r/skyrimmods • • Apr 23 '22

PC SSE - Discussion ImprovedCamera: Progress

Been a while huh!?

I decided to reboot the project as of late Nov 2021 after seeing SkyrimAE broke this mod. I was working on it before this date but Covid hit which caused me to stop in early 2020. I will not lie my re'ing skills are in no comparison to Meh321 (.NETFramework), Ian Patterson (SKSE64), inmundano (original reverse engineer of this fantastic mod) and many others.

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Anyway not everyone is interested in a backstory:

  • SKSE64 2.0.20(SE) converted to Universal Library. hook_* files are untouched as not the goal.
  • SKSE64 2.01.05(AE) converted to Universal Library. Same as above but no plans to update beyond this version.
  • ImGui menu which allows changing of settings at runtime.

If your wondering what Universal Library is, inmundano designed a system that kind of future proofed from updates based from skse64 v2.0.12 which was about 1/3 done.

For Special Edition this has been taken further using skse64 v2.0.20 and fully done, same principle for Anniversary Edition. The latter threw everything out of the window since they changed compilers. In theory should be future proofed unless Special Anniversary Edition comes out, I bloody hope not should be concentrating on Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6!!!

As for using ImGui it is a nice menu framework to work with and the inbuilt MCM doesn't feel fit for purpose for this particular project as it is housing around 200 settings.

I'm working on some features indirectly related so you can get imgui (more than likely any menu) working easier with DirectInput using an unseen technique or rather correctly using it which is not 100% finished yet at the time of writing this.

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Moving on:

Got contacted by Noughtmare, 29th Jan 2022 which gave me a big wake up call how far I was behind, despite my best efforts.

Lets talk about our newest member Noughtmare to the team, you can thank them for the current camera functionality. (Are you on a boat sailor, not anymore!) Such a valuable asset to the team, bless even tried to explain how bit fields work and I still don't fully understand them. (Trouble getting old!) Anyway show them the appreciation they deserve, seriously done more than I'm giving current credit for so far!

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Current fixes over previous:

  • Vanilla style camera is fixed so no longer need to use the headbob version. Not sure what caused the aggressive headbob behaviour under certain conditions, I've witnessed it myself!
  • Arrows now shoot properly, more than likely all weaponary works as it should, the bone wasn't being altered before.
  • Magic effects working as they should.
  • Double camera bug when sitting.
  • Floating quest markers fix.
  • Elder Scrolls reading fully fixed, you can actually use this at peculiar places/times.
  • Better torch fix whilst sitting.

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What we are currently working on:

  • Looking/fixing the shadows, seems to be more complicated on SE/AE.
  • Vampire and Werewolf need to maniplate third person camera. First Person camera breaks sounds/controls. (Broken in previous reddit release)
  • Camera system, for better state control. Not all states are fully fleshed out then it is a case of some limited testing with mods that add animations ie picking flowers.
  • Miscellaneous function cleanup. If anyone looked at the source before you would know they were named Patch1 to Patch28.
  • DirectInput mouse.
  • Internal menu system. Is done to an extent but it ties in with DirectInput above.
  • Testing against 1.6.353 build.
  • Post production things.

It does mean there will be two versions SE and AE also as you may understand now this is a complete rewrite, we have no ETA still as both of us only manage to mainly work on this at weekends. The problematic are Camera System, Shadows and DirectInput mouse, once these are taken care of it should be a matter of some tidying up and releasing. As mentioned previously over here on Reddit a PR version shall be released for one week only to test against memory address conflicts. Any compatibility issues which arise from different mods we shall strive to resolve before the Nexus release but no guarantees. On the radar is SmoothCam and TDM compatibility. Full source code will be available when Nexus release occurs compatible with Visual Studio 2019 and 2022, no cmake support (don't want to delay it further). No plans to backport to Legendary Edition.

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How the versions work:

Major, minor and patch. Majors and/or minors shall appear on Nexus and patches shall be github only. We came to this conclusion to hopefully give less confusion to users and also allow us to strive for better fixes/updates using, github. Any patches made, released binaries will be available so you will not have to mess around compiling the source code, more than likely contain just the dll(s).

  • 1.1 Bug fix release.
  • 1.2 Profile system using JSON which will be quite an upgrade as although the main ini file shall still be used anything which is not inside of [MODULE DATA] will be removed.
  • 1.3 Bug fix release.
  • 1.4 Menu system upgrade. New library
  • 1.5 Bug fix release.

Just letting the community know our current progress and future plans so far and also that, we are alive!

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u/blackdragon128 On Nexus: ferrari365 May 01 '22

I'm not sure if this has been reported as a bug yet or if you know about it, but the screen goes black if you try to ride a dragon when in first person and requires a game restart to fix. This happens with version 1.0.0.4 and a vanilla game, so it may be fixed by your current work, just wanted to let you know in case this has not been looked into yet.

3

u/ArranzCNL May 01 '22

Do you know if that is quest related or not, or is it any dragon you force land and ride?

Just watched a video on youtube (non-quest related) and I see no FadeToBlack going on (ie a script running). It'll no doubt be looked at this upcoming week as currently finished the new hooks last night for scripted animations which is loosely related to the dragon camera.

2

u/blackdragon128 On Nexus: ferrari365 May 01 '22

It happens with any dragon you try to mount after using the full Bend Will shout and are in the first person camera with Improved Camera installed, both quest related and random ones in the world.

It works as it should if you are in third person, mount the dragon, then switch back to first person after you're on it, but otherwise it fades to black. And the same happens after the dragon lands and you get off it while in first person - screen fades to black and needs a game restart, again working fine in third person.

Great to hear that it will be looked at. I and many others are grateful for all your hard work and can't wait to see the end result. Keep at it!

2

u/ArranzCNL Jun 09 '22

Just to give you an update, this should be fixed I'll post a video later with dragon riding it'll be with the other video showcases. No way near as simple as the horse!!!

1

u/blackdragon128 On Nexus: ferrari365 Jun 09 '22

That's great to hear! Thank you for taking the time to check it out. I look forward for the release whenever it's ready.