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About this mod
High quality model and 4k texture replacer for the ugly low-poly vanilla Felsaad Terns added by the Dragonborn DLC. ESP free.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
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Translations
- German
- French
- Donations
- Don't forget to also download my Hawk (LE / SE-AE) and Bone Hawk (LE / SE-AE) replacers, to replace all low quality vanilla birds in your game with high quality ones;
- If you use, like and value my work, please consider giving an endorsement. I've worked hard for years to offer you the best of me for free, and the only thing I ask in return is this gesture, which increases my relevance and engagement on Nexus, and motivates me to continue;
- I do not inspect or have any influence over translations of my mods (including those linked directly on my pages), nor do I have any power over patches or add-ons made to my content. So, before using any unofficial add-ons for my mods, make sure they conform to the latest version of my official release, and never use these if they don't. The same applies to Xbox ports;
- In addition to the Nexus, you can also find me on:
- Do you have any doubt? Read my Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
Added by the Dragonborn expansion, Felsaad Terns can be found flying over the Felsaad Coast of Solstheim, mostly around Raven Rock. Sadly, the Terns, alongside the normal Hawks and Dawnguard's Bone Hawks, are undoubtedly the creatures in the vanilla game with the lowest graphic quality: their models look like if they came from a 90's game, and part of the animations of the bird are problematic.
The problem with these birds is actually understandable, as they were probably initially planned and designed only as a part of the scenario that would hardly be seen up close, let alone interact with them, something that changed during the development of the game, but the models with extremely low graphic quality were kept in the final release, in the case of the normal Hawk, and later the same model was re-used with modifications to create the Bone Hawk and Felsaad Tern, but maintaining the same low quality. Changing this proved to be complicated by the very way the Hawks (and Bone Hawks and Felsaad Terns as well) are implemented in the game, and attempts to retexturize the vanilla model had little effect due to the model's very low quantity of polygons. This mod solves all these and many other problems simply by (among other things) adding new models and new textures in place of the previous ones.
Aiming at the perfect understanding about what this mod does and how the
Felsaad Terns work on the game, everything will be explained below in detail:
How Felsaad Terns are implemented in the vanilla game? - They are implemented as animated object-type critters, which fly in loop around the Felsaad Coast of Solstheim, and are not read by the game engine as living creatures/actors. Within their category, they are read as activators, essentially being objects with collision that can be activated by actions of npcs or the player itself, executing a response to this action which varies according to the type of the activating object;
Is it possible to interact with them? - Yes, because, as mentioned, being activators, they differ from simple movable or static objects in that they can be activated by actions, be they chat, arrows, shouts, etc. In the specific case of Felsaad Terns, they have destruction data on their core, that is, they can be destroyed by offensive actions, having a script that reads that the activator has been destroyed, disables it and spawns a container type static object Felsaad Tern, which can be looted, simulating a dead Felsaad Tern actor, but that actually functions as a chest with ragdoll collision data. This "tern-chest" will land on a spot close to the player, or on the ground below where the Felsaad Tern itself was shot, with the position alternation occurring randomly;
Added by the Dragonborn expansion, Felsaad Terns can be found flying over the Felsaad Coast of Solstheim, mostly around Raven Rock. Sadly, the Terns, alongside the normal Hawks and Dawnguard's Bone Hawks, are undoubtedly the creatures in the vanilla game with the lowest graphic quality: their models look like if they came from a 90's game, and part of the animations of the bird are problematic.
The problem with these birds is actually understandable, as they were probably initially planned and designed only as a part of the scenario that would hardly be seen up close, let alone interact with them, something that changed during the development of the game, but the models with extremely low graphic quality were kept in the final release, in the case of the normal Hawk, and later the same model was re-used with modifications to create the Bone Hawk and Felsaad Tern, but maintaining the same low quality. Changing this proved to be complicated by the very way the Hawks (and Bone Hawks and Felsaad Terns as well) are implemented in the game, and attempts to retexturize the vanilla model had little effect due to the model's very low quantity of polygons. This mod solves all these and many other problems simply by (among other things) adding new models and new textures in place of the previous ones.
