Hey guys. Im new to the eldarscrolls forum, but im quite an old-dog about Morrowind Mods.

With the release of my new Castel Hvitkald mod, i thought id make the effort of setting this topic up for any discussion.

Cheers

And i forgot to mention that its being released on Planet Eldar Scrolls. Im sure they'll release it within the week. Just pre-empting that.

your important buisness is up btw, and WOW this mod is.... wait no screen? *cries* could u post a description and some images while we wait?

Cool, I love castle mods especially the mods that have different textures, are unique and have a lot of detail .

For years determined modders have risen throught the ranks of "mod types". Sure, we've all made stupid god-item, house and kill-cliffracer mods, but another key 'step' in the modding ladder is creating your own Castle mod. ^_^

As an experienced and skillful modder, many, many months ago i struck out to make my own Castle mod. Running around Vvardenfell for a while, looking for prime realestate, i eventually tripped over something called Hvitkald Peak. "Yes, that mountain looks bloody awesome" i remarked, and began construction of the awesome castle you can see in the screenshots (soon on planet elsar scrolls). What i really like about this castle (bias aside) is that i havent dont what many other have. I havent used plastic looking, crappy models/textures. I havent had to make up new stuff to feel important. No, ive just used the inherit meterials from the game. "Keep it simple stupid", is a motto i live by.

I've playtested and kept this mod to myself for a long while now, and I am incredibly satisfied with it. It hits all the buttons i need in a castle mod, and does it without any shortcuts taken, or pointless elements. Also, as I am a selfish modder, i keep 95% of what i make to myself, but, having recently received *lots* of positive feedback about the screenshots of the castle, i have been persuaded to release it for everyone's enjoyment (pending the release of my Masterpiece Mod, coming soon. Guna be sweet)

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What this mod specifically does:

1. Installs the collosal Castle Hvitkald atop the Hvitkald Peak. This huge castle is functional, and expansive, no more pointless and endless 'display halls' so favored by imagination-lacking modders. The castle defies screenshots too (although i have uploaded plenty to planet eldar scrolls), so most of the castle can only really be appreciated by exploring inside ^_^

2. The castle is basically inhabited by 'civilised' Reiklings and numerous nords fellows. The Castle, which has stood for ages, is a sort of sanctuary for the strong willed and strong armed members of Solstheim, who dont particularly enjoy the idea of spending another night out in the woods. I think ive pulled this element off well...

3. The Castle CANNOT simply be walked into and taken over. You are given the opportunity to prove yourself to the local Reikling leader to become the new Lord of the Castle. In a break from my usual RPG-focused mods, this mod has very little in way of quests. The "proving" yourself part is simply being level 20 or more.

4. Eventually you might have the coin to buy a few artifacts that i included mainly for my own RP purposes ^_^, but you should get a kick out of them, once you figure out how to use them. I wont spoil too much.


[err and i would post an image of it.. but my limited knowledge of forums seems to have caught up with me. Is there some other way of just posting it here, without having to post a link. until PES releases the mod, the images are currently not online. ^_^ ]

edit: and now i have uploaded it. http://img828.imageshack.us/i/mod2u.jpg/

Uhmm...I assume it's in Solstheim? (I'm kind of a collector of nice houses in Solstheim, I'd like to see if it's fit to join my list).

Yea this Castle mod should shoot to the top of all house mods for Solstheim (and considering its relative simplicity compared to epic ones like Ravenloft, i prefer this one)

http://img828.imageshack.us/i/mod2u.jpg/ Heres the coolest picture of it. View it and weep

Very nice! Love the location

Finally. A house/castle mod that fits my tastes. And judging from your previous mods, the quality is pretty much guaranteed.
I just hope my other Solstheim mods don't conflict with it...

Thanks for the interest guys. Ego satisfying goes a long way. The mod is up now, so check it out, vote 10 and give me some feedback

I'm glad it's up so quick too.

Uhm, it's DEFINITELY interesting...I'll look for it (you forgot to put the link ), and give it a try.

EDIT: I've to split my review in 2 flawors:

- Strawberry cheesecake flavour: The castle is nice, clean (GMST), surprisingly well done for a first castle, and some parts are amazing (the forged is quite well done).

- Bastard badass flavour: This mod can be described as "oh, that's another standart Imperial-style castle for you" (I really wished this was Nordic-styled... ). NPC's are OK but generic, you should work on "LGNPC'ing"* them. And maybe it's just me, but I REALLY hate how laberyntic Imperial castles are.

