alternate start Alternate Perspective - In the Midden

[Zaflis]

I tried the winterhold college - Midden start, but having troubles escaping the chair furniture. The struggle option doesn't do anything, only the break device option does something. But i think it's rigged very hard for that option. I had DD NG's default escape minigame on at the beginning but then i tried turning it off before starting the scenario, but that doesn't help either. It's like overriding the DD's entire struggle system or just bugging it out completely.

[jbezorg]

On 4/21/2026 at 4:53 PM, Zaflis said:

I tried the winterhold college - Midden start, but having troubles escaping the chair furniture. The struggle option doesn't do anything, only the break device option does something. But i think it's rigged very hard for that option. I had DD NG's default escape minigame on at the beginning but then i tried turning it off before starting the scenario, but that doesn't help either. It's like overriding the DD's entire struggle system or just bugging it out completely.

 

The struggle option depends on the device you choose and the setting for that device w/in the associated mod. Display Model or Devious Device Contraption.

The only start where I altered the escape game is "Museum Piece" because Pama Deadly Furniture isn't scripted for a escape game.

[Zaflis]

19 hours ago, jbezorg said:

The struggle option depends on the device you choose and the setting for that device w/in the associated mod. Display Model or Devious Device Contraption.

The only start where I altered the escape game is "Museum Piece" because Pama Deadly Furniture isn't scripted for a escape game.

It was clearly Contraptions since it had the usual menu with E key that opens the Struggle/Break... options. Only the Break did the usual DD animation, but Struggle didn't start anything. I don't have Pama installed as i am not in favor of any amputation or permanent death mods in my game.

Edited April 24 by Zaflis

[jbezorg]

14 hours ago, Zaflis said:

It was clearly Contraptions since it had the usual menu with E key that opens the Struggle/Break... options. Only the Break did the usual DD animation, but Struggle didn't start anything. I don't have Pama installed as i am not in favor of any amputation or permanent death mods in my game.

 

Did you enable the struggle game? Because all this mod does is move the player to a location, waits until the player's 3D is loaded, then uses the DD API to place the furniture in a specific position and player in it.

[jbezorg]

14 hours ago, Zaflis said:

I don't have Pama installed as i am not in favor of any amputation or permanent death mods in my game.

Also, this mod uses DD contraptions and Display Model 3. And those use the associated escape game associated with the furniture chosen.

The only instance where Pama is used is the dewmer device in the museum. That device scripting was modified to use the DD Contraptions framework and DD's settings for the escape game AND it won't kill the player.  I mean, what's the F'ing point of starting a new game and the player gets immediately killed.

Edited April 25 by jbezorg

[muhavaux33]

I dont know if its been reported but the Skyrim Sewers quest has a tiny problem with the chair contraption:
the base is currently positioned underneath the map, causing some of the chair parts not to show, and also causing the feet to drastically clip through the floor. Just raising the contraption slightly should fix the issue. Btw, is there a way to do it with console on your playthrough?

[ztl44]

Is there a walkthrough or something, I tried the college start and escaped from the furniture but the college gate was still closed and I really dont know what to do next

[jbezorg]

On 5/25/2026 at 11:18 PM, muhavaux33 said:

I dont know if its been reported but the Skyrim Sewers quest has a tiny problem with the chair contraption:
the base is currently positioned underneath the map, causing some of the chair parts not to show, and also causing the feet to drastically clip through the floor. Just raising the contraption slightly should fix the issue. Btw, is there a way to do it with console on your playthrough?

Do you have a mod that changes the midden?

 

Once you escape, if you can, use getpos and setpos in console to set the proper position. Then send me the XYZ coordinates and provide the name of the mod (if any) that altered to position of the atronach forge I can make a correction.

[jbezorg]

On 5/27/2026 at 5:05 AM, ztl44 said:

Is there a walkthrough or something, I tried the college start and escaped from the furniture but the college gate was still closed and I really dont know what to do next

 

 

From the mod description.

