Beyond Skyrim MOD - Bruma

I am really looking forward to this MOD after the disappointment of learning Elder Scrolls VI is not even in development.

I am amazed at the community projects out there that are bringing the Elder Scrolls world to life, Tamriel Rebuilt, Skywind etc. The release date July 1st is on my calendar and I am counting the days.

I will add some new posts as I play through the game.

In the meantime I have been working on a small MOD myself, stay tuned for the next post to see what it is all about.

Elder Scrolls VI Not Even in Development

So as an avid fan of Skyrim it was more than a big disappointment to hear that the follow up to Skyrim is not even in development yet.

I am still playing the game on and off probably like most of you out there but to wait another 3 years or more even could be tough.

Lets hope it will be worth it.

Skywind Project

I have just had a closer look at the "TESRenewal Project, a community about merging the amazing worlds of The Elder Scrolls video games into more modern game engines."

The mod has been in development for awhile now (2012) and as a fan project, it requires plenty of volunteers so can only go as fast as they can work I suppose. 

The trailers out on YouTube look amazing and I would love to visit the world of Morrowind again. It was the first time I understood these open world games and the possibilities.

Morrowind never looked like this!

 

This is Seyda Neen where you start the game.

 Compared to the original

I cant wait to see this come to fruition!

Elder Scrolls 6 - Some Great Ideas'

I have been looking around feverishly for news of the next Elder Scrolls game and rumours pointed to an announcement at the Game Awards 2014, unfortunately nothing was confirmed.

Fans are expecting it to be set in Argonia, which makes me think of Morrowing and the swampy areas south of Balmora. I loved the Rethan Manor the player could own there, it was the best of the 3 in my opinion.

In my search I cam across some good ideas, by johnnyk82 on gamefaqs.com web forum, for improvements to Skyrim which I list below with my comments in blue.

  1. Rework the skill/leveling/character creation system. Right now, there is very little difference between the races, because other than their innate powers (which seem to have been toned down), their skill bonuses can easily be made up for rather quickly. I also think it's lame that any character can become a master at everything. What I would do is bring back major and minor skills - Make major skills have a cap of 100, minor skills have a cap of 50 and miscellaneous skills have a cap of 25. I would also change the racial skill bonuses to be increases in the caps, not an increase in the starting skill level (so potentially you could go over 100). I agree with this idea, the races should not be so similar that it really does not matter who you play as.

So basically, when you create a character, before you even pick your race, all skills will have a cap of 25. Then you pick your race and you'd get your level cap bonuses, then you pick your major and minor skills to get those level cap bonuses.

2. As a tie-in to the first point, I want the racial powers/abilities/disadvantages/trade-offs to be more pronounced. Again definitely want the risk/reward to be greater.

3. As others have mentioned, make the guilds more exclusive - i.e. Need skill requirements to advance/join and can't join "conflicting" guilds. I think the Morrowind style here is the way to go, you had to be a certain level in some skills before you could join a House or Guild and if you were  a member of one Faction you could not join some of the others.

4. Give actual benefits to being in a guild, other than equipment. For example, if they bring back spell crafting, make it so you have to be a member of the mages guild to use it (similar to Oblivion, prior to the wizard's tower DLC).

5. Rework enchanting so that it doesn't make looting obsolete. Maybe add more lootable items that have multiple enchantments on them but keep the enchanting skill to just one enchantment per item.
Early in the game when your enchanting skill is low then looting items is viable but later on I never bothered as I could make enchantments way better myself than anything in the game.

6. Get rid of leveled loot, or make it so that it either automatically improves with your level after you acquire it, or so that you can use smithing to improve it. If they don't want to do either of those, add stat/level requirements to items to eliminate the "rush to find all of the best items at low level" problem. This was a disappointment in Skyrim, you completed a quest and got a reward which was near useless.

7. Improve Destruction magic so that it doesn't become obsolete. Never really used this, probably why!

8. Add an "evil" main quest line - i.e. You can join the enemy YES PLEASE! Or a choice in your major decisions which have more implications in the game. The Stormcloak vs Imperials did not feel like you were part of something that moved you, at least for me anyway. I went back after completing the quest and re-loaded an earlier save and played the the game like that. I preferred Whiterun the way it was.

9. A light spell that you can toggle on and off and just takes up a reserve of your magicka. I get tired of having to recast "candlelight" all the time. The lighting was good enough to see most things in the dark which took away lots of realism and nerves...lol

10. Come up with alternate designs of all equipment that can only be created with the smithing skill.
  This shouldn't be that difficult for Bethesda to include in the game and would be nice.

What do you think?

Fishermans Cottage - Revised

 

After I finished this MOD I thought about the house for a long while and decided that a double story house was a bit too ostentatious for a plain old fisherman. I went and redid the MOD entirely and used a single story house and simpler furnishings inside.

Here are the views from the outside of the cottage.

Next are some views from the porch.

 The fishing boat!

The work station, where all the daily catch is prepared.

These are the interior shots.

When the Player finds the cottage he will come across the note on the side table next to the statue of Talos explaining the situation.

I may decide to change it later on and add a quest-line where the Player can follow some clues in the letter and find the treasure for themselves.

Fishermans Cottage

Here are some views of the exterior of the Cottage from different angles.

The three above are from the front and side.

The picture above is from the back.

Next up are some views the 'Player' will see from the porch and front door of the cottage

This picture shows the view from the 'working table' where the Fisherman cleans his daily catch.

And this picture is a side view showing the drying rack where the fish are cured for long term storage.

Last but most important, the fishing boat, without which the Fisherman could not survive.

I love this spot in Skyrim, right by the water edge, views of the mountain behind Riverwood and of course Riverwood.

I am very glad to be back to modding

Fishermans Cottage

 

Here are some pictures of the interior of the cottage. Upstairs basic and homely.

Most important item is your treasure chest!

Above is the landing area with nice touches reflecting the fisherman owners taste.

Below is the lower level showing your meal table, cooking and storage areas.

 

I am happy with the way this came out, neat and uncomplicated.

Next I will show the exterior in more detail.