Wolf Mods, Skyrim (and more!) for Oblivion Options

[Lena Wolf]

The Winterhold College of Magic is housed in an ancient Ayleid city Sunev. That's how far I came last year. Of course you understand, it's a lot of work to make an Ayleid ruin actually habitable. The mages don't want to live like some necromancers out in the woods! So only a small number of the Ayleid chambers were cleaned up, with most of the city still in ruin, filled with undead. Perhaps it wasn't wise to build a town on top of all those undead though...

This year I am filling in the underground part of Sunev that hasn't been cleaned up yet. So far I've got 10 zones, all linked up and arranged in a geographically plausible fashion. There are sewer exits in the streets, trapdoors in cellars as well as several regular Ayleid entrances leading under ground. It took me three days to set it all up and link it all up!

But is there a point to all these dungeons? Yes, there is. Besides dungeon crawling, that is. They are used in a quest where the hero needs to find a number of things in that maze of halls... Some will be obvious, others will be hard, expect traps, enemies and strange magical phenomena - after all, these are Ayleid ruins, and Ayleids are famous for their magic.

With the dungeons in place, I can now finally start on the actual quest!

[Lena Wolf]

I have arrived at a point in TWMP Skyrim Alive where I need to start on the actual Main Quest. I've done a module centred around the College of Magic in Winterhold, but just when I was preparing to release it as a preview, I realised that there's no way anyone will be able to play any of the new content because it doesn't start until a certain stage of the Main Quest... which I haven't developed yet. So no point in releasing all those massive dungeons, new effects and confusing quests since nothing what so ever is going to happen in game as yet! And it is by design.

Which means that I'm moving to the actual Main Quest development! Whoo-hoo!

The module to be released (v3.0.6) will now contain the first phase of the Main Quest line with several quests of its own and with links to the Bleak Isle and College of Magic quest lines.

The second phase will have the Jarl of Whiterun quest line and links to the Main Quest, and the third and final phase will bring it all together and cap it with a few finishing quests to tie all loose ends. Next year's release 4 will pick up from that point in the story.

[Acadian]

Ambitious!

[Lena Wolf]

Sometimes if you want to play a particular story, you've got to develop it first...

[Lena Wolf]

TWMP Skyrim Alive preview v3.0.6 is released. I'm taking a short break from it before starting on the final installment in earnest. The plan is to have it done over the holidays, then do a round of overall testing and cleaning - and Release 3 will be ready! This will be called v3.1.

In other news, I started mirroring my mods to AFK Mods. I am not taking them off Nexus though, never fear. The way I see it, Nexus is more of a database of mods, and it is a large site with a lot of users. But it presents each mod as a stand-alone project, while some really belong together. Of course you can publish them all on one page, but that would make it difficult for people to find them if they just want one of the mods and not all.

AFK Mods on the other hand, is a forum first of all, and you can also upload files to it. There I can write a release announcement and explain how the different mods fit together, show that they are really all a part of the same world. I call it Wolf Tamriel. I also write release announcements for the individual mods, or at least I shall, over time. Since this is a view of the world being built, I won't keep old versions of mods on it, making sure that the versions published there, all go together. Old versions and complete release history remains available on Nexus, with the focus on individual mods rather than an album.

Other than those differences, the uploads on Nexus and AFK Mods will be the same (unless otherwise stated for some very important reasons, can't think of any right now, but you never know).

[Lena Wolf]

I am working on the final stages of the Skyrim Main Quest. This really brings everything together. Just a few more scripts, a few more dialogue lines and I'll get there... I am careful not to run out of steam before it is actually done, that would be too bad. It will take a bit longer this way, but it will be finished within a few weeks as opposed to a few years. I don't want this to become a UFO (UnFinished Object).

So hang in there. January should see the final module released. Then a bit more testing, a bit more tinkering... Realistically speaking the official celebratory launch of Release 3 will be in February. That's over half a year work on this release, with all the extras that weren't a part of the plan to start with, mostly of strictly technical nature (no changes noticeable in-game). Oh well, could not be avoided.

