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About this mod
A zEdit Patcher that shuffles the Shouts rewarded by each Word Wall. Supports DLCs, Falskaar, Wyrmstooth and potentially more mods!
- Requirements
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- Changelogs
Description
Have you played Skyrim so many times that you know exactly which Shout each Word Wall gives you? Want to add a bit more randomness to the rewards of beating that mod-enhanced Dragon or that deleveled Draugr Deathlord? Well, now you can with this zEdit Patcher!
This patcher shuffles around all the Shouts rewarded by each Word Wall, meaning now you will have no idea what Shout you will get when you approach a Word Wall. This patcher is heavily inspired by the Randomized Word Walls mod by Sjogga, which has the same concept as this patcher but with an in-game power instead. However, that mod had a few limitations, which lead me to create this patcher.
This patcher supports randomizing Word Walls for Dawnguard, Dragonborn, Falskaar, Wyrmstooth, Word Walls Relocated, and potentially any other mod added Word Walls with dynamic patching! (Read FAQ)
Installation & Usage
Standard zEdit UPF patcher installation & usage. Refer to Google/YouTube, or follow Steps 5 & 6 of this link for an example of installing and running a zEdit patcher.
Note that zEdit has a 254 plugin limit, so if your load order exceeds it, merge your plugins or selectively load mods that affects word walls.
Compatibility
Word Walls from the following mods are official supported in the randomization:
Other mods that do add Word Walls are potentially supported with dynamic patching (FAQ), but it will be better if you let me know what those mods are so I can check them out and officially support those mods if possible.
Mods that add shouts without adding Word Walls such as Thunderchild are fully compatible, but their shouts will not be included in the randomization. Read FAQ for more details.
Mods that retextures Word Walls such as RUSTIC RELIEFS are compatible.
Mods that edits the WordWallTrigger REFR records of Word Walls are probably compatible. Just make sure to load them in zEdit before running the patcher.
Mods that edits the WordWallTriggerScript vanilla script are most likely not compatible, although I am currently not aware of any mod that does that.
FAQ
Q: Why can't you include shouts from mods like Thunderchild into the randomization process?
Q: Couldn't you just add more Word Walls into the world then?
Q: Can I install this patch mid-save? / Can I re-run the patcher mid-save to get a new set of randomized Word Walls?
This is not one of these exceptions.
Theoretically it should be fine if you have never gone anywhere near a Word Wall in your save, but I will not be responsible for, nor support, any issues that occur if you install/uninstall this patch mid-save.
Q: Are there any Word Walls that don't get randomized?
Q: Why are some of the Word Walls still giving me the same shouts as normal?
Q: Can't you just randomize each individual word instead of the whole shout then?
Q: Can I check the results of the randomization without manually checking every Word Wall in-game?
Q: What is dynamic patching? Do I need to enable it?
Q: Is this patcher on GitHub? Can you explain a bit more about the inner workings of the patcher?
Q: Can you make a Synthesis patcher version?
Credits
Thank you to Sjogga for the original Randomized Word Walls, which heavily inspired me to make this patcher.
Thank you to Mator and all the contributors of zEdit for making this patcher even possible at the first place. Special thanks to Mator's Modding Tools discord for answering any questions I had about zEdit.
My Other Randomizers
Have you played Skyrim so many times that you know exactly which Shout each Word Wall gives you? Want to add a bit more randomness to the rewards of beating that mod-enhanced Dragon or that deleveled Draugr Deathlord? Well, now you can with this zEdit Patcher!
This patcher shuffles around all the Shouts rewarded by each Word Wall, meaning now you will have no idea what Shout you will get when you approach a Word Wall. This patcher is heavily inspired by the Randomized Word Walls mod by Sjogga, which has the same concept as this patcher but with an in-game power instead. However, that mod had a few limitations, which lead me to create this patcher.
This patcher supports randomizing Word Walls for Dawnguard, Dragonborn, Falskaar, Wyrmstooth, Word Walls Relocated, and potentially any other mod added Word Walls with dynamic patching! (Read FAQ)
Installation & Usage
Standard zEdit UPF patcher installation & usage. Refer to Google/YouTube, or follow Steps 5 & 6 of this link for an example of installing and running a zEdit patcher.
Note that zEdit has a 254 plugin limit, so if your load order exceeds it, merge your plugins or selectively load mods that affects word walls.
Compatibility
Word Walls from the following mods are official supported in the randomization:
- Falskaar by AlexanderJVelicky
- Wyrmstooth by jonx0r
- Word Walls Relocated by kazopert
Other mods that do add Word Walls are potentially supported with dynamic patching (FAQ), but it will be better if you let me know what those mods are so I can check them out and officially support those mods if possible.
