Total Realism Overhaul

[Mugwump666]

It all sounds very interesting and ambitious. Maybe overly ambition if I may? I suggest you divide your mode in different modules so you can release stuff little by little and so that people can choose the stuff they like and leave stuff they dont want alone. Many interesting things though. I like parrying with dual wiekding, damage from very cold water.. even if it's low damage... and making the overall experience tougher..

A good key for dual wielding parries would be ctrl as usually there's no way to become stealthy while in combat mode ( except with appropriate perk ) and if you have perk maybe it's possible to make stealth switch short ctrl key press and parry long ctrl key press.. Parrying was very common with two weapons in the middle ages there was even a left handed dagger made especially for parrying that was called "left hand dagger".

Edited January 9, 2012 by Mugwump666

[Mansh00ter]

Can you please rename this from "Overhaul" to something else? I'm really sick of seeing mods named "x overhaul", when they completely change something. The official defintion is:

 

"Noun: A thorough examination of machinery or a system, with repairs or changes made if necessary."

 

Hardly any of the changes from the mod are necessary, and they aren't simply "repairs". Something that fixes balance or fixes bugs or fixes other problems in the existing game is an overhaul. I would call this a "Redesign" because that's what it is.

 

Aside from that it sounds good.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but I think the name fits well - after all, it is a "thorough examination of a system" and will definitely make changes, which are quite necessary if you want to play Skyrim and have a more immersive and deep experience, which is the goal of the mod. To me, health regen is obviously a bug. ;) What is necessary and what isn't depends on what you are trying to do.

[Mansh00ter]

It all sounds very interesting and ambitious. Maybe overly ambition if I may? I suggest you divide your mode in different modules so you can release stuff little by little and so that people can choose the stuff they like and leave stuff they dont want alone. Many interesting things though. I like parrying with dual wiekding, damage from very cold water.. even if it's low damage... and making the overall experience tougher..

A good key for dual wielding parries would be ctrl as usually there's no way to become stealthy while in combat mode ( except with appropriate perk ) and if you have perk maybe it's possible to make stealth switch short ctrl key press and parry long ctrl key press.. Parrying was very common with two weapons in the middle ages there was even a left handed dagger made especially for parrying that was called "left hand dagger".

 

No worries, the mod will be modular at first, later you will be able to turn features on and off (and adjust some things) via an ingame menu.

 

I am considering several approaches for dual wielding parrying/damage evasion, I'll post more when I test a few things. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Oomo]

 

Hardly any of the changes from the mod are necessary, and they aren't simply "repairs". Something that fixes balance or fixes bugs or fixes other problems in the existing game is an overhaul.

 

No I think overhaul is perfect. Most of the changes [fixes actually] in this mod are VERY necessary for many of us, so much in fact we aren't playing the game until mods like this are out.

 

For those who hate hand holding then this game is seriously broken for them and definitely needs fixing.

[grobbendonk]

i got an idea, you cant swim in heavy armor because then you'll drown, and you swim slower with any armor/clothes then just swimming naked.

[Lazergunz pew pew]

I will definetely be downloading this!

Few suggestions

Realistic Torches , cant just put them away , you have to either drop them or douse them in water.

Not exactly realistic this one but could make the game more fun , Huge variation on poisons , the enrage one doesnt make them suddenly attack it just makes them hallucinate and there is a possible chance they attack , or do other strange things , like run away , or hide in fear.

Another poison could perhaps blind them? Also perhaps adding the ability to poison food.

Realistic Horses , need to maintain and keep your horse healthy , feeding , watering. Having saddlebags on them, and perhaps giving them armour or protection ( If bethesda dont allready do another horse armour dlc ;) GOD FORBID). The horse should be an essential part of any adventurers arsenal , also if you make them more important the player would probably see the horse as a companion of sorts.

And maybe add change the reactions of npcs , bandits running in fear seeing someone equipped in full daedric. Caution if they see someone averagely equipped e.g Dwarven they should be saying they dont want to fight , this should also depend on the numbers of how many npcs there are.

