Morrowind Remake

[Aethgar]

Something important to keep in mind though is the timeline. The Morrowind we all loved is long gone. Buried under the ashes of Red Mountain and the fall of that asteroid/moon. Any remake HAS to keep those changes in mind, as part of staying true to the world AS IT IS NOW.

If anything, that both increases the artistic challenge and also makes it more cool!

[Sabatasso]

Don't be so negative Aethgar, I am sure if you're in a world where anyone can conjure fire from their hands, or electricity (Skyrim dumb-down) then time travel is possible too. One other possible scenario could be to place a "special" bed where you can "dream" the original Morrowind game with your own character. And everyone knows that experiences gained in dreams stays with you forever... If Beyoncé only knew.. :P

[Matth85]

Don't be so negative Aethgar, I am sure if you're in a world where anyone can conjure fire from their hands, or electricity (Skyrim dumb-down) then time travel is possible too. One other possible scenario could be to place a "special" bed where you can "dream" the original Morrowind game with your own character. And everyone knows that experiences gained in dreams stays with you forever... If Beyoncé only knew.. :P

 

Possible? Of course. It's even done in Skyrim. However, I must say this again, so every non-modder will understand:

 

This is a very, very, ambitious project. To make an enviroment it takes more than a few people. Organic modeller, enviroment modeller, scripter, CS workers, Voice Actors. I did some math in another topic, and estimated a world-space mod would require approximately 15-25 people, and then you'd need multi-skilled people. It would also take years. Are you guys willing to pay somebody for a year of work? No? Then it might take longer. People get bored quickly.

 

Secondly:

Nobody ever gains a modding team by asking. They get it by doing stuff themself. I have never seen a non-modder getting a modding team get up. No, you need a guy that got stuff planned out, a person knowing what s/he wants. You need a person able to work with 1-2 people for a month, and showing off a product. You need somebody with good english knowledge, and know how to presentate a mod showoff good. You need a manager, a leader.

Lastly:

 

We modders got more ideas than you non-modders. I got more half-done projects that you can guess. I got more ideas I want to do. I look at concept art daily, and collect ideas. We reallly do not need your ideas. Ideas does not make mods, action does.

 

Here is how I would recommend do get a mod rolling, for all of you:

 

1. You make a folder. Name it what you want your mod to be named.

2. You make a few sub folders. "Concept Art", "Ideas", "Requirements" - should be part of them. You now collect pictures and write ideas in a notepad.

3. You start laying out what you want. You want Morrowind? Great! You got pictures of every model you want made? Awesome! Now lay out what you need, how you want it, and why.

4. You start working yourself, and get a few people to help you. Know of a guy doing requests? Gotten a modeller friend? anything. You work on simple things for now. Perhaps the landmass and a few models? A single quest?

5. You make a nice youtube video, or get a good set of picturs. You come here, get a good post going. It should contain a few colors, look proffesional ( NO smileys. Please.) and you should have a good idea how you want to show your work.

6. Now you've shown you are serious about this, and got a plan. A few more modders might come up.

7. Lay out a list of what you need. How many voice actors? How many CS workers? How many scripters? How many modellers? What kind of modellers? Who does the Nifskope work and the CS/CK work?

8. Come back a month later, showing maybe a portion of the mod. A city containing 12 quests, 25 models and 4 voices done. More people will get interested. Veteran modders and new modders will come.

9. Make a site/forum. Make it look good, and clean. Do not use strong colors, and no not have a to "fun" layout. Make it look proffesionall and good.

10. Fill up what you want, get extra.

11. Keep controll of everything. Models are sent to X person, who does Y, and is sent to A who puts them in game for B to script and for C to playtest. Make sure the toolkit workers and scripters know how to merge the .esp.

12. Make sure there is no misunderstandings and crashing with the work. Also make sure there is no pressure on the modders. Pressure means stress, stress is NOT good in a hobby.

13. Release a Alpha version of the mod. Let the modding team play it, and get out the worse bugs. Put a forum post up, letting more people test it. Collect bugs, and add suggestions. A few more modders might decide to help, and a few die-hard testers might pop up.

14. Release a Beta when the mod is done, and the bugs are out. Now you should start testing it hard, getting out bugs and finishing any unfinished work. This includes getting the voice acting properly working.

