Ali's Concept Art

Place where art is developed for our game.

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Ali
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Ali's Concept Art

Post by Ali »

Althrough this thread will contain concept designs, I'm using it primarily to display my photos in a more organised and altogether more useful format than my previous thread... also it will only contain thumbnails.

I was extremely impressed with the various concepts, in particular those of El Scumbago were particularly appealing. So to be honest I've built on the general Arab theme, common in all the designs. However the main difference is I've been concentrating on the minor regional differences that are bound to occur due to the changing enviroments and conditions.

To start off I'm doing a series of sketchs and layout plans for various classes of housing (mostly middleclass and lowerclass) which would fit into a small forebearer coastal town. I couldn't find much on the actual lore, but in my mind the ruling forebearers wouldn't have the resources of the Crowns, they probaly wouldn't want to cause much discontent among their subjects for fear of being overthrown so wouldn't tax them as much as a Crown ruler (maybe no taxes at all...) and would therefore live in less fortified towns no perimeter wall etc (this is specific to coastal towns, as in the mountains stone is plentiful), so the defence would be left to the individuals.

This design is for a middleclass house of reasonable size, I chose a square courtyard based design because it allows the rooms to have light by adding windows to the inside wall of the courtyard, thus losing the need to have them on the outside wall. Its a basic floorplan with measurements and numbers that correspond to images.

[url=http://img146.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img10018rz.jpg][img]http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/4617/img10018rz.th.jpg[/img][/url]

The next couple of paintings were done late in the early morning so sorry bout the messiness... It shows the entrance door. As you can see there are few windows on the outside and they are either highup or too small (plus the bars on the windows and internal shutters). I also added simple painted designs around the windows and door, to add interest and colour to the outherwise plain decor.

[url=http://img83.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img10033cd.jpg][img]http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/7384/img10033cd.th.jpg[/img][/url]

In my mind minarets should be used sparingly as decorations for the poorer towns as they are probaly quite hard to construct, to replace the interest on the skyline I used the more practical windtower which are exclusive to flat coastal areas and provide a basic AC system.

[url=http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1001345df.jpg][img]http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6669/img1001345df.th.jpg[/img][/url]

This final view shows the courtyard looking towards the entrance from a pillar which I've chosen with a more Arab feel than the general classical column. Also note the fretwork wall decorating the interior wall but not the exterior roof wall. I also used a crude sort of built in ladder to reach the sort of "safe room" as this seemed more easy to defend than the generic ladder and hatch entrance. The cracked pavement is from El Scumbago's design, while the doors are general Arab designs.

[url=http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img10026vn.jpg][img]http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/7650/img10026vn.th.jpg[/img][/url]

Heres a photo of a design for an entrance door with simple carved designs.

[url=http://img110.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img11274va.jpg][img]http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/4789/img11274va.th.jpg[/img][/url]

Another for an interior.

[url=http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img11466wx.jpg][img]http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/3209/img11466wx.th.jpg[/img][/url]

And finally a view of a windtower which also shows houses with wooden balcony's which have already been coovered by quite a few other peoples concepts.

[url=http://img85.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img11313ov.jpg][img]http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/8369/img11313ov.th.jpg[/img][/url]
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Ali
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Post by Ali »

Tonight I'm working on what the interior should look like.
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Gez
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Post by Gez »

Windtowers are great. It's a good thing you mention them. :)
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Post by lb003g0676 »

I still disagree with wind towers for Rihad, we should have water mills there. Wind towers are great for inland desert areas though! Ali, I really like the designs,a nd the real stuff you have to back it up with. And the layout is something that I have never thught of before, a few things to bear in mind though, which i am sure you have noticed, they don't have generic sitting rooms or kitchens, and have no tolets at all. Te Kitchen is usually a cupboard and a desk in the dining room, and the sitting area is a wooden chair in front of a fire.
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Post by Gez »

lb003g0676 wrote:I still disagree with wind towers for Rihad, we should have water mills there.
They're not supposed to be incompatible. Wind towers are not windmills, they're a way to make the temperature in the house cooler. Like Roman patio or earth heat exchangers. A simple, passive air conditionning system.
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Post by lb003g0676 »

Oh, well I retract my statement.
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Post by Silverwood »

Andres, you could at least give a little review...

I love in the black-and-white drawing the grills on the top right corner. Would those be windows or something else?
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Post by Ali »

Just answering your questions today, I'll post interioir views tommorow morning.
Windtowers arn't used in mountainous areas as it tends to be cool enough already, they tend to be used only on the flat, dry and hot coastal plains where they catch cool breezes coming from the ocean which are usually higher than ground level and bring them into the house, sometimes a pool of shallow water is used at the base inside the tower to further help cooling(so I've heard, I've never seen it). The rooms then have unusually high ceilings to help this (hot air rises etc) so buildings that look 2-storey are often not.
I don't know if you were confused with the saracen mills in age of empires 2 (which btw would look pretty cool in a desert village :) ), but you can't power stuff with windtowers.

With regards to the kitchen, I was unsure too. I will post a drawing tommorrow but basically I was thinking of a round oven like those in morrowind with a flat charcoal oven and a few pots for boiling things (in Arabia the staple food is flat bread, meat and rice).

