over this madness! :D

ive marked off some areas that need new zones all together to fill out their negative space and have attempted to build out how they will be connected with out impacting the origionals. Ill highlight each major area below:

1. The serpants spine, is a huge area just ignored, ironically in a big empty hole between the karanas and north ro, so that's an easy fill. I figured it'd prob be split up between a hilly planes, and a deserty planes, on either side of the Lifire river, that's how it seems to look on the map:

https://i.imgur.com/I9tXef5.png

It's about the size of 1.5 or 2 south karanas in that open area.

2. Above Misty and (axessable through a valley wall axes point in the karanas?) are the Nexus and Winters Deep lakes, awesome zones I bet. You can see I just duped Lake Rathe a couple times to place them temporarily.

3. to access that area, there looks to be a spot on the hand drawn map between the forest and the woods, so why not add a new zone connector there, I thought it could be a Dervish Cuthroat themed outdoor dungeon, like an Antoncian Crushbone type zone :cool:

4. There's also some zones that could be pretty casual areas, I marked those off as "Unnamed" area's like "Unnamed desert area", or unnamed forest area.. where there negative space and no indication of impassible terrain on the hand drawn maps, so those could be imaginary zones why not.

5. There is an orc dungeon canyon pass we've all wanted to see behind the orc highway marked with orc heads on the map there, that has to be special, and link us to the Deserts of Ro the sertpants spine river area:

https://i.imgur.com/Nly6hxN.png

6.I figure the serpent's spine river must go under the rocky mountains that separate the serpent and Ro, and that's what makes the oasis. (i mean on the map they're connected but not in game and I aint about tearing up special magical original geometry what do I look like luclin expansion?? :p

So that should be underground, which then allows me to say it connects to Rahoteps Aqueducts, a dungeon I've always wanted to exist under the desert of ro.

7. above lava, are some rockey mountains, I like to think they are Lavastorm 2 a level 50 lavastorm heh idk but that leads into a snowy pass that will head to an area that I still need to work out (you can see I have Hallas and the Karanas to work on still!

8. The mysterious snowy unnamed islands could be a cool zone too, I wonder what's up there? :o

Anyway, this project should take us about 50 million years so there is a lot of fun to be had along the way. Ill post some updates while we do it together, because afterall this game is about grouping up, and the journey not the destination and all that :)

Jibartik 07-17-2020 03:11 AM

https://i.imgur.com/olr8IHb.png

Here's a pic of some zones without too much molestation, the rocky area over the EC tunnel is some toying with negative space I was doing early on, and the area leading to lake Rathe is like 7 dupes of Rathe Mountains I was curious how many zones it would take to stay 100% accurate where that big fat black line that links that zone to the lake with that wonky zone layout.

I love how the square shapes of the zones look like a zelda map. I wonder if the reason they are square is simply a hold out from the old days the designers were just used to when transitioning into 3d? Like there is no reason at all that I can thin of that these zones are square. Rathe Mountains for example is all kinds of funky looking, same with Highpass. But yeah, anyway, I think it's cus the designers were used to making maps like this heh:

https://i.imgur.com/mwMD8qH.png

Jibartik 07-17-2020 03:16 AM

This is by far the coolest view I have found so far, or visa versa... but this one is better :)

https://i.imgur.com/wkj44qo.png

On the note of square zones, the funniest thing to me that I had no idea is , do you see the grade of the hill, leading from sealevel at freeport, all the way up to Highapass Keep? That's actually built into each zone, and connecting zone, which is very cool haha.

The little castle, I had to model myself, because it's actually just a texture on the wall really, with the dungeon going back behind it, but to me Highpass is a steep castle with beautiful tapestries rising up from the rocking mountains it stands upon! (It's cool to see the wooden bridge behind it in the background) :cool:

https://i.imgur.com/0DqtljK.jpg

Crampers 07-17-2020 03:19 AM

This looks great!

In order to get some of the zone line geography correct you may want to look at the Antonica map after The Serpents Spine Live expansion:

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20110810014802

This may clear up some of the questions.

Jibartik 07-17-2020 03:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crampers (Post 3156303)
This looks great!

In order to get some of the zone line geography correct you may want to look at the Antonica map after The Serpents Spine Live expansion:

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20110810014802

This may clear up some of the questions.

Thanks!! I never played this expac and Id like to learn more about it. I tend to try to avoid anything they did after brad left, like there is some additions they made to ro but I never liked any of them and obviously they are so far from classic with the art, yuck.

They just couldnt stop changing the origional game, even in the classic map where they put that expansion, those are the frigid planes, but they added a volcano! :mad: Naggy sleeps in the volcano!!! You cant make a BIGGER one next to his, that's blaspheme! (hehe) I seriously when filling out the area layout was thinking, "Damn I cant put giant rocky mountains in lavastorm 2 like I'd like, because that would shadow naggy and that's just not cool" but they just go and put a literal volcano next to his smh.

And why would try to change that area I always wondered, on the other side of the map is a ton of amazing soundingzones that dont exist lol

I think Id like to just figure out how cool the firgid planes can be to stay classic but, I would like to find out what lore is worth salvaging from this expansion too if you know anything cool about it that we should try to shove into this map, that would be awesome to hear!

Jibartik 07-17-2020 03:37 AM

Square zones, but they added this deal �� An accurately "high" pass.

https://i.imgur.com/AFfTqRo.png

Needs a zipline on the castle.

https://i.imgur.com/nia3fJf.gif

Hmm @Crampers, was just thinking about a good idea for lavastorm 2 lol, there is a level 60 Naggy raid boss that spawns there only after you kill Naggy in solb (and that explains where he goes for a week and returns: He just fly's away and hides and then comes back to his house to sleep after he thinks the raiders are gone) where we repeate the process... Now with imaginary zones, we can do kill him TWICE per week and obtain special imaginary loot on the Naggy 2 up in Lavastorm Mountantops :D

Danth 07-17-2020 07:52 PM

I've noticed the slope in Kithicor. It's fairly obvious there. Not so obvious in the Commonlands zones. The tunnel leading out of Blackburrow into Everfrost has a similar slope but due to the short length of the tunnel some imagination must be used to convince oneself that the player is climbing from temperate hills into a snow-covered biome.

Is High Keep supposed to be the former seat of government of the Combine Empire? I never read most of those EQ lore tidbits but that seems like the most logical place.

I figure most zones are square simply because that's the easiest shape to build and takes the least amount of work. Dark Age of Camelot zones were even more square than EQ's as a relic of that game being built more quickly and on a much smaller budget.

Danth

deezy 07-17-2020 10:24 PM

if this were zelda botw, i wonder how far i could glide from the peak of highpass.

Jibartik 07-18-2020 12:29 AM

We need an EQ rts town builder game badly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jibartik (Post 3156705)


Kirdan 07-18-2020 12:52 AM

Cool project! Nitpick: I think you are seeing "the nexus" where Lake Neriuss is.


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