Shapeshiftr's Showcase

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:43 pm

Hey, Shapeshiftr here. Been following TR for a while, but I lost my computer (viruses :/ ) so I haven't been able to mod. I recently was able to inherit a used laptop, so I might be able to do some work. I'm interested in Quest Design and *possibly* interior modding, though I'm pretty sure you guys have enough of those already.

As far as quest design goes, I'm pretty sure I could do that even if I can't get the CS installed on this Mac. Right? Always loved writing short stories and such; I've played Morrowind a lot and I'm pretty familiar with all the lore and lifestyle of MW. Yeah, incase you didn't realize by the topic tag, I'm much more comfortable with Morrowind, thought I might get Oblivion soon.

And interior modding- I've practiced with my own mods on my old computer (had the CS on that) so I'm familiar with the in's and out's of IM. Again, as all newb-y modders do, I make mistakes. Doesn't everybody, though? Mostly minor bleeders/floaters that I manage to skip over, but I [was] getting better at that.

As to exterior modding. Yeah. I'd stay away from having Shapeshiftr and Exterior Modding in the same sentence. Let's leave it at I tried it once, and it didn't go over too well.

Hmm...Questing. Scripting=??? I looked over Dragonfly or whateverhername's (the person who does the nice interior modding tut. and calls you grasshopper) Scripting tutorial. All I learned was soemthing about funVar and that ;'s and ('s don't do well next to eachother. I guess I could try if times required.

Sound. I'm guessing you don't want .wavs, so until I get my electric piano fixed, I'm pretty blank in this department. The most complex music software I have is Garage Band. -.-

Quest Tester. Sure, if I get the CS working. Sounds easy enough.

Oh yeah, almost forgot Modeling. Yeah. Nope. Blender doesn't like me.

That should about cover all the areas of TR, and my abilities in them. Hope I didn't miss anything, and here's to a bright future ahead for Shapeshiftr and TR!

As to putting examples of my work, what would you suggest I do for quest design?[/i]

Evil Eye · Post by **Evil Eye** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:23 pm

Shapeshiftr wrote:As to putting examples of my work, what would you suggest I do for quest design?[/i]

Do what you do best, make a little mod which shows what you can do, fetch this, kill that, little house, etc.
There're some tutorials on the site to help you out, have fun.

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:14 pm

Thanks, but I think you misunderstood me a bit.

Quest design meaning the plot/dialogue/etc. The text file that gets programmed. I'm not the brightest programmer.

Faalen · Post by **Faalen** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:57 pm

Quest design is a nice, creative thing to be able to do, but it isn't really its own sector of the project. Quests are designed by committee and the working design is finalized by the quester, with the Head of Quests guiding and approving each step of the process. Ideas are welcome and contributions are always encouraged, but designing quests alone won't get you promoted to modder status.

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:09 pm

Ok, that's annoying, but w/e. I'll try to get the CS installed, though I'm not sure it works on Macs. I'll reply when I get the chance.

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:29 pm

Curse these Macs. They can't run .exes. No CS for me. I might be able to get a used PC for pretty cheap, so until then, farewell.

cire992 · Post by **cire992** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 2:23 am

^ Yah, you won't get far without the CS on this project. See if your mac supports Bootcamp, or try using Wine.

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 3:16 am

And then it struck me. Writing, duh. That doesn't require anything with the CS. I spent the next oh so many hours researching Redguard history and culture, and came up with this. My main source of reference was The Imperial Library (which, I must say, has changed addresses. Your links on this site are broken.) I hope you find it to your liking, Sload and /or Head of Literature (did he change again? It used to be Xan I think).

P.S. Sire, unfortunately, my used Mac has a PowerPC processor, not an Intel. That means I have to buy a very expensive program which takes up a lot of RAM to work it. And this laptop isn't even mine. So I think it's time to get my own laptop- I found a cheap refurbished Dell which should suit my purposes.

Post by **Haplo** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 4:43 am

You should proofread before posting, and I don't mean using spell check. Although on the subject of spell check, you should enable stylistic review when doing it. If you're not sure how, just ask. It will catch things like passive voice, and you can choose to check for other important things, like commas in lists, using punctuation with quotes, etc.

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 1:07 pm

*sigh* Windows would make my life so much easier... Yeah, I have Word for Mac, so I'm pretty sure there's no option for that. Especially since I have Word 2004. If I'm wrong, please feel free to help me. I would appreciate it

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 2:05 pm

in Pages, try Edit>Proofreader>Proofread as you type. that may be what haplo is talking about.

