Finished Moria Great Mines

[Wyattrox03]

~:~|~:~ The Great Mines ~:~|~:~

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




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OVERALL PROGRESS AND STATE

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


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Introduction

Sing goddess, the rage of Davyck, Daom, and Lacotax. The bane of such great builders returns, to be beaten to a bloody pulp by commoners and builders alike. Great Mines is the greatest single mine complex laid out by Despott and connects the areas of moviecave and eastgold on the fellowship path. Great Mines is shown in the extended version of The Fellowship of the Ring as the place where Gandalf shines his light over the edge and says the wealth of Moria is in mithril. These mines, unlike others built thus far, are primarily made for the extraction of mithril, a precious and quite uncommon ore, and the dwarves have delved eagerly to reach it.


Project Sections

Section 1: This is the eastern exit towards Eastgold. The connector itself is low priority but the scaffolds at the end of the cave have been pretty much laid out by Joske already.

Section 2: This is probably the most densely built area in great mines, the wall is covered in horizontal mining layers facilitating surface level quarrying/mining, and also large wooden mega structures for mining high on the walls, and moving material between levels.

Section 3: Opposite section 2, section 3 is also very busy, there are less quarrying levels than section 2, but there are many deep cracks inside of which are ore enriched veins.

Section 4: Section 4 has a large steep side cave facing into it which is heavily quarried, there is also a large elevator shaft for minecart transport which feeds into the main ore collection and transport hall.

Section 5: Section 5 is relatively small, but the density of large wooden mega structures will begin thinning out at this point going towards section 7.

Section 6: This area has a number of hall connections, mostly relating to foot traffic between great mines and chamber of light and also mining tool storage. There will not be many huge structures here, but there will be a few hanging cranes, mimicking the style of section seven as seen in the movie.

Section 7: Section 7 is the movie scene, we want to try and recreate this as accurately as possible, and in the movie there are not many huge structures visible outside of a few hanging cranes (see inspiration image 1). Seeing as how there are only a few structures here, this will be the western reaches of the actively mined area of great mines. Going on westward, there will be very little mining.

Atlas Cave: Pending a better name for this large area of the project, Atlas cave is essentially a large terrain project which encompasses the huge cave between the great mining chasm and moviecave. This area needs a gradient to be made for it and also concepts for cave detailing. There will be no recent mining remnants in Atlas Cave.

These Sections refer principally to the surface of the main cave of Great Mines, the mining tunnels are handled differently.

Project Progression

1 - Cave Voxelling and Layouts - 100%
2 - Wood Megastructures/Main Cave - 100%
3 - Tunnels and Connectors - 100%
4 - Halls - 100%
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1 - The main cave and over half the tunnels are layed out. The south side of the project however needs more tunnels and larger interior caves. These will all need to connect into the future hall complex leading to the Chamber of Light. There is also a minecart system which has a number of elevators and conveyor belts included.

2 - Joske has planned a large number of wood mining mega-platforms and elevator/conveyor systems on the eastern end of Great Mines and we are moving west. There will also be large structures in the bigger caves within the tunnel systems. Because of the complexity of many of these structures, the planning of their shape will probably be a foreman/artist job, but detailing can be done in plots. The planning consists of a wool layout of the structure and the movement system, and the detailing will entail blockmixing, ruining, laying out of crates/cobblestone mining areas and crane construction. There will also be a number of jobs in the main cave for rubble detailing and roads so look forward to those!

3 - Here is where the community gets its overdose in involvement. Great Mines will probably in the end be the densest concentration of mining tunnels and caves that Moria will ever see. Each level of the outside cave will have an entire system of carved out passages behind it, connected through various large carved out caves with structures, as well as more simple mineshafts. More information will be available once we find the best workflow, but it is very likely there will be plots on these, if not jobs or even a build day. Due to the likelihood of burnout on these as was seen with the relatively few tunnels in westgate, I intend to involve as many people as possible and maybe even some adventurers.

