[Elina]

I am not quite sure if I use WACShop, maybe it is part of a compilation? Where would it be located?

You mean where you run into a problem is you use WAC? The problem is that WACShop adds beards to some npcs, and then the races of these npcs are changed. If you see bearded redguard merchants, then you have this mod. (I have never used the mod myself). There is an esp available on my site that will take care of the problems.

If you want exactly what you you should look out for in regards to Vilja, read below.

Spoiler

If the redguard bookseller at First Edition has a beard, go and get the updated esp.

[April D. F]

Looking at your script "1emmViljaStats" through TES4Edit actually you have the same error as CM partners. Look for my report in http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1071682.

Thank you for making me aware of this! I'll cure it next time I update the mod. I didn't notice , probably because the mixed up skill reports are for armorer and mercantile. As Vilja is neither an armor smith nor helps the player to haggle, it shouldn't cause any problems for anyone. (Actually... if you study the skill report more thoroughly, you will find that I'm even 'cheating' and making her report a better alchemy stat than what she has in reality)

[Silencio]

I am not quite sure if I use WACShop, maybe it is part of a compilation? Where would it be located?

You mean where you run into a problem is you use WAC? The problem is that WACShop adds beards to some npcs, and then the races of these npcs are changed. If you see bearded redguard merchants, then you have this mod. (I have never used the mod myself). There is an esp available on my site that will take care of the problems.

Just for clarity, there is no mod called WACshop. That is the name of the forum - http://waalx.com/RealSwordsForum/index.php?sid=487912a4479be280db41db3cc218931c, previously RealSwords Workshop.

The mod in question is Waalx Animals & Creatures. It's an overhaul mod still in alpha stage (and it's likely to be because Waalx doesn't seem to be active). The mod is available on the WacShop forum (don't forget it's alpha!).

More specifically (because it has various plugins), here is WAC - TCOS.esp that affects NPCs (by changing appearance and adding items). TCOS stands for The chronicles of steel which contains all of the Real Swords modules and more).

[Nicole Coucopoulos]

Thank you for making me aware of this! I'll cure it next time I update the mod. I didn't notice , probably because the mixed up skill reports are for armorer and mercantile. As Vilja is neither an armor smith nor helps the player to haggle, it shouldn't cause any problems for anyone. (Actually... if you study the skill report more thoroughly, you will find that I'm even 'cheating' and making her report a better alchemy stat than what she has in reality)

In fact I have discovered this bug in CM partner by "practice" (who would guessed such tiny thing in an ocean of scripts);
I also opened the sound folder and listened to Vilja (Emma) voice, what a beautiful voice I should say!

As for partners, most players have their style at looking for thing; some look for interaction, some look for adventure/romance/quest partners, some like me look only for immersion. What I look for Oblivion is an unpredictable gameplay, realism like what happens in real life. Even b3w4r3 has made a very good work in his resurrection plugin, I tend now to favor non essential parnters. My companion should be like me, able to accept death. If I want to keep it, I should protect it like myself.

[Stefanny Cardona]

Just for clarity, there is no mod called WACshop. That is the name of the forum - http://waalx.com/RealSwordsForum/index.php?sid=487912a4479be280db41db3cc218931c, previously RealSwords Workshop.

The mod in question is Waalx Animals & Creatures. It's an overhaul mod still in alpha stage (and it's likely to be because Waalx doesn't seem to be active). The mod is available on the WacShop forum (don't forget it's alpha!).

More specifically (because it has various plugins), here is WAC - TCOS.esp that affects NPCs (by changing appearance and adding items). TCOS stands for The chronicles of steel which contains all of the Real Swords modules and more).

Ah! Thank you for explaining that, Washington

I'll make sure to update the information on the updates. As you know, I didn't try the mod myself, it was you and Chanur that made me aware of that there was an issue.
I hope you have been able to try out Vilja without any other issues!

[phillip crookes]

No unfortunately, I haven't played game at all since, I don't know how much was it since then... But I can't wait to meet Vilja, I just love characters with personality.

Don't worry about WAC, it's important that we know what the problem was and that you know that you can use direct GetIsID condition in dialogue!
:)

[Sophie Payne]

In fact I have discovered this bug in CM partner by "practice" (who would guessed such tiny thing in an ocean of scripts);

That's the way most oddities are found out! As an anecdote, there was a similar problem with "illusion" in all Morrowind skills report, and it was my fault. I wrote the template script that 'everyone' used and there I set the illusion value to the players value instead of the npc-value. So Partners and Vilja are not the first ones with this flaw...

I also opened the sound folder and listened to Vilja (Emma) voice, what a beautiful voice I should say!

Awww... Thank you!

As for partners, most players have their style at looking for thing; some look for interaction, some look for adventure/romance/quest partners, some like me look only for immersion. What I look for Oblivion is an unpredictable gameplay, realism like what happens in real life. Even b3w4r3 has made a very good work in his resurrection plugin, I tend now to favor non essential parnters. My companion should be like me, able to accept death. If I want to keep it, I should protect it like myself.

You know, from your description, I can't help suspecting that you would in fact like Vilja as a companion... The quests she adds is not at all intrusive, and she is stricly in accordance with the lore (in particular associated to the Morrowind lore with her background story). She does talk a lot, but you can ask her to be quiet, and then she would be comparable to but more lorefriendly than for instance mods like companion Buddy. On top of that she might offer a few surprises when you least expect it. If you indeed like my voice, I'd say you should give her a try... she might add to the immersion without interfering much with the game in itself.

I use the non-essential version of her, myself, and currently without any resurrection mods. I kind of like having to protect my companion by giving her good armor and tell her to stay behind when there is a lot of danger ahead of us. It's an extra challenge to the game-play - if she dies, i'll have to reload.

[Latino HeaT]

Dear Emma. I've loved your mods since MW, and Vilja is no different. However, just like you, I'm not native english and some accents are hard to understand ofr me... specially yours >_<
I would do the voices myself if I was female, but there's no way I can make my voice sound femenine enough... I'd ask you to find someone to redo all the voicing, so some stupid and half deaf users like me would understand vilja without having to think for 30 secs "What the hall did she say just now?".
For now I just shot her up, so she won't talk, bit I'm lovig the mod.
Thanks for your attention.
PD:My keyboard svcks. if there is any grammar fault, tell me. I'll punish it with some minutes on my St. Andrew's cross under flogger "fire"

[Rudi Carter]

Somtimes I found it hard to tell what she was saying (not just the accent somtimes music ect.) so I turned on the subtitles now I know what she says all the time.

[Scott Clemmons]

Dear Emma. I've loved your mods since MW, and Vilja is no different. However, just like you, I'm not native english and some accents are hard to understand ofr me... specially yours >_<
I would do the voices myself if I was female, but there's no way I can make my voice sound femenine enough... I'd ask you to find someone to redo all the voicing, so some stupid and half deaf users like me would understand vilja without having to think for 30 secs "What the hall did she say just now?".
For now I just shot her up, so she won't talk, bit I'm lovig the mod.
Thanks for your attention.
PD:My keyboard svcks. if there is any grammar fault, tell me. I'll punish it with some minutes on my St. Andrew's cross under flogger "fire"

I'm sorry, but finding another voiceactor to remake +1500 voicefiles, and then lipsync them all simply isn't an option. I completely agree with Nivea - turn on the sub-titles, then you will be able to read the text and won't have to worry about my accent.

Glad that you do like her in spite of the difficulties you are experiencing

[Len swann]

I'm sorry, but finding another voiceactor to remake +1500 voicefiles, and then lipsync them all simply isn't an option. I completely agree with Nivea - turn on the sub-titles, then you will be able to read the text and won't have to worry about my accent.

Glad that you do like her in spite of the difficulties you are experiencing

I have to say, it's great that you included such a big amount of fully-voiced dialogue and the quality of the recording is surprisingly good in my opinion!

[Danielle Brown]

Just for clarity, there is no mod called WACshop. That is the name of the forum - http://waalx.com/RealSwordsForum/index.php?sid=487912a4479be280db41db3cc218931c, previously RealSwords Workshop.

The mod in question is Waalx Animals & Creatures. It's an overhaul mod still in alpha stage (and it's likely to be because Waalx doesn't seem to be active). The mod is available on the WacShop forum (don't forget it's alpha!).

