Lydia: Redefined
a Flashy(JoeR) mod


What is Lydia: Redefined?

It was a science experiment to see if I could backport years of Fallout 4 advanced follower AI and scripting knowledge to Skyrim, and specifically to existing vanilla followers; to create a parallel processing follower augmentation that touches NO base game records or otherwise alters Bethesda's systems or scripting and yet was able to breathe new life into the character, to make her feel more alive, even if the choices her systems makes are but an illusion of life. What resulted from that little experiment was something beyond my initial test parameters.

It took Lydia and turned her into something ... more.

And now, because the experiment turned out so exceedingly well, Skyrim users get to enjoy a mod bearing the "a Flashy(JoeR) mod" stamp of assured excellence and quality.

Lydia: Redefined is simply put, a customized follower system, tailored uniquely to her, that allows you to control virtually every aspect of her AI and skills. But it does so much more than this. It has four separate systems, that again, do not alter or impact base game follower systems (and in testing, has shown to not affect popular multiple follower mods). These systems comprise her travel AI set, as well as her spousal autonomy AI set for when you marry her. It also includes an outfit management system, which allows Lydia to automatically switch between various outfits depending on the situation (travelling with you, relaxing at a player owned home or when sleeping). Finally, the system includes a custom horse control system.

As of v1.0.4, Lydia now has a custom built, highly reactive, Affinity System that is used to stagger her ability to be married. If you've ever played Fallout 4, you know exactly what I'm talking about. She likes this, she hates that. Its all about learning her likes and dislikes and NOT doing the things she hates. If you do, you might regret it, as she can be quite scathing in her commentary of you. It tracks NUMEROUS aspects of the game and even has soft-dependency links to events in external mods, like I'm Glad You're Here, for example, which processes the hugs from that mod. All told, there are roughly 30 different events within the base game, not including items added via external mods. The whole point of this system is to remove the ability to marry Lydia the moment you meet her for the first time and to stagger that availability until you max out her affinity with you. It is all handed seamlessly with the base game marriage system and like every other aspect of this mod, contains NO overrides or edits of base game forms.

What the affinity system isn't, is an Amorous Adventure. Where that particular mod's storyline involving Lydia can be seen as a prepubescent fantasy about manipulating and seducing someone with the goal being nothing more than simply bedding them and moving on, the affinity system here is not a story and it is not about gratification, manipulation or domination. While it does lead to romance possibilities, it uses your choices, your actions as a metric to help Lydia decide, on her own, if you are a potential love interest, because she DOES have coding that helps her decide if you are the right fit for her. You can be her friend and completely turn her off romantically, just as equally as you can hit all the right marks and have her fall head over heels in love with you. And if that happens, it does happen in her own time, when SHE is ready for that to happen.

This mod is 100% voiced, featuring a mixture of recycled game lines, spliced lines and xVaSynth generated stuff that matches Colleen Delaney as best as possible. There are 645 voiced interactions contained with this mod. The dialogue, specifically as it relates to the affinity system and relationships, functions equally for both player genders, which is to say, Lydia doesn't care about the player's gender and can love both equally.

TL;DR: this extremely advanced Lydia-based AI experiment gives you the functionality of popular multi-follower mods, without the need of installing one, plus more than even they are capable of delivering.

Thanks to one and all who voted for Lydia: Redefined and allowing the mod to capture one of the five MotM spots for Feb 2022!

Who should use this mod?

Anyone who loves Lydia and wants to give her all the bells and whistles, to tailor her to their needs, without needing to install a multi-follower mod just to do so.

Why use this instead of a multi-follower mod?

Scripting and AI overhead. This mod runs parallel processing on a single NPC. Multi-follower mods are managing AI for who knows how many NPCs, all with attached scripting. The potential for issues raises with each follower added into the system. This mod eliminates that for those people, like me, who end up running with just one follower anyways. And because this is dedicated to a unique NPC alone, ALL of the resources that would be spread thin for multiple followers can be allocated to just a single record, HousecarlWhiterun (Lydia).

What about compatibility?

I ran this mod through its paces with Immersive Follower Framework (Beth.net mod), as well as Multiple Follower Framework. I also have Sleep For Me Now installed. None of these mods were impacted, nor was Lydia aversely affected by their presence. External testing showed that it worked fine alongside NFF as well. The trick is, don't allow those mods to touch Lydia. Its that simple. Sleep For Me Now, in the world, Lydia will still sleep as instructed via that mod. At home, when married, she will use that mod if you go to bed before her scheduled sleep time, or, if she reaches that, she will use this mod's AI set for sleep. They work hand in hand without issue.

This mod, once again, edits NO base game records. This also means that you can use whatever Lydia looks replacer that you want. I personally am using the Bijin Private Lydia mod without issue. You can also use Improved Follower Dialogue Lydia, though that mod changes her voicetype, which renders this mods voicing silent. Aside from that, all AI functions and scripting will still function as expected.

Her follower packages are set so as to not interfere with Campsite as well, so that when travelling with her, she will sit at the fire or in the tent, without any conflicting AI issues.

This mod works perfectly fine, as well, with My Home is Your Home. Lydia Redefined only governs her follower package stack, not her dismissed stack. So whatever you have installed that handles what she does when dismissed, it will work 100% here, be MYIYM or the Spouse's Freedom. It also works fine with Im Glad Your Here and the more "art" inspired adult mods one could possible make use of.

That said, I can make no promises that you won't experience issues if you opt to add this into a game featuring a multi-follower mod or some other mod that I've not personally used this mod with.

is it safe to install mid-game? What about future updates? Will I need a clean save?

This mod is safe to install at any time AND more importantly, features a self-updating function within it, so that if you do update, the minute you load your save game, this mod knows its version number has changed and will reset its core systems. You will never need to worry about "clean saves" when it comes to this mod. Ever.

But as with any mod you want to install, its always a good idea to skim the first few pages of comments and especially to look in the bug reports tab. You'll always have a better decision making process if you do so.

Aside from the requirements, will this work with my version of the game?

This mod is 100% dependency free on game version. If you are playing SE or AE or VR, so long as you have SKSE installed, it will work.

Okay. I'm sold. How do I start your mod up?

Easy peasy. Install it. And then load your game. Find Lydia and click on her to talk. If on a new game, take her outside Dragonreach first and then talk to her. She wont init when still inside Dragonreach. Once outside, she will ask you if you have a moment and a new dialogue option will appear in her feed. Simply select that and the mod will initialize and give you all of the things you need to enjoy it to the fullest.

Watch this video I posted demonstrating the horse system. It will show you how to recruit her.


Enjoy it to the fullest? What does that mean?

Lydia Redefined is, as stated, so much more than a simple follower system. It also includes functionality to allow her to sandbox when you sit down or visit and inn. It gives you the ability to summon her to your side in a number of different immersive and not-so-immersive ways. The mod allows gives Lydia her own horse that she will use, 1:1 when you do. 1:1 means, she will mount and dismount at precisely the same moments that you do - caveat being, she has a clean entry path to her saddle, of course. But more than this, her horse can be stabled at all of the holds, as well as Hearthfire homes and a number of Creation Club added homes from Anniversary Edition. AND.. you have the ability to set your horse to grazing, which will also make her horse graze, so you can adventure with the horses left behind. And if you fast travel, her horse will come along for the ride.

Everything this mod does is explained, ingame, by Lydia, when asked. Yes, she is voiced, using stock game lines or xVASynth lines. While I am no audio engineer by any stretch (and I lack the patience to sit for hours tweaking every syllable), I did the best I could to approximate intonation and emotion for the lines I created for this mod. All told, as of this writing, there are 465 added voiced interactions (and that will grow, as the mod grows). And yes, all of her added lines are player gender aware, so its not geared simply towards males. Lesbian relationships are entirely possible here too! :)

So, how do I go about configuring her?

Talk to her, like you would any other person in real life that you wish to ask to do something for you. Everything is handled via dialogue. No MCM required.

What all does she do?

