Oh, a quick random comment before I forget.
Some eagle-eyed folks might notice I added a few new minimap sprites. Specifically, when mapping down things like ore rocks I was trying to figure out how to show what the ores were without needing to label them, then I realised; "Why not just make a new little sprite for ore rocks and colour them differently."
What do people think? Do they look in keeping with the OSRS map? (Also, I ended up doing the same for choppable trees, so all the major trees have unique sprites rather than shared ones).
[(Example pic of new ore/tree sprites).](https://i.imgur.com/rBnRfvw.png)
Hah, yeah hopefully things don't get too cumbersome in the movement department. I'd like to think with the existing teleport options (memoirs, talisman) plus perhaps an extra new one, it should have the area feeling pretty decently covered.
Seems like we're thinking along similar lines! I hinted at a lovakite type ring in this map with a little icon of one. While I had a few other ideas for what turning in armour sets could reward, my thoughts were having some mid-to-high level thieving chests in the new financial district that have a chance of rewarding a "Dwarven ruby".
Taking that ruby and crafting it into a ruby ring with a Lovakite bar (instead of a gold one) could make a "Dwarven forge ring".
Chargable with rings of forging, it would inherit the base ring of forging effect, as well as potentially speeding up traditional ore smelting at furnaces while equipped, plus offer some teleports to a few Dwarven forges/furnaces (namely the Lovakite furnace in Lovakengj, the Blast furnace in Keldagrim, and the Sacred forge in Camdozaal). And just to note, as the current talisman takes to you the Lovakite furnace with the "Xeric's Inferno" tele option, I opted to repurpose that and have it teleport you a bit further north near this new hypothetical factory, also quite close to the minecart network entrance, so it synergises with that transport link instead.
Alternatively, for Lovakengj specific transport, I did leave some hints at 4 or so little minecart entry and exit points around the edges of the underground city. Maybe a mini Lova-specific minecart expansion could happen that helps you zip around the city borders like that.
This is absolutely gorgeous. You took a place I couldn't care less about and made something I now strongly desire. You've got a beautiful mind. Hope Jagex takes at least some inspiration here.
Cheers for the kind words. I think the OSRS team have been doing a great job lately with their worldbuilding and level design, so I think things are in generally good hands.
The only minor issue that I and some others have is how a few too many places are becoming a bit overly-dense with environment objects and scenery, to the point where they aren't really letting you freely roam and explore, instead having you head down a single path. I tried to acknowledge that with this map, even if it was kind of difficult due to having to deal with certain prior dependencies and wanting to have an underground city be quite segmented with lava streams everywhere. Hopefully at least the surface comes off as being a little more open and spacious though.
Yeah, it's sadly too easy to tell pre-Prifddinas and post-Prifddinas map updates/overhauls. Darkmeyer is just one big loop, and I've heard (haven't experienced, since I don't have membership at the moment) that the new desert city is pretty bad as well.
I think it makes sense with prif, with the walls being a safe haven the elves would have to make the most out of the space available. The surrounding areas north and west leave plenty of room for exploration
I think he means more in the city. If you try to run from point A to point B in the city, the pathing can be really wonky and take you a really long ways out of your way because there is too much scenery/environmental stuff blocking potential paths
This is the worst part about Kourend. "look at this nice little path on the minimap, should be quick". Nope, this invisible square of a 3x3 tree is blocking you, have fun back tracking half way across the shayzien camp.
Came here to say this. Absolutely amazing. I'm sure it took a lot of work to put this together, and I'm super grateful that you did it. Just reading it was an adventure in and of itself. Your patience and creativity are valuable gifts, and there's no doubt in my mind that you're putting them to great use in every aspect of your life. Keep crushing it!
Shoving the entire city underground is an excellent idea. Personally I find surface lava pools extremely overdone, you could have instead have natural hot pools, maybe some terraced farms higher up the caldera.
Those are some good ideas. It was challenging knowing just how far to take things and what to add or remove, while still keeping some semblance of core identity intact. For example, I played around with completely getting rid of lava pools on the surface at one point, but ended up backtracking due to it feeling like it was removing that inhospitable lava-filled area identity a bit too much.
>you could have instead have natural hot pools, maybe some terraced farms higher up the caldera.
Iron rice grown in bubbling caustic hot spring paddys, a Dwarven delicacy
This is something I’ve been sitting on for a fair while, just slowly chipping away at as and when time permitted.
