Requires:
-OBSE 21b+
-Universal Silent Voice

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MGA v0.54 Update
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Game Tweak + Overhauled Guides!
--Overhauled and streamlined all walkthru materials using nicely formatted pdf's with pics and some separate map files.
--Added message box pop-ups if either of the two ghost-npc's from the Sift dies.

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Update/Install:
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Replace the old version "Monster Gallery Arena.esp" file with this one and check. You will still need all the original "v0.53h" files!

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How to use the help files:
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Don't, unless you get stuck or just want to know more. Then look and the names and find what you want. The fat has been trimmed and info streamlined for your enjoyment and convenience!

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In order of lightest spoilers to heaviest:
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1. Mod Page Article
2. Survivor's Guide
3. Lists/Maps
4. Walkthrus
5. Guide






Delve multiple ayleid-style trapped arenas and under-works on steroids complete with maintenance area controls, warring monster factions, and three meddling NPCs for you to protect, defeat, or ignore as you see fit. NPCs will randomly flip switches, empty containers, and take clues and keys. Monsters and main NPC actions are generated at random, so enemies and actions will vary with every load or playthrough.

Achieve 100% Completion Score in "Episode 1" to unlock the Arena prizes.






"In the bigger view, everything that happens is good. Whether it is birth or death, healing or wound. It is good for the continuity of the rest. And that is precisely the essence of the Monster Gallery Arenas."
--Symonn Locanto, the Fourth Mage of the Arena




THE STORY
"Some 50 years ago, four powerful and wealthy mages from different Houses came together. They set aside their bloody rivalries with one another to unlock a lost Aylied clockwork of arenas and traps. Using their vast resources and power, they worked quickly to claim and restore the grand underworks, implementing an efficient network of engineers and guards to oversee their own personal monster arena battles. This would allow them to resolve their differences safely, or so they thought.


Eventually the cost of maintaining the dungeon became too high, as was their thirst to sit stateside at battles. So the mages agreed to allow outsiders a paid membership to help pay back some of their costs. At first only the noblest upper-class were allowed into the arenas, and charged lavishly for it. Soon after, the middle-class and poor were allowed to attend certain lower-keyed battles, based on what they could afford to pay.

Then in the highest tradition of all, Champions from distant corners of the world came to fight through interlinked arenas for great purses, battling their way through multi-tiered arenas packed with traps and warring monster factions from each of the respective Houses.

The Mages themselves had always had their own internal power-struggles within the dungeon, until one day they battled each other with legions of their own House minions at their sides. The dungeon was closed to all outsiders that day and the stakes this time, they agreed, would be total control of the Monster Gallery Arenas...


Some of the engineers and guards managed to escape, swearing never to return, only reporting that the dungeon and monsters had gone crazy and not knowing the fates of the Four Mages...


Now, about 50 years later, three adventurers claiming to be descended from three of the forgotten Houses are camped outside the dungeon entrance, waiting for the true "Fourth" to join them. Many have come claiming to be such a person, but so far the locked entrance hall has denied all of them. Rumors of great untapped wealth as well as danger abound about what lies within. Some may come for fame, for riches, or perhaps for the very secrets and power of the Mages and their Arenas. Who will conquer all in the end, bring the Four Houses together again, and inherit the legacy of the Four Mages?"




HOW TO PLAY
YOU are the "Fourth". Work with or compete against the other three House descendants as they randomly pick up clues, empty containers, and turn switches, moving independently from from some levels with or without your help. They can help you or they can hurt you, non-intentionally... They can be your friends, they can be your enemies, or they can be followed or ignored as you race against them. They can die along the way and they can be resurrected again.

The choice is yours....
-ignore the NPCs
-use them as point
-help them
-attack them (crime)

The Main NPCs can independently and randomly:
-turn switches
-take keys and clues
-empty certain containers
-progress independently to some new levels (otherwise you set the pace for cell-to-cell breakthroughs and they will follow you)
-give you certain clues if asked
-die and be rezzed on the same level
-follow you (under special conditions)

2ndary NPCs can:
-help top off your completion points
-help you operate key switches
-fix broken machinery
-some can fight at your side


Minimum Recommended Level
(with no companions) 12+ high stealth or 16+ high combat or magic


Basic General Difficulty Levels*
Level 1-10 INSANE
Level 11-20 HARD
Level 21-30 NORMAL
Level 31+EASY (adjust your difficulty slider if it helps)

* Basic levels here generally reflect no other helping mod use.
* + or - levels depending on the types of mods you use.


Tactics/Recommendations
Keep everyone alive, or at least before you check your completion you should go back and rez them. If an NPC died along the way then you can either reload or look for "rez" switches in the same cell they perished at any time. Ghost NPCs won't rez if killed so make sure they stay safe.

The other three Houses can progress ahead of you up to the 3rd cell in. After that, you set the pace for unlocking the next level: when you enter the next cell the three Houses should automatically follow you there each time.

