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A patch to fix various issues in and add improvements to the mod "Opening Scene Overhaul SE". Works in both SE and AE!

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Requirements: Because of the restored USSEP fixes, the USSEP is a requirement for this mod.

This mod is flagged as an .esl so it won't take up a precious plugin slot.


This is a patch to fix a number of issues with and add improvements to the excellent mod, Opening Scene Overhaul SE. (Note: Some of these changes may not be applied to "Opening Scene Overhaul", but to the vanilla game. My main goal was fixing / improving things, not scrutinizing where something came from.)

There are two options available for download. There is the Standard patch, which is just that, a patch. Then there is my Preferred version, which goes beyond simply patching. The Preferred version covers everything found in the Standard version, and is self-contained. (You don't need both versions to run the mod. Just download the version you want.)

WARNING! Each version (Standard and Preferred) contains a record that may be considered an ITM. These changes have been made deliberately. Each version has been cleaned with xEdit, and no changes were made (no records were removed / edited). There should be no issue if you attempt to clean these yourself, but just in case, I thought you should be aware of this.

The list of fixes below is by no means exhaustive. Which is a polite way of saying I stupidly didn't document the changes as I made them, and I am documenting them now from memory. Note that each version contains a text file with additional information than what is found below.

Fixes / Changes to the Standard Patch version:
Spoiler:  
Show

USSEP: Using version 4.2.5b of the USSEP, a number of fixes have been restored that had not been carried over.

Subtitles: A number of subtitles didn't quite match the dialogue (or were missing altogether). The ones I've found have been fixed. (Many of these fixes are for punctuation, and could be considered subjective.)

Lip Files: A few lines of dialogue had no accompanying lip file, so they were spoken with the speaker's lips not moving! The ones I found have had these lip files added.

Hadvar's Dialogue: I found seven instances where Hadvar's voice files had not been redone by the new actor. Each has been fixed so that he no longer tries to say them. (I am hoping this doesn't screw anything up later down the line.)

Ulfric: Ulfric was a problem for me, as he was always getting in the way. Meaning if I accidentally hit him in combat, he would take it personally. He now behaves the same way Ralof and Hadvar do. Specifically, he ignores your "friendly fire" hits, you can't pickpocket him, and you'll get the proper message if you try to pickpocket him.

The Bear: It was possible to run ahead of your companion and kill the bear, but not have your friend realize the bear was dead. This could lead to him giving you his "There's a bear ahead!" speech when the bear was dead. This shouldn't happen anymore.

Opening Scene:
  • The initial blackout when starting a new game has been reduced in length drastically. It should now lift a second or two before Lokir starts talking.
  • The headsman's death cry ("Ugh...") was playing while other dialogue was being played. As he is so close to you, his death cry plays over the other dialogue, and its subtitle overwrites the other (more interesting) dialogue. This has been fixed.
  • After running into the tower, if you ran up the stairs while Ulfric and Ralof were still talking, the dragon would burst through the wall, and then politely wait for the two to finish their conversation before roasting poor Vilfrid on the landing. This has been fixed now, so if he breaks into the tower early, the conversation ends and Vilfrid is cooked immediately.
  • I have also removed the "fix" I had put in earlier that would not allow the dragon to break through the tower until after Ulfric and Ralof finished their conversation. (I don't like to slow things down unnecessarily.)

Imperial Path - Barracks:
  • While waiting for the player to find some gear, Hadvar no longer stops to examine a chest that doesn't exist at the foot of one of the beds.
  • Hadvar no longer says his "You'd better get that armour on..." line if the player opens the gate before finding any gear.
  • Hadvar no longer operates the switch to open the second gate if player has already done so.

Imperial Path - Torture Room:
  • The dialogue in this scene was supposed to start after the fight was over, but it would start after two Stormcloaks died instead of all three. This has been fixed.
  • When the Torturer went to stand in front of the cage, he was facing the wrong way. This has been fixed.
  • At different points, depending on what had happened, the scene would usually freeze until the player left the room through the hallway. This doesn't happen any more.
  • Added a new line of dialogue to the Torturer's Assistant for him to say if the Torturer is dead.
  • Stopped the Torturer's Assistant from using a line of dialogue that was no longer appropriate.
  • The Torturer's Assistant (who says he was staying behind) will no longer run to the pool room when the player reaches it.

Imperial Path - Pool Room:
  • Changed one of Hadvar's lines that no longer made sense.

Imperial Path - Exit:
  • Hadvar's comment about not dressing like a Stormcloak will now be said if the player is wearing a Stormcloak cuirass or a sleeved Stormcloak cuirass. (The latter item is present in the vanilla game files, but doesn't appear in the game. Some mods, such as Cutting Room Floor, add it into the world.)

Stormcloak Path - Trophy Room:
  • Ulfric's starting position has been moved, so he can now actually see Ralof and the player when he first "notices" them.
  • When you moved so Ralof could cut your bonds, he would just stare at you until Ulfric finished pontificating before actually cutting them. He now cuts your bonds while Ulfric gives his speech.
  • Ulfric and Ralof shouldn't bump into each other nearly as often as they used to.
  • If the player looted the key from the female Imperial, Ulfric and Ralof would wait with their weapons drawn until the player opened the door. They now wait with weapons sheathed.

