The Lost Spires 12.0 file

The Lost Spires version 12.00 www.LostSpires.com
by Liquid Graphics Interactive
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# Thank you for choosing to play the Lost Spires— a narrative Oblivion adventure. # # #
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General Description:

Uncover the mysteries of ancient Tamriel as only one can, through the Archeology Guild. Scale the guild's ranks and explore new, exotic locales to unravel a plot of sinister deceit, betrayal, and doom.

- Single climactic story-arc supported with ~10 highly immersive dungeons
- New Archeology Guild, filled with dozens of collectable display items
- Two entire cave retextures
- Over a dozen retextured creatures
- 100+ new custom meshes
- Several new boss creatures
- heart-pounding battles
- Powerfull new lore-soaked loot
- Functional beartrap!
- Deep, characterized NPCs
- Must-have modder's resource
- Over 10 hours of new gameplay

Installation Instructions:

1. Place all contents into your Oblivion\Data folder. Contents include: "The Lost SPires.esp", "The Lost Spires.bsa", and a folder entitled "Video" with a single splashscreen file. The splashscreen video bares my logo; it is not neccessary to run the mod, the other two files are.
2. Run Oblivion and click on the “Data Files” button on the front pop-up screen.
3. Activate “The Lost Spires.esp”, making sure that its checkbox contains an “x”. Click “OK”.
4. Boot up Oblivion as one normally would and enjoy the game.

*Upon loading a saved game, or starting a new game, your character will be prompted with a journal update, providing a waypoint to the Archeology Guild (located just south of Imperial City). The Lost Spires main quest can be started from either a new game, or a previous save. Although the main quest has no hard limits in terms of character level, it is designed to challenge medium level characters (level 20+). Difficulty ramps up as your progress, and gets really tough at the end.

**Help me make better games for you! After playing, please vist the Lost Spires Bethesda Forum Thread (http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=750042) and post *constructive* feedback. A "this rocks" post is nice, but it doesn't help me make you better games.

***After playing, please do not reveal sensitive plot information in areas where new, potential Lost Spires players will be able to see it. The sensitive plot is easily spoiled.

****Please report any bugs or conflicts to info@lostspires.com or at the thread mentioned above. Patches will be issued periodically.

*****Please rate Lost Spires at PlanetElderscrolls and TESsource. Help spread the word!

Modder’s Resource:

The Lost Spires, is more than just a role-playing journey, it is also jam-packed with new modding resources. Perusing the extracted Lost Spires files will reveal hundreds of unique meshes, textures, many icons, sounds, a few new creatures, and two entire retextures of the vanilla “white” cave tile-set. Most new meshes are contained in a single folder: Data\meshes\dungeons\caves\clutter01. Likewise, most new textures are contained in: Data\textures\dungeons\caves\clutter01. Creature models and retextures are contained in the standard creature folders. The two cave retextures are contained in Data\meshes\dungeons\caves\cave02 and Data\meshes\dungeons\caves\cave03.

Feel free to use the Lost Spires resources. Three stipulations apply, however:
1. Give credit where credit is due.
2. If you intend to re-release the Lost Spires content itself after tweaking, adding, subtracting, or in any other way modifying, or if you plan to merge the Lost Spires with other mods, you must ask for permission by contacting me at: info@lostspires.com
3. The original Lost Spires esp and resources may NOT be hosted on alternate servers without my explicit consent. New mods using Lost Spires resources ARE allowed to distribute those resources explicitly used in that particular mod through any avenue, provided credit is given proportionate to the amount of resources used.

I encourage any modder out there to take full advantage of the provided resources. The two new tile-set retextures (Primeval Hollow and the Warlock Ruins), along with their accompanying decor geometry, will be of particular interest to you. The Primeval Hollow design is an especially powerful for constructing immersive dungeons, and has only been utilized once in the Lost Spires. I’m sure you guys can generate some interesting variations with the provided resources, and I’d love to take a look at your work once it is complete.

Credits:

Design, Art, Scripting, Writing, Level Layout, Website Design: Leo Gura

Scripting Consultation, Creature Rigging, Nifskope Alchemy: XMarksTheSpot

Voice Over Work: The Voice, The Shadow

Special Thanks:

Theo Habit
Scruggsywuggsy the Ferret
Kikaimegami
WillieSea
TheTalkieToaster
Corepc
b3w4r3
Haama
JoelBurgess
Sarkandar
Ghogiel
Throttlekitty
Phitt
Quarn
Melthroak

the Nifskope team
Civ4 Exporter
TeamGecko
Jochen Gehring's Texture Replacer
Vasiliy's BSA Commander
FRAPS
the Audacity Team
Avery Lee's Virtual Dub
Willow's Anvil Studio
Adobe
Autodesk
nVidia
numerous artists of various reference imagery
the Oblivion modding community
Bethesda Softworks

The Lost Spires, and all of its content, excluding that belonging to Besthesda Softworks, is copyright 2006-2007 Liquid Graphics Interactive. These files may NOT be re-distributed without explicit written consent.

www.LostSpires.com

--------------------------------------------Version History--------------------------------------------

Version 12.00: Adjusted firewall speed formula, making it easier for players with 90+ speed. Added additional pool of water to the final dungeon. Removed an accidental duplicate instance of an important quest corpse, now there's only one. Fixed bug where equipping the Evil Sorcerer's hood caused player's face to disappear. Taking gold from Bloodvein's main tunnels is now considered stealing. Deleted a duplicate ceiling tile in the first spire cave. Fixed bug where the Labyrinth Key would fall through the pedistal on which it lay. Downgraded stats on several overpowered items (just a bit).