More specifically (because it has various plugins), here is WAC - TCOS.esp that affects NPCs (by changing appearance and adding items). TCOS stands for The chronicles of steel which contains all of the Real Swords modules and more).

Thanks for clarification. Is it the same as the Real Swords that is part of FCOM? In other words, do I need the patch if I use FCOM?

[joannARRGH]

Thanks for clarification. Is it the same as the Real Swords that is part of FCOM? In other words, do I need the patch if I use FCOM?

Real Swords was just a preview as Waalx explained. But no, you don't need the patch because beards were added later. (unless some other mod changes Phintias' race)

[JERMAINE VIDAURRI]

Thanks Emma I have no doubt your companion mod is brilliant especially the interaction and voicing part; I will give it a try when I have finished managing the first levels of my current character.

[Kyra]

Emma-

Thank you so much for Vilja. I finished her quest last night, and found her to be a delightful companion. She is nearly as good as my all time favorite, Constance.

I had only one issue. For some reason, Vilja did not attempt to heal me even when set to do so. Not a severe problem for my character, but I don't know if there is a bug.

As for suggestions, well, Vilja gives hints of having a bit more of a wild side (dancing on the table?) One of my favorite things about Constance was some of the unpredictability of her behavior; getting drunk, the bit with the 1000 kwama eggs, (absolutely brilliant--as a Paladin I was livid when I ended up in jail!), or her "dancing" :blink: It would be fun (although I realize the amount of work on your part) to see some of Vilja's wild side come out in a similar fashion.

A year or two ago Duke Patrick was working on a companion mod called "the Lady says No!" which used some involved AI scripts that allowed the NPC to react to the way the PC treated her. If you treated her nicely, all was well and good. If not, the NPC would get angry and refuse to interact with you! I don't believe he has been working on this mod recently, but it was a great concept and really improved the immersion level.

If Vilja, with whom you have already raised the bar, was combined with Duke Patricks AI scripts--wow, the results would be scary... I can dream, can't I?

In any case, thanks again. Vilja will be a permanent part of my game.

[Anna S]

Emma-

Thank you so much for Vilja. I finished her quest last night, and found her to be a delightful companion. She is nearly as good as my all time favorite, Constance.

Thanks! Great to hear that. I do miss Constance a little, too, but when I started out on Vilja, I was so much newbee with OB-modding that I found doing a char like Constance a little too challenging.

I had only one issue. For some reason, Vilja did not attempt to heal me even when set to do so. Not a severe problem for my character, but I don't know if there is a bug.

Hmm... I'm not sure what that might be. She heals me in my game. However, she is set up to first heal herself and only heal you when she is doing fine. So if the enemies attack you both, she probably hasn't got resources to heal you as well. It *could* be some kind of mod conflict, too, or other weirdness... :/. Is this during battle, or is it the same when she is supposed to heal you outside battle?

As for suggestions, well, Vilja gives hints of having a bit more of a wild side (dancing on the table?) One of my favorite things about Constance was some of the unpredictability of her behavior; getting drunk, the bit with the 1000 kwama eggs, (absolutely brilliant--as a Paladin I was livid when I ended up in jail!), or her "dancing" :blink: It would be fun (although I realize the amount of work on your part) to see some of Vilja's wild side come out in a similar fashion.

Oh, I'm pretty sure that there will be more added to Vilja later on . Obviously, she will never dump you with 300 kwama eggs (not 1000! Constance tells me to yell at you for such an awkward accusation, she would *never* dump you with 1000 kwama eggs, she is very specific about that ) as she isn't a thief, but there might be other things to do. As for a dance animation... I was thinking of giving her one, but then I realized that with Umpa's animation mod, she would have hundreds and hundreds of dances to choose among, so there was no real point in giving her one specific one. Have you got Umpa's mods? There are several of them, here is one specifically for companions with various dances http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=17503.

A year or two ago Duke Patrick was working on a companion mod called "the Lady says No!" which used some involved AI scripts that allowed the NPC to react to the way the PC treated her. If you treated her nicely, all was well and good. If not, the NPC would get angry and refuse to interact with you! I don't believe he has been working on this mod recently, but it was a great concept and really improved the immersion level.

If Vilja, with whom you have already raised the bar, was combined with Duke Patricks AI scripts--wow, the results would be scary... I can dream, can't I?

I have heard about Duke Patrick's mod "The Lady says No" and that it was absolutely outstanding for Oblivion companions. However, I read a post by him recently where he said he had pulled the mod because something had gone wrong with it, and that he wasn't planning to continue on it. Alas, I have therefore never had a chance to see it, but from what I have heard about it, it must have been very interesting. Obviously, my companions have the same habits of getting angry if treated wrongly (ever tried to pleased Morrowind Laura Craft - or Constance for that matter?), but I believe he had brought this idea quite a few steps further. Sigh... I would have wished to see that mod.

In any case, thanks again. Vilja will be a permanent part of my game.

...and I'm sure she will be ever so happy to tag along .


Quote Ayleid_People

Thanks Emma I have no doubt your companion mod is brilliant especially the interaction and voicing part; I will give it a try when I have finished managing the first levels of my current character.

I must admit that I'm rather curious of how you would like her, given that you have very strong opinions on what you wish and do not wish a companion to be. Obviously, Vilja doesn't fall into the cathegory of companions you normally 'accept'. Still, I'm hoping that her lorefriendliness and the fact that her quests aren't really 'intrusive' (i.e. you rarely have to change your plans because of her; she can tag along and do a lot of her work on her own) might still make her a likeable companion.


Quote Newster123

I have to say, it's great that you included such a big amount of fully-voiced dialogue and the quality of the recording is surprisingly good in my opinion!

Thank you! I have used Audacity, and I was happy that I did manage to record without much background noise. As for the amount - well, it was so fun doing the voice-acting (apart from the horrible lipsync which was... well... horrible ) so it was actually hard to stop! Still, I had to stop somewhere and release her and see if people could live with my accent .

[Rachel Eloise Getoutofmyface]

I have made another small update of Vilja, which you can find http://lovkullen.net/Emma/Vilja.htm or http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=28977

Two people have told me that Vilja has been grabbing their books when left alone in their houses in wandermode. Of course her cleptomania had to be cured!

If you have experienced any problems with her cleptomania, grab the update and hopefully there shouldn't be any further problems!

[stephanie eastwood]

I love this mod, one of my favorite companion mods now. I especially like the voice It adds some character to the game since everyone else talks with almost the same accent.

[Steve Smith]

This is a fun mod.

[James Smart]

That's good to know that you like her!

[Danel]

Thanks for taking my suggestions into considerations.

I have made another small update of Vilja, which you can find http://lovkullen.net/Emma/Vilja.htm or http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=28977

Two people have told me that Vilja has been grabbing their books when left alone in their houses in wandermode. Of course her cleptomania had to be cured!

If you have experienced any problems with her cleptomania, grab the update and hopefully there shouldn't be any further problems!

Does this upgrade include my previously mentioned number one observation? In any case, I shall await the main update when the "little light" is gone from Vilja, torch is enough for my companion

[Mistress trades Melissa]

I don't know how does it look in regular Oblivion (probably alright), but with Darnified UI installed, which is actually very useful and (IMHO) practically a must for every PC-version gamer, Vilja's attributes/skills report looks garbled. Fortunately, I discovered that Oblivion, just like Morrowind before it, is susceptible to "0Ah treatment", which allows for better formatted MessageBoxes. It works like this: you write a MessageBox, putting a '|' everywhere where you want a new line break to be, say

messageBox "Status Report||Level %3.0f|Armor Rating%3.0f|Disposition%3.0f..."

instead of

messageBox "					Status Report																							  Level %3.0f		  Armor Rating%3.0f...

Then, when the mod is ready to be packed and uploaded, you open it with a hex editor (for example, http://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/ is freeware, unless you already have a favorite), find your line in a *compiled* script (below it comes the source text, but it is not to be edited) and manually replace all '|' symbols (7Ch) with linefeed characters (0Ah). After that, the MessageBox is displayed properly in game:

Status ReportLevel 15Armor Rating 20Disposition 87

Advantage: no need to measure your text with calipers for neat distribution (although making all numbers line up in a column *would* be good); no extra spaces means more useful text in a fixed length line. Disadvantage: each time you edit the script, the treatment should be re-applied.

