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Alternate Start Options

Submitted by shaynethecoker on

Hi all! 

I was searching the forums and couldn't find any serious discussion about options for an Alternate Start plugin for Skywind. I know one was created for Morroblivion, but I'm wondering where you guys stand in developing one for the new project. I also wanted to put forth a couple ideas of my own, and get some feedback to gauge whether or not they are feasible. 

 

Obviously the easiest plan would be to take a pre-built mod such as the wonderful Live Another Life and simply create an extension that adds hooks to start in Morrowind (or Cyrodiil). However, perhaps in addition to this, I was considering a more creative option for travel between the different provinces and timelines. 

 

In Skyrim, Elder Scrolls are shown in the game to be capable of showing a glimpse of the event they foretell. The elder scroll "Dragon" details the events of Skyrim's main quest, return of Alduin and the rise of the Dovahkiin, the scroll "Blood" details the events of the Dawnguard expansion. The events of the previous two games were prophesied by the scrolls, therefore there exist scrolls that tell the story of both. 

 

I propose adding locations to  the Skyrim worldspace where the Dovahkiin can find each of these scrolls. The first scroll ("Blight?" "Nerevarine?" "Moon and Star?" so many options) would be hidden in a shipwreck off the coast between Windhelm and Solstheim. The second (definitely "Oblivion") would be somewhere in the Jerall mountains, between Skyrim and Cyrodiil. 

 

After locating and reading either of the scrolls, the player would then warp through time and space to the beginning of the corresponding game. In my mind, the character creation dialogue would not occur at this point, forcing the player into the same race s/he played in Skyrim; however, skills, inventory, spells, and shouts would be reset. Upon fulfillment of the scroll's prophecy (read: completion of Morrowind/Oblivion's main quest), the player would once again return to his/her body in Skyrim, resetting their previous skills and inventory. I conceive that a nearby chest would contain any and all items they collected on their journey (and spell books for those that they learned), and at this point they would be able to freely use the scroll to travel back to the other worldspace and finish any quests they may have missed, as the Dovahkiin. 

 

Alternately, if the player used the Live Another Life module to start the game in Morrowind or Cyrodiil, a corrosponding copy of the "Dragon" scroll would appear in the world to allow the Nerevarine or Champion of Cyrodiil to experience the journey of the Dovahkiin, and the two remaining scrolls for each other's quest. For instance, the "Dragon" scroll could be found on the island of Solsthiem, while "Oblivion" might be on display in the Mournold Museum. The scrolls might be found in Cyrodiil in the White Gold Tower, or perhaps the Shivering Isles. After completing all three main quests the scrolls would allow free travel between the three worldspaces, while maintaining the same inventory and skills.

 

The use of the scrolls in this way might read like an episode of Doctor Who ("wibbly wobbly, timey-wimey... stuff"), but it's really pretty straight forward. Collect a scroll, follow the prophecy of the scroll, return to starting point, repeat. 

 

Thoughts?

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Last edited by grumpycat on 14 Mar 2014 - 22:51.

Tisk, tisk. this has been discussed like 50 other times and it all ends the same way "we won't do anything" sure we could add a lot of new content to link the games together (just did infact, check out the cyrodiil and morrowind of the 4th era thread) but in the end we won't make anything official. To much "you should do this" and "I like that" going on. Well, anyway I don't think it matters. If one person refuses to get the mod because " I don't want to play a mod set in 3E" then so be it. our best bet is to ignore this 3E/4E thing for now. Even now I could say ten other idea I saw and that only lead to division in the forums.

In the mean time I would just say, you aren't the first to suggest that very same idea, and given our take record, you won't be the last.(I'm pretty sure I was the first actually. I mentioned it before we even had the andoran convertor and it was being called morroskyrim).

In any case, because this has been discussed SO MANY TIMES NOW, I believe the best idea to handle this is... umm... check the discussion on the "Cyrodiil and Morrowind of the 4th era" thread. That's the only thread based on this that actually has development to connect the games.

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Hmm... if I remember correctly, the Morroblivion start didn't really fit into the game. I'd have to think about it and see what I could come up with so that you aren't just teleported into one world or the other. But I like what you are thinking about... and perhaps the gate to Morrowind near Riften could be utilized and made into a map marker so that you could walk through and it would fade into a loading screen and then you'd be in Seyda Neen. But as I said it will take some time to come up with the best idea.

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I really mean a smoother transition from one game to the other. It doesn't have to be lore friendly or anything but yes, as I said... smoother.

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I personally feel like Skywind should be handled like a separate game, just like Morrowind was. I have no need to be able to transition between the worlds, in fact I don't even understand how so many people seem to want that as it's the least lore friendly option for me. I think everyone should just start a new character on the docks of Morrowind like it was  originally intended by Bethesda.

