Azkyroth

1. What type of area artwork are you requesting: Indoor or Outdoor?

Outdoor.

2. Specifically what type of area - city, dungeon, forest, something else?

Building-in-the-wilderness; BG1 style is probably preferable for consistency.

3. Size of area artwork requested? (Remember that the game has size limitations.)

Modest - comparable to BG2 AR6100 or BG2 AR2500 would be fine.

4. Where in the game will this area occur and which areas will it link?

The area is physically located on the coast South of Waterdeep and West of the Ardeep Forest; it is accessible via the Pocket Plane rather than the worldmap and links to a couple levels of building interior and a dungeon of sorts.

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)

Tentatively 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 area is an estate of sorts with a sizable and comfortable but tasteful house built about a century ago by a wizard who subsequently left its upkeep and that of the surrounding grounds to enchantments, Invisible Servants, and the elements. The land it is located on was once a small farm but has not functioned as one for more than that century, and has been largely overgrown; the crumbled remains of a very humble farmhouse (perhaps just the foundation stones and some boards) should be visible somewhere near the lower right corner. The western edge of the map and the north-west corner end in a sea cliff, with some water visible below at the extreme left. The house itself should use the "mansion" graphic from Beregost (BG1 AR3300, with the door around x3650,y920), optionally with some minor effects and edits to make it seem more weathered (this is not essential), and should be located within about 10-15 character spaces from the cliffside, near the upper left corner (the trees overlapping the mansion should be transplanted but the well-kept garden path up to it should not be); the path to the door is basically nonexistent, being completely overgrown. Two graves with simple headstones should be visible a short distance away from the ruins of the farmhouse, and I will need an overlay tile/"door"/whatever for a third grave (newly dug, to the extent that effect can be achieved - perhaps without grass whereas the others have it) alongside them; an additional grave, with a natural stone rather than a carved headstone, should be located closer to the house but still a moderate distance away from it, in the general direction of the upper right hand corner. The general area should be lightly forested, with trees and grass and brush and such taken from BG1 wilderness areas.

7. Will the artist have some freedom to compose the area, or should the request parameters be followed to the letter?

What's described above is strongly preferred, but I am amenable to suggestions regarding some of the details, and the landscape around what is specified is for the most part up to the artist. There might be an old well about intermediate between the house and the ruins of the farmhouse, if one that looks like it hasn't been used in at least 15 years can be readily made and placed. A small stream somewhere wouldn't be a bad effect either but it's not at all essential.

8. Are there any special features you need? (for example a statue that opens to reveal a secret passageway etc.)

Only as noted in the description: the overlay tile for the third grave and also one for the closed door to the house, also taken from the mansion in Beregost.

9. Any deadlines?

None.

10. What game and what mod is this for?

BG2/TOB, Arkalian.

11. Anything else you'd like to mention?

Nope.

1. What type of area artwork are you requesting: Indoor or Outdoor?

Outdoor.

2. Specifically what type of area - city, dungeon, forest, something else?

Something else - Saemon's ship in the open ocean.

3. Size of area artwork requested? (Remember that the game has size limitations.)

Should be sized to be full-screen even for people using high resolution mods, at least 1600x1200.

4. Where in the game will this area occur and which areas will it link?

The area is for a cutscene and critical dialogue set on Saemon Havarian's ship, en route to Spellhold, in the dead of night. There are no area links.

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)

It'll be at night, but from what I've inferred about how the game handles that it should be fine to make it from the day tileset (in fact, there isn't a Night one) and I'll just set the clock in script.

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 area should consist of Saemon Havarian's ship from BG2 AR1600 (the ship in the lower left corner), reversed left to right, in what appears to be the open ocean - IE, no rocks, dock, etc. The water where the land features are removed could be filled in from AR1500 or AR1600 or AR1607, or really anything convenient from the game.

