Thread title: Project Application: Mallorn Treebuild
Player name: Neverlegendary
Player rank: Builder
Location name: Lothlórien (mallorn forest)
Lore:
Not far from the falls of Nimrodel they found a cluster of trees, some of which overhung the stream. Their great grey trunks were of mighty girth, but their height could not be guessed.
‘I will climb up,’ said Legolas… ‘[These] trees are of a kind strange to me, save as a name in song. Mellyrn they are called, and are those that bear the yellow blossom…’
Its bark was silver and smooth, and its boughs somewhat upswept after the manner of the beech; but it never grew save with a single trunk. Its leaves, like those of the beech but greater, were pale green above and beneath were silver glistering in the sun; in the autumn they did not fall, but turned to pale gold. In the spring it bore golden blossom in clusters like a cherry, which bloomed on during the summer; and as soon as the flowers opened the leaves fell, so that through spring and summer a grove of malinornë was carpeted and roofed with gold, but its pillars were of grey silver. Its fruit was a nut with a silver shale…
Rising ground inside the circle was thick with mallorn-trees, the tallest they had yet seen in that land. The highest must have been nearly 200 feet high, 1 and of great girth. They had no branches lower than 3 fathoms 2 above their roots.
This is Tolkien’s drawing of the tree:
Overhead plan:
Creating a typical tree grid (as in /warp trees) with different mellyrn sizes.
My initial plan is to make 4 groups of them, with brief number of 15-30 grids/plots in each:
- small trees 6-11 blocks high
- medium trees 11-22 blocks high
- forest mesh, with the trees of 20-32 blocks high
- big trees, having the crown up to 40-50 blocks.
I’m also planning to make a simple guide for it, focusing espiecially on the big trees (40-50 blocks) explaining the important details to it.
Reference Imagery:
With, the respect to Tolkien’s representation of the trees, my main reference used for creating the style, came from a book ,Flora of Middle Earth", written by a professional botanist (thanks Whee, for sending this to me):
EDITED: I found this picture being quite adequate for my vision
Concept(s):
To explain it briefly in a few words:
- long, elegant trunk, having a wider base in bigger trees, making approx. 1/2 of the tree height
- branches starting off at a tight angle, close to the trunk, then spreading in a horizontal fashion, creating a sturdy supports (especially bigger trees)
- arrow-head(ish) shaped canopy, with visible clusters of leaves, having holes in the crown for light (it is harder to achieve with the smaller trees, they are going to be more packed)
Additional info:
For the really big mellyrm (50-65 blocks high), I thought, that making that on spot would be a better idea, since they are not so likely going to be cop- pasted a few times, and we could make them fit the surroundings better.
Decided to go with 12 plots, per every tree size for now (probably gonna increase the number soon)
