Alternative Start

[Ketsuban]

There's a couple of different alternative-start mods available at the moment, and they all do different things well. My current one is Alternative Start Arrive by Ship; I like the polish he's put on the cabin in which you start - it's neutrally lit so making a character's face look good is easy, in particular - but the way he starts the main quest ("I had a dream about the emperor's death, and found the Amulet of Kings on the body of a dead rat") is lame.

 

On the other hand, I love the fact that TuStartingOptions or MOE Main Quest Delayer with Alive Kvatch allow you to run around in the world before the main quest begins. (In particular, making use of resources from Kvatch Rebuilt is a brilliant idea on the part of the latter.) However, the dreamworld from TuStartingOptions is DREADFUL for making a good-looking character face - harsh coloured directional lighting from only one side - and starting as a peasant in Anvil in MOE Main Quest Delayer with Alive Kvatch (man, that name is cumbersome) is not a very interesting start for a character.

 

So, my proposal - merge all of them and call it Open Cyrodiil. You fill out your immigration form (Alternative Start Arrive by Ship), then sleep. When you awaken, you take your stuff out of the sack which has appeared next to the bed and open the door to find yourself on the boat in Anvil (TuStartingOptions). You can run around, do sidequests, visit the intact and thriving Kvatch (MOE Main Quest Delayer with Alive Kvatch), whatever; but commit a crime in the Imperial City, and you go to the jail cell where the main quest begins.

 

I had a go at doing this myself, but I got so completely lost that I don't think I'd be able to produce anything which actually functioned. As such, I'm asking more experienced modders to do it, because I really want to see a well-constructed main quest delayer.

[David Brasher]

Have you tried the remake of "Alternate Start Arrive by Ship?" It is called Alternate Start - Arrive by Boat. In that mod, the entire ship is included and you can walk around below decks and on the deck and look out at the sea. You can talk to the NPCs who have some custom dialog. When the ship arrives at the Imperial City waterfront, there is absolutely no mention of the main quest. The mod is intended for players who do not intend to play the main quest, but is still set up so that if you really want to you can. (Although the game will not give you any step by step instructions on how to do so until after you have retrieved the amulet from the body of a Mythic Dawn assassin and given it to Jauffre.)

[Ketsuban]

Hm! That's something of an improvement over Alternative Start Arrive by Ship, certainly, though it doesn't quite fit the bill; TuStartingOptions and MOE Main Quest Delayer with Alive Kvatch essentially postpone the main quest (to the extent you can go and meet the Emperor in the Imperial Palace) until you commit a crime and go to jail, whereas Alternative Start Arrive by Boat just leaves the Amulet of Kings on the body of a random assassin (scarcely any better than a rat, if you ask me) and skips the prison sequence altogether.

[DereadWind]

There's a couple of different alternative-start mods available at the moment, and they all do different things well. My current one is Alternative Start Arrive by Ship; I like the polish he's put on the cabin in which you start - it's neutrally lit so making a character's face look good is easy, in particular - but the way he starts the main quest ("I had a dream about the emperor's death, and found the Amulet of Kings on the body of a dead rat") is lame.

 

On the other hand, I love the fact that TuStartingOptions or MOE Main Quest Delayer with Alive Kvatch allow you to run around in the world before the main quest begins. (In particular, making use of resources from Kvatch Rebuilt is a brilliant idea on the part of the latter.) However, the dreamworld from TuStartingOptions is DREADFUL for making a good-looking character face - harsh coloured directional lighting from only one side - and starting as a peasant in Anvil in MOE Main Quest Delayer with Alive Kvatch (man, that name is cumbersome) is not a very interesting start for a character.

 

So, my proposal - merge all of them and call it Open Cyrodiil. You fill out your immigration form (Alternative Start Arrive by Ship), then sleep. When you awaken, you take your stuff out of the sack which has appeared next to the bed and open the door to find yourself on the boat in Anvil (TuStartingOptions). You can run around, do sidequests, visit the intact and thriving Kvatch (MOE Main Quest Delayer with Alive Kvatch), whatever; but commit a crime in the Imperial City, and you go to the jail cell where the main quest begins.

 

I had a go at doing this myself, but I got so completely lost that I don't think I'd be able to produce anything which actually functioned. As such, I'm asking more experienced modders to do it, because I really want to see a well-constructed main quest delayer.

 

Alternate Start Revamped has a lot of options: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3973

 

This is my favorite alternate start mod. It gives you the choice between the vanilla prison start, any of the buyable houses with different levels of economic security (starting money), a poor person in a cave, or a ship in Anvil. You can walk around the whole ship, and it has a selection of iron and leather armor, iron weapons, some scrolls, soul gems, food, liqour and a lot of clothes for your character to choose from. The main quest does not come to you in a dream, which would be stupid: it invalidates the reason to play an alternate start mod if the main quest still comes to you. But rather you you have to look all over the place for it. Skip the description so you do not know how to trigger the main quest ;). Give this a look.

Edited January 29, 2011 by DereadWind