khravv

I know, but I mean make them even faster, since in vanilla state the speed isn't enough to be worth the trade off. (at least to me)

Sorry to bother you all with this small request. I'm running Oblivion on Linux and I haven't gotten the editor running yet, or I would have just done this myself. It won't take more then ten minutes of your time to make it most likely. I was just noticing that while I often had to choose between slow heavy-hitting two-handed claymores and the faster one-handed long swords, I never found myself tempted to touch any knives or short swords. In morrowind you did just because of "blade" being split into "short" ans "long" skills. But in Oblivion I just found I needn't bother, just go straight to the long blades. So what I am requesting, more for personal use then any sort of grand game-changing idea, is just a small mod the makes the short sword a little faster, and the knife a bit faster then the short sword. This way there will be a viable reason to bother with the two shorter blades. Yeah, this has probably been requested, probably been done. As I said, I would have done this myself if I had gotten the editor running on Linux.

Alright, i'll be away for a few days, i'll be out hunting. but I looked at your mod, and like it, i'll try it out as soon as I get home.

For the most part, I think we have acknowledged that this is going to be hard, and as I said earlier, we should focus first upon a Prototype mod that is more of a proof of concept to show that it could be done possibly, this way other modders may be motivated, and we can see what really works or does not work in the game itself. But first, I think there are a few things we need to work out. First, is that we know making a fully realistic AI would be hard, and if there was more then one of them, they may overload and/or crash the game if they get near each other. This could resolved by attempting to create an illusion of realism. Faking it. Instead of trying to create all of these morals and personal interests and evolving moods, we could see what all we could do to shortcut it, and make it more possible without crashing the game. After all, they may not have to be that elaborate to seem so. This leads to the second thing we should consider, and that is how we can make things like that happen in the most simple way possible. We should also consider what we want it to take form as. I'm seeing to trends, one is to enhancing how the general crowd acts, one is leaning towards how specific people act. Perhaps we should work these together. If we could get a loose not very complex system up (like what Grmblf said about multiple options) that slightly improves the crowd, and then pick a few specific NPCs we want to work on, and take them a notch further. This could be making NPCs aligned with certain quests reveal a bit of themselves in talking, this would give a purpose to the player chatting. This could be done in other ways to. We may want to focus on Companions to a degree as well. They would be the ones that the players spends the most time around, and would require the most work because of that. Here is where as many shortcuts and illusions would be good, as it allows us to simplify the system and make an AI that won't bog down the game and give us room to make more then one maybe. What we should focus on is rather then much dialog, building different levels of relationship that the NPC can go through. So this way the hero of Tamriel at the end to the game is treated like a star, same if the player gets to the top of the arena. This way if you travel through many lands with a companion, he will trust you more and may even journey alongside you even if you did not ask you, that he may aid you even if you do not pay him or feed him, because he is that close a friend. And also, while it is not my focus, it should be possible that if the Player is a male, and he has been traveling for most the game with a female companion and has gone through fights with her, she's healed him, and he has saved her, etc. there should be potential for a relationship. And now i'm not talking about stuff like she will decide to wear something more revealing, or that she will go through a provocative set of animations, I mean just simple stuff that makes it seem real. for example, if you could replace most of the generic companion lines with ones worded a little bit more affectionately, making the companions disposition a little more forgiving and not as prone to hate the player instantly. Nothing much, jsut make it seem like the NPC acknowledges the relationship. That is the biggest issue i've had with any romantic based mod, is that they all focus on animations, clothing, and scripted sequences, when all i'd want is for an occasional "honey" or "dear" and for the NPC to seem happy to see me, etc. Now once again, romance is not my primary focus, but I also see it as one of the many ways (and easier ways) to make the player feel connected with the NPC and feel more realistic.

Wow, and here I thought my suggestion would be outright ignored. What I was envisioning fits with almost all of that. The truth is, if it makes them more human seeming, how could it be bad? However we cannot do everything, and so maybe I think I should point out some things that would be more important, however I am more then open to ideas. I was thinking of things along the lines of: -Personal set of rules/morals. So that good NPCs would follow you, but if you did something unjust they would confront you, this way your companions are not robots who simply kill on command, but have their own ideas of right and wrong. -Personal quests. often times, even if they only have scripted personalities, having their own story quests that are unlocked if they like the player, and these alone help make them more real, although there needs to be a continued feeling of friendship. -Romance. While i'm not a romance junkie, or a porn mod lover, I recognize that having the potential for romance is fun, and immersing. However, when there is a character that feels like it has romantic potential, and yet nothing can be done about it, that reminds me its a game and breaks said immersion. -Backstory/job/purpose. The NPC having a purpose alone makes them seem more real. -Moods. If they can get depressed, and especially if the player can help them in that, makes them more real. not to mention if they feel good one day and are a lot happier and more upbeat in their personality, it makes them less predictable and more real. -Having interactions with other NPCs. like mentioned in QQuix's mod, if they interacted with each other and their environment it makes it seem like life happens without the player. -Ultimately, anything that makes them seem more alive, less predictable and robotic, and makes the player feel less like nothing happens without him. What would be interesting is if some smaller quests already ingame would be solved without the player, but this would be hard to do. -Initiative. If the Player starts all interactions, it feels fake. If a character who is supposed to be outgoing randomly approaches the player and asks his opinion on something, it seems more realistic. Like that argonian girl in Chorral. If they make small talk, or things like that, it seems better. If the player is infamous or suspicious looking, a guard could ask him a question, and if he is acting very suspicious the guard may follow him. The beggar who realizes the player is rich would maybe follow him. If the player stands in the chapel for a long time, the Priest should approach him and ask if he is okay, and if he needs prayer, etc. -Acknowledgement. If they like you, they would help you, if you are famous, they would react so. Why is it that even after the player has saved the land he still must pay for lodging, he still gets treated like a normal person, and people still have a mistrust of him? while some would still not like him, it seems odd he can be that famous and not be treated different. If the NPCs treat him according to who he is, that would be nice. If he is naked and without money, why would he get held up by a brigand? If he is massive and menacing with strong looking armor, dangerous sword, etc. then why is he still attacked with impunity? anyways, those are just a few ways I think Interactions could be enhanced. Thank you for your ideas and willingness to discuss this request.

Hmm, yeah, That shows some of what i was curious about, to a degree. However i'm not so much referring to making companions do more as companions, as more making default NPCs more human, and thus make them companions if that is their inclination. In reference to things like shop owning, My thought was that a NPC that has become a friend would still most likely stay with their shop and run it. What it'd do, instead of traveling with you, is if they would say, make things cheaper, repair items for free, innkeepers may give you a room for free, etc. Also, while the thought of being able to go out for a drink is cool, in a game that is fairly purposeless as there isn't anything to really chat about with the NPC. But if you were to befriend a guard, you might be able to persuade him on the grounds of your friendship to travel with you, but it'd depend once more on their mood. but ultimately, if such AIs would bog down the game, then maybe to start as a working prototype, getting things like one innkeeper in one town, one shopkeeper in another, one guard here, one adventurer there, etc. giving one of each sort of NPC with advanced AI spread across the land to keep performance going. I figure if the prototype can at least be placed out there, we can see if it really matters, as well as then it gets it out there to show that it can be done and opens it to the community to try and get to work.

I see, I had not considered that. Well, would it still be possible if one did not create the AI for all NPCs, but rather just a few, like say an innkeeper here and there, a few shopkeepers, some guilds members, etc. giving a good general spread, but not granting to all. Would that be better?

I have been around, watching mods for awhile. And through my observation, I have come across a collection of mods that show that there is a possibility of having far more depth for the worlds NPCs. This can be seen with the recently released mod that adds blushing to the game: Blush Mod in addition to this, There has been a mod that i hope many of you are aware of, made by Duke Patrick (I'm pretty sure) that added a companion to the game that he had made as a proof-of-concept, showing just how much could be done with a NPC. His companion had moods that changed, and directly responded to how you treated her, through words and actions. This meant that if you were a total jerk, she would leave you. She would disagree with you on some things,and ultimately she seemed far more alive then any other NPCs. The release of this blush mod brought this to mind, and I thought to myself that someone skilled with the set, and/or possessing some knowledge of how the mind works, could create an NPC that would be amazing. Now First let me make this clear, i'm not saying this as a request for a romance mod, but I am saying that this means they you could have a character that would fall in love with the player, not because he beat the special quest or said the magic words, but because of the way he acts. Likewise, this NPC would then be able to react to all things in a realistic way. And here is where my Idea gets big, to the point that many would stop and say it cannot be done: What if using this, one could make all the NPCs in Oblivion like that, so that each NPC has a mind of its own, each one has the possibility of becoming a good friend of the Player, instead of certain NPCs being doomed to be background unimportant people, they each, if they get along with the Player, could become good friends and close companions. And instead of retarded romance mods that make 1, just 1, designated NPC that the Player can woo, the Player instead could possible have such a relationship with any NPC, provided they get along. Now I recognize this is a huge idea, and would be happy even if I did only see one really good companion NPC come out of this all, but what I am getting at here is that it IS possible, and as long as a skilled modder is willing to take on the challenge, it could be done. what say you?

BUMP need this one done, i want the armors.

i tihnk most things have been settled, and that awsome man has a amost functinoal mlaster, and if he releases it, then we just need the rest, do it in increments and we'll have no problems, take what you want, leave the rest.

what are we waiting for? someone just go and make the mod! make the lightsaber as an optional file for those who don't want it, same with the storm troopers. there, simple. and if you don't think it fits the "fallout world" then zip your mouth and don't dowload, no one is forcing you to, and if enough people want it, you guys should be fighting over who gets to make it, because to make it means your mod gets popular. and you shouldn't try to force your veiws of what fits the game and what doesn't on other people, if we want it that bad, we'll make it fit, and if it betters the gaming experience, then who cares? -=end-rant-here=-