I always wanted to make the Game Experience more than a normal compilation.
Talking with some friends about it, we came up with an idea: use all the (lore-friendly) modder resources out there to make something memorable.
But let me explain better what's the idea. Basically, the idea is to use all those resources to improve Vvardenfell, Solstheim and Mournhold with more detail, atmosphere and emotions.

Here's the guideline (it will be modular, too. Here are the parts):

Cities:
- More details (referring to the lore), using all the modder resources and vanilla resources aswell.
- This is NOT intended as cities expansions! (a few houses more maybe, but not changing the original cities layout too much).
- Every change has to respect the style of the city (obviously).

Caves (the ones populated by bandits):
- Give a plausible personality to the bandits that live in the cave and give to the dungeon an atmosphere referring to them.
- DO NOT make caves bigger!
- Traps, secrets and enigms, detailed and different for each dungeon.
- Some mini-quests are welcome, according to the "style" of the bandits that live in the cave.
- Every other idea to make that cave unique is welcome, without exagerate.
- The new treasures have to be balanced, and the difficulty of the cave must be coherent with the valor of them.

Tombs:
- Imagine the personality of the buried family (on the wiki there is a complete list of the alive members) and detail the tomb according to it.
- Maybe place a paper with the description of the dead person, or a book about the family to increase the atmosphere and detail of the tomb.
- Some traps, especially if the tomb is inhabited by vampires or bandits, and secrets are welcome, too.
- DO NOT make tombs bigger!
- Maybe some mini-quests, according with the tomb.
- The treasures have to be balanced, and the difficulty of the tomb must be coherent with the valor of them.

Daedric Shrines:
- More details and atmosphere, giving them an "unique look".
- Enigms and secrets.
- DO NOT make Shrines bigger!

Dwemer Ruins (these are pretty good in the game itself so there is less work to do):
- Technology means more possibility to make traps, enigms and interesting things.
- More atmosphere and detail, giving them an unique look according with the people that lived there.
- DO NOT make ruins bigger!

Shipwrecks:
- Search all the possible informations on the wiki, and give a personality to the crew that used to be on that boat. Then detail the ship according to that.

Grottos:
- More detail and atmosphere, make them less "flat".
- Some more treasures, according to the difficulty of the Grotto.

Velothi Towers:
- More pitfalls.
- More atmosphere and characterization.
- Difficulty according with the treasures.

Dunmer Strongholds:
- More details and atmosphere.
- Difficulty according with the treasures.
- Enigms and pitfalls.

Ashlander Camps:
- Detailed according with the people that live there.
- Same methodic of the cities for the rest.

Region Wilderness:
- Some little secrets and surprises around the world.
- The desolation and depression feeling will remain the same.
- Some unique, little and very detailed locations around the world. (Make them memorable).
- Misc quests are welcome.

All this using the awesome resources that you can find around the web!
So, now tell me what you think about this.

Please note: the base compilation will be released anyway before this project!

My personal opinion is the following:
I think everything you mention would be great, BUT...

We already have to wait a helluva lot for the basic Game Experience pack...

IF you take on such a massive project, it would take more time than Tamriel Rebuilt or LGNPC to be completed. And that would NOT be good.

I forgot to mention that before this the base compilation will be released.
So, yeah, this will take quite long (not long as LGNPC and TR I think) but yeah, the base compilation will come out anyways.

I would absolutely love to see this project get rolling, especially since I do not have practically any new dungeons or town additions in my current game setup. Balmora Expansion and Darknuts' GDR aside.

If the base compilation comes out before the release of Skyrim, I think such a massive project would be great.

So, if you say that you first focus on the base compilation, I personally feel satisfied.

After the basic Game Experience compilation is out, I think you will definitely be part of TES history.

Yes, I will focus on the compilation first

I think this is a great idea, and sorely needed - especially if it's seperate from the base compilation And perfect timing actually - I was thinking yesterday that there are some parts of Vvardenfell in dire need of more detail (*coughMountKandcough*)

My one quibble would be with the idea of including edits to city exteriors - that seems like a recipe for conflicts. Perhaps include it as a separate esp for those who are using other city mods?

Aside from that, what you have planned sounds amazing :drool:

Also, if you decide to include misc quests after all, I'd be happy to help out with dialogue writing etc. The more to do out in the wilderness the better right?

Yeah that's another thing I forgot: it will be modular.
The modular parts are the ones I listed in the OP.

Oh dear god, you really wanna do this?

I've invested like loads of time for my Rebirth project & I'm far from done, I've only finished perhaps 20 %.

It would be a huge undertaking, although it's sure welcome if you will try to do it!

Good Luck

In fact I've always wanted to use your rebirth as a component for the game experience pack, but the incompatibilities are too many
That's sad, because what you've done is absoulutely wonderful.

I agree. There's a lot of mods that doesn't work well with Rebirth. Although I don't think I made the wrong decission, to be honest It was never ment to be played with other mods

Anyhow if this pack will be modular it should work fine with Rebirth, at least some parts.

As I said, good luck with this! I might be able to help with some parts, but atm I'm far to busy

That's one of the main reasons I will make it modular

Wish you luck, but some of the ideas are turn offs and discourage me from wanting to try it.

I like the idea of personalizing the look of caves and tombs to reflect their owners'/residents' tastes. WRT shipwrecks, I think it would best be restricted to the Captain's cabin. The main cargo area is just that, a workplace; personal effects add clutter to an area which increases chances of accidents - bad things in a confined space at sea. If anything, perhaps add the "individualized" touch to what is found in chests.

I like the idea to keep the size of a cave/tomb/dungeon the same (maybe less). Larger is not automatically better.

I can't see the logic of bandits having quests; unless your char and they are in the same faction/guild, under Morrowind lore, they are fair game to kill. It makes sense for them to "kill first, ask questions later". Now perhaps if you placed a fence in a Council Club or equivalent place who acts as a guarantee of who you say you are, that could make sense game-wise.

Similarly, the idea of adding traps. Well, I like rpg, but I find the prospect of traps, specifically in caves, boring. Most of the time, there's no sense to them, and you have to wonder, given how many of the bandits are slobs, that they don't set off their own traps in a drunken stupor or in a race to attack you. Similarly for the shrines. These places have been in use for uncounted centuries. During that time, the traps would have likely been set off by others. So, who is putting in traps when the previous one has been set off?

Personally, I would keep the extra loot to a minimum or just limit it to gold and trinkets. There's already too much phat(?) that it becomes gauche. And working one's way through such spots is usually enough to increase your skill in at least one thing at least once if not more. It doesn't stretch the imagination that people overvalue the things they have, therefore, it is reasonable that your character may have faced a tough fight only to find that what they thought would be a treasure trove to set them up for life was just an exquisite shirt or some such

Just another thought, if your heart is set on adding quests, initiate them in taverns. That old Nord in the Telvanni tavern is a good example. Or maybe from merchants or maybe if it's possible maybe from an opponent if your character can fight someone to a draw or as a last ditch appeal to avoid being killed. I for one would want the story line to hang together in a consistent, believable way.

Just my 2 cents.

John

I am happy about this project and actually I think that Trancemaster should join it.

I respect if you disagree, but I think that nowadays we have too many gigantic project that clash together and that are done (most of the time) solo.

My two cents? Trancemaster and his Rebirth should be part of this project and this project should be part of Rebirth.

As I said now and before I prefer a single project being worked by more people over many solo-projects that, most likely, will never be completed and released in a non-wip or non-beta form.

But... this is just my opinion!

Yes, I meant that: the Captain's cabin, maybe with a sort of "Journal" about the trip. There could be some information about the accident, etc.


Yeah I didn't explain this very good. I meant quests related to that specivic dungeon, not quests that you can find in the dungeon. Feel what I mean?


I'll be picky with the traps. I'll add them only when the personality of the bandits includes intelligence. And anyway not every cave will have traps/enigms, absolutely. Regarding the Shrines, you are right. I'll take traps off.


Absolutely. Extra treasure only means that I'll use the new resources for them. I'll be careful about this, I promise


Yeah that's what I had in mind while writing this thread. We will make this way

Thanks for the suggestions.

You're welcome. My answer to your poll is "great idea, but want to see how it works out in practice"

John

Edit: the devil is in the details

Agreed!

Well, Trancemaster is welcome here!
But actually he's doing his project, I don't know if he feels like to join

My thoughts:
I would likely not use this, but go for it! I support your idea all the way.
I'm sure some people will find this very intriguing.

BUT....
It would not likely be playable alongside many mods that alter the same cells. The player would be forced to choose between this, and a handful of other big mods that otherwise do not conflict.

Actually this will be fully compatible with the game experience part, that includes many of the more common mods.
I'll try to make it compatible with the other most popoular mods out there. Of course when asked I'll create compatibility patches for keeping it playable with other big mods.
I understand that I'll not be able to make it fully compatible with all the mods out there,anyway
But I've always wanted to do something like this since I played Morrowind back in the days :celebration: