Awesome! There really is a lack of normal and real looking bows. Keep it up

Bloody nice.......Really good work there.

Looking forward to there release, love the idea of integrating into the mod, something like Axebanes hunter..that would be just to cool..

Insta download when ready

Sheathana'ich

In this mod I renamed all meshes/textures so they won't affect the "main" game world. However because I ended up using ALL of the default Bethesda meshes, it would be very simple to do a gamewide swapout making all bows in the game wood and none metal etc, just by renaming the meshes/textures back to default names & paths. It shouldn't conflict with any other mod except those that specifically retexture bows, and even then the only conflict is aesthetics. However you'd end up with some odd little anomolies that way, such as Daedric entitites using natural woods, which may or may not seem odd and could be avoided just by leaving Daedric bows at default. But anyway that would be a different project, very easy for someone else to do if they wanted even with no editor experience, just moving and renaming a few files. My plan right now is only to affect player-owned bows purchased through this one fletcher.

I am thinking right now about having the slim light Nico bows do less initial damage but carry much higher capability for later enchantments, that would make them ideal for players who don't want highpowered bows at the beginning of the game but still want the bows useful for high level characters. Conversely the heavier Bethesda bows would do more damage from the start but have less ability to enchant later. Still puttering around deciding details.

Also, still hoping to find a good modeller who can either make me a fletcher's cap OR be able to convert over the robin hood cap from Slof's morrowind mod (Slof gave permission). http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=647282&hl= That won't hold up anything though as if I can't find one it's not a huge deal.

I know that you are ultimately thinking of having a roving NPC selling these wares, but what kind of schedule will /he/she keep and where will the person roam, I'm asking as I'm really thinking that to make the bows readily available at an early stage of game maybe the NPC could be just in a "local" area rather than be given a bigger walkabout route.
Maybe a "Hut" just of one of the major highways, that is only open for a few hours a day the rest of the time the NPC is doing his/her route.
Remember to make the NPC totally neutral so it does not end up dead by being attacked by some nasty.

Sheathana'ich

Oh, I like these. Simplicity is sometimes the best answer. If it hurts, it works.

And plus, my character is a hunter. What kind of hunter would want a flashy bow? To twinkle in the eyes on an unsuspecting deer? I think not!

Yah I had reached the same conclusion, in addition to deciding I did not really want to learn a lot about complexities and issues of travel + RAI yet So either in IC Market, inside Chorral plaze area, right outside of Skingard by the vineyards, or even at the Kvatch refuggee camp, but someplace early to find early in the game without tramping across half the countryside. Kvatch has the advantage of that one interior tent, that I *think* is otherwise unused, where I might be able to set up a weapon rack of "look but don't touch" displays or something, so you can see what the different models look like without having to buy every one to test out for appearance. Or I could set samples out on a rough wood banch and let the player choose the risk of trying to swipe one, but at least someplace where you can look them all over before talking to the vendor.

(edit: give me another 15 minutes before I reupload, have a few small things I want to fix, then a test copy will be ready)

So far there is just a static location fletcher in the Kvatch refugee community, who made it out of the city with what little merchandise she could pack during the evacuation. You'll know immediately which one she is, she looks like the only archer there.

She sells 11 "natural wood" bows, about 500 pre fletched arrows with a recolored quiver, a four-piece Hardened Leather Armor set and a green cape. I might make the arrows a little weaker and a little cheaper so she can be a "one stop starting spot" for newbie archer characters.

I haven't yet sat down to work out a script to fletch your own arrows from component bundles she will sell later (most dedicated archers probably use Axebane's mod anyway, but I still want to add this). I haven't yet done any custom dialog, I'l try to give her something more interesting to say next (I am still learning all this). Also a few poisons for archers who aren't into alchemy themselves. She won't travel along the roads, I decided a wandering fletcher would be too hard for people to find if they just wanted to grab a bow, right now she looks a little silly standing absolutely still in one spot but next I'll poke around for having her move around a bit more.

For some people who want only to grab a bow maybe this is enough though I imagine I'll probably still try to fix a few meshes & textures to look a little better. I get really lost in NifSkope trying to fix the "specular" or whatever on the old metal bows. Nico's bows are my favorite anyway ^_^

Let me know which bows look fine as they are and which ones I need to try to redo. Also feel free to snag anything you want as a modders resource if you can use any in another mod, only one who really needs a credit in the readme is nico for the mesh he made, everything else is just recycled Bethesda stuff. Oh and I have

Just a little thing I have found when dealing with materials in NifSkope.
Open up something that has the properties you're looking for (i.e. the nif for a wooden barrel, or chair) , and base your sliders on that material (can have both open at once or even copy paste the material from the barrel to the bow if you'd like).
Still takes a little trial, and error to get it exactly what you're looking for, but it's a really good starting point.
On another note:I'm glad you like my creations.

