COMPLETE DFU OVERHAUL ROADMAP

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VMblast
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COMPLETE DFU OVERHAUL ROADMAP

Post by VMblast »

Ok, I just wanted to put this out there. This is more In case this project gets more massive and pro MODers traction in the future (like what we can see with the Skyblivion, Skywind etc.), to have some good aim for the future of DFU. For all intents and purposes, this is completely new game work.


PHASE I roadmap

Fully retain the original style and rebuild upon it. For the original player's experience.


  1. Rebuild vanilla textures.
    • Rebuild vanilla textures using the original ones as a concept art and painting tight color palette and motif approximation of them.
  2. Rebuild paper doll.
    • HD redo version of this system.
  3. Rework vanilla weapons.
    • Redo of the entire fps weapon system, retaining sprite mechanics. New weapon designs, using ethos of the originals and new more fluid animations. Ether doing it as pre-rendered modern spritesheets (using bink video), or doing it through The Spriter code.
  4. Rework of horse and cart sprites.
    • Completely redo of the mounts and cart sprites, modernizing it, making it more dynamic and responsive through better code.
  5. Rework vanilla sprite characters.
    • HD redo of all the sprite characters. Both npc's and monsters. Also using ether good modernized pre-rendered characters and making sprite sheets, or doing 3D characters and pluging them through The Spriter.
  6. Upgrade NPC AI characters.
    • More realistic npc character AI. NPC's that are talking to each other, selling stuff at the towns open markets, rob players in a group/band, angry mobs, better guards AI (emotions - suspicious, angry, friendly, want bribe...)
  7. Upgrade enemies behavior and spawnpoints.
    • Redo and build upon enemy AI behavior and spawnpoints throughout the world. Dungeons and wilderness.
  8. Rework/add items and new weapons.
    • HD redo of the entire items library and also adding new ones.
  9. Rework of the combat system.
    • Upgraded combat system. Adding more indepth dynamic and also dice roll of combat, spellsave, guard, block options.
  10. Rework of the FX and particle system.
    • Complete new and redone FX & particle system. From weapon use, magic, hit, spell FX - all the way to environment FX (eg. fireflies, shooting stars etc.)
  11. Rework of the Skybox and Environment FX.
    • Redo of the (maybe painted) environment skyboxes. From clear weather to bending of painted heavy overcast, from dawn to dusk to starry night skyboxes. New clouds system and rework of the weather effects (improved rain, lightning, snow, heavy snow...).
  12. Rebuild questing system.
    • Redo questing system and add upon new questing chains and interesting content. New and easier quest editor.
  13. Rework of the dungeon generator.
    • Redo and improve upon procedural dungeon generation. Adding better control over procedural generated dungeon editing. Implementing better way of making hand tailored dungeons.
  14. Rebuild static models (houses, keeps, walls etc.)
    • HQ rework of the all ingame static models. Adding more detailed meshes with LOD support.
  15. Rework of the entire sound system.
    • Rebuild of the entire sound system library and sound FX. Better dynamic implementation of them.
  16. Rework of the music score.
    • HQ redo of the featured vanilla music scores. Remaking it in orcestral or raw naturalistic instruments, or combination of both. Dynamic music implementation (in battle, out of the battle etc.).
  17. Rework wilderness enemies and characters (more monsters, monsters/animals hunt game, bandits, bandit camps etc.).
    • Redo and add more wilderness characters, enemies, monster, bandits etc. More realistic encounters and more vibrant wilds.
  18. Upgrade Terrain heightmap.
    • Remaking entire DF height map. Making more realistic terrain features.
  19. Upgrade cities-to-terrain relationship.
    • Making advanced features for cities-towns-areas of following terrain more tightly, thus having more realistic houses-to-terrain placements. This should go with advanced house replacements (increasing bottom-cellar parts so they fit the terrain angle).
  20. Upgrade Terrain textures and materials.
    • Adding better control over terrain materials. Adding features like specular, cubemap reflations, masked normalmap etc.
  21. UUpgrade Terrain Rivers.
    • Adding rivers feature to the terrain.
  22. Upgrade Terrain Roads.
    • Adding roads feature to the terrain. Roads have to connect all the places on the world map. Bigger roads, smaller roads etc.
  23. Add road caravans & traveling merchants.
    • Adding roads traveling merchants caravans mechanics with guards etc. and adding single traveling merchants.





PHASE II roadmap

Future roadmap for the advanced (MOD) rework and player experience.


  • Complete Realistic DFU build.
    • This is self-explanatory. Making completely realistic looking DFU experience, for the Skyrim-like Elder Scrolls enthusiasts.
Last edited by VMblast on Mon Mar 18, 2019 7:48 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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King of Worms
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Re: COMPLETE DFU OVERHAUL ROADMAP

Post by King of Worms »

Yes pls, I hope DFU gets the traction it deserves. This is better base than Skyrim for modding. Skyrim is still this consolized simplified corpse of what TES games used to be about. I think more ppl get to know about the project. Ppl streaming on twitch and making videos on youtube help.. Thanks for putting this together

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Interkarma
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Re: COMPLETE DFU OVERHAUL ROADMAP

Post by Interkarma »

Very exciting! I'm fascinated by where this community can take DFU in the future.

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jayhova
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Re: COMPLETE DFU OVERHAUL ROADMAP

Post by jayhova »

I totally agree that this is what I would like to see. I would also like to see a patch of errors in DF game data. It would also be nice to see cities (or parts of the city) be less flat and follow the terrain a bit more.

I had a friend ask me what the difference between DF and the newer games was and one of the things I noticed was that as you make daggerfall better it looks so much more realistic but when you do the same to the other games the flaws start coming out.

