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Finished Moria West Gate

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Mershy

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~:~|~:~ Moria West Gate ~:~|~:~

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Project Leader: @Mershy
Co-Leader: @Joske50, @DoctorDaom
Project Staff: @barteldvn , @Wyattrox03 , @Human100




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OVERALL PROGRESS AND STATE

Approximate Overall Progress Percentage: 100%
Current Progress State: Planning + Building



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INTRODUCTION

This is the official post for the continuation of Moria West Gate. This project is the area from the entrance going eastward to the chasm. Hoping to get some planning continued and progress for this area.

At this time, the lower west gate is almost done, Daom has done a great job almost finishing this area up so we are going to take the baton from him and take it to the finish line.

I plan to separate the working areas into:

1 - Moria West Gate Exterior - 100%
2 - Lower West Gate - 100%
3 - Upper West Gate - 80%
4 - Cave Chasm past WestGate - 90%


1 - The exterior will be focusing on improving the "facade" of the mountain where the mellon door is located. We will do some terrain changes, blockmixing and some added details to bring the entire westgate area to a bigger standard for the server. The flooded pool will be edited alongside the ruins and some of the pathway leading up to the door. Lots of jobs and plots available!

2 - Lower West Gate consists of the area past the door, the first room with the staircase and the surrounding rooms either side. The biggest area if the project finished that needs some final additions but overall a good standard and precedent we want to set for the rest of Westgate

3 - Upper West Gate will be the largest area (if we also include the chasm) but this area will be the main trading/diplomatic area and the "bread and butter" of West Gate. This area needs lots of planning and organising before we can fully start. We do have the cave between the staircase and the first hall done.

4 - Cave Chasm marks the eventual end area of West Gate that then blends into the connection towards the rest of Moria.


BACKGROUND LORE

1 - 'There it lies,' he said, pointing away south-eastwards to where the mountains' sides fell sheer into the shadows at their feet. In the distance could be dimly seen a line of bare cliffs, and in their midst, taller than the rest, one great grey wall. ... They reached the strip of dry land between the lake and the cliffs.... A mile southwards along the shore they came upon holly trees. Stumps and dead boughs were rotting in the shallows, the remains it seemed of old thickets, or of a hedge that had once lined the road across the drowned valley. But close under the cliff there stood, still strong and living, two tall trees, larger than any trees of holly that Frodo had ever seen or imagined. Their great roots spread from the wall to the water.... [They] towered overhead, stiff, dark, and silent, throwing deep night-shadows about their feet, standing like sentinel pillars at the end of the road.... 'Here the Elven-way from Hollin ended. Holly was the token of the people of that land, and they planted it here to mark the end of their domain; for the West-door was made chiefly for their use in their traffic with the Lords of Moria. Those were happier days, when there was still close friendship at times between folk of different race, even between Dwarves and Elves.' The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 2, Ch 4, A Journey in the Dark (edited)

The Doors of Durin or West-gate were built in the dark cliffs of the Silvertine mountain and protected the entrance to what became the goblin-realm of Moria, once the Dwarf kingdom of Khazad-dûm. The doors were bordered on each side by two ancient holly trees, symbolising the border of the Elven realm of Eregion or Hollin.
The main entrance to Khazad-dûm was the Great Gates in Dimrill Dale, east of the Misty Mountains. During the Second Age, it was decided to open a way to the west side of the Silvertine, which would facilitate contact and cooperation with the Elven realm of Hollin.

The Elven Door was constructed in cooperation between Dwarves and Elves, sometime between S.A. 750 and 1500. It was the two greatest craftsmen of the Second Age, the Elf and Lord of Eregion, Celebrimbor, and the dwarf Narvi who built the Doors. These were the days before the Dark Years of Sauron's dominion in Middle-earth, and the friendship between Elven and Dwarven kingdoms was a rare and special event. During this peaceful time the Doors stood open, allowing unfettered trade. But during the War of the Elves and Sauron (in S.A. 1697) the Doors were sealed shut after Hollin fell to Sauron's forces.

In 2994, during the settling of Balin's Colony, they were attacked by an onslaught of orcs. Óin led a group to the west side of the city hoping to find escape through the Doors of Durin, but instead he found the water up to the doors where the Watcher in the Water killed him. The Dwarves were trapped, and wiped out

On 13 January 3019 the Fellowship of the Ring entered Moria through the Doors, but initially Gandalf could not find out the password to open them. Merry Brandybuck unknowingly gave Gandalf the answer by asking, "What does it mean by speak, friend, and enter?" When Gandalf realized that the correct translation was "Say friend and enter" he sprang up, laughed, and said "Mellon", which means "friend" in Sindarin, and the Doors opened. Shortly thereafter, the Watcher in the Water attacked the Fellowship and shut the Doors behind them. Afterwards Khazad-dûm was resettled by Dwarves; it is unknown if the Doors of Durin were ever repaired.
2 - “As the wizard passed on ahead up the great steps, he held his staff aloft, and from its tip there came a faint radiance. The wide stairway was sound and undamaged. Two hundred steps they counted, broad and shallow; and at the top they found an arched passage with a level floor leading on into the dark.”
3 - “The passage twisted round a few turns, and then began to descend. It went steadily down for a long while before it became level once again.”

