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The Making of Elysium Mines

Discussion in 'Developer Work and Blog posts' started by Sea-Wolf, Nov 29, 2017.

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  1. Sea-Wolf

    Sea-Wolf Avatar

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    Hey folks, I have a few screenshot of our uncloning of Elysium Mines. In our new version, Satyrs are looting and mining from and ancient labyrinthine city. The mines are also home to a horde of spirits and undead who serve the ghost of one of the "Twins" who's spirit was trapped by his bother in the labyrinth. The visual inspiration for this mine comes from the Minoan City of Knossos in Crete, where the original Labyrinth from Greek mythology was said to have been. The glowing river is partially inspired by the river Styx, and is closely associated with the spirits wandering the labyrinth.

    Due to feedback we received from our uncloning of other mines, I've decided to split this mine into two areas that will serve different player interest. The lower area of the mines will be resource rich, and comparable to the original mines. The upper areas will have more enemies, puzzles and traps, for players who want more of an adventuring experience. This scene is still a work in progress.

    [​IMG]

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    [​IMG]


    Chris Wolf
    Level Designer
     
  2. Raven Swiftbow

    Raven Swiftbow Bug Hunter

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    So you make the miners - who might not be high level adventurers because they really want to just be crafters - have to fight through the tough part of the mine to get to where they can mine?
     
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  3. LoneStranger

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    Yes. They should work on their Dash and Heal maneuvers.
     
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  4. Dinsoo

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    @Sea-Wolf
    Graff Gem Mines is a good example of splitting.
    Spectral Mines is a good example of splitting.

    Looks amazing so far!
     
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  5. Barugon

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    Awesome looking! Thanks for splitting off an area with high node density.
     
  6. Rentier

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    looks great - looking forward to exploring it
     
  7. Raven Swiftbow

    Raven Swiftbow Bug Hunter

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    I suppose you are correct. Or they could stay in the lower level 2 mines. It just seemed a bit backwards to what I normally think of. I remember my days in UO when, after I evacuated for Hurricane Katrina, I used UO mining as a form of therapy to get away from watching the media frenzy. The mining was mindless enough to allow my subconscious to work out what-all had happened in real life, and yet help me hang onto a shred of what I had before Katrina hit.
     
  8. Bow Vale

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    Looks great. But i hope you take lots of time making it, like loads time, make it perfect...i certainly don't think you should rush it and get it in before Christmas :)...Please :)
     
  9. redfish

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    Possible deco object for supply bundles ? ;)
     
  10. majoria70

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    @Sea-Wolf it really does look fantastic. I love the walls in that second picture. Those are amazing. And as all of us hoping for ore ;). I know I know but this is why this game is being made with us and for us. To find the what's missing that will make the difference. ;) No one here wants to just have it their own way, well maybe kind of sometimes, we just know that when people go into a mine, they will expect to find ore and quite a bit of ore too. Thanks for the great work you are doing.
     
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  11. Sentinel2

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    Splitting the mine makes sense. I can go for that.

    Looks great btw and serves multiple purposes. Kudos!
     
  12. Hornpipe

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    @Sea-Wolf : How did you get out of the prison cage where I put you in, when we were told that you were working on those mines ?

    PS : The Labyrinth looks great.
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2017
  13. Ancev

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    ruh roh
     
  14. Waxillium

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    I has finally arrived. Should track how many players are grinding the **** out of elysium till the change to show you how worried people are about a nerf!

    Looks nice so far. Hope the two tier idea works.
     
  15. Hazard

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    Looking good. Hopefully Scottie is also providing close input due to his extensive work on the semi-related neighbor... Xenos.
     
  16. Sea-Wolf

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    No. I would not put a low difficulty area behind a high difficulty area.
     
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  17. Sea-Wolf

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    Scottie has been giving me a lot of direction in terms of theme and appearance.
     
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  18. Nietzsche

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    Mu-hahaha ! Finally my lvl 94 adventurer miner can have a mine where he feels at home :) all the care bear miners can stay in owls nest!
     
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  19. Randbo

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    Why cant you just add a break wall in the bottom room of the current mine that OPENS UP this new area for fun?
    That would make both sides happy. Us real hard core miners and crafters can keep working elysium to get our gold and silver ore at a REASONABLE RATE for serious skill players, while the adventure seekers can glory in the new area.
    We need these 3 levels as is to get the MW and Enchant ore and a regular, reliable way to get decent xp for skills. This is easily the heaviest used mine in the game.
    If you change it to this new idea and remove the old, it will go the way of serpents spine mine. NOBODY GOES THERE. SAME HERE AFTER ONE WEEK.

    Will you developers ever learn? Miners and Crafters want to MINE AND CRAFT. You have EVERY OTHER SCENE IN THE GAME FOR ADVENTURE. Why must you RUIN the mines?
    WE DONT ADVENTURE, WE MINE AND CRAFT. We can accept the risk vs. reward as is, that is not a problem. Adventure skills are raised in the mines to be able to handle the spawns.

    As you can see, the problem is turning working mines into adventure scenes. Please stick to actual adventure scenes for your creative efforts.
     
  20. majoria70

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    Well I do agree about mines being mines but be careful what we ask for. Yes I want Elysium to stay an awesome mine and I also want the whole game explorable with nodes and discoveries sprinkled all over the whole world. Miners should be able to mine, but we are also adventurers. So as long as this mine is rich in ore I will also enjoy exploring it too;). It looks great.
     
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