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About this mod
A boulderwork cave using the Crystal Cave Tileset. You can get a Fighters Guild contract to raid it with companions by visiting the Bravil Fighters Guild.
- Permissions and credits
Mod: Tortuous Cavern 1_0
Game: TES IV: Oblivion
Author: David Brasher
Requires: Crystal Cave Tileset (Included in the download.)
Release Date: 10/20/11
************************************************************************
CONTENTS
************************************************************************
1. Information on the Mod
2. Installation
3. Version History
4. Conflicts, Known Issues, and Troubleshooting
5. Copy Status and Credits
************************************************************************
1. INFORMATION ON THE MOD
************************************************************************
This mod adds a boulderwork cave using the Crystal Cave Tileset. You can get a
Fighters Guild contract to raid it with companions by visiting the Bravil Fighters Guild.
Otherwise, you can just raid it on your own and not have it be part of a quest. The cave
is north of Bravil, not too far off the main road.
This mod uses the new tileset which makes very dark caves with brown walls. The cave
has two very large cells. Some of the rooms are so large that you cannot see the far wall or
ceiling. There are places where you could fall so far that you would almost certainly die
unless you are playing a very tough character. The cave is rather foggy, and it is easy to
get disoriented and lost.
Boulderwork caves have an interesting organic look. They do not have that cookie-
cutter mass-produced look of some vanilla Oblivion dungeons. It takes a long time to create
levels using this approach, but it can be worth it in the end.
This cave uses all three dimensions. It is almost as far from the top to the bottom as
it is from the front to the back or from side to side. You will encounter many very steep
tunnels, terrifying drop-offs, and lots of stone ramps. You may have to use a bit of video-
gaming skill to climb the steep spots. You may have to jump now and then while climbing in order
to scramble over a steep spot.
This cave is so dark that torches and light sources do little to help you out. But it
would be wise to come prepared and have plenty of light. There are a fair number of difficult
locks, so you would be smart to bring lots of lockpicks or unlock magic. The dungeon can be a
long difficult slog, so you might want to have plenty of supplies like repair hammers, arrows,
and potions.
The mod is difficult enough in places that it is best suited to level 15 or higher
characters.
Boulderwork caves have confusing local area maps. Your map will not help you much in
finding your way around this dungeon. You will need to closely observe your surroundings and
recognize landmarks.
Different things can happen when you visit the cave. You may end up taking a different
route through it each time you visit it. You may encounter different monsters on different visits.
You may think you have explored the whole cave twice-over and then still stumble upon a new area.
The monsters in this cave are sort of weird. Their stats are a bit off, and they have
unusual abilities and scripting. Be on your toes.
This mod uses the Crystal Cave Tileset which is included in the download. This is sort
of a bonus, because this download actually includes two dungeons, Tortuous Cavern, and the dungeon
from Crystal Cave Dungeon.esp. It also includes the modders resource so that you can build your own
dungeons in this style.
This mod adds a new Fighters Guild quest to the game. You can be assigned the contract
by talking to Barg gro-Malgum who is in charge of the Bravil Fighters Guild. They are so short-
handed that they will even give you the contract if you don't belong to the Fighters Guild. The
quest is repeatable. Monsters from the cavern are bothering the people of Bravil and keeping them
from venturing outside the city walls. A rich patron has hired the Fighters Guild to clear the
cave out on a routine basis. The quest becomes available again four days after completing it.
Three companions are assigned to help you clean out the cave. They have options such as
Wait, Follow, Share, Chat, and Dismiss. During the quest, they are not exactly your followers.
They will forge on ahead and systematically attempt to kill the monsters they find along a certain
route through the cave.
They will rush forward and fight everything in their path, and then come to a halt. This
is your chance to heal them, repair their gear, give them new gear or supplies, or issue orders. To
start the advance again, walk past them and continue exploring the cave. If they like the direction
you are going, they will follow you and probably pass you. If they don't follow you, then you are
going the wrong way to reach the end of the cave. (But there can be some nice treasure in places you
explore on your own.)
If you get seriously lost in the cave and can't figure out where to go, your companions
can be your best guide in figuring out where to go next.
In the heat of battle, and with so many steep drop-offs, you will likely get separated from
your companions sometimes. Try not to get killed, and just keep on exploring the cave. You will
likely meet up with them again. You might try to follow them and catch up with them, but that might
lead you off the edge of a tall cliff. But depending on the tactical situation, it might sometimes be
a good move.
