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Finished Lothlorien Vegetation

@Luckylarv I really like the picture, especially the mallorn trees are very near to the description in the book.
"The brances of the mallorn-tree grew out nearly straight from the trunk, and then swept upward; but near the top the main stem divided into a crown of many boughs, ..."

@BeatHeav3N, I tried some smaller mallorn trees, I think its possible to build small trees with normal logs. I have already made quite a lot of small trees in my themed builds. But I dont like using wool for leaves. The missing transparency makes the trees looking wrong. I tried less dense canopys but that does not really help. Is there any chance to get transparent mallorn leaves, for example would it be possible to retexture spruce leaves?

Another problem is, that the trees in Lothlorien are mostly very dense without clrearings. Our first concept is build in a place with exceptionally many clearings. I wonder if it would be possible within this project to remove some of the large mallorn trees to get more clearings. The actual forest ist very dark and most trees have moreless the same size. A natural forest would have trees of any size from saplings to giants.

Perhaps we could use jungle or acacia leaves and change the biome of the tree to desert. Im not sure if this will look good, but we can try it. And concerning the dark places in the woods, I'll ask permission to remove some mallorn trees, so there are more clearings, where we can put other trees instead.
 
I suppose you should let some areas (near the borders for example) with a light ground vegetation as showed on that picture made by Tolkien.
J.R.R._Tolkien_-_The_Forest_of_Lothlorien_in_Spring.jpg
 
Metadata is a sort of extra id that you give a block so it changes appearance. So one block has different textures. This requires mods though which makes things more complicated and which the normal noob on mcme won't be bothered to get. Even getting the right resource packs is too hard for some...
 
Metadata is a sort of extra id that you give a block so it changes appearance. So one block has different textures. This requires mods though which makes things more complicated and which the normal noob on mcme won't be bothered to get. Even getting the right resource packs is too hard for some...
Are all the fence blocks used in the Loth pack ?

You know, all forests don't have a heavy ground vegetation. Just look at some forest pictures in google image ;)
Don't forget Middle-earth forests are probably all primary forests!

Look at Białowieża!

2005-09_Bia%C5%82owieski_Park_Narodowy_2.jpg

4.Bialowieza+Forest.jpg

bialowiezaforest.jpg

Bialowieza_National_Park_in_Poland0029.JPG

Bison_live_in_Bialowieza_forest_2.jpg

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Are all the fence blocks used in the Loth pack ?
The fences are used, but the fence texture (not nether brick fence) actually looks ok for use as a tree trunk.

You guys who are leading this project should do your communicating and discussing in a pm, so you don't fill up this thread with things the rest of the community doesn't need to know.
 
Metadata is a sort of extra id that you give a block so it changes appearance. So one block has different textures. This requires mods though which makes things more complicated and which the normal noob on mcme won't be bothered to get. Even getting the right resource packs is too hard for some...
Will there is a plugin called metacycler, it does not require players to install any mods so that could be used to change block id's and...
 
I want to share some additional background lore, which we should have in mind working on lothlorien. Tolkiens describes the colours and the light of Lothlórien quite detailed (in contrast to the vegetation in itself):

At Cerin Amroth Frodos eye bandage was removed:
"Frodo stood awhile still lost in wonder. It seemed to him that he had stepped through a high window that looked on a vanished world. A light was upon it for which his language had no name. All that he saw was shapely, but the shapes seemed at once clear cut, as if they had been first conceived and drawn at the uncovering of his eyes, and ancient as if they had endure for ever. He saw no colour but those he knew, gold and white and blue and green, but they were fresh and poignant, as if he had at that moment first percieved them and made for them names new and wonderful. In winter here no heart could mourn for summer or for spring. No blemish or sickness or deformity could be seen in anything that grew upon the earth. On the land of Lórien there was no stain."
On the flett of Cerin Amroth Frodo is looking toward Caras Galadhon:

"Frodo looked and saw, still at some distance, a hill of many mighty trees, or a city of green towers: which it was he could not tell. Out of it, it seemed to him that the power and light came that held all the land in sway."
From: The fellowship of the ring, chapter: Lothlórien

At this backgound I would like to suggest:
  • There are already too many colours in our first concept, it looks overcrowded. In my opinion we should stick to the colors gold and white and blue and green.
  • For the trees i would prefere only light green (jungle and arcadia) leaves and yellow jungle leaves for mallorn trees.
  • I think there are also too many different types flowers. Tolkien only mentions elanor and niphredil, small yellow and white flowers (Some more should do of course.)
  • And we should get as much light in the forest as possible. I am even thinking about hiding glowstone beneath the golden leaves on the ground, it could look like some spot of sunlight. Though im not sure what it would look like with a shader mod. Could someone check that at our concept.

