May be a bit early to really announce that as imminent, but it's the next version, so yeah...
Anyhow, doing some scripting this afternoon; as the petulant whining accusing me of having that house mod pulled has already lost its amusement.
I keep forgetting how horrifically boring scripting is.
Still, I had a couple good ideas today that I felt bore inclusion into the test package.
1) I came up with a way to get the companions' hardcore mode to maintain compatibility with any overhaul mods you might be running. That is, if you run a mod that changes for example the dehydration rate; your companions will use the same rate you do, rather than the one from the vanilla game. This should at least help keep everything straight and even between your and your companions' needs.
2) I couldn't find any way to in-line increase the consumables' effects for NPCs in a way similar to how it works for the player. So, I copped out a bit and expanded to three sets of food/drink dialogue. One for Survival below 50; one for 50 to 75; one for 75+. That's the companion's Survival skill, not the player's. Item effectiveness will be determined on a per-companion basis; so companions with Survival tagged will get more benefit than ones without.
I also added almost-complete effects to the consumables -- I say almost complete, because there's little point in adding rads to an NPC since it isn't tracked for NPCs, and can't affect them anyway -- for example, Barrel Cactus fruit will reduce both hunger and thirst; but on the flip side, Pork 'n Beans will reduce hunger but increase thirst. The effects are again, the same for the player; so they won't be massive, but it will be something to keep in mind -- you won't want to be loading up on Pork 'n Beans and Potato Crisps if you and your companions are low of water and far from home.
The only exception is going to be Sunset Sarsaparilla and Nuka Cola -- they'll be coded to reduce companions' thirst similarly (but not as effectively) to water. It's pretty silly that neither drink in the base game quenches thirst; but I'm not out to overhaul the base HC system here, so we'll have to settle for companions acting right.
I also remembered to have the companion save the cap when you give them either soft drink.
I have to say, while certainly not my most advanced or impressive work, I am fairly pleased with how this is coming together.
Now, if I can just fight down the urge to add stripper-dancing to the sandbox packages for all female companions...
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
TEH EBIL
So... long(er) time readers of my "petty ranting" here may recall near a year ago when the author of some shitty house mod in New Vegas (sorry, can't remember the exact title) seriously maligned NCCS, claiming all the dialogue problems with his mod were my fault.
This was before my new policy of repressing my anti-social tendencies, and I did not react well.
Aside from some whiny comments here and there about me being a big meaniehead, I never heard any more about it...
...Until today.
Someone posted a new comment, alleging that my petty ranting or whatever caused the mod to get pulled outright.
I don't remember doing that, but hey; it's not a power I'd say no to...
Once again: I could have handled it better, I suppose.
Still, it ain't often I get blamed for something good. This week may be lookin' up!
This was before my new policy of repressing my anti-social tendencies, and I did not react well.
Aside from some whiny comments here and there about me being a big meaniehead, I never heard any more about it...
...Until today.
Someone posted a new comment, alleging that my petty ranting or whatever caused the mod to get pulled outright.
I don't remember doing that, but hey; it's not a power I'd say no to...
Once again: I could have handled it better, I suppose.
Still, it ain't often I get blamed for something good. This week may be lookin' up!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Skyrim and Philosophical Introspection
As I mentioned in the previous post, my interest in Skyrim is waning quickly.
I still don't think it's a bad game... it's just missing too much without proper mod tools.
The other day, I trashed the save-set I'd been playing on since first running the game. It clocked some 85 hours and change. The saves weren't corrupt; none of the game was "broken" (at least, any more so than it's supposed to be) -- I had just reached the point where I didn't want to play on any more.
Had explored some 85 - 90% of the game map; done dozens of quests, still had dozens active. Main quest wasn't played much, The Companions and the College questlines had been abandoned from lack of interest; Thieves Guild was done (and good riddance), and Dark Brotherhood untouched.
So, the game was hardly unplayable; nor any faction reactions destroyed, or anything like that.
In nearly any RPG I find my first game is a throw-away. I waste so many perks/points/whatever figuring out which skills work for me and which don't that my character ends up with a slew of useless skills that I never end up using. This proved true in Skyrim, where I wasted numerous points on things like Destruction, Light Armor, and Lock Picking.
Compounding the annoyance of this 'flawed' character was the facegen results I ended up with:
Even by male character standards, far from my best work...
...very far.
