#anyway have some screenshots from morrowind

[suntiger745]

Finished Baldur's Gate 3 today. Something I've not done with many narrative games, instead getting caught up in making new characters. I've not finished Skyrim (or Morrowind), nor Dragon Age Origins. I completed Oblivion once, The Mass Effect trilogy once and Fallout 3 once, Fallout 4 three times. Dragon Age Inquisition twice. I still have like 40+ Tavs so I have plenty of playthroughs to do if I feel like it.

Anyway, BG3. It was really good y'all. :) In some ways I benefited from not completing it before now. I got the option to send Karlach to Avernus with Wyll, and I got the post-adventure gathering that Withers put together, for my first playthrough.

I've seen some posts about the % of players who have completed the games vs started it, or gotten off the Nautiloid, or finished Act 1. I took some screenshots of them, but at the same time I'm not sure how accurate they are. I know for Elder Scrolls/Fallout games I play with mods and never cared about the achievements, so they are always disabled for me and not part of the statistics. I imagine it's the same with a not insignificant number of BG3 players as well. (I plan to mod BG3 as well, I just wanted to make a Tav playthrough and a Durge playthrough before I start in on the mods.)

I also don't know if the stats on the achievements are updated every time you open Steam/look at them. Is the 50,7% of players who have completed Act1 from august 28th when i got it, or from february 3rd when I looked at it today?

Also, the numbers of allies who showed up to help in the final fight, as well as all the letters you get in the little camp get-together, were both really cool moments. The allies coming together to help you was a real cool and emotional payoff for all the quests you've done and people you have helped during them game.

The letters were less awesome but in many ways more touching. Especially hearing that Arabella is a student of Elminster, Alfira has a successful bard school, thanks to Lakrissa saving up her waitress wages and buying a house for her. Barcus, leading the Ironhand gnomes and making peace with the Gondians, doing great work in the rebuilding (and saying that 'it's not a big deal really'), Jaheira's kids doing great work in the city with Jaheira herself being alternatively proud and worried about them.

Halsin being a father figure to a gaggle of kids in the cleansed lands around Moonrise Towers and Orpheus and Lae'zel meeting with the gith'zerai leader to form an alliance it also both cool and sweet.

Also, Scratch and Anji playing fetch with the now inert Astral Prism. XD

Props to Larian for sneaking in a post credits scene too. Seems Jergal is not happy at all with how the Dead Three has conducted business in the Domains he once held sway over.

[kaptaincnucklz]

[the-sunlit-earth]

Your Morrowind graphics look sooo beautiful! Do you have a list of the mods you used? I'd really appreciate it if you could share it!

Sure! I'd be happy to share my setup =)

My modlist is cobbled together from various modding guides, suggestions by friends who've played Morrowind, and my own personal preferences as I've played and come across things I felt like changing (like the pond scum lol!).

I tried to leave out most mods that had zero to do with Graphics/changes you can see in the world, and I also tried to keep my descriptions short, though if you were only asking for a simple load order then I apologize, oops!

The Engine

MGE XE (this is absolutely vital for those distant views/awesome light and water shaders and other features!)

Morrowind Code Patch (needed for bump/reflection maps to look right!)

Meshes/Textures/Overhauls

Morrowind Optimization Patch (improves performance/fixes some mesh errors!)

Patch for Purists (squashes so many bugs while avoiding unnecessary changes!)

Intelligent Textures (full AI upscaled/hand-edited texture pack of the game, excellent as a base if you plan to add on more targeted replacers later!)

Enhanced Water Shader for MGE XE--OR--Krokantor's Enhanced Water Shader Updated: (depends on which version of MGE XE you're using; if 0.13.0 you'll want the Updated version, and if earlier you need the older one. 3 shades of water to choose from; improved caustics, foam, ripples, underwater effects; and no more weird immersion-breaking moment when you would previously tilt the camera just beneath the surface and it would suddenly be perfectly clear. Absolutely gorgeous water!)

Animation Compilation-Hand to Hand Improved Without Almalexia Spellcasting (idk if this counts, but it does fix the Visual of that weird vanilla running animation!)

Better Bodies and Westly's Pluginless Replacer (a friend told me to get Robert's bodies, but BB is also very good and seems to be the most widely used + many mods need it, like Julan!)

Pluginless Khajiit Head pack (prettier kitties!)

Improved Argonians (better looking lizard-friends!)

Children of Morrowind (adds realism by having kids running around your towns!)

Julan, Ashlander Companion [v3.0 at bottom of this page] (ok not a graphics mod, but will add much immersion to your game, so I will shill for him anyway!)

Vibrant Morrowind 3.0/4.0 (this one I actually don't have installed yet, but I love the way Vivec looks in the screenshots!)

abot Water Life (adds aquatic creatures/things like algae and coral to make Morrowind's waters more alive!)

Vurt's Corals (found on Vurt's Groundcover page; adds gorgeous corals and new water plants!)

Vurt's Ashlands Overhaul (can choose between gnarly trees or vanilla-style!)

Vurt's Groundcover (gorgeous animated grass and vegetation that differs for each region!)

Vurt's Solstheim Tree Replacer II (more realistic trees and snowy pines!)

Vurt's Bitter Coast Trees II (5 additional unique trees!)

Vurt's Bitter Coast Trees II Remastered (mesh fixes/optimizations for the trees!)

Vurt's Leafy West Gash II (more trees, and optional rope bridge texture!)

Vurt's Ascadian Isles Tree Replacer II (v10a recommended for better-sized trees without clipping issues; TREES!!)

Articus Bush Replacer for Vurt AI Trees II (new model for bush tree + bark retexture!)

Vurt's Grazeland Trees II (really cool palms and Baobab trees!)

Vurt's Mournhold Trees II (beautiful animated cherry blossom trees!)

I Lava Good Mesh Replacer (better lava mesh, has no flickering with effects like steam!)

Remiros' Minor Retextures - Mist (much nicer spooky mist in Ancestral Tombs!)

Unto Dust (adds atmospheric floating dust motes, kinda like in Skyrim barrows!)

