ATTENTION! ATTENTION!
The idle banter project is now CLOSED. We've gotten all the initial submissions we need, and new volunteers are NO LONGER being accepted. This phase of the project can now be considered COMPLETE.
Hello everyone! This is a thread for volunteers, new and old, who have strong writing ability and would be interested in creating new, original dialog for Skywind. If you think you might be interested in helping, please read below.
Signup Sheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16hN5gE4Ynejy4-6rVBrL...
Also, more good news! There is a new thread that has been established specifically for people working on this project to collaborate! Writers, be sure to check it out!
Anyways, the assignment is this:
Idle banter. Ever noticed how in Skyrim you would occasionally catch snippets of conversations between two NPCs, that had nothing to do with you? This gave the characters a lot more life, and it's something we would like to add to Skywind so that the NPCs are more interesting and engaging.
So what are we looking for in "idle banter?" Ideally, we would have every single NPC exchanging a few sentences with another, or even muttering to themselves if that's more appropriate. These would not involve the player directly, and to a large degree, are only limited by the writer's imagination. Just remember, this is short banter, not an elaborate scene. These lines should steer away from having more than two people involved, and they generally should try to stay less than 5 lines of dialog long. These are the kinds of scenes that the player will likely rush by, and they should be short enough for the player to be able to hear most of it before they leave the area.
The idea of these scenes is to elaborate on the personalities of NPCs. We can embellish their traits, but by no means are we making them up. If you are creating dialog between two NPCs, you are expected to do your own research on them and create dialog that makes some degree of sense in context.
So, how are we organizing this? I would like to assign dialog writing by major cells, as well as a "miscellaneous" section, so that no NPCs accidentally get left out. This would mean that someone might volunteer to do all the NPCs in the Rat in the Pot Inn, rather than just picking out NPCs at random across the region. All the miscellaneous NPCs would then go into their own group. These would be most of the NPCs you see just walking the streets of the city.
If you're interested in helping out with this project, send me a private message or just leave a comment in this thread. All you have to do is tell me what area you're interested in working on, and I can give you an official claim to that area so that nobody else ends up doing it at the same time. As you're doing your lines, just put them on a personal word document or whatever else for now, and we will compile them all into a single, online document later.
ALSO, if you need some inspiration:
- If you're willing to do a bit of digging in our forums, you should be able to find a thread titled "Scenes". That was basically the drawing board for authors who wanted to make longer dialogs that could play out between NPCs, and could be a good place to look for the kind of style we're looking for. Your lines will be shorter, but in general, they would follow a similar format.
- Secondly, the UESP wiki will undoubtedly be your best friend for this. If you don't know where to start, just go to the wiki, search for a location, and you should find you have more than enough information on various characters to get started. And if they don't have anything concrete about a certain NPC, don't be afraid to embellish them a little with traits of their own, within reason.
Hopefully that covers anything you need to know. If you have any comments or suggestions, leave a post on this thread or send me a private message. We need all the help we can get, so don't hesitate to volunteer. Thanks, everyone, and let the writing begin!
Nicely put
. Some notes for any volunteers-
-Race is important.
When you write for any NPC, keep in mind their cultural heritage, whether it is adding serjo instead of sir for the dunmer, or referring to people as "it" or "this one" for beast races.
-Political houses, factions, etc.-
There are multiple groups to which npc's belong. As JustAFan said, do your research. Know what a member of one of these groups believes in, their creed, etc.
this may seem specific, but considering the number of people who are voice acting, it will be well worth it
Finally, if you have Microsoft word or a similar program, please use it.
Sounds like fun. I guess I'll do the Balmora Mages Guild NPCs to start.
Sounds good! Great to have you on board!
I've been away from Morroblivion and the site in general for a long time due to personal issues (I'm now disabled and was previously becoming so. The transition to life as a disabled person has been difficult, and because of the nature of my issues, painful.) but I'm back and since I'm a bit of a writer I'd love to do idle chatter for Skywind.
If nobody's grabbed Tel Branora I'll do the whole city.
Nobody has, go for it :).
