��== First Person Horse Riding ==

Version 2.0



One of the biggest annoyances in Skyrim for me is the forced third person horse riding. I just find that it takes me out of the moment and really discourages me from using a horse.



This was solved in Classic Skyrim with the excellent Enhanced Camera mod - however for various reasons this has yet to be ported to Special Edition. I was about to start a new playthrough, and I really wasn't keen on the idea of being forced in to third person whilst riding a horse. So I created this mod to solve that problem.



In short, this mod allows you to ride a horse as if in first person, using a hotkey to change from mounted third person view to mounted first person view. It's designed to be as lightweight, efficient and easy to use as possible. I created it purely for my latest playthrough, however I thought I'd share it as I know I'm not the only one who hates riding a horse in third person!



Requires SKSE



Installation

Use a mod manager for easy installation, or install the files manually by copying them to your Data folder.



How to Use

Mount a horse as normal. Once you're mounted, press the mounted camera hotkey (by default this is set to "F", the same key that you'd use to switch between third and first person normally).



This will put you in to mounted first person mode. Your character will disappear and your camera will lock to a first person perspective, and you can now ride your horse in first person. Pressing the hotkey again will change your view back to third person, and dismounting your horse will automatically switch you back to whatever view you were in before you mounted your horse.



Customisation

MCM

The mod comes with a simple MCM menu that lets you customise the hotkey used to switch between third person and mounted first person. The hotkey only has an effect whilst mounted, and so you're free to use a key that is normally mapped when you're not on horseback. MCM will warn you if a key is already mapped, however as long as the key is not used whilst mounted (such as changing FOV, shouting etc.) it will work without issues.



The MCM menu will also allow you to map the hotkey to a gamepad button, if you're using a controller. As above, any button that isn't used whilst mounted (up and down on the d-pad, left thumbstick click, left and right bumpers etc.) works great. If you use a controller but still wish to map the hotkey to a keyboard button as opposed to a controller button, you'll need to disconnect your controller as to be able to map a key. The key will still work afterwards with the controller enabled, however.



Without MCM

If you do not have SkyUI, you can customise the hotkey used to toggle the mounted camera by using the following console commands:



Set _SWG_FirstPersonHorseHotkeyValue to xx



Replace xx with the key code of the key you'd like to map it to. Then use the following commands:



StopQuest _SWG_FirstPersonHorseQuest

StartQuest _SWG_FirstPersonHorseQuest



Compatibility

The aim I had whilst making this mod was to make it as light and as compatible as possible. Scripts only run whilst mounted, and have been optimised to death. There is very little to no performance impact, and no save game bloat.



No direct edits are made to horses or vanilla scripts and so this mod is compatible with both Immersive Horses�� and Convenient Horses. The extra features found in these mods, such as talking and harvesting whilst mounted, should work fine whilst in first person. If you find that things aren't quite working as expected however, simply switch back to third person view using the hotkey whenever you want to perform these actions.



Mods that edit the camera may have a few visual compatibility issues depending on the way that they do it - however it won't be anything game breaking and may simply involve some minor clipping.



Known Issues and Quirks

The camera may very occasionally jump behind your horse whilst in first person view. The chance of this happening should be greatly reduced in version 2.0, however if it does happen simply toggle the hotkey to third person and then back to first to fix this.



You'll hear an equipping/unequipping sound when switching between first person and third person. That's a quirk in how the effect is achieved and is completely harmless.



I've intentionally disabled mounted combat whilst in first person mode, as it's so awkward in third person anyway that it becomes very difficult to use whilst in first person.



Uninstalling

Whilst I can't support uninstalling any mod mid playthrough, following these steps shouldn't cause any issues:



Ensure that you're not on a horse. Type the following command in to the console:



StopQuest _SWG_FirstPersonHorseQuest



You can then uninstall the mod through your mod manager. If you installed it manually, delete the following files:



First Person Horse Riding.esp

First Person Horse Riding - Readme.txt

Scripts/_SWG_FirstPersonHorseQuestScript.pex

Scripts/_SWG_FirstPersonHorseMCMScript.pex



Changelog available on the Nexus page: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/15314