Modding Help More interesting dungeons to enrich the world of Starbound!

Discussion in 'Starbound Modding' started by Beatrice, May 20, 2015.

  1. Beatrice

    Beatrice Spaceman Spiff

    Fellow modder community!

    The idea for this thread has its roots in a conversation in the “Colonies and Endgame”-thread, when I showed some of my buildings there; originally because there were several issues regarding the current mechanics, which makes a “build&rent”-system more annoying than it should be.

    However, @xxswatelitexx (and others) liked my buildings so much, that he proposed that it would be a great idea to include them in a mod. There are different themes and styles I worked with in the recent 1.5 years; and as I’m an avid architect, I like to design and create believable houses. You an read the discussion here. To cite one of his posts:

    It would be great if someone would give us a hand to make this idea real! More interesting houses, villages and also dungeons for Starbound would be the goal for a more interesting universe to discover.

    [​IMG]

    Maybe you know my Republic of San Leone thread in the Screenshot section; since the release of Starbound I tried to better my building abilities, which became more and more refined. Until now, I gathered a huge collection of residential houses, palaces, public buildings, gardens and towers.

    As you may have observed, I’m concentrating on a more “traditional” style, which I would call renaissance or baroque. This has certain motives:

    First: it’s the époque I like the most, and also the époque which has – for me – the most advanced architecture.

    Second: every race represents one human era*, but the Early Modern Period (roughly 1450 A. D. to 1750 A. D.) isn’t represented at all.

    Third: my own race, the Leeven, would live in these houses. The Leeven are anthropomorphic Lions and infamous merchants which search for profit and to expand their family business. Their culture is heavily influenced by Mediterranean-oriental societies and Early Modern Trade Nations like Venice, Genoa, Portugal and the Netherlands. Unfortunately, I didn’t find a modder yet who would bring that idea to life; but we can take their houses at least, eh?


    Because of that, there are three different “themes” which I want to present, together with some examples:


    I. Leeven Desert Style

    Venetian-oriental style with mosaics, columns and gardens. Massive use of soft brick, plant matter, various wood types, sandstone brick and packed dirt.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]



    II. Leeven Ocean Style


    Venetian-lagoon style which relies more on the classical Italian architecture of the Renaissance and Baroque; however, this was also emulated by the English in the 18th century, therefore it has a “trade colony” feeling. Heavy use of bricks, soft bricks and roof tiles.


    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    III. San Leone Style

    Various buildings in traditional styles, including arches, viaducts, towers. Under this theme, I gather every building which isn’t part of the two types mentioned above.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]


    IV. Big Dungeons...

    ... if you're interested...

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]



    Only to give you an idea of the range of different encounters we could have; and be aware that I also may change them, so they may fit better together as a village or bigger dungeon. For example, I can also resize them a bit, so they would better fit to the other NPC villages:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Interested?



    What I can do:


    - Design and build different parts of a dungeon ingame

    - Give a list of the different blocks which I used and where I used them (index)

    - Give information about the furniture

    - Add – if wished – Leeven codices which a player may find in the houses. I prepared the different chapters of the book of Pride&Prey, the merchant codex of the Leeven


    What you can do:


    - Bring the buildings through modding to live! :D


    Once again, two important links:

    Republic of San Leone (you'll find more interesting screenshots in this thread; not only on the first page!)

    The Leeven, Pride&Prey (background of the race which lives in these buildings)


    Thanks for your interest!


    _________________________

    *Floran = Prehistoric Age; Avian = Ancient Age; Glitch = Medieval Age; Hylotl = East Asian Classical Age; Novakid = Industrial Age; Humans = Modern Age; Apex = Futuristic Age.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: May 31, 2015
  2. Inf_Wolf14

    Inf_Wolf14 Parsec Taste Tester

    Hahahaha...! ...And I thought I was artistic... :eek:

    I have to say, In all my time with this game, you may be the very best builder I've seen to date! Too bad I'm not available enough to convenience... Otherwise, I would love to embark on this majestic venture of modding with you!
     
    Beatrice likes this.
  3. G.Xyon

    G.Xyon Space Kumquat

    I'm going to keep tabs on this thread. I'd love to help, but right now I'm fairly encumbered with a few personal things. If things wind down soon enough, you can count me in.
     
    Beatrice likes this.
  4. Beatrice

    Beatrice Spaceman Spiff

    Still thanks for your interest in the idea. I'm also glad to know that it's not that unrealistic as I may have thought before :)
     
  5. Kayuko

    Kayuko Oxygen Tank

    I can keep this as a project on the back of my head, working on it whenever I'm free (obviously declaring which part I'm working on right now, so if others join we won't collide).
    But, I have a suggestion.

