Ideas for a player home mod

[Asrienda]

 

 

I'm currently looking for a new player home, something along the lines of this.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/65673/?tab=1&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Fskyrim%2Fajax%2Fmoddescription%2F%3Fid%3D65673%26preview%3D&pUp=1

 

Also best player homes are not within the vicinity of whiterun or riverwood, i don't like it when they are by the starting areas, better when they are hidden and far away from them. Maybe around the beaches or hills of Dawnstar or the mountains by Markarth, nothings ever over there.

Personally, I like homes that are centrally convenient. That doesn't mean Whiterun/Riverwood exactly, but it's hard not to be near there.

 

If you look at the map, the space between Whiterun and Rorikstead is relatively empty, but nobody ever puts anything in there. There's some nice plains and alcoves in there for homesteads.

Unfortunately there are few roads through that empty area.

[WarsunGames]

What i want is a home with minimal things.Something to look good in a cenimatic.So if you were writing a story you would describe. went to my kitchen,I went to the storage room,Something like that.I would also like a home where people live.Meaning a place i would like for a home an i would stay.4 places.

 

1. Home in Dawnstar in the city.

2.In All orc Strongholds if im playing an Orc.

3.2 homes for Dragonborn.Skaal,Telmithrin.(hope i spelled that right.)

 

4.An one more place that would be Thirsk.Riekling Leader side.I am sorry to say.But if i commanded those little peckers i would tell them to clean that place up an set um my bed an a bad ass Throne! I would sent out my Rieklings to take other Rieklings vilages an build an Army.

 

 

[Monsto Brukes]

 

 

I'm currently looking for a new player home, something along the lines of this.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/65673/?tab=1&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Fskyrim%2Fajax%2Fmoddescription%2F%3Fid%3D65673%26preview%3D&pUp=1

 

Also best player homes are not within the vicinity of whiterun or riverwood, i don't like it when they are by the starting areas, better when they are hidden and far away from them. Maybe around the beaches or hills of Dawnstar or the mountains by Markarth, nothings ever over there.

Personally, I like homes that are centrally convenient. That doesn't mean Whiterun/Riverwood exactly, but it's hard not to be near there.

 

If you look at the map, the space between Whiterun and Rorikstead is relatively empty, but nobody ever puts anything in there. There's some nice plains and alcoves in there for homesteads.

 

Unfortunately there are few roads through that empty area.

 

 

 

Roads?

 

 

Where we're going, we don't need . . . roads.

 

 

seriously . . . what do you need a road for?

[Asrienda]

For ... being easier to travel? Immersion and stuff?

[Monsto Brukes]

For ... being easier to travel? Immersion and stuff?

 

Well dare i say that most homes in that period of human history weren't on a road. having a homestead 100 yards off the beaten path would be nothing new. Besides, it would be little more than a fast travel target for most people anyway.

 

Also, it doesn't prevent you from creating a path to a road by using large stones. there's a number of flattish rocks (like the ones in the big open area behind breeze home) that can create a path by clipping 99% of it into the groundwithout feeling or looking out of place. You could do the same thing with any fencing... Both are absolutely lore and period.

[Asrienda]

Well I'm back from my trip and had some time to ponder over the home I was making.

 

And I decided to completely abandon it. I spent probably 6+ hrs on it but honestly, I didn't like the available exterior assets for a snowy house. I also couldn't get over my dislike of the upstairs, and the downstairs felt like a warehouse. So... anyone can feel free to do anything they want with any file I posted previously to this post.

 

That being said, I'm working on a new home layout, new location, etc. I just started it today and honestly it's already a lot better than the other one in my opinion.

 

 

 

 

It's not navmeshed besides the door markers and mannequins, so it's not "fully playable" yet in that followers won't work with the attached file. I don't like navmeshing until I'm certain I'm done with the house

I haven't finished cluttering things... the cellar looks a bit rushed and the alchemy/enchanting area seems like an after thought. 

It could also use a mini-quest and some scripting to lock the cages in the cellar.

