Ebbedin-Mainland Discussion

[TheImperialDragon]

Well, I thought I might discuss possible methods of transportation between the island and the mainland.

In TES3, people could go to the mainland from the bridges on the East and West sides of the island. It wouldn't have been much of a problem in TES3 because the land was a lot smaller, a lot less distance for the bridge to cover (less than one cell).

In TES4, the bridges would have to cover a rather long track (5+ cells I think), and they would also block boats' passage into the Ashunor River if they were on both sides. I think I'll make a series of islands with bridges connecting them so there won't be unrealistically long bridges, but that doesn't solve the problem about boats passing by. One side will have to remain open so boats could technically get into the Ashunor River.

So the question is which side, if any, should we have the bridge on? West or East?

Soluthis, Reich Parkeep, Ald Nium, and the fertile farmlands are to the west (food comes from there).
Steadhelm and the lighthouse are to the east (the lighthouse is supposed to be lit by Andosi Shand living in Ebbedin).



For the side(s) without any bridge, there could be some other form of transportation (maybe ferries?) so the route wouldn't be entirely cut off. The bridges are nice because they can be crossed by NPCs. Ferries, on the other hand, would be hard to do.

[Razorwing]

I think ferries would be a nice touch, and add ambience in that they strengthen the impression of Ebbedin being an island. But that's just my opinion.

I thought of a wild idea. I'm not 100% sure how NPCs use doors in this case, but I assume they use them whether they're supposed to be able or not. Would it be possible to add invisible doors on each side of the island - well out of reach (vertically) for the player, but useable by NPCs? If doors are placed and linked at an imagined ferry terminal then I think it would give a decent impression that NPCs are taking the ferry across the sounds while the player has to do it manually by paying for transport and such. It wouldn't be a perfect solution, but I think players would accept it, and it wouldn't cause any problems with NPCs or require any scripting. Assuming it works in practice that is, but I don't see why it wouldn't. If NPCs think they can walk on balconies without a subspace blocking it I would imagine they can open doors in the sky.

[sandor]

I like the idea of a ferry as well.

For the NPC's we could use a teleport script.

[Razorwing]

How would that script work, sandor?

[sandor]

Originally posted by Razorwing
If NPCs think they can walk on balconies without a subspace blocking it sky.

NPC's always take the shortest route. Let's assume the NPC is on the first floor (with the balcony) and the AI instructs the NPC to go to the street beneath the balcony. Without the subspace the NPC will go to the balcony (shortest route) an try to walk to to the street which isn't possible (the balcony blocks the path). With the subspace the NPC knows the balcony is part of the interior (doesn't lead to the street). "Normal" NPC's can't walk (upwards) vertically into the sky.


For the scripts.

There are various solutions.

For example the NPC enters the the ferry interior and once he's / she's close enough to a X-marker the NPC will be teleported to the ferry interior on the other end.

Another idea is to mod the two ferry interiors (cabins) in the same cell and use a subspace. Then use a triggerzone with a teleport script which only works for the NPC's and teleport the NPC to the counter part of the ferry (and vice versa).

The latter one is the simplest solution.

For both the scripts I would make it so that when the PC is present (in the same cell) the NPC can't be teleported.