Name: Deadly Reflex - Combat Moves
Version: v6.0 BETA1

Date: 11/18/2010
Category: Gameplay Effects and Changes
Requirements (for full experience, see Installation section): Oblivion/Shivering Isles build/patch 1.2.0.416, Oblivion Script Extender (OBSE), Oblivion Graphics Extender (OGE), NifSE, 1st Person Legs mod, HUD Status Bars mod, Drop Lit Torches Obse mod, Oblivion Mod Manager (OBMM) or Wrye Bash
Author(s): Skycaptain
Source: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8273
Forum: http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showforum=25



====================
1. SHORT DESCRIPTION
====================

Deadly Reflex - Combat Moves is combat enhacing mod for Oblivion, which adds new dimension, tactics and violent action to the Oblivion Combat by adding new combat moves for both the Player AND the NPCs.

Version 5 was a total rewrite with enchanced NPC interactions, new total STABILITY, determistic stat based success system and of course, new moves, finishers and blood system with upgrades like new animations to older features.

Version 6 makes practically everything better, and brings in new features like 1st person horse combat, gruesome weapon throws, acrobatics based kick system, momentum based chance system, on screen blood and more immersive and dynamic 1st person animations. (see below for what attempts to be a complete list of new features)


v6 IS ALSO THE MOST COMPLICATED DEADLY REFLEX TO INSTALL, SO EVEN OLD USERS - READ THIS README! ;)



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2. List NEW features in short
=============================

1. New combat mechanics: momentum and unpredictability. Now it actually matters A LOT which attacks or moves you use, and when! Prepare to feel more involved in the combat!

2. Power attack perks - now DR criticals are more part of the perks you gain on different weapon skill levels.

3. Powerattacks rewamped (related to above) - many animations have been replaced, either by reusing Vanilla attack or by introducing totally new ones. Powerattack damage multipliers tuned.

4. More dynamic 1st person experience - 1st person animations are now replaced by 3rd person versions (note: not the view, the animations), pain-stakingly hand edited get the best of both worlds. This gives you more "feel" of the move you are performing.

5. Kick system - 4 kicks and a headbutt, fully working in 1st person as well. Acrobatics is now a "kick skill", making this skill a very important one for a melee fighter.

6. Horse combat - it′s back, it′s rewriten, it′s designed especially for 1st person, and the mechanics are very dynamic, with complete damage formula and angular speed speed damage modifiers! (even found the slow horse bug from DR3&4!)

7. Throw your weapon at your enemy - and see it STICK to his body, where it hits, how it hits, with locational bleeding and diverse dying animations!

8. Throw your torch to light up the path ahead - or throw it at your enemy while you are at it, and inflict some fire damage. Who knows, maybe he burns alive?

9. New guts - the intestines are even havoked like real ones.

9. Better blood emitters and stains.

10. Blood on screen! (optional)

11. Targetting remade - you don′t have to point at the target exactly with your crosshair to score criticals etc. This also removes some minor bugs caused by activation distance tricks used by DR5.

12. Better and more accurate hit detection - now DR knows exactly who hit whom.

13. Multiple magic critical hits at once - by any spell casted by any source! Now area spell casted by a common Imp MAY freeze an entire family of rats into icy statues!

14. Some new or new versions of criticals (these were obviously not the main target in this release!), most importantly a handy "quick impale", to stab fallen enemies that are already trying to get up.

15. Chance system rewritten, to avoid extreme cases or low or high chances, and to give the player more obvious control on the different success chances (via INI and momentum & unpredictability system)

16. So many little fixes, many things rethought, many things just better done.



=====================================================
3. Understanding Deadly Reflex basic combat mechanics:
=====================================================


Deadly Reflex gives you new moves that work as part of your normal combat, like shield bashing, kicking, dodging, and flipping, and also critical hits to finish off your enemies. The basic combat moves, as well as one selected critical hit, are used by the NPCs as well.

In Deadly Reflex, your skills, level and physical health are compared to the enemy skills at all times, and they are determine both your and the enemy′s success rates in using these moves against each other.

This means that even ordinary moves, like shieldbashing, are not successfull often if for example your blockskill is weak, if you are out of breath and or/almost dead, and/or the enemy is much more experienced fighter. It′s the SUM of these things that matters, at all times.



There aren′t necessarily one single stat that helps. The formulae used are complicated, like reality is, and therefore not listed here. You can simply trust they make sense intuitively. For example, if the enemies block your bashes a lot, and keep returning them to you, it helps to build up your block skill and strength (see the individual feature list). On the otherhand, if you get kicked down a lot, invest in better agility (and less head-on tactics and better physical condition).


The physical health factor makes fights more deterministic. Don′t let the enemy get the upper hand, criple him instead. Keep care of your health, avoid damage, and deliver it always when possible. Wounding the enemy lowers his ability to dodge or counter your moves, so even skilled enemies can be toned down by brute force and wise tactics.

Understanding these basic logics behind everything that happens in Deadly Reflex is important to avoid frustration. Keep care of your health and fatigue, develop your stats to fair better in combat, and learn patience. :)



While in DR6 almost all skill and stat based chance formulae are rewriten to scale better against all kinds of enemies, there′s also one totally new and important factor introduced - momentum.

momentum, which can be displayed as a statusbar on your HUD (see Installation section), affects every chance calculated regarding knockdowns and critical hits, and basicly represents "how well you fight".

In addition to momentum, the "Unpredictability" of your every move (attack, bash or kick) affects the success chance of THAT particular move and counter chance of the enemy. Suddenly, it matters *which* attack you decide to use as well!


"Unpredictability" and "momentum" are linked - "Unpredictability" is what adds to your momentum. This is explained in more depth in momentum section below.



==============================================
4. Understanding momentum and Unpredictability
==============================================


-Unpredictability-


Never stopped to think that it′s pretty much all the same if you use just one powerattack in Oblivion, or all of them? It makes no difference - you probably mostly use the one you like the most, or consider the "best one".

Well that changes now. In DR6, you actually WANT to think which attack to use next. You want to combine different attacks, you want to use ALL the attacks, you want to kick from time to time, you want to use ALL the kicks and you want to use the bash. I′ll explain why.


