Hoarfrost Castle 1.2.2 addon

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The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion:

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Hoarfrost Castle

Version: 1.2.2
Date: 24-08-2009
Author: Antistar (Joseph Lollback)
E-mail: josephlollback@hotmail.com
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1. Description
2. Requirements
3. Installation/Uninstallation
4. Playing the mod
5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
6. Save games
7. Conflicts/Known Issues
8. Credits
9. Modder's Resource Info
10. Contact and Information
11. Legal Stuff/Disclaimer
12. Version History

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1. DESCRIPTION
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--Introduction--

Sitting high on a bluff above the steepest part of the Orange Road is Hoarfrost Castle. The keep and castle yard rest at the foot of the Jerall Mountains proper - at the edge of the snowfall. The yard is almost always half-covered with snow, ice and frost. The windswept keep tower provides an unsurpassed view over the Great Forest, the Heartlands, and the Nibenay basin: from Bruma, to Chorrol - to the Imperial City itself.

Hoarfrost Castle is a cold place, but the roaring pit fire in the great hall always served to bar the chill from the keep itself. The keep and castle grounds played host to a chapel, graveyard, stables, master bedroom, dining chamber, kitchen, basement, smithy, servant's and guard's quarters, mage's study and workshop, display hall, and of course the warmest part of the keep: the great hall. A hive of activity and an outpost unto itself.

At least, this was the case until the castle's previous occupants were lost to some malevolent force that rose up within the keep. Rumour has it that only the Castle Steward survived to tell the horrific tale; and is now willing to give ownership of the castle up to whoever proves powerful enough to wrest control of the keep from whatever monstrosities now dwell inside. He keeps a solitary watch over Hoarfrost Castle's gate; waiting for some brave soul to come, and offer their help.

--Features--

Completing a series of quests unlocks the various features of Hoarfrost Castle. These are the quests, and what completing each one grants you:

Quest 1: 'Hoarfrost Castle' - In which the Steward pleas for help, secrets are found, battle is done, and a castle is granted.

Grants Hoarfrost Castle itself:

- A walled fortress with several guard towers.
- Castle yard including a stable, chapel, vegetable garden, well and graveyard.
- Hoarfrost Keep, which houses:
- The Great Hall with its roaring pit fire; the hub through which all sections of the keep are reached.
- The Master Bedroom, incorporating a modest study, and a secret or two...
- The Keep Tower, housing a training area and a couple of personal storerooms for the master of the castle; plus a spectacular view from the top of the tower.
- The Dining Hall, with enough room for the castle occupants and staff, plus visitors.
- Two spacious Display Halls in the lower east wing, with a multitude of display cases; plus podiums for armour mannequins (mannequins not included in this mod).
- Staff Quarters upstairs in the east wing, with enough room for all staff recruited over the course of the mod.
- A Smithy in the lower west wing.
- A Mages Study upstairs in the west wing.
- The Kitchen and Cellar, in the lower west wing.
- An underground thermal spring for bathing.
- The 'Dark Place' beneath the keep; for vampires to escape the daylight, perhaps.

Quest 2: 'Tithes and Tribulations' - In which monsters are thwarted, a broken man is made whole, and funds are raised.

Grants a weekly income, which is multiplied by your character's level.

Quest 3: 'Scream like a Symphony' - In which fears are examined and overcome, the depths beneath a town are explored, and the castle is made secure.

Grants guardsmen for the castle, who guard the keep and castle walls on a day/night roster.

Quest 4/5/6: 'Eye for an eye' - In which a blind woman looks for justice, betrayers are met, and a powerful ally is recruited.

Grants a 'Mages Assistant' for the castle, who provides:

- Alchemical ingredient sorting (requires OBSE).
- Alchemical ingredient trading.
- Spellmaking and item enchanting services.
- Enchanted item recharge services.

Quest 4/5/6: 'The Duellist' - In which another castle is visited, a duel is proposed, and some receive more than they bargained for.

Grants a blacksmith and a housekeeper, who provide between them:

- Weapon and armour trading.
- Repair services.
- General merchant services.

Quest 4/5/6: 'Fiery Devotion' - In which a man preaches to the unconverted, a massacre is visited on an idyll, and the chapel is restored.