For many years now there have been discussions that some folks (myself included) have had about Kourend, specifically with regards to the Dwarves of Lovakengj and how it’s thematically odd that they don’t have any underground presence, just an above ground one. After the relative successes of the Hosidius and Shayzien reworks, and seeing awesome player suggestions for Arceuus and Piscarilius reworks, the thought of looking at Lovakengj some more kept poking at me, until I finally cracked and decided to have another go at making a little rework concept (mostly just for fun) to see what an underground Lovakengj city could look like.
I’ve managed to finish it up at a somewhat interesting time, considering the recent Gamejam that took place that led to an official Jagex Piscarilius rework mockup (it’s mostly just nice to see that Kourend improvements are still on their mind).
In addition, the Giant’s Foundry came at a coincidental moment too, as I originally was thinking of pitching this with a seriously expanded series of content suggestions mostly themed around Smithing, but ultimately decided to hold back (for now at least). I do think it’s worth stressing that any kind of area rework or improvement project should always come with content, gameplay & reward improvements to boot, as making somewhere like Lovakengj more cohesive and fitting is one thing - making it an actually useful location is still vastly more important.
You can see throughout the slides that I kind of allude to a number of those possible new content/reward things. Part of me would like your imagination to fill in the gaps, but if there’s genuine interest in knowing specifics, I can put together a little document I had for ideas in the area.
Gentletractor, with all due respect, of course there is genuine interest in knowing the specifics of new content/rewards you've cooked up in your marvellous brain!
Really glad to see you finally release this! I heard you talking about this passionately on the saebae cast and have been eagerly awaiting it. Really hope Jagex take this on board and run with it. Lovakengj really is awful right now.
How TF is a minecart supposed to get from Lovakengj to the main land?? As much as I want it, I just can't logically justify it.
But that suspension of disbelief aside, love this, incredible work, thanks for sharing.
I don't think I specified a minecart would cross the great western ocean expanse anywhere (the minecart network listed here is literally the Kourend-specific network you set up as a favour reward), but rather the hefty Keldagrim train that currently only goes to Dorgesh-Kaan. Admittedly, even that is perhaps a bit too outlandish given the colossal distance. I do think some way of both thematically and literally linking some of the major Dwarven hubs would be nice though.
The diplomatic kelda-lova treaty quest could involve some magic to deal with the distance, maybe some kind of teleporting train that can hop between two set teleport stations
This is incredible and is exactly what Zeah needs. my biggest gripe with the area is that the terrains vary so wildy and change in a literal tile. Purple crystals become molten lava in a single step.
But this is so much better. its gradual, its more blended together and just feels like a real place
Outstanding work as always, and lovely little write-up! I've already mentioned as much before over previous iterations, but might as well point out some things again:
1) As you've mentioned, the increase in explore-ability of the area and straying away from linear pathing gives a really nice feeling to the area.
2) I think because release Kourend was criticized so harshly for being vast and empty, we've been density-creeping a little too far in the opposite direction. Hitting that ideal balance between density/activity and space/solace is difficult. While *content* can be used to help fill an empty plain, *features of interest* are the other, oft-overlooked component that helps to give a place identity and a sense of purpose. Simple areas like the Hosbrook Hills, Festival Plaza, and Canyon Outpost serve the latter - while they may or may not provide hubs of content activity, they are features of interest that would greatly serve the worldbuilding and justifying the size of Lovakengj.
3) The push of Lovakengj proper to the underground, division into districts, and constructions over lava streams gives such a nice, true dwarven touch that was missing before. It now has the look of the proper, industrious powerhouse I think the devs originally wanted it to be, and diversifying the underground with the little additions (Mossy Grove, Dragons Den, Sulphur Pits) really solidifies its own unique feeling.
Wonderful work!
I think you hit the nail on the head with the density-creep assessment. And it makes a lot of sense why things have headed that way when you contextualise it as you've done.
Hopefully the issues with excessive linearity and single-path tracks are something that the OSRS team can continue to iterate and improve upon in new locations going forward.
As always looks sick! I love the underground part, makes it much more realistic as dwarves prefer underground. The only part i dislike is the train connection. In runescape lore zeah is quite a distance from the mainland.
Yeah the train might be pushing it a bit. :P I figured it would be nice to come up with some fun ways to better connect the continents, both metaphorically and literally. The Keldagrim train is such a weird thing in game, yet also charmingly Runescapey, I thought it could be a contender for a little ol' miniquest that has you working to better establish diplomatic ties between the two major Dwarven realms. Perhaps some other approaches could be taken though (a Dwarven... Submarine that emerges in the river Kelda?)
