Evan Darling
Game Designer
Hirstaang Estate (Skyrim Mod)
9/2017- 10/2017
Responsibilities
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Designed and implemented 2 player houses using the Skyrim Creation Kit level editing toolset and wrote 2 scripts using Skyrim Papyrus while quality testing to ensure the integrity of the game data and experience
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Published and maintained download ready versions for 3 platforms and employed quality testing for every version to ensure a high-quality experience, as well as compliance with first-party platform requirements.
Level Designer
Hirstaang Estate Trailer
Available on bethesda.net:
Total Platform Downloads: 60,000+
Histaang Estate is a lore friendly medium sized player house mod, that is located just outside of Raven Rock in the desolated remains of the Hirstaang Forest. The estate house comes furnished with multiple crafting stations, weapon racks, mannequins, safe storage containers, as well as various weapon display cases. The enchanting and alchemy stations in the estate will each provide a temporary buff to their respective skill while standing near them.
There is also a hireling house that is designed for followers to have a place where they can stay and relax. The estate also comes with two new followers that will reside in this house and will take turns patrolling the grounds in an effort to keep you, and your property safe.
Location:
Hirstaang Estate is located just to the east of Raven Rock, and North of Kolbjorn Barrow. There is also a map marker for it that can be discovered and fast traveled to.
Features:
Fully supports the Hearthfire Multiple Adoptions mod, and features six beds for children
All crafting stations - Cooking stations, including a Hearthfire Stove -
The alchemy and enchanting stations will both boost their respective skill by 10 while standing near them.
9 display cases, 6 mannequins, 3 dagger display cases, 6 weapon display cases, 9 weapon plaques, and 3 bookshelves
Hireling house to place companions in
2 new companions that will patrol the estate property
A shot of the exterior of the estate. The door leading to the interior of the house can be seen, as well as a small farm that the player can harvest crops from. The area is fully navmeshed by hand, as any errors by the automatic system in a world exterior would have been disastrous for the AI path-finding.
The player's master bedroom. The room contains numerous storage option for the player to place their gear in, as well as 3 shrines that are dedicated to the regions deities.
The kitchen is located adjacent to the dining room, and contains items, and spaces for where food might be prepared by people living there. Though many of these objects are never actually used in the game, I felt it was necessary to include them in order to provide a sense of immersion and provide a purpose for the room in the game's world.
The main dining area for the house is linked to the child bedrooms and provides easy access to the nearby kitchen and pantry area.
Side view of two of the six children rooms. The rooms each have items that indicate hobbies or activities that the children might partake in. For example, in this room there is a small gardening plot that contains local plants.
The study/library area that I designed inside of the extra house for the player's companions.
This room was designed to serve as the crafting room for the player's enchanting skill. It is cluttered with skill appropriate items, such as soul gems which the players must use while performing this skill, as well as books and other magical items.The decorative aim was to help immersive the player in their chosen experience. Which in this case was one of being an enchanter and magic user.
Image of the exterior of the mod in the game world.
This is a very early screenshot of my initial blockout of the interior of the estate. There is little to no lighting in each of the rooms and just a minimum amount of furniture and clutter to help me visualize the purpose of the room. Also of note, there is an eastern section of the interior that can be seen here that I ended up cutting from the final release, as I realized during development that I had over-scoped the size of the house for the time frame that I had given myself.