DMRD0102 "Tangleweave Caverns" (Completd)

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Official 'Black Marsh' Claim for Dungeon Claim: Tangleweave Caverns

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Tangleweave Caverns
AVAILABILITY: Completed by Ibsen's Ghost

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Description & Details

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For such a small region, Darkmoor carries many a sorry tale. Chasepoint, often cloaked in the fog that clings to the region, bears the brunt of its miserable state. The place should be an area of plenty for those seeking the exotic fruits of the Black Marsh's forested areas. Yet it is the creatures that persist there that continue to make Darkmoor a place for travellers to avoid.

More deadly than any are the spider caves. It is rumoured that the entrances to these caves are numerous...yet the marsh shifts so often that only one known entrance exists...and it is guarded by an unending torrent of arachnid poison.

Tangleweave Caverns is located directly East of Chasepoint, about equi-distant between that town and RockGrove. It is marked out by the increasing assortment of webs clinging to the rocks in the area surrounding it. Webs stretch out even across the streams up North towards the passageway leading to RockGrove.

This in itself is judged by the Rock Grove residents to be more than mere accident as talk of a witch with a spider familiar is common. The Widow Secunius has long been a character of considerable distrust and fear, many believing the spider that she has been sighted with to be some incarnation of her late husband. Moreover, the widow appears to be in league with the difficult and reclusive Imperial woman Gabinia Artorus of Chasepoint. Rumours persist of cobwebbed covens...

Regardless of the history, Tangleweave is a tight network of caves riddled with cobwebs and heavily populated by various species of spider, including the beautiful but deadly tropical spider and the midnight horrors that are the various breeds of marsh tarantulas.

You're likely to find plenty of corpses and maybe, if you're lucky a poor trapped soul still breathing that can tell you the way out. If you want to know the cavern's secret, you'll have to explore as there may be more advantages to such a mad quest than first meets the eye!

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At-a-glance Details

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Tileset: Mossy Caves
Exterior cell coordinates: (-13,-19)
Cell Name: No interior cell as yet
Claim Difficulty: Medium-Hard.
Creatures: Spiders (of plentiful variety) along with perhaps some other insect creatures such as mantis.
Mission Connections: None specified as yet.
Amount of Loot: Medium-Hard (according to the above).
General Info: Check this space for a link to a thread detailing completed claims and future plans.

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Modding Directions

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You'll find the entrance for the ruin in the cell Tangleweave Caverns (-13,-19) of the BlackMarshes worldspace. Use the latest esm (v2.42) or a higher version.

Don't forget to select snap to grid (32-64) and snap to angle, when creating the lay-out for your ruin.

You have to use the new Mossy Caves tileset (Static>Blackmarsh>Dungeons>).

If plans for this cave extends, then it's fine to add more than the two levels as suggested. Just give the new cell the same name, except for the last part which should receive a suffix such as lvl1, lvl2 etc.

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Recommended Objects

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For any traps I recommend using the whipvines in the activators section under 'blackmarsh'.

The most useful items for this claim are to be found under Static>blackmarsh>Clutters>DUN such as the BMWeb items along with the vanilla webs found under the 'misc' part of the Static menu. You may decide to include some roots and gnarled trees. Additionally, consider using the oilplants (under Light>blackmarsh), the land Glow-shrooms (under Static>Flora), BMWallmushrooms (under Static>blackmarsh>clutters) and perhaps the BMHangMoss varieties (under Static>blackmarsh>Environment). You can also use the rockswampmoss varieties with the cave tileset (under Static>blackmarsh>rocks>SwampRocks). I like the idea of using running water and sky objects where the cave is falling in but please use carefully.

For inspiration check people's favourite caves from the vanilla locations or take a look at what Leo Gura did with this cave tileset in the mod 'Lost Spires'.

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Cluttering your Dungeon

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You should use leveled lists for the loot but the ruin may be being used by some person or creature so you may wish to select accordingly. Ask around the forums for special loot if you wish to add some character to the ruin such as who once lived there and so on.

There could possibly be some gems, armor, weapons, gold, and other loot from travelling adventurers. If magic-users have attempted to examine the ruins, then you’d find ingredients, books, potions, and other mage-related items. Some special items for particular races might also be found - for example, we have a nice range of specialist staffs.

