Just finished this mod, and it was great visually, loved the new enemies but…
look, before I go further I just want to add that this was free, and I don’t want to harp on anyone’s creativity, it was a fun romp, but some issues really stand out to me, and left me feeling frustrated at the end.
Levels design-
areas looked amazing, but I never felt any reward for searching areas. Often I would go down paths, only to find a dead end and a ledge, and when accessing higher there would be just nothing but time wasted. Some of the levels were just way to big with not a whole lot in them to explore in terms of items and loot.
Characters-
At first I was enthralled in this mod, the characters were quirky and I genuinely wanted to get to know them, but they were cut so short, and no depth was added to them sadly. This leads me into my third point.
Quest design-
This is my biggest issue with the mod. I did all the missions for the alchemists, and they don’t give you anything for the trouble. No new dialogue, no rewards, and not even a a tick in there disposition towards you. I thought that doing these tasks would at least affect the ending, but to my experience with the endings, not at all.
Early on the necromancer wants to talk with a long dead giant skeleton. I was interested immensely when I actually got to question it. It led nowhere. Answers were very vague, and there was no pay off down the road. I thought for sure that when the necro was going to stay behind, there would be another quest to follow, but he just was at the hideout later, no new interactions.
You have no organic way of actually going to see the pirates. From the start, you are told they are out for blood. I naturally assumed they were hostile. It was only a few hours in when I went to kill them, only to find out they wanted to talk. I hope this gets addressed in an update.
The void pirates also feel undercooked. Many Npcs, with nothing to do, or even talk too. They have 3 quests? Which leads to a really neat area, and some neat platforming and visuals, but again your granted a “throbbing heart” which has no use whatsoever in the final act, or for some sort of secret item or something.
-Endings
This was I get the feeling very rushed. You have 3 choices. Side with humans, side with void pirates, or secret ending, side with Daedra lord. I obviously sided with daedra lord. The level to get to him was boring, one very long path fighting what I find to be the worst enemy added, crystal golems. They just visually look meh, and I would have much rathered the spooky flaming undead.
Anyways, he tells you to get the humans project, and spike their food, and have the pirates drink it. There is however no indication as to “Where” the project is, or what it even looks like. There is no dialogue between anyone giving you an inclination where it is. Even the quests you do for the Alchemists (Sorry been referring them as humans for most of this) give zero hints too where it is. Took me an hour to realize the crates with potions can be picked up.
Now this ending was a good twist, but was abrupt. He enslaves everyone with the formula, and thats it. No moral conundrum from your character, no option to try and save the day. Just a choice of weapon and a piss off now.
Loot-
The weapon design I actually like! There neat, and I decorated my house with them, some will look at the model and say it is a little meh, but the inclusion was great! Although there is no interesting tibbits about the weapons. There is also scattered around the materials the blood weapons are made out of. I horded these materials, thinking down the line a smith would be introduced, and I could make armour or more weapons.
Nope, just something to sell, or make potions with I guess. Even the one unique dagger I found “Bloodtear” was really neat, and the display it was put on really well done, but again, no neat lore blurbs, or fun writing to give me more of a sense of wonder for these new unheard items.
-Closing remarks.
This mode has some really great potential, it has everything in view to have a really great sense of wonder, and story, but it is never grasped! I really REALLY HOPE, this mod gets more updates, because the beginning writing had me hooked! I think thats why I feel so disappointed with how it carried on, because that first few strides had me wanting so much more detail into such a interesting idea and world.
please don’t read this thinking I am shitting on the hard work done here, it is truly meant as a love letter for more work to be put into this work. I see such passion in this work, I just don’t feel it after the fun start you had!
I have done a lot of writing in my life, and I know whoever wrote this hit a writers block, or maybe felt after time they couldn’t do a better job. Whatever your reasoning, my friend, you did a fantastic job, and I know there is more work you want to show in this world created, I implore you too continue it! It is a diamond in the rough, and with a little elbow grease, you will have something that truly shines. I know it.
Thats it! Thanks for the experience, and again, don’t stop here, it is so beautiful.
Hi, we only had a month to make this so a lot of it is unfortunately half baked, I am the writer and character modeler/designer and i'm glad you appreciated my work. I did run into writers block so a lot of that is my fault, but only having a month to tie everything together made that difficult. Fortunately there is an update planned, don't know when it'll be but it'll happen eventually. The daedra lord is meant to be kind of a riff on the peaceful middle path option. 'yay you resolved the conflict peacefully and nobody died you monster'
I am overjoyed to hear work is to continue on this! I always had my wife to bounce ideas off during writers block, as I always had anxiety when sharing my work, and worried about criticism for a long time. Though it is a form of art, some will like it, others will not, and having that effect on people is a good thing, and help you improve yourself as time goes on.
