Northpoint: Wereboar

Today we are introducing another unique creature of Northpoint; the Wereboar!  Created by the very talented KaelinH.  These nasty creatures dwell in the deepest woods and caverns of High Rock and make for formidable opponents.

Northpoint: Interior Level Design

We've been hard at work these last few months on Northpoint's interiors.  This means: town houses, farms and dungeons.  Here's a little visual update:

Scamps!

That video I promised should be ready soon, our video guy assures me, but in the meantime check out a new creature model for Northpoint by Nate. It's the Scamp, who will feature in a new conjuration spell:

Deadpan Pays Fisto a Visit

A short video by Kaz Foxsen, from the gameplay of Beyond Boulder Dome:

Sorry for the delay, to those awaiting our next big update! I've been holding off on the updates for the past few weeks, as I was waiting for a video to be completed that I wanted to show you guys. Unfortunately, our video guy has been having some computer troubles lately and lost some of his work, so it'll be a little while longer yet before that big update.

But don't let the blog silence fool you! We've still been hard at work and made considerable progress. I won't go into specifics in this post, as not to spoil anything for that big update, but I just wanted to let you guys know that we've not gone anywhere and we're still hard at it!

Rob

The Herne

This is not yet the big Northpoint update I promised, but just something to tide you over in the meantime. This is the Herne model, created by Andrew Short, for our Bloodhunt project. This Herne is a unique creature, the size of a giant, and he's taking part in the hunt in Hircine's realm. Think you've got what it takes to bring this guy down? If you click on the image below, you can view the model in 3D:

Controls: Hold left-click and move mouse to rotate. Hold right-click and move mouse to pan up/down/left/right. Scroll mouse-wheel to zoom in/out.

Quick Update

I know it's been a long time since our last update guys! Just letting everyone know that we've not gone anywhere, and we're still hard at work on our projects. I won't spoil anything yet, but there's gonna be a big update soon, as we've made considerable progress. So watch this space!

Progress Update: 17th July

Our modellers have been hard at work and made significant headway in the past few weeks.  The Ogrim is nearing completion, the Sheep and Rams of Northpoint are nearly finalised and the Herne of Bloodhunt is currently being textured.

 
Ogrim by Yogesh

Northpoint Ram by Kaelin

Herne by Andrew Short

A New Writer Joins The Team!

We are happy to welcome Sandra Carrington-Smith to the Bloodhunt team, as our new dialogue writer! Sandra is a very experienced writer and published author. One of her novels, THE BOOK OF OBEAH, is in pre-production to be a film.

The audio-book of the same novel is narrated by Dave Fennoy, who is the voice of Lee Everett in The Walking Dead video game. She is also currently writing the third book in her CROSSROADS series.

She's already been working on Hircine's dialogue and has done a fantastic job!

Check out her website: www.sandracarringtonsmith.com/

Progress Update: 23rd June

Just an update for you guys, to let you know how we're getting on! Had a few LOD and file-merging issues, but I've dealt with them now, so that's all working fine now. At the moment I'm working on some prototypes for new gameplay features and spells for Northpoint. I won't give away what they are just yet, but it's some pretty exciting stuff.

If you guys ever have suggestions on what you'd like to see, feel free to post a comment, and we'll take them into consideration. We're always happy to hear new ideas!

Kaelin, creator of the Grahls, is now working on some Wereboars and Woolly Sheep! He'll be creating some concept art for them first, which I'll share here when they're done, and expect some nice renders when the models are completed!

Also, Xenoo will be finishing work on our Hircine model soon, so expect some nice shots of him as well!

Ionis has laid the foundations for a lot of the interiors of Northpoint, so now our interior level designers are beginning their work. On that topic, we could still use help in that regard, so if you're a talented level designer, please get in touch!

Thanks for following us!

Rob

Northpoint: Landscape & Creature Shots

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but my aim is to keep this blog more regularly updated, so I'll do my best to that end. However, I think the wait will have been worth it, as we've got plenty of content to show off for this post!

First of all, I'm sure you'll agree that Kaelin our 3d modeler has outdone himself again! He's just finished work on the fearsome male Grahl, who you can see in the image below, accompanied by the smaller female Grahl he created previously. What a beautifully vicious couple they are! :D

Click HERE to view full-size image.

The Grahl are the trolls of Northpoint. You'll find them living in caves and wandering the rugged, wintery wastes.