Graphic Herbalism MWSE (improved meshes and Oblivion-style harvesting!)

Glow in the Dahrk (windows transition to glowing versions at night!)

Ashfall (super awesome and very configurable Camping/Survival/Cooking/Needs mod!)

Watch the Skies (dynamic weathers/weather changes inside/randomized clouds etc!)

Seasonal Weather of Vvardenfell (weather changes throughout the year!)

Taddeus' Foods of Tamriel (adds Ashfall compatible foods and ovens for baking!)

More Wells (add-on for Ashfall/more immersive since access to water is pretty important!)

Diverse Blood (because not everything should bleed Red when you poke it with a spear!)

Lived Towns - Seyda Neen (adds more containers/clutter to make it feel more lived-in!)

Better Waterfalls (adds splash effects/water spray, better running water texture!)

Waterfalls Tweaks (resized water splash to blend better!)

Dunmer Lanterns Replacer (smoother/more-detailed-yet-optimized lanterns + paper lanterns!)

Telvanni Lighthouse Tel Vos (fits in perfectly with Azura's Coast region!)

Telvanni Lighthouse Tel Branora (very atmospheric, works well with surroundings!)

Palace of Vehk (Vivec's Palace feels lived-in instead of sad and empty!)

Ships of the Imperial Navy (immersive addition to Imperial waterfront areas!)

Striderports (gives caravaners some shelter and comfort while standing there all day!)

Illuminated Palace of Vivec (decorates palace steps + shrines with devotion candles and flowers left by followers!)

Scum Retexture - Alternative 2 (better looking pond scum in Bitter Coast region!)

Full Dwemer Retexture (I went with Only Armor/Robots/Weapons; nice high quality retex!)

Blighted Animals Retextured (I chose Darknut's 1024; blighted animals have their own sickly textures now!

Vivec Expansion 3.1 Tweaked Reworked (adds a hostel/many wooden walkways to Vivec on the water!)

Atmospheric Plazas (Vivec's plazas now have weather/sunlight! Be sure to use MCP's Rain fix to keep it from pouring as if there's no roof!)

Gemini's Realistic Snowflakes (more organic texture with more depth!)

Severa Magia DB fix (makes hideout actually appropriate to Dark Brotherhood!)

Starfire's NPC Additions (more populated towns and settlements!)

Hold It (adds items for NPCs to hold and carry, based on their class; very immersive!)

Suran-The Pearl of the Ascadian Isles (I went with White Suran Complete package; stunning retexture that also adds docks/waterfront!)

Atmospheric Delights (a more fitting mood inside the House of Earthly Delights!)

Guars Replacer-Aendemika of Vvardenfell (pluginless makeover for our scaly friends!)

Silt Strider by Nwahs and Mushrooms Team (great new model+textures for these cool bug-buses!)

Skar Face (giant crab manor in Ald-ruhn gets claws and legs!)

Armor/Clothing

Redoran Founders Armor (Redoran councilors stand out in this cool set!)

Morag Tong Polished (bug fixes/Armor Replacer/restored cut content for the faction!)

Rubber's Weapons Pack (several unique weapons/shields get distinct models!)

Yet Another Guard Diversity (generic copypasta guards now have variation!)

Better Silver Armor (adds missing pieces of silver armor to make full set!)

Royal Guard Better Armor (pluginless armor replacer for the Royal Guards!)

RR Mod Series Better Silt Strider Armor (cooler bug men in your Ashlander camps!)

Armored Robes NPC Compilation (some Ordinators/Mabrigash/others will wear distinct robes of their station!)

Full Dragonscale Armor Set v1.3a (adds the missing pieces to make the set complete!)

Mage Robes (robes for every magic school, many MG members will wear their respective ones!)

Quorn Resource Integration (lore-friendly armor/creatures added to leveled lists to be encountered in game!)

Better Clothes (non-segmented clothing replacer to fit Better Bodies!)

More Better Clothes (additional shirts that were missed in the first one!)

Better Clothes Complete (fixes many problems and 1st person clipping issues for BC!)

Better Clothes Retextured (high-res retextures for nearly all base game clothes!)

Hirez Better Clothes (3 shirts retextured in high quality!)

Better Morrowind Armor (BB compatible armor replacer!)

Dark Brotherhood Armor Replacer (changes DB armor to look more like concept art!)

Bonemold Armor Replacer (much nicer-looking Bonemold armor!)

Westly's Fine Clothiers of Tamriel (very high quality clothes that you will see many NPCs wearing too!)

Orcish Retexture v1.2 (beautifully done armor retexture!)

Daedric Lord Armor (much improved Daedric set, very fierce!)

Ebony Mail Replacer (awesome new model+tex that changes it to actual chainmail!)

I use Wrye Mash to install my mods, though I think a lot of people use MO2. Haaa, now that I've made this list I have the strong urge to just run around Morrowind taking even more screenshots =)

[mazurah]

Clockwork City Main Quest Discussion

WARNING: Contains Spoilers!

Okay! The Clockwork City in Screenshots is completely posted, so it’s time to get into the lore! Here are my thoughts on the main quest.

The Good:

The graphics, the design, the art deco aesthetic; visually, the Clockwork City is everything I could have hoped for!

Kireth and Raynor are the most adorable siblings! I haven’t encountered them in the main game yet, but apparently they’re recurring characters. I look forward to finding them.

The Blackfeather Court is hilarious. I love them all. I also love that Nocturnal basically got defeated by a bunch of talking crows who got to Seht’s metal city and were just like, everything here is shiny! We must have it! And then went off to do their own thing.

Speaking of Nocturnal, I really liked the depiction of the Evergloam. We rarely get to see ingame depictions of the realms of Oblivion, and when we do, it’s always great. Nocturnal’s realm really seemed to fit her. It coulda been darker, but I understand why the game devs decided to make it twilight instead of straight up night for playability reasons.

Shadows as souls or pieces of souls is an interesting concept, and I wonder if it has something to do with Shadow Magic, like what Nightblades (the character class) use. I’m looking forward to doing some more research into the topic and cobbling together a more full understanding of what exactly shadows are in the TES universe. It’s not really something we get from any other game other than ESO, and I actually really like this contribution to TES lore.

