Skyrim Chain Beasts

[Zaflis]

3 hours ago, MTB said:

Are you using the SSE or oldrim version?

Oldrim. I missed the fastforward options from MCM, unsure if they'd help. I guess it doesn't merely "accelerate time" but also advance quest stages right away?

 

27 minutes ago, blablub1248 said:

I have a question: I was captured by a chainbeast (A black one) and want a blacksmith to unlock the devices. But every blacksmith I asked, sad "That is no ordinary steel. I am not toaching it." Which blacksmith is able to unlock which kind of chainbeasts?

You have a quest about it in the log? Sometimes you get a different kind of response clue and from then again a new clue, but questlog should update each time clue is given. Try going to a court wizard first, and then you'll be spending time in Winterhold College.

[slvsaris]

4 hours ago, MTB said:

 

In the most resent version(s) (where the spider have the new attack) this should not happen; they have their own spell now and no longer use the spell that Arachnophobia changes.

(I ran a quick test and indeed the chain spit does not apply the arachnophobia web effect.)

 

>Edit:  My bad, it would appear that the webbing is there on purpose!  Cool.

Ok I should have fininshed reading first - That explains; you were getting the `metal webbing' effect; that is indeed part of the mod.

 

>I just encountered these things in Riverwood, and was overwhelmed, they just kept spawning and spawning.

When does this happen - when just activating a mine or when trying to manually destroy it or ... ?  Is you PC at a low or high level?

SSE or oldrim version?

 

I would say medium....  I am using the oldrim version. 

 

It was rather chaotic, and was the first time encountering the mines, so I am not sure what actually happened.  There are two, three? mines in Riverwood, and I am not sure if it triggered automatically that time or I triggered it.  I kind remember just walking through Riverwood and all hell broke loose then later finding the mines.    I was thinking that the NPCs triggered something.  I also think the beasts were spawning new ones.  I just know I killed a lot and they just kept coming!    I ended up changing the settings so that only the player can trigger the traps.  It was glorious chaos, and like I said, I had not encountered them yet, so was not quite sure what to expect.

 

The chain effect wrap was a cool addition, just wondering if it can be changed to look like chains?  (just a random though after realizing the effect was intended and just a side effect)

 

I enjoy the mod a great deal and I will likely have more to post about it.  You are doing great work!

[slvsaris]

3 hours ago, MTB said:

 

If they have the `gagged help me' response then they are on their way to a punishment.  Fast forwarding should take them there.

> the comment for the function mentions something about default releasing the npc.  I see no default option on that page. 

Use the (set option to) `default' button of MCM (I think it was the E button).

 

>SCB was a framework

It is intended to be; that is why I made into an esm in the first place.

If someone is interested in making custom destinations I can improve the support for that.

 

>Also, seems if you kill the slaver while escaping, it breaks future slaver captures.  I tried resurrecting him but he just ignores me.

There are two contingencies for if you get captured when the slaver is dead but they may be buggy - not tested in latest version.

Manually resurrecting the slaver is not recommended and may break the contingency.

For testing: After capture, kill slaver (quest ends).

(*)  leave area. Use test slavery event to start again - this should trigger the first contingency.  (This is the preferred outcome for new captures but may not always trigger.)

(*) (console) kill the slaver while in the cage - this should trigger the second contingency (at the moment the slaver would normally come and talk to you again).

 

 

 

The follower thing did get resolved.  I found her standing near a zaz device location in Ivarstead.  While I was trying things to get her unstuck, she decided to finish the move to the device.  I did try the fast forward option a few time before she did it.  Not sure if it was that, or something else that finally cleared up.  Not long before that I took a couple laps around Skyrim crawling because I had to console my way around a different mod's quests and had some scene stuff built up (that other mod has problems).  I let it play out because that was the only way to get it sorted lol.  When I fast forward it that time it took be to the right place, but the uncompleted scenes from the other mod made me walk back to the other location to complete those scenes.  Modded Skyrim is such a blast!

 

I assumed this was intended to be a framework, I did not realize it was an esm though.  So many depraved ideas going through my head.  I picture all kinds of different locations to be dragged off to, from daedric planes to wizard lairs.  I will have to write some scenarios out. 

