Wheeze201 / Luftahraan

DLC-sized mod for Skyrim
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Archon Entertainment's submission to the r/SkyrimMods house mod competition #92

Closed Wheeze201 closed 9 years ago

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

Intro

Create a small house mod with a fairly small scope. Meaning no custom assets, complicated inventory sorting systems or anything of the sort, quite vanilla. But the thing that sets it apart is that it will have a small story but the scope of that needs to be really small as well, meaning no voice acting and that the story is very short and to the point.

Concept for the physical aspects of the mod

We use the painters house in Luftahraan and expand on it making it 30-50% larger to accommodate the player needs. It will be situated in solitude hold, close to the solitude port. The home will be abandoned, cobwebs and dust everywhere, lights are out and things look a bit gray. The player then activates a broom that just says "Clean Up" which will load the player to a new cell where everything clean and lit and cozy. Pictures of the location:

Story Concept

A worshiper of Dibella who is also a artist has died in his own home, but he now haunts the house. The Jarl of solitude sends a courier with a letter to the player telling him about the haunted house (basically a radiant quest) and that the player can keep that house for himself if he can lift the curse.(at this point the player has a quest marker pointing him to the home) When the player enters the home there will be a half finished dibella statue in the home (like in Luftahraan) and a ghost of the previous owner is trying to finish his work on the statue but getting nowhere(cause hes a ghost and shit). We update the quest objective to tell the player to find clues of the curse, the clue being the artist's diary. In the diary the player finds clues of his Dibella necklace and a pedestal/shrine next to the statue where he keeps his amulet. The player then finds the corpse of the artist in the basement with the amulet next to it. The player picks up the amulet, goes to the pedestal/shrine and activates it(press E) and the amulet gets placed in the physical world(with some cool effects or something) and the ghost fades.

ToDo list

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

Alright so the cleanup mechanic will work as follows(I've put this into the OP): A broom activator will just read "Clean Up" and if the player has finished the quest the player will simply load a new cell where everything is clean and lit and cozy. We will just put a message in the corner telling the player he cannot clean up with the ghostly presence or something if the player hasn't finished the quest and we will just point the player towards the broom once he has finished the quest.

So morgan, don't worry about the abandoned version of the home, just work on the cozy one :)

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

Should we name the artist something? or should we keep it vague and just call him "The Artist". What would the home be called then? Should we then just name the house something out of the blue?

I'm not opposed to the idea of the house having a name but the artist doesn't, maybe we can put it in the diary that he was a serious recluse and nobody actually knew his name.

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

Finished extracting painters house from Luftahraan to it's own .esp - http://puu.sh/fZSpI/6536c382fa.7z

MorganRobinson commented 9 years ago

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4X3FmiHnLWxZ3M0ZXltQnV2amc/view?usp=sharing initial layout, need to rooms for things like cooking, garden ect

Matt-101 commented 9 years ago

I feel like the house should have a unique name, mainly just because all the player homes in Skyrim are quite memorable, and also no doubt it's what the mod will be referred to by the competition. As for the artist I quite like the idea of just leaving his as "The Artist", or perhaps something referring to his ghostly nature like "The Unresting Artist" as a name the locals have given him, just a thought.

Matt-101 commented 9 years ago

So for the diary entries, could we make it so the player picks up each fragment as a piece of paper, but once all the fragments are collected, they are combined into a single book in the player's inventory, or perhaps the last fragment is in the book but the rest are sheets which again are combined once all are collected. Also should we make it so that all the fragments must be collected for the quest to continue? If not, we would need to make sure any uncollected fragments are left in the house when it switches to the new cleaned cell. In terms of the fragments themselves, I've had 3 ideas, which could be used in (almost) any combination:

  1. Fragments are written in iambic pentameter
  2. Fragments are written in some poetic style
  3. Each fragment is written as a sonnet (so all 3 ideas combined) Personally I really like the idea of each fragment being a sonnet, as it makes sense with the artist being a devout worshiper of Dibella, but I'd like to know what you guys think.
Matt-101 commented 9 years ago

Also, do we have a definite location for the house? If so I can probably refer to specific landmarks in his diary.