    Some pictures seem a bit... "empty" for a dungeon.
    I'd use them as a 1:1 reference to build dungeonblocks on it, so I'd transfer the interior and the structure itself.
    I'm not sure if you'd be into that, but if you could re-check you want to keep the interior as it is I'm sure the users that'll use the mod later on would be pretty grateful. :3
     
    Beatrice likes this.
  6. Beatrice

    Beatrice Spaceman Spiff

    There are some buildings without furniture; I showed them because I wanted to give a better example for the structure witout furniture, if you meant that (when doing a mod, I would give you both pictures, but I only wanted to give some examples here). Did I understand it right that this was the "problem"?
     
  7. Kayuko

    Kayuko Oxygen Tank

    Yeah, exactly. :3
    You know, it's just about 100 times faster to mod something if I have detailed material to work with, especially since I have a horrible imagination when it comes to interior. :D[DOUBLEPOST=1432206562][/DOUBLEPOST]
    So, I'd be starting with:

    [​IMG]


    It's a pretty simple and fast one, it's got decoration in it and well, stuff.
    Since there are TONS of pictures, do you mind me posting some kind of form for you to answer each time I pick one?
    Like:

    Where should it generate?
    Should there be friendly npcs / enemies in it?
    Any special generation rules you have in mind?
    Do you want anything wired?

    Oh, and for some pictures you only showed a part of the world or the building, and as mentioned earlier no interior, so in case I end up doing one of those I'd also like to request full pictures, if you don't mind.

    Nyaa~
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2015
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  8. Beatrice

    Beatrice Spaceman Spiff

    That's for sure, Sir! I only didn't want to "spam" the first post full with my stuff. :D
    Of course, in the future I would give a modder something like that, to get a better idea when it comes to structure and furniture:

    Structure:
    [​IMG]

    Furniture:
    [​IMG]

    Keep in mind, I really want to try to help you as much as possible, so, no problem! Furniture is my job :)

    Like above: no problem! I consider this as my work :nod:

    Thing is, I'm not at home for some days and I don't have access to all my materials, because they are stored on my home PC (I'm on holidays until June). Therefore I had to use the things I just posted on the forums. However, when you want to do something, I'll generally prepare it in a way that you don't have to design the furniture; and I'm going to upload the "filled" ones when I return ;)

    Certo! Having a list is faster for both of us!

    - Generally, this was considered to be Leeven house in an arid/desert region. The healing pond is part of the house, as you can see (fence).
    - As it was considered a Leeven house, I would consider it be free/abandoned at the moment (no Leeven NPC). However, would it be possible to add fishs in the pond, or is this a mechanic which you can't influence?
    - Not at the moment. Only thing: it would be nice if you could also generate the little hill on which it stands, so it looks more harmonious.
    - Err... no :D
     
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  9. Kayuko

    Kayuko Oxygen Tank

    Well, this system is quite perfect. :D

    Fishes are for sure possible.
    At least as far as I know, and I'm not Jon Snow. :<
    Hill, sure, no problem, will be done. o:

    And, well, it's actually not as fast as I hoped since the dimensions differ between the picture resolution and pixel values of single blocks. :D
    So don't rush yourself for new pictures, lots of stuff that can be done in the meantime here.
     
    Beatrice likes this.
  10. Beatrice

    Beatrice Spaceman Spiff

    Roar! :D

    Like I said, I'm still on a voyage, so I have time! Thanks for your help! Really nice... I'm waiting for the results!
     
  11. Mackinz

    Mackinz The Waste of Time

    Kayuko is struggling super hard to make your Leeven buildings into dungeons~
     
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  12. Azraile

    Azraile Ketchup Robot

    I could work on and upload a few (modular and very dungen file ready) parts for a under water sea lab.

    Some one needs to make some underwater homes for the fish people though.

    On a side note I have some ideas for missions. From the one i'm working on: rising lava, using screen center to make the world shake, and opening sequence of horizontal doors to drop gravel from the sky every so often. (each door lets a little more fall)
     
  13. Kayuko

    Kayuko Oxygen Tank


    [​IMG]


    Finished for now and awaiting quality approval. x:

    (Translation: If there's anything else to change, add or whatever, spit it out - hint: No crate, chest or furniture-container has a treasurepool yet)
     
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  14. Azraile

    Azraile Ketchup Robot

    Oh and tigers are way better than silly old lions.

