Improved NPC Encounter Zones (SkyRem - Inez) - you can use both as long as you load my mod below Inez (so it will overwrite EZ changes from Inez). Compatible with everything except other Encounter Zones mods.
This is a lie. Load order is never complete. I haven't been past level 10 in over a year because I keep tweaking, testing, and restarting.I've come to accept that I enjoy modding more than actually playing the game. :)
I'm looking at this in SSE Edit right now so I can share the values provided by this mod. The first columns has the vanilla settings. fLeveledActorMultEasy: 0.33 fLeveledActorMultMedium: 0.67 fLeveledActorMultHard: 1.00 fLeveledActorMultVeryHard: 1.25
These are the settings for this mod ... Skyrim Revamped ... Rebalanced Encounter Zones. fLeveledActorMultEasy: 1.00 ... 0.60 ... 0.90 fLeveledActorMultMedium: 1.10 ... 0.90 ...1.10 fLeveledActorMultHard: 1.25 ...1.20 ...1.25 fLeveledActorMultVeryHard: 1.50 ...1.50 ...1.50
This mod and Rebalance Encounter zone not only have similar LevelActor settings but also similar encounter zone settings (though this mod's is a bit higher overall). This mod enables "Disable Combat Border" for every zone so enemies will follow you through loading screens. Rebalance Encounter Zone has a max level of zero (!) for most zones.Once you reach a zone's min level enemies will scale with you the rest of the game. Skyrim Revamped has the lowest LevelActor settings but has the highest encounter zone settings and in some case very high (plan on doing Dawnguard last). Meanwhile, Morrowloot Ultimate does not touch the LevelActor settings but doses change encounter zones which are a bit higher than this mod. The Morrowloot Ultimate EZ Update patch is bit higher than MLU. None of these EZ's are as high as Skyrim Revamped.
Update: After more testing I'm going to use this mod for my Encounter Zones / LevelActor settings.Skyrim Revamp's is just too tough for my character who starts with limited items, uses only bows, no followers, and levels very slowly.
Hey! I appreciate the extensive response, I really needed the info. However, I'm a bit if a noob here, and I'd be grateful if you could explain one or two things a but more in depth for me. I've been looking into these encounter zones mod recently, and I've narrowed it down to between this one and the Rebalanced encounter zones mod you mentioned, as I don't want the higher tier gear (ebony etc.) removed from encounter zones.
Now, you mention a difference between an encounter zone level and the actor level. What exactly is that difference? Is the encounter zone level just the interval at which the actor level is calculated or am I missing something?
Also, would this mod affect the items you find in chest (i.e the loot levels and tiers), so for example if I clear a lvl.40 dungeon at level 20, I could get lvl.40 gear for my troubles?
I'll post quick definitions below but check out this Reddit Post that goes into the details:https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/8wu0f6/sjg_psa_how_encounter_zones_fleveledactormult/
The LevelActor settings are used to determine the level of NPCs are added for you to battle. Consider the vanilla settings from my post above. If you enter an Encounter Zone at level 20, then Easy NPCs added would be level 7 (.33 of your level), Medium would be level 13 (.67 of your level), Hard would be level 20 (1.0 of your level), and Very Hard would be level 25 (1.25 of your level - Skyrim always rounds down). You walk into a group of draugers and your'll see them at these various levels.
Now the trick is determining what your character's level is. You may think it's that number you see when you view your perks but no-no-no. Skyrim can use the Encounter Zones to change your level for the purpose of adding the NPCs. For example, we have an Encounter Zone set with a minimum level of 15 and a maximum of 25 . If you enter with your level 20 character then the game will accept you at level 20 because you are between the min/max and add NPCs using the LeveledActor settings in the first example. However, if you enter at a level below the minimum then the game will say no-no-no and instead use the minimum EZ setting of 15 and add NPCs based on that number. If you enter at level 40 which is way above the max of 25 then is will say no-no-no and use the max of 25 to add NPCs. Another example: if an EZ has no maximum then one meet the minimum level it will scale difficulty to match your level for the rest of the game.
There are other calculations which could allow an NPC added to be above the max level and some of those are discussed in the Reddit post. There's a balance required between these settings to get the desired difficulty. There are also many other factors such as play style, other mods affecting combat, and difficulty level which can also be major factors.
In theory you could set all Encounter Zones min/max to 0 so every cell always matches your level and then crank up the LeveledActor settings for added difficulty. The downside is every zone will always match you so you many never feel that your character is improving. You could also wind up with common bandits having god-like gear and abilities when your level gets really high which many would find very non-immersive.
The problem with Encounter Zones is that it can force your to play a certain order to the game every time. I think all Encounter Zone mods, including this one, makes EZs around Whiterun and Falkreath easier and EZ's in other places more difficult. This can force your new character to always do Whiterun/Falkreath first which can get boring. In other words, they can funnel your character down a specific path until they level up enough.
