I wanted to make this post when I uploaded 2.0.0, but I still think it's a good time for that.The video above is for immersion purposes ;)
"Why decide to change how the mod works? Maybe it would be better to just add more stuff, right..?"
So that was a question I asked myself when I was working on the next quest related to the old "main quest", I remember I thought maybe it wasn't worth the trouble to try to fix the old stuff and just try to make the new stuff better, old stuff is working after all.
But I just didn't like it, I wanted to change how the old stuff worked, I learnt several stuff that I didn't know before that could help me improve it, so I just stopped and started to plan what to do…
One of the main things I wanted to do was to improve Immersive Wenches, it is my first mod after all, and there are several wenches I could use there too :P I think this is where I started with the 1.7 beta, making IW a requirement of Yuriana mod was also a way for me to see both mods as one.
Story short, I liked how things were working. Turning all immersive wenches into captured wenches was not a good idea but I liked how both mods worked together ;)
After that I had to think what to do with Yuriana mod...
The mod Structure
Okay, so I'll try my best to explain that (I wonder if people can even read it, but see it more as a "guide", maybe to what I will talk about next, I'll try to improve it later :P).
The plan for 2.0 was to change how the main quest and the wenches' quests worked. In the graphic, you can see 3 phases: pre-last Stage of Curse, Post Last Stage of Curse, and then the final phase.
Base Phase/Pre-last stage of curse/Finding wenches phase/Phase 0
Let's talk about the base phase since it's pretty much what is available. The idea of this base phase is that nothing is blocked behind the progression of the Enslavement Curse. For example: meeting Ethel before anyone else is possible; You want to get Khythaela? Just go to Gloomreach, and you find her there with Elora without the need to talk to Yulia; want Ashra? just find her in the Unknown Tomb, etc.
The idea here is that most wenches or other future wenches are available from the start EXCEPT the ones in post last stage curse phase (curse progression)
Also some quests still need to be related for example Ashra and Yuriana quest are not considered the main quest but I still think they have to be related (Yuriana trying to find Ashra and Ashra trying to rescue Yuriana) so it's not all available from the start but at least which were make sense like getting Shavanne before meeting Yuriana was always fine and they shouldn't be related.
Consider this the base phase to find wenches that is always available even after completing the main quest/"finished the mod".
At the bottom you see the base systems related to the wenches that affect all phases/the mod; for example Slave Training could potentially affect all wenches no matter the phase, it's up to the player to use that or not after all so technically if you don’t want to use it at all and just want to progress the quest, it's fine. Just as it should be fine if you want to just focus on this and ignore the main quest but as mentioned, wenches directly related to the new Main Quest won't be available until progressing it.
It's mainly about what the player want to do, but the mod also needs some structure to follow; for example, getting Salla without even getting a captured wench doesn't really make sense. I want to give options, but also keep things structured according to the main quest/plot of the mod.
One thing that is not that noticeable in the graphic is that the basic phase is the one that can be potentially expanded adding more quests or wenches without breaking the structure of the mo, the other phases are technically the Main Quest (which some extras here and there and could potentially affect the base phase as well)
The base phase is about finding wenches and interacting with their quests without restrictions (where it makes sense) and where the player can do whatever he wants in relation to the base systems, and progress the curse or not.
Potentially new ideas or wenches could be added in this base phase, like more stories related to Immersive Wenches or the Christmas patch wenches or just any idea related to a wench, maybe a guard wench who the player finds wounded somewhere, or a Forsworn wench who was imprisoned in Markarth, etc. As the other wenches, these wenches can help the player progress the curse if needed.
Main Quest shouldn't be a chore
One of the main issues with how the Main Quest was working before is that it was getting too long. Making more stuff over/after it, and even testing it was not fun.
The first idea was not to guide the player at all, but I think doing this in Skyrim is a mistake since it's expected to get some guidance (markers), that's how the game works after all, but also Skyrim isn't just pointing everything you have to do everytime, so things like the wanted posters and maybe subtle dialogues/rumors help.
Enslavement Curse progression
Technically, it could be said that the Main Quest starts when you claim your first Cursed Slave. The curse progression works as a way to introduce the characters related to the main quest, and getting to the last stage of the curse is what will start the Main Quest.
Currently the Enslavement Curse has 5 stages (the last one being disabled for now) with set amount of required cursed slaves to progress: 1-4-8-16-9999 I'm thinking that maybe the values can be something the player could change if they wanna, so for example if you dont want to interact with this at all, you can set all values like 9999-9999-9999-9999-9999 so getting cursed slaves won't do anything but also will never start the main quest, in this case the player can decide to just stay in the base phase.
Other options could be to speed it up so it's like 1-2-3-4-5 to get to the last stage faster. I'm still not sure if skipping all phases could work since it could cause issues. In any case, I think it could be fine to set a default progression, maybe the one set currently, but add the option so people can tweak this if they are replaying to check what's new in the mod and get to that part faster if possible.
The Archetypes
I personally like this a lot, but it is still very green, and I think it has room for a lot of improvements. Technically, it's an alignment system related to the mod, and like the alignment system, it needs "sub-archetypes."
For example, each archetype could have 3 sub-archetypes, but related to them likeProtective GuardianIndulging GuardianRighteous GuardianThese won't be something people can choose, but it's mainly to give options to the current archetype people select. Just having one [Guardian] tag for a dialogue feels forced and too guided, because of this I'm thinking on maybe removing the tags, I think only the [curse] tag should be kept since this one is indeed something implied to be forced for the player to say and its up to the player to (give in) choose this option to "check" what happens.
These sub archetypes is more a thing for me to guide me in making dialogues, since, for example, there could be guardians who want to enslave the wenches, but more in a "good way" which some wenches will be happy about too :P instead of just being the good boy every time, similar to the other archetypes, a Tyrant could be more Protective in his own way, but also more sadistic, which again some wenches could enjoy more too :P
That's kind of the idea, as mentioned I thing removing the tags and add more sub options to each archetype could help since the idea about this is to represent the player and show how the wenches react to his actions, currently there are some branches related to this in some point but I think there is a lot of potential and interesting things to do here once things are more polished ;)
Skyrim
Besides all that could be mentioned about the problems or things to improve in the mod, the main reason to make 2.0 is Skyrim itself. The game is almost 15 years old, I guess it's already considered a "classic game" at this point. Most of us most likely play Skyrim from time to time, or just to check a new Yuriana update ;)
Changing things so it's a little easier to play is the idea. The mod should follow "Skyrim's vibe", just walking around hearing the OST if you want that or focus on completing a new mod released to check it's quest, hopefully with Yuriana or other wench around too, or just play because it's winter and it feels nice to play Skyrim. You get the idea.
That's why I think besides improving the main quest of the mod, the mod should also be easy to pick up and play, picking up a wench to walk around and just take some pics and maybe some slave training here and there, just to have fun ;)
I didn't include that in the graphic but also want to improve how the wenches work outside their quests. Not just be regular follower after completing their quests.
I tried to make this post simple enough to explain a little about what happened and what's next, there is a lot of things that made me think about making 2.0 like Starfield, TES VI and current Bethesda, so I may be missing some stuff that may be important to mention o.O
Thanks for the support and as always feel free to ask questions about this here. ;)I will continue with the "what's next" in the "What's next" post here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/147747990?
P.D: So lately I was a bit blocked trying to make some stories since I was more thinking about the mod. I was thinking to make a poll about that (I actually want to make polls about several things lol) but since I will make a poll about the mod I will leave that for later, just mentioning that since I think people will like to check more stories too :P
No better time to decide than a start of a new year ;)