You already have the law enforcement mechanic in there, that was awesome to see.  I have Prison Overhaul install, i will have to see how the two mesh.

 

Ya, iwas trying out the slaver dialog and saw the make a run for it option.  He said I would not get far, and there were beasts outside the cave.  i am not sure exactly how he got killed, was not sure if i did it, or my followers.  Not sure if he bacame hostile and attacked.  When I was brought into that cave later, I saw his body and paniced, thought I was going to be stuck standing there, so resurrected him.  I will have to try this again.

[MTB]

1 hour ago, Siev said:

In Riverwood there were a large number (20+) of mines that each spawned in clumps of 3. All 3 mines in each clump spawned enemies, but the spells used to destroy them would only effect one in each cluster.

Odd. That should not be happening.  In Riverwood there should be three `destroyable' mines, one loose and two in a group with two other types of mines. (So 7 in total.)

I have no idea how that could happen or how to fix it - other than perhaps testing a clean save or even new game to see if they have the same issue.

 

1 hour ago, blablub1248 said:

I have a question: I was captured by a chainbeast (A black one) and want a blacksmith to unlock the devices. But every blacksmith I asked, sad "That is no ordinary steel. I am not toaching it." Which blacksmith is able to unlock which kind of chainbeasts?

 

And I have three suggestions for the next version:

1. It could be better, if the setting for item strip limit was in smaller steps like 25 items. 

2. Could there be some more furnitures? When you are in the wild, it could be take extremly long to get to one.

3. Could there be more mines in additionional cities like whiterun, windhelm...?

Basically the blacksmith has to be a friend or you have to be wearing something valuable.  Detailed rules are given in update log.

>1

Easy - I've updated it in my working version. Attached script may work as drop in replacement (backup old script in case it does not work).

>2,3

Possible but more work; In the mean time you could also use mods that add furniture (like POP) or allow you to place furniture and summon some mines with the spell.

 

59 minutes ago, Zaflis said:

Oldrim. I missed the fastforward options from MCM, unsure if they'd help. I guess it doesn't merely "accelerate time" but also advance quest stages right away?

 

You have a quest about it in the log? Sometimes you get a different kind of response clue and from then again a new clue, but questlog should update each time clue is given. Try going to a court wizard first, and then you'll be spending time in Winterhold College.

 

Hmmm, the oldrim version is the one that works better in my testing.  The fast forward (click on PC/NPC in MCM) moves PC/NPC to next marker which then triggers an update.  Release (Press `set default' key in MCM) forcefully removes the PC/NPC for the quest. The former should be relatively stable, the second is still a work in progress and may not always do all the needed clean-up.

Things that happen outside of the loaded area can be tricky in general (eg casting spell does not work unless victim is loaded - Mod tries to avoid such issues but is hard to test). Adding more recovery debug possibilities is on the todo list.

 

The second remark is true for the two quests (Beasts of chain, Beauty and the Chainbeast).  The blacksmith mechanism, however, is much simpler. (It only cares about your relation with the blacksmith and material of devices you are wearing for deciding whether they are willing to help - the chance in MCM only affects their success rate in case they are actually willing to help).

 

 

55 minutes ago, slvsaris said:

I would say medium....  I am using the oldrim version. 

 

It was rather chaotic, and was the first time encountering the mines, so I am not sure what actually happened.  There are two, three? mines in Riverwood, and I am not sure if it triggered automatically that time or I triggered it.  I kind remember just walking through Riverwood and all hell broke loose then later finding the mines.    I was thinking that the NPCs triggered something.  I also think the beasts were spawning new ones.  I just know I killed a lot and they just kept coming!    I ended up changing the settings so that only the player can trigger the traps.  It was glorious chaos, and like I said, I had not encountered them yet, so was not quite sure what to expect.

 

The chain effect wrap was a cool addition, just wondering if it can be changed to look like chains?  (just a random though after realizing the effect was intended and just a side effect)

 

I enjoy the mod a great deal and I will likely have more to post about it.  You are doing great work!

