Various Uru concept pieces I've been working on.

Tweek · **Joined:** Tue May 09, 2006 12:11 am **Posts:** 2633

So those of you who follow me on Tumblr may have seen some (or most) of these already. But I wanted to share some of the stuff I've been working on in my spare time. I've been working on a bunch of concept pieces for various Ages and objects as well as stuff for a spin off project called Vaal'lin. In the last few weeks I've started building stuff in Blender again and will hopefully have some new Ages (and updates to older Ages) to release in the near future.

[edit] had to put some of the larger images in spoiler tags

Eder Tehren/Tefoonet'ahn;

[Reveal] Spoiler:

Rough build an texturing in Blender then screencapped and painted on top of in Photoshop (progress can be viewed here if you're interested: Twitch Steam).

Tehren Neighbourhood;

[Reveal] Spoiler:

Oldish WIP image from Blender. A fair amount has changed since I took that image. Working on a new hood layout with through backs to some old DIRT content and elements of the original hoods. Hood is at lake level with a small dock. I would like to have some small boats there in the future that players can hop on and sail to Ae'gura or something.

Maho Age;

Plan for Maho is to be a bit of a hub Age. Players use the "Lore Stones" to Link to a new Age. There they progress through learning the story that is to be told before Linking back to a new area of Maho which in turn leads to the next Age in the journey. Progression will hopefully let players learn the planned storyline and finding clues they need to gain access to the next Age.

Fahets Age;

[Reveal] Spoiler:

Original basin area to Fahets has had some model and texture updates and a fissure in the cliff face that allows players to a new area of the Age. Currently Fahets is about 5 times bigger than it originally was.

[Reveal] Spoiler:

Mangrove area design for the area of Fahets outside of the basin area.

Norapod ideas.

Window designs for the Fahets hut, showing old and new Fahets.

Vaal'lin;

Vaal'lin project is kind of a spin off. I had wondered what it would be like is a less scholarly race has access to The Art, perhaps a race of knights/warriors. How would they use the Art in warfare? How would it effect the economy if they don't need to rely on trade with other nations? From there it became a world building exercise. So far I have managed to set down a substantial amount of lore for the world. Vaal'lin have no links or relation to the D'ni, the only thing they share is they both use The Art.

Vaal'lin Public Link Service terminal;

The Public Link Service is like a bus service for the Vaal'lin city. Terminals operate on a time schedule offering Links to certain areas/ages as certain times to allow for workers to Link to other Ages and areas of the city to get to work.

God Seeds;

[Reveal] Spoiler:

Remnants from when the Miaan (The Four Gods) walked across Ashel. The God Seeds are scattered all over the planet but none know what they are for. They stand either forgotten or as shrines to the Miaan.

Tai'lahr · **Posted:** Mon Apr 14, 2014 1:07 pm

Wohba! Not only is it all so beautiful, but also imaginative. I was blown away by the idea of the Vaal'lin Public Link Service terminal. And, I really like the idea of having a tree in the neighborhood. Plus, I'm intrigued by the story ideas and puzzles. Thanks for continuing to share your wonderful works with us, Tweek.

Ainia · **Posted:** Mon Apr 14, 2014 1:26 pm

You're back! You're *back*!! Heya Tweek!

So thrilled to see you are ready to share your beautiful new works!

[[P.S. I'm eager to open up that museum area whenever you give the word...]]

janaba1 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 14, 2014 5:06 pm

Our genius is back with some more awesomeness!!! ...

This will knock the socks off many of us, I suppose, I am one of them ...

Your passion, creativity and sense of sharing seem to be overflowing, and we're even provided with a really great painting session by the master himself, accompanied by music to increase the fun ... If your visions would (could) be part of Uru's future then we'd have a magnificent one ahead of us, that's for sure ... Thank you for this impressive presentation of your extraordinary artworks, Tweek ...

korovev · **Posted:** Mon Apr 14, 2014 10:10 pm

Awesome!
I’ve always wondered if Writers necessarily had to use books and ink, or if some other medium could be used (as with the Vaal’in linking scroll).

Teknobubba · **Posted:** Tue Apr 15, 2014 12:20 am

It's been a long time since I was pumped about the potential of this game to grow. THIS rekindled the fire. Thanks, Tweek! Wonderful stuff.

Annabelle · **Posted:** Tue Apr 15, 2014 4:15 am

That's wonderful stuff Tweek :shock:

I'm really impressed by the quality of your artworks (being these new ones or all the previous ones you kindly shared with us in the past).

I know there can be a huge gap between Conceptual Art (what you are showcasing) and reality...
...but I'm glad you are working back with Blender to maybe release some new URU age(s) or extending some of your old stuff.

Extending Fahets, your most asthonishing age (IMO) would be really an extraordinary gift to the community, or if you intend to work back on your museum AKA Cass like Ainia says, or any other age would also do the job as we say :lol:

Ainia · **Posted:** Tue Apr 15, 2014 6:16 am

Annabelle wrote:

… or if you intend to work back on your museum AKA Cass like Ainia says, or any other age would also do the job as we say :lol:

I was actually referring to something else there Annabelle! Tweek should know what I meant (at least I hope he hasn't forgotten); and folks who have rummaged through my Relto desk may understand the reference.

We shall see what Tweek thinks in the meanwhile!

