Is this possible? (Also includes mod idea)

[dmg111]

Basically, it is a bookshelf that automatically shelves your books. Is it possible for a script to be created that after a bookshelf opens like a container, then once books are added & the container is closed, it places the books on the shelf properly?

 

I was thinking maybe have trigger spaces sitting on the shelves with a shape & size similar to books, and having the script check each one, going from left to right, top to bottom, to see if the space is occupied. If it is, it moves on to the next trigger space, and checks that one. If it isn't, it places the book in that space, then moves to the next book, and starts checking for the next available trigger space.

 

I'm not asking for help building anything - at least not at this point. :P

 

Here's the mod idea:

 

The Basics: An involved quest that allows you to have your own library. This isn't a library where everything is given to you - this is a library that you build yourself. Every volume contained within was placed there by you. You also have visitors come to your library, and you earn a weekly cash allowance from their donations.

 

1. Talk to Boderi Farano in or around the Mystic Archives. Talk about "Library". She will then talk to you about her dream of being the librarian of the ultimate library, but that she doesn't have the resources. Offer to help. (Can only be started if you are Arch-Mage.)

 

2. She will then ask for some cash to get started - she will need to get money to purchase the deed to the land (around 30k in gold). Give her the money, Wait 3 days, then speak to her again.

 

- She walks to the Office of Imperial Commerce in the Market district to obtain this.

 

3. Now she needs more cash (arond 75k) to begin construction. After you give her the money, you must wait 3 weeks. Then you must visit an island directly south of Leyawiin - the library will be built, but unfurnished. The librarian will be there - talk to her, and she will ask you to go to Skingrad to buy furnishing.

 

- If you visit the grounds during this 3 weeks, there will be Ayleid ruin pieces scattered about, and generic "construction worker" NPCs hanging around. It is a construction site for the Ayleid-style library.

 

- The library will be in the style of one of the big Imperial City houses, like Umbacano's Manor.

 

- It will be surrounded by a giant stone fence. In the front, there is a large gate. It will have two guards stationed at either side of it. In the back, there will be a barracks for the guards stationed at the library.

 

- The interior will have the first floor, where the library shelves will be; a second floor, where the resting quarters will be.

 

- It will have two lofts, similar to the lofts found in the Imperial City mansions.

 

a. One will be your sleeping quarters, and the other will be for your new librarian.

 

- The first floor will have a long room, where the main part of the library will be. It will have two rooms on the ends. One room will be the "magic room" (which will be underneath the staircase), and the other will be the "heavily guarded room".

 

a. The "magic room" will have an enchanting altar, a spellmaking altar, 4 chests labelled "Spell Srolls", and 6 large bookshelves (one for each school of magic).

 

b. The "heavily guarded room" will be smaller than the "magic room". It will have 1 medium-sized bookshelf, and 4 display cases. There will be a guard standing inside the room, as well as two standing outside the doorway.

 

c. The main part of the library will have large bookshelves running the entire length of the first floor, back to back, down the middle. There will be several bookshelves against the walls as well. There are two large chests - one labelled "Miscellaneous Literature" and one labelled "Black Horse Courrier". There are also other, generic chests around to use.

 

d. The second floor will have the sleeping areas, similar to other IC mansions, on one half. The other half will be a storage area. Each sleeping area will have a desk and a chair.

 

4. Once the furnishings are purchased, she tells you that you must now visit one of the guard captains in the Imperial City, since the new library will need guards due to the nature of materials that you will be housing there. He will disagree with your plan for having such a library, and that dangerous literature must be destroyed, unless his disposition is above 70. Then he will understand your reasoning. He will then charge you 20k gold, and guards will now be patrolling your library.

 

- Guard points:

 

a. Two at the ouside gate.

 

b. Three or four patrolling the grounds inside the fence, around the library.

 

c. Two stationed outside the "heavily guarded room".

 

d. One stationed inside the "heavily guarded room".

 

e. One at the entrance to the library building.

 

f. Two patrolling the library main floor.

 

g. One patrolling the second floor.

 

5. Speak to your assistant again, and she will begin sending you on quests to gain specific books & complete sets. All of these will be obtainable without having to steal them. She will not take these from you - just confirm that you have them in your possession. These items cannot be stolen, or she will not recognize them.

