SKYRIM IMMERSIVE BAT BATTLES (SIB Battles) VERSION 1.1


TABLE OF CONTENTS

[1INTRO] Introduction
[2RQ] Requirements
[3CHG] Changelog
[4INT] Installation and how to use
[5CMPT] Compatibility
[6FINFO] Faction BAT list and information

[6aEMP] The Empire
[6bNRD] Stormcloak Rebellion
[6cTHL] The Aldemeri Dominion
[6dWHT] The Housecarls of Whiterun

[7ID] In Development

[FOR] The Forsworn
[BAN] Bandits
[FAL] Falmers
[GRD] City Guards
[MAG] Rogue Mages
[VAM] Vampires
[WER] Werewolves
[SLV] Silver Hand
[DMR] Dwemer Machines
[OMER] Orsmer
[HNT] Skyrim Game Hunters
[GNTS] Giants

[8DBBWL] Doable but buggy Wish List

[CMP] The Companions
[BLD] Blades
[DB] Dark Brotherhood
[MG] Mage's Guild
[TG] Thieves Guild
[DB] Dragon-born Forces

[9EINFO] Tips and recommendations for tweaking

[10FD] Work in progress list

[11BUG] Bugs, fixes and other oddities

[12UNI] Uninstallation

[13CRDT] Credits

[14CNT] Contacts and about the author



[1INTRO]INTRODUCTION

This is SIB Battles, an immersive BAT file Mod in development.

The goal of this mod is simple: to create a series of BAT files that spawn NPCs from various factions found within Skyrim which balances the compromise between the following factors: efficiency (CPU), Lore (spawn count and spawn logic), Immersion (spawn quality) and AI vs AI Balance (gameplay).

As such, this mod is not stand-alone and works best with AI altering mods such as PISE by Pluto (www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1269) and/or other mods which modifies the strengths/weaknesses of NPCs of your preference, though I recommend PISE since that is the mod I use in tweaking/playtesting the bat files.

There is also three different BAT configurations to choose from, starting from the recommended 15v15 configuration (low-end pc), 30v30 configuration (med/high end pc) and the 60v60 configuration for those who have insanely powerful PCs or for people who have already tried to spawn ridiculous amounts of NPCs and still has Skyrim running "smoothly".

The reason for the quantity choice is simple: NPCs will suddenly become inactive when you spawn too many, and could only be triggered to act when attacked. I think this is a game design limitation since Skyrim is already a CPU intensive game or just a case of bad programming. Hopefully the release of a CK would fix that.

As such, I am basing my logical choices of BAT lineups for various factions that you can spawn using this mod to a 15-unit lineup, doubling and quadrupling the amounts per faction for the 30's and 60's configuration depending on lore, immersion and balance.

A more detailed explanation of why I intended the spawns to be as such is found below this README file.


[2RQ]Requirements

- A working latest version of Skyrim
- PISE or any AI altering Mod
- A combat overhaul such as Duel by Gabriel Mailhot (www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2700)that affects both PC and NPC combat.
- Some sort of "despawning" mod such as Corepc's mod (www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3084)
- Classical Noodles' Heavy Stormcloak Officer Armor (www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2774
- a very good imagination and creativity (because town wars are fun).

[3CHG] Changelog

1.1

The Empire

- Increased Imperial Soldiers from 6 to 9
- Merged melee "specialists" into the Imperial Soldier units
- Reduced Archers from 6 to 3
- Increased Imperial Mage from 1 to 2
- The Imperial Soldiers now properly use shields

The Stormcloak Rebellion

- Increased Stormcloak Soldiers from 9 to 11
- Merged melee "specialists" into the Stormcloak Soldier units
- Reduced Stormcloak Archers from 4 to 2
- Stormcloak Soldiers spawns now correctly randomize between gender, weapon of choice but still maintains a dominantly two-hander tradition in variety. (lore and balance)
- Stormcloak Field Commander's Outfit upgraded to Heavy Armor (thanks to ClassicalNoodle)

The Aldemeri Dominion

- Replaced Thalmor Wizards to Thalmor Justicars (ranged) due to bad AI scripts
- Reduced Thalmor Justicar (non-magic) from 4 to 1
- Increased Thalmor usticar (mage) from 0 to 4
- Reduced overall Aldemeri Dominion forces max unit count from 15 (lore consistency)

The Forsworn

- Temporarily removed The Forsworn Faction (balance and lore issues)
- Removed Forsworn Briarheart in the 15v15 configuration, reduced to 1 in the 30v30 configuration and 2 in the 60v60 configuration (lore and game balance)
- Removed Forsworn mages in the 15v15 configuration, reduced to 2 in the 30v30 configuration and 4 in the 60v60 configruation (lore and game balance)
- Replaced most caster Forsworn into generic melee/ranged fighters (lore and game balance)
- Reduced Forsworn Archers from 3 to 2
- Added Forsworn Ravager "Berserkers" (testing)

The Housecarls of Whiterun (NEW)

- Added The Whiterun Housecarls Faction
- Spawns 4 Whiterun Guards friendly to the player
- Patrols Skyrim when out of combat randomly using the roads


[4INT] Installation and how to use

Choose and extract desired BAT configuration into your Data folder. Choose only 1 or rename the bat txt file if you wish to have more control or options.

