Wolf Mods, Skyrim (and more!) for Oblivion Options

[Lena Wolf]

Come to think of it, none of that is using anything specific to Lena's Companions... it could be used with any companions, any NPCs even! For the ally assistance system, they only need to be in the PlayerFaction, which is what all companions should be in order to work properly, and for summoning to the Rift, it could be any NPC what so ever... Hmm...

I feel the Adoring Fan is going to get a workout...

[Lena Wolf]

Progress with companions! It is all working with any companions, any NPCs even. They are running around helping each other out of the knockouts, and helping the player. If they can be bothered, that is. Calls for help are not always honoured - we can only ask, but Oblivion decides what to do, as always...

Now suddenly it becomes very useful to have mages or archers in the party. Since they are not involved in close quarters melee combat, they are much more likely to come and help. The final solution is not to "activate" a knocked out NPC, but to cast a special spell. It is a touch spell, so they know to run over to the person on the ground before casting it. I had a party of 8 companions fighting 6 monsters with summons, and, well, it was getting rather hectic... But working!

[Acadian]

Sounds fun!

[Lena Wolf]

Still stuck working on the companions here - this release turns out to be really big under the hood. Besides the Ally Assist, Wakestones, Disposition system, Rift access, Rift faction and the Everfall, I also found it necessary to move all my custom magic from individual companions into the master file, so as to make it available to any companion by simply assigning them to a faction... Healers, Blood Mages, Breath Sorcerers, Necromancers - here we come! But no Witchers, I left Geralt out of it for now, may be next time. Of course for it to work properly, the NPC in question must also possess the relevant skills and attributes, or he/she won't be able to cast any of those special spells.

Release 2 is thus nearing release time! I am going to call it "Beta" because I didn't put in hundreds of hours of play time into testing of it as I did with the previous release. I've tested all new features but not in all possible situations. I haven't seen any crashes at all, and each new feature can be disabled in the INI file, so I figured that's good enough.

Like with previous releases, the master files alone are nothing without the companions. Well, not exactly nothing now, since the initial introduction to the Rift is there, and Ally Assist works for any companions, not just the ones that are made with this system... But nothing else! The Disposition system has an effect on the behaviour of the companions - how frequently they cast their special spells and whether they cast the more costly ones at all, etc., and by that I mean their opinions of all members of the party counts, not just of the player. But this only applies to Lena's Companions, and only those ones that have those special spells to cast. The rest is all bound to the companions too - your progress with the Rift faction, your access to the Everfall, the extent of the Everfall even...

So, the initial release will also have two new companions (Rook and Scorpio) and one existing upgraded companion (Hauk) to get you started. Two more companions will be upgraded after that (Yennefer and Jowan) and another new one added (Scarlet), and with that you should be able to reach the rank of Arisen in the Rift faction which is the top rank. More companions will come along later that will also have access to the Rift, and eventually you will have a choice of companions that will get you to Arisen. I've got clear plans for three more and vague plans for another two or three. They are people who appear in Lena's story, or in the stories of Lena's friends. Hauk might bring someone over from Antaloor if you play his quest right... But I leave that as a surprise.

Just to be clear - upgraded companions keep all their existing abilities and attributes, but get quests that they may ask your help with later on, if they like you enough. Oh yes, disposition is the key! Did someone mention that Vilja was high maintenance? Wait till you meet Scarlet...

Upgraded companions also have different programming under the hood. It makes their behaviour more nuanced, even if the Disposition system is switched off. Now that I've figured out how to use xVAsynth, I no longer shy away from dialogue, so there's a bit more of that too. Still not excessive I think, but there's some. Easter eggs are found throughout the year, they mostly have to do with Lena's stories or perhaps some goings on in Chorrol or affiliated sites. I suppose they will say nothing to the outsiders, so be it. Not every egg hatches, some make an omelette.

[Lena Wolf]

Interlude

It was a beautiful day and Lena Wolf was walking aimlessly through a big meadow of wild flowers. She started picking some, and soon had two bunches in her hands: daisies and poppies.

"Why, these would make a beautiful bouquet together!" She thought, mixing them up.

"You can't just do that, you know," a voice said from the grass.

"What? Who said that?" Lena spun around. A small yellow-green grass snake was sitting in a hollowed out stone like in a cup. "Oh, hello," Lena smiled.

"You can't just mix two bunches of flowers like that," the snake repeated. "Or the Gecko will get you."

"What are you talking about?" Lena was confused, but the name "Gecko" did ring a bell somehow...

"It's awfully warm and I'm parched," the snake complained. "Pour some water into this stone cup, will you?"

The snake did look rather flat, and Lena took out her water skein and poured some into the stone cup. The snake drank it, which made it inflate like a balloon until it turned into a huge gecko. Then it swallowed Lena whole.

...

"Phew, what a nightmare!" Lena woke up in a bit of cold sweat. "Do snakes even drink water? What nonsense!"

She turned over and went back to sleep.

...

She was back on the meadow, a bunch of daisies in one hand, a bunch of poppies in the other. A small gecko was sitting in the stone cup.

"You can't just mix those two, you know," it said. "There are rules." The gecko handed Lena a heavy scroll with a big "Read Me" label dangling off it.

Lena started reading the scroll. "Don't mix talking daisies with silent poppies, don't mix white flowers with red, don't mix flowers from the same meadow..."

"This makes no sense!" She exclaimed. "It's like I can't mix anything with anything! Well, watch me!"

She tossed the scroll aside and put her daisies together with her poppies. The gecko ballooned in size until it was blotting out the sun, then it swallowed Lena whole.

...

"Wow! That's just ridiculous!" Lena sat up in bed, clammy with cold sweat. "What a nightmare!"

But seeing that it was still dark outside and the frogs in Bravil's canals were still singing their mating songs, she turned over in her bed and went back to sleep.

...

Again she found herself on the meadow, daisies in one hand, poppies in the other.

"Don't even think about it," a voice said from tall grass.

"But I want to make a bouquet!" Lena objected, looking around and seeing the gecko still sitting in the stone cup.

"All right, here's how you do it," the gecko handed her another scroll with a "Read Me" label. "This one even has pictures."

Lena started to read. A long list of warnings and dos and don'ts followed. She tried to navigate it, tried to follow the rules... But either the sun was too hot, or the warnings were true, but when she finally came to mixing her daisies with her poppies, the gecko ballooned in size blotting out the entire sky, then again swallowed Lena whole.

...

"This has got to stop!" Lena sat up in bed, seriously annoyed. "I won't get any sleep this way."

She got up to get a drink of water. A heavy scroll with a "Read Me" label was lying on the table, she was sure there was no scroll there before. She unrolled it. "The Gecko rules for Mod Merging" was the title. It had all those rules that she read before, and all the instructions with pictures from her dream. But there was something else: on the very bottom a paragraph in blood red Daedric script was added.

When the Blood Moon rises, bring your virgin flying chickens and your virgin long-tooth hens to the Bald Mountain for the sacrifice to the Gecko. Only then may you succeed.

Lena snorted and threw the scroll into the fire. The fire flared briefly, engulfing it, then all that was left was ash.

"Perhaps I'll try this instead," she took a calling card from the table, she remembered a fellow in a cowboy hat promoting their venture. "Leave it to Mator", it read.

~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a true story. I woke up four times last night, and I should know better, because I'm all out of flying chickens and long-tooth hens, virgin or not. Mussorgsky's music was playing in my head and the Blood Moon was rising.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Jun 5 2023, 12:33 PM

[Lena Wolf]

I have written my own Skyrim Main Quest. It isn't TES5 - it is my own story for Skyrim. Now that the world of Skyrim is reasonably well filled in, I can go beyond simple notice board quests.

The story is based on many events from the "official" Elder Scrolls lore, whatever that might be. In my opinion, it has nothing outlandish in it, not any more than the other Main Quest stories. It is also not strictly time-bound, other that some characters have familiar names. Are they the characters that you know from other stories? May be they are, and may be they aren't, after all unrelated people with the same names do exist. It's up to you to put it into your own context and resolve any time-space inconsistencies.

Obviously, I'm not telling you how the story goes, and I don't think you'd want me to. But I can say that it consists of six interrelated quest lines. Everything starts with you receiving a letter... not awfully original, I know, but such is life. You receive a letter, and it doesn't even trigger any quests. You are free to go off doing whatever else you're doing, and in the process you might run into the beginnings of some of the other quest lines. You start on them, then get stuck... Well, perhaps you should read your letter?

There will be people in the world offering you advice and hints, should you wish it. Because quest lines depend on each other, it is unavoidable that sometimes you won't see what to do next. Then try a different line of inquiry, that might offer new insights and show a way forward. Or talk to someone who can help.

The approach I've taken here is more like in Morrowind: you deliver a certain package to a certain person, and he tells you to get out of his sight because he has no use for such a wet-behind-the-ears newbie like yourself... Go do stuff! Come back when you get bored. It isn't the same here, but no one will hold your hand either.

The end of the main quest is not the end of the story. It will be for this release, but it actually opens up to two further "main quest" type of stories to come later. Life doesn't stop, and neither should adventure.

At the moment I'm doing preparatory work and cleaning up of what I built so far. A new alternative start mod that allows you to start in several provinces and realms. Currently it just supports Cyrodiil and Shivering Isles, but it will soon also support Morrowind (Morroblivion), Skyrim (TWMP Skyrim Alive), Hammerfell (TWMP Hammerfell), Elsweyr (Elsweyr Anequina), Valenwood (TWMP Valenwood Improved) and Summerset Isle (TWMP Summerset Isle). Black Marsh is also planned, but I haven't examined TWMP Black Marsh and other Black Marsh mods enough to use it.

The idea is that you don't have to have all of those mods loaded to use the alternative start! Instead it checks to see what you've got installed and shows only relevant doors. Cyrodiil and Shivering Isles are always available, the rest depends on your load order.

Summer is not my favourite time of year - not enough snow. It hasn't been hot here yet, but give it time, and I want to be in Skyrim when that happens. Then perhaps some time in autumn there will be a new Skyrim Main Quest to play.