» Tue Jul 23, 2013 12:58 pm Alternate Start - Live Another Life
Misery and despair have haunted you all your life. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, you've been arrested and thrown in the dungeons. Your trial was supposed to be weeks ago, only nobody has come for you. It's been so long since seeing daylight you no longer know what month it is anymore. The dungeon is cold, damp, and worse still, you're running out of food. At least you have that leak in the wall for water. It seems as though you've been forgotten, soon to rot away and die. The eight have forsaken you! Or... have they?
Live Another Life provides an alternative means to start the game for those who do not wish to go through the lengthy intro sequence at Helgen. You will be given the opportunity to choose your race and then choose a new life for your character to lead. A wide variety of choices will be available. What you choose will have a lasting impact, so choose carefully or the gods may forsake you again!
Downloads
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/9557
http://tesalliance.org/forums/index.php?/files/file/1108-live-another-life/
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=75889890
http://www.darkcreations.org/forums/files/file/270-alternate-start-live-another-life/
http://afkmods.iguanadons.net/index.php?/files/file/270-alternate-start-live-another-life/
http://afkmods.iguanadons.net/index.php?/tracdown/categories/8-alternate-start-live-another-life/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1398656
Installation Requirements
Official Skyrim patch 1.9.32.0.8 or greater. Using this on earlier versions of the game will result in a stall at the main menu.
You will need to turn on subtitles to see the text for the startup quest.
Installation - Wrye Bash BAIN
Drop the archive into your Skyrim Mods\Bash Installers folder, then install as usual.
Make sure the mod is active in the Wrye Bash mods tab.
Installation - Steam Workshop
Subscribe to the mod via the Workshop page, then use the Skyrim launcher to allow it to download and install.
Make sure it's active in the Data Files menu.
Installation - Nexus Mod Manager
Use the "Download with Manager" button on the Live Another Life page at Skyrim Nexus. The installer should take care of things from there.
Or add it to NMM manually through the "Add File" dialogue.
Then simply make sure NMM has the mod activated.
Installation - Manual
Drop Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp and Alternate Start - Live Another Life.bsa into your Data folder.
Activate the mod using whatever management tool suits you.
Upgrading from Version 1.x.x to Version 2.x - IMPORTANT, DO NOT SKIP THIS!
Version 2.0 of the mod is a total redo, so nothing will match up. You cannot use it on an existing game with the quest in progress. So take care when upgrading.
If your character is currently still running the quest "Live Another Life" you *MUST* complete that using the version you have now. Set aside version 2.0 until every character you have that's using this mod has completed that quest by activating the burned corpse. Then proceeding with either rescuing Hadvar/Ralof, or by visiting the Jarl in Whiterun. When you see the message saying "Live Another Life" has been completed, you can safely remove the mod from the game. Civil war start characters will already be past this point and are the only exceptions.
If the character is using the farmhouse, you'll need to make sure you clean out any valuables you've got inside prior to uninstalling the mod. Sorry, but there's no provision for reassigning ownership to that afterward.
Once you've reached a point where you can do this, save your game. Exit, then delete the .esp and .bsa files. Load each game you need to remove the mod from, then save again in new slots for them. Once you've done this, you can either leave the mod out, or install the updated copy and activate it.
For new games, there is obviously no need to worry about this, but by new, that means not even a prison cell save you're keeping hold of.
Upgrading From Version 1.1 or Older
When upgrading to version 1.2, it is necessary to uninstall the loose files from version 1.1 or older.
Version 1.2 now comes packed as an ESP+BSA combination since it is now available through the Steam Workshop. Leaving the old loose files behind will cause all of the scripting to break.
Use whatever mod management solution you're using to uninstall the old version, then install the new one. You won't lose any data and there is no need for a clean save.
Old files from 1.1 all started with either the ARTH or ART prefixes. They are all safe to remove. You should also remove the QF_MQ101_0003372B.pex file from Data\Scripts and also remove QF_MQ101_0003372B.psc from Data\Scripts\Source if it's there.
Uninstalling Live Another Life
First things first. You need to be sure the main quest has been started before you can uninstall this mod. The quest "Live Another Life" must have been marked as completed, AND you must have "Before the Storm" listed in your journal. Uninstalling prior to this will break the main quest as well as the civil war.
It should also go without saying that if you're using the farmhouse start, clean your stuff out of it first because if you don't you'll lose it all.
Once that's done, use your preferred method to uninstall the mod. The .esp and .bsa file must both be removed entirely.
Steam Workshop users should be sure to unsubscribe before doing this or the launcher will simply replace those files again.
