Dreaming the pyramid

Q) What is T.I.E.?
A) T.I.E. stands for Tamriel Immerison Experience. It's technically an overhaul, but utilizes only vanilla resources (scripts exempted). File size is therefore kept at a minimum. If you liked playing Thief, then T.I.E. might be for you. Its main features are the eight hundred NPCs it adds throughout Cyrodiil, along with many other cool features.

Q) Do I still need TNR to play T.I.E.?
A) Nope. TNR is already within T.I.E. The Shivering Isles official expansion pack is needed however.

Q) What is the gameplay like?
A) The focus is on immersion and strategy. First time players will quickly discover that playing T.I.E. like they do vanilla Oblivion gets them in trouble fast. Enemies are generally tougher (albeit not discouragingly so), diseases are easier to catch when engaging in melee with both creatures and enemy NPCs, fines for stealing are raised, Guards are tougher and more skilled, etc. In a nutshell, you will find yourself relying far more on stealth and tactics rather than simply running into enemies headlong and expecting to survive.

Q) I like being a thief, but I don't really enjoy being a part of a guild. Where can I sell my stolen goods?
A) You're in luck. In every town and the Imperial City, you can find Fences willing to relieve you of your wares. These NPCs are quite well suited for their task, since they tend to move from place to place (three day standard reset time) and are able to fend for themselves against enemies or enemy Watchmen. Because lockpicks are so valuable and scarcely found throughout Cyrodiil, Fences also tend to be the best sources to purchase them from. However, you'll need to approach Fences carefully at times. There is no telling when the local Watch might send either Undercover Imperial Legion Officers or hardy Bounty Hunters to spy on Fences and intercept incoming thieves.

Q) Can I get rich just pickpocketing?
A) Certainly possible. Roughly ten percent of all T.I.E. NPCs have quality merchandise on them in the form of jewelry, scrolls, alchemical equipment, potions, ammunition, weapons, and more. Just be prepared to deal with the Watch at some point. Their spies and informants can be anywhere...

Q) This mod is tough. I can't even seem to finish the tutorial! How can I escape unscathed?
A) A frequently stated comment. Here are a few pointers on how I get through the tutorial...

First: I never wear any footwear in the tutorial. Reason: my sneak skills are still subpar and I'm far quieter barefoot. Second: I gather as many arrows as I can. By the time the first goblin is reached, I'm usually sitting on at least nine arrows (I've actually acquired as many as twenty-nine by the end of the sewer tunnel - without cheats). Third: I make use of potions and alchemy. I also pick up the Battleogre Beer (found in one of the barrels) for its strength benefits. The extra strength boost comes in handy. Fourth: If I use magic at all, it's set to a hotkey and only used immediately after a poisoned arrow. Used in this way, the target usually goes down. Fifth: I economize. That means I don't load myself up with everything I find. I also bypass whatever doesn't fit my playstyle. If I'm playing a Nord, I disregard the Bows and arrows and pick up only brawler gear such as armor, potions, ale, and weapons - along with a few picks. Likewise, if I'm roleplaying an archer or thief, I don't wear any armor at all - preferring to go barefoot with just a pair of pants. Sixth: When engaging the goblin by the tripwire, I use an arrow to knock the trap unto him by shooting the post (not the wire itself because it's too thin). Seventh: I'm aware of possible conflicting factions and use them to my advantage. The Assassin at the Tutorial's end, for example, may be dangerous to me, but she is also vulnerable to the two "other" things in her vicinity as well. With just a little patience, I'm usually able to achieve a bloodless victory over her. Using these tactics and playing carefully, I almost never die in the tutorial anymore.

Q) On occasion when I'm fighting enemies, someone nails me with a blade or arrow and I just tumble to the ground and stay there. What's that about?
A) Congratulations. You've just been initiated to your first "Knockout Gas Vial" - a type of poison some baddies coat their weapons with. Usually it's assassins and some bandit archers. A few vendors sell it too. it's expensive though. I set it up so that when you get hit with it you stay down for roughly three and a quarter minutes (p). The best way to deal with the knockout gas is to either quickly ingest an invisibility potion so that you disappear, or else ingest three or four high quality restore fatigue potions to get your fatigue back. Warning: you won't have a lot of time to run away once you get up, so make the best of any cover in your vicinity. Use rocks, trees - anything. Of course, if you spot an assassin before he or she spots you, you can try to pickpocket the potion off of them, possibly even using against them.

Q) Can you give me some tips for fighting? I seem to get clobbered everywhere I go!
A) Well, if you're fresh out of the tutorial and you're wandering around Cyrodiil looking for a fight, good luck - you're going to need it. T.I.E. may be fashioned along the lines of Thief (where Garrett was a shadow rather than a fighter), but it's also molded after Morrowind, where you increase your skills with practice and patience. If I had advice for you to survive battles and increase your skills, they would be these:

1) Pick fights with low level baddies such as road bandits, drunkard thugs (alongside Inns and such), diseased rats and mudcrabs. Also wear a mixture of light and heavy armor so that skills in both areas increase. And bring a few cure disease potions (you're going to need them).

2) Always bring a few flasks of Battleogre Ale (inns and forts, ruins), Flin and Greef (inns) as well as Fortify Strength potions. Anything that increases your strength during combat is valuable.

3) Wear heavy armor and carry a big stick - preferably a big 'ol iron warhammer. Seriously, imagine a warhammer made of iron and how much impact it would have on anything. Using the hammer will also increase your strength levels.

4) Don't be a Bosmer warrior for crying out loud. Pick a race that's actually designed for combat such as Nords, Orcs, Redguards, Imperials, and Dunmer. I'll ROFLMAO at you if you send me an E-Mail complaining that your Breton Warrior gets clobbered in melee. I really will. :)

5) Carry a shield. Seriously. Shields in the game have had their stats upped dramatically, so using them in battle makes even greater sense now. If you're lucky enough to find a Mithril shield, never sell it - you'll appreciate its extreme light weight.

Q) The mod description says there's 800 NPCS. What kind of NPCs can I expect to see?
A) There are many types of non playable characters walking about in Cyrodiil now. These include priests, healers, sorcerers, bandits (brawlers, nightblades, sharpshooters, barbarians, regular bandits), fences, undercover Imperial Legion officers and bounty hunters, commoners, thieves and pickpockets, travelers and merchants (courtesy of CorePC's excellent Tamriel Travelers), assassins, scavengers, beggars, lunatics, tomb raiders, and more. And most of these NPCs all have a decent chance of carrying good equipment on them. That means lots of thieving opportunity for you...

Q) What else can I do in T.I.E.?
A) Go to bandit camps and try to steal a horse, explore the newly and fully interconnected Imperial City underground, steal and sell your goods, infiltrate tombs and confront dangerous creatures, walk the safer roads, do quests, pick flowers. The gameworld doesn't necessarily revolve around you anymore, but you still have total freedom.

Q) I see people sneaking around every so often, usually at night. Are these thieves?
A) Indeed they are. And if you're patient and are willing to follow them, they just might make a grab off of someone. Best part is, you get to keep whatever they steal if the Watch manages to catch and kill them. Great way to make some quick coin.

Q) What about inside towns and cities? Do the thieves steal there too?
A) Unfortunately, no. They did when T.I.E. was first made, but big sprawling battles quickly ensued between various factions whenever someone spotted a thief thieving. Usually only one NPC remained standing and everyone else died - including the Watch. So they only steal outside of towns and cities.

Q) Does T.I.E. remove all levelling? I mean, can I find anything at any level, and will NPCs and Creatures level with me?
A) T.I.E. removes all levelling - for everything. This means you can find daedric armor at level one if you're really lucky, but it also means that some very nasty beasties will be between you and that nice loot. So all items and creatures have been fully unlocked and no living or undead or Oblivion creature or Quest NPC levels with you. Enemy bandits, necromancers, conjurers, marauders and such also do not level with you.

Q) What mods are compatible with T.I.E.?
A) T.I.E. definitely conflicts with other overhauls, but CorePC's excellent TIE4MODS leaves just the extra NPCs and secret entrances. However, other mods such as Thieves' Arsenal (ScruggsieWuggsie the Ferret), Reneer's Guard Overhaul, L.A.M.E (Less Annoying Magic Experience) and many other mods do not conflict.

Q) Can you tell me what mods have been merged in with this?
A) Sure. They are: Hear-Me-Not (quietens thieving and certain menu sounds), Arkenor's Tutorial Terminator (eliminates the annoying message popups during the tutorial), and CorePC's excellent Tamriel Travelers (places traveling merchants along Tamriel's roads).

Q) What elements are planned for future versions of T.I.E.?
A) Definitely more NPCs - both evil and good. And also to make the Imperial City underground more fleshed out and developed. Right now it's so open as to what will be implemented in the future, but the focus will always be on immersion (rather than extreme realism) and atmosphere. Gameplaywise T.I.E. is already where I want it, so anything that gets added from here on will have to add to the mod without sacrificing enjoyment or the frame rate. My primary concern and goal is to keep T.I.E. as unobtrusive as possible with most well known and appreciated mods out there, and above all to keep it small. If T.I.E. ever becomes more than a ten megabyte download, I'll be very dissapointed with myself.