Skyrim; Populatuion: 750

[OnlyOneWing]

I am not bashing the game or anything. But yeah, we could definitely improve upon cities... perhaps we could make each town approximately four times it's size and increase the population in skyrim by four times.... It would be a huge undertaking, it definitely would take more than one team.

[Bellmaethorion]

To build on several idea's already mentioned,

 

Caravans, or farmers, could travel to a city and set up a marketplace, inside or outside the city walls, sell their wares for a while, and move on. You could have a meat vendor's stall one day, and the next, there's a man selling jewelry in the same place.

 

Increasing the number of people in existing houses seems like a good idea, Skyrim isn't medieval europe, so it doesn't have to be the exact same, but familes could be a lot bigger. five or so children to a couple, as well as several generations living together in one house, could easily increase the number of people around in villages and the city.

 

I'd say that not everyone needs to be a unique snowflake; John Fletcher, Royce Smith, Helgrid Tanner, simple names like that, and just a few standard phrases to them, without initiating the conversation window.

Or even a script where kids are named after their parents, Bjorn Herrodsen, Alra Aerydottir...

[Jacen000Solo]

Some ideas:

1. Migrating population like caravans, circuis, mercenaries or smth like that.

2. Farmers (landlords) outside the city who randomly either visit the city or work in their farms. Villagers who hire themselves to work for the farmer.

3. More beggars for the cities.

4. All Jarls should have a keep or a tower. Also a carriege in all major cities and some villages (rorikstead for example).

5. New houses to fill empty places in major cities (Windhelm and Whiterun entrances, Whiterun behind smithy and Breezehome) with named npc (random but can be used in future quests, some kind of modders recource to avoid some bugs).

6. Random npcs to take place of a killed one (script generated maybe on bed owning status) to avoid killing off whole cities.

7. Random bedless npc to fill the cities (different flavors for performance and preferance reasons).

8. Families of the above mentioned (logic wise).

 

"Random" npcs should have generic responces (no dialogs). Traders don't need a conversation either.

 

For those concerned with finding quest givers: someone mentioned a npc quest network (i.e. finished quest -> sent to another), easier and more universal is "rumors" dialog line (bar/inn keepers, guards etc.)

Edited November 28, 2011 by Jacen000Solo

[Exodus1111]

For realism purposes, always time the population in games/mmos by x30.

However, i think the first thing to remember is how prone the gamebryo engine actually is to CDTs, even now with Skyrims upgraded engine.

 

Adding many new buildings, and too many people and the game will crash, all the time.

 

However learning from past mods in oblivion and the fallout games i think the following is possible.

 

1. Various nomad groups traveling across the roads. More merchant caravans, more pilgrims, bands of adventurers, groups of empirals/stormcloaks, beggars, traveling bandits... Etc

 

 

2. Increase the population in the cities by a factor of x2 or x3.

But where do these ppl sleep? Here is, i think the simplest and most cost efficient solution to that.

Make a basement to every inn, with really cheap, group sleeping, basically a large room filled with beds, sleeping rolls

and matrasses. Perfect for travelers and those citizens who cannot afford their own houses.

 

3. Add a similar basement for the college of winterhold, oly this one is the sleeping and living arrangement for studying wizards who have not yet risen in the ranks of the college. A large room filled with many beds and a small chest for every bed for personal belongings.

[Bellmaethorion]

While I have no experience with modeling and such to add the buildings/people, I'd be willing to help anyone taking this on with writing. Names, backstories, additional quests, etc.

Most work will have to wait for the CK, I presume.

[corpsegirl]

Don't get me started on the Mage College.

 

* Students of magic should be hustling and bustling their way through the hallways and corridors (be they court mages-in-training for the Jarl or Imperials looking to apply their skills when rejoining the army.)

* The teachers should have their own homes off campus, not sleeping in their small rooms like a sleepy-time village.

* The students should have to sleep in those cramped facilities.

* NPCs should be randomly giving lectures, demonstrating magic, and generally experimenting with spells (basically what's been going on during your quests but practiced by others.)

* Conjuration students should be walking with Atronochs or their Dead Thralls.

* Destruction students should be practicing their spells on Restoration students using Wards.

* Illusion students should be turning invisible, provoking guards, and calming them again.

