3rdtryguy

Ah, goody, a sky thread. Now I don't have to start a new one. I'll be in and out quickly without wrecking things here, I hope. While we're on the subject of the sky, can someone point me to the place in the CS where I can change the daytime sky? I want to make a sky that looks quite different than the one we're used to seeing, being the sky as seen from Masser, Nirn's big red moon. The air there is very, very thin at best, so the sky should not be blue, ( maybe pinkish? ) and the stars should be visible even by day. The planet Nirn should loom large in the sky day and night. At night, the sky should pretty much disappear, leaving a very clear view of the stars and Nirn & Secundus, and the ambient lighting should be low. By day, the stars and such should fade dramatically but still be slightly visible, the ambient lighting should be bright, and the sun should be very bright and downright blazing. I figure the texture for the ground can be similar to that found in much of Elsweyr, but with a more reddish tinge added to it. Together these changes should make for a pretty convincing moon environment, assuming that Masser is a bit like Mars. This is of course for my "Mission To Masser" astronaut mod. Thanks for any help! I'll leave you now to your regularly scheduled thread already in progress.

Okay, that's cool. Glad to see you thought of this.

To quote the old beer commercials: "why ask why?" Just be glad that they do, for where would we be without them? I have only one mod uploaded to the nexus, but it made a lot of people very happy, and that makes me very happy. I created it to solve a big problem I was was having, and it occurred to me that many others were likely having the same problem and needed a fix for it. It got nearly 100 downloads on it's very first day, so I guess I was right about that. Mainly, though, I think that modding is in itself as much of a hobby as playing the games in the first place.

Well this all sounds like a whole lot of fun, but I have one dumb question: Who would need to have any organs replaced artificially when their own organs can be perfectly restored in seconds in a magical world where perfect health is only as far away as a wave of a hand, a drink of a potion, or a visit to an altar? Cool, but very immersion-breaking. Be sure to write in a fix for this if you want it to make any sense. Sotha-Sil, eh? *sigh* That's gonna really screw up the Mission-To-Masser mod, which puts the Clockwork City on the moon. It works, though, so there's certainly no reason not to use it.

This would be very cool. Making something very much like the Bravil Seadomes, but on a much huger scale, would totally rock. A few huge central domes connected by wide corridors could contain the "downtown" parts of the city, and smaller outlying domes would comprise the residential areas. The MAIN thing that would make it all worthwhile would be MUCH bigger, and more numerous, windows than the ones we see in the Bravil Seadome house. Let's REALLY have an appreciation for being underwater this time. Without these big windows, it wouldn't really be worth the bother, I think. While you're at it, how about some fish swimming by, and maybe a shipwreck to see? If you put the thing on the bottom of Niben Bay, with entrances on either side, then it could make a nifty way to get across the bay. Putting it out deep on the ocean, though, could also be cool, especially if you could make some unique sea critters like sharks or dreughs swim around it. Quests? How about repairing and relighting the lightbuoy on the roof to keep ships from hitting the domes? How about patching some leaks, or even preventing a catastrophic failure? Clean the algae off of an all-glass dome used as a greenhouse? ( an all-glass dome would be fantastic. ) Unclog the snorkel system? Unclog the sewer system? yeah.. this would rule.

Harvest 100% will save you a lot of time and frustration. There is an add-on for the Shivering Isles as well. Incinerate Corpse is a spell you can get that lets you vaporize bodies, plus casting it goes toward your destruction skill level. Ed Vautrine sells it. Portable Hole & Summonable Chest are very, very handy. No Psychic Guards OR Reneer's Guard Overhaul will make life a lot easier and more sensible. The Most Convenient Mod Ever is a beauty, letting you get rid of those quest items that get stuck in your inventory forever as well as all sorts of other neat stuff.

I miss the multiple pieces of armor and clothing, and more importantly, the fact that they were all individually enchantable.

