[WIP] University of Cyrodiil {UoC} - II : IV - Oblivion

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 11:17 am

You have FIVE DEGREES? Bachelors, Masters, Ph.D?

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 12:32 pm

You have FIVE DEGREES? Bachelors, Masters, Ph.D?

I am not that wise! Just 4 associates and a bachelors.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 6:36 am

I have a suggestion for the astrology (or something) room: I imagined it as a sort of http://marvel.com/universe3zx/images/8/8d/Cerebra.jpg, with the inside surface of the sphere showing the night sky. The chairs, the speaker's podium and such would be supported in mid air. I'd do it myself and send it to you, but my model-fu is weak. If you can, make it so that if looks like some grey panelling, at first, and then the professor turns off the lights and BANG! comes the sky, which rotates slowly on the spot. I do have, however, a globe with the sky on the outside. If you want the globe, I need an email address and credit.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 8:01 pm

Oh wow! :drool: Now I need to add at least one lecture dealing with astrology in the Geography course! This would simply be too much fun to not use! I haven't tried modeling yet, but it doesn't seem like I'll enjoy it very much. But who knows? I'll keep it in mind when I ([someone]) build(s) the lecture halls.

Anyway, here's another screenie for you all.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/9387/screenshot11kvw.png

I'll post some more after ImageShack decides to work.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 9:03 pm

For the meals,i believe an inside dining hall would be more 'normal'.
Use some looong dining tables,spaced like in the first picture,and u can get a 'full' dining hall,while still being open enough for easy npc passage (cant have them walking up,over and against stuff,now can we? )

I like the idea of the 'fake' students.Fills up the academy withouth much work and limited scripts.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:35 pm

I've a few more screenshots for you all.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/1449/screenshot12k.png
http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/551/screenshot13.png
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/9436/screenshot14.png
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/2808/screenshot15q.png
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/5793/screenshot17.png
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/2659/screenshot18s.png
http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/641/screenshot19m.png
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/404/screenshot20.png

Enjoy.

Today I'll probably add the NPC's outside the stables who will advertise the University.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 5:09 pm

Hey guys,
Ok, first of all I AM NOT DEAD! I do however feel slightly deceased, see below...

First of all I want to offer a HUGE apology to both the team and the followers and although this excuse sounds pretty lame, it is the truth (I wish it wasn't). The reason for my recent absense is unfortuantly quite bland and boring - the shelves at ASDA to do not fill themselves... Basically I have been working about 8-10 hours a day about 5 days a week filling shelves at a supermarket. I thought at the beginning of this holiday I would have plenty of free time, unfortuantly that hasn't become reality. Firstly I was given loads of hours to cover peoples holidays etc which already left me with only a few days off here and there - this wasn't so bad but the fear of Swine Flu hasn't help - basically if anyone at work even sneezes they have to take a week off work, that means a weeks worth of usually full-time hours needs to occupied and unfortuantly I'm often the one who has to do it. Added to this I have problems with my flat where I go to university so frequently on my days off I have to drive for 2 hours to let workmen into the flat and make sure they don't piss in the bath or steal my tele. Once you've added time spent with the girlfriend and other essential obligations I don't have much time for modding, at least not time when I'm not knackered and/or pissed off.

I feel really bad for not keeping in touch, I did try for a few weeks but not much was happening on the thread - however from the looks of things a lot has been happening in my absense. I haven't been able to read all the new posts yet since, sure enough, I have work in 30 minutes, but when I've got time, maybe later tonight or tomorrow morning I will read them all from both this and the old thread and added any replies etc. A big thanks goes out for GangstaWolf for keeping the mod alive - I really appreciate it and your dedication only makes me feel even more guilty.

Basically my absense has meant the mod has not really been able to progress since all depends on finishing the initial world-building. I have made a bit of progress with basic geometry - like corridors, halls etc but I haven't gone into detail yet. Luckily someone has contacted me offering help in this department so that might kick some life into the ol' girl and also help share the burden a bit.

