Additional Artifacts Project

[Ragox]

[img]http://i.minus.com/ir4ezj8Z8ji8D.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.minus.com/ihCtokLSqnYWA.jpg[/img]

35 great looking artifacts, including graphical works of Ashstaar, Cicero and many others.

To try them simply activate the plugin, get ingame and use coc "TR Artifacts" in the console.

Please let me know if there are any issues and what you think of the designs

[RyanS]

A brilliant collection of artifacts! They'll fit right in with the vanilla designs. I did find a few problems though:
-Dawnbreaker's lighting is a bit messed up. You'll see what I mean in-game, if you haven't already. Other than that, great design!
-The big error sign pops up when you wear the Helmet of Chunzefk.
-Both shields looked like standard bonemold when equipped.
-One or two of the enchantments seemed a bit too basic. For example, the Gallant Thrust's enchantment could easily fit on another dagger.
-The last things that caught me were the artifact prices. Compared to vanilla, some seemed unnecessarily large.
Nevertheless, this is extraordinary work. Keep it up!

[Ragox]

A brilliant collection of artifacts! They'll fit right in with the vanilla designs. I did find a few problems though:
-Dawnbreaker's lighting is a bit messed up. You'll see what I mean in-game, if you haven't already. Other than that, great design!
-The big error sign pops up when you wear the Helmet of Chunzefk.
-Both shields looked like standard bonemold when equipped.
-One or two of the enchantments seemed a bit too basic. For example, the Gallant Thrust's enchantment could easily fit on another dagger.
-The last things that caught me were the artifact prices. Compared to vanilla, some seemed unnecessarily large.
Nevertheless, this is extraordinary work. Keep it up!

Thanks a lot for your feedback!

The mentioned problems will be easy to fix.

Just the Dawnbreaker effect I have no idea about. It seems as if the shine effect is influenced by the enchantment glow, while it shouldn't be. I hope someone can tell me how to change that in NifSkope, if possible.

I agree, I need to come up with a better enchantment for that blade.
Well for the prices I kept using the existing artifacts as a reference the whole time, so I think they're mostly OK. Just the Daedric War Scythe is a bit more worth on purpose. It's supposed to be the most rare Daedric artifact lore-wise. I'll definitely add a book with descriptions for most artifacts at some point.

[Ragox]

New version available in the main post.

It fixes the issues mentioned by RyanS and also adds a new helmet.
Still has the problem with the shine effect for Dawnbreaker.

[Ragox]

Final version uploaded.

Contains 3 new artifacts and many improved icons plus a book.

I'd love to know now what the lead devs think about it.

Until then work is halted here.

[sasquatch2o]

Nice work.

[Ragox]

Nice work.

Thanks!

Have you got any ideas for further improvement?

[Dormichigan64]

great work so far! I'm going to try and learn how to start working on some of these soon, so stay tuned.

[arvisrend]

I am not a modeller, but I like the looks of these items! But there is a bug:

Code: Select all

TES3Stream Warning: Model "Meshes\TR\w\tr_chillrend.nif" tex not found "textures\tr_tx_chillrend_glass_00.dds"!
Texture Load Error!: textures\tr_tx_chillrend_glass_00.dds

The balancing also seems OK. I would get rid of the book, as we probably are not going to introduce any further "almanack" of artefacts (the vanilla one already looked borderline immersion-breaking). I am also not a fan of the descriptions, but they're something to start with. Some backstories can't hurt, of course -- but we can always tack them on when we come up with good ones.

[Ragox]

I am not a modeller, but I like the looks of these items! But there is a bug:

Code: Select all

TES3Stream Warning: Model "Meshes\TR\w\tr_chillrend.nif" tex not found "textures\tr_tx_chillrend_glass_00.dds"!
Texture Load Error!: textures\tr_tx_chillrend_glass_00.dds

The balancing also seems OK. I would get rid of the book, as we probably are not going to introduce any further "almanack" of artefacts (the vanilla one already looked borderline immersion-breaking). I am also not a fan of the descriptions, but they're something to start with. Some backstories can't hurt, of course -- but we can always tack them on when we come up with good ones.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts avisrend.
I uploaded a new version up without the texture error now.

Is anyone in particular responsible for managing such items here at TR? If not, I really think there should be a position for that, since it seems that nobody was really caring that much about including new artifacts for a very long time.

We have now hundreds of dungeons to explore, but almost no artifacts to find in them... That's not good gameplay.

[Gnomey]

I don't think we need to put someone in charge of artifacts. I do think it would be good if questers and NPCers were to be proactive with unique artifacts and, when they see an opportunity for a unique artifact, (as with vanilla Morrowind, perhaps on a corpse deep within an important and high-level dungeon, or on a high-level NPC, or as a high-level quest reward), ask whether it's alright to include one. (Naturally adding an artifact should only be approved if it really seems worthwhile, we don't want a unique artifact every second quest either).

Of course, as far as positions go, someone who is able to review models would be good, as we don't really currently have anyone like that, and that would facilitate adding unique models to TR_Data.