If you always use the same powerattack, or favor just two of them, it makes you predictable. If you overuse the bash, it makes you predictable. What′s UNpredictable, is your LEAST used move or attack. So in DR6, it′s always your LEAST used move that the enemy is least likely to counter and/or that′s most likely to cause a critical or knockdown.

If you haven′t bashed a lot in a particular fight, your next bash is very likely to succeed. On the otherhand, if you spam some certain powerattack in hopes of a critical, your chances to succeed just go lower and lower. But then, decide to throw in your first kick in the whole fight, and it′s granted to take the enemy off guard! See how this works?



When in combat, DR6 keeps track of the (1) powerattacks, (2) kicks and (3) bashing you do. When ever you perform a kick, for example, DR6 calculates an "Unpredictability factor" of the move. The resulting number consists of

- how much that move GROUP have been used compared to other groups (attack, kick, bash)

- how much that particular MOVE has been used compared to other moves INSIDE the group (for example, how favored that particular kick has been). Bashing doesn′t have this second calculation level, cause the whole group is just one move.


The resulting "Unpredictability" factor is used ín TWO ways:

- if the unpredictability is higher than the average for all the moves, it adds to your momentum - the more the more unpredictable it is.

- it directly affects the success chance of the move itself, the move you are performing at the very moment



Unpredictability factor behaves exponentially, so if you have already used a wide variety of moves, but not some certain move at all, that move gets especially high unpredictability multiplier when first deployed.




-momentum-


momentum is like a "score" between 0 and 100, that measures how overwhelmed your enemies feel in front of your moves. You gain momentum with unpredicatable moves, and lose momentum when you take damage and also slowly over time.

momentum directly governs you chances of critical hits or knockdown - indeed, momentum determines your base critical chance.

The base critical chance in DR6 is set in the INI file. In action, this is multiplied (in addition to stat and level comparisons with the enemy):


- the unpredictability factor of the attack

- your momentum


So with 30% critical chance set in the INI, and 50% momentum, your base critical chance is 15%. This is multiplied by the unpredictablity factor of the move itself, and further modified by level and stat comparisons between your character and the enemy.

Nevertheless, making your momentum visible in the HUD (see Installation) gives you a good idea of your relative chances of scoring a critical. Furthermore, it makes the decisions in combat much more interactive, with visible feedback in form of the momentum bar.



The % of momentum lost (of current momentum!) by taking damage is by default the % of damage taken, the % of momentum lost every second (% of current momentum!) is 1% every second.

Example: you have 100p or health, and you have 50% momentum, and you take 10p of damage -> by default you lose 10/100 * 50% = 5% of momentum, and are left with 45% of momentum.

Example2: you have 50% of momentum, and one second of time passes -> by default you lose 1/100 * 50% = 0.5% of momentum, and are left with 49,5% of momentum.

(see INI to configure momentum increase and decrease values and rates)



A good general tactic:

Use all the different moves diversely. This way your "pool of used moves" is wide, and no move is considered predictable -> your average success chance is good, and your momentum rises steadily.


Sneaky tactic:

Save a move with a potential to score a critical to the end of the fight. While this means all the other moves you use are slightly less unpredictable as one move is missing from the calculated average, once you deploy the move:

-it′s "super suprising" -> very high unpredictability factor -> very high per-move multipler

-high one time insta boost to your momentum

-the enemy is in low health

->-> the chance to score a critical is unusually high



So using your imagination is allowed - you don′t by no means HAVE TO cycle through the moves like a machine! ;)



NOTE: as DR6 brings kicking part of the momentum system, and makes Acrobatics a "kick skill" (3 of the kicks are actually Acrobatic moves), you want to train yourself in Acrobatics to reach your full potential as a melee fighter.


================================
5. INDIVIDUAL FEATURES (player):
================================


The different moves are triggered by either by normal melee or projectile attacks, or via Deadly Reflex special controls, which include Block + Attack, Throw key, Bash key and Dodge key.

In the following list, the features are listed as shortly as possible, divided in corresponding sections starting with Deadly Reflex special controls.


NOTE: Because the concept of momentum is better explained separately, it′s not mentioned in this section. Just keep in mind that momentum′s concepts "govern" all the combat related chances mentioned here.


-------------------------
Block + Attack - KICKING:
-------------------------

DR6 introduces 4 different kicks and a Headbutt, that are used with Block + Attack + directional keys. All kicks requiring a directional key are actually replaced Acrobatic moves, so you need Acrobatics 50 to use them.

All kicks cause damage, the formula used is the same as with Hand to Hand, except the skill part uses Acrobatics skill, and the base damage is set in DR6 INI file.


Acrobatic
- - - - -

Block + Attack + Forward = Jump Kick

Block + Attack + Right = Roundhouse kick

Block + Attack + Left = Rotating sweep kick



Non-acrobatic
- - - - - - -

If the enemy is staggering, and you press Block + Attack, you perform a so-called knockdown kick. If you are really close - even if the enemy is staggering - you automatically use headbutt instead.

Using Block + Attack + Forward also triggers knockdown kick or headbutt, if the enemy is staggering and you are close enough.



While all kicks may knock down the enemy, Knockdown kick and Jump Kick carry the highest chance (3x), sweep the second highest (2x). Only the knockdowns against staggered enemies give "full knockdowns", with enough time to try and impale the target.

Acrobatics and strenght boost your knockdown chance, together with lighter main (upperbody) armor used. Archers are overall more easy to knock down.



Jump Kick, Knockdown kick and HeadBut can also Stun your enemy - see the Bash key section for what this means.



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DODGE KEY - DODGING:
--------------------


If your Agility is over 25, you can press dodgekey to perform a quick duck.

If you Acrobatics is over 50, you can press a backward + dodge at the same time, to trigger an acrobatic backwards "retreat" dodge.


Dodge key: Duck

Backward + dodge = spinning backwards dodge (usefull to retreat quickly backwards in battle)



-------------------------------------
BASH KEY - BASHING AND SPECIAL MOVES:
-------------------------------------

NOTE: Bash key ALSO is your special move key:

NOTE2: Some of these special moves only work with Blade weapons - for some of the "thrust" type moves I simply didn′t have a good alternative blunt idea/animation.


-Bashing-

In a normal combat situation, it works as your defensive attack key, and allows you to either shieldbash or weaponpunch the enemy in order to stagger him. Don′t overdo it - the more the enemy staggers, the more he concentrates on countering the stagger attempts, predicting your moves. The harder you press the harder they resist, so give them some room to make the their own mistakes, and remember to use plain old blocking and attacking as well, don′t initate your every attack with a bash.

Blockskill makes for more efficient bashing, strength naturally helps, shield bashing is a bit more effective - it′s all pretty intuitive in the end.



-Stunning-

If the enemy is running towards you, or charging, a well timed bash against his face may broke his nose. The enemy will step back, shake his head, grab his face.

Use this opportunity to finish him off with any of the finishers described here.



-Impaling / Smashing-

When the enemy is knocked down, get close to him, target him and press bash key to impale him with your blade or stave, or to smash him dead with your blunt weapon. The enemy may dodge or block the impale, and once again it comes down to your weapon skill and the enemy agility or block skill, and how beaten or not you both are.


-Quick Impale-

If the enemy falls down, but starts to instantly get up, you can′t use the full impale. Then you′ll automatically use a quick stab with a blade, which is less deadly but still pretty damaging.


-Standing impale-

When the enemy is stunned, you can drive your blade weapon through him by pressing the bash key. After wathcing your enemy to arch his back in pain, your character kicks him down to pull out the weapon.



-Ambushing-

Ever sneaked around in a dungeon, using the shadows or some invisibility potion to get withing a couple of meters from the enemy, and then wondered how to benefit from it?

Now you can start the melee with style. Target the enemy from a charge-distance away, press the bash key, WHILE SNEAKING, to perform a jump attack that takes your target by supprise. If you are not detected by the target when the attack starts, you have a chance to make a perfect stike, causing a critical melee hit and killing the enemy with a single blow!

You weaponskill, acrobatics and strength play a role in success chance, together with usual physical condition and level differencies. The enemy may manage to react, and send you flying with a kick, he may dodge or block, or you may get a partial hit which still knocks the enemy down and damages him.


Note that sneak skill plays NO role in success chance, but this move only works outside combat, against unsuspecting victims - so a good sneak is skill IS usually needed, to get close to hostile without alerting them. Also note that this is not a silent attack, you will draw attention.



-Throath slitting-

Get behind an unsuspecting victim, and slit his throath. Unlike Ambush, this move calls finesse, and allows silent instakills. However, good sneak and blade skills are required for success, and experience through levels helps agaist experienced targets.

Failing means you are detected before you get the blade comfortably on the victims throat. He may duck or turn and bash you down. Getting caught trying to murder someone counts as a normal attack, and the consequnces are exactly the same, a fight will follow and guards will appropriately defend a friendly citizen.



-Sleep stab-

Slitting throaths is the most effective strategy when the target is awake. But when someone sleeps soundly before you, it′s most convinient to simply stab him quicly a few times.

Press bash key to stab a sleeping NPC to death. It′s best to kneel over him, simply crouch on his bed. Your character will stab the target 4 times in a row. Sleep stab is a 100% sure way to kill anyone.




---------------------------------------------------
THROW KEY - THROWING YOUR EQUIPPED WEAPON OR TORCH:
---------------------------------------------------

This was supposed to be a critical throw "cut scene" a la Dark Messiah, but as tech suddenly allowed it almost accidentally grew into something more complete and dynamic.


Weapon throw
- - - - - - -

To throw your equipped weapon, aim and press the throw key. The throw is deadly, if the weapon hits in the correct angle. How to affect this? Position yourself correctly, it′s the distance that counts and your personal experience that determines the success.

The throw is intentionally something you can′t do "machine gun style", it′s the weapon you have in hand that you throw, and you need to equip a new one to throw again. It′s a finesse move, often best used as a desperate stunt attempt in combat or as an assasination move when undetected.




Details:

- blade′s hit angle spans 90 degrees, axes a bit less

- only succesful hits above waist stick to the body and are lethal, weapons only stick to body not limbs

- non-axe blunt weapons are only lethal when they hit the head, and never stick (-> skull crush)

- ALL blunt hits have a fair chance of knocking down the target, determined by the weight of the weapon

- all non-succesful hits cause damage, equal to the base damage of the weapon, and stagger the target

- throwing weapons against creatures is not recommended, as you can′t score critical/lethal/perfect hits on them, it′s a tech restriction

- weapon throws do not stick to environment - I simply found this feature unneeded, and often more unrealistic than something that would be worth the effort.

- the weapon is automatically given back to you when you activate your dead target - this is not some odd-ball trick, but a compatibility tweak for Enhanced Economy, which can be set to remove inventory items from dead enemies.


Torch throw
- - - - - -

If you have torch in hand, you will always throw that instead of a weapon. Throwing torches is handy for lighting up the path ahead (note: this requires Drop Lit Torches mod like Drop Lit Torches OBSE).

You can also throw torches at enemies, which will cause some fire damage. Sometimes you may get lucky, if the torch hits tip first, and the target catches on fire and dies like with Fire magic criticals.




--------------------------------
MELEE ATTACKS (Blade and Blunt):
--------------------------------

Melee powerattacks have the chance of causing direct criticals against enemies, but only THOSE powerattacks you gain as perks when advancing in your weapon skill.


The criticals will automatically trigger when you powerattack against for example stunned enemy, or when you succesfully ambush someone.



In normal combat situations, in theory you may any time cause an instant, bloody death, but in practice it usually requires your condition is better than the enemy condition, and/or your stats are better and you have built up enough momentum.




List of critical effects (list of attacks and which triggers what follows)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -


-Decapitation, Cut in half, and melee throat slit-

"Decaps" usually start with a slow motion. During this time, you need to aim to the head of the target. If you aim to the waist, you cut the enemy in half. If you are using dagger, the decapitation is a throat slit instea, and cutting in half is not possible. Also note that due to technical restrictions, enemies with "robes-like" clothing cannot be cut in half.


- Skull crush

Mechanics for skullcrush are similar to decapitation, and may also start with a slow motion. If you are using a blunt weapon, and go into slow motion when initiating an attack, aim for the head.



-Wristcut (and other possible outcomes)-

If the enemy blocks a decapitation, skull crush or cut in half attempt, there are a few options. If you are using blade, and the block happens with a shield or a one handed weapon, your attempt simply fails.

If the enemy is using a twohanded block (2h weapon, hand to hand), you cut off his wrists, and are free to finish the sobbing, bleeding enemy with multiple ways like with stunned enemy, only that this enemy will never recover even if you just leave him be. He will bleed to death in 60s.

If using a blunt weapon, the enemy gets knocked down in every case by the power of your blunt weapon, and his weapon or shield may break.



-Critical chest wound-

The enemy falls on his knees, with his lungs punctured or collapsed, and your character automatically follows up with a stylish special spinning jump that decapitates the enemy or breaks his skull in pieces.



-Critical stomach wound-

Struck by the sudden pain, the enemy wavers for a short moment, before you automatically kick him down.




Different attacks
- - - - - - - - -

DR6 makes changes to blade and blunt animations, reweights power attack damage multipliers and opens new critical hit opportunities when you gain new levels in your weapon skill. For reference, default Oblivion powerattack damage is 6,25x (standing powerattack 7,5x).

The damage multipliers have been assigned from the gameplay perspective, but I wont go deeper into the reasoning here. The IDEA is that you read this list like a game manual, and then make the best out of your available options.



-Standing Powerattack-

Damage: 7,5x

Apprentice Perk (1h & 2h): a quick thrust, with a chance to cause a Critical Chest Wound



-Forward Powerattack-

Damage: 6x

Before Master level perk (1h & 2h): this attack is a charging thrust. You can move freely during the attack - use this to time the hit so that your running speed transmits extra damage to your attack! (note: running in place against the enemy gives no bonus) May cause a Critical Chest Wound, if the damage is high enough.

Master level perk (1h): a leaping thrust attack, with a chance to paralyze and/or cause a Critical Chest Wound

Master level perk (2h): running overhead swing (same as default Oblivion), with a chance to paralyze and/or crush the skull of the target



-Left Powerattack-

Damage: 9x

Journeyman Perk (1h): a quick and powerful rotating swing with both hands, cabable of crushing the skull of the enemy

Journeyman Perk (2h): a fast rotating "backhand swing", which can cut your enemies head off clean or smash it like a ripe melon



-Right Powerattack-

Damage: 9x

Journeyman Perk (1h): a rotating finesse attack, that can trigger a slow motion mode allowing you to choose between decap/skullcrush/throat slit or cut in half

Journeyman Perk (2h): different attack, same benefits as above



-Backward Powerattack-

Damage: 6x

Before Expert Level Perk (1h): a counter swing with both hands, cabable of causing knockdowns, even lethal ones.

Before Expert Level Perk (2h): An overhead smash, cabable of causing knockdowns, even lethal ones.

Expert Level Perk (1h & 2h): A sneaky rotating move with a thrust in the end, perfect for catching the enemy off guard, knocking him down or causing critical Stomach Wound




SPECIAL NOTE ON CREATURES:

Creatures are different from NPCs from a techical point of view. Out of melee criticals, only Impaling and Ambushing can be used on creatures.
However, using any enchanted melee weapon on a creature may cause elemental spell critical hits (see Projectile attacks -> Magic section below).



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PROJECTILE ATTACKS:
-------------------

-Bow Shots (non-enchancted)-

Try to hit the enemy′s upper chest area, to occasionally puncture the victim′s lung, making him gasp for air and collapse on his knees, his life fading away.

Critical bow hits usually take place when the enemy is severely wounded already, and the hit is required by default to cause at least 30% damage (take away 30% of the enemy′s remaining health).

Only works on non-creature enemies.


Alternatively, you may score a skullcrush with a perfect shot to head.



-Bow shots (enchanted)-

If your bow or arrow used is enchanted with a fire, shock or frost damage, your critical bow hits cause elemental spell effects instead (read on for details). Works normally with creatures.

Enchanted arrows can also cause non-enchanted bow shot criticals for non-creature NPCs.



-Magic attacks-

Whether you are attacking with a enchanted weapon or casting a spell or shooting your staff, you have a chance at causing a critical elemental magic hit. This applies to effects with fire, frost or shock damage.

The more you cause damage compared to remaining enemy health, the higher your chance is. The base chance is determined by your intelligent and willpower stats compared to your target, also the regular physical condition and level differencies play a role - I′m sure you are getting the idea behind all success chances. :)

Causing 30% of damage, or killing the target is required to even have a chance at causing a critical magic hit.

Fire roasts the victim alive. Shock has a similar effect, NPCs have their equipment melt partly in to their skin. Frost freezes your target to a statue! Strike or kick the statue to cause it to shatter in pieces!


Notes:

-Melee elemental effects apply to creatures only, which have no decapitations and such criticals.

-only instant effect spells apply at the moment, as the damage is detected for one frame on hit only. Even 1s duration spells will not work (unless you configure the threshold damage to 0 in the INI)

-frost effect is not technically possible if the spell kills the target



-Combustive Convulsion-

This a special spell you can use once a day to EXPLODE YOUR ENEMY in pieces, if the average of your health, willpower and destruction skill overcomes the enemy health and willpower.

To obtain the spell, the average of your willpower and destruction must exceed 50. After *successfull* use, the spell is removed from you, having exhausted this "greater power" (it′s not a greater power, it just behaves like one). You will gain the spell the next day again, provided you still meet the requirements.





==============================
6. INDIVIDUAL FEATURES (NPCs):
==============================

The NPCs have the ability to use the bashing, dodging and kicks, and knock you down and try and impale you. DR creates individual "style" for each NPC you encounter, which basicly decides how much they for example prefer dodging over bashing. This preference has nothing to do with how succesful they are using those moves, however, their success rates are guided by similar calculations as the player′s.

The NPCs know how to duck projectiles at the right time, or to followup stagger with a kick, a knockdown with an impale attempt. NPCs may simply fail to time a duck perfectly just like you, or restrain from trying to impale if they don′t believe in their chance at succeeding.

It′s all best seen in action, this info is just to set your mind on a right path so you can better appreciate the features. :)




================
7. HORSE COMBAT:
================

DR6 brings back the horse combat - better than ever!

Horse combat allows you to fight from the horseback, either in 1st or 3rd person. Because 1st person view allows you to actually turn the player without turning the horse, the dynamics in 1st person are more "in depth" and it′s the recommended fighting view.


-Horse Combat Mode-

Because you just can′t draw your weapon while riding, you need to have your weapon in hand, and press the Horse Combat Key to enter "horse combat mode" BEFORE mounting the horse. Unfortunately, if you save while riding with a weapon in hand, and later load that save, your character automatically sheats the weapon, and you need to unmount and enter horse combat mode again.



-Riding in horse combat mode-

-control the riding speed with forward and backward buttons - the horse keeps running at that speed then by itself.

-it′s easier to turn the horse at low speeds, so slow down while trying to make a steep turn



-Stealing horses in horse combat mode-

It′s harder to control a reluctant creature when trying to handle a weapon as well, so unless you win the cooperation of the horse, it will throw you down as soon as you mount it. Your Personality and Speechcraft determine how good a "horse whisperer" you are.



-Horse combat controls-

Attack key: slash from the right

Attack key (hold): thrust

Block + Attack: slash from the left

Block: block

Bash key: bash

Casting key: cast "on self" spells on yourself, "on touch" friendly spells on your horse, "on touch" hostile spells in front of your horse, and "on target" spells where you aim



-Melee damage in horse combat-

General damage formula in Horse Combat is exactly like in normal combat. However, the way you combine your riding and attack have a huge impact on the final damage.

When thrusting, it′s all about the riding speed. In first person, it′s also about the DIRECTION of the thrust - if you thrust 90 degrees to your side, your speed does little to help the damage.

When slashing, the speed similarly adds to the damage. But note how the weapon swings - you want to *line the weapon′s swing direction with your speed* to get full advantage.

Also, your turning speed can be used to add damage to slashing attacks - and very powerfull skill to master, as it allows delivering good damage while riding at lower speeds. For example: slash FROM right to left (Attack key), TO your right side, while TURNING to the left.

NOTE: longer weapons gain higher damage bonus from turning speed, because the tip of the weapon physically travels faster.



-Some notes and tips for horse combat-

Horse combat is not easy, and especially in 1st person you really need to aim with your crosshair, the hit detection is accurate and pretty "harsh" on the player - you need to aim at the enemy the moment the hit would connect. 3rd person is much easier with this regard, but lacks some of the damage dynamics as well.

Requiring skill from YOU is what makes it interesting, and balances out the fact that you can avoid damage more easily than when on foot. Also, the damage you can potentially deliver per blow is higher.

Another factor that makes horse combat challenging are NPCs that cast spells or shoot arrows. Why? Because they tend to hammer your horse down first. It may well be a good strategy to counter groups of spell casters or archers on foot instead.



=====================
8. OPTIONAL FEATURES:
=====================


-Timed block-

The optional Timed Block esps are designed to make blocking an active, rather than passive part of the combat. In normal Oblivion system, you are pratically encouraged to hold down the block key, while waiting for the enemy to recoil, which makes the combat dragging and boring.


Timed block esps make your block effectiveness to rely on how well the block is timed. When you press the "block", your block skill starts draining down, so the longer you have been holding the block, the less effetive it is when the stike hits.

This simulates the fact that no enemy would hit straight into your block, should you be just holding it stationary before and waiting him to strike. No, he would try and go around it. To simulate ACTIVE blocking, full effectiveness is given only to blocks that pratically start only after the enemy attack has started.

Perfect timings are rewarded with a small but nice boost compared to normal Oblivion′s block effectiveness. Beyond that, the block effectiveness drains to 25% in about three seconds. You always get that 25% effectiveness, however, no matter how long you have been holding the block.


If you release the block, the effectiveness is INSTANTLY restored. You are only required to THINK about blocking, instead of automatically sitting on the block control. Try it out, it′s amazing what a difference it actually makes. ;)



-Higher damage and durability-

Timed block comes in three flavours. While the Timed block feature in exactly the same in all three esps, you are given an option to have higher weapon damage across ALL oblivion and mod addded weapons. This makes combat quicker and more deadly, more exciting.

The two different higher damage esps come with settings that make any armor take more time to break, to compensate for the higher damage.

Recommended: 250% damage version (beware though, it actually makes the game feel harder).



-Blood on Screen-

The "DRSplatter" esp enables a feature where melee criticals splash blood on the screen. Note that this esp requires OGE (Oblivion Graphics Extender) installed (see Installation section).



-Casting from Horse back-

While this is considered part of the Horse Combat, it′s a separate esp, originally made by FlyFightFlea, and later edited by me and then ShadeMe, and is fully optional. If enabled, you can cast while on horse back even when not in Horse Combat mode.


===========
9. Install:
===========


THIS MOD REQUIRES MANY OTHER RESOURCES! READ CAREFULLY!


-INSTALLING REQUIRED RESOURCES-

(check the readme of the resources on how to install them)


1. Install Obse (http://obse.silverlock.org/)


2. Install OGE (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=30054)

Note: required only for Blood on Screen (to use drsplatter.esp). The "core" file should be enough to download.


3. Install NifSE (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=21292)


4. Install 1st Person Legs (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=18595)

Note: required only to see legs in 1st person kicks. NOTE! This mod may not play well with unlimited rings or any other mod/Wrye bash tweak that changes default ring behavior! This is not my mod, use at your own risk and read the readme!


5. Install OBSE MenuQue (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=32200)

Note: Required only if you use HUD Status Bars (see below)


6. Install HUD Status Bars (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=34905)

Note: Required only to see your Momentum as HUD status bar. Example settings to for this mod′s INI file have been included, instructions in DR installation section.


7. Install Drop Lit Torches OBSE (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16282)

Note: Required (and EXTREMELY RECOMMENDED) to have thrown torches shed actual light. To use any other "drop lit torches mod", you need configure the esp name and the formid to DR ini file (consider as very advanced config).



-INSTALLING DEADLY REFLEX-

If you were using previous versions of Deadly Reflex, the old version MUST BE REMOVED. Follow the instructions in the old version readme.


Manual Install (not recommended!)
--------------
Extract this archive to any folder and then copy the contents to Oblivion's Data
folder.


OBMM Install
------------
Create an OMOD:

-Copy this archive to (install folder)\Oblivion\obmm\omod\
-Start Oblivion Mod Manager.
-Click the Create button.
-Click the Add Archive button, find and select the archive, then click Yes.
-Click the Create omod button, then click OK when it finishes.

Install the mod using OBMM:

-Start Oblivion Mod Manager (if not already running)
-Double-click the name of the mod in the right-hand side of the OBMM screen.
(icon should turn blue)


Activating the mod files
-------------------------

1. Activate Horse Combat Master.esm

2. Activate DeadlyReflex 6 - Combat Moves.esp

3. Activate DRSplatter.esp, if you want to see blood on the screen AND you installed the required resources.

4. Activate Mounted_Spellcasting_Deadly_Reflex_Compatible.esp, if you want to be able to cast spell when on horse back

5. Activate ONE of the "Timed Block" esps, if you want to (see the optional files section for info about them)

6. Use Oblivion Mod Manager (http://timeslip.chorrol.com/obmm_download.html) or Wrye bash (http://wrye.ufrealms.net/#WryeBash) to adjust your load order to look like following:

--------------------------------
[all other ESM files]
[Horse Combat Master.esm]

[all other esps]
ONE Deadly Reflex 6 - Timed Block esp, if you want to use Timed Block
Mounted_Spellcasting_Deadly_Reflex_Compatible.esp
DRSplatter.esp
Deadly Reflex 6 - Combat Moves.esp
----------------------------------

NOTE: It′s preferred to load the Combat Moves esp DEAD LAST. Why? Deadly Reflex 6 requires that "Script Effect" is not only silenced, but that the projectile speed is set to as high as possible.

If you don′t know what this means, just load the esp last, and you are fine. Only load other esps after Combat Moves esp if you know what you are doing, or some other trusted mod author (who has read what I said here) tells you to do that.



7. Configure HUD Status Bars, if you installed it. Look in the folder: Oblivion\data\INI\

There you can find a file called "DR Hud Status Bars.ini" which contains settings for DR momentum bar. You have two options:

a) (recommended option!) Study and learn to configure HUD Status Bars, check the settings in my example INI and use them to display the bar the way you want to.

OR

B) Use my example file directly as HUD Status Bars ini. In the same folder:

-rename "Hud Status Bars.ini" to "BACKUP Hud Status Bars.ini".

-rename "DR Hud Status Bars.ini" to Hud Status Bars.ini.



8. (optional but recommended step)

Go to your Oblivion.ini (Documents\My Games\Oblivion\Oblivion.ini) and find the following setting and set the value to 0, as in the example:

fNearDistance=0.0000


This is to help with 1st person animation clipping. By default, Oblivion doesn′t draw objects that are less than 10 units from the "screen surface" (the default value of this setting), which leads more easily part of the hands clipping etc.

You can always set this value back to normal if you need to, for what ever reason.



9. Configure Deadly Reflex using the INI file: Oblivion\data\INI\DeadlyReflex\DeadlyReflex.txt

Look for a section that says "Configure these". The settings should have enough info next to them, to help you understand how to configure them. At first you probably want to leave almost all of them as they are.

So, for now, loo only these settings. There you see which key is used by default for which action. Change them to something else if you need to, you can see the number codes at: http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/IsKeyPressed2

----
set skycaptainsSb.bashKey to 45 ;shield bash/special move key, 45=x-key
set skycaptainsSb.flipKey to 33 ;dodge key, the variable name is simply old, 33=f-key
set skycaptainsSb.horseCombatKey to 48 ;48=b-key
set skycaptainsSb.throwkey to 47 ;47=v-key
----

Another setting you might be interested in right away is the critical chance multiplier:

----
set skycaptainssb.criticalchance to 30
----

In theory, the value can be set as high as you want, but it′s intended to be set between 0 and 100.



9. Start Oblivion either with Oblivion Mod Manager, or by double clicking obse_loader.exe. If Obse is not used to launch the game EVERY TIME, the mod WILL NOT WORK.

10. Play the game, and if something seems off, check the INI again - there′s a good chance you can find a setting there that helps you make the mod more to your liking.



=============
10. Uninstall:
=============

(to uninstall any resources you installed to use DR, refer to the readme of those resources!)


At this point, all I can say is I hope you installed with OBMM (or BAIN).

OBMM uninstallation:

1. Start Oblivion Mod Manager.
2. Double-click the name of the mod in the right-hand side of the OBMM screen,
click Yes. (icon should turn green)


BAIN uninstallation - check Wrye Bash / BAIN readme.



Manual uninstall (good luck..):


You can simply disable the esps and all Deadly Reflex features are disabled.

To clear all files referenced in the esp, download Oblivion Mod Remover (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7557) and use to automatically erase most of the Deadly Reflex files.

You still will have files from DR, you can try to find them in shaders folder, meshes\characters\_male and _1st person folder and in some folders under Data\textures. However, I wont provide the name of every single file - as I recommended not to install manually.



NOTE!!!

Disabling the Horse Combat Master.esm may cause problems with save game not loading; in this case look into Wrye bash documentation on disabling master files (http://wrye.ufrealms.net/Wrye%20Bash.html).


===================
11. Incompatibility:
===================

Loading Combat Moves esp last should make sure this mod works with virtually anything.

However, using other combat mods MAY cause unwanted behaviour or even bugs, break the balance or disable Deadly Reflex features. Try the mod first without other combat mods, or you will not be able to tell whether everything works or not.

Combat animation replacers, or mods that fundamentally change the Oblivion animation system will most likely make some parts of the mod function differently than intended. Idle animations and pose mods are a different thing and cause no problems.

Again, please try the mod first as it′s intended, before trying if something extra works with it or not.



NOTE! THE ABOVE POINT HOLDS ESPECIALLY FOR ANY BETA RELEASES! Reporting beta bugs that could just as well be conflicts with other combat mods (etc) is considered unhelpful and rude.

Anyone is free to play with the beta, but if you choose to help and report bugs, please TRY to eliminate the possibility of a conflict by not using possibly conflicting mods, as described above.

Reporting conflicts as *conflicts* is a different thing altogether, and helpful. :)



=========================
12. Known Issues or Bugs:
=========================

BETA NOTES:

-NIFSE has a known bug, where NIFSE objects saved into the save game wont load correctly - if you load a save with NifSE objects present. In practice, you get a missing mesh or a CTD if you leave your weapon sticking out of the target′s body after a succesful weapon throw, save the game and then load it. Just always retrieve the weapon and everything is fine.

-sometimes the thrown weapon seems to remain sticking out of the body of the target, even after retrieving the weapon. This has something to do with the target′s body not updating properly - the target does not have the item anymore, I have checked that, so it could be an engine bug. I could refresh the body, but with Enhanced Economy set to remove items from dead bodies (or for some other reason) I always got naked bodies, so I didn′t want to do that.

-Some 1st person animations aren′t necessarily perfect, some might not have been edited at all, either by accident or by me considering it′s good enough as it is, or me simply getting sick of editing it, or then I was still learning when I did that anim

If find that really stands out for you, feel free to report it. I may or may not agree and work on it for the final release. No nitpicking however, please - the next best alternative is simply copying the Vanilla 3rd person folder into 1st person.


-throwing weapons does not make any damage when they hit in the wrong angle - in contrary to what I already wrote in this readme. I′m not sure if they should, so I didn′t change that yet.

-NPCs don′t use quick impale/stab yet

-NPC flying kicks should probably be less frequent than other kicks, at the moment they use same calculations as other kicks

-casting from horse back does not get detected as an attack or crime by the player. This should have been an easy feature to add, but I ran into strange last minute problems. Just don′t exploit it, and it does nothing to hurt your game.




GENERAL:


-this mod requires other mods, for the first time. I can′t account for them, I can′t promise they work perfectly or dont′t break your game. All I can say I′m in the same boat as you are - using them and just as vulnerable to possible bugs in them.

-If you run into a situation where your mouse and/or keyboard appear to be stuck, hit Esc to enter the menu, and then hit esc again to return.

Visiting the menu clears any slow motion, enables playercontrols etc.


-If it appears that something in the mod breaks, please disable the Combat Moves.esp, make a new save, and then enable the Combat Moves esp back.

This clears the mod and allows it to start fresh.


-DON`T USE GOD MODE FOR PLAYING, IT CAN BREAK THE MOD!




Report any bugs you find in the thread in the Official forums (http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showforum=25)

OR

at a dedicated bug report thread at

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8273


See the discussion tab, after the release my friend should be starting a bug report thread there which is used to collect the bugs, together with the official forums thread.



============
13. History:
============

v6.0 BETA - first public release of v6

v5.01, hotfix release for 5.0, fixed a freezing bug, broken chance calculations and added torch bashing

v5.0 base release, total rewrite, all earlier versions and features are obsolete.



============
14. Contact:
============

You can find me under the name Skycaptain on the Bethesda official Oblivion mod forums: http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showforum=25



============
15. Credits:
============

------------------
v6 Special Credits
------------------

BETA NOTE!

I have terrible memory, I have no list and it has been two years working with different people, switching resources back and forth, in and out.

IF I have forgot to add you here, please contact me - I′m terribly sorry, and will instantly fix it!

.............
The Obse crew - once again, without those people DR would not keep evolving!

.............
DragoonWraith - the man behind NIfSE, which twisted the laws of modding realities and made the weapon throwing possible as it is in this mod!

.............
OGE crew - the magic these guys do is awesome, and we have them to thank for having shaders like Blood on Screen!

.............
ShadeMe - for rewriting Mounted Spell Casting plugin and creating the Blood on Screen shader for DR, and for ConScribe (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=26510) - I would never have been ready without this debuggin tool!

.............
Wyzard - for RefScope (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=21862), which I needed more than a few times setting up my test installation!

.............
sinkpoint - for his Martial Arts mod (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16746), from where I got the sweep kick!

.............
UK47 - for the jump kick animation and skullcrush dying anim! And you helped me much more than that - but I had to eventually scratch some of my ideas, but the resources are not lost!

.............
SirTroy - for the side stagger anim, torchthrow anim, new decap dying anim, headbutt anim and sweep stumble anim! And you also created more than that, again some of my ideas are still unfinished or didn′t work out (yet)!

.............
Wolve - for new organs and blood on screen textures! You as well helped me out much more than that, but where you have helped me more than I can thank for is with the support you have given to people at Tesnexus - thanks man, a lot!

.............
frantic - for the new side kick / roundhouse anim and the quickstab anim

.............
Smoothy - for making the disgustingly real like new intestines!

.............
Draugo - for his mod 1st person Legs (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=18595) which is a requirement for this mod and which made kicking in 1st person possible!

.............
dDefinder - for his Alternate Blood Textures for MMM (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=20485) from which I borrowed the new body blood stain texture!

.............
Hentai - for his mod Blood textures for Deadly Reflex (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=25588) from where I borrowed the new ground blood stain textures!

.............
Vini - for your general friendship, initial testing and truthful feedback, that made DR6 much better than it originally would have been!

.............
Loup Sombre - for your mod 3rd person animations in 1st person view (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=18617), which is the very base for the 1st person view in this mod! You made it reality, I tweaked the 3rd person animations to play more nicely. Cheers mate!

.............
Reira - for your stunning animation replacer, Weaponskill PowerAttackReplacer (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=17909)

I have been forced to include some of your animations, because in order to use them in DR6, I had to make 1st person versions and include them in the download.

I have tried to contact you, yet I haven′t even heard of anyone who knows how to do that, succesfully. I′m sorry, I′m terribly sorry if I have crossed the line here - I only wanted people to enjoy your animations in DR, which without my edits would be impossible.

One word, and they are out of the final release!


Attacks that use an animation from this pack: 1h master powerattack, 2h regular backward powerattack, 2h journeyman right powerattack. All credit for these animations goes to Reira, I have only made some ugly edits to reduce clipping/make weapon visible in 1st person.



--------------------------------------------
Credits from v5 - many of which apply to v6!
--------------------------------------------

Skycaptain would like give his personal handshake and hug to the following amazing people who directly worked in making the v5 update.

These people contributed their time and art directly for Deadly Reflex, and deserve a place in this readme as authors of their actual work, as I cannot think of a way to thank them enough:


.............
The obse crew. The work they have put into Obse is what makes all work on this mod even possible or meaningfull!

.............
Animations for kick, new swordbash, duck, twohanded impale finisher, impale, critical thrust dying animation, the new thrust attack, and sleepstab by Frantic. (1st person versions by Skycaptain)

.............
Impale dodging and blocking animations by wolve.

.............
Acrobatic cartwheels, flip, spinning backwards dodge, get-up gesture and spinning jump decapitation move by Keter Sephiroth. (flip edited, spinning dodge 1st person by Skycaptain)

.............
New neckstab animation by -mike (later edited into throat slit by Skycaptain)

.............
New blood emitter by wolve, nick_op, XMarksTheSpot and ThrottleKitty. Special thanks for wolve for inventing the emitter and his months of hard work with it, XMarksTheSpot and ThrottleKitty for their unvaluable help with solving the critical problems, and nick_op for making the final, complete version.

.............
Blood stains system idea and mesh taken from Thieves Arsenal, made by scruggsywuggsy the ferret, and adjusted by nick_op.

.............
All new blood textures by wolve.

.............
Creature impale sound, blunt smash sound by Solinarius.

.............
Other new sounds based on the Work by Walther, mixed and matched in some cases by Skycaptain to create more sounds.

.............



Finally, I would like to mention Vini, who has been my trusted tester, quality manager, sound of common sense and a good friend during the whole process of making this update. Thanks for all the support man!



----------------
Credits from v4:
----------------

1. To the MAKERS OF OBSE!!!!!! There are no words, those guys are unbelievable, they are the *SOLE* reason this mod exists.

2. To WOLVE, who worked as my modeler and texturer for the 4.0 update!!!

Almost every new model and texture in v4.0 was created by him, and he was always ready to try new things and help me solve related problem - THANKS MAN!!!

3. To Keter Sephiroth, who created the Neck Stabbing animation for me even though he had his own projects under way!!!

4. To SMOOTHY, who gave us the THREE wonderful alternative cut wounds, PLUS THE SKULL PIECES AND BRAINS!!!

5. To dDefinder, GREAT THANKS FOR LETTING ME USE YOUR BLOOD TEXTURES!!!!!!

6. HUGE thanks for FlyFightFlea for making the Mounted Spellcasting plugin - and letting me use it!!!!

7. To JazzR and Koldorn, who I believe made the bloody skeleton textures for MMM - I was directed to just use them and credit according to the MMM readme,

so I hope this address is correct - in any case outstanding work, and thank you so much for letting me use them!

8. To Demoncleaner, whose Zombie meshes from MMM I think I used with Martigen′s old permission - let me know if I′ve understood him wrong!

9. To Martigen, who allowed me to use those textures made originally for his mod!

10. To yarharhar, who I was told originally rigged differently the vanilla Oblivion skeleton mesh I′m using here - I was told he hasn′t been around in a while,

so I made my choice. I hope he gets a chance to see his tweak in good use and enjoy it, or lets me know if he disapproves me taking advantage of it.

11. To Walther, who made an alternative sound set for my mod. Unable to contact you privately, I used 50% of ONE sound for the Skull Crush.

I hope I didn′t do anything wrong - as you made a whole set that only works with my mod, I had to assume it′s ok to use it to enhance this mod further.

12. To Bethesda, for a great game, the tools to mod it, and the animations I tweaked to create those different ones seen in this mod.

13. To ALL THE NICE PEOPLE WHO KEPT ME MOTIVATED! This mod is for you. :)




===============
14. Tools Used:
===============
GIMP - http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=14920
DDS Converter - http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8698
Wrye Bash - http://wrye.ufrealms.net/Wrye%20Bash.html
NIFSkope - http://www.niftools.org/
Oblivion Script Extender (OBSE) - http://obse.silverlock.org/
Oblivion Mod Manager - http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2097
TES4Files - http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8489
TES Construction Set - http://www.elderscrolls.com/downloads/updates_utilities.htm
Readme Generator - http://lhammonds.game-host.org/obmm/tools_readme_generator1.asp
ConScribe - http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=26510
RefScope - http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=21862
====================
15. Licensing/Legal:
====================

You must contact me and obtain my permission before re-packaging any part of
this mod.

Also note that my permission is not enough to use work provided to me by those that helped me, you will need to contact them explicitly as well.


------------
-Skycaptain

Create an OMOD:

-Copy this archive to (install folder)\Oblivion\obmm\omod\
-Start Oblivion Mod Manager.
-Click the Create button.
-Click the Add Archive button, find and select the archive, then click Yes.
-Click the Create omod button, then click OK when it finishes.

-sometimes the thrown weapon seems to remain sticking out of the body of the target, even after retrieving the weapon. This has something to do with the target′s body not updating properly - the target does not have the item anymore, I have checked that, so it could be an engine bug. I could refresh the body, but with Enhanced Economy set to remove items from dead bodies (or for some other reason) I always got naked bodies, so I didn′t want to do that.

Is HUD Status Bars obligatory or optional?

I am already using OOO and COBL. They come with Drop Lit Torches integrated. Dev_akm proposal for DLT esp is in my game too. Do I still need Drop Lit Torches OBSE.esp?

Requirements (for full experience, see Installation section): Oblivion/Shivering Isles build/patch 1.2.0.416, Oblivion Script Extender (OBSE), Oblivion Graphics Extender (OGE), NifSE, 1st Person Legs mod, HUD Status Bars mod, Drop Lit Torches Obse mod, Oblivion Mod Manager (OBMM) or Wrye Bash