Ebonitium SE

[El_Duderino]

Hi all,

 

Update on the Rikke problem: I've found the blocking dialogue in her vanilla quests and have created two possible fixes. I'd be very grateful if somebody could give these a try (@VampireKitten @LinuxTrilogy ?)

 

You can find two test candidates in the zip files attached below:

• Devious Arena Test 1 for Rikke (Q prio only).zip -- This only increases the Ebonitium quest's priority above that of the vanilla Rikke CW intro quest.
• Devious Arena Test 2 for Rikke (Q prio + blocking).zip -- This also increases my quest's priority but also makes Rikke's Ebonitium topic blocking. This version is more likely to work than the first.
• install either one of them as a patch to the already installed mod (i.e., overwriting or winning conflict over the full beta's .esp)

If you do want to test this, you may have to re-start the slave quest from scratch. I don't know if quest priority changes take effect on already running quests. Please see the spoiler below for how to safely redo the quest and jump to just before the Rikke conversation:

Spoiler

1) Load a savegame from before you first started the Ebonitium slave quest (training or regular slave).

2) Enter "setstage AR_Q_Slaveryhandler 398" in the console. This is a debug stage which puts you right before the first task as a regular slave.

3) Speak to the head maid to get the first task (rubble cleanup). You must complete this mission (but remember that you can speak to Mera or summon the Ghost of Ebonitium to jump straight to the end of the task).

4) Before returning to the head maid again, enter "setstage AR_Q_Slaveryhandler 639" -- this fast fowards you to just before you get the Rikke mission. Speak to the head maid, then have Mera take you to Solitude.

5) Pray to the Gods that Rikke is now willing to speak to you... if she is, you should be able to keep playing the quest from here on.

 

Devious Arena Test 1 for Rikke (Q prio only).zip Devious Arena Test 2 for Rikke (Q prio + blocking).zip

[VampireKitten]

I tried both the patches on a clean save. The first test didn't work for me, but the second one dd the trick.

[El_Duderino]

1 hour ago, VampireKitten said:

I tried both the patches on a clean save. The first test didn't work for me, but the second one dd the trick.

    Thank you very, very much for testing the patches. I had half expected that the first one would not be enough, but I'm thrilled that the 2nd one seems to work. Unless some other unexpected issue comes up, I'll include this change in the next "official" release. That should then be the full release including a connection to Simple Slavery.

[LinuxTrilogy]

Damn, I'm late to being a guinea pig

Anyway, I can also confirm that the second one works perfectly, thank you very much for your hard work 🙏

[El_Duderino]

21 hours ago, LinuxTrilogy said:

I can also confirm that the second one works perfectly

Fantastic! Thanks so much for your help.

[Zaflis]

I have this fetch quest to "Get leather from Faendal in Riverwood", also "Sybil has work for me". I went to Riverwood but Faendal doesn't talk to me about the leather, there is just no  talk option for this mod. There is a quest arrow over his head though.

 

Is this outfit the reason? I did have their catsuit on as she suggested a bonus for wearing one.

 

Edit: Yes i changed the comparison number from 1 to 2 in SSEEdit and he talked to me then. I also assume no fetch target should have this condition.

Edited January 2, 2025 by Zaflis

[El_Duderino]

49 minutes ago, Zaflis said:

Edit: Yes i changed the comparison number from 1 to 2 in SSEEdit and he talked to me then. I also assume no fetch target should have this condition.

That was great detective work, thank you very much! This keyword check might have ended up there in an attempt to have alternative responses on whether you're wearing an outfit they recognize. Some of the other NPCs have that, though I seem to have forgot to fully implement it for poor Faendal.

[Zaflis]

1 hour ago, El_Duderino said:

That was great detective work, thank you very much! This keyword check might have ended up there in an attempt to have alternative responses on whether you're wearing an outfit they recognize. Some of the other NPCs have that, though I seem to have forgot to fully implement it for poor Faendal.

