Arachnophobia

[shinji72]

These of Nut were very good points.

1) The concept of taking the gameplay challenge away from the cocoon escape and more on the cave escape is great, and could really bring you further.

Then is more modular... Instead of painstakingly try to find a good, enjoyable, meaningful and non repetitive way to get un-cocooned (a bit of a dead end I'm afraid), you make it automatic and focus instead on the cave. 

How many possibilities there.

You can start with a cave with multiple exits (so for the user there is the funny to be teleported around Skyrim, which is funny also for a RPG perspective).

But then you can add more caves (should be very narrow and maze-like).

Maybe you can add stuff in the caves, like other prisoners to rescue.

And the good think is that you can start the mod with the basics and then build on, add things.

 

You could even make that, as a special event, after some cocooning, you're actually freed by someone else and you have to escape the cave together. Maybe the same guy/gal you freed earlier from another cave (a bit unbelievable, but Skyrim is full of this kind of twist. He/she supposedly followed you unseen to repay the favor). So you can built even a mini story, a longer narrative arc, which goes across different cave escapes.

Go on with nut's ideas. Also the world need another ARACHNOPHOBIA 2 video.  

 

 

[DocClox]

Boy, this thread is reminding me I need to sink some time into Rackney's Fall Not going to happen until I get the current QAYL release out the door though.

 

@kazyn: I think the current key-mash approach is fine. That said, feel free to PM me if you want to bounce a few ideas around. It's useful to have a sounding board for these things.

 

@nutluck: Personally, I have no problems with the spiders stripping the PC before cocooning. It's probably an evolutionary response to adventurers getting loose in the past. Or something. Certainly, I don't think it'd be nearly as much fun if the PC kept her gear. Personal opinion, of course

 

@shinji72: I wouldn't like to make the escape automatic. The struggling could be a lot easier - MCM on my mod seemed to set itself to "insanely difficult" by default, but dial it right back down it's OK. I don't mind it being a bit of a formality.

 

What would work for me would be if you had to time the struggles for when the spider wasn't watching. So give it some patrol points and if it sees you struggling, it'll add more webbing. If it sees you struggling too much it'll bite again and you'll wake up later fully webbed again. Plus interest. Maybe make the spider more likely to notice the closer you are to getting free. Strength means you can escape faster, stealth means you're less likely to be detected. Maybe make magic useful but "noisy" unless quiet casting is taken.

 

Entirely agree about making the dungeon the real challenge rather than the escape though. We just need the dungeons.

 

Which brings me back to Rackney's Fall, and that's where I came in...

[Jayleia]

What would work for me would be if you had to time the struggles for when the spider wasn't watching. So give it some patrol points and if it sees you struggling, it'll add more webbing. If it sees you struggling too much it'll bite again and you'll wake up later fully webbed again. Plus interest. Maybe make the spider more likely to notice the closer you are to getting free. Strength means you can escape faster, stealth means you're less likely to be detected. Maybe make magic useful but "noisy" unless quiet casting is taken.

 

Entirely agree about making the dungeon the real challenge rather than the escape though. We just need the dungeons.

 

Which brings me back to Rackney's Fall, and that's where I came in...

I like the idea of stripping too...a survival horror game where you have refined dragonbone armor and weapons has...made a serious error in genre convention.  And...oh god, I hate you forever Doc if those ideas are used. *shudder*  (OK, I'll be absolutely infuriated at myself, but DAMN it would be so real.)

[nutluck]

Well that is where my suggestion of the web and poison debuff's came in. So even if the PC has great gear they are so debuffed it doesn't matter, even with the great gear they would still lose a follow up fight.

[Kazyn]

After a long day at work (and minutes before a few hours of class) I come to check on and whoa! What awesome feedback you guys have given.

Escaping from the cocoon might have to stay as is. Automatic escape is something I'd like to try and avoid, so maybe the escape can stay as is. The ideas I've gotten so far for scenarios is more on the dynamic cave(s). With that said, I think one or more caves are going to be in the near future... which is fine, because mapping is something I'd like to think I'm actually decent at.

The fun part will be making a sort of dynamic/altering cave system that changes with each subsequent visit... Maybe that one exit you took last time might instead be webbed off and you have to find another. I actually think it would be pretty easy to put together.

