[Mark]

Version 1.4
-snip-

Great stuff Arthmoor! keep up the great work.

[WTW]

So I've tried various starts (the ones that interest me, anyway)

So vampire start is rather awesome. My personal 2nd favorite start. I do use a couple vampire overhauls to make vampires better, so that helps. Being a vampire is pretty fun, for a side character. I just set timescale to 6, and nights don't go by so fast.

The camping start is nice, however I think it would be better farther away from civilization. When I (personally) think of camping, I think of being far away from anything...I know this isn't always the case, but that's just my thoughts. However, there are already other starts like that...so...

Bandit start is kind of buggy. Or it could just be a problem with the fort itself and not to do with this mod. If that's the case, may want to choose a new location (again) for the bandits. The bandits somehow made it outside the fortress, and couldn't go back in so they kept running into walls. Didn't seem to be any entrances to the fort either, from the outside. I ran all around the outside, and the only entrance was to the inside of the fort itself. However, the bandits inside the fort itself attack you on sight...may be better to make them friends, like the outside bandits are. Unless there is a reason for that.

The survival, left for dead, start is probably my most favorite. You start with pretty much nothing and have to work for each coin. On top of that, I use the improved needs mod+frostfell, so that makes it a lot better. Probably offers the best variety in RP...as one can come up with tons of stories for a character in this start or have a lot of questions as to what happened or why you are there and what not. I play without a compass (so I rely on the night sky mostly, and the sun to a degree) and my personal rule is not to open the map unless inside a city/village or if I have a camp setup. So, this makes the start a lot more fun, in regards to exploring.

I tried the Necromancer start, just to check it out. It was nice, but not my type of start.

My third favorite out of the ones I was interested in, was the ship wreck start...I got lost in the ship and froze to death I'll have to keep trying, but this start is really funny with Frostfell.

So, yeah...I really enjoy the vampire and left for dead start. Probably the two main characters I'll use. And then as a fun kind of thing to do (at least to begin with), is probably mess around with the ship wreck start.

[aisha jamil]

I really hope there comes a time in the near future that this mod becomes compatible with Third Era Attributes.

[Sarah Edmunds]

Reasonable suggestions for more options are welcome. Especially anything fitting for specific race origins as I've done with the orcs.

Would there be any way to do an Altmer start in the Thalmor Embassy? I would be really into that personally. Also, if you're looking to add a unique starting choice for each race, I wouldn't mind seeing the a Dark Elf start in some slum in the Grey Quarter of Windhelm.

[Benjamin Holz]

Would there be any way to do an Altmer start in the Thalmor Embassy? I would be really into that personally.

I once used an ini tweak to start in the thalmor embassy, and it's apparant that some tweaks would have to be made. The Diplomatic Immunity quest is triggered automatically when the game finds you inside the embassy. It also dropped me in the 'restricted' area right past the door where Malborn leaves you, although I prevented the guards from attacking me by adding myself to the thalmor faction. Elenwen was there too, oddly enough, and she talked to me as if I were one of the guests.

The door to the kitchen and the recepetion area is locked, and the courtyard has an invisible wall around it, so there is no legitimate way out of the place.

As an aside, I found my self-made thalmor start to be pretty unsatisfying. I later did a second try, putting myself in Northwatch keep, but it's no fun when the only thing your fellow thalmor can say is "Need something?" and the dialogue for the imperial legion questline breaks whatever immersion you had related to being a foreign oppressor. I went in there hoping to slaughter talos worshippers, but it all felt like stupid stu.

[brandon frier]

I can't start the dark brotherhood quest. I completed Innocent Lost and went to sleep, but the game didn't send me to the abonded shack. I tried to manualy enter the quest stages, but no matter what stage I put, I can't get the DB door to open, It doesn't even ask me for the question. Is this bug because of the Live Another Life mode? Can it be something else? I have the fast travel disabled too...

[Robert Jackson]

I can't start the dark brotherhood quest. I completed Innocent Lost and went to sleep, but the game didn't send me to the abonded shack. I tried to manualy enter the quest stages, but no matter what stage I put, I can't get the DB door to open, It doesn't even ask me for the question. Is this bug because of the Live Another Life mode? Can it be something else? I have the fast travel disabled too...

1. Load order in spoilers please.
2. Have you got a note yet that you need before sleeping?
3. Which start did you use?

[CRuzIta LUVz grlz]

If you haven't received the note that says "we know" then sleeping won't help and the DB quest isn't ready to start yet.

[Sasha Brown]

I don't know if this mod caused it, but starting the main quest, I helped Hadvar. Think thats his name. That all worked, including the cave. However, as soon as he entered Riverwood he sprinted (literally) toward the inn and kept running into the wall/stairs. Then he would quickly walk back to the outside of Riverwood, just beyond the wall. He would then sprint toward that small cliff and keep running into the cliff. He would then walk (slowly this time) to just outside of Riverwood. He would stand for a few seconds and re-enter Riverwood...and then the cycle repeated. I did setstage MQ102 100...to get to the part I need to enter Whiterun. Everything after that (so far) has worked just fine.

Also, the Stendarr start is actually rather nice. I decided to try it out after my Vampire met up with a group of Stendarr. And, I think my Stendarr worshipping character may actually be my main. Kind of the opposite of my Vampire and with Frostfell+imps improved needs...since it is in a rather cold area, I have to make quick trips before I need to go back inside the Hall for warmth. My character, the way I made her, actually works really well being a Stendarr worshipper...most fitting of the starts for her.

[Alberto Aguilera]

Don't setstage stuff like that. The main quest is already sensitive enough as it is without doing that. You could inadvertently break something down the line that won't become apparent until it's far too late to fix it. Especially with some of the hooks that had to be made to get this mod to play nice.

Not sure what the deal is with Hadvar, he's never done that to me. Anything more specific you can offer up to help narrow it down?

[roxanna matoorah]

Yeah, turns out I didn't need to setstage at all. All I had to do was talk to Alvor and the quest continues like usual. Though Hadvar still runs off randomly. Maybe there is another mod causing the problem. I'll do a new character and start with the camping, since it is right in the area. See if it happens again, or if its just the Vampire or that particular save. Or maybe its because it was night or something? Don't know. I'll let you know if it happens with a new save. I do have quite a few mods (none which should change the main quests, but mods do weird things sometimes), but I moved this mod to the last of the load order...maybe that will help.

I'm leaving on vacation really soon until Thursday. So I can't really test much out. Hopefully a mod didn't break the main quest stages, or if it did, its just that one part (unless a new save fixes it). But I won't know if the main quests are broken until I come back.

I'll reply again when I test out a new save.

(edit)

The camping start works fine. When I chose a vampire and went with Hadvar, he took off running...even when reloading a bit earlier save. With camping start, he acts like he should.

So, either a new save fixed it or/and moving the mod to the very bottom of the load order. Or something else is up. It may be because I explored Riverwood before the quest started? Or something with it being night and not day? or being a vampire/that particular start? Something else? Or it just works with a new save/change of load order and its none of the above.

Also, the crazed adventurer has two adventure journals...not sure if that the adventurer is supposed to have two or just one. Or if that even matters.

[michael flanigan]

Hmm. At night... I wonder. When you arrived, was Alvor outside? I wonder if it's because the house is locked and once you guys arrive, Hadvar's AI realizes he can't get in, and since the scene is broken he can't initiate that either. I'll have to check, but that may not be so easy to fix.

[Carlos Rojas]

Alvor is at his blacksmith shop, on the grindstone (in my particular save). Actually, that whole script with Alvor and Hadvar never happens. Alvor is just doing his daily routine. I can talk to Alvor normally and continue the quest, however. But, some interaction between Alvor and Hadvar is being lost there. Works fine on the camping start.

This was at around 1 am (game time).

I can't test anything else, though. I'm leaving pretty much now. Hopefully this helps a bit though, if not, I'll see if my Stendarr character doesn't have the same problem. Or do a different character besides my main, and see if it doesn't affect her too.

Oh, and if it isn't this mod...it could be because I use two vampire overhauls (which are compatible with each other, they were built with each other in mind, Vampire FX+Vampire overhaul) that could be causing the problem with the vampire side of things. But not sure why that would effect Hadvar+Alvor.

