Kohdi

I can't be the only one who arrived at the college of Winterhold, only to find a small cluster of cabins on the edge of a rift into the sea, and wondered what the old city might have looked like? Was it built of giant stone blocks like the college, or in a different style altogether? Did it have services and businesses unique from the rest of Skyrim? Would people move back if it was rebuilt, and what kind of presence from the various guilds would it have? Such questions can only be asked of those still around from before the collapse . . . The idea here wuld be to launch a Kvatch Rebuilt - style mod which would gradually construct a new Winterhold to make it a proud city once again, bringing commerce and traffic back through the hold, even re-opening the road to Dawnstar. This would be an enormous task, obviously, but I think it can be done. I personally might not be able to contribute much more than ideas, but if enough people like the idea, who knows where we could take it. If you have any input on this don't hesitate to reply, I'm interested to hear what other ideas people may have.

I like where this is heading, especially the "solve a puzzle, find an artifact" idea. With the magical barrier like the one in Sancre Tor, it might me a bit dangerous to use living people (or at least important characters) for that quest. The ghosts of the four Blades who overpowered the barrier did so with the last of their strength, it seems like a regular person would be magically stunted or worse as a result of opening the path. The idea that there are hidden "battery" soul gems powering the barrier is interesting, and may throw in some surprises too. I remember a mod for Oblivion back in the day (I feel old) which had you retrieve a soul gem occupied by a still-conscious wizard's soul, thereby giving your weapon a "living" enchantment, but to get that gem you had to disable a barrier created by lesser gems, not by simply removing them but by defeating the souls trapped within (Found it, it was called "The Soul of Ilithiel"). I'm not suggesting we rip that idea, but to apply more creative measures in removing a magical barrier would have interesting results. As for possible puzzles, here's an idea that came to me: Instead of giving the player a set of specialized Blades armor (as a reward or something) all at once, the pieces of the armor could be scattered around Skyrim in a kind of paper-trail type puzzle. It might not even be full pieces (gauntlets, helmet, etc.) but fragments, like left pauldron, right bracer, helm's crest, etc. that would need not only collecting, but also repair either by our Akaviri forge operator, or a potential "forge master" hidden somewhere in the wilds (Dragon Forge, anyone?). Once the armor is completely assembled there could be a special quest or some such to retrieve the final piece, like a shield or the helm or even a sword. On this quest the armor itself could play a necessary role, like bearing special scripted enchantments designed to withstand specific barriers and locks on the way to the reward. This would make the armor a little more than just a pretty trinket, and would give it a purpose to boot. As I'm thinking, this may be an interesting way to "teach" our forge operator how to smith Akaviri armaments. While we may recruit someone who has shown their smithing aptitude, they might need to wait until they have been instructed by the hidden "forge master" to begin crafting Blades armor and katanas. Just a thought there. Also, not to stir the cauldron too much, but are we dead set on making the player a possible Blades Grandmaster (as opposed to a different title)? It seems to me like the Blades exist to aid the Dragonborn, but not to be ruled by one in the position of an officer. It may be more consistent to keep Delphine (or any other candidate) as the head person of the Blades, while the player continues their work in a not-so-traditional office (the old "Edge of the Blades" idea). Again, just a thought, but this one rolls more with the established lore.