I have an idea about this. First, these old forts were once useful back when the men & mer were both fighting for control of the area, but once the elves finally fell, the forts were no longer needed after the area got politically stabilized and homogenized. The outer provinces have forts still, but here in the core of the empire they are no longer useful, and have been decommissioned. As for why everything is underground? Well, the old magics were a lot more potent than the magic of today, probably capable of laying waste to anything above ground with ease. In fact, my guess is that the underground stuff we see is simply what remains of what were once areas with plenty of above-ground stuff. Much of the forts were possibly built underground to make them more fort-like and secure, like bunkers. There is also the temperature control aspect; underground structures are easier to keep warm and/or cool than aboveground ones, and the weather is rarely a concern. Overall, it's a good idea.

Yeah, that works. I was thinking dwemer since they were ancient and once very advanced, but Sotha Sil works out much, much better. That even lends itself better to a questline. Hmmm.. right off the top of my head, maybe some dremora messenger shows up with a message from Vivec. Vivec needs help to escape his captors, and to get free, he needs some gizmo that he knows is in Sotha's clockwork city. Alas, he cannot send you there any more than he can teleport himself to freedom, so somehow getting there is up to you. After a bit of asking around, you can find info on some mad wizard hermit guy who got kicked out of the mage's guild for gross disregard for safety in his experiments. You find him and explain the situation, and he agrees to help, but warns that it won't be easy or safe. HEY! Maybe he can offer a choice of possibilities, either building a big rocket or flying ship OR building a big teleportation amplifier. He figures that the teleportation distance is extreme, but it's still line-of-sight, so maybe it's doable. Anyway, after settling on a plan, you quest around to get the stuff you need and make some things happem. Finally you zoom away to Masser and look for the fabled Clockwork City. Luckily, the Nerevarine & Almalexia had already trashed the place long ago, so all the clockwork monsters are inactive piles of scrap. ( or not, if the modders think they can make "live" ones. ) Search around, find the mcguffin, and then go home. Summon the dremora, and give him the device to take back to Vivec. Vivec gets free, and comes to Cyrodiil to reward you very nicely. Yeah.. it practically writes itself. So... how's that grab ya?

Well, maybe not, but here are two ideas that are doozies. 1-- We meet Skingrad's Count Hassildor a few times in the game, but he never remembers. It's annoying. I'd like to see a mod where he remembers me during subsequent meetings. If I meet him during the mages guild questline, it would be nice if he still knew me during the main quest. The opposite would be even better, with maybe some line of dialogue like, "Champion?? Got bored and joined the Mage's Guild, eh? " Something, anything, just as long as it's small, simple, and doesn't cause problems with anything in the game. The vampirism cure quest can stay untouched, since it's fine. 2-- Just how good ARE you, anyway? Let's find out: Mission to Masser! Yep, it's high time we had an astronaut mod, and finally walk on that big red rock in the sky. The mod would need: -- a red, rocky, barren landscape. -- a way to breathe -- a way to GET there, preferably in some sort of wacky ship instead of via teleport spell, but a big wacky teleport device could work just as well if suitably epic -- a great big Nirn to half-fill the masserian sky -- a reason to GO there -- something cool to FIND there ( like maybe dwemer ruins ) -- a way back home -- a questline to put it all together ( deciding to go, building the device, exploring, finding the whatever, returning home and doing whatever it was you were trying to do that made you have to go in the first place ) I'd like to help with this one.

Please go to the Doom of Resdayn thread and sign on to that team. There would be plenty for you to do on that project! Angry necromancers flee Cyrodiil and move to Vvardenfell, where they hook up with a cult of Molag Bal worshipping vampire crazies, and together they cook up a plan to unleash their revenge on all of Tamriel. What's not to love? It's a huge project that desperately needs all the help it can get. Most capable modders are too busy to help, but if you're not, then you're perfect. It wouldn't be a huge commitment of your time, either, just making a few little bits here and there as needed. At least go check it out, pretty please?

HA! That's great. And to think, for all this time everyone said that it was impossible. Thanks for proving them wrong and opening up a whole new facet of modmaking.