Wow this was very comprehensive and informative. Thank you!
Two mini-questions arise though. 1) Is the loot in chests withing encounter zones determined by the EZ level? 2) Do we know how this mod distributes EZ levels?
1) Loot is based on the EZ level but other mods can affect it. For example, Morrowloot Ultimate and Skyrim Revamped both modify loot beyond the vanilla game settings.
2) I can't tell you exactly how this mod author came up with his EZ settings. You can view them all using SSE Edit. I can say that I compared this mod with Skyrim Revamped, MLU, MLU EZ Update, and another mod. I looked at about 20 different locations around Skyrim. Overall this mod had the lowest EZ settings however it's LevelActor Settings were among the highest. This mod is pretty similar to Morrowloot Ultimate. Whether these settings will provide an entertaining experience depends on your expectations, play style, other mods, difficulty level, etc.
I think I'll try this one. I dislike the fact that morrowloot removes any item above glass tier. I wish there was a mod that made the world completely and utterly random and unleveled though, without touching anything else. There's a patcher to do exactly this, but it uses zedit which doesn't suppost esls.
"Also, I believe Encounter Zones do affect the containers."
Technically not 100% correct. Most loot is still scaled to the player level (if it uses a leveled list ofc) UNLESS it is tagged as Special Loot in the CK (in which case it will use both the player level and the encounter zone level, but you can edit game settings to make it only scale off zone levels)
non boss containers generally do not have special loots, while boss chests have 1 or 2 items that are tagged as special loot. The rest will level with you.
This approach to encounter zones had never been done before, until 5 days ago, and was posted here. It is an amazing coincidence that after 8 years, two people develop the same mod within 5 days of each other. You don't have to credit me. I don't care. But you should consider opening the permissions of this mod. That's all that I ask if people reuse my work. I'm not accusing you of stealing. I believe that someone just forwarded the concept to you which you implemented independently. But as a sign of mutual respect, I ask that you consider opening the permissions of the mod.
There's a good chance your mod inspired this one but there's plenty of differences there are still a ton of differences between the two. I do agree that if your mod is nothing more than changing the numbers of the game there's no reason to lock down the permissions. That should be reserved for mod that change a lot of stuff like WACCF or are truly custom like new models and textures.
That said, I appreciate this author publishing his version of this mod. There are plenty of differences between the mods that right now I'm trying to decided if I should use one. I love Skyrim Revamped but the EZ's get really, really tough when you also use mods that significantly reduce your leveling speed. I think I'll wind up using one of these two mods and see how it works for me.
This mod is inspired by Static Skyrim (check my credits in descriptions). Sorry, but you're not a modding god - someone did the same thing long time ago. I've got my own, tweaked version of his EZ which I uploaded specifically for users of my guide.
You hadn't credited Static Skyrim at the time of my posting. Your credits read - "VS_Revan for the idea." I wasn't aware of the mod. Regardless, if you are going to use other peoples work, it seems inappropriate to then prohibit others from using your modifications of someone else's work. I didn't accuse you of stealing. I never claimed to be a "modding god" and calling me one was disrespectful. I just ask that you respect other mod authors.
Another example involves your port of AI Overhaul which is open-source. The author clearly wished his mod to be open-source, and you have closed all the permissions. I just ask that you respect other mod authors. I respect your work. I've been nothing but respectful to you. I just want the community to get along and prosper.
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Compatible list:
Compatible || Semi-Compatible || Incompatible
Improved NPC Encounter Zones (SkyRem - Inez) - you can use both as long as you load my mod below Inez (so it will overwrite EZ changes from Inez).
Compatible with everything except other Encounter Zones mods.
I agree about never getting past level 10! There is always something that comes along that is 'ooh that sounds good'
My gravestone will probably read 'he modded right up to the end!'
fLeveledActorMultEasy: 0.33
fLeveledActorMultMedium: 0.67
fLeveledActorMultHard: 1.00
fLeveledActorMultVeryHard: 1.25
These are the settings for this mod ... Skyrim Revamped ... Rebalanced Encounter Zones.
fLeveledActorMultEasy: 1.00 ... 0.60 ... 0.90
fLeveledActorMultMedium: 1.10 ... 0.90 ...1.10
fLeveledActorMultHard: 1.25 ...1.20 ...1.25
fLeveledActorMultVeryHard: 1.50 ...1.50 ...1.50
This mod and Rebalance Encounter zone not only have similar LevelActor settings but also similar encounter zone settings (though this mod's is a bit higher overall). This mod enables "Disable Combat Border" for every zone so enemies will follow you through loading screens. Rebalance Encounter Zone has a max level of zero (!) for most zones.Once you reach a zone's min level enemies will scale with you the rest of the game. Skyrim Revamped has the lowest LevelActor settings but has the highest encounter zone settings and in some case very high (plan on doing Dawnguard last). Meanwhile, Morrowloot Ultimate does not touch the LevelActor settings but doses change encounter zones which are a bit higher than this mod. The Morrowloot Ultimate EZ Update patch is bit higher than MLU. None of these EZ's are as high as Skyrim Revamped.
