Disillusioning Mod Experience (a bit rantish)

[ChalkLine]

Meh, I've just had the wind totally blown out of my sails.

 

I've been beavering away, trying to get my medieval retinue mod together, and to get a change of pace I downloaded Unique Landscapes.

 

Bloody hell, it's so good it makes me seriously doubt that I'll be able to come up with something to match it. Not only that, but meshes and textures I've been longing for are all in the mod, but in formats I can't understand.

 

On top of this, the mod I've been doing has been sliding all over Cyrodiil as I try and avoid areas that have been lovingly tweaked and polished. It started out to the west of Hackdirt, but shot off from there away from Battle Horn to the high ground north west of Fort Cuptor. This being too far from the PC's liege, it slid down the map to a spot north of Morahame just off the Yellow Road, across from Bravil, and finally settled in a triangle between Fort Valeria, Robber's Glen Cave and Veyond Cave.

 

Added to the fact that I'm still utterly ignorant of how I'm going to do a few of the things I want to (or if the game engine is capable of them), I'm glad I never made a big fuss about the project and did the classic newbie promise-the-moon-and-deliver-moonshine

[roquefort]

Unique Landscapes is a mod everyone should have. You do get the odd problem though. Just last night I discovered that there's a great big boulder over a bandit spawn point. My PC was passing the area with a companion when the music switched to battle-style and my companion, plus a couple of passers-by, started racing back and forth like scalded cats looking for the attacker, of which there was no sign.

 

In the end I put on my `detect life' hat and there was the bad guy, inside the rock. I had to use the console `disable' command to get rid of the rock :biggrin:

[Deepblue686]

On top of this, the mod I've been doing has been sliding all over Cyrodiil as I try and avoid areas that have been lovingly tweaked and polished. It started out to the west of Hackdirt, but shot off from there away from Battle Horn to the high ground north west of Fort Cuptor. This being too far from the PC's liege, it slid down the map to a spot north of Morahame just off the Yellow Road, across from Bravil, and finally settled in a triangle between Fort Valeria, Robber's Glen Cave and Veyond Cave.

 

Haha.

I can just imagine a landmass or location appearing in different parts of Cyrodiil during different phases of the moon or such.

 

But yeah Unique Landscapes is an awesome mod. and still growing too.

[Pineapplerum]

Hi Chalkline,

Cut yourself a break. You're still new to the whole thing and if anything I think trying to do something someone else sort of beat you to and are better experienced, will be a real chance for you to learn some things you might not have.

Don't be too hard on yourself. At least you're trying. I try modding and this is what I get done:

I go into Tes, I find where I'd like to mod. I try to adjust everything so that I can see what I'm doing.

I accidently move something by mistake and everything looks off. I panic and exit out of Tes without saving.

 

I've done that about 10 times so far. Lol, so you're doing a whole lot better than me, at least. That really isnt' saying much but I kudo you for trying.

Keep at it, you can do it! Can you try a mod that's not as complicated though? I mean, you're really going over the top for a beginner. Try doing baby steps and

work up to something that big. Or at least it sounds big, to me.

I really admire your enthusiasm. Please, don't be discouraged. :banana: You can do it!

[bben46]

Maybe you could use a separate worldspace, with just some kind of portal, door, cave or gate into your space. Such as was done for Shivering Isles and many other mods.

 

One trick is to use an existing cave, make a moving rock that opens using some kind of trigger, Then have it open into your worldspace.

You can do the same with a new or secret door in an existing building or ruin.

[ChalkLine]

The problem is the area is quite significant, and needs proximity to some features. I'm trying more to avoid treading on existing mod's toes than anything else.

It's a small keep and the attendant fief, and all the PC's retainers have homes, jobs and other tasks. Each part is a separate module, so if I get sick of it I can finish a module and get closure, then add on stuff later. There are five modules, of which I'm still on number 1. So far I'm quite happy, and merrily learning as I go, but the sheer amount of work at UL has made me stop and consider how much work there will be in linking the modules. While they are near each other, I may have to create whole streams, ravines and other intricate landscape features, and that's huge considered what's out there to gauge against.

[bben46]

Not everybody uses UL. So you want your mod to work both with and without it. The probability of finding a large area that doesn't interfere with some other mod is very low. Try to avoid the most popular mods, but don't be anal about it.

 

I think the easiest way is to place your mod without UL, then load it with UL and see what happens. Try it with UL first, then with UL after your mod. Maybe one or the other will work properly together. If not, maybe you could work with the UL team on a compatibility patch.

[ChalkLine]

Well, I seem to have found a spot (which is no doubt being modded right now in the WIP lab) in that triangle of Fort Valeria, Robber's Glen Cave and Veyond Cave. But that's a good idea, and I'll definitely keep that in mind.

 

However, there's an Oblivion Gate right where I want to plonk a major feature.

 

It's a minor, random gate. If I move it, will it disrupt the scripting?

 

(PS: Those rotten gates get all the best spots!)

[reaper9111]

i dont think it will affect trhe gate spawning script... all you need to do is to make sure you move (along whit the gate) every rock related to the gate spawn...(those rock that will be added when the gate spawn, as well as those "sometimes" remove when it spawn !

dont copy and paste the gate...this can create some problem... Good Luck !

[Vagrant0]

It's for this reason that I even started the Colored Rooms. I wanted to provide a lore friendly environment that people could make use of when placing new locations. The problem is that the project hasn't been coming together as quickly as I had hoped, so it will likely still be quite awhile before the mod can cater to any part of this role. It doesn't necessarily help with your particular problem, but shows that others are aware of the issue, and have been trying to find alternatives. Gates to Asgard is another world which aims to do the same kind of thing, and is already released, but isn't as lore friendly.