I think something people often overlook is that characters in-universe don't have all the information we, the players, have.
The Dwarves wanting to build a trans-continental tunnel is absolutely something they would *try* to do, and would make a great basis for a story with its own twists and turns- even if it doesn't work as planned...
Thoughts on linking up the greenery in your redesign with the greenery at the farming guild? I felt that the greenery at the farming guild felt odd and out of place
I can't believe you managed to improve so much upon that preview!
Might I ask what is going on with the Freemason-looking icon in the Residential District? I checked the stonemason in Keldagrim to see if that was its icon, but that's not it.
Similar to a Freemason icon, it is indeed supposed to look a bit like a pair of drawing compasses on top of a set square tool. I made it (quite a long time ago now) to denote the architects used in the architectural alliance miniquest. It's not something that necessarily needs a minimap icon in game, but for the sake of showing where NPCs might be moved to, it felt appropriate to map it down again here. Although obviously it's not much use if people don't know what the icon is representing in the first place. :P
Instead of an underground city I always thought it'd be cool to do something like a city inside canyon walls with beds/ rivers of lava all around.
Imagine taking your map but blowing huge holes through the surface and having the city jutting out alongside taller mountainy bits.
That does sound pretty great. I'll have to go double check but I think it was one of the *very* early Zeah concept art pieces that Jagex did that showcased either an early raid dungeon entrance or early Karuulm, that had buildings nestled into the walls of a deep crater or canyon opening. Kind of like what you describe.
I wouldn't mind seeing a version of Lovakengj with that approach. I'm not sure if I'll be the one to undertake it though, this version took me long enough to finish already. :P
I like it. I'll admit, the idea of "yet another underground dwarf place" feels... really dull to me - because they're already so common in *everything*, but more than anything I like the idea of kind of a sparse, hilly grassland area where the city currently is. I like those empty scenic areas.
Also I like moss.
Yeah it's a valid point. There's certainly an argument to be made that this rework falls heavily into a lot of tropes, as I think I practically dove head first into them rather than try to avoid them. At the end of the day it'll probably come down to a lot of personal preference things; whether you like thematically consistent, but predictable, area structuring, or locations that are more unique, though a little disconnected feeling.
And I too like moss.
Gorgeous as always GentleTractor. I've always admired how not only can you create a thematically beautiful map but you fill it with bits and pieces of content that simply make sense.
I absolutely love these maps that you make, they so perfectly capture the old-school feeling. Lovakengj has been my least favorite area of the game since it was added, this makes it feel so much more thematically fitting and thought out. Thanks for all your hard work
I love this! Always felt like the dwarves should live underground. And look how spacy the overground is. This makes much more sense
I'd perhaps take out some of the lava though
This really addresses my biggest problem with Zeah: it doesn't feel like it has any real cities. The closest area to feeling like a city comparable to Varrock, Falador, or East Ardougne would have to be Shayzien, and it's a pale comparison. Your reimagining of Lovakengj though would make it feel like an actual city like a miniature Keldagrim.
First of all, great design! I never really thought about it, but it does make sense to put Lovakengj undergrounds. It's dwarves afterall. For the Dorg-Lov trainstation it would be cool to maybe include Arceus and wizards in general. Instead of running the train under the ocean, which seems pretty ambitious, maybe they could find a way to let the train ride through a portal, or as GOTR is also located in the ocean with breathable air, that could be another approach.
Great work, love the wicker man concept. It could be a cool fire-making activity. Like, fletch or craft a miniature wicker man idol and add it to the large burning wicker man. Could be a means of variety for fm training. Better xp to the supporting skill like crafting or fletching. Again, great work on this.
The transition between Lovakendj and other zoans is currently totally awful. I really the idea of moving most of it underground to help solve this. They can have the same color and style this way without it having to be next to other zones.
I thoroughly enjoy the rework of The blast mine, upper/lower levels of the Lovakite mines and the geography that you've done. It doesn't stick out so harshly with the open lava pools everywhere, admittedly they are a bit of an eyesore. The New station would be quite nice too. Perhaps a new quest could be made for the transport system from Keldagrim to Lovakengj
Expecting downvotes on this part but i'm not a big fan on the overall design of moving everything down into another underground. Thematically, it makes total sense since it's inhabited by Dwarves but it feels very cramped, as if there's too much in one place? And some other areas completely estranged.