 

I would appreciate any feedback on any part of the house, although I'd specifically like feedback on the zaz furniture selection and placement. I sometimes feel like I'm trying to cram too much into my dungeons. Like I don't know about the rack and milking machine downstairs, but then again I also sort of want to make the entire downstairs into a milk maid factory. Should I move the zaz stuff from the second floor to the basement and move the crafting stuff to the upstairs to keep all the zaz stuff hidden in the cellar?

 

Also... I'm back to the drawing board for a name, lol. It's just up the road from Old Hroldan, you can't miss it. There are some things behind the house by the way.

 

Edit: Just realized I forgot to add a tanning rack and wood chopping block somewhere. Next revision will have it!

_home.esp

[entro]

Well I'm back from my trip and had some time to ponder over the home I was making.

 

And I decided to completely abandon it. I spent probably 6+ hrs on it but honestly, I didn't like the available exterior assets for a snowy house. I also couldn't get over my dislike of the upstairs, and the downstairs felt like a warehouse. So... anyone can feel free to do anything they want with any file I posted previously to this post.

 

That being said, I'm working on a new home layout, new location, etc. I just started it today and honestly it's already a lot better than the other one in my opinion.

 

 

 

 

It's not navmeshed besides the door markers and mannequins, so it's not "fully playable" yet in that followers won't work with the attached file. I don't like navmeshing until I'm certain I'm done with the house

I haven't finished cluttering things... the cellar looks a bit rushed and the alchemy/enchanting area seems like an after thought. 

It could also use a mini-quest and some scripting to lock the cages in the cellar.

 

I would appreciate any feedback on any part of the house, although I'd specifically like feedback on the zaz furniture selection and placement. I sometimes feel like I'm trying to cram too much into my dungeons. Like I don't know about the rack and milking machine downstairs, but then again I also sort of want to make the entire downstairs into a milk maid factory. Should I move the zaz stuff from the second floor to the basement and move the crafting stuff to the upstairs to keep all the zaz stuff hidden in the cellar?

 

Also... I'm back to the drawing board for a name, lol. It's just up the road from Old Hroldan, you can't miss it. There are some things behind the house by the way.

 

Edit: Just realized I forgot to add a tanning rack and wood chopping block somewhere. Next revision will have it!

 

Just a few things glancing around the house. The table that the alchemy and enchanting station is on is too big, or they sit a little too far back (my character's legs clip thru the table a few inches). Also the milking machine upstairs is the #2 one which I don't know if there are animations for it or if any mods use it. Nothing comes up for it in the ZaZ animation pack test part.

 

Other than those things, everything else seems fine.

[Asrienda]

 

 

Well I'm back from my trip and had some time to ponder over the home I was making.

 

And I decided to completely abandon it. I spent probably 6+ hrs on it but honestly, I didn't like the available exterior assets for a snowy house. I also couldn't get over my dislike of the upstairs, and the downstairs felt like a warehouse. So... anyone can feel free to do anything they want with any file I posted previously to this post.

 

That being said, I'm working on a new home layout, new location, etc. I just started it today and honestly it's already a lot better than the other one in my opinion.

 

 

 

 

It's not navmeshed besides the door markers and mannequins, so it's not "fully playable" yet in that followers won't work with the attached file. I don't like navmeshing until I'm certain I'm done with the house

I haven't finished cluttering things... the cellar looks a bit rushed and the alchemy/enchanting area seems like an after thought.

It could also use a mini-quest and some scripting to lock the cages in the cellar.

 

I would appreciate any feedback on any part of the house, although I'd specifically like feedback on the zaz furniture selection and placement. I sometimes feel like I'm trying to cram too much into my dungeons. Like I don't know about the rack and milking machine downstairs, but then again I also sort of want to make the entire downstairs into a milk maid factory. Should I move the zaz stuff from the second floor to the basement and move the crafting stuff to the upstairs to keep all the zaz stuff hidden in the cellar?

 

Also... I'm back to the drawing board for a name, lol. It's just up the road from Old Hroldan, you can't miss it. There are some things behind the house by the way.

 

Edit: Just realized I forgot to add a tanning rack and wood chopping block somewhere. Next revision will have it!

