Island making

eskarine

Kk guys, so here's my new problem.

I want to make an island. The outdoor map "Ocean expanse" would be perfect if not for the fact that I don't have a slightest idea how to make terrain in there? The island is supposed to be more-or-less circular and completly flat - not really that large, but not tiny either. I guess I can piece it together from mossy rock clusters, though I would really prefer not to (to save details for decor and stuff).
Also, with that map if user steps out to water he can just walk over it (Jesus mode, anyone?)

I could make it from plain map and add water around it, but usually you can see some terrain/hill in the horizon - I want it to be just water.

The trick with 'my' island is, it's supposed to be connected to series of small, floating platforms that hang over the main island and player has to go up at one point. I don't want to use invisible walls there - if player falls from the narrow ledge that makes the path he IS supposed to get hurt/die.

Something like this (rushed sketches are rushed):

If I make the platforms outside the main island radius, player will just fall into water... and stand there like an idiot (unless I figure the way to kill him when he falls?).


I have to tell you guys, this one has me somewhat stumped. Should I just make the island from rock clusters (this will be a nightmare to make and it will eat up the 1500 limit. It doesn't have to have vegetation on it, I can work with bare rock and tile too. Heck, any kind of surface will do, as long as it somewhat flat - so any ideas?) and add invisible walls around it and just make the floating islands very high? If so, what is the distance of a drop that will kill the player, not just reduce HP?

lonnehart

There are some rather large cave rocks you can use as your island. Heck, in one of the quests I'm working on I have a castle built on top of them.... 500 feet in the air. It's just a facade though as I've used so many that I've nearly taken up all the resource points on the map...

fallensbane

My suggestion is to use PathDiscLarge01. You can go with the concept that the island itself is a more rock/cliff than sand. At this point you can use plants and trees to decorate it better.

To instakill a player you will need to go really high... 400 is not enough, 450 is and 500 should guarantee a instakill from falling damage if my assumption that the game uses a flat % for falling damage is correct.

eskarine

fallensbane wrote: »

My suggestion is to use PathDiscLarge01. You can go with the concept that the island itself is a more rock/cliff than sand. At this point you can use plants and trees to decorate it better.

To instakill a player you will need to go really high... 400 is not enough, 450 is and 500 should guarantee a instakill from falling damage if my assumption that the game uses a flat % for falling damage is correct.

I tried a cluster of suggested discs and it's almost what I am aiming for, so thanks for the suggestion. The concept would work just fine, since it's not really an 'island' island, more like... a small village in the middle of nowhere. Something completly suspended out of reality.

500 feet would be a little too high for what I have in mind. I guess I will have to make platforms inside the radius of main island, so they don't end up walking on water if they fall. Unless somone has different ideas?

zahinder

Personally, I've been experimenting with sea and underwater, and I've concluded that the default ocean 'look' is... not very good.

Though if you're going to be 500 feet above the water, using water planes is probably not an option.

fallensbane

Until we are given water=death maps or swimming the constraints of the system force workarounds. What I would do in this situations is.

• Build main island.
• Add floaties in either a clock or counterclockwise pattern within the radius of your main island.
• Invisible walls around i to keep the player in. Its the best option really if you want to avoid them walking on water.
• I would also build a smaller chain of straight island on a path towards your main island. Imagine if you would a frying pan. The handle is this new set of smaller island while the pan itself is your main island. Invis walls on the sides of the small island chain path.
• Set spawn point at the start of the handle chain. This would be a cool visual for the players as they are running across this small set of mini island they see the main island getting bigger and if done right they can see all the floating islands above, I think that would look cool.

lonnehart

fallensbane wrote: »

To instakill a player you will need to go really high... 400 is not enough, 450 is and 500 should guarantee a instakill from falling damage if my assumption that the game uses a flat % for falling damage is correct.

I've already tested this. Most characters under level 30 will die from a fall that long, but after level 30 a character can survive a fall from 1000 feet.

eldarth

A few suggestions...

• There is an insta-kill plane below zero height (somewhere -200? -400?) [This may only be on interior maps? You can see in the cave rooms when you walk off an edge you fall and die.]
  • Put your water-plane "just above" that -- water planes seem to have a 4 foot "depth," so figure out where the death plane is and add 3 feet.
• There are at least 3 different "floating" island art assets (I think in Details, not Clusters).
• Look at the Cave Path assets for -- large (roughly) flat round areas, and straight/turning ascending paths
• Clusters has some nice "boulder" assets flat and craggy that you could easily dump in the water plane, and then go into detail mode and slide individual boulders around to where you want them.

fallensbane

lonnehart wrote: »

I've already tested this. Most characters under level 30 will die from a fall that long, but after level 30 a character can survive a fall from 1000 feet.

I tested this around an hr ago with a lvl 37 foundry cleric. 450 ft was death.

eskarine

fallensbane wrote: »

Until we are given water=death maps or swimming the constraints of the system force workarounds. What I would do in this situations is.

• Build main island.
• Add floaties in either a clock or counterclockwise pattern within the radius of your main island.
• Invisible walls around i to keep the player in. Its the best option really if you want to avoid them walking on water.
• I would also build a smaller chain of straight island on a path towards your main island. Imagine if you would a frying pan. The handle is this new set of smaller island while the pan itself is your main island. Invis walls on the sides of the small island chain path.
• Set spawn point at the start of the handle chain. This would be a cool visual for the players as they are running across this small set of mini island they see the main island getting bigger and if done right they can see all the floating islands above, I think that would look cool.

fallensbane, this is pretty much exactly what I figured I will do (the invisible walls thing and floaties inside main radius) but the 'frying pan' chain idea is cool and I think I will implement it. I'll credit you in forum quest thread when I make one

fallensbane wrote:

There is an insta-kill plane below zero height (somewhere -200? -400?) [This may only be on interior maps? You can see in the cave rooms when you walk off an edge you fall and die.]

I think that's only for interior. Or at least for mountain-like maps that have height differences, I need something compeletly flat.


Thanks for everyone's input, I'm pretty sure I know in which direction the island making should go now

eldarth

eskarine wrote: »

I think that's only for interior. Or at least for mountain-like maps that have height differences, I need something compeletly flat.

The insta-kill plane is flat -- I just tested it on an exterior map - I made a cave-path spiral ramp down and as soon as I hit (walked down from 80 to ...) 81 feet below zero - instadeath. That was within the Cave - L shaped room, so it may be different for different rooms, but I seem to recall a dev on the forums saying they weren't going to make the height adjustable so I think Y=-81 is death on every map.

kamaliicious

My first quest has a custom constructed island if you want ideas. You can search for my name in Foundry (my quests turn up without needing the shortcode).