Prettier Bandits

[karlpaws]

With all of the problems that happened during the Win 10 upgrade fiasco and the virus* like behavior of the system afterward, I'm just waiting for a class action lawsuit by all of the small business users for this jerking around crap.

 

Linux could be setup in a dual boot situation and you only use win10 when you need, or with a rig like that you could probably install Linux by itself and run Win in a VM. Last option depends on the software you're using, but some can be run with WINE or one of the other windows emulators or compatibility layers.

[AWHA]

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.

 

Wow 512 MB! What are you gonna do with all that space?

[Kaz Aanh]

Promo pic does not appealing at all, they are hella ugly.

[EinarrTheRed]

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.

 

Yup. I worked with Musje on that idea with the bandit lists.  Then all this mess happened and she had to finish it up on her own.  Still getting caught up as to what she's gotten done.  We were also working some on the auction system, there was more I was hoping we could do with that.  The lists she set up should inherit the appearance of any updated vanilla bandit.

 

 

With all of the problems that happened during the Win 10 upgrade fiasco and the virus* like behavior of the system afterward, I'm just waiting for a class action lawsuit by all of the small business users for this jerking around crap.

 

Linux could be setup in a dual boot situation and you only use win10 when you need, or with a rig like that you could probably install Linux by itself and run Win in a VM. Last option depends on the software you're using, but some can be run with WINE or one of the other windows emulators or compatibility layers.

 

My sentiments exactly.

 

I haven't done a dual boot since my Win 3.1 days back when we were all trying to figure out is this "Windows" thing was actually going to be a thing or not.  LOL  I've not run a virtual machine at all, but the lady I spoke with at Dell suggested the very same idea.  So I will have to look in to that.  To be honest, I'm so frustrated at this point I probably shouldn't make any decisions, mainly because if I just went with my emotions I'd a) uninstall anything from M$ and go all una-bomber on them (the later meant only metaphorically).  So instead I think I'm just gonna chill and try to get some work done.  I've been getting caught up on some of my work projects.  I actually fired up Skyrim today and just played a little, first time in over a month.

 

On the upside, my health continues to improve.  Still need to gain back more weight and get my strength back physically.  The new computer, hardware-wise at least, is really nice and its making doing 3d graphics work a ton easier and much much faster.

 

An yes, the mod needs way better promo pics (an more of them).  That's in the works.  With the new system screen shots with everything set to Ultra settings looks pretty good.  In fact much of my Skyrim look different now.  Interiors seem darker but more atmospheric, etc.  The new graphics card really makes a difference.

 

Also, 512 Gb system drive :-p  Typos dontcha know.

 

Thanks for the encouragement, it's very much appreciated.  Will try to find as much extra time as I can to get things ready for the next update, add new an better pics, and officially move out of beta. 

[CongenialVirus]

With all of the problems that happened during the Win 10 upgrade fiasco and the virus* like behavior of the system afterward, I'm just waiting for a class action lawsuit by all of the small business users for this jerking around crap.

 

Linux could be setup in a dual boot situation and you only use win10 when you need, or with a rig like that you could probably install Linux by itself and run Win in a VM. Last option depends on the software you're using, but some can be run with WINE or one of the other windows emulators or compatibility layers.

 

Unfortunately WINE and other methods of virtualization are not yet stable enough to supplant windows itself. I'm with you, rooting for the day where Windows isn't the behemoth that is the literal standard for software development.

[Lodakai]

They certainly have been moving toward a mentality where the operating system isn't yours.. you just have it on your PC and they have the right to do whatever they want with it without your consent.   They even decided on their own to update people from windows xp to windows 10 without approval (or at least, heavily concealed and misleading approval).  You can't even disable cortana without jumping through hoops.. and you can't ever remove it completely either.

 

Getting a bit off topic but just wanted to throw out there that I feel your pain.  BUT I am glad you are back up and running with this project.  

 

Back on topic.  It would be neat to incorporate a patch to bring in some of Nise's bikini armors for the bandits as outfit sets.   It's one of the things Lordkoz did with the wenches series of mods and some custom armors. I gotta tell you,  it makes a world of difference.  Although this would probably take a backseat to completing existing to do lists and getting back on your feet.   Consider it something to keep in mind.  