Just a few things glancing around the house. The table that the alchemy and enchanting station is on is too big, or they sit a little too far back (my character's legs clip thru the table a few inches). Also the milking machine upstairs is the #2 one which I don't know if there are animations for it or if any mods use it. Nothing comes up for it in the ZaZ animation pack test part.

 

Other than those things, everything else seems fine.

Thanks for looking over it! Ill change up the enchanting and alchemy for sure, im actually thinking of putting them upstairs and moving most of the zaz stuff to the cellar.

 

The milking machine requires milk mod economy to play the animation

[sillplain]

So... tell me, what do you want out of a home mod?

Japanese old style based home mod, no cells inside home which mean once i enter the home, i don't need to have another loading screens.. porn pictures hanging around, usable devices everywhere, and a king-size bed for the harem.. basically it's a Japanese designed home of a rich super pervert.. lol..

Where would you like a house mod to be located?

I  think it would be great to have a house beside the biggest lake in skyrim.. the lake near halfmoon mill, somewhere around that lake..

Or near a beach somewhere in skyrim..

What specifically do you want in it?

porn pictures, usable devices, king-size bed, a bathroom, a beautiful garden, nude maids...

[Nickolos1818]

Will try this home out.

 

I always thought of a house mod where it could be underground maybe?  Use some of the lighting and stuff from blackreach.  That would also give the immersion of a dwemer home and give an excuse for sexlab dwemer devices lol.  But yeah, always thought one being underground somewhere would be pretty cool.

[Queen Bee]

I haven't read through every previous post, so I apologize if I'm repeating something someone else said.

 

Personally, I adore player homes that have a lot of secrets and hidden extras. A secret door, a hidden passage. Maybe it's somewhat obvious, maybe it's something I passed by a hundred times but only noticed one day because I happened to be pointing in that direction and caught sight of something a little off. If I could, I 'd make a home that seems entirely mundane at first glance, but with layer after layer of hidden secrets. Maybe some secrets require the solving of puzzles, or a minor quest to retrieve a key. Maybe some areas can only be accessed by someone with the right skill or spell, or by making friends with the right follower. Maybe some special treasure lies hidden and waiting for you to uncover.

 

So my advice/request is a player home with secrets. Because discovery is the spice of life.

[Asrienda]

I haven't read through every previous post, so I apologize if I'm repeating something someone else said.

 

Personally, I adore player homes that have a lot of secrets and hidden extras. A secret door, a hidden passage. Maybe it's somewhat obvious, maybe it's something I passed by a hundred times but only noticed one day because I happened to be pointing in that direction and caught sight of something a little off. If I could, I 'd make a home that seems entirely mundane at first glance, but with layer after layer of hidden secrets. Maybe some secrets require the solving of puzzles, or a minor quest to retrieve a key. Maybe some areas can only be accessed by someone with the right skill or spell, or by making friends with the right follower. Maybe some special treasure lies hidden and waiting for you to uncover.

 

So my advice/request is a player home with secrets. Because discovery is the spice of life.

I like this idea! But maybe on the next home i make.

[Gameplayer]

I made a couple of player home mods, one released here (Stynja), and another on Nexus under a different name that I won't be disclosing, sorry.

 

What I've learned is that circular homes SUCK to clutter and make look nice. And they suck to actually build. So lesson learned, not making another tower ever again.

 

I'll probably have many of the crafting stations, but likely not all of them.

Since my Skyrim playthroughs are basically Devious Device mod playthroughs, there will be a lot of furniture spread around.

It'll be an exterior world space house, which means no loading screens, nice windows and views, and optional use of Real Shelter 1.4.

 

So... tell me, what do you want out of a home mod?

Where would you like a house mod to be located?

What specifically do you want in it?

 

I wont tell you what you should make that'd be dumb.

 

I will just tell you what I have noticed about house mods.

 

For one most house mods don't actually look like a place that I feel convinced someone would actually live there. 

The layouts of almost all housing mods feel like they are in fact designed for this game and don't convey the idea that the home is in fact supposed to be a place that you live in.

 

House Fails

 

-Houses look like museums of the player exploits.

-Stuff placed in house has havoc as opposed to being static.

-Every Crafting Station is present and sometimes placed inside the house >< ya Ima going to put a smelter and forge in my basement yo.

-Overly Extravagant pools, spas, and other relaxation junk that feels out of place in most homes.  Breeze home has a spa next to a forge what?

-Many have massive follower bunking like its not a home its a freaking barracks?

-Display Areas feel more like someone placed a tack board up for the dragon claw collection, Why not place Dragon Claw spots around the house? It'd be too creative I guess.

-A lot of homes have an Army of Mannies.

-Most homes don't take advantage of the building system in place from Hearthfires, you just get everything.

-95% of house mods are mostly enclosed interiors and don't take on the challenge of being in the exterior world space. 

-->Only one house mod that uses Real Shelter in exterior world space to date.

 

Overall house mods feel like they are built for a game rather than built for a person in the game to live in and its probably a concept that is lost on gamers but the point is you would not live there.

 

Its a point of Immersion breaking you'd think all those hard core immersion types would you know realize?

 

Other thoughts.

 

Why hasn't anyone done a real job on the Hearthfire Homes?  No the stuff out there now doesn't count those mods are aweful.

 

------------------------

 

What I'd like to see is a Meadhall in the exterior world space that is built over time with the Hearthfire System and made with Real Shelter mod in mind.

Locate it near Water or even a water fall.  Place some benches and décor around the water....That is opposed to say using a massive spa type thing.

If the player has got to have the décor they build it from the bench.

 

Anyways since its all exterior its fully lighted already.

 

Have one interior area just so if the player is a Vampire they have a place to sleep without being exposed to the sun.

 

----------------

 

Another idea is to just move Hearthfire Homes into the exterior Space.  Though many items and such will likely be placed differently.  Have a coffin in the basement for Vamp players.

Also Hearthfire mod could get interesting with say Devious Furniture being something the player builds and places in say the dungeon.

[Asrienda]

Hearthfire building is painful for the modder, but I can see why it might be worth doing! But there's a reason all the hearthfire homes are basically the same interior.

The point you make about crafting is something I wrestle with all the time. People complain when you don't have every single crafting station and people complain when you have them all. If I were to make an immersive home, I'd maybe include enchanting and tanning. But no one would like that home and I make them for others to enjoy. I mean me personally, I use like 3 chests total (DD/zaz gear, useful but not needed right now gear, and crafting materials), but others like storage everywhere for super organization.

 

Why do you prefer static over havok objects?

But I hear ya, I like immersion above everything. It's why I abandoned the previous home I was building

I think this should be ready for release in a day or two.

[Monsto Brukes]

 

 

I will disagree with your list on one point: allowing the homes to be open to the external world. On a technical level, that could be harsh on the game... all those containers and tons of clutter will take a toll on framerate in the region around the house, not to mention never being cleaned up by the game engine. Yeah if you kill a bandit on the road, loot his body and drop it, the stuff disappears from game, but will be accounted for always. So a house full of plates, fruit, garlic and frost mirriam would wind up being a technical nightmare.

 

All that being said, your list is spot the hell on and was something I was going to mention here. For example, I'll bet that the reason the basement feels like a warehouse is because it probably is.

 

So while @Gameplayer put the things he hates into an abstract list, I'll make a list of things that I think make good player homes into an abstract list.

• Shaped practically.

  I like when houses are shaped practically and realistically relative to the external building shape. Going underground to avoid the constraint is cheating. (=

• Spaced practically.

  I like when a space is relatively compact. Having to run all over just to go from storage to bed is annoying. And zone doors make no sense... if the place is so big that you have to break it up for framerate, then it's too big.

• Built practically

  Spa? Pool? Follower barracks? Warehouses & museums? No. I don't care how may stonewalls and planters there are, it's not lore. A few chests and a set of shelves with lock boxes for smaller stuff is perfect.

• Placed practically

  MANY playerhomes are up in the weird mountains or way off in the sticks. lots of planes and overlooks all over the place.

