Nothing useful here. I'm new on these boards and just found out I can attach images to my posts, lol. Just wanted to share a couple screens with some of the skyboxes that I've used. Not exactly my most "artistic" areas, but the skyboxes were perfect. The mountain top one really shows how lighting and fog can make some of these look fantastic, IMHO. The Poppa Smurf looking guy is my loose interpretation of Barzai The Wise, if anyone knows who he is.
The other one is a little dark, but it's Xibalba, or "Place of Fright", ie the Maya Underworld, using Chandigar's Aztec tileset and the Underdark skybox.
I'd love to see how other people have used the skyboxes, but I'm too busy with my own project at the moment. Just thought I'd show my appreciation to chaos_theocrat for putting this together, and show him a little of what he's helped create. :thumb:
Edit: The underworld one is really dark, for some reason. Oh well, you get the idea.
Skybox screens
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chaos_theocrat
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Sat May 31, 2008 12:18 am
Good use of CSP!
Some very great images there, Izk! And, strangely enough, I do know who Barzai the Wise is. He was the High Priest of the Earth Gods, from H.P. Lovecraft's "The Other Gods". H.P. Lovecraft is one of my all-time favorite authors of horror and science fiction! I'm probably one of the few who has actually played Call of Cthulhu for the XBOX and enjoyed it, despite the bugs that the game was riddled with. (And boy were there serious bugs!)
I had a few passing references to Lovecraft in my module Knights of the Holy Grail (Ultimate Edition), and at least one nod to Evil Dead. (Hint: The infamous three words!) So, he's been a bit of an influence over the years.
Back a bit on the skybox topic: I like the Mayan idea as well as the Barzai one. I think there are a lot of cultures and mythologies that would make for some great Nwn1 modules, which haven't been used a lot. The Maya, Inca, Aztec (or Maztica, for D&D purists) cultures do certainly fall into that category, along with the Egyptian, Babylonian, and Sumerian. :rolleyes:
I did make some prefabs to help with those ideas though, like the City of Babylon I released to the Vault, and the City of Seven Gates which was a re-creation of the capital city of the Sumerian netherworld. Very unusual.
You've pioneered a great idea here, though, Izk! :icon_idea: Anyone who has used the CSP in some creative ways: let's hear from you, and see some pics of your work. This is a good place to share ideas, and see what various kinds of settings the CSP has been used in. - Farewell for now!
I had a few passing references to Lovecraft in my module Knights of the Holy Grail (Ultimate Edition), and at least one nod to Evil Dead. (Hint: The infamous three words!) So, he's been a bit of an influence over the years.
Back a bit on the skybox topic: I like the Mayan idea as well as the Barzai one. I think there are a lot of cultures and mythologies that would make for some great Nwn1 modules, which haven't been used a lot. The Maya, Inca, Aztec (or Maztica, for D&D purists) cultures do certainly fall into that category, along with the Egyptian, Babylonian, and Sumerian. :rolleyes:
I did make some prefabs to help with those ideas though, like the City of Babylon I released to the Vault, and the City of Seven Gates which was a re-creation of the capital city of the Sumerian netherworld. Very unusual.
You've pioneered a great idea here, though, Izk! :icon_idea: Anyone who has used the CSP in some creative ways: let's hear from you, and see some pics of your work. This is a good place to share ideas, and see what various kinds of settings the CSP has been used in. - Farewell for now!
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Izk The Mad
- Posts: 100
- Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:40 pm
[quote=chaos_theocrat;11533]And, strangely enough, I do know who Barzai the Wise is. He was the High Priest of the Earth Gods, from H.P. Lovecraft's "The Other Gods". H.P. Lovecraft is one of my all-time favorite authors of horror and science fiction!
I had a few passing references to Lovecraft in my module Knights of the Holy Grail (Ultimate Edition), and at least one nod to Evil Dead. (Hint: The infamous three words!) So, he's been a bit of an influence over the years.[/quote]
If I may ramble off topic a for a bit: :thumb:!! Not many people know who Gustav Dore is, and you're a Lovecraft fan too! Sounds like you're even a bigger fan than me. I've been pretty self-indulgent with the Lovecraft themes. I've used many characters and locations, but I've twisted most of it around in different ways and blended it in with my own storyline. Dunwich, Arkham, The Nameless City, Exham Priory, Innsmouth... And my own Evil Dead moment involves the three books scene. "No one said anything about three books!" Although I wasn't going to use the words. There's also elements from The Silver Key, one of my all-time favorites. The Underworld is actually something I built for that, believe it or not. It's one of the gates. Another loose interpretation. If you get a chance check out my album from my signature. I'm quite proud of my Shoggoth, although stills don't do it justice.