There is more, some of the fetch quests when working off debt are not making a misc quest. I'm making a save before returning previous quest and hope for RNG gods 😛

 

Also i think the random number function may not work as you expect. I'm assuming when the condition asks for random() it will make a new number each time. So if you do Random > 50 AND random < 80, it means 2 different random numbers, doesn't it? But what you are really asking is if random < 30.

[El_Duderino]

8 hours ago, Zaflis said:

Also i think the random number function may not work as you expect.

Oh my! You're right, I was mistaken about the GetRandomPercent condition. I did think it meant one roll per dialogue topic and not one each time the condition is checked. Thank you so much for pointing this out to me!

I'll go through all of the mod's dialogue topics that have more than one response to check where that error has crept in. It must be all over the fetch quest!

[albyznts]

Outstanding mod. Played in 1.6.640 with no issues related to this mod. I especially liked the relationship between the PC and the other workers/maids. I think the writing in this mod is actually good, not just relatively good.

 

As a recommendation, there is I think only one scene during the training in which you disable player controls and make the player follow the first maid. These scenes can play poorly in load orders with headtracking mods, which are very common. I only experienced that one event, so it may be easy to remove it.

 

I experienced what could be called three "similar" endings. Question about endings:

 

Spoiler

Any ending in which the master isnt replaced/in which the main character is left to work at the location? I was actually "bummed" that my character would be perceived as a traitor when coming back to the shop after the ending "you are freed because the paperwork wasnt correctly done"

Otherwise, any clues about which decisions change the ending? I tried not responding to alba's ultimatum, but that one didn't matter? I am about to play around the three factions you can gather help from.

 

I really liked the way you introduced the config vs. adding a mcm.

 

And honestly just great writing during the training + the praise you can get from the maids and clients. I didn't play many radiants, but the interactions were great in general.

 

Many thanks for your work.

[El_Duderino]

Thank you so much for the kind words, @albyznts  When I started writing this mod, I didn't even plan on releasing it. Now that I have, I'm super-thrilled that others are enjoying it!

 

I'll see if I can keep the player controls enabled all the time... though I must admit that I'm not sure how realistic that is. Disabling player controls made that scene much easier to write. It should be possible to rearrange everything to use "dynamic" pathing (Travel to PlayerRef instead of a fixed reference, for example). To further complicate things, I basically learned the CK together with the mod and it really shows in the earlier stages of the mod. Some of them are held together only by sticky tape and prayers.

 

About the endings (caution: huge gameplay spoilers below)

Spoiler

There are no endings where Vilmar, the original owner, stays in charge and friendly with you. Vilmar stays in charge if you go for one of the early endings (ghost, Riften, necromancers), or if you give Rikke bad information.

 

You can stay in good graces with the new owners if they take over at the end. They don't care about what happened under the old regime.

 

Alba's ultimatum doesn't change the outcome of the story, though you'll have to do some extra rounds of menial tasks if you give in to her demands before the story missions kick in.

 

"any clues about which decisions change the ending?"

 

Early endings:

• Ghost of Ebonitium: can free you at any time, but the Ebo NPCs won't trust you any more.
• Riften Steward: can set you free during your first Riften mission but the Ebo NPCs won't like you any more.
• Warlocks: can set you free while you're in Fort Amol. Ebonitium will be hostile when you cross paths again.

Solitude mission endings:

• Help Rikke but give her bad/inaccurate information: Ebonitium survives and they know that you betrayed them.
• Help Rikke and give her good information: (most of) Ebonitium gets wiped out

Hostile Takeover endings (wait for the new owners to arrive or escape alone / with Aneke):

• they all lead essentially to the same final result, but with different paths to get there and different dialogue options for some of the NPCs
• Ebonitium will essentially be neutral to you. You can still trade with the workers, but they won't offer you work.

 

I'll try and put together a PDF with a walkthrough of sorts and an overview of the various endings and where to get them.

Edited January 3, 2025 by El_Duderino

[El_Duderino]

Hi all,

 

Good news: we are out of beta!

 

The full version 1.0 is now available.

