Useful potions


Note that a copy of this document exists in the Skyrim\\Data\\Docs folder.



Version: 0.806
Date: 23 April 2015
Author: kuertee
Source: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/45654





Requirements:
* Skyrim 1.9
* Skyrim Script Extender http://skse.silverlock.org/
Other optional mods
* Battle fatigue and injuries: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/13241 -
further penalises the player when receiving high damage - making
potions with "buffs" meaningful.
* Professions: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/18258 - adds a time
penalty to mixing potions and other activities.
* Skills-based damage multipliers:
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/21828 - increases the effects of
Destruction magic on those with low magic skills. It also as increases
the effectiveness of skill specilisation.




Compatibilities
* Potions that have not yet been changed in the Creation Kit will be
changed in-game dynamically.
Conflicts:
* Any 3rd-party mod that changes the potion and ingredients of the base
game may have a conflict. When loaded after this mod, the effects of
its potions are kept. However, the duration of the effects will be
changed by Useful potions. Restore effects may not be removed from
potions and ingredients.
* When Useful potions is given priority (by setting its loaded after
the 3rd-party mod), all restore effects of potions and ingredients from
the base game will be changed to regeneration effects. Also the
duration of the effects of all potions will not be changed dynamically
because they are already changed in the ESP.




Short description



Potions are made more useful by (1) setting their durations to 5 minutes,
(2) changing all restore effects from base-game potions to regeneration
effects, and (3) making potions spoil after 7 days. All actors have a
potion of tolerance of 1 potion per 50 base Magicka. And passive
regeneration of Health is removed. And passive regeneration of Magicka
and Stamina are slowed to 20%. All NPCs are also affected.



Quick start



* Step 1: Quickly read only 3 sections for now: the "Requirements"
(above), the "Install" (or "Updating") and the "Uninstall" sections,
all below.
* Step 2: Do a very quick read of available configuration settings in
the "Configuring the mod" section.
* Step 3: Play.
* Step 4 (when something is wrong): Only when you think something is
wrong, or when you don't understand how a feature works, should you
open this document again. Also search for keywords to quickly "jump" to
a possibly relevant section. It's better than reading this from top to
bottom.
* Step 5 (when something is REALLY wrong): If you feel that something
is really wrong in your game, read the "Troubleshooting", "Creating a
clean save", and "Script logging" sections below. A log of your game
session really helps in determining a problem and in finding solutions
for it.



Updates since last release (0.803)




0.806, 23 April 2015:

* Bug fix: Player-made potioins will now have the proper amount of
duration (i.e. 5 minutes). Previously, some player-made potions were
being generated with 0 duration.
* New feature: userNPCsDrinkRegenHMSPotions (Default: True): NPCs (i.e.
followers) will drink regeneration potions for attributes (Health,
Magicka, Stamina) that are less than 75%. Read the "Gameplay changes"
section, below, in regards to NPCs.
* New feature: When the player sleeps, NPCs (i.e. followers) sleep.
Their health heals at the rate of 8 hours of player's sleep for their
full health. Read the "Gameplay changes" section, below, in regards to
NPCs.

Updating


1. Simply deactivate and uninstall the previous version then
install and activate this version. Note that you do not need to stop
the mod in-game. If you do, you will lose your accumulated
mod-specific data. Let the new version back-up the data of its old
version, clean-up the old data (i.e. zero-out) by stopping itself,
restart itself and restore the data of the old version.
2. After the update is finished, the message "kuUP v0.806" will
appear.
3. If the MCM fails to start, simply type "startQuest kuUPxMCMQ"
in the console.


Gameplay changes



Potion changes


Effects of potions from the base game that have a duration of 16
seconds or more are changed to have a duration of 5 minutes. Any potion
from the DLCs and other 3rd-party mods are changed dynamically (at
run-time) when they enter your inventory them.

Potions now have a life-span of 7 days while in the player's inventory.
You can check the potion's use-by-date when you tap on the "O" (for
open) key while it is highlighted in your inventory screen.

All restore effects in Spells and Ingredients from the base game are
changed to regeneration effects. Restore effects in objects from the
DLCs and other 3rd party mods are not changed. And they will work as
normal.


Potion toxicity


To balance the higher durations of potions, all actors have a potion
tolerance penalty dependent on their base Magicka. 50 base Magicka
allows for 1 potion use.

