User blog:Sinthorion/Project:Eragon-Mod

This is the page where I will post information and updates about the development of the Eragon mod that I'm going to develop. Keep in mind that most of this is only planned and might never be realised.

Who or what is Eragon?
I think you should better leave this page now...and come back when you read the books.

Why are working on an Eragon mod instead of helping Mevans with this mod?
I learned modding with Mevans help but he doesn't want to get help with his mod and prefers to code alone, a decision that I can understand well. I would probably make the same decision for my mod. But he allowed me to use parts of his mod to make my own mod. And that's what I'm doing now.

===The Shur'tugal mod already exists. Why do you still want to create another Eragon mod?===

To be honest, I forgot about the Shur'tugal mod when making the decision to start with the development for an Eragon mod. But the Shur'tugal mod concentrates on dragons and dragon riding while my mod will concentrate on the world, the war against the empire, and the amazing magic of Alagaesia.

Of course I will also try to add dragons because they are such an important element of the world of Eragon. My dragons will most likely not be as good as the dragons from the Shur'tugal mod.

How much will the Eragon mod be different from the LOTR mod in gameplay?
I will start by using most of the code from the LOTR mod but replacing it from time to time with my own code that fits better to Alagaesia. Examples for planned significant changes are:

Fast travel
The fast-travel system will be removed. Other systems of fast-travelling are planned. You could for example pay for a ship passage or use your horse or dragon to travel, but that costs time and energy (hunger). If you are a strong mage, you could also teleport you to your destination but that is risky and costs a lot of energy. But after all, the map will be much smaller than the LOTR map and not as much fast-travelling should be needed.

The alignment system
Alignment values will be removed and replaced by titles that you can only earn through special quests. A higher title gives you more influence over the faction politics and allows you to command troops from the faction. However, you will never be able to get titles for Galbatorix empire. You will always play on the good side (or stay neutral). This decision was made to simplify things and allow a much better quest system.

Invasions and war
Invasions will be removed and a system will be added, that allows factions to have battles with their enemies and even conquer enemy cities. This feature is very complex and thus planned for the far future.

Crafting
Faction crafting tables will be removed and faction items will be crafted on a normal crafting table.

Minor features (bags, new trees and plants, animals...)
I will remove nearly all of these features but keep things that are important for the world of Alagaesia. My main focus here is to stay compatible with the LOTR mod. I could for example have backpacks for my mod that act the same as bags but have another name and texture. Of course, this mod will add many new features such as all the plants that are described in  the books.

Compatibility
I will always aim to be fully compatible to the LOTR mod and maybe even add features (trees, better grass, brewing...) from the LOTR mod to Alagaesia if both mods are installed.

How will magic work?
To cast magic, you need to learn words. You can learn them from other mages or find very rarely them in ancient books and scrolls, though most words can be learned through quests. Then you should study these words and combine one or more words to a spell. You can have many different spells. To cast a spell, there will be a special key. Two other keys are used to change your currently selected spell (left/right). As you find more words, you can combine them to even more powerful spells, able to devast whole armies.

But it's not that easy. Enemy mages will (and you should too if you value your life!) use defensive magic to protect themselves and their troops, making it dangerous to attack them with magic. To surpass these magic shields, you would need a lot of energy. But there is another solution.

Attack your enemy in mind! This will allow you to get information about the weak points in the shield. In the game, mind battle will be represented through a mind battle progress bar and a mind battle key. To attack someone in mind, you need to locate him first. Look at the entity and press the mind battle key to start a mind battle. As soon as the mind battle has started, the progress bar will appear. The progress pointer will start in the middle of the bar and move to the left if you make progress at forcefully entering the mind of your enemy. It will move to the left if the enemy overrules you. To make progress in a mind battle, press the mind battle key as often as possible. This can be really hard if you have to fend of enemy troops or cast spells at the same time.

With so many complex features, why do you think that you can complete this mod?
I know that my plans are very high and I'm aware that some of these features might never be added because they are too complex. I set my goals high in the hope to get some of these features done. In addition, the code of Mevans saves me a lot of time for basic coding.

When will you release a first version of this mod?
I started the development a very short time ago and I still have to work on the basic code. Then I will stay in closed Beta until I get enough features replaced with my own code. THEN you can expect a first release.

How far are you already?
Here is the current development status:

Not started | Started | Completed

World Generation Factions and Alignment Blocks, Items and Crafting Mobs Magic Quests Dragons
 * 13 Main Biomes
 * Sub-biomes
 * Generation Features
 * Structures
 * Add Eragon-Factions to the old Faction system
 * Rewrite Faction code