Thanks for the compliments, BTW. It means I'm making good use of that big box of crayons you've given me.
I had a few passing references to Lovecraft in my module Knights of the Holy Grail (Ultimate Edition), and at least one nod to Evil Dead. (Hint: The infamous three words!) So, he's been a bit of an influence over the years.[/quote]
If I may ramble off topic a for a bit: :thumb:!! Not many people know who Gustav Dore is, and you're a Lovecraft fan too! Sounds like you're even a bigger fan than me. I've been pretty self-indulgent with the Lovecraft themes. I've used many characters and locations, but I've twisted most of it around in different ways and blended it in with my own storyline. Dunwich, Arkham, The Nameless City, Exham Priory, Innsmouth... And my own Evil Dead moment involves the three books scene. "No one said anything about three books!" Although I wasn't going to use the words. There's also elements from The Silver Key, one of my all-time favorites. The Underworld is actually something I built for that, believe it or not. It's one of the gates. Another loose interpretation. If you get a chance check out my album from my signature. I'm quite proud of my Shoggoth, although stills don't do it justice.
Thanks for the compliments, BTW. It means I'm making good use of that big box of crayons you've given me.
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chaos_theocrat
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Sat May 31, 2008 12:18 am
Excellent project idea...
I just got the chance to look at all the pics of your project, there, and I must say it looks quite good! Very nice work on the Shoggoth... probably the closest you can get to one in Neverwinter Nights. The idea of mixing Alice in Wonderland with H.P. Lovecraft is also a very interesting concept.
I'm hard at work on a brand new module project for Nwn1 myself... it's a Castlevania module that draws very heavily from H.P. Lovecraft and takes place after Symphony of the Night. So far, the first half of the module is complete, but it's still quite a ways from being finished in it's entirety. In the framework of the story, there will be various re-tellings of several of the classic Lovecraft tales, with elements loosely adapted from Poe and Bram Stoker while taking real-world history of the 1700's into account. As for features, so far I've got elemental weapon upgrades, the possibility of contracting controllable lycanthropy (which in turn will open up new areas to explore and new story arcs available only to werewolves), and a part in the beginning where the player can choose between a whip and a dagger as their primary starting weapon. Both with damage bonuses agaisnt the undead, of course. Best of all, the story is totally unique since it doesn't concern Dracula at all, but features a new villain created for the module.
Other than that, you'll have to wait until I release it to the Vault to learn more.
Suffice it to say, Lovecraft and Castlevania fans will just love it!
I'm hard at work on a brand new module project for Nwn1 myself... it's a Castlevania module that draws very heavily from H.P. Lovecraft and takes place after Symphony of the Night. So far, the first half of the module is complete, but it's still quite a ways from being finished in it's entirety. In the framework of the story, there will be various re-tellings of several of the classic Lovecraft tales, with elements loosely adapted from Poe and Bram Stoker while taking real-world history of the 1700's into account. As for features, so far I've got elemental weapon upgrades, the possibility of contracting controllable lycanthropy (which in turn will open up new areas to explore and new story arcs available only to werewolves), and a part in the beginning where the player can choose between a whip and a dagger as their primary starting weapon. Both with damage bonuses agaisnt the undead, of course. Best of all, the story is totally unique since it doesn't concern Dracula at all, but features a new villain created for the module.
Other than that, you'll have to wait until I release it to the Vault to learn more.
Suffice it to say, Lovecraft and Castlevania fans will just love it!-
Izk The Mad
- Posts: 100
- Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:40 pm
Thanks!
Don't know why I mentioned going off-topic before, it's your forum and my thread, and everybody here is too laid-back to mind. I love it. 
Thanks again for the compliments. It means a lot considering who put all the tilesets I build with together. I mention that because I got a little light-hearted ribbing for that here, btw. You might think there was other people working on tile combos here or something.
I keep looking at your Grail module, but I haven't played it yet. The new one sounds like it will be a lot of fun, too. Between building, testing, and now this place, my own project's eating most of my free time. Not that I mind. How you people here find the time to do all this, I'll never know.
