[Relz] Integration: The Stranded Light

[bg2408]

Integration: The Stranded Light

Oh well, I try again with release threads outside of the bethsoftforums... .

Obligatory warnings:

1. This mod has no voice overs, text only.

2. The requirements are set in stone, I will not argue about them in any way. See the FAQ for more informations.

Introduction

Years before Uriel Septim's death Talos appeared before the Nerevarine, foretold that the Empire is about to end. More so, that it is time for a change - but without knowing, which form the change may take. "Young folks should try some new ideas. Could be messy. But change is never pretty."

In the wake of Uriel Septim's death, Cyrodiil is in turmoil. A city annihilated, guilds in open and secret wars with rivals and old enemies. Everyone knows, or thinks they do. Rumors run wild. The Black Horse Courier is always after the latest 'news'. Yet there is more here still, a light rising, intertwined with shadows. A wind of change blows through Cyrodiil. New powers rising. Old ones returning. Some fading away into obscurity.

Old rules still apply, hiding what (or who) should not be visible to the public. Yet some rules are ignored, simply because they're bad for business. And other rules are gone, swept away -- Mehrunes Dagon is not the only Daedra interested in Mundus, though intentions and actions differ.

Details

Integration: The Stranded Light includes more than 60 quests with a strong emphasis on thinking, character interaction, choices, consequences, and lore. It delivers a seamless integration of Cyrodiil and Shivering Isles along with other lore races. A new, joinable guild plays an important role in many of the quests, which are unlike any in Vanilla Oblivion: A bit thinking, often multiple solutions, quite heavy on social skills. It also reaches beyond the typical mold of quest mods, seeking to enrich the existing game world as whole.

The quests in Integration: The Stranded Light don't all follow a single storyline. It's more like a collection of somewhat intertwined short stories than an epic novel. Here's a small sampling of the variety you can expect.

There are questions so obvious none ever asked.

   * Decades ago, during the Imperial Simulacrum, different breeds of Elsweyr's people could be found in Cyrodiil. Now all save one disappeared, making the Suthay-raht a synonym for Khajiit. Why did this happen? And can it be reversed?

   * Most elven races were assimilated into the Empire, but not all. What happened to the others? Centuries ago a war was fought between the Altmer and the fourth elven race known to exist til today. Only a freak storm caused by the Psijics pushed the invaders out of Tamrielic seas. Are they really gone?.

   * A millennia ago, Sheogorath tried to stop another Daedric Prince by filling a hole with clowns. He failed. And as the other Daedric Prince approaches again, the domain of Sheogorath changes - an event that has always affected Mundus, too. Now that another Daedric Prince is rising again, what consequences may arise for Mundus?

   * At the beginning of the second era, it's twelfth year, Tjurhane Fyrre died - last known Ayleid in Cyrodiil. Was he really the last one?

   * Since time immemorial, Skooma seeps out of Elsweyr like sweet poison into the rest of the Empire. In the waning years of the third era, will the Renrija Krin succeed in spreading it even further?

Requirements and Download

Due to its broad scope, Integration: The Stranded Light has more requirements than most standalone quest mods. It requires:

- Oblivion version 1.2.0416 (latest official patch).

- Race Balancing Project 10.5 or later

- Less Annoying Magic Experience 1.7 or later

- Official Expansion: Shivering Isles

Download Integration: The Stranded Light

Media

Trailer II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP3XCgMg6DQ,

6

(Spoiler Warning!)

Picture I | Picture II | Picture III | Picture IV

Picture V | Picture VI | Picture VII | Picture VIII

Picture IX | Picture X | Picture XI | Picture XII

Picture XIII

FAQ

Known issues and incompatibilities:

- for some extremely strange reason I never was able to replicate for an absolute minority of players the game crash when "In Memoria" is started. Usually rebuilding your Bashed Patch (if present) or take off enchanted clothing /armor prevents this crash.

- if you're updating from an older version to the current version, and you've already seen Kanaane in game, use the console command once: StartQuest IntegrationUpdate

- an open cities compatibility patch is available at Open Cities' download location.

- there are no conflicts with Better Cities anymore.

- there are NO known conflicts with FCOM or Unique Landscapes.

- if you don't fulfil the above mentioned requirements, your game will crash.

- some dialog responses from the player seems like a bit too shortened. Unfortunately they are; player responses can only be about 38 characters long, so no way for the player to give elaborate answers. Game limitation.

Background and features

What can you expect when playing Integration: The Stranded Light? The most important goal of this mod is to bring in new (although some would say "missing") kinds of quests into The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Quests with multiple solutions, using skills and accomplishments in dialogs, riddles and other possibilities to think. Which I'm unwilling to spoil.

Although, if you really must know...

- a new joinable guild, which you can help growing. With visible impact on their headquarter.

- a few other smaller guilds.

- remember Morrowind's "Guild Guide" travel system? Now you can institute one in Cyrodiil too!

- memorable challenges and rewards, thanks to using LAME's resources and scripts.

- believeable unique NPCs. Your actions can even change some of their lifes!

- a lot of dialog, often taking into account your deeds, skills or other characteristics.

- similar to the "Guild Guide" other features are there to enrich the world, e.g. the new guild's HQ can also be used as a new home.

- and, of course, even more. A lot more. Enough spoilers for now!

Acknowledges

- thanks to Bleral for all the new resources: Paintings, furniture, book arts, faction and quest icons, all are his work! Many thanks!

