The Underground: huge new mod
Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 5:00 am
Qarl's one of the better-known and more reliable regulars in the MW modding community. He's just released an enormous quest and companion mod named The Underground. Don't even think of downloading this if you're using anything other than cable or ISP: it's nearly 500 MB. It's also fairly script heavy, so make certain you're playing it on a fast machine with plenty of RAM above and beyond what MW requires. The Underground should be available within 24 hours of this posting at TESmods.
From the readme file:
Description
An enormous quest mod largely set in The Elder Scrolls lore. You'll encounter an attractive vampire of the opposite sex with whom you can cultivate a successful romantic relationship with and eventually have them as a full companion. You will venture into foreboding underground dungeons, labyrinths, and tunnels taking you on an engaging adventure full of puzzles and traps and many more things which require as much wit as fortitude. You may take the path of the virtuous and save the world from unspeakable evil, or take the road which leads to its destruction. The choice is yours.
Requirements
Morrowind, Tribunal, Bloodmoon
If you have another mod which edits the default leveled creatures list, you'll need to do a leveled list merger for creatures.
Not required, but HIGHLY recommended:
Better Bodies (I use the Peanut Gallery version for the females and the nude version for the males.)
Emma's VTA Travel Agency
Tips
IF YOU CHEAT BY USING THE CONSOLE, YOU CAN SCREW UP THE QUESTS. I won't be responsible if you do this. Pretty much if you use the console AT ALL you have a VERY good chance of messing up the mod's quest.
For the most complete experience, try to keep your vampire companion with you whenever possible. They provide colorful commentary and sometimes some needed clues.
Your companion has my revised version of Grumpy's script on them, making them very difficult to lose (at a slight sacrifice of visual perfection when having more than one companion). If they do however, get stuck, go about 10 meters away from them and they should warp to you within 6 seconds. Or, if you can't get that far away because you're in a cramped area, you'll have to go back and lead them. Also, if for some reason they just decide to stop following you (another game engine quirk) just talk to them and select "a change" then ask them to follow you.
There are a few times where your companion will lead you somewhere. I have tested this thoroughly, but if they get "stuck", trying backing away from them until they stop moving, then go close to them again. This will most often get them back on track.
You vampire companion needs to "feed" about once every 24 hours. They will say something to you and give you the option to:
Give them a shot of blood to drink.
Wait there while you go get them a shot of blood
Ask you to wait for them while they go get themselves someone to drink. (This takes about an hour game-time (only a couple minutes real time.) You need to be in the same cell for them to return to you. (Shots of blood they need are available from the bartender in The Underground for $8000. There will also be some found in various dungeons. Also, when they actually become your "companion" meaning you now have access to their inventory, you can stock them up with shots of blood and they'll use them when they need them.) Tell them to drink from you. They will walk over to you, put their arms around you and suck your blood. This drains your Health and Fatigue by 50%.
You should try to keep your vampire companion's disposition at least at 85 if you want to pursue a romantic relationship with them. Also, if you let their disposition dip to 20 or below they will not go any further with you and will be very difficult to continue your quest with them -I believe if you stay out of the cell they are in for 72 game-hours, their disposition will go back up and you can ask them to join you again though. Also, there are a couple pivotal points in your adventure where your companion wants to take your relationship to the next level. You'll need to choose the correct dialog choices for this to happen AND you'll need their disposition higher than 85 (in the dialog when you say the right things it will increase). If you screw it up, you'll won't get another chance later, so you may want to reload an earlier save.
Your companion when following you, will be able to stay with you when you do any kind of Almsivi or Divine Intervention, go through any Propylon warp with you, and recall to any OUTDOOR mark you've made. If you accidentally hit your companion a few times and they start attacking you, say "a change" to them and ask them to start following you again. They'll stop attacking and return to following you.
If your companion is in your way, click on them and say "please move" and they'll get out of your way. Be careful when talking to guards if your companion is with you. Guards tend not to like you traveling around their jurisdiction with a vampire companion. Also, some merchants may not want to trade with you if your vampire companion is with you. It's often best to leave them outside before entering a shop to do business. If you lose your companion, you can go to the bar (the Underground) and say your companion's name to the bartender and he'll say that they're in the back room -and they will be.
Save often. There are many puzzles and traps which may kill you when you least expect it. Also, you may make a dialog choice you regret and will wish to reload from your last save to, um, take it back. Talk to everyone. Not just new NPCs in the mod. Standard Morrowind NPCs will have new things to say about what's happening. Also, it's a good idea to talk to people later on in the quest that you've already talked to. They'll likely have new things to say. Ashlanders, Temple members, and Blades members (and with regard to certain topics, Sixth House members) tend to know a little more than most about what's going on.