 

 

In the end, it seems making this into more of a dungeon mod might be the better way to go, and I think I'm okay with that. I certainly could use the mapping practice. Also, if anyone would like to make cave systems of their own, send them my way and I'll look at including them. I'll start working on new cave systems tonight. I'm actually kind of excited for it.

 

@Shinji72: Your videos have always been entertaining to me. You made a subscriber out of me awhile back (Alien: Isolation has been a blast to watch, and that's saying something, especially considering I don't watch "let's plays." So, in time hopefully I can put some content out for you to review. Additional NPCs are something I'll have to look into as well. It would be nice to have someone to keep the dragonborn company, wouldn't it?

 

I'll have to kick around some ideas NPC-wise. I don't know if making them followers would be a good idea, especially if multiple visits are expected and the caves are to be re-used throughout a single play-through. I suppose they could go their separate ways, those who manage to escape, but I guess we'll see. Should they be named or nameless, while we're at it? I don't know yet.

 

=======================================================================

 

The priority will be to fabricate some decent cave systems with multiple paths and such, first.

 

Next up will be implementing the dynamic mechanics that make up the escape route in each of the caves.

 

Thirdly, the addition of NPCs will be considered. I cannot guarantee this, though. Some additional feedback as to how NPCs could be handled through multiple visits would be welcomed.

 

Finally, refining some better escape methods from the cocoon. Obviously this has been shoved to a lower position on the list.

 

====================================================================================

 

P.S. The Death Alternative feature has not been forgotten. It also might very well become a requirement just to make transitions into the cave a bit smoother. This could also indicate that the victim might not be dragged off into a cave until they bleedout and go unconscious (and when followers are defeated).

 

This could solve the camera locking problem, but might also enable the spider to continue to attack the player even while entangled until they are rendered defeated. I'll have to test it against DA functionality and see how it plays out.

 

Finally, some motivation!

[DocClox]

Dynamic dungeons? Hmm...

 

Easiest is probably a single large cave system with many passages blocked, either clogged with webbing or boulders or rubble. Each time the player visits, enable the blockage on the route use the previous visit and open the new one.

 

Probably save the rubble for closing off passages. Webs might be removed and boulders rolled aside, but it's hard to imagine spiders excavating. Unless you wanted to add a couple of archeologists/treasure hunters to one area. Which would be fun

 

For blocking webs, you could make them sticky. As in turn off player control, stick them in a twitch idle, tell them they're stuck and send a spider to bite and re-web them. Might need some sort of shader effect on the webs as a clue, or something.

 

The other thing is lots of smaller modular cave bits that could be swapped in at random. That'd work better if there were several starting points, or for portals like sinkholes where you could describe how the player slid out of control down a series of sloping passages. Could be combined with the first approach, of course.

 

Just a few ideas.

[Kazyn]

Dynamic dungeons? Hmm...

 

Easiest is probably a single large cave system with many passages blocked, either clogged with webbing or boulders or rubble. Each time the player visits, enable the blockage on the route use the previous visit and open the new one.

 

Probably save the rubble for closing off passages. Webs might be removed and boulders rolled aside, but it's hard to imagine spiders excavating. Unless you wanted to add a couple of archeologists/treasure hunters to one area. Which would be fun

 

For blocking webs, you could make them sticky. As in turn off player control, stick them in a twitch idle, tell them they're stuck and send a spider to bite and re-web them. Might need some sort of shader effect on the webs as a clue, or something.

 

The other thing is lots of smaller modular cave bits that could be swapped in at random. That'd work better if there were several starting points, or for portals like sinkholes where you could describe how the player slid out of control down a series of sloping passages. Could be combined with the first approach, of course.

 

Just a few ideas.

 

You pretty much hit the nail on the head as far as what I had in mind goes. Different walls of web clogging various passages etc. The sticky webs is a good idea though, that part I didn't think about and should be fairly easy to implement. Along with this could come some web traps or something. Fantastic ideas.

 

[mangalo]

What about an option to send the player back to where he was captured ?  I know it isn't roleplay, but it is sometimes a pain in the ass to have to go back to a dungeon etc

[Kazyn]

What about an option to send the player back to where he was captured ?  I know it isn't roleplay, but it is sometimes a pain in the ass to have to go back to a dungeon etc

 

Well the main idea is to not get caught/defeated in the first place. You are supposed to be set back, after all. However, it would be ideal to put the player - at the very least - near where they last were before getting caught/defeated after escaping whatever cave they end up in. I can't make any promises, however.