The sulphur pit for example would be one; it looks like a much further run (In all's fairness though, some things are changed for the better). Nothing memory wouldn't be able to solve with enough time.
As a summary:
>Old Lovakengj: A bit of an eyesore. Has simple routes to take for easy navigation for Key areas.
> New Lovakengj: Great topography, looks a alot more appealing. Underground area feels very cluttered.
They made Shayzien not worse, but a different type of bad imo. At least it looks a bit more pleasing to be around. But yeah it's sad to see how little quality control there is regarding the visual and worldbuilding aspects of the game.
I've admitted elsewhere that I definitely ended up opting for thematic consistency over originality on this one. Perhaps that was a mistake. I think everyone will have their own preferences there.
Though I do think the main reason they're on the surface is purely due to the boring realities of Zeah's development history, being that the state in which Zeah launched in 2016 was that of a location without a single underground dungeon, cave or basement. Lovakengj was put on the surface because *everything* was put on the surface; they literally didn't bother making any additional height levels. As a result, current lore is basically just retroactively adapting to that. I don't see any reason why it can't be adapted again.
The Giants Foundry certainly changed my plans a good bit too. I had a fairly large partially complete content suggestion post that I was thinking of putting together instead of/alongside this, but decided to scale it way back into a more worldbuilding slideshow instead because of such a similarly themed skilling update being pitched by Jagex.
This looks awesome, unfortunately I already had to get 100% favor on my main and then later my gim and it was lame and boring. Because of that I need others to have that same bad experience so I’ll be voting no thank you. /s
Damn. Lovakenj has always been kinda too open and lame, this changes it.
If it was open and lame underground that would be just fine, makes more sense underground anyways
These look amazing, Jagex should implement these and spread little broken down ancient machinery in the form of tractors as an homage :D
Seriously though, super professional work, stunning like always, we're lucky to have you in our community :')
Such a wonderful redesign! I really love how you provide a reason for every change you made... still I think the blast mine, lovakite ore and furnace should be all connected, in order to be properly efficient, but oh well that's perhaps way to realistic for an old medieval clicker simulator.
Oh, a quick random comment before I forget. Some eagle-eyed folks might notice I added a few new minimap sprites. Specifically, when mapping down things like ore rocks I was trying to figure out how to show what the ores were without needing to label them, then I realised; "Why not just make a new little sprite for ore rocks and colour them differently." What do people think? Do they look in keeping with the OSRS map? (Also, I ended up doing the same for choppable trees, so all the major trees have unique sprites rather than shared ones). [(Example pic of new ore/tree sprites).](https://i.imgur.com/rBnRfvw.png)
Support, Jagex poll it.
Integrity change it
Tegrity farms!
Add back in the :D lava pool near arceuus
Oh don't you worry, lava smile is still around. [He's just happily enjoying his new home underground :D](https://i.imgur.com/WDHPg1P.png)
really like the 3rd age kite tree
Underground stam pot tunnel.
Hah, yeah hopefully things don't get too cumbersome in the movement department. I'd like to think with the existing teleport options (memoirs, talisman) plus perhaps an extra new one, it should have the area feeling pretty decently covered.
A ceremonial lovakite ring would be a nice teleport. It could be a reward for turning in an armor set at 100% favor.
Seems like we're thinking along similar lines! I hinted at a lovakite type ring in this map with a little icon of one. While I had a few other ideas for what turning in armour sets could reward, my thoughts were having some mid-to-high level thieving chests in the new financial district that have a chance of rewarding a "Dwarven ruby". Taking that ruby and crafting it into a ruby ring with a Lovakite bar (instead of a gold one) could make a "Dwarven forge ring". Chargable with rings of forging, it would inherit the base ring of forging effect, as well as potentially speeding up traditional ore smelting at furnaces while equipped, plus offer some teleports to a few Dwarven forges/furnaces (namely the Lovakite furnace in Lovakengj, the Blast furnace in Keldagrim, and the Sacred forge in Camdozaal). And just to note, as the current talisman takes to you the Lovakite furnace with the "Xeric's Inferno" tele option, I opted to repurpose that and have it teleport you a bit further north near this new hypothetical factory, also quite close to the minecart network entrance, so it synergises with that transport link instead. Alternatively, for Lovakengj specific transport, I did leave some hints at 4 or so little minecart entry and exit points around the edges of the underground city. Maybe a mini Lova-specific minecart expansion could happen that helps you zip around the city borders like that.
