wip Chaurus Life

[Deutsche_Cookie]

Good to know that you are working on it. Insects are the the most undervalued fetish in the community and your mod is the most promising thing I've saw.

[Lupine00]

This is very interesting.

 

I'm not clear how the player can interact with the hive in the current version. Is there much you can do? Or does it mostly do its own thing?

How are the factions managed? Are they simply going to be hostile to the player?

 

There's been some discussion about the idea of a weak PC that is not considered a threat being ignored by various types of enemies, as a play mechanic; a way to achieve things with a weak character. You would need to do things to placate the 'enemies' and then ingratiate yourself with them. This seems like a perfect place to fit that kind of play.

[Seijin8]

7 hours ago, Lupine00 said:

I'm not clear how the player can interact with the hive in the current version

Nothing in the current version.

 

There is a cheat in the MCM to add yourself to chaurus faction (or an ally faction which is only for chaurus and doesn't affect falmer, spiders, etc)

7 hours ago, Lupine00 said:

There's been some discussion about the idea of a weak PC that is not considered a threat being ignored by various types of enemies, as a play mechanic; a way to achieve things with a weak character. You would need to do things to placate the 'enemies' and then ingratiate yourself with them. This seems like a perfect place to fit that kind of play.

It does sound like a possible play style, though I'm unsure how something is defined as "weak" in this case, and what would happen if that moniker no longer fit.

 

I do plan on having an interaction system within the hive, with falmer and to some extent with other cave dwelling insects and skeevers.  Essentially, my goal is to make a non-combat hive-centric playthrough not just viable, but also interesting.  This wouldn't be forced on the player, but would be an underlying set of mechanics that would be accessible for befriending animals, or at least not being seen as a threat.

 

Almost all of the above is still in planning stages.  No ETA.

[Lupine00]

9 hours ago, Seijin8 said:

though I'm unsure how something is defined as "weak" in this case, and what would happen if that moniker no longer fit.

That's a topic I didn't want to bloat your thread with.

 

One way of establishing it is that you would be classified as low-threat if you have been defeated in combat.

If you then kill a chaurus, you would no longer be considered a low-threat/weak/harmless creature, and would be open to attacks again.

 

However, simply being defeated may not be enough for hive denizens to permit you free access.

If you are impregnated, you would be confined in the egg-laying area, and if you haven't, then you wouldn't get far beyond the entrance.

 

You would need to do something (such as lay the eggs) to be allowed further access.

 

Conceivably, there are tasks, or quests, you can perform for the hive that make you more tolerated and increase your access levels.

 

Likely, heading down that path leads to the acquisition of chaurus attributes (see SexLab Stories Chaurus Breeder) such as the glowing blue skin spatter, larger breasts, a belly that never completely deflates, or weird compulsions or addictions of a chaurus related nature.

 

I'm not saying all that sort of thing should be within the scope of this mod - though sure would be exciting if it was - just trying to give some context.

[Seijin8]

9 hours ago, Lupine00 said:

[snipped - all was good]

Okay, that all makes sense, and most of it is planned in some capacity.  The interactions would be fairly easy to deal with so long as there was a sensible global/faction system to keep track of things.

 

Tasks to perform for the hive to gain their favor is definitely planned.  Various breeding issues and complications are also planned.

[Lupine00]

Mods such as Things in the Dark raise possibilities, but also problems.

 

TitD has a lot of chaurus material, but lacks the wild hives of traditional Falmer caves from vanilla. It's probably a low priority, due to its unfinished feel.

[Seijin8]

42 minutes ago, Lupine00 said:

Mods such as Things in the Dark raise possibilities, but also problems.

 

TitD has a lot of chaurus material, but lacks the wild hives of traditional Falmer caves from vanilla. It's probably a low priority, due to its unfinished feel.

I've never used it.  Right now my plate is kinda full on this mod and others I am working on.  Not really much time to play as it stands.

[Szlordrin]

Anxiously awaiting your next release, I loved this mod. I did have a problem though, I was wondering if anyone else is experiencing it. One of the custom Animations you created CR_HoldX animation stages work fine up until stage 5. Then I get the classic T-body pose, and the chaurus tyrant goes into an idle pose. Upon progressing to the next stage. animation resumes as normal. I did run FNIS again to see if that fixed it, but no luck.

