Legend of Zelda Skyrim project official thread

[9KShield]

Can't offer much assistance but I am impressed this is a thing! Good luck on your project. Happy to help out with testing

[smtc]

I'll be keeping a close eye on this post. I haven't seen much, but what I have seen gives me high hopes for the mod whenever you finish it. Hope everything is going smoothly!

[duude98]

I have updated the original post to better reflect the state of the mod currently. No release date, just some screenshots and updating the kind of help I need.

[DoctorKaizeld]

*hops back and forth excitedly*

[cire992]

I've thought quite a bit about to what degree Zelda-style influences could be added to Skyrim. I'm wondering what the OP's take is on subjects like dungeons and character progression. For example, you could essentially flatten Skyrim's levelling system and design a scheme which distributes health, stamina and magicka upgrades as well as perks/abilities through exploration and quest rewards, just like in Zelda (or skyrim's word walls). Of course, that would only be practical if you were actually playing as Link. It would screw up the game if you were trying to roleplay a created character with a specific build. Also, I've attempted to make a Zelda styled dungeon in Skyrim before. Zelda dungeons are intricate in their design even on paper, but making one in Skyrim was one of the hardest things I've ever tried (and failed) to do. The main issues I ran into were the open-ended nature of skyrim's gameplay (I couldn't know what sort of character was playing my dungeon), the lack of any pre-existing puzzle scripts (there are some good traps, though), the lack of dungeon tools/items (made me have to re-think how a dungeon works), and the inability to put the camera where I needed it (no cinematic cam for fixed perspective, visual cues or boss intros). The other issue, though modders are possibly better equipped to overcome it today, is the lack of variety when it comes to monsters in Skyrim. Working with behavior files is a pain in the neck, I've gotten fed up with it every time I attempted it. Maybe its easier nowadays.

 

tldr: How far do you think you can carry Zelda into Skyrim on a design level? Do you have any dungeons in mind, or alterations to the progression system?

[Kolagon]

Lookin' good!

Edited December 27, 2017 by Kolagon

[duude98]

I have updated the mod file page with a pre-alpha for those interested in such a thing. Please don't load it in a normal playthrough, it should only be used for curiosity purposes at this time.

I've thought quite a bit about to what degree Zelda-style influences could be added to Skyrim. I'm wondering what the OP's take is on subjects like dungeons and character progression. For example, you could essentially flatten Skyrim's levelling system and design a scheme which distributes health, stamina and magicka upgrades as well as perks/abilities through exploration and quest rewards, just like in Zelda (or skyrim's word walls). Of course, that would only be practical if you were actually playing as Link. It would screw up the game if you were trying to roleplay a created character with a specific build. Also, I've attempted to make a Zelda styled dungeon in Skyrim before. Zelda dungeons are intricate in their design even on paper, but making one in Skyrim was one of the hardest things I've ever tried (and failed) to do. The main issues I ran into were the open-ended nature of skyrim's gameplay (I couldn't know what sort of character was playing my dungeon), the lack of any pre-existing puzzle scripts (there are some good traps, though), the lack of dungeon tools/items (made me have to re-think how a dungeon works), and the inability to put the camera where I needed it (no cinematic cam for fixed perspective, visual cues or boss intros). The other issue, though modders are possibly better equipped to overcome it today, is the lack of variety when it comes to monsters in Skyrim. Working with behavior files is a pain in the neck, I've gotten fed up with it every time I attempted it. Maybe its easier nowadays.

 

tldr: How far do you think you can carry Zelda into Skyrim on a design level? Do you have any dungeons in mind, or alterations to the progression system?

Hey cire, I've been using your fallout 3 stuff since forever :D Anyway though, character progressions is not actually something I had put much thought into. All enemy types in the mod are leveled enemies from vanilla Skyrim with a fresh model, and should be balanced as a result, at least in theory. Rather, the reward at the end of dungeons is either a story macguffin, the item that's supposed to be in said dungeon, or some sort of sidequest. Currently the dungeons serve the main story or to deepen the world. I don't always have a use for an area before I build it, nor do I have a plan for how the player is going to get through it. Therefore I have designed the dungeons mostly as a "find the next key to continue" experience, with enemies to fight along the way. You bring up that you didn't know what type of character would be going through your dungeon; I account for this by having the story take all the player's items away before entering Hyrule, thus giving me control over what the player has access to at any given time. Also, I have gone back and forth on using them, but there are in fact script functions to control the camera. I have also met some very talented 3d modelers along my way, and they have helped implement any creature without touching behavior files by getting creative with the skeletons. Gorons? Werewolf skeleton. Bokoblin? Falmer skeleton. Fi? Flame atronach skeleton, etc. I can't even figure out why my tri files won't work, behavior files are much above my level lol.

 

To answer your tl;dr, I'm more concerned with creating Hyrule as a world rather than Zelda as a design, if that makes sense. I want the player to see this world that is familiar and gain insight into the people living there and how it functions as a kingdom and a greater society. The world of Hyrule, but as an Elder Scrolls game. Eventually I want to include every dungeon, but as of right now all but one from Ocarina of Time is done(spirit temple), and one from Twilight Princess has been roughly mapped out(arbiter's grounds). I will add more dungeons (like lakebed temple and snowpeak mansion) after the towns and quests are a bit more polished. Your talk of the progression system gives me the idea for a Piece of Heart item that permanently increases the player's maximum hp by 10 points or something when used, but beyond that its not a design pillar I had put thought into.

 

tl;dr: Worldbuilding and story first, mechanics when needed/appropriate

Lookin' good!

Thanks!

 

And to everyone who has followed thus far, thanks to you as well. Everyone's words of encouragement I am very grateful for, I hope everyone likes it. :)

[ryrygggg]

Is this mod dead? =(

[tefloncondom]

Is this mod dead? =(

Likely. BotW is a legitimate reason to scrap this considering it's mainly all one world/map now and that's just too much to have to go back and redo

[LadyHylia]

 

Is this mod dead? =(

Likely. BotW is a legitimate reason to scrap this considering it's mainly all one world/map now and that's just too much to have to go back and redo

 

Rumors of our project's demise have been exaggerated, we are still alive and kicking :) We've moved over to special edition and taken our time to incorporate content and locations from BotW in an elegant manner. We are still realistically several years out from a release, however we do have a teaser release of many of the features being developed for use in the full version planned for later this year. Join our Discord or check out our Blog if your at all interested in keeping up with development. We'd prefer to stop resurrecting this years-old thread and let it die, but I felt we should let y'all know where to find us since it would otherwise appear that its been abandoned.