[Renatus 6.0 Dev Blog] Part 1: Getting Started!

[Senda 472]

[Renatus 6.0 Dev Blog] Part 1: Getting Started!

 

Hello, and welcome to the first Development Blog on the Renatus 6.0 Capital! I’m Senda - the person in charge of the construction team, and in today’s edition we’re going to delve into the first stage of this (somewhat) massive undertaking.

 

On behalf of everyone involved, I can tell you that we are all incredibly excited to finally start lifting a few of the curtains that will, for the most part, continue to block and obscure the full view of 6.0, till the eventual release.

 

First things first - let me get a few questions right out of the way:

 

Who on earth are you?

 

Well hello there, internet stranger - I am Senda. Known by some on this server since the heady days of Asulon. My characters are exclusively human.. and mostly in the same line of work - construction or management of some form or another.

I have had the pleasure of running both very small townships and capital cities, and the insight that comes from that continues to serve me in the design and construction of new cities.

Once again, I have been called upon to construct a capital city for a new map - this time, by Mogroka, the ruler of Renatus.

 

Are you doing this alone?

 

Good grief, no! I have the luxury of a vast array of friends and contacts (both my own and Mogroka’s) that have culminated in the formation of a team of people - all bent towards to the development and construction of this new capital in some way or another.

 

The Team:

 

• Mogroka (Renatus nation leader and neverending source of requests for Phallus-shaped palaces - which we politely decline at every opportunity)

• Senda (Team Lead - Does a fair bit of building, but considers his chief role to be that of delegating tasks and keeping the work moving along)

• DPM (Builder - Kyle is a wizard with world edit - we rest safe in the knowledge that he causes far less suffocation and death with his commands than 501Warhead does)

• Onslaughted (Builder - Expertise in castles - instrumental in the design process behind the palace)

• Charlemagne (Builder - Messy Medieval ‘Liason’ - Trol insists he does nothing, but what he really does is actually help a ton, both by building and providing advice. His Messy Medieval background will pay dividends when we get to later stages of this project, where we are looking to add the ‘busy city’-feeling to the project)

• Tehlulu (Builder - Expertise in interiors - will be taking care of the palace interior. Keep an eye out for the palatial featurette Blog!)

• Vezzin (Library Liason - The city will play host to a number of guilds and organisations, of which the famous Library is one - Another featurette will go in-depth on this!)

• EtowTheSaltyCat (Credit to Etow - Builder of entire cities - currently not actively engaged but nonetheless instrumental to the current process, having done most of the groundwork we base the current design on)

 

With this team in place, we got to work!

 

As with previous projects, the first thing we settled down to do, was create our (informed) vision of what we wanted the 6.0 Capitol to feature. Not just in terms of architecture or interesting landmarks.. But in terms of playability - the facilitation of Roleplay and events.. And a concentrated effort to keep the footprint of the city small, to avoid an unnavigable mess.

 

To break it down:

 

• We need a city that is large enough to house a population of the same estimated size as Adelburg/Petrus/Johannesburg. That means quite a number of houses of varying sizes.

• We need the houses to be functional and enticing to live in, as shown by Steward feedback through various cities - not too small (3x3 dirt shacks will not do) but care must be taken not to make stuff too large either. Generally a variety of sizes works best, up to and including a few Manors that can house entire families.

• The city needs to dominate the landscape without being a massive fortified eyesore. That means no gigantic walls that block all vision of what’s behind them - rather normal sized walls with the taller buildings naturally sticking out over the top - giving the impression of a vibrant city.

 

With the land picked for 6.0, we sat down to ponder the options and placement of various structures.. And found an intriguing.. Potentially elegant solution to the conundrum ‘Where do we put the Palace.. And how high do we build it.. If it is to dominate the skyline without being excessively tall.. Or increasing the footprint of the city to an unjust degree?

 

The answer was to put it on top of the city.

 

Like a table.

 

 

Housing runs underneath the Palace, doubling up on the space used, without interfering with Roleplay, as the emote distance in blocks for normal conversation will not cover the distance from the Palace above.. To the street below. The merchant haggling about the price of a loaf of bread will not interfere with the tense diplomatic discussion the Emperor is having in his Throneroom.

 

The only challenge is turning a simple box on 4 legs.. Into something that looks like a visually interesting construction. The solution was to break it up into multiple smaller boxes and towers and arranging them in an interesting pattern (Onslaughted’s expertise at work).

