Questline mod team recruitment - check it out!

[ronisaurus]

Hi!

 

My name's Aron. I currently have a questline project in mind, but if we manage to get a good team together, we might end up doing other fun stuff as a team. And very few things can beat a good team :)

 

I'm currently looking for modders experienced in modding Oblivion and Fallout 3 in the following areas, so we already have people to share the work with by the time the mod dev tools land in January:

 

- Animator

- Event/scene director / scripter

- Modeler / graphic artist

- Sound engineer

- Voice talent (previous experience, and hq recording quality required)

 

Edit: So far we have:

 

- A sound engineer

- Web hosting

- 2 veteran voice talents

- 1 modeler

- several willing playtesters

 

we still need modelers, dungeon builders and scripters... or at least 1 of each!

 

If u can do multiple stuff from the above in the predecessors or Skyrim's engine, it's all the better, because then you would be able to cooperate with your teammates more smoothly.

 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Now here's the first mod idea; the one that made me want to assemble this crew:

 

- First check this vid out:

- If you liked it, keep reading. If you hate hip-hop, or this particular track, then please go and listen to Rick Astley and have fun while chewing on a bulky aubergine :)

 

Edited note for people doubting this mod is possible without a sense of immersion:

 

This would be a quest involving a real-life character crossing over to the world of Tamriel. The challenge of keeping a sense of immersion in the players while telling this story is rather difficult, tho it is very much possible to accomplish with the proper measures. The key is to finely balance out the explanatory parts of the story, so the information is satisfying for even those who are all for immersion, yet the players aren't overwhelmed by technical/esoteric/magic gibberish. Making the explanation optional to ingest is important, and will be executed as follows: during the questline, the player would eventually get a letter from the greybeards, delivered by a courier. The letter would contain the info on how Dan's figure originates from a higher; "parent" plane of existence to Tamriel's world, and explaining, how and why he is capable of developing his understanding of the dragon tongue. Although Dan's figure would only be able to understand only brief concepts of the Voice, he would take it from a completely different approach, which - according to the story - would not allow him to master the dragonbane shout, or to take the player's place as the new dragonborn in the story. Reading this letter would contain a ton of info on how this is all possible, while keeping the story sorta true to the Elder Scrolls' lore - and also, reading this letter would be optional for the players, just like reading any other letters or books for that matter. There you go immersion fans, take that to the knee! :D

 

Additional info on immersion in the "Edits" section on the bottom of the post!

 

Now, in short heres how i would implement this song into the game:

- Make a questline with the rapper, Dan as an npc. He would be conjured into the college of Winterhold as a result of a screwed up spell.

- The questline would involve him getting attuned to this new realm (Tamriel), so he can tap into the magic of this new world and conjure himself back eventually using his innate link to his original dimension.

- To help the npc get attuned to the new world, the player would need to acquire an artifact (dungeon crawl), hunt an ancient dragon, get into a barfight and escort the npc to the greybeards up the 7000 steps while being chased by another dragon.

- In the end, Dan's npc would perform the linked song (the rap one, not the rickroll ^^), and teach the player a new, custom shout. How the song would be performed will be explained below as well as other technicalities.

- After the questline is completed, conjuring Dan's npc would be added as a 1/day power, and by then he would function as a full-blown conjurer companion until killed off.

 

Further details on the above questline:

 

1.

 

Initially, Dan's npc would need to be conjured in current-day, real-life clothes. Dan's a rapper from the uk, and since i already told him to pick his treads, i pretty much expect him to go with the usual baggy or 501 cut jeans, a hoody and some sorta casual/sports kicks. Later he would change into regular Skyrim apparel.

 

- Now this part would require custom apparel models, a custom event, a questline trigger (possibly a letter from the courier) and some other stuff

 

2.

 

Dan's npc would freak out as a result of being forced to cross over - thinking he's dreaming or having a weird trip -, and he would rush out and take on a dragon, from which the player would have to save him (even tho he's flagged as essential). After the fight the conjurer dude would explain to the player, that only Dan would be able to portal himself back to his own realm, and he could only accomplish that if he somehow managed to get attuned to the current world's energies and learn the sufficient skills needed from the school of conjuration. At this point, Dan's npc is not yet a quest companion, and the player is given the quest to grab a book which would help Dan get the ropes of magic usage.

 

3.

 

After the book is grabbed, Dan's npc would still lack the necessary experience to use it's power, and the conjurer dude insists, that he has to get attuned to the new realm in more natural ways. Dan tells him that he is basically a bard in his own world, so the mage advises him to set out on a mission to perform for the local populace. As the npc grows in knowledge of the school of conjuration, he will start accompanying the player on a dragon hunt (or a dungeon witch-hunt), a bar fight and an escort quest (maybe we'll replace that with something else, cuz escorts quests can suck if executed poorly - babysit much in escort quests in about 999 previous games, u probably know what i mean ^^).

 

4.

 

The escort (or some other mission) would involve the greybeards, because they would sense the alien nature of Dan's energies and would invite him over in hopes of gaining a further understanding of the voice and the dragons themselves (since the dragons are also from another realm). This would not involve additional dialogue from the greybeards, but rather a letter from a courier demanding Dan's presence at the greybeards' keep and a brief explanation of their motives. After this quest and some 48 hrs in-game wait, the greybeards would teach a little dragonish to Dan's npc (and be satisfied with whatever they could deduct from Dan's energies), so he would know some basic shouts, and would be able to teach the player his new custom-tailored shout at the end of the questline.

 

5.

 

With the knowledge accumulated by Dan's npc, he is able to perform his epicrap as it sounds on youtube by conjuring the beats and tunes to back his rap up. Also he could demonstrate how he applies some basic reverb effects to his own voice using his newly gained knowledge of the dragon tongue (or simply the school of alteration - still up for discussion). After the questline's events and Dan's relation to the dragonborn (player) it would actually make sense for him to rap the actual lyrics of the linked track. An argonian would get mad at him for the "if you've got scales, then i'm on your trail and i will not fail" part after the performance, and he would need to briefly explain to the player - or another npc - the part where he raps about "free-roaming sandbox game" :) At one part when talking to a bard in the college of bards in Solitude, an npc would take note, that he has a hard time understanding Dan's expressions, but he finds his diverse language somewhat refreshing ^^

 

As a result of listening to the performance, the player would be able to learn a new shout, as Dan's npc actually created the rap using his own understanding of the voice. The effects of the custom shout is still under discussion. The questline would end with Dan's npc finally gaining the ability to conjure himself back to his own world. Past this point, the player would be able to call on Dan (or conjure him) using a 1/day power. Dan would play a role as a conjurer companion, and would be wearing regular, real world clothes (as he initially appeared after he first got conjured). Also, he would be using basic shouts, like Fus, or his own custom shout, if it isn't too op.

 

- This part would require a custom animation for his performance, since it would look rather dumb to pull a flow of this energy while standing in one place ^^

- Dan would perform his rap in solo, using conjured sources of sound. in my preference, 3 separate sound sources. The vocals from Dan, the slightly sped-up and edited main-theme from 1 custom spell effect, and the hip-hop beats from another. This way he can perform the rap again from a dialogue option when there are no enemies nearby even after the questline is completed and Dan's can only be called upon as a 1/day power.

 

My thoughts on this project:

 

- All of this has been done before in parts. The animation, the injection of custom dialogues and voicovers, and the creation of custom events. This project is a matter of do, or not do; and not a matter of possible or impossible.

- Now, if the creation of this mod is executed properly, it could get the members of the crew a decent sense of accomplishment, and maybe even some fame and respect among the modders. For the least. Now the fact, that Dan knows Pete Hines in person might get your hopes up, but i suggest u don't walk that way yet. Do a really good job on this mod and you will raise the chances of opening up some doors for yourself.

- Even if we do a splendid job with the above questline, this will be free, no matter what Steam comes up with. Later projects might go for money (we'll discuss that as a team), but first you gotta draw the people in with free candy. Basic marketing, really.

- Aubergines are tasty, and reduce the time between shouts by 20%.

 

Edits:

 

Where this approach stands immersion-wise:

 

I would want this to take up the following tone in the separate parts of the questline:

 

- Initially we would need to make Dan's post-conjuration confusion look hilarious. That could be done in the first dragon battle in the college of winterhold and also the initial dialogue with him. Wielding a broomstick like he means it thinking its an epic staff could be something worth a laugh too

 

- Then I would like to have the players feel a sense of immersion as to how this all could be possible. I have a solid explanation for open-minded people while keeping the thing intact to match the TES lore (and we're talking about modding a fantasy game here lol). The dialogues with the conjurer mage could take care of that. He would explain how a cross-over like that could've happened, and how it could be turned around. So the fluffy and childish concept of popping up in a game as a real-life person wanes in contrast to the seriousness of the risks and challenges ahead. That's the dilemma right there, because at first it looks like Dan will be stuck here for good and hes not very pleased with the idea, nor are the dragons or the Thalmor.

 

- The end of the questline would need to make the player feel a sensation closure and of loss when Dan finally manages to portal himself back to the realm he came from, but after some 48 hrs wait you could get a letter from the initial questgiver conjurer dude, that he's figured out a way to "invite" Dan over a 1/day power.