The quest objective is to reach the final tunnel that leads out of the cave. It goes off a
small drop-off and leads back the room you entered the cave through. The small drop-off makes this
tunnel a one-way tunnel. In the process of fighting your way to this point, you will kill most of the
monsters in the cave. You do not have to kill all the monsters in the cave to get paid for
completing the contract. You do not have to kill the boss to complete the contract. But you most
likely will have to in order to get past the spot she lurks at.
By the time you have got that far through the cave you will probably be sort of beat-up and
tired-out. You don't have to tell the customer or your boss that you left a few monsters alive. In
four days time nobody will be able to tell the difference anyway. (Those darn vermin breed so fast!)
If you can't make it all the way through the cave and out the last tunnel, and instead
exit through the room you came in, you will not get paid for the contract, your companions will be
stuck in the cave, and they might die. Don't be that kind of a partner. That's just not nice.
To keep track of where your companions are, make the quest your active quest. While
they are alive and in your party, a quest flag is shown on each of your partners.
If your partners die and you complete the contract, they will be respawned by script the
next time you accept the contract.
When you are not playing the quest, the three partners can be recruited by you as standard
follower companions that walk behind you wherever you go. You must be a member of the Fighters Guild
to recruit them. At this stage they have the Follow, Wait, Share, Chat, and Dismiss options. this
mod does not require CM Partners or any other companion mod.
If your partners start fighting each other or the town guards or you, you can cast the
spell "Keep the Peace" which you are given at the beginning of the quest. You may still need to
yield to your partner, escape from your partner until he or she calms down, or flee from the town
guards, but the spell can really help you out. When you meet up with the partner or the town
guards again, things should be fine. It is wise to stay on good terms with you partners by not
hitting them, talking to them nicely, and joining the Fighters Guild.
This is a rather big and elaborate dungeon/quest/partner mod and probably has more replay
value than many mods you might download.
************************************************************************
2. Installation
************************************************************************
You must install both an .esm and an .esp to get this to work. Install and activate
these two:
Crystal Cave Tileset.esm
Tortuous Cavern.esp
To play Tortuous Cavern, you do not need to install Crystal Cave Dungeon.esp. You may
install it to get an additional dungeon to explore if you wish.
Extract (decompress) the .esp, esm, meshes, textures, and sounds to your oblivion
directory, the default is: C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion\Data\
Mark the box next to the "Tortuous Cavern" plugin and "Crystal Cave Tileset.esm" master in your
mod manager.
Alternately, extract someplace else. Then move the .esp, esm, meshes, textures, and
sounds to Oblivion\Data\. Activate the mods in your mod manager.
************************************************************************
3. Version History
************************************************************************
V 1.0 10/20/11 Initial Release.
************************************************************************
4. Conflicts, Known Issues, and Troubleshooting
************************************************************************
This mod is designed to avoid conflict with UL The Dark Forest and UL Bravil
Barrowfields.
This mod conflicts with "Roads and Bridges." Get the compatibility patch at the
download point where you get this mod itself.
This mod is rather hard at places and may be best suited to characters level 15 or
higher.
The cells are very large and contain numerous objects since they are made with hundreds
of rocks rather than with a few cave architectural tiles. This means the cells have a high facecount,
and old or weak computers could have long cell load times. On newer computers, the effect is not
noticeable at all.
At places in the mod, there are enough actors in one small locality that a weak computer
could suffer a Crash To Desktop.
Boulderwork caves have a unique look, but some other less happy characteristics. It is
possible that an actor could get stuck in a shallow depression between rocks, fall through a floor,
or get stuck in a wall. These things were not experienced during play-testing, but they are known
characteristics of boulderwork caves. (The collision geometry of rocks is not as perfect as the
collision geometry of architectural tiles.)
IF ANYONE DETECTS A MAJOR BUG WHICH MAKES THE MOD UNPLAYABLE,
PLEASE SEND DAVID BRASHER A PERSONAL MESSAGE ON TES NEXUS RIGHT AWAY.
HOPEFULLY HE WILL BE ABLE TO FIX THE PROBLEM AND RELEASE AN IMPROVED
VERSION OF THIS MOD.
************************************************************************
5. Copy Status and Credits
************************************************************************
Credits:
Bethesda for making the game in an open format anyone can mod.
Copy Status:
Crystal Cave Tileset is a modders resource and may be used with proper attribution
and courtesy notification. Tortuous Cavern is public domain and may be used with proper
attribution and courtesy notification.