4 - Throughout the Mining Sections of Great Mines there are a number of Halls of different degrees of roughness and various purposes. On the north side there are a number of tool and wood storage halls as well as a tool repair workshop and a minecart repair and turn around hub. On the south side the hall situation is a bit more complex. There will be two forges for Great Mines. The first forge is at the eastern end quite high up. This forge would have been the first forge for great mines when the mining operation was smaller. As such the architecture utilizes a lot of rounded arches which in our head cannon is more of an older dwarven style. As the dwarves moved further west and deeper down they would have needed another forge for the other side of the mine which is both lower and larger, leading to the construction of the second forge complex. This complex uses the more typical dwarven angular arches as seen in west gate and is on the highway leading from the northern lodes.

Section 1:
Cave Voxelling and Layouts: 100%
Wood Megastructures: 100%
Tunnels: 100%
Halls/Connectors: 100%
Section 2:
Cave Voxelling and Layouts: 100%
Wood Megastructures: 100%
Tunnels: 100%
Halls: 100%
Section 3:
Cave Voxelling and Layouts: 100%
Wood Megastructures: 100%
Tunnels: 100%
Halls: 100%
Section 4:
Cave Voxelling and Layouts: 100%
Wood Megastructures: 100%
Tunnels: 100%
Halls: 100%
Section 5:
Cave Voxelling and Layouts: 100%
Wood Megastructures: 100%
Tunnels: 100%
Halls: 100%
Section 6:
Cave Voxelling and Layouts: 100%
Wood Megastructures: 100%
Tunnels: 100%
Halls: 100%
Section 7:
Cave Voxelling and Layouts: 100%
Wood Megastructures: 100%
Tunnels: 100%
Halls: 100%

Atlas Cave:
Cave Voxelling and Layouts: 100%
Cave Detailing: 100%
Side Caves: 100%



Background Lore

Spoiler: Great Mines

Great Mines is ultimately a movie location, but there does exist some justification in lore for a large mithril mine on the northern reaches of Moria.

'The lodes lead away north towards Caradhras, and down into darkness. ... they delved too greedily and too deep, and disturbed that from which they fled, Durin's Bane.’ LoTR Book 2, Ch 4, A Journey in the Dark

Spoiler: Mithril

Mithril is the most valuable metal in middle earth, because of that we imagine the handling and transport of that ore to be well guarded and accounted for. The processing of this will take place in the Chamber of Light in a very concentrated fashion.

'Mithril! All folk desired it. It could be beaten like copper, and polished like glass; and the Dwarves could make it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel. Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim.' The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 2, Ch 4, A Journey in the Dark

'The Elves dearly loved it, and among many uses they made of it ithildin, starmoon, which you saw upon the doors.' The Return of the King, LoTR Book 6, Ch 5, The Steward and the King


Note: This is not where the balrog was awoken in our Moria headcanon, that will be in the yet to be laid out Moria Deeps.

Inspiration

The style we will be working with is very much inspired from Moviecave, Upper Mines, and what Dave left us, but we are of course building on a bit of a bigger scale.

Spoiler: Pictures

How to Help?

Join Jobs when they happen or DM Wyattrox03 or Joske50 on discord or in game for plots!

 

[Wyattrox03]

Build Update:

Seeing how it has nearly been two months since we announced this project I feel like it is high time for a progress report on the Great Mines.

Since the cave was pasted into the Moria world, several areas have been worked on which you can now see by visiting /warp great mines.

Most noticeably, the planning for the main structures at the east end of the cave have both progressed and have been improved upon by @Joske50 . A bit more work is required in the first three sections in terms of planning before we work west towards the movie scene.

In the main cave there have also been a few plots and a few jobs run on detailing the wool planning. The foreman applicant @WieldableMars0 has been doing some very poggers jobs on the north side of the cave with more in the works to allow people to detail and ruin these wooden scaffolds.

A huge chunk of the mining tunnels have also been completed on the northern side of Great Mines by a large assortment of commoners and team members. To name a few, we could not have done it without @Memory_Apollo , @Topcatflap , @D3rr3x , @_Jacek_ , @Dahl , @Human100 , @bruceboy55 , @Maximator , @0odz , @Larry881a , @LordReavanPlays , @14_2, @greencaver , @Manyayeet , @Artale , and @Arnep (in no particular order) and also many other commoners I have not mentioned here. Looking forward to those artist applications guys!

Since the initial project post, we have made further distinction between types of mining tunnels, which are now denoted by wool colors in planning:

Yellow - These are the main mining tunnels where ore extraction takes place, these are often dead ends or exploratory tunnels. These make up most of the tunnels in Great Mines.