Varuni has such a good character arc! She starts out as a fervent believer in Sotha Sil, and ends up being forced to confront her questions about him and grow as a person! Honestly, she has the best writing in the entire DLC, and she’s my favorite character! Here’s one of my favorite pieces of dialogue and an example of actual good writing in the Clockwork City:

Varuni: "He's gone, isn't he?"

Player: "Sotha Sil? Yes."

Varuni: "I knew it."

Varuni: "I never got to speak to him. Can you believe that? A hundred years of loyal service and then, poof. Gone."

Player: "What would you have said to him?"

Varuni: "Ha. You know, I spent years rehearsing exactly what I would say. I stood in front of the mirror, saying it over and over. Lord Seht, I stand before you as your loyal servant. Prayers of thanks, supplication... on and on."

Player: "And now?"

Varuni: "Now? Now I have nothing but questions.”

Varuni: "Why do we study in the basilica while people struggle on the streets? Why can't we have birds like the exodromals? How could Daedra break through our unbreakable walls? Why can't we leave?"

Player: "Do you think he'd have answers for you?"

Varuni: "I did yesterday. Today? I'm not so sure."

The Bad:

Oh my gods, what did they do to Sotha Sil? They’ve turned him into a faux-deep douchebro! This is my main problem with the Clockwork City DLC, and it’s a major one. They got him all wrong. I mean, he’s hard to understand because he’s Mystery, but at the very least Zenimax shoulda asked some of the original Morrowind lore writers for input or something, because it’s very obvious they had no idea how to handle him. In fact, this is so much of a problem that I feel the need to expound on the point. Here are a couple of excerpts of the most egregious writing:

I asked Sotha Sil about those persistent rumors—the ones about how he and the other Tribunes murdered Indoril Nerevar, the Dark Elf king. According to Marilia, the topic is strictly taboo. Even so, Sotha Sil answered my questions with a quiet grace that surprised even me.

"Why do you think things happen?" he asked. I told him I didn't understand the question.

"Why are we sitting here talking? Why does young Marius exist? Why do I reign over this place, while you convalesce within it?"

I sat quiet for a moment, then replied: "Because that's just the way it is."

His cold face melted into one of his solemn half-smiles. "Exactly."

I can't be sure, but it seemed like relief in his voice. His shoulders relaxed, his tone shifted—he had the look of a man at peace with his sins.

— Proctor Luciana’s Journal, Volume 1

Player: “What is all this for, anyway? The Clockwork City.”

Sotha Sil: “I sometimes ask myself the same thing.”

Sotha Sil: “May I confess something to you?”

Player: “Of course.”

Sotha Sil: “I suffer from a peculiar ailment. Shall I describe it?”

Sotha Sil: “I bear the cruel weight of certainty. Total, absolute, relentless certainty. People rarely comprehend the luxury of doubt... the freedom that comes with indecision. I envy you.”

Player: “Didn't you just say that you question whether the City is worth the effort?”

Sotha Sil: “Indeed. But such questions are flaccid—cursory indulgences that come and go in an instant.”

Sotha Sil: “The truth is that my actions, both good and evil, are inevitable. Locked in time. Determined by chains of action and consequence.”

Player: “So... you were forced to build the Clockwork City?”

Sotha Sil: “Compelled.”

— Game Dialogue with Sotha Sil

Okay first off, nothing is ever certain in the TES universe. There is no such thing as an omniscient god in the TES universe. Not even Hermaeus Mora, the Prince of Knowledge and Fate knows everything. Just look at how the Skaal managed to hide knowledge from him for generations. No god can predict the future with absolute certainty. Just read Azura and the Box, and you’ll see what I mean. In it, Azura, a god of prophecy who asserts that her knowledge is absolute, fails to predict what is in a box. Azura’s assertion that she knows everything is in character for her because she is also a god of vanity, but not so for Sotha Sil. Sotha Sil is not generally characterized as vain. As a person with godlike powers, he should be very much aware of the limitations of his knowledge and power, so the assertion that he can predict the future with absolute certainty is preposterous, and completely out of character.

If he knows everything, why the heck doesn’t he do something? He seems to have been taken by surprise by Nocturnal’s attack on the Clockwork City (as well as by all the events that took place in the Morrowind DLC with Vivec and stuff), so that doesn’t add up, but some of the dialogue from Aios implies that he realizes that Almalexia is a threat to him and he is taking countermeasures of some sort! It doesn’t make any sense! Gaah!

Anyway, moving on. More bad stuff:

It’s explicitly stated in multiple lore books that Sotha Sil and Almalexia are sexually involved. It’s also stated that Almalexia is Vivec’s lover and consort. That would seem to imply that Vivec and Sotha Sil were more involved than just “brothers” since they don’t seem to have any sort of jealous rivalry over Almalexia going on, and yet “brothers” is how Sotha Sil describes Vivec. That... doesn’t really make sense to me. At the very least they would be metamours, and quite likely more than that.

Sotha Sil does not just "quietly" admire Dwemer stuff. He’s blatantly copping and improving on the Dwemer’s inventions. That’s not bad btw, I like how they did that. The bad part is that Divayth Fyr, someone who supposedly knows Sotha Sil better than almost anyone, describes Sotha Sil as “quietly” admiring the Dwemer. He obviously has no idea what he’s talking about.

Sotha Sil’s feet. They gave him mechanical arms but not mechanical feet? Come on you guys! Get it together! He has mechanical feet in Morrowind, why not here? There’s so many great fan theories floating around about Sotha Sil’s feet, one of my favorite being by @boethiah, which speculates that he was injured as a child, and had to have his legs replaced so he could walk. Why not go with something like that? The lore strongly implies that Sotha Sil bypasses Vivec’s path to “true” godhood via CHIM and tries to find perfection through mechanical means. It stands to reason that he would have all mechanical limbs even if he didn’t have some sort of childhood accident requiring him to get prosthetics.

