Natural Wood Bows : IV

» Fri May 27, 2011 6:12 am

CURRENT STATUS AS OF MARCH 22: (for those who hate to read the entire thread)

I had pulled the earlier "test" version because I needed to finetune some things. I have a new "test" version up if anyone feels like spot checking some things for bugs & feedback:

http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/bows/WBLAtest.zip

It's 40MB as a zip file and I am unsure if that is getting too large. It's down to 30MB if I use .7z instead, but I prefer to keep it "noob-friendly" for those who get flummoxed at odd archive formats.

A few known issues (I forgot to include a "readme" for the test zip, sorry)

The various archers who are practicing shooting in the background, sometimes switch to shooting each other when they've been distracted. Nobody seems to get mad or hurt, and I kinda give up on fixing this, hopefully it won't seem too odd.
The "court leathers" just have a token texture in now for boots/gloves, doesn't match the cuirass/greaves yet and I will work on this so they match.
I still need to finetune some item stats so that the lowcost items have the lowest ststas, and highend expensive items have the best stats, right now some are probably out of sync still.
The archers will sell items they are modelling, Marissa the head fletcher sells everything (it seems less confusing understanding what items look like, if you can buy direct from the vendor modelling it).
There is a "cheat" for people who want items without paying, this seemed the easiest way to manage it:
Spoiler
the middle archery target is actually a locked container with a missing key, if you select it in console and type unlock you can have free access to all of the items.
The Green Large Cloak icon need sto be fixed, let me know if any others look odd.
I have been messing with my monitor settings and one help I could use, is whether some of the items look odd on other people's monitors/game settings. It may look fine to me but odd to you, and if you can tell me which items seem "off" I can try finetuning using other computrs in the house to get it looking reasonable on different displays/settings/graphics card.
Right now there is no extra dialogue in, and I am not sure whether anyone cares. I'm a half decent writer and have done dialogue in Morrowind, but for some reason I just go "bleh" when I think about starting any. There won't be any voice acting anyway so I am not sure if just the standard generic "hello how are you" greetings are fine, or if people really want more background and immersion in some unique dialogue.
please help report any bugs, missing files, odd glitches etc, especially maybe using male/female characters and throwing items out on the ground to help check for missing GND meshes, I think I have them all but may have missed something.

And thanks again for all of the support and encouragement as I have really appreciated it ^_^

[*]Need to update the "ground" texture of the foulweather cloak, I had updated the cloak to have a green lining then forgot to swotch the ground version to the new file.

Anyway final test except for the court glove/boots textures and any other things people notice, then I can get this out and done before Shivering Isles hits, as I'd really like to go play with that once released

EDIT: I forgot to say, the archers now have a camp just past Weye, easy to get to for beginning characters. If this is a location likely to conflict with other more major mods, let me know as it would be easy to move them, but I like that spot because it is just outside IC gates and easy for starting characters to get to right away.

EDIT2: Location will be moving a bit further out due to conflict with the Weye Village mod. Possibly to the fields surrounding Fort Nikel. (just a few hundred meters further out)

added 3-22: http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/bows/foulweathercloak.jpg

edited 3-16-2007:
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/bows/316armors.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/bows/316bows.jpg

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This was mostly just a beginners exercise for me in trying to figure out the Oblivion construction set, because I wanted to get my own character a very simple wood bow, so I am not going to be very disappointed if there isn't much interest. I am not very good at this stuff yet.

Just a fairly primitive retexturing of one of Nico's bows (with his permission) plus a couple of the Bethesda meshes (dwarven/daedric/elven) , to give a somewhat "handcarved" homemade look to a few bows:

http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/pix/Natural%20Wood%20Bows.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/pix/Natural%20Wood%20Bows%202.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/pix/Natural%20Wood%20Bows%203.jpg

If anyone else thinks they might use them I can drop them in a barrel ingame, or maybe even putter around and try to figure some little fletcher-woodcarver NPC out in the sticks to sell them or something. Right now they are roughly the stats of an elven bow though I haven't given much thought s to whether that is too powerful for a handcarved bow.

I kept Nico's glow maps (from his drow bow) because I liked the way they made the elvish lettering glow in dark areas

the others used bethesda "normal maps" for some of their bows to simulate a handcarved look.

» Thu May 26, 2011 9:05 pm

nice, i like them a lot.. justnormale wood bows.. i dont like all those special types of stuffs in the vanilla game.

maybe you can give them to a big mod which add a lots of equips

» Thu May 26, 2011 11:15 pm

Nice. I also would suggest contacting Fran, Mart, or Oscuro to see if they would like to add them to the game, the same old iron/steel/silver can get REALLY boring after a while and the more the merrier even if they all have the same stats, they sure do look pretty!

