Unenchanted, please.
Higher level characters who use high-power enchanted weapons are often hindered in gaining experience, even in FCOM. The fights are shorter, and they just don't work hard enough--and where's the rush of winning, if there's no chance of losing? It's at this point (lvl 20 or so) that I usually strip them of their enchanted swords and throw them a plain silver longsword (if I'm feeling mean), and let them find out how good a swordsman they really are. But a good mid-level sword is a bit more humane--I do let them pick up any sword they can win away from an enemy, as long as it's unenchanted.

If you're really feeling mean, there's option 4

Give the swords high base damage, but enchant them with a negative effect, e.g. drain health on self. You can get the benefit of the high damage only by giving something in return. The enchantment prevents the player adding their own, of course.

Thanks for the responses. I think I will leave them unenchanted for now; then add a scripted enchantment in a later release - just because I want to figure out how to do the scripting on the weapons. I have permission to use Adonnay's script, so I can play with that a bit.

Another reason for enchantment is for overhaul players - particulalry players who use MMM or FCOM. At higher levels, there are some creatures that are impossible to kill with unenchanted weapons: Ancient Gargoyles, etc. Anyway, it's a thought.

Thanks for the feedback.

~ Dani ~

You're only thinking about yourself (the PC, not you the person). There's an entire world of NPCs out there, most of whom aren't willing or able to go crawling through dungeons full of high-powered enemies to get a sword, and who are perfectly happy to settle for a replica of a famous blade.

Consider this: some long-ago weaponsmith made a replica for JoeBob the warrior so that JoeBob could have a sword that looked like Slasher the famous katana. JoeBob passed it on to his son, and so on, and over time it became an heirloom. Other people, seeing what a nice sword the weaponsmith made, commissioned other copies for themselves. That's why all those replicas "still exist".


Seconded. Unenchanted blades are much easier to customize to the player's taste. You can also mark the blade as magical without adding enchantments - this means they can damage ghosts and other creatures that are immune to normal weapons, and they can still be enchanted normally. Blades of this level of power should probably be magical, if not enchanted.

Good tip! I will do that immediately!

~ Dani ~

Just an update:

I've received a couple of pms regarding the status of this mod. This mod is still active and I'm working away on it. I haven't posted on this thread because, frankly, time spent posting and answering questions is time I'm not actually working.

When I began this mod, it was merely a collection of dungeons, with some swords, and a project plan. Over the past couple of months, I've revised and redesigned dungeons, adding a level of detail that I hope matches what Bethesda offered in their original dungeons. My goal is to made the mod a seamless integration into an installed mod list.

One issue I've pondered is making it SI dependent. I've decided not to, even though that limits resources I can use, since I don't think everyone plays that mod. My decision to make it non-SI dependent did result it a bit more work.

What is taking so long? Tweeking and adding detail, to start. All dungeons are fully pathed, and for some of them - which are quite large - that was an extensive chore. I think I've lost several degrees of eyesight doing that. All dungeons have realistic clutter, etc. Not just a couple of cups dropped on the floor, but containers and other useful, if not incredibly valuable stuff. But stuff you'd expect to find in a dungeon.

I'm planning on adding a few new items, but nothing as spectacular as StarX's swords. Mostly a few clutter items, just to learn texturing, etc.

~ Dani ~

Edit: I want to add a public acknowledgement of the wonderful people over at TES Alliance who have answered a great number of what I'm sure were basic questions about modding and how to do stuff. I wouldn't have gotten where I am without their help.

~ D ~

A quest mod being developed by a fan of Kurosawa. A quest mod which places its primary emphasis on story. And to top it off, being developed by someone who has already demonstrated her writing skills in the description of the quest.

I will be adding this one to my game the moment its released. :liplick:

Banzai - may you live ten thousand years, Danielle.

Verry glad to hear that this is still in the offing. I was just say to my self the other day "Self, do you think that awesome sword quest mod is still being worked on? I sure hope so, it also sounds as if she has put too much work into it to not release, I wonder when that will be."

Thank you. I hope it lives up to your expectations



LOL. I'm working on this just about every day. I'd hoped to be done by now, but - to be honest - it's become a lot more involved than I originally anticipated. Along the way I've learned to do some things - and I made some things - that took several hours to learn but, I hope, will make the mod unique.

Example: the Tombs of the Ventaria are accessed through a new dungeon type called Catacombs. My catacombs are based off of images of the catacombs beneath Rome, along with a study of unique cemetery designs. These catacombs use stock vanilla meshes and textures. The unique feature: readable tomb plaques. You mouse over a tomb plaque and a message box gives you text from the monument or tomb plaque.

Some of the dungeons are sprawling dungeons - as large as Viverin. When I realized I needed to path each one, little red pathing dot by little red pathing dot, I seriously considered making them smaller. But I took the time and pathed each dungeon independently. That, and some other technical changes to make the mod better, have just taken more time than I thought.

One challenge I'm having is balancing between the vanilla game and FCOM. If I make a dungeon difficult for vanilla players, it's almost overwhelming for FCOM players. I may have to release FCOM versions. A COBL version is also something I'm thinking about.

But, yes, work on this continues.

About StarX's katanas: Yes, I'm using StarX's katanas. Someone pmed me a comment - my first thought was to ignore it - but in case there is any confusion, let me make this clear: I'm committed and have always been committed to using StarX's katanas. Someone, Adonnay, did offer to make unique swords for this mod, a gesture which I truly do appreciate. However, I think StarX's katanas are perfect for this mod and I, frankly, think they're beautiful swords (and I'm happy he let me use them).

I guess someone reading this thread might be confused; I hope this ends the confusion. This mod is designed around these katanas. Using any other sword, at this late date, would destroy the mod and create ... well, more work than I'm willing to do.

Sorry for any confusion.

~ Dani ~

Very cool. :goodjob: Are you going to stick in a few amusing ones (easter eggs), or is it all serious?


I think we established this earlier, but I can't be bothered to look, so I'll ask: is it scaled or static-levelled? Static would be a lot easier - IME, FCOM is only about 5-6 levels behind vanilla. For example, you can do Kvatch in vanilla around L6; with FCOM, you shouldn't try it before L10. This is, of course, based on my experiences playing a light-armored stealth/ranger type, so YMMV. You might want to do an FCOM version anyway to account for the altered levelled lists - Frans in particular adds a LOT of cool new undead, especially at level 15+.

With respect to the tomb markers, a little of both. I'm shamlessly robbing from literary epitaphs ...

With respect to leveled monsters: I've used a mixture of leveled spawn points and unique creatures/NPCs. Too many leveled spawn points, and the player is completing the dungeon at level 5. To many unique creatures/NPCs and I'm spending a month on a single dungeon (and right now I have over 30 new dungeons - granted some are single rooms).

Maybe an example will illustrate the point: at one point, the player meets a "horde" of enemies. In vanilla, six spawn points in a single area is, well, a weak horde. In FCOM, six spawn points can trigger over a dozen enemies. A nice horde, but maybe a bit much for a single room in a dungeon - although you do feel as if you're fighting a horde. Yes, with FCOM, that many spawn points creates quite a range in number (each spawn point has a percentage return). You could get overwhelmed ... or not.

The real reason to make an FCOM version is to make more unique bosses. FCOM has a variety of creatures that do not appear in the vanilla game. Some of them would lend themselves nicely to being bosses in my catacombs. To make them playable in my game, I would either have to:

1. Extract the creatures from the FCOM element that adds them (MMM, I believe), after obtaining permission from the MMM team, of course, and adding them as creatures in my dungeons.

2. Making a vanilla version that doesn't have the creatures and making a second, FCOM dependent version.

I would assume that the MMM team would prefer I use option 2 since they update their mod about every 6 to 12 months.

Making an FCOM version wouldn't take that much time and would be fun, all things considered (having all those extra resources ... yummy!). Of course, make a COBL version would be fun, too. And now I'm getting into making several versions of the same mod: a vanilla version, an FCOM version, a FCOM-COBL version, a COBL version .... and as crazy as that sounds, these two mods add resources that are make mods so much more fun to play. But once I start making versions, will people want just an MMM version, just an OOO version and so on. I could spend the next two years making "versions" of my mod - unless someone knows a faster way?

Already, there's a minor issue of conflicts with UL (Unique Landscapes) which will require a patch. I can't worry about that right now, though, as I need to focus on getting the vanilla version done.

~ Dani ~

I'd say, make a decision - either make MMM/FCOM and COBL a requirement, or don't. No point in creating multiple versions of the same mod to suit individual's tastes.

:laugh:


Wow, and yeah - that would be too much work.


Amen. OOO and MMM are nice, but the full FCOM experience is fantastic.


You could probably get away with making COBL a requirement - a lot of people use it anyway - and just have a vanilla and FCOM version. That would mean the least amount of work for you, and the majority of people would be happy with that. You can't please everyone, and you'd be crazy to try.


I think if you ask nicely, someone on the UL team can handle those.

Figured I'd dredge this one up again. I thought about it recently and was wondering how things are going. Although, with the weather in Chicago right now, I suppose you've got more important concerns. :tongue:

Would definitely give this a try if you can complete it. Best of luck.

OMG, "dredge" ... has it been that long. Sigh. It has, though. Update below.




Thank you for your interest.

UPDATE:

When I started this mod, someone told me I was getting in over my head, that it would take longer than I originally anticipated. They were right and it has taken longer. One thing: real life keeps interfering. Over Christmas Break, I spent a lot of time preparing a grant request for an internship I want to do next summer. This took a lot of time away.

