Another aquatic kitty! So that’s what’s on that island. Strangely enough, Aravi’s never gone there.

Lol! Apple pie, some drums and a flute! Some of those cheese wheels make food that is very useful for magic users. Aravi makes stews and soups when she can.

Nice taking out that guard with a Khajiit’s natural weapons.

Hard to tell which torches can be taken and which cannot. Why not use the nighteye? Oh I see, the torch was for the hives. Snatched a salmon on the escape!

I like the rat army screen shot. She looks like she's wearing the foot wraps in that one.

It was fun to see which items Shakti considered to be loot-worthy. I’m guessing that she likes Elsweyr fondue. Hide bracers are an excellent choice for her Khajiit claws. I loved to see her use them! The salmon catch on the way out made me smile.

Rat Army is great! I like the foot wraps, too.

I’m with Grits in really liking this kitty’s facial markings – the tabby ‘M’ works in and extends down below her eyes so nicely!

If she’s going to be modest and swim in her armor, she needs a converted whisper (certainly called desert breeze) to magically dry her gear out when she climbs out of the water. Or perhaps just shuck her duds around water the way woodsters do.

I see that like all SubRosa trademarked characters, this one is a grasshopper, bouncing from rock to rock. Oooh, a TG quest. . . *quietly singing ‘Khajiit like to sneak’* Hee: stealing cheese to catch some mousey snacks, I’ll bet.

During my recent travels, my son showed me how lock picking works in Skyrim, so I was able to easily follow exactly how your lockpick pro mod helps.

Like you, I’m underwhelmed by the whole Thu’um shouting at your foes stuff – unless you’re a gray-bearded Nord. Or a dragon. I like the change you made to render the effects as spells.

Neat how Shakti was able to flame the bee hives with a torch.

King Coin: That is the first time any of my characters have ever been on that island too. I think that it is normally inaccessible. At least by the bridge from the mainland. Shakti picked up the Gloves of the Pugilist from one of the thugs in the Ratway when she joined the TG. That made her unarmed attacks much more deadly than using a weapon when she was at lower levels. She wears the foot wraps a lot, to be quieter.


Grits: I just loved the idea of a cat with a rat army. Shakti was a fun character to play, precisely because of what you said about what she considered loot-worthy. She loves music, so she always takes any instrument she sees. Same with Eidar Cheese (not goat cheese though *blech* she says). And what cat could pass up a fish to go with that cheese and wine celebration afterward?


Acadian: Those facial markings are actually considered war paint by the game. I think of them as natural coloration though.

I have found that a lot of the spells that did not make it to Skyrim are actually shouts. Things like Detect Life, etc... But you can only get the shouts by following the Main Quest, at least in part. So making them spells is my way of putting them back in the game for non-MQ characters, which are pretty much all of mine.


Shakti is now Batman. Erm, Catwoman?

Three Nightingales

With Shakti becoming a Nightingale and returning the Skeleton Key to its resting place, her story is done.

Meet my new wood elf, Hesperia

Having lunch with a spriggan

And some water to wash it down

As with all new characters, the eternal question of "what to wear" arises. I am not sure I want to keep using the green variant of the Triss armor from the last two pics. She might go with the short-sleeved fur

Or the long-sleeved fur

The leather just does not seem quite right

I think she looks good in this modded variant of the Nord Hero armor

But maybe with hide boots instead.

Farewell Shakti!

Another woodster! And (*insert persecuted sigh*) a red head.

Triss is tops in my book, and the Skyrim variant is cut much better than the Oblivion one.

I found another Triss retexture, and I think I might go with this one. It is a little lighter in shade, so it looks better in the darker areas.

The only thing about the Triss outfit is the shoes. When I watch her walking from behind her feet look too small. It makes me think she is going to fall over any second...

The first Triss pictures actually seem to have more contrast to their colors to me and therefore I think it looks a little better than the newest screen. Could just be lighting however. I like the Triss when there is some contrast in the shades. On the shoes. . . oh well, at least they're not those ever so ridiculous (and entirely too common) combat high heels!