It got a bit better when I installed skin and eye texture replacers, but the face was just too far off, and ShowRaceMenu works in Skyrim about as well as it did in Oblivion -- which is to say it fucks over your character's skills in ways both random and most impressive to behold.
Loathe though I was to throw away 85 hours of play, I decided a fresh start would be best.
Even with the improved textures, I found little more luck with the facegen the second time around. Instead, I swore, decided to hell with the cries of 'crossdresser' and kicked the option over to female.
I then proceeded to smoothly and comparably quickly turn out this gorgeous and dangerous looking thing:
...I'm a bit of a sucker for facial scars on my warrior women. Gives them that veteran look, in my opinion. I had considered adding 'war paint' on that side, with the story that she wore it to cover the scars (Moe! Kawaii! And other annoying shit); but then I thought harder and reminded myself whatever I chose would be for the whole game, since face paint can't be removed or changed. After the SuCK is released we'll probably see equippable face paint, but I'm not aware of any existing right now.
Still not my best work... but to be fair, I've done things with NPC faces in FO3 that I'll probably never be able to top; and this character doesn't exactly have custom textures designed specifically for her, either. Vanilla hair could be better, too.
The ease with which I threw this girl together made me stop and ponder.
I've always had problems creating even moderately attractive males in any Gamebryo based game. Conversely, attractive women are pretty easy for me to turn out.
This made me wonder: is Bethsoft really half-assing the males as badly as it looks to me like they are? Or rather, is the issue that I'm not attracted to men?
I can easily picture an attractive woman in my head; I know quite readily what I like, what I think 'works' for whatever particular look I have in mind, from cheerleader to evil overlord-ette. Eyes, nose, mouth, ears, jaw, hair styles... it all flows pretty easy.
Attractive man? Insert the sound of crickets here. I draw a complete blank. Only even moderate success I ever had was in Oblivion; and there it's pretty easy to turn out guys with girl-faces... so I'm not sure that one counts.
In those "show your character" threads over on the Nexii forums, I've noticed plenty of people who don't seem to have this problem... but I also notice that they turn out characters who -- even matching their own gender -- are heavily idealized. Tell me to picture an 'ideal man' and again, I draw a blank.
I'm hoping that the SuCK includes a proper face editor and the ability to set NPCs as presets; since the chargen editor in-game is... decidedly limited. I can tell this game was made for consoles.
The one real boon in the whole thing is that the game isn't really gender sensitive -- character interactions, followers, and even marriage all seem to ignore gender. Nice that they finally figured that out. Now if they just added a 'wedding night' cutscene.
...What? I'm not asking for porn, here -- a Dragon Age-esque cut that doesn't actually show anything would be fine. I just think it sucks when games want to be adult, but then refuse to show any affection whatsoever between characters. It's like watching an R rated movie on basic cable -- by the time they bleep the profanity and cut out the sex and more severe violence... what's the point?
I still don't think it's a bad game... it's just missing too much without proper mod tools.
The other day, I trashed the save-set I'd been playing on since first running the game. It clocked some 85 hours and change. The saves weren't corrupt; none of the game was "broken" (at least, any more so than it's supposed to be) -- I had just reached the point where I didn't want to play on any more.
Had explored some 85 - 90% of the game map; done dozens of quests, still had dozens active. Main quest wasn't played much, The Companions and the College questlines had been abandoned from lack of interest; Thieves Guild was done (and good riddance), and Dark Brotherhood untouched.
So, the game was hardly unplayable; nor any faction reactions destroyed, or anything like that.
In nearly any RPG I find my first game is a throw-away. I waste so many perks/points/whatever figuring out which skills work for me and which don't that my character ends up with a slew of useless skills that I never end up using. This proved true in Skyrim, where I wasted numerous points on things like Destruction, Light Armor, and Lock Picking.
Compounding the annoyance of this 'flawed' character was the facegen results I ended up with:
Even by male character standards, far from my best work...
...very far.
It got a bit better when I installed skin and eye texture replacers, but the face was just too far off, and ShowRaceMenu works in Skyrim about as well as it did in Oblivion -- which is to say it fucks over your character's skills in ways both random and most impressive to behold.
Loathe though I was to throw away 85 hours of play, I decided a fresh start would be best.
Even with the improved textures, I found little more luck with the facegen the second time around. Instead, I swore, decided to hell with the cries of 'crossdresser' and kicked the option over to female.
I then proceeded to smoothly and comparably quickly turn out this gorgeous and dangerous looking thing:
...I'm a bit of a sucker for facial scars on my warrior women. Gives them that veteran look, in my opinion. I had considered adding 'war paint' on that side, with the story that she wore it to cover the scars (Moe! Kawaii! And other annoying shit); but then I thought harder and reminded myself whatever I chose would be for the whole game, since face paint can't be removed or changed. After the SuCK is released we'll probably see equippable face paint, but I'm not aware of any existing right now.
Still not my best work... but to be fair, I've done things with NPC faces in FO3 that I'll probably never be able to top; and this character doesn't exactly have custom textures designed specifically for her, either. Vanilla hair could be better, too.
The ease with which I threw this girl together made me stop and ponder.
I've always had problems creating even moderately attractive males in any Gamebryo based game. Conversely, attractive women are pretty easy for me to turn out.
This made me wonder: is Bethsoft really half-assing the males as badly as it looks to me like they are? Or rather, is the issue that I'm not attracted to men?
I can easily picture an attractive woman in my head; I know quite readily what I like, what I think 'works' for whatever particular look I have in mind, from cheerleader to evil overlord-ette. Eyes, nose, mouth, ears, jaw, hair styles... it all flows pretty easy.
Attractive man? Insert the sound of crickets here. I draw a complete blank. Only even moderate success I ever had was in Oblivion; and there it's pretty easy to turn out guys with girl-faces... so I'm not sure that one counts.
In those "show your character" threads over on the Nexii forums, I've noticed plenty of people who don't seem to have this problem... but I also notice that they turn out characters who -- even matching their own gender -- are heavily idealized. Tell me to picture an 'ideal man' and again, I draw a blank.
I'm hoping that the SuCK includes a proper face editor and the ability to set NPCs as presets; since the chargen editor in-game is... decidedly limited. I can tell this game was made for consoles.
The one real boon in the whole thing is that the game isn't really gender sensitive -- character interactions, followers, and even marriage all seem to ignore gender. Nice that they finally figured that out. Now if they just added a 'wedding night' cutscene.
...What? I'm not asking for porn, here -- a Dragon Age-esque cut that doesn't actually show anything would be fine. I just think it sucks when games want to be adult, but then refuse to show any affection whatsoever between characters. It's like watching an R rated movie on basic cable -- by the time they bleep the profanity and cut out the sex and more severe violence... what's the point?
Hardcore!
So, first off I've got to mention a milestone. My current FNV game has exceeded 100 hours now, and is still fully playable. I'm pretty sure that's a first for me in any Gamebryo title.
Anyway, with my interest in Skyrim rapidly winding down, I fired up FNV again the other morning.
Before Skyrim hit, I had finished the initial draft of the 'hardcore' code for one of my personal companions; but not tested it.
Since it's set to advance at the same scale as the player's needs (one point of hunger every 25 seconds, one point of thirst every ten) there was really no way to test but to play and wait and see if it fired. Unlike the player's needs, the companion needs are scripted; they only advance when the script is running in the Gamemode block -- not during fast travel, sleep, or wait.
This game is nearly done. All the DLC is done except Lonesome Road, and the main quest was left at the point where I had entered the Lucky 38 and spoken to Mr. House; but not gone after Benny yet. Otherwise, the only quest left active is gathering eggs for the Thorn.
I played through confronting Benny; splattering his head across the presidential suite, and taking the chip back to House. We got down into the basement, where House's droning is promptly interrupted when my companion grabs my attention and tells me she's thirsty. I give her a bottle of water, she thanks me; boring ass exposition scripted display continues.
Completed the rest of the chat with House without her interrupting; so it would appear that the 'thirst' counter reset correctly.
So, yeah... apparently hardcore mode for NCCS is going to work, after all.
I think I'm going to rework the values a bit, though. The more I think about it, the more I don't like one food or drink item completely resetting the counter. I'm going to reset it so that it only decreases the counter by the same amount the item would for the player; albeit at 100 survival skill.
I could script it to change based on the companion's survival skill... but we're talking about a lot of extra scripting, and I seriously doubt anyone other than me would ever even notice in the first place.
