[SSE] "Classic" alternate start

[BGE]

So as we all know, every mainline Elder Scrolls (sans Daggerfall) starts with the player as a prisoner. Skyrim seemed to really expand on this the most, with a scripted opening sequence. It's cool but judging by the amount of alternate start mods and options, obviously not something people like to play through over and over again.

 

I've always thought it would be cool to have an alternate start mod that's more in line with Oblivion and Arena's: waking up in a cell and having to fight your way out of a dungeon.

 

Idea: repurpose Helgen keep + dungeon & caves. Could replace the guard barracks (the first room you enter if you follow Hadvar instead of Ralof) as a holding area. Could keep all the enemies as Imperials, or have the whole sequence take place after Alduin's attack (or, keeping it simple, during). A guard is killed in front of the player's cell, allowing them to get his key or lockpicks. Scrounge weapons and armor, fight your way through the keep, then to the caves, kill the spiders and bear, run on to the cave exit and into the open world. Alduin flies overhead, the player gets the objective to warn Riverwood. No Ralof or Hadvar.

 

Some ideas: if it takes place after Alduin's attack, the Imperials and Stormcloaks could be dead and the keep's been repopulated by bandits, wolves, skeevers, etc.

 

Would be a much quicker opening sequence while retaining immersion and keeping in the spirit of the series.

 

Thoughts?

 

I know the default "let me out of this cell" option for Alternate Start: Live Another Life sort of has this. But the dungeon lasts all of a minute and your enemies are ghosts and it's unconnected to the main quest. Still neat though.

Edited February 1, 2023 by BGE

[jaydawg55]

I just started using 'Alternate Perspective' recently as my alternate start mod. You create your character in a room at the inn in Helgen. From there you can go off and adventure all you want without triggering the main quest. When you decide it's time to do the main quest, you return to the inn and rent a room from the innkeeper, then go to sleep. Then you wake to seeing the prisoner carriages arriving for the executions -- but you are watching from the porch of the inn.

 

Give it a try. It already does a lot of what you describe.

 

[BGE]

So I just tried Alternate Perspective and while I can appreciate the author's ambition I just don't think it's very good. Between the unvoiced dialogue and the fact that you just kind of stand there watching the intro play out as a passive observer it's kind of boring and actually strips the intro of one of its most interesting aspects. Neat idea I suppose.