Anyone use Sands of Time/Ultimate Deadly Encounters?

[Ambugaton]

Looks interesting, but saw that it's a 1G download and wanted to hear from people who'd used it whether it was worth it.

[ZarahNeander]

The concept of random spawns looks cool on paper and indeed it is...as long as it works:

a) Mzulft during 'revealing the unseen', were the Synod starts his little 'gavros is that you?' speech b4 opening the locked door. Only that the mod spawned a group of falmer behind that door beating the sh*t out of him. 'killall' didnt work, 'tcl' broke the quest, must have stepped on a trigger -> quest broken

b) During 'Unearthed' objective: 'clear the draugr'. Pitty that the additional draugr where in a room I couldn't reach yet. I refuse to 'tcl' too much stuff could break -> quest broken

If you're the 'some like it hot' type go for it, but save early, save often.

[Ambugaton]

Originally posted by ZarahNeander:

The concept of random spawns looks cool on paper and indeed it is...as long as it works:

a) Mzulft during 'revealing the unseen', were the Synod starts his little 'gavros is that you?' speech b4 opening the locked door. Only that the mod spawned a group of falmer behind that door beating the sh*t out of him. 'killall' didnt work, 'tcl' broke the quest, must have stepped on a trigger -> quest broken

b) During 'Unearthed' objective: 'clear the draugr'. Pitty that the additional draugr where in a room I couldn't reach yet. I refuse to 'tcl' too much stuff could break -> quest broken

If you're the 'some like it hot' type go for it, but save early, save often.

Okay, that's the kind of problem I was expecting. I ended up trying it for about 15 minutes. Was fun while it lasted at least but I had issues from the start with what I was seeing not reflecting the settings I had configured AT ALL.

And I looked at the menu... so they have a main page which gives an over view of your configured settings. On one of the subpages, you have the option of checking a box labeled "Disable Mod's weapons/armors" Seems like checking the box would, well, disable the mod's weapons and armors. But you check that box and on the over view page it says "Modded Armor/Wepaons allowed: True" leave it unchecked and it shows "False." That kind of gap in logic really doesn't bode well for their scripting.

[ralphtobybob]

I'm using SOT and Genesis, with Skyrim Immersive Creatures and Open Cities. I haven't had a problem with them. I've gotten as high as level 16 with no problemsl. Had to restart several times when I added a new mod or decided to try out a different alternate start. Every now and then I get a random CTD, but it could be any mod. Haven't lost a game though. The game runs smoothly.
Earlier problems turned out to be a conflict with another mod and Open Cities. I'm trying out the other mod on Oldrim.

There's an extensive list of patches that are required for other mods though, so there are known conflicts with other mods but with fixes or load order workarounds.

I"ve had a couple of encounters at level 1 in a game that ticked me off. Turns out I hadn't activated SOT yet, so it was probably from Immersive Encounters.

I'm using the 'make Skyrim deadlier' option of SOT. But with Skyrim Guardians and Immersive Patrols. There have been times my character has had to turn tail and run for it.

It's really a lot of fun, but you need to let the people around you know you're screaming at the game and not ranting at a cloud or something.

Frequent quick saves are a must in case a choice you make always leaves you dead with no option other than loading a hopefully recent autosave.

The only complaint I have about Sands of Time is the lack of documentation. There is a FAQ on the website but doesn't really cover basics. Info is hard to find without wading through the entire site, so I'm just going to try different settings. Genesis has in game docs though.

[ralphtobybob]

I forgot to mention that some changes to Genesis and/or Sands of Time don't take effect until after 24 or so game hours.

[Ambugaton]

Originally posted by ralphtobybob:

I forgot to mention that some changes to Genesis and/or Sands of Time don't take effect until after 24 or so game hours.

I actually enjoyed what I saw, it just wasn't matching my settings and was becoming unmanageable.

You know the courier that stops by as soon as you step outside with the mod activated? I got forced into the dialogue and proceeded to get mauled by assassins while the courier babbled on. Literally the moment the exterior cell loading stopped. I tried to set it up so that encounters were infrequent but challenging rather than just a matter of spamming mass numbers of scrubby things. Set the dice roll where I thought it should be, and the health/stamina/etc sliders. First encounter after the assassins is fast travelling to find a dragon priest with 10+ draugr death overlords and a few mod-added mobs already waiting for me. ummm wow. I actually survived (barely and with almost no potions left). An encounter like that every now and then is good, but it was every freaking step I took.