[Stiltzkinator]

Quoted post

 

 

 

After a long day at work (and minutes before a few hours of class) I come to check on and whoa! What awesome feedback you guys have given.

Escaping from the cocoon might have to stay as is. Automatic escape is something I'd like to try and avoid, so maybe the escape can stay as is. The ideas I've gotten so far for scenarios is more on the dynamic cave(s). With that said, I think one or more caves are going to be in the near future... which is fine, because mapping is something I'd like to think I'm actually decent at.

The fun part will be making a sort of dynamic/altering cave system that changes with each subsequent visit... Maybe that one exit you took last time might instead be webbed off and you have to find another. I actually think it would be pretty easy to put together.

 

 

In the end, it seems making this into more of a dungeon mod might be the better way to go, and I think I'm okay with that. I certainly could use the mapping practice. Also, if anyone would like to make cave systems of their own, send them my way and I'll look at including them. I'll start working on new cave systems tonight. I'm actually kind of excited for it.

 

@Shinji72: Your videos have always been entertaining to me. You made a subscriber out of me awhile back (Alien: Isolation has been a blast to watch, and that's saying something, especially considering I don't watch "let's plays." So, in time hopefully I can put some content out for you to review. Additional NPCs are something I'll have to look into as well. It would be nice to have someone to keep the dragonborn company, wouldn't it?

 

I'll have to kick around some ideas NPC-wise. I don't know if making them followers would be a good idea, especially if multiple visits are expected and the caves are to be re-used throughout a single play-through. I suppose they could go their separate ways, those who manage to escape, but I guess we'll see. Should they be named or nameless, while we're at it? I don't know yet.

 

=======================================================================

 

The priority will be to fabricate some decent cave systems with multiple paths and such, first.

 

Next up will be implementing the dynamic mechanics that make up the escape route in each of the caves.

 

Thirdly, the addition of NPCs will be considered. I cannot guarantee this, though. Some additional feedback as to how NPCs could be handled through multiple visits would be welcomed.

 

Finally, refining some better escape methods from the cocoon. Obviously this has been shoved to a lower position on the list.

 

====================================================================================

 

P.S. The Death Alternative feature has not been forgotten. It also might very well become a requirement just to make transitions into the cave a bit smoother. This could also indicate that the victim might not be dragged off into a cave until they bleedout and go unconscious (and when followers are defeated).

 

This could solve the camera locking problem, but might also enable the spider to continue to attack the player even while entangled until they are rendered defeated. I'll have to test it against DA functionality and see how it plays out.

 

Finally, some motivation!

 

 

 

Response

 

How about just having one, single NPC that appears in the cave/dungeon? The first time you are captured, you will need to free them to get out, and they thank you and help you escape (perhaps by providing a necessary item or such). The first time will be required to avoid sequence-breaking with this NPC. The next time you are captured, you can find them, free them again...and have an awkward conversation about how both of you seem to have trouble with spiders. From then on, it becomes something of a running joke. You could even give the NPC a list of random quips to choose form when rescued, e.g. "I should have known better than to be wandering near Riften" etc.
 

As for follower, how do followers work now? I've noticed that different followers seem to get entangled for different amounts of time. Are you using a code that dynamically calculates that? You may have mentioned this before, but I can't remember now. The idea I had is that when a follower is hit by a web attack, you assign them a 'web score'. Basically, evaluate the follower's stats as compared to the spider's, and make penalties if their stamina is low. The score is like a roll in a D&D game I suppose, where higher values are better and mean far less time entangled.

 

I also took another look at how you currently have the cocoon status 'staged', or layered, if you will, where it takes more than one hit. Is it possible to add some complexity to this without completely breaking the effect? For example, when first hit by a web attack, the target get's the webby texture layer over them, like what you see when hit by elemental attacks (for example, the lightning/shock texture when hit by lightning magic). This stage doesn't do anything on its own, but serves as a visible warning. When hit again while in this stage, the thin outer casing appears (it's basically the reverse process of what happens when you are trapped in the cave). This serves as a second warning, but it also starts to have drastic negative effects, such as slowing/stopping your regeneration of stamina and magicka, and perhaps also slowing player movement speed (this is comparable to the initial effect you have now). This makes it very hard to avoid getting hit again, but if you're fighting spiders for real (not *trying* to get caught) and are about to kill them anyway, this can help avoid being randomly cocooned at the last moment.

