ShadowPlay - a sneak / stealth overhaul mod v.0.9 BETA
by black

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Description
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Check my Video for some basic examples if you hate reading: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpB7ZnFdDdk

IMPORTANT: Realistic Lighting is essential, get it here:
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=7654http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=7654
You need it to see the shadows in which you can hide. I did my best to balance it out, so if you step out of shadows detection starts.
Don't install those "lighter rooms" options ! They could overpower NPC detection !

This mod is meant to improve the challenge for sneaking characters. I tried to catch the feeling from the "THIEF" games.
You will need more patience and tactics to succeed - no more ridiculous sneaking in front of enemies ! Observe, then kill while they stand.
Lights are very important, don't get to close or you will regret it. Stay in shadows, ALWAYS!
One hitting enemies is nearly required now (I play on master). The challenge comes from staying undetected.

It changes ONLY things which affect sneaking. It also fixes a lot of vanilla bugs which overpowered sneaking even more.
For example player created muffle enchants add 100% muffle, 50% was meant in Creation Kit but Bethesda fails .
Muffled Movement and Silence gave a total bonus of -50% to movement detection.
Everything over 100% muffle is useless due to the formulas used. All that is fixed.
Along with that some perk and enchant changes were made. You need to put in some effort to reach 100% muffle, at least it will take longer.
For Light Armor I suggest 75% muffle with max sneak, for heavy armor you have to get 100% or you won't have a chance anymore!
You are also much slower in heavy than in light armor.
The perks which killed detection formulas were changed to fit...

I made this mod because I thought other sneak / stealth mods did it wrong, or only fixed one part of it (sounds, visuals, enchants).
Some were completly broken by increasing NPC interaction ranges, so you could end up with a massive chain reaction where NPCs trigger NPCs over 5 rooms.

Oh yeah, use DAGGERS ! Swords have a much higher noise range - killing enemies close to each other is ONLY POSSIBLE with daggers !
Swords are 5 times louder, 2H are 10 times louder than daggers (vanilla settings).
Switch to swords if you are detected. I suggest this mod, it can hotkey weapon sets for dual-wield:
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=3865http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=3865

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FEATURES
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-Lights are buffed up. Get to close and you will get detected from far away!
-Increased movement detection around lights - standing still has much better chances to stay unseen.
-NPC interaction range bumped up a bit without breaking other stuff
-Sneaking is much harder. Now you have to use SHIFT much more, else you probably won't make it
-Shift sneak speed increased by 50% to make it any useful, still 3x slower than stealth running
-NPC perception maximum bumped up - affects mostly NPCs who are alerted. You can't stay hidden 1m in front of them on alerts !
-Alerted NPC multiplier increased big time - they search longer and receive a bonus to detection. There are no 100% safe shadows on alerts anymore !
-You can't use bows to perma shoot NPCs and still stay undetected. If your first arrows don't kill, your in trouble. So upgrade your equipment or learn how to run!
-Perks balanced to fit my mod, reducing requirements (stealth), or adding cooldowns etc.
-Muffle enchants nerfed, unique items untouched to motivate players to upgrade equip as soon as they can
-Added an automated script on first start to fix broken vanilla variables which entered your saves - only important if you don't start a new game !
-No changes to damage calculations !

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HOW TO INSTALL / UNINSTALL
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Use Nexus Mod Manager !

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PROBLEMS & CONFLICTS WITH MODS
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All mods which touch: Stealth, Muffled Movement, Silence, ShadowWarrior, Unhindered, Conditioning perks. Muffle enchants, values for stealth detection (fsneak....).

I added a script which tries to remove odd values which are saved into your savegames.
It unequips all the stuff you have, including the perks I changed. Then it sets values to vanilla and re-adds your skilled perks for a refresh.

Check that with a console command: player.getav MovementNoiseMult

Basic value is 1 if completely unequipped. Player Muffle enchants add 25% Muffle (0.75 MovementNoiseMult after), same for standard �...boots of Muffling� in all forms (steel, daedric etc.).
Muffled Movement Perk adds 50% and some rare boots can add up to 100%.
That is where Skyrim has many bugs.