Cooking Overhaul: Complete Kit

[Borgin]

Hello, all. I'm very new to TES modding but I'm an ambitious, intelligent young guy eager to learn.

 

Recently, I downloaded the CK and dabbled (very lightly) in it, but it got me thinking- with all this power at my fingertips, what do I really want to change? Further, what needs changing? Many of my friends play Skyrim, so I've taken to asking everyone "What is your least favorite aspect, system, event, etc in Skyrim? What one change would you make? Weirdly (albeit understandably), many of my friends were deeply disappointed by the cooking system in Skyrim. I mean, they created an entirely new crafting system for what, less than 20 recipes, half of which are "[xyz] Meat + Salt Pile", and almost every crafted item does nothing more than "Restores 10 Health". Zzzzzzz.

 

I spent some time tinkering with the CK and discovered it's incredibly easy to create (and modify) things just like this, and I was pleasantly surprised with the flexibility one has within the CK, even without scripting, modeling, or really any real understanding of what things actually do. With some trial and error I was able to make a few new items, and for reading all this way, here's one (granted the stats are very beta but I'm pleased with the image I managed to stumble upon):

Click here- apparently the forum doesn't like this image extension.

I am aware there are "cooking mods" out there- mods that modify existing recipes, mods that add new ones, mods that change food buffs, mods that require the player to eat, and probably more I've not yet discovered (I did some sleuthing to see if anything like I am planning has been done). However, I'm proposing some changes that are more immersive, exciting, and balanced.

 

The Basics

-All food separated into four "tiers" along with a fifth tier of "secret" recipes. Generally, foods of the same tier have similar (but not identical) power levels, values (more on this later), and required ingredients.

The first tier includes almost all raw food materials- fruits, vegetables, Salt Piles (and perhaps some additional spices I am thinking of adding), and common raw meats. Every Tier 1 food item can also be used as an Alchemy reagent (just like Salt Piles)!

The second tier is likely going to be smaller than the first tier, but includes rarer "base" ingredients- rare meats, nectars (a new itemtype), and possibly alcohols (if I choose to include brewing recipes in the mod). Tier 2 will also include a number of "intermediate" food items (created food products that are used in numerous other food recipes... things like Mixed Vegetables, Mashed Potatoes, bread-type items (rolls, cakes, loaves), and the like).

The third tier includes food items created from mostly Tier 1 ingredients. These will have generally powerful effects, though likely nothing terribly exciting or unique.

Tier 4 food products are the most powerful food items of all and largely unique, like the Daedric Souffle shown in the screenshot. Ingredients for Tier 4 items are often difficult to come by and valuable, though some Tier 4 items simply require large amounts of earlier-tier food products.

Tier 5 items are where I think a lot of the excitement lies in the mod. Tier 5 food products are not necessarily the most powerful, but each one can only be cooked when the player learns the appropriate recipe- either from a recipe sold by a vendor, a recipe book existing in the world, a quest (potentially), or a hidden perk system (again, potentially). One item I'm working on is Fire Salt Curry, a food item that casts "Yor Tool Shul" (Fire Breath) when eaten, and grants a long-duration Fire Shield and Fire Resistance buff. I'm also considering (and please bear in mind I know nothing about scripting so I only assume this is possible) a very limited-quantity recipe that grants the player a perk point when consumed. Tier 5 items may also grant permanent stat/skill buffs... or penalties. These are the food items for die-hard Elder Scrolls foodies!

-Generally, foods restore Health, Magicka, or Stamina (or a combination of the three)... but are percentage-based instead of Skyrim's flat restores (and regens). Most "prepared" foods also grant a "Well-Fed" bonus that increases skill experience gains by an amount proportional to the tier/difficulty of the food product.

-Food buffs are mutually exclusive to allow for very powerful effects (like the Daedric Souffle). Eating another food before the buff expires will automatically overwrite the old food buff.

 

I have a number of other ideas- cooking-based perks (likely placed in the Alchemy tree), cooking increases Alchemy skill, rewards for reaching thresholds of # of cooked items (i.e., a permanent 5 point Stamina buff for eating 250 Tier 1 items, a permanent 5% Magicka resist for eating a certain number of a specific food item, a free perk point for learning every Tier 5 recipe, etc), cooking quests, an entire cooking skill built from the ground-up with a hidden perk tree managed by a vendor, misc items that enhance or modify your cooked items, et cetera.

 

Long-term goals are very lofty, as is quite obvious, but in the short-term I would like to just get a functional food overhaul out (%-based healing, 1-4 tier system, Alchemy effects for all T1 foods, enough new items added to make things interesting).

