pack Dreadflopps Modular patches

[dreadflopp]

@thommaal

Thanks will try that. I was actually thinking about

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/49373/?

With this script you can create this mod in no time by adding a flag to each encounter zone. As simple as that if you figure out how its done (should be simple and I feel a little stupid for not getting it to work...)

[Garfink]

I have been thinking about installing that for the last few days, (the no boundary mod), I will balance the rest of my game a little more before doing so....  I was about to install it when I got mobbed in-game last night and wish I could cross a boundary at the moment... I went back into upper Saatharl, the door was lock and the mobs came in from below anyhow...  I think I had to reload the darn game 10 times before I found the combo of scrolls, potions, spells and to attack whom first....  Need to turn off ASIS increase spawn now, before bed! 

 

Haven't had time to play tonight unfortunately.  The old girl organized a Mahjong game.... 

Edited April 29, 2014 by Garfink

[Garfink]

Garfink, No Combat Boundaries and Unofficial Encounter Zone Patch might add even more spice to your settings.

 

Do you, by any chance, know if the radiance.esp included in ERSO differs from the original one in any serious way?

 

Concerning spawn points by ASIS and Random Encounters: I sometimes had freezes with the ASIS spawns and they vanished when I used RE instead.

Both Radiance are the same version, so it doesn't make any difference.  No problems at all with ASIS, with AI, Potions, Perks, Spells and increase spawns ON.  I haven't had a "freeze" type crash for a long time, I used to get those before the Memory Patch & Enboost, so I am not sure what is wrong.  Its also possible that ASIS is spawning something that shouldn't be spawned or something that has an error.  Get those Updated ASIS.ini from the nexus, they are not perfect, but they are a crap load better than what came with ASIS originally.  BUT..  if RE works for you and you're happy with what it does, then don't bother.  Just use ASIS for the AI, Perks, Spells and Potions. 

[thommaal]

My mistake, I hadn't made clear that the problems with ASIS happened some time ago before I used the memory patch via SKSE etc. But now it's back again -- your mod list was too intriguing to ignore.

 

So,  you are to blame for yet another restart of my game. :)

 

... And I was killed by Sabres attacking me at my Another Life starting point (Camping in the Woods) even before Frostfall was activated.

 

Ha. That has never happened before.

 

A couple of questions:

 

1. I have never used SkyTweaks before - does it reset overwrites by mods back to vanilla states in its "factory settings"? I have seen a mod importing feature that should identify the settings of other mods and store them as the new base -- but I wanted to know how your experience is with SkyTweaks in this regard.

 

2. As I said, it's been awhile that I used ASIS. Spawns are all set to 0 in the MCM -- so, they are deactivated in the default settings? [i have a vague memory about a mod that had zero settings in MCM but that actually meant it followed its defaults, which were anything but neutral.]

 

And thanks for the info about the improved ASIS inis - they look much better than the default ones.

 

3. Have you already adapted the uncapper.ini to your hardcore mod setup? I have used a slightly modified Better Leveling ini -- but I am likely going to redo it with your build.

 

 

I have a soft spot for the old school deleveled setups -- but you might be right that Skyrim isn't built for them. Your mod list looks like a promising alternative. I'll give it a try. Though I need to figure out the fine tuning which, in this setup, likely determines the difference between challenge and frustration.

 

BTW, the Morrowloot, CCOR, Scarcity etc. mod list made a manual setup of LOOT neccessary. First time that it doesn't work "out of the box" for me.

 

Speaking of Scarcity -- if you use such a high Merchant Scarcity setting - do you get spell books at all? I prefer the x2 esp.

 

ADDED:

No Combat Boundaries adds interesting tactical situations to a more populated world. I was chased by some bandits when they ran straight into a hostile faction. Bedlam.

 

- I'd go with a very light ENB with this setup (Minimal ENB looks nice) and get rid of as many script mods as possible without breaking immersion. EBT is gone, DSI and Burn Freeze Shock Effects too. And I have reluctantly deactivated Footprints as well.

