Prettier Bandits

[karlpaws]

Oh mephits... I hated those I think in NWN (Might have been 2).  Small, hard to target, moved around a lot. Didn't do much damage though.

 

Realizing atronachs are daedra does explain a lot.  Quite a few mages use them but I never realized Comand and Banish spells work on them so I never bothered with those. Arrows worked quite well anyway, but swapping from fireball to lightning for the fire atros was always an annoyance. Some of the vigilant random encounters have 2 fighting an atro and one or both would die often enough. (The other, atro on mage also usually had a dead mage to find and loot, after killing the atro when it was too close to town).

 

I thought there were more magic based packages and I guess also forgot that health/skill and AI were separate packages for a bit.

[thesteve812]

I'd like to try this mod. Mega is asking for encryption key.

[karlpaws]

Did you click "download through browser" or through mega or import to cloud drive?

 

I was able to start the download (didn't let it finish). Unless you have an account with them and want to do something else, downloading through the browser is what you need to do.

[thesteve812]

For me it doesn't give the option to download through browser like usual.

[EinarrTheRed]

I'll check it, it should have the key included.

 

See if this works PB 8.1

[DarkRavage]

Hi there! I love the idea of this mod but haven't had time to give a try. I've been working on an NPC overhaul myself in fact. One thing I suggest taking few hours just to take great screenshots for your NPCs. It's such a shame there isn't enough screenshots for such large mod

[EinarrTheRed]

Thanks and I agree, it does need that.  Up til now its still been in beta and very much a WIP so I haven't bothered with screen shots yet because so much was changing so fast.  For the next release its going to be coming out of beta and going to v1.0.  As part of that I'm planning on updating the main page and including as many screen shots as I can.  There's been recent discussion on that along with some helpful suggestions on lighting and so forth to make them look their best.

 

So by all means, give 8.1 a try, it includes the most recent changes and I very much welcome questions and feedback.  Current projects are an overhaul of the Vigilants of Stendarr including a custom appearance for Keeper Carcette, as well as an update of the Hunter faction.

[thesteve812]

I'll check it, it should have the key included.

 

See if this works PB 8.1

 

Thank you, that worked for me.

[EinarrTheRed]

Just wanted to post a note and let everyone know I'm not dead.  I have been pretty sick and haven't been able to work on PB so I'm way behind schedule.  I had hoped to have the next version done and released already but obviously that hasn't happened.  The good news is I am feeling better and am working to get back on track.  The bad news is I have a lot of other stuff on my desk right now including RL work stuff to catch up on so my spare time is spread thin.  I wish I could give an ETA for the next release, but right now I just can't realistically do that.  I am hoping for one by the end of April, but I can't guarantee that.

 

What I am going to try to do in the interim is finish up some parts that were close to being done and do another "progress" release sometime soonish.

 

Sorry for all the delays and thanks for understanding.

[Papadrino]

Just wanted to post a note and let everyone know I'm not dead.  I have been pretty sick and haven't been able to work on PB so I'm way behind schedule.  I had hoped to have the next version done and released already but obviously that hasn't happened.  The good news is I am feeling better and am working to get back on track.  The bad news is I have a lot of other stuff on my desk right now including RL work stuff to catch up on so my spare time is spread thin.  I wish I could give an ETA for the next release, but right now I just can't realistically do that.  I am hoping for one by the end of April, but I can't guarantee that.

 

What I am going to try to do in the interim is finish up some parts that were close to being done and do another "progress" release sometime soonish.

 

Sorry for all the delays and thanks for understanding.

 

Do not worry and take your time. Thank you for your work and get well soon.

 

[EinarrTheRed]

This year isn't going so good.  LOL

 

Okay, sorry for being gone for so long AGAIN.  This time its because my computer DIED.  Total system failure with almost no warning.  Fortunately it chose to do this literally about an hour after I'd just finished a full system back up to my external drive, so I got all my data and stuff.

 

So I called up Dell and ordered an brand new fully loaded Alienware, i7 octocore, 64 GB RAM, 2 TB HD with a 512 MB System drive, dual Titanium video cards and the whole thing is liquid cooled.  Only down side is I had to get Win 10 which so far I HATE.   But I'm workin with it an getting things configured.  Going to take a few days to get everything back up and running.

 

Meanwhile, as I said I have a full back up of Prettier Bandits and in fact a full back up of my Skyrim install so I'll have that back right where I was.  Just gotta remember my Steam password LOL.  Apparently I forgot to write a few down but I've got my email fully restored so I can just rest as necessary.

