? The Selachii - Shark Race

[NightroModzz]

 

Lol, I thnk that is the most un-lore friendly thing I've seen. ​  It looks good though.

 

Actually, it *is* lore friendly, but it's also an anachronism.

 

Let me explain: nothing says the future of the Elder Scrolls timeline can't end up looking like present world (albeit more like an Urban Fantasy setting due to, y'know, the existence of magic and stuff). In that case, modern clothing like jeans or hoodies could exist then, and having College of Winterhold-related clothing wouldn't be that much of a stretch, just like most important colleges/universities have them IRL. They are not lore-breaking, because they don't contradict the existing lore or something like that, because the existance of the College is canon; something like adding a MIT hoodie would be lore breaking because obviously Massachusetts (or the whole Earth, for that matter) doesn't exist on Mundus, lol .

 

Then, it is an anachronism because the time the game is set (Fourth Era 201) roughly corresponds to medieval times on RL, so you don't expect to find modern clothing there just like you don't expect to find medieval knights  or vikings wearing Kevlar and using assault rifles. But in the future, say, Fifth Era 2040 or whatever? Sure, you could find that kind of modern technology. In fact, see Halo's Aether Suite/Knox for a great example of how to integrate a modern/sci-fi setting into the Elder Scrolls lore/world.

 

Of course, all of this is just lore-babble, and there will always be people that want to have such stuff in their game and don't care about lore. It's just that I found a way to both have the cake and eat it (aka have modern stuff in the game and still be lore-friendly or at least not lore-breaking), and I'm happy about it, lol  .

 

 

lol ok. But I was referring to the era the game is actually played in.

[Kuroyami]

 

Actually, it *is* lore friendly, but it's also an anachronism.

 

Let me explain: nothing says the future of the Elder Scrolls timeline can't end up looking like present world (albeit more like an Urban Fantasy setting due to, y'know, the existence of magic and stuff). In that case, modern clothing like jeans or hoodies could exist then, and having College of Winterhold-related clothing wouldn't be that much of a stretch, just like most important colleges/universities have them IRL. They are not lore-breaking, because they don't contradict the existing lore or something like that, because the existance of the College is canon; something like adding a MIT hoodie would be lore breaking because obviously Massachusetts (or the whole Earth, for that matter) doesn't exist on Mundus, lol .

 

Then, it is an anachronism because the time the game is set (Fourth Era 201) roughly corresponds to medieval times on RL, so you don't expect to find modern clothing there just like you don't expect to find medieval knights  or vikings wearing Kevlar and using assault rifles. But in the future, say, Fifth Era 2040 or whatever? Sure, you could find that kind of modern technology. In fact, see Halo's Aether Suite/Knox for a great example of how to integrate a modern/sci-fi setting into the Elder Scrolls lore/world.

 

Of course, all of this is just lore-babble, and there will always be people that want to have such stuff in their game and don't care about lore. It's just that I found a way to both have the cake and eat it (aka have modern stuff in the game and still be lore-friendly or at least not lore-breaking), and I'm happy about it, lol  .

 

 

I've mostly stayed away from things like that in Skyrim, save for things which may technically be lore-breaking, but I think still somehow fit. Such as that recent Teddy Bear Follower, Rupert. Obviously the games(at least Skyrim and Oblivion) do have bears, and perhaps having representations of them as children's toys, are not too far-fetched. There also is a story for the bear, that I think works. Plus, I get to play the game with a bear hanging onto my character's back, so...

 

However, I'd say release most of the modern clothing as a separate mod, and maybe just have the black shirt in this mod for Haru to wear. 

 

Also, there is something I'm planning on using the Aether Suite for, relating to this mod. Something for the Selachii Legacy book.

 

@Blaze69

If you're looking to expand the lore for your new race there's a creature from Japanese mythology called the Samebito.  Since the Akaviri are pretty much the Elder Scrolls version of the Japanese it could fit...and the myth involves dragons of all things.  More than a few coincidences there that can be exploited for a back story or even a Sharkmer quest. 

 

Sounds somewhat similar to a character I've already been working on. Gaku is a Selachii with shiny black skin, and green eyes. His exile was more self-imposed, as he learned of something from the race's history that was technically misinterpreted, by both him and those who penned the story. Much of this is a spoiler, though his fate was not any true salvation for his crimes, but to be pardoned from them, and the life he knew entirely by someone who places a high value on knowledge. 

[Blaze69]

I've mostly stayed away from things like that in Skyrim, save for things which may technically be lore-breaking, but I think still somehow fit. Such as that recent Teddy Bear Follower, Rupert. Obviously the games(at least Skyrim and Oblivion) do have bears, and perhaps having representations of them as children's toys, are not too far-fetched. There also is a story for the bear, that I think works. Plus, I get to play the game with a bear hanging onto my character's back, so...

 

However, I'd say release most of the modern clothing as a separate mod, and maybe just have the black shirt in this mod for Haru to wear. 

Yeah, that was my intention. I guess I would have to release it in the Adult section, though, since there are Revealing versions of the clothes as well.

 

Also I should perhaps try to take some pics with human or elven characters wearing the clothes, but I don't really feel like doing so. The sharks will have to do, I guess. It's not like using Selachii for the pics (which could be the exact same ones I posted here, though I'm not sure yet) are going to drive users away, right? (Not sure if I intend this to be sarcasm or not, I guess we will see, lol  ).

 

I'm going to continue working on the tank tops next. In fact, males are almost done, and females are only missing the Revealing (UUNP Special) version. Though I may have to redo females from scratch; when porting the male meshes I made sure to subdivide them, but the female ones are straight out of Halo's ported file and have a low polycount (which is not a problem with Halo's own UNPCM body but causes it to look distorted/blocky with curvier bodies).

 

Also, there is something I'm planning on using the Aether Suite for, relating to this mod. Something for the Selachii Legacy book.

Oh, sounds good. Looking forward to that  .

 

Also, there is something I'm planning on using the Aether Suite for, relating to this mod. Something for the Selachii Legacy book.

Sounds somewhat similar to a character I've already been working on. Gaku is a Selachii with shiny black skin, and green eyes. His exile was more self-imposed, as he learned of something from the race's history that was technically misinterpreted, by both him and those who penned the story. Much of this is a spoiler, though his fate was not any true salvation for his crimes, but to be pardoned from them, and the life he knew entirely by someone who places a high value on knowledge. 

 Interesting as well. Nice.

lol ok. But I was referring to the era the game is actually played in.

Then yes, you are completely right, lol  .

Edited March 15, 2017 by Blaze69

[Kuroyami]

Okay, so a few things....

 

Added Entry 11 for Mizuno's journal. 

-May want to add the mentioned "Alar" to the Chill. A male Nord, he has been in there for a while. Probably, he is likely to be dead, either due to starvation(his repeated infractions, or his attitude, did not make most of the guards want to bring him meals), or an escape attempt where he was killed by the Atronachs. 

-The Guard Captain is a female Nord, named Krista(going to edit Hiyasu's dialog for this name).

-Colette knows a spell that acts like an X-ray? Magic. I'm serious. Not anything to be done in-game about this, just saying it. 

 

Otherwise, I'm planning to use the Aether Suite's Photostudio to take some shots for the book. 

-An image of Marin Kai, possibly used for the title page, or the opposite page. Might need a good Kimono armor/clothing mod for this, hopefully one that supports UUNP with a conversion. May just use the Yukata one that Jerok has a conversion for.  

-Similar images for Kaze, Arashi, and Hazu(though he may need to wait since his anatomy can't be properly shown at this point). Probably need another shot of Marin for this too, this one nude.

 

Also, not sure where to put it, but I like the idea that the Selachii favor hairstyles like the ones used for Fume, Mizuno, and Moku. 

 

 

[Blaze69]

Okay, so a few things....

 

Added Entry 11 for Mizuno's journal. [...]

-Colette knows a spell that acts like an X-ray? Magic. I'm serious. Not anything to be done in-game about this, just saying it. 

That is great! Love how you set it all up so you could have a reason to talk about the Selachii anatomy, and even included a reference to the different skeleton structure, that's nice .

 

As for that Colette thing, I would actually expect such spell to exist already. How would healers know you have internal bleeding and such injuries otherwise?

 

-May want to add the mentioned "Alar" to the Chill. A male Nord, he has been in there for a while. Probably, he is likely to be dead, either due to starvation(his repeated infractions, or his attitude, did not make most of the guards want to bring him meals), or an escape attempt where he was killed by the Atronachs. 

-The Guard Captain is a female Nord, named Krista(going to edit Hiyasu's dialog for this name).

Okay, I guess I can take one of the existing random "dead" Nord NPCs, rename him as Alar, and place him in the Chill. Since he's going to be dead anyway, he doesn't need any custom appearance, and that way I don't need to export FaceGen because the game will use the template's own one. Also good about the captain's name.

 

Otherwise, I'm planning to use the Aether Suite's Photostudio to take some shots for the book. 

-An image of Marin Kai, possibly used for the title page, or the opposite page. Might need a good Kimono armor/clothing mod for this, hopefully one that supports UUNP with a conversion. May just use the Yukata one that Jerok has a conversion for.  

