[Other] Neon Descent - Preview

[ag12]

Neon Descent - Preview

View File

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This is a preview version to get some feedback. There is no quests or vendors, it's just a preview.

 

 

I. Introduction

Neon Descent is a city expansion mod that aims to deliver, at least a little bit, on the original promise of the "Pleasure City" of Neon. As the name suggests, the mod will be focusing on the levels below the Core - where light is scarce and the less fortunate eek out a living amongst the upper classes' garbage. These lower levels are obviously well suited for all sorts of shady activity and you should be wary of where you step. The Subcore is frequented by tourists and locals alike, offering bars, brothels and shops offering goods and services too unclean for the more prestigious upper levels of the platform city. Here you can indulge freely while still being relatively safe. But even further into the belly of Neon's steel intestines is where rarely outsiders venture, and if they do even less frequently return from.

 

II. Installation, Requirements & Compatibility

Install per usual, any mod manager.

No requirements.

 

Compatible with Neon Vertigo.

 

It is only a preview and I won't bother about compatibility for now.

 

III. Philosophy

Clearly the people of LoversLab got excited when Neon was first announced, followed by a collective sigh of disappointment when the city turned out to be just as PG as the rest of this incredibely mellow world that Bethesda built. I'm trying to rectify this. The idea of this mod is to be a hub, a decently crafted addition to the city that houses all kinds of NSFW activities and can get expanded on by me and others over time.

 

I'm going to include plenty of load doors and such for other people to claim and use to lead into their little story dens or shops, or whatever else you'd like - please reach out if you're interested. The reason why I'm attempting to do this is simple: the Core is already super crowded and there surely will be quite a few Neon overhauls from the SFW side of things, so I figured it'd be good to have a dedicated addition that we control and that keeps conflict down.

 

IV. Content

Currently included is the Neon Subcore, which is essentially a grimy redlight district under Neon's Core.

There are multiple shops, a bar, a brothel, a couple load doors, etc. Some of the stuff (like the Slave Market) have been outlined and are awaiting the release of respective mods in order to know what kind of layout would be appropriate. Pretty much everything will get more detail over time.

 

The Subcore can be accessed via a door next to the Enhance! in Neon Core as well as a door off to one end of Ebbside.

 

V. Disclaimer & Permissions

You do not have permission to reupload or make your own version of the mod itself.

If you'd like to add your own content behind a door, please reach out. I will include a persistent reference for 'your' door and not touch that anymore going forward, etc.

 

This mod will be a long-term project and I expect the first full release (including vendors and basic mechanics for the stuff directly included) in a couple of months.

Hopefully by then some spicy things have been made that I can implement here.

 

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• Submitter
  ag12
• Submitted
  06/25/2024
• Category
  - Other / Miscellaneous
• Requires

 

Edited June 26, 2024 by ag12

[Djlegends]

dam you did good with the setting wonder if you could make a tutorial on how you did this

[VenomousOuroboros]

You're a man with vision and forethought, indeed!

I hope this is allowed to be the massively unifying mod that you mean for it to be.  This community could really skyrocket Starfield modding with that level of cohesion.

[Djlegends]

made a preview btw

 

[ag12]

23 minutes ago, Djlegends said:

dam you did good with the setting wonder if you could make a tutorial on how you did this

 

I have considered it. Making tutorials is *huge* effort, though and I know that I have some other comittments in the coming weeks, but maybe in a month or two I might have enough time to do something like that, if nobody else has done it thus far.

 

13 minutes ago, VenomousOuroboros said:

You're a man with vision and forethought, indeed!

I hope this is allowed to be the massively unifying mod that you mean for it to be.  This community could really skyrocket Starfield modding with that level of cohesion.

 

Thank you! I'm really just trying to show that Starfield doesn't have to be this bland and safe world. There's plenty of room for debauchery, we just have to make it happen.

 

If people have any feedback, oddities, or run into issues, please let me know. The navmesh is auto generated right now, I'll manually clean it up before actual release - so some of the NPCs can get stuck on corners, which won't be an issue once I clean it up.

[mercplatypus]

Pretty nice so far.  I'm one of those people who was incredibly disappointed that this city that was supposedly devoted to vice was tame enough to be in a Disney movie.  Not even a wandering junkie in site despite the guy at Reliant saying they were everywhere.

 

Here's hoping we get some added excitement going forward.  Even if we don't actually have the adult mods just getting the window dressing would be a huge improvement.

[Reigor]

Judging by the video it looks great so far, excellent job!

 

My one quibble is the Slave Trade Authority. I'm not sure if it should be out in the open like that or at least behind a restricted door with some bouncers.  It might be better for the place to be like a "normal" Trade Authority post, with a "concealed" back way to get into the slave trading area. Another alternative is a BDSM club. 

