As the creator of 200,000+ downloads Oblivion Mod "The Romancing of Eyja", I will bring to you Unholy Darkness. Unholy Darkness is a vampire overhaul intended to bring the player unholy powers and a deep vibrant experience playing as a vampire. The only reason I bring this up is so you know the mod will not be vaporware.

Gameplay vision: I've tried tons of vampire mods, and none of them quite felt rich. Either they were strong on some scripting, but weak on graphical substance, or bug laden, etc. Don't get me wrong, there are some excellent vampire mods out there, but I believe a winning mod will have a full blown experience: Graphical, gameplay, quests, voice acting, new sounds, new places to explore and NPCS to meet, etc. I want vampires to be social experts. They should be able to manipulate the public, provided they keep a low enough profile and their true identity remains a secret. While I will try to stick to lore where I can, I feel that a quality experience overrides the need to follow lore. Lets face it, if you loved the lore and stock oblivion vampires, you wouldn't be reading this thread I fancy the idea of low level vampires hiding and if they get foolish and are caught feeding too many times or showing off in public, they will pay dire consequences and end up on the run and outlawed from cities, etc. But a vampire who follows the code and plays by the rules of the elder vampires may become a very powerful warlord, untouchable by mortal guards and laws.

I plan on releasing the mod in stages. First off I will release the vampiric powers, and then later I will add Vampire hunters, items to buy, homes, and finally quests. Then again, I might hold back until its all done. It all depends how busy RL is.

Planned Features:
The more you feed, the stronger you become. *Done
Penalties for not feeding *Done
Unlock powers as you feed and age as a vampire. *Done
Turn NPC's into vampire thralls *Done
NPC's can follow, stand guard, stay put or resume old lives
Holy damage in chapels *Done
Nocturnal Buff and Daytime Debuff *Done
Sun damage but it is reduced or eliminated for brief periods as you age and are fed. *Done
Unholy Fury. For brief periods of time, a vampire can focus his powers for a massive increase in strength, agility, super jumps. Activating this ability drains all your magicka so you cannot cast any spells while this power is active. Using this power will make you thirsty faster*Done
OBSE hotkeys for all toggle vampire powers *Done
Mask Darkness (toggle vampire appearance to mingle with mortals) *Done
Custom vampire morphs *Done
Sleep Suggestion - causes mortals to possibly go to bed so you can feed on them. (greater power) *Done
Feed through dialogue *Done
Feeding repeatedly on the same mortal causes them to either die or seek healing at local chapels.
Vampire hunters - If your infamy gets too high or you are caught, vampire hunters may seek you out.
Better sun damage shader *Done
Merchants that sell special vampire items like upgrades to player homes that add secret areas, darken the windows with curtains, add guards you can hire to alarm you if vampire hunters are trying to break in, etc. *All done except Skingrad home
Quests with two rival vampire clans, the Covenant (sophisticated ancient clan of vampires) or the rogues (unruly and chaotic, more goth looking) *Started
Vampire Hunters

Planned items:
Coffins - Coffins are required to sleep in. Similar to how real sleep mods work, vampires will need to return to their coffins to get replenished. Perhaps it will merely give you some short term daywalking ability, but I kind of see it as a daily requirement. Coffins can be bought and secret basemants can be dug and built in the player homes to store your precious home soil, which is needed for your livelihood. Otherwise, if you don't return to your coffin each night, penalties will increase. So in other words, a vampire will need to buy all the homes, in order to expand his operations, because you will be limited to a radius around your home coffin, or face the penalties. *Started

Vampire hunters will seek to destroy your coffins. So you will need to employ guards and servants in your keeps, and keep your identity a secret, or come home to find your coffin destroyed, your blood vials smashed, and your house burnt to the ground.

Vampire Hood which will conceal your identity. Useful to enter town with a bounty on your head, or if you are starving and cannot mask darkness, this hood will help reduce the chance of getting identified as a vampire.

