Jump to content

14th May 2009 - Development Diary: Fairy Area Improvement


Mil

Recommended Posts

 

 

 

After getting the beautiful concept artwork for the fairy area from Mod GG, I knew we had a lot of work ahead of us! The old fairy area was worked on by myself and Mod Paul B in the days before we had concept artists and the High Detail mode, so I know the area very well and was keen to rework it using all the new technology that we have available to us.

 

 

 

We want the fairy area to feel magical and organic. The fairies work with nature in an astral realm, so I want to distance the area from the rest of RuneScape so that the player feels that they have travelled a long way to get here. To help this we have introduced new types of fantastical plants and a slightly jade colour to the vegetation so that this does not feel like a typical RuneScape area. This is something we had tried to introduce with the previous Blue Period rework, which, looking back, was far too garish. I feel the new, more subtle, colour scheme looks magical and otherworldly without being too obvious.

 

 

 

fairyoutsidelarge.jpg

 

 

 

The fairies live in tree houses, so I really wanted to make an important feature of them. The trees they live in are now some of the largest in RuneScape and some of the most complicated models made yet! We also spent a lot of time ensuring that all of the furniture and technology feels as though it was created for fairies - the tables are far too small to be used by the humans that come to visit the area; even the range and furnace are fairy scale. The only problem this led to was having to create two sets of doors: fairies use a pint-sized door that opens at full height for players.

 

 

 

One issue we had was with the roofs of the floor-based buildings. We really wanted to get away from the grotto look of the previous versions of the area and knew that the area had to have most of the main buildings on the ground floor so that players could easily access them. The concept art looked great having small ground buildings, and they looked great in game, but as soon as we started to map larger buildings they looked very plain and boring, like an expanse of wood. We sent Mod GG back to the drawing board and he came up with the idea of open courtyards for the larger buildings. This worked really well, giving the area the feeling of ancient Rome, where houses blurred the line between inside and outside space.

 

 

 

fairytree.gif

 

Zanaris tree from wireframe, to flat shading, to textured model

 

 

 

When it comes to the inhabitants of Zanaris, Mod Alec created a couple of character models to make sure that they read well in the engine and had the right look. My main concern with the fairies was that they were so small; Mod Alec made them slightly larger for the rework so that we could add more detail to them, and so that it was easier to create animations that had more life in them. We wanted the fairies to look beautiful and graceful, with a great deal of variety and customisation. We took extra special care with the Godfather and Fairy Queen, who now, respectively, look more malevolent and dignified.

 

 

 

We hope youll enjoy the new-look Zanaris; I think you will agree its now a really special corner of RuneScape. The next step in the development process is animation, but we will go into more detail about how we made the fairies fly in the next diary.

 

 

 

fairycharacterlarge.jpg

 

 

 

Mod Nick F

 

RuneScape Graphics

Link to comment
Share on other sites

sounds nice, although i dont recall there being any buildings in zanaris before... :S

 

 

 

what about the windmill? and im pretty sure there was 1 or 2 more, maybe in the shops area?

 

 

 

 

 

Also i Loved this diary, those pictures look really good, i Cant wait for this update!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

sounds nice, although i dont recall there being any buildings in zanaris before... :S

 

 

 

what about the windmill? and im pretty sure there was 1 or 2 more, maybe in the shops area?

 

 

 

 

 

Also i Loved this diary, those pictures look really good, i Cant wait for this update!

 

the windmill yes, the shops are just npcs walking around though.

 

i think that... nuff? has a house too.

notasandwich000457.png

lolwot125740.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

sounds nice, although i dont recall there being any buildings in zanaris before... :S

 

 

 

what about the windmill? and im pretty sure there was 1 or 2 more, maybe in the shops area?

 

 

 

 

 

Also i Loved this diary, those pictures look really good, i Cant wait for this update!

 

the windmill yes, the shops are just npcs walking around though.

 

i think that... nuff? has a house too.

 

Nuff had a cave, the only building is the windmill. But more buildings can't hurt, and I really like what they've done with the place :D. The guys at Jagex really get better and better with every project :thumbsup:.

Due to my epic stats, I have now started WGS (but I still hate spoilers).

sighistorian.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Meh. This is just an overhaul for a small area. To be frank, one diary was enough. This isn't that big of an update; prior to the big graphics update last year, they used to trickle in graphic updates as patch notes.

If the CORPORAL beast is this hard, imagine how hard a GENERAL or COLONEL beast would be. a corporal is not even an admirable rank in armies that use that ranking system.

 

Yeah, it is a pking minigame, so any arguments anybody makes will probably be biased.

The best way this will end :Everybody just says,"I'm not arguing with you anymore, goodbye."

The worst way this will end: I don't really know, psychological warfare? Worldwide thermonuclear war? Pie eating contest?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this looks VERY nice.

 

 

 

Green looks nice and I was wondering if they would be using those 'dense forest' walls.

 

 

 

I wonder if they will be updating the special fairy ring area's which came with FT part 2.

 

 

 

(Eg. Enchanted Valley)

 

 

 

The fairy concept looks good aswell.

