LE A House for Me

[Ruze]

I'll put the request up front, and follow it up with some details about WHY I'm requesting this in a followup post. If your interested in building this house mod for me, just respond and we can communicate further. I claim no ownership of any mod built, nor do I want any part in sharing rights. If you do build something awesome for me, I have no problem with the rest of the community taking part.

 

 

 

My Specifications

 

Location, Location, Location

 

- A house in Whiterun Exterior, near the fast travel location by the stables. Preferably with a little 'driveway' to get it off the road a little. South of Whiterun itself, possibly a little up in the hills. Important to have Whiterun with Dragonsreach and the rolling hill country to the west in view from the property. Maybe 30-40 yards from road.

 

- Out of the way, but still obviously part of this nice collection of farms and properties.

 

- In Whiterun's style. Possibly in the same housing style as that of the Bannered Mare or that of the Battle Borns.

 

- Comes with it's own mill. 20 yards from manor house. A small alchemists corner in the millhouse.

 

- A bit of acreage for planting crops (I do have Hearthfire if you want to bum off of that planting script, but otherwise a good garden and a hay field would be great for me). Primary crop for this manor was hay, straw, and hops, which it then sold for the stables, thatching and the local meadery. A small wagon ready to be loaded would be nice.

 

- Comes with a smaller shack/outbuilding for followers and servants, with a couple beds, a cook stove, and a place to sit and eat. This outbuilding sits between the mill and the manor house. 10-15 yards from Manor house.

 

- Cave near the back of the property that maybe taps into a mine and underground stream. Worn trail leading to the cave. Largely tapped out, with only a few iron and corundum veins left. No furnishings necessary, but maybe an ore cart for flavor. Maybe 25 yards from driveway to cave entrance. Please see the 'Darker Side' section for more information on the mine.

 

- Between the Manor house and the abandoned mine is an old, dingy smithy. Smith, workbench, tanning rack, smelter and grindstone, all under a wooden canopy building akin to Knifepoint Ridge. Maybe 20 yards from driveway to smelter.

 

The Manor House

 

- Interior rooms are cozy and warm. Something with about half the display cases as that in the 'Breezehome Estate' mod, but with manniquins and displays placed in logical arrangements. I love Breezehome Estate's diverse display style, but I also got real enjoyment in house 'Sufvaka' and how it uses pedestals and manniquins to really focus on that particular piece. A combination of the two would be nice.

 

- The house mod 'Build Your Own House' does an amazing job with combining standard asthetic clutter into the item meshes themselves, meaning I don't go bumping things off of tables, nor do I have to attempt to manually place objects here and there to give that 'lived in' feel. I much preferred this method to what the Hearthfire DLC attempted with the clutter.

 

- At least one room for book shelves, as I'm an avid collector. If it includes an enchanting alter, put it in an out of the way, 'behind the cabinet' sort of deal with an alchemy table nearby. My character doesn't take to magic, but even my magic-leaning characters are generally hesitent about advertising their abilities to their neighbors or any visitors.

 

- A master bedroom on one side of the house, with a tasteful bed.

 

- A pair of smaller beds on the opposite side of the house.

 

- Center cooking pot, but not a lot of focus on the kitchen aspect, as I'm not much for cooking and whatnot.

 

- A few tasteful animal displays, but not a lot.

 

- No more than three persistant light sources that create shadows. I've got a lower-end computer nowadays, and shadows aren't my strong point. That said, don't make it unnaturally bright, unless you want to use the rays of light akin to Dragonreach's foyer.

 

The Darker Side

 

- I would prefer a basement that is also part of the same zone as the mine, with a few 'interesting' locations in between. The reason for this, is to keep the number of times I have to face loading screens down to 'two' in order for me to experience the house and mine. I realize that this makes an exception for the one outbuilding (the servants quarters), but that can be handled.

 

- The basement of the house itself should maintain that cozy atmosphere of the house.

 

- One corner should act as an extra pair of small, lightly furnished rooms for any close companions I may bring along with me.

 

- One corner should be reserved for a wine cellar, with wines and beers on display and a good-sized keg or two. A bar might be nice, with a few stools. Ample storage options would also give this room dual purpose.

 

- I also would like an 'adventuring days' nook, where a few manniquins and some interesting displays can be setup to let me relive my amazing adventures. A good desk, a bookshelf or two, some weapon displays and a map of skyrim, along with assorted trophy locations would really suit this. The ability to display a particular flag would also be great, be it the Imperial Banner, the Stormcloak Banner, or even a Thalmor, Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild, Companions, or Arcane University banner. Something tasteful and as a backdrop for the 'den'.

 

- Off of this Den room should be another simple 'closet' room (only big enough to step in) where a few items can be displayed at my discretion. Preferably, the option to select a shrine (Daedric or otherwise) and display another banner for secret discretion. Combinations I can imagine are a Talos shrine with a Stormcloak banner, etc. Public support in the den, private support in the closet.

 

- The last room would be my second workshop. This one including the full crafting layout in as best an arrangement as can be made. If there is a way to make the alchemy table and enchanting alter more 'practical' and less magic-looking, that would be nice. Something that would fit with the hardworking look of the smelter would be nice. The cliche 'cabinet that leads to a dark tunnel' would fit in this room. Also, a roof access to the smelter might be a nice attachment, but not necessary if it doesn't fit in the general area.