 

If you are hit while in the 'thin net' stage, it immobilizes and fully cocoons the target (player or NPC), leaving them as a squirming cocoon on the gorund like it does now (I think removing the 'spooling animation was a good choice all things considered). The player has to struggle free, while NPCs have their time until freedom determined by what kind of condition they were in before being entangled (did they have stamina to spare? Then then can escape quickly!). If the NPCs were weakened too much, how about making them unable to escape on their own? I know you were able to set it up in the cave so that if you have only one follower, they have to be hit to be freed of their cocoon. Is it possible to make this happen dynamically out in the world, or does it require being able to place them as an object of sorts in the environment? If it's possible to leave followers and NPCs immobilized like this, that on its own starts to create interesting situations. For instance, if a group of spiders happens to wander too close to an outdoor settlement like Falkreath, the aftermath would be that group of spiders standing watchful over numerous wriggling cocoons.

 

Throwing out a lot of things here, but also trying to stay in the relative realm of possiblity on what you've delivered so far (which is still excellent). The last thing on this idea wish list is to have a way for the player to gain a power that lets them use a webbing attack. If combined with what I outlined above, it would take multiple hits, and have to be coupled with effects that drain your target's stamina to make the most use out of it, but if you could pull it off, it would leave an enemy completely incapacitated. It would actually have valid use, too, as it would last much longer than paralyze (MUCH longer if you drain their stamina enough, leaving them trapped forever if you don't intervene), and unlike Ash Shell, you can resume doing damage to them at any time by hitting them to break the cocoon, instead of having to wait up to 45 seconds. And if the player just wants to have a little fun, than can try cocooning an entire town.

 

Not saying any of this isn't technical, but I tried to stick to ideas that use resources which are already available, yet would extend the effects of using this mod.

 

As a last note, if you do a type of dungeon where you have to escape once captured, I would love to see some webbing traps in it. Perhaps give the player a spell to create them too.

[Kazyn]

Lot of information in there indeed... not that I'm complaining. I do enjoy a good wall of text... at any rate:

 

 

 

How about just having one, single NPC that appears in the cave/dungeon? The first time you are captured, you will need to free them to get out, and they thank you and help you escape (perhaps by providing a necessary item or such). The first time will be required to avoid sequence-breaking with this NPC. The next time you are captured, you can find them, free them again...and have an awkward conversation about how both of you seem to have trouble with spiders. From then on, it becomes something of a running joke. You could even give the NPC a list of random quips to choose form when rescued, e.g. "I should have known better than to be wandering near Riften" etc.

 

This is certainly a good possibility, and definitely something to look into. I tend to have problems creating NPCs of my own (can't even get custom followers to work on my end without some sort of graphical mishap) but perhaps with a bit of additional elbow grease I might be able to scrounge something up and make something usable for both non-follower NPCs and followers. However. at the moment, this isn't at the top of my list.

 

As for follower, how do followers work now? I've noticed that different followers seem to get entangled for different amounts of time. Are you using a code that dynamically calculates that? You may have mentioned this before, but I can't remember now. The idea I had is that when a follower is hit by a web attack, you assign them a 'web score'. Basically, evaluate the follower's stats as compared to the spider's, and make penalties if their stamina is low. The score is like a roll in a D&D game I suppose, where higher values are better and mean far less time entangled.

 

The followers are essentially given a pseudo-random timer that determines their time trapped. It was meant to be a temporary solution until I could find more interesting ways to make freeing followers/NPCs more interactive. This system will be seeing some significant attention next update.

