Stirk NPCs [Infragris]

[Infragris]

Having exams now, probably wont be able to do much for this until the end of January. I may have some design docs for other things ready soon, though.

[Infragris]

Update. Not a lot to say, mostly cleaning up dialogue conditions and reviewing topics.

[Infragris]

Good point. There were already some quest designs lying around, I've moved them to the appropriate area.

EDIT: also, update on this claim. I'm working on leveled creature lists.

• PC_Ex_Stirk_Crabs: mudcrabs, diseased mudcrabs, and mooncrabs.
• PC_Ex_Stirk_Wildlife: rats, diseased rats, goblins. Maybe some wild donkeys? We should update this with goats and the like when we have more creatures.
• PC_In_Ayleid_lev...: Welkynd Spirits, Atronachs. Quite meager. I'm thinking about adding some skeletons to keep this fresh. In the future, we could replace these with more appropriate critters (Aurorans, Ayleid Liches, Nedic Servitors, ...)
• PC_In_Cave_All_lev...: rats. We really need more wildlife. Luckily, our current caves are either goblins or grottos, which we can populate with sealife.
• PC_In_Coltomb_lev...: ghosts (our own versions, no ancestor ghosts), skeletons, and Nordic skeletons from Bloodmoon (seems appropriate for these old tombs).

[worsas]

If we are going to use the Draugr from Bloodmoon, maybe we can have a slightly retextured ones to make a distinction between between the two, and that we can have a Draugr that fits/blends in our own Colovian Tombs.

Didn't you see that we have got a walking mummy for the colovian tombs? It's essentially a modified draugr.

The troll by r-zero is a good find, also because it nearly matches our cavetroll at shotn here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/223 ... etroll.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

With a little bit additional distinction, his troll would be ideal for a cyrodillic variant.
The glass berserker is of little relevance to us, since glass is a mostly morrowindic resource and should be even rarer in Cyrodiil than it already is in Morrowind. To us Glass is still a volcanic resource from Vvardenfell and not an universally available resource as seen in Oblivion and Skyrim.

[Infragris]

That cave troll would need a decent retexture. And I'd prefer work based on the shotn model, to avoid every troll having his own identical club (though a version with a club could feature as a higher-level version).

What worsas said about the glass. We could have a modified skeleton wearing Colovian armor pieces, those are relatively easy to make. The same thing goes for the Ayleid: we could have a number of walking undead servants and liches to populate Ayleid ruins... if we had Ayleid armor as a base to work with.

I'll look into Neoptolemus' work. I think I remember him having a number of well-made creatures, but also using a ton of edited NPC races, which tends to create problems (no soul-trap ability, for starters).

But creatures are difficult to make, and not the priority they may seem. The leveled lists allow us to retroactively introduce them in finished areas.

[worsas]

That cave troll would need a decent retexture. And I'd prefer work based on the shotn model, to avoid every troll having his own identical club (though a version with a club could feature as a higher-level version).

It might be possible to create a version of his troll with removed club and with our weapon-less animation assigned to it. His troll looks very cool, in my opinion. For some reason I cannot find the mod within TESNexus. Can you link me to it?

[Saint_Jiub]

I've tried retexturing that cave troll before, the UV maps in the face are a disaster. If somebody could make a less distorted version, I have a few ideas in mind for a Cyrodiilic troll.

[Infragris]

Oh wow. Looks like he took the Udyrfrykte model and pasted a retextured trollbone helmet and a pair of dunmer ears on top of it. The result is pretty convincing, all things considered.

I have no idea how to work creatures and animations, but I think in this case it should be possible to fix the offending UV parts separately. I'll have a look at it tomorrow.

[worsas]

I tried it and removing the club and exchanging the kf-file with the one of the skyrim cave troll works out of the box. So here is the kf-file for general usage.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/223 ... unarmed.kf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Infragris]

Here's an edited version of the trollface. This UV should be more manageable. I've also included the offending troll skull as a separate mesh file: you can edit this independently and then copy/paste the NiTriShapeData block over the original ones.

[Saint_Jiub]

Significantly better, thank you

[Infragris]

In other lovely news, the CS randomly wiped a ton of dialogue conditions from my files. So that's a lot of progress gone. good times good times

[worsas]

uff, that's not good news.