 

Due to my lack of skill, however, I am just looking for some help with brainstorming things. I'm not begging for help with modeling or scripting or anything, because the whole point is to learn for myself, but I am only one person, and while I am mostly aiming to please myself with this mod, I would also love to create a mod that other players would enjoy as well. Any thoughts, criticisms, opinions, ideas, or anything else regarding my plans is more than appreciated!

Edited June 21, 2012 by Borgin

[Stemin]

I guess my thing would be how do you come up with a credible cooking recipe list that actually adds something to the game. I mean there's so many ways already to over power your character. I personally don't have a problem with it, but that seems to be a major complaint among other players is they don't find it challenging enough.

 

That recipe you posted in the image is fairly simple and as near as I can tell the souffle (sp?) seems to fit right into the "over powered" category.

 

Most people don't even realize that the stock recipe system has a few over powered items in it. Or at least one major one that stands out to me. Vegetable Soup. for 720 seconds, which is 12 minutes, you gain 1 point of stamina per second, which is enough to guarantee unlimited power attacks which is a major boon if you're a two-hander, since power attacks only require a smidge of stamina remaining to actually work.

 

Anyways, that's my 2 cents. Your idea has merit in the lets add more creativity to recipes sense, but what does it really add to the game overall?

 

I do applaud your efforts to learn the CK and I hope that someday you come out with a neat quest or something instead of a lot of these visual mods I see that don't really add gameplay.

[Borgin]

I guess my thing would be how do you come up with a credible cooking recipe list that actually adds something to the game. I mean there's so many ways already to over power your character. I personally don't have a problem with it, but that seems to be a major complaint among other players is they don't find it challenging enough.

 

That recipe you posted in the image is fairly simple and as near as I can tell the souffle (sp?) seems to fit right into the "over powered" category.

 

Most people don't even realize that the stock recipe system has a few over powered items in it. Or at least one major one that stands out to me. Vegetable Soup. for 720 seconds, which is 12 minutes, you gain 1 point of stamina per second, which is enough to guarantee unlimited power attacks which is a major boon if you're a two-hander, since power attacks only require a smidge of stamina remaining to actually work.

 

Anyways, that's my 2 cents. Your idea has merit in the lets add more creativity to recipes sense, but what does it really add to the game overall?

 

I do applaud your efforts to learn the CK and I hope that someday you come out with a neat quest or something instead of a lot of these visual mods I see that don't really add gameplay.

Stemin, thank you for your comments, I'm glad someone finally gave me some input. :)

 

The soups/stews that exist in the regular game are fine. Frankly I think we'd all agree that power attacks are borked, requiring only 1 stamina to function, and this is something that needs changing (but is outside the scope of this mod)...

 

The idea is essentially that cooking adds immersion. I don't need it to add anything necessarily to gameplay, though I would prefer that; but the way cooking exists in vanilla Skyrim, it's completely worthless above about level 10 (unless you make the 720s duration items, which are relatively decent).

 

The Daedric Souffle (spelling is correct) is just an idea I had for an item; the healing/regen values are subject to change, though I like the reagents, the general idea for output, and the graphic. I intend to change it to %-based healing, and I imagine I'd give it something like "Restores 50% hp; Restores 2% hp/second for 3600 seconds (for even the most overpowered characters, this is about 10 hp/second, which at end-game is hardly overpowered, and I would even change it to 1% hp/second if necessary); Resist Magicka 25% for 3600 seconds". When the player actually discovers this recipe, it will likely not be overpowered, and Daedra Hearts are difficult enough to come by that I'm not terribly concerned if the player acquires this recipe earlier than I intend. As far as its "overpowered" status goes, I feel like vanilla potions are capable of being much more powerful, restoring an immediate 150 hp (alchemy ~90 with appropriate perks), and granting a similar magicka buff, while requiring only two basic ingredients. I intend cooking to be a compliment, rather than a replacement, to Alchemy, and eventually food items will be very diverse compared to alchemy potions, but that is a pretty long ways off given the skills I have in the CK...

 

Frankly, 12 minutes is not very long at all- if you fast travel, the duration of the food item is largely spent, and generally speaking the 720s duration will have expired by the time you arrive at your destination. Sure, you can slurp a Vegetable Soup mid-combat, but it will likely only last you through the dungeon you are in, and I don't think unlimited power attacks are incredibly overpowered (given the fact that stamina regenerates naturally and you can power attack every 5s if you just wait a bit)...

 

Ultimately I think you are getting too hung up over basic numbers and you aren't focusing enough on the potential positives this could bring to the game (though perhaps I am overlooking basic gameplay elements that I ought correct). Yes, this may make high-level characters slightly more powerful, but there are plenty of difficulty mods out there (many of which I play with, honestly), and this gives the player a few more options (instead of simply relying on buff potions or Alteration magick). Balance may be tricky but I do intend to strike it.