Full Scale Invasion Force

[jonesjoshuar]

Not to be a put down, but this has been discussed a lot. One of the difficulties is the engine itself. I forget the exact number, but if so many npcs are involed the AI does wierd things or nothing at all. I do not think it impossible as a few mods done some things, but i believe some one said it is a limit of the game engine. My mod will have a large scale battles but I am going to make it localized. IE: enable only within a certain distance of the player.

 

 

Should be noted: i have not experienced these limits myself nor have i tried to push that limit. I just remember the discussion vaguely awhile back.

[WinrarIzme]

Darius, I love the idea of your mod, but it'd be very buggy no matter how low your settings are because there's a limit of 15-16 NPC's in one area. Any more then that, they will just stand there and watch the battle. You should reduce the numbers but make them resurrect or something.

 

I would help with the mod but I don't have Shivering Isles.

[Spl1nt3rC3ll]

It sounds like a fantastic start...

 

Maybe to decrease the lag, didn't you say in your battle mod (which i played. very nice) that you might want to lower the grass?

 

But would there be a way to, say, have a lighter version of meshes, one that wouldn't take so long to load and could be employed en masse? it's probably been done.

 

In addition, some storyline elements would be interesting as well, maybe even essential as you wouldn't want the invasion to start AS SOON as you loaded the mod.

 

Something to certainly think about...

 

I had a thought about the initial sighting of the ships. It could be an aesthetic thing or somehow turned into a quest.

Ages ago, the lighthouse keeper was given a sack of magical powder by Imperial Battlemages. He was instructed to cast this powder upon the lighthouse beacon if he were to spot a threat to Anvil and Cyrodiil's safety. Much like strontium chloride or calcium chloride, etc. this powder changes the color of the flame. In the hour of the brilliant blue flame, Cyrodiil must prepare for war.

 

Edit:

Maybe the lighthouse keeper would be preemptively killed by a scout of the invading army. You enter his house and find the place torn apart and bloody, with the keeper displayed similar to Lucien Lachance. Investigating his place will reveal an ancient note passed down by the previous owners with the above information. Then the player would need to fulfill the lighthouse keeper's task, or Anvil will be taken unawares.

[WinrarIzme]

I can do scripting and other A.I stuff for that if anyone wants to help but I can't do anything for Shivering Isles.

[WolfRaven]

Viewing the ships would be a part of the quest, and it would, i agree, aesthetically pleasing. Get some good music into that, and it would be unnervingly good.

 

As for restrictions with the game system, we can do one of three things:

 

1. Not really care and warn of the incidental lag. Too bad, so sad, your dad kind of way of looking at it.

2. Low quality meshes. It has to be possible.

3. Armies of small groups...6-14 NPCs assaulting at a time...The intial invasion would be difficult though...that we would have to look around.

 

Also, to address Jones, this game is in the hands of its players, and those that know how to manage it. It would be short sighted to think of it as impossible, as it is shown that anyone can edit this game to suit their needs. AND it is less impossible to make it easy.

 

Just Say'n: The code exists.

[WinrarIzme]

The assaults would be easy. They could come up to attack and when they're killed they move back to the ships and resurrect and charge back up which will take time so the fighting will give you time to rest and regroup with the defence forces.

[DariusMoranda]

The assaults would be easy. They could come up to attack and when they're killed they move back to the ships and resurrect and charge back up which will take time so the fighting will give you time to rest and regroup with the defence forces.

 

I am already testing large groups for an upcoming mod of ours

 

http://thenexusforums.com/index.php?showtopic=195010

 

Resurrection-The Tomb Of Tjurhane Fyrre

 

I set 80 ayleids against 95 crusaders,(I used my old companion files and npc adds,changed the races,added armors and weapons)to hate each other to the bone,and dropped them into one cell,in wilderness .They attacked each other immediately,I was watching on the clock,and the battle went over 10 minutes.It was furious,I deleted all magic and powers,no magic was involved,pure sword/bow/mace clash,nothing enchanted,fair battle.They all jumped in a rampage,no watchers,no one was idle,nor fleeing,they all fought until the very end.

 

What was the cure?I matched their forces,and aylieds were on my side,crusaders were the ones who hates me.The thing is,which I mentioned earlier,on my Cyrodiil vs Hammerfell mod..You need at least 7-8 people in on your side,to get a full attack of your opponents.That is really all.To be more sure into this,bring 40 people on your side,and clash against 50.It's gonna roll.And it makes Oblivion to look more serious,I say.It was intense,it was fun,it was great.I set my graphics on ultra high,and just lowered the grass distance to zero.And hell,I set the to fight on the Hero Hill,which is pretty bad not welcoming soil for warriors,as it is a mountain side,filled with rocks,trees and sharp terrain angles.No serious lag,nothing.The lack of magic helped,and the grass thing surely helped,as the grass is the major lag cause for the game,in general.

 

This can be done.Only that scripting will be a lot of work,as I want to 'bind' archers to one place,not to have them running around and shooting at free will.I want them to stand in one place,like when they practising on targets and to just fill the battlefield with their arrows.

 

All in time,though.

 

I will give my best for the success.I thought I cound't mod over a year ago,now I can,I thought I can't make a building,now I can.I thought big battles are a no no for this game..and guess what?I tried it,and it works more or less. :thumbsup: This works!Oblivion engine can be overriden for the large battles,with 1 % of programming skills,and 99 % of thingking and planing.

 

Moranda

[DariusMoranda]

Sorry for two posts in a raw.

 

One more thing,I forgot-

 

You know those battlemages in front of Silorn?When you execute the orders,they will stand symmetric in one place.

 

Remember the 'stay here' order for a knight of the nine companion?He will pull out the sword and stand on one place.

 

Connect those two,and you will have a warrior,in a battle stance,standing on his marker,without moving.And he will fight only when the enemy approaches to him ... :wink:

[WolfRaven]

Aye! it's good to see that it can be done.

 

What i was thinking is that for every fighter NPC in the game, you should be able to ask if they want to fight. If that answer is yes, then they will follow you. Maybe their answer depends on your personality and how much they like you. Then you can give them orders. I was thinking that if you selected a group (simply talk to them and ask to join your party) you could then select an option for them to go into a formation...Simyaz did something similar in Tears of the Fiend when you're fighting for Cleon's soul.

 

For the foreign invaders, we'd have to make a new mesh of armour, something simple but uniform, like the Imperial Guard stuff. Probably at the same level too (don't want to make it too hard...numbers are enough).

 

Also, grass length can be changed in the ini file, right? or just the options...