[karlpaws]

 

With all of the problems that happened during the Win 10 upgrade fiasco and the virus* like behavior of the system afterward, I'm just waiting for a class action lawsuit by all of the small business users for this jerking around crap.

 

Linux could be setup in a dual boot situation and you only use win10 when you need, or with a rig like that you could probably install Linux by itself and run Win in a VM. Last option depends on the software you're using, but some can be run with WINE or one of the other windows emulators or compatibility layers.

 

Unfortunately WINE and other methods of virtualization are not yet stable enough to supplant windows itself. I'm with you, rooting for the day where Windows isn't the behemoth that is the literal standard for software development.

 

 

WINE works well for some programs but no, not well enough for all. In general, Microsoft is running smack dab into "the browser is everything" and mobile platforms taking over. This is a major reason why 8 sucked so hard and 10 has some of the issues it has: competition from tablets and smartphones used by the general consumer do not require a classic desktop for Facebook and the other IM-fad-of-the-month. Chasing after the casual user will leave the business and power users wanting, but that is almost always the case, unless you take pains to prevent it.

 

They certainly have been moving toward a mentality where the operating system isn't yours.. you just have it on your PC and they have the right to do whatever they want with it without your consent.   They even decided on their own to update people from windows xp to windows 10 without approval (or at least, heavily concealed and misleading approval).  You can't even disable cortana without jumping through hoops.. and you can't ever remove it completely either.

 

Getting a bit off topic but just wanted to throw out there that I feel your pain.  BUT I am glad you are back up and running with this project.  

 

Back on topic.  It would be neat to incorporate a patch to bring in some of Nise's bikini armors for the bandits as outfit sets.   It's one of the things Lordkoz did with the wenches series of mods and some custom armors. I gotta tell you,  it makes a world of difference.  Although this would probably take a backseat to completing existing to do lists and getting back on your feet.   Consider it something to keep in mind.  

 

I don't think XP or Vista were ever eligible, but 7 and 8 users were upgraded without their knowing consent. That's part of what would be a class action, I'd suspect.

 

I think though there were options for custom armor outfits for the bandits. The usual hangup is that you have leveled lists with male and female members, but with these lists having separate male and female lists ( I think ) you could change the sets of half the bandits and have it really work.

[EinarrTheRed]

They certainly have been moving toward a mentality where the operating system isn't yours.. you just have it on your PC and they have the right to do whatever they want with it without your consent.   They even decided on their own to update people from windows xp to windows 10 without approval (or at least, heavily concealed and misleading approval).  You can't even disable cortana without jumping through hoops.. and you can't ever remove it completely either.

 

Getting a bit off topic but just wanted to throw out there that I feel your pain.  BUT I am glad you are back up and running with this project.  

 

Back on topic.  It would be neat to incorporate a patch to bring in some of Nise's bikini armors for the bandits as outfit sets.   It's one of the things Lordkoz did with the wenches series of mods and some custom armors. I gotta tell you,  it makes a world of difference.  Although this would probably take a backseat to completing existing to do lists and getting back on your feet.   Consider it something to keep in mind.  

Thanks for the support, apparently from what I gathered talking to a couple people in tech support there are a LOT of people feeling the same pain.

 

Back on topic.  I've actually laid the groundwork to do exactly that.  You can do it now with a fairly simple CK edit.  In short, here's what you need to know.