I really like the Triss armor! I can’t tell the difference between the two, though. How funny, I don’t think I’ve ever watched my character’s feet! Now I’m going to hate all of their footwear.

A Khajiit? A thief? Definitely cat woman!

As usual, you did an excellent job on creating Hesperia. Looks like you started her out with some conjuration skill.

I do like the way the Triss armor looks. I wonder how Aravi would look in it?

Nord Hero looks nice, and the hide boot substitution was definitely a plus, but Triss looks most natural on a wood elf in my opinion.

Acadian: The first did have more contrast on the boots. The second has a more vibrant tone to it, especially in direct sunlight, so in the end I went with that one instead.


Grits: I watch everything on my characters! Half the fun of playing any computer game is dressing up my characters. That is why I spend so much time working out what to wear, and looking for mods.


King Coin: It was good to wear the Triss outfit with another character. You should try it for Aravi. It is one of the best clothing mods I have seen. Like Acadian said, it is not some ridiculous piece of lingere. It is just clothing, but it looks interesting.


Taking a break

A close up

This was a first for me. Hesperia meets the giant after the farmer gave him the cow. I wonder where the farmer went?

I took a break from Hesperia for a while and rebooted Ulfdis

She went far enough in the Companions to get the Wolf Armor. But even with a retex mod, it still makes her look fat

What a bunch of hippies!

The Ancient Nord Armor is much more flattering

I was actually hopeful that Skyrim would get some nicer armors than Oblivion, I was so wrong. Just about everything up on nexus is trash. Makes me want to learn some 3D modeling just so I can make some nice looking armors.

Oh, I didn’t notice the little scars on Hesperia’s face before. Nice!

I never liked the way the Wolf armor looked. The retex is nicer, but but as you said, the shape still looks strange. Especially the boots.

Heh, Aravi was right with those hunters in the hotsprings when she met them. She’s usually shy around strangers, but the water felt so good!

Funny, Aravi was looking at getting out the Ancient Nord Armor again.

Hesperia is still looking good in her Triss outfit!

Ulfdis. "Does this armor make me look fat?" No, it's the giant's cow that Hesperia runs across that looks fat. I agree with you: the Ancient Nord Armor looks fabulous.

King Coin: Yeah, trying to find a decent armor or clothing mod is like looking through a beach for one particular grain of sand. Most of it is such crap.

Acadian: That wolf armor looks good on males, but on females it is an epic fail.


I found a head-tracking mod

Ulfdis hanging out with her peeps

What is down there?

On the move

At the Jarl's place

Bright lights

Putting down a bloodsucker

After her first meeting with the Thalmor

Great finding a head tracking mod! Rich scenery and wonderful screens of Uldis wandering and hanging around. On that last armor she is wearing, the cuirass looks good.

That head tracking mod's been updated so many times in the past couple of days. I'm a little jealous that this person was able to get it working and I couldn't. Aravi tends to lean like the child does when she's looking up at people.

Those are some great finishing move screen shots. The vampire one is particularly good.

Well, we know what happened to the Thalmor.

Jensa sometimes wears the vanilla Wolf armor. She is a big girl (I bulked her up on the weight slider), and it makes her look appropriately thick of thigh. I’m not a fan of the retexture, though. Ulfdis looks great in her Ancient Nord armor. She and Aela must really look like sisters!

The head tracking mod makes such a difference! My characters stand there like dolls. Now Ulfdis looks like she’s paying attention. The one looking into the water is especially fun.

I love the action shots! She caught the vampire in mid zombie resurrection. Putting the Thalmor in black armor is a great idea.

Acadian: The black cuirass in the last pic I had was from an hd texture replacer mod for the elven armor. It comes in two versions: the standard gold color, and black. I am experimenting with the black version to see how it looks. So far I like it a lot.