 

IMO a home only truly needs 4 areas:

• bed + generic storage room,
• kitchen + living room,
• base crafting room,
• miscellaneous room

  ...which, in custom homes, should be mostly empty so that the player can use all those mods for making storage and alchemy plants and mannequins etc.

The player homes in Riften, Markarth and Whiterun seem to go by this template.

 

Static vs Havok objects: Take a lovingly crafted desk with books, quill, inkwell, scroll paper, plate of cheese, couple fruits... and drop a Linen Roll on it. Shit goes everywhere. That stuff looks cool and it adds to atmosphere... but it doesn't need to be loose because I guarantee that it's all over everything after my first visit.

 

Crafting stations: Do what YOU think works for the space, and to hell with the complainers. Seriously, you can't please everyone and so long as people like it and download, don't suffer the fools. IMO the only place that should have smelter and forge inside is either Dwemer, or a cavern with an opening in the ceiling.

 

Alright I need to get to work, so I'm going to stop this here. You have however given me impetus to tighten up a couple of my personal spaces and maybe release. I tend to like dwemer stuff because the setpieces click together well

[Gameplayer]

The more I think about it I like the Hearthfire Layout but I think it needs some work on how it looks when its finished.

 

As far as exterior space homes, yup it can sap computer resources if your not careful.  Not sure why it was something that didn't hurt so much in Fallout games?  Used a lot of those in Fo3.

[Monsto Brukes]

the hearthfire house isn't a bad general layout at all, everything is accessible and it looks nice. the problem is that it's hearthfire.

 

might actually be nice to build someth using it as a base.

[Asrienda]

As far as placing it practically, some people like living in the middle of nowhere in real life! Also with a subtle slavery theme, being a bit further from major cities makes sense I think.

 

I agree with the smelter and forge, I've never made a house with a smelter! You can use an anvil to give you forge functionality though.

[Bayman]

Hey. I didn't read all the comments but here is what I want:

 

- Static objects! I hate, when I walk through my house and objects are flying around, because I touched them with my body.

- Since I tried Paintings in Skyrim mod and have the opportunity to create custom paintings, I need free spaces on the walls here and there, to place the paintings.

- I hate the standard beds in Skyrim. I personally love the bed in the Hill House, and some other custom stuff

- Placing the ZAZ stuff in a player home is a nice idea, but these devices shouldn'd stand in every room? What do you think?

- I love bathtubs & showers in player homes. Especially when it works with floating water (Hill House... again) A whirlpool somewhere would be nice, too.

- I don't like locations, that are too dark. Ok, the Hill House is such a home, but I think it must be this way. The second bedroom has a light switch. That's nice. Much better (and more lore friendly) would be torch holder, where I can place burning torches from my inventory. That would be awesome! These torch holders can be found in some caves. So it can't be that hard to add them to a players home, right? O_o

- A balcony? A terrace? + beautiful green exteriors.

- Custom objects/decoration that make this home more unique

- A torture chamber, where we have enough space to do what we want to do.

[Asrienda]

I incorporated a lot of people's ideas and kinda did what Monsto and Gameplayer said... made it an immersive home rather than a game home. That being said, it's missing a weapon sharpener wheel, a smelter, and tanning rack. 

 

It's now fully navmeshed, markered, and mostly finished cluttering although the area at the foot of the stairs where the training dummy is could use some work.. I'm just kind of out of ideas.

 

I replaced a lot of havok objects with statics, but not all of them.

 

You can open and close the cages with the chains/plunger thing only, and the cellar is hidden beneath a rug below the stairs on the first floor.

 

I'm having problems with the 4 mini-mannequins occasionally wandering around and I have no idea why.

 

The bedroom shares a lot in common with the stynja bedroom to be honest. This house also contains items that work with the "Immersive Plugs" mod. There were a couple, like the bone, that didn't make sense.

 

The zaz furniture are located: wheel in the back yard, multi-restraint pole in the bedroom, x-cross and wooden pony in the cellar, and the zaz chest in the cellar as well.

 

As I noted before, it's located to the north of Old Hroldan.

 

I still haven't figured out a name and could use some help with that! If someone wants to write a small quest to obtain the house, let's talk as I don't have any ideas, I'm kind of tired of looking at this house, and I've never done a quest nor even NPC dialog before. 