 

All the modified bandit in  PB have their own outfits now.  You can find these in CK easily by going Items > Outfits and then putting PB_ in the filter in the Object window.  This will give you all the various outfits used by PB.  Right now they are identical copies of the original vanilla outfits.  That's literally what I did, just copied the outfits, added the PB prefix and then changed the female actor templates to point at the new outfits.  Otherwise they are exactly the same.  However, you can edit these outfits to contain anything you like.  So for example if you wanted your witches to wear outfits from this mod (and I actually did this for awhile until I got tired of it in my own game) Sexy Robes And Hats for your witches then just select the PB_WitchesOutfitLeveled and edit the contents to contain whatever you like from any other mod.  Currently, that outfit contains ClothesWarlockBoots and LItemWitchRobes (which is itself a leveled list and where you likely want to make your edits).  You could completely replace the robes, add new items to it, or whatever you like.  Or maybe you were refering to Nisetanaka's Steel Bikini Armor V2 which you could give to just the female bandits by editing the following outfits to contain whatever bits you like:

• PB_BanditArmorHeavyBossFOutfit
• PB_BanditArmorHeavyBossNoShieldFOutfit
• PB_BanditArmorMeleeHeavyFOutfit
• PB_BanditArmorMeleeHeavyNoShieldFOutfit
• PB_BanditArmorMeleeNoShieldFOutfit
• PB_BanditArmorMeleeShield20FOutfit
• PB_BanditArmorMissileOutfit
• PB_BanditMageOutfit

And that would update the outfits of every female PB bandit in your game so that they wear something from that, while the male bandits and non PB bandits would be unaffected.  Note that because Nisetanaka's armors use more pieces you'll probably want to set up several sublists for each piece type, if you need help with that just ask and I'll provide some examples.  Also note, this won't fix problems with the naked bandit bug (but I've an idea for that I'm exploring, I'll need beta testers for that later on once I have something to test).

 

What I would have loved to have done was had an in game way of doing this.  I had hoped to create some sort of MCM GUI that would let you select the outfits you wanted to edit in game.  Then dress your character with whatever you wanted to make into an outfit and then save that to the outfit, in effect updating it in that game only (and with an export/import feature so you could save your changes and import them into future games if you like).  Unfortunately I'm told this isn't possible.  I talked with a number of the best modders and programmers out there and got the same answer from all of them.  However, if anyone thinks they can pull it off and wants to try, feel free to shoot me a site mail.  I'd still love to figure out how to make it happen as it would be such a nice feature.  I can't afford to devote a lot of time to it but I'm so enamored of the idea I'd be willing to give it a try if you can give me a convincing case it can be done.

 

Regarding the upcoming Vigilants.  Up til now PB has focused on female random NPCs because that's what I've had demand for.  I've asked if anyone wanted update male bandits and such, not a single vote for that.  However, with the Vigilants rebuild I'm having to make up both new male and female actors so what I've done is create separate male and female outfits so that they can be updated independently of each other.  Currently I have...

• PB_VigilantOfStendarCrusaderFOutfit
• PB_VigilantOfStendarCrusaderMOutfit
• PB_VigilantOfStendarWardenFOutfit
• PB_VigilantOfStendarWardenMOutfit

Same as before, you can use CK to edit them and change them however you like.  Edit just the females, both, whatever your like.

 

Once you make your edits, save the file and then open it in Wrye Bash and just Add A Master and close Wrye and done.

 

As for pre-made patches, that's an idea for maybe later on.  While they aren't hard to make they do take time.  If someone wants to work with me on that, I'm open to that possibility, and that could help get it done sooner.  Here again what would be nice is to eventually add a MCM option so it can detect these mods and then you can enable or disable  a premade set of changes but right now that's definitely beyond anything I can focus on, but here again if someone wants to work with me on developing that, shoot me a site mail.

[karlpaws]

Nisetanaka made a much larger bikini mod covering a lot more armor types, and a few people here(who are also on nexus) are doing unp/cbbe/other conversions.

 

You did not explicitly say, but do you mean that we open both PB and the armor mod in the CK, do the changes, then add the armor mod as a master to PB so it picks up the armor records?

 

I think the lack of outfit changes in game are due to them being templates, as ffabris has outfit changing enabled in his Manipulator mod, but those only work on unique NPCs, not randomly spawned bandits. (or at least you can change that bandit's outfit but it reverts when the bandit reloads. Same issue for slavetats and overlay changes.)

 

 

[EinarrTheRed]

Nisetanaka made a much larger bikini mod covering a lot more armor types, and a few people here(who are also on nexus) are doing unp/cbbe/other conversions.

