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

[Acadian]

Lena, it has been many years since playing Oblivion and I don't recall specifics about the MG in Dune. But I certainly recall loving the Anequina mod, and Buffy spent much time there riding over warm sands, wrapping the jungles around herself and bathing in the beautiful waterfalls. Oh, and (ugh) sandstorms. . . .

[Lena Wolf]

We've just started our Elsweyr adventure. The Mages Guild in Dune is abandoned because it is unfinished. There is no key. The cell is empty. So...

Yep, goblins.

[Lena Wolf]

Elsweyr Mysteries is now available on Nexus.

[Acadian]

Very cool, Lena!

[macole]

Come to think of it, I never did give Dune a thorough walk about. I'm going to have to pay Dune a visit soon.

[Lena Wolf]

Come to think of it, I never did give Dune a thorough walk about. I'm going to have to pay Dune a visit soon.

Enjoy the rooftops! And good luck with that small goblin problem.

I like Dune. It's got potential - many untold mysteries there! But it will be a while before there's another installment - we want to see other places too. Although I started on a couple of things...

Today I'm attempting to clean up the big stack of TWMP mods, convert some to masters, merge things that have to be loaded together anyway... It isn't as straightforward as one would have hoped. Today was a day of experimentation - I shall likely discard everything in the end (I'm on my fifth attempt already). But I do learn from it. The jury is still out however whether it will amount to anything or whether I'll have to declare it a lost cause. I am expecting another crash any minute now...

[Lena Wolf]

Conclusion of the experiments with merging TWMP mods: it is not feasible because the combined size of all TWMP content is over 650MB, and that's ESP only, not counting the resources. This is not counting Elsweyr or Valenwood mods because they are not technically TWMP. For comparison Oblivion.esm with all major DLC integrated, is only 256MB. Makes sense - Oblivion only covers Cyrodiil, just the one province!

Another issue is that if we were to merge TWMP mods, everything would need to be renumbered, requiring a new game and breaking all compatibility with previous save games or other mods. Nope. Not good.

So the TWMP suite should remain as it is - a set of ESP modules to be loaded in a particular order. This gives the players flexibility to choose which provinces they want to include, so it is actually a good thing. The many mods that you have to load however is less good, but it is the lesser evil...

[Lena Wolf]

Dune is getting sewers! I am in the dungeon building mood... There will be other dungeons accessible from there, as well as some non-dungeon facilities. All sorts of stuff happens in the sewers, you know.

Dungeon building is in full swing. There is also going to be a chest inside Under the Influence den where you can pick up scrolls with jobs. Put the deliverable back into the chest, close and open it again and take out your reward. A simple system with minimal fuss. Admittedly, these are not going to be world-shuttering quests, but then again, everyday activities rarely are. This is mostly for those people who like to have an incentive for visiting dungeons. Some of these jobs will randomly repeat to keep the system going for ever, even after all the unique ones will have been exhausted. Not a true Radial Quest system, but easy to set up.

Another simple quest line that I am working on is Resupply the Traders. Various traders in Elsweyr are going to complain to you about shortage of certain items, and if you bring them a batch of the stuff, they'll pay you double the market value. Now, these may not always be high value items, so the bother would not be worth the pay. But may be if you do it enough times, those traders might ask you for a favour... and that would be worth the bother. (And no, you can't charm them into it, they'll be counting the batches of stuff rather than relying on disposition.)

This is something that can be expanded as we go along. I started with one trader, then I'll be adding more traders along the way. Got to figure out what their favours are going to be! And it's not guaranteed. May be some traders just want the supplies. You'll never know.

[Lena Wolf]

Dune Catacombs are complete, comprising 47 dungeon cells. You descend into the sewers first, and in the sewers there are several access points into the various sections of the catacombs. Each section is comprised of 9 to 11 dungeons dynamically linked via several doors, so not only is the layout different each time you play, it can also change on the fly under certain circumstances (on the whim of the Oblivion game engine). The sections are also connected to one another in a few places, just to add to the confusion... err... fun. But it isn't all that bad: each dungeon cell has a fixed exit back into the sewers. All you have to do is find it.

