Systems
The Living World
Our Server implements a life simulation that sits on top of Morrowind, building the world as something that is reactive and growing, thus a ‘living world’ experience. Morrowind behaves like a real place and not just as a series of questlines looking to be solved.
What it is not
- We try to stay very transparent on this so people know what they're getting into. This server is not a Mod Overhaul project: it recontextualizes most of Morrowind's own quests. The vanilla game is all still there, though consumed through our roleplay system. Much of our systems can only work whilst playing on our servers, you can't experience Silt Strider 1:1 on single player, you can use the same modlist, but you will not have the same gameplay.
- Moreover, this is not 100% an “AI-driven world”. The LLM we use is there to help deliver what an AI says to you to make a unique experience. Everything we've built is written in actual code, and the AI does not make those decisions. If there are problems, 99% of the time it's a code problem.
- It's also not finished. Some of what is described here might work a lot better than others and be more fleshed out. Development changes week to week.
People who talk for themselves...
NPCs aren’t reading from a dialogue tree. They can hold a real conversation, know their place in the world, which places they live and whom they are related to, and they remember players they have spoken to before! Ask a stranger about their name, the weather, or their opinion on something and they’ll answer (and may even compliment you on your nice attire). As Arille once said: “Talk to everyone. Talk is cheap. Ask questions. You don't ask, you never learn” – and who knows… you may get more than you bargained for…
The thing we care most about is whether they raise their own problems without being led. An NPC with something wrong in their life should bring it up the way a person would, somewhere in the middle of an ordinary conversation, not when you say the magic word.
… And have their own issues to deal with.
NPCs who are looking for someone to help them will bring it up in a more natural way, not when you click on keywords. These are "Situations" usually small or big problems they are looking for you to help with. Your journal shall generate its own quests and notes on its own for you to complete, each one uniquely generated or based on classic quests from Morrowind.
You find out about a Situation by just talking to people, by roleplaying with NPCs. Once the Situation is considered complete, the people involved remember who helped them settle it.
Territory and Influence
At the heart of Morrowind is a story about the political struggles of the houses and the Empire. Major factions can hold territory which can change and warp during political upheavals, wars, or trades. Guards of the representative faction will eventually take over, their local governments tax goods differently, their soldiers set up patrols and different cultural practices are expressed.
The political territory map moves in response to player actions and decisions made by their factions' leaders. Any holder can be displaced, and displacement requires action from players.
Roads, built by playing
NPCs now travel. We use Morrowind's own path nodes, custom paths and heatmaps so they know their way around town, and so travellers and caravans can get from one town to the next. You can see them on the road. NPCs can also pick up shortcuts we never marked by observing players, and their pathfinding will grow along with the server.
This is how NPCs figure out how to get anywhere, and it's why directions from a local are worth asking about and having. As a direct result, caravans will take these roads to move trade between towns.
Crime and Consequences
Witnesses will report what crimes are done and will notice stolen items ... as well as missing NPCs that don't come home. Guards will respond by setting up regional bounties and rumours will spread to other towns. If you kill the wrong person, steal or smuggle at the wrong time, be prepared for consequences in the future.
Our NPCs have their own schedules, similar to Oblivion or Skyrim's Radiant AI.