Please completely uninstall any previous version in your mod manager. I do not recommend updating an already installed version, though it should be possible from any of the previous beta versions if you insist (udpate at your own risk). Do not update when the slave quest is already running!

 

I have also uploaded a text file which details the eight possible endings and how to reach them. Obviously, this contains major story spoilers, so read at your own risk.

 

This concludes the development of this mod. No further content is planned, though I will of course attempt to fix bugs if new ones are discovered.

 

Enjoy Ebonitium!

[Herowynne]

SSEEdit Check for Errors found one minor issue:

 

[00:00] Checking for Errors in [78] Devious Arena.esp
[00:00] AR_M_Rubble "Excavation Rubble" [MISC:78614512]
[00:00]     MISC \ Model \ MODS - Alternate Textures \ Alternate Texture \ New Texture -> [01003202] <Error: Could not be resolved>
[00:04] Done: Checking for Errors, Processed Records: 9782, Errors found: 1, Elapsed Time: 00:04

 

I am running SE 1.5.97 so the missing texture might be something added in AE.

 

 

Edited January 7, 2025 by Herowynne

[El_Duderino]

56 minutes ago, Herowynne said:

I am running SE 1.5.97 so the missing texture might be something added in AE.

Thanks much for reporting this! This does indeed seem to be an AE specific issue of sorts (my xEdit does not report it).

 

On closer inspection, the Alternate Texture entry for the Misc Item points to a texture from Update.esm, but its EditorID is "ccBGS_TextureSwapDirt02". That seems to be from one of the "Creation Club" items that came with AE (Fishing etc.) -- There's actually quite a bunch of "CC" items in Update.esm, which means that modders might unknowingly create backwards incompatibilities to older versions of the game even without activating the four CC DLC in the CK. Oof!

 

In any case, this Misc Item is just an inventory item that gets put in the player inventory for visual flavor. The missing texture swap in older Skyrim versions will not have any effect on the gameplay or the quest. (Whew!)

[Zaflis]

2 hours ago, El_Duderino said:

This concludes the development of this mod. No further content is planned, though I will of course attempt to fix bugs if new ones are discovered.

Please more naughty surprises for the fetch quests 😉  They are in the end just delivering items from A to B with no DD involvement, so they feel a little work in progress.

 

Did you find out why some fetch objectives failed to start right?

[El_Duderino]

1 hour ago, Zaflis said:

Please more naughty surprises for the fetch quests ... They are in the end just delivering items from A to B with no DD involvement,

I share the sentiment, but I also feel it's time to move on. This fetch quest was my main means of learning quest writing in the CK which is why it's so basic. I may do something like this again but only in a separate mod and hopefully also with fewer design flaws. Oh, and there are some minor devious tie-ins (or should that be "tie-ups"?!?) in the fetch quest. You'll get a special offer after doing three missions, and there are consequences for failing a delivery.

 

I think I caught all of the failling missions of the fetch quest. These were all caused by wrong dialogue conditions. Please let me know if you run into more bugs in the fetch quest as I'm not sure if I actually tested all of its permutations after the fixes.

[El_Duderino]

Great news: Simple Slavery just got updated and now includes Ebonitium as a selectable auction outcome.

 

Alas, I've discovered a minor oversight in my quest's startup if you choose the "experienced slave" start after the auction. The quest will equip your outfit too soon, so if you intend to play with the "relaxed" hobble dress or without hood/boots, please hold off on starting the mod until I can issue a patch tomorrow. Otherwise, this should be good to go (at long last).

[Gudulba]

The description states: You must not have started the civil war quests yet!

 

May I ask what the reason for this is? Any way to manually work around that? I am asking because I have finished the civil war quest and had intended to install this mod on my existing playthrough... 🙂

[El_Duderino]

Bugfix Release: I have  just uploaded a new version which fixes the bug where the slave dress would get equipped too early if you pick the "Experienced Slave" start of the slave quest after the auction.

 

The hotfix upload includes only the esp, please overwrite the .esp in your original installation with it or install it as a patch in your mod manager.