 

Reason I asked is because, with default setting, the level determines number of beasts that are summoned (for some mines at least and traps may trigger mines so at high level an NPC triggering a trap may lead to a flood of beasts - play with MCM settings to get a reasonable number - you can suggest better default values as I only test with low level characters).

> I kind remember just walking through Riverwood and all hell broke loose then later finding the mines.    I was thinking that the NPCs triggered something.  ... I ended up changing the settings so that only the player can trigger the traps. 

Good point: While other default settings do typically not allow NPCs to cause beasts to appear, the trap setting in the latest version does.

 

> The chain effect wrap was a cool addition, just wondering if it can be changed to look like chains?  (just a random though after realizing the effect was intended and just a side effect)

The texture change was meant to convey a web but spun out of metal  (matching the chain spider's metal variant).  Perhaps adding some chains to the mesh would look good as well.

 

Glad you like it.

 

 

SCB_MCMScript.pex

[mrdoodle]

7 hours ago, MTB said:

 

I've created a chains sound and it is easy to add it so it always plays.  It would make much more sense if it only plays if the beasts moves.  Unfortunately the wolf behavior file does not include the `play sound on moving' events so setting that sound in the CK has no effect.   Never changed a behavior file - have read how it should work but expect it will turn out to be rather tricky.

Perhaps I'll add it to play always but only for the wild beasts - the mine summoned ones you should be aware of anyways...

 

chains.mp3 66.94 kB · 0 downloads

Yeah. Researched a bit and it seems it's not worth the effort really. ?

[slvsaris]

I have been "finding" lockpicks every minute or so now (message saying I found a lock pick), and gold keeps randomly getting added as well.  I saw a script from this mod that has a name that might be interpreted that it might allow the player to find things along their path.  Is this mod maybe causing this issue?

 

[DonQuiWho]

@MTB

 

FWIW, as a heads up, there is a new version of Pull Mastery, v2_03_Le,  just up on Nexus today

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/48289

 

Changelog

Version 2.03

• - Fix Adoring Fan effects.
• - Add Dwarven Hookshot
• - Add Dwarven Pull Device

 

Do you have any idea if this is likely to be OK with the current version of Chain Beasts, or should we still use 2_02 ?

[donttouchmethere]

On 4/25/2020 at 9:33 AM, MTB said:

> I have northern grass installed, lol, I never had a chance to find that chest ^^

 

There is now an alternate solution for that.

I was blind.

Found the option to get a marker for that chest.

Also freed NPC have a dialog option to tech a spell.

Well done and all actually obvious now that found the option and the dialogue ?

You know players always go into panic mode if they loose their gear ?

I hoped I could lure the SD master close to it and get the beast to attack, while I grab my stuff from the box and be armed again.

Next time I know better!

 

On 4/25/2020 at 9:33 AM, MTB said:

Perhaps I can update the checks so that it also addresses the

case that devices were otherwise removed.

Yes pls!

Being bound by a SCB or in zaz furniture make the PC vulnerable for other mods to try to enslave the PC or rape and add different DDs.

Because not all mods out there know about the SCB restrains and they don't get recognized, chances are high they get removed in one way or the other.

 

I also can confirm that the SCB quest just keeps running with or without the devices.

Next time I try and just use your solution = after regular DD removal adding SCB restrains again.

 

 

On 4/25/2020 at 9:51 AM, MTB said:

A work around would be to set victim status to indefinite (but that would have to be done before the device use timer runs out) - then beast should not attack again.

You can reset victim status (for everybody) by updating the valid target setting (just updating it is enough; does not have to actually change eg turn a gender off and back on should work).

If there is a way to detect when DFWS takes over and releases it may be possible to make a compatibility plugin.

If DFW and DFWS wasn't so bugged I would try that.

Wouldn't add that mod to any serious game.

[MTB]

On 5/1/2020 at 11:09 PM, donkeywho said:

@MTB

 

FWIW, as a heads up, there is a new version of Pull Mastery, v2_03_Le,  just up on Nexus today

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/48289

 

Changelog

Version 2.03

• - Fix Adoring Fan effects.
• - Add Dwarven Hookshot
• - Add Dwarven Pull Device

 

Do you have any idea if this is likely to be OK with the current version of Chain Beasts, or should we still use 2_02 ?