************************************************************************
************************************************************************
************************************************************************
************************************************************************
Game: TES IV: Oblivion
Author: David Brasher
Requires: Crystal Cave Tileset (Included in the download.)
Release Date: 10/20/11
************************************************************************
CONTENTS
************************************************************************
1. Information on the Mod
2. Installation
3. Version History
4. Conflicts, Known Issues, and Troubleshooting
5. Copy Status and Credits
************************************************************************
1. INFORMATION ON THE MOD
************************************************************************
This mod adds a boulderwork cave using the Crystal Cave Tileset. You can get a
Fighters Guild contract to raid it with companions by visiting the Bravil Fighters Guild.
Otherwise, you can just raid it on your own and not have it be part of a quest. The cave
is north of Bravil, not too far off the main road.
This mod uses the new tileset which makes very dark caves with brown walls. The cave
has two very large cells. Some of the rooms are so large that you cannot see the far wall or
ceiling. There are places where you could fall so far that you would almost certainly die
unless you are playing a very tough character. The cave is rather foggy, and it is easy to
get disoriented and lost.
Boulderwork caves have an interesting organic look. They do not have that cookie-
cutter mass-produced look of some vanilla Oblivion dungeons. It takes a long time to create
levels using this approach, but it can be worth it in the end.
This cave uses all three dimensions. It is almost as far from the top to the bottom as
it is from the front to the back or from side to side. You will encounter many very steep
tunnels, terrifying drop-offs, and lots of stone ramps. You may have to use a bit of video-
gaming skill to climb the steep spots. You may have to jump now and then while climbing in order
to scramble over a steep spot.
This cave is so dark that torches and light sources do little to help you out. But it
would be wise to come prepared and have plenty of light. There are a fair number of difficult
locks, so you would be smart to bring lots of lockpicks or unlock magic. The dungeon can be a
long difficult slog, so you might want to have plenty of supplies like repair hammers, arrows,
and potions.
The mod is difficult enough in places that it is best suited to level 15 or higher
characters.
Boulderwork caves have confusing local area maps. Your map will not help you much in
finding your way around this dungeon. You will need to closely observe your surroundings and
recognize landmarks.
Different things can happen when you visit the cave. You may end up taking a different
route through it each time you visit it. You may encounter different monsters on different visits.
You may think you have explored the whole cave twice-over and then still stumble upon a new area.
The monsters in this cave are sort of weird. Their stats are a bit off, and they have
unusual abilities and scripting. Be on your toes.
This mod uses the Crystal Cave Tileset which is included in the download. This is sort
of a bonus, because this download actually includes two dungeons, Tortuous Cavern, and the dungeon
from Crystal Cave Dungeon.esp. It also includes the modders resource so that you can build your own
dungeons in this style.
This mod adds a new Fighters Guild quest to the game. You can be assigned the contract
by talking to Barg gro-Malgum who is in charge of the Bravil Fighters Guild. They are so short-
handed that they will even give you the contract if you don't belong to the Fighters Guild. The
quest is repeatable. Monsters from the cavern are bothering the people of Bravil and keeping them
from venturing outside the city walls. A rich patron has hired the Fighters Guild to clear the
cave out on a routine basis. The quest becomes available again four days after completing it.
Three companions are assigned to help you clean out the cave. They have options such as
Wait, Follow, Share, Chat, and Dismiss. During the quest, they are not exactly your followers.
They will forge on ahead and systematically attempt to kill the monsters they find along a certain
route through the cave.
They will rush forward and fight everything in their path, and then come to a halt. This
is your chance to heal them, repair their gear, give them new gear or supplies, or issue orders. To
start the advance again, walk past them and continue exploring the cave. If they like the direction
you are going, they will follow you and probably pass you. If they don't follow you, then you are
going the wrong way to reach the end of the cave. (But there can be some nice treasure in places you
explore on your own.)
If you get seriously lost in the cave and can't figure out where to go, your companions
can be your best guide in figuring out where to go next.
In the heat of battle, and with so many steep drop-offs, you will likely get separated from
your companions sometimes. Try not to get killed, and just keep on exploring the cave. You will
likely meet up with them again. You might try to follow them and catch up with them, but that might
lead you off the edge of a tall cliff. But depending on the tactical situation, it might sometimes be
a good move.
