Way of the Monk Update: 4-4-12

First off, let me state that I've been taking a bit of a break from modding. I have two tests that I must take tomorrow and have been preparing for them. I have, however, managed to accomplish quite a bit since me last update.

Pillars:

The script that manages all of the power-giving Pillars has been completed, the Pillars are planned and organized, and several of them have been added to the game. You can find the script for them here. It's based off of the powerShrineScript from the vanilla game that manages the Standing Stones.

I've written a list of all of the Pillars that I plan on adding to the first edition. Some of them are proving to be troublesome to code and figure out, but I am confident that I can complete them with enough work. The Pillar that I've added and am currently working on is the Pillar of the Elements.

Here's a screenshot:

I'm having some trouble getting the effect to be applied. I've found that for some strange reason, all weapons that use the HandToHand attack animation have trouble with perk effects and are not considered Weapons of the normal sort. I'm not sure what's going on, but it has somewhat crippled my perk and item designing. I hope to find a workaround or fix soon, though.

Items:


I've gained permission from tom348 at the Nexus Forums to use his mod Fist Weapons, as well as Bloodsunday's permission to use his retextures of tom349's weapons. I'm not sure that I'll use all of the models in my mod, but a good number of them will be going into the game. I'm having some trouble with the weapons being mysteriously invisible when equipped in the right hand, but other than that it's all going well.

Unarmored Skill:


I have also added in a separate Unarmored skill in addition to the Unarmed skill. Along with this skill are a number of Unarmored perks and enchantments that will be added. The perks will be chosen independently from each other and will level with use.

Plans:


The next few weeks are going to be pretty hectic and busy for me. I have two tests tomorrow, am moving in a week, and have finals later this month. So, I wont be able to do nearly as much modding. :-( I will, however, be writing tutorials. Also, keep watch, because I'm soon going to announce a great new opportunity/project for all of you modders and players. I will post the news soon. :-)

EBM Update: 4-4-12

EBM Update:

4-4-12

Well, well, here are few sceenshots of the current advancement of the ruin of Mzahndahrk that will host what seems to be the largest secret library of Skyrim, and few screenshots as well of the ABCs for Barbarians, now available ingame!

As you can see I'm far from being done with the lighting among other things XD There are still minor issues to be fixed soon but it takes shape! And as you can see on the down-right screenshot of the library, there are the +235 books of the games that can fit in a library, sorted by categories and series completed. Wasn't easy to find the right angle to have them all fit in one screenshot!

Still, a moral question came to my mind. It's about the completion of original TES book series such as 2920, A Dance in Fire, the Wolf Queen etc. I don't understand why all the books weren't implemented in Skyrim, is it a mere miss or is it because Bethesda didn't want to pay royalties for all the books written by a same writer they weren't hiring any longer? I have no idea but it's true most of the missing books are those of Waughin Jarth (same irl writer thus).

Hence I'm not sure it's morally acceptable to add the books in the mod. I believe that it is okay to do it for my own enjoyment as I own legal copies of Morrowind and Oblivion which feature those texts but I fear I might be infringing publication rights by putting those texts in Skyrim and sharing the mod. On an other hand those texts are found publicly on the web, both on the UESP and the Imperial Library, and those sites weren't sued by Bethesda. Still, it might also be because they represent a massive fandom's dedication and most of all, those websites are very useful to Bethesda as well, they never hide that even them use this amazing data base to shape the new games.

One possibility I think of is to still implement the book but demand that the mod is used only by players who own a legal copy either of Morrowind or Oblivion (plus this mod is more likely to interest fans who've played those games). I won't perform checks of course but it's more to prevent myself from troubles as I want to keep as clean as possible and take this issue with great serious. I know Bethesda once sued a modder for implementing lots of content made by other modders without asking them, I would not do such a stupid thing.

I had first thought of not placing the books ingame for the public release but then it's sad and the books would still be available through the console with the Help and Player.Additem commands.

I will try to contact Bethesda about this issue to know what's their point.

EBM Update: 1-4-12

EBM Update:

1-4-12

EBM will soon be available for download, currently I'm waiting for LaggyCreations on deviantART to send me the image files of her ABC for Barbarians. Thanks to her kindness EBM will bring back this awesome book and expand it! As you can see LaggyCreations designed illustrations for the whole alphabet:

Gorgeous, huh? And soon in Tamriel!

I'll make sure to place it in fitting and amusing locations, I already have ideas but I'm not telling, you'll find out on your own. Also most of the books will be found at the Arcaneum and Bards College. There are few ones that are a little more rare, like the tomes 4 and 5 of Males Witches. But you should find them in a quite obvious location it I give you this clue: they're found in the home of a VIP who's more than probably a witch, in a swampy city.

Now there are still some books that you won't be able to find in Tamriel. They are unique and will only be found in Mzahndahrk. Don't search for this Dwemer ruin on your map, it's a new one! With some chance it'll be ready for the release. Actually the level building is about done, it's now a matter of ending to place the furniture and items, and make a nice lighting and effects. I also have to finish the Navmesh (the polygonal floor that tells the AI where NPCs can walk), I'm doing it all by hand because there are quite many gateways and likes that confuse the generator. Big work but not big deal, I find this very interesting to do, paying attention to how I compose the polygons... Within one hour I got the major part of the main room done. I just wish it was possible to copy/paste Navmesh islands. If someone knows how to do this (if it appears it's doable) I'd love to know XD

I also wish I could populate the area a little. After some tests, few troubles I solved quickly *proud* I now have a test fox wandering everywhere, a pacific Sphere centurion patroling (it's adorable) and a certain Dunmer named Sothis Andas whose action so far consist into pouring himself some mead, sitting on a chair, playing the lute (it doesn't make sounds), reading a book, ...well few minor actions that loop. Easy as fun.

Next step will be giving Sothis some dialog. I'd like to see if I can give some dialog to the Sphere as well.

Today I've also proceeded to completing book series such as the 2920, Wolf Queen, Mystery of Talara, Dance in Fire, etc... that are for some unexplicable reason incomplete in Skyrim. This makes a litlle more than 20 more books. I plan to add more books from Morrowind and Oblivion.

For now I've also sorted all the books (over 235), it took me a little time as there were few ones I hadn't read already, or had read in French... but in the end they are classified by topic and will be found in dedicated shelves. Seeing the amount of book, seeing there are MANY that can be added from Morrowind and Oblivion, I can say that the hundreds of bookshelves found in the library will be well employed XD

I consider having to move the library to a seperate cell in case it's heavy perf-wise. For now it's smooth on my laptop.