Of course I did not build 47 dungeon cells from scratch in two days time. I reused existing vanilla dungeons, so some layouts may be familiar (do you honestly remember every single dungeon by heart?). I did change some things around, and of course the doors are all in different places and linked in different ways, so I bet that even if you remember one or the other layout, you will still be surprised.

I have now finished the fetch quests: there are 10 repeatable ones (collect ingredients type of thing), and 5 unique (fetch a misplaced item). Enough incentive to visit the catacombs, I think. I'll give it a bit more play-testing, but then I'll release it for you to test... err... enjoy. In all honestly, I cannot possibly test every single door because of their random nature.

[Lena Wolf]

Version 1.1 of Elsweyr Mysteries is now available on Nexus.

[Lena Wolf]

I've done another update - Elsweyr Mysteries is on version 1.2 now. Added another run of the roofs and five more jobs for the chest at Under the Influence - these are not simple fetch quests though. But most importantly I fixed several doors, including the ones of the Mages Guild. The Mages Guild quest would still run more or less correctly also with the previous version, but I recommend upgrading. I'm still learning stuff! Those doors have scripts on them, and I hadn't realised all of the consequences of that... Anyway, fixed now.

I have a few more ideas for quests based in Dune, but that will have to wait - I'm taking a break from this. Besides, I really don't like making complex quests. Well, more complex than just stick a scroll into a chest sort of thing. So I don't expect any updates for a while, unless someone finds bugs in it.

[Lena Wolf]

Elsweyr Mysteries v2 - Orcrest - is released!

This is not a huge release, but I am moving on to the next city. In Orcrest you'll find a working gambling den in town and a Dark Brotherhood crypt and shrine underground. There's nothing going on in the crypt yet, but even so - can you find it? There are pictures with the mod, so yeah, it does exist and is accessible and all. I have ideas for further content there, but it won't be for a while.

Now we're on to Corinthe! Don't expect to do too much there because several other people already did quite a bit of work on that. But who knows!

[Lena Wolf]

Perhaps this thread should be renamed to Wolf Mods or something. I've been doing a lot of scripting recently - working on my own companions system. I started with Companions Share and Recruit, which is a very good system, but it has large parts that I am not using, such as squads or automatic looting. I've used it for a while but I found that these automatic actions result in companions running around a lot and forgetting to follow or to fight, as well as losing their horses. That mod wasn't developed with horses in mind, it has some horse-related functionality but it is unreliable, clearly an afterthought. For me however it is important.

So, drawing on that experience, I started making my own system. It is not generic, you can't just walk up to any arbitrary NPC and hire them, which is what introduced a lot of complexity to Share and Recruit. In my system the companions are dedicated NPCs. Yes, I know of CM partners, but there too it's not quite what I want. It never is, unless you made it yourself.

I have the core of the system working already for a long time, Hauk is my test character here. Poor Hauk, he gets his head messed with quite a lot. Here's what is implemented and working already now:

- Recruit and dismiss companions. When dismissed, they return to their homes and their "off-duty" routines.

- Track each companion on the map with their own quests. Particularly useful when they are off-duty and you want to find them.

- Access companion's inventory, also without recruiting them. Weight limit applies - you cannot give them more than they can carry.

- Let companions follow on foot or mounted and sneak with the player.

- Stop combat and catch up if falling behind.

- Companions' horses follow their respective owners when the player is riding a horse. Companions can call their horses if the horse is too far away and the companion needs to catch up.

- When following the player, automatically sit down when the player is sitting down, sleep when the player is lying in a bed (use See You Sleep to see the player lie in bed).

- When following and the player has City Wear token equipped, automatically switch from armour to clothes and unequip weapons.

- Tell companions to wait, relax or pick herbs in the area. They stop following you without being dismissed. Waiting means stand where you left them, relaxing switches them to eating, sleeping and wandering near where you left them, and picking herbs has them go picking herbs (surprise!).