Update: After more testing I'm going to use this mod for my Encounter Zones / LevelActor settings.Skyrim Revamp's is just too tough for my character who starts with limited items, uses only bows, no followers, and levels very slowly.
Now, you mention a difference between an encounter zone level and the actor level. What exactly is that difference? Is the encounter zone level just the interval at which the actor level is calculated or am I missing something?
Also, would this mod affect the items you find in chest (i.e the loot levels and tiers), so for example if I clear a lvl.40 dungeon at level 20, I could get lvl.40 gear for my troubles?
The LevelActor settings are used to determine the level of NPCs are added for you to battle. Consider the vanilla settings from my post above. If you enter an Encounter Zone at level 20, then Easy NPCs added would be level 7 (.33 of your level), Medium would be level 13 (.67 of your level), Hard would be level 20 (1.0 of your level), and Very Hard would be level 25 (1.25 of your level - Skyrim always rounds down). You walk into a group of draugers and your'll see them at these various levels.
Now the trick is determining what your character's level is. You may think it's that number you see when you view your perks but no-no-no. Skyrim can use the Encounter Zones to change your level for the purpose of adding the NPCs. For example, we have an Encounter Zone set with a minimum level of 15 and a maximum of 25 . If you enter with your level 20 character then the game will accept you at level 20 because you are between the min/max and add NPCs using the LeveledActor settings in the first example. However, if you enter at a level below the minimum then the game will say no-no-no and instead use the minimum EZ setting of 15 and add NPCs based on that number. If you enter at level 40 which is way above the max of 25 then is will say no-no-no and use the max of 25 to add NPCs. Another example: if an EZ has no maximum then one meet the minimum level it will scale difficulty to match your level for the rest of the game.
There are other calculations which could allow an NPC added to be above the max level and some of those are discussed in the Reddit post. There's a balance required between these settings to get the desired difficulty. There are also many other factors such as play style, other mods affecting combat, and difficulty level which can also be major factors.
In theory you could set all Encounter Zones min/max to 0 so every cell always matches your level and then crank up the LeveledActor settings for added difficulty. The downside is every zone will always match you so you many never feel that your character is improving. You could also wind up with common bandits having god-like gear and abilities when your level gets really high which many would find very non-immersive.
The problem with Encounter Zones is that it can force your to play a certain order to the game every time. I think all Encounter Zone mods, including this one, makes EZs around Whiterun and Falkreath easier and EZ's in other places more difficult. This can force your new character to always do Whiterun/Falkreath first which can get boring. In other words, they can funnel your character down a specific path until they level up enough.
Two mini-questions arise though.
1) Is the loot in chests withing encounter zones determined by the EZ level?
2) Do we know how this mod distributes EZ levels?
2) I can't tell you exactly how this mod author came up with his EZ settings. You can view them all using SSE Edit. I can say that I compared this mod with Skyrim Revamped, MLU, MLU EZ Update, and another mod. I looked at about 20 different locations around Skyrim. Overall this mod had the lowest EZ settings however it's LevelActor Settings were among the highest. This mod is pretty similar to Morrowloot Ultimate. Whether these settings will provide an entertaining experience depends on your expectations, play style, other mods, difficulty level, etc.
"Also, I believe Encounter Zones do affect the containers."
Technically not 100% correct. Most loot is still scaled to the player level (if it uses a leveled list ofc) UNLESS it is tagged as Special Loot in the CK (in which case it will use both the player level and the encounter zone level, but you can edit game settings to make it only scale off zone levels)
non boss containers generally do not have special loots, while boss chests have 1 or 2 items that are tagged as special loot. The rest will level with you.
That said, I appreciate this author publishing his version of this mod. There are plenty of differences between the mods that right now I'm trying to decided if I should use one. I love Skyrim Revamped but the EZ's get really, really tough when you also use mods that significantly reduce your leveling speed. I think I'll wind up using one of these two mods and see how it works for me.
Another example involves your port of AI Overhaul which is open-source. The author clearly wished his mod to be open-source, and you have closed all the permissions. I just ask that you respect other mod authors. I respect your work. I've been nothing but respectful to you. I just want the community to get along and prosper.
Also AIO is a really bad example. OLDRIM version of AIO is open source. SE version is not. SE version is still developed by me and original author.