Tweek · **Joined:** Tue May 09, 2006 12:11 am **Posts:** 2633

Tai'lahr wrote:

Wohba! Not only is it all so beautiful, but also imaginative. I was blown away by the idea of the Vaal'lin Public Link Service terminal. And, I really like the idea of having a tree in the neighborhood. Plus, I'm intrigued by the story ideas and puzzles. Thanks for continuing to share your wonderful works with us, Tweek.

Admittedly when it comes to wiring up Ages I'm not that good. I can do animation and sort out journals. But puzzles not so much.

Because the story that the player would go through is the "aftermath" of an event I decided that the story should be told through journal entries and perhaps holograms/voice recordings. A bit like Yeesha did. The idea is to have a player start off somewhere (possibly Tehren Hood) and progress to Maho. There they would take a bridge from one area to another and use the Lore Stone to go to the first Age.

In the first Age they will progress through reading journals and collecting the combination symbols. At the end of that Age they pop in the combination to activate the Lore Stone which takes them back to Maho. Upon returning to Maho they'd be in another area with a bridge leading to another Stone that takes them to yet another Age. Through progress players would learn what had transpired whilst making their way to the central structure on Maho for the "end game" the big reveal so to speak. It's a large idea with several Ages...maybe too big I guess we shall see. But I've been working on it slowly for several years now. I've long known how the story chronicled in Beneath was going to end.

korovev wrote:

Awesome!
I’ve always wondered if Writers necessarily had to use books and ink, or if some other medium could be used (as with the Vaal’in linking scroll).

I guess they don't have to given Bahro technology. But I wanted to keep it familiar with Vaal'lin but with it's own twist. For example instead of terms like The Art, Writing, Linking Book, Garohertee which are all linguistic based the Vaal'lin view Writing as a more mathematical construct. So words like Monad, Variables, Fractals are used instead and they use Scrolls instead of Books. Also unlike the D'ni who kept their Writing rather rigid and didn't really make advances the Vaal'lin are a little more lax. Whilst they do have rules in place there are discoveries made in their history that allowed for progression. Like a certain person discovering a mineral element that is akin to Catherine's linking panel viewer thing. Which lead to the development of the personal linking device, the public linking system and the ability for the scrolls to be sealed and the link activated by touching the case thus enabling the scrolls to last longer and not get damaged.

Annabelle wrote:

That's wonderful stuff Tweek :shock:

I'm really impressed by the quality of your artworks (being these new ones or all the previous ones you kindly shared with us in the past).

I know there can be a huge gap between Conceptual Art (what you are showcasing) and reality...
...but I'm glad you are working back with Blender to maybe release some new URU age(s) or extending some of your old stuff.

Extending Fahets, your most asthonishing age (IMO) would be really an extraordinary gift to the community, or if you intend to work back on your museum AKA Cass like Ainia says, or any other age would also do the job as we say :lol:

Thank you, I've been putting a lot of practice in lately. I let things fall by the wayside a bit as I was working more web dev stuff. Now I'm turning my attention back to artwork which was my major in the first place.

There is a big gap, and the Uru engine only supports so much. But I try to make it look as good as I technically can with well designed textures.

Ainia is actually referring to another museum project she has been working on. But I have done a lot of work on Cass it's a lot bigger and broken into two wings currently, D'ni and Vaal'lin.

As for Fahets here is a WIP Blender shot of the Age thus far.

You can see the initial basin area (with some model updates) and the mangrove area outside. I also have two other areas that you can only get to via Linking Book planned one is the Crimson Vale or Tre'Merktee as it's also known the other is Crescent Rock which is the nesting ground for the Mangarks.

Most of what you see above is stuff I've been working on for a couple of years. I had a lot of trouble with the transition from the basin area to the Mangrove area. At one point I removed the basin completely and had it looking like it had just shattered to pieces. But I recently went back and reimplemented it because I felt it needed that familiar area that people had already visited.

Annabelle · **Posted:** Tue Apr 15, 2014 12:35 pm

@ Ainia: I see... So there's another age that would be in the creation pipeline :wink:

You can bring any fan age, I'll be glad. Ohhh what do you mean by...

Quote:

and folks who have rummaged through my Relto desk

There must be something somewhere over the Internet where we can see your Relto desk

You know what Dear... I've just looked closely at your signature... I'll manage my way there :wink:

--------------
@ Tweek: You're welcome

As I can see Cass extension is underway... I think I've seen this project on Beneath blog or on GoW Forum Board a while ago, that's why I came back on the subject and I mixed Ainia's museum project with Cass.

As for Fahets, I can clearly see the new extended areas :shock:

Being in the basin, the first thing folks did is to reach the edges to see what was beyond...The scenery is somewhat uniform as it is all black. I can't wait for the day when we will be able to see all the lavish garden age with all the funny looking mangrove trees you're making. Fahets is really colourful & the textures are amazing, I expect the same for the new areas yet to be opened to be as much. For textures, there are 2 kings: Boblishman & you!

matthornb · **Posted:** Sun Apr 27, 2014 6:13 pm

Astounding work, Tweek!

Your concept art is beautiful, and makes me want to explore all of those places.

I'm definitely looking forward to wandering around in the new areas of Fahets, and I appreciate all the time and creativity you have poured into these ages!

Your texture work - as others have said - it's impressive and nicely detailed.

Various Uru concept pieces I've been working on.

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