Once again if anyone else is interested in helping out please do PM me.

Sorry once again and thanks for keeping up the interest.

Cheers,

Mark

P.S. The plus side of this whole situation however that I can know afford a new computer! Although that doesn't help you guys out much...

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:01 am

Thankfully, you are back, Mark. We thought you had died and left us with a great mod to WIP.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:24 am

OK, to reply to a couple of questions posed in the forums.

This might be kind of cheesy, but how about starting a party. It would be a unique quest and humorous. There are already dancing animations out there so those would be easier to apply. The pc would have to obtain beer/skooma or whatever floats your boat as well as make sure that the teachers are "detained"(hit with a paralyze scroll or given a sleeping agent)

And perhaps you could have different factions (fraternities/sororities) within the university, I'm kind of drawing off harry potter, but there would be a good faction and an evil faction. Depending on which you join or if you decide to join you would be given different quests. The good faction would perhaps research the nine divines eventually locating a lost shrine or riding a cursed monastery of evil magic (Cadlew Chapel) While the evil faction could find a lost shrine to sithis or perhaps uncover some ancient ayleid magic. And whichever side you choose would have teachers that reflected their faction.

I agree with GangstaWolf - this sounds like a pretty sweet idea. Hopefully the initial release will have two kind of societies which are basically mini guides. These are essentially a 'good student' and a 'cheaters' guild (expect better names in the final release) - basically access to either of these will be provided to the player if they reach a certain number of marks by a certain point in time. If a student does extremely well then they be offered access into the 'gifted over-achiever' guild - which will perhaps offer the player opportunities to gain even more marks as well as cash and items. Alternatively if, say, by the third week the student has only achieved very few marks they may be approached by the 'cheaters guild' - an underground society which provides the player the opportunity to cheat at their final exam as well as perhaps alter records to make them look they attended lectures etc - expect stealth based missions etc. Also perhaps the 'over-achievers' and 'cheaters' guild can be arch-rivals and therefore we could add some kind of missions such as the cheaters guild discrediting the super-students and the over-achievers guild exposing the cheaters guild. What do you think?

The Aylied magic class might be implemented as a lecture, or even as one of your field lectures. As long as there's plenty of lore to go with it, I'm down for it if I write that subject.

I agree with this - I would imagine the arcanology lectures would include one of aylied magic and the use of aylied ruins etc will probably feature centrally in the arcanology masters degree.

Also, I think you should include more choices for degrees than just one for each stat, and that there should be levels in a degree (eg, Intern-Apprentice-Resident-Expert-Master) like the Associate-Bachelor-Master-Doctor (Simplified. You wouldn't believe how many there are) system in RL.

There are 2 courses for each degree - an undergraduate (Bachelors) and post-graduate (Masters degree) - bachelor degrees are mostly class work based (+ various extra side missions which can help) while Masters are field-research based and require the player to complete quests in order to add words to their dissertation. Its up to the player how many words they want to add and how they complete missions will alter what reward they achieve - for example the player may be offered the opportunity to either keep a historical artifact for themselves or submit it to their tutor who will provide extra information (words for the dissertation) on the artifact - however as a result the tutor takes the item for the University's collection.

Now, I need to write up a quest as to how the player learns of the University... I need your ideas as to how I can do this. I've thought of a couple ways:

1. An invitation letter appearing once you leave the sewers: A decent approach, especially for people who want to roleplay with this mod in mind, but a severe oddity for those who just got out of prison, 'found' a university invitation letter in their pack, and decide to go take a few courses in Geography before giving the Amulet of Kings to Jauffre.
2. Talking to someone to let you know about the university: This method also is good and probably the safest. We put the NPC just outside of the Imperial city and the quest begins from there.

I think the second method is more immersive and realistic - I've always found 'arriving out the sewer methods' as a bit wierd, also it requires the player to start a new game ( although I suppose it could simply be added to their inventory when the mod is installed. I had always imagined placing posters, recruiters etc around, maybe a black courier advert. I like your leaflet idea though. I mean universities in real life really compete for students so there might be some advertisemant.

I like Idea #2. Also, you can build BELOW ground, also. As in several basemant levels of extra classrooms/space. Something tells me that this university would look better as smaller buildings...but huge underground levels!

Thats basically what I'm doing at the moment. The university basically consists of 2 main areas - the courtyard and the keep - the courtyard is, as you prefered, a collection of smaller buildings - various stores, the library, security office etc. The keep is the main building with a grand hall, some accomodation, tutor offices, lecture theatres etc. The lecture theatres are located below ground (in a converted dungeon to be precise - the university is basically a converted castle) - don't expect them to look like dungeons though - they've been spruced up quite a bit. Building underground is always handy for a modder as it means the physical size of the interiors is not limited to the size of the exteriors - so it allows large areas - such as the lecture theatres to be built without taking up valuable exterior space. Ofcourse in terms of the ground level interior areas I've tried to prevent a TARDIS affect by limiting them in size to match the exteriors.

I have a suggestion for the astrology (or something) room: I imagined it as a sort of huge Cerebro style room, with the inside surface of the sphere showing the night sky. The chairs, the speaker's podium and such would be supported in mid air. I'd do it myself and send it to you, but my model-fu is weak. If you can, make it so that if looks like some grey panelling, at first, and then the professor turns off the lights and BANG! comes the sky, which rotates slowly on the spot. I do have, however, a globe with the sky on the outside. If you want the globe, I need an email address and credit. tongue.gif

I have added an astrology tower to the keep building. It's no where on the scale of what you suggested (which I love) but it is basically an outpost of an Imperial Astrology Society which acts to chart the movement of the serpent formation as well as other general astrology. I'll send a screenshot once I've got it lighted properly etc.

Thats about it for now.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 11:32 am

I might be able to write some lectures, but I would need some guidance on how you want it done. 2-4 Word pages, you say. What level should they be? Introductory lectures that goes through the basics? What should be included? And for which subjects do you need lectures written?

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 8:57 pm

That's all up to you--just PM Mark or me and we'll fill you in on what it is exactly we're looking for. But basically you decide exactly what it is you want to write about. I'll happily PM you the specifics later today as now I've slightly pressed for time. But thanks for taking an interest in the mod.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 12:14 pm

Maybe you can make it so you can become part of the Security guards in the University, instead of a student also.

and maybe you could also try to make smarter AI Speech like stuff

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 8:18 pm

We do have some quest planned where you play the 'good guy' and do some undercover missions for the Security Guards like finding out which students are holding illegal drugs and such. Though I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'smarter AI speech'.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 5:03 am

Such as making the NPC's have smarter speech in the university.. such as when you click rumors instead of "Don't Orcs eat horses. and sometimes i think they are the smart one." you hear "Have you heard, Joey and Jane are going steady with each other", "Professor Jenkins is giving us extra Homework to do, why couldn't i have Professor Bob" Ect ect. stuff like that

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 5:59 pm

Yeah, stuff like that is totally possible. I can see how it would add to the immersion, and it shouldn't be too difficult to do.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:02 pm

Hey,
I've been doing some work on the main entrance hall to the university keep and just thought I'd chuck some screenshots up. Basically the Grand Hall consists of two main areas, an entrance foyer which houses a small museum complete with ancient skeletons, and the main hall area, the central focus of which consists of a large marble statue of Julianos (the God of wisdom and justice).

Here's the screenshots:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/Oblivion2009-09-0122-25-23-57.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/Oblivion2009-09-0122-24-05-25.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/Oblivion2009-09-0122-24-15-28.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/Oblivion2009-09-0122-24-31-60.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/Oblivion2009-09-0122-25-41-15.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/uniform.jpg

Please bear in mind these are still in development. I'm still experimenting with the lighting a bit and I need to add more clutter. Also my computer is pretty crap so my view distance isn't very good. Anyway let me know what you think.

Such as making the NPC's have smarter speech in the university.. such as when you click rumors instead of "Don't Orcs eat horses. and sometimes i think they are the smart one." you hear "Have you heard, Joey and Jane are going steady with each other", "Professor Jenkins is giving us extra Homework to do, why couldn't i have Professor Bob" Ect ect. stuff like that

Ye this isn't a bad idea, and seems easier enough to implement - although I'm sure even our own rumours will soon become tiresome, unless we some how make them specific to how long you've spent at the university? For example you towards the end of your term students become increasingly worried about exams and revision etc.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 9:47 am

Wow! :drool: Those pictures are amazing! The first couple seriously made me widen my eyes from their sheer beauty.

As for the rumors, that's simple enough to do through conversation conditions. We just add a global variable and set it to one whenever the player reaches the fourth lecture and voilla, problem solved. Though something that would be quite irksome would be the fact that there would be no actual voices during these conversations. After all, we don't just all go to university to stick our heads in a bool, some people like to socialize between classes, and it'll feel a little awkward having the entire campus remain silent, so for the conversations rumors I think it would be best to keep them how it is. Instead we add a ''Campus Rumors' option where the NPC will give you a bit of rumors about the university and such and just disable the original rumors option on each NPC.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 4:46 pm

And then there was the insane janitor who thought he was a member of the Dark Brotherhood...

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 8:15 am

Can I put forth my honest opinion? Everything looks great, but you know the congradulations message that comes up after you complete the entrance exam? I think it looks too "modern", meaning there's too many words that make it look out of place in the world of oblivion. Since this mod looks like it's suppose to have some kind of lore compatability, I would suggest changing some of the greats and other "modern" words to more appropriate words.

Finally, have you guys figured out the tests and quizzes yet? If not, may I suggest placing a parchment on the player's desk. Then, upon activation, a message box pops up numbered one with a question on it. There are four options below. Choose an answer, and then you go on to #2, then #3, etc. After the test is all done, it's then added into your inventory, and you take it up to your teacher. He then tells you your score. (This is based on a variable that counts the wrong and right answers).

Just my opinion.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 10:45 am

Can I put forth my honest opinion? Everything looks great, but you know the congradulations message that comes up after you complete the entrance exam? I think it looks too "modern", meaning there's too many words that make it look out of place in the world of oblivion. Since this mod looks like it's suppose to have some kind of lore compatability, I would suggest changing some of the greats and other "modern" words to more appropriate words.

Glad you liked it. I'm not sure what you're referring to in regards to the congratulations message - I don't think we've written one yet - unless GangstaWolf has done one.

Finally, have you guys figured out the tests and quizzes yet? If not, may I suggest placing a parchment on the player's desk. Then, upon activation, a message box pops up numbered one with a question on it. There are four options below. Choose an answer, and then you go on to #2, then #3, etc. After the test is all done, it's then added into your inventory, and you take it up to your teacher. He then tells you your score. (This is based on a variable that counts the wrong and right answers).

Ye thats basically how we envisioned it. The scoring system of the mod will use misc quest items. Basically for every positive action the player does - such as attend a lecture, ask a good question after a lecture, general behaviour, some side quests and answering correct answers in the final exam will all add one 'Mark' to the players inventory - then at the end of the course the number of 'marks' gathered will affect what kind of reward the player receives.

Regarding the exam would it be possible to make the questions the exam asks 'random'. Basically what I mean is if we, say, have 25 questions in the final exam can we actually write around 50 and then use a script which pulls a question out from this 'pool', so no two exams are ever the exact same. This way the player can't simply quick load if they didn't do well on the exam. Does that make sense? I suppose the alternatives are 1. we don't tell the player which answers they got correct and which they got wrong. 2. we have a week long marking period - the player only learns how well they've done after this week - so players who do want to reload will have to lose a weeks worth of playing time?

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 9:11 am

Nope, I've done nothing dealing with the entrance exam. Would you mind being a bit more specific, Kroot?

As for the test, I think a combination of one and two would make it simple and fair. Not only would it be a bit more immersive (because instructors don't know your grade the second you turn in an exam), but it would prevent any sort of cheating from the player. Maybe we can even make a quest where the player sneaks into the instructor's quarters, steals his exam, and switches the answers around.

Besides, the latter two options are less work for us.

The message-box is also the way I see it being done. Does in-game time still pass while during a message box? That would mean a simple way of making the exam timed.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 1:28 pm

I trawled through the old thread and found this written by GangstaWolf:

Alright! So you just passed your entrance exam with flying colors! Good for you! Now that means you get a major discount when it comes to tuition. If you didn't pass, you would still be allowed to go to the university, but you would receive little to no discount, so it pays to do well, literally.

What now though? Now you need to choose a subject, one which caters to your needs and interests. Maybe you'd like to study Imperial politics, or maybe you're interested in learning about Nirn's many creatures and races. Perhaps you'd like to learn about the many religions that the people of Nirn share... Whatever you wish to study, the Imperial University probably has it. It is located just West of Cheydinhal, so residence in the Imperial City isn't recommended, especially if you've your timescale set to a high setting or if your only mode of transportation is jogging through the roads. While it is perfectly fine to stay in the local inns and taverns, it is much better to simply stay at one of the University's dormitories. This way, you get to experience student life, have more money in your pocket, and be conveniently close to the University grounds! After all, no one wants to wake up at 9:00 with a class at 9:10 at Newlands Lodge! There a plenty of different dorms to choose, some more expensive than others, the cheapest being no more than 100 Drakes per semester! Of course, the quality of the dorm also increases with the price....

Is that what you were referring to Kroot? Because, correct me if I'm wrong, I assumed that was just a bit of explanation about how the mod would work.

Also, I've been taking a little break from world-building today and instead developed some posters and notices which I think will add some realism and atmosphere to the public areas. You can take a look below:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/TIUArenaAdvert.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/TIUGuestLectures.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/TIUHugAMinotaur.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/TIULustyArgonianMaid.jpg - Thanks to heavymouse at deviantart.com for allowing me to use her picture.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/TIUNecromancyDebate.jpg

Hope you enjoy.

Cheers

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 8:29 am

Oh...that. Whoops. Yeah, that's only a small explanation on how the mod would function. Those aren't the words this mod will be using (unless Mark wants to, of course). So don't pay much heed to that.

The pictures were hilarious! My favorite would probably be the third one. I can already see a bunch of Oblivion PETA members going around forests to hug minotaurs! Oh wow, that was good.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 8:46 pm

The pictures were hilarious! My favorite would probably be the third one. I can already see a bunch of Oblivion PETA members going around forests to hug minotaurs! Oh wow, that was good.

Lol. Glad you liked them. I sense a side quest here - having to save the minotaur huggers from their ill advised expedition.

» Sat Jul 17, 2010 6:36 pm

I trawled through the old thread and found this written by GangstaWolf:

Is that what you were referring to Kroot? Because, correct me if I'm wrong, I assumed that was just a bit of explanation about how the mod would work.

Also, I've been taking a little break from world-building today and instead developed some posters and notices which I think will add some realism and atmosphere to the public areas. You can take a look below:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/TIUArenaAdvert.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/TIUGuestLectures.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/TIUHugAMinotaur.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/TIULustyArgonianMaid.jpg - Thanks to heavymouse at deviantart.com for allowing me to use her picture.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/Daedalus2512/TIUNecromancyDebate.jpg

Hope you enjoy.

Cheers

So great!

Thats what makes good mods, the immersive work, love it.