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SonnyM94 - J3X and Rizing - Grey848 - AndrealphusVIII

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SonnyM94

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About this mod

Adds Automatic Steel and Dwarven Crossbows from the Dawnguard DLC (SE Users only) and the Creation Club Crossbow Creations (AE Users Only and AE REQUIRES Main SE File to work due to using its scripts).

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Welcome to my first mod for Skyrim:
S.A.C: SKYRIM AUTOMATIC CROSSBOWS!
CREDITS/PERMISSIONS/LEGAL STUFF:
FIRST AND FOREMOST...
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As per Bethesda’s EULA for Skyrim, and the open permissions of the mods “New Automatic Crossbows” and “Automatic Crossbows SE”, All credits for their original works that my mod was derived from go to:
BETHESDA GAME STUDIOS:
  • For making “The Elder Scrolls“ franchise and “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim“ itself.
  • And for also making the “Elite Crossbows“ Creation Club Mod/Verified Creation.
  • (There’s no freelance mod author stated per-se, so I’m assuming this was made in-house by Bethesda as a proof of concept).
BETHESDA'S PARENT COMPANIES:
  • ZeniMax Media Inc. and Microsoft.
  • (They handle all relative forms of publishing and platform distribution).
BORJA “BORX25” FRANCO (IN COLLABORATION WITH BETHESDA):
  • For making the "Expanded Crossbow Pack" Creation Club mod/Verified Creation.
ANDREALPHUSVIII:
  • For making the necessary edits to my mod to make it better and to work with his CC Crossbows and Bolts - Tweaks and Enhancements mod.
J3X & RIZING:
  • For making their original mod for Skyrim LE, called "Automatic Crossbows".
XSCIFIX:
  • For making the Special Edition port of Automatic Crossbows.
IRONMAIDEN1872 AND JUSTICE123:
  • For making their original mod New Automatic Crossbows.
POSPELOVV:
  • For making Skyrim Platform.
  • (I had the 1.0 upload use Skyrim Platform originally, then shifted to papyrus after a Skyrim update at the time broke how Skyrim Platform worked despite TypeScript having a faster way of both compiling, reading, and executing scripts).

MOD INSTALLATION:
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Download and install this mod through your preferred mod manager method:
Mod Organizer 2 (Highly recommended)
Vortex
For Skyrim AE (SkyrimSE.exe file version 1.6.1170+):
  • This is strictly for Anniversary Edition users.
  • ESP Flagged ESL file (ESPFE). DOES NOT count towards the 255 esp file limit as a result.
  • AndrealphusVIII has fixed the file header, Levelled Lists and FormID's to work in conjucntion with his mod CC Crossbows and Bolts - Tweaks and Enhancements. Thank you Andre! :)
EXTRA STEPS FOR SKYRIM AE USERS, MAINLY FOR IF YOU HAVE ANNIVERSARY EDITION, BUT NO CREATION CLUB/VERIFIED CREATIONS AT ALL:
  • Double click on the mod in the left window directly underneath the "Profile" drop-down.
  • On the bottom right of this window is a search bar, type "Automatic Cross" and it's it easier to find if you have a lot of mods already installed.
  • It SHOULD show the "Filetree" section by default. In the tabs up above (tabs for Filetree, Notes, Nexus Info, etc. are here) look for the "Optional ESPs" tab and click on it.
  • In the Optional ESPs section, left click once on "Skyrim Automatic Crossbows.esp" in the "Available ESPs" window on your right.
  • In the middle where the green left and right arrows are, click the left one so it moves to the "Optional ESPs" section on the left.
  • Press "Close" on the very bottom right of this window and use "Skyrim Automatic Crossbows.esp" as normal. (as the AE version is 1.71 file header compliant for all AE mods to work for AE unlike the SE version which MUST be 1.70 file header compliant to work for SE).
For Skyrim SE (SkyrimSE.exe file version 1.5.97):
  • This is the FINAL AND ONLY supported Skyrim: Special Edition version supported before Anniversay Edition released.
  • Special Edition users are strictly advised to use the SE version!
  • ESP Flagged ESL file (ESPFE). DOES NOT count towards the 255 esp file limit as a result.
  • AndrealphusVIII has fixed the file header, Levelled Lists and FormID's to work better. Thank you Andre! :)
  • The AE download file will NEVER work for SE so make sure you have the right version!

