LE Pre History Total Conversion

[SenorFreebie]

I like that sentiment Ryanwh. There was such massive differences back then that almost cross species recognition must have played an important role in our psyche. I also like the way you phrase the 'quest for fire' comment, which gave me another interesting idea; firemaking tools and their invention / sourcing from 'the wild' could be an important time saver, not only for your chosen tribe but for your own tasks. Going from say, carrying around a hot ember to being able to strike flint on iron pyrite.

 

Morganite; the best time period would be the middle ground between the species. A time when they all existed, but perhaps mentioning the actual time frame and location ingame would be illogical. What concept does Homo Neanderthalis have of time? Of his role in the planets future? We should assume in the game world, time is a local construct for him and that where he is 'on the globe' isn't even relevant. I mean, the easiest way to use this pre-built Skyrim world would be as is, without having to rebuild it around some theoretical ancient territory (eg. ancient Britain). Best to leave that up in the air too ... However it is an important point if you aim for pure realism. At best, if you do that, you can achieve 3 species; Neanderthal, Homo Sapien & the Denisovan. You limit the exotic species you can include and you have to choose a geographical location near the glaciers, near Asia and near the sea. Perhaps the North coast of the Black Sea would suit; or the Caspian Sea. Either way, it would depend if you wanted to represent an actual time and place or a general idea.

 

What's more popular with the eventual content contributors would be the best solution to that question. Are they interested in simulating history or are they interested in representing its vibrancy?

[SenorFreebie]

No more responses after it hits page 2? I guess that means there is too much information already to digest...

[SondreGS]

I have read all, so plz don't give up on the idea!! Sounds awsome :thumbsup:

[SenorFreebie]

I haven't given up on the idea but it's definitely on the back burner until some smaller mods that implement some of the tougher ideas come out. I noticed some commentary about an extreme weather mod for example.

[JuliusM]

Kind of sounds like it might be easier to just make a new game from scratch :ohmy: I'm no modder though, so by all means make it happen if you think it could!

 

One question, what will you do about all the fantasy portion? Magic, dragons, daedra, elves, beast races, etc... Basically everything that defines the elder scrolls :unsure: If you can find a way to integrate it well then I love the idea. (Forgive me as I didn't read your entire OP. In my defense, it is very long!)

Edited November 28, 2011 by JuliusM

[SenorFreebie]

No defence required. I realised that as I ranted at myself (how I describe the article / posts creation).

 

Basically, I envisaged that asides from a few major features the modding process would require deletion as much as anything, due especially to the defining factor you point out. Basically, the mod would be for those who want an expansive, beautiful world, unmarred by fantasy :P That is not to say I hold that belief, but I thought this would be a pretty decent way to pitch the concept. A sort of Sims cross Elder Scrolls with as much of the fiction written out of it as possible.

 

That said, I don't think that 'magic' was entirely non existant as a concept for our nomadic ancestors. Consider; how amazing fire making techniques must have been or that some nomadic tribes had the ability to command someone to leave and die (used for crimes).

 

Furthermore, the framework of magic (inc shouts) provides a pretty decent basis for creating more complex social interaction. Try this sequence of events out for size:

 

You're going on a hunt to gather leather & meat for a particular tribe.

 

You have discovered an advanced way to make fire with flint and iron pyrite so you use that 'spell' to light torches for the hunters tasked with pushing the animals into your trap.

 

Then you use the spell 'point' and the shout 'go over there' to instruct them to get in position.

 

You then move to the party at the trap and use the shout (whistle) 'come here' to bring the other hunts and the animals towards you.

 

You could also throw in spells that allow you to teach people / tribes particular skills over time.

 

I'm no expert on mysticism etc. but you could make elements of that an aspect of day to day life, with varying effects on groups of different belief structures.

[bben46]

Looks doable - once we have a CK. It will be lots of work though and I do mean lots.

 

RE: Bronze - bronze is actually an alloy of copper and tin. Possibly introduce copper first. Mining and simple melting and forming using stone hammers they could make knives, scrapers, small axes jewelry & trinkets. Weapons made with copper would bend and dull easily and would need to be constantly sharpned - they would also be extremely valuable. Then introduce mining for tin and combining with copper - alchemy? smithing? Maybe a combination of the two? Smithing becomes a form of magic and a smith becomes a revered member of a community. :thumbsup:

 

There could be an entire smithing tree - gold may be the first metal worked because it is soft enough to be easily shaped with stone tools and is flashy and it retains it's color over time. Copper is also easy to work and is more suited for tools than gold, but turns green quickly.

 

Both plain copper and tin tools have been found pre bronze. The tin tools and weapons are rare as it corrodes away to nothing quickly when exposed to elements.

[SenorFreebie]

Bben, exactly the sort of information I'm weak on and would need help on. I have general ideas / knowledge across this pre-history spectrum and a solid conception of game art / art pipelines / scripting / modding but a weak understanding of the particulars of modding an Elder Scrolls title. My most extensive experience is finding my cousin playing around with an unwrap for a model he was trying to change in Morrowind.

 

I would expect that any metal work would be very late game. What could be an interesting dichotomy for the gameplayers could be a tech tree that has a lot of dead ends in that regard, but less of an exponential difficulty to levelling.

 

In fact 'idea time'! What if, on death you could force the character into the shoes of another person in their current tribe? Sure, this would make save spamming a pretty big flaw but for the purists it would be quite the gimmick and really add to the 'global levelling' idea.

 

Back to the dichotomy of dead end tech trees; Lets say one path leads you to ivory spear tips and the other to flint. Perhaps one path won't let you develop copper or tin tips and the development of either depends entirely on local resources / your ability to find varied resources for your group.

[AsrielBelacqua]

I apologize in advance for my short post:

 

All I could think when I read this was "holy s*** that would be EPICCCCCC"

 

Kind of like when I found BlackReach and thought "wtf...?" and as I wandered deeper and deeper thought "I wonder what the modding community would do with this" and as I wandered further still thought "I feel bad for the guy who was put in charge of this "dungeon".