Orange - These are exhausted mining tunnels, they are similar to the yellow but lack crates or other mining equipment and are often blocked off.

Blue - These are the transport tunnels which are either foot traffic or minecart tunnels.

Light Blue - These are new transport tunnels which are like the blue tunnels but can have scaffolds and excavation equipment around it to expand its size.

The tunnels on the north side of the Great Mines are well past halfway completed, and with a few more plots they should be completed soon!

This is the lion's share of the work which has been done in the last few months but that is not to say that there have not also been advances in other parts of the project. The mining tunnels on the south side of the main cave going towards what is presently still Chamber of Light have been laid out and to a large degree smoothed. These tunnels still need to have planning finished for each tunnel's purpose but there will still be work for people when the northern tunnels wrap up!

Finally some concepting has begun for Atlas Cave, this large cave is already mostly voxelled, but cave details and blockmixes still need to be made. If you are an artist or foreman and interested in trying something out with this please message @Wyattrox03 on discord.

If you are interested in helping with the project, you can message @Wyattrox03 , @Joske50 , @WieldableMars0 , or @Larry881a in game or on discord to get plots. Also keep an eye out for jobs and be sure to ask Mars all the hard questions.

If you are not building oriented I also would like to invite people to try their hand at taking screenshots around the project, the best ones may just be used in a future build update post.

Tally Ho!

(Screenshots from @GingerlyGinger1 )

 

[Wyattrox03]

Build Update:
Well it has been a month since the last Great Mines project update, and we have not been idle.

Main Cave:

@Joske50 has completed the planning of the wood scaffolds on the south side of the main cave. Many of these have been blockmixed and detailed through a series of jobs run by our new foreman @WieldableMars0 . Now Joske has just a bit of planning finalization to take care of at the easternmost end of the cave, then he intends to help with some hall layouts in the south.

Northern Tunnels:

On the tunnel end of things, work has not slowed down. I would like to give a special shoutout to @Memory_Apollo and @Topcatflap for being absolutely clutch in progressing the mine progression. Many others have helped including but not limited to @_Jacek_ @GoofySandwich @godzillafan @Smaug_Niphredil @Bean and @Maximator . I expect the northern side to finish soon, and it might have finished by now had we not also expanded the mines further north into a new area of the project at /warp Northern Lodes.

The Northern Lodes are mentioned by Gandalf in the Fellowship of the Ring, and essentially are a series of tunnels following mithril enriched stone veins deeper into Moria. We have utilized the new height limit to make these tunnels stretch an additional 500 blocks from what was previously the extent of northern mining in Great Mines. Through a series of jobs and plots this last weekend much of the largest lode has been built up, with detailing remaining. Look out for more jobs and plots to help out here!

Additionally @Human100 has begun work on a miners tavern in the northern side of Great Mines. This faces into an exhausted mining cave, and makes use of some of the new blocks in the dwarven pack so be sure to check that out.

Southern Tunnels:

The southern tunnels have also been blockmixed and planned to a degree over the last month, with work ready to be started once the northern side wraps up. Planning has begun for a hall complex surrounding the forge district near Chamber of Light as well.

Building QOL

To make building tunnel plots easier, a new build guide has been built and instructions laid out at /warp MiningPlotGuide. Now you can see instructions for any type of tunnel plot you are given, be it yellow, orange, blue or light blue.

Finally, the dwarven pack has received another update which includes the fabled blue framing block to the delight of Daom. There also exists other blocks which will be of use in this project including new darker pillars, benches, chairs, tables, shovels, mushrooms, and metal scraps.

Overall I am very pleased with the progress made in the last month and I can't thank everyone who has helped enough including our project staff. I look forward to bringing you all another progress filled update next month!

(Screenshot by FoolhardyFish)

 

[Wyattrox03]

Build Update:

Main Cave:

The main cave continues to chug along nicely. Planning is finished for the eastern end of the cave and now only more detailing and ruining jobs remain. A huge shoutout to @Joske50 for absolutely no-lifeing this part of the project. Without him this could not have happened.

