I am currently working on a new version of NGoS that will be ready in roughly a month or so.Ā I had originally planned on releasing this in March, but my schedule became too crowded and I didn't have as much time to devote to it as I had hoped.
The new update has numerous bug fixes, as well as new content and a few new features.
Bug Fixes are pretty numerous, mostly small stuff, but here are some examples
I defined a nymph specific skeleton to conclusively resolve feet deformity issues caused by having an out-of-date XPMSE skeleton
Fixed a lot of mismapped texture paths on meshes that caused them to show up solid purple.
A few meshes had the normal maps generated upside down.Ā This is because OpenGL and Direct3D have different conventions for lighting direction, openGL is Y+ for up whereas Direct3D is Y- for up.Ā On some of the older textures I generated normals for I accidentally baked them with the OpenGL directions.Ā This causes areas that should look recessed to actually stick out.Ā The most noticeable example of this is Kayellieās Sword.Ā The Glyphs on her sword are supposed to be engravings, but they actually look like they are protruding in most lighting.
Bodyslide generated body meshes had the wrong .tri file specified so it wouldnāt work with in game uunp morphs
The followers were not correctly using some of the Nymph Racial abilities which applied their effects through perks.Ā This affected all of the followers to some degree (they didnāt get the default Nymph iron/steel protection) but it affected Kayellie and Mystra more, since they werenāt getting the Blended Nymph protection either.Ā Mystra is a lot sturdier now that both of those are working (as she should be!)
Synneās Flames of Sin was not correctly scaling.Ā Ā
This also includes the bug fixes from the hotfix updates I posted back in January, so you will only need to download 1 file.Ā There are a few other minor bugs I have fixed, and I intend to go through and examine each and every part of this before I release the update to make sure I didn't miss anything.
As for new features, the biggest one is that I am addingĀ āUltimate Abilitiesā to each follower.Ā Ā
These are powers that they can only use once they are level 50 or higher, and these abilities are either a super powerful spell that can only be used once every 10 minutes, or a permanent upgrade to their basic fighting style.Ā Ā
These abilities have very elaborate shaders that I have put a lot of work into, special audioFX, and a voiceline that each follower will say when they cast it.
Right now I have two of these completed, Yulia and Synne.Ā I will make another post to showcase these as well as give updates as I complete the other 4 follower ultimates.
The other big feature I am adding is preset placement.Ā A lot of people were asking for this, as well as Nymph world encounters, so I ended up creating a kind of scavenger hunt with the Nymph presets.
There are 22 in total, randomly scattered all over Skyrim.Ā There are more presets than this, but several of them ended up becoming crew members of the new follower, who I will get to next.
There are a variety of locations you can find them in, ranging from caves, ponds, rural inns to big city taverns, and they are placed according to their subtype.
You are most likely to find a Blended Nymph at a small Rural Inn, such as āOld Hroldan Innā
The best place to find a Night Nymph is a major city, as you might expect.Ā They are part of the normal populace, but fortunately the perception-altering magic of the Night Nymph doesn't work on the Dragonborn, so you should be able to spot them easily.
While the two previous subtypes generally stay dressed and live discreetly alongside humans, the other three subtypes are encountered naked in the Wilderness, in typical Nymph form.
Most of time you can find a Wood Nymph at a glen or grove, just like you would find a spriggan.Ā Good thing Nymphii get along with spriggans!
The easiest place to find a Desert Nymph is in a Grotto type cave.Ā Frequently they get in territory disputes with the local bears or horkers, but wildlife arenāt a match for the warrior prowess of your average Desert Nymph.
Since there are no jungles in Skyrim, and the few swamplands tend to be shallow and lack sufficient foliage to suit a Beast Nymph, most of them live in caves.Ā Ā
There are a couple Khajiit Nymphii that have claimed abandoned housing due to the particularly appealing treasures within: one has discovered a shack full of fish, while the other has found a house full of mice.
Each of these 22 Nymphii has been given a distinct class, combat-style, and spell-list, along with appropriate class-perks and the same leveling perks that the Nymph Followers possess.Ā I tried to make each one of them unique, and they run the range of magic, stealth, and different styles of combat, so that none of them is quite the same.Ā A few even have unique powers, but they will be harder to find!
The big addition is the inclusion of NaiāYari, the new Desert Nymph Follower.Ā I have described her already in other posts, so I wonāt go into a whole lot of detail here.Ā Ā
The biggest thing I have to add is that I have made her crewmates into potential followers as well, and given them unique equipment and a special ability.
Currently she has 2 crew members that are camped out with her in Skyrim, a Desert Nymph and a Blended Nymph, but I am planning on adding at least one more, possibly two, a Bretoniic Nymph (!!!) and a Nord woman.
Besides the new follower I have already shown on this blog, I am also in the process of finishing up the lore updates that I have been working on.Ā Ā
This is pretty extensive, and I donāt think I will be able to include it all with this update.Ā For now, hereās a teaser of some of the tidbits that have come up in questions I have received.
Nymphii have a mating selection process that is based almost 100% on some innate ability to sense the compatibility of any mortal's "magical essence" with the Nymphās own magical composition.Ā Ā
Most Nymph subtypes have almost no interest in status, wealth, power, or any other kind of social advantages or material resources. Ā A prince or a pauper makes very little difference to her.
The Nymph, like any humanoid creature, will obviously have some sense of aesthetics.Ā However, since all Nymphii are inhumanly beautiful, regardless of the fatherās appearance, this is not a major factor in her selection process.Ā Whether a man is handsome or ugly is only relevant if they have equally compatibleĀ āMagical Essence.ā
The result is that the Nymph may display strong preferences for one person over another that make very little sense, and her preferences may often seem incomprehensible to mortals.Ā Ā
For example, a Nymph may show an irresistible attraction to the one-eyed beggar of solitude, and be completely disinterested or even repulsed by the wealthy, charming, and handsome nobleman.
Two males of the same race can still have hugely different patterns of essence.Ā Ā
A Desert Nymph, whose composition generally favors Redguards, can be highly compatible with the essence of one Redguard man but may be totally incompatible with the essence of another.Ā Ā
Every mortal has a unique pattern of āMagical Essenceā that a Nymph can intuitively read.Ā Call this perception something like "Magical Pheromones" if that helps to explain it. Ā
This pattern of āMagical Essenceā is usually something only a Nymph can sense, though it may be possible to "read" a person's essence with powerful divination magic.Ā Ā
Every Nymph can perceive this essence this upon reaching maturity.Ā It is part of the basic reproductive behavior of every subtype, even the Blended Nymph, for whom selection is not quite so necessary.Ā
āMagical Essence" is contained primarily within mortal reproductive cells, male and female. Ā Similar to how a Succubus obtains whatever it is that keeps her alive from semen, the Nymph requires the "Magical Essence" housed within functional humanoid reproductive cells in order to reproduce, which she eventually uses to start an arcane catalytic reaction that generates a new Nymph.
She can gatherĀ āMagical Essenceā from both men and women, but due to the great difference in number of cells produced (billions of sperm vs. a single ova), it is almost impossible for her to obtain enough essence from a woman to reproduce.Ā Her strong preference for males as mates is based on this fact, rather than on any anatomical reason.
Human males possess significantly more essence per cell to account for their shorter lifespans, and this helps to account for why Nymphii generally do not prefer Mer over Human except by specific Nymph subtype.
An egg will have thousands of times the quantity of essence per cell, but this is rarely enough to make a difference.
The only situation in which she might obtain enough essence from a woman would be a relationship with a Mer woman that persists for more than five centuries.Ā It is not impossible, but very nearly so.
It is next to impossible for a Nymph to get pregnant the first time she has sex with any given person.
Most Nymphii are aware of this fact, and it contributes somewhat to theĀ āpromiscuousā reputation that the Nymph species has.
They are also generally immune to most sexually transmitted diseases that affect mortals, though with the exception of the Wood Nymph, they are not immune to magical diseases.Ā
There may be a few diseases that only affect the Nymph which are carried by mortals...
Basically, there is very little risk or consequence for the Nymph if she chooses to indulge her desires.
The genes of the male are totally and completely irrelevant in terms of the composition of the new Nymph: she does NOT reproduce through genetic inheritance.
The āNymph Generating Reactionā proceeds more quickly based on the amount of "Magical Essence" that she can use as building blocks: the more times she has had sex with the same person, the shorter her pregnancy will be.Ā Ā
A Nymph could conceive with a mate she has only slept with a few dozen times, but her resulting pregnancy will last decades.Ā Ā
Comparably, a Nymph who has been in a relationship with a Human man for his entire lifespan may have a pregnancy that lasts only a few weeks.
The building blocks of different individuals are wholly incompatible with each other and cannot be used to fuel the same reaction; each person has a unique variant of "essence" and she cannot further this reaction by sleeping with many different people.
A Nymph might be quite promiscuous normally, but once she has taken a mate she thus has a very strong incentive to be monogamous.
The essence of incompatible mates does not necessarily disrupt the reaction, but it does not provide any benefit either. Ā Since a Nymph pursuing reproduction is always engaging in a deliberate and conscious decision, it does not make much sense for her to sustain an interest in other mates until after she has conceived.
Thereās a lot more, but thatās part of what I consider theĀ āessentialā basics of Nymph reproduction, and it should help you get an idea of the life-cycle and motivations of the Nymph.
Thatās all so far.Ā I hope you look forward to it!