Aiming at the perfect understanding about what this mod does and how the
Felsaad Terns work on the game, everything will be explained below in detail:
How Felsaad Terns are implemented in the vanilla game? - They are implemented as animated object-type critters, which fly in loop around the Felsaad Coast of Solstheim, and are not read by the game engine as living creatures/actors. Within their category, they are read as activators, essentially being objects with collision that can be activated by actions of npcs or the player itself, executing a response to this action which varies according to the type of the activating object;
Is it possible to interact with them? - Yes, because, as mentioned, being activators, they differ from simple movable or static objects in that they can be activated by actions, be they chat, arrows, shouts, etc. In the specific case of Felsaad Terns, they have destruction data on their core, that is, they can be destroyed by offensive actions, having a script that reads that the activator has been destroyed, disables it and spawns a container type static object Felsaad Tern, which can be looted, simulating a dead Felsaad Tern actor, but that actually functions as a chest with ragdoll collision data. This "tern-chest" will land on a spot close to the player, or on the ground below where the Felsaad Tern itself was shot, with the position alternation occurring randomly;
Was this the initial plan? - No, because initially the normal Hawks (released prior to the Bone Hawks and Felsaad Terns) were implemented as simple movable objects, that is, it was not possible to interact with them, therefore, it was impossible to attack them by dropping them from the sky and looting their bodies. This explains why the first ones to be placed in the game are still in this category, and therefore cannot be killed. In the course of development, the professionals responsible for implementing the Hawks changed their minds, however they didn't replaced the ones already placed in the world: they simply from then on started putting only the new Hawk activators on the map, and no longer the movable objects. This explains, as said before, the poor graphic quality of the Hawks by the simple fact that initially they were not intended to be ever seen up close, and would act similar to bats and other vanilla low quality bird critters, rarely seen, and never at a short distance. Since the developers made the Felsaad Terns and the Bone Hawks by simply re-texturing the regular Hawk, they remained in very low quality as well;
What about the absence of sounds? - Unlike the regular Hawks case, Bethesda actually made ambient sound for the Felsaad Terns to be played in Raven Rock, and it seems to work fine, so this particular mod doesn't add any new sounds;
Do they have nests like normal Hawks? - No, the Terns just tirelessly fly around on vanilla game;
Why does this mod need a .esp? - Because there is no model template for Falsaad Tern or its loot in vanilla game. There is only an optional texture entry that re-textures the Hawk and the Hawk Feathers, applied to the CK entrances of the Falsaad Terns, nonetheless the entrances use the same model as the Hawk and her feathers as explained before, that is, it only works if the Hawk and the Tern, and their loot, use exactly the same models and the same texture mapping. Because my mod adds a new model and texture, this method is naturally not possible anymore, so it requires me to change the model paths in Ck for the new Felsaad Tern to work. But if you use SE or AE, because the mod is flagged as ESL, it won't occupy a mod slot;
Do they have nests like normal Hawks? - No, the Terns just tirelessly fly around on vanilla game;
Why does this mod need a .esp? - Because there is no model template for Falsaad Tern or its loot in vanilla game. There is only an optional texture entry that re-textures the Hawk and the Hawk Feathers, applied to the CK entrances of the Falsaad Terns, nonetheless the entrances use the same model as the Hawk and her feathers as explained before, that is, it only works if the Hawk and the Tern, and their loot, use exactly the same models and the same texture mapping. Because my mod adds a new model and texture, this method is naturally not possible anymore, so it requires me to change the model paths in Ck for the new Felsaad Tern to work. But if you use SE or AE, because the mod is flagged as ESL, it won't occupy a mod slot;
Why do they look so different from the Hawks now? - Because on vanilla they are only similar because Bethesda out of laziness re-used the same low-poly model. Terns are not birds of prey, not even remotely close, so the new model represents a tern as it really is. The addendum is that there is a reference to be used in ESO, which has a model of a Falsaad Tern, but I tried to make mine a mix of this one with the Arctic Tern of the real world, in addition to making it a little bulkier, to keep the same size as the vanilla model, and I still gave the bird a slight touch of fantasy, but keeping true to the concept of the tern. (see images below)
(from left to right: Eso's Felsaad Tern, Arctic Tern perched on a log, Arctic Tern flying)
- Replaces Felsaad Tern vanilla's low-quality lowpoly model with its 512x512 resolution textures, with a
new good quality model with textures in 4k resolution; (check image above)
- Felsaad Tern Feathers now have new textures and normal maps in 2k resolution. (check image bellow)
in combination with any of these mods, use it at your own risk.
(OBS- If by chance when installing several of Mihail's mods at the same time you are asked about files overwriting those of other Mihail mods or other authors mods, don't worry because they are just the same files shared between mods. I recommend that on these occasions always give preference to the files contained in my mods, and among mine always give preference to the mod you are installing last.)
The Mihail Monsters and Animals series aims to create and make available to the community the most complete set of creatures for TES 5: Skyrim, implemented in an immersive and unique way, with respect to the pillars of lore. Instead of pathetically just throwing models and textures in the game reusing 100% vanilla mechanics, the creatures made by Mihail have uniqueness and extreme zeal in their idealization and implementation, which will provide you with an experience that you have never had before in this area.
Author:
Mihail- model, textures, animations, enlargement and improvement of the Felsaad Tern's loot, game implementation;
Some assets used on this mod belong to:
Phiit and Tamira (Phiit's Sheogorad Resource Part One) - I used the more complex Hawk animations made by Phiit and converted/ported to skyrim by Tamira as base when animating the Hawk model from my Hawk Replacer mod, in order to give to the Hawks proper neck and head animations, in addition to the vanilla wing and body movement. My Felsaad Tern replacer and Bone Hawk replacer mods, despite having differences in comparison to my Hawk replacer mod and does not actually requiring the extra neck and head bones, they still uses the same set of animations as the latter, since the new Bone Hawk model was based on my new common Hawk model, used as a base for its development, and i used my common Hawk replacer as animation sample to animate the Felsaad Terns as well.
In October I will relese the first open alpha for community testing and bug finding, also as a show of respect to the users, since the project will take a full year yet to be completed, and i want people to know that the project is being developed, and also providing them a place to have fun while waiting, and at same time this will help me with bug finding, and with ideas for improvment. Quest has 30 acts, each new alpha will feature 3 new acts. Open Alpha Test 1 will feature only the first 3 acts, but already with several hours of content. I plan to release a total of 9 to 10 alphas before the finished release.
Oblivion Gate test
(First test made on testing cell with vanilla interior dungeon lightning, second test made on vanilla
dagon shrine with natural exterior world lightning. I was not happy with my first try (showcased on
the video of the first gate test I published time ago), so i came back and redone the oblivion gate
effects and sounds, and now i like them much more.)
Oblivion Gate test 2
(Final test just to see how daedra exiting the gate would look like. No daedra will come from this gate, but
later on the mod they will come from others, while already in oblivion, specially when travelling between
realms and/or pocket realms. Check the previous testing to see the full working mechanics of the
Oblivion Gates on the mod.)
Mythic Dawn Archvicar lines
(He is the second main NPC of the mod, with Agent Ragna being the first and the central npc of the introdutory
quest "The Sigils of Oblivion". After finishing it, you start the main one, "The Herald of the Second Coming",
and is the Archivar who introduces you to the adventure. (he is using right now my 4k re-texture of Mythic
Dawn Robes, but in the finished version he will receive unique "Mythic Dawn Priest Robes", although
they will not be featured yet on the first open alpha testing release))
Interaction with Dagon at Azrak'ath Ruins
(First communication with Dagon in the end of the introdutory quest "The Sigils of Oblivion". After you
collect the sigil stone you travel to his shrine to enter the gate to the Deadlands. (video is a bit outdated,
on current state the eyes of dagon glow in fire when you approach and he starts talking))
Azrak'ath Ruins boss fight (end of act 1 of 30)
(Final boss of the Azrak'ath Ruins. These ruins are underground Daedric ruins on Nirn, more specifically on the Reach. Here
you complete Act 1 of the mod, and most of the remaining 29 acts take place in Oblivion, about 80% of them in the Deadlands.
In act 1 the introductory quest The Sigils of Oblivion occurs, where you collect the Sigil Stone that will be used to open the Oblivion
Gate that I showed in previous videos. When you enter the gate the main quest The Herald of the Second Coming will then begin.)
Azrak'ath Ruins Mythic Dawn ghosts in the end of act 1
(At the end of Act 1, still on Nirn, in an underground daedric ruin, after you finish the dungeon and acquire the
ritualistic Sigil Stone, several Mythic Dawn ghosts who were killed in this ruin during the Oblivion Crisis,
during an attack by Vigilants of Stendarr, appear to motivate you to go ahead and carry out Dagon's plans,
which start with the Dragonborn opening a portal to Oblivion.)