- While sitting down, automatically repair weapons using repair hammers and level up the NPC's repair skill. Play one of several repair animations, so you can actually watch them do it.

- Automatically recharge currently equipped staff with a trickle charge based on the Intelligence value. Only when out of combat, and only staves. This is meant for mages. I am working on recharging with soul gems, but it is not easy.

- Play some idle animations that don't interfere with actual following. I found that some do.

Of course the system alone is nothing without the companions. I have already a few of them done, others are being tinkered with. Eventually I shall release this together with the companions and a guide how to make your own. Here's what I have now. All these companions have their own horses, too. They each bring new armour, weapons or spells, some also bring houses. Some companions come with quests, others are just sitting there twiddling their thumbs, ready for an adventure.

- Hauk Serck-Hanssen, a battlemage. Friendly and bored.

- Lucien Lachance, a master assassin. Comes with strings attached - a large mod with the Dark Brotherhood quest line redesigned and another quest line added after it. Only after you've done it all, will he come with you. You have to earn the right to be his companion. Typical.

- Fenris Bero, a vampire nightblade - an upgrade of the Dark Minion provided by the Vile Lair DLC. That minion was rather useless, I thought. Comes with an upgrade to the Vile Lair itself, too.

- Garrus Darreliun, Captain of the City Guard in Cheydinhal. Becomes available after that quest is done - Garrus actually gets promoted to Captain and is no longer stuck patrolling the throne room 13 hours a day. He takes over making rounds around the city and will come with you since you've been so good to sort out their little corruption problem. And because he's bored.

- Dylan, a Mazken. Not as useless as the female Mazken would have you believe. He hangs around Passwall once you're through the Gates of Madness. He does not leave the Shivering Isles, and so has no horse (no horses in the Shivering Isles).

- Scorpio, a sorcerer. He starts out as an elemental battlemage, but as you level up, he gains access to more interesting and powerful spells such as thunderstorm, rock avalanche or force push. These work on all targets in the area - on all hostile targets only, allies are unaffected, so they are not plain area of effect spells. Unfortunately the effort of casting it leaves the sorcerer incapacitated for a while, and these are very advanced spells to cast. He can teach you these spells if you're skilled enough. He lives in Crucible but will travel with you everywhere. He's got a horse in Bravil stables for just such an eventuality.

- Geralt of Rivia, a witcher. Does all the usual witcher stuff and hangs around Bruma - those ogres and goblins need to be kept in check. He actually looks like Geralt of Rivia and has all the correct gear and spells - based on Witcher 2, mod "Classic Witcher".

- Jowan Angwin, a blood mage. The concept and the character comes from Dragon Age Origins (except I gave him a surname). Blood magic allows him to cast very advanced spells at the cost of his own health - he is not so evil as to use the health of his allies, but he might use the health of his enemies at times. Blood magic also gives him affinity for necromancy, although he dislikes making zombies (you can't get the stench off your robes for weeks!). He stays a the Bruma Mages Guild (guess why), even though he is not a member of the guild.

- Sanguine, a drunk and a Prince. You have to earn his favour though, and I haven't decided yet how exactly. It will be something to do with Shivering Isles - some stories on the back of my head. He gives you a dremora summon with long term binding - the dremora stays with you until he is defeated or dispelled. You can talk to this dremora and arrange to meet Sanguine - he will be drinking at the Roxey Inn. Sanguine comes with a number of islands that you can visit. They are just peaceful places, with nothing going on. There are a number of nice mods like this, some even freeware, and I plan on using them.

Wow, now that I've written it up, it's quite a lot! No wonder it's been keeping me busy... Plus of course we're still travelling in Elsweyr - Corinthe awaits!

[Lena Wolf]

There hasn't been all that much mod building recently because I was busy fixing other people's Elsweyr mods so that I could use them in my game... So I guess it was modding for personal use, since the author of the mods asked me not to release any fixes or patches to his mods. It's his work and his choice.

