Dragon City Mod

[LoginToDownload]

I use a laptop mostly, so no num-pad. Thanks much, though.

 

What Vagrant0 said was, essentially, that SetAllVisible would be dangerous if you wanted them to pick their targets realistically, SetAllReachable would be dangerous unless the battlefield was about completely empty, (Even including walls. Anything that could obstruct one fighter from reaching another in any way) and SetSceneIsComplex... I don't actually see the problem here. It doesn't behave like SetAllReachable, aside from that people might occasionally sidestep into buildings.

 

As for scripting info, CSWiki is great. List of scripting functions, and a great list of scripting tutorials. And, of course, I'd be glad to help with any specific-stuff.

[Vagrant0]

Question. With these creatures, are you just taking the human skeleton, and the combat/idle animations and sticking them into a meshes/creature/armor folder (along with the armor meshes), then just assigning a creature to use those meshes, skeleton, and setting up animations, or are you trying to just adapt armor to the skeleton creature? Or are you doing something completely different? Guess I'm not seeing where nifscope would really be needed unless you were just looking to change the root names so that they can be used by a creature.

[LoginToDownload]

Not even meshes/creatures/armor, (good idea, though.) just meshes/creatures. Aside from that, you got it right. Deleting a lot of meaningless (for creatures) animations, of course. I would need NifSkope since, as far as I can tell, sounds during creature animations (That is to say, markers at certain animation frames such as Idle, Aware, and Attack.) are played, for creatures, off of data inside the .kf file. Also determining where in an attack animation a "hit" occurs, I think. It doesn't seem that NPCs work this way* (at least not for sounds), so the problem is that I need to put them in myself. Unfortunately, it looks like the only thing I'm worse at than editing meshes in NifSkope is editing animations in NifSkope. I have no idea where to find these "markers". Quite frankly, going by animation info on CSWiki, there should be something where there's not. Even in real creature animations.

 

*I assume because the "hit" sounds, that wouldn't have any animation associated with them, work fine while others don't.

[Triforce1]

Well, it is begun! I have created the city worldspace, created a cathedral with all the interiors, the entrance is done, but it is not linked to where it will eventually go. The castle is made, but I haven't gotten to interiors yet. The centerpiece of the city is a giant ginko tree that would put the Great Oak of Chorrol to shame. You will be able to see it from outside the city. So, you people who said you would help...now is the time! I need help with scripting pretty majorly, because I have no skill in that dept. I will finish the city without NPCs or quest and then post it on TESnexus. You can see it and really decide if it is worthwhile then. I'll tell you when it's done. :P

[theindica]

aww, what happened to the crater idea? Otherwise mod sounds great. I suggest reading the dragon riders of pern books by anne mcaffery. that would make a great setting. I hope you find someone to help script for you. as far as story and quests are concerned i've got a few ideas/suggestions.

 

1. a new oblivion realm has appeared spewing daedric demonriders

2. similar to the tome of spells plugin a creature is spawned that actively hunts you to iniatiate quest

3. dragons could be super rare. . maybe only 10 in the game. . make the daedric evil versions creatures.

4. a dragon rider faction, lower levels don't get a dragon. a few smaller filler quests to encourage immersion.

-could include a recruit the dragonrider for defence of city mission like burma. maybe finding the city itself is a quest. earning the friendship of the cities npc's by finding dragon artifacts. having a specific rank in other factions,completing the main story.

5. become a dragon knight squire. polish your lords armor, or have him assassinated. .

6. get your own squire able to do simple follower things. or have a quest line for them too so they don't assassinate you.

7. your dragon could have a 'lair' that it accumulates gold/creature ingredients in. like the fighters guild chest.

 

i'm sure theres a few more story ideas rattling around in my brain. i'm one of those useless idea guys

as far as game play i'd like to see or suggest

 

1.mounted combat, yea you will need great scripters and a lot of custom animations i'm thinking.

2.lots of battles, i like action. . i really do.

