steeleb

Having just completed the thieves guild play through with Thief armor here is my thoughts, with detection tweaking, but no adjusting to AI or behavior, or quest for that matter. Again the mod is very light weight. 1) The mod gets rid of the problems with guards staring right at you, and not seeing you. This is great. 2) There are instances in vanilla quest, where I try to hide in areas that I believe the developers designed to be hide spots for guards on patrol, where you will get detected. This IMO breaks the game (just my opinion) 3) There are instances were guards can hear me (it's a small tweak, and I alert the whole team). I guess this is just play style but I don't want to walk the whole length of a dungeon because I don't remember where every guard is placed and I don't want to alert the whole team. Again not really asking to be removed, to each their own, if this is what you like great. For those who follow the guide blindly (like me), it might be worth noting the lite is more forgiving option.

I did not know the history of this mod, but that makes sense. I just picked up Skyrim SE, and I recall using a similar mod, and STEP before, and definitely noticed a difference. I do believe my game used a mod that made things significantly darker. That said, what I ended up doing was loading lite, and making my Medium ESP values similar to lite, and in some instances favoring skill more. I believe the intent behind lite gets rid of some of the problems with guards staring right out you, but I continued to tweak to make it so skill was more relevant, being a RPG purist.

I guess Imma casual, but STEP never said I had to have game. I think a warning would be kind to us apes From the Mod page: Not suitable for casual gamers and console peasants. No liability will be accepted if these risk groups experience severe stress and feelings of inadequacy as a result of using this mod. Approved for the glorious PCMR

Respectfully disagree. It's a brute force mod that reduces the affect of sneak from skills from 70% of total calculation to 30%, and increases light and sound in the calculation to 70%. Even late in the game, your skills play very little affect. Again I ask, is this an "enhanced well tested" vanilla experience?

I thought STEP was supposed to be a better more vanilla experience, the mod author does state Lite is a more vanilla experience does he not? Couple of examples all from the same quest in East Empire company. 55 Stealth, wearing thief armor. 3 slots in improved stealth. and 1 in muffled sound. 1) The guard at the "U" in the water inlet near the first boat. Could not find a place to hide as he walks by where I did not get spotted magically. And his patrol doesn't allow you to pass. My goal is to have fun, not retry every guard multiple times until I find a dim enough spot to pass, if one even exist... Is that more realistic, or just irritating. Author spent a great deal of time testing against different weather models, what about scripted scenarios for stealth quest? Is STEP supposed to add challenge in the name of subjective realism, because I've modded detection values? Here was the guide says, the Guide provides detailed, well-tested build instructions for a solid modded Skyrim that achieves an enhanced, vanilla experience. It's meant to be installed in its entirety and not piecemeal. How much "play testing was actually done" against cathedral and a variety of quest? I believe if you check, it states that LITE should be used with Cathedral not Medium. 2) Two guards talking as you walk in the second area. As you approach the secret spider tunnel, in complete dark I was always triggered. I honestly thought that was a glitch... With these stats, it required combat... 3) Archer at the very end is in bright light, can't make it dim (as far as I know). I can't get within 50 feet of this archer detecting me. As for how detection works, the author was very clear on what he did. He made your skill less effective, and he made light significantly more important. However, since he did not change the behavior, AI, or or scripted behaviors in a variety of light situations (which we really can't control during quest) you just end up getting caught easier, is this fun? The author even provides plots on how the mod behaves vs skills (early game vs late game). You're more than 250% more likely to get caught late game, why because stats shouldn't matter in a RPG? If you like the tedium, more power to you, hardly qualifies as an "enhanced vanilla experience". As pointed out, the mod author says Lite is more vanilla, and suggest Lite to be used with Cathedral. So is the guide following the author's advice? Also presents issues with exterior zones and STEP mods. Not trying to rock the boat. Led to infuriating game play for me, but it's not my guide. It is terrific guide, but this mod, needed to be reverted, since I feel it really broke the game for me, and kinda ruined my vanilla experience.

I feel a bit of warning is needed with this mod and people that are going to play stealth builds. Would recommend lite or none, for anyone wanting a more vanilla experience. Especially since AI in the title is a bit of a misnomer, since it really only affects detection. It does not re-balance behaviors, AI and as a result can make for some frustrating game play in certain quest conditions, where stealth can become non-viable. The timers for alert add to the frustration, because they will sit and search for a very long time. IMO, Skyrim is a RPG that abstracts stealth mechanics through stats, not seeing how nerfing the stat really jives with STEP.