Slag Town. One of the things you can gather from the 36 Lessons and by listening to Almalexia talk about Sotha Sil is that Sotha Sil is an idealist when it comes to people. He thinks the best of them, and he is very hurt when people’s darker nature shows itself, which is one of the factors leading to his self isolation. (I wish I could remember specific sources for this, if anyone remembers something related, please post it.) With that in mind, I think he wouldn’t stand to have slums in his city. He cares about people too much. He wants them to succeed. If you read this lore book about Slag Town, it basically states that some of the people born down there don’t even know how to read. Sotha Sil, being the idealist he is, would obviously have a public education system in place. I don’t understand how writers who have read all the official resources available about Sotha Sil could think otherwise.

Why is Sotha Sil so obsessed with CHIM and Amaranth? That’s Vivec’s thing I thought. If he knows so much about it, why didn’t he achieve CHIM? He’s supposed to be taking a different path than Vivec, but his dialogue seems to be referencing back to Vivec’s path all the time. This would be alright if they added some Almalexia content as well showing her contribution to the Tribunal’s god-philosophies and uniting the Tribunal into a whole, but as it stands it just looks like Sotha Sil is a Vivec fanboy.

This is pretty unimportant, but Dunmer keep calling other Dunmer "dark elves". Just, why...? Only Men ever refer to mer as elves! This isn’t just a problem with the Clockwork City, but with ESO in general. Elves referring to other elves as elves instead of mer is just... weird.

I’m probably being pedantic, but why does everyone pronounce it "Sotha Seel" instead of "Sotha Sil", and "Div-AAAY-th" instead of "Div-EYE-th" or "Dee-VAH-yth"? It just irks me, almost as much as how they pronounced “Nerevarine” in the Morrowind DLC.

The Neutral:

Sotha Sil’s height. Sotha Sil is a giant in comparison to everyone else, even Altmer. He can’t possibly be this tall naturally. He’s probably just making himself appear taller because he thinks he’s supposed to, or possibly because he’s insecure about his height. It’s a strange character choice, and not one I really agree with, but also not one I disagree with either. So... meh?

Divayth Fyr was just... adequate. They got his friendship with Sotha Sil right, as well as his flaunting of authority, but they didn’t give him the booming, larger than life, generally genial-and-magnanimous-if-insensitive personality I’ve come to associate with Divayth Fyr (Dunmer-Brian-Blessed as @chameleonspell put it, click here if you haven’t seen Brian Blessed before.) So it’s just kind of... okay. They also established that Divayth Fyr was friends with Sotha Sil before Sotha Sil’s apotheosis, which would make him old enough to remember being Chimer. However, I was under the impression that he did not personally remember the War of the First Council, but I don’t really have any evidence to back this up, so if somebody has some Morrowind dialogue to help me out, that’d be great. It’s quite possible that this is a lore contradiction.

Sotha Sil’s depression. The way he’s depicted, he exhibits a lot of symptoms that make me think that he has some very profound depression going on. That honestly seems accurate to his character. It’s not necessarily a good or a bad thing, but it’s an understandable character choice.

The ‘I don’t know how to interpret this’:

The very short depiction we get of Nerevar just seems... off. @saltrices mentioned that there were some speculations going around on tumblr that Nerevar could have been part Ayleid or some other non-Chimer elf, and...

That’s the hologram of Nerevar, and the projection of the last Ayleid king. They’re wearing the same armor. Why? I have no idea. I don’t think the armor suits him. His height in comparison to Sotha Sil is certainly not accurate, but again, I think Sotha Sil is probably making himself appear taller because he thinks he should or something. In life, Nerevar was almost certainly the same height or taller than Sotha Sil. The height difference has more to do with how Sotha Sil is choosing to depict them both, and the armor choice could be as well, but I don’t think so. Sotha Sil is likely to depict Nerevar in armor he actually wore, which is why the armor choice is so strange. I’m not sure what to make of it.

TL:DR: I enjoyed the DLC. I disliked some of the writing, especially regarding Sotha Sil, but I like other parts of the writing. I had a lot of fun, and I found the DLC to be visually appealing, but I think that most of the “deep” lore that the DLC tried to add should, in general, be completely disregarded.

That’s my take, now I wanna hear everyone else’s! Reblog with what you thought was good, bad, neutral, or perplexing!

Many thanks to @talldarkandroguesome​ for running through the Clockwork City 1.5 times with me and for being my sounding board. 

Tagging those who were interested in participating: @ladynerevar @kapycta @sharmat-dreams @ratwhisperer @spoopy-eneko @kee413 @king-helseth @kagrenacs @annachibi @jurvektheblogsmer​ Anyone else who wants to is welcome to join as well!

[everydreamrecorded]

what are all of the mods you have for skyrim?

hey there, i love you anon, legit i love you. or i anyway love this question. here is my current  mod list. because i’m a shithead who likes talking/typing, i’ll put the list below and explain each one. if this isn’t what you were looking for, i’m sorry