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:02 pm

Sadly, I have Word 2004 for Mac, not Pages. Well, I do have the Pages trial, but that's only for 2005 and doesn't have proofreader. But what I DO have is a real proofreader. My dad is a respectable author, and he read it over and looked for grammatical errors and such. As for the passive sentence --

After the defeat of Orsinium, order was restored to the land of Hammerfell.

I think that is a resonable passive voice sentence, as to change it to active would be awkward and unneccesary. All other passive was changed due to me looking over this and fixing it, as well as some other awkward sentences. I also did a lot of rewording and such. Sorry about the clumsy first draft: it was late at night and I wasn't focusing clearly. Hope you enjoy this new draft.

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:47 pm

Confessions of A Lost Modeler...holic...

Yeah, so I need SERIOUS help (or at least a few pointers) on getting started with modeling. I tryed looking at those free Blender tutorials (Blender basics, i think?) and each of them are 40 mins long and just explain the controls and such. 10 mins of that, ok, but 1 1/2 hrs... I just dont have that time. Can anyone help me out with that? I guess you can PM me so as to not spam up this thread. Thanks.

Oh, and can someone take a look and my book (if their not doing so already)? 3 downloads and no replies...

[/i]

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 2:42 am

Hey, I came up with a song idea for TR. It's very much a rough draft, and I don't plan on perfecting it, but if someone here is interested, go ahead and use the theme as you like. There are some few mistakes, but as this is meant to just be a theme to work from, that shouldn't be a problem.

Oh sorry bout the triple post. That should be ok though, as long as I have something drastically new to post. Right?

Conlisus Gladii means clashing swords in Latin (not perfect grammar, it was an on the spot title and I dont have a perfect latin dictionary on me. I do know a fair amount of Latin, though.)

Faalen · Post by **Faalen** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:47 am

Your writing rambles quite a bit and lacks a cohesive point. It's all on one topic, to be sure, but there's very little rhyme or reason to it; the document reads like a bullet list of facts. I also don't think it's appropriate to open with the race description as it appears in the manual and CharGen sequence.

Stylistically, there are a couple of things wrong. Beginning a sentence with a conjunction is acceptable in informal writing as an attention-grabber so long as the practice is used sparingly. In a scholarly excerpt like this one, it isn't appropriate. Words like "grudge" and "headed" also stick out as being somewhat out of voice. The expression "stood on the sidelines" is a modern sports metaphor and has no frame of reference in Tamrielic lore. You use the word "consequently" and derivatives of it quite a lot, to a point where it distracts from the content. A word like that can often be left out entirely without affecting the meaning of the sentence.

As it is, this piece uses many words to say very little. It makes a good cheat-sheet for Hammerfell trivia, but it doesn't read like an essay should. You obviously have knowledge on the subject. Rather than just listing what you know, interpret what you know and present a viewpoint. Your essay reads like it was written by someone who knows a good bit about a game's lore. To be a good in-game author requires a certain degree of role-playing. Even the driest Elder Scrolls literature has an inherent bias; it reads like it was written by someone actually living in the universe, with his or her own personal thoughts and feelings about the topic at hand. This is something you can achieve if you try, and I encourage you to do so. It's refreshing to read something by someone who actually understands the basic tenets of the English language.

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:07 pm

Thanks for your constructive review. I know to some people that might look very harsh, but I understand where you're coming from. Anyway, who cares what I think? It's what the editor reads as a player reading the book which counts. After all, the book needs to appeal to all players. I took a little time to read some non-fiction essays from Morrowind, and I'll get onto fixing that. Again, thanks for the great review.

A question- if I download the TES:IV CS, will it 1. function without the game in terms of interior/exterior modding and/or modeling, and 2. be in .exe form? Macs (at least PowerPC Macs, which is what I have) cannot run .exes, which SUCKS. Big time. I'm starting to rethink saving up for a Mac, purely for that reason. It's one of the major flaws of Apple. Hear that Steve Jobs? Just lost you some profit, right there

So...thanks guys. And, um...I'll get back to you soon, after I revise this.

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:23 pm

you can model without oblivion, but the CS is useless without it. and yep, its an exe. maybe try some sort of emulator program?

