? The Selachii - Shark Race

[Kuroyami]

2 hours ago, Blaze69 said:

 

--- No more Tail Impalement Syndrome! This is the only real problem I have with tails in Skyrim: all SL anims (Humanoid only ones anyway; MNC does have some tail anims for its Humanoid/Creature anims) and paired poses are built for humans only without even taking the existence of tails into account, so most of the time the tail is either clipping through the ground/bed/*insert surface or furniture here* (see above point) or is impaling the poor mate of the Selachii in question, as per the aforementioned syndrome. Ouch.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Thought for a moment I was going to have to argue to keep the tail, though those mentioned issues do bother me as well. 

 

I've wondered for a while why the tails in most of these animations have no direction. Even same vanilla animations(Wood chopping, Carriage sit, possibly some of the smithing animations, Vampire feeding, etc), do not have any animation for the tails, and it either acts as it does normally, or does not move at all. I'm thinking it is either due to a lack of effort on Bethesda's part, or due to the fact that the tails would have to be animated separately from the rest, and linked to the other animations. Though I'm thinking it should just be like other games, where the problem is simply that the tails are not made to move during these animations, vanilla or modded - though some exceptions do exist, obviously. 

[Blaze69]

1 hour ago, Kuroyami said:

Thought for a moment I was going to have to argue to keep the tail, though those mentioned issues do bother me as well. 

Nope, rest assured, tails ain't going away .

 

They are annoying in some cases, and chances are I will indeed use the tail hider for those when it gets too jarring; but removing the tails would make them lose part of their appeal. I mean, we're talking about sharks here, they can't not have a tail (except for maybe those specific situations mentioned before).

1 hour ago, Kuroyami said:

I've wondered for a while why the tails in most of these animations have no direction. Even same vanilla animations(Wood chopping, Carriage sit, possibly some of the smithing animations, Vampire feeding, etc), do not have any animation for the tails, and it either acts as it does normally, or does not move at all. I'm thinking it is either due to a lack of effort on Bethesda's part, or due to the fact that the tails would have to be animated separately from the rest, and linked to the other animations. Though I'm thinking it should just be like other games, were the problem is simply that the tails are not made to move during these animations, vanilla or modded - though some exceptions do exist, obviously. 

The thing with tails is that they use the weird "auxbones" setup introduced in the engine in Skyrim; this means they use their own animations and behaviours separate from the standard "humanoid" ones. That also means they continue playing the current anim until the NPC plays an anim that has a corresponding tail one.

 

I'd say that is the main reason tails are unused/unaccounted for in animations; noone even knew how to animate them until b3lisario found out years ago, and even then it was only after MadMansGun actually figured out how to do so in the recent past that we had a proper tutorial. Couple that with the fact that most animators are interested mainly/exclusively in humans or non-beast races, and you got your reason.

 

For reference, in Oblivion the tail anims were part of the standard character anims and easier to animate since they didn't require any extra work apart from moving the tail bones alongside the others. And thus many of the LAPF anims do include tail movement; sometimes it's just the tail flailing around/being curled to the side or otherwise having a reasonable behaviour while not impaling the partner or clipping through the ground, and sometimes is even part of the action (I remember a specific doggystyle anim in which any NPC with a tail would use it as a dildo on the female's vagina while doing anal; of course human/non-tailed races would only get the anal part).

[lindazana]

On 3/16/2018 at 2:18 PM, NightroModzz said:

How about replacing the tail with an HDT/SMP tail during sex animations? If someone can do that, that is.

I have never seen an HDT tail that doesn't look like a hollow noodle wildly flapping around in the breeze with even light movements. That said, it's probably doable, but would need a lot of work, and I think all of it still depends on the base HDT settings for the install, so it wouldn't be universal. 

 

As for bite sound effect in general for the shout, I'm actually unsure of an in-game sound file. The sound the immediately comes to mind is the bite/missed bite SE from Stalkers in Subnautica, but finding, getting, and importing that sounds like it would be a pain. Do slaughterfish have a unique sound, or dragon bites?

[Blaze69]

12 hours ago, lindazana said:

As for bite sound effect in general for the shout, I'm actually unsure of an in-game sound file. The sound the immediately comes to mind is the bite/missed bite SE from Stalkers in Subnautica, but finding, getting, and importing that sounds like it would be a pain. Do slaughterfish have a unique sound, or dragon bites?

Dragon bites do have a unique sound, but it's too... heavy for this. Though I guess it could be used as a placeholder. Can't remember about slaughterfish, will have to check it out.

[Blaze69]

14 hours ago, lindazana said:

[...]

Ended up using the slaughterfish attack/bite sound. Not 100% sure about it, and includes some faint "water-y" background noise that won't fit with most situations, but should be good enough for now.

