It's been a while since I last updated. I wanted to post this back around August 2023, but I've been busy, so it's rather delayed. Since then, Skyrim has updated–twice–and I have upgraded my system. It was a good time to upgrade as I made a fresh install on SSE and downgrade to 1.6.640 to get everything to work. I got frustrated as DLLs were at different versions, Creation Kit was crashing, and over all the game I had made stopped working. But I've learned a lot from this experience and now, back up and running, I'm ready to move on.

It's surprising how much I've learned from just playing about, making mistakes, and reviewing the outputs of modding. Some of the mistakes I recall making in my younger years but having done them again, I've been able to rectify them quicker so as not to clog up the mod files with errors. I've learned a bit from searching Google and watching YouTube videos, and I've found some new things to enhance and manage the various forms and options inside my mods, as well as playing about with xEdit5. I've also taken up learning Javascript, so understanding strings and operators has helped me analyze and understand the code in Papyrus better, which has been a massive help!

So, with that, let's get into this entry's update!

GIVING A VOICE TO THE VOICELESS

As mentioned in my previous entry, I've made a mod to add more dialogue to some of the male enemy factions throughout Skyrim. I started playing with ElevenLabs back in August 2023 and really liked the prospect of adding new lines of dialogue, voicing my custom-made follower as well as my player through Dragonborn Voice Over (DBVO). New lines and voice lines have been generated for some of the factions, controlled by a voice list so I can make sure those without a voice aren't trying to speak them and forcing up subtitles (I once had a wolf someone through lines of speech at me in a fight and that was amusing for 2 seconds). I couldn't think of a name, so I just went with Rowdy Faction Comments. Most comments are sexual in nature, but I plan to add some more to extend the lore and the amount of lines actors can have, splitting more into different factions. I probably won't cover every faction or voice type, but most of the ones I hear and like. 

These comments will range over various stances, such as attacking, blocking, idle, alert, etc. An example would be "Damn... I wish I could get my cock sucked..." It would be spoken as a casual comment on an idle state where there is no threat. I am looking into how I can potentially use SexLab Aroused to enhance this, so they only say it once they reach or over a certain arousal level rather than saying it repetitively by default. I have the code to check, I just need to do some tests to implement it successfully. Another line is "Can't wait to get a piece of that Bosmer ass!" This is said to a wood elf during an attack in an angry tone, which works quite well with the conditions set up. Other lines like this have been added, and while it will take a while to think up other good ones that fit the lore (both sexual and non-sexual), it's fun to add this spice to my gameplay. The best way to describe it is a lighter version of Horrible Harassment. 

I've become really attached to the term "elf" or "little elf", which is already featured within the game itself, and sometimes feels a little domineering or even disrespectful. I've thrown some extra lines like this to a couple of specific NPCs or to a voice type, that will play throughout my gameplay. It helps build immersion for me. I don't think I'll play as any other character race than a Woodelf, but conditions help stop my follower from potentially triggering anything too! It's also good practice if I build a public mod one day to get used to the conditions, what they do, and the various options that can be used to define triggers for specific events.

For my PC character, DBVO, along with mods like Improved Alternate Conversation Camera, make conversation in the game more engaging. Using it to add vanilla lines to base content, then adding it to modded content, such as my custom follower, really adds flavor and allows me to build a unique, personal experience. Player Voice Set has done this, too, so I can trigger more varied PC dialogue on level-ups or trigger when finding a unique location. I'd love to be able to find a way to make it so it's set on conditions where I can make the player recognize things (such as saying, "I hope this dungeon doesn't have one of these mimic-tentacle creatures in it" using EnterLocation threads). I have a guess that mini-quests can do this using the condition to check if a quest is complete, but a more immersive way for it to happen in the background would be ideal.

MORNING WOOD GOT STIFFER

Sticking to voices, just for fun, I added a whole dialogue to Bjorn LongSowrd of the Morning Wood shop (if you didn't know, this comes from Schlongs of Skyrim mod). I made a custom dialogue branch where he actually explains his potions and what they do in a lore-friendly way. You can get an example below:

Credit to VectorPlexus, Smurf and b3lisario for the Schlongs of Skyrim mod, and its features, including Bjorn Longsword.