-images for Kaze, Arashi, and Hazu(though he may need to wait since his anatomy can't be properly shown at this point). Probably need another shot of Marin for this too, this one nude.

Sounds great. I can take the pics myself if you want, just let me know the exact NPCs and positions and stuff and I'll get down to it once all of them are ingame.

 

I was just looking for something like that as well, some kind of kimono outfit or so, to represent part of the Akaviri connection. I already have chosen an Akaviri-style armor for my character, the Female Blades Light Armor (though I will probably get it through Blender first so I can fix the extremely low poly breast plate), but I wouldn't mind having something more casual or relaxed. I've seen the Yukata one already, and it doesn't look that bad; but I'll search further just in case.

 

Also, not sure where to put it, but I like the idea that the Selachii favor hairstyles like the ones used for Fume, Mizuno, and Moku. 

Perhaps you could put it in the Legacy book? Maybe as an entry about customs or appearance or whatever that mentions that kind of hair styles is commonplace. There's also the option of adding a dialog to ask Mizuno about his hair so he can provide the info as well.

 

[Kuroyami]

 

That is great! Love how you set it all up so you could have a reason to talk about the Selachii anatomy, and even included a reference to the different skeleton structure, that's nice  .

 

As for that Colette thing, I would actually expect such spell to exist already. How would healers know you have internal bleeding and such injuries otherwise?

 

Was not entirely intentional, I was somewhat going at it with the idea of something happening between Mizuno and Colette, and my natural thought was "Why would he need to go see her?". I've mostly been writing these journals somewhat as I go, since it seems almost like the actual character would perhaps write it, trying to keep the same progression as the events they have been through, mostly keeping it consistent with how it actually happened. With some hints as to them writing of it after the fact. 

 

As for Colette's spell, yeah, it likely does. Combine a few effects offered by spells in game, and a lot can be done story-wise. Even some basic things can benefit greatly in a setting where magic is a factor. The only problem you come across, is how damaging wounds are, in contrast to the effectiveness of Restoration magic. It is not exactly a big surprise that most of the game's lore stays away from things like lost limbs, since maybe if it is only described in a book? Easy. Actually needing to be shown on screen? Certainly something that Skyrim could have done, based on the fact that the game is setup for decapitations, but it was not made for Kill-moves that can remove any other limb. Though for a still alive character, likely possible(given the optional armors in the Dwarven Bikini mod), though still not the best, since you would also need to limit the character's ability to act as well. 

 

 

Sounds great. I can take the pics myself if you want, just let me know the exact NPCs and positions and stuff and I'll get down to it once all of them are ingame.

 

I was just looking for something like that as well, some kind of kimono outfit or so, to represent part of the Akaviri connection. I already have chosen an Akaviri-style armor for my character, the Female Blades Light Armor (though I will probably get it through Blender first so I can fix the extremely low poly breast plate), but I wouldn't mind having something more casual or relaxed. I've seen the Yukata one already, and it doesn't look that bad; but I'll search further just in case.

 

Well, the only character out of those mentioned that is intended to appear in-game, would be Arashi and Kaze. Marin, Hazu and the yet unnamed female Selachii mentioned in the book's 2nd Anatomy section, technically do not need in-game appearances, other than perhaps for the purposes of these screenshots. As for the details, I'll work those out and post those later. Thanks. 

 

Otherwise, there is this one: Kisetsu Kimono for UNP. Which I have used briefly before, though I have not seen a UUNP conversion for it. Maybe an obvious one, though.

 

 

Perhaps you could put it in the Legacy book? Maybe as an entry about customs or appearance or whatever that mentions that kind of hair styles is commonplace. There's also the option of adding a dialog to ask Mizuno about his hair so he can provide the info as well.

 

Yeah, I'm thinking either that, or something to add to the Culture section. As for Mizuno or other characters with a similar style mentioning it, maybe. 

 

Also, I think for Mizuno, his current appearance is fine. It is basically what it was in the previous version, and I don't think there is any need to get him closer to the reference image. 

[Blaze69]

Otherwise, there is this one: Kisetsu Kimono for UNP. Which I have used briefly before, though I have not seen a UUNP conversion for it. Maybe an obvious one, though.

Obvious indeed, but I had somehow missed it. Thank you for the heads up! It fits pretty well. Now I have something pretty for my shark girl to wear whenever she's not clad in her Blades Akaviri armor  . See for yourself:

 

   

 

And yeah, I added UUNP support for it because the original mod only included the _0 versions of the meshes, in case you are interested. The description of the mod states you should ask for permission before doing anything but looks like the author is a nice guy/gal and will probably be OK with a UUNP conversion being released if I ask politely, but in the meantime I can PM the files to anybody interested  .