Use of potions more than their tolerance will cause their Magicka to be
toxic - penalising their Health, Magicka and Stamina values by 50 per
potion used over their tolerance. The minimum this penalty will take
these Actor Values to is 25.

This penalty is also applied when a potion already in effect is renewed
by consuming the same type of potion. Though the effects are renewed
(i.e. its duration is reset), its toxicity is counted as a separate
potion.

All actors are affected by this penalty.


None and slowed passive regeneration


Passive regeneration of Health is removed. And passive regeneration of
Magicka and Stamina are slowed to 20%. This effects the player
completely. For comparisons with the base game, here are the changes:

Actor value changed Base game Useful potions
HealRateMult 100 0
MagickaRateMult 100 20
StaminaRateMult 100 20

Unfortunately, it doesn't work completely in other actors. The
regenerations are definitely removed and slowed when near the player
but these conditions will remove the mod's effects on them - and
thereby revert their regeneration rates to normal: (1) the player is
5000 distance away (including when you move through "load" doors), and
(2) when they become essential or become non-essential (as my Fight or
fly mod makes them).


Overall


With these changes, potions require less micro-management and their use
are made more tactical. Also, the hoarding of potions is no longer
possible. Visits to the apotecharies and/or time on mixing tables are
made more important.


More information



Potion changes


All effects of all potions from the base game (i.e. Skyrim.esm) that
have a duration of 16 seconds or more are changed to 5 minutes.

All restore effects of potions and ingredients are changed to
regeneration effects. The potion's effect, magnitude and names are
changes as described below:

Base game's Restore magnitude Useful potion's Regeneration magnitude
Minor - 25 Normal - 20
Normal - 50 Draught - 40
Plentiful - 75 Solution - 60
Vigorous - 100 Philter - 80
Extreme - 150 Elixir - 100
Ultimate - 9999 Elixir - 100

The ESP contains changes of the potions from the base game. However,
when a potion enters the player's inventory that doesn't have its
duration at 5 minutes, it will be changed with SKSE's
SetNthEffectMagnitude (). Because changes with SetNthEffectMagnitude ()
is not saved in the saved game, this data is saved in an Array (which
is saved in the saved game) instead. From this array, the durations are
restored at game-loads.

Because the changes to durations can be applied dynamically at
run-time, a 3rd-party mod can be loaded after this mod so that that
mod's changes to potions are given priority in the game. Useful potions
will, however, change the duration of potions to 5 minutes when the
potion enter's the player's inventory.

However, if a 3rd-party potion mod is loaded after this, the Restore
effects may not be completely removed from potions and ingredients. It
will depend on whether that 3rd-party mod has changes to the potions
and ingredients that were changed by Useful potion.

Regardless of the last two points, restore effects may still exist in
the game from DLCs and 3rd-party mods. Basically, these effects cannot
be completely removed if DLCs and 3rd-party mods have these effects
embedded in their ingredients and potions.


Potion toxicity


The penalties of Potion toxicity will not kill. SKSE's
SetNthEffectMagnitude () is used on the penalty Spells to change their
Magnitude to not take Health, Magicka and/or Stamina below 25.


Configuring the mod


Method 1: SkyUI's MCM
You can configure this mod with SkyUI's MCM or manually as described
below. Ignore the rest of this section.

Method 2: FISS
The SKSE plug-in, FISS (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/48265/),
is required for this. With FISS installed, you can (1) export your
settings from the MCM to the XML file,
SKSE\\plugins\\FISS\\kuertee\\kuerteeSightlessSenses.xml, (2) edit this
file outside the game with a text editor, (3) then import it again for
any save game.

Method 3: INI file
Another way to configure this mod is to use its INI file. Note,
however, that every time you change a value in the INI file, you'll
need to execute it from the in-game console by typing {bat
"ini\\kuerteeSightlessSenses.ini"} (without the brackets).

Method 4: Console
A less efficient way to configure this mod is by using the console
command {SetPQV kuUPQ option value}. Option is the name of setting. And
value is your new value for it.

Below are the various settings that you can change, their default
values and a short description.

SetPQV kuUPq userAffectNPCs 1
;Default TRUE. When True, NPCs around you will also have their Health,
Magicka and Stamina regeneration rate affected.

SetPQV kuUPq userMagickaForOnePotionTolerance 50
;Default 50.000000. Base Magicka required to tolerate the toxicity of
one potion.

SetPQV kuUPq userPotionDurationSeconds 300
;Default 300.000000. Duration of potion effects in seconds.

SetPQV kuUPq userDurationRequiredForChange 16
;Default 15.000000. Only potion effects with this much duration or more
will be changed.

SetPQV kuUPq userMinimumAVOverload 25
;Default 25.000000. The Potion overload effect will not drop your
Health, Magicka and Stamina below this value.

SetPQV kuUPq userPotionLifeSpanDays 7
;Default 25.000000. Potions spoil after this many days.

SetPQV kuUPq userPotionInfoKey 24
;Default 24. Shows information on the highlighted potion item.

SetPQV kuUPq userHealRateMultAtL1 0.000000
;Default False or 0. Heal rate at level 1.

SetPQV kuUPq userHealRateMultAtL100 0.000000
;Default False or 0. Heal rate at level 100.

SetPQV kuUPq userMagickaRateMultAtL1 20.000000
;Default False or 0. Magicka rate at level 1.

SetPQV kuUPq userMagickaRateMultAtL100 100.000000
;Default False or 0. Magicka rate at level 100.

SetPQV kuUPq userStaminaRateMultAtL1 20.000000
;Default False or 0. Stamina rate at level 1.

SetPQV kuUPq userStaminaRateMultAtL100 100.000000
;Default False or 0. Stamina rate at level 100.

SetPQV kuUPq userOverloadPenalty 50.000000
;Default False or 0. Penalty to Health, Magicka and Stamina of overload
level. This stack at every overload.

SetPQV kuUPq userNPCsDrinkRegenHMSPotions 1
;Default TRUE. When True, NPCs drink regeneration Health, Magicka and
Stamina potions when their stats are less than 75%.


Install


1. Use Wrye Bash
(http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=1840) to install
this mod. Just drag the package (which is a normal ZIP file) into
Wrye Bash's Installers tab. Note, however, that the package is only
a normal ZIP file, so if you know the game's mod file structure,
install it manually. Other mod managers (e.g. NMM) that support ZIP
files that mirror the file structure of the game may also be used.
2. Configure the mod as described in the "Configuring the mod"
section.
3. Activate the mod.


Starting from a downloaded saved-game


(Thanks to Restutitor Orbis for this suggestion on how to jump-start my
mods when playing from a downloaded saved game.)

"Starting another character from a DLed saved game file in Helgen, I
came upon an easier solution than warping into the LAL prison cell.
If you have LAL but are starting a character in Helgen, just use a bat
file with these 2 console commands or just type them in after the ~:
setstage arthlalstartquest10
setstage arthlalstartquest20
This ends the LAL quest and re-enables the MQ101 update that you are
supposed to get when you complete your escape, but was initially
disabled by LAL.
That way you can do the vanilla MQ without switching to the LAL
beginning if you want to."
-Restutitor Orbis


Uninstall


1. In the console, type {SetPQV kuUPQ uninstallNow True} (without
the brackets). Or with Sky UI's MCM, set the uninstallNow toggle to
True then exit the menus.
2. Wait for a message confirming the uninstallation. Save the game.
3. Deactivate the mod with Wrye Bash. If you installed this
manually, simply delete all the files you installed. (Wrye Bash
keeps track of files used, so installing/uninstalling the mod with
it is 100% simpler.)


Troubleshooting


o You can reset the mod by typing {SetPQV kuUPQ resetNow True}
(without the brackets) in the console. Or with Sky UI's MCM, set the
resetNow toggle to True then exit the menus.
o When it resets it will ask you either reset all of its data or
continue with the current data. Resetting all its data will remove
all your settings and set the mod as if you have first installed it.
o You can check all the mod's data by typing {SQV kuUPQ} in the
console. You can check if your settings were set in the mod properly
with this.
o If you find that your changes (with the command SetPQV or from
executing the INI) do not appear in the mod, check the command again
for spelling errors. Then try again.
o If you find that resetting (with resetNow) and uninstalling (with
uninstallNow) don't seem to work, the mod may have been suspended. It
is best to simply start-over (i.e. reinstall the mod) after a "clean"
save.


Creating a clean save:


1. If you can, uninstall the mod from the console with {SetPQV
kuUPQ uninstallNow True}.
2. Wait for the mod to confirm the uninstallation. It may take a
minute. If no confirmation appears, then simply continue to the next
step.
3. Save the game manually from the console by typing {save
uninstalledMod}.
4. Uninstall all the mod's files (*.ESP, *.PSC, *.PEX) from the
game folders. Make sure that none of the mod's Scripts are left. A
mod manager like Wrye is best used for this.
5. Load the "uninstalledMod" save.
6. Save the game manually again from the console by typing {save
cleanSave}. Because all of the mod's files were removed, all of its
data will be "zeroed" in this game.
7. Play from this game.


Script logging


o As a last resort, you can enable script logging and investigate
the "Documents\\My Games\\Skyrim\\Logs\\Script\\Papyrus.0.log" file
and/or send them to me. Contact me first either on TESNexus or the
official Bethesda forums.
o To enable script logging, set bEnableLogging, bEnableTrace and
bLoadDebugInformation in the Skyrim.INI file. More information about
this is described in this thread in the official Bethesda Creation
Kit Forum:
http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1345130-having-papyrus-trouble-here-ar
e-some-things-to-try/.
o Also, you can set mod specific logging by setting debugMode to 1
in either the MCM or in the console by typing {SetPQV kuUPQ debugMode
1} (without the brackets). Mod specific logs are found in
"Documents\\My Games\\Skyrim\\Logs\\Script\\User\\kuUPQs.0.log".
o Play the game for 5 minutes or so - enough time for the game to
capture logging events.
o If the "Papyrus.0.log" contain "Suspended stack count is over our
warning threshold, dumping stacks:", then your game is suffering very
badly. I've written a guide on how to clean your game and recover
from this problem in Bethesda's official forums:
http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1481687-suspended-stack-count-is-over-
our-warning-threshold/.
o Feel free to send me (kuertee at gmail dot com) the
"Documents\\My Games\\Skyrim\\Logs\\Script\\Papyrus.0.log",
"Documents\\My Games\\Skyrim\\Logs\\Script\\User\\kuUPQs.0.log" to
investigate the problem.


History




0.803, 31 March 2014:

o Tweak: Regeneration rates are returned to normal while the actor
is bleeding out.

0.802, 10 March 2014:


o Tweak: Potion information by pressing "O" is now available in
Barter and Container Menus.
o Tweak: Batching of acquired potions into spoilage data.
Previously, newly acquired potions were added to a new spoilage slots
instead of getting added to similar spoilage slots.
o Bug fix: (Again:) Better detection of invalid actors (i.e. actors
not in active memory). Previously, some invalid actors were getting
actioned by functions which causes the mod to stall.

0.801, 10 February 2014:


o Bug fix: I missed setting FortifySkillRestoration03 potion's
duration to 300 seconds.

0.8, 10 February 2014:


o Bug fix: Better detection of invalid actors (i.e. actors not in
active memory). Previously, some invalid actors were not getting
removed from aliases.
o Bug fix: The White Phial will never spoil.
o Tweak: Spoilt potions are not added to your inventory anymore.
They were simply an annoyance.

0.708, 28 December 2013:


o New feature: Regeneration rates and overload magnitudes are
user-configurable. Set userHealRateMultAtL1, userHealRateMultAtL100,
userMagickaRateMultAtL1, userMagickaRateMultAtL100,
userStaminaRateMultAtL1, and userStaminaRateMultAtL100 in the INI or
MCM to produce a regeneration rates that slides as the actor
increases in levels.
o New feature: Overload penalty magnitude is user-configurable. Set
userOverloadPenalty in the INI or MCM.
o Bug fix: User-made potions that is removed from your game (due to
consumption or expiration), will be removed from the internal lists.
o Bug fix: Poisons do not display the info panel. Previously, it
presented the "potion list not updated" message incorrectly.
o Bug fix: Some user-made potions crashes the mod.

0.706, 27 October 2013


o Initial release.


Credits


kuertee in http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/


Licensing/Legal


You can do whatever you want with this mod but all I ask in return is
that you give me credit. I would also like to be contacted when you
include this mod in part or in full in a public release.