Planed places

Vampire havens. Rough places where vampires and murderers, criminals are more than welcome. Watch your step. *Started

Player homes will have new areas you can purchase to store your secret coffin, etc. Curtains to keep the light out. *Mostly done

Vampire Guild. Basically there's two kinds of vampires. Rogues who are like bandits, free willed and do whatever they want (the kind that hang out in bloodcrust cavern), and then there is a secret ancient vampire society known as the Covenant which is organized, with rules and leaders. They have money, political power, etc. Here is where the quests can be done to learn more about the society. The player will have to pick a path at some point though. Both quests can be tried out to figure out what you want to do on your own, rather than choosing a path in the beginning before you know anything about the vampire clans.

Screenshots & Movies

New - Traditional Vampire fangs and True blood style fangs
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/fangs_traditional_final01.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/fangs_traditional_final02.jpg

http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/fangs_trueblood01.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/fangs_trueblood02.jpg

http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness09.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness08.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness13.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Tamika%20Thrall.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness21.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness31.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness32.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness_vampire_ancient_male.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness_vampire_ancient.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness46.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness47.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness24.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness25.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness26.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness27.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness28.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness29.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness30.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness22.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness23.jpg
http://downloads.4drulers.com/oblivion%20screenshots/Unholy%20Darkness01.jpg

Movies:
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/VampireBirth.wmv
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/LlordrilAndrethiQuest.wmv
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/vampire%20transformation.wmv
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness%20Effects.wmv
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness%20Secret%20Vampire%20Lair.wmv
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/TurningNPC2Vampire.wmv
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/Unholy%20Darkness%20-%20Meet%20Silian%20Valodius.wmv
http://downloads.4drulers.com/Oblivion_Mods/unholydarkness/UnholyDarknessVampiresScareHorses.wmv

Any ideas or things you would like to see are more than welcome.

Frequently Asked Questions
When Will it be done?
Hopefully by Halloween
Will it be compatible with "insert mod name here"?
If it doesn't modify vampirism, probably. But don't expect me to support unholy darkness if you have ANY other vampire mods installed.

I really don't have time for anything other than completing the rogues and covenant quests. I'm happy with the current rate of vampirism while playing OOO which many feel is too hard. If it goes any faster, I would think that it would be way too powerful against vanilla oblivion.

Yeah, no offense to the makers or anything, but if terran vampires was all that, I wouldn't be making unholy darkness. I made this mod because I got tired of waiting for the right vampire mod (for me at least) to come along and it never did.

Thanks. I think most players will like my mod, but not all. You can never make everyone happy, but I think my mod will be the most complete vampire mod out there for the average player. Some people who have very specific needs might want to use other mods, but to me, its all about atmosphere and a moderate amount of useful powers, and stimulating the feeling that you are a vampire, a sixy killing machine, lusting for blood, a beast who is hunted yet feared.

I respect your idea, but there just isn't time for it. I plan on making it so you can choose your maker, but I always disliked games where there was some sort of element of random chance. I'd deliberately reload those parts using save/load until I felt I got a fair shake at whatever it was they were offering. Like I can't stand getting a crap sigil stone so I will save my game and reload it until I get a good one. Thats just me, but I don't like designs like that, and the vampire progression stuff is already finished, and changing it to how you suggest would delay shipping the mod.

Thanks!

Thanks. I really discourage people to try both mods at the same time. I have worked hard to develop what I feel is a balanced progression and if the player gets a bunch of other perks, then I don't know how well it will play.

I don't know anything about VTM, other than the three to four hours I played of it a few years ago. I don't know anything about morrowind, so sorry, I can't do anything for you there. Its already september, so trying to do two quests which possibly rival one of the guild quests in oblivion is going to be a tall order in under two months. So at this point, I would request that people stop asking about terran vampires/VTM, and other features, because I don't have the time any more. Its time to buck up and get it done, and that means focusing on these quests.

After I ship the initial version, I can always consider adding some new stuff, but really I see myself finishing fallout 3, playing some other games and relaxing until the snow flies, then maybe do some more mods. I still need to get vampires flying, and I need to make combat feeding anims, so its going to be tough getting everything done I have planned and get it out by halloween.