With regards to the sitting room I was moving away completely from european or "Dunmer" views of what it should be. What I was aiming for was what in Arabic is called a Majlis. Basically althrough the house is middle class, I didn't want to use too much wooden furniture, so the sitting room would consist of cushions laid out on the floor in a oblong shape and be where the family eats, reads and perhaps smokes some good old skooma :)
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Post by Morden »

Very nice work. The natural paints are refreshing. Any chance you might be able to find a scanner?
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Ali
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Post by Ali »

Sorry to double post again but I forgot to coment on somethings....
I love in the black-and-white drawing the grills on the top right corner. Would those be windows or something else?
The designs are of what is called fretwork (not being picky but I'm a semi-apprentice woodcarver...sometimes) in this case its sort of a decorative wall, the outside had small areas of painting to add interest these along with the pillars add a little visual interest to the interior courtyard without being too imposing or ridiculous.

The fretwork wall designs also could be used for windows or to make interior walls more like screens then actual walls.
Also what do you think about the idea of the defensive room above the kitchen? This idea isn't really based on general reality so I was abit unsure, I just thought it would make the basic 1 floor house more interesting.
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Post by Andres Indoril »

You were lucky that Morden posted before you ;) And there is a editing function for posts, right next to "Reply with quote" button on your post.
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Post by lb003g0676 »

Ali wrote:With regards to the sitting room I was moving away completely from european or "Dunmer"
Dunmer isn't European, I assure you, Imperial is European.
But with dunmer sittings rooms are virtually non-existent.
Ali wrote: I didn't want to use too much wooden furniture, so the sitting room would consist of cushions laid out on the floor in a oblong shape and be where the family eats, reads and perhaps smokes some good old skooma
But I love the idea, of cusion floors! But the problem with that is the sitting animation, as there is not sitting on the floor, so macke them huge fat, bean bag cushions :P, but that may not quite keep the arabic feel.
But the skooma was a joke, I doubt respectable redguards would sit eating and smoking. They will be as hidden as skooma dens in Cyrodiil (the one in Bravil, that the counts son visits!).
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Post by Lutemoth »

As it is officially your first art and conceptual 'homebase', I should declare this as I'll do with inciting threads:
[img]http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/4449/welcome3wn.jpg[/img]

First and foremost, your work is of the greatest inspiration. The drawn/painted pieces shown here are both artisticly stylish and detailed. As well, it goes without saying your photographs are invaluable to TR's Ragada development :D
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Post by Ali »

Ok then, when I was in old souq yesterday I tried to get some photos of what local Majlis rooms look like but unfornately the place was closed.

Anyway I had an idea of how to keep the cushion feel to the room while still being able to have NPC's sitting down. Basically it consists of adding sort of mud benches to the room and placing cushions on that... I've also added weapons as wall decorations and used some fairly bright looking colours to spice up the room. Also if you look at the layout plan the rooms are relatively narrow so the distance between facing seating would only be about a metre therefore retaining the Arab feel.

[url=http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img10046uh.jpg][img]http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9895/img10046uh.th.jpg[/img][/url]

Heres a quick painting of the "kitchen" basically I've kept it relatively bare with only a built in round oven (similar to a forge in morrowind) and a small preparation area equiped with only a few pots etc (the majority of the food would be in a seperate storage room), by the way the round things on the floor were meant to be large dishes...

[url=http://img174.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1005841el.jpg][img]http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/1893/img1005841el.th.jpg[/img][/url]

This is the 2nd bedroom possible housing a servant or the owners relative etc, so I've kept it more simple than the other rooms, with only a bedroll, chest and some books as decoration. Also I've used more muted earthy tones to contrast with the larger master bedroom.

[url=http://img76.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img106056zs.jpg][img]http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/6638/img106056zs.th.jpg[/img][/url]

Heres another windtower image I took yesterday (sorry bout the dodgy angle).

[url=http://img224.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1005652pe.jpg][img]http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/2904/img1005652pe.th.jpg[/img][/url]

Here's some concepts for furniture in the master bedroom. Firstly a bench with masharabiyyah turnings.

[url=http://img180.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1006g7ak.jpg][img]http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/6238/img1006g7ak.th.jpg[/img][/url]

And finally here's some concepts for beds including either floor type ones like in the 2nd bedroom or "proper" wooden beds.

[url=http://img311.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1007g9ad.jpg][img]http://img311.imageshack.us/img311/5795/img1007g9ad.th.jpg[/img][/url]
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Post by CleverClothe »

Ali, I have a question. How many houses/buildings usually have windtowers of some size, and what is their relative level of wealth?
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Post by Sload »

I'm not sure about the real world, but I would imagine Hammerfell's wind towers to be only on Upper Class buildings, if only to fit as many LC and MC homes in the area as possible.
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Post by Ronain Arthyn »

Ali, you should post some of this stuff in the showcase thread, so the moderators can make you a modder.

Your concepts and photo contributions deserved to be recognized.
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Post by Ali »

Basically only upper middle class and the upperclass houses should have windtowers. The house that I've shown above is upper middle class, it is a fairly large house but only has 1 floor. I have a diagram for a lower middleclass house which I'll post later plus a photo of what a really magnificent upper class windtower could look like.

The lower class houses should look like a one or 2 room version of the above house. However I've taken some photo's of a barasti house (made only from palm tree) which could be used as fisherman's houses on the beasch with the mud houses just beyound, like in Seyda Neen where you have wood houses on the piers and stone on the land.

[url=http://img162.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img11369yi.jpg][img]http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/5923/img11369yi.th.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img11370eu.jpg][img]http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/9752/img11370eu.th.jpg[/img][/url]

Also can you really be promoted to modder status through concept work?
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Post by Lud »

Ali wrote:Also can you really be promoted to modder status through concept work?
Yep, we have quite a few concept-only modders ;)

It's an important skill.
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Post by lb003g0676 »

Yep, I am useless at everything other than art, and I still waste a load of time with that! I am sure you will be promoted, you have very useful researching skills, makes concept artists lives easier... Thnaks Ali!
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