 

Oh, and small status update: I've edited the ear fin ring meshes to fit the new shape of the female fins, and they look better now. Also added all of the ring options to males as well (not pictured, but they are exactly the same as in females):

 

 

 

I also managed to get the vanilla (aka low-poly) scalp mesh to not clip too much into the female head, and so I added alternate versions of Nuska's hairs with the scalp added. They should improve the looks, but since the scalp mesh is flawed, the "main hair only" versions of them are still there.

[NightroModzz]

 

I also managed to get the vanilla (aka low-poly) scalp mesh to not clip too much into the female head, and so I added alternate versions of Nuska's hairs with the scalp added. They should improve the looks, but since the scalp mesh is flawed, the "main hair only" versions of them are still there.

 

If there was a problem with the scalp, you could have pm'd me.

[Kuroyami]

 

And yeah, I added UUNP support for it because the original mod only included the _0 versions of the meshes, in case you are interested. The description of the mod states you should ask for permission before doing anything but looks like the author is a nice guy/gal and will probably be OK with a UUNP conversion being released if I ask politely, but in the meantime I can PM the files to anybody interested  .

 

Well, I certainly am interested. 

 

It's perfect for Marin to wear as well, I just need to come up with a preset for her. Though her exact pose could be something like these, for the title page image(though these are not of sharks), eliana-asato, dragoon86. 

[Blaze69]

If there was a problem with the scalp, you could have pm'd me.

Oh, no, don't worry about it. In fact, I think I managed to get it acceptable enough this time thanks to the new head shape.

 

The problem is with the vanilla scalp hair mesh (actors\character\character assets\hair\femaleredguardhair04.nif). It's very low-poly, which means getting it to match the head in shape and weighting to prevent clipping is really hard.

 

Usually it would be a matter of importing it into Blender, subdividing a few times, and exporting it back to Skyrim, but it so happens that the mesh loads a very small square "hair pattern" texture (actors\character\hair\HairCurly2.dds) and then uses the "Vertex Color" option to assign a different Alpha value to some vertices in order to create the "fading/blending into skin" look at the borders of the scalp. Blender doesn't seem to support vertex alpha data, so the editing process breaks the alphas and the exported mesh looks awful. Nothing to be done about it .

Well, I certainly am interested. 

 

It's perfect for Marin to wear as well, I just need to come up with a preset for her. Though her exact pose could be something like these, for the title page image(though these are not of sharks), eliana-asato, dragoon86. 

Sure, give me some time to clean everything up and pack it and I'll send you the files via PM. 

 

Sounds good about her picture; and that kind of sitting poses are widely available in the poser mods, it's just a matter of finding the right one that suits your needs. Love the pics, BTW  .

[NightroModzz]

 

If there was a problem with the scalp, you could have pm'd me.

Oh, no, don't worry about it. In fact, I think I managed to get it acceptable enough this time thanks to the new head shape.

 

The problem is with the vanilla scalp hair mesh (actors\character\character assets\hair\femaleredguardhair04.nif). It's very low-poly, which means getting it to match the head in shape and weighting to prevent clipping is really hard.

 

Usually it would be a matter of importing it into Blender, subdividing a few times, and exporting it back to Skyrim, but it so happens that the mesh loads a very small square "hair pattern" texture (actors\character\hair\HairCurly2.dds) and then uses the "Vertex Color" option to assign a different Alpha value to some vertices in order to create the "fading/blending into skin" look at the borders of the scalp. Blender doesn't seem to support vertex alpha data, so the editing process breaks the alphas and the exported mesh looks awful. Nothing to be done about it .

 

Well, last time I did edit the scalp without the human female head in the project. I ended up fixing the sides by the center and the forehead was a little too long. Anyways, whether you feel the need to swap the heads, hear is a fix anyways. It might not be much of a problem anyways.

Female Sharkmer Scalp Fix.rar

[Blaze69]

Well, last time I did edit the scalp without the human female head in the project. I ended up fixing the sides by the center and the forehead was a little too long. Anyways, whether you feel the need to swap the heads, hear is a fix anyways. It might not be much of a problem anyways.

I'm not sure if I will swap them or not, since the current ones work pretty well, but I'll save the file just in case. Thanks  .

[Blaze69]

Alright, some quick dose of shameless self-advertising : I've just released my previously mentioned modern clothes pack here in LL. For those interested, you can find the file here.

[Draco Benson]

Is there a way I can use the sharkmer face that was for the 2.5 version of this mod, the new face is kinda horrifying to me. I liked it better when the were cute. Im not trying to seem like i dont like the mod. I just like the orginal faces better.

[Blaze69]

Is there a way I can use the sharkmer face that was for the 2.5 version of this mod, the new face is kinda horrifying to me. I liked it better when the were cute. Im not trying to seem like i dont like the mod. I just like the orginal faces better.

Hey, the current faces are cute too. You offended my poor sharks  .

 

Nah, just kidding  . No problem, I see there is demand for the 2.75 version (the latest one with the cartoony/old heads). As I said, I deleted it when cleaning my MEGA folder in bulk for the last upload. I still have the files in my HDD, so I'll make sure to upload it again whenever I update the mod and link to it either in the downloads section or the description.

[Kuroyami]

What I currently have for Kanet's vanilla preset. Going to change the eyes(even the eye MOD, since the Improved Eyes Skyrim seems to replace ALL the vanilla eye options with custom ones), and maybe a few other things. 

 

Also, I checked out Fume in-game. I would suggest moving the sacks and bags, since Interesting NPCs adds an activator there for the "Lean Against Wall" animation, which both Two-Tails and Fume can use. 

[Blaze69]

Vanilla_Kanet1.pngVanilla_Kanet2.png

What I currently have for Kanet's vanilla preset. Going to change the eyes(even the eye MOD, since the Improved Eyes Skyrim seems to replace ALL the vanilla eye options with custom ones), and maybe a few other things. 

 

Also, I checked out Fume in-game. I would suggest moving the sacks and bags, since Interesting NPCs adds an activator there for the "Lean Against Wall" animation, which both Two-Tails and Fume can use. 

Well, I obviously prefer her Tigress version , but I guess that is not bad for a human.

 

Noted about the sacks. As far as I remember I only put them there as background clutter, so there shouldn't be any reason not to remove them .

[Blaze69]

Okay, I'm still alive and working on this, in case someone is wondering, lol  . I don't have much progress to show, but I do have a long post ahead, so beware.

 

I still have some edits to add to the follower plugin, like removing the clutter from Reachwind Eyrie, fixing the bugs in the journals, completing Mizuno's one with the new entry, and adding the alternative version of Izumi's own to the non-YA plugin. The only thing I'm still waiting for would be the final presets for Haru and Mizuno, but since I don't want to rush Kuroyami about them and they are not crtitical or anything like that, I can safely skip those for now and add them at a later point. We've already said Mizuno's current looks are pretty much final, and Haru looks good enough already even if he is improved at a later point.

 

The next update will include pretty much what I've mentioned so far: the new female heads (without textured gills for now, just like males; they will be added at a later point), the additions to the lore material, the fixed fin rings for males and females, fixed scar meshes for the female heads (males don't have them yet, and I'm not sure if I will add them seeing how bad the scar meshes deform due to the low polycount) and the alternative versions of some female hairs with the scalp mesh included. There may be more stuff, but that's all I can think of; I should start writing down all the stuff I do so I can have a proper changelog, lol  .

 

There's is also the non-YA version of the plugin. The Selachii NPCs will remain exactly as they are, while Vaynelle will be turned into a vanilla Dark Elf (no custom hair or eyes for her this time, though; all vanilla assets) and the Hot Spring NPCs will be restored to their original appearance; the other edits like names, stats, factions and stuff will remain except for the fact that Kanet will no longer have a schlong by default in her human version (may change that in the future, but I'm not sure).

 

Also, now that YA is an actual master for the main Follower plugin, I've been debating whether to change Ko'Maru into an actual Snow Leopard (aka set his race to Snow Elf just like Gelebor, for example). He was intended to be a leopard from the start (IIRC even his name has something to do with "spots" or "circles"), but I'm not really sure about it.

 

While the presence of a Snow Elf/Snow Leopard in Skyrim can be explained following the lore I came up with for the race (see my original post here) and it would apply to an NPC just fine, Ko'Maru has been already established to be a Khajiit, so it wouldn't fit to change his race just like that. Plus, I don't know if anyone has noticed but the default Khajiit skins already include some sort of leopard-ish pattern with some spots and the like (specially on the back), so in the end he doesn't look that different from his original character concept. And last, the non-YA version of the plugin would return him to be a regular Khajiit anyway. Still, I'm open to opinions about this  .

 

Another thing I've been thinking about is the addition of an actual separate Snow Leopard NPC, and specifically a female. This is because while the vanilla game does include a male Snow Elf/Snow Leopard NPC, Gelebor, and he can even become a follower by using Relationship Dialogue Overhaul, he's, well, a male, and there are no female Snow Elves whatsoever except for the player herself if using the Playable races plugin. Also because I think there is some great potential to tie  the Snow Elf lore with the Selachii somehow (either to specific Selachii NPCs which would be linked to said Snow Elf or to the race as a whole) and thus improve the integration of both races at the same time.