Next up we have some new level designing shots from Ionis. I just finished generating the LOD (distant objects) mountains for Northpoint, so I decided to have a run around and take some shots for you. Obviously these areas are still a WIP, as Ionis is going to come in later and do some fine detailing for these locations so they won't look as bare/empty, but already you can see there's a lot of great work there:

We've also got some progress shots on new creatures: the Herne and the Ogrim coming very soon. Also, 3d modeler Nathan has been working on a very special secret creature. The model has been completed, so now it only needs texturing. I'd love to show you the creature, as it looks magnificent, but sadly to do so would ruin Northpoint's main questline for you, so you'll just have to wait and be surprised! :)

Thanks for reading and watch this space for more info coming soon!

Rob

Northpoint: Interior Level Designer's Wanted

The Beyond Team are now looking for interior level designers to work on our main Skyrim project: Northpoint.

Leave a reply, if you're interested, with links to screenshots of your previous work. Alternatively, you can email me at typingsound@gmail.com

There are also opportunities to help out in other ways, so get in touch if you feel you have something to offer!

Rob

Artists Wanted!

Kaz has written up an ad for our current position vacancies, which we'll be posting around:


The Beyond Modding team, which created the Fallout: New Vegas mod “Beyond Boulder Dome,” is seeking one or two artists to create 2-D assets for an original point-and-click sci-fi game called “Red Sol Extinction.” Since the game is in early development, we are in need of all assets including environments, animated character sprites, and character portraits. We’re looking for a somewhat realistic style similar to that of the games “Beneath a Steel Sky” and “Gemini Rue,” but of higher resolution with 32-bit color. Here is a synopsis of the game:


“In the distant future, a team of researchers study alien ruins on a lush, habitable world in hopes of claiming a new home. However, they must first discover what caused the extinction of its previous inhabitants: humans.

When evidence suggests Mars as the origin of the extinction event, you, the team’s top anthropologist, must travel back to a time when humans roamed the Red Planet. After possessing the bodies of two humans in different Martian eras, you can coordinate your investigative efforts through time, while trying to evade suspicion.”


As the project is currently non-profit, this will be an unpaid role, though there may be the possibility to earn at some point in the future.

If you specialize in characters, backgrounds, or both, please contact Rob at typingsound@gmail.com. For team updates, check out our blog here: beyondmodding.blogspot.co.uk

Iain (Ionis) has now finished level design work for all the named locations in our Northpoint mod! So I'm currently working on merging his work into the main heightmap (ESM) file, and once I've done that I'll re-generate the (LOD) distant object models, so we can have a good look at Northpoint in all its glory! At which point I'll take a bunch of screenshots for you guys and post them here on the blog! You won't have too long to wait!

In other news, sadly, our artist Jimmy has left the team for now, due to personal reasons. So we'll soon be recruiting a couple of new artists to work on our 2d game project, Red Sol Extinction. We'll be posting an ad for the positions very soon.

On the modelling front, progress is coming along nicely. In the works we have a male Grahl, a Herne (for Bloodhunt) as well as a special secret creature that won't be revealed until you play our Northpoint mod and discover it yourself! But aside from the secret creature, more progress shots will be posted soon on these and the other creatures.

Introducing: Red Sol Extinction

Click HERE for full-size promo art!

In the distant future, a team of researchers study alien ruins on a lush, habitable world in hopes of claiming a new home. However, they must first discover what caused the extinction of its previous inhabitants: humans.

When evidence suggests Mars as the origin of the extinction event, you, the team’s top anthropologist, must travel back to a time when humans roamed the Red Planet. After possessing the bodies of two humans in different Martian eras, you can coordinate your investigative efforts through time, while trying to evade suspicion.

Red Sol Extinction is an upcoming original game for the PC, currenly in development by The Beyond Team, created in the classic 2d point-and-click style of games like Beneath A Steel Sky and Fate of Atlantis. It will be a full length game of the scifi genre, and will feature professional-quality artwork, dialogue and voice acting.

It is still too early to guesstimate a release date, but keep checking back on the blog for more info.

Deadpan Portrait

Had this on the back burner for a while, but finally finished it.

Bloodhunt: Hircine Model Progress

Check out a new progress shot for Hircine, from our Skyrim project, Bloodhunt.

Designed and modeled by Xenoo.

Northpoint: Female Grahl Render

Hang on to your husbands, ladies. There's a new bitch in town!

Enjoy this glorious render of our female Grahl, created by Kaelin. You'll find her exclusively in Northpoint, our main Skyrim project. Stay tuned for more!

Click HERE to see the full-size image in all its glory!

Creatures of Northpoint 01

3d Modelers, Kaelin and Yogesh, have been hard at work on the creatures of Northpoint.