 

 

I also took another look at how you currently have the cocoon status 'staged', or layered, if you will, where it takes more than one hit. Is it possible to add some complexity to this without completely breaking the effect? For example, when first hit by a web attack, the target get's the webby texture layer over them, like what you see when hit by elemental attacks (for example, the lightning/shock texture when hit by lightning magic). This stage doesn't do anything on its own, but serves as a visible warning. When hit again while in this stage, the thin outer casing appears (it's basically the reverse process of what happens when you are trapped in the cave). This serves as a second warning, but it also starts to have drastic negative effects, such as slowing/stopping your regeneration of stamina and magicka, and perhaps also slowing player movement speed (this is comparable to the initial effect you have now). This makes it very hard to avoid getting hit again, but if you're fighting spiders for real (not *trying* to get caught) and are about to kill them anyway, this can help avoid being randomly cocooned at the last moment.

 

I feel making too many stages of entanglement would serve to either make web situations easier to avoid or more convoluted. With that said, I intend to have the two-stage entanglement remain as is. It actually was originally intended to apply the web FX on the hit target for applying the first stage, but I can't fully remember what happened with that. Either it bugged out and simply didn't show up, or I outright forgot. Regardless, I intend to see it function properly this time around.

 

If you are hit while in the 'thin net' stage, it immobilizes and fully cocoons the target (player or NPC), leaving them as a squirming cocoon on the gorund like it does now (I think removing the 'spooling animation was a good choice all things considered). The player has to struggle free, while NPCs have their time until freedom determined by what kind of condition they were in before being entangled (did they have stamina to spare? Then then can escape quickly!). If the NPCs were weakened too much, how about making them unable to escape on their own? I know you were able to set it up in the cave so that if you have only one follower, they have to be hit to be freed of their cocoon. Is it possible to make this happen dynamically out in the world, or does it require being able to place them as an object of sorts in the environment? If it's possible to leave followers and NPCs immobilized like this, that on its own starts to create interesting situations. For instance, if a group of spiders happens to wander too close to an outdoor settlement like Falkreath, the aftermath would be that group of spiders standing watchful over numerous wriggling cocoons.

 

Another forum member suggested that I combine the existing scripts' functions in a single library script that other scripts can extend. An excellent idea, in my opinion but as such has called for a significant rewriting of the code. However, with the experience I've picked up with scripting between this mod's release and now, I can no doubt perhaps write cleaner code that will help the mod run more stable.

 

With all of this, there should also be plenty of availability to add on additional functionality to handle the extra peripheral features of the mod, such as how followers should be able to escape and how the player can help them. I'll have to look into how best to execute additional functionality - I'm laying the foundation, as it were.

 

Throwing out a lot of things here, but also trying to stay in the relative realm of possiblity on what you've delivered so far (which is still excellent). The last thing on this idea wish list is to have a way for the player to gain a power that lets them use a webbing attack. If combined with what I outlined above, it would take multiple hits, and have to be coupled with effects that drain your target's stamina to make the most use out of it, but if you could pull it off, it would leave an enemy completely incapacitated. It would actually have valid use, too, as it would last much longer than paralyze (MUCH longer if you drain their stamina enough, leaving them trapped forever if you don't intervene), and unlike Ash Shell, you can resume doing damage to them at any time by hitting them to break the cocoon, instead of having to wait up to 45 seconds. And if the player just wants to have a little fun, than can try cocooning an entire town.

 

The player power is something I'm afraid I'll have to shove into the back of the list for now. As easy as it might be to implement, it's not something I personally am eager to see. Rest assured, though, the idea is noted and will be considered for future use.

 

As for walking into a town that spiders took over, that would just be awesome. Not gonna lie, I giggled a little at the concept of how a once lively town (or whatever definition might apply in Skyrim lol) could later be stumbled upon to have everything muffled and insulated against sheets of web spread across the buildings with naught but the rustling of webs to accompany the ears. Further travel to the center of the town would be when the spiders descend/emerge to add another hapless traveler to their trophies. That might have to be for another mod, though. Still - fun idea.

 

Not saying any of this isn't technical, but I tried to stick to ideas that use resources which are already available, yet would extend the effects of using this mod.

 

As a last note, if you do a type of dungeon where you have to escape once captured, I would love to see some webbing traps in it. Perhaps give the player a spell to create them too.

 

 

In other news:

 

I've a concept for two different caves, one of which I have already started fabricating in the CK. I've nearly finished the shell of one of the caves. After that, I will need to clutter the place with ... clutter and various sound effects. Then it will need to be navmeshed. Currently it consists of a few large tunnels accompanied by a small network of smaller ones. In addition there is a large cavern or two to be found as well.