I'm still working through the 18 pages of this thread, so forgive me if anything is repeated... I would be honored if you'd let me join your team. I can texture, work with the CK (if it's anything like Oblivion's), do some elementary scripting, and above all, I can write my heart out. I made a trilogy of mods for Oblivion which focused on the country of Ka Po'tun in Akavir, and as such I did a lot of research into Akaviri culture and Tamriellic history as a whole. If you ask me the purpose of the Alik'r I probably won't remember, but if you ask me about Tamriellic encounters with Akaviri including the Blades, the Kamal invasion of Morrowind, the Tsaesci Potentates and their flight to Rimmen, the disastrous invasion of Akavir by the empire, and even the lore I've written regarding Ka Po'tun (if it's to your liking), well, you'll get an earful. I even have an original map of Akavir drawn out with cities, countries, etc. that may interest you. Sky Haven Temple is unique in that it was built by the first-era Blades, close descendants of the Akaviri, then abandoned before any modern appliances were added. With such a massive Temple there would be need of a library full of ancient tomes, which I would be glad to supply as needed. I also support the ideas of light armor, a forge, armory, merchant/enchanter/alchemist, player quarters, etc., plus general improvements on the Temple as a whole (lighting, anyone?). I would love to see the Blades be reborn into the fourth era, and to be their "edge" would be awesome. The other guilds got a whole lot of love regarding questlines and unique objects and locations, I think the Blades deserve no less. I also support the alternate Paarthurnax endings. I ended up killing him just out of curiosity, but the rewards are decidedly underwhelming. Having options to say no, arrange a truce, telling Delphine to climb the mountain and do it herself, would be great. I've never been great at doing dialogue or quests, but you give me something to write or something to texture and I'll get it done. ;) As for new ideas, I figure I should contribute something. How about clearing away the camps around the Karthspire? It's really annoying to return to Esbern after slaying a dragon, just to get mobbed by Forsworn at the front door. There appears to be the remnants of a road onto the Karthspire island, if that area could be developed into something decent it would be a huge improvement. EDIT Okay, I read through everything, lots of amazing ideas here. I support the Grandmaster Quarters with balcony and unique armor/weapons, if we need textures for those I could see about doing that. I recently finished a retex of the Blades katana (check it through my profile), so there's a good starting place at least. I love the idea of recruiting specialized people from Skyrim to unlock or fill otherwise empty rooms with enchanting/alchemy stations, kitchens, practice rooms, an Akaviri forge, etc. I also like the idea of a locked vault of lore and artifacts that you need to retrieve the key for, possibly with the help of a first-era ghost. As stated, I could write anything needed to fill the shelves. I'll be signing up at sourceforge soon, hopefully I can make myself useful in the coming weeks. ;) EDIT EDIT Sorry to keep going on, but I've been waiting for a mod like this to get into. I just took a trot around the Karthspire, in and out, scouting real estate as it were. I found a few things to note which may be of interest- - The Karthspire camp is outfitted with a forge, a blacksmith's table, and an alchemy station, but no enchanter. Perhaps if the camp is cleared (as I hope it is), some of these things can be put to use. -An official front gate may be a nice touch, just to smooth out the gaping hole in the mountainside, but that depends on whether the entrance should be "secret" or not. -The bridges leading into the temple can only be raised and lowered from the outside, adding controls on the inside courtyard would be practical (though kind of cheating) in warding off unwelcome guests (Thalmor, or even a Forsworn raid). -As I recall, on the first play-through when the Temple is unlocked with Esbern and Delphine, all the Akaviri symbols used on the bridge puzzles have a meaning. The only problem is, I can only recognize the one for "dragonborn". If anyone would be willing to go through that quest again and record Esbern's commentary, it could be of some use when decorating or adding lore. -In the courtyard surrounding the Blood Seal, there are two large alcoves to the right and left, built into the walls. These may be useful as shops, a place for the forge, animal pens, or any number of uses (kennel, perhaps? ;) ) -As has been said, a way to close the big face-door would be cool, but like the bridges, it would be a bit like cheating.

Hello again, I have an idea that has probably been implemented into Tytanis or something already, but which would be nice to have on its own. Could it be possible to disenchant Daedric artifacts at enchanting tables to learn their enchantments, thus allowing, oh, say, enchanting a Blades shield with the Spellbreaker power (or a better version of)? I'm not necessarily asking for an enchanted item in particular, just the ability to learn the enchantments of artifacts. Any help is, as always, greatly appreciated!

The baddest thing I've ever done? Well, I don't mean to frighten my more sensitive readers,