Hey, that would be cool. Adding to that, how about a green flame that fully envelops the victim and burns and burns, stripping away not health, but instead endurance, fatigue and willpower, one point of each per second, all the way to zero on all three before the fire goes out? Pretty slow, but sadistic and fun. Finally a good use for dispell potions.

The tent with the door on it, that is, not the open one. Once inside, look to your left, on the ground, and you'll see a chest. Inside the chest is a scroll, and grabbing it updates the quest. It's not always there, though. Sometimes it glitches. Leave the area, restart the game, and go back to that area. That usually does the trick. www.lostspires.com , by the way, has an FAQ section on it that includes this and many other little nuggets, including what to do if your computer totally locks up when you try to quit Oblivion with lost spires active.

I've been there a couple of times, and you're right, it IS cool.

Hey, that sounds pretty cool. It does seem like there should be more islands to warrant the name. Elytra mounts??? That would rock! ( especially if you could take them home to cyrodiil ) One mod I'd really like to see right off the bat, though, would be just a little extra dialog for the gateguard on the island in Niben bay. All he says is to get away from him. I'd like to be able to tell him that I'm fine, or even convince him to take a quick look inside. Once ascended as Sheogorath, that crazy chick on the island should also be able to finally say more than just that I can't see her. For that matter, I really wish that I could fix a few things after becoming the madgod. Letting that librarian guy go free, for example, would be great.

There should be ample quantities of all those things you see in the game that have no visible way of otherwise being in the game. Things like apples and pears and oranges and beef have to come from someplace, right? Lots of bolts of cloth of various colors should be found for the local folks to turn into clothes. Plates and cups and such and other consumer goods should be plentiful. I would think the place could be roughly divided into two parts, with imports on one side and exports on the other. Venison, corn, and tobacco would make good exports.

Just make sure that this time the mudcrab handles more stuff than just booze. Make him a full-line merchant wheeling and dealing in everything. Maybe he could have made a small fortune in morrowind and moved to Cyrodiil where he could REALLY rake it in. OH! An explanation of just how he came to be would also be nice. Maybe his motivation, too; for example, maybe he's trying to raise enough cash to undo it? Hey, maybe he can also be a master trainer in mercantile? If you can make a mudcrab and a grummite talk, then you are awesome! If you could expand upon that and give us talking goblins as well, then finally, at long last, somebody could make a decent mod with Goblin Jim's cave. Can you imagine how useful a talking goblin would be for use in Goblin Jim's cave? I sure can...

Due to technical difficulties, I have never been able to install, patch and run the Shivering Isles. That all changed a few days ago when a good samaritan helped me out and sent me the patch files I couldn't download. now, at long last, I can see what all the fuss is about for myself. WOW! I never expected anything like this. The moment Haskill left me, and the walls exploded into a brilliant blizzard of butterflies, I was totally blown away and totally hooked. This was nothing like I had expected. I had never heard that the Isles were so much like Morrowind. Everywhere I looked, it seemed, I found some other element from Morrowind, from the very skies and rocks to the people and quests. Big Head is here, wanting his fork. The giant Mushroom trees are everywhere, and even those weird muffin-top rocks from Vaardenfell's coastal areas are all over the place. *snif* It's so wonderful. Did Sheogorath have a hand in building Vaardenfell? Is the Sheogorath Region of Vaardenfell called that for that very reason? That would explain a lot. Hungers are here, and Golden Saints as well, who aren't really so bad once you get to know them. I don't remember Dark Seducers, though. When I first saw one I thought she might have been a Winged Twilight. Did they change winged twilights into Dark Seducers for this game, or do I just not remember dark seducers from Morrowind? I really didn't know what to expect, but I did expect more of a diabolically evil place swarming with daedra. Instead, it's more of a giant asylum for tamrielic lunatics. Kinda nice of Sheogorath to provide such a place for them, I suppose. I also had no idea about the whole Jyggalag thing. Oh, I knew who he was, but I didn't know the story behind it, so it caught me by surprise. Since I've been laid up with pneumonia for two days, and am now snowed in with all the roads closed, I've made a lot of progress so far, finishing the main quest and a bunch of minor ones. This is the most fun I've had playing Oblivion in over a year and a half. Now if Beth would just make another expansion like this one, maybe with Azura's realm. ( or maybe Jyggalag could use some help getting back on his feet, and he already knows how helpful you can be... ) I know they won't, but they're crazy not to milk this for all it's worth.

