Infernal Caverns

I am very happy to see how much you liked my latest Tileset project! This one was a lot of fun to work on I must admit. I've always loved the Outer Planes settings, myself... a lot of divesity and creativity is possible with anything relating to them from a builder's and content creator's perspective. And that means a lot of fun for builders and players as well!

I've always been curious about how to add more fluidity to things like water and lava and such with Neverwinter Nights... the tricky part with a reskin is that you are basically just replacing default or existing textures with brand new ones but the models themselves basically stay the same for the most part. So, I would imagine the static state of the lava has to do with the static state of the water in the original Mines and Caverns tileset... which would likely be related to the water itself not having animations attached to it unlike the water in the TNO tileset that seems a LOT more alive. Now it *might* be possible, at least theoretically... to replace the water in the Mines and Caverns tileset with the TNO water, fluidity and all, and then add the lava textures over that with them using the animations from the TNO variant. But, of course, it may also end up being that it only changes things on a cosmetic level and not on an animated level... if it should turn out that the animations for the TNO water are based on information in the tileset's .set file, which is a possibility. In that event, there would not be too much that could be done without having to edit the Mines and Caverns tilseset a lot more extensively. But, I will definitely conduct some experiments later on and see what I can come up with. If I do manage to create a more "alive" look for the lava in my Infernal Caverns project I will most certainly release an updated version containing the upgraded and updated feature. If nothing else... I'll be learning a lot more about how the water-based textures and models work, and that can never go amiss.

All in all, I must say I love working with textures since you really do have unlimited creative freedom when it comes to expressing a certain look or idea in the game. Whether it be Outer Planar areas, traditional Fantasy, or even Science Fiction... anything is possible with enough creativity and passion. *Smiles* :)

I am glad I got my Infernal Caverns out just in time for you to make use of... it was very fortuitous timing indeed! I love the WoRms tilsets also... quite spectacular stuff.

That is pretty much the only way I create... with love, passion, vision and lots of hard work. ;) I am super delighted you liked my project! *Big Smiles*

I thought it would work well in the old game too... most things tend to be backwards-compatible content-wise except for the projects that delve into the Specular end of things and such. But of course, this was not one such of those, so very high level of compatibility which is excellent. :) Very, very pleased that you liked my Infernal Caverns so much!

In order, addressing each point mentioned:

1. It was intended to be dark. If you ever played the Agony game this was inspired by that was how Hell was portrayed it it... as having an oppressive darkness to it. Changing the area light, as I did for my screenshots, to be just so makes it so that a builder can adjust an area's lighting to match their individual tastes. So lighter areas with this tileset can be built.

2. You can change what music you want an area to use when you build with it in the Toolset. Whatever sound or music works best depends entirely on what a builder has in mind when deciding to create an area using any given tileset. All an areag.ini file does is put in place a baisc concept... which most builders typically change anyway during building.

3. As noted above, the static lava is due to the static nature of the water model itself. I will be conducting experiments later on to see what... if anything... can be done about that. In any case, it will be fun and interesting to see what I can discover about working with that aspect of content creation. Learning new things can never go amiss, I alway ssay!

4. Actually, the mineshafts painted down in the toolset with no issues at all for me... and I tested it thoroughly prior to release in order to do the screenshots. For me, it worked as it always did in the default Mines and Caverns tileset. In fact... I made sure to select and place every tile group and object in my test areas so that I could be sure it all worked well.

5. The doors use legacy textures because their entries in the tileset's .set file link to the game's default doors for the Mines and Caverns tileset. That, in turn, is because no new door models were created for this tileset due to it being, conceptionally, a simple reskin rather than a new "from scratch" project. This is actually a thing with most reskins of the default tilesets, and what some builders can do is remove the doors from a built area and add placed area transitions if required. But that is entriely subjective since some do not mind the old doors so much. So, it is one of those "your mileage may vary" sorts of things that depends on the individual and what they have in mind for their specific module. As with the doors, so too with the chess set... it makes use of default models and textures linked to in the tileset's .set file. Again, because no new models or textures were made for it.

6. The seams cannot be helped, and are due to the tile-based nature of the game engine... even the most seamless textures will sometimes have that quirk. Howver, with some creative building they *can* be alleviated in the toolset by placing things along the most visible parts. I typically use what are called "seamless" textures in general, in fact... so with some tilesets you'll just get that little visual issue. Naturally, not every tileset has that issue, but many do and I have found it to be a very small thing that is easily worked around.

7. The Hellraiser Puzzle Boxes, as featured in my screenshots, can be found by placing the big forge tile group in the toolset. It is the same tile group that makes use of the ancient Babylonian writing and the gold textures for the cauldron... amongst other unique things. I think it is the only tilse group in Mines and Caverns that makes use of crates and boxes. I believe it is called "Platform 2 2X2", the tile group that you are looking for. That will allow you to experience the Lament Configuration that you are seeking in-game. ;)

8. Actually, take a look in the screenshots and in the toolset again... the displayed huts (including the wall huts) make use of H.R. Giger-style textures that make them seem to be a part of the bio-mechanical looking walls. They also have demonic textures featuring devil's heads for their roofs, so they are kind of hard to miss. I found this to be more "natural" for this tileset... wheras human skin would have stood out a bit too much and not blended into the environment nearly as well. As with most things, it is of course a subjective matter. In any case, I just tested it again this moment while writing this in-between and sure enough the huts' Giger-style textures are indeed there to be seen. So it does work, and nicely too.

Yeah, I will see what I can do about the lava in any case and if that is successful I will post an updated version that features that. So there may be at least that update coming soon, depending on how things go with my experiements in that regard. Keeping my fingers crossed, but as with most such things we will have to wait and see how it goes. *Smiles* :)

Update: Okay, not only have I fixed the lava to perfection, but I have also provided instructions (detailed ones) on how to place the mineshaft tile. The old method of placing it, by selecting it under Features and painting it down, no longer applies, so it was removed from the Features for that reason. Hence why it appears blank when you place it that way. Instead, do the following to place the mineshaft correctly...

Click on Terrain, and then choose Eraser. Left-click on any empty floor tile in the area and keep clicking as you cycle through the different terrain types (like the rock pillars, lava pools, steamy pits, etc.) and one of them will be the Mineshaft.

To clear up any future confusion, I have posted that precise explanation (along with some other bits of info) under my description for this tileset above.

It definitely adds a rather different sort of ambience to the old Mines and Caverns environment, and one I think that a lot of builders and players will appreciate in their Outer Planar adventures. Particularly ones who have seen it all when it comes to Hell environments and are looking for a fresh take on the concept.

Oh, that mineshaft! I finally realized what everyone was talking about. I feel silly for not figuring it out sooner! Regarding the mineshaft in question, it was removed, because it was totally replaced by a completely different method of placing that tile. Here's what to do in order to place the mineshaft correctly using the new system for it... know how when you left-click on an empty floor tile in the toolset it changes a tileset tile's terrain features? Like, to different kinds of rocks, pillars of rock, lava pools and steamy pits for instance. One of the things you can also change it to is the mineshaft tile, which now works that way. Which actually makes the old method of placing it, as a separate tile, irrelevant. In short: just keep left-clicking on any empty floor section and cycle through all the terrains that appear until you get the mineshaft. This is what I meant by the "other" mineshaft when I said: "Oh, that mineshaft!" Oh, and be sure to be selecting the Eraser when left-clicking and not just plain old left-clicking on an empty floor area. Eraser needs to be selected first, of course.

Now, I could have probably removed the blank entry for the old non-existant mineshaft tile in the .set file but I figured it was unncessary. So, when I mentioned how the mineshaft works and that I have tested it successfully... that is how (the precise method) that it works... I just tested it that way prior to posting in fact to confirm this. What I can do, however, to make things easier for future builders is I can post an explanation about this in my description for the tileset up above. That way... zero confusion about the new mineshaft tile placing system that was implemented. Sorry for any confusion that was caused by not mentioning this sooner.

Update: Okay, I just posted the full details on how to place the mineshaft up above. Here, in brief, is what you do...

Click on Terrain, and then choose Eraser. Left-click on any empty floor tile in the area and keep clicking as you cycle through the different terrain types (like the rock pillars, lava pools, steamy pits, etc.) and one of them will be the Mineshaft.

Thank you so very much! I was delighted to read your very pleasing comment on my tileset. It makes me most happy to see that you will surely enjoy using it. I totally could not agree more about the ceilings! I always myself feel disappointed when a new tileset comes out that does not make use of some sort of ceiling design. Often, when I build interior areas that do not make use of already existing tileset ceilings I place one of the CEP's placeable ceilings to add the required realism. Such designs make a huge difference, big time! Another option for adding ceilings that is out there is NWNCQ, which adds ceilings to every interior tileset in the game and also adds improved textures to every default tileset borh interior and exterior alike. It also adds some clutter to certain areas like rubble in the crypt tileset and plants in the desert tileset. So it is more than just ceilings, although that is the primary draw to using it. I believe it also comes in both .hak and override formats as well, and has basic and advanced versions depending on how many changes to existing tilesets is desired by the individual user. So it kind of has something to suit all tastes. It doesn't work with all existing modules, but it is excellent for creating new projects with. Though for my part, I tend to use just the CEP when I design area prefabs for release here on the Vault (except in a few rare instances when I wanted to design something really special that could not be achieved with just the CEP alone). In any case, it is cool though that we are seeing more and more options for ceilings and the like as time goes on.

Oh, thanks for the compliment about the cave wall textures! I used a lot of H.R. Giger-inspired textures that I found on the internet when designing this tileset... his art really lends itself to extraordinary levels of detail that are ideal for creating truly unique environments with. I can see why they used his art for movies like the Alien series and such... and why they often use something like it in a lot of surreal horror games in recent years (such as Scorn, Agony, and Inner Chains, just to name a few). But of course adapting it for use in a Neverwinter Nights project takes a lot of work to make sure it all comes out just right and remains super detailed to look at in the game. So that part of the creation of this tileset was probably the one I was the most determined about... the visual aspect of things and the tiny details associated with that. All in all, I had a rather specific concept in mind for this project, and I am quite happy with the way it turned out in the end... it looks a lot better than the Hellish Caves tileset that served as the base upon which I created this.

Yes indeed, this is perfect for any sort of fire or hellish setting... with more greenish (perhaps a pale greenish just for effect) lighting, it could even serve quite passably for an alien enviroment for science fiction related modules such as those created by the D20 Modern content and module makers. So there is a lot of freedom to do many different and unsual things with this. It is a lot like the tileset work done by (one of my favortie content creators) Plush Hyena of Doom in that way. A basic tileset design that is... beyond its' simplicity... quite complex when put to different uses by builders.

And once again I must thank you for the compliment on a nice job... it was a joy to read, just as this tileset was a joy to create and a plasure to share with the community. *Smiles* :)