Great to have you on board! Tel Branora's all yours!
Also, to everyone working on this, we now have a signup sheet to make our lives easier! You can find it on my first post. Thanks!
Just wanted to make sure you are all aware of the quirks of dialogue for the different races before you begin, to keep it somewhat consistent across the board.
1.) Only Dunmer should call anyone else outlander, even in idle banter with other NPCs. Imperials might call someone else citizen if it's a guard speaking to a civilian, or by rank if it's two officers. Khajiit call others 'friend', or by name. Argonians call others 'it'.
2.) We want to make sure Khajiit and Argonians sound distinct from each other, with no overlapping of language quirks.
2.1) Using "This one" to refer to oneself should only be said by Argonians, not Khajiit, and they should refer to others as 'it'. Ex. "This one has a few moments, what does it want?"
2.2) The Khajiit's primary quirk should be a tendency to say their full name or their race instead of using pronoun 'I' for themselves. They use other pronouns normally to refer to themselves in the third person. Names are an honorific, and they may only refer to themselves by race if they are a slave talking to one of their 'betters'. Ex. "Khajiit work hard. No steal. Make you happy!" or "What Khajiit do for you?"
They also have a tendency to refer to others as friend, even if they don't particularly like them. Ex. "Jo'Rash is happy to see you, friend!" would be genuine while "Ri'Karr thinks you owe him some money, friend." might be used as a veiled threat.
3. If you want members of a same race talking to each other to speak in their mother tongue, do so only sparingly and when it wouldn't make sense to have the line in 'Cyrodilic' (English). For instance, a Khajiiti slave cursing in her native tongue under her breath when she thinks no one can hear. Or NPCs in a Cammona Tong owned establishment talking low to each other in Dunmeri about the foreigner who just walked in.
If you use these languages, please make sure you take the time to handle them appropriately, paying attention to any grammar rules that may apply to them, and including bracketed translations for the benefit of the player. The player can roleplay understanding or not in their own head.
I'll take the Balmora Fighter's Guild if it's still free!
I'll be happy to take The Rat In The Pot if nobody else wants it
Both of those areas are free, so knock yourselves out! :D
Hello!
Just registered here because i want to help out, i think i might be useful in several parts of this project, but i'd like to start in this section to try it out.
So if anyone wants to point me in a general direction (house, guild, area, etc) and i'll get right on it!
If you take a look at the chart provided in my first post, you can see all the areas that haven't been claimed yet. Just choose anything that looks interesting to you! If I might make a suggestion, nobody's really chosen anything in Ald'ruhn yet, so maybe you could tackle some of the buildings there. Just remember to leave a message with what specific buildings you want to do, and I can give you a claim for them! Thanks for volunteering!
Ah, missed the chart somehow. I'll claim Ald'ruhn temple then.
Don't know how hard this is to implement but I had an idea on how to present native language.
Could there be a translated subtitle below the spoken native line? like a dunmer speaks their native language and you could read what they meant in the subtitle.
For immersion purposes this could be tied to your character race (at least at first)
If you're a dunmer you'd automatically know their language.
however, if someone from another race speaks their native tongue you wouldn't get the subtitle.
Maybe even add language teaching NPCs so you can unlock the subtitles for those races.
Again, I don't know how much work this would entail but it's a thought.
We will be putting translations below spoken words, but there will be no learning of languages or filters for translations to only be available to certain races. The players can roleplay in their own heads whether their character should know whatever language or not.
fair enough :)
There should be a weekly let's shake down Fargoth ritual xD
Finally I found something that I can contribute with. My modding skillset is minimal, so I'm glad I found something to help progressing this marvelous modification/conversion :)
Good to hear! Just sign up for whatever you want to do in the spreadsheet at the top. Happy writing! :)
Temples are generally quite right? Even in these games, so i should probably stick to really short word exchanges and monolog.
jakepravoo wrote:
Yes they are, consider sayings such as "may the three guide you" and also "Have you seen my copy of the 36 lessons of Vivec? -I think I saw them near the shrine to Saint Veloth. -Much thanks, may the three guide you serjo. -and you as well" ;)
Dibs on the Morag Tong hq
Generally, keep all of these exchanges quite short. We don't want to overtax our VAs, and we want these quips to be heard by the player as they walk through areas, not having to stand awkwardly around watching a 5 minute play.