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:49 pm

Sorry for this long wait; life, y'know? It should come before internet

Anyway, yeah I've been really busy, but I should be able to revise this a good bit and cut the crap. Literally. I've decided to make it a history, rather than a summary+history. I felt that those two in one book kinda felt like I was jamming everything I knew into 1 short book. It was shkwished.

I have a question, though, and I hope the Head of Lore or another knowledgeable person can answer me. I've been flipping through documents on the Imperial Library, and I can't seem to find the year the Ra Gada landed on northern Volenfel. For all of you non-lore folk, that's Hammerfell. Volenfel was its old name. The Redguards named it Hammerfell.

I've been working with some nice tutorials for Blender. Luckily, they had a version for Mac. The tutorials are long and to the point. I know, what??? Blender is a very complex software. Well, any modeling software is, for that matter. So I'm learning the ways of the Model-jedi bit by bit. Wish me luck.

@LN- An emulator for a PowerPC Mac costs $70. Personally, I don't think it would be worth it. This computer is already so slow; imagine adding a whole new OS on it. It would fail. I'm gonna get a refurbished Dell. It should work for me, although it might break in a few months. Or weeks

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 1:18 am

bump. I can't really start my book until I have that info. I mean, I could, but I think it is also something that being one writing a book on Redguard lore, I should know something like that. I'm going on vacation on Tuesday (EST), so I don't have access to a computer. I might scribble up a rough hand-written copy when I have some free time. Though vacation is really all freetime

It's gonna be awesome, swimming in one of Minnesota's 11,000 lakes. I don't think there are actually that many, more like 4,000-9,000...I think. Anyway...[/ramble] Wish me luck, and if you could get back to that, I'll still be here tomorrow.

-chapechiftere

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 2:23 am

oh sorry, missed this. PGE2 has them arriving at 1E808.

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:17 pm

Ahh...PGE2...didn't cross my mind that PGE2 and PGE3 would have different information. I thought it would just be updated. Guess I was wrong

'll have to check there in the future. As to interior modeling- my old computer runs minimally (aka 20-30 minutes at a time before restarting...sad, I know), so I might be able to get something up, though if I were to be promoted, I'm not sure how efficent that would be. I'll keep checking into a refurbished computer. Thanks for the help, LN. See y'all in a week.

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 12:57 am

*yawn* sorry for the long gap, vacation was just too fun

Stayed up way too long yesterday and had to wake up early for the flight this morning. I'm exhausted, and definitely wont be able to finish the book tonight. I got a good start on it, though, and I've taken a much for story-like and gripping approach instead of purely non-fiction. Get back to you tomorrow.

-shapeshiftr

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 4:44 pm

erm, sorry for the triple post.

I have a few questions. First of all, I've heard some places that Orisinium was destroyed, but not destroyed. ??? Can anyone clear that up? If there's some meaning in that, I don't want to talk about the defeat of Orsinium in my book.

#2- If Orisinium is indeed defeated, what year was that? Or, a more productive question, where can I find PGE2? Imperial Library only has PGE1+3. Unless PGE1 is PGE2 since it was written in the 2E. mmm...

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 5:06 pm

PGE2 doesnt exist.

Orsinium was destroyed in the mid 1st era, then eventually rebuilt. it gained official statehood after the events of Daggerfall (late 3rd era).

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 6:12 pm

PGE2 has them arriving at 1E808.

PGE2 doesnt exist.

??? I'm guessing the first was just a typo. Anyway, my book is finished! yeah wooot so anyway i think its really good but thats all up 2 you.

I checked over it. Yeah. should be good. I'm happy. I'll shut up now.

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 7:38 pm

yea, typo. i meant the 2nd released PGE, which is really version 3

Post by **Haplo** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:12 pm

Here you go

Nanu · Post by **Nanu** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:42 pm

I'll review whatever you decide to write next, although we prefer that you couple your writing skills with skills that move the project forward, which you seem to already know.

