Overview:
This project, called the Colored Rooms, is aimed at making the Daedric Realm of Meridia a reality. Not much is known about this Daedra, so there is some freedom allowed to us as far as designing the realm, and the story behind it. In my vision, I see it as a place where people have been gathered from all over the world, who have been allowed to live in balance with eachother and their sorroundings.
Of what is known about Meridia, often seen as the "druid" daedra, her realm is filled with many plants and animals. Her sphere seems to deal with the innate energies of all things, and maintaining a sort of balance between those things. She has a strong basis in magika, reaching out to people with an interest in the profane. However she also has a side which prefers to decieve, or mislead about the true nature of things.
Likewise, her realm is highly magical in nature, seperating each room by means of a doorway, and deceptive in nature as each room holds its own share of issues and character.
Going from the name, Colored Rooms, I invisioned each area to be setup, like a room. It has a number of purposes, and those purposes rarely coincide with other rooms. Each room is also associated with a color, which in some way describes what that area is about. At current only 6 of the 8 rooms are named.
White - The White Valley
Red - The Red Marsh (or some other swampy synonym)
Yellow -
Orange - The golden plains. (think farming and livestock)
Green -
Blue - The Blue City
Indigo - The Black Pit
Purple - The Purple hills (a tower looming over a mushroom filled valley)
In addition to each of the rooms, there is a central garden, which acts as a greeting point for any newcomers, and as a link between each of the rooms. The current phase of the project involves with completing the Black Pit. Although work on other areas can begin well before the Black pit has been completed. The reason for focusing on one area at a time has more to do with the number of people available, than any lack of planning. As each area is essentially isolated from eachother, two or more areas can be worked on at the same time without having any issues.
The Black Pit:
The Black Pit, Indigo, is an area sorrounded by mountains and inhospitable terrain with a large pit situated near the center. This Pit was created as a result of an incident which happened within the realm, and left the area torn and twisted. A certain material formed within the rock that has an unnatural ability to suck the life out of things it comes in contact with. Shortly after the event, and after the dust settled, it was reclaimed, and captured necromancers, who were seen as being related to the event, were put to work making the surface safe. After the surface was safe, it was decided that the only way to restore balance to the area was to remove as much of this material from the land. And so many caves were dug, leading into the pit. It has since then experienced a prisoner revolt, who now lie sealed within the darkest reaches of the pit, and been reclaimed by the people of the realm, and turned into a penal colony where people can work off their crimes. The Town of Rhym, as it stands, has become home to many criminals of the land. It is there that they engage in their own form of freedom, and petty arguments. Although quicker salvation can be gained from entering the mines, most view it as being simply too dangerous, and instead focus their efforts on staying alive above ground.
The Black Pit was chosen as the first area to be worked on for two reasons. One being because it was the smallest, area. Two being because it would serve as a place that the player would be sent to work of their crimes (rather than being sent back to Tamriel, or some other system). It also allowed an easier transition between what people knew about Meridia, and what the realm we were building was.
Specific features related to the realm include a fairly extensive group of very dark, very dangerous caves which wind down and around the pit. A town filled with thieves and other shady types, which will leave the player always checking over their shoulder. Unique weapons and equipment which are geared around the peope and theme of the area. Several new quests, including a guild to join which will eventually have tasks reaching into other areas of the realm.
Future Sections:
Future sections have been planned, ranging from fridgid glacial canyons, to rolling grasslands, to wet, mistfilled swamps, to a grand city seprated by canals, sorrounded by water. Each of those areas will have their own special features to make them interesting to play, and will incorporate elements that will allow repeatable tasks and events. The goal of this project is to provide both new areas for the player to explore and fight, but also areas where the player can sit down for a few hours and just watch the scenery.
The project doesn't have any sort of main questline, but rather uses smaller quest chains to tell the story. By doing this, we can make one quest branch off in two seperate directions based on what actions the player has taken, rather than forcing the player to take one specific action. The only way to do this reliably is to keep chains fairly short, and leave room for some branch off point at a later date. Delivering a letter you find on a body could lead to a murder investigation, or a chance enounter with an appreciative widow. Which in turn could lead to any number of things.
The project is currently in closed development, meaning that all files and most of the indepth, specific information is only available to team members. Due to the scale of the project, and the number of diferent areas that it touches upon, virtually anyone with some modding experience, and who is willing to help, could be useful to completing the project. Work which is to be assigned, or requested will be based on your own abilities, and there can be adjustments made, or instruction provided if something seems beyond your current skill. The leader of the project, along with several senior members have sufficient experience to handle most issues as they come up. The issue is not about not knowing how to proceed, or to do some aspect of the mod. The issue is having enough manpower around to get it done. But the more experienced you are, the more help you can be to the team, and the faster certain key elements can be completed.
If you are are interested in joining, please make a post here so that your intentions and abilities can be known. No matter how skilled a person may be, there are some things they cannot accomplish alone.