In the game, open the console (`) and type "bat" followed by the faction you want to spawn (example typing "bat empire" without the quatation marks will summon an imperial squad).

I recommend to type "tai" to toggle AI off if you wish to setup and place different factions without both sides attacking you or each other on sight. Type "tai" again to activate the ai and watch or dive into the ensuing battle.


[5CMPT] Compatibility

SIB is compatible to all kinds of mods and scripts even to other BAT files you have already downloaded or are currently using in your Skyrim game.

In fact, I recommend you install and endorse the other BAT mods found in Skyrim Nexus simply because it is hard work to get the console IDs of different NPCs of the same faction all together just to create variety in spawns as well as their incorporated skillsets and gear.

Those other BAT mods would also enhance my MOD since I am very specific in my goals (Faction-only) and would only focus on making it better and balanced from that vantage point.


[6FINFO] Faction BAT command, list and Information

Each of the factions represent the various political entities in Skyrim, all of which are vying in one way or the other power and control over the region.

If you fancy immersion or roleplay, I recommend using the Bat files in specific circumstances (I.E the 3 stormcloak/imperial soldier random encounter event) or events (Battle for Skyrim Questline) or just use your imagination and pretend some area/town is being attacked/defended.

These are the factions included in the MOD, with their assigned bat command before the faction information.

[6aEMP] "bat empire"

The Empire

Neutral when spawned

15v15 version

- 9 Imperial Soldiers
- 3 Imperial Archers
- 2 Imperial Mages
- 1 Imperial Field Commander

30v30 Version

- 18 Imperial Soldiers
- 6 Imperial Archers
- 4 Imperial Mages
- 2 Imperial Field Commanders

60v60 Version

- 27 Imperial Soldiers
- 18 Imperial Archers
- 6 Imperial Mages
- 3 Imperial Field Commanders
- 1 Imperial General

The Empire or the Cyrodilic Empire is based on the Roman Empire. As such, I populated their batch command to mimic the military discipline and might of the Empire at their peak.

A Roman Centuria is around 60-100 men, led by a centurion and a few Junior Commanders. The Roman Legion employs a mix of Heavy Infantry called legionairres and Auaxilarries or second-class citizens to serve as archers, skirmishers and cavalry.

In The Elder Scrolls, The Empire employs a variety of races into their armies such as the nords and redguard which like the romans did during their period of expansion. With the signing of the White-Gold Concordant following a Phyrric Imperial "victory" and the subsequent revolt of the Stormcloaks in Skyrim, the quality of the legion has been reduced, thus had to spread their enturias into 50-80 men (55 in 60v60 version) across Tamriel in defense against an impending Aldemeri or Imperial Offensive in the forseeable future.

General Tullius, commander of the Fifth Legion sent in Skyrim to Quell the Stormcloak Rebellion knows this and thus prefer a mixed and balanced composition of troops with different skillsets to compensate and counter the aggressive and swift Nordic Charges set againt his forces.

As such I mixed in a dominantly sword/board imperial composition to simulate the "Phalanx" formation employed by the Romans and populate enough archers for skirmish/indirect support while the mages run around the battlefield shooting fireballs.

With the PISE Mod, the BAT configuration I used make them a potent fighting force, even with a comparatibly smaller force than the Stormcloaks. Each of the the legionairres can use the bow and can employ a crude Skyrim AI variation of a Phalanx formation (by literally mobbing a target and creating a bottle neck)that would hold any opposition in melee range while the archers and the mage(s) pummel the stragglers one by one until they are routed/annahilated.