 

There is a TON more to come, as with future Dev Blogs, we will take a closer look at the thought process behind the specific architecture, the layout of various Districts, the plethora of interesting landmarks (other than the Palace).. And the Palace itself!

 

For now - we leave you all with this screenshot of our work in progress:

 

 

 

 

[Aqua Vita 136]

Looks like it's coming along nicely! I'll be eager to see it when it's finished.

[Knox213 10]

good work as always.

[Tide1 4535]

Jesus its massive! And so is the city ;) Regardless, it looks really cool and interesting!

[Hiebe 2493]

Excited to see it.

Have a bit of gothic going on ??

[Chorale__ 2147]

Great work. Just don't get angered and quit this time, I heard in TS that you're quite hard to work with but that doesn't hinder my opinion of you! Just do good work and don't give up because of the smallest things! :)

[Sultan 3953]

11 minutes ago, Chorale_ said:

Great work. Just don't get angered and quit this time, I heard in TS that you're quite hard to work with but that doesn't hinder my opinion of you! Just do good work and don't give up because of the smallest things! :)

0

Upvote

 

 

That's, not the case at all. Senda is a chill guy to work with, though he is a adult that does not need to waste his time doing something that is not being appreciated. All that needs to be said.

[lemontide331 1615]

Great way to keep people updated, as a future citizen of Renatus thanks a lot!

[Chorale__ 2147]

5 minutes ago, Sultan said:

 

That's, not the case at all. Senda is a chill guy to work with, though he is a adult that does not need to waste his time doing something that is not being appreciated. All that needs to be said.

1

 

4 minutes ago, DPM said:

 

Don't make an accusation when you don't know the story of another side, Senda is easy to work with and is willing to give up his free time to aid the server. Senda will sacrifice his own ideas for the ideas of another with logic, that's adaptable

0

 

I wasn't saying anything bad about the dude, just putting out there that I heard he gave up on the Oren build because of the people that were working with him and the build seemed quite pleasant. It's not like I'm bashing on him or anything, I just think that this build looks superior and am encouraging Senda to not call quits on it.  

[TwilightWolf 901]

This is really coming along nicely, the idea of 'the table' was a really clever resolution. I'll definitely be visiting once your group is done.

This has sort of inspired me to potentially write up something for the elven capital, too.

Again great work, looking forward to seeing it progress!

 

[Heero 4092]

@Senda I'm glad to see Seanie caught an L and Oren Mega City 1 is back

 

[Man of Respect 5471]

This looks ******* amazing, not gonna lie

[Chorale__ 2147]

4 hours ago, DPM said:

Your comment was unfounded, you could of simply said "It looks nice and I hope you continue with the dev blogs." Instead you decided to bring up a untruthful statement that served nothing. What reply did you expect from that?

0

Upvote

 

I expect a forum fight to not bust out. Therefore good day, DPM.

[Senda 472]

9 hours ago, Hiebe said:

Excited to see it.

Have a bit of gothic going on ??

 

Potentially yes - This project is a bit of a blend of different styles.. and subject to a crapton of change (stylewise) as we progress through it. The Palace for example, has gone through 4 different stages of design alone before we settled on the current shape - and that is simply the shape! 

 

As for the Gothic influence, you can blame my love for the Warhammer universe, from which I draw inspiration where I can. Currently, Onslaughted, Charlemagne and DPM are hard at work wrecking my lovely roofing further refining the style, removing and replacing elements as they see fit. Some of the Gothic might remain, some might not. 

 

Future updates shall reveal how much influence remains :)

 

9 hours ago, im_a_psychopath said:

Great way to keep people updated, as a future citizen of Renatus thanks a lot!

 

You are more than welcome! Looking forward to having you be part of the roleplay in the city :)

 

8 hours ago, TwilightWolf said:

This is really coming along nicely, the idea of 'the table' was a really clever resolution. I'll definitely be visiting once your group is done.

This has sort of inspired me to potentially write up something for the elven capital, too.

Again great work, looking forward to seeing it progress!

 

Likewise - your Dominion build has certainly sparked my interest and Ill be looking to plan a visit once the initial rush of 6.0-capital-construction dies down. I shall shamelessly link your post for some blatant cross-promotion:

 

 

[monkeypoacher 8055]

man those houses are bringing me back