Mansh00ter

Due to RL reasons (work) this project is temporarily on hold. By that I mean a couple weeks at most. I will look at any game-breaking bugs that have cropped up with Basic Needs and issue a working version next week, sans any new features (that will have to wait until I resume work on this proper), but at least you'll be able to enjoy it hassle free, I can spare that much time.

Nice find Chaospearl - and it should work nicely with the mod since the tick is based on gametime.

@Magvedo - no showstoppers, just a bunch of RL issues cropping up and it is starting to get annoying. As soon as I have something properly cooked I'll release it, no worries. @aemaethcold - early on I played with various timescale settings, the problem with immersion is that, yes, days go by way too fast - when you're in town. But when out in the wild, you get around way too fast again; at default settings it takes me about two ingame days to cross the entire province of Skyrim. If I set the timescale to be more immersive in the towns, then that would mean I could travel from one end of Skyrim to another in about six ingame hours, when breaks immersion again. So I just opted to leave that part to the players themselves - the setting is easy enough to adjust to your liking so everyone can have it the way they like it.

Yeah, lately I just had barely enough time to hop on here and update the thread. Probably should have posted something on the mod page as well. Oh well, silence before the storm. ;)

Oh, that. Yeah, already have some prepared. In character too. :)

Wards already are slated to work like magical shields. However I am not yet sure how to best pull it off - making ward spells reduce or block damage is easy, but since the ward spells are not designed for that some cosmetic ugliness occurs (you block damage but the hit still visually registers / you still get an arrow to the knee). But in any case, yes, mages will have a tool at their disposal to actively protect themselves from physical attacks. And yes, more along the line of shields instead of armor. Armor spells, however, will still be in - and their effects are now taken into account as well. As for setting dragon brains on fire, that's just OP and thus is handwaved. :P @Xzone36 - that's weird. Reset function is precisely designed for that kind of issues. Feel free to describe your problem to me in more detail via personal message, and also include what other mods you're using.

Right now I'm busy with a project, should be finished by the end of the month, then I plan on really sitting down with this and putting in some serious crunch time. Any compatibility patches will have to wait until then, but once I get going I'll put them on top of the list.

Only Basic Needs are playable right now - as for the remainder of the mod, as soon as I have some concrete news I'll post them here. Right now, it's work in progress and the progress is good, if a bit slow due to ongoing RL obligations.

Great, I'll check it out, thanks.

@Tomislawus, I thought about that, but no dice so far. It could be done with scripts, but then you'd have to overhaul every spell in the game and it would be incompatible with other magic mods. Btw. if you figure out a nice easy way to spawn fire hazards at impact points from spells, let me know. I still want to turn the Flames spell into something useful, like creating fire barriers on the fly.

Nope, other things are. ;) Modding is relaxing.

That's the bad thing about debugging mods... you can't know if it's your mod causing trouble, someone else's, or the unfortunate conflict between the two. But do post specs and any script using mods you have installed.

I heard of it, haven't had the time to check out what it brings to the table. But is does sound better than having to run a loader. Although to be honest, the only thing that would entice me into using script extenders is if they added functionality like detecting headshots... current workarounds don't really do the trick. No idea why Bethesda decided to completely nuke body part hit detection... it would have been easier to just leave it in and flatten the effects.

Maybe, if I manage to debug the alpha code by then. In any case, I'll post it here and on the Nexus as soon as it is ready.

The same goes for creatures - the mod takes their basic stats and adjusts their combat difficulty (how hard they hit, and how much damage they can take) accordingly. So it should work with any creature, official or otherwise.

Not overwhelmed by the project, just by other stuff right now. But, it should clear up in a little while, then I will likely have more time to devote to this and progress should be faster. Also, thanks for your offer, but I... *puts on shades* ...work alone. ;) Once I release a more complete version, I will also make all source files available for tinkering with, and since I keep all my code well commented, it should be easy to dive right in.

Sans physical spell effects and after effects, that requires a complete rework of the way magic functions in the game and I don't have time to include it in alpha. Since this mod replaces the core damage model, it should work with any weapon, including crossbows and modded items, as long as that weapon has the basic set of traits (primarily keywords referencing weapon material type, weapon types themselves are hardcoded so all weapons have them by default).

Alpha, definitely. Something to spice up the combat, but not nearly feature-complete. Also, bugs, but everyone loves those. :P

Nah, just busy busy busy. Maybe I'll have something by the end of the month. About dodging.. currently there is no native way to catch key presses (left, right etc.) so no way to detect the direction the player is moving in. Maybe it would be possible to adapt the current "dodging" (the slow motion effect when you block with some perks) to just increase player speed when blocking+under attack instead of slowing everything down.

Tomislawus, not sure you and I understand each other. The combat model DOES take into account the armor of the target as well as the weapon type and class. What I am saying is that if you're fighting against someone in a full daedric set, you may want a quality weapon for extra sting. But an iron weapon will NOT just bounce off, doing minimal damage. Think about it. One of the main reasons for me doing this mod is to get rid of the completely non-consistent way your character gets challenged in the game world. If I make low tiered weapons drastically inferior in the most important field, damage, then I open the way for the player to become immune to enemies that wield such weapons. That translates to boring. And you can get that in vanilla already. Instead you should want a better weapon because it can hold stronger enchantments, has greater armor penetration, perhaps is faster (that bit isn't changed from vanilla), lighter, harder to break (if I manage to figure it out) etc. But the base damage is shared across all weapons of the same type. A stone ax might be a poor weapon compared to a steel one, but not when it comes to inflicting horrific wounds on an enemy, even if the former shatters on impact. So if you happen to like your iron sword, you CAN keep using it. You won't be able to kill special creatures with it, and it will make things a bit more difficult for you against heavily armored enemies, but not impossible, not to the degree that you have to upgrade your weapon or risk turning your game into a frustrating experience. I welcome opinions and suggestions, and also constructive criticisms (which is the reason why this thread exists in the first place). But the process of mod-making is one of constant trial and error, experimentation and research. I am not able to list every little detail here, I'd be at it all day and get nothing done (I talk too much about the damn thing already). If I do something in a certain way, there are good reasons for it, sometimes obvious, sometimes not. And also this: Exactly. But Skyrim is at its core a sandbox too, and can be more than just a collector game. Hence the character needs, the economy and inventory overhaul, the roleplaying and immersion module, the environment overhaul and a score of other planned features of this mod. It's not only about combat and gear.

... try hitting a melon with an iron bar and a steel one. Then come back and tell me all about your vastly different results. What you are talking about is not realism. It's about classic RPG player gratification. Playing the game to collect cool items. It gives you a goal, something to work towards a reason to "do quests". Quests are then just context. The game world too, for that matter. Want a different spin on "basic rules of game design"? Take a look at TaleWorld's Mount & Blade. Compare the very "best" sword in the game with a rusty cracked one of the same type. The practical difference is that you have to do maybe one extra slash with the junk one as compared to the "elite" version. Why? Because the game is a sandbox and gameplay is its own reward. It's also pretty realistic too. You don't spend your time trying to get "better items", you can completely deck out your character in the first 10 hours of gameplay and then spend another 100+ playing the damn game, doing other stuff aside from collecting items and gear. Now, I could argue with you about this and that... but the fact is that you haven't played the mod, and I have. When I say that weapons have differences, but not arcadey "elven-swords-do-more-damage-than-iron-ones", I actually know what I am talking about, 'cause, you know, I built the damn thing. You come in say that's bulls***. Fine. You are welcome to suggest things, but ultimately I do this for fun, so be polite. In the end, I am not trying to cater to anyone but myself and people who just happen to share my tastes. And the nice, relaxing thing about that is that I do not have to observe any deadlines, rules, instructions or opinions except those I set myself. So I suggest you relax too, wait for the mod if you want, try it out, play it if you like it or not if you don't. Simple as that.

And have a little faith. I'm trying to completely replace the combat system AND upgrade combat AI, which isn't easy nor simple. I wouldn't go through all that trouble just to make something that's bland and boring. Weapons do have differences, but along the lines of "right tool for the job", not "I found the Uber Shtick of Doom, the BESTEST weapon in the game!111!1!!!" ;)

Tomislawus, the title says "Total realism overhaul". Although I mentioned before that, since Skyrim is a fantasy game, I will make certain concessions with that in mind, the ultimate goal is to make the game consistently challenging, with a strong feel of immersion and realism. It's all about player freedom. So yeah... if you are skilled enough at fighting with rusty iron daggers, you could play, say a weird recluse hermit who just happens to be the last living master of the lost art of fighting with rusty iron daggers. And do the entire game with only your trusty rusty dagger at your side. Or you can use a different weapon combination. Maybe you would like to deck yourself out in full daedric gear. Maybe you want to play a swordsinger, wielding only a sword and light robes. Maybe you would like to play as a true barbarian, with a huge axe and a loincloth for armor. The point is, I am trying to make a system that will be consistently challenging and fun whatever the player chooses to play as. Mage, assassin, warrior, whatever. I *hate* when a game forces me to choose between how I want my character story to go and common sense because that item is just sooooo much better than what I have, but fits my character like a square wheel on a car. No itemization. Player freedom comes first.

If an item is enchanted to protect against magic, that will not change. Damage wise, a steel sword cuts just as well as a daedric one. The only difference is when you need to cut something... unusual. Then you need an unusual weapon. I want to liberate players from itemization - players should, in my opinion, be free to choose their gear based on their fighting style, realistic weapon attributes such as speed and weight, and of course, looks. I don't want to force players to equip "better" weapons (which they might not even like on their characters) just to perform better. The idea is that it should matter how you *play*, not what items you got. As for special weapon attributes, since the only way to differentiate between various weapon materials is by accessing their keywords, which for some reason slows down the script and adds a lot of lag, I had to scrap that idea for performance reasons. I had it working, but then the combat just felt weird. So I chose the more important of the two.

1. They look pretty? :) But seriously, you will need high-end weapons to tackle certain kinds of enemies, such as werewolves, ghosts, vampires etc. Basically, common weapons will be just as effective at killing ordinary opponents, but special ones will require special weapons. Think something along the lines of Witcher - a steel sword for the usual fights, a silver (or better) for the unusual ones. Aside from that, any other attributes, such as enchantment capacity, speed etc. will remain unchanged from vanilla. 2. I am overhauling the damage script to be more varied and intuitive, but also adding features such as active combat responses which should allow NPCs a degree of responsiveness closer to that of a human player. NPCs will block, parry, bash, dodge and sprint appropriately, as well as react to obvious threats such as the player aiming their bow at them (they will try to dodge or block arrows if they have a shield). First public release will be when I sort out that part, otherwise the fights can be too easily exploited in certain circumstances. Skyrim AI is unfortunately built around the fact that fights are mostly reduced to senseless bashing, so that has to be changed.