I have him giving some comments only in the Morning Wood, and some only in the Sleeping Giant Inn. One condition has him comment "Come sit in my lap, little elf..." but only in the inn and only if he's sitting. Again, conditions are really powerful to ensure you don't just hear the same line anywhere, any time, and can help keep things unique and tidy. I added a couple more when he's outside, or in the presence of another actor, all just to really see how far I could go. It's been fun to give more to this custom NPC. I have been planning a quest where he will give a discount to the player on the elixirs if the ingredients have been brought back as a way to help me learn quest-building.

I have no intention of releasing these as they are mostly just for personal enjoyment as I continue to learn inside Creation Kit, but you can imagine if I did make a mod, the type of lengths my silly little self would go. I don't see the mod getting an update anytime soon, but if it does, I'll consider having my own add-on mod. But for now, happy to just edit directly and save. 

Keeping on the topic of voices, I was able to break down SexLab Extra Voices to learn how to add more voices to the SexLab registry, which allowed me to add a unique one with my custom follower. This means that now, when he moans during sex, he uses the Brute voice, and this helps to continue building that immersion. It was a great exercise to do, and it showed me that I could see the logic in the scripts and put them together with edits. Hopefully, I can use this to continue to build my experience. 

THE LORE IS IN THE QUEST

I've been looking at building quests and had the desire to do it for a while now. In fact, I think it was the Isle of Mara that really piqued my interest. I'm starting out simply right now by doing one for my Rydin Follower mod. I've created the basics to start a force greet and discussion with the player when they are in Riverwood, triggered after the Whiterun quests are completed and you have slain the first dragon.

Using this as a lore base, I've built in about word traveling and Rydin needing help, asking you to meet him around the back of the inn. I managed to figure this out, so the next step is actually making the location of the bandit den. I know this will be a lot with building a cave with navmesh and placement of items, but where is the fun if you don't try? I did consider just using another one that was premade, but that wouldn't be challenging—time to learn something new!

LEARNING FROM DEBUGGING

Speaking of Isle of Mara, I know this mod doesn't currently have an SE port done to it, and I know from reading that people have tried, but I think they've had some issues. The mod can be a bit hit or miss for me, mostly in triggering or alignment, but it is full of a wealth of opportunities to learn from its scripts and mechanics. One thing that stopped triggering for me was the tentacles in the Wizard Crondor's hut, assaulting the three male slaves in the center. But after some playing around,

The tentacles obey their master once again!

I've managed to make them work again. I'm not sure yet what stopped them from working as everything looks correct, but I assume it may be a slight change in the Estrus mod itself, which I'll have to delve into at another date (not gonna lie, but I wanna make tentacle animations someday). But doing this deep dive into a mod like this yields a lot of learning for me. I learn from seeing it in action and breaking down the code. I learned HTML and CSS that way, so this has been a good experience (and I get to fix up one of the longest male/male-focused mods out there for my own playthrough)

REWRITING THE GUIDES

I was working on rewriting the SLAL guide as promised, mostly because I need to understand the new options so that I can upgrade and build my own packs, but I've put that on hold while I go back and do some actual animating myself first. There are also so many great animations to choose from and to hook them into my personal mods, so I want to make sure I have them tagged appropriately and save some space by taking out animations that don't appeal or work in a male/male setting. Since I'm going to stick with SE/AE, most of my modding and guides will be upgraded eventually for this, so watch this space! When I get it redone, I'll post it to the original download page.

SOMEONE'S IN TROUBLE

You may have noticed I picked up my spanking mod again, changing the name to Discipline Born. It's still in very early stages, but all the breakdown and examining of mods I have done has given me that extra insight and allowed me to really start to pick up the coding language and see what's going on. I'm still very much a beginner, but I'm not as overwhelmed as I was in my earlier years, and I have started to really work on enhancing this mod. I have thought about whether I'll release a mod (any mod) I make in the future, simply as I may not have the free time or knowledge to adequately help those with conflict or installation issues (modding is just a hobby I do in my free time) and I'm not sure at this point, but I'll still work on them for fun and update the page with progress.

Okay, I think that's it for now. I've likely missed a lot of other things I've done in the last six months, such as editing meshes and textures, but I'll keep those for another update once I have something more substantive. For now, I have an idea for a mod that utilizes the shouts, but I'll keep that under wraps until I have something that works. Thanks for reading!