[[WiPz, kind of] Integration - The Stranded Light - Integrated!]

Hi everyone,

a few of you may have heard about a small mod called "Integration: The Stranded Light", containing several guilds, a city, over 80 quests and some more funny stuff. However Integration requires two major gameplay mods (RBP and LAME). Integration - Integrated! has these requirements removed. It is essentially the same mod, but this time you can just install and play it.

Trust me, that was a bigger task than it sounds like, both gameplay mods were deeply rooted into the actual quest mod. Which is why, in its download, you'll be able to find two versions. One with RBP and LAME integrated (so there is merely an easier installtion provided), and one without any gameplay alterations (i.e. without any actual gameplay modifications of RBP and LAME).

As far as I know the mod is already finished. It was tested for several months, so in theory it should work. However I need someone to test the finished installation package. That no meshes or textures are missing (or not loaded due to some file name hiccup), that everything works as it should. Prior testers only used the .esp file, and put together the resources from the other mods - now that they already have all resources, they can't test if any resource is missing (well, d'oh!) - or if something else in the installation file may be broken.

More informations and screenshots can be found here - however that's the "normal" Integration mod, that with requirements! If you're willing to test the requirement free version, please drop me a line, and I'll send you the link.

Best regards,

bg

[Which city is the most defensible...]

Gameplay and story segregation rears its ugly head here. In game Kvatch is the most defensible city, but simply because it is the least developed city.

Lore wise it's the Imperial City. Cyrod is huge, has it's own food- and water supplies, is heavily fortified with multiple layers of walls and watchposts all around the island - which also can't be underestimated, because any army trying to capture the city has to use the bridge.

[[EARLY WIPz] Oblivion Alive]

As for appearance, know about the "Import Face" function of Wrye Bash .

[[Relz] Integration: The Stranded Light]

Well, the news is a day old, but nevertheless:

New version released: 0.99

(If you're using any of the AddOns, Clothes or Faces, make sure to update them, too!)

It's christmas, and I've got a little present for all of you. A new version of "Integration: The Stranded Light", which offers a lot! Remember, back in the summer when I said Integration is finished, having back then more than 60 quests? Well, I wouldn't say that I lied, simply because I believed myself back then. Yet there was always a nagging little feeling, which could be described as "why are there no guilds in the Shivering Isles?"

With the new version of Integration: The Stranded Light this has changed! A guild in the Shivering Isles to join, with quests centered around Sheogorath's realm. A lot to do. In fact this guild is the second biggest in Integration, trumped only by the name giving "Stranded Light" itself. That's why Integration is now at "more than 80 quests". There is a bit of irony in it - it's christmas, and I release a guild with a tropical island as headquarters.

The rest of the world also got some goodies. Bugs that crossed my path were squashed. A few quests added outside of the new guild. Various small improvements here and there.

And now I only got two things to say: Have fun and merry christmas!

[To explain, or to not explain?]

A question that needs to be answered by authors of all kinds of fiction, regardless if books, movies, games or mods, is that of explanation. Explanation seems to serve a simple purpose: Allowing the consumer of whatever story to understand motives of heroes and villains and the inner workings of the world.

However when trying to explain the situation it can seriously backfire. A classical example are "Bond Villain Expositions", not only explaining the plan, but also the whole psyche of the villain in question. Let's just say not all people like this kind of thing. On the one hand it shoehorns people into simple roles (and making them look stupid), on the other hand it removes a lot of mystery and "coolness" of the villain in question.

And it doesn't only apply to villains, which I only used as an example. It can also apply to the world (explaining how this and this works and came to be), to heroes (why does he do this and this), and more.

Now however not explaining critical aspects is also wrong, because it will confuse. The opposite of complete explanation is imho ambiguous explanation. Which are subjective and often conflicting with other subjective explanations also given. So you need to make up your own mind. So it's an explanation, which doesn't reveal everything. An example for this are the different origin myths in the Elder Scrolls world.

Problem is, some people don't like this either, because it often (if done right) doesn't offer a true solution. And if done wrong, it can get really confusing. Or look artificial. That happens if you try to make something look not "black & white" in moral terms, but then merely obfuscate the sides (or choices) a bit, without adding true colors (or more than very light shades of gray) to them.

As a modder (or writer, or whatever) I don't think there is an optimal solution. It all comes down to taste. So my question here is, which do you prefer? As creator, and as consumer?

[Guest Speaker - Setting up new Idle Anims for NPCs - by: bg2408]

1. How does the game detect that a certain object is being used by right hand or left hand? Is it possible to switch the objects position? The example, as you mentioned above, is the smithing animation. Another example is animation for making potion (commonly seen in Mages Guild)

The game itself doesn't detect it at all, it's all part of the .kf file which defines the whole animation.

