Hey folks!

This is the very detailed description for a mod a plan to upload to the Nexus site very soon, I just want to get some feedback before I do so.


REQUIREMENTS:

Skyrim full game, latest patch.


COMPATIBILITY:

The following modules included with this mod may not be compatible with any other mod which alter any of the following base data entries or values.

SOTF: Core
- Weapon items
- Armor items
- Ingredient items
- Misc Items
- Book items (non-spell tome books only)
- Soul Gem items
- Key items
- Leveled Item Lists

SOTF: Athena's Blessing
- Shouts (player only)
- Spells (player only)
- Spell Tome book items
- Scroll items

SOTF: Balance Scaling
- Game settings.

SOTF: Faction Owned Goods
- The world and many interior cells (mostly compatible unless other mods alter the same cells too dramaticly)


CONTENT GUIDE:

1. Introduction
2. Mod Details
3. Install/Uninstall
4. Bugs/Fixes
5. FAQ
6. Other Reccemended Mods


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INTRODUCTION
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Welcome, it is my pleasure to introduce my mod "Survival of the Fittest" (SOTF). Like most others who play Skyrim they enjoy the game but their is always something more that can be added. So after playing Skyrim for a while and finally learning about the release of the Creation Kit I decided to make a mod which would overhaul the entire game creating a whole new experience. Unlike most others however I consider myself not to be a true TES fan because I never played Morrowind (I dont plan to) and never enjoyed playing Oblivion, however I do very much enjoy Skyrim or else I never would have bothered with such a massive mod. Even though I am a huge Fallout fan which is one of the main reasons this mod adds many features that are recognisable as features that were included in the Fallout series the content in my mod was created from the ground up and I could only do my best to get as close to my goal as possible. My goal was simply to create a mod which brought the idea of "hardcoe survival" to Skyrim like what was included with Fallout NV but only if it fitted with TES and its fantasy theme. I am proud to say that I am satisfied with how my mod turned out and updates will be released to further enhance its features and gameplay. I hope that all who participate in using this mod will enjoy it as much as I do and help to improve it even further.


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MOD DETAILS
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Due to the sheer scope of how much my mod changes the game the mod itself has been split into modules, I will explain each module and what they do in detail.


SOTF - Core:

This is the core module of the mod and must be active if this mod is to be experienced in-game. This module is designed to overhaul a great deal of the game and change your gameplay experience almost entirely while at the same time attempting keep the original TES experience intact.

- Most items and spells in-game have been renamed to include acronymns. One of the most noticable flaws about Skyrim (and many of Bethesda's games unfortunately) is the sloppy unpolished UI and menus. Because of this all items have been "rearranged" by renaming them so they all sort into their own sub-categories within every menu that they belong to. For example most weapon items have "APRL/WEP" in front of the name so that they become easier to track and equip especially during combat when you have to switch around quickly and quite often. Also many perks which involved crafting many items, weapons and armor items that did not have required keywords attached to them have been fixed (this fixes many problems to do with smithing). In addition all quest related items now have a weight value of 0 (usually displayed in-game) because nobody wants to spend 30 minutes going through a very difficult dungeon only to discover that the required quest item weighs heavier than a armor plated dragon and cannot be carried.

- SOTF adds many new features to Skyrim, but players will disagree with some changes which is why an item called "SOTF: Config & Settings" can be activated from the armor category which will allow you to enable, disable and/or change many of these features.

- Their are now need stats that must be satisfied in order to avoid the side effects no matter how minor or extreme they may be. If you played Fallout New Vegas and enjoyed hardcoe mode (having to keep hunger, thirst and sleep in check) then this is definately for you. The need stats are as realistic as possible but that does not mean it will take 3 weeks or so in-game for your character to starve to death, due to this being just a game (and for the sake of immersion and fun) it will take far less time for each stat to have a negative effect if any at all. Each need stat effect scales with your current level so that they are noticable, these stats are able to be checked on by you at any time using the "Inspect Stat Values" item found in the armor category. In addition when any food item is consumed an animation is triggered ("eat bread" for eating and "drink from tagart" for drinking). Each of the need stats included are as follows:

Satiation (hunger) - This stat is a measure of how satiated your char is and how "hungry" they're body is based on calorie intake. Only by eating solid foods can this stat be satisfied and prevent starvation. Cooked food is obviously much more efficient than raw food as cooked food grants buffs and easily fills the stomach while most raw foods have a chance to cause food poisoning. Failing to satisfy this stat over time will result in your char becoming physically weaker (all 3 default stats reduced), inflicting less damage with weapons and eventually death. This need stat does NOT apply if your char is a vampire. Also your char is immune to food poisoning if they are a werewolf (if vampires eat any food they immediately become poisoned). It takes approximately 3 days for this need stat to reach 0.