“The air grew hot and stifling, but it was not foul, and at times they felt currents of cooler air upon their faces, issuing from half-guessed openings in the walls.”

INSPIRATION

1 -


2 -



CONCEPTS




NEXT STEPS

So the next steps within the project it to finalise and upload the layouts for the Upper West Gate as well as the plans for the chasm. The terrain outside will require lots of help and we currently have lore markers and pre planning for that being set up. Lower West Gate is almost finished we have only a couple more halls to add and some slight edits to finalise.

If anyone would like to help or is interested in some Moria building drop me a message on discord. This time around I will be doing updates to the post either including more images, plans and work that can be done.

Overall, I am quite excited to get involved with another project, back into the depths of Moria.
 
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UPDATE 1

First update of many as we progress the planning areas of the project.



Progressing the Upper Planning a bit, I have fleshed out some of the key areas that are past the staircase. So intially we want to think about a diplomatic area that really conveys the dwarven wow factor. A village district where the dwarves in the vicinity would've lived as well as a bustling trade area.
 
UPDATE 2

Update 2 on the project! So we have been working away at the exterior terrain, interior cave connector and the diplomatic entrance hall. Lots of wool planning on the exterior thanks to @TheStephen helping out a lot, thanks to @Dahlfc for some lovely rock formations too. @draonic_slayer will get to work on the mountain and the surrounding area to blend and update the mountain facade. The cave connector was swiftly coloured by @Wyattrox03 with some helping hands and I am quite pleased with the results. As well as the diplomatic entrance hall with props to @barteldvn and @2nah for some help.

Next steps consist of continuing the terrain and getting the first intial halls ready to be pasted in!

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UPDATE 3 - PUTTING THE 3 IN 2023

Nice January update for you all.

Section 1 - Stephen has been busy helping me with the lake colours as well as the other details we plan to add to the terrain. W0rld and Orruss added some interesting spiked details onto the right side as well. Bart has made an amazing version of the new style of terrain, some lovely mountain tops and great shapes. When he is finished up with that we can then start to re-paste in the details. The lake area will be done as a job when we get around to that!

Section 2 - Human100 has been hard at work finishing up the Trade section of Lower Westgate. We intent to get this done then we can create the TP zone to Upper and continue the trade areas there. Wieldablemars and Itai have also helped with some final details within section 2 so thank you for that. I also got Daom back to help move and realign some areas that needed to be pasted back in. Section 2 has good progress and is almost done so I am quite excited to get this area done.

Section 3 - Lots of changes in this area, lots of new ideas and ways we can create the official "entry" way into Moria. A slight redesign of the main hall done by Rwyland, Bart and I as well as the newer hallway done by Daom and ruined by Mars. 2nah has been hard at work making the barracks for the area and its coming along quite nicely. Daom also helped with the private meeting area and created a lovely centralised eating space which is then surrounded by these rooms.

Section 4 - I am keen to get Wyatt started on some ideas so hopefully within the next month or 2 we can start looking at this area.

Overall Im pleased with the progress in which we are working. I'd love to get more people involved. I have a range of things people could do so dont be afraid to reach out.

Goals for Update 4

Section 1 -


  • Terrain finalised
  • Details pasted back and jobs and plots to be ran

Section 2 -

  • Finish Humans trade area
  • Finalise TP zone placement

Section 3 -

  • Finish Barracks
  • Finish Meeting areas
  • First hall (Ruin and flooring details)
  • Governers House
  • Initial Route to trade





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Hallway shot from the cave into the first hall



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New hallyway into the first hall done by Daom and detailed by WieldableMars

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Central eating area
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Small sneak prevew of Barts work for the terrain

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Human100s Lower Westgate trade area
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WieldableMars' detail in the stable/cart storage

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New Layout and entrance for the first hall into Westgate
 
UPDATE 3 - PUTTING THE 3 IN 2023

Nice January update for you all.

Section 1 - Stephen has been busy helping me with the lake colours as well as the other details we plan to add to the terrain. W0rld and Orruss added some interesting spiked details onto the right side as well. Bart has made an amazing version of the new style of terrain, some lovely mountain tops and great shapes. When he is finished up with that we can then start to re-paste in the details. The lake area will be done as a job when we get around to that!

