Screenshots:
http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b105/shannon1978/shannon1/shannon2/

For those who dont know, I've been working on a big city mod with Barabus. Barabus is the one modeling the new buildings (well...he WAS until he dropped off the face of the earth, now its just me), and I have been doing the actual layout of the city. It has no name as of yet, simply referred to as "victorian/medieval city"...not a flashy title I know but the name is hardly important right now. This project is intended to be much more than "just" a mod. No offense to any other modders god forbid (i am teh uber moder11!!). Lately though, in my mind I have been calling it "the game" rather than "the mod". I want to take Morrowind, nay, RPGs to places they have never been before:

Namely, a huge urban environment. If theres another RPG of which I am unaware which has such a setting, please forgive my ignorance. What if Grand theft Auto took place in a victorian styled city? What if the guns were replaced by swords? What if the vehicles and gangsters were removed? Just call it "grand theft Guar"...ah forget that.

No, this mod has nothing in common with GTA other than it taking place in a big city. And when I say "big" I mean large, huge, hugely large! The scope of the city has been a problem for me in the past and still is really. This is not something which can be [censored] out in a day. I've suffered several losses of intrest, what I can only refer to "modder's block". I've unwisely squandered time and effort on failed attempts of various things, and I have found myself utterly confused by the sheer amount of CRAP I've got floating around in this thing.

All things considered though, its actually coming along quite well. I've given up on certain time-wasting endeavors, and established a mild sense of organization in all of the thousands (no exaggeration there) of object references in the mod. I've even drawn a map of the place so I can keep things organized, because there were some major inconsitancies in how the city was structured.

After months (years actually) of building streets, alleys and houses I have decided to focus more attention on dialog. Theres still much more building to be done but I need to brush up on my skills in that area. I am no college graduate so perhaps my writing is not up to par with the great authors of our time but I do know a thing or two about living in a big dirty crime infested city and I also think I have a good grasp on what makes games fun. So I am doing my best to give the NPCs of the city real personality.


~Peasants~

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I've created a huge batch of "generic" NPCs, all named "peasant". (I'll probably make a bunch of better dressed, wealthier "noble" NPCs too.)

All of these guys have random clothes (they often have no shoes), heads and hair, and their race and six is also random. The "day peasants" will disappear after dark and a much smaller number of "night peasants" will appear in their stead. They will have different dialog depending on a number of factors including time of day, location and race. They will probably be replaced by another NPC every 72 hours, which is perfectly fine by me. That will make it like a real city; full of strangers. Bretons are the most likely race to appear, with Orcs the least likely.

There will be no Argonian or Khajiit peasants. I've decided to make the city a very very racist place. All beast races are slaves and Orcs are shunned. While the humanoid races try to get along, they still much prefer the company of their own kind. Any argonian or Khajiit character entering this city can expect a chilly reception, and a completely unique experience.

The peasants are there to fill the streets, since making a million unique NPCs would be unfeasable. They have other purposes however. Namely, giving you tips as to where to find a certain quest related place or person. They will also be a hiding place for many side quests which may lead to even bigger things. If you meet certain factors and ask the right questions, you might just uncover a few, although you might have to dig very deep through many bits of idle conversation.

You can expect there to be at least a hundred peasants in the entire city, probably much more. And with so many different factors playing in to what they say, you never know what might happen.

Theres also a set of "special" peasants who behave differently. Theres the "sleepers"; guys who play a sleeping animation in beds (often in the nvde lol). Theres the "sitters" who obviously...sit. I've actually created a couple new sitting animations by PAINSTAKINGLY editing other anims with NIFscope. I don't even remember how I did it but it svcked I tell you and I'll never do it again. Theres also "drunkards" who stagger around, and "dancing fools" who dance. (you can usally find these guys near taverns) The sleepers wont take kindly of you sneaking into their bedrooms although I'm not sure of how to make them aware of your presence other than bashing them in the head. The drunkards will spout nonsense and sometimes start a fist-fight with you and the dancers will be full of mindless glee.

I've often tried to reinvent the wheel with my mods, attempting to do things that MW was never intended for. But now I am trying to play to it's strengths. MW's dialog system is quite versatile, allowing for an endless array of possibilites and long conversations. These peasants will be the lynchpin of my efforts in that regard. Some of the things they say will be utterly useless (just like real people!), but keep chatting them up and eventually you could uncover all sorts of things.

Fantastic news! :goodjob:

Funny, I was just yesterday wondering where nikki and shannon have been. Ask and ye shall receive, right? :hehe:

Wow, great to see this still going! I never commented on the previous threads or anysuch, but I was watching this back before my forced absence.
A question for Shannon that perhaps you can pass on Nikki: Is there an updated version of Barabus' building resources available? I think I have the first version and it doesn't include a lot of what I saw pictured on his website as part of a 'planned update'. I'd like to use it for my own project. I attempted to contact Barabus numerous times with no luck, and from what you say it sounds like he's truly up'd and gone'd.

Thanks!

Can't wait to roam around this place!

I've been using her Hellhouse-X like forever.

Is there an updated version of Barabus' building resources available? I think I have the first version and it doesn't include a lot of what I saw pictured on his website as part of a 'planned update'. I'd like to use it for my own project.

I'm sure shannon is glad you decided to post in this thread just to ask for meshes.
Thanks!

I didn't post in this thread simply to ask for resources. If you'll notice the first part of my post:
"Wow, great to see this still going! I never commented on the previous threads or anysuch, but I was watching this back before my forced absence."

I hold interest in this mod whether the resources are available or not. It was simply a question. One that did not need to be met with such a comment.