Update:Blog - Clan Updates: The Clan Camp
This blog was written by Mod Stead and dates to 7 March 2011.
Location, location, location
The premise for the clan camp was to create an area where clans can meet up, chat and recruit new members. With this in mind, it became apparent we would need a suitably large and open area for the camp. This meant the area south of Falador was an ideal location, as it was large enough for all the sections of the camp and ideally placed for players to reach.
Once the location of the camp was decided, we then planned out the layout. This meant balancing aesthetic design with gameplay elements to come up with an attractive yet functional area.
Pitching camp
The look and feel of the camp has been designed to give it a temporary appearance, much like a travelling circus. We achieved this by using canvas tents and structures built mainly from the wood found in the area.
As we wanted to make the new camp as accessible as possible for players, and to make it as obvious as we could when the player is inside the camp, we used the old path layout as a base and created three large entrances, plus a few smaller entrances as shortcuts into the camp, all of which is encompassed by a rope fence.
The design of the camp interior has been created around three separate hubs. At the centre of each of these hubs sits a key structure that the player will be able to interact with. The central hub allows the player easy access to the camp noticeboard, waiting area tent and two important new characters: the Games Master and Head of the Guard. These two cool characters have been created especially for the camp - they have their own themed tents and their own unique animations to define their personalities!
Branching off from the central hub, we have an area set up to allow players to create new clans and actively recruit new members to their clan. In this area, we also have another new character - the clan scribe - who at first glance might look out of place in a tent, all dressed up in his suit and bow tie, but he is in fact an important part of the camp (and takes his job seriously!). He also comes with new, unique animations that express his personality.
The third hub is an area that's still under construction and features an important structure unlike any other in the camp.
Sprucing it up
Once we had the layout of the camp with its main areas mapped down, we began adding in flavour pieces to make the camp believable. This included items such as campfires, crates, carts, etc. Anything you'd expect to see in a lived-in camp such as this.
With the camp looking great, we decided to update the rest of the area by adding our new tree designs. These new tree designs have only just become possible due to a recent update to our graphics engine, which has allowed us the ability to use more detailed textures in all graphics modes, as well as the ability to build bigger and more exciting set pieces.
A good example of this is the new tents. In the past, we have had to build structures using kit pieces, but with the new engine features we can build entire structures as one piece of geometry and manually set where the player can and can't walk. So, expect to see bigger and better structures and scenery in the future!
Along with the new trees, we updated the terrain of the area, so new paths were created along with a host of new shrubs and ground scenery.
The colour scheme for the area was particularly important because we didn't want the camp to look like a circus, but still look like it blended into the environment. For this reason, we used mainly royal blues and reds for the main tents, and pastel reds and blues for the other tents. This gave the camp a regal look without it being overstated.
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