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Post by jgf on Dec 5, 2017 20:28:03 GMT
Like many, I eschew the main quest in Oblivion; but there is so little of Oblivion and this leaves even less that there must be a better solution.
Recently downloaded a mod which purports to eliminate Oblivion gate respawning; don't know how many this will leave to deal with but willing to give it a shot. However it doesn't deal with my other complaint about the gates - that their mouldering, smoldering, remains blight the landscape forever; on the theory that nature would eventually reclaim the land, I would like a mod that removes the remains of gates a few days after their destruction. Discussed this on another site months ago and was told it wouldn't be difficult; so, does anyone know of such a mod?
(My preference would actually be a mod allowing you to do all the main quest but with only the minimum amount of gates required for that, no more, no respawning, and destroyed gates removed after a few days.)
The other mod I want deals with the, in my opinion, ludicrous situation of all merchants dealing with all merchandise once you reach a certain mercantile level. It's ridiculous that suddenly you can sell books to armorers, armor to alchemists, or potions to clothing stores. After perusing Nexus I feel I'm the only one of this opinion, all mercantile mods I found either have everyone buy everything from the start (often possessing insane amounts of gold) or have your mercantile skill level 2-3 times faster.
(Leveling is a major failing of Oblivion and Morrowind - why have a player level of 100 when everything can be accomplished before level 30. To prove this in default Morrowind I once accomplished everything - head of great house, head of all guilds/factions, Nerevarine, etc. - by level 18 ...82 levels to go and nothing more to do.)
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Post by dogonporch on Dec 6, 2017 3:28:26 GMT
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Post by blockhead on Dec 6, 2017 4:07:11 GMT
(Leveling is a major failing of Oblivion and Morrowind - why have a player level of 100 when everything can be accomplished before level 30. To prove this in default Morrowind I once accomplished everything - head of great house, head of all guilds/factions, Nerevarine, etc. - by level 18 ...82 levels to go and nothing more to do.) I believe that in the case of Morrowind, Bethesda had no idea how long people would play one character. Betheda had assumptions as to how Morrowind would be played and people did otherwise. For example, I remember reading in an interview someplace that they (whoever the people where that created the game) assumed people would make housing mods mostly in Vivec: adding doors in the cantons. Instead, people mostly put houses in Balmora. I'm almost certain they were surprised when people kept playing after passing level 20! In the case of Oblivion, well, I can't find any excuses: they (whoever the people where that created that game) made many stupid decisions. It was amazing how much they got wrong on so many levels. Oblivion is to Morrowind as is the second season of Buck Rogers to the first. Though we did get to see more of Wilma Deering's skin in the second season. But that's the only good thing.
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Post by ghastley on Dec 6, 2017 18:56:06 GMT
Mention of the Temple District reminds me that the obvious gate remains do get removed from there, and you're left with the Dragon Statue, broken roof, and the broken streets. (The repair mod just fixes the streets, and leaves the "monument" alone.) So Bethesda did assume that the dead gates weren't immutable, and mere mortals could dismantle the remains.
In mod terms, the restoration is generally a simple job of disabling the ruined gate, in most cases. But some code needs to run to determine when that happens, and which ones are eligible. The exceptions are what makes it a bit tricky. There are, for example, gates opened at the location of another structure that is replaced by a "destroyed" version. Should the repair process put that back, or remove it completely? Would that leave a hole in the landscape? And then there's the question of how quickly a gate gets removed. Out in the wilderness, it may just get overgrown with vegetation, but ones near towns would be demolished (good quality igneous material to be recycled). All of this can make a mod's complexity snowball, and start involving conflicting opinions, which is probably why it's not been done already.
Turning off the "sell anything perk" is equally a simple job, but what replaces it at that level?
And if you really care, download that CS and do it!
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Post by dogonporch on Dec 6, 2017 21:53:13 GMT
Then there is the simple choice: run two characters. One does the MQ...the other does not...or at least not yet.
Thar-be a ton of quest mods at Nexus, LL...etc that can keep anyone busy.
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Post by jgf on Dec 7, 2017 22:56:42 GMT
Have had the Kvatch mod for ages, but since I've not done the main quest in nearly two years have never installed it. Basically I want to do the main quest - Martin, Cloud Ruler, artifacts, etc. - while dealing with as few gates as possible, and those gates disappearing eventually (either a few days after destruction or collectively after the battle in IC).