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 1:36 am

Ra Gada to Redguard -- A History of the Redguard People
By Socilius Pontius of the Imperial Library of Cyrodiil, 3E 425

Arrival in Tamriel

It was the year 808 of the First Era of Tamriel. A brave party of Yokudans, led by Frandir Hunding and calling themselves the Ra Gada, had completed their long voyage across the Abecean Sea, landing on a strange new land. Some called it Hegathe, and others, Volenfel. It was an arid and harsh environment and no one single culture had yet to settle in this remote corner of Tamriel. Various locations along the coast were populated by small military and fishing colonies, but no major cities rose over this land. The Ra Gada found it to be a perfect new home for them; they had come from the land of Yokuda, which was also dry, and knew blazing heat. They put to use the farming methods that they knew oh so well from their old land, using irrigation techniques that they had mastered back in Yokuda to utilize otherwise unworkable land, and settled the nearby area. The Ra Gada were of a master warrior race called the Ansei, and they used their great power to slaughter and capture the existing colonies and whatever sparse population there was, conquering all civilization in this new land.

Revolt and Reconstruction

As one would expect, this mass slaughter did not go over so easily with the survivors of Volenfel, and war broke out in a series of revolts. The Ra Gada, hoping to establish some sort of fortification, set up settlements across Volenfel and established a government at what is now Sentinel, building a magnificent palace that still stands to this day. Sentinel was originally a Dwemer ruin, which was turned into a fort by the Ra Gada. Below the palace, swords clashed, man against man, fighting for control of a new land. This destructive rampage, which lasted over 100 years, only subsided when a common enemy appeared-- Orsinium, the Orc Empire, which plotted to subjugate a section of the Breton territory High Rock. High Rock requested the help of Volenfel, and the Redguards and High Rock formed an alliance to drive back this nuisance to their land. After the defeat of Orsinium, things calmed down in Hammerfell. Hammerfell was the new name for Volenfel, after a famous battle strategy used by the Yokudan Ansei to drive back invaders, called Hammer and Anvil. Trade routes were established with High Rock, HammerfellÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s new ally, and also to Cyrodiil, the Imperial Captial. Cities were erected, and Hammerfell started to grow into a thriving territory due to Ra GadaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s development and the formation of a peace treaty with High Rock and the people of Hammerfell. It also became an important trade destination due to the agricultural advancements by Ra Gada, with exotic fruits, spices, and foods that were desired throughout Tamriel.

Divide Among the People, Imperial Rule

Over time, the name Ra Gada evolved into Redguard, a more Tamrielic pronunciation, due to the similarities between the two. But a majority of the Redguards didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t like this assimilation. They wanted to keep their old culture, their old gods, their old ways. The Redguard population split into two sects -- the loyalists, called the Crown, who wanted to keep their old Yokudan religion and culture alive in this new continent; and the Forebears, who adapted to the ways and religions of their new continent, such as adopting worship of the Nine Divines. Excluding a few rebel Forebear cities, the Crown took near complete control over the Redguard population of Hammerfell, bringing the Yokudan government, called the Na-Totambu, or Group of High Nobles, to power. They named a High King, who ruled from the Great Palace of Sentinel, a Forebear-controlled city. The Forebear across Hammerfell were enraged by this and, seeing the death of Thassad II, the last High King of Sentinel, waged war against the Crown. Prince AÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Tor, ThassadÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s son, devastated by his fatherÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s death unleashed the brunt of the Crown army against the Forebears and Sentinel. The Forebears, overwhelmed by their great power, requested assistance from the empire. Emperor Tiber Septim answered the plea of the Forebears, and sent Imperial troops to fend off the Crown army. At the end of the onslaught, the Empire gained control of Hammerfell. To this day, the province of Hammerfell is a territory of the Empire, though some concessions were made at Stros MÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Kai and other towns through out the land. The Forebears and Crowns are still sworn enemies even now. Hammerfell continues to be an important trade destination, though is not a popular tourist destination, due to the hostility of the native Redguards to foreigners.

This is the history of the Ra Gada; how they came to be know as the Redguards, how a band of refugees evolved into a greatly influential power, and how a unique culture still stands today as an inspiration through all of Tamriel in stories, art, and religion.

[Edit: the post refuses to tab. I hope a bunch of spaces works.]

Nanu · Post by **Nanu** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 2:05 am

You can write, good to see. Now when you get promoted for something that moves the project forward like interiors or the like I'll add you to the Writer's group.

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 2:27 am

:O I can't get promoted for Lit.? Crap. Okay, I should get a computer by tomorrow...except that I'm going up to Maine tomorrow. Expect to see some Interior Modding when I get back on Saturday.

A little rhyme for your amusement-

Mudcrabs, Madmen, and Maelapokshi
By MÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Aiq the Liar

A long time ago, before you or me
Quite very far across the sea
Lived a Mudcrab named Maelapokshi.
Lived a Mudcrab named Maelapokshi.