Animators are very rare (probably the rarest breed of Oblivion modders). Unfortunately I have no idea how to edit the .kf file to use the other hand.

2. How does an object have the correct position when being used by NPC? One example is sweeping (cleaning) floor with a broom. How to make the NPC actually hold the broomstick instead of the bottom edge (brush) of the broom?

I am sorry, but I have no idea. I'm no animator .

3. I have checked and seen many original Oblivion animations which I never realize existed. Some examples are exhaustion, injury, and guard salute. Why no NPC seemingly animate like those in appropriate situation? Or perhaps an even better question, are these animations actually being used?

Most are being used, but very rare. Example given some of the special greetings animations are only played when two NPCs of a specific faction initiate dialog with each other. Exhaustion and injury are used in quests.

As for why they are not used more often, I think that has to do with Bethesda (at least while working on Oblivion, it was their first time they used something like them at all) not being really secure about using animations. The idle animation system of Oblivion also isn't that great imho, but compared to Morrowind it was a gigantic leap forward .

I guess you could breathe a lot of life into the world by actually having a lot of animations played more often.

[In Game Music - Do you personalize?]

Speaking again about music, I've added some more game soundtracks (at least partly) into the game. This time some from Anno 1404 (especially the combat themes,

),

(soundtrack's better than the game, meh), and of course http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2-huEhNAUo.

(Gotta love youtube... though I had to say finding an example from Anno1404 was hard...)

[Daedra]

The Imperial Library does not know everything either.

The Imperial Library is a collection of all official in game texts, in addition to interviews with the lore writers from Bethesda and unofficial texts written by them.

Though of course there's also the scholar guild, which is as unofficial as uesp, but at least everything written there is marked as speculation (and often written with good lore knowledge in mind).

No, the Imperial Library doesn't know everything, and still a lot of lore pieces have to be put together (like the loveletter and other cryptic texts), but what you can find there is official and semi official. And if not, it's at least marked as speculation.

UESP articles on the other hand, if not backed up by either official or semi official information, are just speculation. If they even contradict lore outlined there, well, bad.

[Daedra]

uesp is often no reliable source (as can be seen in the very article linked, albeit at other places).

If it can't be justified by anything you can find on the Imperial Library, then it's "uesp speculation". (If at all. There are some blatant errors on uesp that I can't really explain, because they're so obvious. Just take a look at the magic effects, many of them are just plain and totally wrong.)

And, as mentioned and tried to explain several times, this part doesn't make any sense. It's like someone trying to force D&D semantics onto Elder Scrolls terms, which doesn't work simply because the underlying mechanics are completely different. As soon as you've got a world in which mantling is in existence, it totally falls together.

And mantling is one of the core metaphysical concepts of elder scrolls lore.

[Daedra]

Read the top section of This page, I find it very reliable, no more reliable than the Imperial Library which does not say the same.

Just two quotes:

Daedric Princes (sometimes referred to as "Daedra Lords")

In all, there are 16 powerful Princes named in The Book of Daedra.

These are Azura, Boethiah, Clavicus Vile, Hermaeus Mora, Hircine, Malacath, Mehrunes Dagon, Mephala, Meridia, Molag Bal, Namira, Nocturnal, Peryite, Sanguine, Sheogorath, and Vaermina.

Even uesp gets this right - and when it comes to some knowledge more advanced than the base hitpoints of a creature, uesp is often no reliable source (as can be seen in the very article linked, albeit at other places). There's nothing there giving any justification in splitting up the princes (and their daedric servitors) into different categories, nor any hint that an Ogrim could be anything else than a Lesser Daedroth.

[Daedra]

There is a difference Bg, lets not get this thread into a debate.

Then demonstrate the difference lore wise. Go ahead. Show where in lore this difference is stated, explained, whatever.

Go on. I await some Imperial Library links .

Otherwise I just file this under "semantics gone wrong" .

[Daedra]

Daedric Prince = Daedra Lord = Daedra Prince = Prince = voids in the wheel.

Daedra is the summary term for all true immortal et'ada, while Aedra is the summary term for all mortal et'ada.

[Trivial Pursuit #2]

B

[Daedra]

I'm still confused as to what Baliwogs/Grummites/Elytra/etc are?

Mortal animals / plants.

The Daedric princes have played no part in creation, so doesn't that mean that they are not part of creation?

They didn't sacrificed parts of themselves during creation.

What do you call an animal that is native to Oblivion?

An animal.

