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Question on land distribution, mountains, caves and dungeons http://www.ryandor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2794	Page 1 of 1

Author:	Planet_Jeroen [ Sun Apr 30, 2006 6:52 am ]
Post subject:	Question on land distribution, mountains, caves and dungeons
Does anyone have a table on terra type's ? I have a hard time to get it to look realisticly. I have a earth like climate, or at least want it that way. How much % water, land, desert, polar region should be on it ? A few pointers would be appreciated. Next, mountains. What are the pro's and con's of Minoc mining cave like caves VS dungeon like caves ? Is it correct that the first is drawn into the mountain, and you can see the outside of the mountain when you are in it while the second is drawn in the dungeon area, and has a teleporter in and out and you see black surrounding it ? Are there reasons where one serves better then the other ? Or is it all preference again ? What is a normal hight for a mountain ? I think OSI was 80z, what are your preferences ?

Author:	Dev Viperrious [ Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:11 am ]
Post subject:
For terrain types just take a look at the world map of Earth. Thats the easiest way to get ideas. The earth is 75% water and most maps I've seen are about that. Mountains always run the techtonic plates of the planet which is normally parallel to the direction of rotation, i.e. north and south. Islands are formed along the plates normally as well which would mean they are located in line with mountain chains on the landmasses and southward. Caves are best done in the dungeon region and I prefer them there for numerous reasons. The first being that you can change the caves around at will by changing the teleporters, so they can change or grow over time perhaps even revealing a dungeon entrance later. Second, if you use the dungeon method then you can place spawns inside the cave which would keep your spawns from wandering off and from being seen outside the cave as you run along the mountains. Third, players should not be able to climb to the highest cave in an area then hide and use it as a lookout post to ambush happless miners, which is what used to happen in Minoc. Caves have solid rock walls that the players should not be able to see through. This does provide PVP combat that is much more fair by allowing both parties to be 100% surprised when they enter the area. Fourth is that you can change the resources provided in the area much more easily in the region editor. If its in a mountain then you have a huge problem because it will most likely overlap the mountain outside as well. Dev

Author:	Planet_Jeroen [ Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:58 am ]
Post subject:
Kudo's to you Thanx for the mountain placing guidelines... it does look better that way Is it possible to create the illusion of you being able to look inside by creating a minoc like cave, and then still place teleporters ? Or would this mess things up ?

Author:	Stormcrow [ Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:59 am ]
Post subject:
Pretty much as Dev said. Mountain caves have their uses, for small mines, lairs and as "foyers" to larger dungeons that are placed in other areas. As far as being earthlike, I wouldn't overdo it. While I like realism and continuity, the game engine just cannot do justice to a lot of realism. What makes a really good looking real map and what makes a really good looking UO map are not always in line with each other. The biggest thing is to fire up your EMU regularly in between compiles and actually get out there and walk the map. Think about the area from a players point of view while you wander around.

Author:	Dev Viperrious [ Sun Apr 30, 2006 5:14 pm ]
Post subject:
When laying out your map just remember that when your in game you can only view terrain from the East and South. Items on the North and West sides are hidden. So when laying out mountains make sure the angles are low enough to see over the West and Northern edges unless you like pages to help recover corpes behind terrain features where players cannot see or do not know how to use the all names feature to click on their names... cave entrances on the North and West sides will not be viewable even though they are useable while in game. These make good spots to put secret entrances since most will run right past them without thinking to look. Combined with teleporters they make the perfect hiding spots since nothing can be seen until players actually locate the physical entrance. Another hint would be to use the walkable water tiles to make underwater areas along the coastal regions, you want to keep players interested so a couple of those tiles then a teleporter with a message You sink beneith the waves and notice an opening then they appear in a room with a pool of walkable water inside a cavern. Poof you have underwater adventures with ship wrecks and lizardmen. The reason to make the majority of mountain ranges from North to South is not only because its realistic but because most landmasses run West to East. This allows you to zone your map by chopping it up with mountains or rivers. Rivers normally run North to South as well by the way. Imagine it...and they will come... Dev

Author:	RoseThorn [ Mon May 01, 2006 8:44 am ]
Post subject:
Listen to Dev, then thing about how many players you're planning for. If you think it's gonna be a 30-50 person shard, don't make 80% landmass and 20% water, because with that much space it's either gonna be mostly unused forever, or no one will ever see each other. On the flip side ifyou're planning on 100's of players, don't make it 80% water or people will be crowded :p

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