Another issue is I got sidetracked learning to texture and model, to add enhancements to the game. For example, the Constrution Set comes with about 4 standard coffins and crypts. So far I've developed another 30 additional version to date. I've also added retexturing on certain tombstones. I've include special "crypts" that include a more polished surface and different stone types. At one point, I'd spent so much on the coffins and crypts that I considered releasing them independently as a modder's resource - but I'd like to wait until after the mod is released to do that.

And then there's the catacombs, a dungeon idea I developed while making this mod. The basic idea: forts would bury their dead beneath them in "catacombs". The idea got bigger and bigger and bigger. I finally had to stop somewhere, but some catacombs are quite large and have taken a lot of time to get right.

And finally there's quest development and scripting. Writing the quests, the dialgog, etc., was the easy part. Trying to impliment all my ideas - in a unique way that doesn't look like every other dungeon quests that's been made - is much harder.

So, yes, I do continue to work on this. I could say I've spent more than a hundred hours on this already - and it would be completely true - but a lot of people spend a lot of time on their projects. I'm not unique in that.

Thanks again for your interest and support.

~ Dani ~

Just wanted to add my encouragement and appreciation for all the effort you are expending to make, what I am sure, will be a fantatstic gaming experience - I just love quests with a good story.

Good luck and best wishes for you and the mod.

My sentiments exactly. :yes:

Yup, putting in so many hours is not unique. But don't forget that all the stuff you have learned while doing so is many times even more satisfying and rewarding than the actual release. Heck, you learned to make your own textures and edit UV maps as well if I recall correctly. Those skills can easily be dragged over once modding for Skyrim begins, so it's kind of an investment I guess. :tops:

Cheers!

You're right - I did learn a lot, including the editing of UV maps, and a bit of scripting. And I have a lot more to learn.

I wouldn't have learned that stuff without the help of very nice people like you, Arthmoor, WillieSea and many others here and over at TES Alliance.

~ Dani ~

I said I'd post some images ... here are two that I did awhile back. I'll try to take some more before the weekend.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv235/gothgirldanielle/NifSkope2010-11-1801-48-20-32.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv235/gothgirldanielle/TESConstructionSet2010-11-2019-04-37-51.jpg

~ Dani ~

Nice! Keep plugging away at it. I am so looking forward to this.

Hey! Figured you were busy with RL stuff... nice to see you're alive and well.

The pics look good, and wow - 30 variants? I'm really looking forward to playing through this.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE:

Because a couple of people have PMed about the status, here is an update for everyone:

These last fews weeks, I find myself rushing to get work on Ronin done - even to the point of being sloppy in my work. Since I don't like to be sloppy, I've forced myself to a realization: Ronin isn't going to be completed any time soon. So there it is and I'm sorry, very much so.

Today I am 11 days away from gradating from college and probably not in the best emotional state. I've spent a lot of time this semester playing video games, modding for Ronin and other mods I'm working on, hanging on the Skyrim forum and generally ignoring a 16 hour course load. Now I'm frantically trying to complete the semester and maintain what was once a near-perfect GPA.

Two weeks after I graduate from college (on Friday, May 13th, how ironic is that!), I leave for an internship at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. I will be in Russia for the entire summer. When I return, I'll have to start making some major life decisions. Graduate school or a job, and so on. Later this fall, when the dust settles, I hope to finish Ronin. Maybe I'll find time in Russia - but I really doubt that.

Sometime I admire told me today that: "Modding ain't just about having a RELz on your name, it's the fun of making it and learning so many new things along the way." In the hundreds of hours I've put in on this mod, and in creating dozens of new resources, I've learned so much about modding for Oblivion and using tools like NifScope, the TES Construction Set, a bit of Blender, and enhancing my Photoshop skills. I've also met some really great people who have kindly helped me and whose work I admire. I hope you know who you are; if you don't, that's entirely my fault.

I hope to return this fall, but in the event I don't, some thanks to:

- Bethesda Softworks for creating Oblivion, one of my favorite games of all time, and giving us the CS to play with. In all our moaning about what's wrong with Oblivion and what will be wrong with Skyrim, sometimes we don't give credit where it's due.
- StarX for encouraging me and teaching me and supporting me - and for letting me play with his katanas.
- DarkRider, Insanity Sorrow, Meo, WhoGuru and everyone else at TES Alliance for patiently answering an endless stream of questions about modding. I wouldn't have even gotten this far without you.
- Thanks to everyone else who offered to help or expressed an interest in this mod.

I'll try to drift in when I can, but I'm going to be insanely busy. In the meantime, keep your eyes on http://darkrder.webs.com/apps/videos/channels/show/527235-reclaiming-sancre-tor, as it promises to be one of the best mods ever made for Oblivion.

Peace.

~ Dani ~

Shame on you. You're supposed to screw off when you're a freshman, not a senior! :lmao:


I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but real like always takes precedence over other things. Finish it when you have the time, and don't stress over it - we'll still be here. Good luck with finals and your stuff in Russia.

Have fun in Russia...and stay safe!