MorganRobinson commented 9 years ago

initial layout is far too large, working on a condensed version

MorganRobinson commented 9 years ago

http://puu.sh/g12Tt/5aa55b5199.esp Complete layout for the artists main room, need to work on the branching rooms

Matt-101 commented 9 years ago

Sonnets 1-4, Fragments of the Artist's Diary: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GCUB3N_GyAlDZeLXFpua-E2uaIga0zrWgvTaV1EK9nU/edit?usp=sharing

MorganRobinson commented 9 years ago

http://puu.sh/g1uSk/7d94e0066c.rar most up to date file, bedroom and cellar (baring cave)

Arkaash commented 9 years ago

Creation Kit crashes as soon as I try and load that file, saying that 'multiple master files loaded', even if I only select one

Doublefelix commented 9 years ago

That maybe because the plugin requires all three official DLC as masters.

MorganRobinson commented 9 years ago

oh you have to change your skyrimeditor things https://docs.google.com/document/d/1stzLUkpx_7sgz8AWJSINrz0WK07IuZU769ZXi-zPhU0/edit?usp=sharing

just delete everything in your skyrimeditor and paste all the things from the word document into it.

Matt-101 commented 9 years ago

I made a doc anyone can edit, so people can put down Ideas for names for the house, quest, and artist: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a6NieUOywjnxQ6eP5vOVI0OawhNTMcJ_-q90O-alzt0/edit?usp=sharing Put some down myself to get the ball rolling.

MorganRobinson commented 9 years ago

http://puu.sh/g2D0v/0fcfeb4ee4.rar current file

Yoppish commented 9 years ago

I added a few suggestions to the name doc and did a few suggestions on the artist's notes things as well in places were i thought things could be improved or changed and im willing to discuss them with you matt if you want.

-Oath

MorganRobinson commented 9 years ago

http://puu.sh/g5by3/7570b15cf1.rar i keep getting stuck now but heres the current file

Yoppish commented 9 years ago

Is there anything i can do to help out here? i talked to matt for awhile about the diary and names but id like to do more.

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

Alright guys we have 2 weeks to finish this. New development plan.

Morgan

Most importantly is that you should do your own thing, but this is the stuff I want to see changed: RED: Replace with walls and place plaques and display cases BLUE: Place a glorious mannequin area in that corner GREEN: Place more plaques and display cases

GREEN: Place a misc player storage chest RED: Place bookshelves(the functional ones the player can store books. Morgan you can just place normal bookshelves there for now if you dont know how to do those shelves)

These beams/arches look kinda clusterfucky, try and have less beams.

Make this room the enchanting and staff creation room. Replace green area with a staff crafting station and we need to clutter this room all magicy and shit. Fill the shelves with staves and soul gems and shit.

Goonzy

Keep in mind that this will be the general shape of the house:

What we will want from the exterior will be

I know a lot of stuff you can't start working on because we need to finalize the house shape first so yeah.

Felix

Download the current plugin: http://puu.sh/g5by3/7570b15cf1.rar and start making a model that has a similar look and shape to what the house is like right now. Read what corridors and doors I want removed in the morgan section of this post and the shape of the house in goonzy's section and start doing your thing :) It doesn't have to be super accurate, it just needs to be a representation of this interior that is in the exterior.

Go0nzy commented 9 years ago

rolls up sleeves It shall be done

MorganRobinson commented 9 years ago

http://puu.sh/gdTgC/43e4f8d592.rar latest file, ran out of clutter ideas...also i couldnt really do the book cases as i dont have a desk so its really hard for me to rotate things

MorganRobinson commented 9 years ago

http://puu.sh/gdTxO/6406ee3671.png how i sit

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

I dont know why but that made my chucke @MorganRobinson

MorganRobinson commented 9 years ago

I literally keep my feet in my drawer

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

I think I should work on this house over the weekend, morgan can I have the latest file plz?

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

OK I'm assuming the latest file was indeed the latest file, I can't see any differences between this file and the screenshot you sent me so I'm going to pick up from here :) I wont do as good of a job but hopefully I can get near finishing.

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

Some pictures of my progress:

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

http://puu.sh/gjpdW/bfb02f594c.zip here is the plugin of the house so far, @MorganRobinson you can start working on this while I do the quest.

Go0nzy commented 9 years ago

House exterior progress! I am NOT done, but I want your opinions on what else to add. (My game has different textures and ENB, so that's why it's kind of bright, sorry!)

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

Looking really good so far! I love your ENB, which ENB is this?

But yeah I can't think of anything to add atm, not feeling creative.

Go0nzy commented 9 years ago

If anyone wants the ENB I used: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/61738/? With: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/50065/?

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

Alright here is some stuff we need to figure out: A name for the house and where the artist's corpse should be(or skeleton) now that we dont have a cellar.