» Fri May 27, 2011 1:32 am

Hey, that's very nice work! Made a modder resource and upload it somewhere. I like them a lot!

» Fri May 27, 2011 12:27 pm

Hey, that's very nice work! Made a modder resource and upload it somewhere. I like them a lot!

Thanks, they are actually very simple as I still have problems understanding texture mapping etc so the bow strings look a little odd but oh well

I was thinking a modders resource with open permissions as they might work well also with a fletching or survival type mod for those who want to carve their own, but via a little standalone "in a barrel" type mod because I personally prefer a very small simple mod when I have ONE specific item I want, without having to download a big packaged mod just to get that one item. Fewer possible conflicts etc too.

I love Nico's drow bow shape and the elvish writing, the original black and purple was too elegant a style for my simple little live-off-the-wilds archer girl though. Many thanks to him, for being so open to letting us play with his wonderful creations!

» Fri May 27, 2011 9:57 am

Thanks, they are actually very simple...

That's exactly why I like them. :thumbsup:

» Fri May 27, 2011 1:19 am

I would love to use them in my Valenwood Mod:
http://www.silgrad.com/wbb2/thread.php?threadid=5996

The teaser on this thread:
http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=641376

The elvish writing and the wood look would be a perfect edition. They will be added to quests and sold in the shop on the island. They look amazing Btw.

Cheers,
Tom

EDIT: Also how do you take a screen when the bow is drawn (at that angle), as soon as you go into vanity mod the bow is fired?

» Fri May 27, 2011 7:18 am

I would love to use them in my Valenwood Mod:
http://www.silgrad.com/wbb2/thread.php?threadid=5996

The elvish writing and the wood look would be a perfect edition. They will be added to quests and sold in the shop on the island. They look amazing Btw.

Cheers,
Tom

Sure, just credit Nico as he is the real artist, I agree his elvish scripting looks very magical

Give me a couple days to clean it up as a I am pretty messy when doing stuff for personal use.

» Fri May 27, 2011 10:28 am

Sure, just credit Nico as he is the real artist, I agree his elvish scripting looks very magical

Give me a couple days to clean it up as a I am pretty messy when doing stuff for personal use.

Cheers, i will do.
Thanks you for letting me use them,
Tom

» Thu May 26, 2011 10:50 pm

Fantastic.....Nice simple wooden textures jusy ooze realism, please release them as
A. A resource mod
B. If you could script a NPC seller that would make a great little mod to have....Please dont make them UBER...

Sheathana'ich

» Fri May 27, 2011 11:02 am

Those are really nice! plz release them

» Thu May 26, 2011 9:39 pm

Cool texturing there mate

Good to see you out and about too. Hope that Pseron geezer is treating you right

I have some bow meshes lying around here that might benefit from your paint brush.... Gotta go for me tea now anyhoo. Catch yer later. :wave:

» Fri May 27, 2011 4:56 am

I might take you up on that

I think now what I am going to do is a Wandering Fletcher who sells handcarved wood bows, some simple leather armors, a green cloak from Someone1074's mesh, and a arrow-quiver set like this:

http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/pix/Natural%20Archer.jpg

And also maybe a simple fletching kit for making arrows on the road from her supply of arrowheads, shafts and fletches, as I have always liked the idea of "conserving weight" by fletching arrows as you need them (may not be "realistic" to have weightless components that make arrows with weight, but I have always liked the idea of "travelling light" and making arrows as you need them rather than hauling 80 pounds of premade arrows everywhere. Something very much like Axebane's wonderful hunter mod, but on a very much smaller scale, that can work in a tiny standalone mod and not conflict with anything.

Hmm. Probably also a secret barrel with everything in it stashed someplace for those who really just want the items and not have to deal with a travelling merchant.

Also if anyone is capable of making http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=647282, or if there is anything remotely like this already ingame, I started a REQ thread looking for one with some example images...

» Fri May 27, 2011 12:09 pm

Just a small update with more images as I went back in and played around with textures a bit more and changed or added some bows.

http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/All%20bows%20-%20game.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/All%20bows%20-%20editor.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Fletched%20Arrow%20and%20Quiver.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Hardened%20Leather%20Male.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Hardened%20Leather%20Female.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Nico%20Cedar%20Bow.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Nico%20Oak%20Bow.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Nico%20Mahogany%20Bow.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Hardwood%20Enamelled%20Bow.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Hardwood%20Ironwood%20Bow.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Hardwood%20Oak%20Bow.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Hardwood%20Pine%20Bow.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Hardwood%20Redwood%20Bow.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Hardwood%20Walnut%20Bow.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Thornwood%20Bow.jpg
http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Hardwood%20Mahogany%20Bow.jpg

I was kinda tired and making up random names so if any of them are st00pid ("dude no one would ever make a PINE bow, d0h") let me know but I am not a perfectionist so will otherwise just leave these as is.

