This looks like EXACTLY what I've been looking for in a house mod. It seems like half the house mods I find lack some feature I consider vital (*cough*general stores*cough*) or are free (which feels cheaty to me). From the sound of some of the other comments it sounds like getting the key is quite the process, which more than makes up for not having to pay for it. I'm gonna have to give it a try.
An advice on streamlining the clue? I kind of spun those off the top of my head, so I'm sure they need refining. Also, expect a minor update in the next few days.
If it's somewhere around Meridia's Statue, I'm not seeing it. Not seeing anything that overlooks it. You might want to think about interior locations for these clues. Some people that use weather mods like Climates Of Tamriel are going to have trouble hunting for stuff outdoors in areas where there is a lot of rain and snow.
I am always looking for barracks because I always have way too many followers around haha
I like house mods that have quarters for my followers. I think 6 - 8 beds is usually a safe amount. There are some pretty amazing house mods here on the Nexus but they don't always take followers into account.
I guess at some point it's a tradeoff. If you want to have trophy displays and mannequins, etc, you can't also have a lot of followers running around in one cell because of system resources.
If you have followers quarters (maybe with a load door or in its own cell), that would definitely encourage me to keep Linden Hall in my load order.
Alright, how's this idea? Upper floor keeps the kitchen and master bedroom, also gets a library/display room and keeps the fourth room free for if I get around to making it adoption-friendly. Basement already has crafting and the garden, then also gets an armory and follower quarters with plenty of beds, each of those having a chest and weapon rack?
That works with my goal - a functional home with several small points I was looking for and not finding - as well as accounting for feedback I'm getting from other players. I like to think I'm taking all comments into account and can continue working on any other requests that come in. And, even as I'm typing this, I'm having an interesting idea for an unscripted acquisition quest.
Well, it took me a while myself. Smaller mods are better for understanding aspects of the CK. Youtube tutorials and repetitive tasks are a good way to get a feel for how things are done.
A question... what context are you using Linden Hall in? Are you downloading and looking around with the purpose of having ideas, or do you think it's a home you'd actually start using? If it's not one you'd start using, what could I change to fix that?
Regarding the idle marker, it's located between the night stand and the closet, as I recall. Not a lot of space to move there. I noticed that a follower would hit the mark and stand there. I've seen other idles where a follower will lean against the wall and cross arms, etc. I don't think there is enough space to do this where the marker is now.
The Whiterun Hut and Fort Gnisis house mods use idles in interesting ways, although the idle markers could use some adjustment with the Fort Gnisis mod.
I've never used the General Stores mod myself but I'll give it a try when you incorporate it.
I took a look at the idle marker and decided you were right; it makes sense for it to be on a more open wall. I moved that and put in a bunch of others. I'll have a look at the two mods you mentioned, and some in-game quest events for other ideas (if you can make any other suggestions, that'd be nice).
I haven't actually used General Stores yet; while Linden Hall is "under construction" I haven't taken up real residence in it. However, my read-through of the mod page suggests that it will be safe, flexible, and helpful, and it's 3D models have added a lot of personality.
I should mention that your advice in particular has been instrumental in development here. I expect to upload v1.3 some time tomorrow.
I've installed the latest update and I have some suggestions for you.
When you first walk into Linden Hall, in the receiving room, maybe add shrines around the room to the Divines. Something that came to my mind as you are using some temple resources in here.
I love the additions of the trapdoors. Looking forward to seeing how things grow with the ladders and trapdoors. Although something occurred to me... as this place is built into a wall, it feels like it's getting too big on the inside, at least on the main floor. If you built up, that would call attention to the place but if you built down, you would be going under the ground and you can pretty much do whatever you want with the layout. The rooms that you have on this main floor, the kitchen and the bedroom, maybe those could go downstairs and you could keep this main floor a little more compact?
The navmesh is solid in the basement. I went down there with four followers and they followed me around just fine. I use EFF so when I let them relax, they went right into the room with all the crafting stuff and started using it.
Thanks for adding the table and chair. I would suggest maybe moving the chair so it's facing the clutter. I noticed that after sitting in the chair, my PC would get hung up a little when standing back up.
Navmesh is also pretty solid on the first floor. In the kitchen, you may want to move the table and benches so they are closer to the middle and also add a round table and chairs to one of the corners. Might make the room feel a little more occupied.
I noticed an idle marker in the bedroom, against the wall. You might want to move it to a different wall or somewhere else. I noticed some cool idle marker placements in the Whiterun Hut mod. Sitting on top of a chest, for example.
Yeah, I was thinking something like that. I'm incorporating stuff from General Stores (to be seen in v1.3) and putting some "just got back/just heading out" stuff in there. Some shrines, which one would want to use just before heading out, would fit perfectly, so I'll probably do that.
I could see moving some of the stuff in the main floor to another, but I want to keep it to four rooms in a cell (for lighting reasons), so the kitchen and master bedroom will probably go on their own floor with follower quarters and a library/trophy room. I want to put an armory on the same floor as the crafting room and garden, leaving that floor open for another room if I want to add one.
Navmesh can be a pain sometimes, but with these rooms being pretty much square, doing it by hand lets me do a solid job of it.
I noticed issues with the chair too. I'll probably tilt it a little, or just move it back. They can be a bit tricky to position sometimes.
I'll take a look at the kitchen table. Maybe line it up lengthwise with the door, and put another table in the corner like you said.
I'm still working on idle marker positioning. Why are you saying the one in the bedroom should be moved? (You have sparked a few other ideas, though.)
For those who are interested, v1.2 is live with significant organizational structuring, giving a much better idea what the layout of the house will be like.
The new basement looks great, ArmedKevin117. I think you should put something in the middle though. Feels kind of empty. Maybe a round table and chairs.
The entrance to the basement... this might work better as a trap door unless you are eventually going to add stairs going down to the basement.
Your bedroom probably doesn't need to be another cell.
That fountain area when you come inside Linden Hall, where the Blackreach resource is... since it's the same thing you have in the garden area you are developing, maybe that Blackreach resource might work better downstairs.
Also, you may want to add the water as you did in the garden area.
A table in the middle makes sense, maybe with a bit of static weapon/armor on it for aesthetics.
I'm not quite sure how I want to deal with entrance areas for the cells. My current thought is (for lighting quality purposes) to have 4 rooms per floor, linked to a central square of in-cell teleport doors with ladders and trap doors to move between floors. My main hurdle there is mentioned in the description; naming in-cell teleport doors for the room within the cell. At the moment, I can't seem to change it away from just saying "open <cell name>"
I expect to put more rooms in the cell that currently has the bedroom. Maybe merge it into the entry cell, which has the front room and kitchen already, then add a library.
First, it's not a Blackreach resource, it's from Azura's star (not that it especially matters). Second, I might do that, or I might start using the moving crystals within it as teleport triggers. Not sure how that'll work. Third, if second fails I probably will move it and put something else in that room.
I'll think about adding the water to the front room.
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Also, expect a minor update in the next few days.
You're on the right track, by the way. You mentioned the right place, but missed a detail about where AT that place.
The good news: based on things you've said before, I think you're going to like what I've got planned.
Better news: v1.3 is up.
I like house mods that have quarters for my followers. I think 6 - 8 beds is usually a safe amount. There are some pretty amazing house mods here on the Nexus but they don't always take followers into account.
I guess at some point it's a tradeoff. If you want to have trophy displays and mannequins, etc, you can't also have a lot of followers running around in one cell because of system resources.
If you have followers quarters (maybe with a load door or in its own cell), that would definitely encourage me to keep Linden Hall in my load order.
That works with my goal - a functional home with several small points I was looking for and not finding - as well as accounting for feedback I'm getting from other players. I like to think I'm taking all comments into account and can continue working on any other requests that come in. And, even as I'm typing this, I'm having an interesting idea for an unscripted acquisition quest.
In-game quest events are an awesome idea... Player homes should be earned and not just handed over. I may have a few suggestions for you tomorrow.
A question... what context are you using Linden Hall in? Are you downloading and looking around with the purpose of having ideas, or do you think it's a home you'd actually start using? If it's not one you'd start using, what could I change to fix that?
Regarding the idle marker, it's located between the night stand and the closet, as I recall. Not a lot of space to move there. I noticed that a follower would hit the mark and stand there. I've seen other idles where a follower will lean against the wall and cross arms, etc. I don't think there is enough space to do this where the marker is now.
The Whiterun Hut and Fort Gnisis house mods use idles in interesting ways, although the idle markers could use some adjustment with the Fort Gnisis mod.
I've never used the General Stores mod myself but I'll give it a try when you incorporate it.
I haven't actually used General Stores yet; while Linden Hall is "under construction" I haven't taken up real residence in it. However, my read-through of the mod page suggests that it will be safe, flexible, and helpful, and it's 3D models have added a lot of personality.
I should mention that your advice in particular has been instrumental in development here. I expect to upload v1.3 some time tomorrow.
When you first walk into Linden Hall, in the receiving room, maybe add shrines around the room to the Divines. Something that came to my mind as you are using some temple resources in here.
I love the additions of the trapdoors. Looking forward to seeing how things grow with the ladders and trapdoors. Although something occurred to me... as this place is built into a wall, it feels like it's getting too big on the inside, at least on the main floor. If you built up, that would call attention to the place but if you built down, you would be going under the ground and you can pretty much do whatever you want with the layout. The rooms that you have on this main floor, the kitchen and the bedroom, maybe those could go downstairs and you could keep this main floor a little more compact?
The navmesh is solid in the basement. I went down there with four followers and they followed me around just fine. I use EFF so when I let them relax, they went right into the room with all the crafting stuff and started using it.
Thanks for adding the table and chair. I would suggest maybe moving the chair so it's facing the clutter. I noticed that after sitting in the chair, my PC would get hung up a little when standing back up.
Navmesh is also pretty solid on the first floor. In the kitchen, you may want to move the table and benches so they are closer to the middle and also add a round table and chairs to one of the corners. Might make the room feel a little more occupied.
I noticed an idle marker in the bedroom, against the wall. You might want to move it to a different wall or somewhere else. I noticed some cool idle marker placements in the Whiterun Hut mod. Sitting on top of a chest, for example.
Looking good, ArmedKevin117.
I could see moving some of the stuff in the main floor to another, but I want to keep it to four rooms in a cell (for lighting reasons), so the kitchen and master bedroom will probably go on their own floor with follower quarters and a library/trophy room. I want to put an armory on the same floor as the crafting room and garden, leaving that floor open for another room if I want to add one.
Navmesh can be a pain sometimes, but with these rooms being pretty much square, doing it by hand lets me do a solid job of it.
I noticed issues with the chair too. I'll probably tilt it a little, or just move it back. They can be a bit tricky to position sometimes.
I'll take a look at the kitchen table. Maybe line it up lengthwise with the door, and put another table in the corner like you said.
I'm still working on idle marker positioning. Why are you saying the one in the bedroom should be moved? (You have sparked a few other ideas, though.)
Thanks for all your help.
The entrance to the basement... this might work better as a trap door unless you are eventually going to add stairs going down to the basement.
Your bedroom probably doesn't need to be another cell.
That fountain area when you come inside Linden Hall, where the Blackreach resource is... since it's the same thing you have in the garden area you are developing, maybe that Blackreach resource might work better downstairs.
Also, you may want to add the water as you did in the garden area.
I'm not quite sure how I want to deal with entrance areas for the cells. My current thought is (for lighting quality purposes) to have 4 rooms per floor, linked to a central square of in-cell teleport doors with ladders and trap doors to move between floors. My main hurdle there is mentioned in the description; naming in-cell teleport doors for the room within the cell. At the moment, I can't seem to change it away from just saying "open <cell name>"
I expect to put more rooms in the cell that currently has the bedroom. Maybe merge it into the entry cell, which has the front room and kitchen already, then add a library.
First, it's not a Blackreach resource, it's from Azura's star (not that it especially matters). Second, I might do that, or I might start using the moving crystals within it as teleport triggers. Not sure how that'll work. Third, if second fails I probably will move it and put something else in that room.
I'll think about adding the water to the front room.