Suran House of earthly Delights, I placed my name on the GDoc file
Yours Truly wrote:
Precisely, huble and quiet.
theimmortalmoo wrote:
I'm looking forward to reading that one ;)
Great to have you on board, Moo! Veloth, we could always use more volunteers if you want to help.This thread at the moment is more for just signing up, as all the people working on it will be tossing around ideas via PM. If you're interested in joining the team, feel free to sign up for a location and start writing! We'd love to have you!
Hello!, i'd be interested to work on Pelagiad, including the imperial fort, tavern and street dwellers, but I have one question, do you intend on modifying the npc's schedules as to allow some usually exclusively street walking npcs to enter taverns, shops and so on?
Hello Ruckus! I'll be happy to sign you up for that.
In regards to your question: I'm not entirely sure what the plan is with that. I would guess that yes, they will go from place to place, but given that we don't know exactly what NPCs will end up going where, if anywhere, I would just play it safe and have them only talk with other NPCs in their original cells.
Alright, I'll do that
Veloth the ashlander wrote:
Lol that sounds amazing
I've attached my first Draft For Suran House of Earthly Delights. Any thoughts if this is looking right?
I'm very interested in doing this. Really liked when this was done in Fallout. And getting the chance to be involved in this, Happy happy!
Would like to try-
Aid'ruhn Guild of fighters
Vivec Fighters Guild
Are you going to do Voice-overs also?
Would like a crack at that too!
Howdy,
I'd love to take a crack at Ghorak Manor in Caldera. The one question I have concerns creeper: will he be voiced and have dialogue or should I exclude him?
Thanks!
Michael and ppm4fy! Welcome! I'd be happy to sign you up for those cells.
Michael, in response to your question about voice-overs, Skywind plans to be fully voice-acted. That is, however, a different division than the one I am in. If you're interested in doing that too, you might want to talk with Smitehammer or Langotriel.
ppm4fy (I honestly have no idea how I should abbreviate that...), I'm pretty sure Creeper will continue to be mute, so I wouldn't include him in any dialog. That doesn't mean he can't be a subject of discussion for the others, though. ;)
Moo- I really like your writing style. You clearly have a lot of versatility in writing for different personalities, which is what we need. However, that being said, please keep in mind that these lines are not meant to involve the player in any way. Most NPCs already have or will have specific greetings that they give to the player as he/she approaches, but what this assignment is about is conversations between the NPCs alone. The lines you've already written are really good, though, and I think they could be adapted to avoid the player's mention quite easily.
Other than that, you've pretty much got the idea. I look forward to seeing what else you come up with! If you want, you can send any updates/comments/questions to me via private message. I'd prefer to keep this thread devoted to people signing up, so that it doesn't get too cluttered.
Thanks again!
Thanks for the reply
Sorry my user name doesn't roll off the tongue, it's my school ID for email and stuff so I've just gotten into the habit of using it for other stuff. You can call me Pat if that's easier.
theimmortalmoo wrote:
Justafan's right, these shouldn't be directed at the player. Also, be sure the only characters to refer to others as outlanders are Dunmer. The only possible exception to this might be Nords in Dagon Fel, but I'd like to keep this a Dunmer thing for the most part.
Be aware of typos. You use "you're" instead of "your" and you mispell Khajiit. Please police yourself. There's no need to have an editor go through all of your lines with a red pen.
On a final note, when characters refer to other NPCs you can spice up what they call them. The Nord could refer to a 'swamp lizard' or 'sap-licker' instead of saying 'Argonian', for instance.
Thank you both for the feedback. I'll make the adjustments. Also as far as grammar I'll be sure to double check that. I usually do the grammar corrections on my second draft. Thank you however. Justafan I'll keep all further updates that are not additional signups to your PM.