 

Why the quibble? It's a matter of world building. My assumption is that human trafficking and slavery is illegal on Neon, just as it would be throughout the Freestar Collective. If it grows to too much of a problem, right minded citizens might make too much of a fuss that the other governors put enough pressure on Bayu to crack down on it. He can't hide behind the legality like Aurora. 

 

So having it somewhat concealed, somewhat out of the public eye, would make it so such activities have less chance cause headaches. Same goes for the other really dark and depraved stuff, deathmatch rings, and such. It makes the setting more believable. 

 

 

[ag12]

35 minutes ago, Reigor said:

Judging by the video it looks great so far, excellent job!

 

My one quibble is the Slave Trade Authority. I'm not sure if it should be out in the open like that or at least behind a restricted door with some bouncers.  It might be better for the place to be like a "normal" Trade Authority post, with a "concealed" back way to get into the slave trading area. Another alternative is a BDSM club. 

 

Why the quibble? It's a matter of world building. My assumption is that human trafficking and slavery is illegal on Neon, just as it would be throughout the Freestar Collective. If it grows to too much of a problem, right minded citizens might make too much of a fuss that the other governors put enough pressure on Bayu to crack down on it. He can't hide behind the legality like Aurora. 

 

So having it somewhat concealed, somewhat out of the public eye, would make it so such activities have less chance cause headaches. Same goes for the other really dark and depraved stuff, deathmatch rings, and such. It makes the setting more believable. 

 

 

 

Neon City does not fall under Freestar Collective authority and laws and is not governed by a Freestar governor or part of the FC government system at all. They are in Freestar Collective space, but deliberately excempt from their rule - they have a sort of security pact, which lets the FC control space around Volii, scan any in-, and outgoing ships for (mostly Aurora, soon also other depravities) and maintain a Ranger outpost, but they do not have any actual authority within the City of Neon. Here's the lore excempt from the wiki:

 

Quote

In 2330, Neon is the largest commercial hub in the Settled Systems, as well as a popular tourist destination due to the legal Aurora trade. Xenofresh Fisheries retains full ownership of the platform, and Xenofresh CEO Benjamin Bayu holds the position of Administrator of Neon, giving him absolute authority over the city's laws. Neon's security service ruthlessly guards the city's status as the sole legitimate purveyor of Aurora, and anyone caught attempting to smuggle any amount of Aurora outside of the city will receive harsh punishment.

 

Neon laws can be whatever Mr. Bayu wants them to be. And I hear that guy's kind of a sicko.

I like to think of Neon more as a City State within the larger territory of the Freestar Collective, but definitely a separate entity.

 

I think slavery very much fits Neon. Not the kind of publicly execute slaves randomnly, but the deliberate, corporate kind. Indentured servitude, criminal offenders, and whatever people manage to get into circulation under the guise of those. Having said that, the Slave Trade Authority is just a placeholder for now. But I don't think you're going to end with a situation where Neon, the depraved pleasure city, has something against slavery. In general, it's not just about world building either (I think it fits the world building perfectly) but also that people want places and cities that aren't The Key where it's legal and you can have those kind of mods and quests. If Skyrim is anything to judge by, that is.

 

Also, I estimate that eventually you'll be able to tailor it to your needs. It won't be that hard to make a toggle to see whether security stops you if you're a slaver in certain spaces, so FC being anti-slavery is completely feasible. Neon City however, well, I think you're going to be lucky if the real depraved shit stays in the backrooms. 😄

[SeranaUser]

47 minutes ago, Reigor said:

So having it somewhat concealed, somewhat out of the public eye, would make it so such activities have less chance cause headaches. Same goes for the other really dark and depraved stuff, deathmatch rings, and such. It makes the setting more believable. 

 

 

Or perhaps just as visible, but with some euphemistic name to serve as a legal fig leaf? It's not a slave market. It's just a...labor exchange.

 

My aesthetic tastes would be less punk, so my main thought on that front is to just make the most of a "add whatever floor you want" elevator once we have a tool for that.

[Reigor]

24 minutes ago, ag12 said:

Neon laws can be whatever Mr. Bayu wants them to be. And I hear that guy's kind of a sicko.

I like to think of Neon more as a City State within the larger territory of the Freestar Collective, but definitely a separate entity.

 

I think slavery very much fits Neon. Not the kind of publicly execute slaves randomnly, but the deliberate, corporate kind. Indentured servitude, criminal offenders, and whatever people manage to get into circulation under the guise of those. Having said that, the Slave Trade Authority is just a placeholder for now. But I don't think you're going to end with a situation where Neon, the depraved pleasure city, has something against slavery. In general, it's not just about world building either (I think it fits the world building perfectly) but also that people want places and cities that aren't The Key where it's legal and you can have those kind of mods and quests. If Skyrim is anything to judge by, that is.

