I made this quest as a showcase:
https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/claims/house-sale
also there are duplicate doors, but this should be dealt with when being merged afaik
I made this quest as a showcase:
https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/claims/house-sale
also there are duplicate doors, but this should be dealt with when being merged afaik
2014-01-02 23:58
2 weeks 1 day ago
Hi DarkKnightComes, I've had a look at your quest, and here are my notes.
First and foremost, you need to follow our ID naming conventions for your objects, NPCs and scripts. They need to be prefixed TR_m7_ at the very least, and I would encourage you to add a unique identifier to the scripts, items and activators relating to your quests - for instance, TR_m7_HO_House_. Your NPCs also require the usual TR-specific variables - see T_ScNpc_Mw_Map7 for the relevant setup for your NPCs. At the very least, they need TR_Map set to 7, this is used to filter specific local dialogue. Also, to distinguish between NPCs and their scripts, add _sc at the end of the script IDs.
Also, I think the cost/reward balance of this quest is way out of whack. A house, a full set of Master quality alchemy equipment, and many valuable ingredients and potions, for essentially just 1000 gold. Here's what I'd suggest: rather than having the Bosmer be hostile, have him friendly - and trapped behind the treasure door after a falling-out with his business partner Goler - who locked him in the stash and ran off with most of the product. He thanks the player for freeing him, and sort of awkwardly offer the player to take whatever they want from their skooma storage, as he's leaving the business and going to be a legitimate alchemist from now on. Then have him AITravel to the middle of the room and serve as a merchant from there on out, keeping the house.
Now, the specifics - objects and scripts:
TR_Goler Ralvayn (NPC)
TR_GolerGone (script)
TR_HouseForSaleKey (door script)
TR_Door_Cornerclub, TR_DoorTrigger
TR_Hundhalas
TR_TreasureDoorUnlock
General scripting tip: if you're going to script a door to do something when activated, don't use more than one Acticate command, it has the potential to go wrong. Instead, do something like this, so that activation behavior stays consistent:
Scripting activatable doors
Dialogue:
In general, this could use a little bit of proofing. Your dialogue isn't bad, but there are some errors, and the tone could be a bit more Morrowind-y. But I liked that you didn't infodump the player and kept your entries concise.
house for sale:
one-in-a-lifetime offer!once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!connected to the house:
Greeting 5:
Journal TR_m7_HO_HouseForSale:
Journal TR_m7_OH_HouseForSale is marked for deletion but not quite deleted when I loaded this file, clean it out with TESAME.
A final, and very important point:
Testing, testing, testing! What are ways this quest might break? What happens if a player has already broken into the house before they talk to the NPC? What if they deny the offer, then break in, then accept it? What happens, as I already mentioned, when a player enters the cornerclub through a different entrance? What if you kill the quest giver? Does the quest stay active in the journal forever (it shouldnt!)? What if they've broken in, marked the location, and recall back into it, skipping the door the second time when the script on the door is what allows the quest to continue? (Addmittedly, that last one's a bit far-fetched)
2020-10-12 14:41
1 week 2 days ago
updated the quest with suggested changes, im guessing the dialogue still needs some work
Annoying outlanders...
2014-01-02 23:58
2 weeks 1 day ago
Hey S'wit! I had a quick look at the file, and this is definitely moving in the right direction. Dialogue could still use some polishing, like you said, I've given you some notes on that before I believe.
While playtesting I did notice a few pressing issues that needed to be addressed. First, the Greetings on Estoril were out of order, causing her to reply with her "Thank you for freeing me..." response no matter what choice option the player selected. TalkedToPC is, I think, only true for the first entry that comes up, and gets set to zero straight after that, which caused the issue. I moved the offending line down a bit and added a journal filter, so it won't get in the way and the sequence plays as intended.
More pressing, you have correctly implemented the AITravel, but the interior geometry and pathgrid made it pretty much impossible to get to Estoril or for her to exit her cupboard. That's not on you, so I've made some slight changes to the position of the door in your quest .esp, as well as the interior itself. Those changes should take care of all the AITravel wonkiness and door opening shenanigans - it now opens into the opposite direction.
A few further pointers:
Then there are a few further (optional!) embellishments that I personally would consider - and will probably sneak into the quest, if this were a claim and I reviewed it. You can either add these yourself, if you feel up for it, or I can make these changes down the line (this claim has been a bit of a pain, and I don't consider these necessary for your showcase - you've done plenty, already)
This is really close, now, and you've been doing a good job. Address the pointers above (the optional stuff isn't necessary), give the dialogue another pass, and check my original review for anything you missed, and then we'll finalize this.
I've attached your .esp with a quick edit to the door and Estoril's dialogue sorting, but I haven't addressed the other points yet. I will send you a temporary Thirr Valley file that includes the other interior and pathgrid fixes over Discord (file size is a tad too large for the forums and I don't want to create versioning confusion as the main file is currently checked out by someone else).
2020-10-12 14:41
1 week 2 days ago
updated the file
Annoying outlanders...
2014-01-02 23:58
2 weeks 1 day ago
I don't have time to fully review this quite yet, but I did have a quick look at the changes you made since last version and they're good. The quest itself isn't quite done yet, but this claim has proven surprisingly intricate and frankly not the best claim for a showcase considering all the edge cases that need to be covered. In any case, what you've done so far shows that you're capable and that you take feedback well, so rather than further delay I'm happy to promote you. I am confident that you'll be able to contribute meaningfully to other quest claims. Congratulations!