In any case, the camping start works...not sure about any of the others. I won't personally be able to test anything else until Thursday.

[Eddie Howe]

Good work on this mod, Arthmoor! It's pretty much essential and it's going to be in my load order for years. Endorsed on Nexus too.

[Sammygirl]

If you haven't received the note that says "we know" then sleeping won't help and the DB quest isn't ready to start yet.

it wasn't like that before. But I think the problem was not in this mode particulary, but more likely that I used too many modes, in one moment I could barely mine, the mining animation took forever to start. I just did I clean up and going to use just the essentials first.

[Phillip Hamilton]

Definitely going to try out some very fleshed out and detailed dead is dead runs using this mod, the food and drink mods, the armoury mod and the monster mod.

[Eve Booker]

I endorsed this on Nexus recently. Excellent mod.

[scorpion972]

This is a superb mod. Your recent version has resolved the only real complaint I had (that as a bandit you were put in its faction) and now excellently makes it so only the bandits in your starting locale don't attack. Just as a suggestion, maybe make one of the random places you spawn be in one of the more northern regions (so far it is only in the southern territories, none of the snow-bound areas). Very minor thing of course, thanks again.

[Vickey Martinez]

Hehe, the left-for-dead beginning almost had be freeze to death in the very beginning. I absolutely love this mod! Endorsed.

[Kahli St Dennis]

I'm having a blast with this mod, however, I think it would be very simple to balance the orcish start by removing the helmet and gauntlets from the armor, as well as not give the player an orcish shield in the beginning. There's no need to give an entire set of armor to them just because they start in a stronghold




It's especially fun to use the random beginning function and see where you end up. The more options this mod gets the better What are some of the current ideas (that haven't yet been implemented but have been thought of to be added?)

Edit: A smuggler (as suggested on page one) sounds like a fun start. It could even be fleshed out to be an escape from your hide-out, which is filled with guards who have found out about your operations. Sneak or fight your way out. (the guards could be set to NPCs who don't actually do an "arrest" thing, but work more like regular bandits.

Edit2: A Jail beginning (very similar to the "intro") could also be a nice addition. You escape the jail of some place. The escape would be guaranteed, since the door was left open. A jail somewhere where guards wouldn't instantly attack you would be best... Such as Windhelm iirc? (isn't it a cave or something, with atronarch protecting the exit instead of guards?)

[*Chloe*]

Or... how about a hidden escape in the prison you start in?
move an object or search a wall and find a hole that can be sneezed tgi
through into a tunnel with a dead escapee's bones and a rusty knife maybe a spider to fight past and you're off! in the passage.

[Kat Stewart]

Arthmoor has already explained why a different prison start won't work. I don't remember the specifics but I think it had to do with how the vanilla prisons are designed.

[Kristian Perez]

The Left for Dead start was both amusing (for myself) and distressing (for my character). I awoke to a dragon circling nearby and had to run for my dear life to avoid the dragon (Deadly Dragons Normal Mode and Immediate Dragons). Luckily I came across the Atronach Standing Stone, which kept me alive for awhile longer, and then the dragon got distracted by some Giants. I was able to escape to eventually reach Darkwater Crossing. Suffice to say I quite enjoyed running for my life , so good job Arthmoor.

[Siobhan Thompson]

Am I the only one that has problems with quests using this mod? I used the shipwreck start and couldn't get the first Mage quest to work properly. No one said the dialogue they were supposed to and it just got stuck. When I started out camping the crazed adventurer attacked me then i took the book off him, read it but the main quest won't start even after placing the book down and reading it from the ground. This is a very well planned and thought out mod but it is broken unfortunately and unusable because of the many quests it seems to break. Someone else complained that the companion quest won't start either.. Too bad because I just reinstalled and would love to use this. Hope an update comes soon, this is such a great idea.

[Adrian Powers]

Keep hoping, there's nothing to update when everything is working correctly in testing and with the vast majority of people. Load order is important, as is making sure your game is properly updated. Especially when you're talking about entire quest lines I haven't touched with this.