I'll have to make some screens of Nyarlathotep some time. Or Shub N'Grath. Had to clean that name up a little, as well as a certain black panther named Negramon in Exham Priory. Hope you get a laugh out of that. And Nyar's got about five forms so far, but I doubt there'll be a thousand.
Since you seem to share a lot of similar interests, would you know what I was talking about if I mentioned Haller, my functioning werewolf henchman? The planar sphere in my screens belongs to him, although he's not in the shot. Something from another old favorite of mine.
I also made my own main villain for this, and the main storyline doesn't focus on the Lovecraft themes, except for the Silver Key. I've tried as much as possible to keep my references to other things fresh and in context. And I don't want the player to have to have read or seen where they came from to understand what's going on. Hopefully they'll get a few laughs, though. Like the two Balors named Kang and Kodos, or Moab's Tavern. I figure I need some humor to contrast some of the darker things I've done. I've given my Old Ones and other things a sort of Hellraiser/Silent Hill feel, and I'm playing with scripting some "insanity" type moments with lighting and tilemagic and such, and with little "visions" now and then, like the dreams in Baldur's Gate.
Anyway, its nice to be able to talk about my ideas here, and thanks for the encouragement.:thumb:
Thanks again for the compliments. It means a lot considering who put all the tilesets I build with together. I mention that because I got a little light-hearted ribbing for that here, btw. You might think there was other people working on tile combos here or something.
I keep looking at your Grail module, but I haven't played it yet. The new one sounds like it will be a lot of fun, too. Between building, testing, and now this place, my own project's eating most of my free time. Not that I mind. How you people here find the time to do all this, I'll never know.
I'll have to make some screens of Nyarlathotep some time. Or Shub N'Grath. Had to clean that name up a little, as well as a certain black panther named Negramon in Exham Priory. Hope you get a laugh out of that. And Nyar's got about five forms so far, but I doubt there'll be a thousand.
Since you seem to share a lot of similar interests, would you know what I was talking about if I mentioned Haller, my functioning werewolf henchman? The planar sphere in my screens belongs to him, although he's not in the shot. Something from another old favorite of mine.
I also made my own main villain for this, and the main storyline doesn't focus on the Lovecraft themes, except for the Silver Key. I've tried as much as possible to keep my references to other things fresh and in context. And I don't want the player to have to have read or seen where they came from to understand what's going on. Hopefully they'll get a few laughs, though. Like the two Balors named Kang and Kodos, or Moab's Tavern. I figure I need some humor to contrast some of the darker things I've done. I've given my Old Ones and other things a sort of Hellraiser/Silent Hill feel, and I'm playing with scripting some "insanity" type moments with lighting and tilemagic and such, and with little "visions" now and then, like the dreams in Baldur's Gate.
Anyway, its nice to be able to talk about my ideas here, and thanks for the encouragement.:thumb:
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chaos_theocrat
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Sat May 31, 2008 12:18 am
Castlevania Project is Cancelled...
Back in the days of Diablo II, there was an interesting little item called the Horadric Cube. You could put all kinds of things into it, and you would get either something greater than you began with, or sometimes... absolutely nothing. Neverwinter Nights can be a Horadric Cube, more often than not.
I discovered this truth tonight when I realized that I had put a little too much into my Castlevania module, accidentally corrupting it. I noticed it had become corrupted, the fifth time my game crashed upon loading the module... while no other module was causing me trouble at all. So, like an alchemist with a Horadric Cube recipe gone wrong, I decided to scrap the current recipe and try something else. However, where Neverwinter Nights is WAY better than a Horadric Cube is that you can, sometimes, save the best parts of your experiment for use in other experiments! In short, I was able to save all the scripts, systems, and Hak Paks from my module, and more than a few decent areas besides. Basically: everything that wasn't corrupted, was salvaged. So... while it all won't be coming together as a Castlevania module, these things can still be used in any other modules of mine in the future. That said, I must be off to see what I can create next!
I discovered this truth tonight when I realized that I had put a little too much into my Castlevania module, accidentally corrupting it. I noticed it had become corrupted, the fifth time my game crashed upon loading the module... while no other module was causing me trouble at all. So, like an alchemist with a Horadric Cube recipe gone wrong, I decided to scrap the current recipe and try something else. However, where Neverwinter Nights is WAY better than a Horadric Cube is that you can, sometimes, save the best parts of your experiment for use in other experiments! In short, I was able to save all the scripts, systems, and Hak Paks from my module, and more than a few decent areas besides. Basically: everything that wasn't corrupted, was salvaged. So... while it all won't be coming together as a Castlevania module, these things can still be used in any other modules of mine in the future. That said, I must be off to see what I can create next!