I think I would love the mod if I could be sure the settings did anything and get them right, but it became unplayable. A dozen draugr overlords at every turn is too much. Changed some settings and I was getting mass numbers of scrubs like wolves, which is just tedious.

[Ambugaton]

For anyone reading this, the issue with the mass spawns of high level enemies isn't from SOT. I'm trying to track it down, but didn't want anyone turned off by reading that. The spawns sourced to SOT are actually great. But yeah, I wouldn't reccomend keeping them enabled while going on quests, etc... it can get hectic quick and who knows what NPC is going to get unintentionally mauled.

[ralphtobybob]

Originally posted by Ambugaton:

Originally posted by ralphtobybob:

I forgot to mention that some changes to Genesis and/or Sands of Time don't take effect until after 24 or so game hours.

I actually enjoyed what I saw, it just wasn't matching my settings and was becoming unmanageable.

You know the courier that stops by as soon as you step outside with the mod activated? I got forced into the dialogue and proceeded to get mauled by assassins while the courier babbled on. Literally the moment the exterior cell loading stopped. I tried to set it up so that encounters were infrequent but challenging rather than just a matter of spamming mass numbers of scrubby things. Set the dice roll where I thought it should be, and the health/stamina/etc sliders. First encounter after the assassins is fast travelling to find a dragon priest with 10+ draugr death overlords and a few mod-added mobs already waiting for me. ummm wow. I actually survived (barely and with almost no potions left). An encounter like that every now and then is good, but it was every freaking step I took.

I think I would love the mod if I could be sure the settings did anything and get them right, but it became unplayable. A dozen draugr overlords at every turn is too much. Changed some settings and I was getting mass numbers of scrubs like wolves, which is just tedious.

I just decided to adapt. I start out in Solitude and do a chicken run towards Whiterun. Obviously I stop and do some combat on the way to level up. I got caught once in a spawned bandit attack right before a crossroads that is a vanilla bandit ambush site.

Having to carry a torch at night changes the dynamic too. I tried a different start in Markarth to start out mining ore. One of them is occupied by Forsworn. Any one of them can one shot you. I had to get them to chase me and let the one Guardian take care of them. I was level one with no armor and one or two of the Forsworn were dual wielding Briar Hearts.
A storm atronach spawned in another mine during the animation.

Needless to say, an alternate start as an alchemist camping out in the woods is probably not a good idea. Part of the reason for the chicken run is to get enough leather from the wolf attacks or better armor from the bandits. Stumbling on an Imperial vs. Stormcloak skirmish is good for the wallet too.

I have the Apocalypse option turned on too and set to random level.All the other settings are
at default for now until at least level 20. Doing the homestead thing is probably not a good idea either since all the livestock will probably get killed and probably the steward too.

Some higher level stuff kicks in at level 50. Skyrim does weird stuff on its own, so non-game breaking odd stuff from mods isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[ralphtobybob]

Originally posted by Ambugaton:

For anyone reading this, the issue with the mass spawns of high level enemies isn't from SOT. I'm trying to track it down, but didn't want anyone turned off by reading that. The spawns sourced to SOT are actually great. But yeah, I wouldn't reccomend keeping them enabled while going on quests, etc... it can get hectic quick and who knows what NPC is going to get unintentionally mauled.

In one game, it was Immersive Creatures that was being mean to me. SOT wasn't active. I got attacked and brutally slain by a Mistman and Wrathman along with a wizard of some sort. I was at level 1.

[Jaehaerys]

I've been trying it out on my latest playthrough, and outside of CTD and the zombie apocalypse part, I've been enjoying it, especially since it added an old enemy mob from Oblivion: imps. On a side note, how often have you noticed the game CTD since installing it? That used to be extremely rare for me, but now it's happened multiple times in only a few hours.

[SpeedFreak1972]

with sands of time AND Immersive Creatures the biggest problem is the balance I now use a combat mod AND a mod that bumps the encounter zones.

[killerpain89]

sorry to bring this topic out of the dead but i cant get it to show up in mod order in game it just shows greyed out check mark

[Ihateeverybody]

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