Inn Overhaul

[ArcieAdam]

I have an idea for a mod that I don't think I can handle myself. I was inspired by the lack of safe containers in the Shivering Isles, and by the fact that normally, in our world, when we visit a hotel, we expect to be able to use it to keep our stuff in while we're out of town.

 

My idea is this: When visiting an inn, you're given the option to stay either one night, three nights, a week, or indefinitely, paying the appropriate amount of gold. Once you do, the bed's ownership changes to you as normal, but so do the containers in the room as well. The containers would be safe, regardless of ownership, but if you're not paying for the room, taking back your items is stealing, resulting in a possible fine and confiscation.

 

The point of the above is to be able to rent a place to sleep and store your items when you're not near your normally safe containers, especially when you first visit the Shivering Isles, and you don't want to make the trek back to Tamriel to store any of your stuff.

 

Thanks for considering.

[Skevitj]

As far as I'm aware all inns are managed individually so that would be a lot of work to change them all to be compatible. It's a brilliant idea though.

 

I'm in the middle of exams (all over in a week), so can't help get it done now, but I'll be happy to lend a hand if it isn't finished by then.

 

Just a suggestion: How about this (storage) is only offered in the more expensive hotels? Long term residents wouldn't be a regular thing while on the road, neither are shops, so business is just going to be a bed for the night or 2. In the cities however, especially the fancy ones like Tiber Septim Hotel (think that's the name), rich clients staying for an extended duration would be commonplace, and they'd be needing storage. The idea of extended stay durations is still a great idea for all (more so for cities); The expensive hotels in the cities could have porters who will bug you for payments every week or so, the country ones just lock the door (when you're outside ofc) untill you pay. There is also the more sadistic option, where your items "dissapear" if you are late to pay.

 

I've got a slight feeling that something along these lines already exists, couldn't for the life of me remember what it was called.

[ArcieAdam]

Offering storage in expensive hotels is a good idea, cheap hotels are more like single night stays during travels (I use real sleep and hunger mods). I like the idea of a porter bugging you for payment, but that might be tough to control. I'd settle for a script that subtracts your fee daily. Although, locking your door if you couldn't pay in advance is a cool idea.

 

I'm not to keen on the disappearing items, though. I want to introduce an alternate way to store your items in a city you plan on staying in for awhile, I wouldn't want to implement an option to lose them if you don't pay up.

 

Thanks for offering a hand, send me a PM or something when exams are finished if you're still up for it. Good luck on your exams, too =D

[Skevitj]

Offering storage in expensive hotels is a good idea, cheap hotels are more like single night stays during travels (I use real sleep and hunger mods). I like the idea of a porter bugging you for payment, but that might be tough to control. I'd settle for a script that subtracts your fee daily. Although, locking your door if you couldn't pay in advance is a cool idea.

 

I'm not to keen on the disappearing items, though. I want to introduce an alternate way to store your items in a city you plan on staying in for awhile, I wouldn't want to implement an option to lose them if you don't pay up.

 

Thanks for offering a hand, send me a PM or something when exams are finished if you're still up for it. Good luck on your exams, too =D

 

Thanks, I need it. Keep posting on here and flushing out all the stuff I'm trying to cram in.

 

The porter shouldn't be too hard, just have him sit in the hotel lobby, and activate you if you're in the cell and a late payment flag is set, should be dead easy to implement. The reason I suggested the porter is that just having the gold dissapear isn't really realistic. With a real hotel, you would pay at their main counter (usually, unless someone has created the internet and credit cards for oblivion?), so the porter would just be there to remind you to go pay. I recon a good possibility would be to be given the option to pay a certian amount at a time, possible pay every fortnight, and you can talk to the porter to find out how many days credit you have left. All of those things are really easy to implement (the variable speech would be the most intensive bit, but if it's limited to a variant of: "1 day", "a few days", "more than a week": it would be real easy)

 

As a thought I had just after I posted the last message: If you find a bank mod you like, it could be possible to implement automatic payment, the fee is deducted from your "bank account". The porter would probably still have to be there to let you know if your account runs dry.

 

The dissapearing items comment was more a joke. It was meant to simulate the hotel manager liquidating your gear for you if you can't pay your fee. Putting a late fee on the player as a bounty (after a week mabey) is the best way to handle late payments. Of course, there is the alternative where they just require payments in advance, and when it expires the door gets locked (key needed) untill you renew it. (If you cancel the booking while the door is locked; how to recover your gear could be tricky, probably just have them unlock it, give the player a day to clear out, then call the guards if they're still in there.)

 

All depends on how realistic you want it, but from my experience, everything you've said so far should be easy to implement. If you start mapping out how the system will operate, ie, fees, inns to change, payment method, that should make it relatively quick to write the scripts for. In the mean time loading up the hotel room cells and changing the containers to non-respawn would be a good place to start if you wanted to have a crack at it.

 

PS. I don't have SI, so you would have to change those ones, but once a template is done, should be easy enough to apply to any.

[Nexus Set]

There is a feature called The Luggage included in COBL. It kinda addresses this issue of a safe portable storage but it uses a different approach to your idea. You still might be interested in using it though. It's quite good, actually.

[Pronam]

My idea is this: When visiting an inn, you're given the option to stay either one night, three nights, a week, or indefinitely, paying the appropriate amount of gold.

I have a first beta out of that, it could need some testers in a later stage. It deliberately doesn't contain any storage in the first version as there are a few mods out there that do so already.

Mine adds a 'guest-book'. After you've rented at the owner you can go to this book (every workable inn has one.) and choose to extend your stay. You have to pay every 2 weeks.

(either by paying and leaving or just paying.), else the bill will be added to your crime gold.

[ArcieAdam]

My idea is this: When visiting an inn, you're given the option to stay either one night, three nights, a week, or indefinitely, paying the appropriate amount of gold.

I have a first beta out of that, it could need some testers in a later stage. It deliberately doesn't contain any storage in the first version as there are a few mods out there that do so already.

Mine adds a 'guest-book'. After you've rented at the owner you can go to this book (every workable inn has one.) and choose to extend your stay. You have to pay every 2 weeks.

(either by paying and leaving or just paying.), else the bill will be added to your crime gold.

 

I'd be happy to beta test that, though the storage bit is what really attracts me to this idea.

 

I'll start mapping out all of the details later today or something, should be done by the time you finish finals, Skevitj. You'd have to walk me through implementing the mod to SI, though. I've never even touched a script before. (SI is awesome though, I'd look into getting it simply because Sheogorath is the epitome of awesome.)

[Skevitj]

@ArcieAdam: I like the sound of Pronam's idea. It would be easy enough to create a version which incorporates storage into his final product, with permissions of course. It would probably just be ensuring the containers are set to non-respawn, considering what you are after.

 

@Pronam: I kinda like my porter idea and I reckon it would work well with your guest book: For the more expensive hotels, there is a npc in the lobby who will go talk to you if your payment is late. The payment could be transfered to the player's bounty a day after contact has been made or something like that. I'm sure you have a more detailed way of implementing it, but just having a bounty on the player if they don't check a book every 2 weeks doesn't seem right, I wouldn't remember to at any rate. They could act as the payment collection method too. (For smaller inns the inn keeper could do the job (or the door is just locked, without the keeper's activate bit))

 

 

If someone could look into how easy it would be to link some of the popular bank mods to this for automatic payments. I recon they would fit together real well.