    >.>
    <.<
     
  15. Beatrice

    Beatrice Spaceman Spiff

    Quality approval by Bea! :D

    Fascinating! Thanks for your help <3. Regarding the treasure pool: as the ground floor is considered a store, the range of possible goods is fairly high. Also, as said before, I wrote the codex entries for the leeven race, including images for the books. The files are still stored on my home PC.

    They consist of ten codex entries forming the first hundred rules of the Book of Power (Fima-Fami). Each book has four pages, three rules on each and the tenth rule on the fourth page. The Introduction to the book of power an the first ten rules would be part of the basic lore when starting a character, the books II-X with the rules #11 to #100 would be findable in the dungeons.

    X. Codex (Fima-Fami)


    Introduction to the Book of Power

    "by As Lan, High Consul, in honor of the 87th edition
    Neither the author, nor the date of the first publication of this book is known. But does it matter? Well, it doesn't matter because none of the Manes of the prides is interested in any research. No one wants to pay because of a possible copyright infringement.",

    "Every pride has its own history, its own cult of ancestors, its own literature and even its own dialect. But the Book of Power is accepted by every pride and as such, one of the links between the different branches of our society. Power means pride and prey, the basic values of our people.",

    "Every Leeven lives for prey and pride. Other species won't understand it. That's not important. As long as they have prey, we are happy and will help them to hand it over to us. Oh, that wonderful odor of Pixels in the morning!"

    The Rules

    "#1: There is no prey without pride and no pride without prey.
    #2: Everything is allowed as long as you gain prey.
    #3: Nothing is allowed as long as it hurts your pride.",

    "#4: Wine is really good. Drink some.
    #5: The world is bad. Trick others before they trick you.
    #6: The word 'deceit' is used by those without success.",

    "#7: People forget. They don’t remember bad things after a while. You can trick them again.
    #8: The greatness of a pride consists of the prey it has.
    #9: Children are a long-term investment. They are both prey and pride. What could be better?",

    "#10: No rule of this book should be changed. Neither should a rule be added to this rule to trick me, boy. Already thought of that."

    "#11: Weapons are expensive. Words are gratis.
    #12: Running is exhaustive. Let others run for you.
    #13: However, you shouldn't unlearn to run. It may safe your life",

    "#14: People hate the truth. Tell them what they want to hear.
    #15: A friend is someone who owes you a favour.
    #16: It's better to be feared than to be loved by others. Especially if one of them owes you money.",

    "#17: Don't lie.
    #17 A: Pretexts are allowed. (added in the 3rd edition)
    #17 B: This is only true for your own pride. (added in the 12th edition)
    #17 C: Well, a bit lying didn't kill anyone, eh? (addition unknown)",

    "#18: Laziness is the virtue of those without pride and prey.
    #19: There's always prey. If you don't find any, go further to find some.
    #20: Love your pride. You can't make children with a sack of gold."
    #20 A: Even if it may seem more logical. (addition unknown)"

    "#21: Agreements must be kept. As long as you don't want to break them.
    #22: A wise Leeven scents the odor of prey.
    #23: Who doesn't expand is lazy - or dead.",

    "#24: Every thing has its price. The same goes for people.
    #24 A: Especially politicans. (added in the 19th edition)
    #25: Life ends with death. The pride is eternal.
    #26: You may lose your hope, but you shouldn't lose your fortune.",

    "#27: It's a joy to expand your pride by loving your partner. It's gratis.
    #28: A good partner will never divide your prey, but doubble it.
    #29: Forgery doesn't exist when nobody complains."

    "#30: Be gentle to those who you prey. Smiling is good for your health. And a longer life means better chances for more prey."

    "#31: Questions can be deadly.
    #32: Answers can be deadlier than questions, though.
    #33: If two Leeven struggle with each other, you should be the third one to steal their prey.",

    "#34: Occasionally words must serve to veil the facts. But let this happen in such a way that no one become aware of it.
    #34 A: Or, if it should be noticed, excuses must be at hand to be produced immediately. (added in the 9th edition)
    #35: Ven never allowed a trouble spot to remain, simply to avoid going to war over it. Neither should you allow trouble in your pride.",

    "#36: Time contains the seeds of all things, good as well as bad.
    #37: The first method for estimating the intelligence of a person is to look at the Leeven he has around him.
    #38: Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are.",

    "#39: It's wiser to absorb your rival's house than to destroy it.
    #40: Remember the greatness of the house of Fi and the poorness of the house of Ye. Remember the extinction of the Fi and the raise of the Ye. The reason is easy to understand, for it is the good of the pride and not private prey that makes prides great."

    "#41: Killing is bad. You lose a potential customer.
    #42: The word 'stranger' in the dialect of the Al means also 'possibility'.
    #43: If you don't like your partner anymore, enter a partnership with another one. Or two. After some time has passed, you may appreciate your first partner again.",

    "#44: It is not from the benevolence of the fisher that we expect our dinner, but from his regard to his own prey.
    #45: You may often fulfil all the rules of justice by sitting still and doing nothing.
    #45 A: Therefore, the rules of justice are not the rules of prey. (added in the 2nd edition)",

    "#46: Don't sell your grandmother.
    #46 A: Lease her. (added in the 37th edition)
    #46 B: But only to an allied pride to safe the reputation of your own pride. (added in the 38th edition)",

    "#47: War is good for prey.
    #48: Peace is good for prey.
    #49: Every prey has the value one is willing to pay for it.",

    "#50: If you paid for it, it's yours."

    "#51: Ask not what your pride can do for you. Ask what you can do for your prey.
    #52: Even a blind Leeven can see shiny gold.
    #53: Never betray someone - as long as you may geht caught.",

    "#54: You can't put drunken wine back in a bottle.
    #54 A: But you may still sell it. (added in the 33th edition)
    #55: Diamonds are a Leeven's best friend.
    #56: Your pride is your honour.",

    "#57: The day was made to work, the night was made to sleep. Nevertheless, your prey may conceal itself in the dark.
    #58: The Winged Lion doesn't watch the Lazy, but the Powerful.
    #59: Rumours are only true if you invented them.",

    "#60: Treason happens because you became wiser."

    "#61: It's never too late to change your opinion.
    #62: Having no children is true poverty.
    #63: Begging pardon is a strategy, not a ritual.",

    "#64: A powerful ally may become your biggest rival.
    #65: There's no trust, only interests.
    #66: A loyal partner is worth 1001 diamonds.",

    "#67: The Winged Lion couldn't be everywhere. Because of that, he made your Mother.
    #68: It's good to eat a La-Zanja in company. You and the La-Zanja.
    #69: You may tell someone a secret - but be sure that you cut off his tongue.",

    "#70: A good reputation reaches the end of the world. A bad one reaches even farer. One should avoid to be despised and hated."

    "#71: Poverty is like death, but wealth doesn't mean that you live.
    #72: Your tongue is like your ship. If you master it, it will rescue you in peril.
    #73: There is no Mane without pride.",

    "#74: Ask advice from your rival and do the opposite.
    #75: A Mane and a fisher know more than a Mane alone.
    #76: Keep quite before you speak.",

    "#77: The one who has the money is always right.
    #78: If the Mane dies, another will follow.
    #79: You shouldn't talk about prey. You should have it.",

    "#80: Not the title of Mane makes a Leeven illustrious, but the Leeven has to make the title of Mane illustrious."

    "#81: If we both are Manes of our pride, who's going to fish our dinner?
    #82: It's good to believe in the Winged Lion, but it's better to tie your boat.
    #83: A lazy one who can't master his ship will say: 'The sea was rough'.",

    "#84: Don't curse your rival because he tricked you. Learn why he had success.
    #85: You have to learn to lose. There is enough time to win later.
    #86: Prey doesn't vanish.",

    "#87: It's easier to learn for a cub than for a Mane.
    #88: More partners means more children. More children means more chances that they will expand the pride. A bigger pride means more prey.
    #89: Don't hate your children because nine of them are lazy, but care for the one who shows talent. He will inherite your prey.",

    "#90: Once, the Kingdom of Ven controlled all land and all seas. The King of Ven was the mightiest Leeven on Lyon. What did remain? Nothing. Question yourself what will remain from you. The answer is simple: your children."

    "#91: Don't envy your neighbour because of his prey. Think how you can steal it.
    #92: If you can't steal your neighbour's prey, try to find other ways to accumulate more prey than he has.
    #93: The reputation of your pride has an effect on your prey.",

    "#94: Don't sleep with the secretary. Sleep with the banker. But only if you are the secretary yourself.
    #95: Don't despair in the desert. Collect sand.
    #96: What the house of Iz regards as piracy, the house of Sha regards as commerce.",

    "#97: You don't live forever, but be sure you live as long as you can.
    #98: It's not your fault if you fall ill, but its your fault if you don't hire someone to sub for you.
    #99: Defend your pride until your own death. Your prey is worthless if you don't have a pride anymore.",

    "#100: Prey is short, pride is long. Think of the future, but don't miss your boat in the present. Find the balance between both to become powerful."


