Colossal Aldmeri Grotto Owners - A Few Questions!

Shagreth · February 2023

Since it's coming again to the store: Is stormy weather possible there nowadays? A stormy weather while inside a ship was always a dream of mine. I recall they changed something regarding weather there a few years back but can't recall what.

The main thing that I want to focus on is the ship, which I know sounds like a waste but the place is simply too big to decorate, and I was disappointed to see that there's no real captain's quarters, a sterncastle would be nice. @ZOS_Kevin Are changes to old homes out of the question? Though I don't know of any ship models that would fit the bill and a change of this magnitude would probably make people that already own it quite frustrated. It's possibly the most expensive house in the game, so more detail would be nice.

And If you just have an opinion (good or bad) please do share.

Darkstorne · February 2023

Focusing on one element like that is really the best way to handle these colossal homes imo. At least until they drop last gen consoles and raise the item limit significantly.

There was a thread in this housing subforum not too long ago where someone posted a ship they built from scratch at Seaveil Spire, and it's one of the most impressive builds I've ever seen. I'm struggling to find it for you, but it might provide inspiration if you're into that level of nitty-gritty, to get exactly the ship design you want in any home you like.

The reason I didn't buy this house (and the same goes for Earthtear and Potentate's Retreat) is the awkwardly short draw distance for shadows in this game, even maxed out. And it's just far too distracting to me in a cave like this, where only the half you're in is darkened by shadow, and the other half is brightly lit, and the obvious dividing line keeps moving with your character and even your camera movements. Might not be so bad if you stay inside your ship though

Shagreth · February 2023

Darkstorne wrote: »

The reason I didn't buy this house (and the same goes for Earthtear and Potentate's Retreat) is the awkwardly short draw distance for shadows in this game, even maxed out. And it's just far too distracting to me in a cave like this, where only the half you're in is darkened by shadow, and the other half is brightly lit, and the obvious dividing line keeps moving with your character and even your camera movements. Might not be so bad if you stay inside your ship though

Thanks a bunch for your reply! I'll take a look around for that boat build, though I'm not exactly good with super advanced builds. I never noticed the shadow thing, damn, but it would seem we're held back by last gen consoles in more than a few ways, it's just sad.

thecatsme0w · February 2023

The Grotto is one of my all time favourite houses. With mine I did a lot of building platforms on top of cliffs and I decorated all of the different shipwrecks with coral reef elements, as well as a couple of hidden houses in some of the more intact shipwrecks (one of them is a dark brotherhood hideout). It, along with the Exorcised Coven Cottage, is one of the houses I would love to own duplicates of so I could decorate it differently. If you are on PC NA, feel free to visit mine (it's not my primary but with EHT that's not an issue!)

Shagreth · February 2023

thecatsme0w wrote: »

The Grotto is one of my all time favourite houses. With mine I did a lot of building platforms on top of cliffs and I decorated all of the different shipwrecks with coral reef elements, as well as a couple of hidden houses in some of the more intact shipwrecks (one of them is a dark brotherhood hideout). It, along with the Exorcised Coven Cottage, is one of the houses I would love to own duplicates of so I could decorate it differently. If you are on PC NA, feel free to visit mine (it's not my primary but with EHT that's not an issue!)

Damn it, I'd love to see it but I play on EU! I'll have to think hard before getting it, my only complaint is the lack of a captains cabin tbh, other than that it is gorgeous. Does stormy weather occur there btw?

TheImperfect · February 2023

Don't recall any stormy weather in the home itself but you can add with the lightning rods from the deadlands chapter. If you don't want to see the rods themselves you can sink them behind or into other furnishings.

Aelorin · February 2023

There is no storm in the grotto. I'm on PC EU, you can allways visit it with EHT, or give me a call ingame when online. I m on PC EU. So you can have a look around and decide if you want to buy it or not.

Shagreth · February 2023

Aelorin wrote: »

There is no storm in the grotto. I'm on PC EU, you can allways visit it with EHT, or give me a call ingame when online. I m on PC EU. So you can have a look around and decide if you want to buy it or not.

No different types of weather for the Grotto at all? Disappointing if true. And I'll give you a call, thank you!!

OnnuK · February 2023

I never saw rain/stormy weather. It is almost always clear sky. But the area to build is really huge. You can also visit my house to see the limits before you consider to buy.
PC/EU @onnuk (my primary residence)

Holycannoli · February 2023

Haven't seen different weather. Does any house have storms? Thunder storms I mean. I don't think I've ever seen stormy weather except maybe some snow in some houses.

Would be interesting to have adverse weather and storms in some of these houses. In Morrowind I installed a mod that altered the sounds of storms to be more realistic, and altered how they sounded while inside and it varied depending on the structure (tents, wood, stone sound different while inside).

The grotto barely gets dim at night so there's that lol.

Shagreth · February 2023

Holycannoli wrote: »

Haven't seen different weather. Does any house have storms? Thunder storms I mean. I don't think I've ever seen stormy weather except maybe some snow in some houses.

Would be interesting to have adverse weather and storms in some of these houses. In Morrowind I installed a mod that altered the sounds of storms to be more realistic, and altered how they sounded while inside and it varied depending on the structure (tents, wood, stone sound different while inside).

The grotto barely gets dim at night so there's that lol.

It's a shame really, I've been asking for this for years. Interior weather sounds would be nice, server wide weather system (right now if you see rain it doesn't mean it rains for everyone else too) and better & severe weather too, can always have an option for those that don't like it. There are storms in homes btw, cyrodilic jungle house has them often, but there's a bug with rain where the rain drops tend to disappear or are too few, even with max settings, you can clearly hear them, but not really see them, not just in homes mind you. @ZOS_Kevin Hopefully we'll see improvements to the weather one day.

@OnnuK Thank you, but I think I won't be getting it after all.

Holycannoli · February 2023

That's a shame. The grotto is still my favorite house so far. Pantherfang is shaping up nicely as a castle with throne room but that ship is my primary residence and the aldmeri ruins are so atmospheric.

Shagreth · February 2023

Holycannoli wrote: »

That's a shame. The grotto is still my favorite house so far. Pantherfang is shaping up nicely as a castle with throne room but that ship is my primary residence and the aldmeri ruins are so atmospheric.

Agreed, I still like the place and I would like to have them all, ideally

but with Necrom coming and the possibility of an Apocrypha (by far my favorite prince realm) home, I got to save.

Holycannoli · February 2023

Shagreth wrote: »

Holycannoli wrote: »

That's a shame. The grotto is still my favorite house so far. Pantherfang is shaping up nicely as a castle with throne room but that ship is my primary residence and the aldmeri ruins are so atmospheric.

Agreed, I still like the place and I would like to have them all, ideally but with Necrom coming and the possibility of an Apocrypha (by far my favorite prince realm) home, I got to save.

We'll probably get more tumor towers I mean telvanni towers.

Shagreth · February 2023

Holycannoli wrote: »

We'll probably get more tumor towers I mean telvanni towers.

I would actually welcome a medium or small sized mushroom house @ZOS_JessicaFolsom but please, no more massive ones. And yeah, I like the design from Morrowind more myself.