Hydration (thirst) - This stat is a measure of how hydrated your char is and how much water is currently in they're system. Only by drinking beverages or any clean liquid substance can this stat be satisfied and prevent dehydration. Failing to satisfy this stat over time will result in your char becoming physically weaker (all 3 default stats reduced) and eventually death. This need stat does NOT apply if your char is a vampire (you have to use the hardcoded vampire thirst system instead). It takes approximately 2 days for this need stat to reach 0.

Energy (sleep) - This stat is a measure of how much energy your char currently has left in they're system. Only by sleeping can this stat be satisfied and prevent your character from passing out. Failing to satisfy this stat over time will result in your char becoming weaker (magicka and stamina reduced). Their are also drinks and some rare foods which satisfy the energy stat by a small margin. If your char is a vampire this stat decays faster during the day but slower during the night (meaning you have to sleep during the day and move around at night). While sleeping most need stats will decrease as usual. It takes approximately 1.5 days for this need stat to reach 0.

Bladder - This stat is a measure of your char's current bladder strength. Only by using the restroom located inside the WC can this stat be satisfied. Failing to satisfy this stat over time will result in your char losing concentration, some stamina and eventually your char soiling themself (which resets the bladder stat but unfortunately leaves your char with a fully depleted hygiene stat and negative effects). The rate at which this stat decreases depends on what and how often you eat and drink but by default it takes 1 day.

Social - This stat is a measure of your char's current sanity and how much he/she has been conversing with other races. Only by socially interacting with other beings can this stat be satisfied (you do this by talking to any actor/creature then choosing the "Social Interaction" option). Failing to satisfy this stat over time will result in your char feeling lonely, depressed and unappreciated. It takes approximately 4 days for this need stat to reach 0.

Stimulation - This stat is a measure of your char's current adrenal and caffeen levels. Unlike other need stats stimulation only increases during combat or other intense situations and will steadily decrease while out of combat. The higher the stimulation level stat the more positive effects it will have on your char (such as increased weapon speed). This stat also increases much faster while in combat if your char is a werewolf. This stat does not need to be satisfied over time and has very few side effects if any.

Hygiene (cleanliness) - This stat is a measure of your char's current cleanliness. Only by taking a shower can this stat be satisfied. Failing to satisfy this stat over time will result in your char becoming unclean and more vunelrable to poisons and diseases as well as reduced stamina and health regen. It takes approximately 4 days for this need stat to reach 0.

Temperature - This stat is a measure of your char's current temperature. Unlike other stats this stat cannot be affected by you directly but more by your actions and where you currently are in the world. If you are inside any building this stat will steadily increase but if you are outside in the wilderness it will steadily decrease. Being too hot or too cold has varied effects on your char and being one or the other for too long can cause hyperthermia or heat stroke. It is also possible for your char to pass out from being too cold or too hot and to actually die from these effects. Vampires are immune to hyperthermia and werewolves are immune to heat stroke.

Morale (mood) - This need stat is a measure of your char's current morale rating and mood. Morale is affected by many variables, for example taking a shower and being clean will increase your morale a great deal, consuming treats (sweet rolls nom nom nom) or alcohol will also have a huge positive mood effect on your char. Being in combat for too long however will have a severe negative effect on your morale. This stat returns to 0 over time which is its neutral value (no debuffs or buffs while neutral).

- Their are also other stats that must be monitored. These stats are able to be checked on by you at any time using the "Inspect Stat Values" item found in the armor category, most of these stats will never have any effect until an action taken by you forces them to do so.

Alcohol - This stat is a measure of your char's current alcohol level and will increase as your consume alcoholic beverages. Consuming too much alcohol will impair your char's vision, further consumption will result in staggering and eventually passing out completely. Its always fun to have a good ol' boozer but over doing it can have disastrous consequencies.

Potions - Most items of this type now have negative effects to prevent them from being used as a safety net, this effect is potion toxicity. The more potions consumed the higher the potion toxicity level reducing your health, magicka and stamina regeneration rate even further. The regenerative stat that is degraded depends on the type of potion consumed (for example a health potion will never decrease your health regen but will always decrease your magicka regen while a magicka potion will never decrease your magicka regen but will always decrease your health regen). Potion toxicity lasts longer depending on how high the toxic level is in your char's system, however the toxicity level goes down by 1 every few game hours.