 

You did not explicitly say, but do you mean that we open both PB and the armor mod in the CK, do the changes, then add the armor mod as a master to PB so it picks up the armor records?

 

I think the lack of outfit changes in game are due to them being templates, as ffabris has outfit changing enabled in his Manipulator mod, but those only work on unique NPCs, not randomly spawned bandits. (or at least you can change that bandit's outfit but it reverts when the bandit reloads. Same issue for slavetats and overlay changes.)

 

Yes, and thank you for pointing that out (and I probably should edit more carefully when posting at 3 AM LOL).  Exactly correct, open PB and the armor mod (or mods) you want to add in PB and then edit the outfits however you wish.  Once done, save and then open PB in Wrye and add the armor mods as a Master and then simply close Wrye (it saves the changes automatically when you close it).  You'll have to re-add those master's every time you make changes to PB because each time you make another save in CK, CK will strip away those added masters.

 

Another way to do this is to make a patch mod.  Open PB and the armor files in CK.  But do not set an active file.  Make your edits as above and save as a new mod (you can save it as a new mod because you set no active file).  Open your new mod in Wrye, add PB and the armor mods as masters.  Put your new mod after PB and the armor mods in your load order.  This does the same thing but has the advantage that when I release new versions of PB you won't have make the edits again.

 

You can also find any of the changes or changed actors, etc. in PB by simply putting PB_ in the filter and then checking the actors, items, outfits, etc. folders to see what shows up.  Anything I edit I usually add the PB_ prefix so that its easy to find later, both for you guys as well as myself (makes making edits so much easier to track).

 

I'm not very knowledgeable about Papyrus yet so I only know what I've been told.  I know you can add items to the leveled lists of vendors using a quest and scripting, and I've done so while doing a tutorial.  But for some reason you apparently cannot edit the outfits this way, adding and removing items.  I've no idea why not.  An outfit isn't a template (templates in Bethesda's nonmenclature are technically something else), its just a leveled list (see below).  The actor simply refers to a particular outfit and when it spawns wears whatever is in that outfit / leveled list.  So if you change what that list contains then it changes what they are equipped with when they spawn.

 

To give a specific example, let's go back to the witches, they have a fairly simple outfit.

 

The witches outfit (PB_WitchOutfitLeveled) contains (technically this is NOT a leveled list, its just a list):

• ClothesWarlockBoots
• LITemWitchesRobes

The second item is a sublist, and its a  leveled list.   It contains:

• 1 - Clothes WarlockRobes
• 1 - Clothes WarlockRobes
• 1 - Clothes WarlockRobes
• 1 - Clothes WarlockRobes
• 8 - PB_LItemEnchWarlockRobes
• 16 - PB_LItemEnchWarlockRobes
• 24 - PB_LItemEnchWarlockRobes
• 32 - PB_LItemEnchWarlockRobes

The first number is the level of your character at which that item can appear in the witch's inventory / outfit.  Skyrim checks this when the witch is spawned and randomly selects one item from the sublist, with all items having an equal chance.  In this case when your character is level 1, witches can only ever wear ordinary robes.  But starting at level 8 they have a 1 in 5 chance of having some type of magic robes.  By level 32 this has changed to a 50% chance of magic robes being worn.  If you're wondering why there are 4 instances of non magical robes, its how Bethesda handled chances of appearance.  In this case there are 4 robes in the list, each has an equal chance to be selected, so in effect from level 1 to 7 there is a 100% chance of non magical robes.  But when you reach level 8 there are now 4 non magical robes and one magical, so the magical has a 1 in 5 (or 20%) of appearing and the non-magical have a 4 in 5 (or 80%) chance, and so on.

 

So if you edited the list and replaced each of the ClothesWarlockRobes with SomeModArmorClothes (in other words, whatever clothing item you like from whatever mod you like) then from level 1-7 they would always wear that, at level 8 they'd have that 80% of the time and magical warlock robes 20% of the time.  Or you could just remove the leveled list and add the clothing item you want to the top level outfit list and they'd always wear that clothing item(s).

