ZekAonar

Just thought I'd put this out there: I am currently acting as the Project Leader of a long-term modding project which introduces the world of Asuron to the Oblivion engine. Based on the original fantasy universe I invented in 2005, Realms of Asuron endeavours to introduce pieces of a fictional shattered planet, one land at at time. The first is Nordenia -- a cold, rugged island to the north-east, divided amongst the tattered remants of four ancient Human Kingdoms. Steeped in mystery, violence, and political intrigue, Nordenia sits at the brink of total war. RoA: Nordenia -- the first mod in the anticipated series -- will introduce players to this Realm and the story behind it -- with an emphasis on immersive role-playing mechanics vs the classic hack-and-slash quest-grinder design that tends to plague many RPGs today. Another objective is to portray the medieval fantasy genre semi-realistically, with "magic" only taking form through alchemy and "arcane-punk" technology. I am also (of course) striving to realise it as closely to my original vision as possible, and the mod will hopefully serve as a proper epilogue to the upcoming novella. I am currently working alone on the modding side of things, but I am also collaborating with an experienced music composer to form the mod's soundtrack. The soundtrack will be produced by none other than Richard Abbott. You may recognise his work from MERP (Middle-Earth Roleplaying Project)! We are working on producing a purely original soundtrack for the mod, replacing the title, public, dungeon, explore and battle themes. In the future, we are hoping to have a dynamic music script in place, so that we can, for example, develop region-specific tracks. Also, I am using 100% vanilla textures/models at the moment (and I do not expect that to change for quite some time), but I am open to the production of concept art. You aren't expected to do any 3D model work, etc. At the very least, you need only provide images with captions depicting your ideas in detailed fashion. I would just like to pave the way for more refined work so that we have a bit of artistic direction to work with later. Also, it would no doubt help with the production of the soundtrack. You can tackle any area of concept art you like -- armour, weapons, monsters, landscape, architecture -- just remember the genre: dark medieval fantasy. Think along the lines of the Diablo, Witcher and Gothic games. And if you need further direction for anything at all, you need only ask, but since my writings only primarily cover the story and the general atmosphere of the world, much of these assignments will allow full artistic license. For example, I never really described the monsters, the weapons, or the armour across the Realms, so let your imagination run wild. Only bear in mind that, regarding weapons and armour, this is before the age of full suits of plate, and that this is not a high fantasy with shiny or otherwise magical equipment. I am also ready to begin accepting help in terms of interior level design -- It would be a nice, huge weight off my shoulders for the future, again, for the same reason as concept art. Nordenia will feature a great many interior level types, from twisting mines and winding caverns, to expansive subterrane "arcane-punk" complexes littered with all manner of tricks and puzzles, to the unique and super-massive 'lairs' which will play a major role in the sub-plot of each region, and will feature a host of dramatic bosses. As an interior level designer, all you would need to do is supply blueprints of these various interior locations. As with concept art, you aren't required to work with the Oblivion CS -- just provide detailed images/maps depicting your vision. You will be given absolute freedom in building these interior 'playgrounds', and, as such, the position will demand a lot of creativity and logic. If you have some skill in scripting, that's a bonus, but not a requirement. As time goes on, we will hopefully have some help in that area, so that our traps and puzzles may be more complex. Again, none of this is incredibly urgent business at the moment, but I thought it would be a good idea to formally announce my work at least. I typically release an update to the file at the end of every month. That said, the March update is coming soon, and will introduce a new heightmap + all 9 base landscapes. Looking forward to another smooth release, and I hope that, at the very least, these words grant some additional exposure to the project :smile: I have also attached some screenshots for proof of concept.

Great advice! Going forward, I will be sure to keep all of it in mind :smile: This method brings up a new related concern however: What if another modder wants to help me complete this phase of the project? Can esm files be merged like esp files? Or must I resort to converting both files back into esp files, merging them, then converting the new file back into esm format? I am still working alone, and expect to remain so for quite some time, but, for the sake of being prepared, I thought I would ask how/if the process of keeping a modding team in-sync would change.

Just came back to report more of my findings after having followed your advice, Lanceor: Saving now takes no longer than a minute, and the menus no longer fade out whenever moving from cell to cell. I have been able to work very smoothly with leaves and sky settings both on, and I can also edit terrain with a much larger brush without experiencing a stutter of any kind. I suspect that the startup issue was no real cause for alarm -- maybe five minutes is pretty standard for a load time of a mod this size. I noticed dramatic improvements overall though, so this fix definitely seems to have done its job! :thumbsup: Thanks, Lanceor! File type indeed seems to play a role here.

At the moment, the esp file is exactly 40.0 MB. I also did as you requested and created an esm copy of the file, but it crashed the first time, then finally loaded the second time.. after going white for about five minutes. That described experience is very much like the one I often have with the esp version, and it was not always so long. This is why I think the instability/increased loading time may be attributed to file size, but there may be performance improvements elsewhere, so I will attempt to continue my current modding session with it, taking care to note anything similar/dissimilar. Many thanks for your response, and, still, I am open to any further theories :smile:

Greetings all! :D Allow me to deliver the prologue to my situation: I am the sole writer and creator of 'Realms of Asuron', the ambitious total conversion mod currently under construction for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. At the very beginning of this endeavour, I chose to rely solely on the resources provided by Oblivion.esm (until I had the time to truly focus on assembling a team for the replacement of those resources). So it was that my newly-born plugin file was bound to Oblivion.esm. At the time, my long-term strategy seemed like a sound strategy -- so sound in fact, that I have now spent nearly two months sculpting the foundations for the Northern Kingdoms of Hyperia. The poor CS, however, is finally starting to show signs of cracking under the weight of Oblivion's content on top of my own. As a consequence, all progress on the mod has.. well, not come to a screeching halt yet, but it is certainly decelerating, and this rising trend of "TESConstructionSet.exe has stopped working" deeply concerns me. Now, my question is this: In order to relieve the pressure on this application, would it be possible for me to move my worldspace (Hyperia) to an entirely blank .esm? And, once said operation is completed, would there be any way to retrieve the resources en masse from Oblivion.esm without actually listing it as a dependency? Of course, if my own theory does not suffice, I am willing to hear any alternative solutions to this problem. Indeed, if I must scrap all of my progress and re-think my entire development cycle with a blank master file plus manually imported resources, then, by the Nine, I will do it! :tongue: For all that dedication however, I am still no lover of setbacks, and any suggestions at all would be much appreciated!