I don't know, if any of the lost conditions were related to cells the npcs have to be in. Saving a file without a cell carrying this name, will make the respective dialogue conditions vanish. That's at least one pitfall I have come across, myself.

[Infragris]

Nah, it was some weird thing with function and global parameters being wiped. I think I switched between the CS, MWEdit and TESame too often.

On a positive note, you can now rent a room in the Safe Harbor Inn.

[Infragris]

Progress report: mostly small and tedious work. All interior items have been assigned ownership. Working on AI setting (alarm, flee, animations). Some minor issues fixed. Considering the problems that large-scale dialogue files seem to present, I'm going to cut up the big file in small, topical .esp files that can be reviewed merged on an individual basis (regions, food items, etc.)

Two concepts that would like to implement:

• Census & Excise: when the player first gets off the boat, they are accosted by Lysandro Draco, the local chief of the Census office, who presents them with a short questionnaire. This is a shortened, tongue-in-cheek version of the character creation in Seyda Neen: what's your name, births sign, class, that kind of thing. It would also give some basic information about the island's layout, and about Cyrodiil in general. The player can bribe or use speechcraft to skip it. Afterwards, the player is directed to the Town Hall to get some papers stamped, which leads the them into the direction of Stirk's main quest. Of course, the player can just drop the papers and forget it, in true Morrowind style.
• Haron the Peddler: a little bit further along the docks is a shady sailor named Haron, who tries to sell the player useless enchanted items: an amulet of Sanguine's Blessing, a ring of Clavicus' Benevolence, that kind of thing. If the player talks to him, he will clarify some of the cultural differences between Morrowind and Cyrodiil, like the Daedra worship and necromancy things. He can also point the player to the important inns and taverns, where they can get information about other available quests.

[Infragris]

Thanks, these look great. Now I can move some of the sailors down into the ships. Did you have a specific ship in mind for each of these interiors?


I've been thinking about a Colovian Barow naming scheme again, and I think I've come up with a decently unique system: multiple-word names in the native Colovian tongue. Examples:

• Isvor Strid Barrow
• Ver Shrahiner Barrow
• Val Ansvech Barrow
• Gyldr Fel Barrow
• Car Toronr Barrow
• Rilsyl Naska barrow
• Val Gyldr Barrow

This is fairly unique (no other dungeon type uses multiple words in their names), still has meaning, and allows for a good level of variation while still using repeating motives. The system can also be expanded for the more elaborate barrow complexes of the Barrowlands, featuring short, poetic sentences, perhaps.

I would propose using the other barrow naming scheme (old-Colovian words that have morphed into phonetic similarities in the modern tongue) for caves and grottos in Colovia: it makes more sense for the Colovians to have forgotten their original names for a cavern than those of a burial ground.

[Infragris]

Hmmm. This is tricky, we already had some designs/NPCs drawn up for sailors and their cargo here. Ideally, at least one of the ships should the a fishing trawler. Also not sure how to use the prison ship. I'll see if I can make it work.

[worsas]

I've had a random thought on the townguards in the goldcoast: Perhaps, exchange their current faces for one of the bearded or one of the darker-skinned ones (someone looking less disciplined)? This would help to make them look less much like legion soldiers already, while the question of the armor design is still unsettled.

[vrolok]

Personally, I would love to see guards with different faces if possible. As for armor design, I am sure it will be settled soon.

[Infragris]

I can change their faces around a bit, but I think I'll refrain from messing with the guards until the debate is settled.

Any opinions on the barrow names?

[worsas]

I feel that there is a lack of power in the new naming. If it was just "Ver Shrahiner" and not "Ver Shrahiner Barrow", it would be a different matter. But in either case, I don't get much Colovian flavour out of the name or my mind has just not managed to capture it yet. Questions of non-genericness aside, looking at some of the Skyrimic barrow names and carrying them over to the old Colovian language might work. I don't know. These two-word-composed names don't carry the power that I'd like to see on something Colovian. I could see something similar work for Nibenese, however.

[vrolok]

Yes, great idea! Drop the "Barrow" from the name, it actually sounds much better. Player will soon learn that these are barrows, either through dialogues or exploration, so it isn't necessary to keep it, but sounds much better without it. That's what I think.

P.S. They should sound different from Ayleid names though

[Infragris]

Like these? I could carry those over, but I'm not sure if I see the point. Do you want the names to mean the same as the Nordic ones or do you want them to sounds the same? I think names like Chaerre Haich or Nor Fortryd carry some power, at least.

If we drop the barrow moniker, we should definitely keep the divided names or at least invent some other novelty. Otherwise, they'll look too much like Ayleid ruin names, as Vrolok said.

[worsas]

Forgive me for being a bugger about those names all the time. I don't agree with Vrolok. The Barrow part should remain in the name. Instead, I would just go with names that work well, if taken in on word:

Gyldrfel Barrow
Valgyldr Barrow
Rilsyl Barrow
Val Ansvech Barrow (actually works well with two parts in this case)
Car Toronr Barrow (also cool)

All of these are very soft in their sound, but work great regardless.

Fortryd Barrow
Chaerraich Barrow

Are also good. Essentially, I think I just want these two name parts collapsed in most cases.

[vrolok]

I personally think it's a nice idea that different kinds of dungeons have different names. Let Nords have Barrows since there are barrows already in Solstheim. These could be "Cairns", for instance. Or something else, just to make it slightly different from other dungeons. It still keeps tradition, but you can also see the difference. I like it when you can recognize the place by the name, it should have a unique naming pattern. At least that is my opinion.

Examples:

Strid Cairn
Shrahiner Cairn
Ansvech Cairn
Fel Cairn
Toronr Cairn
Naska Cairn
Gyldr Cairn

I like Cairn more than Barrow here, it gives clear distinction between the two, while technically very similar.
Still, two part name is good as well, but the third word is unnecessary then, though can be used sometimes where it fits.

[Infragris]

All right, we can go with the Val Ansvech (Pale Face) and the Chaerraich (Tree-spear) Barrow for Stirk. That way, both potential naming schemes are present.

The Barrows are a Nordic tradition, so I don't think it's out of place to use the same word. At the same time, I'm not opposed to changing it. Cairn doesn't sit quite right to me, though: sounds more like a High Rock thing.

[worsas]

The simplicity of cairn combined with just one old colovian word actually rings something for me. On the other hand I'd not like to pass up on my suggestion of collapsed name pairs with Barrow behind it. The naming scheme of Vrolok really gives me more of a highrock - vipe.

[vrolok]

Well, if we go with Slavic influence for Colovia, we can go with something more obscure like "Kurgan" Nah, too obscure and I don't think sounds quite right.

I know that they follow Nordic tradition, but it could have differences and same names for different dungeons just doesn't sit right with me.
Though I suppose "Barrow" will do.

[Moritius]

But 'kurgan' (it's Russian/Ukrainian I assumw)/'kurhan' can be translated as 'barrow' .

[berry]

Ok, so I'm finally trying to catch up with this claim. I have only been to the isle for an hour or so, but what I've seen is just fantastic. Dialogue entries are catchy and well writen (the latest rumours especially left me with a desire to sink into these stories), as far as I can tell, and it all feels like an extended vanilla content. It's gonna be like the best town ever.

I'm getting an error when loading a save with version 3.72 checked, though:

Unable to find referenced object "PC_rent_In_Str_Door_S" in script PC_Pub_Stirk_Safe_Harbor.

If I click yes, the game takes long minutes to move on then, but it works eventually. There are no more warning messages after that one. Another oddity I noticed is that it takes npcs much longer to load a reply to "Stirk" topic compared to the rest of entries, so maybe it's filters are somewhat faulty?

I'll share more thoughts later on, currently I'm in the midst of a crucial quest of saving an old man's plants.

By the way, is the fella hiding behind the grain silo (Kayd, I believe?) doing his job so well I can't find him anywhere, or he just hasn't been placed yet? Also, are the leather hats the gossip man and the Breton alchemist are wearing supposed to be PC's equivalent of MW's colovian funky helmet? Both of these men seem to have rather goofish personalities.

Cheers!