- JonSatriani, Plangkye and kalikut for the Telvanni Tileset Modders Resource

- Speckledguar, MEO, Razorwing for the updated Telvanni Tileset Modders Resource

- Phitt for the fishtanks

- kalikut for the cauldrons.

- Xiamara and Dkhoster for the Teddy Bears.

- thanks to phoenix1213, Old Book, kyoma, Rubinchen, Bleral, YX33A, and Lingwei for testing

- dev_akm, lilith and daemondarque for helping to formulate a better introduction text

- Steve Carrow for making tes4gecko run with my mods (creating silent dialog files and all that)

- Mortazo for his "treatise on daedra of the lesser variety"

____________________

As an additional gift there's also an Unique Clothes AddOn for EC available. Make sure to read the readme.

There's now another module: If you're unhappy with my faces, LazyMonk contributed an alternative to them. Use Wrye Bash's "Import NPC Face" feature for it. (Now if you're unhappy with both my faces and LazyMonks alternative faces, then I fear you'll have to edit the NPCs yourself .)

[grond]

O holy mother!  As soon as I have more time, I'll get the rest of the requirements, and fit them into the game.  This is a monumental piece of work, and the mere fact that you're shady as to the particulars is the big draw for me.  I must have it!  

Kudos for an enormous release!

[Psykolabe]

This looks great! =) Dl'd, and playing it,

Thank you!

Congratulations on the release

[bg2408]

Many thanks both of you .

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and the mere fact that you're shady as to the particulars is the big draw for me.

Well, it would be kind of spoil the surprises to reveal everything .

[WhoGuru]

Awwww bg. You're gonna make me figure out RBP one of these days very soon so I can play this.    It wont be pretty but I want Integration in my game.

[bg2408]

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Awwww bg. You're gonna make me figure out RBP one of these days very soon so I can play this.  

Wheee!

(Oh well, for the record I already was called once the "Darth Vader" of modding. One day everyone will use my mods, everyone! *manical laughing, turning into mechanic coughing*

Uhm, something's wrong with this logic, but oh well...   )

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 It wont be pretty but I want Integration in my game.

Some consider what RBP offers to be pretty .

[WhoGuru]

Greenwarden suggested I try RBP at point and I admit, the complexity of getting it to play nice with my game put me off.    I'm a simple gal. Complex mod additions scare me. LOL I don't even have WryeBash or BOSS for the same reasons.I will knuckle down and do it one of these days. I promise.

[bg2408]

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I'm a simple gal. Complex mod additions scare me.

Do you have OBMM? If so, TheNiceOne made some nice OMOD-Scripts for it, making the installation a lot easier .

(Though I think RBP gets a worse reputation than it deserves. The main files are quite easy to set up, only if you delve into the optional stuff it gets slightly more complicated - but only due to the sheer amount of stuff available. It's nothing compared to, say, FCOM.)

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LOL I don't even have WryeBash or BOSS for the same reasons.I will knuckle down and do it one of these days. I promise.

To be honest I also don't have BOSS, but that's for different reasons. My load order works, and it's been nearly a year since I made any significant addition to it.

Modding sometimes does this. No playing, only modding...

[WhoGuru]

I do indeed use OMM.    Okay, now I'm more interested in RBP. I didn't realize it now came with scripts for installation that way. I suppose my main concern has been the chance of ruining my character's face. LOL I love Red and it took me ages to get her face just the way I love it. You don't want to know how long I spent giving her a real nose instead of the flat, pinched characterless things Oblivion usually generates.    

I will look into RBP again. The chance to get the rather buggy and OMG picky Beautiful People out of my load order is a great lure. Seriously. Googly eyes once a month with that thing.

My load order is just over a hundred, but I try to add things in my load order intelligently and rarely have issues I can't fix by just shifting a few things, which is why I've never felt the need for Bash or Boss. I've yet to hit a point where I have to have either for my game to work. Hoping that day is still a long way away!    Bash's readme scares me.

[bg2408]

Hm. The forum move seemed to have killed some formatting. And my avatar, too. Hrmn. I don't really want to look at the articles I've written earlier.

Gladly this thread will soon fade into obscurity, but the other ones are stickyed .

[PacificMorrowind]

LOL I don't even have WryeBash or BOSS for the same reasons.I will knuckle down and do it one of these days. I promise.

not using Bash! BOSS is fine to not use; only needed for non-experienced users and handy for really big LOs.

but Bash is really really really good... resolves so many compatibility issues... so many uses... any questions and I'll be happy to answer them.

Pacific Morrowind

[Guest cbh]

not using Bash! BOSS is fine to not use; only needed for non-experienced users and handy for really big LOs.

but Bash is really really really good... resolves so many compatibility issues... so many uses... any questions and I'll be happy to answer them.

Pacific Morrowind

I love BOSS; apart from anything, it saves a lot of work. But given that "anything" includes my ability to creatively put mods in completely the wrong order, it's quite handy from that point of view as well! Seriously, though, a combination of BOSS and Bash have proven invaluable at resolving assorted conflicts.

[bg2408]

I barely dare to ask, but did you, dear potential player reading this, discovered any loose ends in Integration you wish to see resolved?

I'm currently working on this, which also caused three new quests soon ("when it's done") to appear in Integration. I'm still collecting, so now would be the time to make suggestions. In two weeks it will be too late.

Oh and for the fun of it I just checked how much silent dialog currently is in Integration: 22 hours, 13 minutes, 24 seconds .

[bg2408]

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!