Currently, the code has the companion check their own inventory; and eat or drink something they have rather than bugging you to give them something. If they have nothing appropriate, then they ask the player. I'm planning to add a third possibility -- a new dialogue option where when they ask you for something, you can tell them to just grab something from the survival container -- this will be a randomly chosen item, ideally lending a bit of an idea that the companion looks through the container and picks what they're in the mood for at the moment.
I have to say, the last couple of projects I've tried have gone almost... unnervingly smoothly. I keep expecting something to blow up in my face. Must be getting a bit gun-shy after a year of modding FNV.
Anyhow, I'm not sure when exactly I'll have this ready for upload (it's a lot of dialogue to create and script) but it's working and in the pipeline, now.
Still trying to decide whether I want to add personalities for dialogue responses or not.
Anyway, with my interest in Skyrim rapidly winding down, I fired up FNV again the other morning.
Before Skyrim hit, I had finished the initial draft of the 'hardcore' code for one of my personal companions; but not tested it.
Since it's set to advance at the same scale as the player's needs (one point of hunger every 25 seconds, one point of thirst every ten) there was really no way to test but to play and wait and see if it fired. Unlike the player's needs, the companion needs are scripted; they only advance when the script is running in the Gamemode block -- not during fast travel, sleep, or wait.
This game is nearly done. All the DLC is done except Lonesome Road, and the main quest was left at the point where I had entered the Lucky 38 and spoken to Mr. House; but not gone after Benny yet. Otherwise, the only quest left active is gathering eggs for the Thorn.
I played through confronting Benny; splattering his head across the presidential suite, and taking the chip back to House. We got down into the basement, where House's droning is promptly interrupted when my companion grabs my attention and tells me she's thirsty. I give her a bottle of water, she thanks me; boring ass exposition scripted display continues.
Completed the rest of the chat with House without her interrupting; so it would appear that the 'thirst' counter reset correctly.
So, yeah... apparently hardcore mode for NCCS is going to work, after all.
I think I'm going to rework the values a bit, though. The more I think about it, the more I don't like one food or drink item completely resetting the counter. I'm going to reset it so that it only decreases the counter by the same amount the item would for the player; albeit at 100 survival skill.
I could script it to change based on the companion's survival skill... but we're talking about a lot of extra scripting, and I seriously doubt anyone other than me would ever even notice in the first place.
Currently, the code has the companion check their own inventory; and eat or drink something they have rather than bugging you to give them something. If they have nothing appropriate, then they ask the player. I'm planning to add a third possibility -- a new dialogue option where when they ask you for something, you can tell them to just grab something from the survival container -- this will be a randomly chosen item, ideally lending a bit of an idea that the companion looks through the container and picks what they're in the mood for at the moment.
I have to say, the last couple of projects I've tried have gone almost... unnervingly smoothly. I keep expecting something to blow up in my face. Must be getting a bit gun-shy after a year of modding FNV.
Anyhow, I'm not sure when exactly I'll have this ready for upload (it's a lot of dialogue to create and script) but it's working and in the pipeline, now.
Still trying to decide whether I want to add personalities for dialogue responses or not.
Friday, December 16, 2011
New Terminology
Reading around the internetz this mornin', happened across a new term: "Skyrimmer"; referencing, of course, people who play Skyrim.
Now, rather than add this to the 'ol mental lexicon for future attempts to appear edgy and cool, I just sat and giggled.
Maybe I've been around the darker side of the 'net too long now, but whenever I say or type the word 'Skyrimmer' I can't help but think it actually refers to a particularly intimate act engaged in by two (or hell, more -- it is the twenty-first century and all... I suppose it could be a group activity...) overly adventurous people whilst sky-diving.
Think about it a minute, you'll get it. And yes, I am that mentally warped, thanks for asking.
...I have to go now; I'm having too much difficulty repressing the urge to make more dirty jokes...
Now, rather than add this to the 'ol mental lexicon for future attempts to appear edgy and cool, I just sat and giggled.
Maybe I've been around the darker side of the 'net too long now, but whenever I say or type the word 'Skyrimmer' I can't help but think it actually refers to a particularly intimate act engaged in by two (or hell, more -- it is the twenty-first century and all... I suppose it could be a group activity...) overly adventurous people whilst sky-diving.
Think about it a minute, you'll get it. And yes, I am that mentally warped, thanks for asking.
...I have to go now; I'm having too much difficulty repressing the urge to make more dirty jokes...