 

Set up a proper shout voice and it seems to work as intended. I could also get rid of the old "enabler" script that forced a "mouth open" expression while using the bite to replicate, well, biting anim-wise; the built-in player shout voice system takes care of moving the mouth itself without the need for extra scripts or workarounds. It's true it doesn't open as wide as it did, but then again the chances of you seeing that are none unless you use the "animcam" console command to look at your character's face while biting, so I don't think it's that much of a problem.

 

So... wish granted, I guess ? The voiced bite will be included in the next version of the mod. Still, if you (or anyone else) come across any sound fx that you think would fit better, I'll be happy to use it instead as long as permissions allow for it.

[Kuroyami]

Published the entry concerning content for the Soul Cairn. Most of it has already been mentioned, but there are two additions. Along with now links for any related documents being available or in some cases, the text is in the entry itself. First, though, the new characters...

 

Akari, F - First mate, and lover of the Selachii Pirate known as Kokushi, she served aboard his ship during his time as an Admiral of the Selachii's navy. Like others, she followed him when he turned to piracy, never wavering in her devotion. The sole exception to this, was some doubt concerning what seemed to be a fool's errand. Seeking not only a treasure that others shied away from, but also, feared. To the point where they fought to stop this treasure from being uncovered. But this did not matter to Kokushi. Even with her doubts, she still stood by him as their ship tore through all the rest, leaving nothing but burning wreckage and corpses in the water. 

 

The suggestion here that, like Naki, something happened to have something resemble a "Soul" enter the Carin, while her body still remains in what is effectively a state of undeath on Nirn. 

 

Keeper(not yet named otherwise) - A fourth Keeper, who seems to hold an equal power as the rest, only he does not hold the barrier around the Boneyard in place. Instead, it seems he has other motivations, and is more a guardian of the Soul Carin, even if he does not attack on sight, his purpose is a mystery. 

 

While I'm not too sure of what I mean for this character, I do plan on writing dialog. My only ideas concerning his backstory would be that he was once a Necromancer, which was tricked into entering the Soul Carin on the promise of power, and eventually became nothing more than a wandering soul. Though unlike the rest, he was able to gain enough power to become something else that, while not unique, retained much of himself, even as much was lost.

 

Otherwise, this idea just stems from the hope that Yiffy Age will do something a little different with the Keepers(possibly just the idea I mentioned of them using the Argonian textures, though edited to be more white than green, to come close to matching bone of their armor), and to have a actual character to represent this, which you don't have to kill for the Dawnguard questline. 

 

Spoiler

[PC] Are you not one of the Keepers?
        |
       K – You refer to why I do not attack you? Perhaps it is because, unlike the majority of the things here, I do not see you as a true threat. 
              |
             K – Though you will find that little which has entered this place, has been a true threat.
                    |
                   K – No matter what your purpose here is, it will have little to no effect on this place. 

 

[PC] What do you know about Vampires?
         |
        K – Specifically?
               |
              [PC] What are their origins?
                       |
                      K – Surely you jest, you travel with one?
                      K – Surely you jest, as you are one yourself, and travel with one?
                             |
                            [PC] From your perspective, I mean. 
                                    |
                                   K – The creations of the Daedric Lord Molag Bal. An entity which the Ideal Masters hate, since by their own rules, the dead can freely travel the Cairn, yet Vampires are not bound to it, unless killed here.
                                          |
                                         K – [PlayerIsAVampire] This is why you are so relentlessly attacked by most things here. 

 

                            [PC] Right, right. 

 

              [PC] Why can Vampires enter the Cairn freely?
                       |
                      K – This place is meant for the Dead, and the Dead, Keep it. 

 

              [PC] What do you know about Valerica?
                       |
                      K – Ah, yes, the captive of the other Keepers, and the Ideal Masters. 
                      K – [AllThreeKeepersAreDead] Ah, yes, the former captive of the other Keepers, and the Ideal Masters.
                              |
                             K – It is hard for me to say if I was here first, or she was. But I do know her reason to be here was, unique. She sought asylum, and had no problems with truly being kept here. 

 

[PC] How long have you been here?
        |
       K – I do not know. I have come to understand, that time is meaningless here.

 

[PC] [“Beyond Death”(DLC1VQ05) At or past Stage 140] Who has more power here, you, or Durnehviir? 
        |
       K – Neither of us. We exist as pawns of the Ideal Masters, no matter how much power we are given in that pursuit. 
             |
            K – I have my purpose, and he possesses his. Though as you can understand, we both retain some of our minds. 

No introduction dialog for this one, though some lines or options may require certain conditions. 

[Blaze69]

13 hours ago, Kuroyami said:

The suggestion here that, like Naki, something happened to have something resemble a "Soul" enter the Carin, while her body still remains in what is effectively a state of undeath on Nirn. 

