Creature Continuum

Version 1.2.0

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-=CREDIT=-

gq13kid - pointing out NPC loot inconsistancy with Dremora Valkynaz
DarN & PopTarts - helping me diagnose the 'SetLevel' bug in Oblivion that was causing game crashes

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-=VERSION HISTORY=-

v1.2.0 - May 19, 2005 - Feature Additions and Enhancements
-Evil NPC types (Bandits, Necromancers, Veyonds, Marauders, Conjurers, and Vampires) have been divided into ranks, each with a mininum and maximum level
-Additional Dremora ranks have been added
-Feign/Fake Death behavior has been added to evil NPC types
-Flee behavior has been enhanced to take level difference into account
-Spawn numbers have been revamped to allow equal chance for 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 creatures/NPCs to spawn
-Realistic wildlife behavior has been added
-A more moderate version of scaling has been added with a separate .ESP
-Oblivion difficulty has been tweaked further

v1.1.2 - May 12, 2006 - Bug Fix
-Removed the "Dynamic Leveling" script from "Imperial Legion Forester" guards, since it was causing the game to crash in certain scenerios (a memory reference issue using 'SetLevel' on Bethesda's side it seems). "Imperial Legion Forester" guards have been level capped at 20 instead, and given the rank "Trooper"

v1.1.1 - May 8, 2006 - Bug Fix
-Fixed a small bug with messages appearing during the "Rise from dead" scripts

v1.1.0 - May 8, 2006 - Feature Additions and Enhancements
-Creatures summoned from spells/powers are now scaled like generic creatures
-Road bandits do not appear until level 3 now to assist new road travelers
-Undead now have their health adjusted if/when they rise from the dead - The longer it takes them to rise, the more health they will have
-NPC scaling has been changed from +-10% to +-15% to allow more visual variation
-When a Spriggan is killed by the player, their death has a 15% chance of causing thunderstorm and a 35% chance of causing rain
-Undead will now appear (sparingly) in the wilderness and on roads, but only at night
-New NPCs "Imperial Road Watchman" have been added (sparingly) to road spawns

v1.0.1 - May 4, 2006 - Compatibility Fix
-Prompted by gq13kid addressing the inconsistancy with Dremora Valkynaz dropping usable Daedric armor, I have made a similar change in this mod so that the Daedric armor dropped by Valkynaz is unusable. While the intent was the same, the method I used differs slightly in that Valkynaz do NOT have a 1% chance of dropping usable Daedric as in gq13kid's [Valkynaz Loot Plugin]. I felt that I wanted to give Valkynaz a more consistant approach with the other Dremora instead.

v1.0.0 - May 4, 2006 - Initial Release
-First public release of mod

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-=INSTALLATION=-

1. Decompress the zip package
2. Place either the CreatureContinuumV1.2.0 OR the CreatureContinuumV1.2.0_Moderate .esp file into your Oblivion\Data directory. The only difference between the two is that CreatureContinuumV1.2.0_Moderate.esp scales creatures (except wildlife) much less (for those who do not like really large or really small creatures).
3. Run Oblivion and select "Data Files"
4. Check either CreatureContinuumV1.2.0.esp OR CreatureContinuumV1.2.0_Moderate.esp
5. Start a new game to ensure no spawning/NPC issues occur

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-=UNINSTALLATION=-

1. Run Oblivion and select "Data Files"
2. Uncheck the Creature Continuum esp file
5. Start a new game to ensure no spawning/NPC issues occur

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-=COMPATIBILITY=-

The following has been modified in the CS:

LeveledCreature: Almost all levelled lists
Creature: All generic and some specific creatures
NPC: Bandits, Veyonds, Necromancers, Marauders, Vampires, Guards, Conjurers, Dremora
Scripts: Most guard scripts
CombatStyle: Almost all combat styles
GMST: fFleeDistanceExterior and fAIFleeSuccessTimeout


The following has been added in the CS:

LeveledCreature: Many levelled lists
Creature: Variations of the generic creatures
Scripts: Scripts for scaling creatures/NPCS, modifying guard level & name, and custom AI behavior such as rising from the dead and fleeing
CombatStyle: Variations of the default combat styles and new combat styles for NPCs that were previously just DEFAULT
NPC: Unique encounters


Known incompatibilities:

-Overhaul mods, such as Obscuro's or Adventurer's
-Creature balancing mods, such as sage's, francesco's, and the wilderness mod
-Passive Wildlife
-Lyrondor Combat Behavior


Known compatibilities:
-G's loot mod
-anything that doesn't modify what I listed above

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-=DISCLAIMER=-

This modification has been tested extensively by myself and other users. However, bugs (particularly in scripts) do slip by at times and there is potential for the game to crash if it encounters one. If you do find an issue, please contact me in the thread for this mod and I will do my best to resolve it ASAP.