 

"Since you start in the college, the gate to the bridge will sill be locked making you a prisoner of the college. I recommend The Midden - Expanded to give you some areas to explore with The Midden Expanded - Tweaks Fixes and Patches to work with JK Skyrim & JK's College of Winterhold."

 

Alternatively you can choose not to install the gate add-on and escape through the midden.

[ztl44]

On 5/31/2026 at 12:17 PM, jbezorg said:

 

 

From the mod description.

 

"Since you start in the college, the gate to the bridge will sill be locked making you a prisoner of the college. I recommend The Midden - Expanded to give you some areas to explore with The Midden Expanded - Tweaks Fixes and Patches to work with JK Skyrim & JK's College of Winterhold."

 

Alternatively you can choose not to install the gate add-on and escape through the midden.

I mean is there a sequent quest that allows you to find out how you get locked, explore the college or unlock the gate ...

Or you're just supposed to be locked forever in the college and the content is only the furniture and nothing more?

[muhavaux33]

On 5/30/2026 at 11:11 PM, jbezorg said:

Do you have a mod that changes the midden?

 

Once you escape, if you can, use getpos and setpos in console to set the proper position. Then send me the XYZ coordinates and provide the name of the mod (if any) that altered to position of the atronach forge I can make a correction.

I dont use any mods that alter the college or winterhold no, nor JK's. I also want to reafirm that this specific one isn't in the midden but skyrim sewers start. I was going to give you the coordinates because I did try to set it up perfectly on my own before replying but noticed that even when I set the contraption perfectly, the character didnt and stuck to its original position. Although this one wasn't in the midden I did try the other midden ones and noticed that pretty much ALL dd contraptions have an incorrect position, with most of them, in the midden, being placed far above the floor. Display model didn't have this issue.

Could you try and replicate mod author by starting on a new save and seeing if the positions are correct?

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I am probably being stupid , but i cannot  figure out how the minigame works. Are you supposed to watch for something to happen? and then you press which buttons ? Becouse i tried a lot of stuff but cant find it

[Koffii]

These are very cool, but...

With the passage in the Midden Dark closed off by a grate, and the College Gate closed... how are you supposed to get out?

It's kinda silly that you can walk up and talk to the NPCs but none of them will just open the gate for you.

 

Edit: Ah, silly me, you can just disable the esp that adds the gate. So yeah, nevermind. 

Edited June 8 by Koffii

[jbezorg]

On 6/4/2026 at 4:52 PM, Morgoth Bauglir said:

I am probably being stupid , but i cannot  figure out how the minigame works. Are you supposed to watch for something to happen? and then you press which buttons ? Becouse i tried a lot of stuff but cant find it

 

Instructions for the escape game are with DM3 and DDNG. The only exception is Predator's Dwemer Device in the Dwemer Museum. That starts the DDNG game immediately and uses the settings in DDNG to determine difficulty.

Since this is frequently asked.

First, make sure the escape games are enabled and configured how you like in DDNG & DM3 before you leave the starting room.

DM3 escape game In short: A modified % chance each key press with a cooldown. DM3 setting determine the what and the how. Basically, the keypress is a die roll with modifiers that you have some minor capability to manage.

DDNG escape game In short: A more complex character sequence guessing & memory game. The only randomness is in the character sequence and in the length of the keypress to get success/fail feedback. Except for the Predator's Dwemer Device, you have to go through the normal DDNG escape dialog boxes and select "Struggle" to start the game.

• There is a code consisting of characters "W", "S", "A", and "D" of a length randomly determined based on the DDNG settings.
• Select one of the keys and hold it until you get a visual and audio cue of success or failure
  • Success: a positive vocalization like "yes!" and a green expanding circle on a random body part. You can move onto the next guess.
  • Failure: a negative vocalization like an annoyed moan and a red explosion of "curse characters" ("# ! @ & $...."). You still have the same escape code but you have to restart at the beginning of the sequence so I hope you memorized or wrote down the keys you've tried.
  • Crit Failure:  a negative  vocalization like an annoyed moan and a purple explosion of "curse characters". The escape code can be regenerated and you'll have to start completely over and/or the length of the escape code can be increased by one.