Not sure how to go about this. IIRC "standard" necromancy is basically taking a dead body and temporarily reanimating it with magic/a summoned daedra. You could have her be actually dead and her soul stuck in the Soul Cairn while her body has been kept undead via standard necromantic procedures back on Nirn. Even if it's not "themselves", the raised dead seem to keep some kind of shadow of conscience of their original selves, as per the few things they mumble ingame, so it could work.

 

Otherwise, there's the deal with Vestiges as per ESO; there we get to see what happens to the mortal but not what happens to their soul, so maybe the soul goes to the Soul Cairn while the body remains as a Vestige with the daedric "soul" in its place. Of course since they only seem to be created by Daedric Lords I'd be surprised if they somehow ended in the Soul Cairn instead of serving the corresponding prince, but I'm not an expert in lore so I guess it could work as well.

 

In any case, that would only be truly relevant if you wanted to put the undead body ingame somehow; if it's just the soul in the SC, the first explanation should work just fine without the need to go into further detail.

13 hours ago, Kuroyami said:

Keeper(not yet named otherwise) - A fourth Keeper, who seems to hold an equal power as the rest, only he does not hold the barrier around the Boneyard in place. Instead, it seems he has other motivations, and is more a guardian of the Soul Carin, even if he does not attack on sight, his purpose is a mystery. 

 

While I'm not too sure of what I mean for this character, I do plan on writing dialog. My only ideas concerning his backstory would be that he was once a Necromancer, which was tricked into entering the Soul Carin on the promise of power, and eventually became nothing more than a wandering soul. Though unlike the rest, he was able to gain enough power to become something else that, while not unique, retained much of himself, even as much was lost.

Is there any hint of Keepers being capable of conversation or even being sentient at all? They sound like simple servants/mooks for the Ideal Masters like random skeletons are for necromancers or Nordic ruins in the vanilla game. Just... beefied up with all the Dragonbone stuff, because you gotta have a bossfight in there as per videogame rules.

 

On a side note, I'm thinking about doing some work on quests and stuff while I wait for Nightro's assets. Any suggestions on where to start adding content, or should I just check the thread/blog and see where that takes me?

[Kuroyami]

5 hours ago, Blaze69 said:

Not sure how to go about this. IIRC "standard" necromancy is basically taking a dead body and temporarily reanimating it with magic/a summoned daedra. You could have her be actually dead and her soul stuck in the Soul Cairn while her body has been kept undead via standard necromantic procedures back on Nirn. Even if it's not "themselves", the raised dead seem to keep some kind of shadow of conscience of their original selves, as per the few things they mumble ingame, so it could work.

 

Otherwise, there's the deal with Vestiges as per ESO; there we get to see what happens to the mortal but not what happens to their soul, so maybe the soul goes to the Soul Cairn while the body remains as a Vestige with the daedric "soul" in its place. Of course since they only seem to be created by Daedric Lords I'd be surprised if they somehow ended in the Soul Cairn instead of serving the corresponding prince, but I'm not an expert in lore so I guess it could work as well.

 

In any case, that would only be truly relevant if you wanted to put the undead body ingame somehow; if it's just the soul in the SC, the first explanation should work just fine without the need to go into further detail.

The basics of it would be just like the rest, a Selachii with the "Ghost" effect in the Soul Cairn - though in this case, the lore behind it is meant to suggest much more. Such as, while she technically does exist within the Soul Cairn, her actual body still exists on Nirn as mentioned, but what inhabits it would be a copy of her "self", though corrupted heavily. Almost like part of the game "Sudeki", though a little different. 

 

Otherwise, save for a somewhat unique appearance, and the ghostly effect, she is meant to appear just as other Selachii do - not what her actual body looks like. I might do something to get the idea out of how Kokushi and the rest of his crew looks, which I think I can get something close in-game. 

 

Though I have no idea what I should make him wear for the shots. Pity there are very few ship mods too. 

Quote

Is there any hint of Keepers being capable of conversation or even being sentient at all? They sound like simple servants/mooks for the Ideal Masters like random skeletons are for necromancers or Nordic ruins in the vanilla game. Just... beefied up with all the Dragonbone stuff, because you gotta have a bossfight in there as per videogame rules.

Technically the boss fight there is Durnehviir, but I get the point. The way I look at it is that, he technically is a keeper, but different. More like the "Jailor" added to the Cairn by one of Mihail's mods, though more of a character than something added to change progression of quests a bit. 

 

Other than that, I like to think that the Ideal Masters have a bit of a thing for Dragons. Their Skeletons littering the Cairn, at least one of their servitors(or types of them) using Dragonbone armor and Weapons, and they have a Dragon as a Warden. 

 

More than that, I'm thinking that if  Bethesda had a bit more time for Dawnguard, they might have had the Wraithmen in Dragon armor as well - instead they just retextured the Draugr.

Quote

On a side note, I'm thinking about doing some work on quests and stuff while I wait for Nightro's assets. Any suggestions on where to start adding content, or should I just check the thread/blog and see where that takes me?