Stormcloak Path - Collapsing Hallway:
  • Instead of waiting like he was supposed to, Ulfric would rush into the storeroom and start fighting with the Imperials. This was disruptive, and has been fixed.

Stormcloak Path - Storeroom:
  • Instead of waiting like he was supposed to, Ulfric would rush out of the storeroom and into the next hallway. Although less disruptive than his previous eagerness, it still wasn't desirable, and has been fixed.

Stormcloak Path - Torture Room:
  • Ulfric and Ralof would be bumping into one another near this room's exit, as they were both trying to move to the same spot. Ulfric has been given his own spot now.

Stormcloak Path - Torture Pool:
  • Ulfric doesn't reach the bridge quite as fast as he used to.

Stormcloak Path - Bear Room:
  • There was a common problem with Ralof getting "stuck" by the bear near the end. He would stay crouched (sneaking), wouldn't speak any new dialogue, and wouldn't follow the player past this point. It's not game-breaking, as when you exited he was with you, but it is immersion-breaking. This has been fixed.

Both Paths:
  • After the hallway caves in, your friend no longer runs up to the rubble with his weapon drawn.
  • If your friend entered the storeroom before saying his line "Damn, that dragon doesn't give up easy" in the collapsed hallway, he no longer runs back out of the storeroom after the fight in order to say it.
  • Moving down the hallway from the torture room to the cage room, your friend would sometimes stop, and it could be very difficult to get him to move again. This should no longer be a problem.
  • In the pool room, if you ran too far ahead of your friend, he could pause and wait until you came back to him. This should no longer happen.
  • At the bridge from the pool room, when your friend tried to cross it, he would usually get hung up, pause a bit, then run across. He should now run across without trouble.
  • If you ran ahead, killed the spiders, then ran back and your friend had not yet reached the dead end, he would say his "spider room" line of dialogue when he did reach the dead end. This made no sense, and has been fixed.
  • Fixed a few problems in the bear room (wrong dialogue, dialogue happening when it shouldn't, etc.).

Misc.:
  • There was a plant growing near the collapsing hallway. Out of the floorstones. An actual plant. It has been removed.

Fixes / Changes to the Preferred version:
Spoiler:  
Show

As already stated, the Preferred version covers everything found in the Standard version. There is one exception:

Imperial Path - Barracks:
  • The Standard version fixes Hadvar so he doesn't stop to examine a chest that doesn't exist at the foot of the one beds. The Preferred version instead adds a chest there, plus one at the foot of the fourth bed, and extends Hadvar's patrol to cover all four chests.

In addition to the changes made in the Standard version, a lot more was changed in the Preferred version. Below are listed some of the highlights:

General:
  • Several lines of dialogue have been moved around. In most cases, I feel things make more sense now. (This is most noticeable during the cart ride, and the dialogue when the dragon first shows up.)
  • There have been a lot of headtracking changes. (This refers to where an actor is looking, and can add an additional sense of realism.) For example, in the cart ride, at one point the driver tells Ralof and Lokir to "Shut up back there". He now turns his head a little, as if actually talking back to them.
  • Several times your friend would pause to deliver a line of dialogue before moving on. A lot of these have been changed so that the speaker says his line "on the move".
  • There were several spots where your friend would stop and turn around, as if to check you were still following him, even if you were right behind him (or worse, it happened when you were ahead of him!). Most of these have been removed entirely. (There are still a few points where he waits for you to catch up to him in, but most of the frustrating pauses should be gone.)
  • Running ahead should, in most cases, keep your friend from acting out scenes you aren't there to see, so he won't fall so far behind you.
  • In most cases, people no longer talk over each other. (I hate that.)
  • "Don't bother with that. Lost the key ages ago." Well, now you can find it! I've hidden a key somewhere that will unlock all three cages.

Where's the Key?
Spoiler:  
Show

In the depressed area of the pool room. It's hidden under some plant growth on a ledge near the far end of the room (the end closest to the oil slick), down close by the stream.


Opening Scene (Cart Ride):
  • Sped up the opening credits by removing two of the four title cards.
  • Removed the blurred vision effect when the blackout lifts.
  • When you reach Helgen and the gates open, you can actually see the Thalmor on her horse, making Ralof's line about "...and it looks like the Thalmor are with him..." a lot more reasonable.

Opening Scene (Execution):
  • Removed the blurred vision effect after the dragon attacks attacks. (Your vision still blurs after the initial attack, but it doesn't stay blurred for nearly as long as it did.)

Collapsing Hallway:
  • Remember those three Stormcloaks you see at the other end of the hall, just before the ceiling collapses? Now they aren't buried under the rubble. You have three extra bodies to loot.

