1. What type of area artwork are you requesting: Indoor or Outdoor?
Indoor and underground.
2. Specifically what type of area - city, dungeon, forest, something else?
Functionally, two underground cavern areas; in terms of tilesets, three are required.
3. Size of area artwork requested? (Remember that the game has size limitations.)
First two areas involves a minor edit to BG2 AR2210, third area should ideally be between 2 and 3 times the footprint of BG2 AR6003 (but see below).
4. Where in the game will this area occur and which areas will it link?
The first two areas are one location from the storyline perspective, but the physical features of that area will change in response to quest events (specifically, I don't want the hidden entrances and areas to be accessible, nor their presence to be obvious to the player, before a certain point in the quests in which these areas are featured). In all its incarnations, this area will have an exit to a new worldmap hub (which will be a separate request, details forthcoming). The third area will link to the second version of the first area at one end, and to a new dungeon area at the other.
5. Should the area artwork have both night and day versions? (The artist will essentially have to create the area twice - think hard if you really need both)
No.
6. Describe your vision of the area in detail! Give some backstory to the area, the intended use, a sketch of the intended area artwork...
The areas here are caverns which form an emergency surface access and formidable first few lines of defense for the underground fortress of a to-be-named new faction. There are two "levels" to this cavern. The first level is accessible from a cave in a cliffside and is intended to appear as a normal, unremarkable cave, to discourage investigation and exploration. To that effect, I would like the graphic for AR2210 edited as per the first attached image (not to scale), with the opening circled in red replaced by a solid wall that should not be readily distinguishable from the rest of the cave's walls, and the entire inner cavern beyond that (the one without the pool) removed. There is, according to the storyline, a hidden door here, but the player should not be able to find it initially. After a certain point in the quest the area in question will change, since the party will become aware of the second half's existence; the unedited map for AR2210 will suffice for this, and I can use a cropped piece of the first as an overlay for the hidden door in question, so you don't need to worry about this. Finally, much later in the game the party will become aware of another hidden door in the back of the second part of the cavern, located on the wall behind the three stone pillars as indicated by the blue circle; this should simply be a dark opening of roughly human height and double human width, behind the pillars.
The third area is a lower level of the caverns, and is intended to serve as a navigational challenge and lethal hazard to anyone who finds a way down from the first level, or who attempts to escape from the dungeon area referred to above. I envision a general appearance of the "Underdark Cavern" theme, perhaps exemplified by BG2 AR6003 (link above; stalactites and stalagmites in those colors, a few small pools of dirty-looking water but no large pools or ponds, etc.), and in fact it would be fine if it were constructed from photomanipulated pieces of that area. However, in terms of the layout, I'm hoping for a more labyrinthine, maze-like arrangement (BG1 AR2012 provides a reasonably good approximation of the general theme of what I have in mind, though I would prefer this with more dead ends. The labyrinth will be inhabited by various unpleasant creatures, but should not have any obvious signs of civilized habitation except for the doors mentioned below, and the rock color and theme should be consistent throughout. The Y dimension should be greather than or equal to the X dimension. The general layout is not important, except for a few details, as noted in point 8.
7. Will the artist have some freedom to compose the area, or should the request parameters be followed to the letter?
On the first two areas, I would prefer close adherence to the request parameters. On the second, aside from the loose guidelines above and specific features below, go nuts
8. Are there any special features you need? (for example a statue that opens to reveal a secret passageway etc.)
For the third area: the entrance should be near the southeast (bottom right) of the map and should take the form of a passage roughly lined up with the angle of the hidden door on the second area; there should be a set of sizable double doors, preferably steel or metal, facing southeast, embedded in a wall in the northwest (upper left) corner of the map, in a small room/cave separated from the rest of the map by a hidden door. Appearance is not critical; they should not be ostentatiously decorated, and should be similar in size to the exit doors in the northwest portion of BG2 AR2402 relative to the characters (see second screenshot for visual). In the Norhteast of the map there should be a small room/cave separated from the rest of the map by a hidden door, containing a single smallish pool of dirty-looking water. I will also need overlay graphics for the "closed" versions of the doors and hidden doors mentioned above, as separate graphics files (as I understand it).
9. Any deadlines?
No; take your time.
10. What game and what mod is this for?
Baldur's Gate 2, Arkalian.
11. Anything else you'd like to mention?
It's fine to post the first two areas here, but I would prefer the third area PM'ed to me in order to keep the layout a surprise for players.
Also, suggestions for features or changes to the areas in question (or for amending the request to make it easier) will be considered.Attached Images
Edited by Azkyroth, 08 July 2008 - 02:11 PM.