I've been exploring Corinthe in game, including the City Expansion mod which fills in the Palace District. Something there is making my game lag badly. At first I though it was the sheer number of NPCs walking about, but a thought on the back of my mind was saying: "No, it's no more than anywhere else since you've got Crowded Cities and Radiant AI mods!" Thank you, u16m12*, you're right. Returning to the Palace District at night with barely any NPCs out and about, game performance wasn't any better. I don't know what it is, I've read that some models could drive the FPS down, or may be it's the lighting, no idea. It isn't unplayable, but it's rather jerky. Back to the Market District, and all is well again. Good thing I don't really like palaces anyway.

There's a mystery in Corinthe brewing: where does the wealth of the local Mages Guild come from? It is quite remarkable, considering the less-than-average services that they offer. There must be more to it...

A second blatant mystery is this: where is the Thieves Guild? Is it realistic to think that a city of this wealth be devoid of thieves? No, didn't think so. Yet we found no traces of any kind of thievery. Hmmm.

Jobasha is back from Vivec City, with his store in the Palace District! Hello, Jobasha! Oh wait... Thieves Guild... or may be not.

I made a few additions to Corinthe so far, to appear in the next release of Mysteries:
- All vendors now sell stuff (bug fix).
- The rooftops in the Market District are now properly accessible and traversible, also for NPCs, but there's nothing going on there yet.
- I put up shop signs everywhere... couldn't find my way around town.

I got a plaque for Christmas, it says: "I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept." Amen.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Walter Moers, Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher, 2004 (also available in English translation: The City of Dreaming Books).

[Lena Wolf]

No more ads on Nexus for me! It suprised me today with a big orange message saying that I am now a "recognised mod author" with over 1000 unique downloads across my mods. Wow.

You choose to share your time with me? You humble me.


This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Jan 31 2022, 07:46 PM

[Acadian]

Very impressive, Lena!

[macole]

Well-deserved, I would say.

[Lena Wolf]

Thank you both!

What I find remarkable is which mod of mine is doing best: it's "Just a bigger map". Yep, it keeps your vanilla interface and just gives you a bigger map window. Considering that when you read descriptions of those various advanced mod UIs, they give you the impression that obviously everyone wants a Skyrim-style UI, or a dark themed UI, or a small font UI, or a tiny icon UI, with far more information, with everything different from the despised vanilla UI... Umm... 438 downloads in under 2 months... it seems a lot of people actually like the vanilla UI after all, and just want a bigger map. Who would have thought.

Of course none of it comes even remotely close to the mods offering you yet another stamp-sized micro-bikini outfit where the stamps are so small, you can't see the picture on them anyway. But hey, we shouldn't be comparing apples and mangos, should we.

[Lena Wolf]

I am treading into unfamiliar waters: I've been making quests. I made a rather complicated patchwork quest last week, and just before I could save it, the CS crashed without a panic save... Everything gone. Except of coure the experience. I'll redo that patchwork quest later, but today I've been making two proper quests for Elsweyr Mysteries - yeah, two new mysteries for Corinthe! Testing will be interesting, there are some experimental elements in that... I wonder.

But since they are mysteries, that's all I'll be saying about them.

[Lena Wolf]

A quick update to say that two rather large quests for Corinthe are done, that is scripted in. Whether they are actually working or not, is an entirely different matter.

One is a straightforward sort of quest, where you follow it stage by stage and can bring it to conclusion within a few days in-game. That one I shall be testing start to finish. The second quest is sort of a treasure hunt thing. Not saying what it is since it's a mystery, but let's just say I'll test it as far as humanly possible, considering that treasure hunts can become rather drawn out in time.

These two quests and the book that Macole and I have been writing, will constitute the next instalment of Elsweyr Mysteries. Oh, and a few small fixes here and there that I made along the way. Another quest will come later - a follow up on the first quest above. That isn't much of a mystery, and the story is getting included in I am Lena Wolf, but the quest will only trigger for you if you fulfil certain requirements and if you finish the first quest in a particular way, so not everyone will get it. Oh yes, that quest has several possible endings. Your choices do matter.