Northern Tunnels:

I know I keep saying these tunnels are close to completion but they really are! We are just a few plots away from saying goodbye to the northern tunnels and going to the south. Once again a massive thank you to @Topcatflap , @Memory_Apollo (in no particular order, except that order) @WieldableMars0 @Godzzilla_fan and whoever else helped out this last month.

Southern Tunnels:

There has been some rearrangement of the south-eastern parts of the tunnel complex in anticipation of more hall districts, administration, and storage regions. There has already been a Tavern hall completed by @2nah, which is looking spot on. Once the northern tunnels wrap up people are free to move their attention in this direction.

Forges:

We have also put more thought into the forges for Great Mines, currently we are planning on two, one older one which is higher up, and a newer larger one deeper down. The larger forge has had some initial concept work put together in one of those daom fever dreams of progress, and hopefully will see some more attention soon! Around each of these forges there will be large hall complexes for workshops and storage and I hope that some of these will be plots. So look forward to those!


Remember that if you want to help with the project to dm @Joske50 @Topcatflap @WieldableMars0 and not @Wyattrox03 on discord to be given a plot.

(Screenshot by Mateofenix)

 

[Wyattrox03]

Build Update:

Main Cave:

Boom! After some jobs and final ruining I am pleased to say that @Joske50 has finished sections 1, 2, and 3 of the main cave. This is a colossal accomplishment as this is the densest part of the main mining cave. @2nah has also been given an area of section 4 which he is doing some very exciting things in.

Northern Tunnels:

"I know I keep saying these tunnels are close to completion but they really are!" -Me last month. No joke, this time its for real, next month I will say that the northern tunnels are complete. All that remains is the finalization of the last large cave in the eastern end. I once again want to commend @Memory_Apollo and @Topcatflap for putting even the most veteran dwarves to shame. Joske also completed his minecart hub complex at the entrance to the northern lodes which looks positively spiffy!

Southern Tunnels:

As I mentioned, @2nah is working on a piece of section 4 which will effect the construction of the southern tunnels. He is notably incorporating more stone elements than elsewhere in the Northern Side, which is a feeling we want to express in the south. I am also in the process of laying out some more developed tunnel areas in the eastern end of the southern tunnels, more on these soon!

Forges:

So, a lot has happened in terms of the forges in the last month. I know in the last post I said we were starting with the lower forge first, but instead we thought it could be funny to do the upper one, and what can I say, we cooked. There now exists a connector coming out of the top of section 1 going towards the new forge. There is also a large ravine facing into the hall. We have made some style choices as well regarding the two forges. The upper one which is smaller and considerably older is using what we are calling the old dwarven style. That is, the architecture uses a lot of rounded arches. The lower forge will use the more typical dwarven angular arch since it was built after the upper forge, like seen in west gate. A few plots have also been given out in the upper forge. Thank you to @Memory_Apollo @WieldableMars0 and @Green_Giant for helping out here. And also of course a thank you to DoctorDaom, who I am too afraid of to ping here.

The Dwarven Resource Pack has also received another update including many of the usable detail blocks I developed for the gondor pack as well as updates to existing covered crates, rust textures, and blue pillar blocks. Also bart made us some very nice blue deco blocks such as darker runes and horizontal framing blocks.

Remember that if you want to help with the project to dm @Joske50 @Topcatflap @WieldableMars0 or @Wyattrox03 on discord or in game to be given a plot.

(Screenshot by @0odz)


PPS: Also I am happy to announce that Great Mines is 50% done woop woop!

 

[barteldvn]

Do you have your grandma write these up? What the hell is this font size?

 

[maski98]

Do you have your grandma write these up? What the hell is this font size?

He cares for our eyes more than we do

 

[Wyattrox03]

Do you have your grandma write these up? What the hell is this font size?

Sorry Bart I can't read such small text B)

 

[GingerlyGinger1]

Yes, as someone with dreadful eyesight, I genuinely appreciated the larger text, lol

 

[Wyattrox03]

Build Update:

Main Cave:
After Joske finished the eastern end of the main cave, we have begun working west towards the movie scene through the middle sections of the main cave. This has led to both @2nah 's area and the newly developed section 5 to recieve lots of progress this last month. In addition to planning out some interesting structures, framed by the cave protrusions, Joske has also ran jobs on blockmixing these structures with only detailing and ruining jobs remaining for them. We have also decided upon and implemented the big crane at the pinnacle of section 7. It is great to get rid of that wool layout which has been there since Lacotax's first voxel iteration of the cave.