@Interkarma How hard would it be to introduce curvature into the game? When you get these large open spaces with huge view distances the world begins to actually look flat.
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VMblast
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Re: COMPLETE DFU OVERHAUL ROADMAP

Post by VMblast »

jayhova wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:40 am It would also be nice to see cities (or parts of the city) be less flat and follow the terrain a bit more.
Thanks for reminding me of this, I'll add it to the list.


Guys, if anyone has some interesting ideas I can add them to the list. ;)




Interkarma wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2019 12:24 am Very exciting! I'm fascinated by where this community can take DFU in the future.
Yeah, we all would love to see these things implemented. :)
Btw, you can pin this topic, so it doesn't get lost and everyone can access it on the fly if they need it. :)

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Midknightprince
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Re: COMPLETE DFU OVERHAUL ROADMAP

Post by Midknightprince »

Well, you know I'm all over this..

I have a suggestion...particle effects in the air/ whiffs of fog/moon rays through the clouds/cloud shadows on the ground (rolling by day and night).

My thinking is more stuff in the air as you play, Skyrim had fireflies that would pop up at night, stuff like that, not necessarily bugs, just more stuff happening in the air, leaves, fog on the ground etc...( I think fog Banks would be a good thing, not just foggy weather)..

And weather.... we need lightning bolts to go with the Thunder...

Everything else looks like you've got it already, more Wilderness encounters is what I'm pining for, maybe spawn points for an orc Camp or something, but it looks like you got that covered...

Oh yeah, shooting stars.......
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Cliffworms
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Re: COMPLETE DFU OVERHAUL ROADMAP

Post by Cliffworms »

All excellent ideas. I love it. :)

The audio department could be modded as well. Pango's Cleaned Soundclips is awesome as it really makes the game's sounds better quality.

Yet I think that some sound effects could be replaced by higher quality ones. Several sound effects in Daggerfall come from stock sounds that you still hear today in movies, series or games (I'm thinking of that creaking door opening sound inside dungeons), yet they were highly compressed back then not to hit performance. Interesting anecdote : I once worked in a studio where they had several CDs of stock sound effects and I was browsing through the list. One of the sounds was a cat purring which was the exact sound the giant spider makes in Daggerfall. So the giant spiders are actually puring when they attack you. ;)

A mod replacing those sound effects could help match the graphical improvements mods the game gets.

I'm also thinking about a mod that adds new sound effects for more variability. Such as hearing atmosphere sounds inside cities like doors opening closing in the distance, dogs barking, etc.

Finally, what about a mod that removes the looping music, allowing to have a playlist? Daggerfall's soundtrack would still be there, but it'd be possible to place mp3s in a playlist according to the music type (night time, dungeons, taverns, etc.). I love Daggerfall's soundtrack, but after hearing the same 3 minutes track inside a 2-hours long dungeon run, it can be a bit boring.

Combat music would be awesome as well! It could play only when you face a foe stronger than you so that no epic music would play when a Level 20 is attacked by a giant rat. ;)


EDIT : Something else that struck me, related to the improvements on the AI. You sometimes hear in-game how Region A is in war with Region B or that any member of Faction A are to be prosecuted by the order of the region's ruler.
Having a mod that adds consequences of these events would be awesome, such as seeing a skirmish in the wilds between soldiers of warring regions and being arrested by the guards because you are a member of the faction the ruler has outlawed.

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Rytelier
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Re: COMPLETE DFU OVERHAUL ROADMAP

Post by Rytelier »

This list is very ambitious and will need quite work, especially these related to procedural generation.
Just please don't end up with garbage like Morrowind Sound and Graphics Overhaul.

My suggestions:
Make characters fully 3D instead of sprites. Sprites look out of place with modernized graphics, fully 3D models allow to do much more, allow to have proper combat and stealth.

I'd see level design for dungeons to be improved, to have some rules instead of just throwing random endless corridors as well as having more variety.

Would be good to upgrade the combat system, utilizing the full 3D graphics and giving more tactical depth and more controls to player.

In addition to sound overhaul, I'd like to hear music remade. Not just remastered with HD instruments, but fully remade. I'm not fan of Daggerfall music, it's pretty basic. I'd want music sounding in style of later Elder Scrolls game, with more depth and lore in it.

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VMblast
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Re: COMPLETE DFU OVERHAUL ROADMAP

Post by VMblast »

@Midknightprince, @Cliffworms & @Rytelier
Added ideas. Thanks for the suggestions. ;)


Rytelier wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2019 5:36 pm Would be good to upgrade the combat system, utilizing the full 3D graphics and giving more tactical depth and more controls to player.
I have to disagree on this one. While 3D would make it seem easier or better on the superficial level, believe me when I tell you that modern implementations of the Sprite system would be on par, or even maybe better in some ways (visuals, high frame rate, cost effective). But its not me who would decide.

At the end, this is maybe more question for the general polemic, since this have to be weighted against everything -performance, cost, dynamic, visual impact and ofc, style. ;)

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jayhova
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Re: COMPLETE DFU OVERHAUL ROADMAP

Post by jayhova »

Rytelier wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2019 5:36 pm
Would be good to upgrade the combat system, utilizing the full 3D graphics and giving more tactical depth and more controls to player.
I also tend to disagree with this one. Hits in daggerfall are stat based and not supposed to be based on player ability. Of course some player ability comes into play but individual hits and misses are calculated by the system. The fallout games do a great job of handling this by initiating a turn based freeze frame sort of system.

In melee that's a bit harder. It might be nice to show the MOB dodging or parrying your weapon but that would be quite difficult to do. Perhaps optional text feedback. "Your opponent parries your blow" "His armor catches your thrust/swing and turns it aside" Your weapon strikes air and she darts to one side". This would work just as the backstab and other messages work.
Remember always 'What would Julian Do?'.

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