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chaos_theocrat
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Sat May 31, 2008 12:18 am
Cthulhu Mythos Portrait Pack...
Here's something all fans of H.P. Lovecraft and Nwn will be interested in!
I've released a complete Cthulhu Mythos Portrait Pack to the Vault, and it contains what is probably the largest assortment of Lovecraftian creature portraits ever assembled for Neverwinter Nights. Here is it's link:
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Po ... il&id=5753
It contains portraits of, in alphabetical order...
Atlach-Nacha, Chaugnar Faugn, Cthugha, Great Cthulhu, Dagon, Eihort, Glaaki, Hastur, Ithaqua, Nyogtha, Tsathoggua, Y'golonac, Yig, and Zvilpogghua for the Great Old Ones. Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, Shub N'Grath, and Yog-Sothoth for the Outer Gods. And a great assortment of various other critters such as: Deep One, Elder Thing, Flying Polyp, Mi-Go, Night-Gaunt, Pickman's Model, Shoggoth, and Yith. 26 portraits in all!
For the serious Mythos enthusiast, it's the portrait pack you've been waiting for so head on over and give it a download. It comes in CEP and Non-CEP compatible versions, so pick whichever one that applies to you.
I've released a complete Cthulhu Mythos Portrait Pack
to the Vault, and it contains what is probably the largest assortment of Lovecraftian creature portraits ever assembled for Neverwinter Nights. Here is it's link:http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Po ... il&id=5753
It contains portraits of, in alphabetical order...
Atlach-Nacha, Chaugnar Faugn, Cthugha, Great Cthulhu, Dagon, Eihort, Glaaki, Hastur, Ithaqua, Nyogtha, Tsathoggua, Y'golonac, Yig, and Zvilpogghua for the Great Old Ones. Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, Shub N'Grath, and Yog-Sothoth for the Outer Gods. And a great assortment of various other critters such as: Deep One, Elder Thing, Flying Polyp, Mi-Go, Night-Gaunt, Pickman's Model, Shoggoth, and Yith. 26 portraits in all!
For the serious Mythos enthusiast, it's the portrait pack you've been waiting for so head on over and give it a download. It comes in CEP and Non-CEP compatible versions, so pick whichever one that applies to you.
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Izk The Mad
- Posts: 100
- Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:40 pm
Nice portraits!
chaos, thanks again for those portraits! I thought I'd move some of my comments over here, instead of filling up the Vault page, although the conversation's been pretty good.
I doubt I'll do those portraits I mentioned any time soon, but I had been thinking of making some someday, so that set is much appreciated! Like I said over there, I wouldn't want to detract from what you've done, just add to it. And the Otus pics wouldn't be black and white line drawings when I was done with them.
BTW... Have you ever seen this: Prank Call of Cthulhu? Not the best page about it, but a clever and funny show, and a great Cthulhu reference. There's plenty of references out there, but none as funny as that. I came across some interesting sites while doing a search for that, I might add. I think templeofdagon.com gets an award for one of the best domain names ever.
I've attached a Cthulhu pic I had thought about using as a portrait. I had that for a long time, and I don't remember where it came from.
I doubt I'll do those portraits I mentioned any time soon, but I had been thinking of making some someday, so that set is much appreciated! Like I said over there, I wouldn't want to detract from what you've done, just add to it. And the Otus pics wouldn't be black and white line drawings when I was done with them.
BTW... Have you ever seen this: Prank Call of Cthulhu? Not the best page about it, but a clever and funny show, and a great Cthulhu reference. There's plenty of references out there, but none as funny as that. I came across some interesting sites while doing a search for that, I might add. I think templeofdagon.com gets an award for one of the best domain names ever.
I've attached a Cthulhu pic I had thought about using as a portrait. I had that for a long time, and I don't remember where it came from.
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chaos_theocrat
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Sat May 31, 2008 12:18 am
Good Cthulhu Picture! Plus: My Fan Fiction Stories...
Ironically, that *exact* picture of Cthulhu resembles a statue of Cthulhu I own, where he's crouched the same way but sitting on a black pedestal.