 

If you are interested, contact me on [email protected]

Edited January 7, 2012 by ronisaurus

[Ixflashpointxi]

"In the end, Dan's npc would perform the linked song (the rap one, not the rickroll ^^), and teach the player a new, custom shout. How the song would be performed will be explained below as well as other technicalities."

 

He's from another realm, not dragonborn, not a greybead. He couldn't do that, I believe.

 

While the events of the quest you have sound cool, it all seems kind of seems silly to me.

 

EDIT (Kept reading):

 

This is really silly. This might be a fun quest. But if you're going to make a silly quest, do it right and have it still pertain to the game. At least a little bit.

 

You see, if Dan was maybe a Dwemer that came back from whereever they were. Now, you'd have some actually story to work with.

 

You don't have any reasons behind any of this, and it seems kind of overkill to do a silly quest that has no real story besides attempting to be funny.

 

I guess that it would be good experience for those new to modding, and could be their first project. But making a silly quest, and trying to find a GOOD team for it probably won't happen.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Ixflashpointxi

[ronisaurus]

"In the end, Dan's npc would perform the linked song (the rap one, not the rickroll ^^), and teach the player a new, custom shout. How the song would be performed will be explained below as well as other technicalities."

 

He's from another realm, not dragonborn, not a greybead. He couldn't do that, I believe.

 

While the events of the quest you have sound cool, it all seems kind of seems silly to me.

 

He would only gain a unique understanding or the voice from the greybeards, and since he's from a different realm, his voice powers could develop much more easily up to a certain point. That could be just fine, because people in his realm (in our reality) people merely rely on words for being generally stripped of magic. Also it would be briefly hinted, that he was conjured from a parent plane of existence to the world of Tamriel, explaining his ability to learn conjuration rather quickly during the course of 3-4 quests, and also tap into the usage of the voice (basically Pete Hines had some1 to create the dragontongue ^^). I wouldn't want to get too deep with the crossover sub-dimension matrix stuff :P It's a mod afterall and i'm already trying to figure out how to make it immersive. Thank you for your comment tho, it just helped me figure out how to deal with the "sillyness" partly. It's a fine balance tho to give players a sufficient explanation for a decent level of immersion, and also actually have a real-life person cross over into a game, so yeah... thx :)

 

- Also you've probably seen "A Knight's Tale (2001)"... now thats not the direction i want this to take. Making a crossover of this scale (real-life to fantasy) while avoiding ruining the immersion is what the storytelling part of the questline is responsible of. It's a cheeky move in itself to start a project like this: not even a regular boring average person, but a rapper with a unique set of expressions is crossed over. The cheekyness of this brings it close to impossible to execute, but i believe, that proper storytelling can build a bridge even for that. The in-game experience would only strengthen the immersion if executed properly, while the dialogue and the letter you get from the greybeards from a courier has the potential to explain most of the setup. It's something i really look forward to work on, because i like challenges :)

Edited December 6, 2011 by ronisaurus

[RubikNight]

Count me in man. Voice acting is what I do best, so give me a shout to this email on what I can do for characters. I'll discuss helping you with script.

[xTheAdoringFanxx]

It seems like you've put a lot of time into this but im going to be honest. Now don't bite my balls off it's just my opinion. I think it's a bit Dumb. The fact that he crossed over from our world ot Tamriel Is a bit far fetched. But I really did enjoy the rap. But don't get mad at me I just am merely stating my opinion. Just because I think somthing's dumb somone might think it the greatest idea ever, But you did a real good job of writing that.

[ronisaurus]

It seems like you've put a lot of time into this but im going to be honest. Now don't bite my balls off it's just my opinion. I think it's a bit Dumb. The fact that he crossed over from our world ot Tamriel Is a bit far fetched. But I really did enjoy the rap. But don't get mad at me I just am merely stating my opinion. Just because I think somthing's dumb somone might think it the greatest idea ever, But you did a real good job of writing that.

 

Not biting any balls off, don't worry. I normally would, but then it would be bad self-marketing, now wouldn't it? :D I completely understand why you wrote that, because on paper it actually looks Dumb with a capital D. Think of "A Knight's Tale" with Heath Ledger... a dude crosses over time and even that looks pretty damn dumb. Then again think of the Omicron game, which was pretty damn awesome in its time. I guess I'll get a lot of disapproval from the community, and even if I manage to finish the mod pixel-perfectly true to the original idea; I'll have to make a pretty badass promo video for it - just to kinda convince mod users, how it actually works just fine immersion-wise when you load it up and play the thing for yourself. This topic is more or less a failsafe for me tho, in case the people i contacted (mostly Oblivion modders) don't reply to my messages, so it's more than likely that this mod will come to life either way :) Thanks for being honest tho, i can work with honest feedback any day.