Northern Tunnels:
Northern Tunnels are done.

Southern Tunnels:
So we have moved our focus from the northern tunnels to the southern ones, and as I hinted at last month we are working on some larger mining street hall complexes. These complexes have wood storages, tool storages, workshops, chill halls and record offices. We have at this point completed 2 and are working on the last few near the old forge before laying out some more near the new forge. Also @MemoryApollo spent a lot of time on an ore storage complex in the southern corner of where we are working which looks pretty poggers. We are also once again passing out mining tunnel plots for commoners so please reach out if you want one of those.

Forges:
The forges have low key taken a bit of a back seat this month after Daom commissioned 2nah to make some concepts for a more interesting and less west gate reminiscent style. Near the newer forge Joske is in the process of making a hall complex which connects the main cave into the new forge area. This complex still needs to be built up and probably will be completed with the help of WieldableMars

RP:
This month we had two smaller resource pack updates, one from bart and one from myself. These updates have updated the rope and chain systems which we use all over Great Mines. There is also a new wheel model, crank model and also a new larger chain system completed with a loose ground chain model.

Once again I want to thank the usual suspects for this months progress: @Joske50 @MemoryApollo @Topcatflap @DoctorDaom @WieldableMars0 in no particular order [].

(Screenshot courtesy of @GingerlyGinger1 )

And once again if you would like to help with the project, please do not hesitate to message Wyattrox03, Joske50, Topcatflap, or WieldableMars0 on discord or in game to get a piece of the project.

 

[Joske50]

I zoomed out to read the text xd

 

[Wyattrox03]

Build Update:

Main Cave:
Joske's section 5 has wrapped up, bringing the north side of the main cave one section away from completion. As such half of the main cave sections have been completed with the remainder being the sections with very little structure density. We further began planning section seven which is the movie scene. We still have a lot to figure out in regards to the movie structures, however we know that this section of the cave should be more surface mining and less structured, so as to complete the wood structure gradient from the east to west. This section seven needs more planning still, but hopefully it will be completed by next month so we can focus on the south.

Southern Tunnels:
Lots of cool stuff is happening in the southern tunnels. We finished up the final eastern mining street this month with the completion of halls from Human and Memory. Since these coordinated areas are complete, people have spread out and started working on different areas of the southern tunnels, with lots of mining tunnels being claimed. A big thanks to @e1miner @GingerlyGinger1 @Bean327 @Random3117 and everyone else who has claimed mining work. Near the new forge hall complex another area has come into being: the mining shaft. This area is sitting at 60% completion and is just waiting for Mars and I to get back to it and finish it. Mars and I also completed a large mining cave in the southern tunnels which is a quarrying cave with the road running down the middle. And the final thing of note in the tunnels is Topcat's two day speed run of the top of tuna's side cave.

Forges:
Once again little has happened with the forges. Daom is collecting good ideas as I write this though and possibly by next month one of the two forges will be in progress. On the bright side though, Joske has essentially completed his new forge antechamber hall complex, complete with minecart storage/repair ore storage and the like. Now a built connection exists in the direction of the new forge which can be built upon when that time comes.

Thank you to the following people for this months progress: @Joske50 @MemoryApollo @Topcatflap @DoctorDaom and @WieldableMars0

(Screenshot by Maximator)

Good stuff this month. As always, if anyone catches a passing fancy to build mining structures, be of service to the server or is just bored, feel free to message myself WieldableMars0 Joske50 or Topcatflap in game or on discord for work in the mines

 

[Wyattrox03]

Build Update:

Main Cave:
As said in the previous post, we have begun the conceptual planning of the seventh section of the main cave. Whether or not the planning we have made stays is yet to be seen, but in any case the idea with this section is that it will be significantly less dense than more easterly areas of the cave. Joske has also progressed section 4 more after returning from camp. Hopefully 2nah will return next month to continue his work around his side cave.