OPTIONAL MODS TO USE ALONGSIDE S.A.C:
Emphasis on the word OPTIONAL. Usage and installation of these supplementary mods is entirely up to you!
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Automatic, laughably slow Crossbow reload animations that leave you vulnerable in the heat of combat begone!
This mod paried with NECR honestly makes using Crossbows in Skyrim as a proper viable build now! Complete with the modern FPS Shooter ADS style aiming!
Allows crafting crossbows and bolts at ANY forge in Skyrim as opposed to soft locking it to Fort Dawnguard.
This a Creation Club and AE updated version of the mod bearing the same name made by renmantsoldier, albeit remnant's original mod was made before AE and Creations were a thing hence this updated version existing. Use this WITH CCOR as a catch all fail-safe in order to craft anything crossbow related at ANY forge.
Turns down the volume on everything related to Crossbows. Why the volume for all the Crossbow sound effects are so jarringly loud to begin with, I have no idea. This mod fixes all that!
Adrealphus' mods are amazing no matter what you use, now the Crossbows get his works of wisdom! Not sure if this mod works out of the box with his mod, BUT! I have commented and basically gave him all the necessary permissions involved to match any patches necessary happen should the need for them arise.



IMPORTANT!
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When it comes to crafting crossbows in general with this mod and its optional mods to use with installed:
I have separated the Automatic Crossbow crafting to be COMPLETELY SEPARATE to being locked to Fort Dawnguard's forge. What this means is:
  • The Crossbow Schematics Sorine Jurard makes you fetch, and the other Crossbows in the quest Ancient Technology is sort of "bypassed" only in a way that you can craft crossbows before even encountering Durak (he initiates and triggers EVERYTHING related to the Dawnguard DLC) starting after Level 8 (or whatever if using Timing Is Everything or other Quest start delaying mods.)
  • This also allows you to craft Crossbows as a Vampire that fights the Dawnguard with the Daedric, Ebony, etc. Automatic Crossbows for example.

HOWEVER...
  • If you DON'T have any of the optional mods installed, then its literally grinding through Dawnguard and crafting the Automatic Crossbows only being available like the normal ones locked exclusively to Fort Dawnguard like in Vanilla.

EVEN MORE IMPORTANT FOR "CC CROSSBOWS AND BOLTS - TWEAKS AND ENHANCEMENTS" USERS
  • When using AndrealphusVIII's mod CC Crossbows and Bolts -Tweaks and Enhancements, once his patch is uploaded for v7.0-Edit+, his mod handles the distribution and crafting in an immersive JaySerpa Quest like way as per his mod's description page:
I made the following changes to address this:

  • Any new crossbows and bolts are no longer obtainable in the world, nor craftable, from the start of the game.
  • After you have completed all the quests from Ancient Technology, a courier will hand you a letter that will start the quest from Elite Crossbows (which I renamed to "The Forgotten Crossbows")
  • The Vampire hunter's hideout has been redecorated a bit, to reflect these changes. Inside you'll find a schematic, which you can bring to Sorine.
  • The hideout will also have a map, which contains flags at many important locations for Dawnguard, for some additional immersion.
  • After bringing it to Sorine, you'll be able to craft the new bolts and crossbows (given you have the corresponding smithing requirements), and buy them from Sorine and Gunmar. (This might require an inventory reset to trigger.)
  • After you also finished the Dawnguard questline (Kindred Judgment), and a few days have passed, Sorine will send you a letter through a
    courier. The letters will say that Sorine sold copies of the schematics to several factions in Skyrim. As such, crossbows will be used by several NPC's, and sold by fletchers and blacksmiths.
  • Enhanced Crossbows and Explosive Bolts will remain exclusive for the Dawnguard though and won't show up in the world.
Simply put this mod has a few play-style "Flavours":
Free Crafting Anywhere (F.C.A.)/CHEATING?:
  • Install S.A.C. / S.A.C.C + any combination of the Optional Mods EXCEPT for AndrealphusVIII's CC Crossbows and Bolts.