Also, what about the plants? I haven't heard from anyone but Mannimagus concerning their nature. Are they daedra? Or not? If they aren't, what are they?

Plants are... difficult. It seems to be that they channel magicka flows, which means that they bring parts of their native sphere with them. And this native sphere can be a daedric realm, which means they're able to spread the realm further.

Lol, well I always end any comment with a ., never before.

Makes it hard to read.

Although now it is completely appropriate, anyway, yes then you are correct about the Ogrim, but the Ogrim may be a mortal with Daedric abilities,

There is no mortal with daedric abilities.

"Walk like them until they must walk like you."

If it walks like a Daedroth, looks like a daedroth, has the spirit of a daedroth, then it is a daedroth.

we dont know yet, considering Malacath is a Daedric lord,

Malacath is the Daedric Prince of the Sworn Oath, the Bloody Curse, and the Spurned and Ostracized.

He fills one of the voids of the spokes. He is a Daedric Prince, even though he (like Meridia and Sheogorath) came into being later. Trying to turn him into a "Daedric Lord" is just a play with wrong semantics.

would be a mortal, if they do deeds for a Daedra lord, and are proclaimed the champion of that lord, then they would be a Daedric Champion

Then they would be a daedra's champion.

All else is again useless semantics. It's like saying that saints are figureheads of the Divines, therefore due to Golden Saints serving Sheogorath he had to be an Aedra. No. These are just words which carry little meaning if you twist them enough. Important is what they stand for in lore, not if you can find an inappropiate use for them (as above, correct term would be "daedra's champion", but they could also call him cangaroo's finest for the lulz. In this case the term holds no innate meaning).

Breaking it down to the lowest common denominator: If something is mortal or an (et')ada depends on the subgradient.

If something achieves a lower subgradient it depends on how it was achieved as to how it has to be classified. Example given mantling an Aedroth results in an Aedroth, mantling a Daedroth results in a Daedroth.

[Trivial Pursuit #2]

The answer is "D". In Battlespire Jaciel hid her spirit in the Dreamsleeve (being the "internet of souls") from Mehrunes Dagon's minions. She is a lesser daedroth, therefore while Daedra aren't processed in the Dreamsleeve, they can use it.

All other questions I can imagine are even weirder, therefore I hope someone other got a question.

[Daedra]

Ah yes, but there has never been an account about where an Ogrim goes when it dies, we dont know exactly where it goes when it dies, so we cannot tell still if it is a Daedra or not, yes there is no such thing as part Daedra, but there is to do with Daedra [Daedric] e. g., a Ebony sword has nothing to do with Daedra, and is not a Daedra [obviously] but once its ebony is transformed into a Daedra weapon, it is Daedric, not Daedra, Daedric because it has to do with Daedra.

Ever heard of the wonderful invention called "dot"? The whole quote above is just one sentence...

1. We know where Daedra go when they die on several accounts.

2. We know that Ogrim are Daedra, that's also been told on several accounts and can actually be tested in game.

3. Therefore we know where Ogrim go when they die.

1. On the one hand you could say that "daedric" in case of equipment refers to it being forged by daedra.

2. On the other hand daedric equipment has the soul of a lesser daedric being forged into it, which isn't too comfortable for the soul in question. Therefore, btw, daedric equipment used to drive the wearer insane in older Elder Scrolls titles.

[Trivial Pursuit #2]

About B:

The Dreamsleeve does not merely destroy souls, but also nurses new ones with tasty soul ingredients. Therefore it has been described as the placenta for mortal souls. Sorry.

[Trivial Pursuit #2]

About A and C:

Souls are connected through the Dreamsleeve, therefore if you realize this you can send messages to others by speaking to yourself in a certain way. That's e.g. what Nu-Hatta did in the Nu-Mantia Intercept. Which also means that the original idea behind the Dreamsleeve was something akin to an "internet of souls".

[Trivial Pursuit #2]

Alright... after I just wrote a bit about the Dreamsleeve in the "Daedra" topic, which of the following is not true?

A: A "Dreamsleeve transmission" is a technique of sending messages to other persons by talking to yourself.

B: The Dreamsleeve is the placenta for souls.

C: In a real world analogy, the Dreamsleeve would also be similar to an "internet of souls".

D: The use of the Dreamsleeve is limited to mortals.

E: The Dreamsleeve got it's name by being part the metaphysical edge of the dream that is the Elder Scroll's world.

Good luck...

(Hey, I was asked to post in here. Not my doing .)

[Trivial Pursuit #2]

As far as I'm aware Akatosh didn't get his body cloved in two parts and his heart thrown over the world to land in Adamantide Tower, but...

[Daedra]

What is a daedra compared to a mortal?