From the readme file:
Description
An enormous quest mod largely set in The Elder Scrolls lore. You'll encounter an attractive vampire of the opposite sex with whom you can cultivate a successful romantic relationship with and eventually have them as a full companion. You will venture into foreboding underground dungeons, labyrinths, and tunnels taking you on an engaging adventure full of puzzles and traps and many more things which require as much wit as fortitude. You may take the path of the virtuous and save the world from unspeakable evil, or take the road which leads to its destruction. The choice is yours.
Requirements
Morrowind, Tribunal, Bloodmoon
If you have another mod which edits the default leveled creatures list, you'll need to do a leveled list merger for creatures.
Not required, but HIGHLY recommended:
Better Bodies (I use the Peanut Gallery version for the females and the nude version for the males.)
Emma's VTA Travel Agency
Tips
IF YOU CHEAT BY USING THE CONSOLE, YOU CAN SCREW UP THE QUESTS. I won't be responsible if you do this. Pretty much if you use the console AT ALL you have a VERY good chance of messing up the mod's quest.
For the most complete experience, try to keep your vampire companion with you whenever possible. They provide colorful commentary and sometimes some needed clues.
Your companion has my revised version of Grumpy's script on them, making them very difficult to lose (at a slight sacrifice of visual perfection when having more than one companion). If they do however, get stuck, go about 10 meters away from them and they should warp to you within 6 seconds. Or, if you can't get that far away because you're in a cramped area, you'll have to go back and lead them. Also, if for some reason they just decide to stop following you (another game engine quirk) just talk to them and select "a change" then ask them to follow you.
There are a few times where your companion will lead you somewhere. I have tested this thoroughly, but if they get "stuck", trying backing away from them until they stop moving, then go close to them again. This will most often get them back on track.
You vampire companion needs to "feed" about once every 24 hours. They will say something to you and give you the option to:
Give them a shot of blood to drink.
Wait there while you go get them a shot of blood
Ask you to wait for them while they go get themselves someone to drink. (This takes about an hour game-time (only a couple minutes real time.) You need to be in the same cell for them to return to you. (Shots of blood they need are available from the bartender in The Underground for $8000. There will also be some found in various dungeons. Also, when they actually become your "companion" meaning you now have access to their inventory, you can stock them up with shots of blood and they'll use them when they need them.) Tell them to drink from you. They will walk over to you, put their arms around you and suck your blood. This drains your Health and Fatigue by 50%.
You should try to keep your vampire companion's disposition at least at 85 if you want to pursue a romantic relationship with them. Also, if you let their disposition dip to 20 or below they will not go any further with you and will be very difficult to continue your quest with them -I believe if you stay out of the cell they are in for 72 game-hours, their disposition will go back up and you can ask them to join you again though. Also, there are a couple pivotal points in your adventure where your companion wants to take your relationship to the next level. You'll need to choose the correct dialog choices for this to happen AND you'll need their disposition higher than 85 (in the dialog when you say the right things it will increase). If you screw it up, you'll won't get another chance later, so you may want to reload an earlier save.
Your companion when following you, will be able to stay with you when you do any kind of Almsivi or Divine Intervention, go through any Propylon warp with you, and recall to any OUTDOOR mark you've made. If you accidentally hit your companion a few times and they start attacking you, say "a change" to them and ask them to start following you again. They'll stop attacking and return to following you.
If your companion is in your way, click on them and say "please move" and they'll get out of your way. Be careful when talking to guards if your companion is with you. Guards tend not to like you traveling around their jurisdiction with a vampire companion. Also, some merchants may not want to trade with you if your vampire companion is with you. It's often best to leave them outside before entering a shop to do business. If you lose your companion, you can go to the bar (the Underground) and say your companion's name to the bartender and he'll say that they're in the back room -and they will be.
Save often. There are many puzzles and traps which may kill you when you least expect it. Also, you may make a dialog choice you regret and will wish to reload from your last save to, um, take it back. Talk to everyone. Not just new NPCs in the mod. Standard Morrowind NPCs will have new things to say about what's happening. Also, it's a good idea to talk to people later on in the quest that you've already talked to. They'll likely have new things to say. Ashlanders, Temple members, and Blades members (and with regard to certain topics, Sixth House members) tend to know a little more than most about what's going on.