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-=LIST OF MODIFICATIONS=-

1. All generic creatures - wildlife, undead, daedra, mythic, goblins, summoned creatures - have a script attached to them that will scale their size. The two different ESP files of this mod vary in the amount of scaling that is performed - CreatureContinuumV1.2.0 scales somewhere between 50% smaller and 50% larger (+-50%) and CreatureContinuumV1.2.0_Moderate scales somewhere between 25% smaller and 25% larger (+-25%). The size is picked randomly and is different for every spawn. Some of the attributes are also adjusted according to their size. A large creature will have higher attributes than a smaller creature. Similarly, NPCs - Bandits, Marauders, Necomancers, Conjurers, Veyonds, Dremora, Vampires - are scaled as well. However, the scaling is only between +-15%. Guards are scaled between +-10%.

2. Most guards have a script attached to them that will modify their level every time a cell loads (every 72 hours by default). Their level depends on two factors: the player's level and a random chance. Depending on what the player's level is, the chance for a guard to be lower in level, the same level, or higher in level, will change. Generally speaking, as the player levels, more of the guard population will have a level assigned to them that is lower than the player's. This provides a dynamic experience (simulating guard changes) while also fixing the issue that guards were always being more powerful than the player.

A rank is assigned to a guard based on their level and the player's level. There are four different ranks, each of which have a level range:

Recruits: 9-16
Trooper: 9-24
Champion: 25-36
Knight:37-44

The first guards to appear within a rank will have the lowest level for their range. When the player starts a new game, all guards will be Troopers and will be level 9. Troopers will continue to be +8 levels until the player reaches level 5, at which point some guards (which are still all ranked as Troopers) will be +4 in level and some will be +8 in level. The player won't encounter a new rank until level 9, at which point Recruits will start to appear - Recruits will be the same level as the player, and Troopers will continue to be +4 or +8 in level. Its not until level 17 that the player finally catches up in level to some of the Troopers. Eventually, the Champion and Knight ranks will appear as well, although there will generally be less of them in population compared to the Troopers. The distribution of ranks among the guards will change every 4 levels.

Here is a detailed breakdown of how the guard levels are assigned. On the left-most column is the player's level. The other columns represent different levels of guards compared to the player. Percentage numbers are assigned under each relative guard level, giving a distribution of different levels. For every four levels of the player, the level distribution will change as well as the rank associated with it.

Player
Level+8+40-4-8-16-24-36
1100:T
585:T15:T
970:T20:T10:R
1355:T25:T10:R10:R
1740:C25:T15:T10:R10:R
2125:C25:C25:T15:T10:R
2515:C20:C30:T20:T10:R5:R
2910:K15:C25:C25:T15:T10:R
335:K10:K15:C20:C20:T25:T5:R
3705:K10:K15:C25:C35:T10:R
41005:K10:K15:C45:T20:T5:R
450005:K10:K35:C40:T10:R

As you can see above, the distribution of guard levels will change, so that as the player levels, the guards will become less and less powerful (compared to the player). By level 21, only 50% of total guards will be higher in level than the player, by level 25 only 35%, by level 29 only 25%, by level 33 only 15%, and by level 37 only 5%.

3. Each scaled creature and NPC that appears can now have one of five different combat behaviors assigned to them. This was done by creating four new variations of each creature. The default combat behavior was assigned to the default creature, and four new combat behaviors were assigned to the four new ones: more aggressive combat (attack and power strikes), more avoidant (more blocking and dodging) combat, more dodging combat (more attack & dodging), and more blocking combat (more attack and blocking). For NPCs (minus guards), there are 5 different combat styles as well, but since there were already variations of each NPC type, I just assigned each one a different combat style rather than creating new NPCs.

