Mermaid race

[titlover123]

Let me be the first to praise you for a job well done so far, I especially like that we are no longer limited to being only imperials, however...

 

I feel like I have to point out the persisting issue of not being able to move in 3rd person without moving in 1st person and then switching to 3rd person, it is a minor issue at the moment, but it is to be expected since the mod is still in (relatively) early development.

I do have to point out that I REALLY love how this mod adds more challenge to the game in that, suddenly the very skies can be a legitimate threat or an unlikely ally depending on the situation.

Keep up the good work I love what you've done so far  

Edited August 3, 2023 by titlover123

[Renora1976]

1 minute ago, titlover123 said:

Let me be the first to praise you for a job well done so far, I especially like that we are no longer limited to being only imperials, however...

 

I feel like I have to point out the persisting issue of not being able to move in 3rd person without moving in 1st person and then switching to 3rd person, it is a minor issue at the moment, but it is to be expected since the mod is still in (relatively) early development.

I do have to point out that I REALLY love how this mod adds more challenge to the game in that, suddenly the very skies can be a legitimate threat or an unlikely ally depending on the situation.

Keep up the good work I love what you've done so far  

To be honest, the mod isn't exactly in "early" development, I just built up scripts on something that was on and off by many other people since, erm, April 20th, 2013, according to the creation time of the thread. This, also, brings the other slight issue which is that I am an utter newb at Skyrim modding: I do know how to handle coding on an amateur level (anyone who checks the source code will see that I'm really using the most basic of functions and probably not the most effective or efficient ways of doing things) and have a bit of a game design mindset due to previous modding experience elsewhere.

 

However, I know nothing whatsoever on pretty much everything else, not least of all the animations, all of them having been done by someone else. Letstestthis has apparently a process to make the mod SE-compatible that also deals with some animations and explained it to me, but I haven't understood anything whatsoever about it because, once again, I am very much not knowledgeable about how Skyrim works, what the modding community knowledge is, etc. This means that I have no idea where the problem is or even where to start looking, and I don't even know how to access the basic modding tools (I only managed to make TES5Edit work, not the official tool).

 

I am, OTOH, grateful to learn that the mod is appreciated for the game design aspect, which is very much the point I wanted to build on when I stumbled on the previous version (the one from emily1673) to allow a roleplay experience through gameplay that lives up to the original thread's punny name of Immersive Mermaids. It's very much a community endeavour here, and while I'm writing some scripts, I might get some help on the animations.

 

On another matter, and since it's punny time, I'm fishing for ideas or suggestions on the gameplay loop. At the moment, I'm quite satisfied of most things but there are two points that feel could be touched upon:

A) The killcount of an uncursed mermaid using her voice power is currently only used to gradually increase the probability of getting cursed by luring a mortal, but it could probably be better if it also caused some kind of buff for the player, making it more interesting to do the luring beyond the roleplay or trying to get the curse.

B) I am trying to set up a way to turn a mortal character in an uncursed mermaid through a thematic route. I considered having it happen when the player drowns and in specific circumstances, but I cannot seem to find a way to detect that the player is currently drowning, so I would be glad to receive ideas and/or advice on either another thematic transformation trigger or a scripting tip to get a drowning trigger.

[Renora1976]

Version 2.0.0 uploaded with compatibility and instructions for LE and SE alike to help for the animations, thanks to LetsTestThis' help.

[titlover123]

18 hours ago, Renora1976 said:

To be honest, the mod isn't exactly in "early" development, I just built up scripts on something that was on and off by many other people since, erm, April 20th, 2013, according to the creation time of the thread. This, also, brings the other slight issue which is that I am an utter newb at Skyrim modding: I do know how to handle coding on an amateur level (anyone who checks the source code will see that I'm really using the most basic of functions and probably not the most effective or efficient ways of doing things) and have a bit of a game design mindset due to previous modding experience elsewhere.