 

The current plan is to finish mapping one of these two caves before implementing the quests that will be responsible for:

 

1) Moving the player to one of a few starting locations.

2) Moving the player's follower (vanilla only, unless someone wants to help me figure out multiple follower mods/followers with their own system(s)/Serana)

3) Dynamically altering the paths available to the player to navigate to their follower and to the exit (and NPC if implemented)

 

With certain paths blocked off (more than likely by unbreakable webs) each visit to the cave, it might make for, at the very least, slightly different experiences each time. When this first cave is complete, I'll release a "demo" version of it, receive some feedback and see if that's the sort of thing people might like or might be able to offer some ideas to improve upon it with.

[Stiltzkinator]

The player power is something I'm afraid I'll have to shove into the back of the list for now. As easy as it might be to implement, it's not something I personally am eager to see. Rest assured, though, the idea is noted and will be considered for future use.

 

 

As for walking into a town that spiders took over, that would just be awesome. Not gonna lie, I giggled a little at the concept of how a once lively town (or whatever definition might apply in Skyrim lol) could later be stumbled upon to have everything muffled and insulated against sheets of web spread across the buildings with naught but the rustling of webs to accompany the ears. Further travel to the center of the town would be when the spiders descend/emerge to add another hapless traveler to their trophies. That might have to be for another mod, though. Still - fun idea.

The beauty of this concept, though, is that if sufficiently strong spiders can web NPCs for an indefinite amount of time (they might struggle with the guards, but there are usually other NPCs which make for easy targets), then this can happen dynamically, like dragon attacks. No extra changes would be needed.

 

All you would need to make it happen more often is set up random encounters with spiders to trigger near towns (similar to what some of the civil war mods do). You could always go more in-depth, but on a basic level, changing how the web works alone makes this possible already, which I think is the real allure of it.

[DocClox]

The beauty of this concept, though, is that if sufficiently strong spiders can web NPCs for an indefinite amount of time (they might struggle with the guards, but there are usually other NPCs which make for easy targets), then this can happen dynamically, like dragon attacks. No extra changes would be needed.

 

mmm... that would give you a town full of cocoons and spiders, but it wouldn't look like the spiders had taken over. Really, you'd want webs on all the buildings, and spiders in the houses as well as outside.

 

The problem with trying to do that to most towns is that they're already filled to bursting with markers and stuff. Adding a whole load of enable/disable webbing would be a hell of a task.

 

Easiest would probably be to clone the one of the cities with a separate world-space and have a version of it that the spiders had taken over. Markarth would probably be easiest - less hassle with the civil war than Whiterun, Solitude or Windhelm and there's an obvious source for all the spiders.

 

Still be a lot of work though, but I agree it would be awesome

[Kazyn]

Yeah, it sounds good, make no mistake. Definitely outside of the scope of this mod, I've concluded. That will definitely have to come in the form another mod. As Doc said, the town wouldn't look like it was taken over. There'd be spiders and cocoons but nothing to really show the place webbed up. Sure a bunch of statics could be enabled when a town's taken over, but the engine can only take so much sometimes, it feels like. And then yes... clutter. Towns are full of markers and whatever else. Adding all of that in would be a nightmare, all while possibly having to deal with conflicts of mods that modify towns themselves.

Still, it sounds like a fun concept and I think if I were to go about it, I'd probably make it happen in a completely different hand-made town myself. Long ways off, but fun to bounce ideas around. : )

[Stiltzkinator]

Yeah, it sounds good, make no mistake. Definitely outside of the scope of this mod, I've concluded. That will definitely have to come in the form another mod. As Doc said, the town wouldn't look like it was taken over. There'd be spiders and cocoons but nothing to really show the place webbed up. Sure a bunch of statics could be enabled when a town's taken over, but the engine can only take so much sometimes, it feels like. And then yes... clutter. Towns are full of markers and whatever else. Adding all of that in would be a nightmare, all while possibly having to deal with conflicts of mods that modify towns themselves.