    Ther are additional codices, mostly done by the other races with entries from Hiraki Corale (Hylotl), an Avian scholar, Greenfinger (Florans) and so on to give an impression by other races.

    Obviously, you know nothing about the Leeven; tigers are - like most animals from the felidae group - living alone and don't socialize. The most notable exception are lions, because they live in groups, called prides. And as the motto of my race is "pride and prey", having a very important tie to old merchant dynasties in human history, tigers won't work in any way. :p

    The Leeven are much more than "lions in space". :)
     
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  16. Kayuko

    Kayuko Oxygen Tank

    Oh well, guess the treasurepool is more likely a wip then, enlarging with more dungeons coming.

    Oh and, just to be sure I don't run out of work:


    [​IMG]


    Just because it looks friggin awesome.

    Tho, there are some things as well here, first, the usual 4 questions:

    1. Where should it generate?
    2. Should there be friendly npcs / enemies in it?
    3. Any special generation rules you have in mind?
    4. Do you want anything wired?

    Then, there are some specific ones:

    5. Is the left side intended to be as empty?
    6. Where are the caves going?
    7. Is it possible to get a picture of this in fullbright? (<--- that's not really urgent)
    8. If the answer to #6 is rather complicated I'd need a picture of those complications too (i.e. the caves).
    9. If #6 and #8 are somehow important, should the yet-unknown cave be randomgenerated or fixed?
     
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  17. Beatrice

    Beatrice Spaceman Spiff

    You like to take the most ambitious projects first, do you? :D

    Well, first you may be interested in the entire post I made back then! This area which was considered a "city center" like the market place in the Avian town (you know the on with the different stalls and the fountain). So it would be best do be part of an entire town in the end - which I may design for you, taking old projects of mine from San Geronimo - but it would be also certainly cool as a stand-alone-dungeon. Before I went to Italy, I worked on a "ocean" version of this project, making it a bridge on water. As you may guess, it's one of my favorite works.

    So, first, more screenshots:

    1. Originally, it was intended as one of the city centers of the Leeven village in the desert/arid zone. However, I may work on a similiar one for the ocean biome in the future.
    2. Not at the moment (maybe I'll find a pixel artist for Leeven NPCs?)
    3. I think you have seen the valley between the two buildings, so it would be important that we have a little hill on which it stands.
    4. Er... nooo? :D

    5. I built this wonderful project back in January. It was part of a multiplayer world which resetted when the new stable patch hit; I simply wasn't able to fill the left side before that! However, it would have been the exact mirror of the right side; so, if you take the right house and mirror it, you would get exactly the furniture I intended for it (this is rather easy with a painting program like Paint.Net, for example).
    But be careful, the mosaics are different; on the right, we have blue on yellow, and on the left, yellow on blue. This has to with the lore of the Leeven race, as one side represents prey (yellow concept) and the other pride (blue concept).
    6. As I built these houses for inhabitants of that world - yes, human players lived in these buildings :D - the cave went to a little dungeon done by the inhabitant of that house; we had the rule that everything on the surface was my job, whereas everyone was free to build underground what he wanted. As the patch came before the owner could build something, there was only an empty cave down there.
    So, you can fill the tunnel on the right with earth.
    7. I hope that the screenshots above may help you a little bit!
    8.&9. Like stated, just remove it ;)

    One additional thing: the giant lion mosaic in the middle was only made by soft brick and sandstone brick; however, I also used the paint tool to paint the fragments yellow and orange. I'm not sure if that could be a problem (for your eyes). If you need a picture of the Lion at day, I don't have a screenshot, but this video:

     
  18. Kayuko

    Kayuko Oxygen Tank

    Not a problem at all, the color that is, basically I added a lot of hacky things in the last dungeon cause you can't do some things the "normal" way, like spawning torches without background or using color-variations on blocks. :p
    So don't worry 'bout that, I know my way around image and asset editing. :3
    And, that's not even one of the most complex or difficult things, I was really thinking about taking on that other giant town thing first, but then I was like... "naah, later". xD
     
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  19. Beatrice

    Beatrice Spaceman Spiff

    You are awesome! :D

    However, I would suggest that we may concentrate on the village theme first, so that we may also generate a whole desert village in the future, before doing the big, wierd stuff :D. If that's ok for you! :D

    For example, every Leeven town needs an opera hourse ;)

    [​IMG]
     
  20. Kayuko

    Kayuko Oxygen Tank


    Sure, why not, looks easy enuff o:
     
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