 

Anyway, will be back working soon as I'm able.

 

As for my health, it continues to improve.  My weight is coming back up slowly but steadily.  Still need to regain another 20 lbs (10 kg)  to get back to where I was.

 

So anyway, that's the news.  Will be in touch.

[karlpaws]

Well, ouch.

 

The windows issue is why I build my own and pay a little more for a full retail disk, but then I can transfer and install it on the next computer when I'm ready.

 

Then again, computer repair and desktop support is my day job so building a computer or getting used to new windows versions comes with the territory.

 

Only thing I can suggest at this point is installing Steam and most of your pre-10 games in the Public folder, not Program Files or some other "protected" location. Helps with all of the "Do you want to let this program make changes to your computer" messages.

[EinarrTheRed]

Even under Win 7 (which I'm REALLY beginning to miss) I just about never installed anything in program files, put games in my own C:\Games folder, all my graphics software was in C:\Graphics and so on.   I also didn't use the whole "my documents" thing.  My music was in my own music folder, pictures in my own pictures folder (and about 20 or so different art folders by genre).  In other words, I actually know where the fuck I put shit (including hidden folders and encrypted folders).  LOL

 

I hate not having a proper listing of my installed programs.  Their apps thing is an extra mena layer deep and I'm noticing not every thing I install gets listed there.  Then there's all the shit I can't turn off (like Cortana, I swear I WILL figure out how to rip that bitch out by the roots), which gets really annoying.  I can't figure out how to get my system try back so stuff I have running in the background like my email software (no I don't use anything by M$ for email, actually I use Pegasus Mail which works fine for what I want and I've never had any security issues related to it).  Then there's Win 10 bitching when I decide not to use M$ crap, like internet Exterminator or Edge, or using my own mail software.  I was not amused when the first time I switched out to a different browser it actually switched back to Edge on its own as the default, when I changed it a second time I get this pop up msg begging me to give Edge a chance.  But hey, M$ gave me this handy feedback app so I can send them F U notes on all this shit.

 

Plus Win 10 just looks like crap.  I haven't seen it look this bland since... what... Win 3.1???   Its like M$ decided to take a step back about 20 yrs in the GUI development.  Oh well, apparently there's some 3rd party options out there to get the Classic Win 7 look back along with a start button that makes sense and shit. 

 

An holy spyware batman... geez.  No M$ you do not need to know all about what I do on my computer, none of your fucking business.  I'll be a week blocking all this crap with my firewall (you didn't think I was relying on Windows Defensless did you?)

 

If it weren't for a small list of programs that just won't run under anything but Windows I'd be off to Linux in a cold minute.  Either way, I'm going to be looking at switching fully to software that runs under Linux and then permanently give M$ the boot on my next computer.  I'll give this Win 10 crap a try but I'm seriously considering tracking down a copy of Win 7 and replacing it on this system.

 

End Rant

[karlpaws]

Yeah, pretty much.

 

MS is trying to have both desktop and mobile cakes and failing at both. Google is going to eat their lunch with Android tablets and smart tvs and game consoles will take the side dishes and desert. iPads and other well designed Apple devices will take what they can as well because cloud and hosted services, everything in the browser renders an actual desktop OS moot. Linux might just take a sizable wedge as a secure and light base for a browser or as Mac and Android compatible in many ways.

 

Because of all that, I haven't tried WINE in a while but a lot of Steam stuff is being developed for their own Linux client. I think people have written guides on getting Skyrim running.

 

At least poking around there are a number of things hidden here and there you can use to change how 10 looks and bring back features you like.  Probably the simplest I use the most is right-clicking the 10 Start button. Does the same 8 did, gives you a highly useful menu of things including the classic Control Panel where most of the hard work is done.  Some things like Windows Update and a few other things are straight gone from there (like the Action center) but just about everything else is still there.

[EinarrTheRed]

Yeah, its clear their focus is on mobile devices.  What gets me is that apparently before the anniversary update you could get rid of the lock screen, which on a desktop is just useless and pointless.  So why with the update they disabled the ability to do that beats me, but then a lot of their decision baffle me anymore.  Its like the M$ developers have got their head in some alternate reality cloud and don't seem to get how many people still use computers.  I don't use voice commands, I could.. hell I've had software that would run programs for me for about 20 yrs.  I've even had my own personal assistant AI for over 15 yrs (does everything Cortana claims to do, and more, and she doesn't spy on me... so tell me again why I should use Cortana).  But thing is most of that is just gadgets and gizmos, they don't really make me more productive.  For actual work I need an OS I can customize and organize around me.  I customized Win 7 within an inch of its life.  But so far trying to configure Win 10 to work with me instead of trying to force me to do things however M$ thinks I should.. ugh.