 

Still, it sounds like a fun concept and I think if I were to go about it, I'd probably make it happen in a completely different hand-made town myself. Long ways off, but fun to bounce ideas around. : )

Well, don't get me wrong, this sounds great too! But I was just saying that a simple change to how the current mod works would get you halfway there without any of the extra work. It would be like the spiders had only moments ago finished their capture of the inhabitants, and with the way the system to spawn them works, that would probably be the case anyway (I don't think Dragons swoop in and attack villages when the player is on the other end of the map, at least in the vanilla game). And I mean, if the spiders had time to start building webs throughout the town, then by then, those cocoons probably wouldn't still be moving. Just saying.

 

If someone really wanted to create the conquered village scenario, I would say to make a new, but small, outdoor village somewhere, or even just a single small house and accompanying shack. Keep it simple. It's one thing to finish a small scale project and add to it, but starting large is asking for complications.

[Laurn]

Is anybody else not getting strung up upside down? Or is it just me?

[Olive7]

Is anybody else not getting strung up upside down? Or is it just me?

 

I believe that was adjusted since the video to better fit the struggle animation.

[TheBlackSilhouette]

A nice little script to spawn a bunch of smaller spiders in nests would also be good.  Also, anyone have any idea for the spiders to do something other than stand around?  Finally and not to encourage the ex/bestiality thing Kayzn mentioned trying to avoid, but perhaps the spiders could inject and lay eggs in the victim; that could be why the player isn't poisoned and eaten (immersion).  the resulting quest could make use of the pregnancy distortions and have progressively escalating negative effects until the player fulfills the proper quest ( escape (of course), ask around about a solution, track down an apothecary, then gather the proper ingredients (and gold) to get the apothecary to create the antidote required to purge the eggs).  What do you think?

All said, great mod!  Looking forward to future advancements!  

[bleeb]

 

Yeah, it sounds good, make no mistake. Definitely outside of the scope of this mod, I've concluded. That will definitely have to come in the form another mod. As Doc said, the town wouldn't look like it was taken over. There'd be spiders and cocoons but nothing to really show the place webbed up. Sure a bunch of statics could be enabled when a town's taken over, but the engine can only take so much sometimes, it feels like. And then yes... clutter. Towns are full of markers and whatever else. Adding all of that in would be a nightmare, all while possibly having to deal with conflicts of mods that modify towns themselves.

 

Still, it sounds like a fun concept and I think if I were to go about it, I'd probably make it happen in a completely different hand-made town myself. Long ways off, but fun to bounce ideas around. : )

Well, don't get me wrong, this sounds great too! But I was just saying that a simple change to how the current mod works would get you halfway there without any of the extra work. It would be like the spiders had only moments ago finished their capture of the inhabitants, and with the way the system to spawn them works, that would probably be the case anyway (I don't think Dragons swoop in and attack villages when the player is on the other end of the map, at least in the vanilla game). And I mean, if the spiders had time to start building webs throughout the town, then by then, those cocoons probably wouldn't still be moving. Just saying.

 

If someone really wanted to create the conquered village scenario, I would say to make a new, but small, outdoor village somewhere, or even just a single small house and accompanying shack. Keep it simple. It's one thing to finish a small scale project and add to it, but starting large is asking for complications.

 

 

loving this idea, a "conquered town" as you put it, would be great too see, and really add in the kind of creepy immersion that this mod could go further into, if Kazyn is willing. but yeah, if you wanted to make it look like the spiders had taken over, webs on the buildings and such, and cocooned inhabitants you could possibly save would be the way to go, also eggs. but yeah, a small custom village/town seems to be the best bet

 

[Laurn]

Any idea on the next update?

[Stiltzkinator]

loving this idea, a "conquered town" as you put it, would be great too see, and really add in the kind of creepy immersion that this mod could go further into, if Kazyn is willing. but yeah, if you wanted to make it look like the spiders had taken over, webs on the buildings and such, and cocooned inhabitants you could possibly save would be the way to go, also eggs. but yeah, a small custom village/town seems to be the best bet

 

 

While this idea is still cool and all, I still want to stress that what I initially meant is part of this scenario would happen on its own, without having to put extra work into it, just by making NPCs trapped without intervention if they 'fail' to struggle free of their cocoon.

 

Besides, putting extra objects throughout a town would mean making separate location for it, so this would only really work for 'walled' towns, which are all pretty large. Riften would probably be the easiest to work with in that sense, and as a bonus, makes sense from a lore standpoint, but again, while such a scenario would be cool, it would mean reworking a town, and interfering with a lot of quests while this 'event' is active.