Also to make things more realistic aswell to have more recruitable npcs , one man cant take on a entire bandit camp! it should be a team effort! And dont forget the fun that could be had with raiding towns with bandits! The ammount of npcs recruited can be based on speech skill

( Which is pritty useless tbh so if you could recruit people with it also it would become much more desirable to spend points in that perk tree and level it up). The faction you can recruit should depend on how you play , e.g if your evil you can recruit bandits , or if your a vampire you can only recruit other vampires , or if your good/neutral you can recruit adventurers or bounty hunters.

Also realistic Civil war! It doesnt really feel like a civil war tbh , maybe seeing a couple of skirmishes/battles between the Stormcloaks and the Imperials.

And reaistic wilderness please , skyrim seems so overfilled with wildlife its such a pain to be walking and every 20 seconds you get in a fight with a wolf , a bear , or a sabre cat.

Will definetely get my FOTM and endorsement when it comes out im grateful someone is making this mod , i will love you when its released. :) Good luck with the mod!

[Skrdrm]

Hi,

 

I'm really looking forward to this mod. I've put roughly 100 hours into Skyrim, but without these survival and other realism elements I simply feel it plain, half realized.

 

Here are a few suggestions that first came to my mind. I haven't read all these 40+ pages, so sorry if I'm repeating someone. :)

 

- I read you'll make gold less available, but to what an extent? I suggest to seriously degrade the amount of gold coins and purses lying around at tables and counters, and totally remove gold from burial urns and other unusual stuff. Make odd jobs (wood chopping, harvesting stuff) for righteous characters, and pickpocketing/stealing for thief ones a required activity to keep them alive, at least at the beginning of the game when you are a just stranger just arrived to this cold, hard land.

- Simulate armor restrictions/effects. Wearing a steel plated armor would result in much more slower manoeuvering and maybe slower swinging also, but obviously you could take more hits. Material toughness, if possible: A proper steel armor shouldn't be penetrated by Falmer or other crappy arrows, just make them bounce off without causing any HP damage. Blade weapons should be less effective against such hard materials, meaning it would not be possible to cut through a steel armor with an ordenary sword, but striking it would result in various negative effects. For example; catching a bladed powerattack with your steel helmet could result in having camera shake, blurred vision, earringing etc and of course pain/HP loss, but not that much as would be without head protection.

- Add the weapons more combat value. Make it so the player would really prize a good, sharp iron sword. Currently, after level 2-3 you dont really use iron weapons because the gameworld is flooded with steel, a bit later orcish etc weapons.

- Add a "sleep anywhere" option for occasions when there are no beds or haystacks available nearby. You could just lay down in a middle of a forest and sleep if you really tired, but with reduced resting effect compared to sleeping in bed. Some random events (like you waking up something biting into your leg, or feels someones hand in your pocket) during these sleeps would add much to the immersion. Alone at night, out in the unforgiving wilderness.

 

I hope you understand me, english is not my first language.

I wish you good luck with this promising project. I can help/supply you with sound effects, if need.

Edited January 10, 2012 by Skrdrm

[Calamachus]

Awesome ideas. All for it, I'm about 325 hours into Skyrim and a bit burned out on it. This would really breathe some life into the game again for me.

 

Suggestions on dual wielding -

 

One thing I'd love to see removed is the idea that you just can't do certain things because of you fighting style. Let dual wielders parry, just not as effectively. In fact I'd say tie the effect of parry be tied more to the weight of their weapon than their skill and make shields weight x 3 or something comparable to reflect their better value at blocking. If comparative weight of attacking/parrying weapons can be compared and used as a relative percentage of parry effectiveness that would be amazing. Blocking a two handed hammer with a dagger is like trying to kill a dragon with a fork.

 

A dodge mechanic similar to the one in Oblivion (you dodge left or right, forward or backward) with a speed/distance dependent on your block skill. Take block and make it more of a 'not get hit' skill tree as we no longer have athletics available. The advantage of a block/parry technique over a hit and move technique is reliability, consistency and the ability to turtle behind your shield regardless of terrain. Stick and move, hit and doge needs open space. Sword and shield in a narrow hallway or a crowded battlefield is way better than dual wielded daggers in terms of survivability.

 

Suggestions on sneaking -

 

Shields should hamper sneaking. Weight of your weapon should as well (this and previous suggestion buoyed by your idea of weight reflecting size/cumbersome nature not just weight) as should your total carry weight, not just armor. A dagger has no real place in a battle save as a backup. It is however the idea weapon for sneaking in and killing people, attacking from behind, everything like that. A 'cover' sneak option when out of doors would be amazing. Idea being you're dropping prone, scooting behind bushes or whatever. You're stationary and can not attack or defend but you get a big sneak perk. As you can't climb trees to set ambushes this seems like a reasonable compromise.

 

I'm not against the sneak/thief/assassin character concept at all. Just that if it's realism that's the goal there is a whole different build of gear and skills for that compared to a heavy fighting sort. A heavy fighter should have a real tough time trying to sneak and assassinate or steal just as an assassin/archer sort should have a tough time on a battlefield.

[StuMandrake]

Some fantastic ideas in here from manshooter and others..

 

Im particularly excited by the "survival" changes. Someone, way back on page 7 or something, mentioned an "Outdoorsman" skill. A Brilliant idea. I love wandering the plains and mountains of skyrim with my bow and would love to be able to go fishing and settle down and make camp by the lake for a night or two.

 

As for environmental changes, Id still love to see footprints in the snow from player characters and npcs and animals too. (tracking animal footprints could open up some nice possibilities for the "Outdoorsmen" out there.

 

It would also be great to see the landscape change with fresh snowfall covering bodies and loot over time.

 

also wolves attacking mindlessly is annoying i rarely loose out to 2 wolves... let them roam in packs instead of pairs.

 

anyway its late...and i cant remember any of my other points. :sleep:

 

Goodluck mansh00ter and anyone else who gets involved here...if i knew how to mod, id offer my services

[obdown666]

It does sound great, in particular the immersion improvement focus. To that end, please consider these things which I would love to see. More difficult to code as you move down the list. Modify ideas as needed to enable implementation using the CC. Point one is the most critical to me. Taken together, these would really improve immersion, and thus add great replayability and strategy variations.

 

1. Decouple crafting from character experience, and call them professions. Doesn't make sense to be able to rise so quickly in order to make a few bucks to pay for a house. Then modify the learning curve so rate increase is based on variation and complexity, not unit production. I like the professions to make gold, but not spam experience. At low levels, professions cost a little money to advance in skill in terms of resale value, then they break even, then they start making you money.

2. The professional Cook: Make food associated with increasing regen rates (it takes time to digest food!). Health and Stamina Potions provide instant improvement, not regen, in order to clearly separate the two. Also, much fewer of them. Nothing ruins immersion quicker than downing enough food to choke an elephant in between axe swings.

3. Other professions would be virologist (make poisons), healer (instant health potions and cures for individual diseases incl. vampirism/lecanthropy at high levels (Might as well not have diseases now as they are far too easy to cure) Alchemist (all other potions) --note that health, stamina and magica potions are instantaneous (but decreased a little in strenght from vanilla), AND, only so many can be quafed per minute of gametime (as in Oblivion), while food affects only the regen rate over minutes or hours, with only one type (of a few food categories) able to be active at any time) (also, need to allow use of a few ingredients like dragon bones and troll fat to be used in the kitchen), bowyer/fletcher, armorer, weapons smith, enchanter, scribe (makes copies of books, including spellbooks), jeweler (remove from smithing), Necromancer (lifestealing potions, enchantments, summon 1 permanent (and fairly mindless) undead servant, and makes black soul gems by combining malachite, ebony and a flawless gem)

4. You talked about sleep - your natural regen rate should begin to drop without sleep, eventually overcoming any amount of food consumed. Should carry a bedroll. Wish random awakenings could be programmed...

5. All professions can be performed by all but max out at ~50%, and increase much more slowly (33% skill rate increase) as compared to a primary profession (100%) or secondary profession (66%) selection.

6. Create trainers.

7. Of course would want to create perk trees in a separate section.