Some possible suggestions...

 

-Maybe start on the Loading screen tips? I have the document for them linked in the Planned Writing Entry. 

-Add Neros to the suggested camp, maybe as a basic follower for now, and give the dead dunmer in Evergreen Grove the name I suggested in the blog?

 

Otherwise, yeah, check the blog for anything of interest. 

[Blaze69]

51 minutes ago, Kuroyami said:

The basics of it would be just like the rest, a Selachii with the "Ghost" effect in the Soul Cairn - though in this case, the lore behind it is meant to suggest much more. Such as, while she technically does exist within the Soul Cairn, her actual body still exists on Nirn as mentioned, but what inhabits it would be a copy of her "self", though corrupted heavily. Almost like part of the game "Sudeki", though a little different. 

 

Otherwise, save for a somewhat unique appearance, and the ghostly effect, she is meant to appear just as other Selachii do - not what her actual body looks like. I might do something to get the idea out of how Kokushi and the rest of his crew looks, which I think I can get something close in-game. 

Oh, okay. Then I guess mentioning it is enough, without the need to provide more details or deep lore-babble. Also yes, the ghost effect is pretty easy to achieve.

51 minutes ago, Kuroyami said:

-Maybe start on the Loading screen tips? I have the document for them linked in the Planned Writing Entry. 

I can do that, yes. The lack of a mesh of an actual Selachii for the load screen means the biology/sex/behaviour screens may be a bit off, but I guess I'll use placeholders (guess I'll hit up Bad Dog about it at some point, though I'm not sure he will want to help seeing how load screen meshes are a PITA to work with); and for the culture and history ones I can use vanilla meshes like the Blades sword and helmet and some other misc stuff. I'll look into it.  

51 minutes ago, Kuroyami said:

-Add Neros to the suggested camp, maybe as a basic follower for now, and give the dead dunmer in Evergreen Grove the name I suggested in the blog?

That alchemist is a generic corpse that seems to be used in a few more locations, so I would have to replace that specific copy with a renamed one. Shouldn't be hard, though. As for Neros, is he supposed to stay at the camp upstream from the Grove, right? (I haven't seen it ingame yet but I've read about it in UESP). Since he's already in the plugin as a NPC, all I have to do is place him there, so it should be easy too.

[Doodlecute]

I really like this race you made. I've always liked shark morphs. I don't suppose you have any plans for an Oblivion version of this?

[Blaze69]

9 hours ago, Doodlecute said:

I really like this race you made. I've always liked shark morphs. I don't suppose you have any plans for an Oblivion version of this?

As much as I would like to have an Oblivion version of this, I'm afraid it won't happen.

 

Oblivion lacks the main tools/resources I work with (i.e. an existing hi-poly head to use as a base, Outfit Studio support, etc.), so it would be very hard and time consuming to try to replicate the race there; and even if I was to work on it, I'm unable to even play Oblivion at all due to one of the latest Windows 10 updates breaking Oblivion and ENBoost (so the very few times the game does load without crashing due to W10 it instead crashes after 10 minutes of gameplay due to running out of memory because ENBoost doesn't work at all either ).

 

Though I think I recall @tolerance mentioning something about a shark/fish race at some point, so you could try sending a PM and asking about it. Even if I'm wrong and it doesn't exist yet, they're pretty good with custom races for Oblivion so I'm sure they could help you create it .

[Doodlecute]

Thant's too bad. I might message tolerance at some point but probably not for a while since I'm dealing with some issues with my construction set right now. I would love to make a shark race myself but I still don't understand how to make meshes yet and nothing that already exists would even make a good substitute for what would be needed.

 

My heart goes out to you on not being able to play Oblivion. I'm not able to play Skyrim myself, that's why I was asking about this in the first place. For me though its less technical problems and more Steam problems. I had a Steam account a while ago but after buying several games that wouldn't work I gave up my account and switched to GOG; and as far as I can tell Skyrim isn't available on PC for anything other than Steam. Even the disc requires a Steam account. I've heard that a lot of my problems with Steam (like not being able to get a refund) have been ironed out over the years but after such a bad experience I really don't want to go back.

[Blaze69]

1 hour ago, Doodlecute said:

Thant's too bad. I might message tolerance at some point but probably not for a while since I'm dealing with some issues with my construction set right now. I would love to make a shark race myself but I still don't understand how to make meshes yet and nothing that already exists would even make a good substitute for what would be needed.

After checking the "Animal Farm" thread, I think tolerance did indeed create some kind of shark-like race, as per this screenshot and IIRC some comments they made in a PM. Main problem would be that it has a human-like head and thus would need some work if you wanted a more beast-looking head like the one in this mod, but even then they may want to help with that.