[Erika Ellsworth]

I don't know how does it look in regular Oblivion (probably alright), but with Darnified UI installed, which is actually very useful and (IMHO) practically a must for every PC-version gamer, Vilja's attributes/skills report looks garbled. Fortunately, I discovered that Oblivion, just like Morrowind before it, is susceptible to "0Ah treatment", which allows for better formatted MessageBoxes. It works like this: you write a MessageBox, putting a '|' everywhere where you want a new line break to be, say

messageBox "Status Report||Level %3.0f|Armor Rating%3.0f|Disposition%3.0f..."

instead of

messageBox "					Status Report																							  Level %3.0f		  Armor Rating%3.0f...

Then, when the mod is ready to be packed and uploaded, you open it with a hex editor (for example, http://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/ is freeware, unless you already have a favorite), find your line in a *compiled* script (below it comes the source text, but it is not to be edited) and manually replace all '|' symbols (7Ch) with linefeed characters (0Ah). After that, the MessageBox is displayed properly in game:

Status ReportLevel 15Armor Rating 20Disposition 87

Advantage: no need to measure your text with calipers for neat distribution (although making all numbers line up in a column *would* be good); no extra spaces means more useful text in a fixed length line. Disadvantage: each time you edit the script, the treatment should be re-applied.

Kir, thank you for the valuable information

I will have a look at it. By just reading it here, I'm not sure I fully understand what you are saying (i.e. not the last part of it), but hopefully it will get clearer when looking at the hex editor. If not, I hope you don't mind if I ask you more in a PM later on?

There *is* now a new version of Vilja in the works, and I the skill report system will be reworked in it, but it is possible the new version will look considerably different than what it does today.

And you are right - I should download the alternate UI's. I'm just using the standard one, but I have heard so many good things about the one by Darnified. And, also, it's good to know how things look in other people's games - I wasn't aware that the skill report didn't look OK with the alternate UI.

[Lauren Graves]

Thanks for taking my suggestions into considerations.

Does this upgrade include my previously mentioned number one observation? In any case, I shall await the main update when the "little light" is gone from Vilja, torch is enough for my companion

XtremeRampage,

I'm so sorry, I must have been away when you posted your replied, cause I haven't seen it until now!

No, I didn't include a quick-command for wait in the main topics menu in the update. I wasn't sure how a changed number of short variables in Vilja's script might affect the game for those who were already in the middle of her story (I have understood that this is less cruical in Oblivon than in Morrowind, where it would have caused a mess, but I still hesitated to do it an update of an existing version when I had already started to work on the next version).

[MISS KEEP UR]

Right... as this thread is now active again, this might be a good time to ask for feedback...

A new version of Vilja is in the works, although it will take time before it is finished (so please go ahead and use the current version for now, rather than wait for a new one!)
I have been making notes on comments from players about things i should attend to. Here is a short list, but now that she has been released for a while, there might be more...

1 - add a quick-option for "wait" in the main topics menu (for situations where you for instance don't want her to follow you further into a dungeon)

2 - add a check to the part of the story where she gets poisoned, so that you can make her use a cure poison potion if she already has one in her inventory.

3 - filter dialog entry about riding so that she doesn't tell you she wants to go for a ride when she is already on the horseback.

4 - force her to reevaluate her aipackage (evp) after fasttravelling, to as much as possible prevent her from going into wandermode.

5 - Add a quest icon.

6 - Make her report stats skills for mercantile and armorer correctly (although these skills are redundant; she never uses them)

7 - Adjust the skillreport for marksmanship. Now it is reporting fully according to her *current* class-package, but it might be better to always report the higher marksman skill, so players don't think she is lousy at using a bow.

8 - The dialog filter for the Dragonic Madstone quest might not be corrent (?) (she talks about it even if you have done the quest? - not confirmed)



I have received a number of other, general, requests as well. The most requested one is about adding in an (optional) romance with her. I haven't decided on this yet - if there will be one, it will be extremely optional and much on her conditions (after all, her feelings are sorely hurt when you meet her, she isn't likely to fall into your arms and adore you).
Right now, I'm adding in more finetuned dialog filters and more interaction with other npcs.