Winterhold & the College

[Sunnie]

The issue is that any changes made in existing worldspace will not be visible at distance (because the LOD rendering for worldspace is broken in the CK/GECK. If you add/remove a building or add/remove terrain, you wont see the changes until it "pops" into view when you get close enough, other wise it looks like it did before any changes were made.

[Grumpen]

Well damn, looks like this still might be complicated, as there are parts in the vanilla that still have this problem (the statue of Azura for one).

[Iv121]

Well you don't rly need to touch the LOD to improve the college, what's about going underground :wink: , at least that's what I'm planning to do when Legend of Winterhold is out ... We could share ideas BTW :) . http://www.thenexusforums.com/index.php?/topic/507588-wip-the-legend-of-winterhold/ Edited January 7, 2012 by Iv121

[KarthGalin]

The issue is that any changes made in existing worldspace will not be visible at distance (because the LOD rendering for worldspace is broken in the CK/GECK. If you add/remove a building or add/remove terrain, you wont see the changes until it "pops" into view when you get close enough, other wise it looks like it did before any changes were made.

 

Did not the program that rebuilt LOD in Oblivion remedy this?

 

I honestly don't remember this bug, but it has been a while since I fooled with Oblivion, and I didn't mod FO3 or NV the same way/as much as Oblivion.

[Lachdonin]

I feel the oppressive need to mention that the College of Winterhold is mostly abandoned. The idea of masses of students running around going to classes and etc is directly counter to what we are told is the condition of the school. While i agree completely that it should be larger, i feel for the most part it should be empty. The overall population of the College in Skyrim is appropriate for what we are told is its current state.

 

Moving on, however. I feel that the precipice the College currently occupies still offers plenty of room for expansion. The actual outjutting of rock is quite large,and would offer plenty of room for subterrainian levels, classrooms, labs and so forth. Even if you were to include just a single storey below the current ground level, you could probably fit a practice range, arboretum, storage, mess and maybe even a summoning chamber.

 

This type of expansion would also not displace the Cistern, as it seems to start about 3 storeys down.

 

I would also be more inclined to think that the instructors and senior members should still remain on 'campus' considering the oppinion of the locals regarding Mages. They should not, however, be sharing a dorm with the students, and should appropriately be alloted more space.

 

The Arcanium, on the other hand, is a stellar library IMO.

[Sunnie]

The issue is that any changes made in existing worldspace will not be visible at distance (because the LOD rendering for worldspace is broken in the CK/GECK. If you add/remove a building or add/remove terrain, you wont see the changes until it "pops" into view when you get close enough, other wise it looks like it did before any changes were made.

 

Did not the program that rebuilt LOD in Oblivion remedy this?

 

I honestly don't remember this bug, but it has been a while since I fooled with Oblivion, and I didn't mod FO3 or NV the same way/as much as Oblivion.

 

Yes, this issue haunted anyone trying to modify worldspace terrain or objects in FO3/NV. Oblivion was so long ago, I honestly don't remember much about it, but I know that was totally broken in the GECK. And since they used the NV engine and toolset as a starting point for all the engine rewriting they did for Skyrim, it is possible that little issue could remain in the new toolset. I really hope not.

[Iv121]

I feel the oppressive need to mention that the College of Winterhold is mostly abandoned. The idea of masses of students running around going to classes and etc is directly counter to what we are told is the condition of the school. While i agree completely that it should be larger, i feel for the most part it should be empty. The overall population of the College in Skyrim is appropriate for what we are told is its current state.

 

So why won't the archmage move his lazy butt and start working on bringing more students in a modded questline :) .

[Lachdonin]

I feel the oppressive need to mention that the College of Winterhold is mostly abandoned. The idea of masses of students running around going to classes and etc is directly counter to what we are told is the condition of the school. While i agree completely that it should be larger, i feel for the most part it should be empty. The overall population of the College in Skyrim is appropriate for what we are told is its current state.

 

So why won't the archmage move his lazy butt and start working on bringing more students in a modded questline :) .

