[WIP] The Black Marshes

[Pokegami]

I'm fine with your version of Soulrest instead of mine, but I am particularly adamant about Helstrom. I want Helstrom to be REALLY anti-Imperial and have an 100 percent Argonian population (or at least 90 percent and NO IMPERIALS). Seeing as you have not built it yet, I beg you to at least make one thing possible for Helstrom... This may sound ludicrous to you, but I actually have emotional feelings about Argonia, and I want Helstrom to forever be a safe haven for the Argonians, removed completely from Imperials. Which is what ingame lore suggests anyway.

 

Make it so that the Helstrom guards attack Imperial players on sight.

 

In return for this, I will do anything you want for the project.

 

I have been working on my own map of Argonia recently. Please don't put a settlement called Chasecreek in there, Argonians are not Native Americans. I was planning on having Thorn as the Sotho Tren HQ, but so long as you do the Helstrom anti-imperial thing I won't complain.

 

http://tes.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=112424

 

Ignore the parts outside of Black Marsh. It's just the inner bits I want you to see.

 

Also, I'm not an expert at modding, but I will do the exteriors of Archon and/or Helstrom if you want, although it's up to you to do the interiors and NPCs.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Pokegami

[Ibsen3]

@ xenos123 - Yes, we're trying to make sure that the tribes are very much insular and unwilling to communicate with strangers from the outset. As the trailer says, "the spectre of slavery hangs over the Northern jungles" so yes, Dunmer especially will be persona non grata...but they still play a vital role.

 

No swamp gas effects as yet although we have plenty of environmental hazards. It's just a case of getting the scripts to work efficiently and effectively. I like the idea of swamp gas though....could easily be done.

 

And yes, it's a separate worldspace...makes it easier all-round.

 

@ Pokegami - Hey, don't worry. Rest assured that the whole thing is based on lore. We do read the stuff, you know. And yes, your description matches what we know of Helstrom so of course it will be anti-Imperial.

 

I liked the map. It has some interesting place names. I wasn't happy with some of the original place names we found either so that's a nice little resource to check now and then.

 

With respect, I'm afraid there's not the slightest chance of working on Helstrom or Archon. Both of those are major settlements and EVERYBODY wants to work on stuff like that. I get quite offended by members coming in and wanting to work on really fun stuff and then not bothering with the essential, everyday admin that takes for more time, isn't even slightly as appealing and yet makes the whole thing playable...and that includes interiors and NPCs. This means that, as a BM modder, you need to earn the right to claim things like that. I think that's fair. Furthermore, we have specific models in development that are to be used according to a plan.

 

Sadly, however, it's unlikely that either Helstrom or Archon will appear in the impending beta since they're too far away from the specified region and our team is tiny. Mods like this take years to develop.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Ibsen3

[Pokegami]

Fine. Wakarimashita re Helstrom/Archon. Just that I can't really be bothered to make interiors that have the same number of objects as entire cities. Can you tell me which provinces of Argonia (from my map) will be included in the Beta? And what is this "admin"? Anyway, just tell me whether you will do the guard thing with Helstrom.

[Pokegami]

Also, I will work on the exterior (and possibly basic interior but no NPCs) of the towns of Narima and Jer Vanyal if you want (from the map)...

[Ibsen3]

Sorry, we don't really have much need for more settlements, I'm afraid. We already have our settlements planned out and named. Although we'd like to do more, we like to make sure that there's something to look forward after all of the arduous error checking, landscaping, interior design / NPC creation, finalisation of ideas, scripting, levelling and playtesting is done (some of which I refer to as 'the admin', which is markedly different from the more fun design work).

 

And yes, the guard thing with Helstrom will be implemented in a different way. The only possible issue is where the PC themselves is Imperial but all must earn access to Helstrom and no random NPC will walk into it. Given the fact that all within Helstrom will be either Argonian or some kind of captive, I can confirm that, barring PCs, THERE WILL BE NO IMPERIALS IN HELSTROM. :tongue:

[Pokegami]

Domo arigato gozaimashita! (thank you very much in Akaviri*) [gives kudos]

 

Are the Helstrom NPCs going to have hostile dialogue towards Imperial PCs? (a la outlanders in Telvanni cities from Morrowind)

 

Now, is there anything you want me to do?

 

 

*It's actually Japanese, therefore it is Akaviri.

Edited February 16, 2012 by Pokegami

[Ibsen3]

No problem. Nice to meet you.

 

Dialogue will take some time to implement but I think we could certainly add dialogue for Helstrom to that effect. It wouldn't be that much to do once we have everything else done.

 

As for work to be done, we effectively freezed work on Argonia as a whole in order to make sure that the beta release saw the light of day. Therefore, half of our map has not been worked on for a long time. The reason behind this was to focus our efforts on key areas and not to have loads of settlements completed, for example, but with very little of the time-consuming landscaping.

 

This means that we most need to work on: interiors, NPCs and AI, quests, scripts and dungeon design / adaptation. All landscaping for the beta is now done and all settlements are done. As we are in 'quest phase', modders with these skills are most needed right now, as is anyone with scripting skills for things like disease implementation and other trickery. A scattering of interiors and NPCs need doing but some attention needs to be paid to getting AI to work correctly. Meanwhile, many dungeons are fully constructed but need traps and customisation / cluttering. A lesser amount of dungeons need to be actually created from scratch.

 

Whatever skills you have that can fill these needs would be gratefully received. After the beta is done, we can then go back to working on the settlements and so on. Sign up and drop by here to introduce yourself, explain your skills / experience and what you'd like to work on if you're interested.

Edited February 17, 2012 by Ibsen3

[Pokegami]

Out of those, I can create basic AI and a few dungeons (I know of a modder resource that helps significantly) but I can only do fort, cave, and Ayleid ruin dungeons. I can make traps in those kinds of dungeons as well. Everything I know how to do is going to be released in my Gideon (ETA end of February).

 

As far as dialogue goes, I'm fine with creating dialogue for Helstrom [anything for that place, seriously!] but a) it always seems to go really fast so it is half impossible to read, b) I can't do quests, and c) I'm not a voice actor.

[Ibsen3]

Dungeons would be great and any NPCs/AI you can contribute would certainly help. If you drop by that link I gave in the last post, you can start helping straight away.

 

However, you will need to show us a little of what you can do. We get really tired of timewasters who sign up that we then spend our time on to show them the ropes and get them started, only for them to contribute a single, poor interior or nothing at all. You find yourself becoming a lot less friendly to the community as a whole.

 

Having said that, we've had some wonderful work from people just signing up to create a single dungeon.

[Pokegami]

When I release Gideon you will find out what I can do.