The quest objective is to reach the final tunnel that leads out of the cave. It goes off a
small drop-off and leads back the room you entered the cave through. The small drop-off makes this
tunnel a one-way tunnel. In the process of fighting your way to this point, you will kill most of the
monsters in the cave. You do not have to kill all the monsters in the cave to get paid for
completing the contract. You do not have to kill the boss to complete the contract. But you most
likely will have to in order to get past the spot she lurks at.
By the time you have got that far through the cave you will probably be sort of beat-up and
tired-out. You don't have to tell the customer or your boss that you left a few monsters alive. In
four days time nobody will be able to tell the difference anyway. (Those darn vermin breed so fast!)
If you can't make it all the way through the cave and out the last tunnel, and instead
exit through the room you came in, you will not get paid for the contract, your companions will be
stuck in the cave, and they might die. Don't be that kind of a partner. That's just not nice.
To keep track of where your companions are, make the quest your active quest. While
they are alive and in your party, a quest flag is shown on each of your partners.
If your partners die and you complete the contract, they will be respawned by script the
next time you accept the contract.
When you are not playing the quest, the three partners can be recruited by you as standard
follower companions that walk behind you wherever you go. You must be a member of the Fighters Guild
to recruit them. At this stage they have the Follow, Wait, Share, Chat, and Dismiss options. this
mod does not require CM Partners or any other companion mod.
If your partners start fighting each other or the town guards or you, you can cast the
spell "Keep the Peace" which you are given at the beginning of the quest. You may still need to
yield to your partner, escape from your partner until he or she calms down, or flee from the town
guards, but the spell can really help you out. When you meet up with the partner or the town
guards again, things should be fine. It is wise to stay on good terms with you partners by not
hitting them, talking to them nicely, and joining the Fighters Guild.
This is a rather big and elaborate dungeon/quest/partner mod and probably has more replay
value than many mods you might download.
************************************************************************
2. Installation
************************************************************************
You must install both an .esm and an .esp to get this to work. Install and activate
these two:
Crystal Cave Tileset.esm
Tortuous Cavern.esp
To play Tortuous Cavern, you do not need to install Crystal Cave Dungeon.esp. You may
install it to get an additional dungeon to explore if you wish.
Extract (decompress) the .esp, esm, meshes, textures, and sounds to your oblivion
directory, the default is: C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion\Data\
Mark the box next to the "Tortuous Cavern" plugin and "Crystal Cave Tileset.esm" master in your
mod manager.
Alternately, extract someplace else. Then move the .esp, esm, meshes, textures, and
sounds to Oblivion\Data\. Activate the mods in your mod manager.
************************************************************************
3. Version History
************************************************************************
V 1.0 10/20/11 Initial Release.
************************************************************************
4. Conflicts, Known Issues, and Troubleshooting
************************************************************************
This mod is designed to avoid conflict with UL The Dark Forest and UL Bravil
Barrowfields.
This mod conflicts with "Roads and Bridges." Get the compatibility patch at the
download point where you get this mod itself.
This mod is rather hard at places and may be best suited to characters level 15 or
higher.
The cells are very large and contain numerous objects since they are made with hundreds
of rocks rather than with a few cave architectural tiles. This means the cells have a high facecount,
and old or weak computers could have long cell load times. On newer computers, the effect is not
noticeable at all.
At places in the mod, there are enough actors in one small locality that a weak computer
could suffer a Crash To Desktop.
Boulderwork caves have a unique look, but some other less happy characteristics. It is
possible that an actor could get stuck in a shallow depression between rocks, fall through a floor,
or get stuck in a wall. These things were not experienced during play-testing, but they are known
characteristics of boulderwork caves. (The collision geometry of rocks is not as perfect as the
collision geometry of architectural tiles.)
IF ANYONE DETECTS A MAJOR BUG WHICH MAKES THE MOD UNPLAYABLE,
PLEASE SEND DAVID BRASHER A PERSONAL MESSAGE ON TES NEXUS RIGHT AWAY.
HOPEFULLY HE WILL BE ABLE TO FIX THE PROBLEM AND RELEASE AN IMPROVED
VERSION OF THIS MOD.
************************************************************************
5. Copy Status and Credits
************************************************************************
Credits:
Bethesda for making the game in an open format anyone can mod.
Copy Status:
Crystal Cave Tileset is a modders resource and may be used with proper attribution
and courtesy notification. Tortuous Cavern is public domain and may be used with proper
attribution and courtesy notification.
************************************************************************
************************************************************************
************************************************************************
************************************************************************