Dark Commonwealth

This mod is hardcore and largely inspired by CDDA, Doom 3, Fallout 1/2/T/3, Splinter Cell, Thief, and else.

Version 016 is a test version and only covers the interiors of the vanilla game. Please use a very minimal load order and make sure to check if the mod is loaded last, uncheck Vortex priority for other mods if not, mods may override. I am still far ahead of what i have in mind but im coming closer. Have fun, feel free to share your thoughts and endorse. Thanks.

Preface

Created out of curiosity what will happen when light sources disappear or simply have less room to play. But also because i never really understood why NPC bath in light so the player can see them from miles away, while blending themself to see literally nothing. Furthermore, many locations are highlighted via light, many rare items have a candle light environment, alot of mist glows by magic in the dark and cause an omnipresent foggy environment even years after fallout. All of this needed revision and the game needed to mutate into a dungeon crawler with dark and creepy locations.

What will happen if most of the immersion breaking objects are gone?

The drawbacks of trying to explore and engage in combat while in a condition of realistic darkness are part of the point; it adds to the logistics element of exploration, forcing the player to consider whether it's worthwhile to continue onward in the night-time or to seek shelter where they can rest and return in the daylight. This also encourages planning and preparation on the part of the player, to avoid being caught outdoors in the night. Unfortunately, developers nowadays shrink from using logistics in general, being unwilling to constrain players in any way, which is to the great detriment of exploration. Logistics encompasses inventory limitations, encumbrance, stamina/fatigue, need for food, need for water, need for sleep, realistic lighting, a day/night cycle, Vancian magic memorization, weapons/armor deterioration and repair, etc. and is a core aspect of RPG mechanics.

— Zed Duke of Banville @ Why are developers so afraid of making night actually dark?

The engine is ideally suited for such excursions and the Creation Kit offers everything to make this possible. In fact the engine has so much potential that the real beauty of the game was lost doomed to the poor image space setup, fog placement, mist usage, ambient coloring, effect lighting, decoration, and else.

With Dark Commonwealth you can expect locations to be pitch black, flooded, overhauled in terms of NPCs and items in a minimal invasiv approach to make it compatible with most by default. Some locations however might be more difficult to master. Cetain objects may not work or offer additional functions. Elevators might be unusable, oil lamps are lootable, certain lights can be turned off/on, wood structures mi