Vanilla Purist:
  • Install S.A.C / S.A.C.C + plus any optional mod requirements EXCEPT for the crafting change related ones like CCOR for instance, and progress through Dawnguard normally to get the default Crossbows from Sorine Jurard, then craft them as Bethesda originally intended.
  • This has more grinding involved in my opinion, as you WILL BE BACKTRACKING to Fort Dawnguard every time you have to craft Crossbows.

Immersive/story driven:
  • Install S.A.C. and S.A.C.C + AndrealphusVIII's CC Crossbows and Bolts mod. Andre's mod will take crafting, levelled lists and distribution priority even if you have CCOR and Craftable Crossbows and Bolts CC Updated installed.
  • Honestly, I (and probably some others) prefer this method as getting an Automatic Crossbow so early in game is essentially what the F.C.A. flavour is: a Grand Theft Auto style cheat code, as the Immersive/Story Driven flavour promotes actually playing the game instead of modding Skyrim until it crashes, fixing it, rinse and repeat.
  • The choice of what you want to do is ENTIRELY UP TO YOU!
Thank you for your time, and enjoy my first mod!

BUGS/GLITCHES/ISSUES:
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  • I know... I know... It's not Skyrim without bugs lol.
  • 30/11/2024: Thanks to Seishin979's catch A KNOWN GAME ISSUE THAT ALSO PLAGUES SOME OF THE CREATION CLUB/VERIFIED CREATION PLUGINS HAS BEEN FOUND! The issue is mainly stating: "LOOT Error: "This plugin contains records that have FormIDs outside the  valid range for an ESL plugin. Using this plugin will cause irreversible
    damage to your game saves."
  • I find the above error being thrown to be a scare tactic of sorts Skyrim is throwing to players given that Verified Creations have this exact same error and my game works fine, but if anybody else out there knows how to fix this, DO CHIME IN and I will update the mod pronto.
  • Thankfully, there kind of ISN'T any other kind of game breaking bugs (That either myself or Andrealphus have encountered after his edit.)
  • Only bugs per-se were odd glitches and stuff during development when I was learning how to make the automatic firing work for the crossbows until they DID work properly.
  • The only REAL "issue" is how broken automatic firing of a Crossbow in a series like Elder Scrolls is in itself, hence why I quartered all of the crossbow's damage values to what their original counterparts were for balance/a difficulty tweak.

DATA FILE STRUCTURE
(AND OTHER TECHNICAL STUFF FOR THOSE INTERESTED)

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Two simple things really as this is a relatively small mod editing only exactly what it needs to (NO FEATURE CREEP!):
  • A "Scripts" folder for Papyrus based scripts based on Ironmaiden1872, justice123, and J3X's work that Skyrim works its "Magic" on behind the scenes in order to properly function.
  • "Skyrim Automatic Crossbows.esp" and "Skyrim Automatic Creation Club Crossbows.esp" both have been created by myself and later on edited by AndrealphusVIII for proper compliance in order to maintain parity for those who do, and those who don't use his CC Crossbow Tweaks and Enhancements mod.



FUTURE PLANS:
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  • Have found a way to get the default game animated Dwemer Gear Assembly to work on the Automatic Crossbows, its just a pain to line everything up, then make sure the spinning animations work for EVERY. SINGLE. AUTOMATIC. CROSSBOW.
  • Animators, feel free to chime in for advice. Greatly appreciate any help!
  • The Quickshot bug/animation glitch has been fixed thanks to Grey848's contribution. Only "bugs" left to fix are ones that you, the player, may find in game.


COMPLIMENTARY MOD SHOUT OUTS:
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For some DAMN FINE looking crossbow meshes regardless if you use my mod or not, give Mizu20's Immersive Crossbow Overhaul a try!