[Seijin8]

15 minutes ago, Szlordrin said:

Anxiously awaiting your next release, I loved this mod. I did have a problem though, I was wondering if anyone else is experiencing it. One of the custom Animations you created CR_HoldX animation stages work fine up until stage 5. Then I get the classic T-body pose, and the chaurus tyrant goes into an idle pose. Upon progressing to the next stage. animation resumes as normal. I did run FNIS again to see if that fixed it, but no luck.

Glad you are enjoying it.  Work is progressing, but slowly as this isn't the only mod I'm working on.

 

Animations that I include all borrow from other animators' work and the FNIS file aims at those animations to get its data.

 

That animation's stage 5 is from an older Billyy animation (Reaper Billyy Holding).  I'm guessing you didn't install his older animations pack since that's where it is from.

 

If I recall, that is still in his latest install packages, but it isn't under insect.

[Szlordrin]

Oh I think he redid the animation, I wonder if that has something to do with it. I'll experiment with his older packs and see if that resolves it.

 

[Szlordrin]

Okay so now i'm having that same problem with the backride animation, what resources does it utilize?

[Seijin8]

2 hours ago, Szlordrin said:

Okay so now i'm having that same problem with the backride animation, what resources does it utilize?

When running the installer for Billyy's animation packs, make sure you select "Creature Pack 1".  All the extra animations are in there.

[Szlordrin]

Back again with another question Apropos 2 patches & scripts and patches. So for the CR_HoldX, & CB_HoldX the descriptions are slightly different but appear to be for the same custom animation you built. What is the intended purpose, why would one play, and the other not?  Also CR_A_Entice, CC_DeepLay, CC_SideImplant. I cannot for the life of me figure out which animations cause those to play, I'm guessing I'm missing an animation pack somewhere, but I don't' know which one. Final question is the Tyrant in Frostflow Abyss the only naturally spawning Tyrant. I've been looking around & I cannot find another. I was hoping to find one in a darker cave but alas no luck. Can't wait to see more, keep up the hard work.

[Seijin8]

8 hours ago, Szlordrin said:

So for the CR_HoldX, & CB_HoldX the descriptions are slightly different

One was for the test animation that eventually became the one you can access.  I left all the description sets in there in case someone wanted to datamine.

8 hours ago, Szlordrin said:

Also CR_A_Entice, CC_DeepLay, CC_SideImplant.

Test animations.  In some cases, they are low quality (I may add them later if I can get the clipping under control), in others, I couldn't get the author's permission for inclusion of some of the stages.

8 hours ago, Szlordrin said:

Final question is the Tyrant in Frostflow Abyss the only naturally spawning Tyrant.

Yes.

 

Later on, vanilla hives will be able to spawn their own given enough time, but that mechanic isn't present yet.

 

Also later on, there will be more hives to visit deep underground, and those may also have Tyrants.

 

[Homonculus]

One of my favorite mods, i hope you're still working on it

[Seijin8]

24 minutes ago, PraedythXVI said:

One of my favorite mods, i hope you're still working on it

Thanks.  Always working on it, even when I'm working on other projects.

 

For instance I am presently working on a different mod entirely, but the underlying structure of that mod was built with Chaurus Life in mind, so I can test out how it works in that (somewhat different) environment, and then take those lessons into the next building phase for this mod.

 

So yeah, still a ways out from a proper update, but the pieces are slowly aligning.

[Homonculus]

25 minutes ago, Seijin8 said:

.

Niiiice !

[donttouchmethere]

8 hours ago, Seijin8 said:

So yeah, still a ways out from a proper update, but the pieces are slowly aligning.

Sounds like you're doing a very thoughtful job. ?

[Seijin8]

4 hours ago, donttouchmethere said:

Sounds like you're doing a very thoughtful job. ?

Having already rewritten this code base several times, I'd like to make sure that the next (semi-last) one is able to be upgraded swiftly and without clean saves, and can function under the tremendous amount of effects I want to include.

 

Also, I've improved enough at scripting (don't read that to mean "gotten good at it", because I'm still very much an amateur) to look at the code I made for this and see that it has many ways it can be improved.

 

There's just so many moving parts to it that I want to make sure the next release is a proper foundation, thus all the time it is taking.

[zarantha]

Hi @Seijin8

 

I've converted your mod over to SE and ran into an issue with Soulgem Oven 4. When this mod is installed, the self milking animation breaks and does not complete.

The esp does not need to be activated, just installed, but for the most part i was testing with it active. I was thinking the behaviors or animations were conflicting somehow, but darkconsole took a quick look and couldn't see a way that it would conflict.

 

So just reporting here too, to see if you have any ideas. I've taken things down to the requirements only for both mods and can still reproduce the issue.

[Seijin8]

2 hours ago, zarantha said:

I've converted your mod over to SE

That's fine, but I don't use SE and I'm not that familiar with its inner workings.

 

I also can't troubleshoot a mod interaction with a mod I've never used on a game version I don't play.

 

Sorry, but the moment you converted it, you were on your own.

[zarantha]

10 minutes ago, Seijin8 said:

That's fine, but I don't use SE and I'm not that familiar with its inner workings.

 

I also can't troubleshoot a mod interaction with a mod I've never used on a game version I don't play.

 

Sorry, but the moment you converted it, you were on your own.

I understand. This was simply for awareness, in case something similar comes up on LE. I haven't seen things like this be an SE only thing before, but I do know you aren't obligated to help on a self conversion.

 

I'll be keeping an eye out for new developments and try again later, as I love the concept for this mod.

[Seijin8]

5 minutes ago, zarantha said:

I understand. This was simply for awareness, in case something similar comes up on LE. I haven't seen things like this be an SE only thing before, but I do know you aren't obligated to help on a self conversion.

 

I'll be keeping an eye out for new developments and try again later, as I love the concept for this mod.

Thanks for the kind words.

 

The mod as it is on my system now bears little resemblance to what is posted here, so I don't really have an environment to test in that would yield useful results.  I can't think of anything that would cause it, but I haven't looked into Soulgem Over, either.

[Elvorana]

6 minutes ago, Seijin8 said:

Thanks for the kind words.

 

The mod as it is on my system now bears little resemblance to what is posted here, so I don't really have an environment to test in that would yield useful results.  I can't think of anything that would cause it, but I haven't looked into Soulgem Over, either.

I was catching up on the thread and I had a thought: would the Chaurus have any use for soulgems? It has been discussed that they might be lithovores, so the soulgems could be something that they seek out for its raw magical energy.

Alternatively it could be a speciallized resource that only the larger hives seek out because the magical energy stored within each soulgem might allow them to mutate into the more specialized units that wouldn't easily happen in nature.

As a side note, would the same be true of Aetherium? It also boasts a huge amount of magical applications and could be injested by lithovores. Magic-imbued crystals could provide a useful boost for strong and weak hives alike, and possibly be a reason for the Chaurus to keep the player alive instead of trying to kill them outright; using them as a source for getting at a powerful, if rare, resource.

[Seijin8]

31 minutes ago, Elvorana said:

I was catching up on the thread and I had a thought: would the Chaurus have any use for soulgems? It has been discussed that they might be lithovores, so the soulgems could be something that they seek out for its raw magical energy.

That is interesting.  Hadn't considered that.

 

Initial thought is that whatever effect it might have would be very present on the chaurus in Blackreach, since (unfilled) gems are freely available there.  Maybe the gems themselves aren't particularly useful, but a filled gem would be?

 

  Allow me to ponder this one a while...

 

As far as aetherium, it is so rare in the game (only one instance of it that I can recall), and functionally needed for crafting, that I can't really see there being a specific interaction.  (Read as: that would have to be really significant, and given the rarity of the stuff, I don't know how much time I would invest in that.  Might be a "skip ahead/cheat" option for some of the more significant transformations, but the economist in me says there is nothing I can reasonably add that compares to the too-few items it can create.)

 

I had been considering stalhrim and heartstone being especially potent tools, but hadn't gone very far with it yet.  Could add aetherium to that list easily enough, but I think it'd be a waste.