Skyrim.esm=1 = main game obvUpdate.esm=1 = some kinda update for main gameDawnguard.esm=1 = vampire dlcHearthFires.esm=1 = build house dlc (my fav honestly)Dragonborn.esm=1 = miraak dlcUnofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.esp=1 = fix shit modSkyrim Supplemental Patch.esp=1 = fix other shit mod, newerLanterns Of Skyrim - All In One - Main.esm=1 = i don’t like darknotice board.esp=1 = extra misc quests modApachii_DivineEleganceStore.esm=1 = haven’t tried this, clothing modTravellersOfSkyrim.esm=1 = travelling merchants!!!!!!!! i loveUnlimitedBookshelves.esp=1 = tbh haven’t tried but i like the idea soETaC - RESOURCES.esm=1 = expanded towns and cities ie for me, lotsa ingredientsHighResTexturePack01.esp=1 = tesxtures from bethHighResTexturePack02.esp=1 = more textures from bethHighResTexturePack03.esp=1 = even more textures from bethAH Hotkeys.esp=1 = hotkeys for…….s omething idkEnhancedLightsandFX.esp=1 = lighting goodWeapons & Armor Fixes_Remade.esp=1 = fixes shitETaC - Complete.esp=1 = etac……. seee above plus i mean, not just ingrediens but just like.. added interest in townsClothing & Clutter Fixes.esp=1  = more fixes. whys a game like this need fixes, fuck allSummermyst - Enchantments of Skyrim.esp=1 = enchanting is fun, for money making because i’m a greedy, leveling loving bitcgWeapons & Armor_TrueWeaponsLvlLists.esp=1 = idkaMidianBorn_ContentAddon.esp=1 = amidian goodComplete Crafting Overhaul_Remade.esp=1 = more mining wiht less hittinbg, if you get what i mean. it’s got other stuff, lots of other stuff honestly but i don’t even look at it. idk i’m kinda fucking dumb soRealisticWaterTwo.esp=1 = pretty waterJKs Skyrim Major Cities.esp=1 = again more interesting cities, ie loooooooooots of ingredietns and looting i like items nad shitImmersive Orc Strongholds.esp=1 = sameAlternate Start - Live Another Life.esp=1 = who does the intro nowaydadsImmersive Whiterun.esp=1 = hImmersive Solstheim.esp=1 = idk sometimes with somenting else, above mod also i assumeETaC - Complete LoS Patch.esp=1 = to connect lanterns of skyrim and etacBFT Ships and Carriages.esp=1 = better fast travel, for those who are lazy fuckers but don’t want to just like cheat with console all the time. so take a carriage, pay 25 gold or whatever, feel better about your game choices. idkSMIM-Merged-All.esp=1 = smim, for those who ejnoy realistic ropes and shit. i doRealisticWaterTwo - Legendary.esp=1 = water againInigo.esp=1 = that purple cat, he’s a good guyRun For Your Lives.esp=1 = idk if this works, i seem to alway shave people die. but maybe i ‘ve got a conflict. i always put it on anyway hahfallentreebridges.esp=1 = fallen trees, pretty cool. puts… fallen trees around. idk how else to say this but i like this modOH GOD BEES.esp=1  = bees, apiaries, idkSFO - Dragonborn.esp=1 = flora overhaul part dragonbornETaC - Complete ELFX Patch.esp=1 = etac + elfxETaC - Dragon Bridge South.esp=1 = fffffffmihailmmaminotaur.esp=1 = minotaurs from mihail. this modder makes fome fucking cool monster/creature mnods. i use minotaurs and land dreughs. so far, i ama unable to fight either they look fucking cool. io’m probably just fuckn dubmSkyrim Flora Overhaul.esp=1 = frlowers, plants and shit, you knowVerdant - A Skyrim Grass Plugin.esp=1 = grass. aint never been able to play with a grass mod until i go t my new pc, now i’ve got grass everywhereAlternate Start – New Beginnings.esp=1  = yeah who does the cart to be executed anymroe ehApachii_DivineEleganceStore_Patch.esp=1 = io still don’t know, still haven’t tried. clothes modmihailcliffracer.esp=1 = fuckng…….. cliff racers. i like them okay. i aven’t seen them in game (in skyrimn ri mean, ih avce seen thiem i nmorrowind aright)ETaC - Complete BFT Patch.esp=1 = patchmihaillanddreugh.esp=1 = those land dreughmihailhungerandvermai.esp=1 = fucking hungers. for more morrowind feels or whateverETaC - Complete AS-LAL Patch.esp=1 = patchFishingInSkyrim.esp=1 = fishing in skyrim!!!!!! motherfuck thsi is one of my favorites so i;’m putting it in blold text to get yalls attention. idk if it’ sufcked up or not, i havne’ looked atht emag in amillion years but i love it seriously, get it if you like alchemy but also look at the page first cause idk about bugsLanterns Of Skyrim - AIO - Dawnguard.esp=1 = lightsImmersive Whiterun - Verdant Patch.esp=1 = idkApocalypse - The Spell Package.esp=1 = spells, i use like…… two of them. i’m stupidApocalypse - Waterstride Spell Addon.esp=1 = see aboveBabette.esp=1 = i dn’t knowBattlemage Armour.esp=1 = armor i don’t use, again stupidBearMcrabWispArmor.esp=1 = m100 or seomtihg, good mod maker who makes weird shit. bear armor looks fuckin weird, gotta take some screenshots bhuhChesko_WearableLantern.esp=1 = have i mentioned tha ti like seeing, i like litghtDesyncBirdsOfPrey.esp=1 = idkEpisodeParallax.esp=1 = parallax even though it messes with me sometimesEyesFix.esp=1 = for the fucking eye issue that i’ve had several timesLeazersOpenLock2_0.esp=1 = for mages who want lootFeather Spells.esp=1 = for MAGES WHO WANT LOOT, I LOVE ITEMS AND become overencumbered eaislyGeneral Goods Fences.esp=1 = selll stolen shit when you are not a thiefHarvestOverhaul.esp=1 = ingredients, fo r the greedy alchemistHarvestOverhaulCreatures.esp=1 = sameHighHrothgarWindowGlow.esp=1 = idkInigoMCM.esp=1 = inigo + mcmKS Hairdo’s.esp=1 = hairdoooooosLindsWoodlandAlchemist.esp=1 = an armorLovelyHairstylesCE.esp=1 = hairsLucrezia_Navarre_Robe.esp=1 = my currrent outfit ( i have some other stufff paried with it but my character is wearing most of it right now), looks super coolNUHairstyles.esp=1 = hairs. i have too many hair mods for someone who dones’t look at their charact4e muchNatural Lighting and Atmospherics.esp=1 = lighting and shit idkRaceMenu.esp=1 = you knwRaceMenuOverlays.esp=1 = yeaRaceMenuPlugin.esp=1 = hRainbows.esp=1 = weat4her mod, never seen one in gmnae but you know, good idea, goo dshitReal Roads.esp=1 - roads, 3d or somethingSC_hairs.esp=1 = hairsSHOT.esp=1 = for screenshots, screenshot hot keys. fav modSkyUI.esp=1 = i buet you kow what this isSkyrim HD Tribute - Roads.esp=1 = i don’t know honestlySnowBall.esp=1 = idk??SolitudeExterior.esp=1 = ??The Eyes Of Beauty - Elves Edition.esp=1 = nic elooking eyeballsWestWindMisfit.esp=1 =  a good mage outfitTheEyesOfBeauty.esp=1 = eyse againThievesGuildTrapDoor.esp=1= so if i do thief shit i don’t have to fast travel in an annoying wayTransmuteSpells.esp=1 = spells, idkTravellersOfSkyrim - Vanilla.esp=1 = gain, traveling merchantsUNP Leggings.esp=1 = legginsg, clothig modVividian - Extended Groundfogs.esp=1 = iodk??????When Vampires Attack.esp=1 = vampires don’t kill ya npcsWhiterunExterior.esp=1 =etac related i thinkajd_domhearthfirestewards.esp=1 = extra stewards for hearthfire homesfemale mannequins in homes.esp=1 = no dude mannequinsfemale mannequins.esp=1 = “″nomorestupiddog.esp=1 = dogs goodLostGrimoire.esp=1 = spellsVioLens.esp=1 = no fucking kill camRGMsVanityMirror.esp=1 = mirror to change appearnace. v important whe n you give almost no shits what your character looks like. once again, i’;m dumbBewitching Clothes.esp=1 = witchy oufit, my character wears the shoes and hatBashed Patch, 0.esp=0 = i don’t even have mine activated because my game won’t load with it activated, idk why adn i can’t be assed to figure it outDynDOLOD.esp=1 = lod modMurphy.esp=1 = good dogMurphy - Dawnguard and Dragonborn Patch.esp=1 = good dog +dlc