Mods that add shouts without adding Word Walls such as Thunderchild are fully compatible, but their shouts will not be included in the randomization. Read FAQ for more details.
Mods that retextures Word Walls such as RUSTIC RELIEFS are compatible.
Mods that edits the WordWallTrigger REFR records of Word Walls are probably compatible. Just make sure to load them in zEdit before running the patcher.
Mods that edits the WordWallTriggerScript vanilla script are most likely not compatible, although I am currently not aware of any mod that does that.
FAQ
Q: Why can't you include shouts from mods like Thunderchild into the randomization process?
Spoiler:
Show
This patcher only shuffles around the shouts that are rewarded by Word Walls. While it is very much possible (trivial, even) to make Word Walls reward mod added shouts, the fact that there are only a limited number of Word Walls in the game means that shouts will be lost in the ether if I throw in more shouts than there are Word Walls.
This also means that vanilla shouts that are not rewarded by a Word Wall such as Clear Skies, Dragonrend, and Summon Durnehviir are not included.
However, mods that do add Word Walls into the game such as Falskaar and Wyrmstooth will have those shouts included, which means you might get Champion's Spirit in the Skyrim worldspace.
This also means that vanilla shouts that are not rewarded by a Word Wall such as Clear Skies, Dragonrend, and Summon Durnehviir are not included.
However, mods that do add Word Walls into the game such as Falskaar and Wyrmstooth will have those shouts included, which means you might get Champion's Spirit in the Skyrim worldspace.
Q: Couldn't you just add more Word Walls into the world then?
Spoiler:
for pure shout mods like Thunderchild into the Skyrim worldspace, this patcher will very likely support it.Show
That would require it's own separate mod, and not just a patch.
If someone out there makes a mod that adds additional Word Walls
If someone out there makes a mod that adds additional Word Walls
Q: Can I install this patch mid-save? / Can I re-run the patcher mid-save to get a new set of randomized Word Walls?
Spoiler:
As a rule of thumb, you should never install/uninstall mods mid-save other than for a few exceptions. Show
This is not one of these exceptions.
Theoretically it should be fine if you have never gone anywhere near a Word Wall in your save, but I will not be responsible for, nor support, any issues that occur if you install/uninstall this patch mid-save.
Q: Are there any Word Walls that don't get randomized?
Spoiler:
Show
Unrelenting Force in Bleak Falls Barrow is ignored to prevent breaking the main questline.
Throw Voice in Shearpoint is ignored due to it being a 3-in-1 Word Wall. It may be possible to include it in the future, but I'll have to look into it further.
Bend Will in Saering's Watch is ignored to prevent breaking the Dragonborn main questline.
If a mod (such as Word Walls Relocated) disables a vanilla Word Wall for any reason, it will be ignored. Remember to load these mods into zEdit before running the patcher!
Catharsis of Contempt from Serio's Enhanced Dragons is ignored to prevent breaking its questline.
Throw Voice in Shearpoint is ignored due to it being a 3-in-1 Word Wall. It may be possible to include it in the future, but I'll have to look into it further.
Bend Will in Saering's Watch is ignored to prevent breaking the Dragonborn main questline.
If a mod (such as Word Walls Relocated) disables a vanilla Word Wall for any reason, it will be ignored. Remember to load these mods into zEdit before running the patcher!
Catharsis of Contempt from Serio's Enhanced Dragons is ignored to prevent breaking its questline.
Q: Why are some of the Word Walls still giving me the same shouts as normal?
Spoiler:
Show
It's something called probability. Shuffling the order of a group of items by random means that there's always a chance that something remains at the same order. Add the fact that multiple Word Walls reward the same shouts to give you different parts of a shout, and you can very easily get the same shout as pre-randomized.
Example: Ice Form in Frostmere Crypt might get shuffled to Mount Anthor, which originally rewards Ice Form anyway, so it may seem like it did not get randomized.
Unless you get really unlucky, you shouldn't get more than a couple of Word Walls where this happens.
Example: Ice Form in Frostmere Crypt might get shuffled to Mount Anthor, which originally rewards Ice Form anyway, so it may seem like it did not get randomized.
Unless you get really unlucky, you shouldn't get more than a couple of Word Walls where this happens.
Q: Can't you just randomize each individual word instead of the whole shout then?
Spoiler:
Show
No.
At least, not without editing the vanilla script responsible for handling Word Walls.
At least, not without editing the vanilla script responsible for handling Word Walls.
Q: Can I check the results of the randomization without manually checking every Word Wall in-game?