Grants a priest who restores Hoarfrost Chapel in the castle yard, and so provides:

- Healing on request.
- Stat restoration through praying at the altar.

Quest 7: 'Requiem for the Reluctant' - In which old memories resurface, suffering is put to rest, and a resolution is reached.

Grants a mysterious artefact that allows instantaneous teleportation to a secret chamber in Hoarfrost Castle, which itself contains:

- Teleportation portals to all major towns and cities in Cyrodiil.
- A storage vault full of strongboxes.

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2. Requirements
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- Requires TES IV: Oblivion, patched to at least version 1.2
- Does not require Shivering Isles, though it does support it.
- Does not require OBSE (http://obse.silverlock.org), though it does support it (OBSE v10 or later).

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3. INSTALLATION/UNINSTALLATION
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Installation:

- (OPTIONAL) If you do not already use the Oblivion Script Extender (OBSE), get v10 or later from here and install it if you want to have automatic alchemy ingredient storage available: Link
- Using 7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org), extract the contents of the HoarfrostCastle.7z file (everything - ALL files and folders) into your OblivionData directory. If asked if you want to overwrite files and folders, click 'Yes to all'. (You won't lose anything.)
- In the Oblivion Launcher, select Data Files and check the box next to HoarfrostCastle.esp to activate the plugin. This can also be done in another tool like Wrye Bash.

Upgrading from a version before Hoarfrost Castle v1.2:

- Simply follow the installation instructions above, overwriting the files from the earlier version.
- As of Hoarfrost Castle v1.2, there is only one HoarfrostCastle.esp file that works with or without OBSE, and with or without Shivering Isles. It doesn't matter which version of the plugin you were using previously: replacing it with the v1.2 (or later) plugin will work just fine.
- Load your save-game and continue playing - no other action is needed, and you won't lose anything.

Uninstallation:

- This is fairly standard procedure. First make sure your character is not currently in any areas added by the mod, and that you have retrieved any items from said areas that you wish to keep. Then save your game.
- From the Oblivion Launcher, select Data Files and uncheck the box next to HoarfrostCastle.esp.
- If desired, delete all files copied to your OblivionData directory during installation (check the HoarfrostCastle.7z file to identify these files).
- You can now load your save game and continue playing.

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4. PLAYING THE MOD
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Starting off on Hoarfrost Castle's story is very simple: the next time you load a savegame after installing the mod, you will receive a journal update giving you instructions on how to proceed. When starting a new game, you will receive the journal entry either after a day has passed, or when you approach Hoarfrost Castle - whichever happens first.

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5. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
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Q) Will you release recorded voice acting for the NPCs in this mod?
A) It's very unlikely. I'm firmly in the "no voice acting is much better than bad voice acting" camp, and additionally I wrote the dialogue in the mod in a certain style - with the assumption that it would be read, not performed. (Consider the difference between a novel and a script.)

Q) Does Hoarfrost Castle conflict with [insert mod here]?
A) It's unlikely I'll be able to give you a direct answer to this question. I simply don't have the time or the inclination to investigate compatibility between Hoarfrost Castle and the hundreds or thousands of other mods out there that may - or may not - conflict with it in various ways and to varying degrees. Mods that have been reported as conflicting with parts of Hoarfrost Castle are listed in the Conflicts/Known Issues section below. Note that I don't look into the details of these reported conflicts.

Q) Why do the Highland Company members have missing torsos?/Why is Estirdalin's hair missing?/Why am I seeing 3D exclamation points?/Why is the NPC dialogue flashing by too quickly to read it?
A) These things happen when the mod was not installed correctly. Please review the installation instructions and ensure that the [meshes], [textures] and [sounds] directories are installed correctly. You do not need to uninstall and reinstall the mod, or start a new game, or anything like that. Just extract all the files to the correct locations, load your save game, and continue.

Q) Do I need OBSE to use this mod?
A) No, OBSE is not required. If you do have OBSE (v10 or later) installed when playing Hoarfrost Castle, however, you will be able to ask Estirdalin to automatically store all your alchemical ingredients in the alchemical ingredient jars in the Mages Study.

Q) Why is there mention of Estirdalin being able to automatically store alchemical ingredients for the player when there's no dialogue option available to have her do so?
A) The dialogue option only appears (and this function only works) if you have OBSE v10 or later running. (http://obse.silverlock.org)

Q) I've seen pictures of armour being displayed in the Hoarfrost Castle Display Halls. How do you do that?
A) Use a mannequin mod like this one: Link

Q) Estirdalin's hair is pitch-black. Is there a way to fix this?
A) This is an issue that only affects some users. Try this fix: Link

Q) I'm getting some weird behaviour with...
A) Stop. First, make sure you have Oblivion properly patched to v1.2 (http://www.elderscrolls.com/downloads/updates_patches.htm). A lot of people have problems with this patch failing when it's being applied, but it must be successfully applied. See here for more info: (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Patch). If you are still experiencing problems, you can contact me (contact details below) with queries - but if you use a lot of other mods at the same time as Hoarfrost Castle, I can't offer much in the way of support.

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6. SAVE GAMES
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- Activating this mod should not have any negative effects on your existing save game/s - but as always, it is good practice to keep backups.

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7. CONFLICTS / KNOWN ISSUES
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- If you make use of mods which allow you to teleport, do not teleport from the interior of any areas added by the Hoarfrost Castle mod while any Hoarfrost Castle-related quests are active: doing so can break quest progression. Once all the Hoarfrost Castle quests are complete, teleporting to and from areas added by this mod is fine.

- Likewise, be aware that using the teleportation power gained through the Hoarfrost Castle quests while in a quest-sensitive area can break quest progression (in vanilla Oblivion and other quest mods). If you are in a location or situation where you can't fast-travel (by default), think carefully before teleporting away.

- Not a conflict or a bug, but just so that you're aware: Hoarfrost Castle does not have recorded voice for character dialogue, so make sure you have subtitles turned on.

- Hoarfrost Castle makes additions to a number of locations in Cyrodiil. I attempted to avoid conflicts with other mods I am aware of, but with the massive number of mods available for Oblivion, it is impossible to ensure compatibility with *everything*.

- Parts of Hoarfrost Castle are reported to conflict with parts of the following mods:
- Enter The Shinobi
- Frostmourne v2
- Frostmourne Improved
- Monastery of Eru
- Okari Temple
- Pek Paintings 01
- The Necromancer
- Unique Landscapes

- There is a compatibility patch for Hoarfrost Castle and Unique Landscapes available here: Link

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8. CREDITS
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- Fonts used were downloaded from Link
- 'wmdesigns 1' font by WillyMac (http://www.dafont.com/willymac.d527)
- 'Kelly Ann Gothic' font by De Nada Industries (http://www.dafont.com/de-nada-industries.d40)

- Part of 'Mantra', by Tool, was used as an ambient sound loop in one section of the mod. If you are the copyright holder and believe that your work has been used unfairly, please contact me using the contact details below.

- Uses meshes, textures and a (modified) script from Daleth's 'Ingredient Storage Shelves' resource.

- The working door in the Hoarfrost Castle Gate is from Wormheart's 'Working Gates' modder's resource.

Estirdalin's hair mesh/texture from Ren's Beauty Pack by Ren. Credits from Ren's Beauty Pack included by request:
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Thanks to Bethesda Softworks.
Thanks to Capucine for the help about making colourable hair.
Thanks to Daeger and Ranma-chan for fixing texture pathes of meshes.

All of the meshes and textures are made by Ren.

You may use and distribute the models and textures freely without
additional permission as long as the above credits are included.

louis@hanmail.net
ID: -Ren- (www.elderscrolls.com/forums)
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- Massive thanks also go to BlackDragon66, pekka, SickleYield and The Silent for their help beta-testing the mod. You were invaluable; cheers guys.

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9. MODDER'S RESOURCE INFO
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Please contact me to ask my permission if you wish to use parts of Hoarfrost Castle in your own mod/s. My contact details are just below.