Southern Tunnels:
The southern tunnels have progressed further once more, with the great mining shaft being completed and a multitude of mining tunnels being handed out to commoners and adventurers alike. If you are interested in helping with the project, reach out to myself, WieldableMars0, Joske50, or Topcatflap to get a plot here. Optimistically I would like to say the southern tunnels are over half way done, with especially the larger and more difficult parts of it being completed. There will be more mining streets around the second new forge once that begins as well. Hopefully when Topcat comes back more will happen here.

Forges:
I am happy to write that we have had a breakthrough with the forges. Daom was inspired by @PatinezPl_ 's themebuild and made a banger forge hall which we have begun building around for the old forge district. Essentially the upper area of the forge comprising of the storage and furnace feeding halls are nearing completion, and we are now waiting on the lower area for the forge output to be planned to finish this corner of the project. Big thanks for @DoctorDaom for pushing this area of the project out of being stalled, and giving a hand with the harder aspects of planning. Also be sure to ask to see Mars and Larry's coal storage hall, it might be my new favorite hall in great mines at this point. Joske has also been working on some cool concepts on the roof of great mines for the old forge district further west, more on this hopefully next month! Joske has also finished completely his pre-forge hall complex and filled it in which is incredibly satisfying to look at in spectator mode, also check out @e1miner's work in progress hall just east of this area.

Atlas Cave:
And the last bit of progress this month is the Atlas Cave rework. This kind of came out of the blue, with a major redesign of the lower part of the cave as well as the way up out of it towards great mines. The bottom now is partially closed, with lots more variation in depth of the cave, and also a few entrances to the water cave below Atlas cave. The cave has also finally been blockmixed. Thank you to the people who joined the RocksandStones job series for helping me detail the atlas cave with rubble slides and other boulder detailing, as now most of the detailing for this cave is done. All that remains is a bit more detail on the road leading through Atlas cave. I also need to thank @Larry881a for helping make some of the side caves around Atlas cave and helping with smoothing, which is his specialty.

With the progress on Atlas cave, most of the fellowship path through the great mines is now done, with the exception of section seven and the beginning of the tunnel towards eastgold at the eastern end of the project, which will be touched up until the fork leading towards the forge.

Once again, a big thanks to those who are keeping this project alive. Even though I've been gone a bit this month, there is a great team who is able to keep the project going and I am very happy to have that. Once again if you are interested in helping with the project, feel free to reach out to @Wyattrox03 , @Joske50 , @WieldableMars0 and probably a few others to get involved with the project.

(Screenshot by @Wyattrox03)

 

[Wyattrox03]

Build Update:

Main Cave:
Not much has happened in the main cave this month. Joske is looking forward to running some detailing jobs though.

Southern Tunnels:
The southern tunnels are keeping on keeping on. There has been a little bit of a drop off recently after we lost Mars and Topcat, but we are starting to catch our stride again. Now we have a pretty good commoner team put together again with a big thanks going to Dogsargent Bean327 SKULL_caps and a few others for getting progress on this area going again. If you are a foreman without anything to do please reach out so we can talk about you possibly taking over handling mining tunnel plots.

Forges:
Most of our progress this month has been on the forges. All but patinez's mithril vault is now completed on the old mithril forge. Thank you to Human and Daom for doing a lot of the heavy lifting on getting the output area layed out. There is now also a new warp at /warp Old Mithril Forge for you all to go and check out. Be sure to try and spot the new textures being used in some of these halls too, especially the vertical pillar slabs. A few connectors also remain to be built between this complex and the chamber of light - old/new forge connection hall, then we can fully focus our hall builders on the new forge.
Speaking of the new forge, Joske has continued working on his massive layout. It is now pasted into the empty space where that hall complex will be and some surrounding halls are beginning to take shape as well. An exciting new water powered drum bellow system can be seen here thanks to @Manyayeet. Hopefully by the next post there will be halls given out here for people to help with.

RP:
There has been another update to the Dwarven pack this month. The most consequential additions are the new vertical pillar/pillar capital slabs which are already being used in halls and smaller dwarven interiors. There is also now a pipe system, rugs, statues, bronze doors, better bellows, posters, and there has also been fixes to various console errors in the pack, which hopefully should render better mip-mapping resolution and possibly faster loading times. Be sure to check out my post in #news for a full list and also try out these textures in game.