15. Release the mod. If you wish, accept donations. Collect bugs for a week, fix them, release a new version.

16. Use the donations you gained to pay for your site, any voice chatroom and a small payment to the modders. The donations is for the team, not for a single person.

17. Take a break, and plan out the next project. This time, however, you got a team.

 

The keyword here is "you". Throwind ideas left and right does nothing. The idea will be on page 143 in a week. Acting, asking 1-2 modders, can bring you a project for the next weeks/months/years. An amazing mod, a good portion new friends, a TON of experience, always something to do. It is so beneficital for everybody.

 

I hope it isn't too much of a WoT/Wall of Text for you guys to read. I realize a 1-17 step by step writing isn't very nice on the eye. Meh, it gets the point out ;)

 

Cheers,

Matth

[Sabatasso]

We modders got more ideas than you non-modders.

 

Everything else is fair enough, but this is the biggest load of bulls*** I've read in several hours.

 

I post here for one reason, I really want to encourage a remake of one of the best RPG's of all times. I do have several skills that would make me able to contribute, but two kids and a wife plus full time studying says I can't. That is also why I don't spend too much time worrying exactly how this and that could be fixed or modded, because if I do, then I can't stop myself from doing it, or at least trying.

Edited December 16, 2011 by Sabatasso

[rpawn]

Looks like a mod request; wrong forum.

[Ghogiel]

We modders got more ideas than you non-modders.

 

Everything else is fair enough, but this is the biggest load of bulls*** I've read in several hours.

 

I post here for one reason, I really want to encourage a remake of one of the best RPG's of all times. I do have several skills that would make me able to contribute, but two kids and a wife plus full time studying says I can't. That is also why I don't spend too much time worrying exactly how this and that could be fixed or modded, because if I do, then I can't stop myself from doing it, or at least trying.

Change the statement to: modders have more mod ideas than non-modders. But are we talking about all total number of modder's mod idea vs total number of non-modder mod ideas.. If so then there are a lot less modders than non modders.. on a single entity: a modder vs a non-modder... it's a different story.

 

Clarification needed :biggrin:

Edited December 16, 2011 by Ghogiel

[amtrack]

Well matth already covered it. As a non-modder, I will say this: its a bad idea. Its a bad idea for several reasons really, the first of which has already been covered:

 

1) It wont get finished. It wont even get half-finished, the project is just too ambitious.

 

Of all the neat things ppl will wanna do, there's no way anyone is marrying themselves to a single project for so long. It wont happen. You might get the boat finished, a couple landscapes, but ultimately itll be an empty piece of landmass with nothing in it. Something on this scale will likely require Bethesda themselves to get a quality living piece of work. Next.

 

2) Morrowind is completely toast

 

We all played Morrowind, we all know what happened to it. From a lore point of view, remaking Morrowind is pointless. Its amazing how many ppl will bash appearance mods for "zomg breaking immersion," yet how many would also advocate remaking Morrowind. There's nothing left in Morrowind, why would anyone want to explore an empty wilderness? Now if you want to break all sense of lore than by all means, proceed. Just a reminder that it doesnt make any physical sense in the storyline. People really need to learn to let go of things, let sleeping games lie. Leave poor Morrowind alone and let it retain its charm.

 

3) Obvious legal issues

 

You know those disclaimers all you modders throw up, about how to "not use my mod without permission," etc etc? Well, remaking Morrowind is essentially hijacking Bethesda's creation and presenting it as your own. Modders hate that, so it amazes me that any of you think its totally okay to remake Morrowind. Its an obvious copyright infringement, and you bet you'll get a cease and desist order almost immediately. That = a lot of modders' wasted time and effort...assuming you even get a lot of modders to begin with.

 

4) Leave the past alone

 

No point in recreating whats already been created, and created by a team more skilled, and with more resources, than yourself. As a non-modder, i'd rather see ppl break new ground and improve Skyrim beyond what Bethesda laid out for us. This doesn't mean slapping shoddy imitation games on the border somewhere. How about creating a new region that Bethesda has yet to flesh out? How about adding new quests/cities/people in that region which coincide with the events in the storyline? Imo that is a much better use of time than trying to recreate game that has no place in the current story anyway. Look ahead, not backwards yeah?

