Elderhollow Rebuilt

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King_ov_Death
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Elderhollow Rebuilt

Post by King_ov_Death »

While we wait for the Fathamurk add-on, we have something to entertain ourselves for a while: Elderhollow Rebuilt!

This mod, made with xolotl's Map Editor, features a complete rebuild of the ghost town of Elderhollow.

There are no download links available yet, but there are some screenshots:

Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image

Hope you like it! 8)
DewiMorgan
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Re: Elderhollow Rebuilt

Post by DewiMorgan »

So very cool and weird seeing Elderhollow looking so different :)

I'm not sure I would want to play the game with this version of Elderhollow, though I'd probably want to install it and explore a little just for the fun of it :)

For my tastes, the areas feel too clean and pefect. A small amount of cracks, dirt and clutter would really make the area look more "lived in".

They also feel a little empty - the room immediately to the northeast of the room you start out in, for example, has no furniture or clutter. The same with the room to the south of the horse statue, etc. this was fine when they were just hollowed out shells, but as full buildings, they feel like they need some furniture and clutter.

It also feels a bit "cheaty". The library, for example, having all the books.

The description is still the same "the town has clearly suffered a catastrophic event...". I think this can be scripted in the map to be different, perhaps to refer to the mystery of the ghost town. Or scatter blood splatters and weapon fragments as clutter?

All these are minor nitpicks, and none of this is to detract from the work you've done, which is bigger and more wide-ranging than almost anyone else has done :)

Adding at least one "survivor" NPC to the town to explain what turned it into a ghost town would make it feel a lot more alive, but would mean doing a LOT of work:
- editing an embedded .tre file resource in the exe files.
- writing a script to patch the .tre file in other people's exe files.
- pick a .tre file that you can abbreviate a lot, by shortening the dialog, and optimising to reuse exchanges.
- create an NPC with the same entity ID.
- create scripts that set a quest when you enter/exit Elderhollow.
- put tests for that quest into the conversation that provide one NPC's text for the entity inside Elderhollow, and the original one's text for the other one.
- ensure that the resulting .tre file is the exact same byte length as the old one.
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Evnissyen
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Re: Elderhollow Rebuilt

Post by Evnissyen »

Said catastrophic event could've been all the townspeople evaporating.
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DewiMorgan
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Re: Elderhollow Rebuilt

Post by DewiMorgan »

This town has clearly suffered a catastrophic event. Some of the buildings are burned out, others appear to have succumbed to neglect after being abandoned. You notice remnants of war lying about- rusted swords, dented shields, and fragments of bone...
It's true that depopulation is catastrophic, but the text describes moer than that: and none of the buildings are burned out, none have succumbed to neglect, and there's no war-clutter lying about, unless you count a couple of tipped over chairs.

However, this text is a narrative item, which means it's embedded in the exe: no way to edit it, but it may be possible to disable it, then fake it with scripting instead.
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dundonalddub
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Re: Elderhollow Rebuilt

Post by dundonalddub »

Looks beautiful--maybe a little deserted. I wonder, since there is a statue of a horse in Elderhollow, why are there no horses in all of Thaermore. :?
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Re: Elderhollow Rebuilt

Post by Necromis »

they were all eaten. Hence the term, "Pound of horse flesh." LOL :mrgreen:
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