I hope you have that support in your endeavours, and I cannot wait to see this story more fleshed out! Best of luck, although I don’t see that you need it, only a little time, and some inspiration :)
Really great mod, fantastic locations, visuals, quests are easy to follow. But I couldn't find anywhere bloodstone claymore from the screenshots, does it drop only from random containers? And the ending felt a bit lacking. If feels like there should be a boss fight with Therris after he enslaves everyone, but there isn't. I mean, I can still attack and kill him, but this changes nothing and he has no loot on his body. But you definitely should fight him at least for the soul, which has 750 capacity, almost doubled golden saint's soul.
Awesome mod, worked like a charm, with no conflicts or major bugs. A must try!
Spoiler below
Some feedback:
1. Too much clutter and objects on paths, getting you stuck as you run around - Remove unnessesary clutter on main paths. 2. The pirates, as a quest giver, were not introduced organically - You dont have a good reason to go to meet them as the people you meet first brand them as "attack-on-sight" enemies. That way I only met them after I´ve accepted the "peaceful" option from the deadra, making the throbbing heart quest impossible to finish (could not give it to the captain). Instead you should make some kind of reason for peacefully meeting with the pirates sooner. 3. The peaceful option did not have any closure and it felt generally underwelming - I got my reward and then the deadra just reverted to his original dialouge, as if it was the first time we spoke - Just add a dialouge to the deadra after you accepted your reward, something like "You have my thanks mortal, now leave this realm" etc. 4. Some areas were super-well-hidden in giant cells, but all you found there was nothing, urns with worthless loot or dead ends... 5. After accepting the peaceful option, you should still have the option to side with the alchemist or the pirates, not just remove the option the instant you accept. 6. The path (were you could and should walk) was at times confusing to understand. My high level character saw, what looked like a path, only to jump straight into random cliff-walls or dead ends. 7. The cool looking red-crystal weapons have lower quality textures, a bit sad because the design was awesome. 8. Some apparel crashed the game when you equip it (captains robes, etc.). 9. The paladin that got you there in the first place pretty much got forgotten in the castle tower - involve him again. 10. If you get to the top of the castle tower before starting the fight with the deadra and the blood atronach mask in your inventory, the blood atronach just spawns prematurely (because the mask "knew" there was a fight supposed to happen but the deadra was not there yet). 11. The details of the alchemist´s project was lost on me. What exactly did the do, and why specificly in this deadra realm was so important for them in order to aquire true resurrection/imortality, flesh this out more. 12. The size of the fake deadra and the real deadra were a bit too small, scale them up 1.1 in order to make them more imposing. 13. The giant skeleton corpse did not have anything to do with anything. Chekhov's gun says this is not optimal. 14. The location/nature of the "project". The Altmer keept his mouth shut, and you could ask no one else about it. When I was tasked of finding it I ran around randomly and did not know what I was looking for. Then I finally decided to go to the pirates (whom was presented as attack-on-sight enemies) as a desperate atempt. When I could not complete the Throbbing heart quest I had to look at this forum, where the posts revealed that the project was just sitting on a random bookshelf among other random clutter. To be forced to guess that you have to look for a needle in 10 haystacks is not optimal quest design. Instead, make it a topic for all NPC´s and some could give hints what and where it was located by slipping up or high persuasion/speechcraft.
5. The peaceful option kind of goes against both. It wouldn't make any sense to still do their quests gearing up for a conflict when your plan is to end it.
9. This is actually not true - if you go to him after killing the underlord and the winged twilight guarding (?) him, he'll show up in the alchemy lab after the ending.
11. The alchemy is based on the essence of the realm. The realm is one of Rebirth - as seen by the way life flourishes even while the landscape is completely destroyed and there isn't even a sun. The alchemists intended to use this unique magic to brew a potion which could return the dead to life, but didn't understand that "rebirth" doesn't just mean your body, but also your soul.
13. It foreshadows the fact that the daedra in the tower is not the true realm lord. The "sun" is the eyes of the mountain, while the "trees" is Therris. They killed it for trespassing in their realm - the daedra in the tower doesn't even bother expelling people clearly plotting to kill him.
Hello! I'm having a bit of a problem with progression in the mod. (Spoiler from the final quest): So, I was on the pacific route, and I handed the alchemists' project to the pirates. Soon after the daedra Therris appeared and took them away. Now, when I return to where the daedra is, he repeats that I have to deliver the mixture, and the pirates are there, but in a catatonic state. Did the quest stop there? Is this the peaceful route? Or is there something I missed? I apologize if this is a stupid question, and thank you in advance for your attention...
