Northborn

uLargeRefLODGrisSize literally murders my performance on my GTX680 v:(

I've been going back and forth, over the last few weeks, on whether modding Skyrim again is or isn't worth my time. Outside of updating/upgrading my existing mods, I've been wanting to design a few questlines. I actually have a nice long dungeon and area that I designed back in 2013 that I was able to recover from my google drive backups. I had to purge all npcs/scripts/items and quests but I still have the skeleton. I'm getting side tracked. The question is: how is the demand for new Skyrim quests these days? I can't shake the feeling that people have been through enough vanilla dungeons for a lifetime and must be sick to death of the existing tilesets. Alas, I do not have the skill to create new ones... so I'd be using existing assets. So yea, sound off!

I for one will be developing all future mods for Skyrim SE. The way it runs so smoothly, after struggling with crashes, stutters and bad framerate for years, is too liberating to pass over.

Samples of what's to come: http://jep.sorrowind.net/images/skyrim/enb-2013_12_29-23_47_01_98.jpg http://jep.sorrowind.net/images/skyrim/enb-2013_12_30-15_41_51_89.jpg http://jep.sorrowind.net/images/skyrim/enb-2013_12_30-16_28_04_98.jpg

I've released a quick esp fix for an error Bethesda made with female scars. They assigned both sides of the face to the same mask model causing half the textures not to display. This esp fixes that. This fix affects scars 04, 06, 10, 11, 12.

Hey Shadow Things have been slow going since my daughter was born, plus I bought a house, but I'm slowly easing back into modding with the scar mod I made. It actually started as a test for custom scars for npcs in Hunt. I'm getting back into the swing of things :3

DOWNLOAD HERE: Northborn Scars http://static1.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/49279-1-1388294169.png Always looking for feedback! Description 1.0 - NB-Scars replaces vanilla textures with new detailed 1024x1024 textures and normal maps for more realistic scars. Each scar was hand drawn with the original scar patterns in mind. Much like real life scars, no one scar heals the same way. This is reflected in these new textures: some scars pop, others are sunken, smooth or mottled. New normal maps allow for proper lighting and shadows. Note: Scars for the beast races (Khajiit/Argonian) are forthcoming. (No ETA provided) Future Plans Going forward I intend to include many new custom scar shapes including burn scars, fish hooks, torture marks, etc. Scars will come in two forms, via the scar and complexion sliders depending on the nature. Scars use a seperate model that covers only the lower half of the face. For anything more complex, such as patterns above the eyes or crossing over the face, one must use the complexity slider. FAQ Q: Why 1k textures and not 2k resolutions or above? A: There's such a thing as overkill. I opted for a balance of close-up detail and vram usage. Q: Do you plan to upgrade the scars for the beast races? A: Absolutely, its all part of the plan. However, I cannot provide an ETA for the time being. Q: Could make this custom scar for me? A: While the initial release only replaces vanilla scars, I do intend to release additional custom ones. You're welcome to hit the comments section and inspire me. Just make sure its lore-friendly, and not protected by some copyright (ie. Exact replica of Azog the Defiler's scars). I make no promises though. I do what I can. Q: Will you include scars that cover more of the face? A: Absolutely. These will become available via the complexion slider due to limitations in the way Skyrim handles scars (They use a separate model). Working with complexions require more time and effort and are specific to each race and gender. Wish me luck.

I keep wanting to come back and expand my mods (Fur Hoods HD and my unreleased questline) but I keep worrying its too late and all for nothing. I don't see that much interest in quests, and these days it seems like the only thing really shown around Skyrimnexus is skimpy women in skimpier outfits. >.<

So I've been away from modding for a little while. I'm now a father and the last few months of new responsibilities have kept me away from my projects. That being said, I'm considering getting back into it, but I wonder whether or not Skyrim is still a worthwhile venue for quest-based mods? Any opinions on the subjects? I have great inspiration and tons of new ideas for the Hunt for Blackmane, but I just wonder if its time well spent.

In response to post #8161846. I could see donations working. While I'm not exactly rich myself, I'd be willing to donate some hard-earned cash for this cause!

Now, I understand how disheartening such a "failure" is, but I think I speak for everyone in this community when I say that we are all incredibly thankful of your hard work and proud to be part of a community website ran by such hard-working and devoted people. I have no doubt that you will find a solution one way or another and we will be the better for it. I will add for myself that I have been quite content with your work and am quite capable of waiting as long as you need to see this through, especially if it were possible for you to save yourself several thoursand pounds. I am confident your abilities as a webmaster! Very best of luck!

(I welcome any feedback!) I think its about time for another update. I've been very quiet of late and for that I apologize. As with past updates, a lot of work is going into the backbone and designing things that simply can't be shown in a screenshot. I've also designed Blackmane itself, and I'm dying to show it off but I think its better to keep the surprise. That being said, the project is still very much underway and I make more progress with each passing week. That being said, I am rethinking my approach. I've come to realize that I've been working with two overlapping ideas, ideas will be better served seperately. Combined with the fact that I am merely three months from being a father for the first time, it only makes sense that I don't put all my eggs in one basket and instead work in a way that allows me to release content faster and hopefully more frequently. As such, the Hunt for Blackmane is a slightly different beast than I originally set out to design. It becomes one episode in a series of standalone questlines that I intend to release under a global (and as of yet undetermined) title. I say standalone in the sense that you can experience any of the quests seperately, but I intend for them to be intertwined in the lore and in functionality. As I also mentioned when I introduced this mod, decisions, consequences, and open exploration are integral to my design, and I intend to stick to that. I've shown several different areas in screenshots already, a decrepit hunting lodge, a extensive new cave system, a new forested area built from scratch. You can expect to delve in some of these zones in Hunt, while others will be encountered in a second questline. Hopefully this approach does not disappoint anyone. In the end, really, its a win win situation. It allows me to truly focus my efforts, complete my projects in a timely manner, and it allows you as the player to get your hands on said content sooner. I hope to release a video preview early this summer. I am still looking for a good armor designer willing to commit to the project. I can do design myself, but find it would help speed things along if we were to have an additional designer on board.

I'm having the same issue and have been working on this for hours to no avail. It always happen in just about the same spot.

Just wanted to reiterate that that model isn't final, so some of the wierder vertices poking out will be fixed in the final product! :OP

And here's the first ingame shot of our new enemy type, the Bjornir berserker, designed by yours truly. This remains a WIP, the final version will include new textures to distance the creature further from the draugr. http://jep.sorrowind.net/blackmane/02-BJORNIR.jpg

Took a little break to design a logo for the main post. Been scripting furiously of late, it was nice to do something visual.

PlaceAtMe + GetHeadingAngle/SetAngle on an XMarkerHeading is a nice way to maintain position dynamically. Something like this: (Code is still fairly primitive. Its a fresh script and I'm also fairly new to papyrus scripting). Thought I'd post this here in case someone ever looked this question up in the future. (This script also handles a cutscene.) Scriptname NBBlackmaneQ01Stg20PlayerOnSleep extends ReferenceAlias Actor Property PlayerRef Auto GlobalVariable Property GameHour Auto Idle Property WakeUp Auto ImageSpaceModifier Property BlackScreen Auto ImageSpaceModifier Property Woozy Auto Location Property EdgthosLodge Auto ObjectReference Property pWakeUpSpot Auto ObjectReference Property Xmarker Auto Quest Property NBBlackmaneQ01 Auto ReferenceAlias Property Player Auto Form XmarkerBase Event OnSleepStart(float afSleepStartTime, float afDesiredSleepEndTime) XmarkerBase = Xmarker.GetBaseObject() ObjectReference XmarkerPos = PlayerRef.PlaceAtMe(XmarkerBase) AS ObjectReference float zOffset = XmarkerPos.GetHeadingAngle(PlayerRef) + 180 XmarkerPos.SetAngle(XmarkerPos.GetAngleX(), XmarkerPos.GetAngleY(), XmarkerPos.GetAngleZ() + zOffset) if PlayerRef.IsInLocation(EdgthosLodge) if (GameHour.GetValue() >= 8 && GameHour.GetValue() <= 13.9) Debug.Notification("It is too early to lure Blackmane. Better wait until late afternoon.") elseif (GameHour.GetValue() >= 2 && GameHour.GetValue() <= 7.9) Debug.Notification("It is too late to lure Blackmane now, morning comes. Better wait until late afternoon.") else ;Setup Cutscene + advance time Game.DisablePlayerControls(true, true, true, true, true, true, true) Game.ForceFirstPerson() BlackScreen.Apply() ;MoveTo allows to interrupt sleep PlayerRef.MoveTo(XmarkerPos) ;Set time and wait GameHour.SetValue(2.0) Utility.Wait(5.0) ;get the player moving to a specific xmarkerheading, done to move out of the tent (for Frostfall/camping mod users) Game.SetPlayerAIDriven() PlayerRef.EvaluatePackage() Game.GetPlayer().PlayIdle(WakeUp) Utility.Wait(3.0) BlackScreen.PopTo(Woozy) Game.EnablePlayerControls() Game.SetPlayerAIDriven(false) ;Setup next quest stage (and objectives) NBBlackmaneQ01.SetStage(30) NBBlackmaneQ01.SetObjectiveDisplayed(30) NBBlackmaneQ01.SetObjectiveCompleted(20) ;Stop watching for sleep mode Player.UnregisterForSleep() endIf endIf XmarkerPos.Disable() EndEvent

Jack pot! Moving the player works wonders! Huzzah!

Has anyone ever found a way to interrupt the player's sleep? I've been trying to code a scene where after the player goes to sleep, it'll be interrupted at a specific time and the scene happens from then on. (Think enemy ambush in the middle of the night.) I've been digging through all the script functions and I have not found anything. Using RegisterForSleep / OnSleepStart seemed like the right direction, but there doesn't seem to be anything that interrupts the sleep cycle once initiated. I've even tried toggling player AI to have him play a package in hopes it would interrupt the cycle, but it just waited until the player woke up. The only way I can think of right now is using SKSE and doing a Key tap to cancel, but I would prefer not to use SKSE, not because I dislike it, I use it, but because I want to keep the required files for my mod to a minimum. The reason I wanted to do this was for camping/frostfall compatibility. I could simply code the bed at the lodge to play the scene and set the time on activate, but it would have been cool if the player had to option to set up their own camp near the lodge. Hopefully, someone might have something I'm missing!

I've been testing some pretty intricate navmeshes and I seem to be encountered a wierd issue. My follows and enemy ai seem to have no problem moving around the navmesh when following me, or on their own (haven't checked planned packages yet). Yet when I try to have my follower "wait there" and give it a specific location, they seem to walk for a while and then suddenly go "can't do that". Is it because I have a "prefered path" set on this navmesh and I'm trying to tell them to go off of it? They seem to have no issue moving around the prefered path. Anyone else experience this?

That's insane! I'm so tracking this mod! Might be time to update my sig with some awesome wips. :wink: Huge thanks, Urwy!

Thank you! I have also created a facebook page dedicated to my Skyrim mods. There will be updates on there too. Northborn Studio

Here's a new update. Not everything in these pictures is static. :wink: Now I'm worried my enthusiasm is making me show more than I should, but it's still early in the project. Feast your eyes for now. Making excellent progress with quest code. Also bought a 200$ condenser mic for voice recording. I'm just that serious about the project and its quality. I'm still very much putting an emphasis on research and thinking, not just pure combat. There are decisions to be made. People you might let live once, may appear again later in the quest to hinder or help you. http://jep.sorrowind.net/blackmane/tb/13-BMD.jpghttp://jep.sorrowind.net/blackmane/tb/14-BMD.jpghttp://jep.sorrowind.net/blackmane/tb/15-BMD.jpghttp://jep.sorrowind.net/blackmane/tb/16-BMD.jpghttp://jep.sorrowind.net/blackmane/tb/17-BMD.jpg

Well I've altered the way I tackle the whole thing. Now I use a quest scene to have the npcs gather in the forest after the leader announces they're leaving. This essentially takes them out of the scene. They still seem to get stuck when the travel/follow packages kick in, but at least they already left.

Hey folks, I've been having a pretty annoying problem with a few npcs. Scenario: You have dialogue with the leader of a group of 4 npcs. When you select a certain dialogue option, he and his group will leave. The leader begins a Travel package, while the 3 others begin a follow package pointed to said leader (Alias ref). The issue is that more often than not, some of the npcs will just become stuck, stand in place for a long time while the leader moves way. Then after a while, usually minutes, they finally activate and run to catch up to their leader. I've heard the game's always had issues with active AI, but this is becoming a real nuisance. It ruins the scene to see two npcs suddenly stand about after their boss says, "Let's go!". It's usually not the same npc. I've tried calling a resetAI on all, an EvaluatePackage, none of this helped with NPC's getting stuck for a while. It really can't stay like this.