I ran through it with a buffed up test character to get a good look around.
There's some really good ideas here that I enjoyed. I liked the story and from what i've pieced together is its an oral myth passed down from aldmer to chimer but using memories of the ancestors as a storage medium. The new tileset looked like it was related to daedric but different, more orderly. The tomb having the door switches hidden amongst many false ones I thought was a fun search.
What i will say negative is the dungeon felt really padded out and maze like without purpose in several places, I think you could trim a lot from Mora, Varlas, and maybe even the entrance cave without losing anything but frustration.
The tomb and sanctum all felt like the size they needed to be, but the tomb could maybe do with another cluttering pass I think and maybe even just a small few undead just to break up the exploration with some action. You used the oaab alcove a lot without putting anything in it, and i noticed a lack of burial urns in general for a dunmeri style tomb.
The cave needed better lighting in a few spots and especially to help guide the eye toward the intended destination, the narrow climb before the big drop looked like a dead end and had me backtracking until i tcl'd up out to look from outside. I'd maybe also suggest decorating the drop a bit more, just to break up the repeating texture.
Also, how do you get out once you have reached the end? i realised if i had no recall, intervention or a LOT of levitation I was stuck.
Thank you for the feedback! I was concerned about some of the points you've raised, and I wasn't certain where I was falling on the balance of "it's supposed to be easy to get lost/think you've reached a dead-end" and "this is just obtuse." I made the Burial with the mindset that the people who shaped it wanted it to be a major block (while also containing something of value if you get lost enough,) but if it detracts that much from the player's experience, I agree that it can be pruned without losing anything. Likewise with the Halls.
I will likely revisit all of the points you've listed. The dark spot in the cave especially was deliberate, but I recognize that it could be done better, and I have an idea for how to revise it. As for the drop - I was really hoping that a player would look at that hole and think hard before jumping down, and I probably fell on the wrong side of the fence with my decision there. In light of your comments, I think I have an easy-fix/lore friendly solution in mind, and I will will be implementing it for the update.
Again, thank you for taking a look, and for your comments. I sincerely appreciate them!
AranMathai, I was going to comment just about the same suggestions Damius did. Damius hit the nail here, and that some pruning and trimming might be in order and some clutter to make it a more lived in experience to help immerse the player in your location. I agree that doing these things would not detract from the experience at all, most likely enhance it.
BUT onto the substance of the mod itself, FANTASTIC! I am SO very impressed with this. And you should be seriously proud of this worldbuilding. I played through it on my character who happened to nearby exploring, and WOW wow wow, beautiful storytelling. I got shivers in some of the locals and just lost in thought about what was being shown and said. I was floored with the unique set pieces and style and I have to give you a massive THANK YOU from one esoteric TES lore fan to another.
I will track this mod for sure to see any updates you make to this. Damius is correct in those areas of suggestion, and with a little more polish, I think you've made a mod that deserves a place in everyone's load order. Thank you AranMathai!
I genuinely misread this as "still getting lost" and thought that I might need to cut things down even more. If I ever try to make something labyrinthine again, making it more actively engaging and rewarding for the player will be a major focus. (I have ideas... Probably not great ones, but still.)
Awesome job on the 1.1 update. I feels MUCH more natural and concise. Love it to death. Thank you for this, I'll add some Muse tracks of my own to the interior, its just so dang atmospheric.
Thank you for saying so! I felt better about the levels in question, but I still felt - and feel - a little uncertainty as to whether I got it all -just- right. I have a small list of notes from this project that I may revisit at some point in the future.
I've somehow managed to make it this far without running across or installing Muse. That might just have to go into my load order.
9 comments
There's some really good ideas here that I enjoyed. I liked the story and from what i've pieced together is its an oral myth passed down from aldmer to chimer but using memories of the ancestors as a storage medium. The new tileset looked like it was related to daedric but different, more orderly. The tomb having the door switches hidden amongst many false ones I thought was a fun search.
What i will say negative is the dungeon felt really padded out and maze like without purpose in several places, I think you could trim a lot from Mora, Varlas, and maybe even the entrance cave without losing anything but frustration.
The tomb and sanctum all felt like the size they needed to be, but the tomb could maybe do with another cluttering pass I think and maybe even just a small few undead just to break up the exploration with some action. You used the oaab alcove a lot without putting anything in it, and i noticed a lack of burial urns in general for a dunmeri style tomb.
The cave needed better lighting in a few spots and especially to help guide the eye toward the intended destination, the narrow climb before the big drop looked like a dead end and had me backtracking until i tcl'd up out to look from outside. I'd maybe also suggest decorating the drop a bit more, just to break up the repeating texture.
Also, how do you get out once you have reached the end? i realised if i had no recall, intervention or a LOT of levitation I was stuck.
I will likely revisit all of the points you've listed. The dark spot in the cave especially was deliberate, but I recognize that it could be done better, and I have an idea for how to revise it. As for the drop - I was really hoping that a player would look at that hole and think hard before jumping down, and I probably fell on the wrong side of the fence with my decision there. In light of your comments, I think I have an easy-fix/lore friendly solution in mind, and I will will be implementing it for the update.
Again, thank you for taking a look, and for your comments. I sincerely appreciate them!
BUT onto the substance of the mod itself, FANTASTIC!
I am SO very impressed with this. And you should be seriously proud of this worldbuilding. I played through it on my character who happened to nearby exploring, and WOW wow wow, beautiful storytelling. I got shivers in some of the locals and just lost in thought about what was being shown and said. I was floored with the unique set pieces and style and I have to give you a massive THANK YOU from one esoteric TES lore fan to another.
I will track this mod for sure to see any updates you make to this. Damius is correct in those areas of suggestion, and with a little more polish, I think you've made a mod that deserves a place in everyone's load order. Thank you AranMathai!
Thank you for this, I'll add some Muse tracks of my own to the interior, its just so dang atmospheric.
I've somehow managed to make it this far without running across or installing Muse. That might just have to go into my load order.