Bringing back Oblivion's Horses

[Mattiewagg]

Those were some confusing tags...

 

Anyway, I'm thinking about making a mod called Unique Horse Breeds which will add a system similar to Oblivion where the different horse breeds have different stats and such, to make them differ from each other in different ways than just "they have different colored fur". So I'd like your suggestions on what the differences should be. For now I'll probably just modify health, speed, and stamina as well as the regen rates for all of those stats, though if you've got any other suggestions I'll see if they're possible. I'm also not going to touch Shadowmere or Frost anytime soon.

 

Right now I have:

 

Windhelm Horses: +75 stamina, +10% stamina regen, -5% speed

Reasoning: The horses of Windhelm are hardier than any others in Skyrim. They have to face the biting winds of Northern Skyrim and navigate the slippery ice. As such, they have a much higher stamina and regain their strength quicker than most horses, though being slightly bulkier, they are a bit slower.

Whiterun Horses: +7% speed NEED OTHER SUGGESTIONS

Reasoning: The horses of Whiterun are used to running free in Whiterun's surrounding tundra. They are fleet of foot and quick to escape packs of wolves.

 

 

 

I'd like lots more suggestions, as well as some reasoning for your boosts as well, if you can. I'd also like to know if anyone's interested in me changing the costs for horses as well (I can't remember if Convenient Horses changes this... Could anyone remind me, since I'm going to try to avoid conflicts with CH if possible.)

[Kestrellius]

Really, there need to be multiple horse breeds. Not just based on city, but actually different types. Like, cheap pack mules or ponies or something, and then your basic middling travel horse, and then really expensive racing horses that are insanely fast and warhorses designed specifically for combat. And then I guess each of these breeds would be further modified depending on city?

 

Pack horse: low speed, low endurance, and little combat ability, but extra carrying capacity

Travel horse: completely average

Racehorse: incredibly fast, but may run out of energy quickly and won't last long in combat

Warhorse: lots of health and stamina, and possibly some special combat maneuvers, but a somewhat lower top speed than a racehorse

 

Also, horse naming. Seriously. Horse naming.

 

Honestly, I think if I ever actually start modding, I might just do an economics overhaul, as the septim in general is severely undervalued. I mean, it's a coin made of gold. You shouldn't need more than one to buy a bloody apple. And horses would be part of that, I think...But yeah, different prices for the different types. Definitely. I don't think CH changes that.

 

Oh, and. Horses in general should be a lot faster. Granted, you can change that with CH -- I generally use a 50% speed boost -- but still. They should be a viable alternative to fast travel, for those who prefer roleplay. Of course the core problem is that Skyrim's quests incessantly send you gallivanting halfway across Tamriel for the tiniest of events, but faster horses do help.

Edited August 25, 2014 by Kestrellius

[Mattiewagg]

Really, there need to be multiple horse breeds. Not just based on city, but actually different types. Like, cheap pack mules or ponies or something, and then your basic middling travel horse, and then really expensive racing horses that are insanely fast and warhorses designed specifically for combat. And then I guess each of these breeds would be further modified depending on city?

 

Pack horse: low speed, low endurance, and little combat ability, but extra carrying capacity

Travel horse: completely average

Racehorse: incredibly fast, but may run out of energy quickly and won't last long in combat

Warhorse: lots of health and stamina, and possibly some special combat maneuvers, but a somewhat lower top speed than a racehorse

 

Also, horse naming. Seriously. Horse naming.

 

Honestly, I think if I ever actually start modding, I might just do an economics overhaul, as the septim in general is severely undervalued. I mean, it's a coin made of gold. You shouldn't need more than one to buy a bloody apple. And horses would be part of that, I think...But yeah, different prices for the different types. Definitely. I don't think CH changes that.

 

Oh, and. Horses in general should be a lot faster. Granted, you can change that with CH -- I generally use a 50% speed boost -- but still.

I'm not going to make it incompatible with CH, so while some horses will be faster than others, I'm not going to make them all faster. I am making a name your horse mod right now, actually.

 

And I can't make different horse breeds, not really. Well, they'd just be duplicates of the others, with no real difference. What you're asking for would need new models, possibly new textures, and that is very difficult and time-consuming, aside from the fact that I have no skill in either of those areas.

[Kestrellius]

Hm...So the horses don't have a character model modification system, I guess? That's too bad, although I guess it makes sense. Still, the visuals would be rather less important than the stats, in terms of what I'm talking about. And honestly, I could probably handle modelling new breeds if I had the vanilla horse models in Blender.

[Mattiewagg]

Hm...So the horses don't have a character model modification system, I guess? That's too bad, although I guess it makes sense. Still, the visuals would be rather less important than the stats, in terms of what I'm talking about. And honestly, I could probably handle modelling new breeds if I had the vanilla horse models in Blender.

The thing is though I rather liked how Oblivion's horse system worked, and I just want to change the stats, not so much how the horses look, or add new horses. As such... Just going to be changing the stats on the vanilla horses. Also, none of the in-game horses could really be "warhorses" and such, since mounted combat isn't much of a thing in Skyrim.

[Quxudica]

Really, there need to be multiple horse breeds. Not just based on city, but actually different types. Like, cheap pack mules or ponies or something, and then your basic middling travel horse, and then really expensive racing horses that are insanely fast and warhorses designed specifically for combat. And then I guess each of these breeds would be further modified depending on city?

 

Pack horse: low speed, low endurance, and little combat ability, but extra carrying capacity

Travel horse: completely average

Racehorse: incredibly fast, but may run out of energy quickly and won't last long in combat

Warhorse: lots of health and stamina, and possibly some special combat maneuvers, but a somewhat lower top speed than a racehorse

 

Also, horse naming. Seriously. Horse naming.

 

Honestly, I think if I ever actually start modding, I might just do an economics overhaul, as the septim in general is severely undervalued. I mean, it's a coin made of gold. You shouldn't need more than one to buy a bloody apple. And horses would be part of that, I think...But yeah, different prices for the different types. Definitely. I don't think CH changes that.

 

Oh, and. Horses in general should be a lot faster. Granted, you can change that with CH -- I generally use a 50% speed boost -- but still. They should be a viable alternative to fast travel, for those who prefer roleplay. Of course the core problem is that Skyrim's quests incessantly send you gallivanting halfway across Tamriel for the tiniest of events, but faster horses do help.

 

Realistically full blooded horses should be very expensive and relatively rare. Most people would travel on ponies, donkies or pigmy horses since riding on a full sized horse not only wore out a valuable animal but was also very tiring and even painful to the rider. The smaller animals offered a smoother ride due to their smaller gate that was more conducive to long distance travel.

[Mattiewagg]

 

Really, there need to be multiple horse breeds. Not just based on city, but actually different types. Like, cheap pack mules or ponies or something, and then your basic middling travel horse, and then really expensive racing horses that are insanely fast and warhorses designed specifically for combat. And then I guess each of these breeds would be further modified depending on city?

 

Pack horse: low speed, low endurance, and little combat ability, but extra carrying capacity

Travel horse: completely average

Racehorse: incredibly fast, but may run out of energy quickly and won't last long in combat

Warhorse: lots of health and stamina, and possibly some special combat maneuvers, but a somewhat lower top speed than a racehorse

 

Also, horse naming. Seriously. Horse naming.

 

Honestly, I think if I ever actually start modding, I might just do an economics overhaul, as the septim in general is severely undervalued. I mean, it's a coin made of gold. You shouldn't need more than one to buy a bloody apple. And horses would be part of that, I think...But yeah, different prices for the different types. Definitely. I don't think CH changes that.

 

Oh, and. Horses in general should be a lot faster. Granted, you can change that with CH -- I generally use a 50% speed boost -- but still. They should be a viable alternative to fast travel, for those who prefer roleplay. Of course the core problem is that Skyrim's quests incessantly send you gallivanting halfway across Tamriel for the tiniest of events, but faster horses do help.

 

Realistically full blooded horses should be very expensive and relatively rare. Most people would travel on ponies, donkies or pigmy horses since riding on a full sized horse not only wore out a valuable animal but was also very tiring and even painful to the rider. The smaller animals offered a smoother ride due to their smaller gate that was more conducive to long distance travel.

 

Plus ponies are generally better at navigating mountains and also generally have more stamina.

[nivea]

As I have been scouring the web for information on Skyrim horses for personal and a upcoming mod information, I can say there are a few mods that do this (most the time only parts not all) that being said I believe as long as your going about it in your own way you should make the mod you want even if a similar mod is around.

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/31891/?

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/56521/?

 

CH does not edit any of the pricing, so I think that should be changed depending on the horse breed.

 

My beliefs would be this:

Whiterun: normal everyday average horses/pony, they are the work horses of skyrim. A balance thing mostly (because they are the first horse you find, and I believe should be one of the cheapest) and the fact that they are in the center of the trade/farming area, they would be less likely to have speed and more likely to have stamina/endurance. All around average horse.

 

Windhelm: The hardiest of the horses because of local, which you seem to be going with. Less speed but better for the cold and harsh areas.

 

Riften: I believe these should be the second cheapest based on what Riften is, because of the fact Riften is not the best of places (rip off central and its pretty poor area) I think they should be fast (not fastest but second) BUT very weak (health and stamina). I would think Riften would enjoy a fast turn over rate of rebuying horses.

 

Markarth: Because of the area and the fact that you can buy trained war dogs I think the horses of Markarth should be war horses, strongest (most health and strength), second best stamina and pricey because of training.

 

Solitude: I think these should be the fastest horses in the game, Solitude is not only the capital (most likely to have higher end stuff) but it is also the port city which is good for importing the best of the best for horses. They should have decent health, good stamina, fastest horses in the game and the most expensive.

 

My thoughts on how I would go about it.

Edited August 25, 2014 by nivea

[bben46]

I used horses extensively in Oblivion, they were an integral part of the game - Then AlienSlof's horse mods made them look even better. Other horse related mods made them even more a part of the immersion. Then in Skyrim, I don't use horses at all. They seem to have been stuck into the game as an afterthought with no real plan beyond, "Yeah, I guess we oughtta throw in some horses too." One horse is the same as any other. There is no real advantage to having a horse.

 

A pack horse that could be led would be good also. Possibly with the ability to string several to make a pack train.

BTW, What do the Kajiit traders use to haul their goods? When you see them on the road, no horses or wagons. Because of the deep snow, a pack train of ponies would make more sense than wagons for a trader.

[Mattiewagg]

As I have been scouring the web for information on Skyrim horses for personal and a upcoming mod information, I can say there are a few mods that do this (most the time only parts not all) that being said I believe as long as your going about it in your own way you should make the mod you want even if a similar mod is around.

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/31891/?

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/56521/?

 

CH does not edit any of the pricing, so I think that should be changed depending on the horse breed.

 

My beliefs would be this:

Whiterun: normal everyday average horses/pony, they are the work horses of skyrim. A balance thing mostly (because they are the first horse you find, and I believe should be one of the cheapest) and the fact that they are in the center of the trade/farming area, they would be less likely to have speed and more likely to have stamina/endurance. All around average horse.

 

Windhelm: The hardiest of the horses because of local, which you seem to be going with. Less speed but better for the cold and harsh areas.

 

Riften: I believe these should be the second cheapest based on what Riften is, because of the fact Riften is not the best of places (rip off central and its pretty poor area) I think they should be fast (not fastest but second) BUT very weak (health and stamina). I would think Riften would enjoy a fast turn over rate of rebuying horses.

 

Markarth: Because of the area and the fact that you can buy trained war dogs I think the horses of Markarth should be war horses, strongest (most health and strength), second best stamina and pricey because of training.

 

Solitude: I think these should be the fastest horses in the game, Solitude is not only the capital (most likely to have higher end stuff) but it is also the port city which is good for importing the best of the best for horses. They should have decent health, good stamina, fastest horses in the game and the most expensive.

 

My thoughts on how I would go about it.

 

Thank you very much for your suggestions.

I used horses extensively in Oblivion, they were an integral part of the game - Then AlienSlof's horse mods made them look even better. Other horse related mods made them even more a part of the immersion. Then in Skyrim, I don't use horses at all. They seem to have been stuck into the game as an afterthought with no real plan beyond, "Yeah, I guess we oughtta throw in some horses too." One horse is the same as any other. There is no real advantage to having a horse.

 

A pack horse that could be led would be good also. Possibly with the ability to string several to make a pack train.

BTW, What do the Kajiit traders use to haul their goods? When you see them on the road, no horses or wagons. Because of the deep snow, a pack train of ponies would make more sense than wagons for a trader.

And thank you too. I could probably duplicate one of the more packhorsey looking horses to do this...

 

One thing I'd be worried about is CH's sliders. I'm pretty sure they set the actor values I'm trying to mess with, rather than adding to them. I just add or decrease, but I think they actually set them.