After a lot of work, I've finally released the long-awaited version 4 of SPERG. Many of the changes will be very obvious as soon as you load your game (after following the upgrade instructions, of course), but there are a lot of important changes that most users won't notice.

Almost every single script has been rewritten and optimized, which means much less strain on the scripting engine. Numerous perks and abilities have been reorganized and simplified in the editor, making it easier than ever to open up SPERG in Creation Kit and see how it works. Plus, SPERG is packaged as an .esm now, so it's easy for anybody to make compatibility patches for it or expand upon it.

In short, even if it weren't for all the new perks and features, SPERG 4 would still be a huge improvement over 3.1.1. It runs smoother, has fewer conflicts with other mods, and it's easier than ever to tweak it however you see fit.

Where do I go from here? Supporting SPERG, mainly. I'm not planning on adding to it, but I will fix bugs and maybe make balance adjustments if needed. I'm also planning on releasing the Best Friend perk as a stand-alone mod (because it's way too awesome to stay hidden in SPERG). Relatedly, I'm considering making a "Tiny Pets" patch for SPERG that will miniaturize your best friends so pets won't get in the way so much. It would also help large pet fans enjoy better pathing, since Skyrim doesn't handle large actors very well in cave or on stairs.

...and that's pretty much it. I've accomplished what I set out to. SPERG is more than just a mod - it's now a starting point for other modders to expand upon if they so choose. It's a platform to be built on. I'm looking forward to seeing where other modders take it.