Monday, December 12, 2011
Could Somebody Make This Mod For Me?
I'm posting this here rather than on my own gaming blog because this is one of Nos' pet peeves (to put it mildly) though it is now becoming one of my own as well.
THIS is this person's first post on the Nexus Forums, ever, and it's a request to not only make a companion character for him, but to rip dialog from a movie for the companion's voice. He's wanting Short Round, the boy sidekick from the movie Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. And if that's not enough, he wants it for SKYRIM.
Does this guy honestly believe that someone is going to volunteer to do this for him? Seriously? A custom companion with custom sound files that likely will only be used by this one player? Sure, I think I've got the time and motivation to do it... NOT! Obviously he has no clue what it would take to do this; if he did I'd hope he wouldn't have the stones to post the request in the first place.
What are these people thinking? Do they think the modding community is here to serve as their personal lackeys? Perhaps the issue is that they're not thinking at all.
Here's my stance on this issue: if you want a mod made, particularly one that is so far out in left field that you're likely to be the only person to ever use it, then learn how to use game editing tools and get to work. None of us are going to do it for you.
THIS is this person's first post on the Nexus Forums, ever, and it's a request to not only make a companion character for him, but to rip dialog from a movie for the companion's voice. He's wanting Short Round, the boy sidekick from the movie Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. And if that's not enough, he wants it for SKYRIM.
Does this guy honestly believe that someone is going to volunteer to do this for him? Seriously? A custom companion with custom sound files that likely will only be used by this one player? Sure, I think I've got the time and motivation to do it... NOT! Obviously he has no clue what it would take to do this; if he did I'd hope he wouldn't have the stones to post the request in the first place.
What are these people thinking? Do they think the modding community is here to serve as their personal lackeys? Perhaps the issue is that they're not thinking at all.
Here's my stance on this issue: if you want a mod made, particularly one that is so far out in left field that you're likely to be the only person to ever use it, then learn how to use game editing tools and get to work. None of us are going to do it for you.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
On Skyrim, Part III
I haven't really been hitting Skyrim hard lately. Unlike my favorite Neko who's been going retro (edited to remove the link; as Herculine apparently pulled a Nos and deleted the post while I was typing this one up), I haven't really been gaming much at all for reasons I won't bore anyone by going into.
Still, I've run this game up to just shy of 67 hours, and am currently level 39, I think it was.
I've explored most of the game map now (close to 75% by my reckoning), and have purchased houses in Markarth and Solitude, as well as the one I originally had in Whiterun.
House buying is more of a pain in the ass than I care for, all things considered. The Whiterun house is acquired after killing your first dragon -- or at least the first one encountered along the main quest; diligent players will probably be able to fuck over the quest progression somehow and encounter a dragon before then somewhere else. Apparently killing the dragon to protect Whiterun is considered your big good deed for the hold; and nets you permission to buy a house, and the title of Thane (which comes with a lackey -- Lydia in this case).
In other holds, it isn't so easy. You have to complete one big-ish quest for the Grand High Poobah of that particular little pond to get permission to buy a house; and then complete five quests "helping the subjects" of that hold. You do get followers for each title of Thane. They are not all moderately or better attractive women. The Thane title in Markarth came with the services of Generic Fantasy Male Fighter #1471A. Needless to say, he's never been adventurin' with his boss.
Solitude is a step up. It's an ungodly expensive house (I counted ~37k gold for the house and upgrades -- making it not as bad as Rosethorn in Oblivion, but still expensive as hell by Skyrim standards).
The thane title in Solitude also came with another female Housecarl:
Jordis, the Sword-Maiden.
Sadly, Skyrim is not written by people with an appropriate sense of humor. My first instinct on meeting Jordis was to ask if she was really worthy of the title of Sword-Maiden. Think about it a minute, you'll get it.
And to answer your next question: yes, I did suffer sometimes brutal physical reprisals for my "witty banter" as a teenager. In addition to simply being punched, I did actually get bitten a couple of times (hand and arm; pervs)... but that's neither here nor there.
I like Jordis better than Lydia; and not just because of her closer-to-proper hair color. Lydia always sounds... resigned; morose, even. Jordis' voice actress actually makes her sound like she's okay with being your partner.
Though Jordis does... concern me a bit. I'm not sure if it's the level disparity when they were recruited, but she's head and shoulders above Lyds' combat abilities. Jordis smoothly swaps between bow and melee; preferring ranged combat when possible, and often one-shotting bandits from a considerable distance.