 

Excited to see the next diary. ::'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The colours are too 'samey' for my liking - and it reminds too much of elves. I like Zanaris as it is :| It would be better if they just added better detail to what's already there.

johannase.jpg

Thank you to tripsis for an awesome sig!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am intrigued as judging by the second screenshot it looks like the dense forest walls sued in areas like Soulwars.

 

 

 

So this either means Zanaris will have chance to expand at some point or it has shifted from an underground cave place to an actual surface location

Plv6Dz6.jpg

Operation Gold Sparkles :: Chompy Kills ::  Full Profound :: Champions :: Barbarian Notes :: Champions Tackle Box :: MA Rewards

Dragonkin Journals :: Ports Stories :: Elder Chronicles :: Boss Slayer :: Penance King :: Kal'gerion Titles :: Gold Statue

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm liking the new look of the fairies, looks much better than the old pint sized barbie dolls with wings.

Want to be my friend? Look under my name to the left<<< and click the 'Add as friend' button!

zqXeV.jpg

Big thanks to Stevepole for the signature!^

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Meh. This is just an overhaul for a small area. To be frank, one diary was enough. This isn't that big of an update; prior to the big graphics update last year, they used to trickle in graphic updates as patch notes.
They missed a week of updates to release the new varrock area, which was a vast improvement at the time. I'm sure Zanaris will be the same. <3:
imagangster.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Meh. This is just an overhaul for a small area. To be frank, one diary was enough. This isn't that big of an update; prior to the big graphics update last year, they used to trickle in graphic updates as patch notes.
They missed a week of updates to release the new varrock area, which was a vast improvement at the time. I'm sure Zanaris will be the same. <3:

 

 

 

But Varrock had a lot more daily traffic than Zanaris. Most people who go to Zanaris each day probably don't get farther than 10 squares away from the Fairy Ring, and maybe a few run to the bank or Slayer Master.

 

 

 

Still, I love this. Zanaris is one of my favorite places, and I used to go there all the time before the Slayer Update (even after 100 combat). I'm really hoping the next fairy tale will come out soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When i get a chance to get on, I'll check it out. But by the looks of the pictures in the DD, that graphics looks great ::'

35bvvh1.png

[hide=Quotes]

Albel/Justin

Albel doesn't say anything anymore, just comes in, leaves an arrow and vanishes into the night :(Probably
practising some euphonium

You nearly had me fooled, you fooler you

Euphonium/10.

9/10. To me, always associate Albel with musical stuff in OT.

Everyone with a goatee and glasses is Albel now.

lmfao albel m8 wat r u doin, hi though.

 

[/hide]

[hide=Runescape Achievements]99 firemaking(2007), 99 woodcutting(2008), 99 fletching(2009), 99 magic(2010), 99 cooking(2010), 99 farming(2011), 99 construction(2011), 99 runecrafting(2012), 99 Hunter (2014),  99 ranged (2015), 99 HP (2015), 99 Slayer (2015), 99 attack (2015) 99 Defense (2015) 99 Prayer (2015) 99 Summoning (2015) 99 Strength(2015) 99 Herblore (2015) 99 Dungeoneering (2017)  99 Mining (2017) 99 Crafting (2017) 99 Smithing (2017) 99 Thieving (2017)  99 invention (2017) 99 Fishing (2018), 99 Divination (2018), 99 Agility (2018), MAXED (05/17/2018)[/hide]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The faries look like they're the size of dwarves or possibly larger..

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think yellow skin was the best way to go though. I hope they change it.

 

 

 

Love those trees and houses though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jagex really needs to find a way to get eyes to look proper too..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's all well and good, but I've been waiting for almost a month for a new(non pvp) content update. I'd really like so see a new quest before the end of the week, otherwise it will probably be tuesday at least before I reup my membership.

 

 

 

Sorry if it sounds whiny, but I'm a quester, and pvp minigames and info on future graphical updates just don't really do it for me.

 

 

 

Ps. The are looks decent, but I think it looks far less magical in the screenshots than it does now. The should have gone for more of an organic look, and less of a manufactured one. For example, instead of houses made of planks, the houses should be formed by the trunks themselves, the openings of which being simple knotholes covered in living branches that would move if a faerie wanted to enter. Doors for a player to pass through could be a tangle of vines that would slip away to let the player pass through, rather than standard everyday wood and nails. To be honest I think it looks more like tree gnome construction than faerie magic.

 

 

 

A further idea would be trees that were like giant toadstools, similar to the mushroom trees and saplings in Oblivion.

[hide]

Damnit, I tripped over Magzar's half inflated blow-up doll and hurt myself. I wish he wouldn't leave that thing lying around. -.-

[/hide]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any Improvement is a step in right direction, however this isn't the kind of updates I believe allot of people are looking for the most. For myself and other fellow questers out there maybe It's time to introduce a high level, partner or team oriented quest and break the trend of quick and easy single player quests of late.( With the odd longer single player quest thrown in once and a while)

6he242p.jpg

"Be Excellent To Each Other"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.