No one has checked the compatibility with Rebirth yet. Our mod makes minimal changes to Vvardenfell, it just adds a cave with no landscape edits to West Gash Region, -10, 14 The cave is called Brinear, so you can type in console coc Brinear exit the cave and see if there're any landscape conflicts with rebirth installed
Thank you so much for the quick response and the troubleshooting help. Im going to be trying this mod out for sure on a rebirth setup and non-rebirth setup
I think we need to ween off rebirth and have someone brave go in and make modern -birth compatible with tamriel rebuilt and bcom. Like, a fresh start. Rebirth landscape wasnt that good to begin with (opinion).
Aesthetics and vibes 10/10, but a lot of the times I felt lost in what to do/where to go and with the large distances to cross it made the end a bit of a struggle for me (especially as I was unprepared for the light platforming in the true end path and hadn't saved since the big battle). I'd recommend some more instructions/guidance/hints either in dialogue or in the journal so you know you're on the right track (and for future mods shorter dungeon paths)
I finally managed to finish this mod quest fully. One of the best quest mods out there: the writing and story telling was very good, characters and creatures straight phenomenal and the entire space very moody. At time though, I wished spaces were smaller and I also hoped I was 10 levels higher :). Really an awesome job!
I just finished my playthrough of this mod, and it was a great challenge. I spent waaaaaay too much time wandering around lost, but with the scenery, that wasn't the worst? We weren't prepared the first time we aren't the Luminous Vale (I'm running Ashfall), so we had to leave, provision ourselves, and then come back... and we still walked out with half our armor broken.
100 comments
Just finished this mod, and it was great visually, loved the new enemies but…
look, before I go further I just want to add that this was free, and I don’t want to harp on anyone’s creativity, it was a fun romp, but some issues really stand out to me, and left me feeling frustrated at the end.
Levels design-
areas looked amazing, but I never felt any reward for searching areas. Often I would go down paths, only to find a dead end and a ledge, and when accessing higher there would be just nothing but time wasted. Some of the levels were just way to big with not a whole lot in them to explore in terms of items and loot.
Characters-
At first I was enthralled in this mod, the characters were quirky and I genuinely wanted to get to know them, but they were cut so short, and no depth was added to them sadly. This leads me into my third point.
Quest design-
This is my biggest issue with the mod. I did all the missions for the alchemists, and they don’t give you anything for the trouble. No new dialogue, no rewards, and not even a a tick in there disposition towards you. I thought that doing these tasks would at least affect the ending, but to my experience with the endings, not at all.
Early on the necromancer wants to talk with a long dead giant skeleton. I was interested immensely when I actually got to question it. It led nowhere. Answers were very vague, and there was no pay off down the road. I thought for sure that when the necro was going to stay behind, there would be another quest to follow, but he just was at the hideout later, no new interactions.
You have no organic way of actually going to see the pirates. From the start, you are told they are out for blood. I naturally assumed they were hostile. It was only a few hours in when I went to kill them, only to find out they wanted to talk. I hope this gets addressed in an update.
The void pirates also feel undercooked. Many Npcs, with nothing to do, or even talk too. They have 3 quests? Which leads to a really neat area, and some neat platforming and visuals, but again your granted a “throbbing heart” which has no use whatsoever in the final act, or for some sort of secret item or something.
-Endings
This was I get the feeling very rushed. You have 3 choices. Side with humans, side with void pirates, or secret ending, side with Daedra lord. I obviously sided with daedra lord. The level to get to him was boring, one very long path fighting what I find to be the worst enemy added, crystal golems. They just visually look meh, and I would have much rathered the spooky flaming undead.
Anyways, he tells you to get the humans project, and spike their food, and have the pirates drink it. There is however no indication as to “Where” the project is, or what it even looks like. There is no dialogue between anyone giving you an inclination where it is. Even the quests you do for the Alchemists (Sorry been referring them as humans for most of this) give zero hints too where it is. Took me an hour to realize the crates with potions can be picked up.
Now this ending was a good twist, but was abrupt. He enslaves everyone with the formula, and thats it. No moral conundrum from your character, no option to try and save the day. Just a choice of weapon and a piss off now.
Loot-
The weapon design I actually like! There neat, and I decorated my house with them, some will look at the model and say it is a little meh, but the inclusion was great! Although there is no interesting tibbits about the weapons. There is also scattered around the materials the blood weapons are made out of. I horded these materials, thinking down the line a smith would be introduced, and I could make armour or more weapons.
Nope, just something to sell, or make potions with I guess. Even the one unique dagger I found “Bloodtear” was really neat, and the display it was put on really well done, but again, no neat lore blurbs, or fun writing to give me more of a sense of wonder for these new unheard items.
-Closing remarks.
This mode has some really great potential, it has everything in view to have a really great sense of wonder, and story, but it is never grasped! I really REALLY HOPE, this mod gets more updates, because the beginning writing had me hooked! I think thats why I feel so disappointed with how it carried on, because that first few strides had me wanting so much more detail into such a interesting idea and world.
please don’t read this thinking I am shitting on the hard work done here, it is truly meant as a love letter for more work to be put into this work. I see such passion in this work, I just don’t feel it after the fun start you had!
