cfguy

Hey all, I apologize if this is out of line but I'm curious if anyone (specifically the mod author) knows if one can do minor edits of Audio Overhaul for Skyrim? It's an incredible mod, don't get me wrong, but the insect sounds break immersion for me. I live in a fairly northern region and when the weather starts getting below about 10 degrees C, bugs all but vanish. It's not wrong, and again all respect to the mod author and the work he's done, but it just feels too "hot" for me. Just wondering if I can remove them all together from say, tundra areas around Whiterun, etc. Any ideas? Thanks!

Mator: That's fantastic! I take a similar approach to most undertakings (calculated and do my research), I'm sure you'll do well. shady: Thanks, good to know. What's the performance hit like? I don't have the greatest machine, get about 25fps with ultra settings and all objects/terrain/character distance set to max. Just beginning my .ini tweaking now to figure out what will look best while giving me solid performance.

Definitely agree. My main point was that concepts of women only being in the house cooking and cleaning and having no place in warfare is possibly true in medieval England, but not at all so in historical Scandinavia. Not saying the game reflects it entirely properly, just that female warriors aren't purely a fantasy concept.

And +1 about swords too. It's definitely well done in being a game, but if I had a greatsword I wouldn't be swinging it like a baseball bat.

@ calfurius Definitely true :). Those things are heavy. But yeah, the game has a specific setting which I don't mind. I guess it's more just physics that bother me - choose the setting, characters, etc, you'd like, but when an arrow flies like a bullet, a tiny woman can swing a massive greatsword with no hinderance, etc, it kind of ruins the immersion in a way. I never expect it to be totally realistic, but realism where appropriate adds to the illusion of immersion. @ Zzimith True, but I think some of those points can be thought of as moot. Problem is that there's not standard for "realistic enough", or "accurate". I personally don't care if the world is different (i.e. the massive moon), etc, but some incorporation of physics and history can help with the feel of the game. People having glass in their windows doesn't bother me as it can be argued given the world and setting. I agree that it's not about historical accuracy, but the inclusion of nordic culture is what drew me to the game. Everyone has their preferences I suppose - I could personally do without the over-done fantasy bows and swords (but the more you know about something, the easier it is to find faults) that would really only be a hindrance in real life. Obviously these are not actual Scandinavians, but I would disagree with what you said regarding women - in some Europeans medieval societies, true, but again, in Norse history, women had a bigger role to play than in others, and played a bigger role in battle. More the exception than the rule, but it certainly wasn't looked at as an atrocity, and they had a large amount of influence in the home, in society, and as landowners.

Shadeybladey: Thanks! Me too, what's the point of playing easy games? Nothing turned me off Skyrim faster than making a Daedric sword at lower levels. I want to feel skilled, not invincible. I agree - crossbows were meant to be accurate at close range, and fast (not fast reloading, but very high velocity at close range). The benefit too was the relatively easy "point and click" utilization meaning soldiers didn't have to be trained from a young age to use them. Longbows were generally more accurate and more deadly, however, but again required significantly more training as well as strength. Can you explain ugrids? Is that the distance objects/characters render at? chanchan: Unmodified, I disagree. Playing with the .ini file I think fixes that but I've shot at things (on Xbox anyway) at reasonable distance that the arrow didn't impact at, even though I could still see the character. Realistically the max distance you're going to see things on screen that would represent real life is likely in the vicinity of 200-300 yards, which would likely be the max effective range of a longbow anyway. Again, .ini files seem to deal with that well enough. And people don't have scope eyes in real life so I enjoy the challenge. matortheeternal: 1. Sounds good 2. You're right, that's a bit complicated. I understand the purpose of modding and I think people getting too ambitious leads to frustrating problems not worth it in the end anyways. My pleasure! That's awesome; Kyudo definitely has a different approach, but I appreciate the mental side of it, and it's equally fascinating to me. I'm not sure what your modding experience is like but I'm confident it will be worth it - I've seen others attempt to modify sounds, etc, to no successful avail because people don't actually understand the subtleties of real life (the most annoying is sound mods that overdo all the ambient noise - real life isn't insanely noisy when you're standing on top of a hill). I'd be happy to help where I can!

1. If done well and not too extreme, fantastic idea. I would say to avoid too much frustration to assume that your character has had some experience with a bow at level 0 (i.e. likely in their culture), but clearly not enough to be "skilled" (just so bows aren't stupidly useless at the beginning). Maybe shooting the bow at all should very slightly raise skill? I.e. target practice? Not as much as combat or hunting though. Something like not being able to hit a head size target past 15 yards or so, and then getting increasingly better thereafter (until you can reliably hit things at longer distances - again, likely not possible to the same degree IRL, but realistic enough to feel authentic and rewarding without feeling really frustrating. Up to you though - no one can realistically hit anything in the head at 200m, but there are archers who can get within a few feet at that range). 2. Totally agree, or at least not be able to use it with any accuracy (this might get complicated though). There could be a seperation between "hunting" bows and "war" bows (although I do think there should be a longbow with a "warbow" class that deals significant damage and can shoot quite far), most being able to handle hunting bows well, whereas warbows (i.e. like daedric) should require high levels (i.e. Dwarven, Daedric, Orcish). 3. Totally agree again here. I think they should have some decent ranges though - the lightest likely being somewhere in the vicinity of "30 lbs" and the heaviest (i.e. daedric) being 150+ lbs. I'm not sure it should have a really short range so much as the light bow dealing nearly no damage past, say, 50 yards (with a max range of...100 yards?) and the Daedric shooting slightly flatter but also carrying energy much further. Again in real life, arrow weight corresponds to draw weight, which corresponds to energy. Light bows can shoot a decent distance but are much more easily affected by wind and have little to no energy at that distance (meaning little penetration), whereas heavy bows shoot a heavy arrow really far and can easily kill someone at 200+ yards. This could have an accuracy effect at longer ranges like you mentioned, but also damage scaling or armor penetration (light arrows rendered useless on armoured opponents at longer ranges). What you could do too is make it so that with light bows you can only use certain arrows (the materials don't have to be totally accurate but can be based on relative "level" of arrow as determined by Skyrim), i.e. light bows can use iron, steel, elvish, etc arrows and warbows can use the heavier stuff. All depends on how complicated you want to get. 4. Again totally agree, fantastic idea. Coupled with skill corresponding to accuracy this would be quite rewarding. All in all, fantastic ideas and I'd use it in a heartbeat. If you need any more help or want ideas of bow classification based on design, shape, materials, etc, let me know.

Thanks for the question! Most people won't like this but I honestly think it should be harder - it's bloody hard to hit things with a bow in real life and takes years of practice to be proficient. When I play, I up my Archery tree but I never take Eagle Eye or the 25% time reduction; I like it to feel realistic. I also remove the crosshair so I have to rely on my arrow point for aiming. I think they did a good job overall, but I think the thing that needs changing is usually ini tweaks, i.e. extending the max range of the bow. Even though it's hard, I think you should be able to hit targets at further distances. The best thing I could think is to make it harder depending on what type of bow you use and the distance, but that's hard to do without some sort of system in place. If any changes should be made I think it shouldn't be in marksmanship as much as other things, namely: extend range of arrow (ini tweak - arrows should be able to go about 300 yards, and should be lethal enough from falling), make locational damage effective, WAY smaller quiver, recover more arrows (specifically from trees, unarmoured bodies, not from hitting rocks), etc. Arrow trajectory is not bad I think, and you should need to aim "low" at close rangers (really anything closer than 40yards or so). Arrows should do serious damage to unarmoured chests and heads (lethal with headshots), though certain types of helmets (rounded, for instance) should render arrows somewhat useless (the right kind of arrow can easily pierce a helmet but deflection should be a consideration). Obviously not all realistic, but I love the feel of archery in Skyrim (better than any game I've played before). All in all, I think it should be more difficult (i.e. the way I tweak settings), and you should be able to carry less arrows (they take up a lot of room IRL), but pack a good punch, making archery something you have to be deliberate about (good arrows should be very difficult to find) but extremely rewarding. Hope that's not too vague :).

MOAR Necro: I agree IRL there likely wouldn't be many lumber mill workers or blacksmiths as females, but while they were less common, Vikings did have "shield maidens" who were relatively adept at fighting. Again, it's stupid to argue physical strength between men and women (no contest overall), but strength isn't the only thing when it comes to fighting. In Viking culture, women actually ran the estates too and took care of the land when the men were off trading or (in rarer cases, contrary to popular belief) raiding, giving women a decent amount of power/equality in society (they controlled finances). Equality in society and in marriages were far more common in Scandinavian history and came about faaaar sooner than in "Western" culture. Many women hunted too. Overall, I don't mind in Skyrim as I think it's a relatively feasible representation of Scandinavian culture (obviously fantasy though). Minus a few things here and there (nothing wrong with managing a mill however), I wouldn't say it's overly PC. Rant: One thing that does bug me (as an aside) in fantasy in general though is how only women seem to be archers (not usually an Elder Scrolls problem). Always some 90-lb elf chick drawing a warbow. In reality, warbows drew somewhere between 120-200lbs, depending on culture. Hunting bows were much lighter, but warbows were extremely heavy. I'm 6'2, 187lbs and weightlift regularly - I shoot a 54lb longbow which I can decently control (without any fatigure) from about 70-100 shots, depending on how often I practice. A 150lb bow is HEAVY, and I'm sorry but unless you're really well practiced from childhood, chances are you won't be shooting a warbow that often as the tiny supermodels they portray.

Hey guys, Not sure if this has been said, but I'd like to explain something with archery. I recently tweaked the .ini file to extend the rendering of arrows (you should be able to hit things at more than 100m). However, I've read in a few places that people are put off by the fact that the arrow travels up and then down (meaning you have to aim under the target). Quick physics explanation - if you aim an arrow dead straight and shoot it, it will immediately begin falling to the ground without raising upward (due to gravity pulling it downward - relatively obvious concept). However - this is not how archery in real life works. I'm an avid archer that shoots a hunting-weight longbow regularly (54lb draw, up to 100+ arrows per shooting session. A 500 grain arrow out of my longbow will go about 185fps - not uncommon to pass straight through a deer with a sharp broadhead). How the arrow flies is based on a combination of your line of sight relative to the arrow, and where the arrow is resting on the bow/hand relative to where you "anchor" on your face. When you draw an arrow, it's typically drawn somewhere to the face. However, where you anchor the string/nock on your face is probably the biggest determining factor on what your arc will look like. Something that helps describe this is your "point-on-distance" (POD), which is the distance your arrow will hit exactly where you're aiming at when you put your arrow point on what you want to hit (think of using your arrow point as a sight). How far your POD is is largely determined by how you choose to anchor and (less so) how you set up your arrows. You generally want a POD at least in the vicinity of the typical ranges you'll be shooting. For instance, see Brady Ellison, the gold-medalist US Olympic archer: http://www.mensfitne...ison-adjust.jpg You'll notice he anchors the nock below his chin - this is because Olympic archers shoot at about 75 yards in competition. He uses sights rather than his arrow point, but the same principle applies. What this does is effectively angles the arrow upward so that he can use sights and doesn't have to aim over the target at this distance. Realistically, I'd say his POD is probably well over 100y. Next is Dave Wallace, a champion of a number of longbow tournaments. http://leatherwall.b...all64267374.JPG You'll notice rather than shooting "split finger" (which also increases your POD), he's shooting with 3 fingers underneath the nock. His anchor is also much higher on his face. What this does is reduce his POD so that at closer ranges (i.e. 25-30y) he isn't aiming 7 feet underneath the target (assuming he's using the arrow point to aim). I'd guess his POD is probably somewhere around 40-50y. Hopefully that wasn't boring! My main point is - in Skyrim, the way people anchor and hold the string would likely lead to a POD of about 60-70 yards, depending on bow and arrow efficiency (obviously iron-weighted arrows won't travel as far as lighter arrows, i.e. glass). The arrow won't shoot straight and then immediately drop off at 5y, as this would require a large hold-over at further distances and this is a much more difficult way to shoot in real life (as your target is obscured by your hand), not to mention the back of the arrow being directly in front of your eye. I understand if people like the simplicity of aiming up, but hopefully this sheds some light for those that want immersion as much as possible. Firearms work the same way FYI - barrels come pointed at an upward angle. The main point is, if you aimed directly at someone's head at 10 feet away and your arrow would go exactly where you're pointing, the arrow would more or less have to be directly in front of your eye when aiming. This doesn't make sense, as your vision would be obscured, and when shooting anything at a reasonable distance (i.e. 40 yards) you'd be aiming 20 feet over the target. Hope this was interesting to some.

Thanks much guys! Lordmonkus: Couple things -ULO conflicts with AA, right? Does it do that on its own/wouldn't the game look worse? -That looks great - does it do the same kind of things that Realistic Lighting Overhaul does, like remove light from areas with no light source, and change indoor light to reflect outdoor weather (snow, rain, sun)? -Thanks for the recommendations, I'll check those out. I'll use AFT instead of UFO. Tenderhooligan: -Good to know! I've OC'd my CPU and can run Hitman: Absolution on high settings with some AA and tessellation. Should I avoid ENB and graphics mods to keep FPS up? I'll avoid them if not. Anything that's better than 360 is a bonus at this point for me. -I'll avoid locational damage and probably opt for one of the other mods that include it, I.E deadly combat or Duke Patrick's. Couple other questions: 1. What do you guys think of overhauls as opposed to making your own changes (via combat mods, perk overhauls, etc)? I'm not sure I want to go with Requiem or SkyRe as I'm not sure I like the idea of a game that doesn't feel like Skyrim and doesn't allow some other mods to be added in. Feels convenient but a little too constricting? 2. Any ideas how perk mods would affect things like ACE, DP's mod, etc? Can you manually disable aspects of them via mod console in game? 3. I can't remember which mod did this but I remember reading about a mod that re-did sneaking to make it more realistic, even factoring in the color of your clothes at night as to your visibility, and if you attacked someone and they survived, they basically would never stop looking for you. Any ideas? Also, any ideas which mods overhaul perks to un-break them, such as smithing, enchanting, etc? Those trees were stupidly OP'd (I made a daedric single handed sword that could one hit sneak attack dragons [6x multiplier], after which I stopped playing). 4. Do any of the added quest mods like "Dawn of Whiterun", "Falskaar" and "Helgen Reborn" conflict with other major mods (i.e. lighting, climate of Tamriel, etc)? Thanks a bunch guys, you're extremely helpful. I'd honestly not like to experiment and restart games too much hence my desire to try and compile a decent list first.

Especially out here on the west coast (Vancouver Island) :smile:. It's not that the trees aren't brightly colored, it's that the lighting in the winter/fall is crisper but at times a bit more bleak due to cloud cover, and there isn't much opportunity for brightly colored, more fragile blossoms to bloom in said seasons in places like the Yukon (been up there a few times). Certain areas of Skyrim being brighter (like the less snowy/more spring like areas...can't think of any at this particular moment but I've seen a few) I wouldn't mind, but some of the lighting mods make everything look/feel like summer/spring as opposed to the cold, cloudy north. Subtle but important for atmosphere IMO. Thanks! How does it differ from Realistic Lighting Overhaul? Any experience with it? Also, any idea about the mod compatibility I listed? And any idea of TK Dodge works with other combat mods?

Thanks guys, much appreciated. I'll scan through those mods Morgusified and see what works well. I'm having some trouble figuring which mods might conflict... I'll probably throw the majority of those in there. Thanks!

From what I understand the balancing factor of Duke's is that headshots are kills, but very difficult to get at close range. Drawing a bow fatigues you over time, especially if the bow is a heavy draw, and if you don't draw it back fully it's not a kill. Along with improved AI this sounds very reasonable.

Yes, that sounds fair, thank you. :wink: Have you looked into mods like "High level enemies" or "Duke Patrick's" combat mod?