Kaelin has been working on our re-imagined version of the Grahl, who serve as the rugged trolls of Northpoint. Here is our decided concept of them:

And here is Kaelin's current progress on the female troll model:

Next up is Yogesh's concept art for our version of the Ogrim:

And here is an early progress shot of the Ogrim model:

I'll be posting more images later, as they progress with these and other models, so keep checking back with us to see more content!

Also, very soon we'll be announcing our classic 2d game project, with new concept art, as well as a description of the game. At the moment, we're banging our head's together, trying to decide on a title!

Anyway, thank you Kaelin and Yogesh for your brilliant work so far!

Northpoint: The City

This week I completed the redesign of the city in our new wintery style.  Northpoint is the largest settlement in the Kingdom and is home to the powerful Hall Dunfell.  It is also the location of the land's parliament - the House of Halls - where the main political factions convene.

- Iain

Northpoint: Redesign

Northpoint has undergone a bit of a redesign, out with the old dreary roughlands and in with the new wintery wonderland!

As a diehard fan of Bloodmoon (second expansion for Morrowind) I'd like to inject some of that old magical mystery and wonderment into Northpoint.

Below are a few screenshots displaying one of our new regions the 'Bernician Plains' and the completed location 'Albrow Farm'.

I hope you like the new direction.

- Iain

 

New Heightmap

You may have noticed the recent landscape shots of Northpoint are now missing. I thought it was best to take them down, as we're now using a new heightmap (base landscape) created by myself, so the level designing will be quite a bit different, so those images are no longer relevant.

I just finished my work on the heightmap today and have generated the LOD, so now our level designer Ionis is going to begin his work on the land, bringing in rich detail and really making the world come alive. In the coming weeks we'll be sharing screenshots of his work here, as he progresses, so keep checking back with us!

[Check out our grid map below. Image has been reduced in size and cropped.]

Rob

New Modeler!

I'm happy to say we've got a very talented new 3d-modeler on the team, Kaelin H. His first task is to design and create the trolls of Northpoint; our version of the Grahl. Check out his first concept sketches below!

(Left click the image, then right click and open in new window, to view full size image.)

Bloodhunt: Screens from Hircine's hunting grounds

I was in a screen-shot grabbing mood, so I decided to take a few shots of the landscape from our upcoming mod called Bloodhunt, which takes place in the hunting grounds of Hircine's realm. I hope you enjoy the beautiful landscapes as much as I did! Ionis, our lead level designer, did a fantastic job!

(And that's my character in the last shot! "Wish you here, mum!")

Idea Men (or Women) Wanted!

That's right, you're not dreaming, your time has come, Idea People! How many times have you spammed developer after developer with pages and pages of your crazy ideas!? Well now your ideas are actually being requested! :O

The Beyond Team realizes that when it comes to planning a project, the more heads banging together the better! So now we're looking for intelligent Idea People to join our team and private forum, to help in the development of our Skyrim projects.

So what does it take to be an Idea Person? We're looking for people who can manifest the following qualities:

• A good understanding of Skyrim lore, or at least the willingness to research particular parts of it, as relevant.
• The ability to form relevant ideas, that are both lore friendly and fitting to the style and feel of Skyrim and TES games, and to help develop the ideas of others.
• An understanding of the game development process, and of the capabilities of the Creation Kit is preferred.
• The ability to write concisely and not write novels during idea discussions.
• The ability to let it go if your idea isn't used.
• The ability to keep an open mind, and carefully consider what others are saying.
• The ability to work in a team, in a friendly manner, without engaging in ego wars.

So, if you're interested and feel you can meet these requirements, please drop me an email at typingsound@gmail.com with your answer to the following two questions:

1) If you could create a mod for Skyrim, in one paragraph what would it be?

2) If you could improve a current mod of Skyrim, what mod would you improve and in what way/s would you improve it?

Good luck!

-Rob

Behold!

Witness, everyone.. the birth of a new species!! Behold the mighty...

Artwork by the legendary Jimmy Nilsson.

Fan Art!

Found this brilliant piece of fan art on a deviantart page. It's a scene from a Beyond Boulder Dome playthrough video, created by Alchestbreach.

By the way guys, we love fan-art! So if anyone wants to get their work displayed on our blog,
make something nice and tell us about it!

http://simultanic.deviantart.com/

2d Game Concepts

The Beyond Team has been hard at work these past few months, working on our new 2d game and also our Skyrim projects: Northpoint (in High Rock) and Hircine's Hunting Grounds.

Here are a few early concept images from our currently untitled 2d game, by our artist Jimmy Nilsson: