Eye candy followers vs storyline followers

[BigBizkit]

Tag blocking isn't as efficient as one might think.

 

The companion tag will block the "sexy followers", yes. But it would also e.g. block Pirates of Skyrim, which sort of does not fit into any category, and imo rightfully holds the "Companion" tag as you can have a crew of followers and there are new followers added.

[Noortje]

I still don't see why that is interesting. Hotfiles is just one of many ways to find mods. Every experienced modder knows about followers like Vilja, Inigo, Sofia etc.

As to why so little people make followers like this: Way too much effort plus it's a lot more difficult. No brainer really.. what's the interest there?

[Boombro]

Sorry, but I know what your point was. And I know the plot, she is very well written.

[ThreeTen]

Honestly the best filter I have come up with is turning off the NSFW content.

[psychoslaphead]

"Making a follower is literally the easiest modding a person can do, especially if you keep the vanilla scripting and just add your favorite ADEC, CBBE, 7Base etc body and whatever snazzy clothing you like with a customized pretty face."

 

Hmm...have you actually tried to make one? Bethesda couldn't have made this process any more difficult compared to other games I mod. You have to use several tools and hope for the best to get a decent result. Some of the tools have flaws you have to work around. Doubt me? Just look at all the forum posts from people that go through all the (f*cking convoluted) steps, get a bad result, cry out for help in frustration, and/or just give up.

 

Noortje and I usually disagree on everything, but in this case, I think that other thread was closed for a good reason. The vibe kind of reminds me of Jersey Shore women sitting around saying "I hate her, she is so pretty (a sl*t, etc, etc.). Let's not talk to her."

[skinnytecboy]

The vibe kind of reminds me of Jersey Shore women sitting around saying "I hate her, she is so pretty (a sl*t, etc, etc.). Let's not talk to her."

Brilliant quote ! ;)

 

My own two pennies for what it's worth, making a "good" follower is hard. Because thanks to Inigo and his kittens, the bar has been raised as to what is expected from a follower mod.

 

Is it vanilla or custom scripted?

Does it have a story

Does it interact with surroundings.

Does it react to quests

Does it have its own quest

Does it summon it's own custom mount that sprouts fire from its bottom.

Does it do something different?

 

These are the kinda things we are constantly asked for by our supporters. So no, dismount your custom high horse.. any mod is hard to make if you don't know how. And even the veteran Modders are continually trying to do something new too.

[VoodooJinx]

But it so easy to change a followers armor if you don't like it

[skinnytecboy]

But it so easy to change a followers armor if you don't like it

Well, no one can argue with that. Ha, perhaps followers are really just Barbie dolls with accessories. That would explain the popularity of certain (well the majority actually) follower mods.

 

Each to their own I guess.

 

P.s. Professor Benjamin Doon sits in the middle here, being of course highly attractive and in possession of custom dialogue, I can't take any sides here ;)

[cdcooley]

There are really multiple kinds of follower mods and "eye candy" vs. "storyline" is one way of dividing them. The difficulty of making a follower mod ranges from the very easiest to the very hardest levels.

 

The easiest to make are the ones that just duplicate and/or alter the appearance of existing followers from the game. You can take the difficulty up a notch if you use clothing, hair, or even a race from another mod.

 

Things get much harder when you start doing new dialogue and trying to either give the character personality or a story. At the extreme, followers like Inigo, Vilja, Arrisa, Sophia, etc. (which have new locations, quests, reactions to and interactions with the world events, and so much more) are some of the hardest mods to make.

 

The "eye candy" followers will always be popular because they are easier to make, nice to look at, and don't come with a story or real personality so the player can either make things up or simply not worry about that sort of thing. "Barbie dolls with accessories" is probably the very best way of thinking about them. And some of us never really enjoyed playing with Barbie, but many more did.

 

When you get to "storyline" followers, they have a story and personality of their own which won't match everyone's taste or suit every type of player character. For example Vilja really isn't a great choice for your dark and evil character and she is too chatty for many people's taste. Some people get really upset that Inigo's appearance can't be changed, that he can't be married, or that he isn't a mage. I don't personally enjoy Sophia's type of humor. Some of the followers in Interesting NPCs just aren't ever going to work for a "good" character either. The important part is each of theses is actually unique in more than just appearance (and for some like Vilja the appearance is so unimportant that there are multiple options).

[robberfox]

I'm going to just shamelessly advertise a bit and say I have a follower in the works that is 100% storyline driven and jesus it's a pain in the balls. I can see why people would rather just make a pretty custom face and piggy back off vanilla scripts (Seriously all you have to do is copy and paste stuff it's really not hard) , but personally I was always a little irked with how little personality Skyrim had for many of its characters. There are a few standouts but they only stand out for a little while before they succumb to bland Bethesda-itis. That and most of them just kind of exist only when you're there.

 

At the end of the day, stand a sexy follower next to a follower with actual character, I'm gonna take the one with a storyline. I can shove them into whatever sexy armor I want later on.