Spoiler:
Show
Yes.
A log file named rwwLog.txt is saved to the patcher folder every time you successfully run the patcher. This file contains info about each Word Wall that's edited, what cell they are in, what their original shout is and what shout they have now.
If you enabled the "Show log at completion (Spoiler Warning!)" option at the patcher settings, the log file will open automatically when the patcher is complete.
Alternatively, you can click the "Show Most Recent Log" button on the patcher settings to open the currently saved log file.
A log file named rwwLog.txt is saved to the patcher folder every time you successfully run the patcher. This file contains info about each Word Wall that's edited, what cell they are in, what their original shout is and what shout they have now.
If you enabled the "Show log at completion (Spoiler Warning!)" option at the patcher settings, the log file will open automatically when the patcher is complete.
Alternatively, you can click the "Show Most Recent Log" button on the patcher settings to open the currently saved log file.
Q: What is dynamic patching? Do I need to enable it?
Spoiler:
Show
TL;DR: Unless you desperately want to randomize Word Walls from mods that I haven't officially support yet, don't worry about it, just leave it disabled.
When dynamic patching is enabled, the patcher will dynamically find all Word Wall "triggers" that is loaded in your load order and shuffle the Word Walls from there. As long as a mod uses any of the three main Word Wall triggers from the official masters for their Word Walls, dynamic patching will be able to catch and include it in the randomization process.
While it sounds good in concept, dynamic patching requires zEdit to build references to all your loaded plugins, which can take quite a long time. Just patching the official masters can take up to a few minutes when using dynamic patching.
In contrast, keeping dynamic patching disabled will allow the patcher to randomize Word Walls based on the hard-coded FormIDs within the settings file. This is almost instantaneous and should be preferred as long as Bethesda doesn't suddenly update the masters, change all the FormIDs and screw over the entire modding community. I've also included hard-coded FormIDs for the mods I officially support so you don't have to enable dynamic patching when using them.
Incidentally, I originally wrote the patcher to only use dynamic patching, but quickly realize that the reference building process is way too slow to be used predominantly. This feature is now left there mainly for debugging purposes, but if you really want to and have the time to spare, you can use this feature safely.
When dynamic patching is enabled, the patcher will dynamically find all Word Wall "triggers" that is loaded in your load order and shuffle the Word Walls from there. As long as a mod uses any of the three main Word Wall triggers from the official masters for their Word Walls, dynamic patching will be able to catch and include it in the randomization process.
While it sounds good in concept, dynamic patching requires zEdit to build references to all your loaded plugins, which can take quite a long time. Just patching the official masters can take up to a few minutes when using dynamic patching.
In contrast, keeping dynamic patching disabled will allow the patcher to randomize Word Walls based on the hard-coded FormIDs within the settings file. This is almost instantaneous and should be preferred as long as Bethesda doesn't suddenly update the masters, change all the FormIDs and screw over the entire modding community. I've also included hard-coded FormIDs for the mods I officially support so you don't have to enable dynamic patching when using them.
Incidentally, I originally wrote the patcher to only use dynamic patching, but quickly realize that the reference building process is way too slow to be used predominantly. This feature is now left there mainly for debugging purposes, but if you really want to and have the time to spare, you can use this feature safely.
Q: Is this patcher on GitHub? Can you explain a bit more about the inner workings of the patcher?
Spoiler:
Show
Yes.
Here is the link to the GitHub repository.
The README also includes a section on the technical information of the patcher.
Here is the link to the GitHub repository.
The README also includes a section on the technical information of the patcher.
Q: Can you make a Synthesis patcher version?
Spoiler:
Show
Eventually, yes.
Right now I'm mainly keeping to zEdit due to its relative popularity, maturity and its extensive documentation.
I'm still working on some other randomizer ideas, and my final goal is to release an all-in-one randomizer type of thing. By then I'll definitely look into making a Synthesis version.
Or perhaps one day I'll get bored and start making Synthesis versions for my individual patchers. Who knows?
Right now I'm mainly keeping to zEdit due to its relative popularity, maturity and its extensive documentation.
I'm still working on some other randomizer ideas, and my final goal is to release an all-in-one randomizer type of thing. By then I'll definitely look into making a Synthesis version.
Or perhaps one day I'll get bored and start making Synthesis versions for my individual patchers. Who knows?
Credits
Thank you to Sjogga for the original Randomized Word Walls, which heavily inspired me to make this patcher.
Thank you to Mator and all the contributors of zEdit for making this patcher even possible at the first place. Special thanks to Mator's Modding Tools discord for answering any questions I had about zEdit.
My Other Randomizers