 

Edit: Oops, forgot to navmesh the tamriel worldspace, lol. I'll do that before I make a new thread in the downloads section

 

Requires the DB and DG DLCs and of course Zaz.

 

Screenshots:

 

From the front:

 

The back yard:

 

Kitchen area:

 

Most of the first floor beside the follower bedroom:

 

Upstairs enchanting/alchemy alcove:

 

Bedroom facing in:

 

Bedroom facing out:

 

Cellar/dungeon:

 

 

 

 

_home.esp

[Nickolos1818]

As far as crafting, maybe make the base/main version with NO crafting stuff at all but add an optional download of them?  For those that want them /shrug.  Will try out your home you got going.  Just got off work though so gonna sleep will let you know what I think later on.

I incorporated a lot of people's ideas and kinda did what Monsto and Gameplayer said... made it an immersive home rather than a game home. That being said, it's missing a weapon sharpener wheel, a smelter, and tanning rack. 

 

It's now fully navmeshed, markered, and mostly finished cluttering although the area at the foot of the stairs where the training dummy is could use some work.. I'm just kind of out of ideas.

 

I replaced a lot of havok objects with statics, but not all of them.

 

You can open and close the cages with the chains/plunger thing only, and the cellar is hidden beneath a rug below the stairs on the first floor.

 

I'm having problems with the 4 mini-mannequins occasionally wandering around and I have no idea why.

 

The bedroom shares a lot in common with the stynja bedroom to be honest. This house also contains items that work with the "Immersive Plugs" mod. There were a couple, like the bone, that didn't make sense.

 

The zaz furniture are located: wheel in the back yard, multi-restraint pole in the bedroom, x-cross and wooden pony in the cellar, and the zaz chest in the cellar as well.

 

As I noted before, it's located to the north of Old Hroldan.

 

I still haven't figured out a name and could use some help with that! If someone wants to write a small quest to obtain the house, let's talk as I don't have any ideas, I'm kind of tired of looking at this house, and I've never done a quest nor even NPC dialog before. 

 

Edit: Oops, forgot to navmesh the tamriel worldspace, lol. I'll do that before I make a new thread in the downloads section

 

Requires the DB and DG DLCs and of course Zaz.

 

Screenshots:

 

From the front:

 

The back yard:

 

Kitchen area:

 

Most of the first floor beside the follower bedroom:

 

Upstairs enchanting/alchemy alcove:

 

Bedroom facing in:

 

Bedroom facing out:

 

Cellar/dungeon:

 

 

 

 

Creepy mini manneqins walking/moving about? KEEP THEM! 

 

Think about it, you put some steel armor on your display manneqin and go into the main area and sit to eat you get up afterwards and there it is looking at you in the doorway from the back room ........
 

[Asrienda]

I ended up spending a lot of time making the alchemy and enchanting station look nice, lol, so they're staying in. The armor work bench and anvil are in the back yard.

 

The mini mannequins, when they move, tend to just randomly appear around the house and not do much.

[Nickolos1818]

I like it, not too bid, and not oo small.  A quest to " get " the house would be cool.  Did find one problem, was testing the zaz stuff out and the x-cross once made my character fall through the world was funny though.

[Asrienda]

I like it, not too bid, and not oo small.  A quest to " get " the house would be cool.  Did find one problem, was testing the zaz stuff out and the x-cross once made my character fall through the world was funny though.

 

I'll look into that, thanks for testing.

 

I was thinking about a quest but I don't have any ideas really besides having the owner locked in the stables by accident and you can free her then either pick pocket it, kill her, or enslave her. But that's a super simple "quest" for gaining the house key.

[Nickolos1818]

Maybe have the innkeeper lady from Old Hroldin inn give quest to player that since the current owner of the house has not paid off her debts she sis now gonna pay it back another way.  Maybe make her a slave, and in turn for " doing this favor " for the innkeeper she gives you ownership of the house , given you bring the " slave " back every once in a while for her to enjoy? 

 

I don't know, could go with something lighter as well.