Video Game Talk

[Shelby]

I had started to discuss Skyrim on Discord, and realized that I'd like to get something going that can be easily referenced. I find forums so much better for long conversations than something like Discord. On Discord, things just wind on and on, and there's no easy way to just go over prior posts. So here we go! I'm going to start this off with a post on Skyrim, which is what I'm currently playing. I hope you'll join in. :-)

[Shelby]

I hadn't done much high-powered video-gaming for a number of years because the computer I was using gradually fell behind the curve. I'd been a devout fan of Fallout and the Elder Scrolls, but I couldn't progress past Fallout 2 or Morrowind until that computer died. I replaced it a few years ago with an Asus gaming laptop, and got to play Oblivion and Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, after all those years! Then I got to Skyrim.

I got the Special Edition, which is the latest incarnation. You have to get it through Steam, which I'm not entirely comfortable with. But I've made my peace with it for now.

So I started it up, and discovered the ability to mod it via the Steam menu. I installed a lot of mods, had a lot of fun, and then Bethesda updated the damned thing on Steam. It automatically updates, and there you go -- my modded game was broken. I was furious. I could've waited a month or so and the fans would've updated their work, but I uninstalled the thing. Besides, I'd finished the main quest and all the DLC's, and I just went and played F:NV instead.

Anyway, after playing in Vegas for months, I was ready to try Skyrim again. This time I eschewed the mods available through Steam. Instead I went to Nexus on the net. I downloaded their Vortex mod manager, and pulled from a much greater variety of mods available on their site. I had about 160 going when things got really buggy. I fiddled around for a week until I finally re-installed everything, being selective this time. I'm at about 96 mods at the moment, and things are pretty stable.

[Shelby]

So, let's talk about Skyrim, starting with the series. I love the Elder Scrolls. I started with Daggerfall, and played it many, many times. The sandboxing was a godsend. Then I located Arena. I was a bit frustrated with the older interface and gameplay, but I played through the main quest (with the help of a walk-through when I got stuck). Then I tried Battlespire and Redguard when they came out. I'm a role-player though, and those were action games, so I got frustrated and never finished playing those. Now when Morrowind came out, well I'll be frank. I hated the character art. I thought they had been hit way too often with the ugly stick. I hated those fliers, cliff racers, whatever they were. I wasn't really even interested in the Dunmer, in fact. I'd have preferred the ability to sandbox all over Tamriel. But I liked the character builds and options and growth very much. I played this through many times as well, only doing the main quest the first time. But why did they have to make the characters so damned ugly?

And I finally got to play Oblivion. As has been said, the rules were dumbed down compared to Morrowind. That I did not like. And the people looked like potato-heads! Again, with the crappy art! I mean, there's something to be said for having a style, but really guys. Well anyway, I played it for a little while, got frustrated, came back to it, got a little tired of all the Oblivion gates, then finally just powered through the main quest. By the time I finished that, I was done. Oh, I played the Sheogorath DLC and thought it was a lot of fun. FYI.

So I got to Skyrim. Now damn me if they didn't make the characters ugly here too, but in a different way! What in hell are those guys thinking? Ugly ugly ugly! Crying out loud, gang, cut it out. Secondly, the character builds and progress are even more dumbed-down than Oblivion! WTF guys! OK, I hear they did that to make the game appealing to a wider, console-based audience, and they certainly achieved their goal. But I'm still bitter about it. Third, the controls are whack! My mouse cursor floats all over the place, everything rocks back and forth, I can't select a damned dialogue option accurately, and the tunnel-vision of first-person means I get flanked constantly. Geez, did anybody play-test this?

All that aside, I installed it, played for a short while, then left it alone for months. Frustrated. But eventually I came back to it. That's when I installed the mods from within the Steam / Bethesda menu. So I played through the main quest and all the DLC as a big Norse Dragonborn. I sided with the Empire, and was the BDOC. Big Dovahkim on Campus. That's right.

So, I had several mods that I liked. One was called Deus Mons. It is a Dragonborn castle, located near that big pinnacle in the center of the map. I really liked it, but don't get the one through Steam. There's a later version available on Nexus that fixes the mannequins and storage so you don't lose anything. At least, it's supposed to.

I also used mods to pretty the characters up. I didn't do anything too complicated, but they looked better. I used Sophia, the very amusing follower. Married her too. I used Immersive Wenches, which really fills up the inns and taverns. I used Amazing Follower Tweaks, and had a stable of additional followers. I mostly used the player house in Whiterun because of the problems I had with Deus Mons, and I had a couple of mods that expanded it so it was pretty fancy. I learned Enchanting and Smithing, and made some really killer magic items for my whole band. I did not do the Companions once they wanted to turn me into a werewolf, because I couldn't see myself wanting that. I tried that back in Daggerfall, and in DG and Oblivion I was a vampire. Either way, it was a lot less fun than I'd thought it would be. So even when I played through Dawnguard, I stayed one of the good guys. I left magic alone, because I was a hulking brute in dragonbone plate armor. And shields are for sissies, I used a two-handed sword.

I even tried a mod that let you become king of Skyrim, but it was pretty lame. Anyway, so the thing got broke by a Bethesda update. For my re-install a few months ago, I tried going for really high-level graphics, increased animations with a mod called FNIS, and a skeleton mod that made people more realistic. Everybody looked like a model, it was great. And buggy as hell. Crash-to-desktop all the time. So the re-install, with less than 100 mods. Here's what I've got, and it's running like a dream.