 

 

5) Really its just a bad idea, i've basically covered the reasons why.

Edited December 16, 2011 by amtrack

[gigantibyte]

You could pull a "pocket universe" akin to what the Time Trapper did in DC comics. Some Daedra prince mirrors parts of Vvardenfell for his own amusement before it was destroyed, and it exists in dimension outside Tamriel. You could even have quests based on the originals, but demonically twisted somehow. This way, it would be lore friendly and the land mass size would be whatever is manageable for your project team. Edited December 16, 2011 by gigantibyte

[Alex4921]

Just gonna throw in a few cents here and say that the WoT Matth85 wrote is a pretty decent guide/piece of advice in my opinion.(I'm not a modder myself but i have hung around enough of them to know good s*** when i see it and to know what i'm on about)

[Matth85]

Clarification needed

 

Single person vs single person.

A modder/developer will have a hundred projects on hold, a few thousand in his head, and a couple started on.

A non-modder will stick to 1 big idea, untill he get told enough "NO!".

 

Though I will admit, this is opinions. Perhaps even my biased one, but I am getting tired of 5 posts a day: "I need a mod team to make X super big mod. kkthxbye!". I try to explain them: We know our limits. If I could make a super mod in 1 day, I would! But I know it would take me a few years, and 20 people. Either way, I always try to get the point out directly - not offensively.

 

I also know I got about 200 projects I am going to do, at one point. I know how, when, and why. I then know a thousand other modders got Morrowind remake as an idea. There hasn't been ONE idea on this forum that I havn't had in mind, or know somebody else had. Telling us that doesn't make it happen. We know the technical, we know the limits and we know the time it takes. Most .. well, some, non-modders does not know. I know people who thinks a city can be made in a week. Whilst a citty/village would take me a few months, since I aim for QUALITY.

 

I really want to encourage a remake of one of the best RPG's of all times.

Why remake? Morrowind is still here. Isn't it you guys who says "Graphic isn't everything!"?

 

I do have several skills that would make me able to contribute, but two kids and a wife plus full time studying says I can't. That is also why I don't spend too much time worrying exactly how this and that could be fixed or modded, because if I do, then I can't stop myself from doing it, or at least trying

Which is fair enough! A lot of people got too much to do, and too little time. However, do not expect a mod to come from an idea.

The only time a idea , coming from a single person, becomes a mod -- is if said person got too much sparetime. That way s/he can actually get stuff done.

 

You could pull a "pocket universe" akin to what the Time Trapper in did in DC comics. Some Daedra prince mirrors parts of Vvardenfell for his own amusement before it was destroyed, and it exists in dimension outside Tamriel. You could even have quests based on the originals, but demonically twisted somehow. This way, it would be lore friendly and the land mass size would be whatever is manageable for your project team.

 

It is not problem with the lore here, it is problem with the project itself. I can give you a rundown what you need for a big mod:

 

Landscaper

Scripters

Voice Actors

Organic Modeller

Hard surface/Weapon modeller

Enviroment modeller

CS workers

Level designers

 

Of course, some people can me more than one here. However, a big mod would require 15-30 people. Even then it would take a year, or two. This is a hobby, so it gets prioritized the least. Meaning some might take a break from time to time, or some might quit. Suddently you got a 2 years work, and nobody gets paid. Not many can be bothered to be locked to one project for that long - I know I couldn't.

 

Secondly, you need a good manager. If you are leading a mod developement team, you ned to be quite active. I've had a guy not answering my PMs for a week. That means I have to wait ONE week to get a model finished, because there is no feedback from the guy. Later he got a kid and stopped answering. Isn't that nice? Leaving me/us hanging, then dumping me/us. THat is a fear we all got. We NEED a guy who can manage:

- Knowing what's what.

- Knowing who does what.

- Knowing how it is done.

- Knowing where everything is sent, and makes sure it is good.

- Gets stuff done.

- Active. Minimum 2 days per reply, or I would never be in that team.

- Can write decent english, and make a presentation look professional.

- Can presentate the mod, in an alpha state, and make it peak others interest.

 

There are few of these guys, since it is a lot of work.

 

TL;DR:

It is not a question about lore, it is a question about work.

 

Cheers,

Matth