[Darian Ennels]

Spoiler

I started the quest to find the ring at S'lababa's camp. I have since then walked around in the desert for about 4-5 hours looking for it. Walked.. in circles.. in spirals, in grids, searching. I find nothing. Is this broken, or do I svck really, really horribly at searching? He said it might glint in the sunlight, but I just cannot find anything.

Here you go, pic "Where is Slababa's Ring"--
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/9312/whereisslababasring.jpg

You can also just tell him to get lost and find his own stupid ring!

[Jade Barnes-Mackey]

you know, running around this area really excites me. I have already planned out a quest, one which will be a sort of prelude to my big ambitious mod in my sig. I'm pretty excited, and it shouldn't (theoretically) take me more than a couple weeks to complete. I will gladly sidetrack to do that, as it furthers the ultimate goal of the quest in my sig by giving people a better taste of how I mod than my demo, and also by putting a somewhat large quest (5 areas) with full voice acting that depends completely on your mod. I really like the idea I have, and I think I can make it fit great. I have a major question though..

what do I need to do in order to do this? I want to make the mod dependent on yours. I make your mod into an ESM, make mine dependent, and then change the registry so it relies on the ESP instead, right? But also, it will allow me to use the resources from your mod, correct? No crashy or anything?

Likewise, do you have a gridmap available that shows the cell coordinates the area your mod covers?

Thanks

[Alexx Peace]

you know, running around this area really excites me. I have already planned out a quest, one which will be a sort of prelude to my big ambitious mod in my sig. I'm pretty excited, and it shouldn't (theoretically) take me more than a couple weeks to complete. I will gladly sidetrack to do that, as it furthers the ultimate goal of the quest in my sig by giving people a better taste of how I mod than my demo, and also by putting a somewhat large quest (5 areas) with full voice acting that depends completely on your mod. I really like the idea I have, and I think I can make it fit great. I have a major question though..

what do I need to do in order to do this? I want to make the mod dependent on yours. I make your mod into an ESM, make mine dependent, and then change the registry so it relies on the ESP instead, right? But also, it will allow me to use the resources from your mod, correct? No crashy or anything?

Likewise, do you have a gridmap available that shows the cell coordinates the area your mod covers?

Thanks

You need to do exactly the same as I explained with regards to your query on how to make a compatibility patch for your Abandoned House mod and Better Cities. ESMify the Elsweyr ESP using Wrye Bsah, then the CS will treat it like an ESM instead of an ESP.

[Alkira rose Nankivell]

Here's a tip for you though Ardius. The first thing you should do with after esmifying the file is to find a rock on the ground and give it a nudge, then save. It took me a while to get my esp to save whenever I started Cursed. I should actually try work on that someday. *sigh* So little time.

[Star Dunkels Macmillan]

Thanks for the help

Work on "Ebb Prelude: Well of the Undying" is under way as of now. I will make a WIP thread once I make some headway. Unlike the main mod (in my sig), I am not going for incredible scope. Story? Yeahy, that's just how I roll, but I'm not going for nearly the same level of play time, size of the areas, etc. Ebb will just be incredibly large (and I'm doing well so far), while this will not be. It will tie in with Ebb, but won't be necessary

This should be fun

[Kevin Jay]

@ Adrius: No need to esmfied anything, Iliana already did it, its include in her "Optional download folder"...(you will need it if you plan to mod elsweyr

@ Mr_Siika: Yeah i know , i have a tendance to give free gift to everyone in my mods... i should really start to becarefull not to cheat the game by giving to much loot... (but in a way a person that goes on exploration, then die, and after that you "player" find the manor of that person who died on exploration, will it be 100% empty of any loot ?) Not sure... but i promess i'll take care not to give too much in the future...
I'm working on V-2 at the momment and i will check it out... wait till v-2 for giving a try to my mod

@ Iliana: Is it possible to "guesstimate" when will the next updates be ready ?

[Yung Prince]

reaper9111: Please consider removing loot from chests, etc. I understand modders like to add lots of great items to their mods, but to me it feels like cheating if I find it and take it, and un-immersive if I find it and don't take it. I want to have to work for my goods, not find them for free. Note that I've not yet actually been in the house you added, only looked at the comments here, so I may have misunderstood something though

I agree. I don't mind finding some loot (a few dozen gold, small gems, and whatnot), but 4-500 gold in each chest, along with high-end potions and amulets worth 2K gold is a bit much.