And regarding companions, generally do not use them unless you are really low level. If you can, try it alone and try to recruit different characters from within the mod at different times.


some BASIC non-spoiler TIPS
-some interactive objects don't appear in the crosshairs
-the mage will not share clues until the end
-inventory objects essential to completion have a "*" in the name
-you can, if qualified, recruit from the three main NPCs on certain levels
-ghosts are immune to traps but can't be rezzed if killed otherwise
-look for secondary NPCs to aid and keep alive
-the three main NPCs are mostly resistant to traps and normal weapons but can still die
-broken "rez" buttons can simultaneously be a boon and a danger
-look for completion points at the end... if less than 100% go back and keep looking!
-look for secondary NPCs once you enter the dungeon for mutual help
-occassionally the rez matrix loops. hitting the rez button again should clear this


Install/Uninstall
If you don't already have your own method, I recommend using OBMM and installing this as an archive. It has conversion data and is just as easy to uninstall.

-v0.53h Upgrade-
If upgrading from v0.53a or earlier, the newest files are the esp, omod conversion, and everything in the textures/momo folder, otherwise everything else is the same.


Bugs
Some vanilla switches I use may not always work as they should. These are the ayleid buttons (2 types) that say either "Press Block" or "Push Block" when your crosshairs go over it. Here, these are linked to either an ayleid sliding gate or an ayleid secret door. In some cases these buttons might not be right next to the gate or door and you might have to search around for it.

So if you are fairly certain that one of these buttons should open something but doesn't, then you will have to use the console to overcome this problem. Click on the gate or door in the console and type 'playgroup forward 0', hit enter, and then exit.

And specifically in the "Holding Block" cell, if you see a female NPC standing on the other side of an ayleid gate and the gate does not open then please use the console fix mentioned above. There's no switch for this gate on your side but it should open automatically once you unlock this stage in the quest.



CREDITS/THANKS
-Lanceor for help with the AR lift animation
-Pronam for the Ayleid resource
-Momo for Blacksmith Resources
-Bethesda Softworks and the Nexus Staff and Community







v0.51 Updates - 6/25/14
-some general revision/correction in the readme
-deleted some unused data like the 'test chest'
-added copy of an item won in cell 3 to the locked north side of cell 2
-lowered enchantments on one of the prizes at the end (they were originally boosted for testing)
-some minor updates to area west of the arena in cell 6
-added OBMM conversion data


v0.52 Updates - 7/9/14
-overhauled the (invisible) NPC checkpoint system when first entering Gallery Arcadia (they all previously respawned there automatically, even if they were dead in previous cell)
-corrected spelling and formatting mistakes in some texts
-fixed NPC map marker issues
-fixed various follow command dialogue branches so they appear properly
-some additions/cosmetic fixes to Exordium North
-named various objects, added a new text to Exoridium North (not part of completion)
-many updates include some general cleaning, revision, and add-ons, focusing on making the "Completion Check" process easier to understand in all its parts


v0.53 Updates - 8/31/14
-fixed problem since previous update where 2 of the main NPCs were accidentally disabled from the start of the mod


v0.53a Updates - 9/24/14
-patched esp for missing activator mesh (was directed to the wrong folder)


v0.53h Updates - 9/25/14
-packed previously missing textures into the new archive
-auto-cleaned esp with TES4EDIT
-all inventory clues needed for Completion now have a "*" in the name for clarity; anything without this symbol is not needed
-packed everything into one file. (If you are upgrading from v0.53a or below all you need is the esp and everything in the textures/momo folder.)
-fixed various dialogue types with House NPCs to flow more evenly across different cells and stages
-made it so Raliseth gets her keys back on rezzing (and can't be pick-pocketed while alive)
-added more collision to Arena Prima ceiling so enemies don't get stuck above the ceiling
-added non-essential "cut-scene" text to previously existing secret locale
-improved house npc AI in Holding Block and Arcadia cells and to transition between the cells more smoothly
-adjusted some lifts to land closer to the platform for better walking access
-tweaked Fafren's face to look better with OCO2
-deleted most unused objects and scripts
-fixed a certain object enchantment script
-created new halloween-themed cell with separate story and side-quest (not essential to completion progress)

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-Halloween Mode Notes-
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In addition to some main quest updates, a new area of the MGA has recently been unearthed...

The Lava Vents are where the arenas draw most of their primary power. Fear not, for active maintenance inside the vents has been designed to be minimal at worst. Workers only enter about once a year and geological scholars have estimated (along with the finest divination magic) that these vents are not due to erupt for another 1000 years or so. Sounds like a great place for some spooky and sinister evil to reside in, huh? I don't know... I guess you'll just have to find out for yourself... :(


Access 2 Ways:

1. Unlocked along the Main Quest, Holding Block cell - forge area
2. Pay the simple puzzle admissions in Aditum Porticus to open up the special "Halloween Mode" (not required for the main quest)


General Info:

-does NOT have anything required for Episode Points, so play this "extra" whenever you want
-for the full effect I recommend playing via "Halloween Mode" and not using any teleportation magic or night-eye
-small story-related quest to get out, so bring your provisions
-although carefully path-gridded, some ground may be too treacherous for companions and beasts alike, so recommend no companions
-access back to the Holding Block from the Lava Vents is disabled unless you already unlocked that stage in the main quest


Recommended Mods:

-Lava Does Fire Damage (LDFD)

Highly recommended if you're playing the Halloween Mode or want to fully explore the new area.