In general, this is what I did for each new combat behavior

Aggressive
-Increased Attack chance by 15%
-Increased Power Attack chance by 15%
-Decreased Block chance by 15%
-Decreased Dodge chance by 15%
-Changed Power Attack type from being based on either chance or movement, to the other one
-Decreased time waiting if a no-attack decision was made
-Increased chance of attack when being attacked or when target is blocking
-Decreased distance for ranged combat by 20%

Avoidant
-Increased Block chance by 15%
-Increased Dodge chance by 15%
-Decreased Attack chance by 15%
-Decreased Power Attack chance by 15%
-Decreased time waiting if a no-dodge decision was made
-Increased distance for ranged combat by 20%

Dodging

-Increased Attack chance by 15%
-Increased Dodge chance by 15%
-Decreased Power Attack chance by 15%
-Decreased Block chance by 15%
-Decreased time waiting if a no-dodge decision was made
-Increased chance of dodge when not being attacked
-Decreased distance for ranged combat by 10%

Blocking
-Increased Block chance by 15%
-Increased Attack chance by 15%
-Decreased Dodge chance by 15%
-Decreased Power Attack chance by 15%
-Increased distance for ranged combat by 10%

It should be noted that this is a different approach from Lyrondor's Combat Behavior mod. The "Combat Behavior Mod" was focused on making the creatures more difficult and challenging, whereas these combat behavior changes are focused on bringing more variety to the combat encountered for each creature and NPC.

4. NPCs have been divided into ranks, each with a minimum and maximum level:

Bandits

RankMinMax
----------
Outlaw14
Cutthroat58
Bandit912
Brigand1316

Ringleader*520


Necromancers

RankMinMax
----------
Neophyte58
Acolyte912
Curate1316
Ritualist1720

Adept924


Veyonds

RankMinMax
----------
Tribesman/Mystic710
Brute/Spiritist1114
Battlemaster/Shaman1518
Warmonger/High Shaman1922

Cheiftain1126


Marauders

RankMinMax
----------
Raider912
Pillager1316
Marauder1720
Ravager2124

Warlord1328


Conjurers

RankMinMax
----------
Beseecher1316
Evoker1720
Conjurer2124
Summoner2528

Daedra Master1732


Vampires

RankMinMax
----------
Initiate1720
Enticer2124
Seducer2528
Tormenter2932

Patriarch/Matriarch2136


The lowest rank of a particular NPC type, and its boss, will all appear at level 1. Thus, it will be dangerous for the player to enter some dungeons/areas until they have gained the appropriate levels. Additional ranks will appear as the player levels - one level above the minimum level for a particular rank (eg. Cutthroats will appear at level 6). As the player advances in level through the different NPC ranks, their encounter with an NPC type will become easier since lower ranks will still appear. Also, the number of encounters with a rank closest to the player's level diminishes. Thus, the satisfaction of becoming more powerful than a particular NPC type will be gradual rather than abrupt.

Additional ranks have been added to Dremora and some of the existing ones have add their levels tweaked or varied. The following table shows how Dremora are now classified:

RankMinMax
----------
Churl24
Caitiff57
Kynval810
Kynreeve1113
Kynmarcher1416
Markynaz1820
Valkynaz2224
Ravkyn2628
Solkyn3032
Telkyn3436


5. Spawn points have been modified to bring greater variety and unpredictability in the number of creatures/NPCs that spawn at a particular point. Whereas it was common for only a single creature to spawn in a particular spot, there is now an equal chance for zero, one, two, three, or four creatures to spawn. On average this will increase the population by 100%. The opportunity to experience intense (and sometimes overwhelming) battles with many creatures will exist, as will the opportunity to experience a methodical ambush on a lone creature.

6. Wilderness spawn points have been modified further so that there is an additional chance for five creatures to spawn, in order to provide a consistant increased population. In addition, a 10% chance for a difficult creature to spawn has been added.

7. Road spawn points have been modified further so that 50% of the creatures encountered will be passive wildlife (currently only deer at the moment). In addition, the levels at which certain creatures spawn have been been adjusted to make the encounters easier when they do happen.

8. Oblivion has been made quite a bit more difficult by lowering the level at which some creatures appear. The change in level appearance is more drastic at lower levels than at higher levels.

9. Creatures more than 8 levels below the player (those that normally disappear from lists) will start to spawn in groups of 2. Creatures more than 16 levels below the player will start to spawn in groups of 3.

10. The Undead have been added to wilderness and road leveled lists. However, the Undead only appear at night and then disappear in the morning (8pm to 6am). The Undead encounters in the wilderness are more difficult compared to their dungeon equivalent (they will appear about 2 levels earlier than dungeon equivalent), but there is only about a 10% chance of seeing them. The wilderness is dangerous - its even more dangerous at night time now. The Undead encounters on the road are toned down a bit compared to the wilderness (about the same difficulty as in the dungeon), but there is about a 20% chance of seeing them.

11. New NPC "Imperial Road Watchman" has been added. These men/women have been added to the road leveled lists so that the player may encounter them on their travels. I felt the roads could be a bit safer and having these guards appear every so often will help things out. The watchmen have a level offset of 0 and a min/max level of 1/15. There is about a 10% chance of encountering them on the road.

12. Scaled NPCs (except guards) have a chance of fleeing any target they engage in combat with. There are two decisions made: whether an NPC will flee and when the NPC will flee. Whether an NPC will flee or not is based on the what their confidence is - an NPC with higher confidence will flee less than an NPC with lower confidence. When the NPC will flee is based on how much health they have and the level difference between them and the target. The base health percent at which an NPC will flee is 20% (ie. if they have 2 hit points out of 10 they will flee when hit). For every level higher that the target is compared to the NPC, an additional 5% will be added. Likewise, for every level lower than the target is compared to the NPC, an additional 5% will be subtracted. NPCs can flee regardless of whether they are in combat with the player or another NPC/creature.

13. Scaled NPCs (except guards) have a chance of feigning their death when low in health and engaged in combat with any target. Similarly to flee behavior, whether an NPC will feign death or not is based on the their confidence. If an NPC will feign death, they will do so when their health is below 15% of their total and are hit by the target. There is no visible distinction between an NPC dying and an NPC feigning death. If an NPC is feigning death and their body is struck (with a weapon, arrow, or magic) or moved, they will emit a gasping sound and a message will be shown indicating they have died. If an NPC is feigning death, they will get back up if the target is facing away from them and greater than 25 to 75 feet away. NPCs can feign their death regardless of whether they are in combat with the player or another NPC/creature.

14. All generic undead have a 25% chance of rising from the dead, every time they die. The time it takes for them to rise is 0 to 10 minutes. The amount of health they have when they rise from the dead is proportionate to the time it took them to rise from the dead - the longer the time the more health. There is a minimum 15% health that they will have when rising though.

15. Wildlife aggression and confidence have been adjusted so that they have a more natural behavior, similar to Tag's Natural Wildlife mod but more powerful.

The basics of Aggression and Confidence in Oblivion:

If Confidence > Threshold, then do not flee
If Confidence Threshold, then flee

If Aggression > Disposition, then attack based on the difference and the distance from the target
If Aggression Disposition, then do not attack

Note: drawing a weapon lowers disposition by 10 and infamy lowers it based on its amount

Based on this, there are 4 different possible combinations, each resulting in a different behavior:

a. High Confidence and High Aggression:Creature will attack the player and never flee
b. High Confidence and Low Aggression:Creature will NOT attack the player, but will defend itself
c. Low Confidence and High Aggression:Creature will flee from the player
d. Low Confidence and Low Aggression:Creature will NOT attack the player, but will flee when attacked

The base confidence and aggression for each creature was adjusted. Then these values were scaled within scripts so that each wildlife creature would have a certain chance of exhibiting one of the four behaviors.

For example:

Mud Crabs were assigned a Confidence of 95 and an Aggression of 5 resulting in the following chance behaviors:
90.25%: Will NOT attack the player, but will defend itself
4.75%:will attack the player and never flee
4.75%:Will NOT attack the player, but will flee when attacked
0.25%: Will flee from the player

Generally, most of the lower level wildlife are more passive, so you won't find mud crabs and rats attacking you all the time. In addition, the confidence of a creature was scaled according to it's size, so the larger wildlife will be more aggressive and the smaller wildlife will flee more often.

16. There is a 35% chance that killing a Spriggan will result in the weather changing to rain, and a 15% chance of the weather changing to a thunderstorm.

17. Replaced Deadric armor from Dremora Valkynaz with unusable Daedric armor, as this was inconsistant with other Dremora having unusable Daedric armor. This was also important for remaining compatibible with loot mods, as you don't want Daedric armor spawning when it shouldn't.

18. Made a couple GMST changes to improve fleeing bevhavior:
-changed fFleeDistanceExterior from 2000 to 8000, so that fleeing NPC actually goes out of sight now.
-changed fAIFleeSuccessTimeout from 120 to 30, so that the NPC only takes 30 seconds to leave flee-mode when at the distance above.