[WIP]Obsidian Armor With Quest

[Hangman4358]

The Secrets of Valuungrann

Formerly Obsidian Armor Mod

 

Edit:

I have decided that the mod is in need of a name change. though the original armor idea is still there. It is not only a side piece of very different mod really. While creating the dungeon I started flushing out other ideas and so decided to contribute them into this mod. Because of this I am renaming this mod. I will probuably create a new thread with much more detailed explanations later. What you can find below is old, but still fairly applicable.

 

 

OLD STUFF (But still worth reading)

Well, I want to show off my first Skyrim Project. To begin this project was meant to be only a small test for me to see how Skyrim moding works, but after messing with it I thought I would work on getting this release ready. I have lots of experience modding other games, especially BF1942 and BF2. For BF1942 I was part of the Stargate:BFM team for many years. For BF2 I am a moder for the World At War Forgotten Hope2 Tournament. (If any of you guys play FH2, i am one of the guys behind the Naval assets and such.)

 

Anyway, on to my current project. This is a retexture of the Glass Armor. Yes I know there have been hundreds of retextures of all the armors. To differentiate this from all the others I am working on some special things. My obsidian armor is said to be of Dunmer origin. Made from obsidian chunks sent forth by Vvardenfell when the volcano erupts. After the eruption that has forced many Dunmer to Skyrim, the art of making Obsidian armor has come with them. Few know how to handle the material and fewer will share their knowledge with outsiders. In Skyrim you will find one smith who can work obsidian and who will teach you.

====== Features ======

• A new armor and weapon set. This is not a replacer.
  
• A new Material from which to make the armor.
  
• A quest which rewards you with the ability to make the new armor and weapons.
  
• A quest to gain the services of a follower.
  

 

====== Explanations ======

This will be a high level armor for high level players. The stats are between Dragonscale and Glass. To learn how to make Obsidian armor and weapons you need to already have a smithing skill of 80 or more, and have the Glass smithing and Arcane Blacksmith Perks. Only then will you even be able to learn the secrets of Obsidian smithing. Also, wearing obsidian armor will grant you the same fire resistance as the Dunmer have. This will not interfere with enchanting the armor though. Yes this means you could give yourself 100% fire resistance. If you are Dunmer the Armor will not give you an extra 50% fire resistance though. I am debating if the armor should just not give anything special to Dunmer or if it should give other powers. Maybe a more powerful ancestral guardian.

 

Depending on your race there will be differences within the story. If you are Dunmer the smith will reveal his secrets willingly if you meet all the requirements. If you are not Dunmer you must complete a task for him. Once you complete this task he will teach you how to smith obsidian, he will also become your friend and be usable as a follower. If you are Dunmer you can complete a similar task once he has handed over his knowledge to gain the smith as a follower.

 

====== The Plan ======

I am planing on releasing the first version once I have finished making the quest. This version will include the armor (without anything fancy and the quest. I then plan on working on the weapons and adding the effects the armor will impart on players.

 

In the future I hope this will become a continuing sort of thing. I imagine maybe 10 different sets of armor. One for each race. Each built around a lore friendly idea. I also do not want these other armors to just be retextures, so I am hoping that for future projects I will be able to talk with some of the people creating cool new armors and using those. But that will be down the road. As for right now I plan on finishing this up first and polishing it.

 

====== Screenshots ======

And here is the part everybody loves, Screenshots

 

 

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h193/Hangman4358/obsidian1.png

 

 

 

 

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h193/Hangman4358/obsidian2.png

 

 

 

 

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h193/Hangman4358/obsidian3.png

 

 

Edited August 2, 2012 by Hangman4358

[Hangman4358]

Well, I started working on the dungeon for the quest and I wanted to show off some of it. More of it is done but I want to keep some of the secrets alive. Both of these are from when you first enter the cave.

 

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h193/Hangman4358/OAWaterfallcave1.png

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h193/Hangman4358/OAWaterfallcave2.png

 

They look a bit crap being downscaled by photobucket but what can you do

Edited May 17, 2012 by Hangman4358

[ResolveThatChord]

Looks awesome! great job and nice screenshots.

[Hangman4358]

Finally I have some to show. I am finally done with school this year so I will hopefully have some more time to work on this for the next month or so until I am going to Europe for an extended time. I have been working diligently on the dungeon. Some areas are more finished than others. And there are some secrets I have kept out of the screenshots.

 

I have the armor fully textured now, and have messed with the nif render properties to my satisfaction. All that really remains is finishing up the dungeon and then I will be ready to do an inital release. It will be in 3 parts and Part 1 is done, part 2 is under construction. Part 3 is on the drawing board. Here are some screenshots from parts 1 and 2.

 

 

Edited June 14, 2012 by Hangman4358

[Hangman4358]

[Mexay]

I'm not trying to knock your work or anything, but;

 

 

Is all you have done, simply changed the green on glass armour, to red. This is a big problem I've seen lately. Everybody is doing these texture changes on glass armour and calling it Obsidian. Be more creative, at least. Call it Blood Glass or something. This is also, possibly the 3rd red re-texture of glass I've seen.

[sukeban]

Hey Hangman, I have to say, this looks really nice! Way better than vanilla glass!

 

Wasn't quite what I expected though, as isn't obsidian technically black? I could swear I have an obsidian arrowhead lying around somewhere and it is definitely black glass. But, I'm no geologist, so maybe it can be many colors.

 

As far as down the road plans, I can only advance my secret agenda (or at least it would be if I were any good at 3d :D ).

 

Said secret agenda is to envision glass armor without the ridiculous fins on the legs and helm, also without the football- (American) style pauldrons. Imagine it, a sleek, streamlined glass armor mesh that no longer looked like a borderline heavy armor or Power Ranger. The rest of the mesh is really nice, but these fins really throw the look off, at least IMO.

 

Anyway, I mention it in case you might want to work with the meshes for one of your racial variants.

 

Keep up the great work in the meantime!

[Hangman4358]

ok, update. been over a month so idk how many people even really care but here goes:

 

I n this last month I have had my uni graduation and am in the middle of a 2 month trip to Germany so I haven't really been keeping up with the nexus but my work has progressed, just most of it is back end stuff which you can't take pretty pictures of. So let me respond to the two above posts:

 

@Mexay: I know. there are lots of re-textures. Personally i think most of them are low quality. I think a lot can be done with a simple good quality re-texture that is well planed out. Also, the idea is not to see it as something replacing the glass or anything. The big part is really the quest and dungeon and story. I am really taking this as a learning experience. I have been modding games for 10 years now. But Skyrim is my first attempt at modding in the TES series. Most re-textures are just that. Think of this more as a dungeon and quest mod with a re-textured glass set as the final little prize. Look at so many of Beth's "unique items". In the quest the actors even mention the fact that the armor looks just like glass and the deflecting answer is that the smith had glass armor molds laying around so why reinvent the wheel sort of thing.

 

@sukeban: yes, obsidian is black. But part of the story is that the armor is created by secrets passed down from one dunmer smith to another as how to incorporate the lava of red mountain into the armor. Hence the red. Like elven or glass armor this armor requires two "metals". regular obsidian, which is black, and "burning obsidian" which incorporates the red element. Also, I do see what you are saying about the shoulders. And I only have screens of the female version because I was playing a dark elf female when I started this but I have done both the male and female versions. I have to say the male version looks better all around. I personally do really like the spikes though because i feel it makes the armor look "mean and exotic". But I can see where you are coming from.

 

I have thought about it and I might also release the dungeon and quest and the armor as two separate mods. That way people won't be confused as to what the mod is trying to be.

[Hangman4358]

More Screenshots. I have been working on finishing the interior of the dungeon for the most part but decided to start working on the exterior and on another location for the quest. A Nordic cabin.

 

Seeing as how the scope and story of the mod have changed drastically I am renaming the mod to something more applicable: The Secrets of Valuungrann

 

 

[Hangman4358]