1 hour ago, Doodlecute said:

My heart goes out to you on not being able to play Oblivion. I'm not able to play Skyrim myself, that's why I was asking about this in the first place. For me though its less technical problems and more Steam problems. I had a Steam account a while ago but after buying several games that wouldn't work I gave up my account and switched to GOG; and as far as I can tell Skyrim isn't available on PC for anything other than Steam. Even the disc requires a Steam account. I've heard that a lot of my problems with Steam (like not being able to get a refund) have been ironed out over the years but after such a bad experience I really don't want to go back.

Yeah, I know. The worst part of it is that it used to work good enough on previous versions (the 4GB VRAM limitation was still in effect due to Oblivion being a DirectX 9 game, but it at least made the game playable for a few hours per session instead of crashing after only 10 mins). Seems like something Microsoft did in the update that removed that VRAM cap also broke Oblivion, and since my last Windows 7 PC died some time ago, I won't be able to play through it again.

 

It's a shame; while it had its shortcomings and it was greatly lacking in some aspects when compared to Skyrim, in other it was surprisingly better (as the first thing that comes to mind, the Tamago/Hiyoko systems were pretty neat, and the GeneForge generator for them with all the cross-races and the asset mix powered by Blockhead was awesome).

 

Yeah, Skyrim is Steam only unless you obtain it in non-legit ways (but you really shouldn't do that). To be fair, if you only want it for Skyrim, Steam shouldn't be an annoyance at all; simply download the Steam client, use it to download and install Skyrim, and that's it. No need to dabble with it any further. Only problem I can think of if you wanted to get the game at this point would be that Skyrim Legendary is now unlisted in the store searches and promotions because Bethesda wants people to buy the remaster (aka Special Edition or SE), so it won't ever go on sale again. Your options would be to either pay the full price for the game and the DLC ($60, IIRC) or get an actual disc copy of the Legendary Edition which should give you access to the whole package (apparently those go for about $20 or even less in Amazon or other retailers, as per the comments the last time this was suggested).

[NightroModzz]

Do the features around the eyes of the Silvertip shark remind you of anything? Also using these gills. It's good for the neck curve, and will also add that depth behind it as well.

Spoiler

 

[Doodlecute]

I just had a thought. Do you get your Oblivion through Steam? Because I run on Windows 10 and my Oblivion works fine. A friend of mine once told me that they lost a couple games on steam after a Windows 10 update as well. So it might be worth looking into getting a new version from another source if that's the case. I don't know what ENBoost or VRAM are so if that's the source of your woes I can't help.

 

As far as the shark race goes though I remember that picture. It didn't really look shark-like to me. But my construction set issue have been resolved sooner than expected so I might be able to poke around with the idea a little bit. I'll try and contact Tolerance in the next day or two when I've got more time. I've been meaning to for a while now anyway I had some unrelated questions that I've never got around to.

[Blaze69]

26 minutes ago, Doodlecute said:

I just had a thought. Do you get your Oblivion through Steam? Because I run on Windows 10 and my Oblivion works fine. A friend of mine once told me that they lost a couple games on steam after a Windows 10 update as well. So it might be worth looking into getting a new version from another source if that's the case. I don't know what ENBoost or VRAM are so if that's the source of your woes I can't help.

Yeah, I have the Steam version of Oblivion. I used to have one of the older non-Steam versions of it, but I lost it so I had to buy it on Steam (it was on sale, though; otherwise chances are I wouldn't have bothered). And pretty much all of my other games are working fine, it's just Oblivion that I'm having issues with.

 

Seems like the main problem is that whatever Microsoft did in that update broke the way ENB/ENBoost hooked into the game process, and thus the game CTDs even before loading as long as it's installed. Trying to play without it is impossible because as I said it crashes after 5-10 minutes of gameplay from running out of memory, and looking at the OBSE log seems like it also disables the 4GB LAA memory edit to the game .exe for some reason so it's useless too.

 

Worst part is, I tried a custom "DLL loader" tool meant for cases like this (i.e. older DX9 games breaking when trying to use ENB/SweetFX/ReShade/SMAA injector or any other DLL plugin) and I managed to get ENBoost to load, but it broke the ingame Steam UI which in turn broke OBSE (because the Steam version of OBSE hooks int Steam to load for some reason instead of using the standard method as non-Steam versions do). So chances are if I got the game from a different non-Steam source like GOG or at least replaced my Steam exe with a, huh, No-CD patched exe, I could get it to work using the DLL loader; but I really don't feel like buying Oblivion yet again unless it's dirt cheap and I don't want to browse for a "patched" exe either.

 

EDIT: ENBoost is a tweaked version of the ENB graphics modification suite that optimizes the way the game loads and uses memory and also allows the game to use as much RAM and VRAM (graphics memory) as you have available instead of being limited to what 32bit apps are, i.e. 4 GB in theory (which in turn are reduced to 3.2 GB in reality).