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10. CONTACT AND INFORMATION
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I would encourage you to post queries about the mod in the comments sections on one of the Hoarfrost Castle download pages:

Link
Link

My e-mail address is josephlollback@hotmail.com

I often hang out at Canadian Ice & Howndog's Morrowind/Oblivion forum, under the alias 'Antistar': Link

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11. LEGAL STUFF/ DISCLAIMER
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By downloading and using this modification, you agree that the author of the modification cannot be held responsible for any damage to software or hardware directly or indirectly caused by the aforementioned modification. Use at your own risk, basically.

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12. VERSION HISTORY
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Version 1.2.2 (24-08-09)
- Restored a few static meshes that were accidentally deleted during production on the mod.

Version 1.2.1 (25-06-09)
- The Hoarfrost Conduit's teleportation ability now works again on installations of Oblivion that lack Shivering Isles.

Version 1.2 (19-06-09)
- Consolidated mod into one plugin rather than several alternate versions.
- The main gate to Hoarfrost Castle now has a large reinforced door that can be opened and closed (in a similar fashion to the one at Cloud Ruler Temple). This replaces the static portcullis, and the gatehouse has been remodelled to accommodate it.
- The Hoarfrost Conduit's teleportation ability is now accessed via a Lesser Power, which the player automatically receives when picking the Conduit up; and loses if they drop it. This means that using the Conduit will no longer crash the game if COBL or the 'Inventory Tracker' mod is also installed. It also means that the teleportation ability can now be hot-keyed, if the player desires.
- The Hoarfrost Conduit's teleportation ability can no longer be used in combat, to make it less of a cheat item.
- The portals to major towns (in the secret chambers) now teleport the player to the castles of the respective towns, rather than to taverns. Also, the portals now work via scripts, rather than being (technically) doors - so that NPCs can no longer use the secret chambers as a shortcut when they wish to travel from one town to another.
- The alchemy ingredient jars are no longer limited to just the OBSE version of the mod (since there is now only one version). Estirdalin's dialogue option to store alchemical ingredients in the jars only appears if the player has OBSE running, however.
- Castle staff members now remain set as 'essential' after their related quests are complete. (They cannot be killed.)
- Cleaned the plugin, removing dirty refs and unintentional edits.
- Applied the 'nvidia fog fix'.
- Added a FAQ to the readme.

Version 1.1.2 (26-04-08)
- Changed how the first quest kicks off to avoid problems with players who skip Oblivion's tutorial dungeon.
- Moved Underpall Cave back to its original location to avoid potential conflicts with Knights of the Nine and potential problems with a saved game in which the player has visited the Underpall Cave exterior cell before installing Hoarfrost Castle. Players who upgrade from an earlier version of Hoarfrost Castle may find that until they start a new character, the door to Underpall Cave will be standing out in the open. This is only a visual bug - the door can still be used.
- Fixed some issues with some quest markers not displaying, or displaying when they shouldn't.
- Smoothed quest progression/journal updates at a couple of points.
- Minor spelling fix

Version 1.1.1 (23-01-08)
- Removed accidental duplication of an NPC.
- Fixed a few stock Oblivion cells that were accidentally modified during production on the mod.

Version 1.1 (22-01-08)
- Removed the potential for the 'addtopic' bug to occur.
- Added esp files that work properly with installs of Oblivion that lack the Shivering Isles expansion.
- Fixed a minor issue with the exit from Underpall Cave.
- Fixed a couple of instances of z-fighting.

Version 1.0 (12-01-08)
- Initial public release.
- Made some 'doors' that shouldn't show up on the map hidden.
- Replaced physics-enabled hanging lanterns in castle guard towers with non physics-enabled ones (they were freaking out if you hit your head on them).

Beta 03 (08-01-08)
- Made some scripting changes to ensure Inwold Mannick is at his farm when the player needs to speak to him.
- Fixed a few more instances of z-fighting.
- Fixed a floating tree.
- Minor geometry fixes and additions.
- Highland Company guards no longer moved instantly to the castle.
- Alchemy version now up to date again.

Beta 02 (28-12-07):
- Fixed several instances of z-fighting.
- Spelling corrections.
- Added a fireplace to the master bedroom.
- Added the underground thermal spring area.

Beta 01 (22-12-07):
- Initial implementation of features.