I've attached a first draft for Ghorak Manor. There are a lot of references to Creeper (arguably the main attraction of the manor) but none from Creeper himself, as requested. I'll be happy to implement any solid feedback. Thanks
PS: I could try to work in a subtle reference or two to clavicus vile, if you guys think that would be appropriate.
ppm4fy wrote:
Duma is waaay too well spoken. In fact, most of the orcs are. They're brilliant craftsmen and tacticians, but they aren't very good when it comes to speaking in Cyrodilic. For instance, one if Duma's lines is "I a legend in my own shrine!" He also refers to his helpers as 'sculptorists". Basically, when writing dialogue for Orcs think G W Bush, with a hint of caveman. Lose some of the articles, too. Some more of Duma's lines include, "Gonna go work soon." And "Leave me alone, so I can think about shrine!" Not, "I'm going to go to work, soon." Or "Leave me alone, so I can think about the shrine."
Also, go ahead and include some lines for Creeper, but keep in mind he's pretty much all about Creeping and playing drums.
I have to disagree there. From their voiced dialogue in Morrowind and their dialogue in Skyrim, it seems that not all Orcs (or even few) aren't really that stupid linguistically. Just having them speak in clear, simple sentences without any fancy words or anything would suffice, I think.
I voiced Duma before the overhaul. I know what his lines were. There are a few well spoken orcs, like the Smith in Suran, the necromancer that isn't a necromancer in Balmora, and Umbra, but Duma and the rest of House Ghorak ain't them. Orcs in Morrowind were depicted as having terrible speech skills while being surprisingly good at crafting and planning battle strategies.
Go read lines of other Morrowind orcs. They are not the same as Oblivion and Skywind orcs. They went from G W Bush cavemen to Klingons. Well, in Oblivion they were just Nords again. Skyrim they were sort of like Klingons.
Start with the one who gives you the 'gift' of a rock.
How do we send you the dialoge? :/
Hey, Pat-
Those lines are looking good! You've definitely got strong writing skills. I would, however, echo Smitehammer's sentiments, though perhaps to a slightly lesser extent. This certainly isn't the orcs' native language, so they will have some difficulties. But I don't think that should necessarily be linguistically-challenged, so much as using simpler words. I suppose my point would be, yes, dumb down the language a bit. Even include a few deliberate grammatical slip-ups here and there. But don't make them go full caveman. An occasional "I go to the tavern" makes them have depth. Excessive "Me want statue" makes them annoying. I leave it to you to find a good balance. If you make any headway, you can PM me, if only for the sake of keeping this thread clutter-free and easy for volunteers to access.
Sputnick, at the moment we're just holding on to them separately until we can compile them into a larger document. That said, however, I would appreciate it if you could PM any writing you've done to me so that I can show it to other writers for their approval.
Hi there,
Signed up to be a part of this. If it's still available could I have a go at the Black Shalk Cornerclub in Vivec's Foreign Quarter?
Project's looking great by the way!
Cheers
It's all yours, Orc-Schmork! Just send it my way when you think it's finished, and we can go over it!
I would like to do the Lucky Lockup in Balmora to start. :)
Hey, does anyone have any insights into some Orcish insults? I'm a bit stuck here! I can't recall any from either Skyrim or Morrowind vanilla games, execpt for milk-drinker, and that isn't really a special Orcs-only insult...
Is anyone here like a specialist Orc linguist? All I'm after are just like basic one word stuff, like how the Dunmer are fond of calling those they dislike s'wit and n'wah.
Thanks :)
Orcish insults would probably come in two flavors - general insults of 'weakness' (comparing one to a baby - like milk drinker but without copying the Nords) and the ease with which one might be killed, or childish insults about how dumb, ugly, fat, or lazy one is (maybe in the style of 'yo mama' jokes but directed directly at someone instead if their mother).
Here is my dialoge for the Lucky Lockup in Balmora. Sorry if I made any mistakes.
EDIT: Also this is just my rough draft I am planning on adding more dialoge. Please tell me if you have changes or fixes you would like me to make! Thanks! :)
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