 

PB_LItemEnchWarlockRobes in turn is another sub list and it contains four more sublists.  You can have as many sublists and sub-sublists and sub-sub-sublist as you need, there's no effective limit on them other than practicality and your sanity in keeping up with it all.  Also you'll note the witches share a sublist with the warlocks.  If you guys want complete control over that then I'll need to duplicate those lists and make completely separate ones for the witches; which I can do and include in the next release if there's a need for it.

 

Hope that was clear and useful. 

 

 

 

 

[karlpaws]

Well its good I understood that but too bad for me that when I moved my Skyrim install folder (with steam and following the directions) Mod Organizer will still run and the game plays and the CK loads all of my Esps just fine wyre bash and tes edit do not see anything. The EXEs for the programs are still in the data folder, on the other hard drive and run within MO like they should but there must be a setting just for them that is still pointing to the wrong location.

 

Next step is to reinstall them but I haven't done that yet partially because I wanted to move my MO folder to the 2nd hdd as well, but it just don't move.

 

Then there is the debate I'm still having with myself about getting a 1 TB drive or two and setting them up as a raid or not, whether to fully reinstall or just clone my current drives, and all the assorted gimmickry.  What's holding me back I think is that I just want my play computer to work and not feel like work, because when I'm done with work I just want to run about carefree which I can still do.

[Lodakai]

Well its good I understood that but too bad for me that when I moved my Skyrim install folder (with steam and following the directions) Mod Organizer will still run and the game plays and the CK loads all of my Esps just fine wyre bash and tes edit do not see anything. The EXEs for the programs are still in the data folder, on the other hard drive and run within MO like they should but there must be a setting just for them that is still pointing to the wrong location.

 

Next step is to reinstall them but I haven't done that yet partially because I wanted to move my MO folder to the 2nd hdd as well, but it just don't move.

 

Then there is the debate I'm still having with myself about getting a 1 TB drive or two and setting them up as a raid or not, whether to fully reinstall or just clone my current drives, and all the assorted gimmickry.  What's holding me back I think is that I just want my play computer to work and not feel like work, because when I'm done with work I just want to run about carefree which I can still do.

 

Go to the top of your MO and select the gears icons (modify executables)

Change the binaries in bash and TESVedit to point to the new location.

 

 

--------------

 

@einarrthered   

Yup thanks.. should be easy enough.  I'll end up doing it in TESVedit though.. much easier than using the CK and I don't need to wait until next week for the CK to decide it has loaded everything

><

[karlpaws]

 

 

The EXEs for the programs are still in the data folder, on the other hard drive and run within MO like they should but there must be a setting just for them that is still pointing to the wrong location.

 

Go to the top of your MO and select the gears icons (modify executables)

Change the binaries in bash and TESVedit to point to the new location.

 

 

They run just fine, and the entries are right. The start in entry I thought might help but no such luck. I suspect they have their own INI entry or a windows registry key or some other crap independant of the Skyrim install folder setting Steam uses.

[EinarrTheRed]

 

 

 

The EXEs for the programs are still in the data folder, on the other hard drive and run within MO like they should but there must be a setting just for them that is still pointing to the wrong location.

 

Go to the top of your MO and select the gears icons (modify executables)

Change the binaries in bash and TESVedit to point to the new location.

 

 

They run just fine, and the entries are right. The start in entry I thought might help but no such luck. I suspect they have their own INI entry or a windows registry key or some other crap independant of the Skyrim install folder setting Steam uses.

 

 

Sometimes after Steam updates I find that Wrye, FNIS and a few other things can't find my Skyrim folder.  Going to Steam and running the game once from there (and actually I don't even have to start the game just open the Options, close it and then run with my SKSE shortcut like I usually do) seems to do the trick.  Don't know why Steam updates seem to affect other things, but apparently sometimes it does.  Don't know if that will help you but might give it a whirl.

 

@Lodokai

Use whatever works best for you.  I'm the opposite, I find CK easier though you're right about it taking time to load.  One of the handy things in CK is that on most stuff in the Object Window you can right click and there is an option for Use Info.  This gives you a break down of everything using that item, actor, spell, etc.  That includes not just leveled lists, but quests, dialog, locations, pretty much anything.  So if you're trying to check if something else uses whatever you're editing, its a handy way to check that.

