» Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:04 pm Introduction
" Skyrim demands for more entertainment. Its world is shouting out for something unique that doesn't fall under the cliche villain-esque scenarios or vapid apocalyptic expressions. Grinding is irrevocably doomed to become stale and as those aspects fade out the world around recedes into an empty shell, remnant of its former glory. " ~ My Personal opinion
{Side Note}: I would be proud to begin a mod like this however I am facing some unexpected issues. One such as; my laptop refuses to run the creation kit above version 1.6.89. It immediately crashes upon start-up and I have yet to detect let alone solve the problem. Secondly, my animating and scripting skills are extremely newby at best. I am a 3D modeler --- [ mainly priding myself in Architectural designing] --- and avid texturer. I am also a writer as well.
Verily, after that little vichyssoise of verbiage I am deeply honored to share my thoughts; I do write all of this, in sincere hopes that someone will come along and take these ideas to heart.
An Architect's Life: A Construction mod and Hearthfire Script Expansion
Questions And About
1. What is this Mod Idea about?
This is a house-building themed idea. It is bent around the player constructing simple farmhouses to even forging a City-metropolis.
2. If implicated what makes this different then the other mods like that?
Many aspects would separate this from the other Construction mods. This idea specifically focuses on the challenges of constructing architecture and the grueling time it takes to complete and the hard work that is put into it. A few such things included but not limited to are: Hiring workers to build for you or help you build, keeping up with supplies and its costs, keeping the hired work in health and alive, finding and buying land, excavating land plots, and many more.
3. What are all of the ideas laid out for this?
The ideas I have are in abundance however It's pretty safe to assume they are all mostly readily available to the game thanks to the Hearthfire DLC. However there are plenty of new or fresh ideas that would have to be integrated into the Skyrim Scripting mechanics. I will Split the ideas up into different sections.
Buying Land Acreage and Finding it
Plots of land would be integrated throughout each of the Holds locations along with acres off the mainland, such as personal Islands and such. Of course in order to buy plots of land, you have to speak directly with the Jarl or their Houscarl. Unlike most Construction mods or house mods such as in-game, you will not need to perform a favor for the Jarl. If you have the money, choose which plot of land and buy it. Mind you the depending on the location the land prices vary and even the smallest plot would come at a pretty hefty price. If the land you wish to buy is not within any of the holds, such as a personal island, you may speak with a realtor of sorts, or unique types of Merchants that deal with the finances of land ownership. If you would have the money, you may buy as many lands as you desire, out of all of the choices. Once you acquire the deed to the land/s you have purchased, go to your map and there will be a marker where to go. I imagine, no fast travelling of course until and or unless you have been there once already.
Preparations for Construction and Land renovation
Also Unlike Any of the other mods, supplies are not already set up at the Land you just bought. Before you travel to the newly purchased plot/s, You'll have to purchase a limited amount of supplies and tools from some of the In-town merchants: You will need to purchase the tools first: mechanized saws, grindstones, work tables, Benches, a small forge, and a chest [of course you won't have to buy these tools individually, they come as a bundle]. These tools will then be transported to your land plot. [It will take the same amount of time for the tools to arrive --- depending on the distance --- as it would take a carriage to bring you there]. Once you get the tools of the trade, you will have to purchase a good batch of supplies to get your construction started. At this point, you can decide to either start heading over and beginning construction by yourself or you may search around each of the Hold's Cities for people willing to work with you, for a timely wage of course [there would be only six workers]. The more people, the faster construction is. Also, before you begin construction --- [must be before you start building] --- you may choose to renovate your land [i.e., remove foliage, trees, rocks, also setting up quarries and mines for acquiring resources]. If you choose to renovate the landscape you bought, then during later construction you can place new trees and plants in various designated locations of choice.
Starting Construction and Worker Commands and schedules
Once you've started construction, the layout of how you forge the walls with your resources and materials will be as it is with Hearthfire. I loved how that worked out and think it should be kept that way. The difference is, once you built "forged" the pieces, they will not just appear done and built onto the foundation or any stage of your house, like in Hearthfire. This is where you and the workers come into the picture. once a piece has been made, You must walk over to the foundation [which will be an activator], and choose the build option. [Your character then will then go into a new animation, that is incredibly similar to the animation peons do in Age of Empires when building something] in the following few seconds, a loading screen will pop up [ A half-a-day's time, in game, will have gone by once the loading screen ends]. It would take four "loading screens" for you to build a piece by yourself. The time it takes to build is cut in half for each three workers helping you.
The workers are on a schedule however, the npcs would be scripted to stop working at a specific time, around nightfall, but work all day, during daylight; They will help build the house, if commanded too. Or if commanded they will help gather resources from the surrounding quarries, mines, or forests. The commands you can give workers are:
1. Gather Stone
2. Gather wood
3. Gather Clay
4. Help build
5. Take a break
6. Travel too: [any of the major cities] to buy [any of the ingots, leather, straw, wood, or food]
7. Leave; your fired.
A worker's hourly wages are deducted from you every in-game week and once you cannot pay they, they leave. This deduction from your funds instantly stops once you fire the worker [although the money he earned during his time is garnered from you funds]. The workers will also leave if the food supply is too low or empty for too long, [meaning you must keep up with the food and money for the workers to stay]. Every morning, the workers get to gathering resources automatically, around 6 am in-game, until told otherwise and they stop working around 8 or 9 at night.
During Construction I thought it'd be interesting to implement occasional side-quests you could do for the workers. Such as gather herbs for a sick family member. Fend off some bandits. Help someone on their farm. Anything to add a little more personality to them.
Short Description of Construction Phases
Construction begins with building a quaintly sized farmhouse. From the farmhouse you can add upgrades or new room addons. making it a bit bigger. Once the house is constructed. You are given the options of Stables for horses and cows, gardens for growing food, and small-tower-outposts for the borders of you land/s. Once you have completely finished building the entirety of the farm. The choice of making windmill is given, followed by a wood/water mill. This begins the stage of a small village. By those points, you can start inviting a few people to move in and work at the mills. Of course you'd have to plan the stages of building them homes as well. From those few houses, your place, and the mills, you move onto constructing an inn. Upon completion of the Inn, you'll begin to earn a some wages from "travelers." By this point, [if your in a hold] the Jarl will begin to tax you for the ownership of the land or [if outside of a Hold] the realtors will tax you. [sending a tax collector every so often to your budding village, so you'd have to make sure your there on certain dates or appoint someone to be there for you].
It's about time to start inviting blacksmiths and merchants of various types; For their places/shops some may make special and or unique requests, others may not. Moving from a now flourishing village, you can begin to build manors and barracks. At the end of all of the phases, A castle is the last thing to make [and it takes a long time to construct].
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Final Words
I do have a lot more ideas on working out the details on this, but my fingers have grown quite sore from typing a lot and frankly, I wanna keep the idea as simple as possible when it comes to something seemingly so intricate. But for the jest of it at least, please leave your thoughts and comments and perhaps someone, someday will like this enough to give it a go! Thanks for all of your time in reading this.
~ TheEsoptros
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Conclusion.
wow this post is REALLY flamboyant . . . . . . . .