 

Never had Win 8, heard the reviews and stayed away.  I really didn't want to upgrade to Win 10, I was very happy with Win 7.

 

I dunno, I just don't see trying to make an OS for a mobile work for a desktop, the two are just too different in how they are used and for what.

 

Anyway, think I've just about got Skyrim restored, few things left to check and hopefully will be good to go.

[karlpaws]

So drive and motherboard failed? Otherwise you could always get your stuff back off, and you might be able to re-use your old drive in the new computer for a dual boot with windows 7. Easiest if you had a Dell or Alienware before the new one.

[EinarrTheRed]

I'm not sure what failed, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't the drives.  I had a RAID set up so even if one drive did fail the others still had the data.  Once I know I've got everything off and the new computer set up I probably will pull the old drives and mount them in the computer.  I have a feeling it was just the OS itself that got corrupted and since the install disk that came with it has mysteriously vanished, I can't restore it back to original state.  An yeah, the old computer is also a Dell, its a bit over six years old.  Can't really complain I got a lot of use out of it.

 

Did a test run of Skyrim, just the vanilla game and I can tell a difference with the new graphics cards.  So today I'm going to work on getting all my mods copied over, TESEdit set up, etc.

[LazyBoot]

I hate not having a proper listing of my installed programs.  Their apps thing is an extra mena layer deep and I'm noticing not every thing I install gets listed there.  Then there's all the shit I can't turn off (like Cortana, I swear I WILL figure out how to rip that bitch out by the roots), which gets really annoying.  I can't figure out how to get my system try back so stuff I have running in the background like my email software (no I don't use anything by M$ for email, actually I use Pegasus Mail which works fine for what I want and I've never had any security issues related to it).  Then there's Win 10 bitching when I decide not to use M$ crap, like internet Exterminator or Edge, or using my own mail software.  I was not amused when the first time I switched out to a different browser it actually switched back to Edge on its own as the default, when I changed it a second time I get this pop up msg begging me to give Edge a chance.  But hey, M$ gave me this handy feedback app so I can send them F U notes on all this shit.

Right-click the start-menu button and choose "Programs and Features" to get to the "old" list to uninstall programs.

[EinarrTheRed]

Thanks, I did find that and I've also learned to pin some of the control panel and other stuff to the tiles as well.  But what I'm, missing is the old programs list.  It has an "app" list but this doesn't include all my installed programs and from what I can find online so far apparently they did away with the old program list and there isn't a way to get it back without installing something like Classic Windows which is a 3rd party thing.  The programs list was handy for me because I could easily edit it to group things and organize them so it was another fairly quick way to find various programs without having to clutter up my task bar or desktop more than they already are (on my old computer I probably had around 60 desktop icons to various things and the task bar had two rows to it).

 

An then there things it apparently won't let me uninstall like this onenote or onedrive stuff which I've no interest in.  So its a bit frustrating not to be able to customize my computer the way I would like, something I was able to do with Win 7.  So far Win 10 feels a lot like M$ trying to force me to work and use my computer they way they want instead of what works best for me and what I'm comfortable with. 

 

I've also discovered that apparently the Win 10 prevents the current version of Firefox from storing passwords.  So I'm having to do a work around on that as well.

[karlpaws]

Thanks, I did find that and I've also learned to pin some of the control panel and other stuff to the tiles as well.  But what I'm, missing is the old programs list.  It has an "app" list but this doesn't include all my installed programs and from what I can find online so far apparently they did away with the old program list and there isn't a way to get it back without installing something like Classic Windows which is a 3rd party thing.  The programs list was handy for me because I could easily edit it to group things and organize them so it was another fairly quick way to find various programs without having to clutter up my task bar or desktop more than they already are (on my old computer I probably had around 60 desktop icons to various things and the task bar had two rows to it).

 

An then there things it apparently won't let me uninstall like this onenote or onedrive stuff which I've no interest in.  So its a bit frustrating not to be able to customize my computer the way I would like, something I was able to do with Win 7.  So far Win 10 feels a lot like M$ trying to force me to work and use my computer they way they want instead of what works best for me and what I'm comfortable with. 

 

I've also discovered that apparently the Win 10 prevents the current version of Firefox from storing passwords.  So I'm having to do a work around on that as well.

 

I know what you mean now... the All Programs list is there, but it lists things by name (though whether the company is part of the name or not throws that all off) but I don't know how to make my own folders there either, yet.  Not having 10 it isn't an issue but I do re-order some of my own start menu entries as well.  I think you're supposed to pin things on the side of the start menu, and you can click and drag that wider if you need it.

 

The program list should include everything installed though, unless it is just a "plop in the folder" kind of program without a Windows Installer. I also do not like the MS idea of adding more and more (Microsoft branded, natch) programs into windows the way the smart phones are including more and more as part of the base OS there too.

 

[EinarrTheRed]

Okay, got some good news.  Just finished reinstalling all my mods, load order, etc.  Fired up Skyrim, everything loaded with no problem and I can load old saves and no issues so looks like that much is back.

 

Now I just need to finish getting TES Edit, Wrye Bash, Body Slide, Nifskope, etc. set back.... and then all my other software.  Well, at least tonight i can get in a lil play time.

[EinarrTheRed]

Thanks, was reading some about using powershell to fully uninstall some of the preloaded apps today.  Dealing with a lot of pain today so not able to get much done though.

 

I did open PB in CK for a bit and corrected one small error, one of the hostile adventurers, a high elf, was still flagged as unique.  Fixed that.

 

Hopefully this weekend will have some time to get back to work on some things.  According to my notes I still have some warlocks and witches to finish up.  Looks like I had most of the prep work done to start building the new Vigilants.  And I want to try doing a nice custom face sculpt for Keeper Carcette.

[EinarrTheRed]

Got back to work on PB today.  Mostly just catching myself up with where I was, what I was working on and what still needs to be done but did manage to get some more NPCs updated.  Made a minor change to the Witches, I noticed they had no pocket loot so I created a couple of base templates (PB_EncWitch01Template and PB_EncWitch02Template) which all the "Witch" & "Hag" templates now pull from.  To those two templates I added some warlock gold, a random warlock loot item and the chance for a staff.  Not a lot of loot but at least they aren't all now flat broke.  I also noted the witch outfit still included some hooded robes, those have now been removed.

 

Looks like when I left off I had the templates for the Vigilants pretty well worked out, I'm just going back over them and seeing if there was anything left to do.  Next step is to start building the new Vigilant actors, once I get those done I can build subtables to plug into the encounter tables.

[EinarrTheRed]

Just wanted to post a progress report, or in this case the near lack of it.

 

I'm still wrestling with Win 10 which has had some unpleasant surprises for me.  Main was this past week I was working hard to catch up on some business projects (3D graphics), and I'd been getting a lot done.  I got up to make a sandwich and a fresh cup of coffee.  When I came back I found that apparently Win 10 had decided to spontaneously reboot itself with no warning and without any permission.  So I lost about 3 hrs of work... and then the next hour I spent cussing and hoping hackers would burn M$ to the ground.  An then there was the time spent on web searches to find out what had happened, why and what I could do about it.  Apparently this is a new "feature" of Win 10, what in the world they were thinking when they made this change I couldn't say.  Anyway, end result is that for now after following some instructions to basically "hack" Win 10 I *think* I've disabled its ability to reboot itself on its own... we'll see.  Also I spent some time on the phone with tech support at Dell (I bought an Alienware from them) and according to them if I can find a copy of Win 7 they'll walk me through installing that and then installing Win 7 versions of the Dell software... at least someone still does real tech support.  However after that I'm on my own because M$ no longer supports Win 7 at all.  What I'd really like to do at this point is make the move to Linux, but I still have one piece of software I use for business that only runs under Windows.  I can dump it but it means loosing some of my clients in the process, so tough call.  God I really am beginning to hate Micro$oft at this point.  End rant (and thanks for listening).

 

Anyway, between being behind at work and these problems I haven't had a lot of time to even look at Skyrim.  But I'm trying to set aside some time a couple days each week to work on PB.  I am working of building the new Vigilants but its slow going with all the other problems and pressure.  So I'll get there eventually, just going to take a bit.   Also I'm working on something else that will be PAH related, more on that later.

[Lodakai]

EinarrTheRed   I'm very excited to see what you end up with.. especially since PAH-HSH can use bandit lists to bring slaves up for auction now.

I merged this along with deadly wenches to give some variety.   There are some conflicts in the leveled list settings, but a bash and some personal tweaks fixed those up nicely.

I get a good variety of bandits now.

 

Thanks for all the effort!  This is definitely one I keep in my load order.