Real-Time lockpicking, reading...

[kymmenen]

Hi, I have been thinking that it would be great to have the lockpicking mini-game in real-time instead of pausing the whole world for you to pick locks comfortably (it would make the whole lockpicking perk tree more meaningful, because, seriously, who has ever put perk points in there, when all you need is enough patience?).

 

Likewise, I also thought that Reading would be more interesting if it happened in real-time instead of pausing everything (for example to wait for magicka to regenerate meanwhile, or in combination to ScenicCarriages mod, etc).

 

I have a very limited experience with modding, but from my ignorance, it would seem to me that making both Lockpicking and Reading real-time shouldn't be too difficult since Enchanting and Alchemy already take place real-time.

 

So my question would be if there exists a mod which does that already, or, failing that, if some of you more experienced modders could explain me how difficult this would be, what would imply, or if this can this be done at all.

 

Thanks in advance for helping a newbie out!

Edited December 17, 2012 by kymmenen

[kymmenen]

Additional thoughts (trying to raise some interest in this):

 

Isn't it funny that you can spend minutes underwater to unlock a chest? I mean, who has ever needed a potion of underwater breathing when you have the ability to stop the need for breathing altogether? Real-time Lockpicking would solve that, giving at least some usefulness to Argonians' ability to breath underwater.

 

Another one: Imagine how different it would be to hide and sneak in a giant's camp site to steal from their treasure chest, if, all the time while you are trying to pick the lock, you would be hearing their heavy steps and those of mammoths around, being paranoid that a giant might see you, come around and put you in orbit with his club. How is it now instead: You just need to run straight to the chest, pause the universe, try and try until you unlock the chest, grab everything, and run away.

 

Another: Want to break into that rich merchant's house in a guarded city? How is it now: you crouch next to the door and wait for that annoying guard to look away for a second, and the moment you get "hidden", pause everything, unlock the door and get in. Real-time lockpicking would make burglary a hell of a lot more exciting, with all these guards and citizens wandering about. It'd also make investing in lockpicking perks worthwhile, because you'd really want to be able to pick locks as fast as possible.

 

I am interested in reading what you guys think. Would you welcome such a modification to lockpicking (extendable to Reading, even possibly accessing the Inventory)?

 

[chaospearl]

There is a mod out there that makes reading and smithing take time, but unfortunately it's a random amount of time that bears utterly no relation to how long you actually spent on the activity. You open the book or the smithing\cooking menu, close it, and a roll-the-dice random amount of time between 2 and 4 hours passes. Even if you only opened the book for .2 seconds real-time to check something. That was much more unrealistic and immersion-breaking than having no time pass at all, so I uninstalled it pretty quickly. I'd love a similar mod that actually made sense.

[kryptopyr]

I'd really love to see real-time lockpicking, reading, and smithing. I'd be less enthusiastic about the inventory. I have no idea how difficult this would be to do.