 

The main downside to it I can see is that translating it into the non-YA version may be a bit complicated. The non-YA NPC herself should be easy to do (just make her a High Elf with a white skin tint instead of yellow one, which is basically what vanilla Snow Elves are), but the lore itself doesn't fit as nicely; Tigers and Snow Leopards blending together is somewhat feasible, since they are pretty similar (moreso in YA where they only differ in fur pattern and tail shape), but actual elves blending with humans/Redguards, while still possible, is more unlikely. I still thin it can be done right, though, and wouldn't mind trying, but again, I am open to suggestion or ideas  .

[Kuroyami]

The only thing I'm still waiting for would be the final presets for Haru and Mizuno, but since I don't want to rush Kuroyami about them and they are not crtitical or anything like that, I can safely skip those for now and add them at a later point. We've already said Mizuno's current looks are pretty much final, and Haru looks good enough already even if he is improved at a later point.

 

Yeah, I don't think I can do anything different for Mizuno, since like I said, he basically is the same as he was before, just with an updated head, and different eyes, though still orange. 

 

As for Haru, I'll be doing his preset soon. I have a thought of doing a journal for him too, which would not be dated like Izumi's and it would describe a few events in his life in detail(Time in the Thieves Guild. Meeting Izumi, his perspective on interacting with Kanet, etc).

 

Oh, that reminds me. It seems as if the meshes for the males in the Human Schlong option are still the cut meshes in the current version of the mod.

 

While the presence of a Snow Elf/Snow Leopard in Skyrim can be explained following the lore I came up with for the race (see my original post here) and it would apply to an NPC just fine, Ko'Maru has been already established to be a Khajiit, so it wouldn't fit to change his race just like that. Plus, I don't know if anyone has noticed but the default Khajiit skins already include some sort of leopard-ish pattern with some spots and the like (specially on the back), so in the end he doesn't look that different from his original character concept. And last, the non-YA version of the plugin would return him to be a regular Khajiit anyway. Still, I'm open to opinions about this   .

 

I think it can still work either way. For the YA version, give him the Snow Leopard textures, and I can easily suggest that he might have one or more in his family somewhere. So it just means he has a similar if not the same appearance as the Snow Elfs/Leopards, not that he actually is one himself. Though maybe giving him a similar racial trait to the Snow Leopards, albeit perhaps halved, as well. 

 

For Vanilla, he can use the Snow Leopard textures too, since then he just has a unique fur pattern. 

 

Another thing I've been thinking about is the addition of an actual separate Snow Leopard NPC, and specifically a female. This is because while the vanilla game does include a male Snow Elf/Snow Leopard NPC, Gelebor, and he can even become a follower by using Relationship Dialogue Overhaul, he's, well, a male, and there are no female Snow Elves whatsoever except for the player herself if using the Playable races plugin. Also because I think there is some great potential to tie  the Snow Elf lore with the Selachii somehow (either to specific Selachii NPCs which would be linked to said Snow Elf or to the race as a whole) and thus improve the integration of both races at the same time.

 

The main downside to it I can see is that translating it into the non-YA version may be a bit complicated. The non-YA NPC herself should be easy to do (just make her a High Elf with a white skin tint instead of yellow one, which is basically what vanilla Snow Elves are), but the lore itself doesn't fit as nicely; Tigers and Snow Leopards blending together is somewhat feasible, since they are pretty similar (moreso in YA where they only differ in fur pattern and tail shape), but actual elves blending with humans/Redguards, while still possible, is more unlikely. I still thin it can be done right, though, and wouldn't mind trying, but again, I am open to suggestion or ideas  

 

I've had an idea for a while for such a character, though my thinking was rather specific to the Dawnguard DLC.

 

I.e, this would be a female Snow Elf/Leopard that was a personal guard or some other kind of position close to Vyrthur, and after he was infected, defended him while he ran to that throne room, and then entered the room to see what happened to him. She ends up being attacked by him, being left for dead with just enough strength to limp away, collapsing in a heap just as she reached the Auriel shrine in the starting room. 

 

Awakening a short time later, she finds herself far from dead, but not living either. Much as she tries to pray for answers, none come. Vyrthur seems far from surprised by her apparent survival, and he does not care. None of her frantic questions go answered, and she eventually gives up trying. 

 

There is of course the obvious problem with this, since having her as a follower would be seemingly useless, given that pretty much for the rest of the MQ of DG Serana is required, and the vanilla game's limit prevents you from taking anyone else. So my idea would be that she would become a follower only once you deal with Vyrthur, similarly to Gelebor with RDO. As for a vanilla version, well, I was only thinking of this character as specifically for YA, given that I also thought she would have a schlong too. 

[Blaze69]

Yeah, I don't think I can do anything different for Mizuno, since like I said, he basically is the same as he was before, just with an updated head, and different eyes, though still orange. 

 

As for Haru, I'll be doing his preset soon. I have a thought of doing a journal for him too, which would not be dated like Izumi's and it would describe a few events in his life in detail(Time in the Thieves Guild. Meeting Izumi, his perspective on interacting with Kanet, etc).

Okay, then I'll leave Mizuno as-is. The only edit I've done to him is to swap his eyes from the Argonian ones to the Khajiit ones, but they are still orange. The exact look will depend on what Khajiit eye textures are installed, but I think the Khajiit eyes fit him better than the Argonian ones.

 

Good about Haru. I think we have already stated that the whole "writing a journal" is a cultural thing of most Selachii, so having him write a journal too doesn't sound bad. Plus, would give some insight on his relation to the Thieves Guild, and also wouldn't mind hearing about his thoughts on Kanet.

 

Oh, that reminds me. It seems as if the meshes for the males in the Human Schlong option are still the cut meshes in the current version of the mod.

Oh, yeah, that. I was testing the schlong-specific collision XMLs from Naturalisitc and since the sharks are the only race left in my Skyrim that use human schlongs, I swapped their meshes with the Regular AddOn to see how it looked (it worked flawlessly  ). Then I forgot to restore the uncut ones.

 

Though I'm not really sure I want to change back; I prefer the Regular schlong over the Average one, and BadDog's Uncut meshes are build using the Average one as a base. I'll see what I can do, and worst-case scenario I can temporarily remove the line about Haru's schlong being uncut from Izumi's journal until I settle for the uncut one again .

 

I think it can still work either way. For the YA version, give him the Snow Leopard textures, and I can easily suggest that he might have one or more in his family somewhere. So it just means he has a similar if not the same appearance as the Snow Elfs/Leopards, not that he actually is one himself. Though maybe giving him a similar racial trait to the Snow Leopards, albeit perhaps halved, as well. 

 

For Vanilla, he can use the Snow Leopard textures too, since then he just has a unique fur pattern.

Huh, so you could integrate it that way? I guess it can work, yes. Still, I would like to have some kind of "hybrid" skin, that looked like a cross between a regular Khajiit and a Snow Leopard. It would help with the whole "There was a Snow Leopard somewhere in his family" thing. Though I would have to see how to go about it first. I'll leave him with the default Khajiit skin for now, and if it turns out I can't get the hybrid skin to look good, we'll see whether he goes full leopard or not. You can still work on that "integration" part in the meantime, though  .

 

I've had an idea for a while for such a character, though my thinking was rather specific to the Dawnguard DLC.

 

I.e, this would be a female Snow Elf/Leopard that was a personal guard or some other kind of position close to Vyrthur, and after he was infected, defended him while he ran to that throne room, and then entered the room to see what happened to him. She ends up being attacked by him, being left for dead with just enough strength to limp away, collapsing in a heap just as she reached the Auriel shrine in the starting room. 

 

Awakening a short time later, she finds herself far from dead, but not living either. Much as she tries to pray for answers, none come. Vyrthur seems far from surprised by her apparent survival, and he does not care. None of her frantic questions go answered, and she eventually gives up trying. 

 

There is of course the obvious problem with this, since having her as a follower would be seemingly useless, given that pretty much for the rest of the MQ of DG Serana is required, and the vanilla game's limit prevents you from taking anyone else. So my idea would be that she would become a follower only once you deal with Vyrthur, similarly to Gelebor with RDO. As for a vanilla version, well, I was only thinking of this character as specifically for YA, given that I also thought she would have a schlong too. 

Not a bad idea. If you get a male Snow Leopard follower/NPC (Gelebor) when you beat the "Touching the Sun" quest, having a female one available as well at the same time sounds fitting. The only problem would be that the vampire version of the Snow Elf race is part of the Playable Races plugin, and also the main YA plugin lacks some fixes to the female Snow Elf data (males are fine, as evidenced by the fact that Gelebor and Vyrthur work fine).

 

I was thinking of having said Snow Leopard as an actual Redguard using the leopard skin as a workaround (since they use the same gear and even the exact same schlong textures, there wouldn't be any problem there), but with vampires it may be harder. I guess I could make her a Redguard Vampire with the same leopard skin, but I would have to check.

 

I was also aiming for a "new" Snow Elf, as in, based on the new lore for the race insted of being one of the original dwellers of the Forgotten Vale. With the whole "gone to Tamriel to see how things are" thing I mentioned, and maybe also with aims to investigate about any traces of their ancient civilization in Skyrim. Though this was just the first idea that came to mind, so I guess your one could work as well. We could even do both  . But nothing is decided yet.

 

And for the record, while I want to do my best to keep both versions roughly equal (as equal as possible considering the lack of YA-specific content in the non-YA version, that is), I wouldn't want the non-YA version of the plugin to hinder any possible development of the main one. So, if you want to add a YA specifc NPC and give her a schlong or whatever, sure, go ahead. Then I just disable/remove them from the non-YA plugin, and that's it.

[Blaze69]

I think it can still work either way. For the YA version, give him the Snow Leopard textures, and I can easily suggest that he might have one or more in his family somewhere. So it just means he has a similar if not the same appearance as the Snow Elfs/Leopards, not that he actually is one himself. Though maybe giving him a similar racial trait to the Snow Leopards, albeit perhaps halved, as well. 

 

For Vanilla, he can use the Snow Leopard textures too, since then he just has a unique fur pattern.

Huh, so you could integrate it that way? I guess it can work, yes. Still, I would like to have some kind of "hybrid" skin, that looked like a cross between a regular Khajiit and a Snow Leopard. It would help with the whole "There was a Snow Leopard somewhere in his family" thing. Though I would have to see how to go about it first. I'll leave him with the default Khajiit skin for now, and if it turns out I can't get the hybrid skin to look good, we'll see whether he goes full leopard or not. You can still work on that "integration" part in the meantime, though.

Okay, I made a quick and dirty mix of the default Khajiit skin with the Snow Leopard one. This is the result:

 

 

 

Here are some side-by-side pics with my Snow Leopard character, to see the difference between both skins.

 

 

 

Note that there is also a pretty noticeable size difference between Snow Leopards and Khajiit (scale 1.08 vs 1.00), Ko'Maru looks kinda small when standing beside my leopard; I only upscaled him for comparison purposes. Also his tail is supposed to be shorter and less fluffy than the leopard one; I simply had a leftover leopard tail mesh overwriting the vanilla Khajiit one and that is why they look the same shape-wise, but the end result should be different.

 

If this is good enough, then the problem is solved .

[Kuroyami]

 

Oh, yeah, that. I was testing the schlong-specific collision XMLs from Naturalisitc and since the sharks are the only race left in my Skyrim that use human schlongs, I swapped their meshes with the Regular AddOn to see how it looked (it worked flawlessly   ). Then I forgot to restore the uncut ones.

 

Though I'm not really sure I want to change back; I prefer the Regular schlong over the Average one, and BadDog's Uncut meshes are build using the Average one as a base. I'll see what I can do, and worst-case scenario I can temporarily remove the line about Haru's schlong being uncut from Izumi's journal until I settle for the uncut one again  .

 

Maybe a version of it that is based on the Regular one could be something to ask about in the future, but given Bad Dog's current work on each race/gender for Hoodies and YA, it's probably something to wait a bit to do.

 

Although I personally don't have any problem with the current uncut one myself, and still have that mesh replacer I made. Maybe make it an optional download for now, when the mod is next updated?

 

 

Okay, I made a quick and dirty mix of the default Khajiit skin with the Snow Leopard one. This is the result:

 

  

 

If this is good enough, then the problem is solved  .

 

Yeah, that looks good. 

[Blaze69]

Maybe a version of it that is based on the Regular one could be something to ask about in the future, but given Bad Dog's current work on each race/gender for Hoodies and YA, it's probably something to wait a bit to do.

 

Although I personally don't have any problem with the current uncut one myself, and still have that mesh replacer I made. Maybe make it an optional download for now, when the mod is next updated?

 

Yeah, that looks good.

Sounds like a good idea. Though I guess I could simply pack the uncut meshes by default and only use the original SOS ones in my setup. We'll see.

 

Glad it came out good. I think I hit the right spot, so that he looks similar enough to regular Khajiit to not stand out too much, but still looks enough like a Snow Leopard that you can tell he's got some leopard blood in him .

[Kuroyami]

The final look for vanilla Kanet:

 

Selachii-VanillaNPC-Kanet.7z

 

And...perhaps the far more interesting thing...the look for Marin Kai.

 

 

Selachii-MarinKai.7z

 

Yeah, I took quite a few for her, didn't I? Some of them I didn't even post. 

 

Honestly did not grab Elianora's Nakahara mod, just because of those pics of the Kimono conversion, well, though kind of. Tried it a while ago, but lost interest in the concept I was going for(just a character, not related to this mod). Seems to have worked better this time, and I might go for an entire playthrough with Marin's look. 

[lindazana]

So the companion/NPC addon for this mod now requires the mod that turns everyone into a fuzz-butt? Well. I'm content with the version I still have, I suppose, that doesn't. Thank heavens this isn't like Steams mandatory updates for mods and games...