The Great Mines of Moria

[Dav3ck]

Leader: @dav3ck (Blockfant)
Co-Leader: @barteldvn
/warp MoriaMines

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This is the Project Thread for the Great Mines of Moria. The Location is a bit to the north of the Chamber of Light. The huge cave is upon the fellowships path and glimpse of it can even be seen in the extended scenes of the first movie. Because of the size of this project we have decided it would be better to have a seperate forum Discussion about it.

Planning

Because of the immense size of the cave it can be devided into multiple sections. The First Area, which we are currently working on, is a high ravine. The Cave will have many layers on both sides of the cave with each layer being decorated with smaller Caves, Supportbeams, Rails, Storage Etc.This area will also have a couple of massive structures Connecting the Layers together.
Through the middle of the Ravine there will be a (dried up) river which was used for transporting ores & construction materials.

Currently we are still working on the general concept of this area, But hopefully we can soon have more people work on it.

We have not yet started planning/ Work on the other area's of the Great Mines, but expect an update about that in the near future.

Edit: switched Leadership Roles

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[ooitsbirdo]

Perfect for buildday

 

[Dav3ck]

Update

​

Hey all, Dave here. Bringing a long anticipated Moria Mines update. Over the last week me and a small team have been trying to breath some life back into this massive project. In this post I will quickly run through the things that we have been working on, and explain how we are planning to continue in the future.

So our main focus last week was working on more concepts for the great Mines, which involved making more massive wooden structures to get a better feel for the place, but also dig in and make a concept for the tunnel systems which will be running all over the place. In both these area's we really put emphazis on detail & creativity.

There are currently still a bunch of concepts we are working on and hopefully we will be able to show these of too the community in the near future. That includes things as the stone mixing colour pallet/ pattern and the fine detailing of the layers to name a few.


How to continue

Before I can properly explain this I first need to tell you all that we have decided to split the work into 2 groups.

First of all we have the massive wooden structures. For these we have a really high standard, and because we do not want to have just a couple of structures copied all over the place, this also requires a lot of time and creativity. These structures can also become really complex and difficult to construct at times. Therefor we have decided that we will not let everyone work on these structures. Instead I will be working with an artist at the time, Giving them some work to do, and train them up to a level with which I feel comfortable to have them work alone. So hopefully in a little while I can have a small team of skilled & trained builders who will be up for the challenge. And with them we will work as a team too build all the massive wooden structures of the Moria Mines. If you are intrested into doing this feel free to start experimenting with it in freebuild, just copy a section of the terrain and go wild.

Second we have all the fine Detailing/ Terrain smoothing/ Mineshafts etc. These tasks will be available as jobs for any Artist+. I will post regular job lists filled with these small tasks any artist can do in about ~15 min (for an example of this list look down below). After an Artist has completed one of these tasks they can sent me a PM on discord or on the forums that they have done it and I will update the list.
However every tasks will be done twice by 2 different artists, the reasoning for this is that I have experienced that the result is always at a higher quality. Mainly because this forces the second artist to really think about what he/ she can add too improve on the work of the other artist, this consequently forces them to be more creative in their block choice which is preciesly what we are looking for.

A good example of the Mineshaft detailing can be found at /warp MoriaMineShaft. There are different ways on how to decorate one of these Mineshafts, some of which I will now list below, but ofcourse creativity is always welcome:

Spoiler: Mineshaft Detailing

-Central Storage area: Mainly crates, tools, paperwork
-Normal Mineshaft (with/without rails): Mainly a place with rocks and ores.
-Collapsed Mineshaft: A big pile of rubble, if its a small collapse u can continue the mineshaft after it.
-Flooded Mineshaft: Some general detailing which are then flooded by water, so when u go into one u can swim around and still feel like you are in an old mine and not an empty tunnel.
-Work station: Small repair station/ storage
-Connector: Can be anything from a ladder going up to just a normal tunnel.

In the empty Shafts u will often find a sign saying what kind of structure we want there if any. But always feel free to add your own creative touch to it.