A relative purchased it for me from a museum replicas mail-order catalog.
I have to say, there are a lot of good Cthulhu sites out there. I even saw a site where they had the complete text of a lot of H.P. Lovecraft stories!
Although, myself, I own paperback compilations containing all of Lovecraft and Poe's works. They are probably the original masters of modern horror!
I had a hard time choosing what pictures to make portraits from, since an amazingly huge amount of excellent Mythos art exists online ranging from pieces made by famous artists to fan art. Some of the portraits in my set, like the Flying Polyp and Eihort, I had to color in myself... since *only* the black and white pics were available for them (so that was naturally what I had to use), but just about all of them otherwise were beautifully colored to begin with. One thing about Lovecraft's works... they certainly seem to stir peoples' creative imagination! But, that is the mark a good author.
Speaking of which, if you like H.P. Lovecraft, check out my short story: [FONT=Tahoma]"The Valley of Lost Souls" [FONT=Verdana]over on the Vault. It was inspired by Lovecraftian horror, and if you like it you may want to read all my Fan Fiction short stories. I wrote quite a bit of them. Here is a link to "The Valley of Lost Souls": [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma][FONT=Verdana]http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Fa ... ail&id=466 Enjoy![/FONT][/FONT]
Here is a list of my other stories, in case you want to check them all out:
1. "The Inner Demons of Morgan Cromwell"
2. "Scarlet Steel and Crimson Cults"
3. "A Dream under Moonlight"
4. "Blood for the Dead"
5. "Of Liches and Madmen"
6. "Of Liches and Women"
7. "The Valley of Lost Souls"
You can read the stories in any order, except the Lich stories. Those are a duology that begin with "Of Liches and Madmen" and conclude with "Of Liches and Women". I didn't get many votes on them, but the votes I did get were generally excellent (9.50 to 10.00) more often than not. Be sure to vote for them, too, after you give them a read. All of these works are horror stories, the most graphic being "Scarlet Steel and Crimson Cults".
- Farewell for now!
A relative purchased it for me from a museum replicas mail-order catalog.
I have to say, there are a lot of good Cthulhu sites out there. I even saw a site where they had the complete text of a lot of H.P. Lovecraft stories!
Although, myself, I own paperback compilations containing all of Lovecraft and Poe's works. They are probably the original masters of modern horror!
I had a hard time choosing what pictures to make portraits from, since an amazingly huge amount of excellent Mythos art exists online ranging from pieces made by famous artists to fan art. Some of the portraits in my set, like the Flying Polyp and Eihort, I had to color in myself... since *only* the black and white pics were available for them (so that was naturally what I had to use), but just about all of them otherwise were beautifully colored to begin with. One thing about Lovecraft's works... they certainly seem to stir peoples' creative imagination! But, that is the mark a good author.
Speaking of which, if you like H.P. Lovecraft, check out my short story: [FONT=Tahoma]"The Valley of Lost Souls" [FONT=Verdana]over on the Vault. It was inspired by Lovecraftian horror, and if you like it you may want to read all my Fan Fiction short stories. I wrote quite a bit of them. Here is a link to "The Valley of Lost Souls": [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma][FONT=Verdana]http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Fa ... ail&id=466 Enjoy![/FONT][/FONT]
Here is a list of my other stories, in case you want to check them all out:
1. "The Inner Demons of Morgan Cromwell"
2. "Scarlet Steel and Crimson Cults"
3. "A Dream under Moonlight"
4. "Blood for the Dead"
5. "Of Liches and Madmen"
6. "Of Liches and Women"
7. "The Valley of Lost Souls"
You can read the stories in any order, except the Lich stories. Those are a duology that begin with "Of Liches and Madmen" and conclude with "Of Liches and Women". I didn't get many votes on them, but the votes I did get were generally excellent (9.50 to 10.00) more often than not. Be sure to vote for them, too, after you give them a read. All of these works are horror stories, the most graphic being "Scarlet Steel and Crimson Cults".
- Farewell for now!
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chaos_theocrat
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Sat May 31, 2008 12:18 am
This Thread is Re-Opened...
Sorry for the accidental closing of this thread (I'm still not sure how it was that happened, but it probably had something to do with me going over it in the middle of the night after being awake for two days straight. Lol.), and I'm posting this to announce it's official re-opening. It's amazing how with a little sleep... you can think a whole lot more clearly. :thumb: - Cheers!