Morrowind Style Dungeons [WIP]

[VanyaSleeper]

First of all, please don't let my user creation date of lack of posts scare you away – I have been modding for Morrowind and Oblivion for years. I've just never released or gone public with many of my creations, preferring instead closed releases to the intended audience.

 

That out of the way, let me truly begin. Morrowind Style Dungeons, or MWSD, is something I've been working on and chewing over just days after Skyrim's release. It was pitifully obvious to me that Bethesda had continued with their linear style of dungeons that were present in oblivion. This was to follow on their “wider audience” practice.

I for one loved the dungeons in Morrowind, where you could get truly lost and somewhat confused at the layout. You thought you had found the way, just to be greeted around the corner by a particularly nasty bonewalker, and then realising that you hadn't saved in a while and you had to do the dungeon over again, yet this time you took a different path which, perhaps, made it easier. Or harder.

 

It was this constant difficulty, confusion and uniqueness which made the dungeons in Morrowind, dare I say, fun. Not just fun though, but re-playable. You could return a week later to the same dungeon and have a completely different experience.

 

So I decided to suggest to a few of my friends the idea of more complex, more difficult, more confusing dungeons in Skyrim and the suggestion was met with praise. A wider poll wrought the suggestion that I take the idea to the Nexus and here I am.

 

Whether this gets released publicly or just as a closed release depends on the feedback I get here. Below are the main summary points for what I am doing and for what I hope to achieve.

 

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• More complex dungeons. This doesn't just mean an extra hallway here and there, this means many dead ends, roundabouts, secret passageways, passages that lead to traps (literal “dead” ends) and passages which lead nowhere but have exciting and enticing loot at the end.
  
• Less Linear dungeons. Multiple routes to multiple exits, multiple rooms and cells. Rooms which serve no purpose other than dungeon delving, with exciting enemies and tough fights which are rewarded.
  
• Confusion. Disorient the player somewhat with crossroads, multiple levels and the aforementioned dead ends.
  
• Story. Make each dungeon exciting. If this means a full back story, or just a skeleton with a name, with a few clues as to what happened to the poor sap next to him, its the little unique things which make each dungeon memorable.
  
• Difficulty. Speaks for itself. Each dungeon a challenge. Some more challenging (yet more rewarding) than others.
  

 

That's the mod at a quick glance. What I think separates this mod from others of a similar nature is the unique, hand crafted feel displayed over a large quantity of Dungeons. I dont plan to make just two or three, I plan to make many dungeons, each with many cells. Ambitious, yes. But enjoyable to do and I think it would be well received by those who want a bit of spice added to their game.

 

So, what I would really appreciate from you guys;

 

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• Am I wasting my time with this or would this sort of thing have an audience?
  
• Would you also like to see Morrowind Style Dwemer Ruins? Personally, I would, but Dwemer stuff is less accepted generally than dungeons and caves.
  
• Would there be anyone who would perhaps like to help? I always welcome assistance, whether it be in the form of ideas, designs or whatever.
  

 

Well, that's it. Thanks :)

Vanya

 

Apologies for any English mistakes you may see, it is a second language of mine, that should be no excuse, though, since I have been speaking it for many years now.

[PsYchotic666Joker]

This sounds like a really good idea.

 

I for one loved how the dungeons, caves, Dwemer ruins, and Daedric ruins looked in Morrowind.

It does bother me that everything is almost the same since Oblivion. if you do work on this i hope it does get a decent audience.

 

So long story short, you have my support.

[VanyaSleeper]

Thanks for the support :)

 

I am aware that I can't add many roaming NPC's at the moment due to Navmesh bugs, but at least Bethesda said they are getting this sorted soon.

[Kalva]

I am all for some more complicated dungeons! Dwemer or else what!... Make sure to use the Shadowmarks though, especially when there's something lethal up ahead. If you don't know what the 'Shadowmarks' are, they're the weird symbols you've probably noticed on stuff but couldn't figure out. There's a book on their meaning in the Thieves' Guild Cistern area.. I personally carry it around with me since I found it.

 

Linear dungeons are good sometimes, but I really enjoy having extra areas to explore, extra rewards to be gotten for my good observations or just simple luck! A good puzzle is great too!

 

I can't even describe how disappointed I was stepping into Labyrinthiah and not finding some sort of trap-filled, thousand-path dungeon with riddle and little tips to help me get through.. Infact, I don't even really remember that dungeon that well, it just wasn't all that memorable. You make me a dungeon where at one point I get distracted and go down a hallways for some loot only to turn around and realize I'm completely lost and I'll adore you forever... And then despise you for the hours it takes me to get back.

[Nyhilisa]

I'm gonna say this is an awesome idea too... if you need testing, hit me up for basic stuff at least. :)

Forgot to add - those little hints are what make the game interesting at all for me. Sometimes it's not the full quests l enjoy, but the mysterious things that make me ask why and how and did it work.

Theres one dungeon vanilla skyrim that l like for tha treason (probably others too, but l cant remember them.) it's the one where the bandits forced a guy to mine the cave up till the point where he was killed in a rockfall. Theres a journal beside him, but l want to know - how and why did they have so much control over him? Things like that really intrigue me.

Edited February 18, 2012 by Nyhilisa

[David Brasher]

I really like this mod idea.

 

I was really disappointed by the linear dungeons. Dungeons should be laid out sort of like mazes. Many rooms, many passages, many interconnections and places that don't actually connect. It is great when the map misleads you and the only way to find your way through a dungeon is to look at your surroundings in-game instead of reading the map at every intersection.

 

All these stupid back doors that Skyrim dungeons have! Just think about how the big boss is in the most well-defended place in the whole dungeon with all his treasure arrayed about him. But there is this back door that leads right outside. I would think that clever adventurers would find the back door, get through it somehow, slit the throat of the boss and steal all his treasure without fighting their way through the long hard dungeon.

 

So I really like this idea of more complex non-linear dungeons.

[VanyaSleeper]

@Kalva

Good to hear such positive things! I had the same feelings about Labyrinthian. Despite being named after the Maze outside the ruins (which wasn't a maze at all) I still felt the actual dungeon needed to be a lot more complicated. Shadowmarks seem like an interesting idea.

I will definitely work on getting you lost. I think I can take the hate if it means you enjoy yourself :)

 

@Nyhilisa

I will definitely need testers when I come close to releases, thank you for the offer. It is interesting backstory and non-quest related stuff like that which is what I am hoping to include in my dungeons and caves. I think it just adds to the fun of exploration which was so present in Morrowind, at least to me. I will probably be making a small project page where various ideas and the like can be submitted. I will be sure to link to it via this thread or I could PM you about testing.

 

Thanks for the support again.

[jonniezombietronic]

This sounds like a great idea to me. I spent many hours wondering though caves and ruins in Morrowind.

[cyrkon]

I like this very much, if you need any help - you have my computer! Only one thing you should add to this mod: in Skyrim almost all artifacts are to be found by you in deadric quests. Artifacts should be like in Morrowind - scatterded around in the world in hands of other adventurers, sometimes in lord's treasure vaults, in deep caverns or dwemer ruins. This would add a lot realism to Skyrim - I mean if there are treasures, there are a lot of pepole who wants to get it.

[Darkvalkyr]

I would love to see more open-ended and less linear dungeons. Very few dungeons or areas in Skyrim ever gave that (Labrynthian was one of the very few and even that was straightforward).

 

I personally would like to see less Dwemer ruins given how many we already get in this game and how huge they are, but that's just me. However, I would always be up for it if it can be done in a huge twist. (Underwater dungeon with multi paths involving diving? Hell yes.)