[Kazyn]

I've managed to complete one map (and will probably stick with that for now, as I implement its various objects and properties to be read by the mod for when I implement other maps) so pretty much all that's left is writing the functionality. However, (and this is a really big "however,") I am moving (yet again) and going through a job transition. I haven't had much time to put into modding or gaming for that matter. I understand things have been slow from my side of the mountain, but in the end, the next update will release when it's done. It's nothing definitive, I know, but it's all I can offer at this time. Rest assured, however, none of you are forgotten. I'm not happy with the current version either, and will see it to completion when the time comes.

As for Stiltz, yes, I would find it entertaining for an entire town to end up trapped just because of random circumstance as opposed to having scripted functionality in place.

[iorelsan]

I've managed to complete one map (and will probably stick with that for now, as I implement its various objects and properties to be read by the mod for when I implement other maps) so pretty much all that's left is writing the functionality. However, (and this is a really big "however,") I am moving (yet again) and going through a job transition. I haven't had much time to put into modding or gaming for that matter. I understand things have been slow from my side of the mountain, but in the end, the next update will release when it's done. It's nothing definitive, I know, but it's all I can offer at this time. Rest assured, however, none of you are forgotten. I'm not happy with the current version either, and will see it to completion when the time comes.

 

As for Stiltz, yes, I would find it entertaining for an entire town to end up trapped just because of random circumstance as opposed to having scripted functionality in place.

 

This is quite understandable Kazyn, I'll definitely wait patiently for this update whenever it happens.

 

Thanks for your hard work!! =)

[bleeb]

I've managed to complete one map (and will probably stick with that for now, as I implement its various objects and properties to be read by the mod for when I implement other maps) so pretty much all that's left is writing the functionality. However, (and this is a really big "however,") I am moving (yet again) and going through a job transition. I haven't had much time to put into modding or gaming for that matter. I understand things have been slow from my side of the mountain, but in the end, the next update will release when it's done. It's nothing definitive, I know, but it's all I can offer at this time. Rest assured, however, none of you are forgotten. I'm not happy with the current version either, and will see it to completion when the time comes.

 

As for Stiltz, yes, I would find it entertaining for an entire town to end up trapped just because of random circumstance as opposed to having scripted functionality in place.

 

one map? what kind? a cave or something? also, good luck with your transitions

[gilgameshmkii]

That's some great ideas on future expansion, I especially like the town taken over.

 

On the note of smaller tweaks, maybe you could consider another difficulty slider: how many hits does it take to enter cocooning phase. I used to play one of the older versions of this mod and getting unexpectedly sniped by the spider I failed to notice or hidden behind a tree had a certain charm to it. How many times do sneak attacks that surprise you happen in skyrim? I can only think of sabre cats. This especially adds to the 'horror' factor. With additional slider the idea for the 3rd poisoning phase someone mentioned would also be plausible without dissapointing players that like more dangerous encounters.

Or maybe if PC has sheathed weapons/spells the web shot would get a sucessful 'sneak attack' and PC would instantly get first layer of cocoon and get paralyzed (unable to struggle right away) because of the shock that sneak attack causes.

 

On the note of dungeons I really liked the idea of traps, spiders are such intelligent and crafty creatures so traps definetly fit in (ages of evolution to counter clever humanoids),  traps that trigger an 'alarm' or just cause spiders to spawn, traps that instantly lock you in thick cocoon or even a stray strands of web designed to apply speed/stamina/magicka debuff to players when touched possibly stacking up and ending in temporary paralysis (add respawning spider patrols in the tunnels for additional difficulty/hilarity).

The way cocooning affects npcs and followers been bothering me for a while (follower freeing him/herself out of webbing just as my screen fades back to the cave only to see follower running at the speed of sound across skyrim to a cave is rather silly at the moment, I really want to have my follower as company when I get captured to 'hang around' with me ) but I see that you will be adressing it (I definetly would love to see npcs/followers unable to get out on their own which would also increase difficulty).

The idea of npc in the cave someone mentioned is cool but you could also add some other non-interactive wrapped victims purely as decoration (surely you don't believe that those clever creatures are starving and only have PC for sustance), which would be 'out of reach' for PC to help to not break immersion.