Yours truelly,

Davy

Additional Resources:
Real world Inspiration
/warp MoriaMines
/warp MoriaMineShaft

/fbt for full brightness

Example List:

Type	Coordinates	1# Builder	2# Builder	Additional Information	Completed
Storage/ Mineshaft/ Layer detailing/ Terrain smoothing	x/y/z Every Artist+ can use /gm 3	Name of the first Builder	Name of the second Builder	Special structure etc.	Y/N
Mineshaft	-6914 / 104 / -7202	@Blockfant	TBD	Can be found on Signs	N

 

[RubenPieterMark]

Update

View attachment 13478

​

Hey all, Dave here. Bringing a long anticipated Moria Mines update. Over the last week me and a small team have been trying to breath some life back into this massive project. In this post I will quickly run through the things that we have been working on, and explain how we are planning to continue in the future.

So our main focus last week was working on more concepts for the great Mines, which involved making more massive wooden structures to get a better feel for the place, but also dig in and make a concept for the tunnel systems which will be running all over the place. In both these area's we really put emphazis on detail & creativity.

There are currently still a bunch of concepts we are working on and hopefully we will be able to show these of too the community in the near future. That includes things as the stone mixing colour pallet/ pattern and the fine detailing of the layers to name a few.


How to continue

Before I can properly explain this I first need to tell you all that we have decided to split the work into 2 groups.

First of all we have the massive wooden structures. For these we have a really high standard, and because we do not want to have just a couple of structures copied all over the place, this also requires a lot of time and creativity. These structures can also become really complex and difficult to construct at times. Therefor we have decided that we will not let everyone work on these structures. Instead I will be working with an artist at the time, Giving them some work to do, and train them up to a level with which I feel comfortable to have them work alone. So hopefully in a little while I can have a small team of skilled & trained builders who will be up for the challenge. And with them we will work as a team too build all the massive wooden structures of the Moria Mines. If you are intrested into doing this feel free to start experimenting with it in freebuild, just copy a section of the terrain and go wild.

Second we have all the fine Detailing/ Terrain smoothing/ Mineshafts etc. These tasks will be available as jobs for any Artist+. I will post regular job lists filled with these small tasks any artist can do in about ~15 min (for an example of this list look down below). After an Artist has completed one of these tasks they can sent me a PM on discord or on the forums that they have done it and I will update the list.
However every tasks will be done twice by 2 different artists, the reasoning for this is that I have experienced that the result is always at a higher quality. Mainly because this forces the second artist to really think about what he/ she can add too improve on the work of the other artist, this consequently forces them to be more creative in their block choice which is preciesly what we are looking for.

A good example of the Mineshaft detailing can be found at /warp MoriaMineShaft. There are different ways on how to decorate one of these Mineshafts, some of which I will now list below, but ofcourse creativity is always welcome:

Spoiler: Mineshaft Detailing

View attachment 13477

-Central Storage area: Mainly crates, tools, paperwork
-Normal Mineshaft (with/without rails): Mainly a place with rocks and ores.
-Collapsed Mineshaft: A big pile of rubble, if its a small collapse u can continue the mineshaft after it.
-Flooded Mineshaft: Some general detailing which are then flooded by water, so when u go into one u can swim around and still feel like you are in an old mine and not an empty tunnel.
-Work station: Small repair station/ storage
-Connector: Can be anything from a ladder going up to just a normal tunnel.

In the empty Shafts u will often find a sign saying what kind of structure we want there if any. But always feel free to add your own creative touch to it.


Yours truelly,

Davy

Additional Resources:
Real world Inspiration
/warp MoriaMines
/warp MoriaMineShaft

/fbt for full brightness

Example List:

Type	Coordinates	1# Builder	2# Builder	Additional Information	Completed
Storage/ Mineshaft/ Layer detailing/ Terrain smoothing	x/y/z Every Artist+ can use /gm 3	Name of the first Builder	Name of the second Builder	Special structure etc.	Y/N
Mineshaft	-6914 / 104 / -7202	@Blockfant	TBD	Can be found on Signs	N

So I guess I wrote this for nothing?