Oh what a fine crab that he was
He didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t look like the rest of us
Tall, lanky and green, but not very mean.
Tall, lanky and green, but not very mean.

At first they thought he was a daedroth
But he retorted Ã¢â‚¬Å“I swear I am not!Ã¢â‚¬Â
He went to the water to prove his troth.
He went to the water to prove his troth.

At first glace he gasped
And then he thrashed
ThatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s the last heard of Maelapokshi.

EDIT: He was a Vermai. I just realized this.

Post by **Haplo** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:13 am

You don't need to worry about tabs, we don't use indentions in ES literature.

Yeti · Post by **Yeti** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 5:35 am

Shapeshiftr: It's gonna be awesome, swimming in one of Minnesota's 11,000 lakes. I don't think there are actually that many, more like 4,000-9,000...I think

We Minnesotans have more than 11,000 lakes.

Good writing by the way.

Monkey Man · Post by **Monkey Man** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:21 pm

Shapeshiftr wrote:Curse these Macs. They can't run .exes. No CS for me. I might be able to get a used PC for pretty cheap, so until then, farewell.

Heres a recomindation, get a copy of windows to run on your mac, they should be able to do that

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 2:36 am

@Monkey- yerm...if you look at a few posts up or down, i forget which, I say that this computer is already slow enough without another OS on it. Just a friendly tip- read over nearby/all posts before responding or giving advice: more often than not someone else will have answered it or the error has been fixed. Thanks for the advice, though, I knew you had it in the best intent.

@Yeti- yeah, doesn't it have around 100k including small lake/pond things? I learned that a bit after I posted

wow you people sure like your water. Funny that Poland Springs, largest bottled water distributer in the USA, is in NY. Weird...

BTW, I got my PC and I'm setting it up tommorrow. Yay. (don't you just love periods.)

Monkey Man · Post by **Monkey Man** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 2:45 am

Sorry for not reading over every post on the page, but also, I have a reliable dell that is fast and now would cost about $350, new with 2gb ram and 250gp hard drive and a respectable proccessor(I just know I misspelled that.)

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 7:18 pm

So guess where I'm writing to you from. Or rather, what. A Windows-Operating computer. =D Ish Happy

I'll start working on a showcase interior once I get Morrowind up and running. Expect something by the end of the day or tommorrow, since I like to make things perfect.

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 6:46 pm

Interior section completed. I know there's a bit of the quest and exterior on this ESP, but they're incomplete. If you want me to make a Hlaalu style house, I'll do that, too.

@BC, the quest has the rough design in the Journal section of dialogue. The tag is SS_, forget what the name is, but it's the only one.

The cell name is The Berry Shack.

Without further ado-

Working on a new Hlaalu house. My personal deadline is tomorrow, but you never know, could be called in by the Secret Service or something. Post again when I have an update.

(I've been watching too much NCIS...)

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 4:11 pm

ok, last one for me today. looking at the int only.
-default lighting
-lantern on the table floats slightly
-winerack floats on one side and bleeds on the other (some of the bottles within it also bleed). it also doesnt match the rest of the furniture.

Shapeshiftr · Post by **Shapeshiftr** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 4:51 pm

mm- @LN- there is no _p winerack. It wouldn't be ridiculous to say that the owner picked up a nice piece of furniture that assists in her profession. In this case, she's an underground brewer, as you'll see in the quest. So, while I understand you may have found it as an error, I don't really think is it. Though for a normal int, by all means it would.

The winerack- didn't realize that it was bleeding/floating. I was trying to get the proportions right to both the floor and the weird sloped wall. The bottles, on the other hand, are almost impossible to get just barely touching the winerack. And plus, no one will notice a bottle in a winerack bleeding- the hole is minuscule and it almost looks more realistic from the player's perspective.

Lighting- Missed that, I'll have to look at another interior to find the right lighting.

Lantern- same, I F'ed it like twice, but F'ing lights can be so F'ing weird.

Thanks for the review. Cathartis gave me a quick check over in the IRC, and said it was too small to be a showcase interior, so I'm working on a Hlaalu ATM.

umm...*can't think of good closing statement*...yeah. kthxbai.

Tamriel Rebuilt

Shapeshiftr's Showcase

Shapeshiftr's Showcase

Re: Shapeshiftr's Showcase