Torture Room:
  • The Torturer now carries a key to the cells in the hallway. You can loot it from his body, or pickpocket him to get it. (Note: Only the cell doors that are closed can be unlocked with the key, as the vanilla game doesn't allow you to lock doors.)
  • Your friend should now only give you lockpicks if you are in the room with him.

Alternate Scripts Fix:
  • This fixes a problem that sometimes occurs, which is very, very minor. When Ulfric moves out of line to walk to the execution area, he sometimes pushes Lokir out of the way.
  • The only way I found to fix this was to swap their positions in line. Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to swap their "disembark" animations on the cart, which switches their seats.
  • There's no way to not see it, as the game forces you to look straight ahead before getting off the cart, so you still see the switch out of the corner of your eye.
  • I felt this was a situation where "the cure was worse than the disease," so didn't implement it. If you'd like to, however, you can use the scripts supplied in the Alternate Scripts folder. Do whatever it is you do to the originals (hide them, copy them to another folder, etc.) then move the alternate scripts into the Scripts folder.
  • NEVER delete original files! Always move them / hide them / copy them!

Wish List: This is a list of problems I've found, or things I'd like to change, that I haven't gotten to yet (sometimes just because I don't know how to do it yet!).
Spoiler:  
Show

Additions:
  • Add a different "grunt" for Ulfric, to give it some variety. (Done!)
  • When Ralof asks Lokir which hold he's from, I'd like Lokir's reply to be "I'm from Rorikstead. Why do you care?". (This is mostly because I've seen mods out there that build on this. One in particular I recall adds his home to Rorikstead.)
  • Add a bucket to each cage / cell in the torture room area. (Alternately, add a stack of buckets in the caged area in the torture room.)
  • The dead prisoner in the cage room with ragged clothes... give him shoes also.
  • Add the "stumble" animation to Ralof / Hadvar when the bridge collapses. (This is the same animation that they use when the hallway collapses outside the storeroom).
  • When Ralof says "May Talos shield you from all harm," I'd like him to raise his hand towards the rubble, like a benediction.
  • Once you leave Helgen, after some time passes, some bandits move in. I would like to give the bandit in charge of the cells the key to them. (Since that's not really part of the opening scene, however, it may not fit with this mod.)

Changes:
  • Remove the "blurred vision" effect when waking up in the cart. (Done!)
  • Remove the "blurred vision" effect after the dragon attacks (Alternately, reduce how long your vision is blurred.) (Done!)
  • When the player is called to the block, he walks up, turns to face Hadvar, then kneels, facing the tower where the dragon enters. I would like to reduce the length of the pause.
  • Possibly reduce the number of lockpicks Hadvar / Ralof gives you from 12 to about 4 (they give you far too many).

Fixes:
  • There are still some problem areas when the player runs ahead of his friend, if the player doesn't deal with all the enemies along the way.
  • Remove the blood from the headsman's axe until after the first execution.
  • There are three instances where the dragon breathes fire directly onto someone. I'd like to replace their corpses with burnt corpses.
  • When the Stormcloak path starts, Ralof pushes the player aside (slightly) when he appears in the keep.
  • In the trophy room near the ceiling, there is a banner flapping like crazy for no reason.
  • Ulfric's line "Ralof, let's get her unshackled" could sound better. (This line has been pieced together using other lines, and the change is quite noticeable.)
  • In the trophy room, there are some areas where the player can stand to sort of "freeze" the scene. The scene won't advance until the player moves away from those spots. (Have only seen this for the Stormcloak path.)
  • If the Imperial Captain spots the player (she says "It's the escaped prisoners!" instead of "Get this gate open."), the Imperials should enter the room with weapons drawn, ready to fight. As it is, they always walk in with their weapons sheathed.
  • The storeroom door to the hall leading to torture room: Sometimes when it opens, it swings through the corpse on the other side (or sometimes pushes it away). (Making it open inwards causes the door to swing through the player's friend.) (This is only a problem in my preferred version, where I added the three Stormcloak corpses.)
  • In the torture room, both Ralof and Hadvar may run back to their marker near the bottom of the stairs to sheathe their weapons before moving to the marker near the room's exit.
  • When Ralof exits the torture room, he runs down the hall with the cells, pauses briefly when he reaches his marker, then continues on. (I can't figure this out... Hadvar doesn't do this, only Ralof, and I believe I've done everything identical for each one.)
  • If you somehow manage to skip the collapsing hallway, the "look out" line and stagger animation play at the collapsing bridge, then your friend tries run back to the collapsing hallway. He obviously can't, since the bridge has collapsed, so the scene is stuck.
  • After the bridge collapses, Ralof says "May Talos shield you from all harm." The lip file doesn't seem to match, but when I tried to fix it, I got the same result.
  • Exiting Helgen: If you rush too far ahead of your friend and exit without him, it's possible he will not exit with you. (I have seen this happen twice, once with Hadvar, once with Ralof.)

Scripts: This mod makes changes to several scripts. If you install another mod that includes the same scripts, one will overwrite the other, and most likely one (the overwritten one) will not work as expected!

If I've missed something, or if something I've patched screws something else up, please let me know!

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Special thanks to the following for their generous permissions: