Serana Vampire Lord

[ArcieAdam]

I just want to iterate first that this is not a mod request. I posted a request on the requests board, and it fell down pretty quickly, so I'm trying my hand at it myself.

 

I'm designing a mod that enables Serana to transform into a Vampire Lord herself, as her blood should allow. The conditions for her transformation I want to keep simple enough so that it's not complicated to implement, but complex enough so that it's not overused, as sort of a last resort ability. Thus, the condition that I am aiming for is that, 1 - Serana's health has dropped to 50%, and 2 - She is in combat mode. OR, in addition to this, Serana may be prompted via dialogue to switch, and then again prompted to switch back. That's the simple outline.

 

Additionally, for my own sake, I'm hoping to incorporate this mod: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/25321 into the mix. However, I'm not unsure that if I install the mod, it will affect Serana anyway without additional modding. I'll have to wait and see, and I'll certainly need to get the first step down before this becomes an issue.

 

That's the game plan. What I'm looking for is feedback, and possibly some guidance. I know my way around the CK, but I'm inexperienced in making mods, I've only made very slight, dirty changes that aren't worth uploading, like making Serana's armor removable so that I can equip her with clothing. I can certainly find my way around it though, I explore the CK often enough. Do you think this is a mod the community would be excited for? Is there a condition to the transformation you'd like to see? And although I want to release a version that simply does what I've described, do you think a quest would be appropriate, or should this simply be something Serana can do on her own, being a powerful vampire in her own right?

 

Looking forward to your feedback,

-Arc

[ArcieAdam]

I thought I might update my progress, which is entirely theoretical. I've made no physical progress, but, I think I've managed to clarify a few things.

 

Looking at Lord Harkon in the CK was a bit revealing. Although I couldn't find exactly where in the CK he transforms, his human race character lacks any sort of transformation ability. Further, there are three other Lord Harkons in the CK, two of which are beast form races. Thus, I can assume Harkon's transformation during his introduction is scripted, and when you do eventually face him (I have not yet), he will already be shifted.

 

What this means is, I can't simply add the Vampire Transformation ability, and its Dismissal ability, to Serana's spell list and attach conditions to it. What likely needs to be done is similar to Harkon; A script needs to be attached to her that, when the appropriate conditions are met, she plays her transformation animation, and the female vampire beast race is added in her stead at the appropriate level. When other conditions are met, and combat mode is finished (Or, if you request she changed into a Vampire Lord, and you need to request she change back), replace the Vampire Lord with Serana. Unfortunately, that makes my wish to see the above mod included that much harder. If Serana as a Vampire Lord is a completely different entity in the CK (Which, in retrospect, should have been obvious), then she'll either be ugly, or, additional work would need to be done to create a new mesh and texture for her Vampire Form, no small feat for someone of my skill level.

 

With those clarifications, maybe someone can offer some guidance or assistance?

[jack013]

there was one that i'm sure did this, called something like seranas secret but i can't find it.

[ArcieAdam]

Really? In that case, maybe I should ask the mod detectives on the stickied thread. I looked myself with Serana and Vampire Lord as keywords, and didn't find anything, but maybe they'll turn up something.

 

If that doesn't work, though, maybe I'll see how difficult Papyrus is, maybe scripting isn't as terrifying as it looks at first.

[sixpak]

It was removed from nexus i believe because the author thought it was causing too many bugs ( not sure on that at all ) however it is still up on steam. Google search will find it.

[ArcieAdam]

Oh, excellent! Thank you very much. It looks like the author was updating the mod as of a few days ago, so it's not as if it's an abandoned project. I'm glad to know its happening.

[sixpak]

Yeah, doesn't seem to be in good condition to download at the moment but i'm excited for when it's good to go again.

[Quantum666]

The mod that allowed Serena to transform to VL was indeed called Serena's Secret by Mod Author sagittarius22, http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/23354/? I recently inqured and got a responce from him on the STEAM Workshop (responce below). You may try to get ahold of him for pointers on how he was able to accomplish the transformation in his mod.

 

Sagittarius

Hi ! At the moment there's no plan to re-upload it, the reason being that the mod is not stable enough. I'd need to redo it from scratch unfortunately. But I didn't say I will never do it though :)

[unit220]

I would love to see this done! I always wanted something just like this but I understand the difficulty in it as well. I don't have much to offer in modding skill (none in fact) but if you need, idk a juice box mailed to your house I'm your guy!