Section 2 - Human100 has been hard at work finishing up the Trade section of Lower Westgate. We intent to get this done then we can create the TP zone to Upper and continue the trade areas there. Wieldablemars and Itai have also helped with some final details within section 2 so thank you for that. I also got Daom back to help move and realign some areas that needed to be pasted back in. Section 2 has good progress and is almost done so I am quite excited to get this area done.

Section 3 - Lots of changes in this area, lots of new ideas and ways we can create the official "entry" way into Moria. A slight redesign of the main hall done by Rwyland, Bart and I as well as the newer hallway done by Daom and ruined by Mars. 2nah has been hard at work making the barracks for the area and its coming along quite nicely. Daom also helped with the private meeting area and created a lovely centralised eating space which is then surrounded by these rooms.

Section 4 - I am keen to get Wyatt started on some ideas so hopefully within the next month or 2 we can start looking at this area.

Overall Im pleased with the progress in which we are working. I'd love to get more people involved. I have a range of things people could do so dont be afraid to reach out.

Goals for Update 4

Section 1 -


  • Terrain finalised
  • Details pasted back and jobs and plots to be ran

Section 2 -

  • Finish Humans trade area
  • Finalise TP zone placement

Section 3 -

  • Finish Barracks
  • Finish Meeting areas
  • First hall (Ruin and flooring details)
  • Governers House
  • Initial Route to trade





View attachment 26681
Hallway shot from the cave into the first hall



View attachment 26682

New hallyway into the first hall done by Daom and detailed by WieldableMars

View attachment 26684

Central eating area
View attachment 26688

Small sneak prevew of Barts work for the terrain

View attachment 26689

Human100s Lower Westgate trade area
View attachment 26690

WieldableMars' detail in the stable/cart storage

View attachment 26691

New Layout and entrance for the first hall into Westgate
Mershy and the Westgate team, fantastic work here. As a first-time member walking through Moria, I was literally blown away by the detail, size and atmosphere. The tour provided by @Wyattrox03 and Co was phenomenal. Can't wait to see the improvements completed.
 
UPDATE 4 - Back from holiday and onwards into Moria
So much progress after the last update in every current section which I am really pleased with.


Section 1 - Whilst being away, Joske & TheStephen led the charge with the task of finishing up the WestGate terrain. I am really happy with what the guys did and the huge collboration from lots of others. Amazing details, river, bridge and tower features that really compliment the terrain work Bart did previously. The footprints have been shifted to where the new road path is and follows the book description better. The final thing we need to do is add the trees and small shubbery concepts from threepizzas and then I can safely say this whole section is done.

Section 2 - Lower west I can safely say is done! Massive progress and congrats to everyone that helped, the connector is finished and humans trade area is finished up. We just need to add the teleport zone to upper Moria.

Section 3 - This area has also had a lot of great work being done. The meeting halls are all finished and just needs slight ruining, Wieldablemars has been working away at the ruining in the main hall and Daom has been grinding away at the Governers house. Joske has also been working away at the tradehall and I planned out a cave connector that connects it to the lower connector. This has also been pasted into Moria for Joske to continue working and for us to figure the tp zone out too.

Goals for Update 5 -

Section 1 - Finish trees and place shubbery

Section 3 -

  • Finish First hall
  • Governers House
  • Paste the cave and first hall in Moria
  • Finish trade hall/zone
  • Continue planning towards Section 4


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Section 1 Helpers

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Terrain render (Done by me)
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Lower West Humans trade area
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Trade cave connector (Moria)

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Joskes Trade hall
 
UPDATE 5 - Choo Choo Moria train!


Section 1 -
Fully done! (Trees and shubbery were placed in)

Section 2 - Fully done!

Section 3 - First Hall and Governers house are done as well was the pasting within main Moria world. We have begun and continue working in Moria world so we plan towards where the end of the project lies. The trade hall has also been finished up and do a beautiful standard as well as the merchant guild past it and the cave beforehand is almost there too. The dwelling cave is pasted and will need some linking up to Section 4. Joske has started working on the connector between the main hall and the trade hall.

Section 4 - Wyatt has begun voxelling the cave and created mining areas for furture work. Lots of logitistical brainpower needed to connect all this up including the dwelling cave connection.

Overall, really motivated and excited to see lots of great builds and support for the project. The train continues towards its goal! Thank you to all for the help

Goals for Update 6

Section 3 -
  • Finish trade cave
  • Finish Main hall -> Trade Hall connector
  • Finalise Dwelling cave
  • Connect Section 3 to Section 4
  • Mainworld -> Moria trade TP link


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Joske's connector from main hall trade
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Human100 merchant guild
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Main trade hall final shots
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Trade cave
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DoctorDaom dwelling hall concepts
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Dwelling Cave continued towards Section 4
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Section 4 Planning stage
 
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