First mod - need feedback for (technical) concept

[thestoryteller01]

I am replaying Oblivion now for the 3rd time for Shivering Isles, also using Unique Landscapes, Better Cities and trying out a few large mods like Ayelid Steps, Windfall and Dibellas Watch.

 

Ive been working with several editors notably the Electron Toolset for NWN2 but TESCS is my first one that actually implements content into a whole Vanilla world, ready to collide with lots of things in many ways, which is a little intimidating.

 

Therefore the top priority of my first mod is, that the content bonds clean and bugfree with Vanilla and that it is actually useful for the player.

 

What I dearly missed throughout the first run myself, where places to sleep (for levelling up) and store my booty (so I could go back into that Ayleid Ruin without having immersion-breaking fast-travels every 15 minutes). And now it took me a whole hour to find a player home mod, that just offers a bed and safe containers without any other (uber)features - so I decided to make a small mod for both.

 

After doing the First Dungeon Tutorial my head is already spinning and before I decide to reserve the next 10 weekends for modding, I would like to present my technical concept and ask for some feedbacks about any flaws or no-gos.

 

General idea:

Derelict huts, caves and other small interiors strawn across the map for the player to stumble across, which can be used as his house. The design makes it clear, that someone had been living there, but the place is long derelict. None of these places will make the player say Wow a free superduperhouse!!! but rather Ive seen worse….but not often. Anyway, its good enough for a few days while I explore these nearby ruins

 

Features:

All places have a usable bed and at least one safe container. There are only a few items to be found, which are logical and convenient. A few coins, arrows, ingredients (but no fresh food) and junk items that are either worth 0 gold (so the player is not going to burden himself with a used pickaxe) or weigh 0.0 to 0.1.

 

Placement:

Not in sight of any roads and not to be seen from other map markers. No old overgrown paths will be created to avoid mod conflicts. Instead breadcrumbs will be used to lead the player there, like harvestable plants or larger junk items (where appropriate). An occasional grave or broken wagon maybe, but no cluttering the landscape with skeletons and bodies.

 

Informing the player, that this actually IS a usable house with a safe container:

Keys are generally avoided, because imo there are already too many of them for the player to carry around. Also NPCs telling each the story of one of those places would clutter up the landscape (and be a lot of work if done properly). Instead instant quests are used.

Example: The player comes across a small shack. When he approaches the door he walks into a trigger that starts a quest called The Derelict Shack and gives a pop-up saying something like The door is not locked and no sounds are coming from inside. Maybe I should have a look. Inside is another trigger in a far corner of the room which solves the quest and gives a pop-up saying something like This place has not been used for a very long time. I can claim it my own and stay here for a while (This is your house now, you can sleep here and use the containers to store items)

 

After finishing this, the next step will be to create another bunch of derelict places, that are tied together by a story that creates a single quest and another bunch of slightly better-looking places that can be earned through individual quests.

 

Any feedback is appreciated (and thanks allready if you actually did read through the whole bunch of text)

 

DISCLAIMER: I posted exactly the same on another TES CS forum too, because I don't think the registered members are identical everywhere - and I need all the feedback I can get, before I decide to put every other hobby aside for a couple of months. I hope this is not frowned upon in the Oblivion community

Edited April 12, 2012 by thestoryteller01

[Striker879]

I like the idea. I agree the last thing needed is another uber house near Weye. While the idea of quest messages would have merit if the shacks were part of the vanilla game I wonder about their need when the user would have downloaded and installed your mod. Unoccupied free to use shacks aren't a feature of unmodded Oblivion.

 

For the adventurous there are already non-respawning containers to be found in the game ... some in cities, some near roads and the occasional one out in the middle of nowhere. Your mod idea would be a welcome addition.

 

Thinking on the container thing, you could name the container (using unique ID containers rather than vanilla). Mods will often have named containers (e.g. Emma's houses mostly all have a container named 'Waste barrel - RESPAWNS' to indicate it's not a safe container). Or you could just rely on the mod description by clearly stating that all containers are non-respawning and safe for storage.

Edited April 12, 2012 by Striker879

[thestoryteller01]

While the idea of quest messages would have merit if the shacks were part of the vanilla game I wonder about their need when the user would have downloaded and installed your mod. Unoccupied free to use shacks aren't a feature of unmodded Oblivion.

I have been long thinking about this point. The intention of this mod is to add content, the player is actually unaware of that its modded.

 

Which bears the risk, that without a blunt notification players would either consult the spoilers to check if it's REALLY a player home with save containers every time they stumble over something housable - even Vanilla (which is so immersionbreaking that the thought alone hurts). Or they just use the beds without ever claiming one of these places as their house just to make sure they dont feed a respawning chest.

 

For immersion reasons I also want to avoid tagging the save containers "not-respawning" or similar. The idea behind the Instant quests is, that after a longer break in between playing the player can check his questlog if that shack is actually one of "his homes" and so keep the need for spoiler consulting to a minimum.

 

But there are lots of things I haven't decided yet and I am thankful for every feedback, both from the standpoint of players as well as modders.

Edited April 12, 2012 by thestoryteller01

[Lanceor]

I saw your post at the Beth forum as well - don't worry, most of us post at multiple forums. :)

 

Your idea is nice and simple. It is completely believable and would be useful to many players. It's also not overly ambitious or complex so I can see that it can be completed in a reasonable time period. :thumbsup:

 

An easy way to add a quest is to add one piece of a collectible set into each dwelling, much like Umbacano's Ayleid statues or the Unusual Gem quest in Skyrim. It will provide incentive to find all these abandoned shacks and caves and some players absolutely love this type of quest.

 

In terms of compatibility, the less you put in the Tamriel worldspace, the more easy it is to keep it compatible with other things. To start with, I'd probably just add a single load door and doorframe for each dwelling and test it with and without Unique Landscapes. Some of them would be compatible as-is and you can thus use the breadcrumb method to lead the player there. For others, the door might get buried in a mountain. You can use scripting to detect the XUL mod and move the door accordingly. The good old "treasure map" or "follow the wandering ghost" methods can lead the player there without having to place items everywhere.

 

Finally, you probably already know this, but TES4Edit is the program most of us use to "clean" our mods. :thumbsup:

[thestoryteller01]

Thanks for the valuable feedback! A good idea about using doors instaead of whole buildings for a first check.

 

There is another question that came up to me while working on the detailed concept:

 

How do I know, that there won't be an Oblivion gate spawning near my dwellings later in the game? Can I set up the game to show them all prior to doing test runs?

Edited April 13, 2012 by thestoryteller01

[Striker879]

Here's some UESP Wiki links:

 

Oblivion: Oblivion Gates (follow the map link behind each to get a detailed location map)

Oblivion gates map (general overview map)

Edited April 13, 2012 by Striker879

[Lanceor]

Basically, Oblivion Gates are hidden until they spawn. If they don't spawn, they simply remain hidden. All of them will still be visible in the CS.

[thestoryteller01]

Thanks for the links (could have thought about it myself...) and the hint that they are visible in the TS.

 

After cross-checking the various maps I will probably only avoid placing anything near the fixed gates and ignore the random spots.

 

As far as I know people rarely replay the main quest, so I'll risk that incompatability. I mean, I will not put buildings on top of gates, but the emerging creatures would probably destroy anything destroyable nearby so it would still look odd placing a small house in sight of a gate :huh:

Edited April 13, 2012 by thestoryteller01

[WarRatsG]

Applewatch is right below a gate. From memory, Im guessing its about 200-300 metres away. Its inhabitant didnt mind living next to a gate, and the daedra seem unable to go more than 100 metres from the gate.