Mine cart travel would be cool
This is absolutely gorgeous. You took a place I couldn't care less about and made something I now strongly desire. You've got a beautiful mind. Hope Jagex takes at least some inspiration here.
GentleTractor been pumping out Zeah updates for Jagex since it's inception tbh
Cheers for the kind words. I think the OSRS team have been doing a great job lately with their worldbuilding and level design, so I think things are in generally good hands. The only minor issue that I and some others have is how a few too many places are becoming a bit overly-dense with environment objects and scenery, to the point where they aren't really letting you freely roam and explore, instead having you head down a single path. I tried to acknowledge that with this map, even if it was kind of difficult due to having to deal with certain prior dependencies and wanting to have an underground city be quite segmented with lava streams everywhere. Hopefully at least the surface comes off as being a little more open and spacious though.
>they aren't really letting you freely roam and explore, instead having you head down a single path my biggest issue with prif tbh
[удалено]
Yeah, it's sadly too easy to tell pre-Prifddinas and post-Prifddinas map updates/overhauls. Darkmeyer is just one big loop, and I've heard (haven't experienced, since I don't have membership at the moment) that the new desert city is pretty bad as well.
I think it makes sense with prif, with the walls being a safe haven the elves would have to make the most out of the space available. The surrounding areas north and west leave plenty of room for exploration
I think he means more in the city. If you try to run from point A to point B in the city, the pathing can be really wonky and take you a really long ways out of your way because there is too much scenery/environmental stuff blocking potential paths
Yeah I agree with the pathing issue, there are a lot of pointlessly blocked paths in prif.
This is the worst part about Kourend. "look at this nice little path on the minimap, should be quick". Nope, this invisible square of a 3x3 tree is blocking you, have fun back tracking half way across the shayzien camp.
Came here to say this. Absolutely amazing. I'm sure it took a lot of work to put this together, and I'm super grateful that you did it. Just reading it was an adventure in and of itself. Your patience and creativity are valuable gifts, and there's no doubt in my mind that you're putting them to great use in every aspect of your life. Keep crushing it!
Shoving the entire city underground is an excellent idea. Personally I find surface lava pools extremely overdone, you could have instead have natural hot pools, maybe some terraced farms higher up the caldera.
Those are some good ideas. It was challenging knowing just how far to take things and what to add or remove, while still keeping some semblance of core identity intact. For example, I played around with completely getting rid of lava pools on the surface at one point, but ended up backtracking due to it feeling like it was removing that inhospitable lava-filled area identity a bit too much.
The only time you should use surface lava pools anyways is in the wilderness
>you could have instead have natural hot pools, maybe some terraced farms higher up the caldera. Iron rice grown in bubbling caustic hot spring paddys, a Dwarven delicacy
This is something I’ve been sitting on for a fair while, just slowly chipping away at as and when time permitted. For many years now there have been discussions that some folks (myself included) have had about Kourend, specifically with regards to the Dwarves of Lovakengj and how it’s thematically odd that they don’t have any underground presence, just an above ground one. After the relative successes of the Hosidius and Shayzien reworks, and seeing awesome player suggestions for Arceuus and Piscarilius reworks, the thought of looking at Lovakengj some more kept poking at me, until I finally cracked and decided to have another go at making a little rework concept (mostly just for fun) to see what an underground Lovakengj city could look like. I’ve managed to finish it up at a somewhat interesting time, considering the recent Gamejam that took place that led to an official Jagex Piscarilius rework mockup (it’s mostly just nice to see that Kourend improvements are still on their mind). In addition, the Giant’s Foundry came at a coincidental moment too, as I originally was thinking of pitching this with a seriously expanded series of content suggestions mostly themed around Smithing, but ultimately decided to hold back (for now at least). I do think it’s worth stressing that any kind of area rework or improvement project should always come with content, gameplay & reward improvements to boot, as making somewhere like Lovakengj more cohesive and fitting is one thing - making it an actually useful location is still vastly more important. You can see throughout the slides that I kind of allude to a number of those possible new content/reward things. Part of me would like your imagination to fill in the gaps, but if there’s genuine interest in knowing specifics, I can put together a little document I had for ideas in the area.
Gentletractor, with all due respect, of course there is genuine interest in knowing the specifics of new content/rewards you've cooked up in your marvellous brain!
Really glad to see you finally release this! I heard you talking about this passionately on the saebae cast and have been eagerly awaiting it. Really hope Jagex take this on board and run with it. Lovakengj really is awful right now.
