kane4355 Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 i still have yet to get any replies from anyone on beta testing. if you are interested, message me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kane4355 Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 Just a bit of an update (and hopefully the last one): The mod is almost complete. I am still waiting on the Ballast and the navmesh to be complete. the Quest and castle are pretty much complete, I am just going through the troubleshooting and bug fixing stage. I have two people who have signed up for beta testing and I just need one more. Once it is ready for beta phase i will email the testers and they will have a brief period to run the mod to find issues that otherwise could not be found on my system. The exterior got totally revamped, as stated in previous update to include the castle grounds and the town of Hjal (named after Hjalti Early-Beard). A quest that brings you from the start to the inside of the depths of the castle and ultimately earn ownership of the castle. there is a bit of a storyline and will also require the player to think outside the box in certain scenarios (besides puzzles) and also requires some work from already existing vanilla quests (or non-quests, leaves it open in some ways for modders quests to fit in). More features may be added after the mod is released once I get everything up and finalized. sorry i haven't updated the header or posted new pictures up, work has been hectic and i been spending most of my free time testing and bug fixing and in some cases bashing of head >.< I will say a lot of issues revolve around the lack of navmesh, at least for NPC interactions during non-combat situations or ones that are not linked to furniture. Some issues also depend on computer speed, processing specifically. I have noticed when I have my computer bogged down, certain scripts do not act the way they are supposed to or very slowly. The boss scene is all done through scripting with some quest stage use. in some cases, it does not react right when a computer is bogged down. So, to the testers, when you test things out make sure you aren't testing on a bogged down computer, as in multiple process hungry programs running while playing. I will post more information as in comes and keep you guys posted as it comes. thanks for all those who are following this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoaty6666 Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Thanks for the update cant wait for this, so I take it by what you are saying the castle will no longer be a stand alone but one that you get by doing the quest. that's fine I have a level 52 archer and I'm hoping that will be good enough.thanks again for all the hard work put into this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kane4355 Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 issues arose when it came to trying to separate the quest and castle as a two part. some people wanted the ability to come back and do the quest after getting the castle. this made it difficult to start them separate down the line especially when i had to split the mod into a master file and mod file. for tracking purposes and make working on the mod easier, i started the quest portion along with the castle itself. in the near future I will try to separate them and include a non-quest type people can download, but unfortunately coming back to the quest may prove difficult for those who want to keep everything in the castle and reload a mod. Doing this, tends to remove anything you put in the storage units. So, in essence there will only be two possibilities: with quest or without. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kane4355 Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share Posted July 27, 2012 i am pleased to announce that my efforts bring closer to the end of my testing phase. i have yet but a handful of bugs that can be fixed within a day. those who wanted to beta test, please be on the lookout in your email for the mod. it will happen to be broken down into several parts for better transport through email, using 7zip. as part of this phase, it will also help me weed out exactly what loose files i may be missing in the release of the mod. thank you all for your patience. on a side note, i have lost contact with swordmania, the one who was doing the navmesh. sadly, the castle is not fully navmeshed but only in parts to allow for idle npc's to interact in the quest phase. when i get time i will work out navmeshing cells myself. the project being worked on for the great hall should also be finished by release, as it is being textured hopefully this weekend and ready for implementation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoaty6666 Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Thanks for the update and all the hard work going into this, we are all looking forward to this. is there any hint of a release date (roughly) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kane4355 Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share Posted July 27, 2012 sadly i cannot say a specific date it will be released. once the bugs i find are hashed out, it goes to beta phase. if any bugs r found then, they will be hashed out as well and only then (waiting on the great hall project) will decide it's release. I am hoping the 3d model project will be complete this weekend as all that is left is texturing. however, everyone has a life outside this game and anyone can become busy with life and work on a moments notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kane4355 Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share Posted July 27, 2012 (edited) Okay, so i think it is ready for beta test. Those who messaged me be prepared to get a large file (unpacked its 140 mb, compressed 69 MB spread across 14 files in 7z format).instructions to beta testers: 1. first test mod with as little mods active as possible, excluding graphic enhancement mods such as enb, fxaa, skse, etc. 2. ensure mod loads properly and has all necessary files (IE, all required scripts. There are a lot of scripts included in the mod to make things happen and a naming convention was tried and kept, but some may have been excluded or overlooked). 3. log any bugs, glitches, errors, items missing in vanilla environment. if statics are misplaced or off centered, take a picture in game and try to give best description of location (IE, cell name, what it is near, etc..) if CTD occurs, try to recreate scenario to eliminate the possibility of computer resource error. some CTD will happen when a computer is overloaded and will only happen once in a while and at no specific event. If the scenario persists in CTD, log events that happened up until it CTD. 4. after mod has been successfully tested vanilla, load usual mods in game to test possible load order proficiency. The mod has two files: a .esm and a .esp. master files will always load first and never overwrite another (they bring new items to the game). mod files only overwrite, change, remove, alter, etc. master files. their load order is detrimental depending on possible conflicting mods. The only areas i foresee conflicting anything would be the exterior cells surrounding the castle in the Tamriel Worldspace, and the minor alterations to whiterunbanneredmare interior cell. In those events I would need to know the best possible route for my mod to load in order for my mod to perform at its best in load order. But, you never know what else may conflict. I am not asking for a case by case basis for ALL mods in existence, just ones that you beta testers use on a normal basis. I ask that you take your time when doing this but on the same token keep in mind that as soon as everything is hashed out, the final version will be released. Still waiting on the greathall 3d model project and I may also work on putting together the navmesh as well as performance improvements for interiors (sorry exteriors dont work with portals and room markers). There are some bugs that I know of as note that i cannot fix or change and they are something that occur across the board for everyone right now.1. tree LOD was redone for tamriel (only the cells effected). 3 worldspaces share landscape data and LOD data with tamriel and subsequently suffer a weird tree LOD problem, where the tree LOD persist even when up close. So, in some areas you will see the actual tree overlapped by it's LOD tree. Not sure why this is happening but it is. This also causes some issues with worldspaces that are technical interiors (specifically speaking about the cathedral). you will see LOD trees popped up in those exteriors where they are not supposed to. nothing I can do about it now.2. LOD for the houses in Hjal are rather perculiar but its done because of how the way the LOD is generated. the LOD generation can only be done in statics and items that have an LOD file specified in their base object. The houses in Hjal are carried from Windhelm, and in doing so do not match up for some reason. So when looked at from afar, they seem to be off centered, off balaneced and flat out look wrong. But, I have no way of creating LOD or intent on changing vanilla LOD on vanilla objects as it would cause other issues. I could however create them in my own naming convention thus being able to recreate their LOD files, but then i still have the problem of lacking 3d modeling capabilities. if someone wants to lend a hand in that, feel free to message me. 3. Not that it is an issue anymore, but if the mod is completely an .esp, it crashes the game upon load AND doesnt allow you to start a new game, it simply just sits at the load screen until you close it out. This issue was fixed by splitting the mod to two files: a .esm and a .esp. Just something of note. 4. Some statics may appear or dissapear. not sure the issue but in some cases, creating the master file fixed it OR setting the object as Full LOD. in some cases, setting it as Full LOD OR being a master file has caused statics to just not want to load but their collision exists. This was a known issue for a while and may have been resolved. 5. If for some reason you decide to jump off the dimentius tower to your Doom, beware: a dragon spawns almost as soon as you hit the ground - anywhere. Why? I have no clue, the exterior you load in when on top of the tower is dkworld1, a worldspace i created that only shares landscape and LOD data with tamriel. The area where the tower is overlooks the dragon nest that overlooks labrynthian in tamriel. The data for the dragon spawning i can only assume carries over from the main worldspace. 6. Certain items on the shelves when you add them may appear off-centered or not show up at all. this is something that is hardcoded in the unlimitedbookshelf script that was being worked on. I have yet to update this script for several months and will look into seeing if it has been fixed. Also, if you load several items into the shelf or display it may take a while to load (at least on my system). i found looking away from the display as soon as you dropped the items proved to load qucker. 7. Some npc's, namely the bad guys dont seem to respond to the player as they should. The only thing i can muster is issues with the navmesh as this always seems to be a factor in npc AI when it comes to interference from the player. U may find some Draugr do not iniatiate combat as they are supposed to or just completely ignore the player. My experience in navmesh has proven that I have no clue as to why it happens. but all in all, kill them all!8. Do not pay no mind in how the ledges look in the great hall cells, they will be soon replaced by the greathall 3d model project. EDIT: 9. having some lighting issues and I can only say that it is an issue with ENB effects. It is now showing up in the creation kit, therefore it is hard for me to fix what i cannot see but it appears in game. certain cells are recieving that infamous shadow striping effect which is annoying. ones that showed up in creation kit were fixed, however they do not all show up. It has to do with the lights depth bias. unfortunately in order to adjust the depth bias you have to be able to see the issue in the CK due to the fact that too much or too little will prove the same effect. I am using Superl3 enb with all effects including grain effect, SSAO disabled, no antialiasing active (version 112) with FXAA active. never had the issue before until i decided to try the grain effect. need someone to confirm that it is only the grain effect affecting the shadow depth bias. maybe i can consult with the enb author on the issue. Any more issues that I can think of, I will post on here for beta testers. as for now I will work on sending these files. keep me posted beta testers! Edited July 27, 2012 by kane4355 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kane4355 Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 I need a third beta tester,. they don't need any CK experience but there is something wrong on someone else's system that is working on mine. I need to see if the problem lies with their system. if you could please message me your e-mail if you are interested and again you do not need any modding experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kane4355 Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share Posted July 30, 2012 i have added another poll in regards to loose files versus BSA. please vote to determine how the final mod will be released. thank you for your patience and support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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