So. I'd like to build my own personal little world. The instinct to do this is something I'm sure a lot of us share; I hope that some of you who have tried may be able to point me in the right direction.
First of all, how does the area of a world space relate to the work required to make it? From the CK basics class I know that a single cell with a detailed interior takes me ~1 week the first time, and that something the size of Skyrim takes over 100 professionals several years to make. I don't have much idea of what's in-between those data points.
Second: What's a good way to create landscape? Preferably one that doesn't involve learning a whole new program. For example, I can create a displacement map using blender's landscape tools that I can be very pleased with, but are heightmaps even a good approach?
Third: Can I have the game begin in my worldspace? Can it include character creation?
Fourth, and probably most important: How can I save time? What advice or tips do you think might be useful? For example, I found I could save HOURS of cluttering once I learned how to copy table settings from vanilla cells.
Cheers and cookies,
RTC.