I'm writing a script for a survival mod that will give different nutritional values for food types depending on the race of the Player's Character. Nutritional value is determined by a number between 0.0 (no nutritional value) and 2.0 (high nutritional value). What I'm looking for is the nutritional value each race will get from each food type. Below is a list with each race followed by the food types. Rate the nutritional value each race would get from the listed food type. Thanks for the feedback.

Argonian
Dairy
Fruit
Grain
Meat
Veggies

Breton
Dairy
Fruit
Grain
Meat
Veggies

DarkElf
Dairy
Fruit
Grain
Meat
Veggies

HighElf
Dairy
Fruit
Grain
Meat
Veggies

Imperial
Dairy
Fruit
Grain
Meat
Veggies

Khajiit
Dairy
Fruit
Grain
Meat
Veggies

Nord
Dairy
Fruit
Grain
Meat
Veggies

Orc
Dairy
Fruit
Grain
Meat
Veggies

Redguard
Dairy
Fruit
Grain
Meat
Veggies

WoodElf
Dairy
Fruit
Grain
Meat
Veggies

Hm. The only two things I remember from books is that a. Bosmer are (sometimes cannibalistic) meat eaters and don't eat plants, and b. Khajiit like sweet things. There can be more, though.
Aside from that, I don't remember a lore (or logcal*) reason for different values. Why shouldn't a Breton get the same nutrition from a steak as a Nord does?

* = well, the taller someone or something is, the more he has to eat (a brown bear needs much more food than a cat). While there are size differences between races, they're not that big though.

If you want the Bosmer to follow the http://www.imperial-library.info/obbooks/dance_fire.shtml, they should eat only meat. Even http://www.imperial-library.info/obscure_text/dreadful_theft.shtml is made out of meat.

This is exactly the kind of stuff I'm looking for.

Thanks!

But thecan physically eat vegetables can't they? Its just taboo?

They can, it's just looked down upon in their religion. They respect the vegetation more than anything else as it has provided for them in many ways. It's a special connection kind of thing; a respect.

Shouldn't Khajiit logically like dairy products? Or do cats no longer drink milk?

While it's tempting to look at Khajiit as just a furry race of anthropomorphic cats, something which is far too tempting even for the devs, they're on several aspects their own thing.

For example, cats don't have a sense for sweet; sugar has no taste to them.

And anyway, while cats like dairy, it is really unadvised by all vets to give them milk. It's bad for their health, causes digestion troubles. At least dilute it greatly with water, so that they don't ingest too much lactose.

Would that likewise make chocolate poisonous to werewolves?


Dunmer have a very different diet. They eat (to name a few) mudcrab meat, saltrice bread, scrib, scuttle, and various other foods found on Morrowind.

Imperials eat "regular" foods. Meat, fruit, vegetables, bread, and cheese. And I'm still wondering where the cheese comes from; there are no cows in Cyrodiil.

In Skyrim, Nords probably don't eat a lot of fruit or vegatables because I imagine that Skyrim isn't a good place for farming. Although it goes without saying, they drink a lot.

As for nutrition, I don't know.

Maybe because cheese doesn't just come from cows?

I suggest talking to Uuras the Shepherd, Skingrad...or Guide to Skingrad by Alessia Ottus.

It isn't "lore" but I have a fair amount of biology in my background, so...

Kajiit- these are meat eaters- just look at the teeth. Those teeth aren't designed for munching carrots but for slicing through flesh and snapping neck bones. That doesn't mean they can't get nutrition from fruits and veggies its just that meat would probably be much more nutritious for them. Remember the "Famous Potato Bread" lady? Kajiit. So they aren't *exactly* cat-a-likes. If you want to make something not very nutritious at all I'd make it dairy. (Actually I'd make it grains... but can't because of the potato bread.)

Orcs- Same thing: what are those teeth for? These are primarily meat eating creatures, but like bears orcs have grinding teeth as well. So they are omnivores with a preference towards meat. A less nutritios item for orcs might be grains. They probably also need to eat a LOT.

Argonians- These guys make less sense. Those are sharp teeth they have but not really for killing. So meat is NOT the primary food for these guys. Fish definately, but the way the scripts you're working with go I don't think there's any way to separate fish from other meats. So I'd make veggies (think seaweed and swamp roots) better for them and just leave meats normal or slightly less nutritious. Grains might be something they get less value from, or maybe dairy? C'mon- milk in Blackmarsh?! It would go bad in a heartbeat.

Dunmer- These guys eat anything. You might make it so they get a little extra value out of everything (i.e they have to eat less) to simulate a lean, survival metabolism.

Altmer- Less emphasis on meat, more on fruit?

Bosmer- Well, I'd go with the Green Pact. If they've lived that way for a while then they'll be tuned to get more nutrition out of meat than anything else. Diary, as well. Lowest would be veggies. Fruits are DESIGNED to be eaten and doing so doesn't harm the plant at all so I think they'd still eat them. Regardless, they should get nutrition from non-meats- just less.

The human races... harder to separate out. Going by the descriptions of their homelands...

Nords- Probably less fruits and veggies and more meat. More grains, as well- they do better with a short growing season and store well. Dairy is good for them, too. These folks also need to eat a lot.

Bretons- High Rock probably has more veggies and grains than fruit. Meat would have slightly less importance than veggies and dairy. ??

Imperials- like everywhere in the game, flat across the board.

Redguards- Hammerfell is an urban and maritime province with "poor farms" - so maybe less grains? Less fruits?

Just ideas. Looking forward to the mod.

-C

I wouldn't classify potato as grains... Bread is normally made with wheat, not with potatoes.