While exploring a tower or something, we were attacked by Forsworn in the halls. It being too close to effectively use a bow, I swapped to my sword and shield and prepared to get medieval on some barbarian asses. As I moved to engage the nearest screw-head, Jordis suddenly appeared between us. She spun the primate -- who was at 100% health -- around, grabbed him with her offhand, and rammed her sword between his shoulder blades, insta-killing him. She then proceeded to step over the corpse, and enact holy terror upon the deceased's friends.
Note to self: do not ever stiff Jordis on her salary.
By this point in the game, I had acquired a small stack of Daedra hearts, and could finally finish out a set of Daedric armor for my new hench:
Not as stylish as the Ebony; but decidedly more intimidating. I've since also taken to leveling my enchantment skill, and enchanted her armor fully as well as using the 100 smithing skill and some buff potions to work over the armor to Legendary or Epic status; I forget which. She's not quite a battlemech; but the girl will fuck up anything shy of an Elder Dragon in short order.
Aside from the combat prowess, another reason I prefer Jordis to Lydia is her personality. I don't just mean the voice actress', either. Jordis seems...
Naive isn't the word; nor is innocent. She's... not jaded?
We were out on some godsforsaken mountain, hunting down the legend of some guy for reasons I never figured out; and had just cleaned out an enclave of Forsworn (animal-skin wearing savages are fucking everywhere south of Solitude). I was grabbing something off the blood-caked altar, when I hear from behind me:
"Wow. I've never seen anything like that before!"
I turn around, and Jordis is standing behind me, looking over my head at these rune-engraved arches. I mean it: her model was looking up, right at them. That. Was. Cool.
Pathfinding problems persist for her every bit as bad as they were for Lyds, however. I'm more convinced than ever that the game world was navmeshed in an extremely half-assed fashion -- which, let's be honest, would be par for the goddamned course at this point. When Bethsoft employees actually do something right (if they ever do) then I'll be surprised. Screw-ups and general laziness don't even make me blink, anymore. It isn't nearly as bad in interiors, but there seems to be a lag of several seconds between the time the player moves off, and the time the follower notices they need to move. This causes havoc of all sorts when trying to avoid traps (since it makes it impossible to keep your hench close enough to you to follow your exact footsteps and miss the traps' trigger plates -- which helpfully cannot be disarmed under any circumstances in this game), and can easily leave you without backup for thirty or more seconds if you stumble onto enemies. Crossing rivers is probably the worst, since bridges are infrequent at best; and followers flatly refuse to climb up and/or over rocks. They always catch up; but it can take awhile.
Beyond that, while I like the design of the Solitude house, the game itself has been more of the same. If you've made it to level fifteen or so, you've probably seen nearly all the game has to throw at you -- everything except the main quest is just various rehashes of the same half dozen quests; and you've only got six or so groups of enemies that you'll generally encounter: animals, bandits, forsworn, undead, Dwemer automatons, and dragons. Eventually, after picking a side in the war you'll also be considered the enemy of either the Imperial Legion or Stormcloaks; but they're just human NPCs with different equipment -- bandits or Forsworn in different outfits.
I've played a bit of all four "guild" questlines -- "Companions" (fighters guild), "College" (mages), Thieves guild, and Dark Brotherhood; and I'm not impressed at all. Dark Brotherhood was my favorite part of vanilla Oblivion, and Skyrim is a grave disservice to the organization -- fictional though it may be. Thieves Guild is just boring. Mages guild is same-old-same-old; "researching" ruins that always end in combat, finding books, listening to the prattle of people who need a sword in their aorta. Companions were the worst, though. After completing a couple minor quests, and not even proving yourself remotely; they initiate you into the inner circle (*train horn*) which involves making you into a werewolf.
Great, they want to make me take sides in the fucking Twilight fangirls' war? Like hell. As soon as I saw that I reloaded an earlier save and left the questline hanging. No big loss; I only joined the organization to get access to another armor and weapons vendor, anyway. I wonder somewhat idly if the mages' questline will involve becoming a sparkly, effeminate vampire.
The high point of the game continues to be the scenery, no question. From the balcony of your house in Solitude, you can see out over the north sea. As well, the view from Mehrunes Dagon's shrine is simply kickass.