Load Order
Due to the sensitive nature of the mod, it should be loaded relatively late in the load order. A lot of other mods may seek to make modifications to Helgen and the charactergen quests. Moving this further down in your list will likely help, a lot. I highly recommend going with the order BOSS specifies since it is now compatible with Skyrim's new load order system.
Compatibility
Tested and confirmed to work with Open Cities Skyrim.
Known to be incompatible with any mod which attempts to remove the essential flags from any NPCs in Helgen.
Song of Ice and Skyrim ( http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=20793 ) causes the game to get stuck loading the prison cell, regardless of load order.
Descent Into Madness ( http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/16461 ) causes the game to get stuck loading the prison cell, regardless of load order.
The Oblivion Racial Bonuses module from Occupy Skyrim ( http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/12479 ) is not compatible since OCS OSR.esp alters MQ101.
Sellswords ( http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/27942 ) is not compatible because it alters MQ101 to be able to offer its alternative game mode.
Mods which alter the following quests will not be compatible without a patch:
MQ101 - Unbound
MQ102 - Before the Storm
MQ101DragonAttack - [Vanilla dragon attack on Helgen]
CW00WindhelmMapTableScene - Jagged Crown scene for Ulfric and Galmar
WERoad01 - Farmer refugees after dragon attack
Mods which edit the following scripts will not be compatible unless patched:
dunPostHelgenEnableScript.psc (Trigger object that switches Helgen to being controled by bandits)
MQ101QuestScript.psc (MQ101)
QF_MQ101_0003372B.psc (MQ101)
QF_MQ101DragonAttack_000D0593.psc (MQ101DragonAttack)
QF_MQ102_0004E50D.psc (MQ102)
TIF__000D50CA.psc, TIF__000D50DB.psc, TIF__000D50E0.psc (Dialogue in MQ102)
Known Issues
The Thane offer won't be available in every city right away if you use a property owner start. The quest interaction makes doing so impossible without sacrificing too much of the content to it.
When picking the Companions guild start, you need to go watch the fight before Vlikas will go outside to train you.
When choosing one of the two civil war starts, you are strongly advised to let the Jagged Crown scene play out. If you don't, the quest may fail to start and the entire civil war quest line will get jammed.
There may be some unfound dialogue that references Helgen. If you find some and have NOT activated the burned corpse yet, please report those with as much detail as possible.
Starting the Main Quest
Skyrim has a lot more flexibility in pursuit of the main quest, even when playing the default Helgen scenario. Alduin's appearance does not force one to pursue the main quest beyond Helgen. So this mod is mainly providing a mechanism to bypass Helgen and not encounter Alduin either. The game will patiently wait for you to follow along. So there's no special effort really needed to avoid it, just don't do it 
For most starts, you'll be given an initial quest to investigate rumors of war activity near Helgen. Ask around, people will point you where you need to go to follow this. It will eventually lead you to the encounter with Alduin in the campsite near Helgen. From there, the main quest starts in earnest and you can go straight to the Jarl in Whiterun, or follow the objectives to the corpse and into the cave with Hadvar and Ralof.
This may seem somewhat choppy and poorly done, but future plans for the encounter with Alduin will be expanded upon at a later time so that this sequence of events doesn't feel stilted.
Choosing the campsite start skips the startup quest, you will begin immediately with the encounter with Alduin. Choosing a civil war start bypasses all of this, by necessity, so you won't need to deal with Helgen at all.
Using this mod to follow the default Helgen sequence will play out the same as the vanilla game.
Troubleshooting
Make sure the mod is actually activated. Even if your mod manager tells you it is, check it via the official Skyrim launcher to be sure.
Help! I'm stuck at the main menu starting a new game!
- Skyrim version 1.6.89 or greater is REQUIRED for this mod. Be sure you're using that first. Update through Steam if necessary. Older versions of the game are not supported.
- Mods that make large scale blanket changes to either essential flags or quest item flags may be blocking you from playing.
- Check the Data\Scripts folder and make sure there are no copies of the following files:
QF_MQ101_0003372B.pex, QF_MQ101DragonAttack_000D0593.pex, QF_MQ102_0004E50D.pex, MQ101QuestScript.pex, TIF__000D50CA.pex, TIF__000D50DB.pex, and TIF__000D50E0.pex
If these files are present, they will break the quest controls for Live Another Life. You'll need to figure out which packages installed these since they would only come from mods. Skyrim's own
files are in Bethesda's BSAs and get overridden by the ones in my BSA. - Verify it's placement in load order. This mod should be loaded near the end of the list, not the beginning. Use BOSS 2.0 if need be to set it.