[Ragox]

I don't think we need to put someone in charge of artifacts. I do think it would be good if questers and NPCers were to be proactive with unique artifacts and, when they see an opportunity for a unique artifact, (as with vanilla Morrowind, perhaps on a corpse deep within an important and high-level dungeon, or on a high-level NPC, or as a high-level quest reward), ask whether it's alright to include one. (Naturally adding an artifact should only be approved if it really seems worthwhile, we don't want a unique artifact every second quest either).

Of course, as far as positions go, someone who is able to review models would be good, as we don't really currently have anyone like that, and that would facilitate adding unique models to TR_Data.

Well, maybe not just for artifacts, but loot in general (Head of Loot? ^^). That way there would be someone who manages all items, leveled lists and containers (also adding new ones), keeps them balanced and logical. He or she would also be responsible for deciding of appropriate places to contain special loot (such as artifacts & unique items) and thereby making sure that it's well-spread across the map.

But I agree that we need someone to review models, too.

[Ragox]

New version up.

Total amount of artifacts is up to 35 now (from 20).

Finally medium armor players have a cuirass artifact.

[RyanS]

Well done, Ragox and everyone who contributed! A few of the artifacts could use better textures, but the collection is still looking very nice.

[Ragox]

Thank you RyanS!

I just wish the current lead devs would support this more.

[Seneca37]

I've taken a quick look at some of these and have the following issues:

Is there a reason why bmp textures have been used? Converting to .dds saves a lot of space.

I'd also like to see all caspering issues fixed. Could you possibly fill in some of the missing areas? I'd like to see things like rings, gloves etc fully done so that they can be placed in an interior easily - thus giving the interior designer more freedom for placement.

There are a bunch of problems with these files; scaling, rotation and keyframe issues. I'll be able to fix these once I've figured out what changes are needed for armor/clothing and weapons (this is what I am currently working on at the moment and will hopefully have my software working in the next few weeks).

[Ragox]

I've taken a quick look at some of these and have the following issues:

Is there a reason why bmp textures have been used? Converting to .dds saves a lot of space.

I'd also like to see all caspering issues fixed. Could you possibly fill in some of the missing areas? I'd like to see things like rings, gloves etc fully done so that they can be placed in an interior easily - thus giving the interior designer more freedom for placement.

There are a bunch of problems with these files; scaling, rotation and keyframe issues. I'll be able to fix these once I've figured out what changes are needed for armor/clothing and weapons (this is what I am currently working on at the moment and will hopefully have my software working in the next few weeks).

Sure good idea, I'll convert them.

It's normal that some items have no texture on the bottom and I don't have the ability to change that. But I don't see the need to place rings, shirts and so on upside down anyways.

I'd really appreciate it, if you could work on the file issues you mentioned. I have no clue how to do so.

[Ragox]

I've finished all artifacts now, so I'm wondering if any of you lead devs are actually interested in adding them to the TR Data file and placing them in fitting locations?

Otherwise I'll just place them myself as I see fit and release this as a submod on Morrowind Nexus.

I don't want to let this project rot away any longer for no reason.

[RyanS]

I would be happy to see them added to the data files, though we should probably hold off on including them in any cells at this point. There should be some sort of plan on how to evenly distribute these artifacts across the mainland.

[Ironed Maidens]

FWIW I can dredge up a document with ideas of artifact placement. I'm a stickler for the finer details of making sure balance is maintained in the game.

[Cicero]

If you need more artifacts / ideas. There is always that original artifacts page too.

http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=24714&highlight=

[Ragox]

I would be happy to see them added to the data files, though we should probably hold off on including them in any cells at this point. There should be some sort of plan on how to evenly distribute these artifacts across the mainland.

Yes RyanS, I completely agree with you.
The placement of the vanilla artifacts wasn't really stellar and it shouldn't be repeated for the mainland.

FWIW I can dredge up a document with ideas of artifact placement. I'm a stickler for the finer details of making sure balance is maintained in the game.

I couldn't think of any better person for that matter. [url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=24995]I really liked this thread of yours[/url].
There are quite a few dungeons that deserve an artifact as adequate loot IMO.
Places like Dun Akafell, Zanammu and Dulandos come to my mind.
Anyways, I'd really appreciate it!

This is the most recent version attached below.
39 artifacts in total want to find a home for themselves.

[NathanJ]

Hi, I dont know if this had been said anywhere but I wanted to point out that it would be good to connect those artifacts with some misc quests that are designed around them. This would give them a more "rewarding" character, cause the player would really have to work for them. And quests can also give the player a deeper insight in their nature/history/character.

[Gnomey]

I certainly feel I should apologize for my lack of feedback in this thread; it's one of the threads like Topics of Morrowind I always want to reply to but somehow never get around to.
The main difficulty of this thread is that we're not anywhere near being able to properly discuss artifacts on a project level; we simply don't know enough. In the TR Pipeline, most artifact discussion would, I think, really only come in in the pre-production and asset creation stage, except perhaps for any artifacts that are especially important to the narrative and in-game events like Wraithguard. We're naturally way up in the pipeline teetering between Master Plan discussion and the supplementary documents.
For the time being, I think a sub-mod is certainly the way to go, in the vein of the concept travel plugin, which came about due to a similar issue.