Kingdom of Aelfheim Terraforming | Cities & Towns | Forum

Thanks guys!

Okarim said
I must say I always am impressed by the scale at which you make these detailed plans. Leaving the water aside you only have less than twice as much land claimed as I do, but your plans know so much more detail than I have myself. It makes me want to start setting up some plan of my own like yours, as a direction to my planned design. Mind you, I'll still stick to the motley evolution principle, but you make me want to put my ideas down to steer the process more. I can't wait to see what you make of this, and I hope I can take some of it into account when designing my own.

MS Paint and Photoshop/Gimp/Paint.net are awesome tools.  I also have spreadsheets detailing process order (I'm on pre-terraforming tree clearing right now), features to include in all districts, like defense, transit, services, markets, graveyards, chapels, utilities, and greenspace, as well as unique specific features like the event areas, library, cathedral, bank, etc.

Having it all written down (and using Google Drive helps a TON with it being accessible from any computer or device) makes keeping it straight in my head all that much easier.  I highly recommend it.

SuperSheep23 said
Wow. This is seriously one of the most exciting plans I've ever seen. I noticed you had some mazes on there, good luck, they're a real pain

I'm very excited to see them once they're done!

When I do get to them, if I have any trouble I will be sure to let you know!

Frenchy said
Very nice, but... How do you plan to accomplish this in one lifetime? Or are you going to hire people to help you?

I have learned the hard way that I can't have any help.  I'm too anal about what I want done, even with simple things like clearing and filling.  And Tony can vouch that in no way, shape, or form is it smart for me to collaborate on building projects. 

But as I said above, I'm planning for this project to last me as long as Minecraft lasts.  If VC ever goes offline, I can hopefully get the chunks and finish it in Single Player and post it here for you all to enjoy.  I fully expect this project to be something of a "life's work," hence why I'm putting so much effort into it.

The one area in which help will be able to be given is in the form of materials.  I can build all day long, if I have the stuff to build with.  But needing my shillings for portal ships and to finish out my Claim (need 300 more on the North and East sides to make an even 2k x 2k....about 1 mil more shills), it'll be slow in coming for me to buy materials.  It'll depend on house payments and ship rentals.  Once I get the Core districts established (but not completed), I'm planning on doing the Easterlies Harbor, which will have houses, shops, and the ships, and a transit hub.  The idea is to establish Aelfheim as a destination which will turn enough of a profit so that I can concentrate on building rather than gathering.

The idea I have for the ships is that Aelfheim will provide the ships (sea or air, in both locations) of LWK quality (whatever that is worth), and the nearby link to Exodus.  The player getting the ship will provide the portal installation fee, and a small monthly rent (TBD).  I'm also toying with the idea of giving anyone with active ship portals a free house in Aelfheim of their choosing.  I don't know if all that is feasible, it's just the idea right now.

Thanks everyone!   I appreciate the support.  I will be very open with requests IF I ever need to make them, but as I said above, I'm way too picky about how things are done.  It's a curse which means this project will take a LONG time to do, but I'm really not in any hurry.

I figured I should make a quick update, as right now Aelfheim looks really ugly.

I'm neck-deep in terraforming.  In particular, I'm raising the Bluff which comprises the central core of the Kingdom.

What you're looking at is the plan for the Bluff, located here.  On the Dynmap you can see the cuttings, fillings, and road markers I've done so far.  Hideous, isn't it? But as you can see, there is a plan.  I'm following the terrain as best as I can, to make this area seem like a natural occurrence.  Whether I'm successful or not....time will tell.

So what are you looking at?  The brown borders are essentially where the Bluff will be, with the river running through the center.  The river will mostly be open to the sky, though there may be natural arches and overhangs.

On top of the Bluff (as planned in the o.p.) will be the Castle/Palace, Aelheim Proper, Yggdrasil, Verrena, Hightowne, Festival Market, Ring Castle, and Ardale districts.

The brown shaded areas are those which are either 1) already at the height I want them, 2) to be raised up to their useful height via filling, or 3) to be slopes. No plans yet to have caves or caverns there.

What you see in red are the currently planned caves and caverns.  I may do more as the terrain permits.  The four underground districts are Greatdeeps, Lamplight, Nightmarket, and Underhill.  All will be very distinct, and I'm excited for all of them.

Silence is the "Ruined Quarter," and will neither be on the bluff or under it.  I've concepted it as a poor, old village that has been destroyed by progress.  Namely, the black circle there.  That is to be an artificial "plate" which will cover that little valley and serve as an extension for the high-wealth city of Verrena above.  Yes, very much a Final Fantasy VII Midgar vs. Slums relationship.

Once the terraforming is done, I'll be able to start settling the Kingdom.  Of course, given the time frame for working on this project, I don't want it to be ugly while it waits for me, so the Bluff will be reforested to its "pre-LWK" condition once everything else is done.

Anyways, given my "ugo-fication" of the area so far, I thought this information would be useful to those who may be interested. 

Mini update!

Ok, so here's what happens when I do what I posted above:

And here's where that falls in my "Aelfheim Bluff Terraforming Project"

1. Gravel Line Bluff Identification
2. Harvest Bluff Area Trees
3. Mark Under-roads/Districts
4. Identify Inner Fill Areas
5. Carve out Inner Area Edges and Tunnels
6. Carve/Fill Central River/Lake
7. Refine River/Lake Edge
8. Clear Inner Areas of Dirt

And now, here's what's left to do...

1. Mark/Begin Deeper Cavern Cuts (Greatdeeps, Yggdrasil, accents)
2. Remove guides for Bluff Roads
3. Mark Fill Area Edges with Cobble
4. Fill areas with Cobble to Desired Heights
5. Line Inner Areas and Ceilings with Smooth Stone
6. Layer Cobble, thickness of 10 Height, on top of Ceilings
7. Cover All with Dirt/Grass, 3 Height
8. Replant Oak/Birch trees

4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 will take a considerable amount of time and extreme care to get looking natural.  So....maybe I'll be able to start building something in a year or two.

Three years....may, possibly, be enough. Thanks!

Mini-update!

The third step in the above graphic is done, the vertical height marker walls and pillars.

It's many more pillars than I was intending, but I want to prevent as much un-rendered distance points as possible.  It disturbs the effect of being in caverns if you can see the sky past the rendering. So the pillars are there to shorten the distances.

Next up, according to the graphic, is the primary filling.  Here's where I'll burn through my cobble like mad.  It took like 100k just to do what I did above. 

EDIT:  Progress until next update post:

Pillars filled: 29 of 29  COMPLETE!

Edges filled:

• Phase 1: Backfilling - Complete!

• Phase 2: Sloping - Begun!  About 25% complete.....this one is going to take a LONG time.