In a nutshell, you can configure every aspect of her follower AI, be it her follow distance or her combat style. You can configure how she interacts with you and the world. She is sneak aware, so if you have her set to travel near you, when you sneak she will back up to give you room for stealth. She comes with a "quantum backpack" that you can use to store everything, on the go. She has a summoning system so that you can portal her to you if she gets lost or isn't pathing properly due to a lack of good available navmesh. She has a four-outfit system, as well as a spousal autonomy system. Everything that she does, she will ONLY do when she is your active follower. This prevents this mod from interfering with other mods that handle how a spouse behaves when dismissed.

Wait. Spousal Autonomy System? How does that work?

Simple. Once you marry Lydia, you gain access to a new dialogue topic that leads to configuring her autonomy. You can opt to make her follow you around your homes like a little puppy, as normal, or you can tell her to be autonomous, which will make her sandbox around the home. But it does so much more than this. She might decide to cook you a meal or brew you a potion, if you have an alchemy station. She may decide to go to the market, if you're in one of the supported holds (and if she does, you need simply find her and tell her its time to go and she will stop autonomy and fire back into follower mode).

It functions purely upon a Story Manager change location event which monitors when you enter a player home. When it sees this, her autonomy system kicks in and takes over from her follower system. When you leave the house, she will follow you and that action will cause her autonomy system to shut down. The only time it won't shut down is when she is going to the market or if you go out of the house while her sleep schedule is in effect. At all points otherwise, when in the home, and during the day, should you leave, she will follow and the system will stop until the next time you enter a player home.

Where does Lydia recognize as being home?

Really, so long as mod authors set up their homes with the proper keyword of LocTypePlayerHouse, any location you own will work. I have tested in all of the Hold homes, as well as the Hearthfire homes and Anniversary Edition Creation Club additions, with all of them working as expected.

And how does her outfit system work?

Easy. If you tell her you want to fill in an outfit, her automated system will examine each outfit, at the proper time, to see if it has any items in it. If it does, she will change into it. If you don't add any items into that particular outfit, she won't change into it. You only have access to her "travel" outfit from the start and will not gain access to the other three outfit slots until married, being the outfit she will change into when you enter an owned house, an outfit for sleep and a "special occassions" outfit that she wont automatically change into, but one you can ask her to change into. Perfect for pre-planning her wedding outfit (or whatever else you want it to be).

Here is a brief demo video showcasing Lydia changing from home to travel clothes and then back into home clothes and on into pajamas at bed time.


What about this Magic Spells thing?

If you want to teach Lydia rudimentary magic, you can! All you need is a spell tome in your inventory for one of the ten spells she can learn and via dialogue, you can give her the book to learn the spell. This includes Flames, Firebolt, Frsotbite, Ice Spike, Sparks, Lighting Bolt, Oakflesh, Stoneflesh, Healing and Healing Hands. Oh yes friend! Lydia can heal herself AND you, should you teach her the spells. And, luckily, the voice files had shouts in her voice type, so I ensured you will know she is casting a healing spell on you (or herself) by using two of those shouts as an auditory cue its happening.

What about ESPFE?

Not yet. Tried to, but xEdit would not save the mod until I compacted the forms. If this was the final version of the mod I ever intended to touch, that would be fine. But, because I know it will get updates, compacting forms would mean your save breaks every single time I would upload an update as the forms would never compact to the same formIDs twice. It will happen, one day. Just not today.

Things are not working as I expected with this mod. Its not what I'm used to.

Sorry for that. I've only been playing Skyrim since November 11th, 2021 and only starting making mods literally two weeks ago (mid-Jan 2022), so I am not as well versed in how things are done in this community. Im going with what I know from Fallout 4 and hoping it translated well enough for Skyrim users. If its really not as you expected, not much I can say other than, maybe, sorry for overselling it? I don't know what else to tell you.

Anything else I need to know?

Nope, not really. Its all very intuitive and carefully laid out for your ease of access and use. I hope you enjoy the breath of life this mod adds to my personal favorite follower. She deserved so much more than what she was given and... I feel this mod gives her all of that and more, plus the promise of much more to come, but in the immortal words of River Song, "Spoilers...".

Enjoy!

Lydia's looks are provided by Bijin Warmaiden's Alternative Versions

Special thanks to ChicGeek for teaching me, unbeknownst to her, how to better write a female character.