I think this Dovakin is done. Selling my latest batch of potions, but having little interest in going out exploring with her. That's ok, I've learned a lot as to how I want to 'adjust' the game for my playstyle. Sandbox games are funny (to me at least) that way: drag your first playthrough out too long and you'll get sick of the game forever. Don't stick with it long enough and you get on the 'restart' treadmill. Hopefully I timed this one ok.
This playthrough I added the unofficial patches about halfway through and was using Ulitimate Follower Overhaul and unique female followers.
Things I know I want to change:
1) Follower AI - I want a mod to let me tell my followers how to fight: ranged, melee, magic, etc... Was using UFO.
2) Faster merchant respawn - 48 hours is 24 hours too long. Just makes an already tedious process a PITA. The money amount seemed about right.
3) Kids as followers - this is a small thing, but I was really upset when my spouse was kidnapped and my kids couldn't come along. They've been dancing like dervishes in the cellar with their magic daggers ever since I gave them to them. No way would they not go get their mama back. Come to think of it, the chances of them letting their mama leave are pretty slim, but I can live with that part (since the quest doesn't exist otherwise, although it would be cool to see bandit heads on pikes and Sofie asking me to guess what she did today). Wouldn't want them as permanent members of the group though. This one I could live without, especially if it caused problems with other things.
4) My system can't handle multiple followers very well (two or three was ok, more than that I had a massive wait every time I switched areas). I was playing on Expert and still found ways to die, so difficulty isn't too off-kilter, especially if I limit followers (being an archer they kept combat ... interesting). This can easily be a self limiting thing though.
5) I need some sort of alchemy mod. I think the base system is sound, but there's just so much free money around without even going out of the way to look for it. And then the selling of the potions triggers the sell/wait/sell/wait PITA thing. Something that just lowers the prices would probably do the trick, so most crafted potions would end up in the 50-150 range, rather than 300-500 with good ones over 1000...
I don't think I'm really looking to overhaul the game. I like the Hearthfire Houses fine as is, the basic merchant system is sound. I am using another mod whose name I forget that lets me tweak how fast I learn each skill, so I can simulate the primary/major/minor/miscellaneous skills system from the earlier games. A few skills get a bonus, and give all the misc a penalty. It seemed to work out ok, though stacking with the standing stones threw it off - so I won't use the "skill" stones (at first I thought they gave a temporary bonus, rather than a permanent one - that would be another option if it's out there.)
Anyway, any advice to mods that work and work well together would be much appreciated. I'm sure there's stuff out there that does what I'm looking for, but finding them in the thousands of mods in the nexus is always a bit of a crap shoot, so I'm hoping somebody here has some experience with some of these issues.
Thanks for help in advance