Matt: I need you to write a letter that is sent from Falk Firebeard, the steward of Solitude to the player via courier. It should be very short and kind of generic. I imagine it be structured almost exactly like the radiant thane quests. Here is the falkreath thane radiant quest as a reference:

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

I was thinking that the artist may have liked to take walks along the shore at night and if we mention this in the diary along with something like "I've been wary of the howls I hear during these strolls recently though, I should perhaps find a different way to clear my mind", hinting at the fact that he got killed by a bunch of wolves while taking these strolls. What do you guys think?

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

Oh and @MorganRobinson how is the clutter coming along?

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

@Go0nzy just had idea of having the ghost appearing randomly for a couple of seconds throughout the house doing various tasks. I like this idea.

Matt-101 commented 9 years ago

I like the idea of the Artist taking walks along the shore. The only problem is, having him die in a quick and unexpected way- such as the wolves- would require the whole of the fourth fragment re-writing, as the fourth fragment has the artist feeling upset at the fact he knows he's not going to be able to finish the sculpture, and thus failed Dibella. Whist I'm fully prepared to re-write the 4th fragment, I feel it's a shame to loose the emotive and sad ending of him knowing he's failed, and better explains why he's come back as a ghost. That said, the only alternative death I can think of that keeps the theme of the last fragment would be him falling ill or simply old age, and so dying in bed or resting someplace else in the house.

Arkaash commented 9 years ago

Could have him go out for a walk, get attacked by wolves, survive and have his hand injured so that he can't paint anymore, get depressed about knowing he's failed and drown himself in the river.

Aka how I feel knowing I have to go to work in a minute...

MorganRobinson commented 9 years ago

my sister took my internet off me so thats a problem, i also threw a mug at her so i don't think i'll get it any time soon, although i'll try to put the file on a usb and upload using the uni internet like I'm using now :)

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

Well @MorganRobinson, make sure you share that file with me tomorrow cause I'm going to take it upon myself to finish this over the weekend.

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

@Matt-101 we cannot be indecisive here. We want the player to find the skeleton based on clues from the book. So having him in his bed won't work. The artist dies during a stroll along the shore, anything else I think will risk us not hitting the deadline.

Arkaash commented 9 years ago

There's a difference between being decisive, Wheeze, and picking the easy option. You tend to do this every now and then and it usually ends up with you deciding something that you later regret.

I'm not saying your point above is incorrect, but this is really the sort of thing you should talk to Matt about on teamspeak rather than just deciding - it's perfectly plausible that you can find a better solution that let's you keep both the skeleton located somewhere hidden and the current form of the 4th sonnet.

Having a quick talk with Matt about it and deciding on the best option with him isn't going to risk the deadline, and will definitely make the quest better in the long run.

Please don't kill me.

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

@Arkaash I take the easy route because I want things to be decided, finished, put behind us and want us to focus on the next thing. We have a deadline on monday and I feel that I have to put this mindset to every decision I have to make to keep the project going forward and not stopping.

That doesn't defeat your point, I'm just explaining why I want to take the easy route when the project is nearing completion. If @Matt-101 or you ( @Arkaash ) disagree with my decision then go ahead and tell me and we can talk it through but I want to set us in a path first so that we don't have to question ourselves and have a meeting every step of the way.

Matt-101 commented 9 years ago

I completely agree that with such a tight deadline we can't allow ourselves to debate everything over, however this is essentially one of the core elements of the story, which was suddenly changed without any real communication. Because this also has an effect on at least the last fragment, perhaps more, I feel like having some form of proper discussion over it would be beneficial from both a development and story perspective.

Doublefelix commented 9 years ago

Maybe have him commit suicide. The area aorund the house is pretty rocky, he could jump off a cliff so his skeleton is clinging to some rocks at the base of the cliff somewhere where player wont notice him if he doesnt know where to look, and it also allows for a "goodbye cruel world" note. Only downside is coming up with the reason the artist killed himself despite wanting to complete a project. It must be something beyond his power like contracting incurable disease (vampirism?) or whatever.

Yurtex commented 9 years ago

Just cut every thing unnecessary. Who the hell gives a shit about that old fag, just give me the keys already. - 90% of the players.

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

Oh and we need to come up with a name for the house

Wheeze201 commented 9 years ago

One idea: Hafheim

Heim in icelandic means home Haf in icelandic means ocean(the house is on the shore to the ocean) The hold it's located in is Haafingar.

I like that it kinda makes sense, I'm just wondering if it's memorable and if it is easy to pronounce to most people.

AntlerOwl commented 9 years ago

Stormhaven! Rumpehuset! Fiseheimen! Tissekroken!

Doublefelix commented 9 years ago

Haafinheim