 

Also, I estimate that eventually you'll be able to tailor it to your needs. It won't be that hard to make a toggle to see whether security stops you if you're a slaver in certain spaces, so FC being anti-slavery is completely feasible. Neon City however, well, I think you're going to be lucky if the real depraved shit stays in the backrooms.

 

I'm not disagreeing in principle. There is a difference between what the law says is legal, what the govt actually does, and what the society as a whole generally accept. I guess I think too much.

 

Alright, slavery is legal in Neon, because Bayu says so or turns a blind eye to get a cut of the profit just like the Aurora smuggling.  I got the impression he is a pretty greedy bastard, more so that his predecessors. This would mean that the "legalized" slavery is a fairly recent phenomena. So what does Akila do if one of their citizens gets enslaved? What does Hopetown do? If that citizen's family has enough "weight" they could get the governors to put enough pressure on the slave trader to release or at least ransom back the prisoner. I suppose this could lead to quest lines like recovering a victim or kidnapping someone to sell into slavery.

 

But this also means, for world building that the player encounter slavery or indications of it outside of Neon. People would talk and gossip about it. UC folks would grumble about why they should have taken Neon and cleaned it out during the Colony war. FC people would talk about how much money Neon brings into the Collective, the only reason why they have a large military and the Rangers is because of Neon, thus they can't afford to upset things too much despite the kidnappings and rise of Aurora addiction, and so on.  

[ag12]

21 minutes ago, Reigor said:

 

I'm not disagreeing in principle. There is a difference between what the law says is legal, what the govt actually does, and what the society as a whole generally accept. I guess I think too much.

 

Alright, slavery is legal in Neon, because Bayu says so or turns a blind eye to get a cut of the profit just like the Aurora smuggling.  I got the impression he is a pretty greedy bastard, more so that his predecessors. This would mean that the "legalized" slavery is a fairly recent phenomena. So what does Akila do if one of their citizens gets enslaved? What does Hopetown do? If that citizen's family has enough "weight" they could get the governors to put enough pressure on the slave trader to release or at least ransom back the prisoner. I suppose this could lead to quest lines like recovering a victim or kidnapping someone to sell into slavery.

 

But this also means, for world building that the player encounter slavery or indications of it outside of Neon. People would talk and gossip about it. UC folks would grumble about why they should have taken Neon and cleaned it out during the Colony war. FC people would talk about how much money Neon brings into the Collective, the only reason why they have a large military and the Rangers is because of Neon, thus they can't afford to upset things too much despite the kidnappings and rise of Aurora addiction, and so on.  

 

I think it's also important to remember that the FC doesn't outpower Neon, not really at least. Purely militarily in the short term, maybe - but Neon is essentially the largest mega-corporations in the Settled Systems combined into a City State that caters fairly exclusively to them. And the slavery there, in my mind at least, would be mostly based on things like accrued debts, contracts, indentured servitude that ran even further out of control. Dystopian corporations keeping some of their workforce in check that way.

 

And then of course there's pirates, smugglers and other scoundrels providing a steady inflow of new slaves - however, technically it could be a system where the City of Neon / the respective slavers in it buy those slaves off pirates and smugglers and essentially convert the sales price into a servitude contract. So instead of being enslaved (and probably murdered) by space pirates, those unlucky souls end up in a debt contract with one of Neon's entities - which is better, but not by much.

 

At the end of the day, I'm also not going to in depth. This mod is just a city expansion and atmosphere mod, I'll adjust it according to whatever LoversLab lore settles when someone makes actual NSFW mods including slavery themes.

[ag12]

Updated to v1.0.1.

 

The area still doesn't have vendors or quests but is now fully connected to Neon City proper and can be accessed without console commands.

Tested and ensured compatibility with Neon Vertigo.

 

Edit: something had reverted changes to main page, it's accurate now.

Edited June 26, 2024 by ag12

[Djlegends]

btw how the heck you got crowd system to work???

[ag12]

20 minutes ago, Djlegends said:

btw how the heck you got crowd system to work???

 

It's very straight forward and easy.

In the Object Window go to Generic Forms -> Base Forms -> CrowdRegion, either duplicate an existing one and adjust it or (like I did) just grab whatever one makes sense, drag it into the cell like you would any other object. It'll spawn as a box volume, which you then need to adjust so it fits over the entire area you want crowds in and that's pretty much it.

 

The rest are just furniture markers so the NPCs have some places to stand, sit etc.

[Djlegends]

5 hours ago, ag12 said:

 

It's very straight forward and easy.

In the Object Window go to Generic Forms -> Base Forms -> CrowdRegion, either duplicate an existing one and adjust it or (like I did) just grab whatever one makes sense, drag it into the cell like you would any other object. It'll spawn as a box volume, which you then need to adjust so it fits over the entire area you want crowds in and that's pretty much it.

 

The rest are just furniture markers so the NPCs have some places to stand, sit etc.

huh...

[Djlegends]

6 hours ago, ag12 said:

 

It's very straight forward and easy.

In the Object Window go to Generic Forms -> Base Forms -> CrowdRegion, either duplicate an existing one and adjust it or (like I did) just grab whatever one makes sense, drag it into the cell like you would any other object. It'll spawn as a box volume, which you then need to adjust so it fits over the entire area you want crowds in and that's pretty much it.

 

The rest are just furniture markers so the NPCs have some places to stand, sit etc.

hmm can't get it to work in my cell they just don't appear lol

[cheese76]

thanks

[SeranaUser]

Is anyone else having trouble finding the door?

I'm in Neon Core, outside the Enhance. I see the following things:

1. Door to Neon Security

2. Can-uck vending machine

3. Door to Enhance!

4. Door to Neon with "Ebbside" displayed above.

5. Elevator in the lobby of Hotel Volii.

 

What am I missing? Where is the entry relative to these points?

 

I downloaded the mod a few hours ago, deployed my mods, and use Vortex. I was in another galaxy at the time I loaded it.

 

Most of my mods relate to outpost building and ship components. Maybe it's an issue with the Starfield Community Patch which I have?

Edited June 27, 2024 by SeranaUser

[DocClox]

On 6/25/2024 at 11:39 PM, ag12 said:

Not the kind of publicly execute slaves randomnly, but the deliberate, corporate kind

 

Hmm. Ever play any of the SelectaCorp games?

[ag12]

5 hours ago, SeranaUser said:

Is anyone else having trouble finding the door?

I'm in Neon Core, outside the Enhance. I see the following things:

1. Door to Neon Security

2. Can-uck vending machine

3. Door to Enhance!

4. Door to Neon with "Ebbside" displayed above.

5. Elevator in the lobby of Hotel Volii.

 

What am I missing? Where is the entry relative to these points?

 

I downloaded the mod a few hours ago, deployed my mods, and use Vortex. I was in another galaxy at the time I loaded it.

 

Most of my mods relate to outpost building and ship components. Maybe it's an issue with the Starfield Community Patch which I have?

Try 'coc CityNeonSubcore' to see if the mod is loaded at all.

If that takes you to the modded area, then you can trace back the steps. The door should be where the vending machine is to the left of Enhance! (the vending machine should be gone). It might be a load order issue, too.

 

Please try that and post your load order.

 

2 hours ago, DocClox said:

 

Hmm. Ever play any of the SelectaCorp games?

 

I haven't, but I heard of them.

I think some of the undertones work quite well for how I personally think it should be on Neon.

[SeranaUser]

5 hours ago, ag12 said:

Try 'coc CityNeonSubcore' to see if the mod is loaded at all.

If that takes you to the modded area, then you can trace back the steps. The door should be where the vending machine is to the left of Enhance! (the vending machine should be gone). It might be a load order issue, too.

 

Please try that and post your load order.

Somehow all my other plugins were enabled, but not Descent. I either updated or installed https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/4157?tab=description

 

It's working now and looks like a good "sin lobby" for the future!

Edited June 27, 2024 by SeranaUser

[FerraroNo3]

Looking absolutely amazing. Already has a way darker and grittier feeling than Neon Core, which was very much needed. Can't wait to see it expanded upon.

[ag12]

On 6/27/2024 at 8:38 PM, SeranaUser said:

Somehow all my other plugins were enabled, but not Descent. I either updated or installed https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/4157?tab=description

 

It's working now and looks like a good "sin lobby" for the future!

 

Perfect, enjoy.

 

4 hours ago, FerraroNo3 said:

Looking absolutely amazing. Already has a way darker and grittier feeling than Neon Core, which was very much needed. Can't wait to see it expanded upon.

 

Thank you! I'm going to let a bit of time pass to see if there are any interesting adult mods coming out over the next 2-3 weeks or so and then go from there.

I do have both an expansion to the left (past the Enhance!) planned (another plaza and a container slum) as well as going downwards into utility canals etc. where some more dark themes can be touched on.

Glad you like it.

[Mortran]

Finally we are getting somewhere with the mods. This will bring some realism to Neon. The game talks a lot about the dark side of Neon, but never shows anything.

[Wolfe6900]

I'm currently working a Slave Market/Auction House mod; if you don't mind, I may use your mod and rebuild the market or use your location as an alternate setting. Just waiting until CK updates to successfully develop scripts/not cause issues with AI Packages and etc to fully post a functional mod on my end. Also waiting on defeat mods and/or outcomes after the market to implement.