 

[Dav3ck]

No,


But there will always be a general discussion whether or not enough realism is used. And often it's difficult to combine the grand scale of the dwarven architecture that is depicted in the books & movies with realism with real life examples, because sadly there is no real world Moria too compare it too. If u take issue with the Mine being layered as it is, The decision for this was made by despot and is based on the few second clip we see in the extended edition of the movies. Besides just having a few shafts going in from these layers and a couple of platforms here and there ( things that we do actually have! but as fine detailing) does not feel like it honors the dwarven scale, and besides this would be an extremely boring and forgetful place to visit.


Besides, all these large structures do fulfill a realistic purpose and are not just there for the sake of it, Most deals with either the carrying of the resources or are used to deal with the rubble as you described in your realism guide (Massive rock slides/ Minecart elevators / Huge water powered conveyor belts. And it's a big place, we do not want to go around copying everything so yeah of course eventually u need to become a bit more creative with what kind of structures you have just to keep it interesting, so sometimes we look further than the real world for inspiration because well hell, it's a fantasy world ( example of these would be the elevator chairs also depicted in the hobbit movie.


Looking in the Mine Shafts themselves I don't see anything necessarily we don't have that your realism guide strictly tells us to have. we have a lot of support structures/ mechanisms to deal with rubble/ Bird cases. Instead of covering the entire wall with wood we use the net texture to keep rocks from falling (often used in the real world near cliff sides). Even looking at the water issue mines experienced, There's something you should be excited about because of course after the mine being abandoned for a while some shafts will flood. We even already decided on having a channel down bellow to deal with transport as u suggested in your guide.


So really I have a hard time understanding what else u want from us realism wise, I more have the feeling u haven't really properly looked at the great mines.


If this answer still does not suffice u, please message me with your complains on discord, and we shall discuss them. But please also realise that adding Realism to such a project but still making it look epic and grand scale is not an easy task, and sometimes it requires compromise.

 

[RubenPieterMark]

So really I have a hard time understanding what else u want from us realism wise, I more have the feeling u haven't really properly looked at the great mines.

As written out more extensively in the realism guide, there are only a few additions to be made for the mines to make it realistic. These additions do not require any revamping of the current layout, but instead they are extra features that in fact make the mines much more creative.

The general idea of realism on the server is that you cannot do a lot of things, but, at least in this case, realism means that you have to do more things, thus resulting in a much more interesting building.

These additions include:

• a water drainage system made from vertically layered man-powered waterwheels;
• a ventilation wheel or bellow; water-powered or man-powered;
• an infrastructure that can manage to load off debris, with cranes, wide enough roads and maybe even creative stuff like rafts on an underground river (which you seem to have added already).

 

[Dav3ck]

Type	Coordinates	1# Builder	2# Builder	Additional Information	Completed
Storage/ Mineshaft/ Layer detailing/ Terrain smoothing	x/y/z Every Artist+ can use /gm 3	Name of the first Builder	Name of the second Builder	Special structure etc.	Y/N
MineShaft #1 : Mining shaft	-6973 / 59 / -7377			Size: Medium	N
MineShaft #2 : Mining shaft	-6983 / 63 / -7373			Size: Big	N
MineShaft #3 : Mining shaft + Small storage	-6987 / 58 / -7370			Size: Big	N
MineShaft #4 : Mining shaft	-6987 / 58 / -7365			Size: Medium	N
MineShaft #5 : Mining shaft	-6989 / 57 / -7339			Size: Medium	N
MineShaft #6 : Mining shaft	-6950 / 59 / -7336			Size: Medium	N
MineShaft #7 : Mining shaft	-6955 / 63 / -7335			Size: Small	N
MineShaft #8 : Mining shaft	-6956 / 60 / -7363			Size: Small	N

Here are a bunch of small tasks in the Great Mines of Moria. All are very similar in nature, its just some Mining Shafts, so generally speaking:
- No (or barely any ) Storage
- CobbleStone Piles
- Small Support pillars
- Crates filled with rubble
- Cave Smoothing

Ofcourse u are also allowed to add some special things such as:
- Nets
- Small raised platforms (to reach higher ores)
- Ladders
- Etc.

Be creative!

An example of these kinds of MineShafts can be found at /warp MoriaMineShaft

If u wish to claim any of these tasks, Sent me a message on Either discord or the forums.


Yours truelly, Blockfant (Dav3ck)