 

- As I mentioned, this basement cell is also the abandoned mine-shafts zone. The hidden tunnel leads between the two, with one off-shoot room. This room would be a moonlit lair (as in, small hole in the cieling), with the option (through a skull in one rock crevice) to set it up as a werewolf den (firepit, warm color tones, respawning silver hand chained to wall for me to kill and eat their heart every now and again); a vampire lair (cool color tones, very nice coffin to sleep in, vampire cattle chained to the wall); a dark brotherhood lair (red color tones, blood pooled under the prisoner to torture, alchemy lab with poison ingredients at the ready); or a necromancer lair (recently deceased attached to wall, green color tones, enchanter and necromancer alter, corpses and bones strewn about).

 

- Hidden 'wall' entrance into mine shaft. Sufvaka has a nice pressure plate that helps mask their entrance to their thieves den really well.

 

Storage What?

 

- I only need a few dedicated storage options. These boxes, if possible (without scripts, preferably) should be linked throughout the house so that I can drop the items at one point and easily reach them at all other. Please reference 'Build Your Own House' for the best looking containers I've yet seen.

 

- Ore Bucket: Located in the outside smelter area, within the abandoned mine, in the underground work room, in the basement storage area, and to the side in an out of the way location in the main house.

 

- Ingot Chest: Located in the outside smelter area, within the underground workroom, in the basement storage area, and to the side in the main house.

 

- Leatherworking Barrrel: Located in the outside smelter area, within the underground workroom, in the basement storage area, and near the front door in the main house.

 

- Alchemy Ingredients: Located in the mill, in the underground workroom, in the basement storage area, and next to the cooking pot in the manor. Also, can be added to the Dark Brotherhood lair option.

 

- Potion Keg: Located in the mill, in the underground workroom, in the basement storage area near the bar, and near the dining area of the manor.

 

- Poison Bottle: Located in the mill, in the underground workroom, and in the basement storage area. Also, can be added to the Dark Brotherhood lair option.

 

- General Storage Chest: Located in the basement storage area, in the main house, and on the front porch.

 

- Weapon Storage Chest: Located in the basement storage area, in the master bedroom, and in the den. Also, can be added to the Werewolf lair option.

 

- Armor Storage Chest: Located in the basement storage area, in the master bedroom, and in the den. Also, can be added to the Werewolf lair option.

 

- Book Bin: Located in the library, the basement storage area, and the den.

 

- Scrolls Drawers: Located in the library, the basement storage area, and den. Also, can be added to the Necromancer lair option.

 

- Jewelry Chest: Located in the master bedroom and in the basement storage area.

 

- Clothes Closet: Located in the master bedroom and the basement storage area. Also, can be added to the Necromancer lair option.

 

- While an assortment of regular, non-respawning chests would also be nice, they are mainly for flavor and would see little practical use by myself.

[Ruze]

And why?

 

I want a very nice house mod for my assortment of characters. Plus, this combines a lot of the requirements of myself AND a few friends, as we experiment with an assortment of different mods.

 

But why, if I've got such a clear vision in my head of what I want, can't I do it myself?

 

Honestly it comes down to inexperience and time. If you've been playing with this site since it was TESSource, then you *might* recognize the one house mod I released for Oblivion. It was an in-character mod that focused on fitting in with the lore, while giving players options (ahead of their time, it ended up) to personalize their experience. It used some of the latest achievements of other moders (particularly scripting) to make some nice touches, but otherwise wasn't overly flashy or grandoise.

 

But I made that mod back in 2007 or so, when I was a fresh-faced young Marine with a ton of extra time on his hands. Now I'm a father of two with a full time job, who hasn't messed with the TESCS in over five years.

 

So any help would be appreciated, for sure. And if nobody wants to play with this, I understand. I'd take suggestions on good mods to draw assets from, though, if you get the gist of my goals here.

 

Cheers, all.

[Ruze]

Sorry, still thinking on this. Obviously not a bump, so don't take it as such please moderators?

 

A more in-depth explanation of the orgin and concept of the overall design:

 

My characters are generally more down to earth types. They are from the local area, or serve some basic function within the world itself. My main Morrowind character never believed the Neverar prophecies, and while pursuing his goals of being a wizard of the first class, was swept into a battle of gods and fate that, even in the end, he wasn't sure was really there.

 

My Oblivion character was a soldier, first and foremost. Struck an officer, ended up in prison. It all went to hell from there ...

 

In Skyrim, my main character was first a retired Imperial soldier, veteran of the Great War. Heading into Skyrim with everything he owned on his back, not so much looking for adventure as looking for a place to finish his days. The war was enough. Service in the Imperial Legion was enough. But a life of conflict drew him further along.

 

His son (my current character) is born in Skyrim. While Imperial in blood on his father's side, he's a nord on his mother's. Taller than the average Imperial, and more of the mindset of 'hit first, drink more' type, he's still a smooth talker (even if he can't quite grow one of those awesome beards). When his mother died rather suddenly due to a skeever bite that got infected, our boy was sent back to the Imperial City to be raised by his aunt. He was taught to read and to speak, to dress and impress, but his hearth was in Skyrim.

 

Now he's returning home. Letter in the mail from da, speaking of ill times and bad harvest. A letter that's taken two years to make it, due to the civil war. A letter that reminds a young man that his father didn't just forget about his son ... but maybe something worse has happend.

 

And so, this son of Skyrim, returns to his families (now abandoned) estate. It's not adventure he's got on his mind. It's home. And he'll defend his home.