For me it went in stages. When I was new, I was hooked on cheat and gameplay mods, just so I could stay alive. Soon after that I got into house mods, and collected way too many. later I moved on to only VERY cool houses that had quests. Then I moved on to very minor landscape mods, and I still enjoy these greatly. In fact, if ever I see a mods that adds or changes some small little area in some nice way, I will absolutely get it. I've always been limited as to what mods I can download and run, so I tend to stay small with these. A better waterfall here, a witch's coven park there, some pretty flowerbeds... I collect these like baseball cards. Now I like quests and new places the most. I'm always on the lookout for a new area and a new questline. Just two days ago I was FINALLY able to install, patch, and smoothly run The Shivering Isles, thanks to the gracious help of a fellow denizen of the nexxux. WOW! Now I find myself seriously wanting some new clothing & beauty packs. The best part is that, now that I'm finally up to date, I can at last get hundreds of new mods that were always previously off-limits to me since I didn't have SI. I even have OBSE, but haven't installed it yet, and that will open up another whole new world of mods. Alchemy, crafting, deadly reflex... yeee-ha! I can hardly wait.

Have you looked at the Improved Imperial City waterfront shack? ( I forget the exact name, but it's something like that. ) It is a MUCH nicer IC shack that still works like the original in every way. ( even works with many other mods affecting the shack! ) The best part, though, if you want storage, is the storage! I forgot how many shelves, chests, and drawers ( mostly drawers ) there are in the place, but it's around maybe 40. You've never SEEN so much storage space in one place, not even in Morrowind. The shack is about twice the size of the original, and almost every available surface is a container. Seriously, you've got to see this. There is even a nifty little covered dock behind it with some barrels and sacks. Palpenious, you should check this out, too, before you finish your mod. You might get some useful ideas. :) In fact, a luxurious Talos Plaza pad with storage like this could likely become one of the most popular housing mods ever made for the Imperial City, since lack of storage is a very common complaint, and people like luxury.

Okay then; it's just me. I don't know WHY it's just me. What did I ever do to Microsoft? Why won't they let me on their website? *sigh* Is this Visual C++ thing part of Windows? Can I fix it with a dirty reinstall/repair?

Does the link that gsmanners provided work for any of you? ( thanks again ) Can any of you get microsoft.com to work at all? I've been trying for several days now, but can't get the microsoft site to respond at all. I'm glad I can at least still play Oblivion.

Okay, thanks! Now if I can just get Microsoft.com to work. It doesn't respond. Oh well, one crisis at a time, eh?

I can no longer play Fallout. When I tried to launch, I got a windows ( XP ) popup error box complaining that the application's configuration was broken, and it suggested that I reinstall to fix it. I could, however, still launch by clicking on the correct icon in window, that is, program files/bethesda/fallout3. This worked okay until I realized I was at "Take it back" and had to activate Broken Steel. That's when i noticed that without the launcher, I had no way to manage mods. Well, that was annoying, so I uninstalled/reinstalled fallout. It didn't work. Then I thought about FOMM, fallout Mod manager, and remembered that it could launch the game. I downloaded it and gave it a whirl, but alas, nothing happens when I click the "launch Fallout" button. I guess that this button doesn't replace, but is only linked to, the Fallout Launcher? To make things worse, since reinstalling I can't even get it to run anyway like I could before trying to fix it. Any Ideas? By the way, I didn't add any mods or do anything software-wise tight before this happened. The only thing I can think of is that my Antivirus software reported that it had fixed a keylogger in my DVD playing software. However, the DVD player still works just fine with other games like Oblivion. Do I have to clear out the registry to truly uninstall Fallout, as you do with Oblivion? Is there an easier fix? Help!