King Coin: My characters will lean like that too when they are near people. I am not sure exactly what triggers it, but I think it might be proximity.


Grits: Ulfdis is a big girl too (I bulked her up too on the slider, but later backed it down a bit when it seemed that she was mostly just getting chestage at the highest end of the scale). But that wolf armor makes her look like a horker stuffed into a girl suit. I actually stopped using the ancient nord armor because she looked too much like Aela with it and the face paint. The head tracking mod is so nice. Like you said, the way the player character just stands around staring straight ahead looks so unnatural. Like so many other things from Oblivion and the other previous games, I cannot understand why Bethesda left it out.

Ulfdis is hoping if she takes the sword, that the damned pushy Daedric Princess will leave her alone...

It works well against undead though

When Captain America throws her mighty shield...

The north-west coast under an aurora

Is this part of a quest? Ulfdis found this odd stone head with dwarven sword on top of it between Solitude and the Thalmor Embassy

Where did the water go?

Looking off into the distance

A close up

The north shore

Is that a proverbial sword in a stone?
Cool light effect at the handgrip when Ulfdis is Ulfdissing that undead.
Beautiful aura areola aurora! In fact that is simply a fabulous screen.
‘North Shore’ really shows off the water quality.

As pushy as the Daedra is, that is a damn nice sword to have when the vampires start attacking. The shield bash pic was awesome. I can almost see the teeth flying. The auroras with the moon was so pretty.

Huh, haven’t seen that statue before. If it’s a quest, Aravi hasn’t done it. There is a lot that we haven’t done. I’m sure you’ve done more in the game than I have.

The screens of the Sea of Ghosts are wonderful!

Acadian: That is indeed a sword in a stone. Although this does not make Ulfdis Queen of England or anything. Dawnbreaker is one of the most interesting items in Skyrim, thanks to that ball of light it has in its crossbar. It is like a miniature sun.


King Coin: That is indeed a good sword. It was time for Ulfdis to upgrade, so when she came across Meridia's Beacon in random loot, she decided to go to the temple and snag Dawnbreaker. Speaking of how handy it is against vampires, that is coming up next...


Ulfdis enter Potema's Catacombs, to hunt down the Wolf Queen. Part 1

I dunno who Potema is, but I don’t like her. Running one’s mouth to a living foe is generally a bad idea, born of arrogance and overconfidence. Now we know one of her weaknesses. Ulfdis is wise enough to let her sword do her talking.

And so she is tearing through another dungeon! Ulfdis is getting really good at that shield/sword fighting and she bashes to good effect. And she has a furry friend to help!

Ah, I do rather like that quest string.

Ulfdis is making good use of Dawnbreaker. Blowing up druger and bashing vampire faces in.

Haven’t seen this quest before. I’m tempted to not watch, but knowing Aravi, she won’t get to it for months.

That voice was creepy. Do you have to die in this quest?

Cool! You summoned a REAL wolf!

And that’s the bad thing and good thing about that sword: it makes things explode.

I’ve seen that stone head near the embassy, but I’ve never gotten sent there by a quest. I’m still wondering.

That little welcome from Potema is so creepy. She’s going to be ticked when she realizes that Ulfis is not there to become her undead BFF. Dawnbreaker is really neat, but what a mess! It’s a looter’s nightmare! Styrr might want to look into turning off that flame trap once the catacombs are safe, or they all might be named Firebeard. A summoned wolf in the lair of the Wolf Queen, nice!

I love that alchemy station right before the refuge. Something for the draugr to do in their off time, or just a little warning: seriously, you’re going to need more potions!

Acadian: Potema was the Wolf Queen. She was a necromanctic Septim who tried to seize the throne a few hundred years before Oblivion. Ironically, if she had returned to live during Skyrim, she would have been the only living Septim, and thusly be the rightful ruler of the Empire...


liliandra nadiar: The main questlines in Skryim are very weak. But some of the minor, standalone quests are really outstanding. I loved both the Potema quests.