* Alteration students should be practicing their Skin spells with Conjuration student's Bound Weapons.

* Tests should be handed out by facility or student-to-student quizzing Players on random spell names/facts and are awarded skillpoints for passing (or decay for failing.)

* The Nords should be petitioning the Mage against abstain from raiding their burial grounds, this could lead to conflict and high quality quest material.

* The researchers should be launching excavations to ancient Dwemer ruins, Nord burial grounds, and sites of interest.

* The researches should be tasking students to hunt local animals (or Werewolves and Vampires) for their projects.

 

Yes, massive suggestion, but right now the Mages College doesn't feel like a College -- it's more like a hospice for practitioner's of magick.

I agree with you there. However, part of the lore is that the college has fallen on hard times. Thats what it should end up like once you become archmage. You should be able to revitalize it and get it to where it needs to be. Quests to spread a good name for the college so more people attend. That saying, there should still be more activity at the start than there is.

[ThomasQ]

The start of the Mage's College in Skyrim is Genius!

 

"Just cast this easy to get novice spell, And you're in!"... Or pay 30 bucks.... :/

 

Thieves guild is even worse :whistling:

[Oomo]

I'm already planning to make a populationizer mod which adds non-interactable, minimum AI characters to the game, who are ideally spawned and despawned as needed, without needing every single npc to have a bed to sleep in. It's a pretty big project (one that I intend to approach piece by piece, adding populations to the game in logical chunks that are individually playable), so I would welcome anyone who cares to participate.

 

Anyway, it's easy to make players able to find interact-able NPCs. Just name the non-interact-able ones something generic, like "Guard" or "Farmer."

 

At any rate, if you'd like to cooperate, shoot me a PM.

 

Do you mean a Skyrim equivalent of "Crowded Cities" for Oblivion? That would be fantastic.

[Wirodeu]

Along with many of the suggestions in this thread, I am definitely looking forward to more imperials/stormcloaks fighting and stuff. Currently you only rarely stumble upon a stormcloak fort or some imperials with a stormcloak prisoner along the road. What I'm thinking of is something like the random elemental mages you can find fighting eachother in the middle of nowhere except with two large groups of stormcloaks and imperials.

 

One of the loading screens mentions cows being a common farm animal, yet there's only one cow on most farms at the most, accompanied by one or two chickens. That's another "population" I'd like to see expanded. :P

Edited November 28, 2011 by Wirodeu

[Taeronai]

I have already planned to increase the number of buildings and NPCs in Skyrim. I don't think another city is that important, I'd rather see that the existing ones get bigger and more lively.

 

Initially I'll be adding about 1-2 buildings to every town, village and city with about 4-6 NPCs each, whose only purpose will be to walk around the streets, visit the pub in the evening, and so on.

 

The purpose with this mod is to give more quantity, not quality: so only sparse dialogue, no quests. What's important with this mod is esthetics: it will blend in with existing buildings & interiors, so no undecorated house-shells thrown down at random places! Same thing with the NPCs, they don't need an amazing backstory, I just want them to seem like natural citizens; working, eating, praying, getting drunk, sleeping, repeat.

 

The sooner this gets done the better. So if anyone wants to join me I'd be happy. Just any of the homes & npcs (together with individual schedules of course) would be welcome help. As long as it's all well made and naturally placed!

 

 

As for a more extensive mod: we could add some shops and services too; nothing fancy, just your regular clothier, potterer, bookshop, apothecary, and so on. Perhaps a temple if any town or large village doesn't have one already. The ultimate goal would be to add perhaps 2-3 buildings to every village, and 4-6 buildings to every city. The towns/villages would still be small (even though you can't compare a game with the real world) but it would make a huge difference.

 

I really think we should try to get organized with this. There seems to be a lot of people interested. And it's better with one thoroughly made mod than three halv-made ones. We should get together and make up some plans, divide up the areas (if we're like 5 people, the number of towns/villages per person isn't that huge any longer), and then get started as soon as the kit gets released.

 

However, one BIG important thing: if an "additional building"-mod doesn't blend seamlessly into the game I won't use it. And I belive a lot of people feel the same. I only want to work together with people who really knows the difference between just making a house and making one that blends in.

 

Please send me a PM if you're interested!

Edited November 28, 2011 by Taeronai