Think of it like this: What would an archaelogist have in her home? Valuable objects, to be sure, but make them things that the player would want to display rather than sell for money. The mummy in the case downstairs is a nice touch, and appropriate for the house. Use some of the beast skulls that are available as resources - they're already in the Elsweyr mod; seeing all those human skulls around makes the place look like a necromancer's lair. Also, you could try Exanimis' funerary urns; they're an open resource.

Also, give us some (more) empty shelves! The static shelves are kind of neat, but I'd like to have a few empty ones to display my stuff.

you know, running around this area really excites me. I have already planned out a quest, one which will be a sort of prelude to my big ambitious mod in my sig. I'm pretty excited, and it shouldn't (theoretically) take me more than a couple weeks to complete. I will gladly sidetrack to do that, as it furthers the ultimate goal of the quest in my sig by giving people a better taste of how I mod than my demo, and also by putting a somewhat large quest (5 areas) with full voice acting that depends completely on your mod.

More quests! Your other mod (Ebb and Flow) sounds really interesting, but I'm like most folks - I don't want to spoil the mod by downloading and trying out an incomplete beta. Doing a shorter quest for Elsweyr as a preview is a really good idea.

[FoReVeR_Me_N]

@ Adrius: No need to esmfied anything, Iliana already did it, its include in her "Optional download folder"...(you will need it if you plan to mod elsweyr

Since it takes less than 5 seconds to ESMify an ESP, there's really no point in downloading an already ESMified ESP. You'll still need to ESPify it again to test in-game, and then re-ESMify to return to the CS for further editing anyway. Might as well get in the habit of doing such things yourself, since no other mods provide ESMified versions of themselves, so getting used to the procedure straight away is vital if you expect to be making future mods dependent on other ESPs.

[courtnay]

what do I need to do in order to do this? I want to make the mod dependent on yours. I make your mod into an ESM, make mine dependent, and then change the registry so it relies on the ESP instead, right? But also, it will allow me to use the resources from your mod, correct? No crashy or anything?
Likewise, do you have a gridmap available that shows the cell coordinates the area

Yes, you can esmify the esp yourself using Wrye Bash if you want, or just use one I've already made--
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XVM4IOU3
The esmified esp is only good for use as a master file in the CS though, so you will need to switch it out when you actually go to play the game.

Like Uglulyx said, when first making your new dependent esp, begin by nudging some rock and saving. A dependent esp needs to be anchored to the landscape for some reason.

And here is a grid map of the mod, although it only covers the vanilla cells. I've also added new ones to that missing chunk in the very middle of Elsweyr.
http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/3836/anequinagridmapelsweyr.jpg
I think I'll update that map sometime to mark out which cells are being used by locations like towns, caves and other mods.

Yeah i know , i have a tendance to give free gift to everyone in my mods... i should really start to becarefull not to cheat the game by giving to much loot... (but in a way a person that goes on exploration, then die, and after that you "player" find the manor of that person who died on exploration, will it be 100% empty of any loot ?) Not sure... but i promess i'll take care not to give too much in the future...
I'm working on V-2 at the momment and i will check it out... wait till v-2 for giving a try to my mod
@ Iliana: Is it possible to "guesstimate" when will the next updates be ready ?

I'm mostly pretty stingy with my quest rewards.
The next update? Perhaps before xmas.

Since it takes less than 5 seconds to ESMify an ESP, there's really no point in downloading an already ESMified ESP. You'll still need to ESPify it again to test in-game, and then re-ESMify to return to the CS for further editing anyway. Might as well get in the habit of doing such things yourself, since no other mods provide ESMified versions of themselves, so getting used to the procedure straight away is vital if you expect to be making future mods dependent on other ESPs.

I usually have both sitting in my data folder and just add or remove a letter to the file names to switch between them. But that's just my personal preference.
Providing a pre-esmified esp makes it easier for people to jump straight into modding the mod.