 

However, I know nothing whatsoever on pretty much everything else, not least of all the animations, all of them having been done by someone else. Letstestthis has apparently a process to make the mod SE-compatible that also deals with some animations and explained it to me, but I haven't understood anything whatsoever about it because, once again, I am very much not knowledgeable about how Skyrim works, what the modding community knowledge is, etc. This means that I have no idea where the problem is or even where to start looking, and I don't even know how to access the basic modding tools (I only managed to make TES5Edit work, not the official tool).

 

I am, OTOH, grateful to learn that the mod is appreciated for the game design aspect, which is very much the point I wanted to build on when I stumbled on the previous version (the one from emily1673) to allow a roleplay experience through gameplay that lives up to the original thread's punny name of Immersive Mermaids. It's very much a community endeavour here, and while I'm writing some scripts, I might get some help on the animations.

 

On another matter, and since it's punny time, I'm fishing for ideas or suggestions on the gameplay loop. At the moment, I'm quite satisfied of most things but there are two points that feel could be touched upon:

A) The killcount of an uncursed mermaid using her voice power is currently only used to gradually increase the probability of getting cursed by luring a mortal, but it could probably be better if it also caused some kind of buff for the player, making it more interesting to do the luring beyond the roleplay or trying to get the curse.

B) I am trying to set up a way to turn a mortal character in an uncursed mermaid through a thematic route. I considered having it happen when the player drowns and in specific circumstances, but I cannot seem to find a way to detect that the player is currently drowning, so I would be glad to receive ideas and/or advice on either another thematic transformation trigger or a scripting tip to get a drowning trigger.

Apologies if I came off as rash, I just assumed the mod was still in early development since I apparently lack eyes in my skull, it is rather clear to me now that the mod has been going for far longer than I initially thought.

I am very impressed with what you've done with only TES5Edit, it is honestly baffling (in a good way) that you've been able to build on the mad as you have without the basic mod tools like the creation kit (which can be downloaded from steam in the "tools" section in your library above the search bar).

On the matter of what you're fishing for.
A) A buff of some kind could be used as a lure for the player, like a health/stamina/magicka regen rate buff or perhaps a straight increase in the stats? Maybe even a movement and attack speed increase?

B.1) Maybe have the player redeem themselves by completing one or more specific quest(s)?

B.2) Maybe look to how diseases work? and make one that un-curses the player after a set amount of time or perhaps make it so it applies some major de-buffs as a trade off?

I am sorry that I can't think of anything more currently.

[Renora1976]

1 hour ago, titlover123 said:

Apologies if I came off as rash, I just assumed the mod was still in early development since I apparently lack eyes in my skull, it is rather clear to me now that the mod has been going for far longer than I initially thought.

I am very impressed with what you've done with only TES5Edit, it is honestly baffling (in a good way) that you've been able to build on the mad as you have without the basic mod tools like the creation kit (which can be downloaded from steam in the "tools" section in your library above the search bar).

On the matter of what you're fishing for.
A) A buff of some kind could be used as a lure for the player, like a health/stamina/magicka regen rate buff or perhaps a straight increase in the stats? Maybe even a movement and attack speed increase?

B.1) Maybe have the player redeem themselves by completing one or more specific quest(s)?

B.2) Maybe look to how diseases work? and make one that un-curses the player after a set amount of time or perhaps make it so it applies some major de-buffs as a trade off?

I am sorry that I can't think of anything more currently.

No problem, the WIP thread can easily have gone under the radar. :-P

 

As for TES5Edit, it *is* quite powerful and, well, I also found a Papyrus compiler for Notepad++, which allowed me to write the scripts... and the previous curators of the mod were cool enough to leave the source code with their work. In a technical way, it can be interesting if you are curious to look at the two versions of the mod now uploaded and to compare the code and structure of the scripts: the v1 is very much a "let's pile up more and more stuff", the v2 is cleaner (though not up to the standards of proper programmers). And it helps that I have been coding for mods and for some jobs for over a decade now. Seriously, though, TES5Edit can do tons of things, the biggest obstacle in my opinion always is knowing what you want to do in the first place. Once you do, 90 % of the job is done.

