SilgradCityRegionLoc0701lvl1 [Finished]

[sandor]

[blockquote]
Cell name: SilgradCityRegionLoc0701lvl1.
Tomb Type: 1.
Claim Difficulty: Easy.
Creatures: 2 or more.
Name of the tomb: Dunmer, Hlaalu.
Amount of loot: Low.
General info: Check -=this link=-.[/blockquote]

Status: Finished by JcHARP.


You'll find the tomb in the cell SilgradCityRegionLoc0601lvl1. Use the Silgrad_Tower.esm v2.9991 or a higher version.

If you want to change the layout (use the existing cell), please do so, don't forget to select snap to grid (32-64) and snap to angle.

You have to use the new Velothi tileset (Static>>ST>>Velothi>>Interior>>tileset).

It's fine to add another level just give the new cell the same name, except for the last part and replace lvl1 by lvl2 etc.

I already added a few starter objects like a cobweb etc.
You could use leveled lists for the loot.

For inspiration check the "SilgradCityRegionLoc0101lvl1" tomb made by Razorwing.

Extra info about Velothi tombs.

A typical TES3 tomb.

I'll set the rotation for the Northmarker and connect the interior to the exterior.


Background.

An ancestral tomb of a Hlaalu family, add a few ghosts/skeletons and make it interesting for the player.

[JcHARP]

I would like this claim as my first if possible . I have a question though, I read somewhere I need the BSA files to start modding? It also said if I remember correctly, that someone will provide me the BSA file.

Also, do you want a quest along with this dungeon?

Other than that, if I do get this claim I hope to do my dungeon justice!

[sandor]

Welcome to ST!

Have fun, I'll send you a PM for the assets.

A quest would be nice.

[JcHARP]

Originally posted by sandor
Welcome to ST!

Have fun, I'll send you a PM for the assets.

A quest would be nice.

Thanks

Here is the first Rough Draft tell me what you think so far

http://www.gamefront.com/files/20584849/...01lvl1.esp

[Sniper4]

I've taken a look at it . I must say, you have obviously played Morrowind quite a bit: this interior does have that ancestral tomb feeling to it. I can also see you've had a good chunk of experience with the editor as well. Just a few quick notes:

-The urn you used is called "StRwCryptUrn01". In Morrowind, the developers used something similar to "StRwDeUrn05Tomb". I'm not really sure what Razorwing created StRwCryptUrn01 for, but I'm thinking it's for Imperial- style tombs. See SteadhelmRegion05A as an example.

-Like the urns mentioned above, I think the mummies were also meant for Imperial tombs. The SteadhelmRegion05A tomb also contains these. Of course, it wasn't too unusual to see skeletons laying exposed in Dunmeri tombs, but I believe Dunmer mummification is more of an Ashlander thing.

-The candle StIdLightDunCandle03fireCreepy300 at the entrance to the crypt is bleeding into the wall slightly.

-Some of your urns are floating slightly.

-A piece of scuttle is floating in the first chamber

-A STEDKanathAncestralTombSack1 is floating a little bit above another sack in the second largest room.

-I think the "StRwCryptIncense512" was also meant more for Imperial tombs as well.

-Some of your alters and braziers are bleeding into the ground.

-I counted up eight alters that were completely bare. While a bare alter or two can make a nice statement (these things have been looted over the years, after all), it's usually better to add as much detail as you can. I took a peek into the Morrowind editor, just to remind myself as to what these tombs looked like, and I found that most alters contained at least one item on them (usually a single urn).

-You can alter the overall lighting for you interior under world->cell->lighting. Based on the Morrowind editor, settings such as this were used for ancestral tomb lighting:

Ambient:
R:10
G:10
B:10

Directional:
R:40
G:30
B:20

Fog:
R:50
G:25
B:0

This is just one example of the different light settings used by Bethesda for ancestral tombs. Note that "Directional" was called "Sunlight" in the TES3 editor, and I think you could choose to set Red, Green, and Blue directional values to "0," since it is underground, after all. I usually just go with whatever Bethesda did, however .

-Your pathgrid is good so far, but you'll want to extend it to cover more of the tomb, including leading up to the entry marker.

Overall, you've done a good job. You obviously know what a Dunmeri tomb is supposed to look like . Sandor will know more about the Imperial-ness of those items I've mentioned above, so we'll see what he says about them.

Based on this start, I think you'll fit right in here at ST .

edit: Great use of ash pits, by the way . The design is interesting, and I'm glad that you knew to use them sparingly, just as Bethesda did.

[JcHARP]

I was wondering may I connect the interior with the proper exterior cell? I am working on the quest now, I have fixed all of the stuff by replacing the jars with the proper ones, I do not think any of the objects are bleeding through the wall now correct me if I am wrong.

The mummies that I added are for the quest, if you want them removed I can. It's just that the skeletons are really hard to keep all the parts on the actual altar and give them a death pose.

The scuttle that was floating I couldn't find, are you talking about the three pieces of scuttle next to the Urn where one looks smaller than the other? If so, how can I correct that problem, it seems that the havok engine is making the Collision Box bigger than the actual size of it. I did use scale for them to make some smaller and some bigger for some added realism.

The lighting effects that you told me definitively bring out the tomb's feel, thanks for telling me that . I also added more darkness by making the RGB for Ambient 10, 10, 10 I didn't know I was aloud to change it, but now that I did it looks way better. The fog effect is the stunner though, it gives it the most flavor, I always wondered what that meant. Thanks again for all the nice tips, to me it's starting to come together.

I added a extra piece to the top of one altars, do you think the look would suit the tomb right? I know that Hlaalu have people that are held in high regard, so I made the urn sit a little bit higher using StInVelPlatform01 and scaling it down to .1000 of it's original form. Tell me if this is acceptable or not, I kind of wanted to add different flavor to the actual alter to increase the difference of the tomb so you are not looking at the same jars and it shows a little bit of difference.

Thanks again, here is the updated rough draft version 2.

http://www.gamefront.com/files/20588067/...01lvl1.esp

EDIT:

Quest Name: The Ringleader (Pun Intended)

Idea: There is a Dunmer outside of the tomb. You find out from him that this is the Tomb of the Hlaalu Family, Llethri. He asks you to retrieve a ring that was his ancestors and to bring it back to him for a monetary reward.

As you progress the quest, you will find out that the man outside of the tomb is not actually who he says he is. He is an "undercover" graverobber, and he seems to have reserves about robbing graves, so, he sends in adventurers to do it for him. After they come out he pays a smaller sum than the ring would actually fetch. He is a melee brawler so, he is a little bit more aggressive than say a mage, and if you do not give him the ring he will attack you unless you give him some sort of conviction explained next. The only way to do this is also add a note to the deceased's body, which states he has no children or kin. The player will NEED to read the actual message which then will add another topic out of the two standard ones. Then a intelligence check will happen, if your player is NOT >= 50 intelligence he will fail the check and will no longer be able to pick from that topic choice. If he does succeed in the check he lets you have the ring and then the rest is up to you guys.

Do you want him to disappear if the player leaves the cell, or go to the nearest city inn? I will admit that I am okay at AI not the best to be messing with it, I can however do some really cool things with it.(LOL)


The ring will have decent stats for a Novice/Apprentice Caster. Here are the stats:

Enchanter's Ring(JCEnchanterRing)
Intelligence "+3"
Willpower "+2"
Fortify Majicka "15"
Drain Strength - "5"

The drain strength is to try and balance the ring out for the player if he decides to take the ring instead of giving it back to the Dunmer. Tell me if these stats do not mesh well with the current status of this tomb, it being a lower level tomb and all.

[Sniper4]

I'll take a look at it tomorrow, if Sandor isn't able to look at it first. For now, I need to get to bed, since I have an early hair appointment tomorrow .

[Sniper4]

First, to answer your questions:

I was wondering may I connect the interior with the proper exterior cell?

Based on your quest plan, you'll need to connect them in order to test the quest in game. Unfortunately, I'm not sure where in our exterior this tomb connects to. Sandor or someone else affiliated with this city might know, though.

The mummies that I added are for the quest, if you want them removed I can. It's just that the skeletons are really hard to keep all the parts on the actual altar and give them a death pose.

Understood. I've looked, and I can't seem to find any pre-made skeleton containers, either. These mummies may have to do. Another option would be to have a specially marked urn. When the player places his or her cursor over it, it will read "[Name]'s Urn." Inside could be the ring and the note mentioned in your quest plan. Bethesda did something similar to this a time or two in Morrowind. I believe a couple of the artifact rings in the game were located in such urns.

it seems that the havok engine is making the Collision Box bigger than the actual size of it. I did use scale for them to make some smaller and some bigger for some added realism.

Keep in mind that you can't trust havok and collision boxes to find floaters and bleeders. The collision boxes may not correspond to the item's surface. The best way to catch and prevent these errors is to get eye level with the surface(s) you are working on in the editor window when placing items or when double checking for errors. I didn't find the floating piece of scuttle this time around, either.

I added a extra piece to the top of one altars, do you think the look would suit the tomb right? I know that Hlaalu have people that are held in high regard, so I made the urn sit a little bit higher using StInVelPlatform01 and scaling it down to .1000 of it's original form. Tell me if this is acceptable or not, I kind of wanted to add different flavor to the actual alter to increase the difference of the tomb so you are not looking at the same jars and it shows a little bit of difference.

I don't have any problem with it .

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I took a look at your most recent version of the interior, and I also checked a bit more thoroughly this time. There aren't many issues left:

-The iron longsword on one of the ashpits is floating, along with a piece of gravedust.

-The ash yam next to said longsword is standing on its roots. It would be better to rotate it so that at least some of the edible part is touching the pit.

-StInVelAltar02 by the entrance to the tomb is bleeding slightly into the lower slope on the wall.

-The piece of black anther on the more elevated ash pit is floating. StRwSkelBone06 in this ashpit is floating slightly, too.

-The StIdLightDunCandle03fireCreepy300 in the hallway on your way to the second largest chamber is bleeding slightly into the wall.

-I'll leave judging the pathgrids to Sandor, since I'm not exactly a master pathgridder yet. The only possible issues I saw regarding the pathgrid was the tangle of suspended pathgrid points above the entrance, and the two pathgrid points in the final chamber that are bleeding into the alters there.

Note that I haven't checked this in game yet; I only did an in editor check.

The quest plan sounds good to me. Disabling the NPC after the quest should be fine. I did that in one of my quests in the past .

[JcHARP]

Alright everything is done, now all I need to do is connect it to the exterior and finish the quest and dialogue for the quest. I may need to flush out some scripting problems. Every time I make changes I play through the dungeon to see if it keeps the "feeling".

Now all I need is the whereabouts of the exterior so I may connect and establish my quest.

On a Side Note: I really enjoy this, is there an amount that I cannot go over for claims, or, may I take up as many as I want after I finish of course?

[Sniper4]

Originally posted by JcHARP
On a Side Note: I really enjoy this, is there an amount that I cannot go over for claims, or, may I take up as many as I want after I finish of course?

It is common practice to only have one active claim at a time, but once each claim has been submitted and reviewed, you can get another claim. I typically grab a new claim immediately after submission, but since this is your first claim, it would be best to wait and see what Sandor's review brings before grabbing another.

By the way, before you submit your claim for review, you should check it thoroughly for any errors. I usually test until I'm certain that there are no problems. Typically, I also do both an in editor test and an in game test on all my claims.