[This page is outdated; see instead the PTR wiki: https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/content/dungeon-chimer-stronghold]

 

This is TR’s style guide for any interior developer creating a Chimer Stronghold. These are a classic dungeon crawl, and it’s important to keep a consistent style with vanilla, while adding just enough to make each dungeon interesting.

1. Shell and Layout

Chimer Strongholds are easy in the way that it’s usually not up to the claimant to determine much of the size or layout. For the main stronghold, use Andasreth as a guide to layout. There are two core cells which should be made (unless the claim tells you otherwise): the Lower Level and the Upper Level.

The Lower Level connects with the lower exterior door. A hallway runs around the outline of the stronghold. For the layout, you will have to make the interior bigger than the exterior, this is the only way to maintain a decent size for the dungeon. Copy the dimensions of Andasreth’s interior to make the hallway. Then, you can add rooms as you like inside the area outlined by the halls. Make sure the door to the exterior is in the correct spot, matching the exterior. The door to the second level should branch off from a room, and be sure to leave room for the a stairway that connects it with the outer wall on the Upper Level. When in doubt, look at Andasreth.

(Andasreth’s Lower Level, with the proper dimensions)

The Upper Level is much the same as the Lower Level in terms of dimensions and inner rooms. The difference is that it needs to have a staircase connecting the door to the lower level with the outer wall, and it needs another staircase from the outer wall that leads to the upper exterior entrance (a little hut on top of the stronghold). Make sure the staircase that leads to the upper exterior door is facing the direction that corresponds to the exterior.

(Andasreth’s Upper Level, with the proper dimensions and stairways)

For the rooms inside of the outer hallway, it is good to use vanilla as an example and then extrapolate from there. One specific room type that warrants further discussion, though, is the use of checkered dividers. Below you can see an example of this room in Andasreth. In order to fit the room, the divider pieces (in_stronghold_divider00) are scaled up to 1.50, and are lined up so that the top of the model touches the ceiling, and the rest bleeds through the floor. Use gridsnap to checker get these into their relative positions, but you will need to move them without gridsnap to finalize their placement. Don’t move them freehand, move them along only one axis at a time (by pressing and holding X or Y while you move the pieces. When you get them into positions that mirror the setup shown below, you’re done!

(The notorious “divider room” in Andasreth)

Domes, if required, are on top of the strongholds, and each gets their own cell. They are super easy to make, as they use a prefab interior piece (in_stronghold_dome00). Look at any of the Valenvaryon “huts” in vanilla for examples.

Propylon Chambers are in pretty much every Chimer Stronghold. They are a separate cell, and should be constructed pretty much exactly the same as vanilla does it. Make sure to use the appropriate pylons (which will most likely be in Tamriel_Data). You can fill up the Propylon Chambers with some interesting clutter, or you can leave it relatively empty. The choice is yours, and both are acceptable.

(Andasreth Propylon Chamber)

The layout guidelines above are for the majority of Stronghold interiors. It is possible, though, that the claim calls for a larger dungeon that extends downwards. In this case, use “Kogoruhn, Hall of Maki” as an example of how you can use the stronghold set to make larger rooms and such (just don’t copy the House Dagoth assets used). If the claim calls for a sewers system, look at “Kogoruhn, Nabith Waterway” for inspiration and asset usage.
 

2. Lighting

Lighting Settings:

(A good standard/default lighting setting to use)

The general vanilla settings for ambient, sunlight, and fog, are not only acceptable by TR’s standards, but recommended. Ambient and sunlight should be low (around 15 in all categories) because Strongholds are generally very dark and lit by high-radius light objects. The fog setting should be a bit higher than this (around 30) because that’s the color you will see when your viewing distance fades away. It is recommended to just go with the lighting settings seen in the above image.

Light Sources:

Hallways: Hallways exclusively use the “Light_tikilamp”, which has a large radius of 320. Be sure to place these in almost all of the alcoves you place (in_stronghold_corr2_06), and in every 3-way piece (“in_stronghold_corr3_”). Otherwise, place these lamps around if there is a long stretch of hallway with no lighting. When in doubt, check Andasreth for an ideal density of hallway lights.

Rooms: Since Chimer Strongholds are effectively bandit encampments most of the time, rooms can utilize a large variety of floor lamps, candles, lanterns, etc. In fact, any “light_de” object you’d put in a poor home can fit in Stronghold rooms, alongside the previously mentioned “Light_tikilamp” and also firepits (created with “furn_firepit00” and “light_logpile10”.

3. Asset Usage/Cluttering Guidelines

Knowing which assets to use and how they should be used is essential. It’s easy to go wild and do something with several assets that is not meant to happen. This section is by no means an exhaustive list, but it gives a few preliminary ideas of how to use the assets.

Stronghold Assets:

“ex_strong”, “ex_stronghold”, “ex_strongholdruin”, and “ex_strongruin”: This should be self explanatory, since they are marked with “ex_”, but do NOT go ahead using these in your Chimer Stronghold claims. They are meant for exteriors and should stay that way.