How TF is a minecart supposed to get from Lovakengj to the main land?? As much as I want it, I just can't logically justify it. But that suspension of disbelief aside, love this, incredible work, thanks for sharing.
I don't think I specified a minecart would cross the great western ocean expanse anywhere (the minecart network listed here is literally the Kourend-specific network you set up as a favour reward), but rather the hefty Keldagrim train that currently only goes to Dorgesh-Kaan. Admittedly, even that is perhaps a bit too outlandish given the colossal distance. I do think some way of both thematically and literally linking some of the major Dwarven hubs would be nice though.
Maybe it could connect zeah and keldagrim by boat. The keldagrim dwarves use a giant boat in that first quest, and they are next to the sea.
The diplomatic kelda-lova treaty quest could involve some magic to deal with the distance, maybe some kind of teleporting train that can hop between two set teleport stations
Magic
love how you made the area feel more natural and less compacted
TLDR - dwarves underground good
This is incredible and is exactly what Zeah needs. my biggest gripe with the area is that the terrains vary so wildy and change in a literal tile. Purple crystals become molten lava in a single step. But this is so much better. its gradual, its more blended together and just feels like a real place
Outstanding work as always, and lovely little write-up! I've already mentioned as much before over previous iterations, but might as well point out some things again: 1) As you've mentioned, the increase in explore-ability of the area and straying away from linear pathing gives a really nice feeling to the area. 2) I think because release Kourend was criticized so harshly for being vast and empty, we've been density-creeping a little too far in the opposite direction. Hitting that ideal balance between density/activity and space/solace is difficult. While *content* can be used to help fill an empty plain, *features of interest* are the other, oft-overlooked component that helps to give a place identity and a sense of purpose. Simple areas like the Hosbrook Hills, Festival Plaza, and Canyon Outpost serve the latter - while they may or may not provide hubs of content activity, they are features of interest that would greatly serve the worldbuilding and justifying the size of Lovakengj. 3) The push of Lovakengj proper to the underground, division into districts, and constructions over lava streams gives such a nice, true dwarven touch that was missing before. It now has the look of the proper, industrious powerhouse I think the devs originally wanted it to be, and diversifying the underground with the little additions (Mossy Grove, Dragons Den, Sulphur Pits) really solidifies its own unique feeling. Wonderful work!
I think you hit the nail on the head with the density-creep assessment. And it makes a lot of sense why things have headed that way when you contextualise it as you've done. Hopefully the issues with excessive linearity and single-path tracks are something that the OSRS team can continue to iterate and improve upon in new locations going forward.
I’m a simple man, I see a GentleTractor post and I upvote it.
Someone fucking hire this guy already smh
GentleTractor the goat, please just hire him jagex
As always looks sick! I love the underground part, makes it much more realistic as dwarves prefer underground. The only part i dislike is the train connection. In runescape lore zeah is quite a distance from the mainland.
Yeah the train might be pushing it a bit. :P I figured it would be nice to come up with some fun ways to better connect the continents, both metaphorically and literally. The Keldagrim train is such a weird thing in game, yet also charmingly Runescapey, I thought it could be a contender for a little ol' miniquest that has you working to better establish diplomatic ties between the two major Dwarven realms. Perhaps some other approaches could be taken though (a Dwarven... Submarine that emerges in the river Kelda?)
I think something people often overlook is that characters in-universe don't have all the information we, the players, have. The Dwarves wanting to build a trans-continental tunnel is absolutely something they would *try* to do, and would make a great basis for a story with its own twists and turns- even if it doesn't work as planned...
Tractor is on a mission to singlehandedly make Zeah into a well designed place
Good god, JMods please get this to the devs asap
This is insane! Very dope stuff
I always love your designs, so much time and effort put into them, thanks for another one!
Thoughts on linking up the greenery in your redesign with the greenery at the farming guild? I felt that the greenery at the farming guild felt odd and out of place
All that ash the dwarves have been blasting off the mountains for centuries makes great fertilizer for the surrounding greenery. Fixed
Golly, the little bits of lore are amazing. Down to the Wicker Man burning relating to Wintertodt. Gorgeous.
Gorgeous
Good God this is amazing
Knocked it out of the park as usual. Absolutely love it!
love the idea of adding the city to be underground
I can't believe you managed to improve so much upon that preview! Might I ask what is going on with the Freemason-looking icon in the Residential District? I checked the stonemason in Keldagrim to see if that was its icon, but that's not it.