And two suggestions:

- The main door is a bit sunken by the stones, which makes the entrance suitable for Bosmer and alike, but it's a bit odd for someone of average height. I suggest lifting/rescaling those stones a bit. (This was caused by "The Neverhalls", not this mod).

- The Reception room is nice for the first time you enter it, but after that it should be scripted so the first time you leave-reenter it (or after a day or so), it's changed to an "ordered, illuminated, and normal" state.


*Less Generic NPC's.

Ah yes, here's a link: enjoy !!!
http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=8646

BTW, I forgot, it badly conflicts with http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=mods.detail&id=6270 (and probably also with it's planned expansion), by totally covering the entrance to the dungeon. I suggest you moving it to another location.

Yea, but neverhalls is boring. Castle Hvitkald is a long term use mod, not some short one use mod.
Bias aside, this mod is better.
I can't, and won't, move the entire castle just for that mod. Maybe neverhalls should move for this one

No offense to neverhalls creator

In response to your review: I wanted this mod to use the existing imperial set so that people could see what high quality mods can bemade without the need to design their own ugly plastic textures......

I'm not 100% sure what your are talking about with the door height thing, I've played it with a more character and never come across any problems or anything that looks stupid.

As for the lighting thing.. Well theres no need for any lighting changes, it's designed to be dark. It is a castle after all.. I'd love to see some photos of what you think a " Nordic" castle would look like..

Well, that sounded a bit like offense. Maybe you should respect a bit more those ones who at least work in new meshes, textures, and dungeon crafting...

No offense, but I prefer having The Neverhalls installed rather than this mod.

I respect them, but I just don't think it should be default choice for everyone thinking they need it to make a good mod.

You are quite welcome to review, comment on and form an opinion of his mod without even playing it, especially over a ling period of time, although naturally this discredits everything u say.

Lack of extensive questing aside ( which is admittedly not what I usually do in in own mods) I still believe this is a better mod, at least in terms of game life

I suggest add walls around the castle, so that thieves can not enter in by climing hill.

Like http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4i5XvCMikU0/SlSUkCz-pyI/AAAAAAAAFEA/DME-9iiu9zI/s400/donegal-castle.jpg. Old stone textures, runic-viking themed details...something minimally http://a.imageshack.us/img145/9152/solstheimcastleoi5.jpg. but well, I guess you'd have to create some http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/images/25770-4-1247460483.jpg to do that, isn't it?

Another suggestion...lower your ego a bit. Please.

u thought about using those plastic meshes and textures you hate so much because to many people use them? u should they look good.

and please dont be so horrible about the neverhalls it's been around for a longer amout of time, lots of work was put into and most people like it, dont expact to come barging in with MW 700 castle mod and expect it to move, it wont happen

Haha I'm not expectant to move, I'm just illustrating the stupidity of trying to make other mods work around every single other mod. It's in unrealistic.

If you don't like this mod, and you enjoy criticizing it despite the fact that you yourself have not produced anything like this, then feel free to not to use it.There will plenty of people who will enjoy it very much.

Just because neverhalls isn't a mod that I like, doesn't mean that it's a bad one. It's just that it's not to my taste, which is the main reason i did not detect the incompatibility: because I'm not running it.

Keep in mind that I didn't make this mod for release. This was made for my own enjoyment, but I released it cos some mates thought it was good enough. And I suppose it is. This mod represents my most basic, low effort modding. I guess now that I've been "challenged" I'll put the finishing touches on one of my seriously epic mods I'm working on for release.

In any case, compared to most of the rubbish released these days, this takes the cake.

Edit: oh and I as referring to benrihir most of the time there. CBf quoting


As for the "Nordic" castle image.. Well feel free to put some effort into making your own like that. This is my mod, the way I want and like it. Id love to some of your work compare to
Mine I'd you have a problem with it

If your character can jump up that cliff, then magically scale the walls, then awesome. All of the external doors are locked and patrolled. As are all of the internal areas. Goodluck theives

Let's no go around denigrating other members efforts and their mods. Stay with constructive discussion or the lock will be applied.

Indeed

I'm pretty sure that was pointed out to you.

Exterior job is done very good, interiors are a tiny bit undetailed, but it's pretty good overall.

I like relatively clutter free mods, that way I can put my own junk in there ^___^