The preferred type of enemy for this ruin is listed at the top of this thread. You might be able to do something else though if you want - just check with the core first and we'll discuss this. However, for the time being, please keep to the vanilla levelled lists which can later be replaced.

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Lighting up your Dungeon

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Please look in the object window for any of BM's own candles such as Glo-shrooms. However, vanilla lights are fine. Your tomb can be as dark or as light as you want it to be, probably depending on whether the separate areas were densely populated or not. For a good example of excellent use of light of the very, very dark variety which really improves the gameplay of a ruin or tomb, I would advise checking out the early sections of ‘Gates to Aesgaard’ by ThePriest909 which makes for a sensationally spooky and jumpy gaming experience.

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Making Enemies

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The function of this ruin is up to you but, so that we can adapt it in places where quests use this location, please stick to the levelled lists for now....unless you have cleared your plans for what to use with the core already by using the forums or a PM. Try to make it interesting for the player, of course. If you have any specific ideas then let the core know about it.

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Final Tasks

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Add a pathgrid to the caves. Playtest the entire layout and make any necessary corrections before submitting it for review.

NB: - Thanks to the 'Silgrad Tower' team for pioneering the claims system and for being such excellent all-round good eggs around these forums.

[DoZeNt]

I'll take this one as I finish downloading the BM data...


Btw, Is there something tricky about installing the Data??? Some PAtches? Or I only have to DL the newest archives?

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Hmm, it depends on what version of the assets you have and in what format. You'll have to let me know whether you're still using the archive in folder format or have the bsa archive. If you have the bsa archive then I can send you a PM with the instructions...although you may still need some updates. If you're still using the folders then you'll need v2.19 plus the updates.

Things are explained here in more detail: Black Marsh Resources: Latest bsa . The folders are easier to install in technical terms but it may prove to be a little more time-consuming to get things in the right places. If you want to go through this in person then let me know and I'll get logged into MSN or Skype and take you through it...

In the meantime, this is a very, very good choice of claim. Make sure you make maximum use of the cobwebs by Qarl and Koniption. There should be levelled lists for the spiders but let me know if you have problems. We can always add the creatures later if there are issues.

[DoZeNt]

Ooh, this is one is gonna be spooky ^^

About the archives... I reinstalled Windows.. I have nothing except OBLIVION and some small mods

[Ibsen's Ghost]

I sent a PM. :check:

Bear in mind that myself and sandor are hoping to get a new bsa done shortly....although I can't define the term 'shortly' in terms of days/weeks etc. Therefore, I'd download the files in the links for the time being unless your internet server has a 'download limitation' or something.

[DoZeNt]

Claimed! :check:

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Done. :check:

Don't forget to use our own mossy cave tileset (courtesy of Leo Gura from 'Lost Spires'). It will be the first time it's been used. There are a variety of webs which I think are in the Static-blackmarsh-Environment section, if I remember rightly. Some of them belong to a modder called Qarl and the others are Koniption's own...including a giant net-like web that can be used to cover the roof of the caves. These webs are strewn around the cave entrance. For extra inspiration, try taking a look at this: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=22261 .

There is an animated bolder in that mod that serves as a door that can be activated with a pulley. I acquired the same model (called 'secret door' or something) from a different mod as a modder's resource. You can use it if you wish but it will need to be retextured and re-inserted into the archive....just let me know if you use it and I'll sort that out for you.

You'll need levelled lists for the creatures so tell me when you're ready to add them and I'll let you know which ones are best for use. The tropical spiders should work okay but I may have to test out the tarantulas...unless you wanted to do that... =)

[DoZeNt]

Construction of the first interior is done, cluttering at the moment, then I'll advance to the second int.

I added some lvld creatures but they didnt work for some reason (( So I tested out the spiders alone. Also the centepede hasn't got a visible model.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Wow, that was quick! Cool!

Yeah, the creatures haven't been playtested yet. I need to pathgrid the beta regions and then I'll release them for playtesting. :yes:

Did you find the webs and have a chance to check out the door?

[DoZeNt]

Not yet, I put a BMCaveDoor just for now...