3.bigger dragons, the akatosh mount is ok. but when i think of dragons i think of something 10x a human at least. i'm not sure if it's possible though after looking at a balrog i was kinda disappointed.

4.continuity, where in Tamriel have all these dragons been before now. . how come i havn't heard of it

5.maybe some good light adult content. blood and or sex or nudity. sex and humor is good and attracts attention.

 

ok like i said these are all just ideas. what you do with your mod is your choice and i hope it turns out great!

[Triforce1]

DUDE I need someone like you. I need those ideas, and I need MORE. Even if you can't do much on the actual work yet (im sure you can) those ideas are gold. Now to clear some stuff up, i'll tell you what will hopefully be in the mod, in relation to your ideas, starting at the beginning:

The city will be located in the center of an old flooded crater. To get there, you must fly or fast-travel.

I've read the first of those books, but Im trying to go in a different direction

The new oblivion realm will appear, but instead of evil dragons (though it would be cool) the lake woud be a perfect way to introduce Daedric pirates. a friend opf mine says he can retexture some ships to make them like riveted iron

dont really know what you mean on #2...

Dragons will be quite rare...given to only the elite guards and their Dragon Master (the player)

#4 will be exactly what will happen...see above for who will get dragons

That one about recruiting a Dragon Rider for Bruma would be cool, but in this quest, Mantos (the name of the city) will have its own great gate and will be self contained for the most part in that respect. Also, messing with the main quest on that scale would require scripters of levels that im not sure I can attract to this project.

No #5, you will start as a fledgling Dragon Master...but #6 is a definate possibility later in the quests.

the last one would be cool, like a cell the dragon returns to when you tell it to leave you.

In that second set, everything but #5 and #3. The dragons would get too big to actually fit anywhere at that size, and I would like somewhat younger players to experience this too. Besides, where is that going to fit in? But I am not going to censor the language; this should be modeled like the original game was. as for mounted combat, it will be tough but neccessary. Maybe an adaption on those horse combat mods. The final great gate battle will be massive...spanning from the courtyard to the air to the lake to the Oblivion realm. There may be some "too many NPCs for the cell problems" but look at the battle for Bruma and the suggestions by these other, more experienced guys farther up the list. As for continuity, this will fit in fine. For proof, go to tesnexus.com and search "Dragons Roost". This is involved in the beginning of this quest, and the Dragon Master's journal inside should fill in the details.

WHEW :P that was long, but everyone needs to know these things anyway!

[Triforce1]

I Just had an idea!...There will be a walled in area stuck onto the otutside of the castle, reached by flying in from the Tamriel worldspace or through a door into the castle somewhere cool. All of the dragons in the game will stay here in their own stalls (like horse stalls but bigger) when they aren't summoned by their owner. Anyone got anything else theyd like to add?

[Tetsunu]

Hey just a thought, how about plotting NPC's courses yourselves? Therefore you could spread them out to where the cells weren't over crowded. Then from there couldn't you choose their targets yourselves? Just a thought.

[theindica]

this response is a lot more random. i hope it makes sense. i'm tired and had me some skooma earlier this day.

 