My goal next is to refresh my memory on how to add a merchent and their inventory to the game, then see if I can figure out a tiny simple script for assembling fletched arrows. I was going to do a travelling merchant but I think now I'll just stick an outdoor one in Chorrol town plaza or something. I also need to figure out a primitive script for the arrows. Plan right now is you can buy "bundles" of arrowhead, fletches and shafts from the vendor, each bundle weighs .1 and makes 10, so 10 arrows would weigh .3 in components or 1.0 pounds after fletching. No that's not relaiztic, I just like the idea of saving weight on arrows by fletching them as you go. This is not going to be near as fun and complex as Axebane or Grumblepunk's mods, you don't get to travel the world collecting them yourself you just buy the components direct from the merchant. Theirs is better, I am just making this easy for me and also so that it can't ever conflict with other mods.

Item stats will be midway between pathetic and uber, I'll never make everyone happy so they can edit it themselves if they are not happy. Probably closeish to elven bows and chain armor just so it is not something you immediately outgrow a few hours into the game, but nothing that will let you run around with godmode gear either.

Armor is basically just recolored Pit Gear. And then with one of Someone1014's green capes as a color accent.

EDIT: Also how do you take a screen when the bow is drawn (at that angle), as soon as you go into vanity mod the bow is fired?

I use TFC for ToggleFlyingCamera or whatever, then I can back up and get shots ofdrawing the bow etc. I also use the console tilde a lot to "freeze" in midaction, and to get rid of the UI rather than the TM command. You end up with a very small white dash to edit out of the image afterward but that only takes a second.

» Fri May 27, 2011 12:16 pm

I still have problems understanding texture mapping etc so the bow strings look a little odd

Thats a Bethesda bow mesh trademark, lol.

anyway I think they look really great. :goodjob:

» Fri May 27, 2011 12:13 am

Good Stuff Brash, I think they look great so far!

» Fri May 27, 2011 8:52 am

Very nice Brash.
Glad to see you took my advice, and decided to release them.
Seems many people really like the 'natural wood look' over some of the things I have done.
I'm happy to see my bows become something more as a modders resource.

Edit: BTW if you have any questions on texure mapping or normal maps I would be glad to share what I have learned.

» Fri May 27, 2011 6:42 am

I think now what I am going to do is a Wandering Fletcher who sells handcarved wood bows, some simple leather armors, a green cloak from Someone1074's mesh, and a arrow-quiver set like this...

...And also maybe a simple fletching kit for making arrows on the road...

...Just a small update with more images...

Sounding (and looking) better and better.

» Thu May 26, 2011 9:10 pm

I like them all. They will add a great style factor to the game!

» Fri May 27, 2011 12:56 am

Edit: BTW if you have any questions on texure mapping or normal maps I would be glad to share what I have learned.

No no, my poor head bursts with pain just figuring out Texture Replacer utility, NifSkope etc ended up being way over my head so these are just basic wood grain textures crammed into the nif with no regard for anything complex. Maybe 2-3 years from now I will take you up on that, right now its too hard for me so this is just a very primitive little project, heh.

» Fri May 27, 2011 10:18 am

Amazing! I had archer-type character and he will be very happy with those beauties!

» Thu May 26, 2011 9:34 pm

I like those bows, very nice. Now, get some sort of enchantment on them and... Nothing will stand in my way. :mwahaha:

Looks like it'd be a nice hunter's bow... (3rd pic, IMO)

Keep up the good work. :goodjob:

» Thu May 26, 2011 11:38 pm

No no, my poor head bursts with pain just figuring out Texture Replacer utility, NifSkope etc ended up being way over my head so these are just basic wood grain textures crammed into the nif with no regard for anything complex. Maybe 2-3 years from now I will take you up on that, right now its too hard for me so this is just a very primitive little project, heh.

Offer stays open if you change your mind. Rather easy after you do it a couple of times.
Looks good none the less.
Keep up the good work.
Nico

» Fri May 27, 2011 10:43 am

I think these look really good. The texturing is not bad at all. Now demand that Fran include these in his next update!

» Fri May 27, 2011 5:35 am

Me want replace plz