[6bNRD] "bat nords"

The Stormcloak Rebellion

Neutral When Spawned

15v15 Version

- 11 Stormcloak Soldiers split randomly between two-handed and sword/shield combat style.
- 2 Stormcloak Archers
- 1 Stormcloak Mage
- 1 Stormcloak Field Commander

30v30 Version

- 21 Stormcloak Soldiers
- 6 Stormcloak Archers
- 2 Stormcloak Mages
- 1 Stormcloak Field Commander

60v60 Version

- 44 Stormcloak Highlanders
- 8 Stormcloak Archers
- 3 Stormcloak Mages
- 4 Stormcloak Field Commanders
- 1 Stormcloak General

The Stormcloak Rebellion was formed after the Phyrric War between the Empire and the Aldemeri Dominion following the signing of the White-Gold Concordant which banned the Worship of Talos throughout the Empire. It seeks to liberate Skyrim from the Empire as an independent Nord State.

The Nords, like their name implies is loosely based from a variety of european cultures such as the Celts, Nords and Scots. They are usually portrayed as noble people who prefer to fight head-on with honor as a clan in times of strife and are renowned warriors.

As such their BAT composition is dominantly two-handed warriors rushing to meet the opposition in great charges, cleaving their way through their enemies until they break and rout.

The Nords of Skyrim shun magic, although like the Dragonborn, there will be individuals gifted in magic who are exceptions to the rule, and had proven themselves worthy of being a Nord or to be one of the Nords.

With the PISE and Duel Mod, the Nords are a brute glass cannon when met in open combat, taking advantage of their prowess in melee and their fierce dedication to their cause. The Nords prefer the heaviest of weapons in battle and the lightest of gear to be swift on foot. The Stormcloak AI, with their higher DPS can tear through mobs of NPCS with ease, creating random opportunities for a rout or breach. Though they shun magic and prefer all nord warriors to battle on melee, any good nord commander would compromise between a proud tradition of warriors in incorporating mages into their unit and would gladly take a handful of competent archers to assist their valiant charge, taking out important targets such as enemy commanders and mages to create disorder unto their enemy's formation.


[6cTHL] bat thalmor

The Aldemeri Dominion

Always Hostile to Player

15v15 Version

- 5 Thalmor Soldiers
- 1 Thalmor "Captain"-Justicar
- 4 Thalmor Sorcerer-Justicars

30v30 Version

- 10 Thalmor Soldiers
- 2 Thalmor "Captain"-Justicars
- 10 Thalmor Sorcerer-Justicars

60v60 Version

- 20 Thalmor Soldiers
- 4 Thalmor Justicars
- 20 Thalmor Mages

The Aldemeri Dominion, or the Empire of Mer is the subtle force in control of Skyrim. After the Great War and the signing of the White-Gold concordant, they are free to roam skyrim to enforce the treaty to the populace, perpetuating acts of cruelty and torture with The Empire turning one eye-blind. They are waiting for an opportunity to strike the first blow at a renewed conflict with The Empire, taking their time drawing out maps and carrying out Espionage across Skyrim and planting seeds of discord to keep the forces of men divided.

With their inherent knowledge of Magicka, they are a cohesive military force that literally bends the forces of the world around them to have great advantage over their adversaries, and unlike the Imperial or the Nord armies that litter the pockets of Tamriel and Skyrim come into hostile territories better armed and prepared. Wary the inexperienced commander deciding to attack the small Aldemeri Force, for they outclass any ragtag army of lesser beings fielded across Tamriel.

Fortunately,with their longer lifespans have a slower rate of population growth, as such could only field a limited but formidable expeditionary force in times of great need to enforce the will of The Thalmor in the region of Skyrim.

The Aldemeri BAT configuration reflects the nature of the effects of the Great War and their seemingly powerful combination of magic, military and political prowess. With the PISE mod, most of the Thalmor spawned by this BAT can conjure bound swords and carry unlimited supply of potions. Their justicars can cast a variety of offensive and defensive spells that would tear any tight formation apart in short notice. They are highly nimble and fluid in their AI against other NPCs, preferring to move around than blocking and standing still in combat.

Though this comes at a price of having a lower NPC count compared to the Empire and the Stormcloaks. Be prepared for some one-sided results if you plan on spawning the Thalmor in the middle of another spawn you have created. Best results come from placing the thalmor spawn in the middle of a faction clash for roleplay (since the Thalmor are pretty much opportunists in war) so that the npcs can scatter and thus have a more variety of results.

[6dWHT] "bat whiterun"

The Housecarls of Whiterun

15v15 version

- 4 Whiterun Guards
- either Irileth or a custom housecarl stand-in(future development)

30v30 version

- 8 Whiterun Guards
- 2 custom Housecarls (future development)

60v60 Version

- 12 Whiterun Guards
- 4 custom Housecarls (future development)
- Hrongar, Brother of Jarl Balgruff the Greater (future development)

[ID] In Development

[FOR] bat forsworn

The Forsworn

(temporarily removed in 1.1 due to balancing issues)

The Forsworn is an indigenous tribe native to The Reach. They do not accept both the occupation of the Imperials and the Nords and believe that they are fighting for their ancestral land.

