Doesn't anybody sleep in this town?

doctorfrog on 11/1/2005 at 00:28

I finally bought TES 3 for $10 from Wal-Mart, though I won't have time to play it until at least this summer. I read a few reviews and was wondering if there was a mod or patch to address the fact that shops never close and the same people are always in them. I think it would kind of take me out of the action to see the same shopkeep behind his counter at 3 in the morning. Plus, if I play as a thief-type character, it would be particularly interesting to try to quietly break in and loot his shop while he snores loudly from the other room.

Just wondering if there were any patches to address this or if the community likes similar patches that increase the immersive, realistic quality of the game.

--frog

cyrano on 11/1/2005 at 00:58

There is only one mod that I know of that shuts the town down at night (excepting inns and guild houses), although I seem to recall hints of at least one other. ( http://www.hiredgoons.net/MWFiles/NighttimeDoorLocks_LD1.1a_6-23-03.zip) Nighttime Door Locks by Rasputin. It doesn’t put the shopkeeper to bed, but at least it keeps reasonable hours. Another possibility is ( http://www.rpgplanet.com/morrowind/modcontrols/mods.asp?modchoice=search&newsort=descending&searchtype=custom&searchvalue=title&searchfilter=date&searchtext=The%20Living%20Cities%20of%20Vvardenfel) The Living Cities of Vvardenfell by Brother Juniper and others. It provides schedules for NPCs, presumably tucking them into bed. I can’t say with certainty that it locks doors, since I haven’t plugged-in the mod. Also, it is incomplete; not all the towns have been completed. At the former site ((http://www.hiredgoons.net/MWFiles/) Hired Goons) you can find other mods of interest to thieves. (http://www.hiredgoons.net/MWFiles/Thief%20Experience%20Overhaul-LD%201.3b%20(Tribunal)%201-13.zip) The Thief Experience Overhaul by LDones, and (http://www.hiredgoons.net/MWFiles/Dodge1.2-WD-Enhanced_(Tribunal)_3-18-03.zip) The Dodge Mod by Horatio. There are various other excellent mods at that site along, not limited to the very significant game balancing mod by Wakim ((http://www.hiredgoons.net/MWFiles/WGI%20R9%20-%20Modular.zip) Wakim’s Game Improvements). These are all ‘old school’ Morrowind Mods I have listed. A lot of the newer releases are re-texturing applications that affect the appearance of the world, but do little (or nothing) to enhance gameplay. That is not to say that they are not worthwhile, or that there have not been excellent substantial gameplay enriching and questing mods that have been released as well. You will discover those over time.

LooseCannon on 11/1/2005 at 14:20

They don't even sit down! :erg: I suppose if you've played Gothic or Gothic 2 before, this seems glaringly wrong.

Looting shops can still be done despite people being in the room with the goods, once you understand certain rules:

[SPOILER]1) Higher sneak skill = better chance
2) If you can't see the person, they can't see you, even if the goods are in their view. Odd, but that's how it is. Some shops have layouts that make exploiting this rule harder or easier; consider it "casing the joint".
3) As an adjunct to #2: t e l e k e n e s i s[/SPOILER]
There's also pickpocketing of all these people standing around; unfortunately only a very few have anything on 'em.

Z on 11/1/2005 at 19:48

The aforementioned Living Cities of Vvardenfell one is the best (or at least most comprehensive) mod of this type, IMO. It does implement night-time door locking, as well as limited schedules (people go shopping, go to inns, go to there bedrooms at night, etc.) but it only does about half of the towns and cities in Vvardenfell.

Watch out using mods like this, though, since they almost certainly won't be compatible with each other. Also, back up your savegames before using them, as they change so much that disabling them again can cause problems. :erg:

Z

doctorfrog on 21/1/2005 at 22:56

Thank you for your contributions to my Download Instead of Doing Homework program!