[Genevieve]

Like Uglulyx said, when first making your new dependent esp, begin by nudging some rock and saving. A dependent esp needs to be anchored to the landscape for some reason.

The CS contains a bug (what a surprise!) where if an ESP is dependent on another ESP, and does NOT contain the Tamriel worldspace record, then the CS will always crash when trying to save. To avoid, you simply need to make ANY edit in the Tamriel worldspace (which can then be removed later using TES4Edit, once you've finished the mod). So nudging any object, placing any object, disabling any object, raising/lowering the land height in any cell, changing land texturing in any cell, changing water height in any cell, changing ANYTHING in any cell in the Tamriel worldspace will avoid the bug.

[Saul C]

Like Uglulyx said, when first making your new dependent esp, begin by nudging some rock and saving. A dependent esp needs to be anchored to the landscape for some reason.

So to be clear.. load the ESM, go to the cell I intend to edit first, and nudge a rock, or put down a static I intend to use, then save? I know how to change the dependency from the ESM to the ESP, so once I do that, just alter the dependency?

And here is a grid map of the mod, although it only covers the vanilla cells. I've also added new ones to that missing chunk in the very middle of Elsweyr.
http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/3836/anequinagridmapelsweyr.jpg
I think I'll update that map sometime to mark out which cells are being used by locations like towns, caves and other mods.

Yeah I am silly and found that 5 minutes after I asked, but thanks a ton So far, I have only picked one spot (of likely 5), and unless it's taken by a mod in progress, it shouldn't be an issue. I can say with some certainty that I probably don't have anything to worry about on this particular spot, but when I choose my next spot, I will be asking here if anyone has claimed the cell I want to us.

EDIT: I do know I am going to be sticking an NPC into the Riverhold inn, and probably putting an NPC at Orcrest, but that shouldn't be an issue I imagine, right? I figure that's what towns are for Tell me if it is, just in case.

[Marie Maillos]

So to be clear.. load the ESM, go to the cell I intend to edit first, and nudge a rock, or put down a static I intend to use, then save? I know how to change the dependency from the ESM to the ESP, so once I do that, just alter the dependency?

In the CS, load the ESMified Elsweyr plugin, and start a new ESP as normal (so don't Activate any ESP). Then edit anything anywhere in the Tamriel worldspace. Save the ESP, and now you're fine to do whatever you want without fear of a crash on save.

[Stace]

Just downloaded this so I could add it tonight - I keep a list of "stuff to download" and used to have a mod that added music to Elsweyr, although it seems to be gone from the Nexus. Is there a music addon pack anywhere?

[Brian Newman]

You say new ESP, but will this work...?

The mod I am now working on uses a lot of the same resources, enemies, and leveled lists (with new addition especially for this adventure as well) as my larger mod. What I did was copied and renamed the ESP, and stripped it out of extra junk I won't be using, like the dungeons, and a lot of the scripts. It's basically a super cleaned ESP that exists solely to import my resources without having to manually duplicate them. It doesn't touch any worldspace in any way. Would it be safe to load that as the active file and then move something as normal, then save like you said?

Manually duplicating all those resources (easily over a hundred), enemies (probably 50 instances of them in total), weapons (again, lots), leveled lists, etcetera would svck monumentally.

[Daniel Lozano]

You say new ESP, but will this work...?

The mod I am now working on uses a lot of the same resources, enemies, and leveled lists (with new addition especially for this adventure as well) as my larger mod. What I did was copied and renamed the ESP, and stripped it out of extra junk I won't be using, like the dungeons, and a lot of the scripts. It's basically a super cleaned ESP that exists solely to import my resources without having to manually duplicate them. It doesn't touch any worldspace in any way. Would it be safe to load that as the active file and then move something as normal, then save like you said?

Manually duplicating all those resources (easily over a hundred), enemies (probably 50 instances of them in total), weapons (again, lots), leveled lists, etcetera would svck monumentally.

Yes, that would work fine too

[Mrs. Patton]

Thanks, since you are being so helpful, I have one more question of you

I want to make these two mods totally independent of one another, kinda like say.. Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. You don't need to play ME1 in order to play ME2, but if you do have ME1, you can import your save game. This allows you to carry over the decisions you made in the first game, but it isn't necessary, they are otherwise totally separate.