[SubRosa]

January can't wait to see it

[Lena Wolf]

January can't wait to see it

Glad to see she's up for the challenge!

[Lena Wolf]

I introduced a few factions for TWMP Skyrim:



Top tier: factions connected to the main quest.
Middle tier: factions connected to major side quests.
Lower tier: miscellaneous factions.

Plus we have the Mages Guild and the Fighters Guild but they don't have quests yet, while these ones do.

Now it's up to you to guess what they are.

Anyone?

[macole]

Ok, I really have no idea but I will hazard a guess.

The 1st tier:
1. Imperial Cult faction,
2. Skyrim rebel faction similar to the Stormcloaks or Forsworn, and
3. a Dragonborn Cult faction

The second tier:
1. Five golden apples in a tree ringed by four flowers tells me it’s either A Witches’ Coven faction (serious guess), or (just for fun) the Cult of Nir established by the Jaandaga and the Field Hippies.
2. A Werewolf or Lycanthrope faction.

The third tier:
1. I would say that the first one (Black hand with an all-seeing eye and white crystal) has to do with the Psijic Order.
2. The second is interesting, it looks like a Dwemer cog with crab legs floating over a chalice. My guess is an Archeology Guild.
3. Two rising snakes on a field of red says to me this could it be aTsaeci faction. I just don’t know.

This post has been edited by macole: Dec 29 2023, 08:11 AM

[Lena Wolf]

Good guess, Macole! Let's count your points.

The 1st tier:

1. Imperial Cult faction - 1/2 a point. No, but compare it to this, then remember that it is all about Skyrim.

2. Skyrim rebel faction similar to the Stormcloaks or Forsworn - hmm... no points. Too far away from the truth, but admittedly you couldn't have known. I'll reveal the full answers later today.

3. Dragonborn Cult faction - 1/2 a point. All three factions in the top tier are related to the Dragonborn because they are all about the dragons. This faction is very much from the Skyrim lore and note that the icon does not feature any weapons - just a dragon with its mouth open.

The second tier:
1. Five golden apples in a tree ringed by four flowers tells me it’s either A Witches’ Coven faction (serious guess), or (just for fun) the Cult of Nir established by the Jaandaga and the Field Hippies. Close! 1 point. The Order of Kynareth - the most important Aedra for Skyrim.

2. A Werewolf or Lycanthrope faction - 1/2 a point because although it has to do with werewolves, it isn't the main point - the weapons are. Axes, in particular, we're in Skyrim. What's the most famous group of Skyrim warriors through the ages?

The third tier:
You couldn't have known any of these because I invented them. But good guesswork!

1. I would say that the first one (Black hand with an all-seeing eye and white crystal) has to do with the Psijic Order - sorry, no points. The Welkynd Masons Guild.

2. The second is interesting, it looks like a Dwemer cog with crab legs floating over a chalice. My guess is an Archeology Guild - bingo! 1 point. The Dwemer Artefacts Collectors Guild.

3. Two rising snakes on a field of red says to me this could it be aTsaeci faction. I just don’t know. Interesting interpretation, and you couldn't have known this one at all. There's a story on the Bleak Isle, this faction is that of the most prominent family, and this is their crest. Bretons. Why snakes? May have something to do with their nature...


So, your grand total is 3.5 points! Impressive!

[Acadian]

1/8 here.

I got Kynareth's Eldergleam tree.

[macole]

Good guess, Macole! Let's count your points.
***
So, your grand total is 3.5 points! Impressive!

Thank you for being so generous. With only spending half a year playing Skyrim when it first came out, I truly didn’t expect to be close on any of them.
D'oh, of course it's the Eldergleam Sanctuary which points to The Order of Kynareth and its military arm The Kynaran Order.
The crossed swords should have been obvious, it cries out The Blades.
A Welkynd Masons Guild, wonder what dangers that will lead the intrepid adventurer into?

This post has been edited by macole: Dec 29 2023, 07:02 PM

[Lena Wolf]

D'oh, of course it's the Eldergleam Sanctuary which points to The Order of Kynareth and its military arm The Kynaran Order.

Actually, this is an unused vanilla icon for the Nobility faction, with some modifications. Noble people grow on trees, apparently.

But yes, I thought it was perfect for the Order of Kynareth. They are a peaceful order, but funnily enough, it is always our character who ends up taking out the rats...

The crossed swords should have been obvious, it cries out The Blades.

A Welkynd Masons Guild, wonder what dangers that will lead the intrepid adventurer into?

Masons of any kind are not to be trifled with, especially if they consider themselves free citizens... uh-oh. Well, the usual - you get to do the jobs that they don't want to because of the rats and goblins, of course.

The other faction in the second tier - the one with the (were)wolf, is Ysgramor's Companions (not to be confused with Lena's or the Jandaga's companions). They got lost... umm... on a mead sampling mission, I guess...

As for the top tier, those are the three factions involved in my Skyrim Main Quest: the Blades of Skyrim (Sky Haven Temple), the Dragon Knights (Whiterun) and the Keepers of the Voice (High Hrothgar). You can only join one of them, there are choices to be made - pros and cons for each. There will be someone present to help you decide... someone who might have guided an ex-prisoner before... is that the same person? May be, or may be it's just a really common name.

When events start developing, the player will have to choose but one path.

[Lena Wolf]

I have set up a mirror for some of my mods on Masser and Secunda - the site where all Lena's stories live. Most mods are also hosted on Nexus, but some have received unpleasant feedback which I have no wish to receive. Therefore the Night Mother's Caress series will not appear on Nexus. I first thought to publish these mods on AFK Mods, but unfortunately the admins decided that they didn't want to have mods with AI generated content. Since I use xVAsynth generated voices, AFK Mods is not the right place for me.

Masser and Secunda is a blog site and doesn't have a forum (and won't have a forum). It also does not really have space allowance for hosting mods, so don't be surprised to see Google Drive links to the actual files.

If you wish to contact me and you aren't a member here then you can reach me on Nexus Forums or through my mods on Nexus Mods.

[ghastley]

… AFK Mods, but unfortunately the admins decided that they didn't want to have mods with AI generated content. …

I assume this was communicated privately, as there is nothing I can find to tell the rest of us about the rule. I host my own downloads, so it does not affect me, until they decide they don’t want discussion of such mods either.

It’s not unreasonable, as AFK don’t want to get involved in any lawsuits if a VA decides to prove a point, but at least add it to the rules, so we know.

[Lena Wolf]

Indeed I had a private message asking me to either remove all AI generated voices from my mods, or remove the mods. It isn't a mirror if it only hosts half a mod, so I chose to delete them. The rule is indeed new, they were only alerted to the issue just now. I expect they'll add it to the official rules, although indeed there have been no messages or announcements about it as yet. But then again, it's the holiday season, people may have lives and be busy elsewhere!

[Lena Wolf]

TWMP Skyrim Alive is nearly done! Just half a quest left... and a dragon to test.

I shall admit, I am running out of steam. I have been working on it every day since June. It has taken so much more work than originally anticipated... Much of it was behind the scenes technical stuff, I would estimate half, may be more. Then making the Main Quest proved rather more involved than I had naively planned... as always.

But the good news is that it is nearly there! Most of the critical testing is done, too. Like I said, just a little left to do, hopefully to be finished up this week!

This will be the final temporary installment v3.0.7. It will be already almost the same as the final official release v3.1, the difference being some more testing and bugfixing, updates to the Tamriel Resource Pack library, improved LOD and revamped little add-on mods found on the mod page - these will be either retired or made to work with v3. The idea is that v3.1 will be the official Release 3 First Version, with all the paraphernalia made to match.

[Acadian]

Wow, just peeked at that mod over on Nexus. That's a lot of nice, quality work! Congrats.

[Lena Wolf]

Thanks, Acadian! It is my main project. Everything else is really just trimming and garnish for Skyrim... Well, almost everything else. I've been working on it for two and a half years now, all because I wanted to replace a few trees in The Rift... then it snowballed. You know, Skyrim. But now with the Skyrim Main Quest, it is really going somewhere.