I have just uploaded version 0.4.3 of http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11450 to the Nexus. Here is the changelog for this update:

- Added a new feature where Aela knows the locations of several campsites around Skyrim, and can lead you to them if you're in the general vicinity. She will http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/images/11450-1-1347326534.jpg if you're close to one during the nighttime hours, and the choice to have her lead you there will appear in "Let's talk about this place" if there is a campsite nearby.

- Added more unvoiced comments when visiting cities and other locations.

- Added a Dawnguard/Serana-like AI package for Aela where she'll wander around if the player stops moving--but only in "friendly" locations, and only while you're not sneaking or have a weapon drawn. Can be turned off in her tactics dialogue.

- Added a custom class for Aela to avoid snafus with the Unofficial Skyrim Patch after it changed her class's armor specialty to heavy armor.

- Added a fix--I hope--for an issue where Aela would sometimes not attack in combat even when set to do so.

- Added a fix for setting her custom home markers--she should actually travel to them now instead of just standing still.

Two notes for existing users of the mod upgrading to 0.4.3:

1) To enable the new wander behavior, you must first dismiss Aela back to Jorrvaskr, then after she starts walking away, ask her to follow you again. She will then start wandering when you enter a new location.

2) If you had used the ability to set custom homes to send Aela to, you will need to re-set those homes, due to some changes in the game engine with Skyrim 1.7.

Enjoy!

Edit: I should add that I did select a voice actress for Aela, from among a good number of quality candidates. The plan is that we're going to focus first on re-voicing Aela's existing lines, release that, and then move on to voicing my additions. Aela has around 600 lines in her vanilla dialogue, so it will be a few months before that first update is ready. After that, I'll hope to release voiced additions more regularly, monthly or thereabouts.

So yeah, question. Are you going to do anything about Aela and her archery training? I haven't been able to test the mod, and your summary doesn't say anything about it. I mean, assuming it uses the same formula as the standard follower, you can do the "free training" cheat, and considering how you are making a unique companion, thought you might do something with it.

Maybe make it so to unlock higher-level training levels (25, then 50, then 75, then 90), you have to raise her respect to a certain level? Have to get a certain level of respect before she even starts to teach you? Free training lessons? Block the cheat? Maybe make a radiant quest, either in this mod or your Companion one, where she takes you into the field to give you hands-on lessons on proper methods on using a bow, with skill-up quest reward. Or something else.

I do have plans for some sort repeatable of "archery competition" minigame between you and Aela, and if that works out well, I could perhaps use that as a replacement training system.

But for now, you can only acquire Aela as a follower after you have completed the Companions questline, and by then, I don't really think of it as a cheat. Why would she be charging you, the Harbinger, or even another fellow member of the Circle, for training?

If anything, the change I'd make is to not have any of the Circle members charge you for training, once you complete your Trial. But, that has game balance implications. The real currency that training should cost is time, but since nothing in the game is timed, it's a valueless currency. So, Bethesda made it so time is money.

There is a balance solution in the game. The whole 'can only train 5 times per level' limit. You could apply a training limit for the trainers that only let's them train you a number of times per level (lower than 5), or have a cooldown period of a certain amount of time, in-game or real time. The reasoning being that, yes you are Harbinger, but they have their own lives and stuff to do, so they can only devote so much time to training you. There would still be ways around this of course, for those who look hard enough, but anyone who would take advantage of these methods isn't too interested in a role-play experience.

I would suggest removing the option completly after she becomes your follower, leaving it could just lead to exploits...

It's a single player game... your only cheating yourself if you "exploit".

What does the voice actress sound like?

She sounds good! Not an exact match for Claudia Christian, who does Aela's vanilla voice, so don't expect that. Indeed, I'm not going to post any sort of sample beforehand, for just that reason. You hear a brief extract of the voice, and all you'll notice is that it sounds different than what you're used to; but you hear it in-game for an extended period, and you'll forget what the original sounded like.

Meanwhile I'm making good progress on additions to the mod; I should have an update ready to post next weekend.

I've just uploaded http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11450 to the Nexus. It usually takes a few minutes before an uploaded file becomes available for downloading.

Note that because this mod was made using the latest version of the Creation Kit, the latest Skyrim, 1.8, is required.

Here is the full changelog from the readme:

Version 0.4.4
- Functionality will no longer work if the mod is installed when Aela is already married to the player, as per the stated requirements.
- Added a new feature for Dawnguard players where Aela will take werewolf form when the player takes vampire lord form.
- Aela will now be stronger in werewolf form for players using Dawnguard, in line with the new player werewolf perks that Dawnguard adds.
- Changed the way Aela gives you the Ring of the Blood Call; it should now be more compatible with other mods.
- Fixed a bug where Aela could attack your opponent when brawling.
- Fixed a bug where Aela's horse could appear inside buildings if the player rode after Aela had been dismissed.
- If Aela has dismounted to fight while the player fought mounted, she will now automatically remount her horse at the conclusion of combat.
- More efforts to fix the issue where Aela would sometimes not engage in combat. I think I got it this time. Let me know.
- Added a new feature where Aela will make periodic comments.
- Added more unvoiced comments when visiting cities and locations.
- Fixed a few missing perk dependencies.
- Generated SEQ file to fix The Dialogue Bug.
- Cleaned the mod in TES5Edit.

