wip Chaurus Life

[Seijin8]

Chaurus Life

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Chaurus Life (early alpha WIP)

 

(The mod stems from ideas fleshed out in my "Chaurus Studies" blog)

 

This mod aims to make chaurus hives more dynamic, structured, and reactive.  To get the most out of this mod, it is expected that the player is spending significant time within the hive, and this probably means they are allied (through faction) or that the PC has been captured.

 

Primary Mod Effect: Dynamic Hierarchy

Spoiler

The main elements of this mod revolve around chaurus growing from smaller nymph forms into workers (the standard chaurus) and eventually into reapers.  Reapers within a hive will engage in (sometimes fatal) dominance battles to establish a hierarchy.  Winners of such contests move a step closer to the next form and losers may either transform into chaurus hunter fledglings or (rarely) become non-competitive betas.

 

Dominance challenges are related to arousal rank.  A challenge requires a minimum of two reapers (or later dominant forms) in an area to be aroused.  It is not normal for a hive to have multiple reapers alongside a tyrant, but careful manipulation can improve the odds of this happening.

 

After several victories, a reaper will change into a reaper tyrant, gaining some health buffs and poison resistances.  Nonetheless, a lucky reaper can still defeat a tyrant.  Tyrants that lose the battle usually perish, but sometimes become exiles (not implemented yet).  Reapers who put up a close, but ultimately unsuccessful challenge may become champions, and then become a layer of protection between the tyrant and other challengers.

 

Tyrants gain benefits from victories, and these benefits include mutations of their form that add armor and increased combat abilities.  These benefits are randomly generated and serve to further make a tyrant visually different from other chaurus.

 

When a chaurus is ready to molt into its next form, it will gain a greenish shader effect.  Depending on your game scale and a few random factors, this process should take 3-5 minutes to complete.  When finished, the old body dies and the new form emerges from it.

 

Note: As long as the player is present, the new form will retain many of the traits from its prior form.

 

Secondary Mod Effect: Player Interaction with the Hive (not yet implemented)

Spoiler

This mod is meant to give players a more active role in guiding (improving or sabotaging, depending on situation) a hive’s development.  Will the player expend effort to strengthen the hive?  Maybe the player will act to cast off any falmer control?  Perhaps the PC aims to make the hive compete itself to death, improving their chances of escape?  Could a single individual in the hive form a strong enough bond to the player that the PC aims to be a kingmaker, helping this individual to become a powerful tyrant?  Any of these are possibilities that the mod will aim to engage the player in.

 

(As an adjunct to this mod, there is another mod called Underground Survival that will make longer-term living possible in the presence of needs mods, where food and drink might otherwise be hard to come by.  This will include gathering ingredients useful for working with the hive.)

 

(Why is the not-yet-added part the secondary?  Because it is intended to be the most robust and likely will take the longest to create.  Everything else will be interwoven with it.)

 

Tertiary Mod Effect: Effects related to Breeding

Spoiler

This mod adds a number of audio-visual effects related to chaurus sex and egg-laying.  These are triggered by a variety of factors in the mod and by tags on the animations. To facilitate these effects, this mod will add tags to relevant animations.  Updates to these effects are triggered through the MCM and will automatically reset on version change.  If you need to reset the mod (and reapply any tags), use the button in the MCM.

 

The Chaurus Life Cycle

Spoiler

In this mod, chaurus will naturally populate dungeons in one of six forms:

 

Chaurus Nymph (juvenile):  Nymphs grow into chaurus over time.  They will grow faster in hives with an active insect ecosystem (the little glowing “dust” effects seen in some falmer lairs where chaurus are present).

 

Chaurus Workers (the standard chaurus, considered a worker in the hive):  Chaurus at this stage become sexually active, though their eggs are typically infertile.  Over time they will grow into reapers, and sexual activity has an effect on how long this takes.  Generally, sex slightly retards their progression, but it is accelerated substantially in areas with an active insect ecosystem.

 

Chaurus Reaper (a dominant breeding member of the hive, prone to fighting with its peers):  Reapers will naturally contest one another when aroused.  It is not normal for reapers to coexist in smaller hives.  Larger and more developed hives may produce additional castes of reapers that don’t involve constant challenges.

 

Chaurus Reaper Tyrant (very rare elevated form of the reaper):  Tyrants cannot coexist with one another.  Tyrants will fight to the death to maintain their place.  In addition to being larger and wider than reapers, tyrants also grow more powerful from defeating challengers.  Stronger and more experienced tyrants will exhibit unique traits in the form of body changes (widened pincers, additional layers of plates or spikes, etc).  It is intended that the most powerful tyrants be visually distinct.

 

Chaurus Fledgling Hunters (usually the result of reapers who failed multiple dominance challenges):  Fledgling Hunters will grow in a similar fashion to workers.  (Note that fledglings are not intended to be effective breeding agents.  As the mod develops further, fledglings will be far more likely to pass on parasites and unwanted effects than to initiate a proper fertile breeding.  With experience and understanding, this can be an effective means of harvesting useful parasitic elements, but to the uninitiated, it is just a way of getting a lot of potentially lethal debuffs.)

 

Chaurus Hunters (matured fledglings):  Hunters are the elite soldiers of a hive.  Though not yet implemented, they will have many of the same issues as fledglings, only worse.  Sustained breeding with a hunter is most likely to lead to death as the parasites eat their way out of the host.  (Again, this is not yet implemented.)

 

Note that in the future I want to make hunters that are riddled with parasites fly off to die, far away from the hive.  Part of the role of the flying forms is to be attractants for parasites and other harmful agents.  They collect these things and eventually dispose of them.

 

What I want to do with the Mod

Spoiler

This mod is focused on elements that improve the diversity or interactions and interesting events when living within/beside a chaurus hive.  It won’t involve other species beyond what is absolutely necessary.  Some interaction with falmer is useful.  Some potential interactions with spiders (common around falmer) would also be an option.  Beyond this, I don’t intend to push into other species’ interactions until the mod is very much more complete (could be months, or years, or never).

 

While the mod obviously has elements of bestiality and oviposition, I also want the mod to work well without any explicit sexual elements.  This might take the form of gathering chaurus types to form large hive for use as an army.

 

Part of my desire for this is to couple this with a mod like Draugnarok, or an event where dragons take over the surface world.  When the surface becomes essentially unlivable, the player and many others would retreat to deeper environs as necessary.