But really, Madmole, I believe nobody here will hold a grudge against you if the mod is *not* released on time. I say do your things at your own pace. I am not a modder so I can't suggest anything of practical value to you, but I do know that we can be a an annoying bunch sometime

If you ask me, it would be better to play something great a month or two later than expected, rather than a rushed out mod that pleases the masses but it's full of bugs or, even worse, it feels incomplete.

Well the thing is, I've taken some suggestions and implemented them, plus added a whole lot more than I had really planned when I started. That said, the mod isn't huge, but I would say it is way more significant than my romance mod, and has a lot more content. I can't say it has more content than some of the other vampire mods out there, but it has a good amount of stuff, and if I keep adding it will never get done. I just don't want to burn out, I can already feel it some. Maybe I need a break but I'm also aware that if I stop, I will quit all together and I don't want to do that. I kind of have OCD where I just want to work on one thing. Whatever my interest is, I'm all about that. So if I get going at fallout 3 on a break, I'm scared of not releasing this at all.

So that is why I think I need to just focus on what I have to do. I think once I get the rogues and covenant roughed in, I'll get more excited again and then once I'm excited, its pretty easy to add some more cool things and keep going and going. But right now I just want to get it done, based on my original goals, THEN add more stuff. That way I can quit whenever I feel like it, and not have 2 more months of stuff to do forever and ever. I don't think there are many bugs, so don't worry about that. There might be some unfinished things, or things that are roughed in and could be better, but for the most part, there are hardly any known bugs. No crashes. My game never CTD's so don't worry about that.

yeah, I realize its a little late to do any of that. And its not a big deal anyways, especially if it would slow things down.

I think this will truely be a work of art. Some great ideas I've always wanted, and can't wait for this to be released.

As a suggestion only....is it or would it be possible to polymorph into a bat, wolf or mist?

just posting some encouragment today. Great work, keep it up I can't wait. :ahhh:

No worries, I just want to focus on completing the mod, then add in new ideas down the road if there is a big demand or interest in them.

Thanks. I had someone working on polymorphs for me but they seem to have fallen through the cracks. If I can figure it out I would like maybe a wolf transformation as an earlier power for faster land travel at least. Mist is not really possible due to the way collision is handled. I mean what is the point of being mist if you can't get places a visible character can, and from a game play perspective if noone can hit you, that seems like a cheat as well, so I think I'll pass on mist. I already have a bat transformation working, but its more like marcus from underworld, not a true morph into a tiny bat like old dracula movies.


Thanks. I started roughing out the rogue quests last night.

Great job madmole, will your mod and starX's mod be compitable? I heard him say something about it a while ago. star's mod (The Vampires of House Serentin) only adds a guild and doesn't mess with the vampire mechanics in oblvion. One more thing, will you use StarX's Witch Hunter Armor for some of your vampire hunters? http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/WitchHunterMale01.jpg

i don't think so, ithink this concentrates more on vampires not vampire hunters.
and yes, starx said this hopefully would be compatible with house serentin.

Again, Great work!

You're right, the experience is far more important than the endless possibilities of various vamp buff combinations.

thank you sasuke

Well Madmole, your starting to sound a little fizzled haha, i just thought i would drop in to say;

Keep at it, i understand the frustration with time etc, but im sure just sticking to the quests you should be able to get it done. The thing is, finished, be it rough round the edges or not, you are going to get a landslide of praise (and probably incompatabilities with random mods ) but mostly the praise. Hopefully this will give you the well needed boost you want to continue your mod. Off course after a well deserved break, but after a month or so im sure there will be more then enough ideas, praise, bug reports etc for you to get the will to continue improving your brain child.

And i do sympathise with you because of everyone just flooding you with comments that are not quest related, and the urge to add more, but the frustration to keep on track for your deadline.

If i have any idea's on cool quest ideas i shall be sure to share them, not to overburden but hopefully just to boost some ideas for the guild quest.

KEEP GOING MADMOLE!!!

Awesome work so far

Balthazzar

Just came by to keep up the encouragement! Can't wait for it to be done! Until It's done I'll be driving my computer crazy! :flamethrower: :brokencomputer:

Yeah! i'm sure a few people (like myself ) are putting off Vampirism till this mod comes out, keep at it man! :goodjob:

I appreciate the moral support everyone has given.