By the way ,there are many great visualisations in the films but Lórien is catastrophic. The pictures of Lothlórien in the film are the very reverse of Tolkiens description and I dont like them at all.
 
Will there is a plugin called metacycler, it does not require players to install any mods so that could be used to change block id's and...
I knew I was wrong on something but I do know it causes some trouble of sort. Anyway q wants to limit the plugin list too so metadata and mcme aren't for these times yet. Carry on with the convo.

I'd love to see some colour concepts in minecraft of your ideas muller. I think you guys have great ideas but now we need to see those in action.
 
"And we should get as much light in the forest as possible. I am even thinking about hiding glowstone beneath the golden leaves on the ground, it could look like some spot of sunlight. Though im not sure what it would look like with a shader mod. Could someone check that at our concept."

Alright, I don't disagree with your idea in many areas--but I do have shaders mod and can give you a visual representation, so you can have that resolved for you.
Shaders are very particular. The glowstone under leaves idea is not bad in a completely dark area--but there are no parts that are completely dark.
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As you can see below, here is an example of glowstone under leaves that I made in a completely dark area:
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gEe07go.jpg

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In the next image you will see that the effect is negated by light coming from outer sources such as sunlight--even if the source of sunlight is distant, the shaderpack still picks it up and creates a highlight:
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xX8ExEb.jpg

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So, in saying, as a shader pack user I wouldn't recommend it. And out of just my own opinion, I think seeing glowstone under leaves with transparent segments would be awkward and pull me out of the immersion seen in the below picture. But yes, needs more plants and foliage!
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REg1kf4.jpg
 
By the way ,there are many great visualisations in the films but Lórien is catastrophic. The pictures of Lothlórien in the film are the very reverse of Tolkiens description and I dont like them at all.
Well, movie Lórien is mainly seen by night... The only real problem (but a big one) is the alck of golden leafs, but we can still argue that in the movies the Fellowship goes through Lórien in spring or summer.
 
Well, movie Lórien is mainly seen by night... The only real problem (but a big one) is the alck of golden leafs, but we can still argue that in the movies the Fellowship goes through Lórien in spring or summer.
It is kinda strange that time doesn't really pass by in the movie version......especially since both day and night occur in the books.
 
@HeartseekerDK thank you for testing and I agree with our results for glowstone under transparent leaves.
But my idea was to dig a 1x1 hole three or more blocks deep put the glowstone at the bottom and put glass over it. On top of the glass a carpet covers the hole with no transparency but the light comes through. The carptet has a golden leaves texture in Lothlórien pack. I hide two glowstones in this way at our first concept. It would be great to hear your opinion about that.
 
Well, movie Lórien is mainly seen by night... The only real problem (but a big one) is the alck of golden leafs, but we can still argue that in the movies the Fellowship goes through Lórien in spring or summer.

In the book the Fellowship stayed in Lórien in winter from January 15th to Februray 16th. Our server is set to Bilbo's birthday at September 22th, I'm not sure if mallorn have already golden leaves that early in autumn. But does anyone wants a Lórien without golden leaves?
 
In the book the Fellowship stayed in Lórien in winter from January 15th to Februray 16th.
Yeah, I know. But I was strictly talking about the movies (and ot saying our Lórien should be done this way) ;) .
 
I think you should do golden leaves and increase vegetation on the ground, but, if you did not already know, there are two shades of gold leaves that were made by retexturing the wool. If you mix the two colors, it would add more immersion. If you really want transparent leaves, you could always retexture some of the the leaves so they are gold to start, but I have no preference because I play with fast graphics. I also would help If I am on the server when your doing it.
 
@HeartseekerDK thank you for testing and I agree with our results for glowstone under transparent leaves.
But my idea was to dig a 1x1 hole three or more blocks deep put the glowstone at the bottom and put glass over it. On top of the glass a carpet covers the hole with no transparency but the light comes through. The carptet has a golden leaves texture in Lothlórien pack. I hide two glowstones in this way at our first concept. It would be great to hear your opinion about that.

@mullerl Actually, you may be spot on when it comes to this. I just tried it out and it looks good even when in an open space. In fact, I'd probably recommend it if there is a need of light but a hole in the forest roof would be too bright--or if you want to create light on the forest floor even when a player has their playertime set to night. I stand corrected, friend. [:
KsBaeos.png
 
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