 

With it enabled, I used to be able to play Oblivion for hours at a time with only sporadic crashes, if anything. Without it, the game crashes after anything from 3 to 15 minutes of gameplay depending of the amount of mods/scripts active and the stuff loaded by the game (i.e. standing in a small interior usually lasted for more but trying to walk around the Imperial City was a guaranteed CTD).

26 minutes ago, Doodlecute said:

As far as the shark race goes though I remember that picture. It didn't really look shark-like to me. But my construction set issue have been resolved sooner than expected so I might be able to poke around with the idea a little bit. I'll try and contact Tolerance in the next day or two when I've got more time. I've been meaning to for a while now anyway I had some unrelated questions that I've never got around to.

I think I recall tolerance specifically using the word "shark" when posting that pic somewhere, but as I said I don't know if it was in a PM or a normal thread. In any case, good luck with that .

[Kuroyami]

A start for Moku's dialog. 

 

Introduction

Spoiler

M – Most new people in Riverwood are either Guards from the capital or people just wandering through. 
       |
      M – Though Riverwood is not exactly a unwelcoming place. I find it beautiful. 

 

General

Spoiler

[PC] Who are you?
        |
       M – Moku. I was a...ah you do not care about that.

 

[PC] [“Unbound(MQ101)” Completed] This might sound odd, but...I saw a Dragon in Helgen.
        |
       M – You mean that Imperial fort to the southeast...what? A Dragon?
              |
            [PC] It was headed this way...you saw it, right?
                    |
                   M – Yes, though you'll find I am not very surprised. I have stared at a dragon since I was a child, even if it was just on Imperial banners. 
                           |
                          M – Anyway, if you have not been told this already, you probably will want to see the Jarl of Whiterun – Riverwood is not exactly well defended. [Begin Quest “Before the Storm(MQ102)”]

 

[PC] [Only if “Before the Storm” is active] How do I get to Whiterun from here? 
         |
        M – Cross the bridge past the gate near the Sleeping Giant Inn. Follow the river north, past the falls. You should see Whiterun in the distance. 
               |
              M – Once you get there, head to the Jarl's palace on the Hill – Dragonsreach, in the city's Cloud district. The stairs to it are near a statue of Talos. 

 

[PC] [Requires “Who are you?”] What were you going to say? 
        | 
       M – Well, I was once a member of the Imperial Legion. 

 

[PC] What do you think about Sven? 
        |
       M – Oh, the bard. He might not exactly be as bad as that idiot in the Bannered Mare, but he is close. 
              |
             [PC] [“A Lovely Letter(FreeformRiverwood01)” Completed for Sven] Seems Camilla will be more interested in him now. 
                     |
                     M – I cannot imagine why. Personally, I find her attractive myself, but I am not too concerned with such things. 

 

             [PC] Do you have a problem with Nords? 
                     |
                    M – No, just arrogant men who like to assume every woman is going to easily fall for them, just because they are, “supposed to”.  

 

[PC] What do you think about Fendal?
        |
       M – Oh, the Bosmer. Beyond that, I really do not have much else to say. 
              |
             [PC] [“A Lovely Letter(FreeformRiverwood01)” Completed for Fendal] Seems Camilla will be more interested in him now. 
                     |
                    M – I cannot imagine why. Personally, I find her attractive myself, but I am not too concerned with such things.

 

             [PC] Do you have a problem with elves?
                    |
                   M – No. 

Some things are, of course, w.i.p.

 

Otherwise, there is this - Redania Ship in Windhelm. I'm thinking this resource could possibly be used for Akario's ship, docked in Solitude's harbor. Possibly just with a few things recolored, but not too many major changes. 

[Blaze69]

7 hours ago, Kuroyami said:

A start for Moku's dialog. [...]

Huh, so she would be an alternative to Alvor and Sven for Before the Storm? (and maybe the Stormcloak guy's relatives? Never tried them). Will have to check out the scripts and the way the quest is set up and see if it's possible, but if it can be done without altering the quest, sounds like a good idea. Moku would feel more like an actual resident of Riverwood and less like something that was put in there as part of a mod with no connection to the surroundings (which she is... but you get the idea).

 

Otherwise, sounds good. Also like the fact that she has something to say about Faendal and Sven. Apart from Orgnar's "I'm-totally-not-telling-you-this-rumour-only-so-you-can-complete-the-side-quest" line, there's no mention of the love triangle or even their existance.

7 hours ago, Kuroyami said:

Otherwise, there is this - Redania Ship in Windhelm. I'm thinking this resource could possibly be used for Akario's ship, docked in Solitude's harbor. Possibly just with a few things recolored, but not too many major changes. 

Well, I'm not too happy with using Witcher assets; I know they are hi-quality and CDProjekt stated they're free to use in mods and stuff as long as they are free, but they feel a bit "cheap" due to them being an obvious rip and their art style not matching Skyrim's own.

 

That being said, the style of the ship (the sails, to be precise) look like they could fit the Selachiii style good enough, and I don't see myself creating a new ship model anytime soon, so I may be okay with using it with some texture modifications. We'll see.

[Kuroyami]

13 minutes ago, Blaze69 said:

Huh, so she would be an alternative to Alvor and Sven for Before the Storm? (and maybe the Stormcloak guy's relatives? Never tried them). Will have to check out the scripts and the way the quest is set up and see if it's possible, but if it can be done without altering the quest, sounds like a good idea. Moku would feel more like an actual resident of Riverwood and less like something that was put in there as part of a mod with no connection to the surroundings (which she is... but you get the idea).

 

Otherwise, sounds good. Also like the fact that she has something to say about Faendal and Sven. Apart from Orgnar's "I'm-totally-not-telling-you-this-rumour-only-so-you-can-complete-the-side-quest" line, there's no mention of the love triangle or even their existance.

Yeah, it actually seems like a few people in Riverwood have that dialog, and her having similar lines would give her a bit more relevance that just her being a follower or her other dialog. 

 

As for that one sidequest, it is something else that makes her fit as well. I think it is a little unfortunate that the vanilla game doesn't have a more, neutral outcome for the quest, i.e something like what the Solutions mod does to it. Otherwise, she might have lines where you can ask about Delphine(though requiring certain parts of the main quest) and it may be hinted that she knows Delphine is a Blade. 

13 minutes ago, Blaze69 said:

Well, I'm not too happy with using Witcher assets; I know they are hi-quality and CDProjekt stated they're free to use in mods and stuff as long as they are free, but they feel a bit "cheap" due to them being an obvious rip and their art style not matching Skyrim's own.

Well, obviously the Selachii overall run on a "Fish Out of Water" theme for this game, even if many of them tend to be close to water. They would probably fit nicely into a game set in Black Marsh, though that obviously has not happened yet. 

 

And technically, the Katariah(the Emperor's ship during the Dark Brotherhood questline) seems a bit out of place too, though that does have a few touches, oddly, to make it seem a bit more "Nordic".  

13 minutes ago, Blaze69 said:

That being said, the style of the ship (the sails, to be precise) look like they could fit the Selachiii style good enough, and I don't see myself creating a new ship model anytime soon, so I may be okay with using it with some texture modifications. We'll see.

 

The only problem I have with that, is coming up with something the Selachii would have a symbol, emblem, etc. At most, I'm thinking of the Japanese lettering for "Shark"(not just "Same" but the symbols), though there probably is some better idea. 

 

Also, I don't have any ideas for the ships interior, so it not having one(which the files don't suggest there is) isn't a problem. Might be suggesting there would be more Selachii than a few on deck, but no need for the player to go inside. 

[MadMansGun]

On 3/16/2018 at 11:47 AM, Blaze69 said:

Any thoughts on this?

Note to self: I really have to take a proper NSFW photoshoot sometime after the update is done.

yes, 6 poses identified for THE TAIL PROJECT (TM):

actor sitting on feet

actor on all 4s (no one behind them).
actor on all 4s (with another actor behind them but not on top of them).
actor on all 4s (with another actor on top of them).
actor standing on knees close to ground (no one behind them).
actor standing on knees close to ground (with another actor behind them).

[Blaze69]

7 minutes ago, MadMansGun said:

yes, 5 poses identified for THE TAIL PROJECT (TM):

actor on all 4s (no one behind them).
actor on all 4s (with another actor behind them but not on top of them).
actor on all 4s (with another actor on top of them).
actor standing on knees close to ground (no one behind them).
actor standing on knees close to ground (with another actor behind them).

Hey, if it helps I can try and find other problematic SL poses for you. Should I post them in the Dragon Animations thread if/when I get them, or is there anywhere else you prefer like the HCoS thread or maybe a PM?

[MadMansGun]

17 minutes ago, Blaze69 said:

Hey, if it helps I can try and find other problematic SL poses for you. Should I post them in the Dragon Animations thread if/when I get them, or is there anywhere else you prefer like the HCoS thread or maybe a PM?

it would make more sense to use the tail guide's thread for this project:

https://www.loverslab.com/topic/89622-3ds-max-tail-animation-guide/

 

[Kuroyami]

More of Moku's dialog...

 

A Random line...

Spoiler

M - [“Dragon Rising” Completed] So, I have heard of the Dragon attack near Whiterun...
        |
       [PC] Yeah, I helped kill it. 
               |
              M – Quite a feat, to be sure. Very much like the actions of the Akaviri Dragonguard.
                     |
                    [PC] The...what?
                           |
                          M – You know about the Akaviri, yes? The Dragonguard was a group of them that, after their invasion of Tamriel, hunted and killed Dragons. 