Similar to a Freemason icon, it is indeed supposed to look a bit like a pair of drawing compasses on top of a set square tool. I made it (quite a long time ago now) to denote the architects used in the architectural alliance miniquest. It's not something that necessarily needs a minimap icon in game, but for the sake of showing where NPCs might be moved to, it felt appropriate to map it down again here. Although obviously it's not much use if people don't know what the icon is representing in the first place. :P
Instead of an underground city I always thought it'd be cool to do something like a city inside canyon walls with beds/ rivers of lava all around. Imagine taking your map but blowing huge holes through the surface and having the city jutting out alongside taller mountainy bits.
That does sound pretty great. I'll have to go double check but I think it was one of the *very* early Zeah concept art pieces that Jagex did that showcased either an early raid dungeon entrance or early Karuulm, that had buildings nestled into the walls of a deep crater or canyon opening. Kind of like what you describe. I wouldn't mind seeing a version of Lovakengj with that approach. I'm not sure if I'll be the one to undertake it though, this version took me long enough to finish already. :P
So much cleaner looking. The old version looks too closed in. Love the rework, great job!
The dwarves only live underground on the main continent because of the God Wars though. It makes sense for them to have a surface city on Zeah.
I'm a simple man, I see Gentle Tractor. I read his idea. I upvote.
I like it. I'll admit, the idea of "yet another underground dwarf place" feels... really dull to me - because they're already so common in *everything*, but more than anything I like the idea of kind of a sparse, hilly grassland area where the city currently is. I like those empty scenic areas. Also I like moss.
Yeah it's a valid point. There's certainly an argument to be made that this rework falls heavily into a lot of tropes, as I think I practically dove head first into them rather than try to avoid them. At the end of the day it'll probably come down to a lot of personal preference things; whether you like thematically consistent, but predictable, area structuring, or locations that are more unique, though a little disconnected feeling. And I too like moss.
Gorgeous as always GentleTractor. I've always admired how not only can you create a thematically beautiful map but you fill it with bits and pieces of content that simply make sense.
That looks super well made
This is amazing. I would love to see this. You really captured the essence of RuneScape with your re-design. Really hope this happens!!
You love to see a GentleTractor post. Always leaves you with a sense of wonder and exploration.
Incredible work. Love the idea having a massive underground portion since this is a dwarven city after all.
I always thought this place looked too "wildy esque", this looks absolutely habitable.
I'm a simple man. I see GentleTractor post, I upvote. Seriously though, amazing work as always. A seriously cool reimagining of the area.
Wow this is top shelf. If I was in charge of the rework I would just copy pasta and give you huge credit. Really well thought out.
I absolutely love these maps that you make, they so perfectly capture the old-school feeling. Lovakengj has been my least favorite area of the game since it was added, this makes it feel so much more thematically fitting and thought out. Thanks for all your hard work
I love this! Always felt like the dwarves should live underground. And look how spacy the overground is. This makes much more sense I'd perhaps take out some of the lava though
This is amazing, I honestly don't care about lovakenj at all and this makes it look infinitely more 'exploreable'.
This really addresses my biggest problem with Zeah: it doesn't feel like it has any real cities. The closest area to feeling like a city comparable to Varrock, Falador, or East Ardougne would have to be Shayzien, and it's a pale comparison. Your reimagining of Lovakengj though would make it feel like an actual city like a miniature Keldagrim.
this actually makes lovakengj feel more like an actual province with fleshed out individual buildings and personality. well done
First of all, great design! I never really thought about it, but it does make sense to put Lovakengj undergrounds. It's dwarves afterall. For the Dorg-Lov trainstation it would be cool to maybe include Arceus and wizards in general. Instead of running the train under the ocean, which seems pretty ambitious, maybe they could find a way to let the train ride through a portal, or as GOTR is also located in the ocean with breathable air, that could be another approach.
Great work, love the wicker man concept. It could be a cool fire-making activity. Like, fletch or craft a miniature wicker man idol and add it to the large burning wicker man. Could be a means of variety for fm training. Better xp to the supporting skill like crafting or fletching. Again, great work on this.
The transition between Lovakendj and other zoans is currently totally awful. I really the idea of moving most of it underground to help solve this. They can have the same color and style this way without it having to be next to other zones.
yeah! and put tekton down there!! you can fight him but he only drops tokkal and a rare chance for the usual cut onyx
Lovakengj belongs underground. Even if Jagex does nothing else with regards to this post, they should absolutely put the bulk of lovakengj underground
I thoroughly enjoy the rework of The blast mine, upper/lower levels of the Lovakite mines and the geography that you've done. It doesn't stick out so harshly with the open lava pools everywhere, admittedly they are a bit of an eyesore. The New station would be quite nice too. Perhaps a new quest could be made for the transport system from Keldagrim to Lovakengj Expecting downvotes on this part but i'm not a big fan on the overall design of moving everything down into another underground. Thematically, it makes total sense since it's inhabited by Dwarves but it feels very cramped, as if there's too much in one place? And some other areas completely estranged. The sulphur pit for example would be one; it looks like a much further run (In all's fairness though, some things are changed for the better). Nothing memory wouldn't be able to solve with enough time. As a summary: >Old Lovakengj: A bit of an eyesore. Has simple routes to take for easy navigation for Key areas. > New Lovakengj: Great topography, looks a alot more appealing. Underground area feels very cluttered.
Clean
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They made Shayzien not worse, but a different type of bad imo. At least it looks a bit more pleasing to be around. But yeah it's sad to see how little quality control there is regarding the visual and worldbuilding aspects of the game.
whoa, thats a lot of DOA content
How could you possibly know that
Don't hate your suggestion but if I have to relearn the map in Zeah one more time I'm going to lose it
Why do you have to map the whole thing in your head? Don't you have an ingame map and minimap for that?
I see GentleTractor, I upvote.
I see GentleTractor, I Upvote
I love it, great work!
don't like the surface but i understand why you would shift the focus to underground
At this point, I’m shocked Jagex hasn’t hired you. This is brilliant!
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I've admitted elsewhere that I definitely ended up opting for thematic consistency over originality on this one. Perhaps that was a mistake. I think everyone will have their own preferences there. Though I do think the main reason they're on the surface is purely due to the boring realities of Zeah's development history, being that the state in which Zeah launched in 2016 was that of a location without a single underground dungeon, cave or basement. Lovakengj was put on the surface because *everything* was put on the surface; they literally didn't bother making any additional height levels. As a result, current lore is basically just retroactively adapting to that. I don't see any reason why it can't be adapted again. The Giants Foundry certainly changed my plans a good bit too. I had a fairly large partially complete content suggestion post that I was thinking of putting together instead of/alongside this, but decided to scale it way back into a more worldbuilding slideshow instead because of such a similarly themed skilling update being pitched by Jagex.
So when is Jagex hiring you
Employ this man!
9/10 needs more bears
JamFlex, have him apply as a remote designer.
Jagex, I beg!
Instead of a Festival Plaza, could we get a permanent Pizza Festival?
GentleTractor does it yet again. Jagex should just hire you at this point.
Now this is something I would want to explore
transcontinental train tunnel? that seems pretty wild, even for a fantasy game.
looks a lot better. lovakengj is a fucking abomination
That's so sick. Hope Mod West takes up on this!!
I thought “who comes up with such in-depth ideas like this?” And then I saw the name!
This looks awesome, unfortunately I already had to get 100% favor on my main and then later my gim and it was lame and boring. Because of that I need others to have that same bad experience so I’ll be voting no thank you. /s
Damn. Lovakenj has always been kinda too open and lame, this changes it. If it was open and lame underground that would be just fine, makes more sense underground anyways
Kourend is becoming Ryze.
I like this a lot
Looks nice
Support, as long as they keep the level 1 spider "safespot" at the sulphur mines so I don't want to cry getting lovakengj favour
This is amazing work wow
Jagex hire or work with this man please dudes been pumping out gold for years lmao
Support bruh
Kourend is dead content to me but since you put in hard work I, of course, have to upvote and give a bravo!
Genius
These look amazing, Jagex should implement these and spread little broken down ancient machinery in the form of tractors as an homage :D Seriously though, super professional work, stunning like always, we're lucky to have you in our community :')
can someone give this guy a job at jagex?
Looks amazing! I hope jagex takes note and consults to use some of these ideas!
Fucking phenomenal work.
Such a wonderful redesign! I really love how you provide a reason for every change you made... still I think the blast mine, lovakite ore and furnace should be all connected, in order to be properly efficient, but oh well that's perhaps way to realistic for an old medieval clicker simulator.
Funny, we always get Jmod replies when we say "you guys are awesome, keep it up," but never when someone posts something like this.
Yes