Help! I clicked on the bed and nothing happened!
This can only break if you still have an old copy of this mod installed that used loose files instead of a BSA file. Follow the instructions in the section for upgrading from 1.1 or older.
The Live Another Life quest never finishes, it's stuck in my journal.
Not exactly. The quest remains active because it's necessary for it to do so. Follow through on the startup quest in order to get rid of it.
My quest will close out when you've rescued one of the guys in the cave, or by skipping that and going to see Jarl Balgruuf about the attack on Helgen.
General Tullius and Ulfric Stormcloak are missing. You broke my game!
I did no such thing. You need to kick off the main quest before they'll be available. Sorry, yes, this means no joining the civil war until then. Don't blame me. Bethesda tied everything too close together to unravel the mess without breaking a whole bunch of stuff.
If you're looking for a bit of amusemant though, you can always use the console and player.moveto yourself to where they are. You should recognize it 
Don't do this if you're playing serious, it could actually break something.
I found your burned up corpse and clicked on it, but nothing happens.
This isn't quite the problem it used to be since all you'll be missing out on is the journal, which is a good read, but not critical to anything.
If it simply refuses to work, just skip it and either go to the cave, or go to Whiterun.
OK, I did that, then went to the cave, but nothing is there.
The quest marker isn't GPS accurate. You should be able to easily spot two poor hapless souls on the ground, doubled over in pain. That's Hadvar and Ralof. Go talk to one.
If these guys are NOT here, then you have another mod somewhere else that has overridden their AI priority and caused them to get moved elsewhere. Nothing I can do about that except raise the priority on my quest scripting. Load order cannot fix this.
No, you don't get it! A whole bunch of pieces in the Helgen cave have gone missing. What have you done!
It wasn't me! No, really, chances are this was the fault of TESVSnip.
As of version 2.0 of Live Another Life, causes for this are coming from other mods that have likely also been run through TESVSnip.
That program has turned out to be dangerous and cause data loss due to improper handling of compressed record data.
If you are having trouble with this problem (commonly referred to as "blue voids") check the readmes of your mods for mention of TESVSnip, sometimes simply referred to as Snip.
Remove those mods first. Check the cave. You'll likely find the problem has resolved itself.
Only the mod's author can correct these issues, and they'll need to do it by rebuilding their work without using TESVSnip on the files.
I walked by the farmhouse and the game crashed.
That's probably navmesh related. This mod is now compliant with Skyrim 1.6.89 and on its own won't have this issue, unless you haven't updated your game. That's the first thing you should check.
The second thing you'll need to check if that doesn't solve it are mods that have not been updated for Patch 1.6. The change in navmesh data formats is enough to make older mods that edit navmeshes invalid and cause CTDs.
Options Available
Caught Crossing the Border Illegally
For those who wish to use this to play through the original game start at Helgen, this option will streamline the process to skip the race selection dialogue during the lead up to your execution. Most of the tutorial prompts will be removed as well.
Immigrated to Skyrim
You will arrive by ship in the port of Solitude, Dawnstar, or Windhelm with little more than some basic supplies, middle class clothing, and a decent sum of gold to start over upon your arrival.
Property Owner
You will start off with the fully furnished house of your choice in one of 4 major cities. Windhelm is not included due to the quest that interacts directly with the house there.
Each house will start you off with appropriate class clothing and some leftover cash to spend. There will also be a selection of weapons fitting to the city available on the storage chest in the bedroom.
If owning property in a city is boring, or you'd prefer to have access to all of the available hold questing, you can choose instead to own a farmhouse. The farmhouse is situated on the main road east of Dragon Bridge and comes complete with a pair of NPCs to act as your farm hands. Your farm will generate a regular income that you can collect from the farm hands. You do need to come home from time to time to collect it though.
Member of a Guild
You will be a new recruit in one of the joinable factions in the game. The Companions, College of Winterhold, Dark Brotherhood, or Thieves Guild. Your starting equipment will be geared toward the faction you have chosen.
For the Thieves Guild, you will begin just inside the Ragged Flagon, having just emerged from the Ratway. Talk to Brynjolf to seal the deal.
For the Dark Brotherhood, you will begin immediately inside the Falkreath Sanctuary and need only speak to Astrid to complete the process.
For the College, you'll be placed just inside the Hall of Elements and will have completed the initial joining phase.
For the Companions, you'll begin in Jorvaskr and begin with the mission to train with Varkas.
The Bards College may be added later if Bethesda does more to flesh out the faction. Right now, they're just a token guild that's not worth much.