The short lore answer is, that lesser daedroths are one subgradient higher than mortals.

In addition they have certain advantages, which are connected to being a subgradient higher (like e.g. immortality - which "mortals" gain if they advance in subgradient, read CHIM or other forms of apotheosis).

Now what is a subgradient? It's a level of existence.

In a way the Elder Scrolls world is like a pyramid. At the top you've got the godhead, who fractured and created the aurbis. Which split into Anu and Padomay. Which split into greater and lesser concepts aligned to these overlying directions (these are the et'ada, original spirits). Some of the et'ada sacrificed parts of themselves to create a world, while other did not. This divided the et'ada into Aedra and Daedra.

Now mortals are a subgradient of the et'ada, the Aedra to be exact.

Thing is, the line between mortals and Daedra are thin. "Walk like them until they must walk like you", also known as mantling. Likewise they are other ways to get to a higher subgradient (CHIM, apotheosis, among other). Examples would include (but are not limited to) Vivec (CHIM after false apotheosis), Tiber Septim (mantling, CHIM), CoC (mantling, apotheosis).

Now that's the metaphysical side of it.

The practical side is far easier: If it procreates with other members of it's own kind, the species in question isn't daedric. Likewise if it souls go to the dreamsleeve (the dreamsleeve is the "soul recycle bin" for souls aligned to Nirn as their aligned AE) or to another aligned AE, it isn't daedric.

Baliwogs and Gnarls and Grummites and Scalons procreate, therefore they are not daedric. A vampire's soul, when slain, will go to the Dreamsleeve and not the waters of Oblivion, therefore a Vampire is not daedric. An Ogrim's soul will be banished into the waters of Oblivion and not go to the dreamsleeve or an aligned AE, therefore it is daedric. Umaril's soul went to it's aligned AE and not the waters of Oblivion, therefore he wasn't daedric. Similar to the tortured Mythic Dawn members you meet in Camoran's paradise: They also went, when killed, to their aligned AE, which was Paradise. Bad luck.

There isn't something like being "part daedra", it's a state of being, not a question of genetics.

Hope anyone is able to understand this .

[Weapons Making Issues]

Well, what exactly did you do? Screenshot of the weapon settings in CS maybe?

["Take Notes" animation problem]

See my tutorial here!

[Guest Speaker - Setting up new Idle Anims for NPCs - by: bg2408]

Do you want your NPCs to do something not already available in Oblivion, like using the Shivering Isles smithing animations? Or just dance around in an inn at night? There are several ways to do this. Most of them are highly problematic, though one is very easy, and very safe. To save time and space I'm only describing the easy and safe one, not the "use at your own risk" methods .

1. Create a new Misc Item with a value of 0. Call it e.g. "MyIdleTriggerer". This is extremely important. Seriously. Do not forget!

2. Creating a new idle: In the CS go to Gameplay -> Idle Animations. There you'll see trees. Each "subrecord" shares the same conditions as their master records. Considering that they're usually very specific, do not put your new idle into one of the existing categories. Instead click on one at the top list, under "IdleAnims" and choose "Insert Sibling".

3. Add this as condition to your idle: GetIsUsedItem MyIdleTriggerer

4. Add your idle animation's .kf file to the idle anim. Idle anims must be located at meshes\Characters\_male\IdlEanim, however you can use as many subfolders there as you like. Also check "must return a file" and "Special Idle".

5. Another hint: Add the animation's kf file with tes4edit. For two reasons. On the one hand tes4edit removes some dirt that is always created when you create a new idle anim. The TesCS will complain the next time you start it, but this can be ignored. On the other hand you don't need to unpack bsa files, in case you want to use a kf file that's packed in one (like e.g. the Shivering Isles Idle Anims).

6. If (and only if!) your idle animation contains any kind of displayed items (like e.g. quill and book for the writing animatioN) go at the object window to "Misc. -> AnimObject" . There either duplicate existing items (like e.g. if you make the Shivering Isles writing animation useable) or create a new one. Now in the new object's list assign the mesh if it is still missing, and then select from the list of Idle Anims your new Idle. Note that an idle can have more than one anim objects, e.g. writing uses two (quill and book are separate items).

7. Now the only thing left to make your idle work is to give your NPC the item in question, then give him an AI package "Use Item At" with whatever time and place you wish, and select as used item "MyIdleTriggerer".

Yes, there are other possibilities, which may look easier at first - but they're incredibly wonky and often require a huge amount of conditions to work somewhat right. This method is, in effect, a lot easier.

PS: I've put together a premade package for NPCs for some standard idle anims using this method - may be worth a look.

[Hi, folks!]