 

- This will be three sequential & separate questlines in your journal. Any quest that involves a unique or very difficult to find item will give you the option to continue the quest if you already took said book and sold it, lost it, etc. These volumes are already in the specified locations in vanilla Oblivion.

 

a. Collecting the Essentials

 

Part I: Biography of Berenziah set

Part II: Brief History of the Empire set

Part III: City Guides set of 8

Part IV: The Real Berenziah set

Part V: Mage's Guild Charter, Manual of Spellcraft, Fundaments of Alchemy, Galerion the Mystic

Part VI: Trials of St. Alessia, The Amulet of Kings, Ten Commands: Nine Divines, Gods and Worship

Part VII: A Life of Uriel Septim VII, Manual of Arms, Manual of Armor, Mixed Unit Tactics, Report: Disaster at Ionith

Part VIII: A Children's Anuad, The Eastern Provinces, A Less Rude Song, Frontier, Conquest, Ruins of Kemel-Ze

 

b. Expanding the Collection

 

Part I: Mystic Archives - Mannimarco, King of Worms; Liminal Bridges; Response to Bero's Speech; Fighter's Guild History, 1st Ed.; Dwemer History and Culture; The Madness of Pelagius; Cleansing of the Fane; Myth or Menace?; Provinces of Tamriel; Magic from the Sky; Modern Heretics; On Oblivion.

Part II: Mystic Archives - On Morrowind; Darkest Darkness; Hanging Gardens; The Last King of the Ayleids; The Firmament; Tamrielic Lore; The Book of Daedra; Beggar Prince; Mysterious Akavir; The Third Door; Thief of Virtue; Varieties of Daedra.

Part III: Chironasium - Before the Ages of Man

Part IV: Lustratorium - Song of the Alchemists

Part V: Cheydenhall Mage's Guild - The Firsthold Revolt

Part VI: Leyawiin Mage's Guild - Withershins

Part VII: Skingrad Mage's Guild - Daughter of the Niben

Part VIII: Anvil Mage's Guild - The Doors of Oblivion

Part IX: Bravil Mage's Guild - The Horrors of Castle Xyr

 

c. The Final Touches

 

Part I: Temple of the Ancestor Moths - Pension of the Ancestor Moths

Part II: Hackdirt - Bible of the Deep Ones

Part III: Goblin Jim's Cave - Night Falls on Sentinel

Part IV: Fieldhouse Cave - Way of the Exposed Palm

Part V: Fort Cuptor - Souls, Black and White

Part VI: Ghost Captain Quest in Bravil - Log of the Emma May

Part VII: House in Anvil - Tome of Unlife

 

6. Once you've completed the last of those quests, you can begin filling the library. Simply open a bookshelf as if it were a container, and place books in there. Anything placed in these shelves will then be shelved in alphabetical order. Note: It recognizes all books, so it will even place scrolls, parchments, etc. It is a good idea to just place actual books in there. This is so that it will recognize books from all expansions & mods, and so that you do not have to place a script on the individual books. It will not shelve stolen items. Use a fence to remove the stolen item taint. After all, there are guards all over the place...

 

- Thinking of making an addition to this mod that allows fences to fence 0-cost items. Give the item to a fence, and you can buy it back for a few gold without it being marked as stolen.

 

10. Once you reach a specific number of different books shelved, and a specific total number of books shelved, you will be asked to go find patrons. These will be people you trust with the materials in the library, as you will be keeping dangerous as well as valuable items there - and they will put a library visit into their schedules. Go visit trusted members of the Mage's guild, fighter's guild, Imperial legion, as well as counts and countesses, certain shopkeepers and other outstanding citizens of Cyrodiil. Some will require that you have more volumes than others before they visit. You will not be able to invite thieves' guild & Dark Brotherhood members - these are good people you want in your library.

 

- Have a tracker that pops up the total number of books in the library room every time a book is placed. It has a number for total books, and total unique books.

 

- You are given ten keys by Boderi. Once an NPC accepts, that NPC takes a key from you. When you run out of keys, go get more from Boderi.