Version 11.00: More funeral scene fixes. Many artifacts are now activatable directly from the inventory (no more droping items). Summoned Ethereal Imps will now follow you through doors. Adjusted loot containers in Primeval Hollow, making sure they are all accessible.

Version 10.00: LS is now compatible with Mud & Blood. Fixed floating rocks near the Pristine Spire. Adjusted funeral scene settings to address a bug where Rythor would start following the player around. Fixed exploit where an Archeology Guild member would continue issuing gold if the player repeated the same topic over and over again. A few minor typos.

Version 9.00: Fixed 2 missing texture issues: the corrupt wisps and the Horn of Zyyr room spike.

Version 8.00: Fixed all those funeral scene bugs. Good stuff.

Version 7.00: Fixed the Evil Sorcerer quest update bug. Added a final escape hint to eliminate frustration. Fixed a ton of minor bugs, including typos, object alignments, etc.

version 6.00: Made aspects of the final battle easier.

version 5.00: Fixed problem with the Guard near Miro's Scribe Services getting stuck inside her house, thus not allowing the player to speak with him. This fix is retroactive, so no need to load previous saves. Fixed problem with Tumyr where he would refuse to give you more Dissolving Agents after you received the first one. This is fix is retroactive too. Fixed minor dialogue issues. Fixed misaligned lamp in the Bloodvein Mine Vampire Lair. Repositioned one loot chest in the Bandit Lair.

version 4.00: Fixed another potential excavation site problem. Fixed boss exploit. Fixed floating rocks around BloodVein mine. Increased Bloodvein mine difficutly a bit.

version 3.00: Fixed Tumyr's excavation site crashes. Minor dialogue corrections. Added quest targets.

version 2.00: Fixed the missing mesh icon that appeared in the Archeology Guild garden.

Version 1.00: Release

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-----------------------------------------Compatibility Issues -----------------------------------------

*Compatible with Mud & Blood, and OOO.
*Reported incompatibities with Unique Landscapes: Everglades
*Reported incompatibities with Unique Landscapes: Dark Forest

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-------------------------------------- Workarounds for Problems ---------------------------------------

1. If you can't access Tumyr's tent at the excavation site, bring up the console in-game by pressing "`", and then type: "player.coc digsitetent01". To get back out, type: "player.coe 14,4"
2. If you can't access Rathmer's Bookstore in Bravil, bring up the console in-game by pressing "`", and then type: "player.coc bravilrathmersbooks". To get back out, type: "player.coc bravilsouth01"
3. If Tumyr will not give you the option of making more Dissolving Agents, bring up the console in-game by pressing "`", and then type: "startquest 0101d40d".
4. If you were unable to free the Evil Sorcerer's Prisoner, due to a bug, go back an the quest should automatically be updated, having him thank you, and give you a reward. If this fails to occur, bring up the console in-game by pressing "`", and then type: "setstage arkillsorcerer 20". Now talk to the Prisoner.
5. If you're having funeral scene issues, you can always skip the funeral by waiting 5 minutes (real-time) after the 11 o'clock pop-up screen. A new pop-up will say you've missed the funeral; then just continue as usual (i.e., go talk to Norlene for the next assignment).
6. Sometimes there's a bug in the Lost Ayleid ruin where the Labyrinth Key, which sits on a pedistal after the Minotaur, falls through, into the pedistal itself. If you can't locate the key, open up the console in-game by pressing "`", and then type: "TCL". This will disable collisions, allowing you to pass through the locked door. Type "TCL" again to re-enable collisions after passing through the door.
7. If you deleted the vanilla splashscreen file, and would like to restore it, you can download it here: Liquid-graphics.net softworks HD720p.bik
8. If you're not getting any writen dialogue when speaking to guild members, you must adjust mod load order. There are no voiceovers in LS, generally speaking; although there might be in the future.

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-------------------------------------------- Known Issues ---------------------------------------------

*Overgrown Spire tile seams: Lava glows through tile seams in the Overgrown Spire. This is a property of the vanilla cave tileset. There's not much that can be done other than remake to whole tileset, which is a monumental undertaking. Seams disappear if anti-aliasing is turned on.
*Some people report hang-ups when quiting LS or other large mods like OOO, MMM, etc. This might especially be the case if you're running many large mods. No single mods appears to be the particular culprit, but rather it's the combination of all of them. This issue is currently under investigation.

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---------------------------------------------- Hints --------------------------------------------------

Warning!!! Spoilers Ahead!!!

1. I've found the first celestial plane in the Pristine Spire, but my quest won't update. What do I do? Answer: Search the celestial plane carefully, and you will find a corpse lying on the floor. This corpse has a scroll quest item, which will trigger a journal update.
2. I've found the Lost Deity Statue after going through the Primeval Hollow, but my quest won't update. What do I do? Answer: At the base of the Vacant Statue lies a quest item. Picking it up triggers a journal update.
3. I can't outrun the firewall, help! Answer: unequipping your weapon makes you faster. Diving into a pool of water allows you to wait out the fire.
4. That does the Zinj want? It doesn't work! Answer: You must be clever. The Zinj is an easter egg for clever, persistant players. Read "Sentinels of Kar'Toom" to get a hint. Once you know what types of things it wants, keep feeding the Zinj in various quantities. If you feed him the right amount of things, a pop-up will appear. Then, continue feeding to receive various rewards. Experiment and have fun.
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