flying pirate ships? or like a big oblivion gate in the ocean where the ships spawn? or on an island or something. or is this all part of a big volcanic island. or a chain of islands? in regards to the bruma reference, i was meaning make a quest for the defence of Mantos, where you would have to seek out and recruit various dragon riders. will the dragons be able to speak? are they sentient? or are they just a creature like horses. as for the enemies, why no evil dragons? or at least some flying creatures to do combat in the air with. i like the dragon storage idea, perhaps instead of like a barn with stalls though it can be a big ayliad canary cage with a perch for each dragon, or even yet each dragon has it's own 'nest' dungeon somewhere on the continent or the island. will there be different types of dragons? will you only get to ride one dragon or choose from a few? would you be able to order you fellow dragon knights to follow you in a flight formation? why when i picture sentient dragons in oblivion i imagine akatash's mount with an argonian head, speaking like dar-ma? i am also a big user of any kind of teleporters. fast travel in oblivion made me so happy. and the frostcrag portals are awesome. i also do like to occasionally walk and enjoy the scenery and work of the authors. will there be new ingredients, more ingredients, dungeons, monsters? will there be purchasable upgrades to the castle/town/crater? are you going to eventually rule over mantos as count, king, savior, etc? what kinda rewards will the player get other than awesome dragons and dragon stuff and followers? i'm sure your attempting to keep compatability at a maximum, i'm glad you have rl friends helping and interest here on tesnexus. is this going to be the official forum? what kinda releases do you plan? full, beta, mod resources. i think i can help, not going to promise anything. i've allways wanted to try some npc writing. lol, theres voice acting too. i have a mic and could probably set it up to work. anyhow, this is mostly just me pondering, and throwing out ideas. i hope it helps.

[Triforce1]

First, Tetsunu. I will be making most of the NPCs (and I will attempt the AI) myself, but since this is a group mod everyone can do that, too. But yes, it will be me in the beginning.

Second, theindica. Don't worry about the skooma; everyone gives in sometime. In response to the first three illegible sentences, you won't fight through the openings; you will recieve word while in the castle that three and a Great gate have opened. It will be on the water, yes, but the Daedric ships that will be coming out will already be on the lake when you get outside...at that time only a few Dremora will still be on the ships. I am still wondering how to get the player through the gate: at first I wanted to fly through on a dragon, then maybe sail through on a commandeered ship. But then, how to teleport you choice of travel WITH YOU through the door? That is still a puzzle...ideas?

The dragons will be smart (I guess) but they won't talk and they can't be killed (essential). No Ayleid bird cages...that's wierd and the animations would be hard. Fighting something else in the air would be really hard...why not just rain fireballs down onto the battlefield? I'd love to be able to set a ship on fire...

How about this; if you do the work on the dragons' hording caves, and the work on the defense for Bruma inset (I hope you know what you are doing) then those parts will go in. Otherwise...

I was thinking that the dragon the player gets should be based on his fame. If fame is higher, you get a golden dragon. If infamy is higher, you get a black dragon. That would be cool. Flight formation would be cool, but I don't know how it will work. I don't think it is the same as programming someone to ride a horse. Again, NO TALKING DRAGONS and no teleporters. I don't know how to set up fast travel while riding a dragon, but I need to. Maybe a dragon hide or dragon fang ingredient set, but I don't know. There may be a new dungeon or two (besides the Oblivion world). The stuff that is in the way of the crater will be moved, so that is kind of new. You can't really upgrade anything, but the interior of your castle will get better as you grow into your role more. By the way, the player is the Dragon Master throughout the quest line, but no one really accepts you until you save them numerous times and do a bunch of stuff. Effectively, you become like the Count of the area. Rewards will be all new stuff, but fashioned like the rewards you get in the game currently. I want to make progressively better dragon armor that you can buy, looking and working better and better. The last set should be a reward unique to you; like the Imperial Legion Dragon armor you get once you beat Oblivion's main quest. It should be one of two pairs, to match your dragon (red and gold or silver and black, corresponding to the dragon). As far as "Official Forum", yeah this forum line here is pretty much it. I will make the extreme Beta, with only the NPCs and places. Then I need people who can script that can make all (or most of) this work together. That will be the final product. My version of the construction set won't let me import dialogue, but that would make it better. Everyone can imput a voice, unless they don't want to. Oh, and if by writing, you mean scripting, then you are requred by law to help the cause :P . I hope I have made that perfectly clear that I can't do it. Don't know how, can't learn fast enough to make this as cool as others can make it be.

WOW that was another long one. You have so many great ideas! I hope you come to your senses and join this thing. Once I get my e-mail transfered over from my old computer, maybe that would be a better way to communicate faster. Okay, I'm ending it there. And on second thought, lay off the skooma.