The Unofficial Skyrim patch. SkyUI, a very nice menu overhaul. Extended Carryweight, because I ain't going back to town until I pick up every septim. Unlimited rings and amulets, same. Follower trap safety, 'cause otherwise I'm gonna be slappin' somebody. Faster Horses, I ain't got time for anything else. BTW, it took me a while to get used to the whole mounted thing. I still think it's very awkward, but it gets you there faster. I gave up on it altogether in Oblivion!

Cutting Room Floor, hell I don't know what I got with it, but I wanted whatever got cut out of the game. Believable Crime Report Radius, I hate damned guards. I'm the damned Arch-Mage of Winterhold, no I didn't steal that fork! Fallrim Tools, I think this may be keeping me from crashing. Better Dialogue Controls and Better MessageBox Controls, because how could the interface be worse than it already is? Unread Books Glow, 'cause I ain't got no time.

Now, the meat of things. Delayed Dragonborn, so I don't have to do the main quest again. No dragons swooping down at awkward moments, just a sandbox. Ordinator, for different perk trees. So far, so good. More choices, not necessarily sure it's better yet. Move It Dammit keeps followers out of my way. Well, most of the time. Whistle brings my horse back because he tends to avoid me. Run And Walk At Your Pace helps followers keep up, they're so lazy. Alternate Start -- Live Another Life. This is awesome. You don't start on a wagon headed to your execution. I started out as a magic student at Winterhold. Speaking of which, Immersive College of Winterhold. Amazing. Characters, surroundings, graphics, items, teleporters, go for it. Enhanced Bard College. OK, I'm an Arch-Mage / Bard. What can I say, I wanted to check it out. I've even performed in taverns. Well, twice. I made 41 septims. Definitely worth the years of practice. I think they were just being polite. I'm gonna fireball 'em. And that leads to Shut The Followers Up, because I don't want to hurt anybody. Much. If I hear, "I've got your back" one more time...

Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Enhancer. Makes things pretty. I think the one I used the first time around was Dimonizer, but same idea. CBBE is better. Opulent Thieves Guild. I know, but originally I was gonna be a mage / thief / assassin. Anyway, the guild looks cool now. I'll do thief / assassin next time. So yeah, I also joined the Dark Brothers this time, but never did my first assignments. Still, the occasional guard whispers "Hail Sithis" to me, so it's all good. Companions and Followers Essential, so you don't fireball your team to death. I think they still suffer though.

Opulent Outfits, Rustic Clothing, Outfit Integration Project Clothing, Ambrosia Fashions, Armor And Clothing Expansion, UNP Clothing Merchants, The Floating Market, Rich Skyrim Merchants, Giselle Whiterun Clothier, Apachii Divine Elegance, Immersive Armors, all make for great wardrobe options.

Immersive Wenches, more NPCs. Deadly Wenches adds more female opponents. Organized Bandits does just what it says. Citizens of Tamriel and Pandora's Heroines helps with immersion. And now, the current crop of follower mods. Vivace, she's fun and powerful. Lilitha, she's powerful and scary. Dralisi, same. Marvellous Mirabelle, I just may marry her. I'm the Arch-Mage, after all. Inigo, he's one crazy cat, just keep him away from the skooma! Lilly the Female Courier Replacer who can also be recruited, I love her voice-acting. Vilja, a crazy pseudo-Swede with a lot of quests. And finally, Rigmor. Ah, Rigmor. I guess I can't recommend this mod (although I may change my mind). It's a little weird. She's like sixteen year old, tops, and the writer keeps throwing her at you. Also she's always in the way, and I think the mod is a little buggy. Finally, it's as rail-roady as can be, you get very little to do except tag along and watch the video. The dialogue options are EXTREMELY limited, so it's almost like machinima instead of an actual "game." I still have to finish part two, but I'm compulsive that way. You might want to avoid this one, although it's a good story.

What else? My current home is the Bathing Beauties or Beefcake Luxury Suite. This is a big lodge and attached residence, with pools, a deck, three floors topside, two underground, and a teleporter. I can't get the mannequins to work, but it's pretty cool. Bigger than the Companions hall in Whiterun!

Now for adventures, I have Falskaar -- good voice acting, mild adventure, and the main quest is a big let-down. Phenderix Magic World provides lots of new spells that are cool, but it's a fan's hack of Harry Potter, and the quests are practically non-existent. Pass. Or at least, just load it for the spells.

I had a bunch of other stuff, but somewhere in there is the cause of all those crashes. I'm not sure what I'll do after I finish Rigmor. I'm waiting for another Inigo quest to trigger, it's supposed to happen at some point. I guess I could marry Mirabelle, but that's just a "fade to black." After that I may have to either re-start with a new character, or try adding some of the other adventures and hope it stays stable. Here's what I have to choose from:

Forgotten Dungeons, EasierRider's Dungeon Pack, Legend of 1001 Nights, Legend of Andromeda, M'rissi Tails of Trouble, Beyond Skyrim - Bruma, Black Marsh, Hanging Gardens, the Haven from the Cold and Dark, The Shire, Moonpath to Elseweyr, Legacy of the Dragonborn, Maelstrom, Relic Hunter, and Shadows of the Past.

Anyone played any of those? I'd love to hear what I should try next!

[Shelby]

Well, the conversation didn't continue either here or on Discord, so I'm going to make this a blog post. Hope you'll check it out.