Mod concept idea: thoughts

[Kashiwaba Tomoe]

Idea from This thread

 

This is a basic idea which could work with FO3/oblivion/skyrim equally.

 

Basically, implement actual aging.

 

Have the 'starting age' option actually matter for a change, and add the ability to start young using child mods (and with actual dialouge changes added)

 

Also, prehaps add an option at some inn's to buy a long term room and board, basically if you get no active quests that (using logic) can't wait (or have them fair horribly due to your absence), and when using this you settle down and each time you do your age (and the ingame callender) advances an ammount set in a .ini file.

 

Have models representing the player at several different ages, with the secscale command used on occasion to have 'growing' occur.

 

The main problem is that, unless the main quest, guild quests (and many sidequests side quests too) are delayed until you 'grow up' (or prehaps have them stagger in starting at different ages) it would really need a big rework of a lot of the dialouge, both via the diaouges as well as the random chatter, reflecting your age.

 

Of course such a mod would eventually need a lot of quests for younger aged heroes.

[thesapien]

That would be awesome!

 

I mentioned in a different thread how I'd just watched all 3 seasons of the cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender and it's now one of my favorite series of all time. Along those lines, the quests should be FUN! And there should be lots of side fun stuff to do. I would love to snowboard in Skyrim, for example. And there should be tons of ways to get in trouble while using drainage systems as water slides and such. Oh, and there should definitely be some dealings with bully kids. Oh, oh, oh, and when you're a teen there should be a Romeo and Juliet thing with your character from one faction and a character from another faction, except you don't die together, of course.

[Kashiwaba Tomoe]

For Fallout there are allready play as a kid mods, just currently no mechinism for age to matter, shame too since FO/FO2 both had a minimum age of 16 for the player (but ironically no effects from age on gameplay as far as I know)

 

And for oblivion/skyrim, the changes could likely be co-devolped for each game, since many of the dialouges would replace vanilla ones (IE: for random chatter) and if the 'adult' quests don't get unlocked until you age (or level up, if that option is picked for controlling aging) it would also move the number of dialouges needing editing to a managable number (IE: generic dialouge from merchants, etc, which actually make mention of your age.

 

And yes bullies could also fit into it too, but only to a certain extent, pulling a sword or demonstrating magic power should pretty much always work to scale them off (because lets face it, a child player characther would still likely be kicking ass a lot).

[Guest]

That's an awesome idea.

 

To add to that, a way to make non-quest and non-essential NPCs to age over time would be really cool. With mods such as Tomago/Hiyoko club (from lovers) these people could have children which would spawn new generations. Although that might be pushing what's possible.

 

I also like the idea of child quests.

[Kashiwaba Tomoe]

I'd be happy to try to help write dialouge for this, since dialouge is the main thing needed here (or any real RPG mod for a bethesda game)

 

As for possible issues.... adult quests for a underage PC would prehaps need to either be eliminated, or handled carefully.

 

IE: Lovers Rapers, etc.

 

Also, since it's needed anyway, prehaps add a merchant caravan mod (if done for oblivion) where the player can tag along as an alternative to quick travel.

If for FO3, just add a 'travel with' option to fast travel to their stops (with a % chance of combat), if for oblivion it'd be reletivley easy to add a basic merchant+guards.

 

 

So the big thing is finding a modder willing to help (or several) as well as resources from other mods that can (with premession) be used for this.

Past that, bulk of the work would be coming up with dialouge trees.

 

Past that the other big thing would be to make dialouge trees, complete with skill/stat checks, etc.

 

Here's what I see as needed for basic dialouges: (Note: voice acting is nice, but over rated, text works too)

 

1- Random dialouge: Needs to be reworked to refrence the players age.

a-While were at it, prehaps revamp the random dialouges in general, but that can wait.

2- Conversations: All dialouge with NPCs needs to be re-done, or at least reviewed, so it makes sense with the PCs age. Can be made easier by just removing some NPCs/quests until the player is an adult (depending on how much is removed, we could even have a backstory of cyrodil main quest)

3- Kvatch. We need to either rebuild it, use a mod that returns it to the game, or storyline it out of use (IE: Plague going on, city locked shut)

4- Merchants: They need characther. Some may try to cheat you, some may be honest, some may not want to do buisness with kids at all, and some may have things that you hear rumors about that need doing which can get them to sell to you. Prehaps have some evilish quests too, or mischevious ones at least, to prank folks to get stuff to happen. (prehaps give children a high sneak bonus due to size)

5-Gear. Items automatically scale to the actor using them. This often ends up being quite silly, as a giants giant sword appears normal sized. At teh same time normal weapons would appear child sized, so we'll need to have rescaled versions of items for children, or if possible script this not to happen. Possiblities may include a kids line of weapons (some of which may appear oversized in a childs hands)

6- plot. A plotline for the mod would need to be decide upon, one that could affect the main quest lines as the player grows up. Doesn't have to be indepth or big, just thought out.

7- quests. Along with plot, have quests based off of it.

8- random. Add lots of random goodness to discover.

 

 

 

 

Sounds like a lot of work, but most of it would be dialouge stuff I think.

[thesapien]

And what happened to your parents or family? Are you thinking about starting it with a tragic story and one motivated by revenge, maybe? I'm thinking Batman or Mathilda in Leon: The Professional.

 

Or, maybe your parents were the ones caught crossing the border in the beginning of Skyrim and they weren't about to behead a child too. Then you just ran off once the dragon attacked?

 

What if you could be adopted and stay at an adult's or family's home, but only as an option?

 

 

Funny, I'm thinking of RP'ing a story like this just using Children of the Sky mod and my own imagination. I play with the Japanese voices and could just turn off subtitles.

[Kashiwaba Tomoe]

edit: Attachments are unrelated alt start mod, has elements that fit in this idea, and is uploaded as an example

 

Well, I wasn't really thinking of skyrim since my PC can't run it, although this would work great for that too (albiet it'd ensure you want to kill the imperials for revenge).

 

As for the backstory, I was considering a simple 'your an orphan' story, but had not given it that much thought yet at this point, since this has yet to take off as an idea that will actually get done.

 

But as for the background, prehaps have several background options, as well as modular background details, that can be picked as options when setting up the characther.

 

Big thing tho sapien would be making it modular from background, parents profession, how rich they were, etc etc.

 

Each option in setup should then affect a specefic set of features within the game once it starts.

 

IF anyone's tried the (oblivion) mages alternate start mod, which basically has you start with a house on a road and the mage you were apprentence to leaving, one option could be like that, you return home, parents are missing (or left on vacation, with word that their ship sank coming later) that's one possible type of path.

 

Another great alternate start mod (Alternative Start v1.2 by Robert Evrae) was done so that when you started the game you were in a locked ship cabin on your way to cyrodil, and had to fill out your customs and immigration paperwork, and in there you set a number of stats from wealth, social status, background, etc (for the mods purposes) that affected starting gear, etc,

 

 

Inserting that mods readme, since it explains things quite well.

 

Alternative Start v1.2 by Robert Evrae

 

 

 

Features:

 

Start the game in your cabin aboard a ship. You will be given character creation options including:

 

- The three basic character generation menus

 

- Social Status

- Manual Labourer

- Skilled Craftsman/woman (Gender Sensitive)

- Merchant

- Warrior

- Priest/ Priestess (Gender Sensitive)

- Academic

- Noble

 

- Secondary options for each of the above choices

 

- Financial Situation

- Poor

- Comfortably off

- Wealthy

 

The exact amount gained depends on social status - a poor noble is still richer than a wealthy academic

 

- Point of entry to Cyrodiil

- Imperial City

- Anvil

 

- Diseases: Some nasty ones as well as the vampire disease!

 

- All these options effect your initial equipment loadout - your items can be found in a 'Traveller's Sack' nearby.

 

- The main quest is started by following up on a dream you have of the Emperor's death. The amulet can be found in the body of a dead rat,

in the sewer you exit in the vanilla game.Ignore it if you want.

 

 

The aim of this mod was to provide choice. You might find some of the options overpowered. Don't use them then. It was

designed with role players in mind. Hopefully I've provided enough options to fit almost any backstory you might choose.

Even if you are not a role player, it still provides a quick start with numerous options.

 

 

 

 

Basically, Im thinking do a lot like that mod, have LOTS of background choices to pick including starting age and parents professions (they don't have to be the same).

 

Personally I think having the player be a shipwreck survivor would be best, with teh ship you came in on having rescued the player.

 

Also, to support race mods, have options to select where in the realm of the empire you were from, including OUTSIDE of the empire which then adds options to pick Akivir and other locations, and depending what you pick it also adds optional dialouge and quest lines that are ONLY avalible to those with that background.

 

The key would be to have any such mod act as a content expansion pack for new games as well as an enhancement mod for the full game itself, and it would need to play like one of those choose your own adventure books, if you make a decision it may lock out the majority of the book.

 

Attachments are unrelated alt start mod, has elements that fit in this idea, and is uploaded as an example.

 

Oh and yes, this is one of my "always use" mods.

 

 

 

edit2: here are some ideas for the census forms for a child PC (when using the rescued from a shipwreck idea, prehaps have the player be sent, either way, to an imperial orphanage.

 

As for the forms, without adding actual options, have this be the inital (suggest moar) set of catagories to answer.

 

note: ALL would affect starting gear, spells, and skills, as well as some dialouge options during the game.

Children of mages would know more of magic for example, even if you don't use magic, and have more dialouge options

Parents profession

-Mother

-Father

 

Parents guild memberships and ranks (would give the option to be picked up by the guild and sent to a guild hall for mage/fighter guild, as well as way to alert dark brotherhood/theives guild to offer you help and residence in the guilds home city)

-mother

-father

 

Your education level (semi restricted to age), would allow you to pick how high certain skills start at, and semi dependent on parents background as well. For example if you were from Akavir (race not a factor) you'd have the option to have your blade skill start much higher, child of a mage or mages could have higher starting magic skills and a few extra spells.

 

I think that gives a good basic idea, feel free to suggest more choices folks.

 

As for where you start, orphanages should be in most if not all cities.

Faction/guild backgrounds have you start with a room in the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary, Fighters Guild headquaters (or in the home of the guildmaster, with a 'orphans of the guild get adopted' explination), various mage guild halls (depending on your skills), or an orphanage in the imperial city.

If theives guild you go to IC orphanage near the waterfront, dark brotherhood you go to the cheydinhal orphanage.

If the player is in his/her teenage years, the option would be to NOT go to an orphanage.

 

The orphanages and starting 'home' would just give the player a free bed, and some basic gear and training for free, as well as affect what quests you can do (pretty much just low level stuff and when you reach the teenage years, you actually become a member in full).

For example of quests, if theives guild, you could act as a lookout for various jobs, or a distraction even.

[R0R0N0]

An easy alternative/storyline would be to have a location in a separate worldspace which is known throughout the game as the place where the young ones grow up before they can travel to tamriel.

[Kashiwaba Tomoe]

That would only work in Oblivion or Morrowind since they allready lack children.

 

The easiest alternative would actually be just have the childhood period take place in a locked off area (IE: you can't leave the town, or an area), which turns it into just making a single custom city.