King Coin: Ulfdis was using a summoned wolf from my Nature Summoning mod before. But now that she is up in levels, they do not last very long. So I made a new mod that lets you summon a leveled wolf, using the Ice Wolf for the base. I decided to just name it "Ulf" since that means "wolf" in Old Norse.


Grits: That sword does make a terrible mess. One explodo undead and everything goes flying! Falk Firepants maybe! I get the same impression as you with that alchemy table right before the final room. That is a big hint to stock up on healing potions now, while you still have the chance.


A good view of Dawnbreaker in action

This giant killed a wolf. Ulfdis will not stand for that.

I found a mod that adds in a whole bunch of different birds

Now that I have figured out how to use NPCs as presets, I created a new character. Can anyone guess who she is based from? (I made a few tweaks)

Aretsaya makes tracks with Ralof

Dawnbreaker killin’ some undead and Ulfdis dropping a giant! How neat to have new and differing birds. Your new character looks great – love her eyes!

That’s a great action shot with Dawnbreaker! I would love that bird mod. So neat to see Ulfdis actually looking at it.

I’m going to guess Karliah for her purple eyes, and the Phoenician Aretsaya being one of three (at least according to the one source I found) as Karliah is one of three Nightengales.

I love the steel retex you are using. Circlet goes great with it.

Wow, Aravi’s never tangled with giants. What a kill move.

I’m afraid I have no idea on the character. That’s an interesting shade for the eyes. Do they glow?

Acadian: Dawnbreaker is one of the most interesting and unique weapons I have ever found in an ES game. Much better than that Ring of the Khajiiti that Meridia gives you in Oblivion.


Grits: That is Karliah alright. Though I did a little tweaking on her, including changing her hair and eyes. You picked the right Aretsaya as well. I have not used many Phoenician/Carthaginian deity names - just Tanit really - so I thought I would start looking there for more. Astarte is waiting to get in the rotation, maybe the next time I create a warrior.


King Coin: This is the steel plate reskin I am using. I like the red cloth it puts in under the armor pieces. Most of my characters steer clear of giants as well. But that one killed a wolf, which Ulfdis will not tolerate anyone doing (she killed a hunter for doing the same earlier in the game). The eyes are part of Mystic Eyes. They don't glow like a draugr's eyes, but they are very bright. I liked them better than the default lavender eyes, because they are a lot more noticeable.

I took a break from Skyrim, and went back to Fallout 3 for a while. Meet Kitsune

Boom!

Making friends with the local wildlife

Fallout's so much prettier on the PC. I tried playing it on my Xbox and it was so ugly I turned it off.

Heh, let's retitle 'Boom!' to 'If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the Kitsune.' *groan*

Yay for Fallout - that must mean a return to Oblivion is next in queue!

Hehe. Really should work more on FO3. Picked both it and New Vegas up about an month or so ago.

Kitti looks to be making subtle impacts on things.

King Coin: I am surprised there is a difference between the PC and console versions. I am not using anything to improve the meshes or textures. As far as the look of the world goes, I am playing pure vanilla FO3.

Acadian: I might get back to Oblivion after a while. I am thinking of possibly doing a little Mass Effect 1 again, or maybe trying Dragon Age once more too.

liliandra nadiar: I still have never worked up the desire to buy FONV. After hearing about all of the game-breaking bugs, it just does not seem worth the while.


Looks like this poor robot went out the same way as Elvis

Seems he left a deposit before he checked out too...

Raider goes flying

Cocked and Locked

Splect!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/subr...zps9f27203a.jpg


I love this shot best because of the expression on her face/mouth - realistic both as a mouth itself and as the expression one would make with their mouth when blowing the crap out of a Mark I Turret.

You are making me homesick to play Fallout 3 again! All Awesome Shots!

Have to agree with Malx, that shot is awesome.

I'll join the chorus, that snarl is very cool looking.

You haven't modded it much? I'd mod the crap out of it! The character models are particularly disappointing on the console and I see you've modded that much.

Loved the robo-potty humor!

Cocked and Locked was very cool. Not just her priceless expression, but even the textures on her fingers were very neat.

mALX & Lil: That is very cool that they worked things like that snarl into the game. It really makes the scene come alive, not to mention the protagonist. I think they left that behind in Skyrim? I will have to look at some of my kill move pics to be sure.

King Coin: I have a lot of mods, but they are only for things like new armor or weapons, or things to change gameplay. Stuff like more caps for vendors, etc... I have never used any graphics enhancement mods. I do not think I have even seen any tbh.

Acadian: The 'bot on the pot was a great example of Bethesda's sense of humor. It is just like the goblin in the barrel with all the bottle of booze in Oblivion. I love the little touches like that.


With my new comp up and running with most everything installed, I decided to go back to Oblivion for a while. Although Kingdoms of Amalur is on the way.

I started Varla over, this time from the tutorial dungeon (the last time I used an alternate start mod with her)

Armed and ready

The obligatory post-sewer bath

Back to Oblivion I see. Nice sword. Too bad they take it away. Are you running any of the texture packs for Oblivion? Oh and does it still stutter with your new rig?

The snarl in Fallout 3 has sultry appeal, it is a thing of beauty. In Skyrim they added a glare to the snarl and thinned the lips so all the females in game just look PMS-ee and desperately in need of collagen lip implants. It brings instant understanding to why the men all looked disgruntled. I wanted to add a "Midol" mod to my game and see if I could get a pleasant look out of even one of them.

Varla is beautiful! My favorite screen has to be the obligatory bath post sewer crawl. That shot is beyond perfect. The reflections in the water vie with Varla's immersed body so it looks like she is a part of the scene and not just in it. The colors of the sky, the backdrop itself. Amazing capture! All were great, but you totally ROCK'd this shot!

Always love your updates, never know what game I'll see being played!

Woo hoo, Oblivion! Varla is my favorite of your characters. I just love her look! I'm interested to see how she decides to equip herself. Didn't she have a set of family Ayeleid armor last time?

Wonderful to see you back in Cyrodiil! I'm so glad your new puter is up and running smoothly. That tutorial dungeon and post-sewer bath always brings back memories!

Something tells me that Baurus incorrectly guessed Varla’s class?

King Coin: No stutter at all any more, thank you. I guess I just needed a computer that was 6 years in advance of the game itself for it to run smoothly...

I was only using a LOD texture replacer before. But your asking prompted me to download Qarl's Texture Pack version 3. I cannot believe how different it makes the game look. The caves especially seem so real now, I can almost feel the damp rock, and I can imagine how the water slowly eroded the limestone over the millennia. The stones on the forts really jump out at me now too, they are so much better detailed.


mALX: I often wonder why Bethesda chooses to leave things like that snarl, or head-tracking, out of their new games? They have something good, and then decide that they don't want to continue using it, when it will actually take them effort to remove it (since their games are all using the same engine).


Grits: I really liked Varla last time as well. But while the roleplaying was really good, she lacked direction. She had no real plan or goals. I tried doing the Lost Spires with her, but it felt so very artificial because she was an Ayleid (the mod is based off an Archaeology Guild, and when you first meet them they say they really need someone who understands the Ayleid language and history. Here I am jumping up and down on my chair, waving my hands the screen, yelling "I'm an Ayleid!!!" But of course the mod completely ignores that, and treats your character like a dumb knuckledragger who is only good for killing things.