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Post by dogonporch on Dec 7, 2017 23:31:43 GMT
The last one allows control of #s of gates spawned.
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Post by jgf on Dec 7, 2017 23:58:43 GMT
I believe that in the case of Morrowind, Bethesda had no idea how long people would play one character. Betheda had assumptions as to how Morrowind would be played and people did otherwise. For example, I remember reading in an interview someplace that they (whoever the people where that created the game) assumed people would make housing mods mostly in Vivec: adding doors in the cantons. Instead, people mostly put houses in Balmora. Lol, I think that was due to Vivec being such an irritating place in which to get around - claustrophobic hallways, endless corridors and ramps, everything looks the same, no overall interior map - even after I'd virtually memorized everything else in Vvardenfell I still meandered around in Vivec seeking a particular shop or NPC. Balmora is a nice open town where you can walk around easily and locate everything on one map. But I doubt we'll again see an rpg with the breadth and depth of Morrowind, it seems few gamers today desire such. I'm reminded of a blog a while back in which the author complained of Skyrim: (paraphrasing) "I went through a couple of dungeons and visited a small town, then walked to a larger town. At this point I noticed I'd been playing about three hours and this is all I'd accomplished. I don't have time to look in every nook and corner for loot, I don't have time to talk to every NPC to get quests. I like a game i can play through in 10-12 hours and move on". It's the same with most genres. I've long been a fan of racing sims and am appalled that most newcomers do not want to learn to drive the cars, they do not want to learn to optimize setups, they just want photo quality graphics they can spread across three screens, hop in their favorite car, win a string of races, and upload tons of videos to youtube. I'm almost certain they were surprised when people kept playing after passing level 20! Yet they then gave us Oblivion with even less to do but still a level cap of 100. In the case of Oblivion, well, I can't find any excuses: they (whoever the people where that created that game) made many stupid decisions. It was amazing how much they got wrong on so many levels. Oblivion is to Morrowind as is the second season of Buck Rogers to the first. ... As a sequel I expected Oblivion to be everything Morrowind was and more, instead I found it much, much less; indeed, in spite of all the new "features", I deem Oblivion a pale shadow of Morrowind. And the Oblivion CS so lacking it is difficult to find enthusiasm for modding. I had read a lot about Oblivion before ever getting a copy (I doubted the system on which I'd played Morrowind would run Oblivion decently) and noticed a common thread among discussions: people who had played Morrowind extensively were disappointed by Oblivion, but people who played Oblivion first then tried Morrowind much preferred Oblivion.
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Post by jgf on Dec 8, 2017 0:41:45 GMT
... and mere mortals could dismantle the remains. but ones near towns would be demolished (good quality igneous material to be recycled)... That actually fits with what I thought for a complete revamp of the main quest. Gates made of Oblivion crystal highly prized by mages and alchemists for its magical properties and by the general public as gemstones, once the gates are destroyed the townsfolk gather the shards. If the PC finds/buys/steals enough of these shards a remarkable set of armor can be crafted (for pure mage characters, a set of staves, rings, amulets, maybe a dagger). In mod terms, the restoration is generally a simple job of disabling the ruined gate, in most cases. But some code needs to run to determine when that happens, and which ones are eligible. The exceptions are what makes it a bit tricky. There are, for example, gates opened at the location of another structure that is replaced by a "destroyed" version. Should the repair process put that back, or remove it completely? Would that leave a hole in the landscape? And then there's the question of how quickly a gate gets removed. Out in the wilderness, it may just get overgrown with vegetation, but ones near towns would be demolished... I was told it was simply monitoring when a gate was destroyed (and the PC is teleported back to Cyrodiil), starting a timer then, and removing the gate when the timer runs down, returning the landscape to its previous state. I just do not want to see these smoking remains for the rest of the game, by default there are so many of these that eventually the entire landscape is blighted. You save the land but ruin its appearance. Turning off the "sell anything perk" is equally a simple job, but what replaces it at that level? Nothing. As your mercantile skill levels, your haggling improves and you get better prices, whether buying or selling. And it's scarcely relevant at that point in the game anyway, you're already walking around with hundreds of thousands in gold coin. And if you really care, download that CS and do it! Ah, the "if you have appendicitis, go to med school" philosophy. I do have the CS, and a few projects underway, but found it so limited compared to the one for Morrowind that it is difficult to be enthusiastic. And why reinvent the wheel? If someone has already created a mod doing what I seek.
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