 

                    [PC] How would you know about them?
                           |
                          M – It is rumored that some Selachii were among their numbers, possibly even part of their invading force. Though most Selachii, even to this day, hold a more neutral view on Dragons, not viewing them all as evil. 

 

       [PC] I...absorbed some kind of power from the Dragon. 
              |
             M – Yes, I have heard about such a thing before. That means you are, Dragonborn. Not like the Septim line of Emperors, either. More like Tiber Septim himself, apparently. 
                     |
                    [PC] There is a...difference?
                            |
                           M – Seems so. Though I would not be the one to ask about such a thing. 

 

       [PC] Why would you care about that? 
               |
              M – Most people in Skyrim seem to care about it. Why would I not? 
                     |
                    M – I've only been a little worried about one of them attacking Riverwood. I would be up to the challenge, but...it is a Dragon. 

May still change a few of these. Also may need to think about how to or if to implement this one, as it is possible she could help you fight at the Watchtower, so...

 

More of her backstory...

Spoiler

[PC] [Requires “Who are you?”] What were you going to say? 
        | 
       M – Well, I was once a member of the Imperial Legion. I fought during the Great War, and was there when the White Gold Concordat was signed. 
               |
              [PC] Why did you leave the Legion?
                      |
                     M – It was no longer the Empire I knew. Asked to submit to the Thalmor. They won, and no one wants to admit it. More than that, they continue to win on the virtue of time. 
                            |
                           M – Which they have far more of, than almost all other races. They do not need to win. They just need to outlast, which they have a good chance of doing. 

 

              [PC] The Great War?
                      |
                     M – Yes, the conflict thirty years ago, in which the Empire lost to the Thalmor, though many believe it was fought to a standstill. Perhaps. But the treaty's effort may just be in vain. 

 

              [PC] You fought during the Great War?
                      |
                     M – Yes. Carved a bloody swath through all the Elves...excuse me, THALMOR, that DARED to invade my home. 
                            |
                           M – Even I looked upon myself in fear, when I realized that I had changed. Yet my purpose had not. My oath to the Legion, to the Empire. 
                                  |
                                M – But I had. A cast of red upon my very eyes, and such a change does not ebb easily. If, at all. 

 

              [PC] What did you think of the Treaty?
                      |
                     M – A knife at the back of the Empire, waiting to thrust. My opinion on that, is unlikely to change. 

 

[Blaze69]

So, small update: MadMansGun created a tail swim animation replacer that works very well with Selachii. Now the tail moves sideways and provides thrust like an actual shark tail would while swimming instead of being dragged along like a rope (as the vanilla anims do). It's only a minor detail, but it does help with immersion and all. You can get the file from this post in the tail animations thread for now, but I'll probably include it in the mod for the next update.

 

Not sure whether it will be part of the main download or it will be available as an optional file; it looks great for Selachii and Argonians but no so much for other races (i.e. canines/felines), and there's no way to make tail anims race-specific, so it's all or nothing.

 

In other news, I got some load screens working. Given the large amount of vanilla load screens and the fact that location/faction-specific ones (i.e. city-specific, Dark Brotherhood/Thieves Guild/Imperial/Stormcloak/etc.) tend to override the generic ones, Selachii-related seldom show up, but they are still there. Since they are picked at random, the more load screens that I add, the higher the chance of any of them showing up. So far I've only added a handful of lore and history related ones since I don't have proper meshes for the others and I don't want to repeat the same few vanilla meshes over and over.

 

Here's an example:

Spoiler

[Kuroyami]

6 hours ago, Blaze69 said:

In other news, I got some load screens working. Given the large amount of vanilla load screens and the fact that location/faction-specific ones (i.e. city-specific, Dark Brotherhood/Thieves Guild/Imperial/Stormcloak/etc.) tend to override the generic ones, Selachii-related seldom show up, but they are still there. Since they are picked at random, the more load screens that I add, the higher the chance of any of them showing up. So far I've only added a handful of lore and history related ones since I don't have proper meshes for the others and I don't want to repeat the same few vanilla meshes over and over.

 

Here's an example:

  Reveal hidden contents

I'd guess it could be possible to make the Selachii-specific ones appear more often if the player is a Selachii, similar to the Vampire/Werewolf ones appearing often if they are either one. 

 

Otherwise, I'm not sure if you've put this one in at all yet, or have already thought of this, but for the one that mentions the Selachii's more traditional dress(even for other related ones), maybe the Fundoshi/loincloth ground mesh(the one in Yiffy age) could be used? Not sure if this mod includes that yet, but...

 

On the subject of tails though...

• Mayaku's story mentions that she has a slice out of her tail. I know this could be possible in the mesh, but is it possible for NPCs to use a different tail, while not being a different race?
• Another thought would be, if a few different tail options did exist, would there be a way for the player to select these when creating a character? Likely something similar to the earrings, though this might require a new slider, which I have not seen too many mods do.