Acadian: It is good to be back to visit Cyrodiil again. The landscapes really are relaxing to look at, like taking a vacation in the country. It is such a nicer place than Skyrim or Morrowind. Baurus did guess her class wrong! Has he ever gotten one right? I


After playing Varla a bit more last night, things really came together with her story and roleplaying. She is now a completely different person, so I changed her name to Astarte (see Grits, I told you that name was in the rotation!). I like her face, but decided to make a minor change to her hair to help show the difference. She is more animeish now, which I think reflects her background better. Astarte is not a contemporary Ayleid like Varla was. Rather she was the Queen of Silorn 4,000 years ago. She sided with Alessia and freed her city's human slaves. That is not to say that she loves humans though, or even sees them as equals. Rather that she saw co-existence as the future, not domination. Somehow, she was transported through time. I am thinking it might have been part of the Dragon Break, when linear time became broken. She got caught up in a rift that went back and forth all through time, and found herself plopped into that tutorial prison cell we all know so well. So for her, the 1st Age was only minutes ago. Playing her has become very poignant, because she is a woman out of time, with no home, in a world that does not make sense to her.

Being a queen, Astarte immediately found suitable attire

She also geared up in something from her own age (at least that is how I am playing it )

Outside of Fort Nikel

I miss the head tracking a lot.

I absolutely LOVE your background story for the newly refigured Astarte! The armor is awesome, I wonder if the stones in it have power or purpose? The "She geared up" screen is a perfect depiction of the background story. She looks like a regal warrior that has found herself magically transported to a strange place. Without losing her fierce royal bearing, she still manages to look a bit like "Where am I? What just happened?"

All three are awesome shots, my second favorite is sitting in the black velvet dress - she looks like she's thinking hard about her situation.

I don't know if it is your new PC or Qarl's pack, but your textures are absolutely gorgeous! Awesome Update!

What a great story for Astarte! That armor really suits her. Geared Up is my favorite, with the White Gold Tower in the background. It would be very disorienting to find your personal queenly goods on display in some museum.

Another user of QTP3 here, as of a couple months ago. I'm a big fan of it for the same reasons you cite.

Intriguingly rich story behind Astarte! Such wonderful RP potential. And equally appropriate and cool trappings. Will she be referring to her race as Arimer? I take it she is a user of two handed swords; what a great (pun intended) choice of weapon. I love using them the same way I imagine you do: dancing lethally and safely right at the edge of their maximum range. Heh, zombies are easy; it's rats that are a challenge (damn leapy little things)!

I’m glad I prompted you to get a texture pack, Oblivion’s graphics are very noticeably dated, and there’s no reason to not use better textures with a computer like that.

4000 Years is a long time to be away. And what there those filthy humans thinking, tossing her into a cell? I bet seeing the Empire was startling.

She’s looking pretty good in that armor!

mALX: I was so glad when someone finally came out with a headtracking mod for Skyrim a few weeks ago. "Geared up" was my favorite of those too. It is one of the better poses I have come across in the various packs out there.


Grits: It is nice when a story just comes together like that for a character. Sometimes it does, sometimes it does not.


Acadian: She will definitely be referring to herself as an Arimer! To me she exists in much the same world as the TF. Except that I think Astarte will be doing the main quest. Talk about irony there! It is taking a lot to get used to using a two-hander in Oblivion. I keep trying to shield bash with it. The zombies in Vilverin were indeed easy. But goblins! Those little greenies jump right at you, I am having a daedra of a time trying to keep them at a distance.


King Coin: I tried out some of the Unique Landscapes mods too. Yesterday Astarte explored the Brena Falls one. I really liked it. I am looking forward to seeing some of the others now.

This one really shows off the new textures from QTP3

Astarte has found her civilization in ruins

Sitting with the ghosts of the past

Part of the city at Brena Falls

Yup, that's QTP all right. Nice textures indeed!

Looks like Astarte's carrying a 'fine steel claymore'. What a beautifully simple and elegant blade. Great choice when it comes to looks!

Those textures are marvelous. If/when Aravi visits Cyrodiil again, that will be one of the first things on my list to install. I’m definitely going to have to reinstall Oblivion, the folders are a total mess on my computer.

The next thing you should get is OBGE.

For beauty, the last one is my favorite. It must be hard for her though, to see her proud city in ruins like that.