Patron at an Inn
You will be able to choose from one of several inns throughout Skyrim. Some are relatively safe, others not so much. Nightgate Inn in particular is isolated in the mountains and is more dangerous than most others. Do be careful.
Outlaw in the Wilds
You will begin as a member of a group of bandits. For the sake of variety, the group of bandits will be chosen at random. You will begin with standard bandit level equipment. The bandit faction at the start location will remain friendly to you as long as you don't piss them off first. Tread carefully though, you WILL have a bounty of 500 gold in the hold the game chooses. The guards will not take kindly to seeing you trotting into a civilized area unless you're prepared to pay up.
Soldier in the Army
You begin as a recruited soldier in either the Stormcloaks or the Imperial Legion. Which one you choose will determine the gear you start with. You will begin at the point immediately after what would be each one's first mission, which is little more than a cannon fodder quest on either side.
Camping in the Woods
You are a lone hunter, camping in the woods. This will start you off with decent low level equipment, a campfire, cooking pot, bedroll and tent. The camp will be in the forest/hills near Helgen and will serve as an alternative method for witnessing the dragon attack that will not require you to actually be in the village when it is destroyed. The camp will remain in place permanently should you wish to return and use it as a base.
Shipwrecked off the Coast
Shipwrecked! You were a passenger aboard a merchant ship on the way to Solitude when the ship struck an iceberg off the coast and then capsized. Make your escape from the doomed vessel, retrieving any useful items on your way out, then make your way to the nearby ice floes. From there, you'll quickly realize it's a LONG way off to shore.
Take care if using survival mods, especially those with hypothermia modules. You can freeze to death quickly!
Attacked and Left for Dead
You find yourself in a remote area, robbed and left for dead by bandits. They were kind enough to leave what they thought was your corpse dressed in ragged clothes, but nothing more. Can you survive the harsh wilderness and reach safety alive?
Vampire in a Secluded Lair
Mara's Eye Pond has always been home to you, for as long as you can remember. It isn't even clear to you anymore how long you've been a vampire, but you know you still hunger for prey and still have an urge to adventure.
Be aware - this starts you off as a stage 4 vampire. Everyone and his uncle will try to kill you the moment you've left the safety of the dungeon you're in. If you intend to mingle with the city folk, you'll need to feed first.
The end table immediately in front of the bedroll where you start is a safe storage container.
Necromancer in a Hidden Lab
The laboratory you discovered in Blackreach is running low on supplies. It looks like you'll need to set forth soon to replenish, and perhaps see what's going on in the world these days.
Fair warning - there is a Dwemer Sphere outside the door to the lab. You'll need to plan ahead before leaving.
Vigilant of Stendarr
You have been accepted into the Vigilants of Stendarr and have been granted living access to their headquarters outside of Dawnstar.
The chest next to you when you begin is yours and is a safe storage container.
Live in an Orc Stronghold
You'll begin in the orc stronghold of Dushnikh Yal. Though you have lived there for some time, they still call you outlander, and now you once more hunger for adventure.
For some people, this may be considered an unbalanced option since you get decked out in a full set of orcish armor and a nice big orcish battleaxe, but you're still level 1. Death can still find you easily enough.
Khajiit Caravan Guard
You've been with the caravan for a long time now, and finally your group leader has hired a new guard. Time for some adventure, but you'll always be welcome at the camps in Whiterun or Markarth as always. This option only activates for a Khajiit.
Member of a Forsworn Tribe
Once the true rulers of The Reach, your tribesmen and kin have since been forced to carve out a life in the rugged mountains, away from more comfortable living. The time has come for you to leave and find adventure on your own. Only available for Bretons.
Note - You get a usable chest in the start location that's safe to keep things in.
Argonian Dock Worker
You've been on these docks for months now, perhaps longer. The locals aren't treating you any better and it's high time you did something about it. A life of adventure and glory is just the change of pace you need.
Note - The first end table inside the door, with the soul gem holder on it, belongs to you and can be used as storage. The container does not respawn.
Redguard Alik'r Warrior
Disillusioned with life back home in Hammerfell, you joined the Alik'r and set out to Skyrim on a mission. Only things are not what they seem and it looks like time to set out on your own. Nobody back home will know the difference anyway.
Dunmer Refugee
Morrowind is still a very hostile place, and you've decided to take your chances in Skyrim instead. Upon arrival though, Windhelm isn't at all what you expected or were hoping for. It looks like it's time to cast aside your expectations of an easy life and become an adventurer.
Note - The bedroll and sack you start standing next to for this are yours. The sack is safe storage.
Surprise Me
Random roll that will pick one of the above. The standard Helgen start will not be included in this. Race specific starts will only apply if the player's race matches.