I normally stay away from borderline firefights like this, but I have a few thoughts to share. After playing Skyrim obsessively for the past *looks at calendar* 4 weeks, I can vouch for it blowing Oblivion out of the water. Completely. Not-enough-pieces-to-bury completely. This is coming from someone who thought the same thing about Oblivion back in its day, and gradually moving up the years as the interesting mods increased. However, Skyrim as it is, is imperfect. Oblivion was imperfect when it was released, and though I've never played it, I'm sure Morrowind was imperfect too. It's been said before, but having such a massive game work as smoothly as it does now is a feat to be proud of. I have no doubt that when the CK is released (and all this damnable middle-man crap with Steam is resolved) the game will be improved beyond what we think possible now, just as Oblivion was before it. Things that are good in Skyrim: - The graphics. Even at their vanilla resolutions, the first time I walked down from Helgen I couldn't help but stare. - The cities, especially the major ones. The variations in architecture between Holds is beautiful to behold. - On that note, the uniqueness of the important stuff. I know a lot of resources are repeated across the landscape, but well, you need to build a mountain out of something. All the important things though, for example Jorrvaskr, the Blue Palace, Markarth itself, Blackreach, the puzzle of Labyrinthian, High Hrothgar, Sky Haven Temple, and countless other places, all were crafted uniquely in a way Oblivion never achieved. Whereas the Companions may have been housed in a Chorrol-style house before, now they get a freakin' overturned longship. The attention to detail which isn't necessary (as proven by the success of Oblivion) but which was made nonetheless is probably my favorite part of the game. - The new player-status system, including health, stamina, magica, skills and perks, all that, is a vast improvement over what it used to be. I get so mad when I fall too far, or get practically frozen in place by a Dragon Priest, but it's a good kind of mad because it makes sense. It's also hilarious to lure bandits into their own spike-wall trap. Plus, leveling up skills is now a fun process. My smithing skills just topped 80, no cheats. - The improvement of NPCs and their functions. Yes, I said improvement. You have to realize humanity is quite a ways from including thousands of artificial functioning brains in a video game, so I think our current progress is pretty acceptable. Things that are bad in Skyrim: - The UI. Not all of it, because I like its simple style, but apparently the controls didn't port well to the PC or something because selecting topics, categories, and remembering your re-mapped keys is a pain in the butt. I'm sure this will be one of the first things fixed by modders, though. - The current patch (1.2). It crashes, it didn't fix the problems it advertized (very annoying to kill a Blood Dragon then not get its soul), and it introduced graphical glitches that weren't there before. Apparently the patch beta-testers were still too busy watching giants launch bears into the sky to notice the real bugs. - Steam. I hate that utility with a vengeance. Between the CD key, having to keep a login (and remembering such when the only other Steam game you own is Portal), requiring it to be open while Skyrim runs (another fun feature of the patch), requiring an internet connection, automatically downloading who-knows-what without asking me, it's just a majorly unnecessary annoyance. My heart broke when I read that Skyrim would be using Steam. And now the CK, too. To put it frankly, I don't care about the players of other games and advertizing my mods to them, I care about you guys, here, who genuinely enjoy the game for what it is, and likewise for user-made content. - Chaurus. Bethesda forgot to include a volcano where you can watch hundreds of chaurus burning alive forever, feebly spitting acid at you on your high throne. How sweet that would be. Things I will miss from Oblivion until they are re-made: - My mods, of course. - A decent body replacer. Hopefully someone can either make a new mesh to rival Robert's and HG's, or the masters themselves get in on the action. - Reliable companion/follower structuring. I would like more than one companion, and if they get lost because they can't goat-hop up a mountain, I want to be able to find them. - User-made houses. Nothing beats that touch of quirky uniqueness which is always the result. I'm thinking a nice tower somewhere in the Reach. - Seeing my character in the inventory menu. How can I be sure my outfit is fit for the Blue Palace if I have to use the console to get a good look at it? So, those are my thoughts. Longer than intended, but I wanted to get my voice heard. I realize this thread started for a silly and inconsequential reason, but it has really "blossomed", so, consider this all "food for thought".

Alright, I've let Kharjo go for the only one of my followers who looked decent as a Khajiit, Argis the Bulwark (Housecarl of Markarth). His voice even fits pretty well, so it's cool having him around. One thing I've noticed, however, is that his race switches back to Nord when I load a savegame after quitting. It's easy enough to switch him back, but any thoughts on this?

Ah, that's clever. I may try that, I'll just have to find someone who's voice isn't totally out of place. It would be pretty weird to be walking around with a Khajiit, ask to see his inventory, and hear Eorlund's "Gods be praised!" I laugh every time he says it.

Thank you for the advice, and you're right, I'm not really looking to keep with lore-mandated "marrying religion". I may just have to wait until December when the CK comes out, but then I can do it myself. ;)

I don't post often on the forums, but when I do, I request something difficult to do for little to no reward. Now that the meme is out of the way, I have a request to make for an enterprising modder, currently one who has seen the matrix-like insides of Skyrim. There are very few Khajiit in Skyrim, from what I've seen only two major caravans and the guy at the College of Winterhold, plus bandits and peddlers on the roads. Out of those very few Khajiit, only one, Kharjo, is recruitable as a follower. Luckily he's a nice guy, a good fighter, and doesn't look half as mangy as most of the Nords. The problem with Kharjo is a) if you receive a mandatory follower (like Farkas at the end of the Companions questline) he disappears back to his wandering caravan, and you could be days finding him. I met Kharjo first outside Windhelm, then in Riften, lost him in Whiterun, and found him in Dawnstar. The guy can move. And b), Kharjo and all Khajiits cannot marry the player due to the lack of dialogue options for some odd reason (before you ask I have tried the "addfac 19809 1" and "setrelationshiprank player 4" tweaks", they don't work). My request is for someone to find a way, whether through console commands or however the few .esp's are being made, to initiate the marriage dialogue/questline for either Kharjo, or Khajiit in general, however it works out. The lack of voiced dialogue is no problem, I'm well-used to that from mods for Oblivion. If this can be done I would be open to testing whatever you can come up with, to see if it works or bugs out or whatever. The only thing I can offer as a reward is the knowledge that you rooted out and fixed some of the underlying code of the world, like some kind of eldritch demi-god with a passion for numbers. I can also supply a payment of Septims in whatever quantity you desire, valid throughout the empire. Thank you in advance to any kind soul who undertakes this challenge, or to anyone who can offer meaningful advice.

Thanks for that, I do run Darnified UI, so I'll try it out tonight. At least it's an easy one to re-install (the OMOD, that is ;) ). EDIT - I just tried turning on the Classic Inventory feature, which didn't stop the problem but made my decreased FPS a little higher, if that makes sense. I guess the search goes on . . .

Thank you for the quick reply, but I don't have that mod installed. Are there any others known to cause this problem?

Hey all, I've been experiencing a weird bug lately, if I switch to my inventory and then back out again, it seems like Oblivion forgets about some graphic or computing power, and the game lags atrociously. If I switch back into the menu the little preview-pc looks fine (no lag or anything), but this does not fix the main game environment. The only way to counteract it that I've found is to fast travel from the map screen without exiting the inventory, which is pretty annoying (and only postpones the inevitable). This bug does not seem to happen specifically during times of heavy loading or processing, as it could happen within two minutes or an hour or so of playing. My load order is pretty clean and well-managed, I only have around 80 well-tested mods loaded at any one time. My graphics capabilities are likewise not a problem, I just upgraded my system and when Oblivion works properly, it zips along like lightning. Sorry for the ramble, but this has really started to detract from my game. Does anyone else have experience with this, or a possible suggestion? Many thanks if so!

Hey everyone! Due to the current progress of my secret project some of you may have heard about, I am in need of someone who knows how to model and animate 3D meshes. I have absolutely no experience in that field myself, I can only work with textures. The model(s) that I would need are a system of 5 circular gates, one within the other, each having one opening at the 12 o'clock position, that on activation by a script will turn 180 degrees either right or left. Thus, if the right sequence is activated, the openings of the gates will align, and if not the innermost area will be completely inaccessable. I would also need them to rotate back to their first position if the wrong script is activated, making the entire thing like a combination lock. In addition to this there would be one rectangular gate which would slide into the ground, sharing the same activation scripts as the other gates. I can handle the textures and scripts myself, all I need are the animated models. ;) If you are interested in helping me out here, please PM me and I will give you all the specifics you need. Thank you! Regards, Kohdi

Ah, thank you for that! Though it is impossible to get a shot while my PC's head is turned, the up/down function is more than adequate. A very nice mod, too, definitely a keeper. :) Also, Ziitch, you might want to try the Personality Idles mod for activating an animation after a period of idle standing. You might need to custom-modify it to get your PC to sit down when idle, but I'm sure it's do-able.

Thanks for the replies! I've been using the TFC command for a while now to get a good angle for screenshots, but what I'm talking about here is getting the PC's head to follow the camera, so that he's always looking straight at the screen.

Hey everyone, simple request today, is it possible to get the player character (or any character) to look directly at the camera using the console? I know there's a "look" control, but that requires a refID, which the camera doesn't have (or if it does, I don't know it). Anyone care to illuminate my problem? :)

Thank you all for the replies, it looks like EVE's the one!

Hey all, I've been scanning TESNexus for a while for a full conversion of the vanilla armor/clothing to an HGEC body (with a normal human breast proportion), but so far I've found nothing. Is there one out there, and if so, where might I find it? Thanks for any replies, Kohdi