 

I don't want to split with Frostfall, Hunterborn and Wet & Cold. But with some of the mods gone that will do most of their "damage" in situations with plenty of NPCs in battle, it might work out all right.

 

I don't mean to imply any of the mentioned mods is bad per se - they just add to a cumulative effect that leads to instability.

Edited April 30, 2014 by thommaal

[Garfink]

1) No, SkyTweaks is great that way, I use it to view what other mods are doing to my character as well as make changes AFTER the other mod's changes.

 

2) You could just ignore the MCM and just disable increase spawns when using the proccer, there is no documentation with the MCM anywhere, so I am not sure even how it works... do you need to reload a new save?  do you need to reset the cells?  or does it just work dynamically?  I have no idea.  

 

3) I am using the leveling from the pack (can't remember the name at the moment, but I have typed it here on this thread somewhere.), I just modified the perk leveling back to the SkyRe default.  The ini slows leveling from 1-30 and then reverts back to vanilla from >30 onwards and limits some skills like Smithing's affect on leveling beyond level 30.  Works great

 

Yes you are correct, Morrowloot & CCOR combo has very personal order requirements.  The default loot will work but not the way that is intended.  

 

Yes the spell books from mods like forgotten magic are still found normally on dead bodies and its merchants and ALL other spell books from vanilla and mods aren't touched by Scarcity.  In fact all books aren't affected.  

 

You've described my goals very well.  I want a challenge without frustration, a very fine line indeed.  What I am certain of is I don't want health-sink monsters (1:1 player/npc damage is perfect), so just increasing difficulty is NOT an option, vanilla game is TOO easy, deleveling causes issues at various levels of play (in my personal experience, even with Requiem, yes I have play through 2 characters with Requiem, I like certain parts of Requiem but not others, if only it was modular, come to think of it, if only skyrim unleash was more modular...) and is very difficult to balance and also causes frustration and limits exploration in the sandbox world of Skyrim.  

 

I think what makes the biggest difference is mods that improve AI, give NPC player skills, increase spawns, increase types of creatures and leveling the monsters closer to your level.  These evens the playing field whilst retaining the essence of the original leveled game.  On top of this add a few well done quests to flesh out the world bigger, then I will have my perfect Skyrim.  

 

So far everything is going great, in the next two days I have a lot of play time (public holiday where I am) and I hope to finalize the "increase spawn" balance of ASIS, random encounter and SIC and I think I am done.  I am slowly getting the hang of all the options of these mods and how they interact, which was clear as mud before hand.  Lots of trial and error really, not an exact science that's for sure.

 

EDIT:

 

Now that I have gotten rid of Wet and Cold, its no biggie really, I do miss the footprints more, believe it or not.  I have tried hunterborn, I like how it adds time to skinning etc.  Let me recommend Professions:  I don't care for the "professions" part of the mod, doesn't make sense to me, BUT, you can add game-time to ALL activities like reading, crafting, enchanting etc.  works great after you have fine tune the settings a bit.  The defaults are WAY too high and you will starve to death.  (I may add these back in later, for more realism...  but I remember using these adds a lot more non-combative management to the game, that I am not sure I like.  For roleplaying, I guess its great.

Edited April 30, 2014 by Garfink

[thommaal]

[slap head] I had totally forgotten about Professions - good idea, I'll see how it works out; the default time scales in Hunterborn are indeed too demanding.

 

Wet & Cold is the only script mod that I'd still drop -- Frostfall and Hunterborn complement the survival aspect of a harder world too well to let them go.

 

BTW, iNeed is my third musketeer in this setup. The mod has reached a stage in its development that makes it superior, imo, to the usual suspects.

 

SkyRe is another mod I have never used before. Dreadflopp's combo of TTR and kryptopyr's mods sounds good for a sneaky character and I have used it in another profile with success. Though I don't use Duel v5 -- v7 is more to my liking (not the alpha). But i am still not pleased with combat.

 

Usually, I like combat that rewards quick and forceful action -- but Skyrim doesn't allow me to move my character around as I need to for my usual playstyle [The most fun I ever had was Mass Effect's 2 vanguard on Insanity level and the ME3 shotgun-version AFTER I had tweaked the settings enough to get back most of the difficulty of the predecessor].

 

So, more slowly but methodical looks like the better alternative -- but I have not yet found the right combo of perks and combat mod to make the outcome highly dependent on my actions.

 

Anyway, I really should try SkyRe in this new profile with your other mods to see how it works out.

 

Edited to correct some spelling.

Edited April 30, 2014 by thommaal

[thommaal]

Actually, I'd like to ask you guys for advice. I usually prefer light-weight characters that win fights relying on quickness and precise attacking. They rather dodge attacks than block them and they survive mobs by causing chaos; staggering one opponent to take him out of combat for a second or two to deal with another one is crucial for such a play style.I totally fail to fight that way in Skyrim. Is it possible at all to play like that successfully against hardcore adversaries?

[Garfink]

Yes and no, yes you can play a fast in & out character but with certain situations and mobs you really need a diversion of some sort or you'll get hit too often.  You will probably need some specific equipment, speed increase gear allows you to run circles around the enemy and that may work, cast a fury spell to get the combat started and a fear spell if there is one to many enemy on you.  

[slap head] I had totally forgotten about Professions - good idea, I'll see how it works out; the default time scales in Hunterborn are indeed too demanding.

 

Wet & Cold is the only script mod that I'd still drop -- Frostfall and Hunterborn complement the survival aspect of a harder world too well to let them go.

 

BTW, iNeed is my third musketeer in this setup. The mod has reached a stage in its development that makes it superior, imo, to the usual suspects.

 

SkyRe is another mod I have never used before. Dreadflopp's combo of TTR and kryptopyr's mods sounds good for a sneaky character and I have used it in another profile with success. Though I don't use Duel v5 -- v7 is more to my liking (not the alpha). But i am still not pleased with combat.

 

Usually, I like combat that rewards quick and forceful action -- but Skyrim doesn't allow me to move my character around as I need to for my usual playstyle [The most fun I ever had was Mass Effect's 2 vanguard on Insanity level and the ME3 shotgun-version AFTER I had tweaked the settings enough to get back most of the difficulty of the predecessor].

 

So, more slowly but methodical looks like the better alternative -- but I have not yet found the right combo of perks and combat mod to make the outcome highly dependent on my actions.

 

Anyway, I really should try SkyRe in this new profile with your other mods to see how it works out.

 

Edited to correct some spelling.

 

Read the Skyrim Redone Guide that is written by the author, it is very enlightening and will highlight the design choices made.  Gives you a good idea what character build you can make with it.  Just google it.

[dreadflopp]

I always end up playing rogue type characters or dual wielding light armor warrior types. My experience with the spell-casting system and its flaws are therefore limited. I did some reading though on the different magic overhauls but found that most "fixes" needed was already in TTR skill overhaul. Thats why I decided to  settle with that. I do believe that TTR is good for all type of characters. My recommendation of a combo with kryptopyrs mods are based on my personal taste. TTR is inspired by kryptopyr (and other skill mods) so the rogue skills are not that different. TTR buffs/debuffs vanilla where its needed. That said, will read a little more about SkyRE too.

I have also thought about switching to iNeeds since it needs much less patching.

[thommaal]

(..)  You will probably need some specific equipment, speed increase gear allows you to run circles around the enemy and that may work, cast a fury spell to get the combat started and a fear spell if there is one to many enemy on you.  

 

Read the Skyrim Redone Guide that is written by the author, it is very enlightening and will highlight the design choices made.  Gives you a good idea what character build you can make with it.  Just google it.

Yes, you can up the speed -- but the game kills you regardless. There are a couple of dodge mods, for example. But they all lag on occasion or fail to initiate -- and when you play hardcore, a second of delay on dodging against archers equals death, especially when you favour speed over armour.

 

Of course, the mechanics of other games kill you equally often or more so.Funny enough, my inability to dodge a car in a timely fashion is precisely the reason why I have so much time right now to not dodge arrows. :)

 

Adding magic effects is a good idea, though. I need to sow more confusion.

 

And thanks for mentioning the SkyRe guide. It's already downloaded.

 

I always end up playing rogue type characters or dual wielding light armor warrior types. My experience with the spell-casting system and its flaws are therefore limited. (..) I do believe that TTR is good for all type of characters. My recommendation of a combo with kryptopyrs mods are based on my personal taste. TTR is inspired by kryptopyr (and other skill mods) so the rogue skills are not that different. TTR buffs/debuffs vanilla where its needed. That said, will read a little more about SkyRE too.

I have also thought about switching to iNeeds since it needs much less patching.

Your suggestion has definitely improved gameplay in my current play through.

 

iNeed has worked so well in almost all of my profiles that I rather edit out any entries for other mods in patches than replace it with the suggested ones.

[Garfink]

Ha ha, you should've downloaded the real-life SkyTweak and given yourself some speed boost or even better... Better AI for yourself!  

 

Sheesh... what some people will do to get some Skyrim time!

Edited April 30, 2014 by Garfink

[thommaal]

The cherry on top is the irony of the situation: During the week, I had been scolded by my Krav Maga trainer for relying too much on my build to soak up hits instead of evading them ..

 

I am going to read the Skyre guide now, and I hope you won't mind if I have further questions afterward.

[Garfink]

Sure thing, remember that you have to download the reproccer to make sure all your mod added gear's stats is adjusted to SkyRe Specs: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/28467/? and install the patches from here https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/48629/?, if you are using the immersive armor 7.1 then don't install the patch from the installer, but install the pre-post reproccer patch separately.  

[Garfink]

Found the balance for difficulty in terms of combat:

 

HLE Hardcore:  Set on Novice (This is the most important mod to make this work)

 

SIC leave on medium, do not use extended stats/damage/armor (these will give too much "health" to monsters)

 

Random Encounter leave on adept and don't add extended stats or the options below that one in the MCM.  I would decrease all the monsters to 1-2 max, 3 or 4 is too much for most of the creatures (as set on default).  You will die from the Falmer many times if you don't do this, the game ends up spawning too many for anyone to handle, especially at this difficult level.

 

ASIS increase spawn OFF

 

Currently using SkyRe combat module, will probably work the same with Duel V5 & V7 (both of which I prefer) from experience.

 

Remember you need Revenge of the Enemies, HLE, ASIS AI, Perks, Spells & Potions (you need to install the Improved ASIS ini files), NPC enchantment fix, Apocalypse Spells to even out the playing field too, 

 

I am using Skyrim Redone using the main, standing stone modules and for races I am using Resplendent Racials which gives even more cool powers to you and your enemies.  

 

Level 24 character with decent medium armor + armor spell can be two shot-ed by a 2 handed weapon monster or archer (monster at the same level as character or slightly higher.)  Takes about 3 power attacks (dual wield with average weapons) to kill a heavy armor draugr.  Feels about right.  

 

The creatures seem just right on difficulty.  

 

I will test more and I am installing populated dungeon caves ruins and Populated forts towers places now and see if there are too much much spawns.  Currently 2% chance of 1 extra ASIS spawn (token spawn, just so I don't have to uninstall it.), Random Encounters set to default and SIC on default.  

 

This isn't final by any stretch.  Lets call this:

 

Garfink's Skyrim Rebalance Project (GSRP) V 0.6 Beta

Edited April 30, 2014 by Garfink

[Garfink]

To do:

 

Refine difficulty,

Dragons,

Loot,

Bosses,

Suggestions!

Edited April 30, 2014 by Garfink