Thank you to the people who helped pinpoint some of the bugs that this update fixes. There's not as much new content as I had hoped for in this release; I'm almost done with several new things, but I didn't want to hold up the bugfixes any longer. I do hope to make another update in December that is more content-focused.

Which is not to say that this update is without new content. The main additions are over 100 new short, unvoiced comments that Aela will make every few minutes. Some are tied to specific locations, some to general regions (the Whiterun tundra, the Hjaalmarch marsh, etc.), some to the PC's race and gender, some to Aela's current level of respect for the PC. More will be added in the future.

The other thing this update adds is some behind-the-scenes experimentation on my part for compatibility with DLC and other mods. Some features make use of Dawnguard if it is installed (in addition to what's in the changelog, she has several comments if you take her to the Forgotten Vale) but Dawnguard isn't required. And again, I'll be expanding on that more in the future--with Dawnguard, likely with the Dragonborn DLC, and perhaps with other mods as my time and interest allow.

But for now, enjoy the update!

It's been a while since I posted a progress report, so here are a few screenshots from my testing of the next update, which I'm aiming to release sometime in February:

(Steam's screenshot hosting is a little unreliable, sorry about that--sometimes a picture won't load, and then if you refresh, it will.)

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/902113149239769322/1774A29006DFD246A466F6A904F680BB4D803FDB/

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/902113149239770125/F167391B5A63F998BA7D1671C67F3697C84FBA62/ This is one of the relatively unique aspects of the mod--Aela doesn't just offer one-line comments on quests, but rather there is the possibility of richer conversations tied to them. I wanted for my own enjoyment a companion that could enhance the vanilla quests, and Aela does this in several ways: she can fill in gaps in the player's knowledge about the situation and lore, offer an awareness of what some of the choices are, and in a few cases even offer new choices.

(Of course, this is part of why new content takes me so long to create.)

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/902113149239771718/202733EC4E058C163B2F1DD089598BA14DDAD8F0/ This is one of the benefits of Skyrim's new scripting language--it's now much easier to offer support for a DLC, without making the mod actually require the DLC.

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/902113149239768506/1A2A90C9F46F8E0235ADD3F290A4AD81893B1435/ A small part of a much larger conversation.

Of course all of this is subject to change--in fact, some of these things have changed slightly already.

And not new, but I just liked these screenshots from the same testing sessions--it's nice to see Aela being enthusiastic:

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/902113149239767827/0BFE9EB1B766A04C32CBB729175E9F0443CAF082/

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/902113149239770954/A24470802BF305FB7C57D2915E32B1C281D2E5D0/

Looks great DreamKing. Will the update work for a game with ESF Aela in-progress or will it be a complete overhaul?

I think you'll be able to install it over the existing version and just keep playing. At worst, you might need to dismiss her, then ask her to follow again after updating. I'll know for sure and provide instructions when I release the update. Thanks for asking!

I have your Companions' Guild installed. Really good, btw.
Does it make any difference whether I install Aela right away, or just shortly before she's becoming available as a follower? I.e. do I miss out on something if I waited?

Thanks! No, you don't miss out on anything by waiting--this mod doesn't change anything until she would normally be available as a follower.

Thanks.

Looks great!!

When do you suppose Aela will get a voice?

Thanks!


I wish I could tell you. The voice actress I hard started working with in the Fall had to withdraw from the project--the location where she did her recording was flooded by Hurricane Sandy. We had hoped that she'd be able to get things fixed up and return to the project, but alas not. So I'll be looking for a new voice actress. Doing a casting call takes a lot of work, so I'm waiting until I finish this update before starting that process again.

Although anyone reading this and interested in being considered, feel free to PM me. It'll be a lot of work--several thousand lines of dialogue before we're done--but on the other hand they're good lines. Not many followers get lines like:


Aela gets to simultaneously fuel the beast girl fantasies of players everywhere, and offer the closest thing to a feminist critique that Skyrim can sustain. It's a good gig.

Great to see this still alive Dreamking hope you do find a voice actress

Oh yes, it's very much alive--I'm working on additions regularly, and the Nexus comment thread is pretty active.

As long as I'm writing here, I should say that I'll be testing the mod with the Dragonborn DLC this week. Based on Dawnguard and Hearthfire, which have both worked fine, I don't anticipate any significant problems; but if there are, I'll work fixes into the next update. And eventually I'll be adding commentary and conversations for Dragonborn's events and locations, although I'll want to get those done for more vanilla content first. But Aela in Solstheim should be interesting--one reason Aela is rare as a custom follower is that she's already very familiar with Skyrim, and doesn't need the player to guide her around. But she's never been to Solstheim, so I'm looking forward to imagining her reactions in a less familiar environment.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11450 As usual with the Nexus, it may take 30 minutes or so before the new file propagates to all download servers. Upgrading is easy, just copy the new ESFAela.esp and ESFAela.bsa files over the existing ones.

Change log:

• Added a SkyUI-based MCM configuration menu with a few options.
• Added the ability to limit the capacity of Aela's treasure sack through the MCM (http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/images/11450-1-1365266690.jpg).
• Added better death behavior when she's not essential--treasure sack contents and outfit items can now be recovered from her corpse.
• Split the former "tactics" dialogue topic into two: combat tactics and traveling behavior.
• Added more mechanisms to heal her outside of combat when she's not essential--check her combat tactics dialogue, or ask her status when she's not at full health.
• Added ability to adjust her comment frequency, in the traveling behavior topic.
• Added the ability to send Aela to wait for you in homes added by the Hearthfire and Dragonborn DLCs.
• Fixed a bug where Hjerim was not always showing up on the list of owned houses when it should.
• Aela will now recognize and use spare bedrolls from the Frostfall mod.
• Aela's custom light Ancient Nord Armor can now be tempered.
• Added several unvoiced conversations during the quest "No One Escapes Cidhna Mine."
• Added an unvoiced conversation the first time you kill a dragon with Aela following (http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/images/11450-1-1365280460.jpg). And another one, which you'll have to discover for yourself!
• Added more unvoiced location-specific commentary--especially in the city of Markarth, many of the smaller towns, the forests of Falkreath and Riften, and the island of Solstheim (http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/images/11450-1-1365266783.jpg).
• Tweaks and fixes to combat and riding AI.
• Added a temporary visual effect after using the Ring of the Blood Call.

In addition to the new/improved functionality, this update adds over 400 lines of dialogue, bringing the total in the mod to over 1000.

Also with the update come a few new known issues:

• When using the Frostfall mod to chop firewood from nearby trees, Aela will occassionally become stuck. This can be resolved by asking her to wait, then asking her to follow again. Also when using Frostfall, if she is sleeping on a Frostfall-added bedroll, always wake her up before packing your tent!
• Aela won't immediately recogize homes and inns added by the Hearthfire and Dragonborn DLCs; to conserve performance, the code with those checks is run infrequently. You can make a save after you've built/acquired/discovered the place and then load that save to force an update of her awareness.

Also note that Skyrim 1.9 seems to be a little flaky about lipsync--sometimes it's a little off. Nothing I can do about that, except hope for a fix.

The "fix to combat AI" is that if she is set to only attack after you or she has been hit, and you snipe someone with a bow, she will now try to stay down in sneak mode--where before she'd stand up once you started attacking. In practice this isn't perfect: you may see her stand up, then crouch back down again, repeatedly, if she has line-of-sight to your foes. Skyrim's "always sneak" AI flag seems to be broken, so I am using an imperfect hack to simulate it.

There's a lot of new stuff in here, and despite my testing I'm sure there will be some things that don't work in some situations, so let me know if you find anything.

Now that this is out, I'm going to try to get back to doing smaller, more frequent updates--once every 4-6 weeks, maybe. We'll see how that works out. I'm also going to put out a new casting call for a voice actress--again, I'll keep you posted (and if anyone reading this is interested in auditioning, check back here in a few days for more info).

Enjoy the update!

Awesome, great to see this update. Soooo... Does this mean your companions guild full version mod update is around the corner? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

With this update for Aela done, the next version of the Companions Guild mod is my focus now, yes. That's not quite right around the corner, but it's coming--I'd like to have it done by the end of the month, but we'll see how it goes.

I have been looking at this mod for quite some time and have it on my NMM but not installed. seems I need to update it.

Is this version of Aela marriable? Also I see its compatable with body/face mods for Aela. Also I assume it works with your enchanced Skyrim Factions Companion mod?

Not yet, sort of, and yes.

She's not marriable in this mod, yet. As I see it, at the end of the Companions questline she must have a lot of unresolved issues about your character. You join the Companions, and fairly rapidly two of the most important figures in her life are killed; not only that, but you are named Harbinger over the long-time members of the Companions whom she knows and trusts (including over Aela herself: I don't know if she exactly coveted the job, but she probably can't help but feel slighted that a rank newcomer was chosen over someone with her bloodline and experience). So she's going to feel a little resentful toward you, unsure if you'll make an acceptable Harbinger, and is likely to transfer some of the responsibility she may feel herself for what's happened onto you in the form of blame. You'll need to work through that with her, before she'll see you as a marriage candidate--and that's where this mod is now. In this update you can have a long talk with her about some of that stuff, if you've completed a few preliminary requirements to build up her trust.

As far as body and face mods, this should work fine with body mod replacers like UNP and CBBE, and face replacers like Bella's or Coverwomen or the like. It has problems with face mods that change only Aela's face, like those that change her warpaint. Only one mod can edit any given NPC directly, so those mods would overwrite my changes--the perks and the higher level cap I added would be erased. If you know what you're doing with TES5Edit, you can probably copy one mod's changes into the other--either my mod's changes into the face mod, or the other direction.

But yes, it's completely compatible with my Companions Guild mod.

This looks great. Starting a new game this weekend to re-do the companions questline as a werewolf and really want to try these mods out. I'll be looking forward to the possible marrageable option update as well.