Castle Battlehorn

[ChalkLine]

First, I will have a bit of a whinge. Then I will ask some modding questions.

 

I've just come back to Oblivion after a few years away, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the Castle Battlehorn DLC was available.

 

What I wasn't pleasantly surprised with was it as a less-than-impressive product. It reeks of poor modding.

Now, I'm not a modder's bum, but I don't make my building's front halls twice the size of the exterior. Entering CBH you get this vast, useless hall (apart from the stuffed critters which frankly just take up space) which if you pop the exterior over it in the CS it only just comes up to the stairways. Unfortunately, the castle itself - apart from the two outbuildings in the bailey) is one static object. You can, of course, extend it back by merging other parts of castle statics with it but it detracts from its tidy exterior. Also, the interior is only half as high as the exterior . . .

 

Secondly, the taxidermist seems to own the castle. While the castellan gets a little bunk somewhere she has a workshop larger than Texas. Honestly, I know the stuffed monsters are cool but couldn't they have been shoved in a gallery downstairs somewhere, along with the taxidermist? After she's done her work she doesn't get any more dialogue, making her useless. Somehow I can't see why the fighter character would retain her for ever after, along with all the room she takes up.

 

I, personally, don't see the point in the dwemer forge. It just looks like a patent buffing machine. I think the forge looked better before it's upgraded.

 

Next on my whine-a-thon comes the battlements I've noted that some modders have already taken steps to remedy. Your poor men-at-arms (who don't merit a name, even though there's only four of them) can only access three sides of the castle. Now wonder this place has fallen recently, the poor grunts couldn't stop the foe clambering over the rear of the castle :wallbash: .

 

Finally, it feels 'dead'. I know, I'm asking a lot for two bucks, but the castle doesn't feel like it does anything and is just plonked down on an available hill. This, I think is where IV really differs from III, in that most things seemed like they had a reason for being there in III. The PC gets the castle by a kinda strange will that feels contrived, and then it's just an empty house sitting on a hill. Maybe we should have let the marauders have it, at least they'd use it for something.

 

So, now to the meat of my post;

 

I'd like to address these points.

I'd like to rearrange the interiors so the castle feels more functional, and is not a fortified museum. I'd like to oust the taxidermist into a shop in the Imperial City, push the stuffed critters into a gallery somewhere below. I'd like to name the men-at-arms, be able to equip them and Id like to make the castle more accessible to them. I'd like to back them up with some archers or crossbowmen (although I can't get crossbow scripts and animations to work yet).

Finally, I'd like the castle to do something. Castles administered areas, and plonking down a little village and some farms won't be too hard. I'd like to add a bailiff to the castle who interacts with the people who are subordinate to your lordship. I'd like the men-at-arms to do mounted patrols around the lands nearby, and not just look over the walls.

 

However, this smells strongly like a newbie uber-mod.

I'd like to do something achievable rather than pie-in-the-sky, but I'm having coming to grips with the simple scripting in the ES-IV CS. My attempts at altering Battlehorn tend to screw up the pathing and scripting such as the improvement staging.

 

So, my questions to the forum is this;

 

- Can anyone see some simple ways of achieving the changes I've mentioned?

- How do I cut out the forge upgrade without interfering with the scripting?

- The Imperial Legion troops survive being mounted patrols by being seriously powerful, can the men-at-arms survive mounted patrols any other way?

[Vagrant0]

This is not something for modders to fix. It is Bethsoft's problem that they have made a substandard product. By involving modders, or even comparing their mods to the work of modders you only end up discouraging them from releasing a CS next time around. All of the DLC mods which Bethsoft has made for Oblivion have been kinda sub-standard, even when compared to themselves. They have aspects which are easily broken, do things in a way that either conflicts with lore, or seems unrealistic, make additions that really don't improve the game in any way, feels like they were just quests and features which were held back from the main game just to sell on the side, and are for the most part totally unnecessary. The fact that modders cannot re-use their resources only further limits their value.

 

As it is a DLC, almost all of the changes mentioned would have to be something that you would have to do for yourself, and would be unable to share with others who feel the same way.

[ChalkLine]

In this case, would you say that it's a better angle to just start from scratch and not use Battlehorn at all?

 

I was thinking of something like Fort Cooper, although a little less grandiose, and working with that.

[dezdimona]

theres some fine castle mods available already,perhaps looking at one of those can give you some ideas or perhaps use instead!

[madman132]

Rearranging the Battlehorn Castle would seem to be pretty useless, as anyone who wants to see that has to pay for the DLC, which is shitty at least in your Opinion. I don't know, i didn't bother to check it. There are plenty of Playerhouses, Castles, wholes towns and Cities around so you don't need that. Besides, i was pretty thrown when i played the "Knights of the Nine" Plugin. I do not use custom armors, i run around in weightless buggy conjured greaves and Curiass, which are the only boundarmor pieces that are "heavy" so that if i get loaded down a bit too much, i can switch to some Greaves and Curias recently looted, making them lighter due to my heavy armor mastery.

 

Now, with KotN i got some artificially lengthened Questline, most of which is boring and Pious. I get an Armor which looks crappy and has Enchantments, which are useless mostly. Its kinda like the Imperial Dragon armor, which looks better.

Furthermore, KotN screws up some Rumor Lines, as some NPCs who wouldn't care about it ramble about the Champion of the Nine. Like Lucien LaChance and the Rest of the Dark Brotherhood.

 

You can get the "Lost Paladins of the Divine" Mod for free, which will provide you with a better story, a better Armor with a Cape that moves when you run, better new Enemies (werewolfes are better then Fishpeople) and there's even a light armor Set.

Back to the Battlehorn Castle: Go with Glenvar Castle, or if you want a Playerhouse, get Ancient Towers.

"Fixing" Battlethorn Castle isn't worth it, there are enough alternatives around.

If you want to make something new from Scratch and use the DLC as Inspiration only, then do so. Of course you should not copy Parts of the DLC to make your mod =)

[bben46]

Glenvar Castle. :thumbsup: It's not just a castle, it has 2 lengthy well thought out quests with puzzles that will have you beating your head against the wall. :wallbash: Its not easy, you really have to earn it. :cool:

 

Secret passages, hidden features, new tricks and traps, a real parapet all the way around, archers on the walls, working farm, flower garden, herb garden, stable, a working portcullis, bath house - where the staff take a daily bath, private bath, Crypt for vampires, A large staff with functional AI, (check out the dining room during meal times) day and night shift guards, New spoken dialog, custom armor worn by all of the guards, custom house hangings & decor. And by far the best trophy room in the game - if you can find it. :whistling: And much more that I probably forgot. :rolleyes:

 

You are not going to finish this in an hour or two. Don't whine that it's too hard, because many people have done it. And many others have wimped out.