RuneScape has its share of creatures that you will find in other fantasy games, movies and novels - things like dragons, goblins and demons but youd be unwise to forget the creatures that bring something unique to RuneScape. Among these are the TzHaar: creatures of lava and rock that live inside a volcano in Karamja, passing their memories on through eggs and turning to tokKul - TzHaar coins - when they die. Weve always felt that they are interesting and have a lot of potential, but weve never really done much beyond one quest (TzTok-Ket-Dill) a couple of minigames and a graphical rework.

 

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So, when Mod Edam proposed a quest that would explore the nature of the TzHaar, we leapt at the chance to completely rework the race, the fire creatures of their volcano and the volcano itself.

 

While discussing the graphical rework with Mod Edam, it became clear that we could echo the key themes of the quest in the TzHaars look. For example, the TzHaar developed an even richer and unusual caste system in the quest, so we wanted to clearly define those castes in their look. The quest also reveals that the TzHaar are possibly the most ancient race on Gielinor (dont worry this doesnt spoil the story of the quest), so we wanted to convey the feeling that these beings are as old as the volcano around them.

 

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We kept three keywords in mind at all times when reworking the TzHaar: fire, obsidian and civilisation. Put simply, the area had to feel hazardous and hot, reinforcing the sheer inhospitable nature of living in a volcano, which is why fire is so important in the race and areas look. To survive in the heat, the surrounding rock has to feel both hard and dense, which is where obsidian comes in. We wanted this shiny, black surface to dominate the TzHaar environment. Finally, as said before, a TzHaars life and role is dependent on its place in society, so we wanted to convey this layered civilisation as well as possible, making the TzHaar warriors imposing and their magicians magical, where previously they had looked similar to each other.

 

For the environment inspiration, I explored shapes found in the castle of Jim Hensons The Dark Crystal. We also looked at Art Nouveau designs, and the artwork of Roger Dean, who was famous for his album covers for progressive rock bands (which also inspired the artwork for James Camerons Avatar). Additionally, we studied the natural shapes that obsidian forms in volcanic environments, in particular obsidian shards and obsidian spheres.

 

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We tried to imagine what this inhospitable area would be like to live in, which led to dramatic reworkings of areas like the TzHaar library; although the library is meant to be made up of stone tablets that can resist fire, it always looked like a normal library. Now, you can imagine a great, hulking TzHaar picking up and handling these great orbs of information that replace the tablets. It also reinforces the feeling that the TzHaar are unique, and do not have to act like humans.

 

To ensure the TzHaar stand apart from each other visually, we gave them clothes and ornaments made of carved metals, presenting them in a more civilised aspect. Players will hopefully now view the TzHaar as a civilisation, rather than a cabal of monsters.

 

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Finally, we increased the size of the TzHaars volcano, scaling it up to match the increased size of the TzHaar themselves. Now, everything has a sense of epicness and awe, encouraging you to feel like you are in a truly ancient and alien area, with minimal changes to how a player trains or uses the area.

 

I wish I could talk more about some of the elaborate and interesting changes we have made to the area, but were held back (reluctantly!) by a need to keep things a surprise for the upcoming quest. All I can say is that I have only mentioned a fraction of the work put into the area, and you will not be let down by what resides at the end of the new Fight Caves. Whether the jaw-dropping gives you enough time to defeat the final creature is another matter, of course, but we are confident that you will think the new TzHaar re-sculpting simply rocks.

 

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Mod GFX

Sounds good :).

Fire Cape Quest + Have fun lagging in the new volcano for a month or so :thumbup:

Delightful. I always liked how the TzHaar was one of their original creations and their graphical looks. I love how the creatures are looking more fluid and crust-like with each graphic update compared to being stone with lines of lava. :P

Impressive :thumbup:

Fire Cape Quest + Have fun lagging in the new volcano for a month or so :thumbup:

 

I feel like I have a legit reason to actually get a fire cape now... better go kill Jad before I suffer lagfest in the area or suffer any nerf that comes with the new monster.

Content and the concept arts look amazing, but I'm literally so mad right now :(

 

Quest should be good, love tok-something-dill when that came out, and hopefully it'l be pretty tough too :D

Edited January 26, 201214 yr by Octarine19

Love the artwork :thumbsup:

Hmmm, looks like I should go and get my 2nd Fire Cape then... 3rd time lucky hopefully...

 

Anyways the update they've got planned sounds awesome!

Sounds interesting. Hopefully they won't mess up with the lag like they did for Darkmeyer.

I have 20 capes the update looks quite nice, but TzHaar has already been updated in 2008 was it not?

I have 20 capes the update looks quite nice, but TzHaar has already been updated in 2008 was it not?

Dragons were updated in 2006 too, but that didn't stop Jagex from adding another update to them.

I may be alone here but I actually really liked he original Tzhaar designs and volcano when it was first released.

I may be alone here but I actually really liked he original Tzhaar designs and volcano when it was first released.

 

I liked the first Jad, the V2 Jad aesthetically looks :---)

Nice.

 

Wouldn't normally reply just to say "nice", but none of the links in the OP's quote are working for me, and I thought that deserved a mention.

Nice.

 

Wouldn't normally reply just to say "nice", but none of the links in the OP's quote are working for me, and I thought that deserved a mention.

 

They work for me in Firefox but not Safari, no idea why. I'll fix them in a bit.

Looking forward to this. I actually liked the original look of the Tzhaar and their home before the last graphical update. Still interested in getting into the actual city part of Tzhaar that's been closed off to humans all this time.

Is it too much to ask for that Jad gets made easier? :P

 

Merci*still no fire cape*full

Did I miss something where it was said we would need fire capes for this quest?

 

If that's the case then I guess I know what I'm doing this weekend, though it seems unlikely since Jagex already recognized that they have players who either through disability or age or whatever, are not physically capable of beating Jad (hence why you can buy the ability to fight ice wyrms without the cape).

 

Other than that, looks nice.

Redesigned Tzhaar creatures look awesome.

Merci*still no fire cape*full

:-k

 

I wouldn't mind them making Jad easier to access for cape owners, but experiencing the full waves at least once is a must. It's especially grown easier over the years with new crossbows, chaotics, Ganodermic and what not.

I wish they'd make another caves challenge similar to back in 2005 when only the most skilled players could obtain the cape

Did I miss something where it was said we would need fire capes for this quest?

 

If that's the case then I guess I know what I'm doing this weekend, though it seems unlikely since Jagex already recognized that they have players who either through disability or age or whatever, are not physically capable of beating Jad (hence why you can buy the ability to fight ice wyrms without the cape).

 

Other than that, looks nice.

 

I think Jagex said that the TzHaar quest or some aspect of it would require a Fire Cape at RuneFest.

You know what, my extreme desire to not spend 3 hours of my life for a chance to find out if I can prayer swap fast enough or not (I'm pretty sure I can't from every experience I have ever had trying it), means I'm going to wait and see if I need the fire cape to keep my quest cape or not.

There are also a few new Media images...

Seem to show Troll warzone?

New Tzhaar area + some of the monsters

Some green dungeon with some rather green, metallic looking dragons!

 

EDIT:

Could actually just be an updated Brimhaven Dungeon...noticing the wild dogs..