06-06-2006, 10:46 AM
With the latest Alpha 05.7, there are now interior models available for both the Guardtower and the Council Club buildings. And thanks to the esm format and the merge-to-master method in the newest TES4 Plugin Utility, it's much easier for modders on our team to work with our custom assets.
The layout of the town as a whole has yet do be finalized, but I think we can assume there will be at least four or five "Council Club"-type buildings around town. So, if you feel up to modding a location like that, please go right ahead, and then once the layout is finished your house would be there and finished.
I would suggest that you start by opening up the interior cell I created for showcase purposes, then copy the whole arrangement, and paste it into a new cell. See, I made slip-up when creating the interior and it has two holes in it, which I've covered up with a couple "border-pole" models. Placing the doorjamb and door can also be a bit tricky... so if you just duplicate that arrangement I bet it'd save you at least fifteen minutes that would only have been spent trying to emulate the arrangement anyway.
What else can I mention, hmm... well, first of all, start off by creating a new plugin dependant on both Oblivion.esm and Reich_Parkeep.esm. Don't make it dependant on Reich_Parkeep.esp by mistake! The .esp is only for playing the Alpha; the esm is for modding for it.
If you're unfamiliar with how we circumvent the collision problem on custom door models, check out my door in that showcase interior. Notice a collision box on the door model that sticks out a bit in front of it? It looks exactly the same as the other collision boxes, but this is a special collision box in that it acts like a door. The effect in the game is that the player sees an invisible surface that can teleport him somewhere, and since the player sees the door model just in front of that surface, he thinks the door is teleporting him to the outside. But all you have to do is add the collision box door, since there isn't any exterior model the door could teleport to yet. I'll hook that up once the overall layout is finalized.
It's up to you how meticulous you want to be with setting up collision boxes in your interior. The most important ones are 1) the floor and 2) the walls. If you just set up those, your interior can be entered and playtested, and the player and NPCs can move about it pretty much like normal.
You don't have to worry too much about the NorthMarker. I'll rotate it appropriately once we know how your exterior building will be positioned in the final layout.
You can have a basement if you want. Just use the hatchdoor for teleportation and then mod the basement with the interior tileset.
It would be really really awesome if you also created a separate interior cell, dropped the Council Club exterior model, and modded a garden around it. That way it's easy for me to bring it over to the exterior worldspace once the layout is being finalized, plus you get to decide exactly how you want your exterior to look. But it's not a requirement if you don't want to do it.
There's several types of locations you can mod with the Council Club building.
1. A home for a large family.
2. A shop or service.
3. A social gatering place, like a tavern or meeting hall.
4. A cultural place like a museum - or why not a theater?
5. Or pitch your idea
The layout of the town as a whole has yet do be finalized, but I think we can assume there will be at least four or five "Council Club"-type buildings around town. So, if you feel up to modding a location like that, please go right ahead, and then once the layout is finished your house would be there and finished.
I would suggest that you start by opening up the interior cell I created for showcase purposes, then copy the whole arrangement, and paste it into a new cell. See, I made slip-up when creating the interior and it has two holes in it, which I've covered up with a couple "border-pole" models. Placing the doorjamb and door can also be a bit tricky... so if you just duplicate that arrangement I bet it'd save you at least fifteen minutes that would only have been spent trying to emulate the arrangement anyway.
What else can I mention, hmm... well, first of all, start off by creating a new plugin dependant on both Oblivion.esm and Reich_Parkeep.esm. Don't make it dependant on Reich_Parkeep.esp by mistake! The .esp is only for playing the Alpha; the esm is for modding for it.
If you're unfamiliar with how we circumvent the collision problem on custom door models, check out my door in that showcase interior. Notice a collision box on the door model that sticks out a bit in front of it? It looks exactly the same as the other collision boxes, but this is a special collision box in that it acts like a door. The effect in the game is that the player sees an invisible surface that can teleport him somewhere, and since the player sees the door model just in front of that surface, he thinks the door is teleporting him to the outside. But all you have to do is add the collision box door, since there isn't any exterior model the door could teleport to yet. I'll hook that up once the overall layout is finalized.
It's up to you how meticulous you want to be with setting up collision boxes in your interior. The most important ones are 1) the floor and 2) the walls. If you just set up those, your interior can be entered and playtested, and the player and NPCs can move about it pretty much like normal.
You don't have to worry too much about the NorthMarker. I'll rotate it appropriately once we know how your exterior building will be positioned in the final layout.
You can have a basement if you want. Just use the hatchdoor for teleportation and then mod the basement with the interior tileset.
It would be really really awesome if you also created a separate interior cell, dropped the Council Club exterior model, and modded a garden around it. That way it's easy for me to bring it over to the exterior worldspace once the layout is being finalized, plus you get to decide exactly how you want your exterior to look. But it's not a requirement if you don't want to do it.
There's several types of locations you can mod with the Council Club building.
1. A home for a large family.
2. A shop or service.
3. A social gatering place, like a tavern or meeting hall.
4. A cultural place like a museum - or why not a theater?
5. Or pitch your idea