 

I don't mind providing you guys info on how PB works or what edits I've made.  I'm pretty laid back about modding.  My view is its about having fun, if we aren't having fun we're kinda missing the point.  So if explaining how you can edit stuff to better suit you helps you have fun, so much the better.  One of these days I'd like to maybe write up a PDF that documents all the edits but that's way down on my list of priorities.

 

[karlpaws]

 

Sometimes after Steam updates I find that Wrye, FNIS and a few other things can't find my Skyrim folder.  Going to Steam and running the game once from there (and actually I don't even have to start the game just open the Options, close it and then run with my SKSE shortcut like I usually do) seems to do the trick.  Don't know why Steam updates seem to affect other things, but apparently sometimes it does.  Don't know if that will help you but might give it a whirl.

 

I'd read that elsewhere and I think I tried it for this, but I should probably check again to make sure.

[karlpaws]

 

 

Sometimes after Steam updates I find that Wrye, FNIS and a few other things can't find my Skyrim folder.  Going to Steam and running the game once from there (and actually I don't even have to start the game just open the Options, close it and then run with my SKSE shortcut like I usually do) seems to do the trick.  Don't know why Steam updates seem to affect other things, but apparently sometimes it does.  Don't know if that will help you but might give it a whirl.

 

I'd read that elsewhere and I think I tried it for this, but I should probably check again to make sure.

 

 

I was poking around in the MO folder and found the MO ini file. It has an entry of its own for the skyrim data location, so I changed that to the new one, and everything works correctly now.

[Azurahawk]

So if I may ask, how far are you into this project?

[Razuryam]

Does anyone know if there is a way to make this work with ASIS?, because after i put ASIS in my game bandits return to be Ugly, and i cannot place prettier below ASIS in my Mods order. Sorry for the bad english btw 

[Lodakai]

Does anyone know if there is a way to make this work with ASIS?, because after i put ASIS in my game bandits return to be Ugly, and i cannot place prettier below ASIS in my Mods order. Sorry for the bad english btw 

 

Open ASIS patched file as well as prettier bandits with Xedit and then override the fields that conflicts.   They will be red in prettier bandits under leveled list.  Also look at the NPC list and copy over assets.  You may need to make your Asis patch a dependency of prettier bandits unless you want to create a separate override. Remember to make backup copy of original files first in case of problems.

[Razuryam]

 

Does anyone know if there is a way to make this work with ASIS?, because after i put ASIS in my game bandits return to be Ugly, and i cannot place prettier below ASIS in my Mods order. Sorry for the bad english btw 

 

Open ASIS patched file as well as prettier bandits with Xedit and then override the fields that conflicts.   They will be red in prettier bandits under leveled list.  Also look at the NPC list and copy over assets.  You may need to make your Asis patch a dependency of prettier bandits unless you want to create a separate override. Remember to make backup copy of original files first in case of problems.

 

I will try, Thank you very much, i really appreciate the quick answer   

[Bonnn]

Hi,

Something appears to be wrong with the download link. When clicked I am directed to this site https://mega.nz/&#33;AJR3BQYS&#33;f8nDvXA7qDaoI6nH7F5wRr8fZOjdaJL2GV4odAhrO8s.

Whilst the correct one is https://mega.nz/#!AJR3BQYS!f8nDvXA7qDaoI6nH7F5wRr8fZOjdaJL2GV4odAhrO8s.

[deznuts2000]

Thank you excellent  mod

Edited November 26, 2017 by deznuts2000

[Npi9]

the download just redirects me to a mega log in page how do I download?

[Lodakai]

On 11/29/2017 at 11:55 AM, Npi9 said:

the download just redirects me to a mega log in page how do I download?

That question was answered 2 posts above you m8

[EinarrTheRed]

Just a quick note.