Fat - Their are many types of food in the game which now contain different calories, those that contain fat will cause your char to gain weight and become more unhealthy. It is now important to maintain a healthy diet or else your char's stats and overall effectiveness will degrade. Different food types will have varying effects, for example ale will have a stronger effect in terms of fat than wine. This stat means you cannot just simply digest any food on the go therefore you must maintain a healthy diet to remain at peak efficiency.

Protein - Foods that contain protein will allow your char to become stronger as long as you keep a healthy diet. Failing to consume enough protein will result in your char becoming physically weaker but more nimble and agile. Different food types will have varying effects, for example beef will have a stronger effect in terms of protein than bread.

Fatigue - Travelling around on foot most of the time can take its toll on the body physically and cause exhaustion. Moving at a steady pace wont damage your fatigue too much but sprinting great distances all the time will increase your fatigue rapidly. You can restore your fatigue very quickly by sleeping or just by sitting down for a minute to rest your legs, also your fatigue will never increase while you are travelling by horseback.

- Their is now a SPECIAL system which brings back primary stats but in a different way, the change included with this mod is more similar to Fallout than previous TES games because I feel that the SPECIAL system is much more effective and far more enjoyable. Some vanilla perks were altered due to the effects these stats have on your char. You are able to choose what your SPECIAL stats are at the beginning of the game by spending 30 tokens as soon as you finish the starter quests. For a sum of 5000 gold you may reset your SPECIAL stats at any time. Each SPECIAL stat has 10 ranks max (with rank 10 being the most effective).

Strength - With each rank of the Strength perk the amount of damage inflicted with all melee weapons increases and you are able to carry more items. Also all weapons excluding daggers now require that you have a minimum strength rank in order to wield them (this only applies to the iron weapon set for now).

Perception - With each rank of the Perception perk your eyesight and ability to spot things improves allowing you to cause more damage with ranged weapons and find more gold in containers.

Endurance - With each rank of the Endurance perk you regenerate health faster and take less damage from both physical and magical attacks.

Charisma - With each rank of the Charisma perk your speech skill improves, your persuasion chance increases and the cooldown of your shouts is slightly reduced.

Intelligence - With each rank of the Intelligence perk you get smarter and become more knowledgable of the world increasing your magicka regen and your skill in the conjuration, restoration and destruction spell schools by a small amount.

Agility - With each rank of the Agility perk your stamina regen and sneak skill improves and your movement speed increases slightly.

Luck - With each rank of the Luck perk all non-combat and non-magic based skills improve slightly and the chances of finding treasure and artifacts in chests increases.

- Durability for weapons and armor has been brought into Skyrim (it was a mistake for Bethesda to remove it completely and I have worked endlessly to make it function in-game). Durability works exactly like it did in previous TES games but with a few twists. When you strike an enemy with any weapon (bows, torches, staffs and misc weapons not included) the weapon itself gets worn down and becomes weaker, after using a weapon enough times it will eventually reach 0 health and break completely replacing your equipped weapon with a broken version. The same rule applies to armor items except armor takes durability damage whenever you are hit by an attack. Any items that have suffered durability damage can be repaired using light and heavy repair kits which can be purchased at many vendors. The current health of each equipped item can be checked on by you at any time using the "Inspect Stat Values" item found in the armor category. All broken weapon and armor items can be repaired at a forge provided that you have the required materials. At this time the only items that have durability are all iron weapons, the steel armor set (non-imperial) and the light imperial armor set. Enchanted weapons and armor have magical properties and are far stronger therefore they never break.

- It is now possible for your char to become crippled after taking too many hits from enemy attacks. A damaged limb leaves no side-effects, however a crippled limb can leave your char extremely weakened and unfit for combat. Each limb has its own health and all non-crippled limbs can be healed using "Heal Extremity" potions which can be bought at most alchemy type vendors. It is also rumoured that a spell exists which allows the caster to repair non-crippled limbs, maybe a tome exists somewhere in the world which teaches this powerful spell? Both spells and potions however cannot heal crippled limbs, special items are required in order to heal crippled limbs which are bandages, arm casts and leg braces which can be purchased at most vendors and found in many places. The current health of each limb is able to be checked on by you at any time using the "Inspect Stat Values" item found in the armor category. The limbs are typically as follows:

Head - The limb that has the least chance of being hit. Should this limb become crippled your vision will be impaired and your char dazed.

Torso - The limb that has the highest chance of being hit. Should this limb become crippled your maximum carry weight and stamina will be drasticly reduced.