“in_strong”: this is the prefix for building big rooms, often found in subterranean stronghold rooms/halls and in propylon chambers. Check any propylon chamber or “Kogoruhn, Hall of Maki” to see the usage of these assets. Here are descriptions of some of the most useful ones:

• “in_strong_hall0X”: most useful in Propylon Chambers.
• “in_strong_corrX”: the number after “corr” will indicate how many ways it goes. 1 is a dead end, 2 is a 2-way, 3 is a 3-way, etc.
• “in_strong_shutter00”: Very useful in the “Upper Level” wall cells, as there are often windows here in the exterior, which should be mirrored by these shutters. Wherever you place shutters, they should always be accompanied by the alcove piece (in_stronghold_corr2_06) so that there is plenty of room to navigate the hallways.

“in_stronghold”: this is the prefix for the shell pieces of the above-ground “Lower Level” and “Upper Level” of most Strongholds. Here are descriptions of some of the most useful ones:

• “in_stronghold_corrX”: the number after “corr” will indicate how many ways it goes. 2 is a 2-way, 3 is a 3-way. These are exclusively used for the outer hallways of the stronghold, since they have the slope that mirrors the exterior.
• “in_stronghold_divider”: used to separate some rooms into parts. Don’t forget to upscale and manually adjust as needed (explained in the Layout part of this guide)
• “in_stronghold_dome00”: the shell for domes
• “in_stronghold_hall”: the shell pieces for rooms in the above-ground parts of strongholds.
• “in_stronghold_roofext00”: the shell piece that connects the Upper Level with the exterior.
• “in_stronghold_stairs00”: the stair pieces used to connect the Lower Level and the Upper Level.

“in_strongruin2” and “in_strongruin”: many of the same pieces described above, but in a more rugged and ruined form.

(Kogoruhn, Hall of Maki, which makes extensive use of the in_strong and in_strongruin sets)

How to Clutter:

Chimer Strongholds are generally pretty sparsely cluttered, to allow for smooth enemy encounters. TR generally details the rooms a bit more than vanilla, but the hallways should be kept relatively empty (besides tikilamps, shutters, and the occasional crates/barrels in alcoves), to allow for good fighting space.

For the most part, Strongholds are occupied by bandits. Because of this, the clutter should show they are not wealthy:

• “furn_de_ex” furniture wherever you can
• De_P furniture to complement the furn_de_ex (make sure to use the TD flattened versions of some of them, under “T_De_FurnP” in “statics”)
• Hammocks (“active_de_p_bed_28”)
• Vanilla tapestries because they look poorer (“furn_de_tapestry_”)
• Firepits (“furn_firepit00”)
• Baskets, urns, crates, sacks, and barrels. Both the vanilla versions, and the TD versions (“T_MwDe_ComVar”). Filled with food, ingredients, misc items, bandit loot, etc.
• Cheap, common books laying around
• Lower class tableware such as the vanilla stuff, greenware, yellowware, stoneware (do NOT use blueware, fine glass, or ebonyware)

(A typical Stronghold bandit room)

To see a good example of clutter density in TR, look at Andvaryon (in the Sea of Ghosts Region). Note that the design is a bit different (since it is meant for Telvanni retainers rather than simply bandits), but it strives to maintain coherency with the vanilla style while adding a bit more clutter density to things like tables.

(Ideal clutter density for TR Strongholds. Not too much to impede movement, but plenty to give character)

4. Loot

The loot you find in a dungeon is the most important part. It is the reward for the player’s exploration, both interior and exterior, so it should be suited to the challenge the player has to endure. Generally, loot in Chimer Strongholds is a bit less than in other dungeons, as they are mainly bandit hideouts, but the player should still stumble across some cool trinkets for their trouble.

Generic Loot:

• Gold (either placed directly in the interior, or through use of a container such as com_chest_02_lev_gold or com_sack_02_gold_100)
• If the Stronghold is home to bandits, chests and crates with bandit goods (such as “crate_Bandit_01”)
• Scrolls
• Low-end alchemy apparatus
• Alchemy ingredients (suited to the region)
• Potions
• Books (books over the value of 200 are considered rarities. Strongholds should ideally have a skill book or two in the absence of better loot)
• Enchanted/Non-enchanted weapons and armor (use anything below glass/ebony as generic loot)

High-End Loot:

• Corpses with good loot: don’t use this gimmick on every claim, or else it becomes old. But every once in a while, it’s a good way to place some of your mid-high tier rewards in Strongholds.
• Ebony/Glass (Weapons can be used more liberally than armor. Still, keep these to a minimum, unless it is an especially important dungeon.)
• Daedric (Place in daedric only with permission/prior discussion.)

Hopefully this has given you a better idea on how to construct your Chimer Strongholds. It is by no means an exhaustive list of things to do, but should serve as a general guide until you have the hang of it. Here is a link to Gnomey’s Chimer Stronghold write-up, which focuses more on the planning side of the dungeon.  

Happy modding!