Adventures with Balazar (Balazar's Bitch) - Beta

[Gristle]

1 hour ago, dechurch said:

Are you planning anything with Farengar? His last line opens up a bunch of possibilities.

I think the next phase of the quest will be Balazar wanting to expand his (and his Prince's) influence in Skyrim. Towards that end, he would like to be able to befriend the Jarls and to walk freely in his true form, i.e., without city guards attacking him. So, he will need the PC's assistance in gaining favor with the Jarls. Nine Jarls and nine holds, so that would mean nine further adventures, which would probably vary a lot in themes. (I have ideas for some holds, but haven't decided what to do in Whiterun yet.) While the priestess visits were in a fixed sequence, I would set it up so the nine hold quests could be done in any order and at any time (after the temple attack). Just visit the Jarl's palace or longhouse to start each one. 

[monty359]

hi @Gristle, in my play through of the mod i did not import Balazar into NethersFollowerFramework. Do yo think, it would be safe to import him after getting the quests started?

If not, would it be possible to make him compatible with NFF? I have no idea, what the scope of the task would be, so do not be mad, if the task is impossible.

[ProfitLemon51]

On 11/6/2023 at 7:52 PM, monty359 said:

 

 

Here is my feedback:

Quests:

I encountered only one major problem: in the last part in kynesgrove. After speaking to the NPC, she did not go, where she was supposed to go. The objective was to follow her. I had to dig into the files with xedit, in order to know, where to go.

 

 

 

I have this same issue. If you don't mind, where do you have to go because she has stayed in the Inn not moving for days now.

[monty359]

3 minutes ago, Alphatomato51 said:

I have this same issue. If you don't mind, where do you have to go because she has stayed in the Inn not moving for days now.

Spoiler

to the mine of kynesgrove, it is directly outside and "behind" of the building

 

[Gristle]

17 hours ago, monty359 said:

hi @Gristle, in my play through of the mod i did not import Balazar into NethersFollowerFramework. Do yo think, it would be safe to import him after getting the quests started?

If not, would it be possible to make him compatible with NFF? I have no idea, what the scope of the task would be, so do not be mad, if the task is impossible.

I don't have NFF but it should work fine as far as the NFF functions. However, it would enable the PC to give commands to Balazar that would interfere with his quest, like allowing him to wait, even though his presence is needed to advance the quest, or even changing his outfit, which will figure into the next stage of the quest. So, I wouldn't try it until after all of his quests are completely done.

[ohsnapdragon]

Looks promising ?

Will it be possible to update a game-in-progress to a newer version of the quest, if and when it receives updates? If not, I'll probably wait to play it, I don't want to have to start a new game over again.

[Gristle]

9 hours ago, ohsnapdragon said:

Looks promising ?

Will it be possible to update a game-in-progress to a newer version of the quest, if and when it receives updates? If not, I'll probably wait to play it, I don't want to have to start a new game over again.

You can update (I do it constantly while revising and playtesting), but a few of the updates (e.g., changes to actors dropped into the game world at the start of the quest, or if I were to add an alias that is filled on quest start) won't be effective without a save that does not have the quest. So, there should be nothing that breaks the quest, but you won't see some of the fixes and adjustments. The second part of the existing mod is a separate "quest" in Skyrim CK terms, Then the next phase I'm adding will also include several separate "quests". So, any saves before these intermediate points will allow all the changes to these subsequent phases to take place. 

 

I should note that none of the changes to the existing mod that I'm currently working on are real content changes - rather just fine tuning. But, if you want the cleanest experience, I would wait until the next version. At that point the starting stuff should all be nailed down and the worst that should happen is you might have to go back to a save before one of the intermediate stages if you want a particular update.

 

EDIT: In particular, some of the changes I'm making right now for the next version will probably require a restart of the second part of the existing quest (that's what I've been doing while playtesting), and will require a restart of the entire mod if all changes are desired (e.g., adjustments to Balazar's health).

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Gristle

[KentuckyExpat]

Having a serious problem with this mod. I set up a new computer over the last few days, so there is nothing on it from previous apps/mods. loaded Skyrim SE, added my normal ,mods (SKSE, FNIS, Alternate Start - LAL, etc.), loaded Balazar and began playing. Used Alternate Start to begin in Riften, went to the temple, talked to Ninya Balu who asked me if I would take the dog. I said yes, then told the dog, "come with me" which triggered the message box telling me that I was now "Balazar's Bitch". He demanded sex, which I acquiesced to. Now I'm running a mod, Sexlab Privacy, that moves the couple to a private location, in this instance the basement of the Temple. And here is where the problem arose.  First the graphics got seriously messed up with my character out in the void looking into the basement which was chopped up into pieces. Then we were moved into a bedroom, still with messed up graphics. Then, instead of a normal dog-on-woman sex scene, what happened was, the graphics changed to what I can only describe as a 3-D image viewed without the 3-D glasses. ie. everything in the room had its image superimposed  but offset over itself. Much like trying to watch a 3D movie without the 3D glasses. The dog was suspended in midair over the bed and my character was nowhere in sight, even though the animation did include the expected sounds of intercourse. At no time was the dog actually moving, just hanging in midair. This went on for about 30 minutes game time with no indication that the scene was coming to an end. At that point I C-A-Ded  out of the game.

Everything up to the point I talked to Balazar was running as expected so I'm not sure what could have gone wrong.

[Alturistix]

On 10/29/2023 at 2:59 PM, Gristle said:

Presently, there is no way to get him back. I had thought at one point maybe he would go back to the Shrine and hang out there, but I wasn't sure that made sense.

How about making a separate shrine in the middle of nowhere or something? Maybe in the same temple you destroyed?

A courier could deliver a message from Balazar that he got a vacation (? Lmao) as a reward for desecrating Clavicus Vile's temple, and that he will be expecting you to meet if you chose all of the submissive choices, or submitted to him willingly more than 4-5 times (or something). It could create a convenient location for Balazar to stay for future interactions, as well as being available as a follower.

Edited November 12, 2023 by Alturistix

[MereFJ]

okay, starting playing with this mod and there's an  issue with outdoor scenes in cities - after, my PC falls through the ground/floor and I have to use console commands (tcl) to get back to normal ground level.

[Gristle]

9 hours ago, MereFJ said:

okay, starting playing with this mod and there's an  issue with outdoor scenes in cities - after, my PC falls through the ground/floor and I have to use console commands (tcl) to get back to normal ground level.

This mod is just calling SexLab for the sex scenes. It never moves the PC anywhere. So, that's an issue with SexLab or with the particular animations that are playing. I see it sometimes too, but not very often. Mostly, it happens at the beginning of a sex scene and then corrects itself (teleports the PC back up for the scene). On very rare occasions (for me) it happens after and I have to use TCL to return like you said. Not sure of the cause. I've seen this playing other SexLab mods too. Perhaps a particular animation ends with the PC below the "floor" height? I'm not certain, but it seems to happen when there is a second "floor" level below the first "floor" on the map. 

[Gristle]

On 11/10/2023 at 1:36 PM, KentuckyExpat said:

Used Alternate Start to begin in Riften, went to the temple, talked to Ninya Balu who asked me if I would take the dog. I said yes, then told the dog, "come with me" which triggered the message box telling me that I was now "Balazar's Bitch". He demanded sex, which I acquiesced to.

That all sounds fine so far.

On 11/10/2023 at 1:36 PM, KentuckyExpat said:

Now I'm running a mod, Sexlab Privacy, that moves the couple to a private location, in this instance the basement of the Temple.

I've used SexLab Privacy in the past and never had a problem with it, but I will say it goes against the theme of this mod, which is intended to put the PC in embarrassing positions that harm her reputation. For example, observers of sex scenes are put into factions that remember the act and can comment on it. 

On 11/10/2023 at 1:36 PM, KentuckyExpat said:

And here is where the problem arose.  First the graphics got seriously messed up with my character out in the void looking into the basement which was chopped up into pieces. Then we were moved into a bedroom, still with messed up graphics. Then, instead of a normal dog-on-woman sex scene, what happened was, the graphics changed to what I can only describe as a 3-D image viewed without the 3-D glasses. ie. everything in the room had its image superimposed  but offset over itself. Much like trying to watch a 3D movie without the 3D glasses. The dog was suspended in midair over the bed and my character was nowhere in sight, even though the animation did include the expected sounds of intercourse. At no time was the dog actually moving, just hanging in midair. This went on for about 30 minutes game time with no indication that the scene was coming to an end. At that point I C-A-Ded  out of the game.

Everything up to the point I talked to Balazar was running as expected so I'm not sure what could have gone wrong.

All this mod is doing at that point is generating dialogue that has a command attached to call a SexLab start sex function. After that SexLab takes care of the rest. So, that would have to be an issue or conflict with SexLab. Does your game work with sex scenes from other mods? No one has reported this issue, so I don't think the problem is caused by this mod.

 

[Gristle]

16 hours ago, Alturistix said:

How about making a separate shrine in the middle of nowhere or something? Maybe in the same temple you destroyed?

A courier could deliver a message from Balazar that he got a vacation (? Lmao) as a reward for desecrating Clavicus Vile's temple, and that he will be expecting you to meet if you chose all of the submissive choices, or submitted to him willingly more than 4-5 times (or something). It could create a convenient location for Balazar to stay for future interactions, as well as being available as a follower.

There does appear to be a need to dismiss Balazar and get him back later. I intend to expand the quest line further, but it will take time, and will likely come in stages. For this reason, I imagine players will want to get rid of him until I make the quest expansion, and then pick him back up again when there is a further quest. It would be simple to have Balazar stay in the temple (maybe to destroy the statue of Clavicus Vile), or I could give the PC a summon spell.  

[Alturistix]

6 hours ago, Gristle said:

give the PC a summon spell

For backwards compatibility, you can make him deliver it to PC via a Courier, or a quest that runs on startup that checks whether Player has completed Balazar's Revenge to give PC the Spell, as a sort of retroactive correction?

[Alturistix]

6 hours ago, Gristle said:

This mod is just calling SexLab for the sex scenes. It never moves the PC anywhere. So, that's an issue with SexLab or with the particular animations that are playing. I see it sometimes too, but not very often. Mostly, it happens at the beginning of a sex scene and then corrects itself (teleports the PC back up for the scene). On very rare occasions (for me) it happens after and I have to use TCL to return like you said. Not sure of the cause. I've seen this playing other SexLab mods too. Perhaps a particular animation ends with the PC below the "floor" height? I'm not certain, but it seems to happen when there is a second "floor" level below the first "floor" on the map. 

it always seems to happen with modified structures, or custom cells. So if you have something like JK's Skyrim, you'd probably encounter it a lot more. I had JK's College of winterhold, and I always ended up on the floor below me every time.

[Gristle]

2 hours ago, Alturistix said:

For backwards compatibility, you can make him deliver it to PC via a Courier, or a quest that runs on startup that checks whether Player has completed Balazar's Revenge to give PC the Spell, as a sort of retroactive correction?

I've been struggling with how to maintain backwards compatibility. I think it's a lost cause for the next version, as it doesn't add new quest content but rather just goes back and makes a number of adjustments to the existing quest, including things that are placed in the game world on quest start (like the two Balazar actors). So some refinements wouldn't be picked up without a new game because they get locked in once you place the actor in the game world, like adjustments to the daedra form's health and adjustments to the dog form's confidence. I'm also adding scripts to these actors, but that seems to work OK in my playtesting.

 

So, yes, I could make sure players who have already dismissed Balazar end up with the summon spell (or at least have some way to get it), and I don't think there would anything game-breaking going forward, but I can't be sure at this point.

[Alturistix]

1 hour ago, Gristle said:

So, yes, I could make sure players who have already dismissed Balazar end up with the summon spell (or at least have some way to get it), and I don't think there would anything game-breaking going forward, but I can't be sure at this point.

Pretty sure any modifications to the scripts are the major source of issues to backwards compatibility. Another source is when you add more triggers at the end of a quest to trigger another quest. Or if you change the actor Aliases and names and all that.

There shouldn't be any issues if you want to simply extend the quest (or add new ones), as long as you don't modify the aliases of the actors. You can also make a quest to run once on start up that ensures consistency across versions. IRRC there are SKSE and Papyrus functions that allow you to do so. (Its better to start early before you end up with extremely long and large number of scripts).

[dechurch]

Drayvnea doesn't seem to want to leave the Tavern. She's got the BLZR_DrayvneaMine package. However, if I go to the mine and move her to me with the console she starts moving.

 

Edit: then Balalzar attacked the "actors" while the scene in the ash was playing.

Edited November 13, 2023 by dechurch

[xtro334]

I noticed with my second try at the mod that I get a Message that I do not obey Balazar, and that he remove clothing.

Can not see any clothing that is removed though (Most clothing was already removed, and the character was only wearing some accessories and shoes), and message keep repeating every now and then.

 

Could be practical if it used Sexlab Aroused for what clothing is considered nude/reveling.

[MereFJ]

when I pick the dialogue option to tell Balazar to leave me alone dirty beast (or something like that), I get a message that it angers him and he tears some of my clothing off. And then one or two pieces of armor, like a cuirass and tasset, will be unequipped.  It doesn't touch accessories. So I'm guessing that it isn't working in your case because your PC isn't wearing suitable clothing to begin with?  The message does not repeat with my character, it's a one off response to that dialogue choice, but if it is unable to work because your character lacks clothing, maybe it keeps trying?  Is there an animation listed in sexlab that you can stop?

[Onomatophobia]

Just tried the mod and man is it fun. All the priestesses quests were perfect, not a single bug, fun scenarios, love it. In the second part though, do we have to keep the Dremora out? Havent played much of it, I hope there will be an option to ask him to keep his non-dremora appearance at all times? Other than that, cant wait for the full release. I also read a bit of comments here, and just want to say - please no DD. Every other mod uses them, its getting quite stale. Would love to have more different events for the non-dremora appearance though =D

Spoiler

Read a bit of spolers and now I would like to keep the dog at the end of the quest. Or at least have a similar replacement.

 

3 hours ago, xtro334 said:

I noticed with my second try at the mod that I get a Message that I do not obey Balazar, and that he remove clothing.

Can not see any clothing that is removed though (Most clothing was already removed, and the character was only wearing some accessories and shoes), and message keep repeating every now and then.

 

Could be practical if it used Sexlab Aroused for what clothing is considered nude/reveling.

 

Does it happen on a Werewolf character? I've noticed that the mod that handles creature appearances equips you with some invisible armor after you transform back from the werewolf form.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Onomatophobia

[Gristle]

23 hours ago, Alturistix said:

Pretty sure any modifications to the scripts are the major source of issues to backwards compatibility. Another source is when you add more triggers at the end of a quest to trigger another quest. Or if you change the actor Aliases and names and all that.

There shouldn't be any issues if you want to simply extend the quest (or add new ones), as long as you don't modify the aliases of the actors. You can also make a quest to run once on start up that ensures consistency across versions. IRRC there are SKSE and Papyrus functions that allow you to do so. (Its better to start early before you end up with extremely long and large number of scripts).

I think I can make it so that going forward everything is in new quests, with no modifications to prior quests, but a restart (or at least a partial restart) will likely be required in the next version, as I am making a lot of modifications to things added by the prior quest.

[Gristle]

12 hours ago, dechurch said:

Drayvnea doesn't seem to want to leave the Tavern. She's got the BLZR_DrayvneaMine package. However, if I go to the mine and move her to me with the console she starts moving.

I don't know the cause of this. It works perfectly on my game. I am adding a quest marker to her destination in the next version to help out, but hope to figure out why she's not moving for some players eventually. Based on your test, it sounds like the AI package is trying to work, but she's just not pathing out of the inn for some reason. Do you have any modifications to Kynesgrove?

12 hours ago, dechurch said:

Edit: then Balalzar attacked the "actors" while the scene in the ash was playing.

This is intended. The timing is a bit variable, but he's eventually supposed to attack. 

[Gristle]

3 hours ago, xtro334 said:

I noticed with my second try at the mod that I get a Message that I do not obey Balazar, and that he remove clothing.

Can not see any clothing that is removed though (Most clothing was already removed, and the character was only wearing some accessories and shoes), and message keep repeating every now and then.

 

Could be practical if it used Sexlab Aroused for what clothing is considered nude/reveling.

The mod uses the SexLab strip function for that, so you can specify exactly what is removed (or not) in the Sexlab MCM. Balazar's strip dialogue is only triggered by what is in the main body slot. By the way, this Balazar strip dialogue will go away in the next version. Nudity will instead be enforced with an enchantment.

[Gristle]

1 hour ago, Onomatophobia said:

The second part though, do we have to keep the Dremora out? Havent played much of it, I hope there will be an option to ask him to keep his non-dremora appearance at all times? Other than that, cant wait for the full release. I also read a bit of comments here, and just want to say - please no DD. Every other mod uses them, its getting quite stale. Would love to have more different events for the non-dremora appearance though =D

The story of the mod is that Balazar prefers his natural form, but I am planning to add dialogue where you can ask him to turn into his dog form (even in places where he would prefer his natural form). But not until the next stage of the mod, when you will have earned the right to ask such a favor of him. But, I will likely limit this to when you are just using him as a follower. During his actual quests, I need to be able to control his form to make the quests make sense and work right.

 

The next phase of the mod will actually be to assist Balazar in gaining favor with each of the nine Jarls so that they allow him in the cities and towns in his natural form without being attacked by the guards (which scenarios I'm also adding).  

 

As for more events for his dog form, any suggestions? It's hard to come up with a variety of dog events, which is one reason the mod is moving Balazar towards his natural form more. I can think of a lot more events in that form. In any case, the plan is to keep a mix of creature and non-creature events.

 

As for DD, curious about the objection. Is it the dependency? The fact that locked devices can interfere with gameplay? I'm trying to avoid dependencies with this mod, but having access to some DD or ZaZ assets would allow me to create more scenarios.