 

- Once an NPC accepts, they become quest NPCs. This prevents them from being killed on their way to and from the library.

 

- Different NPCs will have different schedules that they visit. Some once a week, others once a month or year. At least one will become a permanent resident. Others will decline the invitation alltogether, and others will have special requirements - disposition, faction standing, quest completions, book totals, etc.

 

- All the NPCs will be given books to read while hanging out at the library. These are books placed on their person at the onset of the quest - they are not actually reading books you've added to the library.

 

- You get paid weekly. Just talk to Boderi each week for your money. The amount of cash you get depends on the number of people you got to visit the library. These are donations from the visitors.

 

11. Nothing in the library resets (the guard barracks do, though), so feel safe putting your items in any of the containers.

 

Thanks for your input! This idea has been stewing in my head for a while now. ;D

[Vagrant0]

It's possible, but alot of work, mostly scripting. Aside from the confuzzled mess that is trying to place them on shelves, in order, I could probably do it if interest and sanity held out. However both are in short supply these days.

 

The only problems I could see with this is that Leyawiin doesn't seem like a likely spot for a library of any sort. Related to that is the lack of people in that area who would really be interested in swimming way out there for a book. Second, using already existing NPCs can occasionally cause problems as those that have use tend to have scripts and such associated with them, and those that aren't tend to be killed, or used by other mods. Then there is the grim reality that while significantly more complicated, this is still essentially a house mod, and given the required activity and the reward, most people really wouldn't go through all the trouble.

[dmg111]

Thanks for the input!! The location isn't something that's set in stone. Putting it along a road would work as well, as that was originally what I had in mind - something closer to Imperial City, near the middle of the province.

 

I could limit the NPC visitors to just Mage's Guild members and the like, and cut the minimum patrons to 5 or something.

 

With the book collection part of the quest, those first two are relatively easy - just go & grab the items. The Final touches portion would be a bit of a challenge, but the locations would be given in the journal entry - with map markers added where necessary. I could also cut a few of those out, if it becomes cumbersome.

 

The library would be more for the collection junky types like myself. I really enjoy the Armory mod and the mannequins for showing off my armor collection. Judging by the popularity of mods like those, it would seem something like this would be desirable. Plus, it would be compatible with the Book Jackets mod, as well as any new books added with mods or official plugins.

[Abramul]

Here's a question: If you build it, will they come?

 

That is, will NPCs visit without you modifying or adding AI packages?

[Povuholo]

Here's a question: If you build it, will they come?

 

That is, will NPCs visit without you modifying or adding AI packages?

If you provide food they might visit when they have to eat, but that's it I think.

 

Adding a library package for npc's you want to turn into patrons could cause some conflicts with their existing schedules. You could of course restrict the npc's who can be a patron by only adding this topic to npc's who are avaiable between so and so hour.

[Vagrant0]

Here's a question: If you build it, will they come?

 

That is, will NPCs visit without you modifying or adding AI packages?

If you provide food they might visit when they have to eat, but that's it I think.

 

Adding a library package for npc's you want to turn into patrons could cause some conflicts with their existing schedules. You could of course restrict the npc's who can be a patron by only adding this topic to npc's who are avaiable between so and so hour.

 

Which is why I mentioned the flaw. Conflicts with other mods aside, it isn't too difficult to just add a group of packages to serveral non-useful NPCs that would rework their schedual around their visit, but still allowing some of the standard stuff. Fortunately, NPCs don't need to eat, sleep, and spend most of their day just wandering about, so making a 2-3 hour detour wouldn't too much of a problem. It does however require a bit of planning, and can only be done to those NPCs that aren't otherwise needed for anything. Each one would have to be setup differently, so this would only add to the workload.

[Abramul]

Alternately, you could create one or two NPCs per city who visit the library a few times a week, and have generic eat, shop, sleep in an inn packages.

[crazydave]

This sounds like a good idea. Iv always wondered why there was never any sort of library, not even in the arcane university. If you want you want to make it a truely compete library, you can make it so that after the player collects every book from Oblivion, they will be able to get books from other TES games, like Morrowind and Daggerfall either through a donation or a bulk purchase.