 

While the ideas and a base mesh came from Pull Mastery, SCB should be independent of Pull Mastery; it should be fine to have any (or no) version of Pull Mastery installed.

 

 

[DonQuiWho]

34 minutes ago, MTB said:

 

While the ideas and a base mesh came from Pull Mastery, SCB should be independent of Pull Mastery; it should be fine to have any (or no) version of Pull Mastery installed.

 

 

Thanks for clarifying that

[MTB]

On 4/25/2020 at 9:56 PM, slvsaris said:

I have been "finding" lockpicks every minute or so now (message saying I found a lock pick), and gold keeps randomly getting added as well.  I saw a script from this mod that has a name that might be interpreted that it might allow the player to find things along their path.  Is this mod maybe causing this issue?

 

It could be related to the caged quest - if that is still running and thinks you are locked in the cage while the slaver is dead it would occasionally give you a lockpick.

(Not sure about the gold though - could be a side effect of the same thing.)

I will have to improve the conditions on this - add better detection for PC getting out of cage so quest can end...

 

Try stopping (console) the caged quest if it is still running (its called SCB_CagedQuest) and see if that stops the issues; then we know it is indeed this quest.

 

(If you are talking about findstuffeverywhere script then no that is not related - it is about NPCs finding the boxes with their stuff outside of the current area.)

 

[laurient]

I don't know why but in Skyrim SE, the crawler armor doesn't show on male. ?

[slvsaris]

On 5/3/2020 at 4:33 PM, MTB said:

It could be related to the caged quest - if that is still running and thinks you are locked in the cage while the slaver is dead it would occasionally give you a lockpick.

(Not sure about the gold though - could be a side effect of the same thing.)

I will have to improve the conditions on this - add better detection for PC getting out of cage so quest can end...

 

Try stopping (console) the caged quest if it is still running (its called SCB_CagedQuest) and see if that stops the issues; then we know it is indeed this quest.

 

(If you are talking about findstuffeverywhere script then no that is not related - it is about NPCs finding the boxes with their stuff outside of the current area.)

 

I ended up doing a reinstall of the mod for a clean start.  I will have to remember your tips if it happens again.

 

The gold, it turns out, was my devious follower (Recorder) taking my gold lol.

[slvsaris]

Couple more things here.  Several times now when entering the slaver cave the player has navigation issues right as they enter the cave.  Player turns invisible, turns, then enters the cave.  Inside the cave the player is still invisible.  it is like the nave issues interrupted the cell change sequence.  Usually player.setactoralpha 100 fixes it, but could not get that to work this time.

 

Also, could you please add dialog to the slaver so if the scene bugs out we have recourse?  I have been fast forwarding to the cave, the chainbeast releases, and the slave just sandboxes forever.

[MTB]

On 5/4/2020 at 8:34 PM, laurient said:

I don't know why but in Skyrim SE, the crawler armor doesn't show on male. ?

 

Tested and yes I also have the issue.  Texture swaps for different materials on the female crawlers also seems to have issues, though not on the beasts themselves.

Odd because I use exactly the same procedure for converting all of them. 

Atm I have no idea how to fix this.

Edit: Now a test version of a potential fix uploaded, see also comment a few mails below.

[MTB]

22 hours ago, slvsaris said:

Also, could you please add dialog to the slaver so if the scene bugs out we have recourse?  I have been fast forwarding to the cave, the chainbeast releases, and the slave just sandboxes forever.

You mean the slaver just sandboxes while you are stuck in the cage?

Please test with latest version; I changed some settings for the caged quest.  Do not expect it to solve this issue, but who knows.

 

22 hours ago, slvsaris said:

Couple more things here.  Several times now when entering the slaver cave the player has navigation issues right as they enter the cave.  Player turns invisible, turns, then enters the cave.  Inside the cave the player is still invisible.  it is like the nave issues interrupted the cell change sequence.  Usually player.setactoralpha 100 fixes it, but could not get that to work this time.

Skyrim being Skyrim ... have added looking for a workaround to the TODO list.

 

 

[slvsaris]

11 hours ago, MTB said:

You mean the slaver just sandboxes while you are stuck in the cage?

Please test with latest version; I changed some settings for the caged quest.  Do not expect it to solve this issue, but who knows.

 

Skyrim being Skyrim ... have added looking for a workaround to the TODO list.

 

 

He sandboxes the whole time, from dropoff, to forever lol. Never actually get to the cage.  Torture I tell ya!  the bad part is it leaves the player stuck in the factions.  I just saw the new version release, I will drop it in and give it a try.  Honestly my game might be a bit messed up.  This playthrough was really a test of my conflict resolving skills (yeah, got some work to do).  Probably going to start over sometime soon.

 

As for Skyrim being Skyrim,  just today i was fighting some bandits, and lost.  DA kicked in as I was frantically trying to get away.  All kinda of crap happening all at once.  I did get away, but then noticed that my head was invisible and the first person body was whacked out lol.

 

 

Edit:  Cage scenario worked well, currently in the cage.  However, it would seem I can walk through the cage door.

 

Also, after getting dropped off in the cage, what restraints are supposed to be left on?

 

-- I take it the thane branch of the cage scenario is not complete?

[MTB]

On 5/15/2020 at 11:33 PM, slvsaris said:

Also, after getting dropped off in the cage, what restraints are supposed to be left on?

 

-- I take it the thane branch of the cage scenario is not complete?

 

The same as after standard punishment; the collar and the mask

It was working before but now seems broken (slaver seems to get stuck, never reaching the return point).  Fixing it is on my todo list.

[MTB]

On 5/4/2020 at 8:34 PM, laurient said:

I don't know why but in Skyrim SE, the crawler armor doesn't show on male. ?

After meshing around(i.e. messing around with meshes) I think I found a method that works, for me at least;  using a different base mesh for the armor that gets replaced seems to fix the issue.  Let me know if it also works for you. If so I will look into addressing the other armor meshes when I get the chance.

 

[donttouchmethere]

I have some odd issue with SCB v 0.3.2

 

If I escort Ralof back to Riverwood and the scripted Gerdur & Ralof conversation is running => SCB decides to trigger all mines in Riverwood (3x times tested).

It is fun it first, but it seems SCB constantly spawns new Chain Beasts. If enough are killed SCB just spawns a new horde from the mines. => see EDIT

This causes Riverwood to be overrun by Chain Beats, but also causes lag and then CTD because Skyrim runs out of memory.

The spawning never stopped no matter how many Beasts I killed.

Must have been around 20 chain spiders and as many "chain dogs" or more.

Streets of Riverwood are a black mass of chain beasts.

I was surprised tho how long it took for my game to give up with that amount of hostiles and Chain Beast creature bound NPC.

At some point fps was down to a picture show ?‍♂️

 

Any way I can prevent this from happening?

Like deactivating automatic mine spawns or reducing numbers of spawned chain bests/lvl? (will test that next)

Is the spawning madness in Riverwood even meant to be happening? => see Edit

(I thought I had made some screenshots, but seems the chaos killed my ENBoost first lol)

 

EDIT: there is some user error involved too ?

 

I never changed "max Beasts" from -1(unlimited) to +1 (or higher) => this explains why there was no limit to the spawns! ?‍♂️

I also reduced the "beast per lvl" to 0.10 (from 0.50) ?

 

Now I need to find out what caused the mines to spawn Chain Beasts in the first place (PC wasn't close to them) ?

Spoiler

 

 

[slvsaris]

1 hour ago, donttouchmethere said:

I have some odd issue with SCB v 0.3.2

 

If I escort Ralof back to Riverwood and the scripted Gerdur & Ralof conversation is running => SCB decides to trigger all mines in Riverwood (3x times tested).

If is fun it first, but it seems SCB constantly spawns new Chain Beasts. If enough are killed SCB just spawns a new horde from the mines.

