Arissa

~ The Wandering Rogue ~

2013 Preview Version

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5cMaFbE5ixdWkVoTDZtREprbk0/edit?usp=sharing

Hi! This is the public Arissa Preview Version. We hope you enjoy what we've prepared for you. The response we received to the closed beta announcement was large enough that I thought it would make more sense to publicly post it here. However, it is being hosted on Google Drive in a 7zip archive (installable manually using the Nexus Mod Manager or others), because we're not ready for this to hit "the spotlight" yet and want to keep the number of users we get a little thinner than a finished version release.

This Preview will be available for about a month, during which time we will gather feedback and suggestions, as well as bug reports. Your input is extremely valuable, and the only reason why we're doing this. Let us know what you think!

This preview includes:

• The first two (mostly finished!) quests in her multi-part main quest line. Suitable for any playstyle or level, but come prepared.
• All basic follower support, fully voiced and functional.
• Our work-in-progress of her "base" armor set. All models and textures WIP.
• An original music track from Gareth, played during the introduction quest.
• Horse support. She will ride a horse, if you are.
• Relaxing. She will sandbox in the general area when you stop moving for a few seconds.
• Some exposition dialogue regarding her background, including a few options that may affect her Regard. ("I want to talk about something.")
• A very beta version of her location awareness dialogue ("What do you know about this place?")

I'll be getting on a plane very early tomorrow morning to attend E3 in LA, so if I don't respond for a bit, that's why.

Please read the following documentation below, so that you know what to expect and I hope you have fun!

Thanks,

- Chesko


Voice Acting, Writing, Textures - Nikkita
Scripting, System Design, Level Design - Chesko
Modeling, Textures - Lorelai
Music - Gareth

Contact: Forums - Chesko
E-mail - chesko.tesmod@gmail.com


WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

This mod is not complete. Certain things may not work as expected. However, care was taken to "board up" any non-functional pieces of the mod that are still being worked on.

It is advisable that you save your game to a new, dedicated save slot while using this mod, as something unforseen may occur.

Please provide feedback and report any bugs to chesko.tesmod@gmail.com, or post in the thread where you downloaded this mod from.


DESCRIPTION

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Arissa is a new companion character for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. She is being designed as a game-long companion that can accompany you from start to finish. She is inspired by Emma and Amgepo's Vilja, Bethesda's Serana from Dawnguard, and the kinds of characters found in Bioware games. She is fully voiced by Nikkita.


Arissa is an Imperial with an independent, rebellious spirit and a gift for making expensive things disappear.

Arissa has a mind of her own, and is not afraid to speak it. While you are learning about her through her comments, dialogue, and quests, she is continuously learning about you through your actions, decisions, and the quests she accompanies you on. You may find yourself surprised when she recalls a past event or comment that may not have meant much to you at the time, but stuck with her for one reason or another.


HOW TO BEGIN

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Visit the Dead Man's Drink in Falkreath. Arissa will be waiting for you there.

After completing her introduction quest, you may notice that she is unwilling to trade with you, or wait. This is normal, and is based on her internal Regard system. This system is largely unfinished, but some of her exposition dialogue options ("I want to talk about something.") do yield some regard changes.

Note that some dialogue choices are only offered to the player ONCE. Choose carefully, and assume that anything that you say to her is one-time only.

After completing the second leg of her main quest, her regard will be set to the maximum value so that you can continue to play with her as a normal follower, and all waiting, trading, and order systems will work.


THINGS TO TALK ABOUT

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You can ask her what she knows about the general surroundings ("What do you know about this place?") This feature doesn't work quite that well yet, especially in exterior areas. It works better in cities and indoors while in certain important places.

You can ask to "talk about something". This will let you engage in optional exposition dialogue with her, in order to get to know her better. These dialogue options are linked to your current progress in her main quest, so these topics will be changed as you move through her quest.

An unfinished implementation of her memory system is included in her "talk about something" dialogue tree, related to places. In the final version, this list of places will grow as Arissa and the player discover new areas together. In this version, it is just a static list of about 10 places that will not increase.


THINGS TO DO

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Most of Arissa's advanced planned functionality is disabled in this version, because it is still being worked on. She behaves as you would expect any normal follower to behave, as well as sandboxing (relaxing) in the general area when the player stops for long enough.

If you get on a horse, Arissa will summon her own horse and continue to follow you. She will dismiss it when you get off. Do not try to get on her horse; you will crash the game.


COMPATIBILITY

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This probably shouldn't be used with follower and horse overhaul or multi-follower mods at this time, because it hasn't been thoroughly tested. Should work fine with everything else.


REQUIREMENTS

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None, just the latest version of Skyrim.


INSTALLATION

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It is HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you use the Nexus Mod Manager or a mod manager of your choice to install Arissa. This version of Arissa contains 744 individual files, which would be painful to manaully uninstall. You have been warned!



GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING

===================================================

For quest progress-specific problems, please see the SPOILERS section, below.

• Arissa won't trade with me or wait.

This is normal behavior from the outset. Her regard is set to maximum once you complete Arissa's second main quest in this preview, so you can continue to play with her normally once you've beaten it.

• Arissa's pathing svcks / she gets stuck on things.

I can't do anything about this. I am at the mercy of Bethesda's AI and pathing systems.

• Arissa said "Excuse me" when I bumped into her, and then cowered, as if frightened.

This is a known issue that is part of her new "avoidance" package to try to get her out of your way when you bump into her. I will fix it in the final version.

• The introduction quest gets hung up / she stops instead of runs / the music doesn't play at the beginning of the scene.

This is being improved. Sorry. If things get majorly hung up / act like they won't finish (you'll know what I'm talking about if this happens to you), just reload your game and try again. This scene's performance, as well as the performance of anything else, is very dependent on the "health" of your Papyrus scripting system. If your game is running like crap, the quest will run like crap.

• Arissa started sandboxing / started waiting somewhere, and now she's not following me even if I move away.

Chances are high that your game (specifically your scripting system) is running poorly and my scripts are not being allowed to run. Try a new game or try disabling all other mods and see if it still happens.

• I thought this was supposed to have some kind of Town Roaming feature where she leaves your side and hangs out in town? Or outfits that automatically change?

The final version will have these features. It is still too unfinished to include in this version.

• The man's dialogue at the end of the second quest isn't voiced, and just uses message box prompts for his dialogue instead.

That's because it's not finished yet, and we still need to have those lines recorded.

• Wasn't there supposed to be Developer Commentary nodes?

Ran out of time. Maybe in the final version?


QUEST TROUBLESHOOTING (SPOILERS)

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This section contains QUEST-RELATED SPOILERS that may un-stick you if you get stuck.





HOW TO REPORT A PROBLEM

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I take all bug reports seriously. Especially with mods like this, that are still being worked on. Please provide me with the following information when describing a bug:

Exact Skyrim version number:
Location in-game (if applicable):
Time in-game (if applicable):
Description of Problem or Conflict:

Attaching your Papyrus log can also be helpful. Please http://www.creationkit.com/FAQ:_My_Script_Doesn for instructions for enabling Papyrus logging.




THANKS

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Thank you to the entire Arissa team for sticking with it and making this happen.

Thank you to you for downloading this mod and reading this read-me. We hope you enjoy playing this small piece of what's to come. Have fun!

- Chesko, Nikkita, Lorelai, and Gareth


CREDITS

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Boots from the Triss armor set. Care of CDProjectRED.
Rogue Sorceress Outfit from TheRoadStroker. (Files included but not accessible in this preview.)
Body shape of Arissa's armor from UNP. No UNP assets included.