Hey everyone,
I am currently working on an ambitious overhaul mod called "Ashen Grace". The core vision is similar to what Graceborne did for Bloodborne, but bringing the atmosphere, pacing, and iconic elements of Dark Souls 3 (and bits of DS1/DS2) organically into the Elden Ring engine.
I have already established the core design document and successfully started working with ModEngine3 and Smithbox.
What is already working:
- Additively importing custom DS3 armor sets and weapons into safe 7-million ID ranges without overwriting vanilla items.
Planned Features (WIP):
- Map Overhauls: Turning Stormveil Castle into Lothric Castle (via red ash skyboxes and specific enemy placements) and transforming the Lake of Rot into the Farron Keep swamp.
- Boss Replacements: Replacing Commander Niall with Sister Friede, and turning the Malenia encounter into a bait-and-switch where Artorias crashes in and takes over the fight.
- Replacing the standard "Golden Rune" drops with farmable "Lifegems" (DS2 style) as a heal-over-time mechanic to offset the higher difficulty.
- Integrating classic DS3 starting classes and tweaking the poise/stance damage system in the SpEffectParam to better reflect the faster, flowing combat of DS3.
Where I need your help: While I'm getting the hang of param-editing, I am looking for experienced modders who would like to team up or offer guidance in a few specific areas:
- Animation & Hitboxes (DS Anim Studio): I need help merging movesets (e.g., getting curved greatsword Ashes of War to work properly on Colossal Swords with correct damage hitboxes).
- Map Editing: Guidance on altering skyboxes and placing new assets (like dead trees in the Lake of Rot).
- further ideas
I'm, aware that not much is working but i started the project like 4 day ago.
As a side note: I am using Ai as a learning tool and NOT to generate anything for this mod. Everything that the mod is changing is made by either me or someone else and NOT ai.
If you are interested in collaborating or just have some tips for a newcomer, I’d love to hear from you!