Vision - need feedback

[Tatto]

Ok this is a first for me so bare with me.

 

I have recently installed Oblivion again and downloaded many of the communities brilliant mods. I truly feel spoilt for choice, and I am excited whenever I install a persons work. Very rarely am I disappointed, and most of the time I'm awe inspired by all your work. I have written addons before for MMORPGS using lua and XML and they have been very popular, as one of my bug bares has been UI and freedom to give the user ultimate control over every aspect, as I feel it's so fundamental to playing any game where you use a control method rather than just doing it as in real life. However I have always wanted to tell a story or to be honest help in giving structure to a story any player can feel a part off. Immersion and realistic is very important to me, and is reason enough why I find my self playing this excellent game again.

 

So now I have given a little background , and mostly out of total respect to my peers, I'm looking for some feedback for a vision I have for this game, and the reason why I left the game in the first place after completing on Xbox360 many years ago (so glad I grew up and got a PC) it left me feeling a bit empty, while I could continue it felt I was incidental to events and not as mentioned in the beginning a true destiny was mine or any players alone, for reasons truly felt unknown but compelling none the less. Every person I have ever met has wanted to feel special in some way, that their very being was important somehow no matter how small on the grand sceam of things, but equally significant. I want to give that feeling of importance to every player.

 

My Idea for a mod, all be it long winded, is to create a new faction, this new faction uses a method of control through meditation. They are whom are the controlling force behind the Daedra and will befriend the player through dreams and showing their entrance if they feel the players threat to their prophecy is being met, they will open up the gates no matter whether the player is doing the main quest or not, they don't care about the player till the player makes them aware. Those beings do not deal direct damage, but either enhance allies abilities and skills or reduce their enemies. They have an ability to explore an area with out travelling in their search of opposition, but at a cost of uneasiness (this is very similar to a slew effect of free travelling). Those under the their control will follow their suspicions in search not totally at one with the mind but feeling something needs investigating. At first this is all they do, as they have long held the believe that is all that was needed, they can not directly attack but if called upon they can summon minions if their slaves didn't perform well ( arrogance is important to this race, they are after all in control they feel). As some of them die by your (player) means they try to befriend you, by teaching you some skills and the feeling of controlling others and how this feeling is great, and how easy it is to complete journeys by doing so (unwilling companions, it doesn't matter you have control) they even teach you to travel in thought with out moving, and the cost of that, of extra effort to relocate, at the cost of being frozen and drawing attention to the metaphysical aspect (this is very much influenced to Fame/Infamy aspect to how much attention you draw) Ultimately though the player will choose and all stems from power, fame and infamy and morals, either way who really wins, whom is in control, who needs to feel it, is the question, but the feeling of something unknown, manipulating and offering a sense of real purpose and long lasting purpose is what I wish this mod to be. A sense that no matter how you play the game, you are a pawn, yet are you?

 

Now having said a little of this vision, and I think add a new dimension of playing, as many of the methods of engaging become more of thought of action and choices, but with a real time being a Leader feel, this I do not wish to come in to action till late in a characters development, as adventuring is important, and even if the main quest is complete, it really is the start of the true threat.

 

I have thought of building a complex near the imperial city that only comes into vision at certain times and only accessed by those invited through dreams, and the races ultimate goal is to let the realms inhabitants know who really pulls the strings.

 

While I feel this may possibly add to the game, I honestly don't have a clue where to start or whether it is worth investing time in, I'm willing to learn and have been a Computer programmer for over 20 years ( gulp, yes this is true, I mean BASIC, you can all laugh but I did it as a job and achieved quite a lot considering when I first started I had shocking RAM to start with, daisy wheels, yet not quite punch cards) , So I'm looking for some feed back, suggestions and tips, oh and if possible, would dearly love to have it fit in with the lore. I welcome any responses especially if they are constructive and honest.

[David Brasher]

I think it would be harder than it looks. That is how things tend to go. Some things that looks like they should be easy turn out to be almost impossible. A mod like this would require lots and lots of scripting, quest-coding, AI, dialog, etc. Much of the total amount of work would be research and development -- stumbling around doing things you have never done before rather that constant slow secretary work which can be done well and with no technical problems, while making constant progress, but which requires many tedious labor hours. I guess I prefer making progress each day rather than getting stuck on research and development where sometimes there is a day or days where absolutely no progress is made on the project other than learning what NOT to do.

 

I am not sure if the premise of the mod is real flashy and likely to attract lots of downloads. It seems a bit complicated and cerebral and some gamers wouldn't really get into it. But you never know.

[FireFlickerFlak]

This might be easier if instead of adding physical things to the map, you could create a completely separate world where the PC is summoned to. All the new NPC would be here and maybe this world would seem similar to Tamriel. The PC would not know if he is dreaming or actually visiting these places. I'm guessing this idea stems from the movie Inception or whatever its called. Fun idea, I'd just try to find a way to make the mod lore compatible, maybe have some sort of daedra/god that is currently in the lore be in control of these dreams?