Chronologically, this mod takes place before the main mod. I want the ability for one of my characters in the main mod to acknowledge, and even talk about what happened in this Prelude if the player character has done it, without making them interdependent.

So I have this idea: Make a tiny, tiny ESP that both would be dependent on (ESMified and changed back). This ESP would contain nothing other than a single global variable. Completing Prelude switches that variable from 0 to 1, and enables conversation options in the main mod regarding this adventure. Would that work? It seems like the most elegant way to do it from my point of view, but at the same time, I'm new to this interdependency stuff.

[Andrew Perry]

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dunePalace02.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dunePalace01.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dunePalace03.jpg

That's looking fabulous! I really like the overall pyramid shape of the town. Its makes it very unique.

I'm not quite certain about the large central palace building. It feels a little too ostentatious and perhaps a bit too mosque-like for a khajiit town. I have avoided using buildings in a similar style that from DE's desert architecture set to try and keep Elsweyr looking fairly modest. Because it is usually portrayed in lore as one of the poorest provinces of the Empire -- a victim of slavers and so forth.

But at the same time it would be perfect for the province's central temple. I could create a separate enclosed valley worldspace beyond the mountains south of Dune, landscaped with pools and gardens -- perhaps a bit like the Taj Mahal -- and guarded by Senche-Tigers and leonine Pahmers.
I really love the design of the building, but I'm just not so sure its ideal for Dune.

What do you think?

I can see your point, but I can't really say anything about Elsweyr - there's not much information. But since Dune is located between the Skooma plantations in the South and "the rest" of the empire in the North, I suspect there actually is a certain wealth due to the Skooma trade routes passing Dune.
It's your project, you decide. The palace building is modular, so I removed some parts in the CS:
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dunePalace04.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dunePalace05.jpg
But honestly, I don't think it looks half as good as the first version.
Again. It's your decision. If you have suggestions for a more humble palace (pics would be best), I'll be happy to take a look.

[Milagros Osorio]

Thanks, since you are being so helpful, I have one more question of you

I want to make these two mods totally independent of one another, kinda like say.. Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. You don't need to play ME1 in order to play ME2, but if you do have ME1, you can import your save game. This allows you to carry over the decisions you made in the first game, but it isn't necessary, they are otherwise totally separate.

Chronologically, this mod takes place before the main mod. I want the ability for one of my characters in the main mod to acknowledge, and even talk about what happened in this Prelude if the player character has done it, without making them interdependent.

So I have this idea: Make a tiny, tiny ESP that both would be dependent on (ESMified and changed back). This ESP would contain nothing other than a single global variable. Completing Prelude switches that variable from 0 to 1, and enables conversation options in the main mod regarding this adventure. Would that work? It seems like the most elegant way to do it from my point of view, but at the same time, I'm new to this interdependency stuff.

You've got the right idea here, but what you really want to have is an actual ESM for both ESPs to be dependent upon (exactly as Better Cities has, allowing multiple different BC ESPs to use the same resources, and for the presence of one ESP to determine whether something exists in another ESP).

To create an ESM from an ESP, simply ESMify it, then rename it to *.esm

BUT the ESM must not make ANY edits to ANY worldspace in ANY other ESM - so no edits to Tamriel worldspace, since that exists in Oblivion.esm

[Dezzeh]

I can't remember if I have ever posted on this thread, but I am a regular follower. I am quite impressed by the initially tentative, then building, and now tumultuous participation of others in Iliana's Elsweyr project. Some of the community's best have joined in the effort, and the cooperation, enthusiasm generated, and final result of this combined talent is very exciting.

I must compliment Iliana on her rare but seeming natural leadership skills, as well as her (obvious from the beginning) modding skills. :goodjob:

[Oscar Vazquez]

The palace is as good as finished (interiors and far-meshes still missing)! Enjoy
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dunePalace02.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dunePalace01.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dunePalace03.jpg

I can see your point, but I can't really say anything about Elsweyr - there's not much information. But since Dune is located between the Skooma plantations in the South and "the rest" of the empire in the North, I suspect there actually is a certain wealth due to the Skooma trade routes passing Dune.
It's your project, you decide. The palace building is modular, so I removed some parts in the CS:
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dunePalace04.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dunePalace05.jpg
But honestly, I don't think it looks half as good as the first version.
Again. It's your decision. If you have suggestions for a more humble palace (pics would be best), I'll be happy to take a look.

Yes, you're right. I much prefer the first version.
When I was looking at image1 my first impression was the the palace was huge compared to the rest of the city, but then I can see your pc standing next to it and it is quite modest. The angle of that shot just made it look bigger.
I can think of a few reasons now why the king of Dune might be rich--skooma trade, nearby gold mines, looting Valenwood! So it all fits in.
I'm really looking forward to seeing it all in-game.

[jessica sonny]

I'm not sure whether the screenshots mr_siika has been showing are the intended layout of Dune, or just showing an example of these meshes used in a town, but if this is the layout intended to be used, it looks like (if needed) you can build it with three separate worldspaces, which would allow for increased detail in each without crippling FPS

[Star Dunkels Macmillan]

So to be clear.. load the ESM, go to the cell I intend to edit first, and nudge a rock, or put down a static I intend to use, then save? I know how to change the dependency from the ESM to the ESP, so once I do that, just alter the dependency?
Yeah I am silly and found that 5 minutes after I asked, but thanks a ton So far, I have only picked one spot (of likely 5), and unless it's taken by a mod in progress, it shouldn't be an issue. I can say with some certainty that I probably don't have anything to worry about on this particular spot, but when I choose my next spot, I will be asking here if anyone has claimed the cell I want to us.
EDIT: I do know I am going to be sticking an NPC into the Riverhold inn, and probably putting an NPC at Orcrest, but that shouldn't be an issue I imagine, right? I figure that's what towns are for Tell me if it is, just in case.

The "esmified" file is still called ElsweyrAnequina.esp. The only difference is that cs sees it as a master.
Yes, you can drop NPCs anywhere you like. In or out of the buildings. Reusing buildings in quests is great, because it gives them more purpose.

Just downloaded this so I could add it tonight - I keep a list of "stuff to download" and used to have a mod that added music to Elsweyr, although it seems to be gone from the Nexus. Is there a music addon pack anywhere?

No music always comes with copyrights attached so it can't be redistributed. Unless someone creates something for a mod from scratch, of course, which is very rare.
The only solution is to drop music you already own into your own Oblivion music folders to change your personal selection.

I can't remember if I have ever posted on this thread, but I am a regular follower. I am quite impressed by the initially tentative, then building, and now tumultuous participation of others in Iliana's Elsweyr project. Some of the community's best have joined in the effort, and the cooperation, enthusiasm generated, and final result of this combined talent is very exciting.

Its wonderful having others contribute so much to this.

[Jynx Anthropic]

No music always comes with copyrights attached so it can't be redistributed. Unless someone creates something for a mod from scratch, of course, which is very rare.
The only solution is to drop music you already own into your own Oblivion music folders to change your personal selection.

Actually, if you find music that is released under the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_commons, it's perfectly legal to use as long as you follow the specific terms and conditions of use.

[An Lor]

Quote Iliana "Its wonderful having others contribute so much to this."

Yeah, After playing your mod for a while, i could'nt resist anymore... this is all possible becuse you created such a fantastic mod, created with much luv...

@ Adrius: With all those questions you've asked around, may we (I) know what kind of mod / quest are you indending to create for Elsweyr ?

@ all: looking for a (solo "Harp" song), if you guys have anything...please le me know !

[Jynx Anthropic]

Yes, you're right. I much prefer the first version.
When I was looking at image1 my first impression was the the palace was huge compared to the rest of the city, but then I can see your pc standing next to it and it is quite modest. The angle of that shot just made it look bigger.
I can think of a few reasons now why the king of Dune might be rich--skooma trade, nearby gold mines, looting Valenwood! So it all fits in.
I'm really looking forward to seeing it all in-game.

I don't want you to change your view of Elsweyr just because I made a palace... If you think the palace is "too much", we'll find a way to change it.
Nothing's more frustrating to have other people change one's vision and turn one's work into something different than intended.
Anyway, I made a short http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cup8PORiSNY, so you can take a look at Dune before I send you the meshes.