 

And, yes, I tried using the Creation Kit but it crashed on me pretty fast.

 

Now, on the recommendations, I guess a stat boost based on this could be doable. Thinking out loud now, one could envision an increase in combat skills or perhaps a shield of sorts that would consume one of the captured souls after suffering too much damage... I'm going to think a bit more over it, but it could be an interesting dynamic.

 

For the quest idea, I definitely agree it would be good, but at the moment, my understanding of quest-building is pretty much non-existent. I will have to learn it entirely, ideally with some simple enough quest mod that includes the source code for me to study. The bolded part is important because that's how I learn things: I haven't really bothered to follow any course or tutorial on coding in fifteen years or so, I rather see code and work it out on my own. But I definitely agree, a quest thingie would be nice, and this is the concept I wanted initially for the book: find a captured mermaid kept in stasis below the College, who has been turned mute a few centuries ago by the Arch-Mage of the time to prevent her use of her powers (Watsonian explanation, the Doylist being that it excuses the lack of voice acting) and she sends you on a fetch quest for various parts of the book she wrote when she was still human so that you can break her hold and free her, and you learn in the meantime that it was her capture that caused the mess in Winterhold.

 

EDIT: I just tried using the Creation Kit to open the mod and I literally get dozens of errors, so I am very much not going to try using this software when TES5Edit does everything I require of it and does it cleanly.

Edited August 4, 2023 by Renora1976

[titlover123]

2 hours ago, Renora1976 said:

No problem, the WIP thread can easily have gone under the radar. ?

 

As for TES5Edit, it *is* quite powerful and, well, I also found a Papyrus compiler for Notepad++, which allowed me to write the scripts... and the previous curators of the mod were cool enough to leave the source code with their work. In a technical way, it can be interesting if you are curious to look at the two versions of the mod now uploaded and to compare the code and structure of the scripts: the v1 is very much a "let's pile up more and more stuff", the v2 is cleaner (though not up to the standards of proper programmers). And it helps that I have been coding for mods and for some jobs for over a decade now. Seriously, though, TES5Edit can do tons of things, the biggest obstacle in my opinion always is knowing what you want to do in the first place. Once you do, 90 % of the job is done.

 

And, yes, I tried using the Creation Kit but it crashed on me pretty fast.

 

Now, on the recommendations, I guess a stat boost based on this could be doable. Thinking out loud now, one could envision an increase in combat skills or perhaps a shield of sorts that would consume one of the captured souls after suffering too much damage... I'm going to think a bit more over it, but it could be an interesting dynamic.

 

For the quest idea, I definitely agree it would be good, but at the moment, my understanding of quest-building is pretty much non-existent. I will have to learn it entirely, ideally with some simple enough quest mod that includes the source code for me to study. The bolded part is important because that's how I learn things: I haven't really bothered to follow any course or tutorial on coding in fifteen years or so, I rather see code and work it out on my own. But I definitely agree, a quest thingie would be nice, and this is the concept I wanted initially for the book: find a captured mermaid kept in stasis below the College, who has been turned mute a few centuries ago by the Arch-Mage of the time to prevent her use of her powers (Watsonian explanation, the Doylist being that it excuses the lack of voice acting) and she sends you on a fetch quest for various parts of the book she wrote when she was still human so that you can break her hold and free her, and you learn in the meantime that it was her capture that caused the mess in Winterhold.

 

EDIT: I just tried using the Creation Kit to open the mod and I literally get dozens of errors, so I am very much not going to try using this software when TES5Edit does everything I require of it and does it cleanly.

Everything you just said is miles better than what I thought up, I can also think of a few mods that has quests in them so you can study them, but what I meant with the quest thing was that you could have a misc quest run in the background that counts how many quests that have been completed after getting cursed, I realise now that I am rather short sighted.

Example mod with quest for you to examine: 

  (you might want to ask the creator for permission though, I don't know if it's required but just thought I'd say it anyway)

Edited August 4, 2023 by titlover123

[Renora1976]

1 hour ago, titlover123 said:

Everything you just said is miles better than what I thought up, I can also think of a few mods that has quests in them so you can study them, but what I meant with the quest thing was that you could have a misc quest run in the background that counts how many quests that have been completed after getting cursed, I realise now that I am rather short sighted.

Heh, honestly, it comes over the years, the gist is to ideally combine a cycle of frustration-reward which is associated with thematically-appropriate ingame setup, the key in my opinion being to succeed in getting this cycle to adapt to the skill of the player or to renew itself when it has been ran already. In my experience, environmental dangers such as weather tend to be a very powerful tool for this as they bring a sentiment of semi-unpredictability that is unconsciously accepted as being fair despite being quite random. Boolean cycles (yes/no) are also quite safer when it comes to game design compared to "numbers go up" where the balance between frustration and fun is really hard and leads to the big problem of what happens where you are on top - usually, the player is bored quickly when becoming an unstoppable deity in-universe. If the enemies remain dynamically balanced according to your numbers, the problem remains that there is little feeling of reward either.

 

This is a problem I experienced when trying to work out a total conversion for a simili-RPG which had a sandbox mode after the main story. I made massive spreadsheets with dozens of types for each equipment category leading to tens of thousands if not millions of combinations but the end result always was unfun because either you got lost in the mess or you understood the underlying mechanic and quickly settled for an optimal build.

 

In turn, this is why I grinned quite a bit when seeing the then-latest version of the Mermaid Race mod because @emily1673 went for a very blunt yet telling alternative for the players: easy transformation between the two forms or utterly permanent one at the slightest contact of water. Being turned in a tailed mermaid for good if caught by even a single droplet of rain was, well, bold, to say the least, and it definitely got me thinking. This is the kind of thing that would keep even a level 100 Dragonborn on their toes every single second, looking with paranoia at the sky and being afraid to leave a house without knowing the weather outside. Too harsh, but a bold statement nonetheless that I tried to emulate and only partially managed to do with this configuration. The low-level Siren gameplay is one of constant attention to the surroundings and planning for shelter because if you do not know where you can hide, you'll have to crawl all the way back to a shrine, and these aren't that common. The motivation for enchanting armour sets and jewelry to get the Siren Form spell high cost back to something your low- to middle-level Siren is also a pretty powerful tool to create an in-game goal for the player, so I am also quite satisfied with this.

 

But even then I'm going for boolean rather than "numbers go up", eventually, the numbers go up, and you get the magicka or Alteration to go back quite easily in a Siren form, and that's where I believe progress is needed, moreso than any quest or gameplay feature or special power for either form. The high-level Siren must be kept on their toes, pay attention rather than being in a "huh, there, quick spell, lost five seconds" mindset and have a natural goal. The wetness variable tracking is a step in this direction in my opinion as if you are caught in the rain or snow and transform in a mermaid, the variable will not go down and you will be turning back into a mermaid the instant you get the legs via the Siren Form, therefore weather still is a danger that can only be partially mitigated by a high-level character. And even then, it can be dodged in some ways (like going werewolf). The player needs a focus, something that they will need. And that's where there is still a hole.

 

Something that might be worth considering is adding some quite more drastic penalties for a cursed mermaid and make uncursing oneself a much more involved endeavour. Forcing the player to always feel like they have to toe the line between cursed and uncursed.

 

Yeah, I just realised I did a bit of a rant on game design, but I find it an interesting mindset, applicable to game design just as well as with RL human relations: the worst enemy is bored routine.

 

EDIT: Hmm, I still come back to the idea of permanency, which is, let's be honest, one of the stronger themes associated with transformation, and this mod is all about transformation. There is something that could be done... another level of curse beyond the current one, possibly triggered by the mermaid voice or another type of action, and in which the character would be stuck in the tailed form with no spell or potion being able to do anything whatsoever for them, only the shrines and going back to the normal cursed version would become really, really hard (yet not impossible).

 

EDIT 2: I just saw the mod you recommended, I'll check the source code for the quests and the file structure, though not really interested with sexlab and its themes (yes, I realise I'm saying that I'll check it for the articles :-P). Thanks for the rec, though, a quest-heavy mod with source code could be a good base for me to learn!

Edited August 4, 2023 by Renora1976

[LetsTestThis]

Nice to see this released. Considering parts of the description are now outdated and the actual source of truth is buried in the changelog it may be wise to move the desciption for 1.0 and 2.0 into seperate spoiler sections of the description respectively.

Also you can just copy paste the installation instructions from my other post if you want, not really particular about keeping it a seperate post. Will be a while before I can actually playtest it but still good to see progress.

[titlover123]

6 hours ago, Renora1976 said:

EDIT: Hmm, I still come back to the idea of permanency, which is, let's be honest, one of the stronger themes associated with transformation, and this mod is all about transformation. There is something that could be done... another level of curse beyond the current one, possibly triggered by the mermaid voice or another type of action, and in which the character would be stuck in the tailed form with no spell or potion being able to do anything whatsoever for them, only the shrines and going back to the normal cursed version would become really, really hard (yet not impossible).

 

EDIT 2: I just saw the mod you recommended, I'll check the source code for the quests and the file structure, though not really interested with sexlab and its themes (yes, I realise I'm saying that I'll check it for the articles :-P). Thanks for the rec, though, a quest-heavy mod with source code could be a good base for me to learn!

1) Sounds like an interesting thing, it would definitely add some extra challenge along with some serious punishment for being too greedy and it also ties in nicely to the theme of the mod.

2) I apologize for the choice of mod, but it was the first one to come to mind since it is a mod with a quest as it's main focus.

[Renora1976]

9 hours ago, titlover123 said:

1) Sounds like an interesting thing, it would definitely add some extra challenge along with some serious punishment for being too greedy and it also ties in nicely to the theme of the mod.

2) I apologize for the choice of mod, but it was the first one to come to mind since it is a mod with a quest as it's main focus.

1) Yep, though I am now thinking about the possible triggers for it, possibly a combination of victims through voice-luring, time spent underwater as a mermaid, in-universe evil actions, etc. Of course, there is also the issue of what actions would be needed to reverse the curse.

 

Idea that just came to mind: regularly having NPCs spawn in the ocean calling for help. If you get close enough, they have a limited time before they drown. If you let them drown, small loss of humanity, if you go to them, you would have three options:

 

A) Save them, they swim on their own to the shore and despawn, you gain some humanity.

B) Devour them, they turn in a skeleton, you gain a stat boost and lose humanity.

C) Turn them in a mermaid if they are female, they swim to the northern edge of the map and despawn, you lose a lot of humanity.

 

(quick testing shows that turning a NPC's race in a mermaid works well with animations and all, so it shouldn't be too hard to associate this function is a menu and flavour text)

 

This could be interesting and fit with the mermaid lore.

 

2) Meh, no need for apologies. This is LL so that's an aspect of the mods here, and in any case, it does look like a quest-intensive mod having the source code with it, which is exactly what I asked for, so I am very much going to study and reverse-engineer the code to start making my stuff (eventually), therefore thanks!

 

EDIT: thinking about it further while setting up the NPC mermaid transformation feature (currently working nicely, I am trying now to get the new mermaid to swim away to the North and leave the map). Since the curse causes you to get a special version of the shell bra, I suppose it could be possible to equip it with a specific custom enchantment that would recharge progressively when turning NPC into mermaids and once fully charged, gives you the option to either reverse to a normally-cursed mermaid or to get permanent stat boosts.

Edited August 5, 2023 by Renora1976

[steelmagpie]

Oh my.. I went from "Oh that looks interesting I will give it a try." To "Wow! How can I squeeze this into my mod list as a must have mod."  within minutes of getting it running smoothly.  So much potential!..  Of course it still has some "growing" to do but even in this beta stage you can see its future..

 

 Being one of those "Ooops my character just got in another dilemma." type players, I was wondering if you had other plans for springing the curse on the player in a more random way.  "Hit from a mud crab" random chance type thing . Poor example but a common event which can happen even to the best players unexpectedly. That sort of thing.  (maybe an optional thing via MCM eventually for those not wishing it.)

 

  Either way fun to have in my list and looking forward to seeing updates.. 

[Renora1976]

1 hour ago, steelmagpie said:

Oh my.. I went from "Oh that looks interesting I will give it a try." To "Wow! How can I squeeze this into my mod list as a must have mod."  within minutes of getting it running smoothly.  So much potential!..  Of course it still has some "growing" to do but even in this beta stage you can see its future..

 

 Being one of those "Ooops my character just got in another dilemma." type players, I was wondering if you had other plans for springing the curse on the player in a more random way.  "Hit from a mud crab" random chance type thing . Poor example but a common event which can happen even to the best players unexpectedly. That sort of thing.  (maybe an optional thing via MCM eventually for those not wishing it.)

 

  Either way fun to have in my list and looking forward to seeing updates.. 

First of all, thanks a lot for the review, it's very much appreciated! As for what you're suggesting, at the moment, I have a curse trigger related to shipwrecks. If you have read the mermaid lore book, you should see a warning notification when you get close to a shipwreck: when in proximity, every attack you make, even in thin air, will have a small chance of triggering the curse and leaving you as an ensouled mermaid.

 

Doing a purely random curse feels a bit unfair and in my opinion breaks the immersion. I am, however, very much open to suggestions for conditional triggers that the player can be warned against beforehand. Perhaps meeting a mermaid NPC who actually enthralls you and pulls you to her... Yep, gonna see if I can do that one.

 

Progress report: my internal build now has the voice effect giving you the option to turn an enthralled female into a fellow mermaid who will then move away towards a designated point (and be removed).

[Frayed]

16 hours ago, Renora1976 said:

EDIT 2: I just saw the mod you recommended, I'll check the source code for the quests and the file structure, though not really interested with sexlab and its themes (yes, I realise I'm saying that I'll check it for the articles :-P). Thanks for the rec, though, a quest-heavy mod with source code could be a good base for me to learn!

(Linking Trappings pinged me so here I am)

 

This is an interesting mod, and I like your approach to add gameplay. I'll try it out sometime soon ?

 

You can probably build your quests through xEdit as long as you don't want to make new areas or place a lot of assets. I think that for those latter ones you'll probably need to go through Creation Kit. The base CK is a buggy mess, but there's patches/mods for it that make it relatively stable and much more pleasant to work with.

 

Most quests in Skyrim are actually quite light code-wise, they're usually just a series of "go to X and do/get/talk to Y". The Quest objects are mostly just a very good way to contain the the what/where you go (quest aliases), the "why" (dialogues/objectives) and the "when" (quest stages). In terms of Papyrus code, some quests can be made using only SetStage(). Trappings does a fair bit more than that because it links to a bunch of Devious Devices logic, so it might not be the simplest example, but it does follow a somewhat standard quest/story progression and contains a bit of all of the aforementioned elements, so maybe it can help you out.

 

Feel free to shoot me questions if you have any, be it about CK, "wtf did you do here in Trappings", quest building or otherwise.

[Renora1976]

41 minutes ago, Frayed said:

(Linking Trappings pinged me so here I am)

 

This is an interesting mod, and I like your approach to add gameplay. I'll try it out sometime soon ?

 

You can probably build your quests through xEdit as long as you don't want to make new areas or place a lot of assets. I think that for those latter ones you'll probably need to go through Creation Kit. The base CK is a buggy mess, but there's patches/mods for it that make it relatively stable and much more pleasant to work with.

 

Most quests in Skyrim are actually quite light code-wise, they're usually just a series of "go to X and do/get/talk to Y". The Quest objects are mostly just a very good way to contain the the what/where you go (quest aliases), the "why" (dialogues/objectives) and the "when" (quest stages). In terms of Papyrus code, some quests can be made using only SetStage(). Trappings does a fair bit more than that because it links to a bunch of Devious Devices logic, so it might not be the simplest example, but it does follow a somewhat standard quest/story progression and contains a bit of all of the aforementioned elements, so maybe it can help you out.