While my opinion that the game is worth picking up hasn't changed, it nonetheless needs a toolset. Badly. Really badly. Really really. 'The community' could bang out fixes for most of the issues plaguing the game inside a week if there was just a way to read and modify all the entries in the main master.
The game also needs the ability to craft arrows. I know there are a couple mods floating around the Nexus that allow it; but it seems like the sort of thing that would have been in the base game. I'd think it would work piggybacked onto either smithing or marksman.
Still, I've run this game up to just shy of 67 hours, and am currently level 39, I think it was.
I've explored most of the game map now (close to 75% by my reckoning), and have purchased houses in Markarth and Solitude, as well as the one I originally had in Whiterun.
House buying is more of a pain in the ass than I care for, all things considered. The Whiterun house is acquired after killing your first dragon -- or at least the first one encountered along the main quest; diligent players will probably be able to fuck over the quest progression somehow and encounter a dragon before then somewhere else. Apparently killing the dragon to protect Whiterun is considered your big good deed for the hold; and nets you permission to buy a house, and the title of Thane (which comes with a lackey -- Lydia in this case).
In other holds, it isn't so easy. You have to complete one big-ish quest for the Grand High Poobah of that particular little pond to get permission to buy a house; and then complete five quests "helping the subjects" of that hold. You do get followers for each title of Thane. They are not all moderately or better attractive women. The Thane title in Markarth came with the services of Generic Fantasy Male Fighter #1471A. Needless to say, he's never been adventurin' with his boss.
Solitude is a step up. It's an ungodly expensive house (I counted ~37k gold for the house and upgrades -- making it not as bad as Rosethorn in Oblivion, but still expensive as hell by Skyrim standards).
The thane title in Solitude also came with another female Housecarl:
Jordis, the Sword-Maiden.
Sadly, Skyrim is not written by people with an appropriate sense of humor. My first instinct on meeting Jordis was to ask if she was really worthy of the title of Sword-Maiden. Think about it a minute, you'll get it.
And to answer your next question: yes, I did suffer sometimes brutal physical reprisals for my "witty banter" as a teenager. In addition to simply being punched, I did actually get bitten a couple of times (hand and arm; pervs)... but that's neither here nor there.
I like Jordis better than Lydia; and not just because of her closer-to-proper hair color. Lydia always sounds... resigned; morose, even. Jordis' voice actress actually makes her sound like she's okay with being your partner.
Though Jordis does... concern me a bit. I'm not sure if it's the level disparity when they were recruited, but she's head and shoulders above Lyds' combat abilities. Jordis smoothly swaps between bow and melee; preferring ranged combat when possible, and often one-shotting bandits from a considerable distance.
While exploring a tower or something, we were attacked by Forsworn in the halls. It being too close to effectively use a bow, I swapped to my sword and shield and prepared to get medieval on some barbarian asses. As I moved to engage the nearest screw-head, Jordis suddenly appeared between us. She spun the primate -- who was at 100% health -- around, grabbed him with her offhand, and rammed her sword between his shoulder blades, insta-killing him. She then proceeded to step over the corpse, and enact holy terror upon the deceased's friends.
Note to self: do not ever stiff Jordis on her salary.
By this point in the game, I had acquired a small stack of Daedra hearts, and could finally finish out a set of Daedric armor for my new hench:
Not as stylish as the Ebony; but decidedly more intimidating. I've since also taken to leveling my enchantment skill, and enchanted her armor fully as well as using the 100 smithing skill and some buff potions to work over the armor to Legendary or Epic status; I forget which. She's not quite a battlemech; but the girl will fuck up anything shy of an Elder Dragon in short order.
Aside from the combat prowess, another reason I prefer Jordis to Lydia is her personality. I don't just mean the voice actress', either. Jordis seems...
Naive isn't the word; nor is innocent. She's... not jaded?
We were out on some godsforsaken mountain, hunting down the legend of some guy for reasons I never figured out; and had just cleaned out an enclave of Forsworn (animal-skin wearing savages are fucking everywhere south of Solitude). I was grabbing something off the blood-caked altar, when I hear from behind me:
"Wow. I've never seen anything like that before!"
I turn around, and Jordis is standing behind me, looking over my head at these rune-engraved arches. I mean it: her model was looking up, right at them. That. Was. Cool.