This causes Riverwood to be overrun by Chain Beats, but also causes lag and then CTD because Skyrim runs out of memory.

The spawning never stopped no matter how many Beasts I killed.

Must have been around 20 chain spiders and as many "chain dogs" or more.

Streets of Riverwood are a black mass of chain beats.

I was surprised tho how long it took for my game to give up with that amount of hostiles and Chain Beast creature bound NPC.

At some point fps was down to a picture show ?‍♂️

 

Any way I can prevent this from happening?

Like deactivating automatic mine spawns or reducing numbers of spawned chain bests/lvl? (will test that next)

Is the spawning madness in Riverwood even meant to be happening?

 

(I thought I had made some screenshots, but seems the chaos killed my ENBoost first lol)

 

 

I think that is what happened to me the first time I installed this mod.  What I did was set the options so that only the player can trigger traps.  I am kinda thinking that the traps were constantly getting triggered, and the more NPCs around, the more triggering happened.  At the time I had no idea what was going on, I actually just recently figured out what the traps actually looked like lol.  Maybe the traps need a trigger cooldown, and/or make it so the chainbeasts cannot trigger traps (maybe they are already not supposed to, just a guess that they are indeed triggering traps)

[donttouchmethere]

On 5/23/2020 at 5:28 PM, slvsaris said:

I think that is what happened to me the first time I installed this mod.  What I did was set the options so that only the player can trigger traps.  I am kinda thinking that the traps were constantly getting triggered, and the more NPCs around, the more triggering happened.  At the time I had no idea what was going on, I actually just recently figured out what the traps actually looked like lol.  Maybe the traps need a trigger cooldown, and/or make it so the chainbeasts cannot trigger traps (maybe they are already not supposed to, just a guess that they are indeed triggering traps)

I updated my post. => I never changed the endless spawns for mines MCM settings (I thought I'm good enough to deal with a few spawns, but that was too much xD They kept spawning until they started to stack up on themselves because there was no other place left to spawn them. THE HORROR!)

 

I didn't know that NPC can trigger those traps too ? (although there are MCM settings for it too)

 

(also I couldn't use any AOE spells because of all those NPCs stuck in that mess^^)

 

Skyrim Chain beast are the best counter around, against some of my overpowered followers.

Only masses of SDcages bandits come close to the might of a few chain beasts =D

[ZephyrusVenti]

so I'm having a weird issue with the SSE one. Traps/mines do nothing - if I activate one, they play the sound, but not chainbeasts show up. Then if i summon a chainbeast with the spell it'll appear, and it can do its knockdown, but it can't strip anything nor equip the gear onto its targets. Not sure what happened - I'm running the update that just dropped not too long ago.

[MTB]

16 hours ago, ZephyrusVenti said:

so I'm having a weird issue with the SSE one. Traps/mines do nothing - if I activate one, they play the sound, but not chainbeasts show up. Then if i summon a chainbeast with the spell it'll appear, and it can do its knockdown, but it can't strip anything nor equip the gear onto its targets. Not sure what happened - I'm running the update that just dropped not too long ago.

 

Sounds like issues with unfilled properties or missing scripts. 

Just checking; you are talking about version 0.3.2 right, the 0.3.3preview version is only for LE not SSE.

If so, did you do a clean save when upgrading-if not try that first.

 

 

[MTB]

On 5/23/2020 at 3:28 PM, slvsaris said:

I think that is what happened to me the first time I installed this mod.  What I did was set the options so that only the player can trigger traps.  I am kinda thinking that the traps were constantly getting triggered, and the more NPCs around, the more triggering happened.  At the time I had no idea what was going on, I actually just recently figured out what the traps actually looked like lol.  Maybe the traps need a trigger cooldown, and/or make it so the chainbeasts cannot trigger traps (maybe they are already not supposed to, just a guess that they are indeed triggering traps)

 

Only valid targets and/or the player should trigger traps (based on MCM settings), if working as intended anyways.

Perhaps player only should be the default setting.

The traps do have a short cool down (similar to manual triggering), but a longer one may be more appropriate (like several in-game hours instead) - will look into that.