I've been working on it when I can, and I hope to log some long hours sunday and maybe monday if I take the day off. I am not really fizzling out or anything, but 3 weeks of work with only half a day off has me a bit burnt out. I hope to take a few days off starting Sunday. It gets frustrating when I don't have adequate time to sit down and work on it, so hopefully that will be resolved soon

Anyhow, I'm open to quest/mission ideas for the rogues and covenant, but no other feature requests at this time.

You read in the Black Horse Cousier that 4 people have been brutally murdered by vampires that left the mark of the convenant. You talk to the Convenant because if they get exposed it will put all vampires at risk. So, you talk to a Convenat member who tells you they are being framed by the rogues who take orders or listen to no one. you must find out where the rogues are and kill the one responsible. Or will you help the rogues' leader Maleo who's only surviving human relative (Morgana) was killed and turned by the convennt leader Syf.

I forgot to mention erlier, for flying for your final form, check out midas magic. There is a flying angel wings spell, this works by adding a neck item to the character which looks like animated wings, there is also a script that makes you move through the three axis. Maybe you could use the script or similar.
Also there is a wolf polymorph spell, where the player becomes invisable and mounts a wolf to give the effect. You could look at both of these.
I think if you add any polymorphs such as wolf you should have texture and model differences to show its a vampire, i don't like to transform into the vanilla wolf and look exactly the same.
Just adding maybe a paler wolf, blue style glowing vampire eyes, and fangs that stick out of the mouth.

I shall drop in any quest ideas if they come to me!

Thanks for the ideas.

I think I remember someone saying that, but thanks for reminding me, because it sounds like it has exactly what I'm looking for. I don't want the character to get the uber speed power right away, so for faster traveling turning into a wolf will be great for lower level vampires. Does it let you fight or is it basically just like riding a horse?

The flight part sounds good too as you mentioned the wings flap? I'm hoping to have flight with collision though, does its flight have collision on ceilings and walls?

Anyhow, thanks for the ideas, I'm bored with quests right now and haven't been working on the mod so coding in some new features is exactly what I need to get motivated again.

Sorry if I sound insane right now, I'm telling people to stop talking about features yet I want to add more. But these were on the todo list already so I don't mind working on them. Maybe I should just change my release date to when its done, sometime after halloween, as I feel pressured trying to put together two major quests in under two months. I think when something your not getting paid to do, and do from spare time needs to be fun, and lately its been more of a chore than fun at times. Its mostly quest writing I don't like that much because its a lot of steps when you make multiple paths, actually add voice acting and lip sync files, post fx on the vocals, quest markers, etc.

Here are some main spoilers to give people adequate information about the clans so they can assist me with potential quest ideas.
I see the covenant as powerful and has existed for 1000's of years, where the rogues are a few ex members who were exiled for not following orders, or for getting reckless, etc. The covenant allows small vampire clans or exiles to exist in caves but they cannot enter any city or they are to be executed. So the rogues have grown in numbers by turning small settlements and villages and have been operating like mafia, and are now wealthy enough to hire the dark brotherhood and even vampire hunters to pick off the covenant members to weaken them and mostly instill fear. The covenant is for the most part all contained in a secret realm, similar to oblivion or shivering isles. They have small offices located in each city similar to a government embassy. The rogues are taking out the embassys, stealing blood potion deliveries, because the covenant doesn't like feeding on humans except for survival, and the human should be willing, like in a loving relationship or a human who really wants to be a vampire.

So some rogue type missions would be:
First of all, intercept blood shipments from the covenant.
Maybe put muscle on local shops to give a percentage of their business to the rogues, or else.
Pick off covenant members
Destroy portals to the covenant secret realm
Establish havens at overthrown covenant embassy

Covenant type missions might be:
Deliver or protect blood shipments
Join the death dealers (an inner clan guild) and start tracking/eliminating rogues who are attacking covenant embassies.
Remove rogue threats to the cities
Secure portals to the covenant realm
Locate and destroy rogue nests

Some personal type inner clan quests could be:
Drain several humans dry to prove you are not soft and have no humanity.
Kill or turn a bunch of guards in x city
Fetch a few artifacts which are useful for vampires
Earn some new powers by training quests
Follow missions where you are getting broke in and are just tagging along so you feel like a newb, instead of put in charge and meant to go solo like most oblivion quests.


Anyhow, I'd like to hear some more quest ideas that are inline with the information I've given. They don't even need to be specific, but even something fairly broad, like even a link to another games walk through that may have had some cool missions that could be ported to a vampire world. I don't want to install or play a game, but I just want to read about some missions, etc.

I checked on youtube and the Angel Wings looks like it has collision and you can attack as a wolf.

If it really feels like a chore, I wouldn't mind if the release date became whenever. I'd say most people say the same.

Some Quest Ideas:
I remember (vaguely) some kind of trials for vampires becoming mature in Darren Shan. Maybe at a certain vampirism lvl (low-mid lvl, a "mature" vampire) you could have some sort of quest like that?

From what I remember, there was a trial involving spikes, one with fire and one with water.

Well, it one just be a dungeon with a load of traps, so it is a test of how aware you are.
You should have no items and be silenced, so you can't heal yourself.

A problem would be that it can't be too easy for a high-lvled character and it can't be impossible for a low-lvled character. Is it possible to level traps?

Maybe with the fire one it would be a large, empty room.

The room would have a bunch of spellcasters that are scripted to die after a few minutes, while you are silenced and have no items (any way to stop them from punching the guys?) to test how responsive you are

So you'd go into this room, silenced and with no items, where a bunch of levelled spellcasting enemies are.
You have to dodge their spells (or don't, but then you'd probably die) untill they run out of time.
Then you'd be allowed to leave the room.

There should be a third one, but I can't think of it.
So the quest isn't really short, you should have them right after another (with a rest room between them, where you can sleep and feed).

:shrug: Just some ideas.

I remember their being collision for the wing spell in midas magic. Ill go check it out right now just to be sure tho. I have no clue about the polymorph one, but ill check that out to...now to find that cheat for midas.

edit:
Alright, I checked it out and their is collision in Midas spells, and as for the wolf polymorph it looks like it does just turn you invisible and you mount the wolf.

edit2:

Theirs a polymorph mod that lets you turn into a wolf and you can attack. The mod is "for testing only", so if you were to use part of its code it would need to be fixed. I just tried it out and i would still see my character behind the wolf until i went into 1st person then came back, but it was also hard to see because of the camera placement.Also you cant jump so you get stuck in the same places NPC's would. anyways http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5814 it is, might be worth checking out. Sorry if youve already looked at this mod, i think you or someone else has mentioned it in one of your threads, i may be wrong tho.

death dealers!

Also a little piggy backing on vanilla quests wouldn't be bad. As it might be less work but could give you more to do as a vampire. If you're a higher ranking mage's guild member, they might want to use your resources a little better. Though guild quests are not 'for anyone' there can be other quests that could have a vampire twist appended to it. Daedric for one. and maybe something that could go along with earlier stages of main quest.

One thing I'd like to see is established Lore tie-ins. This book (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Manifesto_Cyrodiil_Vampyrum) in the game seems to describe what you'd call the covenant. Also, in Morrowind, the Vampires of Vvardenfell indicate a few interesting things, specifically about vampire hunters (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Vampires_of_Vvardenfell).

Here's a relevant excerpt:


This seems to indicate Vampires hunters were turned back, might make for an interesting quest.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Trap
Also, this book is down right creepy.

Lastly, think you can throw in a few small molag-bal statues/tapestries/other that indicate that the Vampires worship him as the original father? Maybe have the occasional odd permanent-living minor daedra or two kept as a "pet" or what not.

Hi
I just want to offer my encouragement for what seems to be an amazing mod!

As for the wolf polymorph, what about checking out Lithians Nature Of The Beast Mod http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=20119
This mod lets you transform into a wolf, and I think you are able to attack in this form. Also the polymorph spell from this mod seems to b alot more stable than the one from midas magic (I've had several crashes when using this spell from midas)

the darren shan book is 1 i got in my bookshelf and it is Spikes Fire Water and some animal shizle but the idea is nice