 

If included in a after-the-fact questline, then i think there wouldn't be any continuity problems. Maybe link it to a bigger chain regarding the restoration of Winterhold? Still, making it be a packed school-like setting right from the getgo would break the environment which is established for it. The senior members are surprised that they have 4 new students at the same time for a reason.

[havefunwilltravel]

I feel the oppressive need to mention that the College of Winterhold is mostly abandoned. The idea of masses of students running around going to classes and etc is directly counter to what we are told is the condition of the school. While i agree completely that it should be larger, i feel for the most part it should be empty. The overall population of the College in Skyrim is appropriate for what we are told is its current state.

 

Moving on, however. I feel that the precipice the College currently occupies still offers plenty of room for expansion. The actual outjutting of rock is quite large,and would offer plenty of room for subterrainian levels, classrooms, labs and so forth. Even if you were to include just a single storey below the current ground level, you could probably fit a practice range, arboretum, storage, mess and maybe even a summoning chamber.

 

This type of expansion would also not displace the Cistern, as it seems to start about 3 storeys down.

 

I would also be more inclined to think that the instructors and senior members should still remain on 'campus' considering the oppinion of the locals regarding Mages. They should not, however, be sharing a dorm with the students, and should appropriately be alloted more space.

 

The Arcanium, on the other hand, is a stellar library IMO.

 

Abandoned, but lacking how many students they didn't say. Roke School from 'earthsea' had about 100 and the witch's academy from 'the worst witch' had 50 or so. I pretty much like the school as it is, just needs a bit more students, not cluttered with them.

[darthmomis]

I'm glad to see this is being done. I was very disappointed with the College. It's worse than the one in Oblivion.

The exterior of MC (Mage's College) doesn't need to change much. You can make a garden in the space on each side of the mana well. That open area just fills with snow ( and dragon skeletons). I don't know why there's not a forge. You have to make armor, jewelry and weapons to enchant.

 

You can change the interiors and not effect the outside. When you walk into a door you go to a new space (called an interior cell). It can be any size. You can change the interior cells to be anything you want. You can't see how far the college goes back so why not make it larger inside.

 

There needs to be separate rooms for the Alchemy lab, enchanting lab, a room for practicing conjuring and destruction. Maybe have those circles in the floor. One student summons something then another attacks it. Or even the Conjuration teacher (Phinis Gestor) summons things for the students to attack. Also pillars or statues that count as a enemy to lvl destruction and other skills. The teachers could live above there teaching rooms that way you can find them easier.

 

The mana wells( the blue glowy fountains) are suppose to be there to help your mana regen faster. But they have no real purpose if there is no magic being done.

The arch-mage should be at the top of the main tower. The library could be right when you go into the hall of elements, around the well where the Eye of Magus shows up. Leave the mana well there so it wont mess up the main MG quest.

 

The conjuring and destruction labs could be underground, in rooms that have solid stone walls. There could be burn marks on the walls and floor, chunks of stone missing, broken pillars and stairs, obvious signs of heavy spell use. The Conjuration and Destruction Masters should live here.

 

There needs to be some lower lvls that have cages for animals and small rooms for private experiments. These can be abandoned and not used. These can be under the dorm towers. Necromancy is considered a viable arcane practice by the college so there should be a place for the study of this. Or at least a place that looked like there was. I'm not into Necromancy myself, all those dead bodies just smell bad, but I know others are. The Midden is the perfect place for it.

 

Redo the insides of Hall of Countenance and Hall of Attainment. Use one for the student dorms and the other for labs(Alchemy , Enchanting, etc..) The bottom lvl can be used as a dining, meeting area, with the upper floor for the sleeping rooms. Small rooms with small beds and a desk. It freaked me out that there was no doors. How do they change clothes, wash up, go to the bathroom. I'm just thinking to much I guess.

 

A lot of NPC pathing will need to be changed.

 

It would be nice to have quests later on to recruit new mage's and improve the standing of the college in Skyrim. Maybe after the player becomes Arch-mage. I feel useless as the AM. I have nothing to do for the college. Nothing that I would really want to do.

That's my small ideas. I'll be watching this mod. There are several of you working on the same type mod. Maybe you could join teams and work together.