Right Arm - This limb has a small chance of being hit, also every time this limb takes damage their is a very minor chance that you will be disarmed but this can only happen while your stamina is at 0%. Should this limb become crippled your maximum carry weight will be reduced by a small amount and you will no longer be able to wield one-handed weapons with that crippled arm or two-handed weapons at all.

Left Arm - See just above.

Right Leg - This limb has a moderate chance of being hit. Should this limb become crippled your maximum carry weight and stamina will be reduced by a moderate amount, also your movement speed wil be reduced for each leg that is crippled.

Left Leg - See just above.

- During combat your char will now have a small chance to suffer side effects depending on the type of weapons the enemy is wielding, be it conventional weapons or spells. The effects are as follows:

Light Bleeding - This debuff effect applies to one-handed blade type weapons (daggers, swords and axes) and bows only. Every time your char is hit their is a moderate chance that they will bleed causing physical damage over time (this effect can stack). As your char levels and gets stronger this effect lasts even longer. This debuff effect can be healed using a light bandage. This effect cannot occur if the enemy attack is blocked.

Heavy Bleeding - This debuff effect applies to two-handed blade type weapons only (greatswords and battleaxes). Every time your char is hit their is a small chance that they will bleed out causing physical damage for a extreme duraton of time. This debuff effect can be healed using a heavy bandage. This makes fighting enemies with two-handed weapons far more dangerous and forces you to be more tactical before and while doing so. This effect cannot occur if the enemy attack is blocked.

Light Crushing - This debuff effect applies to one-handed blunt type weapons only (maces). Every time your char is hit their is a moderate chance that they will stagger. This effect cannot occur if the enemy attack is blocked.

Heavy Crushing - This debuff effect applies to two-handed blunt type weapons only (warhammers). Every time your char is hit their is a small chance that they will be knocked down to the floor for a few seconds. This makes fighting enemies with two-handed weapons far more dangerous and forces you to be more tactical before and while doing so. This effect cannot occur if the enemy attack is blocked.

Burn Wounds - This debuff effect applies to all burn type spells. Every time your char suffers damage from a burn/heat type spell their is a small chance that burn wounds will be inflicted reducing health regen. The strength of this debuff depends on your char's current level. This effect can be healed by using burn solve (potion).

Frostbite - This debuff effect applies to all freeze type spells. Every time your char suffers damage from a frost/freeze type spell their is a small chance that frostbite will be inflicted reducing maximum stamina. The amount reduced depends on your char's current level. This effect can be healed by using warm medicinal water (potion).

Temporal Scarring - This debuff effect applies to all electric type spells. Every time your char suffers damage from a electric/lightning type spell their is a small chance that temporal scarring will be inflicted reducing your char's maximum magicka. The amount reduced depends on your char's current level. This effect can be healed by using lobe fix (potion).

- Even though enemies will inflict debuffs upon you this does not mean that you cant do the same. During combat their is now a random chance every time you strike the enemy with a specific weapon that a debuff will be inflicted upon them. Due to this change some perks which made bleed and disarm possible have been altered to do something else instead. The possible effects are as follows:

Bleeding - With every strike from a blade type weapon their is a moderate chance the enemy will bleed for a minor amount of physical damage each second over a duration of 6 seconds. This effect stacks.

Crush - With every strike from a blunt type weapon their is a small chance the enemy will be staggered or even knocked down.

Slow - With each strike from any weapon their is a small chance the enemy will be struck at the legs causing them to move slowly for 8 seconds. This effect requires that you first unlock a perk.

Disarm - With each strike from any weapon their is a minor chance the enemy will be struck at the arms forcing them to drop any equipped weapon. This effect requires that you first unlock a perk.

Confuse - With each bashing strike from your shield their is a small chance the enemy will be confused causing them to attack their allies as well as you.

Knockdown - With each bashing strike from your shield their is also a moderate chance the enemy will be knocked down to the floor. This effect requires that you first unlock a perk.

- Alchemy has been completely overhaulled and their are now 3 main features to the skill which are experimenting, brewing and potion mixing. Experimenting involves combining 3 ingredients to discover new recipes and create potions. Brewing is being able to use recipes to create potions that you have already discovered via experimenting or buying existing recipes from vendors. Potion mixing allows you to take 2 or 3 potions and mix them together using a special ingredient in order to merge the effects of all potions into just 1 unique potion (who knows what new effects you may discover). The reason for this huge change is simply because I dislike Bethesda's hardcoded version of Alchemy and I feel that this method works much better and is more fun. Potions which fortify skills now also last much longer (5 minutes the same as most other potions).

- Most weapon and armor items are now worth their weight in gold, this means that if hide armor has a weight value of 6 it will have a gold value of at least 60 and if steel armor has a weight value of 30 then it will have a gold value of at least 300. This also means that most potions have had their gold value greatly increased. Also in an effort to balance spell resistance all potions/enchants which granted fire, frost or electric resistance have been removed (so now theirs mainly just physical and magic resistance along with other resistances, for example resist poison and resist disease).

- You now have a backpack which you can use to store any items (no more having items clog up your inventory which you hardly ever use). Also note that even though this backpack is a separate container that does not mean it can easily be exploited as the weight of each item will be accounted for and will affect your char accordingly. When you wish to deposit items of a specific type in a container (for example materials) you simply activate the "Manage Your Backpack" item from your inventory. The options available to you include "your inventory > backpack" which removes items of a specific type from your inventory and adds them to the backpack automatically, when it comes to needing any items stored in the backpack you can select the "backpack > your inventory" option which will remove all items of a specific type from the backpack and add them to your inventory. Also when activating the backpack you may simply open the container to see what items are currently stored within.

- It is now possible for you to craft your own arrows using the forge, I realise that their is quite a few mods which do this already but the problem is that even though they are good they dont fit in well enough with the vanilla game or are just too easy to get. Here is how arrow crafting with this mod works, first you need wood (fire wood is now called wood) which is cut down into shafts (this makes up the base of the arrow). Next you need the fletching which attachs to each side of the arrow and allows it to travel accurately through the air once fired (you need feathers to get these). Thirdly and lastly you need metal tips which make up the arrow point (to get these you need metal ingots which you melt down using a forge). Also in order to craft different arrows you must first find the recipe which teaches you how to make that particular arrow, recipes can be found in the world and purchased from venders. Also all arrow type items now also have a weight value of 0.1 (no more being able to carry around unlimited arrows all the time).


SOTF - Athena's Blessing:

This module changes only spells, shouts, tomes (books which unlock spells) and scrolls. As good as the spells in Skyrim are I still feel that their is much improvement that can be done which is what this module aims to do.

- All spells, shouts, tomes and scrolls have been renamed and now also include acronymns so that they are easier to sort and locate. Spells and tomes now also include ranks.

- Oakflesh, Stoneflesh, Ironflesh and Ebonyflesh have been renamed "Protect" (they still only increase armor).

- Lesser Ward, Steadfast Ward and Greater Ward have been renamed and redesigned (now called "Reflect"). Instead of reducing physical and magic damage these spells now simply reflect any spell that hits you back at the attacking caster.

- A new spell called "Fulcrum Energy" can be unlocked which increases the damage of any equipped weapons.

- Their is now a resurrect spell which can be unlocked via a tome, this allows you to bring the dead back to life (not as a zombie) but the spell has a 5 sec cast time and a high mana cost.

- Their is now a spell which allows you to break away the armor of your enemies leaving them vunelrable to further damage. This spell can also be used on your own loyal followers (it seems that this spell when used on followers prevents them from equiping they're default outfit even when the cell is refreshed which means you may be able to give them any armor/clothing you want and they will keep it equipped with no problem).

- Due to how dramatic these changes are 2 new spells have been added which are designed to increase your chances of survival in the field. These 2 spells are "Conjure Chair" and "Conjure Bed Roll", the portable bed allows your char to sleep at almost any location as long as you are not in combat and the chair allows your char to rest they're legs at any time which restores fatigue. Like most spells these spells can only be unlocked via tomes which must be found or purchased from a vendor. To remove any conjured furniture simply activate them while crouching.

- Their are even more new spells just waiting to be discovered...


SOTF - Balance Scaling:

This module changes only game settings which are supposed to make the game feel more realistic and provide a bigger challenge.

- Maximum carry weight per 10 stamina has been reduced slightly.

- The chance of finding arrows on the corpses of those who have been slain has been reduced.

- Blood now persists on weapons for a much longer duration of time.

- It is now possible for many more arrows to "stick" to actors (10 max) and they will now persist for a much longer duration of time. By default arrows will now be removed from your char every 20 seconds or so (this can be deactivated in-game).

- Due to how easy it is to make gold in Skyrim the barter system is now less easy going (items sell for a little less and cost a little more to buy).


SOTF - Faction Owned Goods:

This module changes containers and food items found anywhere in the game world so that a relevant faction owns those items, it only makes sense that each city and town would want to preserve their vital food sources instead of just letting anyone come along and take whatever they want. For example in Riverwood their are many barrels of food as well as other food items scattered around the town, these all now belong to the Riverwood trader faction.