[badsithnocookie]

anyway @mademoisellegush‘s posts about morrowind lately have been making me feel all nostalgic for it but like. going through my own screenshots etc caused my brain to do a balmora/balmorra fart and start pondering a tes au. because, you know. i’m trash. where, like. quinn is some underpaid official in the imperial embassy at balmora who ends up stuck on a quest(tm) with a boorish lieutenant from the local fighter’s guild and a short tempered but rather pretty battlemage from house hlaalu.

tho mean, if we were going with factions with approximate ideologies rather than just going imperial = imperial, then quinn really should be thalmor - plus lbr, quinn would be a natural altmer. rare non magic using altmer, but snooty high elf all the same. who somehow ends up tangled up in the shenanigans of a somewhat less snooty altmer battlemage who, if you believe the rumours, is descended from  the original royal line - but shows absolutely no sign of this in any of her conduct.

(sha is ambassador to the empire from hammerfell, trying to negotiate peace and support without absorption - or war. felix is her utterly devoted bodyguard. awenyth is the single-minded battlemaster of the imperial fighter’s guild. yamé is a nord scholar/mage who works tirelessly attempting to counter stormcloak propaganda. anya collects bounties on thalmor and stormcloaks both, but refuses all attempts to be recruited by the imperials. aemilia is imperial, technically - a healer in the mage’s college, who absolutely does not trade in illicit goods under the table. ciennah leads an imperial special operations team who are routinely underestimated by people who look at her and assume she’d a sugarhead or a thief.)

[belmontswhip]

Thanks and more TES stuff coming soon

I picked up Oblivion and Morrowind on the steam summer sale for super cheap. Morrowind was my first TES game but I played it on XBox (same with Oblivion). Funny side story is that one of my lab mates from graduate school was playing Morrowind back when it was released and modding it on PC. I think he made mods too and I have to ask him (when I find him as he's now in Turkey and I'm in US). Anyway he laughed at me saying I need to play it on PC because of the mods. I didn't start modding until Skyrim so I feel I missed a lot... If you search this blog you can find some pics from when I first attempted to mod Oblivion. But I ran into a ton of issues only to discover the disc copy I had fucking sucked for modding. Even after I installed the patches I still had issues. So I'm giving it one more shot now that I'm more experienced with modding. I would have done this sooner but I prefer using a controller and I also failed really hard at emulating one for either game on my last try. But I don't care and I'll use the god damn keyboard and mouse if I have to. So expect some screenshots and maybe even some mods for TES 3 and 4 Thanks to all of you for following my work and sharing my screenshots. Cheers

[spinneryesteryear]

Spinner plays FFXIV Stormblood

Finished FFXIV 4.0 MSQ over the weekend (DRK to 70, WHM to 77), hoo boy. I know I've got the 4.x patches to go but I did wind up liking Stormblood more than I thought. Spoilers ahoy!

Highlights:

- started the SB questline right about the same time as everyone else started ShB *sobs* It did mean I landed in the midst of some good FATE-grinding parties, however, at little as that matters

- I liked the Baelsar’s Wall but those last twin bosses can go die in a fire

- couldn’t get really sad over Papalymo because he barely contributed anything to the story except to snark at Yda. I like him better in DFFOO, where he is an excellent black mage. So, like, the exact opposite of my feelings regarding Thancred.

- Shinryu, Omega, and Cid all disappeared for the majority of the Stormblood questline and tbh it suffered for their absences. At least Estinien, of all people, was tracking the first two down.

- thankfully the WHM quests were all in the first zone I got access to and I already had it at 70 so I just zipped through them

----- me: *fails repeatedly at WHM lvl 70 quest*

----- me: *returns w/gear 10 lvls higher* Time for my vengeance.

----- (Yes, I know I should always keep my gear up to date and to be fair I always keep it at the appropriate level or better when other people are involved. This, however, was single-player duty and my lack of better gear didn’t matter since I didn’t even have the lvl 61 dungeon unlocked yet.)

- never cared at all for Zenos. Nope. Not at all. He and his golf club bag of swords can go fall off Shinryu's platforms. (I also had 0% trouble w/his solo fights on DRK? Maybe it was the new flat damage reduction baked into all tanks, idk, or maybe it was having Aug Shire/at lvl gear for each instance. I kept my health up just fine and had to be wiped out via his insta-kill move for the duty to end. But honestly it felt like good DRK job fantasy, taking on this insurmountable foe and clawing my way past death to defend my fallen comrades.) Also my character literally viewed him as a troubled teen taking out his issues on everyone around him via murder and wasn't impressed w/him in the least. But anyway.