7. Will the artist have some freedom to compose the area, or should the request parameters be followed to the letter?

The area being pretty simple, it's probably best to stick to what's specified.

8. Are there any special features you need? (for example a statue that opens to reveal a secret passageway etc.)

Only what's specified.

9. Any deadlines?

Nope.

10. What game and what mod is this for?

BG2/TOB, Arkalian.

11. Anything else you'd like to mention?

Nope.

I have, today, come to the unfortunate realization that I am absolutely clueless about how the game handles the day/night changes in the appearance of a given area.  Can anyone point me to a good tutorial or explanation for that?

What's the present consensus on extending the map icons bam files (mapicons.bam and 25mapic.bam) independently of the worldmap mod? Is there a good tutorial on how to go about this properly?

1. What type of area artwork are you requesting: Indoor or Outdoor?

Outdoor.

2. Specifically what type of area - city, dungeon, forest, something else?

A small village in a streamside and roadside clearing in an otherwise hilly/rocky forested area.

3. Size of area artwork requested? (Remember that the game has size limitations.)

Large, probably full-size or nearly so (79x59 tiles = 5040x3776 pixels).

4. Where in the game will this area occur and which areas will it link?

The area location will be approximately as indicated in the attached image and it will serve as a worldmap link and hub area.

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)

[EDIT]Tentatively no; I want to experiment and see if the game will handle it the way it handles day/night with Umar Hills, Brynnlaw, etc. without needing a separate Night WED and such).[/EDIT]

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 area is the outside map of Rookswale, a small village which originally grew up around an inn and trading post in northern Amn, in the foothills of the Cloudpeaks, consisting of the inn itself, several houses, a modest sized bunkhouse, and a shrine to Selune. Although the inn and the shrine are still maintained by their original proprietors and still see some business from occasional travelers, the reduction in traffic along this particular trade route and the strange, subtle sense of unease the location exudes have resulted in Rookswale being largely abandoned. Aside from the inn and shrine, most of the buildings have fallen into disrepair, though several have subsequently become home to vagabonds and the destitute. The party arrives shortly after a group of bandits have taken over the town, though they are using the existing buildings.

7. Will the artist have some freedom to compose the area, or should the request parameters be followed to the letter?

The number of functional buildings is fairly inflexible, as are any details given about them, but otherwise the artist's innovation is encouraged.

8. Are there any special features you need? (for example a statue that opens to reveal a secret passageway etc.)

The northern area of the map should be rocky and hilly, with a small cave entrance that is partially obscured by brush and hence not immediately obvious. A road runs through the area from east to west, at or south of the middle of the map; winding is fine. Somewhat north of the road there is a good-sized stream which cuts across the map, from about northeast to southwest. Between the stream and road are a series of buildings, including four houses/cabins, a bunkhouse(larger cabin), an inn, and a shrine. Cabin graphics should be drawn from those in wilderness areas in BG1 and/or in Nashkel ([EDIT] Ulgoth's Beard wouldn't be a bad source either[/EDIT]) or the like; the interior graphics will re-use some from BG1. The shrine should comprise a modest cabin adjacent to a small stone circle surrounding a flat stone, ideally with the symbol of Selune imprinted on it, and should have a sign of some sort, ideally with the symbol of Selune as well. The inn exterior should use the inn from Nashkel in BG1, as the corresponding interior map will be modified slightly for it, and there should be a well fairly close to the inn. The building should be fairly close together, and the set of buildings should occupy at most about 1/4-1/3 of the map. In addition to the functional buildings noted, one or two that are too broken down for use would be a nice touch. The area, aside from the stream and road, should be lightly forested (including the areas between buildings in this is fine), similar to what we see with Imnesvale, but there should be a few good-sized open spaces.

9. Any deadlines?

None.

10. What game and what mod is this for?

Arkalian, BG2/TOB mod.

11. Anything else you'd like to mention?

I will also need one or two modified versions of this map; I will decide exactly how to approach that once I've seen the original.