 

If you want to suggest your ideas for this mod, then please understand the difference between ideas and brainfarts.  Ideas are well-articulated, take multiple factors of usability and interaction into account, and are presented in a cogent fashion, showing respect for the people you present your ideas to.

 

Anything else is a brainfart. Please don’t brainfart.

 

What I won’t do with the Mod

Spoiler

In general, I’m not a big fan of anime-style sound effects.  What is here already is in some cases borderline and may be replaced if I can find more natural sound effects to use.

 

(Having said that, natural egg laying and oviposition is nearly silent, and that doesn’t work for me, either.)

 

My goal is to use existing lore and expand upon it in ways that make sense.  Conversely, I am not a slave to the lore and am not overly concerned with adhering to it where it doesn’t make sense.

 

I will not do anything directly related to the Estrus aspects of EC+.  That being said, I also will not do anything that disables these effects since that should be up to the user.

 

I don’t want to replicate another mod’s effects unnecessarily. I will only do this if the mod I want to borrow from is large and/or inefficient and the effect I need is small.

 

I’m hesitant to add more dependencies to this mod.  If I can make a quick alteration to a script to generate a mod event to listen to/for, and that will get the mods working together, then that is my preference. (This is how the compatibility with EC+, FHU and iNeed is achieved.)

 

Warning! Early alpha work-in-progress mod!

Spoiler

This mod is very early in development and I am an amateur at scripting (though I am improving).  While nothing in this mod will permanently break your game, updates may require a clean save and existing chaurus in your game will not automatically inherit these changes and behaviors.  It is likely that updates to the mod will cause a hive to effectively fossilize in its present state, unable to progress, and some updates may completely break functionality.

 

Right now, each stage of chaurus development results in the “death” of its previous form, so mods like Untamed will not be able to track individuals between these changes.  The old version is killed; the new version arises fresh and with no connection to your PC.  Accordingly, if a chaurus is protected or essential, then they will not molt (a message will display in the console to tell you what has happened).  I chose this over removing the protection/essential status and killing them anyway to avoid conflicts with other mods that may have made them this way for a reason.

 

There is a measure on continuity from one form to the other and traits that are expressed with the individual will often be transferred to the new form.  Note that this transfer process is not perfect, and is less likely to work in crowded hives, or if the player is not present during the end of the molt.  Because of this, there are a few checks to wait until the player is present if they would otherwise molt.  If the player is absent for a longer span of time, they will attempt to molt, but the results are unreliable.

 

Compatibility was a main focus of this mod’s construction but even so, I can’t guarantee that it plays well with every other mod or load order out there.  I recommend placing this mod late in the load order, and allowing its records to overwrite everything.  (Note though that this will probably disable chaurus spit effects from EC+.  If that is a problem, place EC+ after this mod.)

 

Because of the WIP nature of the mod, I would recommend that it not be used on ongoing save games except for testing.  While it (probably) won’t break anything, the value of any feedback will be reliant on the mod working properly or failing in a clean environment, which can’t be guaranteed if it is dropped into an unstable load order.

If you fail to heed this warning, any problems with your save game are on you.

 

Hard Requirements & Installation

 

Dawnguard DLC

Sexlab (1.62)

Sexlab Aroused Redux (any current version, tested on Baka's)

Creature Framework

More Nasty Critters (v12RC9 or later)

 

Once installed, you will need to re-register your Sexlab Animation Registry to get the new race record in.

 

Optional Requirements (needed to get the full functionality)

Spoiler

You don’t really need to have these mods installed, but without them, some of the features of Chaurus Life will not work.  To get these effects, you will need the "ChaurusLife Script Overwrite and Patches" download file.

 

Estrus Chaurus+  -- Chaurus Life was built to work alongside EC+.  Though it is not an explicit requirement, they are meant to function together.  Perfect compatibility will require a patch, which I will create when this mod is more developed.

 

Fill Her Up -- (FHU v2.00-9 + Beta NIO 1.12 + SLIF patch.  Not tested on any other configuration)

 

Sexlab Inflation Framework -- (really should be used alongside EC+ and FHU)

 

iNeed or RND2 -- Chaurus Life will automatically integrate with these, no action needed

 

Apropos2 -- (included definitions are very long and required changing an Apropos script to enable them to display in their entirety and for long enough to read them)

If intending to act in a breeding role, animations that allow this will be needed.

 

Chaurus animation packs:

• Billyy’s SLAL animations have the largest number of available options (both through the "CreaturesInsects" pack and the older "Creatures" pack)
• AnubiSs also has a number of excellent animations
• BakaFactory's Patreon contains a pair of chaurus animations
• Evacuation SLAL pack has a single chaurus animation

 

This mod should work well with Kyne’s Blessing, but I have taken no steps to integrate them.  In the future, I may instead replicate some of the ideas of that mod and put them fully into Chaurus Life.  I want parasitic infections, but I also need them to behave in specific ways, and that makes creating my own system the more attractive option.

 

Load Order

Spoiler

Recommended to place Chaurus Life later than any other mods that affect race records, so place it after More Nasty Critters.

 

The leveled actor lists in this mod also need to overwrite those used in other mods, or the variant creatures will not appear in most places.  A Bashed or Smashed patch will accomplish this, and it is fairly easy to do yourself with xEdit.

 

Race Records changed (potential incompatibility)

Spoiler

ChaurusRace, ChaurusReaperRace and DLC1ChaurusHunterRace (added spell effect for life cycle functions, added small amount of out-of-combat health regeneration, added various perks relating to reducing falling damage; 30% reduction for Reapers, 60% reduction for workers, 90% reduction for hunters)  Note the falling damage adjustment came from early testing a long while back where I set up a hive in the Tower of Mzark and got irritated when they would glide right off the scroll platform and die from the fall, even though they should’ve had no trouble scaling the walls and conduits.  It was a simple fix for an irritating problem.

 

ChaurusReaperRace (in addition to above, added dominance keyword and factions to assist in condition functions and trigger effects)

 

Race records added

Spoiler

ChaurusNymphRace (presently not enabled as a Sexlab race, so they shouldn’t be involved in any sex scenes.  They are not fully matured yet and their skeleton/scale will not align well to animations.  I may add a developing maturation process later and see about cobbling some animations together to work for it).

 

ChaurusReaperTyrantRace (this is a wider and overall larger Reaper.  Scale should still align with Reaper animations with a little tweaking)

 

DeadHuskRace (the base used for cast-off molts, comes with a magic effect that kills them on spawn time.  This mainly exists so that Hunterborn won’t automatically recognize the leftover shell as something with meat in it.)

 

DeadHuskFlyerRace (same idea as above)

 

Injected Records

Spoiler

To have compatibility with other mods without needing dependencies, this mod uses the following injected records (all shared with the Underground Survival mod):

 

01CECE1E: INJArousalSuppressantMGEF

01CECE1F: EcoSystemREF

01CECEA1 through 01CECEBD: placed instances of EcoSystemREF

 

In the exceedingly rare event that another mod uses this same method and selects that same FormID, bad shit may happen… or it could do nothing at all.  No way to know.

 

(Thanks to Chesko for introducing me to this idea.  I don’t know if it was original with him, but the Frostfall API webpage is where I first learned of it.)

 

Mods used in part or in whole

Spoiler

Chaurus Lights (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/44966) by verteiron: Used with permission.  The script and lights are used in their entirety, and formed the original backbone of this mod.  You should also check out his mod “Noble Chaurus” (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/46767) for additional lore and use of chaurus related things.  The mods should work alongside each other with no issues, but I haven’t made an effort to integrate them.

 

BakaFactory’s ABC skeleton for Chaurus, used with permission.  Baka is also awesome, and it was his animation and skeleton work that inspired me to put this mod together.

 

Texture Sets added for five additional colors, drawn from (or based on) the following mods

Spoiler

Evil Chaurus: permission to use was requested, but no response was received.  I edited the base game textures to be similar to the Evil retexture, but wanted to give credit as inspiration for the retexture that is in use now.  Main difference between the original and mine is that mine retained the blue glow instead of the green used by the Evil retexture, and I aimed for a more reddish hue throughout all of the plating and mouth area.

 

Daedric Chaurus (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/6962/?) by IronMan5000, used both blue and red versions with some editing and may include the originals in the future.

 

Detailed Chaurus (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/6737/?) by McMuffinMarauder

 

Tools used

Nifskope, GIMP, Outfit Studio, Creation Kit, TESVEdit, Audacity

 

Additional (non-Skyrim) Materials Used

Spoiler

Multiple videos found on PornHub under the creator title of “Night Wanderer” were used for the vocal tracks.  One video indicates this is from someone named “Andraste”, but I couldn’t find much about them.

 

Regardless of how they were arrived at, thanks to the uploaders of the videos and the VA and video creators for the sounds being used in this mod.  In the rare event they catch wind of this mod’s existence I would happily hire the VA to do some custom work for this mod.

 

Incompatibilities

Spoiler

• Chaurus Lights (see credits), which is fully included in this mod along with expanded functionality.  There is no need to use Chaurus Lights with this, but you’d sure be an awesome person if you dropped by Nexus and gave verteiron kudos.  Here’s the link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/users/4118075
• Depending on load order, this may eliminate the Estrus function from Estrus Chaurus’ spit attacks.  If you want those effects, place EC+ after Chaurus Life in the load order.  When this mod is farther along, I will create a patch.
• The provided scripts in the patch file are based on the most recent versions of the mods being used and should overwrite any other scripts.  If one of those mods gets an update, I will make adjustments as needed.
• If you are using older versions of any of the mentioned mods, things may not work.
• Because the race records for Chaurus were altered, mods that rely on changed race records will conflict.  This is easily solved in TESVEdit.  Note that More Nasty Critters is one such mod, and Chaurus Life should come after it in the load order.
• The NPC/ActorBase and Leveled Actor (LVLN) records were also altered for the Chaurus.  These would also require patching to avoid incompatibilities.
• Please report any other incompatibilities.

 

Known Issues

Spoiler

• After several challenges are resolved, a hive will become overall a little less combative, even though conditions are in place for them to fight.  They do eventually engage, but it may take longer than expected.
• The new script for Apropos to increase the size of readable lines doesn’t hold its values between saves.  The values will read correctly in the MCM, but they don’t load right.  Just tweak any one value back and forth and exit the MCM and it will reset correctly.
• The screaming sounds don't always come off naturally.  This is especially true with the Caterwauling and Whimpering sets.  This is being addressed in future updates.
• The debug messages from the bugs and quests can generate some console spam.  I felt this was preferable to notification spam, and allowed for easier understanding of what was happening as the messages didn't fade.  These are presently not conditioned and will appear regardless of debug global settings.  This will be addressed in the next version.

 

Short-Term To-Do List

Spoiler

• Create different sound sets for flyers (right ow they’re using reaper sounds)
• Diversify sound sets for aggressive use (all sound sets are aimed to be consensual but rough.  Let us be honest: an ovipositor the length of your leg driven by a hard-shelled beast the size of a small horse isn’t gentle, no matter how “lovingly” it is inserted)
• Continue to smooth out broken animation stage tags to improve overall experience. (This means: animators not adding correct SLAL tags, not something this mod is breaking.  I’m trying to fix it, I swear.)  Several adjustments have been made to address this, but the effort is ongoing.

 

Long-Term To-Do List (exhaustive and not at all guaranteed to happen)

