[WIPz]Shudder: A survival horror RPG total conversion

[TheMagician]

[align=center]shudder[/align]

(Note: This post originally appeared on the ESF, but I thought I'd post it here, too, so you know what the heck I'm up to.)

"We humans are not so alone as we like to think. There are other things out there...creatures that walk between dimensions the way you or I walk through doors. We've done a good job convincing ourselves that they don't exist. That there are no monsters under the bed, no faeries dancing on toadstools. But we're wrong.

"And these creatures...they're not interested in our well-being. They look at us the way we look at a cow, or an insect. With indifference mostly, but every once in a while...well, sometimes, they just like to squash something, same as we do."

Shudder is a survival horror RPG total conversion for TESIV:Oblivion set in the fictional city of St. Germain in the present day. Conceptually, Shudder has been heavily influenced by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, the Silent Hill, Resident Evil and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth games, the bleak aesthetic of movies like Se7en and Silence of the Lambs, the endless spiral of conspiracies within conspiracies evoked so powerfully by the X-Files, and the paintings of Francis Bacon, H.R. Giger and Max Ernst.

Shudder will play much like Oblivion (for obvious reasons) but will focus more on developing evocative environments and settings, ramping up the creep factor, and making your skin crawl. It's like a nightmare that doesn't go away when you wake up, a slow breakdown of your mental faculties, the creeping decay of advancing death.

The concept behind Shudder has been in development (on and off) for over a year. It started out as a mod for the Half-life 2 engine, but I eventually decided that the Oblivion engine provided a more complete feature set out of the box. The idea first occured to me when I was playing Silent Hill 2 and thought: I wonder what I would do in Silent Hill? A strange notion, perhaps, but, for me, a compelling one.

I don't expect a lot of interest here in the Alliance, where the vast majority of modders and players are so devoted to fantasy (I enjoy it tremendously myself) but I thought that, since it IS based on the TESIV engine, it was an appropriate place to advertise and recruit. If, for some reason, you are interested in getting involved with Shudder's development, please feel free to drop by the new forum and introduce yourself. (I am also setting up a wiki for developers.)

As of yet, there are no screenshots to post as all of the assets remain to be created. I will post links to the latest media when the mod reaches a sufficiently mature state of development. A great deal of additional information about the mod can be found at the mod's homepage on my website and on the forums.

positions

I am currently recruiting modders for all positions, but at a minimum I am looking for a 3d artist and animator willing to try their hand at some custom creatures, a knowledgeable scripter (since the mod will be making a lot of changes to the core system), a competent UI modder (to produce that 'new car' smell), and a music and sound fx specialist who likes to make creepy noises.    It goes without saying that I will need a lot of custom content as well: an entire world of models, textures, tilesets, etc., to turn Shudder into a living(?), breathing world.

reassurances

At the risk of sounding arrogant (which is not my intent), I will now try to dispel some doubts about what, exactly, my own contributions will be. Here is a brief summary of some of my own modding experience: for starters, I have been modding with the Oblivion engine for over a year, and have used the landscape and heightmap editors extensively; I know how to get custom objects and tilesets into the game (though not always with perfect physics!), and have created a very simple, working creature model (although I am still learning about the animation); I have a little experience with texturing (diffuse and normal maps); I have created quests, dialogue, NPCs, houses, dungeons, path grids, short scripts, custom classes, races, birthsigns, and a variety of other modifications to various game settings and variables. I also run my own website, know how to edit a wiki, and have just set up my very first forum. I also plan on doing most of the writing, since I have some experience with that, and have enough artistic skill to work up some rudimentary concept art. In short, I will do whatever needs to be done. (I know I sometimes come across as a pompous, arrogant, cantankerous old sod, but I am really quite harmless once you get to know me. Promise.    )

In any case, I hope some of you, at least, will take a passing interest in this mod and drop by the forum and web site to check it out. If not, no harm done.

P.S. If you feel the need to harp on the vapourware aspects of total conversions for Oblivion, or inform me quite definitively that this mod will never see the light of day, and that I will give up in frustration and sacrifice myself on the alter of Dagon long before my first release, then please feel free to reply to this thread. After all, there's no such thing as bad publicity, and I don't really care much what you think.  

[DarkRider]

Sounds cool! I have a Silent Hill mod called Silent Hill: Oblivion in development, to follow my current project. Not a TC, but a fantasy version of Silent Hill. I've always been a big fan of horror themed games. It will be interesting to see your idea develop, I dont think I've seen another TC horror mod. Good Luck!  

[TheMagician]

OMG! (Ahem. Please excuse the outburst.   )

Before I started serious work on Shudder I was very seriously toying with the idea of making a mod called Silent Oblivion. Exact same concept. (Well, probably not exact, but you know what I mean.) If I'd known someone else was working on one, I probably would have contacted you. Even so, when you start work, let me know. If I can ever get this custom creature thing down, I'd be happy to help populate your world with freaky creepies.

[DarkRider]

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OMG! (Ahem. Please excuse the outburst.   )Before I started serious work on Shudder I was very seriously toying with the idea of making a mod called Silent Oblivion. Exact same concept. (Well, probably not exact, but you know what I mean.) If I'd known someone else was working on one, I probably would have contacted you. Even so, when you start work, let me know. If I can ever get this custom creature thing down, I'd be happy to help populate your world with freaky creepies.

Sounds like a plan! Compared to RST Silent Hill: Oblivion will be much smaller, but very story intensive like Silent Hill with tons of strange interiors to explore. I've done a great deal of development on SH:O so when the time comes, putting it together should be fun! I'll look you up then and see what you're up to!  

Good luck with Shudder, really. TC's are a big job, but not impossible, If you have a goal and break it into manageable bits you could very well surprise yourself with what you can do!  

[TheMagician]

Just a quick update. I started working on a developer's tileset for planning out levels and whatnot. Really only appropriate for a modern setting where the boxy architecture will work. The idea is to plan out the level and then retexture the tiles to whatever is appropriate. This way, I can have maps and textures developing simultaneously without having to wait on the textures. It's an idea, anyways. We'll see if it works. Once I have enough pieces (50+) I may release it as a modder's resource for those who might be interested.

Here's a screenshot: devTile in the CS.

[DarkRider]

Wow, looks really cool!  

[Vereta]

Looks awesome! You've just got started and your already reeling me in.

[TheMagician]

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Looks awesome! You've just got started and your already reeling me in.

Good. I'm going to need a lot of good voice talent.

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Wow, looks really cool!

Thanks. I made it myself! (Now people will understand why I started that annoying thread about Mopps and collision materials.   )

[Vereta]

LOL! Oh no!

[TheMagician]

Just a quick update. I have started to assemble the tileset after trying out some variations and doing some basic testing and it is coming along slowly but surely. I have over 30 pieces modeled now, though they haven't been UV mapped with any precision, an issue I'm currently working on. (The tiles are textured in neutral grey but they look greenish in the screenshot because of the lighting.)

The tiles are intended to represent generic contemporary interior architecture that can be retextured to suit the location (ie. apartment complexes, schools, hospitals, prisons, etc.). Once I have a basic set done, I'll be releasing them as a general modders' resource. If anyone wants to do some textures for them I'd be happy to provide more details.

I also have someone who is interested in developing music (and possibly sound fx) for the mod. I've heard some of his released tracks and they are quite good. I'm looking forward to seeing what he dreams up for the mod.  

As always, more information can be found at the forums and web site.