I'd Like To Contribute Quest Storyboards / Seeds

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Hunger's picture
Hunger
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Hi guys. This project is amazing and I applaud the efforts everyone who has worked on it.

Quick introduction about me; I fell in love with Morrowind from the day it was released, long time player here. I'm not a Morrowind lore expert in any shape or form, but I am thoroughly familiar with the world and its concepts. I have a great deal of experience GM-ing pen and paper RPGs, and find particular joy in crafting the quests for my group's characters to play through. By my own estimation I have a talent for creating interesting NPCs (in terms of their motivations) and for creating engaging quests with multple paths to success or failure. I do not have any experience at all of modding, coding, using TES Construction Set or anything IT related. I do, however, wish to contribute to the Tamriel Rebuilt project.

Is it possible for you folks to make use of my skills and enthusiasm for RPG quest writing? If so I will gladly post fleshed out storyboards for short quests suitable for generic NPCs, including dialogue, items etc. in a suitable format that a modder can then take the text and use it to create the actual quest in the Construction Set.

I have had a good read of your guidelines for creating interesting quests, and they accord with my own sensibilities when writing for my pen and paper RPG group. I believe that interesting quests involve granting players agency in respect of how they approach the task, and also involve engaging the player's logic through the use of puzzles. Finally, I believe a quest should put several different character skills to use in the pursuit of variety.

Retrieving a sword from Location X, for example, is pretty mundane when the questgiver simply tells the player where to go, however if the questgiver doesn't know the item's location and the player must put together some clues to determine where the sword is, it makes for a deeper experience.

To give an example: The questgiver might tell the player three bits of info;
1) Arik Sonnmal is an expert on the sword. He's in the Balmora mages guild.
2) Jobasha has a book on the sword in his bookshop in Vivec.
3) Valyn Kaal is a rival of the questgiver who is known to be looking for the sword as well. His office is in the Guard outpost in Aldruhn.

By visiting these three people, the player can then gather the following clues:
1) Arik Sonnmal tells the player that the sword was wielded by the hero Barok Merythi
2) The book in Jobasha's shop indicates that Barok Merithi was buried in Chernuul grotto in the Molag Amur region
3) Valyn Kaal denies all knowledge of the sword if asked about it, but a note can be found in a chest in the bunkhouse. It is signed by Valyn Kaal, and issues orders that a guard captain is to take three of his men and search for a grotto near the shore of the lake to the west of Aldruhn.

These three bits of info mean nothing separately, but together they mostly reveal the location of the sword. The player might use some speechcraft to or bribery to get the information out of Arik. They will have to actually read a book to learn the name of the grotto. Finally, they will have to search Valyn's guardhouse and possibly employ stealth to retrieve the note that tells them the grotto's approximate location. The player will then find the grotto by searching the appropriate area for a short time, and they will have to fight the guards in the grotto before finding the sword.

I can't personally put all this into the construction set and actually make the game files, but I can provide the characters, locations and quest stages for modders to turn into playable quests. (Obviously the above is just a sketch of an idea with locations I already know from memory; the finished article I'd post would include lines of dialogue and appropriate locations).

Thanks again to everyone working on Tamriel Rebuilt for bringing this awesome world to life through your collective efforts. Hopefully I can join in the development.

-Hunger

Cicero's picture
Cicero
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You should drop by our discord (you can find a link under the community tab at the top). We are very active on there as opposed to the forums. That way someone can get in touch with you and then you can make a showcase for any pending quest claims.

You won't win
With your standards so high
And your spirits so low
Jani's picture
Jani
Interior DeveloperQuest Developer
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11 min 44 sec ago

Welcome to TR, Hunger!
There are several ways in which you can contribute to the project:
1) With the "Contribute an Asset" button, write quest designs for our asset browser. These will eventually be polished and made into quests.
2) Check the WIP quest designs in the asset browser, review them, and provide feedback in the comments.
3) Write dialogue for the quest claims that are in design or unclaimed stage. You can either post your notes in the comments, or share a Google Docs link to your work.
4) Choose one of the above mentioned quest claims to work on as your showcase. Modding Morrowind isn't hard at all, I compiled some of our best tutorials and tips into a short forum post last year, and we've got several quest devs who finished their showcase thanks to that guide.

Also, feel free to join us on our Discord server. Most development discussions take place there, and you can get all the help you need to do any of the four tasks I've mentioned.

Hunger's picture
Hunger
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Thank you for your replies Cicero and Jani.

Just to clarify, I don't even have a copy of Morrowind right now, so I can't even play with the construction set at this point in time. I have taken a look at the guides though, and I see how it works, and I do plan to purchase another copy from Steam. (My ancient discs are now unusable due to scratches). Lack of ability to play or construct Morrowind therefore rules out options 2) and 4) for me.

3) is possible - I will take some time to browse around the quests currently in development and see if some of those alreadt in progress take my fancy. Dialogue is certainly something I can contribute.

4) is the one I am most drawn to though   1) is the one I am most drawn to though. So, to create a new quest I go to the Asset Browser page, click Contribute An Asset and lay out the description, dialogue etc. Then, if my quest concept is interesting enough that a modder wishes to develop it, they can 'claim' it and create it in the construction set for implementation into the game? Is this the correct way to approach presenting a new quest idea?

Many thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

-Hunger
 

Vern's picture
Vern
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Hey if you need to grab a new copy word to the wise, buy it though GOG not steam, comes with the CS and a few other things pre-installed so will save you some hassle.

In Regards to 4. some minor technicalities aside, yes that is correct.

"Nomen album delenda est" - a great man

"Forum sigantures suck" - the same great man

Jani's picture
Jani
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Whatever you do, don't get the Steam version. It doesn't come with a Construction Set, and you won't be able to easily develop mods. Morrowind GOTY is $15 on GOG, and it comes with a built-in CS, all the patches, and all the official plug-ins. Also, it's often on sale for a much lower price. Consider buying it there, you won't regret it :)

By 4), I assume you meant 1). As in, you'd like to contribute new quest ideas to the asset browser. After you post your ideas, a lead or senior developer will review it, and give some feedback on them. You can then edit your ideas until they can be moved into the claims browser, where developers can claim them to be worked on.

 

razenmaeher's picture
razenmaeher
Quest Developer
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Seriously Learn to mod. The guides are great and it doesn't take that much to get used to it. I learned most of what I know through the guides. Now, I hate debugging and playtesting for hours but it is much better that you implement a quest idea you had for yourself as other devs might have a different vision and you may be disappointed in the results they come up with.

Hunger's picture
Hunger
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Brilliant - thanks again for your feedback everyone.

I did mean 1) - thanks for spotting the error. I'll make a start when inspiration strikes.

Regarding purchasing a copy, thanks to you all for your advice too. Had no idea that the Steam version is didfferent. I assume it was all the GOTY version. Much appreciated - I will likely get into using the construction set at some point.

-Hunger

Falasmaryon's picture
Falasmaryon
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Hi - 

I came here today to basically say the exact same thing that OP has. So Hunger, I'm sorry to hijack your thread, but you've said basically everything that I wanted to, so I'll just go ahead and get stuck in to making something as a showcase, as advised above :) 

I've played Morrowind off and on since release, have recently re-installed TR again (last time I played it was in 2009, am looking foward to seeing what has changed) and am absolutely in love with the concept, and would love to be able to contribute. 

I just want to say hello as I've joined both the forums and the Discord. 

Cheers, fellow N'wah. 

Jani's picture
Jani
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What's your name on Discord? We can help you find a quest design to work on as your showcase, if you'd like. This way, you can concentrate solely on the CS implementation, and your work is guaranteed to be merged :)