Edit: pulled the test download as I am close to a release version now.

Fixed cloak issue, updated a few textures and colors (pix), changed "whitepine bow" to "applewood", and changed some stats around so that there are different features/prices on different bows.

Downloading now will give feedback as soon as its installed...good work!!


Sheathana'ich

Awesome!
Great contribution to the comunity, brash.
Kudos to you!
A few suggestions, if you don't mind...
-Completely remove from your bow-woodtype-list the pine one. Pine not only is softwood, but is also way too brittle for making a bow. They always break and if it works, they're slow shooters.
-For higher stats woodtypes you should use "Osage" (finnest) and "Yew" (second finnest).
-I would also suggest to avoid using meshes like the one u used for "redwood" since they're squared out. A wooden bow will always be curved, smooth, otherwise they'll break.
-Apple makes pretty good bows too btw.
This suggestions are only "realism" oriented, Nevermind me if not interested. Just thought of sharing a little knowledge
Keep up the good work!
Cheers!
-Wolfeimer-

Thanks Wolfeimer!! I'll be updating later when I get the fletch issue figured out, and use those suggestions. I might still include the "squarish" model for those who aren't as concerned on "realism", partially because it gives a mesh option for those interested in a gamewide "all bows are wood" type mod, but I will definately take your suggestions for discarding the "pine" model and instead use apple/yew/osage.

Updated the link above to a slightly different version, http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/NaturalWoodBows_v1.1.zip

Updated a few textures and colors (http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/NWB_bows.jpg), changed "whitepine bow" to "applewood", and changed some stats around so that there are different features/prices on different bows. Some are cheaper, lighter & weaker for younger archers, some are heavier, slower and wear out less often, etc. Now you have to make a choice which one works best for you ^_^

Final work to do is just some simple dialogue plus the simplified fletching addition which will probably take me a few more days to do.

Swift.Graceful.Powerful. A work of timeless essence where history unfolds like pages of a book to those who can read its language between the rings as a string is pulled sending destruction ending the being of forms complex as galaxies in a fractal like universe.


Hail brash! She never stops learning never stops giving.

Really gorgeous work, brash, as usual! My archer companion is going to love these! :wub:



I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but in Oblivion (unlike Morrowind), enchantment capacity only depends on the Soul value used, and is not in any way related to the item to be enchanted. You can enchant the heaviest combat magic on a rusty iron dagger, and the heaviest constant effect stuff on your prison sackcloth garments if you wished. Any bow is exactly as enchantable as any other weapon, no exceptions.

Thanks HB! Your kind words never fail to encourage us ^_^ My next Thesaurus is going to be named after you!

Heh after poking around in the stats, I suspected that might be the case ^_^ Well I ended up putting the three different wood nico bows into three classes -- lightweight/cheap for the poor starting archer, then a pricier one with more damage/etc, ... and then a classy expensive one way out of the pricerange of non-twinked newbs but with damage to drool over

Your welcome brash and Pseron Wyrd. That would indeed be an inspiration and honour to the highest degree :blush:

Whoa Nelly! Those are sweet.

Ok I have been ... kinda getting into this ^_^ It's kinda been growing a little bit.

First I am going to rename the mod, to The Unrepentant Archer. That's the name of an old archer's fansite I used to run back in my Asheron's Call archery days -- it got its name because back then, and for the first few years of that online game, archers were a very weak class and the only people who played them, were people who just loved archers and didn't give a hoot whether they were gimped or not. Thus the "Unrepentant" part. (Later the devs "beefed up" the weak archer class so that it became rather overpowered, but that's another story ..) Anyway the name of that old site still has a lot of powerful nostalgia for me so I decided to rename the mod after it, it's for archers and only archers, will only deal with wood bows and leather armors, and never blades or metal armors.

