[WIPz] Ravensgate : IV

» Mon May 02, 2011 7:05 pm

RAVENSGATE
You can own it... for a price

*******************************************************************************

This is the official WIP thread for my new mod Ravensgate, which is currently about 40% complete and will hopefully be released later this summer. The mod adds a player-ownable castle and town to the northern border of Cyrodiil, and also allows the player to explore previously-unreachable areas of Hammerfell and Skyrim. I've placed some preliminary screenshots up on TESNexus and will be adding to them as the mod gets fleshed out over the next few months. This is my first major mod release, so there may be a hiccup or two along the way. :whistling:

Screenshots:

- http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_entrance.jpg
- http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_ramparts.jpg
- http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_smithy.jpg
- http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_fateweaver.jpg
- http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_cells.jpg
- http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_winery.jpg
- http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_wine.jpg
- http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_winelabel.jpg
- http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_coldstorage.jpg
- http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_yeti.jpg
- http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_rieklings.jpg
- http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_guard.jpg
- http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_knight.jpg
- http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_bloodraven.jpg

Quote from the readme file:

Name: Ravensgate
Version: WIP
Date: 5/9/2010
Category: Castles, Palaces, Mansions, & Estates
Author: Omegacron
Source: N/A

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Requirements:
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Oblivion 1.2.416
Tamriel Heightmaps - Hammerfell/HighRock Heightmap
Tamriel Heightmaps - Hammerfell/HighRock LOD Resources

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Description:
=================

This mod adds the town of Ravenholme to the valley just west of the Hermaeus Mora shrine. Ravenholme is a trading town that represents the last outpost of Cyrodiil before crossing over into Hammerfell or Skyrim, and is protected by the fortress of Ravensgate along with a nearby Imperial garrison along the border. Due to the recent passing of its previous owner with no heirs, Ravensgate is now being offered as a home to those who can prove themselves worthy of leading the town and its people. Be warned, however - ownership of the castle will not come easily, and once purchased it has a few secrets to offer up to those willing to search.

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Details:
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Along with the town of Ravenholme, the castle of Ravensgate, and a small Imperial outpost, this mod also adds several quests and adventures that require crossing the Hammerfell and Skyrim borders. It also adds numerous dungeons, camps, and ruins into these regions using the heightmaps created by Onra in the Tamriel Heightmaps project. A full list of features can be found below:

RAVENSGATE CASTLE ROOMS/AREAS:

- Main Hall with fully stocked dining area, functional throne and grand piano
- Master Bedroom with personal closet, washroom, vault, and 4-poster bed
- Display Room with armor stands for all vanilla armors, weapon racks for vanilla weapon sets, cabinets for storage, and mannequin stands
- Dungeon Home for evil vampire types
- Full stocked Study with functional sink and static alchemy set
- Vault/Treasury with numerous safe storage options
- Arboretum w/Daedric Garden that contains numerous re-spawning plants
- Guard Barracks with a dozen guards who each follow their own AI and patrol pattern
- Servant Area and several servants who each offer services and master-level training
- Kitchen with functional sink and working oven doors
- Storage Areas are placed throughout the castle with safe storage containers
- Dungeon is available with locking cell doors

FEATURES:

- New heavy armor and 2-handed claymore
- New light armor and 1-handed dagger
- over 30 new npc's, each with their own AI and schedules
- over a dozen new shops, each offering unique items and services
- re-spawnable potions that infect with and cure vampirism
- functional sinks that give you timed disease protection
- static alchemy set that grants a bonus to Alchemy skill when used
- static repair anvil that grants a bonus to Armorer skill when used
- heavy atmosphere throughout castle
- static clutter containers for those who hate item placement
- heavy warhorse with armor
- several new monster types
- the ability to cross the Hammerfell and Skyrim borders

NEW MONSTER TYPES:

- Lycanthrope (werewolf - various types)
- Riekling (various types)
- Snow Bear
- Ice Wolf
- Yeti
- Bristleback
- Frost Giant
- Frostwyrm

» Mon May 02, 2011 10:39 pm

Looks good! :goodjob:
How much will it cost to buy RAVENSGATE?

» Mon May 02, 2011 7:17 pm

Looks good! :goodjob:
How much will it cost to buy RAVENSGATE?

I haven't really decided yet, but I want to make it a lot more difficult than most house mods, and definitely more expensive than the vanilla houses. After all, you're practically buying a town!

So far the price I'm leaning towards is 350,000 septims, plus you have to pass three trials, and you have to complete X number of quests for the townspeople of Ravenholme (the name of the town) in order to raise your overall disposition.

In addition, you'll have to maintain the overall disposition of the townspeople by doing weekly quests, or you risk losing your discounts and free services within the town. Obviously the castle servants will still do as they're told, but they may not like it and quite possibly will complain a lot LOL. There will be other, slightly less "goody-two-shoes" options for evil characters.

» Mon May 02, 2011 11:03 pm

I haven't really decided yet, but I want to make it a lot more difficult than most house mods, and definitely more expensive than the vanilla houses. After all, you're practically buying a town!

So far the price I'm leaning towards is 350,000 septims, plus you have to pass three trials, and you have to complete X number of quests for the townspeople of Ravenholme (the name of the town) in order to raise your overall disposition.

I guess I better start dungeon diving and getting more gold then.

In addition, you'll have to maintain the overall disposition of the townspeople by doing weekly quests, or you risk losing your discounts and free services within the town. Obviously the castle servants will still do as they're told, but they may not like it and quite possibly will complain a lot LOL. There will be other, slightly less "goody-two-shoes" options for evil characters.

Sounds good! I'm looking forward to its release! :goodjob:

» Mon May 02, 2011 11:00 pm

Woot, a thread for it! Can't wait to see more!

» Tue May 03, 2011 9:13 am

http://dslcv1-458.fast.net/oblivion/Docs/Bear_with_me.html is not going to be happy if the cave where she's getting her bear is now buried under a town.

I'm on the brink of releasing an update to my Rumple Mod that involves that area. The cave is added at the Western end of the trail in the corner of the map, and you can get the rest from the link. If that's outside the town/castle you're making it probably won't be an issue, but there will always be a question of why the delivery doesn't take place in town. I expect to have the update on TesNexus in a day or two (just one last bug...), so let me know if we have an overlap to warn about.

» Tue May 03, 2011 2:05 am

http://dslcv1-458.fast.net/oblivion/Docs/Bear_with_me.html is not going to be happy if the cave where she's getting her bear is now buried under a town.

I'm on the brink of releasing an update to my Rumple Mod that involves that area. The cave is added at the Western end of the trail in the corner of the map, and you can get the rest from the link. If that's outside the town/castle you're making it probably won't be an issue, but there will always be a question of why the delivery doesn't take place in town. I expect to have the update on TesNexus in a day or two (just one last bug...), so let me know if we have an overlap to warn about.

If it's right by the western end of the trail, it should be ok. The town is down in the valley and nowhere near the east or west trails. It does modify the trails, however, so that they lead down to the city instead of going around. The original parts of the trail should remain intact, so as long as she doesn't path through the valley while on patrol I think we'll be fine. Hopefully soon I'll have some screenshots up of the actual location in-game. Unfortunately, at this point I'm too far along to change the location, but I'd be happy to make a patch for you that moves the cave over slightly if it's a problem. Can you send me a screenshot of where the map marker is and another of the cave entrance (panned out some so I can see where it is)? You can PM it if you'd like and I'll double-check for you.

» Tue May 03, 2011 8:19 am

Hey! You made a WIP thread. Good luck on Ravensgate! :foodndrink:

» Tue May 03, 2011 12:20 am

Wish you the best of luck towards your first major release!

I've noticed you've been requesting little bits of help every now and then. And I got to thinking... what is Omegacron up to?

Now I know.

NEW MONSTER TYPES:

- Lycanthrope (werewolf - various types)
- Riekling (various types)
- Snow Bear
- Ice Wolf
- Yeti
- Bristleback
- Frost Giant
- Frostwyrm

These new models or retextures? Because I was just musing the other day about all the Morrowind beasts which have not yet been modeled for Oblivion. It's actually a little bit scandalous, once you consider... :laugh:

» Tue May 03, 2011 8:51 am

These new models or retextures? Because I was just musing the other day about all the Morrowind beasts which have not yet been modeled for Oblivion. It's actually a little bit scandalous, once you consider... :laugh:

A little bit of both, but mostly retextures. The yeti is basically a troll model with a new texture and horns added, the reiklings are basically little blue goblins with stuff stuck on 'em, etc. A couple of them, though, use models from WAALX, so they're slightly different, and the frostwyrm is basically a rehash of SaidenStorm's mount in monster form. If you're interested in making some new ones, I'd love to have 'em! In fact, I was thinking the other day I needed a static cliffracer model lol.

So far I'm using so much clutter and new meshes from various resources that my credits list will be longer than my readme (or close, anyway!). I'll probably have to cut back on the custom stuff somewhat tho 'cause I'm only about halfway done and the whole thing's already up to 500MB! * I can't help it - I love seeing new stuff instead *

P.S. - Speaking of Morrowind monsters, if this mod does well I have some great ideas for a large expansion nearly the size of SI that would include many of the critters we saw over in Vvardenfell, along with a certain manipulative Daedric prince. I don't want to give too much away, but suffice to say, the defeat of Dagon and return of Jyggalag has caused quite a stir among the other Princes...

» Tue May 03, 2011 6:16 am

If it's right by the western end of the trail, it should be ok. The town is down in the valley and nowhere near the east or west trails. It does modify the trails, however, so that they lead down to the city instead of going around. The original parts of the trail should remain intact, so as long as she doesn't path through the valley while on patrol I think we'll be fine. Hopefully soon I'll have some screenshots up of the actual location in-game. Unfortunately, at this point I'm too far along to change the location, but I'd be happy to make a patch for you that moves the cave over slightly if it's a problem. Can you send me a screenshot of where the map marker is and another of the cave entrance (panned out some so I can see where it is)? You can PM it if you'd like and I'll double-check for you.

I uploaded the latest version of the mod to TesNexus and added screenshots of the cave location, as I figure they'll be useful to others anyway. Link in my sig.

» Tue May 03, 2011 6:39 am

If you're interested in making some new ones, I'd love to have 'em! In fact, I was thinking the other day I needed a static cliffracer model lol.

I am interested, but that is far beyond my skill level at the mo. :lol:

I guess you can say I'm at the "pot and bowl" stage. :lol:

I do have a special interest for modeling creatures, though. And while most of the stuff I put forward in the near future will likely go to Hammerfell, I will definitely see to this "Morrowind problem" in the future...If someone doesn't beat me to the punch, that is.

In fact, I was thinking the other day I needed a static cliffracer model lol.

Don't we all. XD

Spoiler

(f.y.i., Phitt has a Cliffracer bird (not monster) in his Sheogorad mod, which, like everything in it, will become a resource upon release. Try not to bug him too much about it though. :lol:

I don't want to harrass the guy about it. It looks like its been on hold for much of this year so far anyway. Either that or Phitt is hard at work. ^_^ )

» Mon May 02, 2011 11:03 pm

I don't know how or why at the moment, but my page on TESNexus has completely disappeared. I sent an email but I'm still waiting to hear back.

UPDATE: This was actually my fault - I didn't realize that WIP items aren't allowed on TESNexus. I'll relink the screenshots to a different location. Sorry about that everyone.

» Mon May 02, 2011 9:33 pm

In fact, I was thinking the other day I needed a static cliffracer model lol.

i recall Phitt having an animated static cliffracer (like the gulls in mr.siika's port resources), maybe he will share if you ask nicely

[edit] f'oh, already mentioned. ignore me.

» Tue May 03, 2011 7:51 am

Three new screenshots added to OP up top. As owner of Ravensgate, you will have your own personal wine label with two vintages - 3E 426 (average) and 3E 316 (Aged). Both give you the standard wine effect plus frost resist (magnitude according to potency). Of course, since the label is sold all over Tamriel you also get a monthly income from the wine sales in addition to the taxes paid to you by the citizens of Ravenholme.

» Tue May 03, 2011 10:43 am

Three new screenshots added to OP up top. As owner of Ravensgate, you will have your own personal wine label with two vintages - 3E 426 (average) and 3E 316 (Aged). Both give you the standard wine effect plus frost resist (magnitude according to potency). Of course, since the label is sold all over Tamriel you also get a monthly income from the wine sales in addition to the taxes paid to you by the citizens of Ravenholme.

Those are really nice! And a great idea about the wine sales.

» Mon May 02, 2011 7:10 pm

Those are really nice! And a great idea about the wine sales.

Agreed! The Ravensgate wine bottle looks very authentic. Great texturework there. :foodndrink:

» Tue May 03, 2011 8:38 am

Added three more screenshots to OP. The first is of the cold storage room in the kitchen and the other two are of monsters I'm working on. Currently they reside in my "zoo cell" I use for testing, but once finished the yeti(s) will be released out into the wild and the Rieklings will stage occasional raids on Ravenholme and the outlying settlements, as well as be the central subject of a quest or two.

» Tue May 03, 2011 6:50 am

a lot of very nice and unique ideas ...very good work on the wine lable

:goodjob:

» Tue May 03, 2011 3:50 am

These could be useful:

http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=26339
http://tesnexus.com/modules/members/index.php?id=123230

The Aezarka Resource has a very nice ice cave tileset:
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13249

» Tue May 03, 2011 5:21 am

These could be useful:
...
The Aezarka Resource has a very nice ice cave tileset:

Thanks for the links! I have the first two but hadn't seen the Aezarka one yet.

» Tue May 03, 2011 8:48 am

Original post up top updated with three new screenshots. These are the other three playable armor types added by the mod: Ravenholme Guard Uniform (light), Order of the Raven (heavy), and Bloodraven (light). This basically gives me a heavy/light "good" set of armor (Raven Knight/Ravenholme Guard), and a heavy/light "evil" set of armor (Fateweaver/Bloodraven). In case anyone's wondering, here's a brief blurb about each set:

http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_guard.jpg: Tasked with the defense of Ravenholme and it's surrounding area, the Ravenholme Guard is mainly comprised of Nords and Redguards, with a few Imperials thrown in for good measure. Most Imperials, however, would prefer to be stationed at the nearby Imperial Garrison near the border checkpoints.
http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_knight.jpg: Originally founded over 400 years ago, the Order of the Raven is the official knightly order of Ravensgate Castle. An odd mixture of Imperial and Nord principles makes a fearsome yet honorable fighting force, although these days the Raven Knights number quite few.
http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_bloodraven.jpg: A Skyrim-based offshoot of the Dark Brotherhood, the Bloodravens were formed by Marcos Avaros (a central character of the mod) after he went into self-appointed exile at his home of Ravensgate on the Skyrim border. Operating in secrecy since his death nearly 400 years ago, the Bloodravens await the prophesied return of their master, who will lead them in victory over both their enemies and the Dark Brotherhood which shuns them whenever it becomes convenient.
http://mods.omegacron.com/oblivion/ravensgate_fateweaver.jpg: The personal armor of Marcus Avaros, the Imperial battlemage known as "The Fateweaver" during his time as Tiber Septim's general, this dark and powerful armor is rumored to be somewhere on the grounds of Ravensgate. Since the self-appointed exile and apparent death of Avaros, the armor has become a sought-after treasure of rumor and legend. However, in four centuries none who have searched out the armor have returned to tell of their discoveries.

» Tue May 03, 2011 3:13 am

Wow, very nice armors Omegacron, keep up the good work :foodndrink:

» Tue May 03, 2011 2:41 am

I demand me some updates!

Also, regarding the other 'project'... I haven't forgotten. Don't worry

» Mon May 02, 2011 8:16 pm

I demand me some updates!

lol sorry - hurt both my thumbs a few weekends back so I've kinda been out of commission for a couple weeks. They're still a little tender but they work now, so I should have some more updates soon.