While playing little or no part in the Civil War in Skyrim, they still influence the course of the war through their culture of banditry and lawlessness performing raids in the countryside for loot and human sacrifice.

As a tribal entity they do not possess a large force enough to be considered an army but nonetheless pose a serious threat to the stabilit of skyrim, their BAT configuration mimics thier situation by having the fewest NPC spawn excluding the companions and other quest-related factions.

With the PISE Mod however, each of the forsworn can summon their own Atronach, usually randomized between a Storm and Flame Atronach. This doubles their number, making them the most numerous spawn of all batches in this mod! Once the CK arrives or I have found the proper IDs for a hagraven, they will become a very spell-oriented force worthy of being a threat Markath and Riften would be more than willing to invst resources in quelling.


[BAN] Bandits

The Bandit faction will be released very soon as soon as positive reaction and feedback has been recieved.

[FAL] Falmers

The Falmer Faction will be released with the Bandits faction as soon as I am able to compile and playtest the IDs of the various falmer found throughout Skyrim

[GRD] City Guards

I have a working City Guard BAT but unfortunately most of them just fights each other and are clones of each other. I wanted a varied squad of City-specific Guard BAT the player can use as Jarl of a specific city; while this cannot be enforced, at least a proper city-specific City Guard BAT will be created, complete with different genders and faces based on the actual guards found throughout Skyrim.

[MAG] Rogue Mages

Least in development but would really design one but compared to the other factions they are more of a nuisance than an actual threat/gamechanger in the Politics of Skyrim.

[VAM] Vampires

MY current Vampire BAT has only bald vampires as spawns and no distinct heirarchy (no master vampire). But it is promising with the PISE and possessive corpses mod since after playtesting them I found out they actually raise themselves with the Mods installed and looks fun and interesting to use.

[WER] Werewolves

I have a working werewolf BAT but I plan on releasing it alongside Vampires since currently the vampire faction is underpowered compared to the werewolves and I haven't yet explored enough of skyrim to find a decent vampire ID that could potentially match the werewolf in 1 vs 1.

[SLV]

Like the vampire faction, the Silverhand is severly underpowered against the werewolves; which is ironic since they are the werewolf hunting faction. I think they can be balanced if I invest time to tweak their gear or just wait for the CK and a stable skyrim patch (there's bound to be another patch soon) to get this faction be more competitive against other factions and have a slight edge against the werewolf faction.

[DMR] Dwemer Machines

I have a working Dwarven Centurion Mod but I wanted to incorporate the other dwemer mecha and to balance it against each faction since the Dwemer Centurion is overpowered against AI.

[ORC] Orsmer

I have yet encountered enough orcs in the game to create a potent mix of fighters; they're usually game hunters and do not really pose a threat even against a weak faction such as Bandits.

[HNT] Skyrim Game Hunters

I want to include this for immersion purposes. skyrim needs more hunters per town ratio if it wants to keep the population stable and not result in a starvation. They are not really a combat faction but rather for those who want to populate their game with random NPCS.

[GNTS] Giants

I don't know why I keep spawning weak giants but strong mammoths; its probably because I do not really possess a high level character (I keep testing new mods rather than actually playing the game!) and thus giants scale to your level or just I am getting bad IDs for giants.

[DBBWS] Doable but Buggy Wishlist

Simply put, these are the factions I would want to have, and would eventually push me into actually study how to mod (with or without the skyrim CK) and/or buggy when actually attempted ingame.


[CMP] The Companions

I haven't tried this (because I want to polish my initial alpha release first) but I don't think they would perform well without using a modding tool. And even if they do work and fight, wouldn't that confict the original ones who are drunk and fat in Jorravskr?

[BLD] Blades

After watching the trailer for Deadly Dragons mod, I think I saw for a moment the dragonborn accompanied by a squad of Blades. I haven't finished the main quest yet but if its part of the game I would want a BAT file to go along with it for RP (since I am well aware that you can only/or need only recruit 3 members) since I don't think Esbern and Delphine would stop recruiting after you initially give them new recruits to progress further in the quest.

[DB] Dark Brotherhood

The DB Assassins spawned by the BAT are always hostile to the player even when the quest is finished. I don't know why and I would not want to use the IDS of the DB followers because it might conflict with the original.

[MG] Mage's Guild

Same problem as with The Companions


[TG] Thieves Guild

Same problem as with The Companions

[DB] Dragon-born Forces

It would be really awkward to have only Odhaaving and Phaarthunax spawn as Dragon-Born forces and I highly doubt with the pacifist nature of the Greybeards that it will be lorewise to have them spawned as dragon-born forces in combat. I know for the fact that there are some unnamed dragons who swear allegiance/or peace to the dragonborn after finishing the main quest, and it would be really nice to have a working bat command and even better, an unlockable "4th tier" Odhaaving shout that would send Odhaaving and probably 2-3 delevelled dragons to assist the dragonborn.

[EINFO] Tips and recommendations fo tweaking

I highly recommend you download, endorse and use Pluto's Improved Skyrim Experience (PISE) Mod. Actually this Mod requires it, since I balanced each working faction with PISE installed, unless you want each faction just mindlessly whack away at each other (and just be another bat-spawning mod in nexus). You can also make this mod work better using other mods such as Duel (link here) and other skyrim balance mods that affect both the player and NPC. Deadly Dragons comes into mind (www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file?id=3829)since the author has included some non-dragon changes such as improved Dwarven Centurions into their mod.

Simply put the more mods you download, endorse and use that affects both the player and NPC's alike would make this mod work well and better!

[FD] Future Updates

General

- Transition from a BAT txt file to either an .asi or .esp through modding tools for more options such as AI equipment/spell selection.
- custom NPCs for Factions such as the housecarls.
- General AI versus AI Balance through use of third party mods and repackage with permission as a single download pack.
- Better Spell Selection for caster mobs fit to the lore and theme of each faction.
- Dynamic AI handling to increase AI activity during big-spawns.
- Compatibility after transition to other mods.


The Empire

- Better Archers. They got weaker stats than the soldiers, which uses guard stats.
- Improvements to Spell Selection for Imperial Mages; must include heal-other capabilities instead of more offensive punch.

The Stormcloaks

- Activate the Nord Racial Abilities for all Nords
- Improvements to spell selection for Stormcloak mages; must include more offensive punch.

The Aldemeri Dominion

- Better spell selection for all Aldemeri Dominion forces. They need more power.

The Housecarls of Whiterun

- A working Irileth/Lydia/Random Captain stand-in when spawned that would not conflict with the original/radiant AI.
- More player control for the whiterun guards spawn.


[BUG] Bug, fixes and other oddities

- Skyrim will crash if you spawn too many NPCs at once or got too much corpses. This is a game-limitation which partly is influenced by your CPU. Also spawning too many NPCS would render most NPCs "inactive" until attacked.

- I recommend you use the 15v15 version since its designed for low-end pcs. Its not epic compared to the 30v30 and the 100v100 but you can use the 15v15 to stress test your CPU before using the more stressful versions of the mod.

- lower your graphic settings if you wish to use the 30v30 and especially the 100v100 version for maximum CPU performance. ON my friend's PC who has a quad-core CPU, the NPCs spawned were active up until the 50th spawn mark, after which the succedding NPC spawns were inactive and would only react upon attack. Reducing the CPU load might help the game AI and thus more interesting battles.

- You can edit the BAT files to your liking, I only tailored it as such so that you can see for yourself how your PC can handle multiple NPCs spawning and interacting with each other by batches.

- The Stormcloak and Imperial soldiers will sometimes use the lines used by the guards in Markath and Solitude. This is intended because I used their IDs instead of the usual stormcloak/imperial soldier ID due to their better stats and AI handling.

- The Stormcloak and Imperial Soldiers may register as guards and may wear their corresponding city colors (markath and solitude). I am checking my texture mods to see if I installed an immersion package that changed their colors.


[UNI]

Simply delete the text files associated with this mod.


[CRDT] Credits

Bethesda for a wonderful game (my first TESV game lol!)

SkyrimNexus Community for the wonderful mods and ideas you provide

Pluto, Corepc, Gabrielmailhot and 3jiou for making my favorite mods

Wikipedia for the reference material to guide me in tweaking the Empire and the Stormcloaks

My Parents for putting up with me stopping for a year in college and thus gave me more time in my hands. I will enroll next sem don't worry; I had enough.

You for downloading, endorsing (i hope!) and liking this mod.


[CNT] Contacts and about the author

I am miniminionette, who recently registered in skyrim nexus after searching google for a low-res mod to help my low-end pc play skyrim (dual core 3.3 ghz 4 gig ram 32 bit win 7 NVIDIA 9500gt) and eversince had me hooked up in downloading mods that I am far more enjoying skyrim playing over and over random characters from 1 - 10 and not caring if I was not able to finish the game on my 400 hours mark.

For suggestions, harsh criticisms and other comments please do so in the discussion panel; I am always online at least everyday for 3 hours checking the nexus community for new/updated mods that I can use to make my skyrim look and perform better.