SureAI Forums covering SureAI game titles.

[Nicolas Samuel]

That'd be true, but I think the poll wouldn't speak for the future players, would it? I think we'll see. You're right that the ressources could be very useful and nice to look at but maybe our 3D-modelers will make up for it.

[Hazzmat]

What I liked in Nehrim is that everything from the architecture to the overall theme of the game had this gothic feeling to them. It wasn't your average jolly fantasy setting but something far more serious. Will Enderal will be themed like this or will it be more exotic? The reason I'm saying exotic is because the screenshots give the impression the world will be vibrant and colorful ( this is fine and no problem at all I'm just curious you can still have very dark themed dungeons and such ).

[Crosshair]

Enderal will have quite a diverse landscape. Accordingly we plan to let architecture styles differ (slightly).

[badgesareus]

I would welcome a bit of diversity in the architecture. Medieval Europe and Ayleid ruins in Nehrim weren't too diverse. Do your artists have experience in something a bit more exotic without going over the edge, such as oriental, middle east, or Inca/Aztec architecture? Maybe that would increase the workload as it would also lead to differing costumes for the NPCs.

[Hazzmat]

I don't agree with what you're saying. It wasn't just 'medieval Europe' and Ayleid ruins in Nehrim. Play Nehrim again and you will see that not only is the architecture diverse (Northrealm, Middlerealm and Southrealm) but almost all of medieval architecture is custom made for Nehrim. The dungeons too were all quite unique and not only Ayleid ruins...

[badgesareus]

almost all of medieval architecture is custom made for Nehrim

Custom made medieval architecture is still medieval architecture. The differences in architecture between the three realms of Nehrim were slight. I'm not suggesting anything like the extreme cartoonish architecture in Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning, but there certainly was some diverse yet realistic architecture in games such as Gothic 3, Two Worlds 2, and Sacred 2. I enjoyed the creativity of the landscape and the quests in Nehrim, and certainly many of the dungeons were unique and interesting, but I didn't have many times when the landscape and the architecture gave me that WOW feeling. (Well, there was the Undead Duchess Bounty Quest, where I thought Wow, they must have had a couple kegs of skooma when they designed this! )

The dungeons too were all quite unique

I've played through Nehrim 5 times, and I can assure you the dungeons are most certainly not "all quite unique." The lava cave format (such as the Dragon Cave) was used in at least 3 different dungeons. Another example is found in the "Sunken Site" near the monastery. Once you get past the submerged area, the next part is something of a cookie-cutter format which was used in several other dungeons. As for Ayleid type dungeons, there are dozens in Nehrim. Although the interiors may contain some original and interesting elements, few were so unusual that they would have seemed out of place in Oblivion.

But I have complete confidence that, whatever the developers of Enderal create, I will enjoy it immensely, even though there will be some elements that I would have preferred to be done differently. I'm sure it is already quite a challenge to reach compromises among the developers, let alone worrying about what the rest of us think (including the 99% that play the game but take no part in the forums, unless they are stuck on a quest).

[Xagul]

Keep in mind that architecture is a complex thing. It could be just art but also expression of culture, demonstration of political, cultural, scientific superiority, just a product of necessities and so on. Architectural styles (or archetypes like you mentioned: oriental, middle east, or Inca/Aztec) have always been a long-term development, not just a trend.
In addition, these archetypes differ quite a lot because of the distance of the realms they have been developed in in combination with a lack of (cultural) exchange. Reproducing such an architectural diversity in a world like Nehrim is simply unrealistic. The continent is just too small. So I think they way it was solved in Nehrim was a good one: You have the ancestor's architecture (Ayleid ruins), standard architecture in Mid-Nehrim and the North Realm (were it could differ slightly in the north due to the climate). Unique architecture would have been possible in the South, because this realm had been separated from the rest of Nehrim.

To introduce more architectural diversity in Enderal, IMO a larger landscape or more isolated realms are needed.

[badgesareus]

To introduce more architectural diversity in Enderal, IMO a larger landscape or more isolated realms are needed.

I agree. We have already been told that the landscape will be smaller than Nehrim in order to fill it up more, but we don't know to what extent there will be isolated realms, such as Southrealm was in Nehrim. So, if there are isolated realms in Enderal, I would hope that the architecture varies more than it did between Midrealm & Northrealm in Nehrim. Also, I'm not sure what, but it seems that something I read suggested that there might be islands in Enderal, and that would also provide for some isolation to merit architectural diversity.

[iZsoul]

I must add , if the traveling system is similar to Skyrim , for me it will be VERY important to have the option for real live travel and not that cheap method Skyrim had.

[Ickairiel]

@iZsoul: Hint: Just don't use it. Or someone can convert a mod over that removes/disables fast travel. Either or. Some people, or a lot of people, want and or like Fast Travel due to the time saver that it provides.

Anyways, what I think would be something important for Enderal, Major Cities need to feel Major, yet at the same time, they all need to be done in their own way. For instance, look at Ostian and Erothin in Nehrim, the two cities are both the capitals of their Realm, yet the two are vastly different. This would be something that I'd for a fact appreciate to see done. And I'd hope that I'm not alone in that.

Another thing would be Shops, I think that not having them leveled but instead that you have to do a certain quest to get the Shop's Best stuff(Major Cities will have better gear than a random Sidewalk Smith) that helps the Shop or Shop Owner in question.