You're assuming religious taboos to be tempered by common sense. A dangerous assumption. The Green Pact forbids Bosmer from harvesting anything, even fruit. If they could use fruits, why would they make booze out of bugs and rotten meat?


And cows exist in Cyrodiil, it's just that the developers didn't bother putting them in the game. There are a lot of things that are supposed to exist in the world but is left out of the game. Cows exist in Tamriel, otherwise there wouldn't be all those stories about bulls nor the famous painted cows of Skyrim.

I don't think it's a matter of harm. It's a sacred pact whose conditions I don't think can be rationalised away or compromised by its adherents. Although the specifics aren't explored, for all we can comprehend of their sentiments on the issue, eating plants could be to them what cannabalism is us, Y'ffre, an ancestor-god, having sacrificed himself to keep those plants alive.

But isn't it safe to assume not all Bosmer are faithful to that extent?

Take, for example, a person whos parents moved to America from India, and converted to Christianity before said person was born. Wouldn't it be safe to assume that person would not see eating beef as sacrilege?

To say Bosmer don't eat vegitation isn't the same as saying they can't eat vegitation.

This is good stuff folks!!! Keep it coming!

It's such a fact that energy just to mention or utter it is wasted.

Is it really the lactose? I've always figured it was all the silly things humans do to the milk while "industrialising" it. But then again, milk isn't very good to human advlts either, or so I've heard.


I'm sure there is some kind of bug down there that produce a milk-like substance. More sugar-based, perhaps?


Going straight by the scandinavian-based culture view (which I know might be more or less true) Nords would probably eat a lot less meat and a lot more grains than other (human) races, as the viking-time scandinavians did. That vikings ate a lot of meat is a myth created somewhat by the vikings themselves but more by archaeologists, who found remains of meat (and such stuff) in old graves and assumed that their diet consisted of it, when it actually was the opposite (as newer researches has found): the meat were placed in the graves because it was rare and had a certain religious meaning to it.
So Nords = grains, in my opinion.

Well, from a *biological* standpoint, Bosmer eating ONLY meat is possible. One native culture I know if in Canada (accirding to one anthropological study- up for debate) at only meat - with the exception of 12 buckets of blueberries when they were in season.

But from a *biological* standpoint their systems would still be able to extract nutrition from other foods to some degree. As with most religious beliefs, it would be an individuals choice to follow the Pact or not.

On the other hand its a game and doesn't need to be contaminated with reality-based ideas. If its really that big a deal, you might consider making it one of the +Options, Ssenkrad. I suppose if Bosmer are only able to eat meat then it should have a very high value for them in order to be playable.

It's a well known fact of lore that Redguards and Nords are prime fishermen. And so, probably eat a wast amount of fish. Seing as there really isn't such a great farming prospect in their respective regions.

And seing as how they are both large in stature and strong specimen as species they would require much sustenance, and it would probably not be vegetation.

So I don't think Nords should have Grains or the like as their "top" nutritional bonus. Nor should Redguards. You could argue that in the real world, Scandinavia has a strong farming culture. But that's not what I know from Skyrim (and that's really what matters), but someone might prove me wrong on that.

Other than that, this seems like a great idea. Keep it up S

Nords are as Atmoran as you can get. They were hunters, not farmers. A heavily meat-based diet is probably more likely, and learned how to raise animals. Though farming probably was introduced as soon as the later Atmoran migrants came to Tamriel. They were also fishermen. I can't recall correctly, but Dagon Fel was said to be a Nord fishing village.

I always liked to imagine the Cyro-Nords of Colovia to have a slightly Wild West feeling.

The Redguards have far more sophisticated agricultural techniques than the Nords. This is represented by agricultural gods such as Zeht, who denounced Tall Papa and thus made crops more difficult to grow. This in contrast to the Nords, who have no agricultural deities. In turn, the Yokudans had to learn how to farm in harsher climates. They have grains to make their bread and dates for fruit. They also have heavy spices, and just to make it more interesting, they have some foods typical of the Southwest.

Tamika has implied that they do have farms in Hammerfell.

These are very good points... I didn't think about the Atmoran heritage. However, in a environment like Skyrim (or Armora), animal-breeding would require a strong nomad culture, since animals would have to move to warmer places during winter. Correct me if I'm wrong, as I very likely might be, but Skyrim does not have that nowadays, does it? Skyrim also have some large cities, and such cities depend on food coming in from the countryside - grains - to support them. So the possibilities of Skyrim having a farming are still quite good.

• The Atmorans were all hunters. The Nords didn't know agriculture until they arrived in Tamriel. That's why they don't have agricultural deities like Zeht. I mentioned this.
  
  Even before the frost fall, Atmora was apparently not a temperate place. The early Nedic peoples who came from Atmora were hunters with no knowledge of agriculture. A land where every denizen was a predator doubtless insured that only the most brutal and savage survived. It is easy to see how these traits passed the raider men and down to the nature of the Arena of Tamriel.
  -http://www.imperial-library.info/pge3/other_lands.shtml
  
  
  
• I never excluded the idea that they don't have farms. However, they can still raise animals in alpine regions such as mountain goat. Contemporary Nord culture is more sedentary, though more nomadic Nords would still rely on hunting.
  
  
  
• I forgot to mention. Wasabi!. There.

According to MK, the Nords of Skyrim have cows. And they even willfully sacrifice some of their cows to the giants, telling the giants which cows to take by painting swirls on them.

I wonder if you can get milk from minotaurs.

Clearly not, none of the ones in Cyrodiil have teets.