 

Feel free to shoot me questions if you have any, be it about CK, "wtf did you do here in Trappings", quest building or otherwise.

Thanks a lot! I will definitely keep this in mind when I start messing around seriously with quests. Though for the other point, there is little chance at the moment I would create new assets or areas but time will tell.

[capitanohook]

hi ! nice mod ! i wanted to ask you , exsist a mod where add everal npc's male and female  mermaids in the seas of skyrim?

Edited August 5, 2023 by capitanohook

[Renora1976]

16 minutes ago, capitanohook said:

hi ! nice mod ! i wanted to ask you , exsist a mod where add everal npc's male and female  mermaids in the seas of skyrim?

Not that I know of, though one could add them by changing their race to MermaidTailRace. However, making them act as mermaids or have relevant dialogue, routines, etc., is beyond my current capabilities, but I would be glad to get help there.

[capitanohook]

5 minutes ago, Renora1976 said:

Not that I know of, though one could add them by changing their race to MermaidTailRace. However, making them act as mermaids or have relevant dialogue, routines, etc., is beyond my current capabilities, but I would be glad to get help there.

i remember thar 4 or 5 years ago on nexsus there was a mod where he added female and male mermaids in the seaa of dawnstar, there was also a mermaid named ariel and on a glacier the triton king, but that mod was deleted from nexus and never reappeared (sorry my bad english)

[Renora1976]

1 hour ago, capitanohook said:

i remember thar 4 or 5 years ago on nexsus there was a mod where he added female and male mermaids in the seaa of dawnstar, there was also a mermaid named ariel and on a glacier the triton king, but that mod was deleted from nexus and never reappeared (sorry my bad english)

Thing is, someone might have done it, but the limitations for this mod are my current modding skills and the help I can receive. Right now, I am implementing in my internal build the second level of the curse, NPCs are pretty far beyond what I know in Skyrim modding.

 

EDIT: progress, the second curse level is working nicely. Currently, the curse triggers if your humanity gets lower than -1*Level, you lose a random number per Voice power victim, smallest value for clean killing, medium for skeletonised killing that gives you a human heart (for Mermaid Tears potions), highest if you transform your victim in an additional mermaid. Small recovery if you let your victim leave alive, and 25 recovery for each different shrine you pray to, but you only get the recovery from an individual divine once (reset when the curse is lifted). While cursed, the only way to recover legs is by praying at a shrine, nothing else whatsoever works.

Edited August 5, 2023 by Renora1976

[Michele Magus]

Currently, VampVar is not being set in either potion script.

Change to and from mermaid is to non vampire form.

 

Here are the two potion script sources modified to maintain vampirism becoming a mremaid and reverting to normal state.

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by Michele Magus

[Renora1976]

1 hour ago, Michele Magus said:

Currently, VampVar is not being set in either potion script.

Change to and from mermaid is to non vampire form.

 

Here are the two potion script sources modified to maintain vampirism becoming a mremaid and reverting to normal state.

Tears.7z 4.32 kB · 0 downloads

Actually, VampVar is being set, but where I DID mess up was not referencing the Vampiric Drain spell which the code uses as a back-up verification system (as it's one of the only reliable commonalities between vanilla, dawnguard and the better vampires mod). I'll correct this for the next update, thanks for the heads-up. :-)

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by Renora1976

[Michele Magus]

Thx. I just found it odd when my vamp mer was unable to bottle blood, then i checked her race in the console

[Renora1976]

5 minutes ago, Michele Magus said:

Thx. I just found it odd when my vamp mer was unable to bottle blood, then i checked her race in the console

No prob. The vampire condition is a bit tricky because I have to ensure that not only does it carry over during the transformation to mermaid or back but also that being turned in a vampire while mermaid/siren work, so I have a Vampire global variable that is modified by checking the presence of the Vampiric Drain spell on the player character, but in my rewriting of the code between v1 and v2, I most likely forgot to add the reference to the Magic Effect of both potions.

[Michele Magus]

On a side note, many of the properties on the ability spells and the shrine spell seem to need filling in as well.

I was running a check against the player's base race to check vampirism and set the var.

 

Nice work btw.

[Renora1976]

1 hour ago, Michele Magus said:

On a side note, many of the properties on the ability spells and the shrine spell seem to need filling in as well.

I was running a check against the player's base race to check vampirism and set the var.

 

Nice work btw.

Hmm? The shrine spell is a much more simplified variant of the Siren Form spell because it doesn't care about the soul status or whatever and reliably transforms a mermaid in a siren. The spell-bound magic effect is a lot heavier because it controls the siren to mermaid TF, the mermaid to siren TF and has the curse effect if the character has a mermaid soul. For the shrine spell, line 48 has "float Vamp=Vampire.GetValue(); The variable to track whether the character is a vampire, which should then be carried upon transformation." while line 18 has "GlobalVariable property Vampire auto", so it's correctly referenced, with the associated Magic Effect having the referencing as well:

 

 

The spell will check the Vampire global value before turning the character in a Siren to check which version to push, but if the Vampire value is good, you should be good. Though, looking at my internal build, I realised it wouldn't be a problem anyway, since I actually put all my checks in the Weather Tracker magic effect, which happen regularly. I have the following code in the weather magic effect at the moment:

 

if (Game.GetPlayer().HasSpell(VampireDrain01) || Game.GetPlayer().HasSpell(VampireDrain02) || Game.GetPlayer().HasSpell(VampireDrain03) || Game.GetPlayer().HasSpell(VampireDrain04))
	CheckVampire=1
else
	CheckVampire=0
endif
if (StatusTail==1 && (Target.GetRace() == MermaidLegsRace || Target.GetRace() == MermaidLegsRaceVampire));;Correction for tracking error on the mermaid/siren form.
MermaidTailStatus.SetValue(0)
elseif (StatusTail==0 && (Target.GetRace() == MermaidTailRace || Target.GetRace() == MermaidTailRaceVampire))
MermaidTailStatus.SetValue(1)
endif


if CheckVampire==1 && (Target.GetRace() == MermaidLegsRace);;Siren form but erroneously non-vampire.
	Target.SetRace(MermaidLegsRaceVampire)
	Vampire.SetValue(1)
endif
if CheckVampire==1 && (Target.GetRace() == MermaidTailRace);;Siren form but erroneously non-vampire.
	Target.SetRace(MermaidTailRaceVampire)
	Vampire.SetValue(1)
endif
if CheckVampire==0 && (Target.GetRace() == MermaidLegsRaceVampire);;Mermaid form but erroneously vampire.
	Target.SetRace(MermaidLegsRace)
	Vampire.SetValue(0)
endif
if CheckVampire==0 && (Target.GetRace() == MermaidTailRaceVampire);;Mermaid form but erroneously vampire.
	Target.SetRace(MermaidTailRace)
	Vampire.SetValue(0)
endif

 

As you can see, I first check if the Vampiric Drain spell is known. If it is and the player's race doesn't fit the vampiric status, the race is changed and the global constant is updated.

Edited August 6, 2023 by Renora1976

[ihateaccountrequirements]

I like the idea of this, though I haven't split off another 1st level character profile to test how it works with my play style yet.

 

I did try to test it on an existing character and had a rather peculiar side-effect/bug. My 30+ level character had 20 levels worth of stat increases redistributed to places I hadn't put them (I know 'cause they've ALL gone into stamina, but I ended up with health and magicka of 200 instead of 100 afterward, and my stamina dropped accordingly). That's a weird thing to have happen and I didn't wanna try to fix it via console only to risk having it done again upon transforming, so I just loaded and deactivated it in that profile. I CAN say the mod removed very cleanly under the 'your character hasn't engaged with the content of this mod yet' circumstance, something that can't be said of a number of other mods I've tried.

 

I'm gonna try a separate profile with a 1st level character and see if it retains my choices as I go along (I didn't see any bug reports of people's leveling decisions being overwritten, so I'm guessing that'll be fine).