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@Josie: It's because the only thing that makes skywind better then OpenMW is the fact that all the games are one. OpenMW Will eventually have the same or better graphic as skyrim plus it has all the mods that you loved from morrowind. Skywind just has morrowind. Even though it not lore (just like every single mod ever made by anyone) I still think it worth talking about. I mean why put all the games on one engine if we if we never play all the games at once, why not just play the original games on there upgraded engine and have access to all the old mods you like.

OpenMW:[External image]The only thing missing now is a 2k texture pack and some higher Poly meshes(which you can get from mods)

P.S. Without combining the games you're no better off then just playing the original game, with combining the games you have problems with lore(just like every mod ever made for any game ever).

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Making a transition or alternate start mod requires 1-2 hours in CK of a single modder.

Making a complete and playable Skywind requires thousands hours of several developers using CK, graphical editors, 3D modeling software and other tools.

And yet this topic I believe has more threads than the actual Skywind. Ridiculous.

Lets end this now - Skywind will be a separate game. Put in in the FAQ and be done with it.

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I honestly don't see why there can't be 2 releases... :|

A release that has Skywind at it's own which is going to be the main release. And the other which should have Morrowind at the same time as Skyrim, no time traveling crap. 

The main separate Skywind should have more focus, while the second one should be just for those who want both Morrowind and Skyrim connected, via Dragonborn's Solsthiem would be good. So for now I think the team should focus on separate Skywind, then they should consider the second one. 

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Starting with the next release, you will be able to start a new game in morrowind or skyrim. Outside of console command, you have no official way to go from Skyrim to Morrowind. There is a thread with a travel mod. This is an optional download. Any other alternate start/travel mod can be created by anyone as optional download but will not be the focus of the core team.

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DJD2010

I honestly don't see why there can't be 2 releases... :|

A release that has Skywind at it's own which is going to be the main release. And the other which should have Morrowind at the same time as Skyrim, no time traveling crap. 

The main separate Skywind should have more focus, while the second one should be just for those who want both Morrowind and Skyrim connected, via Dragonborn's Solsthiem would be good. So for now I think the team should focus on separate Skywind, then they should consider the second one. 

That would make Skyrim's Dragonborn and Morrowind's Bloodmoon incompatible with each other. I think you'd be more interested in a time travel mod if you wanted to play Bloodmoon.

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digitalparanoid

Starting with the next release, you will be able to start a new game in morrowind or skyrim. Outside of console command, you have no official way to go from Skyrim to Morrowind. There is a thread with a travel mod. This is an optional download. Any other alternate start/travel mod can be created by anyone as optional download but will not be the focus of the core team.

My apologies guys. Did not intend this thread to be so polarizing. To clarify, I intended to open up the CK and start working on this myself as an optional plugin, this was in no means directed at the team as "you should do this." In hindsight perhaps I posted this to the wrong subforum. I know the core team wouldn't be working on anything outside of an alternate start, and I know about Cyrodiil and Morrowind of the 4th Era. For myself, I would prefer to switch between the games on the fly, but I wanted to do so through a *slightly* more lore friendly way than using the cow command in the console. Thus this came to mind. Again, it was my intention to develop this myself. I posted first to see if someone was already working on this and I missed it, second to see if I had the dev team's go ahead to start modding, and third to see if there was any interest and possibly get some feedback from other forum members.
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hey,

you might be the first to propose an alternate start and actually open the CK. So I say, the more choice the better ;)

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im with digitalparanoid on this one an alternate start like in morrolivion would be the best, by all means do it.

i dont see how starting the game as you would've in morrowind would cause an argument :)

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BegottenMeridian

DJD2010

I honestly don't see why there can't be 2 releases... :|

A release that has Skywind at it's own which is going to be the main release. And the other which should have Morrowind at the same time as Skyrim, no time traveling crap. 

The main separate Skywind should have more focus, while the second one should be just for those who want both Morrowind and Skyrim connected, via Dragonborn's Solsthiem would be good. So for now I think the team should focus on separate Skywind, then they should consider the second one. 

That would make Skyrim's Dragonborn and Morrowind's Bloodmoon incompatible with each other. I think you'd be more interested in a time travel mod if you wanted to play Bloodmoon.

The whole point of creating two separate Skywind files is that one isn't connected to Dragonborn's Solsthiem, cause it's events are from a different era. I suggested the second one to be connected to the modern Solsthiem with adding a few new NPC's and quests here and there... Nothing too hard if someone with good talent in CK agrees to help. I'd help if I've got the permission.

Also, I suggested in another thread an idea for time traveling, but no one seemed to agree. 

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Guys, I'd listen to Zilav.  He speaks the absolute truth.  Please don't start anymore threads on this subject, and try to wrap this one up very quickly.  I'm honestly tempted to lock the next one that pops up. :)  And no, I'm not kidding.

Though his comment about Skywind being a separate game is a bit misleading, as we do want the connection to at least be optional.

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u should u got te power this is a topic no1 wil ever be 100% happy about  and this is more a thing when its done

nowe no more talk let it die in peace

 

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