[dannyfx1]

First ideas about this.

 

> Make it a classic adventure game with usable objects and puzzles etc, but in the award winning Elder Scrolls universe!

 

> This means no fights ( ! ), at least not in the traditional hack&slash sense. It would force players to think, combine, evolve their strategies, which would make victory even sweeter.

 

> Why? I bet there are not many such design approaches in The Elder Scrolls universe, so it has a fair chance to stand out and I think there might be still a lot of gamers looking for this kind of game-play focused on story telling and intellectual challenge instead of whacking monstrosities.

 

> Do you know Shanty Town mod for Half-life 2?

 

> Working Title: The Adventure Scrolls ( it could have episodic content ).

 

* I might add more, or edit this in the future to clarify my ideas. Hopes this sparks some inspiration.

 

Cheers!

Edited December 6, 2011 by dannyfx1

[Ixflashpointxi]

Thanks for not completely destroying me for my comment. I think it can be a good mod if made correctly.

 

You can count me in for possibly helping design the quests (I'm good with stories). And I have (kind of) former experience with graphic artistry. I know how to work my way around GIMP, so I can help in that as well. This would be my first actual mod though, I never got into modding for oblivion and I don't have my hands on a PC copy of skyrim yet. I'm getting a new PC for christmas that will run skyrim on ultra settings, so after christmas I should be fine to help with other things. But until then, I can help with story and such.

[RubikNight]

I think we need a story outline to give people a better idea of what 'exactly' it will be about. I know it has Dan Bull is in it but the fact the story is barely a proper outline (storyboard) probably is turning people away. Also, I am a bit confused to what 'exactly' Dan Bull is doing. Is he a new Companion or is he a NPC who can follow you based on when he needs to in the story? And what do you mean 'replace you as the Dragonborn'? Is there going to be competition between you and him in dealing with the dragons? Will NPC's see him as the 'true' Dragonborn?

[ronisaurus]

I think we need a story outline to give people a better idea of what 'exactly' it will be about. I know it has Dan Bull is in it but the fact the story is barely a proper outline (storyboard) probably is turning people away. Also, I am a bit confused to what 'exactly' Dan Bull is doing. Is he a new Companion or is he a NPC who can follow you based on when he needs to in the story? And what do you mean 'replace you as the Dragonborn'? Is there going to be competition between you and him in dealing with the dragons? Will NPC's see him as the 'true' Dragonborn?

 

I'll try to answer your questions in the order you asked them. Dan will be an npc and will evolve into a conjurer companion by the end of the questline. At first you have to "save" the guy from a dragon right after he is conjured up because of a messed up spell in the college of winterhold. He would run out of the college because he assumes that he is merely knocked out and having a dream or a weird trip, and attack a dragon head on like a true blue noob :) He would be waving something like a broomstick at the dragon or keep doing destruction spell animations with 0 effect on the dragon, to make the fight look hilarious... you would be given the task to save his ass at first. Later you would be given tasks to help him get attuned to Tamriel's plane of existence, so he can learn enough from the school of conjuration to find his way back to his own realm. It would be pointed out, that he is a fast learner of magic usage, due to the fact that he's originally from a higher, a "parent" plane of existence to that of Tamriel (lightly suggesting, that he is from our reality - tho not getting too deep into that).

 

Because of his origin, the greybeards would demand him to visit them in hopes of gaining a further understanding of entities originating from higher planes of existence - in hopes of gaining further understanding of the nature of dragons and the Voice. They would then meditate for 2 days with Dan to commune with his energies, and in the process both parties would share a portion of each other's knowledge, resulting in Dan learning a few basic shouts (only the first words) and the greybeards gaining further insights as to how and why humanoids are capable of learning the dragon language (the greybeards themselves aren't dragonborn either and it took them a whole lifetime to master merely a few words - although they aren't from a higher plane like Dan's character). They (the greybeards) would clearly state to the player (the dragonborn), that only he is truly capable of learning and flawlessly performing the dragonbane shout, but the dragons see Dan just as much a potential threat to themselves as they see the true dragonborn. Since i don't think i can get a hold of the voice actor for the talkative greybeard guy, i will have the greybeards communicate these developments to the player through letters.

 

NPC-s will see Dan as a weird bard who utilizes conjuration spells to amp up his performance with background music. He might have an apprentice (a local Skyrim bard) who would explain to the player a few things he sees about Dan's character from the viewpoint of a local guy who befriended him.

Edited December 6, 2011 by ronisaurus