Spoiler

• Generate a proper SL voice set from the same voice actress as the current sound effects so that the vocal spectrum can be maintained if desired. (This is in progress, but is very time consuming.)
• Create sound effects for walking around heavily encumbered with FHU active.
• Integration of parasites/larva (purpose, principal effects, side effects)
• Make the transition from reaper to fledgling hunter use a cocoon and take longer. (In concept this is easily done, but in reality it will be tough to make sure this doesn’t block an exit or a tunnel somewhere.)
• Behaviors/AI packages (not started yet, likely to be similar to Wild World and you can use that mod in the meantime, though it would need a patch).
• Give Chaurus Nymphs limited healing and regeneration effects they can apply to others nearby.
• Give Chaurus Hunters near-immunity to chaurus poisons and (somehow) see about using them to improve the aim for the other chaurus (possibly slight slow effects from hits).  I plan on them having a melee/sapper role.
• Improve and diversify environmental effects (Chaurus operate best when closest to proper habitat and worse when away from it.  They are environmentally sensitive.)
• Apply similar effects to egg-laying situations and EC+ related hatching options (more likely to hatch in/around warm/moist areas, unlikely to hatch in colder/drier environments).
• Closer match of colorations to hives based on minerals/environmental situations in the caves/hives they live in.  Produce additional colorations as needed.
• Integrate the Skyrim Immersive Creatures chaurus variants.
• More armor options for Tyrants, as well as potential additional post-tyrant forms with much more unique appearances and abilities.
• Apply unique scars and other identifying characteristics to Reapers, Tyrants and Hunters.
• Add traits and behavioral alterations to make individuals a little more unique.
• Create/adapt more animobjects/art effects for use alongside animations.
• Alter/adapt EC+ hatchling behaviors and growth to be less harmful (no longer auto-attacking) and more responsive to their environment.  If a hatchling is regularly fed, it shouldn’t feel the need to hunt so aggressively.
• Make hatchling populations self-managing in terms of overall numbers to prevent there from being 600 of them in a given area.  They should kill one another when population grows too large, or hunters should cull excess numbers as a form of population control (and to prevent the game from being a slideshow because of half a thousand hatchlings in an area).
• Diversify egg sizes laid in EC+ to be closer to the obvious size they have when being implanted.  This would make impregnation by various species of chaurus different.
• Add consequences and lasting effects from being used as a breeder; some good, some not so much.  If the first time a PC is used as a breeder is for a Tyrant, they are unlikely to be in good shape after the event, or the birthing.  Conversely, working up to this in stages, from small hatchlings/classic EC+ eggs and gradually moving up to the larger sizes should be more survivable.
• Develop other potential lingering effects of regular use as a breeder. (Most detrimental, but maybe some that can be turned to advantage.)  As a matter of gameplay, none of these should be fatal or so prone to spiraling out of control that they cease to allow normal play, but there might need to be substantial time spent in recovery.
• Tune the mini-game elements of managing wear & tear versus role in the hive, versus other adaptive factors, versus survival aspects to make it so that perpetual sex isn’t a good thing.  (For those just wanting a bug-fucking simulator, this will be something that can be tuned or disabled as needed.)
• Fertility of the hive breeders and eggs related to the presence of egg piles in the area.  This gives a reason for falmer to maintain designated breeding zones.
• Coupled with above, would need a way for chaurus to produce new egg piles in a way that looked natural in the surroundings.  If moving a hive into a new cave, it shouldn’t take too long for it to be draped with egg piles everywhere.
• Attach the glowing “falmer dust” camera effects to an area where breeding is likely and adjust the overall habitat and hive behaviors in such an area.
• Make some adjustments to vanilla Skyrim chaurus hives/locations to create small tunnels that connect them to one another.  Truly underground living should be possible, without needing to surface to bridge locations.  In some cases, these tunnels would be blocked and would require chaurus workers to be directed to clear the tunnels.
• Some new areas connected to the tunnel networks that are already inhabited by falmer or standalone chaurus hives. These hives would likely be uniquely colored.
• Generate mechanisms for hive leaders to fight one another for dominance, allowing hives to be in conflict with one another or to merge with minimal violence.
• Create small possibilities for hives to go to all-out war with one another.
• Determine if specific breeding races or states (such as vampirism) would affect growth or hatching time.
• Develop a system that allows trade and non-combat interactions with falmer.
• Need to develop advanced hive behaviors, such as the formation of raiding parties (with/without falmer).
• Investigate changing the reach of chaurus engaged in dominance battles so that the animations aren’t so obviously missing each other all the damn time (inherent issue with Skyrim).  Alongside this idea, maybe create some advanced combat behaviors to make the challenge battles more dynamic.
• There should be penalties for someone healing a participant in the battle.  No issues if you heal the challengers following the fight’s conclusion.  Accordingly, there would need to be an audio-visual way to detect the end of the battle.
• Lots and lots of other things I won’t mention until they are farther along…

 

Current Animation Tags

Spoiler

Note that many tag names have been changed in version 0.1.4

 

Stage Timing Tags:

EarlyOrg -- Orgasm/egglaying effects to be played one stage before the animation ends

EarlyOrg2 -- Orgasm/egglaying effects to be played two stages before the animation ends

CLResidual -- Non-oral orgasm effects from EarlyOrg will continue into later stages (formerly ResidualOrg)

CLResidualO -- Oral orgasm effects carried over from EarlyOrg.

SecondOrg -- Paired with EarlyOrg and ResidualOrg, replaces ResidualOrg sounds with additional non-oral egglaying sounds.

CLNoEnd -- System attempts to eliminate any "end stage" effects normally associated with orgasms/egglaying

CLX -- Notifies system that non-orgasm/egglaying stage-timed effects are present in the animation

 

Stifled -- Tells the system to play "oral" based egglaying sounds in situations that otherwise would play non-oral sounds.  For now, this only pairs with EarlyOrg effects
 

Visual & Special FX Tags:

CLSquirt -- Used to notify system to look for squirt effects, doesn't specify any effect itself

     CLMilk -- Breasts will leak (currently both, but future tags can split this from one or the other side)

     CLSVLF -- Squirt, vaginal, long-distance and slow drop-off/high speed

     CLSVFan -- Squirt, vaginal, short distance and sprayed to the sides

     CLSALF -- Squirt, anal, long-distance and slow drop-off/high speed

CLSwallow -- Will "drink" bug cum at orgasm stage as though the animation is tagged Blowjob. (Needs the RND or iNeed mods enabled to have an effect.)
 

Vocal FX Tags:

CLNO -- Will not apply oral-based sounds or effects.  Used for animations that have oral and blowjob elements, but not on the orgasm stage.  Note that CLResidualO will override this

OrgScream -- On Orgasm, the partner will begin screaming (degree of scream dictated by several wear and tear factors and thresholds set in the MCM)

ResScream -- Paired with CLResidual tag, the partner will begin screaming on the residual orgasm phase.

     Note: Combining CLResidual and OrgScream without ResScream will result in decreased likelihood of screaming.  Meant for animations where the final stage(s) are more relaxed

Caterwaul -- The partner/victim will use a special set of screaming sounds (Mixture of Moan, Distress and Pain) even if screaming is otherwise not indicated by wear and tear.

Stifled -- System will use oral-based/muffled voice effects, even if "Oral" and "Blowjob" tags are not present

Stifled1 -- As Stifled, but only on stage 1 of the animation

 

Tags supplied by other mods that are used to determine Chaurus Life Effects:

Eggs -- Marks an animation as an egglaying animation and will always seek to deliver egglaying effects.