PHASE 1: This is basically almost done so should be released within the next few days. Fletcher Jhanu Bowsinger just escaped Kvatch with only a few bows she could grab as she fled, and will be always found the first time in the refugee camp outside that city. She will at this time carry only one type of armor, four types of bows, http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Fletched%20Arrow%20and%20Quiver.jpg, and a simple green nonmagic cape. The "Soft Doeskin" armor is cheap and suitable for a starting archer, and the Archer's, Rosewood and Applewood bows are the equivalent of Iron, Steel and Silver, with one exception -- she always carries some type of Elvish Bows (Nico's Bows) which are more expensive but have better than average stats. At this stage, it is a slender Elvish Oak Bow. Stock up on everything you'll need from her for your young archer at this stage, because after you meet her for the first time, she is going to hit the road and become a traveling fletcher in search of enchanted archery artifacts. Who knows where in the world she will turn up or what she will carry, except it will probably be much nicer than starting gear ... http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/TUAPhase1armor.jpg

PHASE 2: Jhanu is now on the road and now can be more difficult to find. She still carries her basic mundane gear, but now also has a random chance of having magical items. She will often carry a few pieces of Enchanted Waxed Clannfear Leathers, a couple of enchanted or improved stats bows (Oak, Enamelwood and Yew), and fletchable arrow kits so that you can stock up on ammo without overburdening. Besides regular arrowheads, a few will be fire, ice, shock or poison arrowheads. Also cloaks with magic enchantments. . Your ability to buy this gear is not based on level, only on random luck, so if you can find her you have a chance early in the game to get a bow that is roughly the stats of Elven, Glass or Dwarven equivalents, and possibly carries an enchantment, possibly even a powerful Elvish Cedar Bow, plus 1-2 random pieces of Clannfear leathers that have better stats + an enchantment of some sort (Usually Agility, Sneak, Marksman, occasionally also Luck or Camoflauge). But it's all very random so you may get nothing exceptional. http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/phase02B.jpg

PHASE 3: is a part of the same except includes extra items she will ONLY offer if you meet certain requirements of level + fame or infamy + marksman skill. If you meet ALL those requirements when you find her, she will also offer Phase 3 gear which now includes the highlevel Trollskin Leathers, with a random chance of very powerful enchantments, and her best bows (equivalent of Daedric or Ebony) plus the rare Elvish Osage Bow, the most powerful bow she has. Her selection of enchanted arrowheads now also include paralyze or silence enchantments in additional to buffed damage. All items also have a chance for "prefixes" as well as "suffixes". (Suffixes will be enchantments to the gear, and prefizes such as "sharp", "reinforced" etc will have better base stats). These items will be expensive. http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/phase03B.jpg

Phases 2 & 3 will take me longer to do, but the "starter archer" phase 1, at a static start at Kvatch with limited mundane gear, should be ready any time now.

I'll also have a "cheater's version" of the mod where everything is in a heavily locked (but easy to open via console) strongbox in the Imperial City Market District. That's for people who just want the gear without having to hike all over looking for Jhanu or dealing with "random odds" on what she'll have in stock.

I'm making all this up as I go along ^_^ so feel free to critique, suggest, flame or instruct.

Wonderful!

Figured out the fletch script. Only about 8 lines but I am new at this, heh.

Only thing left now for Phase 1 is dialogue.

http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/Fletcher%20Jhanu%20at%20Kvatch%20Refugee%20Camp.jpg

If anyone else wants to check or use what is there now, the armor I think looks a tad better now and the fletchable arrow components are now in:

http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/TheUnrepentantArcher.zip

http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/mods/natural%20archer/TUAPhase1armor.jpg

Wow that stuff's amazing!

wow ........This is turning into one of them MUST have mods...Very well thought out......Excellent story line to the NPC, and I love all the armours/bows that one can acquire from Jhanu.

Downloading now !!!

Sheathana'ich

looks great, i know modders hate this question but 'how long' do you think it'll take to end beta and iron out whatever bugs there are (if any).

I have to learn how to do conversation dialogues, levelled lists and also the AI packages for wandering NPCs. I don't yet understand how those work. Some days I pick things up fast and other days I can spend hours in circles confused by the most simple things, so its really hard to say.

Been about 72 hours since my initial post though so progress so far is decent. I suffer from mood swings though so its really hard for me to be very consistent or predictable in how much I'll actually accomplish on any particular day. It could be anywhere from 2 days to two months. I know thats frustrating if you are waiting for a polished final version. It's one reason I could never do anything creative as a regular job.

It's actually a fairly simple mod and the things left to do are fairly straightforward. The only problem is absorbing some new concepts, which doesn't always come easily to me.

Sometimes the editor just flatout framboozles me. :banghead: