** GROWING UP - REBORN ** --------------------
Adapted from Growing Up in Skyrim by MimiTheAlchemist - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/56916
By MerryMandolin


** INTRODUCTION ** --------------------
This mod is an adaptation/expansion of Growing Up in Skyrim by MimiTheAlchemist. I adore this mod, and absolutely cannot live without it in my playthroughs, so I figured I'd try to give it a refresh & see if I could make some quality-of-life additions. I've rewritten the scripts almost entirely, added an MCM, and removed all family characters & houses. I've also removed the elder race in the interests of simplification, but I'm open to bringing it back if people want it.

I made this like a year ago during a hyperfocus while I was unemployed, and it sat around gathering dust on my computer until a friend told my perfectionist ass to just post it. So here it is!


** FEATURES ** --------------------
• Player grows up gradually over time
• You can choose between calendar time or level-up ageing
• Other children (in Whiterun & Rorikstead) also grow up with you
• Three stages of life: child, teen, and adult
• Prompts for age-up that allow you to change your appearance for each life stage
• Use MCM to customize your experience


** GROWING OPTIONS ** --------------------
BY LEVEL
When using the level growing type, your growth spurts will occur after you exit the level menu.

Short Lifespan: 1 level between updates
• Child: Levels 0 - 10
• Teen: Levels 11 - 20
• Adult: Level 21+

Normal Lifespan: 1 levels between updates
• Child: Levels 0 - 20
• Teen: Levels 21 - 40
• Adult: Level 41+

Long Lifespan: 3 levels between updates
• Child: Levels 0 - 30
• Teen: Levels 31 - 60
• Adult: Level 61+

Very Long Lifespan: 4 levels between updates
• Child: Levels 0 - 40
• Teen: Levels 41 - 80
• Adult: Level 81+

BY CALENDAR
When using the calendar growing type, your growth spurts will occur after you sleep or wait. Assuming you are using the default timescale (1 game day = 24 real-time minutes), this table illustrates approximately how long the mod will wait between growth spurts & how long it will take you to age up from a child to adult in both game time & real playtime.

Short Lifespan:
• Game Time Between Updates: 2 days
• Game Time From Child to Adult: 2 months
• Real Time Between Updates: 48 mins
• Real Time From Child to Adult: 1 day

Normal Lifespan:
• Game Time Between Updates: 9 days
• Game Time From Child to Adult: 9 months
• Real Time Between Updates: 3.6 hours
• Real Time From Child to Adult: 4.5 days

Long Lifespan:
• Game Time Between Updates: 30 days
• Game Time From Child to Adult: 2.4 years
• Real Time Between Updates: 12 hours
• Real Time From Child to Adult: 15 days

Very Long Lifespan:
• Game Time Between Updates: 60 days
• Game Time From Child to Adult: 4.9 years
• Real Time Between Updates: 24 hours
• Real Time From Child to Adult: 1 month

Of course, this doesn't account for the time you skip by sleeping, waiting, or fast travelling, so depending on your playstyle, your mileage may vary. Still, if you are using a timescale which lengthens game days, I recommend choosing either Short or Normal, since you're less likely to ever see any change over a playthrough with Long or Very Long.

Note for anyone curious: A "realistic" lifespan is functionally possible, but logistically would almost never update. If your character had a growth spurt every game year, they would become an adult after 30 years, but that's 6.1 days of playing in real life between growth spurts, and 6 real life months of playing to age to an adult. In short, even though it makes the most sense to do it this way, in terms of actual gameplay you'd age at a snail's pace and be an insanely high level before you even reached being a teen.


** CAVEATS ** --------------------
TIPS/KNOWN ISSUES
• It's best to start the game as a child to get the full "growing up" experience
• Only works with the human races (unless you have RS Elven and Beast Children)
• From MimiTheAlchemist's mod page: Nelkir, Jarl Balgruf's son, stays a child because of the Mephala quest he plays a role in

FUTURE PLANS
• SE port maybe -- I only just bought it so I have no idea if it'll need adaptation
• Might be nice to have more vanilla kids on the NPC growing up list, but my motivation for that is TBD
• The option to hide adoptable kids until you reach adulthood

STUFF I WON'T DO
• Make a million alt versions that use other child replacer mods... because that sounds like an absolute nightmare
• I don't have plans for a version that allows you to die of old age & reincarnate as your child, sorry, it's a cool idea in theory but no


** INSTALLATION ** --------------------
REQUIRED
Skyrim Legendary Edition
RS Children Overhaul (Playable Child Edition) - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/55555
RaceCompatibility - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/24168
SKSE - Skyrim Script Extender - https://skse.silverlock.org
SkyUI - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/3863 or SkyUI Away - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/29440 (technically optional, but ageing options can only be accessed via MCM)

COMPATIBILITY
The original Growing Up in Skyrim - incompatible
RS Elven and Beast Children - built-in compatibility - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/94004

INSTALL
As with any time you add or subtract mods from your load order, it's always safest to start a new game.
Copy files into the Steam\SteamApps\common\skyrim\data folder.
Or, use whatever mod manager suits you.

UNINSTALL
!! It's never a good idea to uninstall mods with scripts in them, you have been warned !!
That said, via MCM, click Uninstall. Once it's finished shutting down, save & close Skyrim.
Delete files from Data folder or mod manager.


** OTHER RECOMMENDED LE MODS ** --------------------
Time Flies - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/74512
RS Elven and Beast Children - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/94004
Customizable Camera - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37347
Armor and Clothing for Kids - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/56670
Practical Female Armors - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/48160
Prince and Pauper - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/46156
In Your Shadow - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/33051
Relationship Dialogue Overhaul - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/74568
Reduced Gold Reward for Quests - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/16231
iNeed - Food, Water, and Sleep - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/51473
Hearthfire Multiple Adoptions - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/29249
Children Fight Back - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/59945
Hearthfire Children Grow Up - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/96606
Dialogue Interface ReShaped (also works for Skyrim LE) - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/46546
Dynamic Animation Replacer (DAR) - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/101371
Ethereal Elven Overhaul - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/24273 + Ethereal Elven Overhaul USLEEP Update - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/73909


** CREDITS ** --------------------
• MimiTheAlchemist for the original Growing Up in Skyrim - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/56916
• Expired for Racemenu - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/29624
• Ranaline for RS Children - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/55555
• Expired6978 & TMPhoenix for RaceCompatibility - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/24168
• StackEmHigh for their tutorial on using RaceCompatibility - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/59220
• SkyUI Team for SkyUI & MCM documentation - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/3863
• SKSE Team for SKSE - https://skse.silverlock.org/
• Jacob for being supportive & letting me ramble about this for weeks <3
• Cricket for kicking me in the ass to finally publish this

From the original mod:
• Hallgarth and lofgren for helping with the growth script
• Playtesters and those who have helped with character design (havoc0423, xCODLegendx, TornadoKat, & PoipleLolipops)