 

I'm not quite dead but I've not been well.  I have worked a bit on this mod but haven't gotten a lot done.  I do still plan to update it further but I'm not sure when that will be, it just depends on my health.

 

Where things stand:

The update of the Vigilants is partially done.  Keeper Carcette got a make over (will post a screen shot when I get a chance) and I'd rebuilt the Vigilant template tree.  I was not happy with how their outfits turned out so I scrapped that and was starting over, that remains to be completed.  I'd identified the usable voice types and was starting to build the base NPCs, but had not gotten very far with that.

 

Updated the falmer servants leveled actor to include all types of bandits as well as the WEAdventurer npcs for more variety, they also now respawn so when you return to Blackreach there will be more of them along with the falmer that respawn.

 

I'd also been working on another major change to the mod that... well, hasn't gone well.  To explain...

 

Making all these NPCs is hugely time consuming, plus it continues to bloat the file size and I didn't feel I there was enough increased variety to warrant that.  So I started looking for alternatives.  I tried actually making a system that would randomly set facial feature, even randomly equip hair models... that was a disaster.  Next I looked into creating a database of pre-made appearances that could be plugged into the template system.  That.... was frustrating.   I came this >...<  close to making that work... and ran into a wall.  Part of it is a limitation in CK / TES.  That is you can only plug templates and leveled lists in to each other in a certain order which turns out to be very limiting.  Why in hell Bethesda imposed this restriction... well... don't get me started.   Anyway, what I can do is I can plug any number of templates into each other, plug that last in that chain into a leveled list and then plug that into a leveled actor... that works fine.  You can even plug multiple leveled lists into each other, then into a leveled actor, that works fine.   You can do both... you can plug a chain of leveled lists into each other, plug the last one into a sub list, plug that into another sublist (as many sub lists as you want) plug the last one into a leveled list and plug that into a leveled actor and that's fine.   The one thing you CANNOT do is the one thing I need to do... plug a series of templates into a leveled list  (in this case groups of appearance templates) plug that sublist into a template chain, then plug that into some leveled lists and then to the leveled actor.  Can't do it, cannot be done, banged my head for months with it until I was burned out on top of being sick.  If it could be (thank you again Bethesda for being stupid btw) we could make a whole base file of different pre-made appearance templates, plug that into our bandit or warlock or vigilant or whatever template tree, which feeds into the leveled lists and presto, you get 200+ possible different looks for every leveled actor.  Woulda been nice.

 

So, when I last felt like working on things I was looking at a much more modest approach of maybe 50 appearance templates per voice type per race.  I could then plug these into a revised template system and sort of achieve the same result, albeit on a MUCH smaller scale... (granted I ran into another wall here, but its one I've learned to cope with)  But instead of the 2 or 3 actors you get for each bandit type now, you'd get around 50 each.   But each actor type would use the same 50 templates so its sort of more variety, but then its not.  Its a trade off.  Perhaps the biggest upside to this approach is I could pack all the appearance templates into a master file.  You'd download that once and done, no need to update it further.  I could pack it as an archive so installation would be 1 esp and 1 bsa file.   Then future updates to PB would just be to a much smaller esp that would be quicker and easier to download, as well as easier to update.

 

So, that's kind of where things are at.

 

BTW, thank you Lodakai for answering questions in my absence, appreciate you pitching in.

 

One more thing, I've got another small mod almost ready for a bit of play testing.  If you'd like to volunteer shoot me a site mail and let me know and I'll send you the alpha build.  It adds a "play space" / dungeon to one of the BYOH.  I'm still finishing it and adding the last features I wanted to include (currently trying to find time to fix the Elder Scroll display rack).  Would welcome comments and feedback before I get much further with it.  Designed it for use with PAHE / HSH (especially the later) and similar mods.

 

Thanks again for being patient guys and sorry for not being more communicative.

 

EDIT:  Forgot to add that when I have had time and felt like working I'd started experimenting with KS hair's.  You guys had been asking me to use them and you're going to get your wish in some future update.  They really are much nicer and I wish I'd used them from the start.  It take a bit of extra work adding them in but I feel they are worth it.  So, I humbly admit you guys had it right.