- I came to tolerate Lyse but that's it. Hot-blooded people who rush off and act w/o thinking irritate me greatly IRL and it's no different in virtual life. Plus, she's almost literally an anime version of me who traded book smarts for punching ability. Even her name is a mere one letter from mine. It's kinda weird. She’s my mirror universe self. Ugh.

- it’s really disappointing Square Enix gives me so few options in killing myself. Let me jump off cliffs to my messy death already, dang it. Skyrim let me do it within the first 2 minutes of ever playing, haha.

- the sharks fly. the bears fly. the goobues fly. why not.

- ah, yes, gyuki. Skyrim prepared me for unreasonably bloodthirsty walruses. And for the unreasonably powerful and murderous mammoths.

- I liked M'naago, wished she had been the lead instead

- genuinely loved Gosetsu (Conrad who?) and was upset at his 'death'. I'm at once glad he survived and annoyed at another death fake-out. *Drak voice* Kill more! Kill 'em all!

- Hien is an adorable badass and I wish to adopt him and take him home with me. Doma 4 lyfe

---- me: *interiorly grumbles every time I hear the words ‘Ala Mhigo’

---- also me: *cheers for Doma & the Steppes*

- I just... really don’t understand why Highlanders live in a desert nation and have geographic and cultural neighbors based off of India and yet they have Old English/OHG names. Why???

- also why is Lyse blindingly white (and Minfilia, for that matter) in stark contrast to other Highlanders???

---- me: So, Lyse, if you’re from Gyr Abania then why are you white?

---- Alphinaud: Oh my god, Spinner, you can’t just ask someone why they’re white.

- once again, I'm probably the only person who loved the WHM quests (all SB job quests seem to return to their 1 - 30 [or 30 - 50?] roots and I don't mind). Did lots of screaming over DRK 60 - 70. I saved them all up and did them right away when I hit 70; they flow much better w/no interruptions

- explored/quested/ground FATE's on DRK but ran new dungeons on WHM as that's my comfort job. Failed twice on the mechanics of Bardam's Mettle 2nd boss but no wipes so we're good. So many overconfident gunbreaker tanks, though. T__T *I* did a better job tanking/killing a pack of like 12 mobs as WHM in Sirensong Sea than one bunbreaker, smh.

- I found Magnai to be entirely too amusing. I also want his moves on WAR. 

- somehow missed Shisui entirely? Still haven't got all aether currents in the Ruby Sea RIP me

------ (2 month later addendum: finally unlocked it and got my aether currents. Now, to never return to that area ever again.)

- no underwater mobs is so disappointing. Let me throw fireballs and Holys and swing a greatsword underwater already. Let me tell you, nothing is as exciting as going diving in Morrowind with only a 22% chance to successfully cast Waterbreathing and this Kojin blessing is such an OP cheat.

- enjoying my Grani mount tbh. I have no idea if it's lore-relevant for ShB; I just saw the name lifted straight from Norse myth and was like, "Want." It's more of a horse-shaped reptile, however, with 'paws' that become increasingly creepy the more you stare at them. I wonder if it eats meat like the thestrals in HP.

- shooting minigames? Okay. Platforming minigames? AW HECK NO I THOUGHT I WAS DONE W/THIS WHEN I LEFT LEGO GAMES TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME PLATFORMING IS MY GREATEST ENEMY

- I was derping around in Kugane and accidentally started doing the tower jumping puzzle. As soon as I figured out what I was doing I had to run away immediately to save my sanity.

- throwing on tank stance and rushing in to save someone from a mob or a FATE is still as heady a feeling as ever (except when they then run off and leave you to die, like, no why please). Or raising people out in the wild. I particularly love that cyclops boss FATE near Whitebrim bc I can go stand on the edges as a powerful WHM and raise people 10x as the bodies keep hitting the floor. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s still so great.

- I do enjoy the Morrowind feel of walking through a new zone and taking in the scenery but I'd like it more if all the wildlife wasn't super powerful and aggro'ing on me every 10 ft. It feels less like an ecosystem and more like generic monster land when there are no longer any non-aggressive mobs like there were in ARR. The Gyr Abanian landscapes are slowly growing on me, however.

- me, flying through Porta Praetoria/Lochs: Those wooden bonfires must be awfully expensive, if wood is as scarce in Gyr Abania as I think....

- loved the Azim Steppe - atmosphere, music, lore, everything. Waiting for someone to call me out on this bc I just really love Xaela (and may make a male Xaela alt one day).

- had minor moral qualms over fighting in the Naadam for the Mol bc I wanted to claim victory for the Orl

- I do really like those moments in Heavensward and Stormblood when the game recreates the epic moments from the trailers (the WoL walking through the soldiers to fight the dragon; the WoL and Lyse sparring, etc.). 

- I was singing, “I don’t care, I don’t care,” to the tune of Let It Go during the Ala Mhigo cutscenes but the resistance singing their anthem really got to me nevertheless. Many voices united and uplifted and song always hits me hard emotionally.

- my character still looking at Zenos with 0% thirst (negative amounts of thirst, tbh) like, “Who is this sassy lost child?”

- then again my character is like 31 yrs old here with a backstory summed up as ‘angry single mom goes to check on friend, ends up killing a god and getting recruited to save the world’

- Pipin is best Lalafell; I will defend him with my life but he has Tizona now and doesn't need me. The absolute shortest guy around is calling the shots in this military campaign and I love it. At least his dad gave him a box to stand on so he could see over the table during the important strategic military discussions.

- the siege of Ala Mhigo taught us that thaumaturges/black mages are the living equivalent of heavy artillery, nice nice nice

- got lucky and had a competent crew in DF to fight Shinryu

- tbh my character would probably kick Asahi’s dad while he was down and cave in his ribs, just finishing him off. It’s no wonder Asahi turned out as bad as he did, with parents as horrifically self-centered as THAT.