 

This hotfix is only needed if you're using the January 7 "Final" version. You also don't need it if you're doing the full slave quest with training.

 

1 hour ago, Gudulba said:

The description states: You must not have started the civil war quests yet! ... May I ask what the reason for this is?

The reason is that my mod uses some NPCs which are involved in the civil war quest. To be honest, I don't know what might happen if one plays Ebonitium after the civil war quest but my guess is that it would break the Ebonitium story. There are at least two points in my quest where it relies on specific NPCs being in their pre-Civil War location and occupation/faction. The NPCs in question are used fairly late in the quest, which means you'll only find out if something broke when you've already spent many hours in the mod. I can't say if it might be possible to work around this with console magic. Generally that's not advisable in my quest because a lot of story progress is made through dialogue scripts and thus a "SetStage x" won't suffice.

[Gudulba]

59 minutes ago, El_Duderino said:

Bugfix Release: I have  just uploaded a new version which fixes the bug where the slave dress would get equipped too early if you pick the "Experienced Slave" start of the slave quest after the auction.

 

The hotfix upload includes only the esp, please overwrite the .esp in your original installation with it or install it as a patch in your mod manager.

 

This hotfix is only needed if you're using the January 7 "Final" version. You also don't need it if you're doing the full slave quest with training.

 

The reason is that my mod uses some NPCs which are involved in the civil war quest. To be honest, I don't know what might happen if one plays Ebonitium after the civil war quest but my guess is that it would break the Ebonitium story. There are at least two points in my quest where it relies on specific NPCs being in their pre-Civil War location and occupation/faction. The NPCs in question are used fairly late in the quest, which means you'll only find out if something broke when you've already spent many hours in the mod. I can't say if it might be possible to work around this with console magic. Generally that's not advisable in my quest because a lot of story progress is made through dialogue scripts and thus a "SetStage x" won't suffice.

Ok, thank you for the detailed response and all your work!

[Polonium]

I found some bugs in the pre-slave delivery quests: The pickup quest from the Cobbler to get things from Onegul in Windhelm gives you steel and silver and the end script takes steel and silver, but the dialogue checks don't line up with this, I think they check for horker tusks.

The Pickup quest from the smith also seems to get stuck: Whenever you talk to the smith you get a new quest target for the pickup.

[kurotatsu]

This mod ticks so many boxes for me, love it!

 

So far I've got impression that you don't use DHLP-Suspend modevent during the story quests to suspend other mod's events firing.

I'd highly recommend that you add DHLP-Suspend and DHLP-Resume modevents being sent at important quests start and end respectively. Also it might be prudent to send suspend modevent after a game load if certain quests are detected as running.

[El_Duderino]

5 hours ago, Polonium said:

I found some bugs in the pre-slave delivery quests

Oh dear... more bugs in the fetch quest. This thing is cursed! Seriously though, thanks much for reporting this! Knowing that it was from Cobbler to Oengul helps a lot.

 

3 hours ago, kurotatsu said:

I've got impression that you don't use DHLP-Suspend modevent

Thanks for the kind words and the heads-up about this. You're right, there's no DHLP stuff coming from my mod -- simply because I didn't think of it and also don't know how to implement it. Do you know of any other mod that uses it where I could study the code? Otherwise, I'll just inspect the "usual suspects"

[kurotatsu]

3 hours ago, El_Duderino said:

Thanks for the kind words and the heads-up about this. You're right, there's no DHLP stuff coming from my mod -- simply because I didn't think of it and also don't know how to implement it. Do you know of any other mod that uses it where I could study the code? Otherwise, I'll just inspect the "usual suspects"

 

You can see in many mods, mine Unforgiving Skyrim, others like DIN, DCL, etc.

 

Using it as simple as

    SendModEvent("DHLP-Suspend")

 

and

 

    SendModEvent("DHLP-Resume")

 

respectively.

 

You can look through US_libs.psc of my mod to see how it's used and monitored to set the global which I use later as condition in various places.

Edited January 8, 2025 by kurotatsu

[SilentAntagonist]

What's the console command to start chapter 2?