Screenshots:

(By Givet10_)

(By me)

And as always if you are interested in helping the project don't hesitate to reach out to myself or Joske. If you are a commoner there are many mining tunnel plots left to do. And if you are an artist or foreman there is always something for you to do, be it hall or structure building. Although the great mines team is big, it can always be bigger.

 

[Wyattrox03]

Build Update

Main Cave:
Jobske has returned the main cave and has begun planning structures in section 6, opposite the movie scene. We are hoping these last two sections will go quickly so definitely keep an eye out for plots and jobs which will be run on these mining platforms. Also there has been progress on the final detailing plots of section 4, lots of people helped but I know that @snowfox and @Josie_Katja specifically took on some of this work so thank you guys.

Southern Tunnels:
The hole left in my heart caused by the departure of @WieldableMars0 and @Topcatflap has finally been kinda filled by @Alfonios stepping up and taking care of handing out the remaining plots in the southern tunnels. The speed of this has dramatically picked up since last month and I really hope these can be finished soon. Big thanks to @Mediodox for no-lifeing the tunnel plots for like 4 days, and @snowfox @Josie_Katja @Dogsargent and everyone else who has done a plot in the last month. You too can be named in a post if you come and get some tunnel plots in the next month .

Forges:
The forges have been moving along unexpectedly well. What was once the big question mark of the project has a finish line in sight. The old forge is completely done now after daom made the mithril vault. The connection between the old and new forge complexes is also finished now with some tasteful caves being made and a really cool goblin infested connector hall. In the new forge, Joske has finally moved on after having finished for the most part the ruining and detailing of the main forge room itself, and delegating the surrounding halls to @Human100 and others on the north side. The connections to the forge are also largely complete, with three main connections from the main cave being linked up. On the westernmost connection is now a new tavern courtesy of @DoctorDaom . I daresay it might be his masterpiece, so be sure to go check that out. Optimistically I hope all that is left with the forges will be done by the time of the next update but we will see. Go look at the new warp /warp New Forge to see what we are doing

RP:
Its quiet, too quiet, you hear a faint "teehee" in a cave. What can that mean?

Screenshots:

(Screenshot by me)

Also Great Mines won project of the year 2024 during our anniversary ceremony on 10/10/24. As such I extend a big thank you to everyone who helped with the project and continue to help with moving it towards completion. Thank you.
There also now exists an easter egg somewhere in Great Mines of the award in an item frame, if you find it you can have a cookie.

See you next month.

 

[Wyattrox03]

Build Update:

Main Cave:
We are now working in the main cave again. Sections six and seven are being planned out and jobs and plots have been ran to fill these out by Joske. As always a big thanks to Joske for running half the project so I dont have to worry about it . Be sure to reach out to Joske if you want a chance to help in the movie scene area of great mines.

Southern Tunnels:
The southern tunnels are yet closer to completion. After a period of stagnation, I have started finishing plots left unfinished following the last bout of progress. So Alfonios and I are looking for more commoners and artist applicants to reach out and help this last stretch of tunnels in great mines. This probably will be the last big hurdle to get through for the project to finish, so every bit of help counts.

Forge:
The New forge proper is now finished, as well as all the halls feeding into it. The output area is now being worked on by DoctorDaom, who, over the last few days has been on a building spree there. Thanks to @Human100 @snowfox @Mershy for helping in this complex, it really seems like it has popped up overnight. If you want to go see this new area do /warp New Forge go straight and swing a right. There are some really nice hall layouts you should not miss!

RP:
Another RP update has graced dwarven this last month. The blue stone system was desaturated courtesy of barteldvn, the pipes were retextured, a new layered limestone block was added, and santa hats implemented. On top of this build update, a seasonal event update has included candycanes wreaths and everything you need to make a winter wonderland in the desaturated hellscape of moria. So be sure to log on to see these changes with a 1.21.1 client and grab yourself a hat.

(Screenshots by me)

Sorry about this update being late. We are hoping to finish this project by the end of the month. This is an ambitious goal but with all of your help I think it might be possible. If you feel like helping dont hesitate to reach out to myself or @Joske50 or @Alfonios on discord or in game to get some work in the mines.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[Wyattrox03]

Announcement: All tunnel plots are now complete, if you would still like to help out watch out for jobs.

 

[Wyattrox03]

The Great Mines project is finished, thank you to everyone who helped.