- I humbly submit ‘Higwit’ as a fan-name for that elezen following Asahi around - an acronym for ‘Hien Is Great - Who Is That?!’ based on an old LOTR fan meme. Who else here remembers Figwit before he became Lindir?

- I liked the Tsukuyomi fight but I can’t remember anything specific about it now, not even the mechs. 

- I did spend a lot of time screenshotting Hien because he is an awesome bro and I would endure Ala Mhigo all over again for him

[terryblount]

Turok 2 and Crusaders of Might and Magic get ESRGAN AI-enhanced HD Texture Packs

Now here is something special for Turok 2 fans and for all those that remember Crusaders of Might and Magic. Thanks to the latest AI-enhanced techniques, a new HD Texture Pack has been released for them.

Created by ‘elvis09’ (kudos to Sergey for informing us), this Texture Pack uses ESRGAN in order to overhaul the game’s textures. Unfortunately elvis09 did not provide any comparison screenshots, however you can find below some screenshots showcasing the modded version in action.

Crusaders of Might and Magic is a third-person action RPG that came out in 1999. Since we’re talking about a 1999 title, you should not expect to be blown away by its visuals. Furthermore, I have to be honest that I was not impressed by the visual improvements, especially after witnessing the incredible results that we got for Doom and Morrowind.

But anyway, I’m pretty sure that the two die-hard PC gamers that have kept the CD for Crusaders of Might and Magic will be delighted to replay this game with better textures. If you are one of them, you can download the texture pack from here.

As for Turok 2, the ESRGAN AI-enhanced Texture Pack was created by modder ‘collige’ and upscales all textures by up to 4X of their original resolution using ESRGAN. Unfortunately the modder did not share any additional screenshots to showcase the upgraded textures other than one featured below. Still, those interested in it can download it from here.

Have fun!

Crusaders of Might and Magic

Turok 2

Turok 2 and Crusaders of Might and Magic get ESRGAN AI-enhanced HD Texture Packs published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[zydrateacademy]

Current Activities in Gaming #191

Now that I have a job, I’ve been getting games on my own again. Here’s a quick rundown of some new games I’ve acquired and some first impressions, if applicable. Titanfall 2: Basically Call of Duty but with more jumping. The same infuriating hitboxes where I will constantly get enemies down to 10-30% health (And I know this because I can see their bar) and just die pretty much every time. I’ve gotten some cool plays but they’re few and far between and all my titans are made out of fucking toilet paper. I might write a review of it eventually but it’s very much Titanfall 1 with some new wallpaper. Single Player is good and really has the “weirdness” feel that older shooters used to have. I enjoyed parkouring through this modular-home-processing factory. Battleborn: Had the misfortune of being released near Overwatch and therefore was dead on arrival and might have had some bad business practices in the background that internet personalities like Jim Sterling were quick to shit on. I just bought the full game post-FreeToPlay update and thus I don’t get any of those founder bonuses or the Season pass. So far, a couple hours in, it’s definitely a MOBA and not much anything like Overwatch which is what some were trying to claim. It also has something I wish more MOBAs had: An entire PvE campaign where you can group up with people in a queue and help you out. While I can barely comprehend the story, the setpieces are still a lot of fun and they really make their core mechanics stretch. Unfortunately their playerbase has fallen off, Steam’s community hub reported only about 1400 people when I was playing which might be enough for more casual modes, I suspect serious players will have a hard time finding people without a discord channel. Darksiders: This is a game I remember my friend getting when I lived in an apartment post-parental divorce. It has a remastered version now and I have no further comments. It’s installed and has yet to be played, during the week I purchased it I was dealing with some technical annoyances with a newer, more professional mic that are still ongoing. As well as some health issues that make things difficult to record. Bunker Punks: An indie shooter that has a lot of soul from the original Doom and Quake games. It’s simple, I don’t expect a review of it to be very long. Block’hood: Same deal with this one, except more of a city sim that I just can’t quite figure out but I don’t want to refund. It’s so cute! Gauntlet: By no means a new game (Like... all of this list, really) but it will no doubt be relentlessly compared to Diablo 3. I will largely be playing it with my gaming community so we’ll see how the experience improves. Future Wishlisting: Shadow of War: I tried to record Shadow of Mordor for my youtube channel but after having played and beaten it twice, knowing the ins and outs, mechanics, orc detection ranges... It became far too easy and thus could not take advantage of the Nemesis system. Shadow of War is four months away (Barring any delays) so hopefully it’ll bring a newer and challenging experience. I really loved SoM but it was not very replayable due to the learning curve. Once you get over it, it all becomes cheese. Battlefield 4: Because half my discord gaming community plays it and I might as well join them. I watched an hour let’s play of it by the discord owner and I don’t like the idea of getting sniped ten thousand miles away from a skyscraper. How often do you look up in games anyway? Black Desert Online: Seeing good things on steam reviews but it was reknowned for having the best character creation on the market but one of the most blandest actual-MMOness. It’s heavily discounted now. I believe it was originally 60$ but the base is now 10 with a multitude of “tiers” that go up to 50$. Not a high priority over all. Nier Automata: This is a game many report to have “grown” on them. I attempted to watch a let’s play of it and was... confused. It seemed to switch between ten different games and I have no idea which manner of mechanic is the “Core” gameplay. I see a lot of screenshots that make it look like a third person slasher, which appeals to me, but the LP consisted of old school asteroids-esque shooting and then a sidescroller akin to Mark of the Ninja. What the hell is this game? Elder Scrolls Online: Not just the Morrowind upgrade, but the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood content packs appeal to me greatly. However I’ve run into a problem with the game: I suck at it now. I used to be passable, running a constant healing build with a vampire nightblade. But now boss mobs (which are common at the end of quest chains) are unkillable. I never made it to level cap, to boot. So my fear is, it would cost me 60-80+ to get those three things only to barely be able to actually play. Fuck me if there’s boss mobs in any of those content packs. There’s more, but these bits are the higher priority.