I have done a lot of writing in my life, and I know whoever wrote this hit a writers block, or maybe felt after time they couldn’t do a better job. Whatever your reasoning, my friend, you did a fantastic job, and I know there is more work you want to show in this world created, I implore you too continue it! It is a diamond in the rough, and with a little elbow grease, you will have something that truly shines. I know it.
Thats it! Thanks for the experience, and again, don’t stop here, it is so beautiful.
The daedra lord is meant to be kind of a riff on the peaceful middle path option. 'yay you resolved the conflict peacefully and nobody died you monster'
I hope you have that support in your endeavours, and I cannot wait to see this story more fleshed out! Best of luck, although I don’t see that you need it, only a little time, and some inspiration :)
Spoiler below
Some feedback:
1. Too much clutter and objects on paths, getting you stuck as you run around - Remove unnessesary clutter on main paths.
2. The pirates, as a quest giver, were not introduced organically - You dont have a good reason to go to meet them as the people you meet first brand them as "attack-on-sight" enemies. That way I only met them after I´ve accepted the "peaceful" option from the deadra, making the throbbing heart quest impossible to finish (could not give it to the captain). Instead you should make some kind of reason for peacefully meeting with the pirates sooner.
3. The peaceful option did not have any closure and it felt generally underwelming - I got my reward and then the deadra just reverted to his original dialouge, as if it was the first time we spoke - Just add a dialouge to the deadra after you accepted your reward, something like "You have my thanks mortal, now leave this realm" etc.
4. Some areas were super-well-hidden in giant cells, but all you found there was nothing, urns with worthless loot or dead ends...
5. After accepting the peaceful option, you should still have the option to side with the alchemist or the pirates, not just remove the option the instant you accept.
6. The path (were you could and should walk) was at times confusing to understand. My high level character saw, what looked like a path, only to jump straight into random cliff-walls or dead ends.
7. The cool looking red-crystal weapons have lower quality textures, a bit sad because the design was awesome.
8. Some apparel crashed the game when you equip it (captains robes, etc.).
9. The paladin that got you there in the first place pretty much got forgotten in the castle tower - involve him again.
10. If you get to the top of the castle tower before starting the fight with the deadra and the blood atronach mask in your inventory, the blood atronach just spawns prematurely (because the mask "knew" there was a fight supposed to happen but the deadra was not there yet).
11. The details of the alchemist´s project was lost on me. What exactly did the do, and why specificly in this deadra realm was so important for them in order to aquire true resurrection/imortality, flesh this out more.
12. The size of the fake deadra and the real deadra were a bit too small, scale them up 1.1 in order to make them more imposing.
13. The giant skeleton corpse did not have anything to do with anything. Chekhov's gun says this is not optimal.
14. The location/nature of the "project". The Altmer keept his mouth shut, and you could ask no one else about it. When I was tasked of finding it I ran around randomly and did not know what I was looking for. Then I finally decided to go to the pirates (whom was presented as attack-on-sight enemies) as a desperate atempt. When I could not complete the Throbbing heart quest I had to look at this forum, where the posts revealed that the project was just sitting on a random bookshelf among other random clutter. To be forced to guess that you have to look for a needle in 10 haystacks is not optimal quest design. Instead, make it a topic for all NPC´s and some could give hints what and where it was located by slipping up or high persuasion/speechcraft.
5. The peaceful option kind of goes against both. It wouldn't make any sense to still do their quests gearing up for a conflict when your plan is to end it.
9. This is actually not true - if you go to him after killing the underlord and the winged twilight guarding (?) him, he'll show up in the alchemy lab after the ending.
11. The alchemy is based on the essence of the realm. The realm is one of Rebirth - as seen by the way life flourishes even while the landscape is completely destroyed and there isn't even a sun. The alchemists intended to use this unique magic to brew a potion which could return the dead to life, but didn't understand that "rebirth" doesn't just mean your body, but also your soul.
13. It foreshadows the fact that the daedra in the tower is not the true realm lord. The "sun" is the eyes of the mountain, while the "trees" is Therris. They killed it for trespassing in their realm - the daedra in the tower doesn't even bother expelling people clearly plotting to kill him.
Hello! I'm having a bit of a problem with progression in the mod.(Spoiler from the final quest):
So, I was on the pacific route, and I handed the alchemists' project to the pirates. Soon after the daedra Therris appeared and took them away. Now, when I return to where the daedra is, he repeats that I have to deliver the mixture, and the pirates are there, but in a catatonic state. Did the quest stop there? Is this the peaceful route? Or is there something I missed? I apologize if this is a stupid question, and thank you in advance for your attention...
The cave is called Brinear, so you can type in console
coc Brinear
exit the cave and see if there're any landscape conflicts with rebirth installed