Battlehorn weirdness : IV

» Mon Aug 16, 2010 10:29 am

Hi,

I'm experiencing some weirdness with Battlehorn Castle. I've never played through the mod before so I don't know what to expect, but what I've seen so far is pretty lame. Whenever I approach the castle, a group of friendly NPCs is fighting a group of marauders right on top of the castle gate, such that one or more friendlies have ported inside the castle or onto the top of the wall and the marauders are all frozen because they can't path to the friendlies. There's a marauder warlord with four magic items, which seems silly. An NPC named Lord Kelvyn is always dead at the gate, and I dunno whether he spawns that way or what. When all of the marauders are dead, the NPCs tell me I now own the castle and act as if I'm supposed to know who Kelvyn is. Oh, and there's a floating tree in the middle of the path leading to the gate.

All of this is without any kind of prior storyline or background. It seems like I'm skipping some quest stages or something. I use SM Plugin Refurbish, which is supposed to delay the start of the quest, but I've certainly never heard any rumors from NPCs as mentioned in the readme. I'm just pretty confused about the whole thing.

Here's my full load order. Please restrict load order advice to this specific issue.

Spoiler

Active Mod Files:
00 Oblivion.esm
01 Cobl Main.esm [Version 1.73]
02 Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm [Version 1.34]
03 Mart's Monster Mod.esm [Version 3.7b3p3]
04 Mart's Monster Mod for OOO.esm [Version 0.9.9b3]
05 Progress.esm [Version 2.2]
06 All Natural Base.esm [Version 0.9.9]
== OFFICIAL==
07 DLCShiveringIsles.esp
08 DLCHorseArmor.esp
09 DLCOrrery.esp
0A DLCFrostcrag.esp
0B DLCThievesDen.esp
0C DLCVileLair.esp
0D DLCMehrunesRazor.esp
0E Knights.esp
0F DLCSpellTomes.esp
10 DLCBattlehornCastle.esp
== UOP==
11 Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp [Version 3.2.5]
12 UOP Vampire Aging & Face Fix.esp [Version 1.0.0]
13 Oblivion Citadel Door Fix.esp
14 Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch.esp [Version 1.4.0]
15 DLCHorseArmor - Unofficial Patch.esp [Version 1.0.5]
16 DLCOrrery - Unofficial Patch.esp [Version 1.0.3]
17 DLCFrostcrag - Unofficial Patch.esp [Version 1.0.4]
18 DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch - SSSB.esp [Version 1.0.4]
19 DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch.esp [Version 1.0.5]
1A DLCVileLair - Unofficial Patch.esp [Version 1.0.5]
1B DLCMehrunesRazor - Unofficial Patch.esp [Version 1.0.4]
1C Knights - Unofficial Patch.esp [Version 1.0.9]
++ DLCSpellTomes - Unofficial Patch.esp [Version 1.0.1]
1D DLCBattlehornCastle - Unofficial Patch.esp [Version 1.0.4]
== FIRST==
1E SM Plugin Refurbish(Merged).esp [Version 1.30]
** TNR ALL RACES FINAL.esp
** TNR - ShiveringIsles.esp
1F All Natural.esp [Version 0.9.9]
20 All Natural - SI.esp [Version 0.9.9]
++ All Natural - Natural Weather.esp [Version Final]
21 WindowLightingSystem.esp
++ Symphony of Violence.esp
== FCOM==
22 Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esp [Version 1.34]
23 OOO-DLT_Remover.esp [Version 1.33]
24 Mart's Monster Mod for OOO.esp [Version 0.9.9b5]
++ Mart's Monster Mod - Shivering Isles.esp
++ Mart's Monster Mod - Looting NPCs & Creatures.esp [Version 3.7b3]
++ Mart's Monster Mod - Resized Races.esp [Version 3.7b1]
++ Mart's Monster Mod - Less Bone Loot.esp [Version 3.7b1]
++ Mart's Monster Mod - Less Rats.esp [Version 3.7b3]
25 Mart's Monster Mod - No Carrion Rats.esp [Version 3.7b3]
++ Mart's Monster Mod - No Blood.esp [Version 3.7b3]
++ Mart's Monster Mod - No Beholdens.esp [Version 3.7b3]
++ Mart's Monster Mod - No Slimes.esp [Version 3.7b3]
++ Mart's Monster Mod - Spawn Rates - Reduced Vanilla.esp [Version 3.7b3p3]
++ Mart's Monster Mod for OOO - Knights .esp [Version 3.7b3]
26 Mart's Monster Mod - Safer Quest Locations.esp [Version 3.7b3]
== STUFFS==
27 Cobl Glue.esp [Version 1.73]
28 Cobl Si.esp [Version 1.63]
29 OOO 1.32-Cobl.esp [Version 1.72]
++ MMM-Cobl.esp [Version 1.73]
2A Enhanced Economy.esp [Version 3.4.3]
2B Map Marker Overhaul.esp [Version 3.4]
2C Map Marker Overhaul - SI additions.esp [Version 3.0.2]
++ OMOBS.esp [Version 1.0]
++ OMOBS_SI.esp [Version 1.0]
2D kuerteeAutoSaveAndTime.esp
2E PersuasionOverhaul.esp [Version 1.43]
++ PersuasionOverhaul_OOO.esp [Version 1.2]
++ PersuasionOverhaul_MMM.esp [Version 1.2]
2F ChaseCameraMod.esp
30 DropLitTorchOBSE.esp [Version 2.1]
31 sr_alternate_armor_formula.esp
32 Toggleable Quantity Prompt.esp [Version 3.1.1]
33 Skip Tutorial.esp
34 Kyoma's Spell Renamer.esp [Version 3.0.0]
35 BetterBlocking.esp [Version 1]
++ BetterBlocking - Fixed.esp
36 kuerteeAttributeAndSkillBasedDamageModifiers.esp
37 ProgressGSD.esp [Version 2.0]
38 ProgressMBSP.esp [Version 2.0]
39 ProgressSBSP.esp [Version 1.0]
3A ProgressArmorer.esp [Version 1.0]
3B RealisticLeveling.esp
3C bgMagicEV.esp [Version 1.7EV]
++ bgMagicItemSigil.esp [Version 1.68EV]
++ bgMagicEVAddEnVar.esp [Version 1.68EV]
++ bgMagicEVNoSpellLight.esp [Version 1.63EV]
3D bgMagicAlchemy.esp [Version 1.57]
3E bgMagicPotionNumberSoulGemValue.esp [Version 1.68UV]
3F Streamline 3.1.esp
40 RBRS with Initial Burst.esp
41 PTNoRunningBowsSpellsHarder.esp
42 Harvest [Flora].esp [Version 3.0.0]
++ Harvest [Flora] - Shivering Isles.esp [Version 3.0.0]
43 Harvest [Flora] - DLCFrostcrag.esp [Version 3.0.0]
++ Harvest [Flora] - DLCVileLair.esp [Version 3.0.0]
44 StealthOverhaul.esp
** All Natural - Indoor Weather Filter For Mods.esp [Version 0.9.9]
++ Item interchange - Extraction.esp [Version 0.78]
++ Item interchange - Placement.esp [Version 0.78]
++ Item interchange - Placement for Frostcrag.esp [Version 0.78]
45 Bashed Patch, 0.esp

» Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:55 am

Kelvyn is supposed to be dead. He is supposed to be killed by the bandits. You really don't get much of a story to the castle. Bethesda did a good job on making this expansion. Nothing short of rubbish. It is - just like the vile lair and the wizard's tower - simply a house mod. However, the enemies fighting on the wall is not correct, nor is the floating tree.

» Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:15 am

Thanks.

So, aside from pathing problems or the floating tree, I just walk up to the castle, watch the NPCs easily kill all of the marauders, and then when I talk to them they give me a castle? Do any of the mods that deal with Battlehorn improve the lead-in for the quest or make "earning" the castle any harder?

» Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:23 am

Thanks.

So, aside from pathing problems or the floating tree, I just walk up to the castle, watch the NPCs easily kill all of the marauders, and then when I talk to them they give me a castle? Do any of the mods that deal with Battlehorn improve the lead-in for the quest or make "earning" the castle any harder?

sorry I can't help you with that...I only played it on my xbox, which is when I decided it is really not worth the money :shrug:

» Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:13 am

Clearly not everyone agrees that Battlehorn is that bad, because I actually thought it was pretty good. Especially given it only costs $1.89. Of all the "house mods" in the DLC collection, this one is the best of them all.

Even with SM Refurbish, you should have received some sort of notification of the folks at Battlehorn being overrun by marauders and calling for aid.

If that's your actual load order, all of your official DLC plugins should be sorted below the UOP, not above it. The UOP may well cancel out some changes made by the DLC if you leave it the way it is. Which might account for your floating tree and pathing issues. Just make sure you don't move them below the UOMP patches for each one. Basically, they should all be between #14 and #15 on your list.

» Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:19 am

Ok, firstly this shouldn't be in the mod section, ask a moderator to move it to cheats hints and spoilers because this is about official DLC.

Second, http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Battlehorn_Castle_(quest) The marauder attack is intentional, as can be seen on that page, and you supposedly do know Lord Kelvyn because of his http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Lord_Kelvyn%27s_Will, please research your problems before coming out with these questions and post threads in the correct forum. :ahhh:

» Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:55 am

Ok, firstly this shouldn't be in the mod section, ask a moderator to move it to cheats hints and spoilers because this is about official DLC.

It's in the mod section because any number of mods might mess with the quest. In fact, a large part of my problem had to do with loading the DLC before other mods.

Second, http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Battlehorn_Castle_(quest) The marauder attack is intentional, as can be seen on that page, and you supposedly do know Lord Kelvyn because of his http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Lord_Kelvyn%27s_Will, please research your problems before coming out with these questions and post threads in the correct forum. :ahhh:

I was hoping to be able to fix the problem without spoiling the rest of the quest. It turns out that the DLC really is that bad and there's nothing to spoil. Still, I don't think it was an unreasonable post. Thanks for trolling my thread.

» Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:34 am

This is fine for the mods thread because the LO contains other mods, which, as far as the OP new, may have contributed to this issue. If you think it is that big of a deal, as the OP to put the "spoiling" information in "spoiler" tags. I think it could have been said a little more nicely, as many people do not know to use the UESP as a resource, but I also suggest quickly searching through it and the TESCS when you have questions about official content and utilities. If you cannot figure out the answer there, then post here. Following Arthmoor's LO suggestions may help. If you were willing, you could make sure SM Refurbishes' changes were being implemented properly by quickly checking your LO with TES4View.

» Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:10 am

Sorry if i came off as rude, no offence intended, but these questions are usually very easily answered by simply googling, there really is no point to asking and cluttering the thread screen. I don't mean to be rude, i'm just saying you could have found the answer in two seconds by searching for it yourself. Again, not trying to 'troll' :unsure:

» Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:36 am

Thanks.

So, aside from pathing problems or the floating tree, I just walk up to the castle, watch the NPCs easily kill all of the marauders, and then when I talk to them they give me a castle? Do any of the mods that deal with Battlehorn improve the lead-in for the quest or make "earning" the castle any harder?

IRRC one of the mods did increase the intensity of the battle. Currently there are a total of four marauders and two live knights, only one of whom is immortal. The rest of the castle quite good, overall. However, I have to say that there are indepantantly made castles which offer more in the way of accomodation and facilities.

» Sun Aug 15, 2010 10:08 pm

There aren't a whole lot of mods for BHC, and none that I know of that alter the battle. Battlehorn Enhanced is among the best of them, IMO; it adds lots of new features to the castle, including an actual treasury. Overmind said he's working on a v2 that'll add an actual quest and a real battle, but I don't know when (or if) he'll ever finish it.

The starting battle is supposed to be easy, really - I think the castle is intended for the player to get it early on.