Oviposition -- Same as Eggs, either tag will work

Vaginal -- Random chance for egglaying, dependent on environmental factors and race of chaurus (Reapers are more likely to attempt egglaying)

Anal -- Small chance for egglaying effects

Oral -- Will attempt to use Oral sounds unless tagged otherwise.  Note that this is a problematic tag for many animations.

Blowjob -- Upon chaurus orgasm, the partner will receive one or more doses of "chaurus cum"

Kissing -- Use Oral sound set (muffled moans and cries)

Aircum -- Added to several animations for interaction with Erstam's Cumshot mod

 

Note that Chaurus Life will automatically apply some of these tags to chaurus animations where they are needed.

 

Stage Result Tags:

Note these do not have an effect on the animation, but inform the system if the animation may adjust behaviors afterward

 

CLFDom -- Female played a dominant role in the animation

CLFSub -- Female played a significantly diminished/submissive role in the animation (was just used as an eggsac and nothing more)

 

Thanks to:

Ashal -- none of this would be possible without him, and no amount of thanks is enough

CPU -- for his duties here and for assisting me with scripting questions over the years

BakaFactory -- for inspiration, constant asset development and a phenomenal work ethic

MadMansGun -- for keeping Skyrim's bestiality content as streamlined and functional as this kind of insanity can be

Bane Master & Jbezorg -- for Estrus Chaurus and EC+

Erstram -- use of particle effects from Cumshot mod

Reesewow -- general discussions and encouragement

AnubiSs -- for permission to call on his animations within the mod

Billyy -- for permission to call on his animations within the mod

Dunkin Donuts -- fuel

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• Submitter
  Seijin8
• Submitted
  06/03/2019
• Category
  Other
• Requires
  Dawnguard, Sexlab v1.62, Sexlab Aroused Redux, Creature Framework/More Nasty Critters
• Special Edition Compatible
  No

 

[Seijin8]

UPDATE:  There is now a section in the end of the description for the animation tags presently used and what they do.  Refer to that as this is old data.

 

What I really need from the community right now is to identify animations that need adjustments.  The tags presently available (which can be manually added, or patched through the mod using the "reset Voice Registry" option) are:

 

Function-based

 

"EarlyOrg" - tells the system to throw the "orgasm/egg-laying" effects one stage before the final scene.

 

"ResidualOrg" - to be used in conjunction with above, tells the system that some residual effects should remain following the "EarlyOrg"

 

Behavior-based

 

"CL-FSub" - the female in the animation is particularly submissive/harshly treated (keeping in mind that the baseline here is already pretty rough, I would only want to to use this on animations where there was some genuine abuse going on, or where the female appeared extra submissive)

 

"CL-FDom" - opposite of above, and to my knowledge the only animation that fits this is AnubiSs' "MMO Chaurus"

 

Effect-based (implemented in the mod, but waiting on permissions for the effect meshes to make them visible)

 

"Squirting" - usually to be used with ResidualOrg, where a volume of liquid may be exiting after breeding

 

"CLMilkSquirt" - use your imagination.  Would be present in certain animations where biting might be taking place (such as Billyy's side gangbang anims).  Note that the mod can differentiate "sides" to use this effect on, or do both at once.

 

 

Other useful things:

 

I could use a picture for splash.  Any screenarchers that want to make something fitting would be most welcome.

 

Ideas about hive interactions (peaceful and generally non-sexual) would be welcomed to help me formulate a framework for how to do this.

[BeoWulf91]

Hello,

 

Firstly, what an idea! Definitely a mod people need to watch as it develops. Could become a must-have for a large segment of users.

 

Second, before trying it out, I poked around the files (because why not?), and it seems you only included the source script for the changed Apropos2 script, but not the .pex file that makes it usable in-game. Not exactly a "bug report," but I thought I should let you know.

 

Edit: Also, what animations correspond with the Apropos2 descriptions beginning with CC and CR? Those don't look familiar.

[MadMansGun]

i'm just glad that i'm not the only one trying to figure out their life cycle.

 

some old pm's from 2017 i had with billyy (from before i "made" the hunters dick/tube) :

Spoiler

m

Quote

i do plan on adding more creature dicks but there are some questions that need to be solved;

how do the Chaurus reproduce? are they like ants, or more like xenomorphs?

is the "dick" actually some sort of ovulation tube that they use to lays eggs inside there pray?

who is laying the eggs? before the Dawnguard DLC it looked like the Chaurus Reaper was the queen, but now we have Chaurus Hunters and Shellbugs.

where would the dick/ovulation tube be on a Chaurus Hunter?

b

Quote

sounds like you’ve put a lot more thought into this than I have. I've never put much thought into how chaurus reproduce or which specific chaurus laid the eggs if that's how it works, but I did kind of just assume they did lay eggs to reproduce and that they all laid eggs. I guess after the mutation the hunter might do things differently, but I like to think it’d still be parasitic in some form, whether it be eggs or larva or whatnot. As for shellbugs, I don't know anything about them. Didn't even know they were related.

 

In terms of location, I don’t know realistically where they should be located, but in terms of ease of animation, the end of the tail/abdomen thing most likely. For the hunter it’d be basically where it is on the chaurus at the end of the abdomen on the bottom.

m

Quote

 

i have no clue if shellbugs are related or not, but the only 2 found in game are guarded by Chaurus bugs, so it looks like a queen to me. i only thought about it so much because i wanted to make a Chaurus on Chaurus animation.

 

it will probably just be a lot of trial and error to find out what works best.

 

b

Quote

Sounds plausible for shellbugs I guess. Also chaurus on chaurus, eh? That'd be interesting to say the least. I wouldn't even know where you'd... stick it...

 

[Elvorana]

I have been looking for a mod like this for years and I can't wait to see it evolve (huh...llike a xeno?) over time ^_^ You've got my support!

 

EDIT: I can't help much identifying animations or with screen archery as my graphics card is throwing a fit, however in terms of hive inteeractions you can look at ants and bees. They usually have tenders for the eggs (egg piles) as well as workers that move both eggs and pupa around as the hive requires. Might be an idea for keeping the coccoons from blocking stuff. I know that Sexlab Traps mod used an invisible npc to map out the dungeons and place stuff, maybe have a chaurus "carry" the coccoon to an area large enough for it to not block anything?

I havent seen much of the shellbugs, but they seem a little small to be queens. (if im remembering correctly.) It could be that they are the pupal form of a queen? Not sure how it would work, but i kinda imagine a queen being rather large (IE: xeno queen or rachni queen). Though a smaller queen would certainly be easier to animate and have moving around.

[macnchz]

interesting concept.  Consumer did an alt start as a chaurus brood maiden, I think this mod can/is really expand the entire topic.  Also my brain fart for today - have you considered slowly changing the pc into a chaurus half breed?  Slowly over time as the PC spends time with the hive - could be result of parasites, or the glow stuff on the skin.   Slavetats would be easiest for early skin changing.   Thinking something like BAC did for milkmod. 

 

 

[Seijin8]

On 6/3/2019 at 10:48 AM, BeoWulf91 said:

Hello,

 

Firstly, what an idea! Definitely a mod people need to watch as it develops. Could become a must-have for a large segment of users.

 

Second, before trying it out, I poked around the files (because why not?), and it seems you only included the source script for the changed Apropos2 script, but not the .pex file that makes it usable in-game. Not exactly a "bug report," but I thought I should let you know.

 

Edit: Also, what animations correspond with the Apropos2 descriptions beginning with CC and CR? Those don't look familiar.

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Good catch on the Apropos file.  Re-uploading.

 

CC, CR (and CB) are all animation "mashups" that I am trying to figure out a way to include without having to jump through fiery hoops of permission issues.  Not a big deal because 1) they aren't that good, and 2) they're made of animations you probably already have.  I left the Apropos files intact in case someone wanted to borrow from them, and I may see about working it so that FNIS deploys those animation sets *if* you already have the animations in their default locations.  Still looking into the feasibility on that.

 

UPDATE: starting in v0.1.2 these sets are being added where permissions are possible to acquire, and the animations will be adjusted if those asset permissions are not available.

[Seijin8]

3 hours ago, MadMansGun said:

i'm just glad that i'm not the only one trying to figure out their life cycle.

 

some old pm's from 2017 i had with billyy (from before i "made" the hunters dick/tube) :

  Hide contents

m

b

m

b

 

Yeah, Beth didn't give us much to go on, just a lot of questions with no clear answers.

 

I hadn't considered the shellbugs before.  Could easily be a very early nymph form or even something else.  Will look into it.

[Seijin8]

2 hours ago, Elvorana_Tanthalasa said:

I have been looking for a mod like this for years and I can't wait to see it evolve (huh...llike a xeno?) over time ^_^ You've got my support!

 

EDIT: I can't help much identifying animations or with screen archery as my graphics card is throwing a fit, however in terms of hive inteeractions you can look at ants and bees. They usually have tenders for the eggs (egg piles) as well as workers that move both eggs and pupa around as the hive requires. Might be an idea for keeping the coccoons from blocking stuff. I know that Sexlab Traps mod used an invisible npc to map out the dungeons and place stuff, maybe have a chaurus "carry" the coccoon to an area large enough for it to not block anything?

I havent seen much of the shellbugs, but they seem a little small to be queens. (if im remembering correctly.) It could be that they are the pupal form of a queen? Not sure how it would work, but i kinda imagine a queen being rather large (IE: xeno queen or rachni queen). Though a smaller queen would certainly be easier to animate and have moving around.

Thanks for the suggestions.  Right now I'm thinking nymphs and some lower-tier workers would be the tenders you speak of.  For the cocoons, right now I'm thinking either 1) make them non-collidable so bad placement doesn't matter, and/or 2) make it possible to activate and move them yourself.  I guess I could also split the difference and just make them a collidable clutter object like a bucket, so anything/anyone can move them.  Really all three options seem a bit unsatisfying.

 

I'm toying with the idea of there being an explicit "queen" evolution beyond the tyrant, but that would need to be a major mesh edit to look right and be quality enough to bother with.  I was thinking it might look like a chaurus whose abdomen has swollen, with the carapace being a series of rings around a translucent eggsac.

 

The big questions then: is she producing the eggs and the others are just picking them up and moving them?  Plausible in concept, but then there are either a lot of queens, or all chaurus with eggpiles around are really satellites of one big hive, which seems unlikely given how physically isolated the hives are (which I will remedy).  If she is just a high-level breeder, does she tolerate competition?

[Seijin8]

1 hour ago, macnchz said:

interesting concept.  Consumer did an alt start as a chaurus brood maiden, I think this mod can/is really expand the entire topic.  Also my brain fart for today - have you considered slowly changing the pc into a chaurus half breed?  Slowly over time as the PC spends time with the hive - could be result of parasites, or the glow stuff on the skin.   Slavetats would be easiest for early skin changing.   Thinking something like BAC did for milkmod. 

 

 

Yeah, ContentConsumer's Chillwind Depths breeder start was one of the things that got me thinking about this.

 

Physical transformation of the breeder is a planned feature, but it needs a good interaction layer to rest upon first.

 

Transformation toward a hybrid form is definitely one option.  Given that my headcanon for how those ovipositors don't kill the breeder involves the bug's fluids making the tissues far more elastic, it stands to reason that a slimegirl effect could arise as well.  Could add a subtle shader effect and show the eggs inside as well.  Wear and tear would almost completely disappear, but I gotta think fire and certain chemicals might become severe issues, as might direct sunlight.

 

Whether these transformations are mutually exclusive or related is a question as well.  I'm leaving the slavetats option out for the moment just so that mods using that can keep distinct visual effects.

[Teruke]

a hive simulator, and here i am still thinking about a riekling tribe simulator

[Seijin8]

3 minutes ago, Teruke said:

a hive simulator, and here i am still thinking about a riekling tribe simulator

Go for it.  Anything that adds non-combat depth to the world and interactions is a good thing.

[Elvorana]

18 minutes ago, Seijin8 said:

Thanks for the suggestions.  Right now I'm thinking nymphs and some lower-tier workers would be the tenders you speak of.  For the cocoons, right now I'm thinking either 1) make them non-collidable so bad placement doesn't matter, and/or 2) make it possible to activate and move them yourself.  I guess I could also split the difference and just make them a collidable clutter object like a bucket, so anything/anyone can move them.  Really all three options seem a bit unsatisfying.

 

I'm toying with the idea of there being an explicit "queen" evolution beyond the tyrant, but that would need to be a major mesh edit to look right and be quality enough to bother with.  I was thinking it might look like a chaurus whose abdomen has swollen, with the carapace being a series of rings around a translucent eggsac.

 

The big questions then: is she producing the eggs and the others are just picking them up and moving them?  Plausible in concept, but then there are either a lot of queens, or all chaurus with eggpiles around are really satellites of one big hive, which seems unlikely given how physically isolated the hives are (which I will remedy).  If she is just a high-level breeder, does she tolerate competition?

Another option could be to have designated spawn points for the coccoons that the chaurus will move to before evolving. that way they only show up when a chaurus is evolving, but you also know exactly where they are going to be. Since you're already planning some cell changes, you could even have designated evolution rooms.

As for the queens, the high level breeder idea sounds pretty cool; but its also worth noting that a "Queen" doesnt necessarily need to be female. Especially since all Chaurus seem capable of laying eggs. It could just be that the Queen functions as the mind behind the hive, directing the hives workforce and defenses.

If you do go with the breeder idea, it could be a nice mini-game to try to out-breed the Queen.

Also in reference to some other posts here, i really like the sound of transformative stuff. Haven't found any good ones for skyrim. Someone was working on a Corruption of Champions one but it never got finished.

[Seijin8]

33 minutes ago, Elvorana_Tanthalasa said:

Another option could be to have designated spawn points for the coccoons that the chaurus will move to before evolving. that way they only show up when a chaurus is evolving, but you also know exactly where they are going to be. Since you're already planning some cell changes, you could even have designated evolution rooms.

As for the queens, the high level breeder idea sounds pretty cool; but its also worth noting that a "Queen" doesnt necessarily need to be female. Especially since all Chaurus seem capable of laying eggs. It could just be that the Queen functions as the mind behind the hive, directing the hives workforce and defenses.

If you do go with the breeder idea, it could be a nice mini-game to try to out-breed the Queen.

Also in reference to some other posts here, i really like the sound of transformative stuff. Haven't found any good ones for skyrim. Someone was working on a Corruption of Champions one but it never got finished.

I didn't want to do the designated spawn points, just because of how much cell editing that would require, but you are probably right and that's the best way to do it.

 

As for the mini-game... in the event that you "win", your soggy misshapen fleshbag character will be in no shape to defend herself if the queen is a sore loser

 

The (admittedly minor) issue with the transformation is that it becomes hard to imagine returning to the surface and visiting a city like that.  They won't let khajiit in, but they're fine with the semisolid egg-filled chitin-covered broodcarrier strutting/waddling over to buy some bread?  Yeah, no.  So making everyone in the world hostile brings another issue that the vanilla non-combat/run/flee/hide behaviors for most of Skyrim's population are useless.  There aren't enough "warning/threat" options, and this lack of interaction layer becomes its own issue.

 

As a matter of principle, I don't want to add anything that shines a spotlight on the game's deficiencies.  Its just immersion-breaking and trying to patch that shit up would be a never-ending project.

 

EDIT:  Which doesn't mean I'm not doing it (I definitely am), just that I need to think it through more.

[Reesewow]

Congrats on the release, time to test out your hard work!

 

On your Apropos descriptions, quick question - did you need to actually remove any of the default database synonym categories, or just reduce the variety of words they contained to fit your chaurus-centric words?  Mostly curious if there are likely to be any [DESCRIPTION] errors showing up in the default Apropos categories if I simply overwrite the files - at a glance it looks like the first handful are still all there.

[Seijin8]

8 minutes ago, Reesewow said:

Congrats on the release, time to test out your hard work!

 

On your Apropos descriptions, quick question - did you need to actually remove any of the default database synonym categories, or just reduce the variety of words they contained to fit your chaurus-centric words?  Mostly curious if there are likely to be any [DESCRIPTION] errors showing up in the default Apropos categories if I simply overwrite the files - at a glance it looks like the first handful are still all there.

Thanks.

 

I made sure that all the original description triggers are there, even if they are pared down.  There shouldn't be any errors in the defaults stuff, though I may have left one or two in my own works from descriptions I cut back on.  Let me know if you find any.

[sshar22]

Nice Idea!

Lately I played a very "taxing" but non (too) hostile Skyrim. 

Role-played a druid (AFS + Untamed + one with nature + beastess lairs) so most of the animal wildlife is not hostile, but cities are quite challenging (SLS, DID, SLR, FotD, SLHH)

I can say that a chaurus pack travelling with you can be very effective and "tanky".

So a mod that creates a hive faction you can be part of, care for, fight with, would be dream come true. 

Will definitely monitor this mod and try it as soon as I start a new game.

BTW If one currently uses CC breeder LAL start would that quickstart your mod? Or where should one currently travel to see your mod working?

 

Cheers

[Seijin8]

1 minute ago, sshar22 said:

Nice Idea!

Lately I played a very "taxing" but non (too) hostile Skyrim. 

Role-played a druid (AFS + Untamed + one with nature + beastess lairs) so most of the animal wildlife is not hostile, but cities are quite challenging (SLS, DID, SLR, FotD, SLHH)

I can say that a chaurus pack travelling with you can be very effective and "tanky".

So a mod that creates a hive faction you can be part of, care for, fight with, would be dream come true. 

Will definitely monitor this mod and try it as soon as I start a new game.

BTW If one currently uses CC breeder LAL start would that quickstart your mod? Or where should one currently travel to see your mod working?

 

Cheers

On a new game, all chaurus should be affected by this mod, regardless of the start conditions you use.  Seeing the mod working may take some time since it takes a while for chaurus to grow up.  The only obvious effects (from a distance) should be if two reapers are both aroused near each other.  A fight should break out pretty quickly and the loser's arousal should start dropping.  Right now highly aroused chaurus will glow blue (same as magic effect shader, that will be unique on the next update).

 

If using certain animations (anything with the tags "oviposition", "eggs" or "gangbang") you should also be able to hear the mod working.

 

The mod isn't really "in your face" with what it does.  It should (at least at this point) just add a subtle background layer to events.

 

Note though that Untamed may block some of it from working if the chaurus are in your pack.

[Reesewow]

Loving the visual and audio effects so far, and looking forward to the possible unique effects still to come.  This part alone would probably have me want to use the mod moving forward, the chaurus have a lot more going on in scenes with the various effects.

 

The apropos descriptions are interesting - I will very likely look to customize my database to include your unique animations descriptions and synonyms at some point.  When you have them to a spot you are happy with - would recommend firing them Gooser's way as he seems to be interested in adding more descriptions where he can find them to the default database.

 

 

My main issue so far is I don't really have a compatible mod for hanging around in falmer/chaurus nests to see the behavior without engaging in combat - instead I was cruising around with Kyne's Peace shout, which very likely messes with the modded behavior.

 

I think the mod including either:

• a chaurus/falmer faction equivalent to the Moonlight Tales "wolfkin alliance" allowing you to be allies with that faction
• a more robust breeder faction - possibly as a EC+ patch, allying the player to falmer/chaurus if they are carrying eggs with a bit of grace period after birthing to re-acquire said eggs, if playing a brood mother.

could be a great addition for the player-hive interaction portion of the mod, to act as a bridge for players that aren't using a enslavement or other mod that lends itself to hanging out in these caves without being constantly spat on.

 

 

I also did encounter a pre-spawned tyrant - wasn't able to engage it in an animation, but that was likely just me struggling with triggering new creature races that have been newly added to MNC's race script.

 

 

On animations - did notice one animation that was quite off - Anubs "Egg" animation.  That animation actually has the egg laying event on the 3rd-to-last stage, followed by a regular stage, then an animated-object egg stage.

[Seijin8]

4 minutes ago, Reesewow said:

My main issue so far is I don't really have a compatible mod for hanging around in falmer/chaurus nests to see the behavior without engaging in combat - instead I was cruising around with Kyne's Peace shout, which very likely messes with the modded behavior.

I typically use "Manipulator" and set faction to Chaurus at game start.  That takes care of everything I've encountered so far in most caves/falmer locations.  Once I have all the alchemy set up (mainly through Underground Survival), I will add pheremone solutions, but the main issue there is that the falmer wouldn't necessarily care about it.  Thus, needing a better interaction layer for falmer.

 

6 minutes ago, Reesewow said:

I also did encounter a pre-spawned tyrant - wasn't able to engage it in an animation, but that was likely just me struggling with triggering new creature races that have been newly added to MNC's race script.

If it was in Frostflow Abyss, then bravo, you found the one and only.  If not... I'd like details, because that shouldn't be happening.

 

As for interacting, if you are using MNC v12RC4 and used the script patch in the other download, then it *should* work after re-running CF and SL animation registry.

 

If not, that is also a problem, and I would like details.

9 minutes ago, Reesewow said:

On animations - did notice one animation that was quite off - Anubs "Egg" animation.  That animation actually has the egg laying event on the 3rd-to-last stage, followed by a regular stage, then an animated-object egg stage.

Yeah, I can add a special trigger for that one, but I was kind of at a loss with it.  Frankly, it (and other animations that have the eggs popping right out in the animation) doesn't fit into how I figure any of this should be working.  On the one hand, I don't figure the workers are typically fertile anyway, and there are no reaper animations where the female is allowed to release any eggs after they are laid.  Honestly not totally sure what to do with those.  Suggestions are welcome.

[Seijin8]

Thanks to MadMansGun, the MNC script in the patch is no longer needed and Tyrants are now directly supported.  I am removing the script from the patch now.

[Reesewow]

43 minutes ago, Seijin8 said:

I typically use "Manipulator" and set faction to Chaurus at game start.  That takes care of everything I've encountered so far in most caves/falmer locations.  Once I have all the alchemy set up (mainly through Underground Survival), I will add pheremone solutions, but the main issue there is that the falmer wouldn't necessarily care about it.  Thus, needing a better interaction layer for falmer.

I'll have to look up Manipulator - haven't used that mod myself.

43 minutes ago, Seijin8 said:

 

If it was in Frostflow Abyss, then bravo, you found the one and only.  If not... I'd like details, because that shouldn't be happening.

 

As for interacting, if you are using MNC v12RC4 and used the script patch in the other download, then it *should* work after re-running CF and SL animation registry.

 

If not, that is also a problem, and I would like details.

Yep, Frostflow it was - came to mind as the most Chaurus place in the vanilla game with the least falmer.  After adding MMG's updated script, I was able to have the tyrants animate with the reaper animations just fine, thanks to both.

43 minutes ago, Seijin8 said:

Yeah, I can add a special trigger for that one, but I was kind of at a loss with it.  Frankly, it (and other animations that have the eggs popping right out in the animation) doesn't fit into how I figure any of this should be working.  On the one hand, I don't figure the workers are typically fertile anyway, and there are no reaper animations where the female is allowed to release any eggs after they are laid.  Honestly not totally sure what to do with those.  Suggestions are welcome.

If it isn't a hassle to give those animations special triggers, I'd vote go for it just to have the sounds/effects line up where they make sense.  The fact there are egg animated objects being released could possibly be justified by assuming the chaurus misjudging his host's "capacity".

[Elvorana]

Heya again, was doing a bit of my own research on Chaurus lore (i read through your blog, you are currently the only really good source so far XD) and I remembered Mihail's giant centipede mod (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/94668). He has a ton of re-hashed rigs that might work pretty well for some sub-species if he gave his permissions. Would probably need some new sexlab anims to go with them though.

 

On another note, started up a new playthrough after installing your mod, though its gonna take me a bit to find some chaurus and get on their good side. I'll let you know if I find any issues or anything. ^_^

[Seijin8]

10 minutes ago, Reesewow said:

If it isn't a hassle to give those animations special triggers, I'd vote go for it just to have the sounds/effects line up where they make sense.  The fact there are egg animated objects being released could possibly be justified by assuming the chaurus misjudging his host's "capacity".

Should be easy enough.  Just another calculation in the stage checking.  Will be in the next update.

[Seijin8]

15 minutes ago, Elvorana_Tanthalasa said:

Heya again, was doing a bit of my own research on Chaurus lore (i read through your blog, you are currently the only really good source so far XD) and I remembered Mihail's giant centipede mod (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/94668). He has a ton of re-hashed rigs that might work pretty well for some sub-species if he gave his permissions. Would probably need some new sexlab anims to go with them though.

 

On another note, started up a new playthrough after installing your mod, though its gonna take me a bit to find some chaurus and get on their good side. I'll let you know if I find any issues or anything. ^_^

I had seen that centipede mod, but haven't tried it.  They are definitely based on the chaurus skeleton, but it looks like they are permanently partially underground.  I'm not sure how that would work with a lot of the animations.  A lot of times when adapting new races to the existing skeletons, they result in some weirdness that can't really be worked out.

 

Will have to give that a try though and if it looks promising (not horribly misaligned, etc), then I will ask Mihail about including it.  Thanks for the heads-up on it, as I'd forgotten all about that mod.

 

EDIT: His permissions are open use with credit, so that part wouldn't be an issue.  Will test it out.