Pathfinding problems persist for her every bit as bad as they were for Lyds, however. I'm more convinced than ever that the game world was navmeshed in an extremely half-assed fashion -- which, let's be honest, would be par for the goddamned course at this point. When Bethsoft employees actually do something right (if they ever do) then I'll be surprised. Screw-ups and general laziness don't even make me blink, anymore. It isn't nearly as bad in interiors, but there seems to be a lag of several seconds between the time the player moves off, and the time the follower notices they need to move. This causes havoc of all sorts when trying to avoid traps (since it makes it impossible to keep your hench close enough to you to follow your exact footsteps and miss the traps' trigger plates -- which helpfully cannot be disarmed under any circumstances in this game), and can easily leave you without backup for thirty or more seconds if you stumble onto enemies. Crossing rivers is probably the worst, since bridges are infrequent at best; and followers flatly refuse to climb up and/or over rocks. They always catch up; but it can take awhile.
Beyond that, while I like the design of the Solitude house, the game itself has been more of the same. If you've made it to level fifteen or so, you've probably seen nearly all the game has to throw at you -- everything except the main quest is just various rehashes of the same half dozen quests; and you've only got six or so groups of enemies that you'll generally encounter: animals, bandits, forsworn, undead, Dwemer automatons, and dragons. Eventually, after picking a side in the war you'll also be considered the enemy of either the Imperial Legion or Stormcloaks; but they're just human NPCs with different equipment -- bandits or Forsworn in different outfits.
I've played a bit of all four "guild" questlines -- "Companions" (fighters guild), "College" (mages), Thieves guild, and Dark Brotherhood; and I'm not impressed at all. Dark Brotherhood was my favorite part of vanilla Oblivion, and Skyrim is a grave disservice to the organization -- fictional though it may be. Thieves Guild is just boring. Mages guild is same-old-same-old; "researching" ruins that always end in combat, finding books, listening to the prattle of people who need a sword in their aorta. Companions were the worst, though. After completing a couple minor quests, and not even proving yourself remotely; they initiate you into the inner circle (*train horn*) which involves making you into a werewolf.
Great, they want to make me take sides in the fucking Twilight fangirls' war? Like hell. As soon as I saw that I reloaded an earlier save and left the questline hanging. No big loss; I only joined the organization to get access to another armor and weapons vendor, anyway. I wonder somewhat idly if the mages' questline will involve becoming a sparkly, effeminate vampire.
The high point of the game continues to be the scenery, no question. From the balcony of your house in Solitude, you can see out over the north sea. As well, the view from Mehrunes Dagon's shrine is simply kickass.
While my opinion that the game is worth picking up hasn't changed, it nonetheless needs a toolset. Badly. Really badly. Really really. 'The community' could bang out fixes for most of the issues plaguing the game inside a week if there was just a way to read and modify all the entries in the main master.
The game also needs the ability to craft arrows. I know there are a couple mods floating around the Nexus that allow it; but it seems like the sort of thing that would have been in the base game. I'd think it would work piggybacked onto either smithing or marksman.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Or Not
http://www.bethblog.com/index.php/2011/12/01/skyrim-what-were-working-on/
"Creation Kit — Beginning in January, PC players will be able to download the same development tools we used at Bethesda Game Studios to create Skyrim."
So much for December third. Is anyone surprised at this point? Well, at least it can't get much worse...
"We’re excited to share news that we’ve been working closely with Valve to integrate Steam Workshop into the Creation Kit."
Great. So now I'm going to have to put up with Steam in my fucking mod tools, too? You're not making any friends with this bullshit, Bethsoft.
First the anti-patch, and now DRM crammed into the mod tools? This is depressing. I'm gonna go load ammo or something -- at least RCBS can't "patch" my Goddamned Rockchucker...
"Creation Kit — Beginning in January, PC players will be able to download the same development tools we used at Bethesda Game Studios to create Skyrim."
So much for December third. Is anyone surprised at this point? Well, at least it can't get much worse...
"We’re excited to share news that we’ve been working closely with Valve to integrate Steam Workshop into the Creation Kit."
Great. So now I'm going to have to put up with Steam in my fucking mod tools, too? You're not making any friends with this bullshit, Bethsoft.
First the anti-patch, and now DRM crammed into the mod tools? This is depressing. I'm gonna go load ammo or something -- at least RCBS can't "patch" my Goddamned Rockchucker...
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