Elf Destiny - Fewer Half-Elves, and Elf Destiny - Dominant Genes

[regal trench]

Two sub-mods I made as a more brute-force solution to the AI side-stepping the rules imposed by mods like Elf Superiority 2.0. These work by making children born to elf/human pairings either have a high chance of producing elves (for "Fewer half-Elves), or a guaranteed Elf child (Dominant genes).

• https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3377009497
• https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3377000027

I have received reports that some people are getting human children even from elf/elf pairings. The problem I have is that I cannot recreate the bug on my end. I'm currently playing with "Dominant Genes" on a 140+ mod playset and everything is perfect in there. Thanks to @Generalissimo for suggestions on approaching the issue. I'll see what I can do.

[remote vigil]

What elf submods are you using?

[regal trench]

My Elf Destiny-related list is:

• Elf Destiny
• Elf Destiny: Dominant Genes
• Elf Destiny Convert Holding
• Elf Destiny Elven Supremacy
• Elf Destiny Invite Elf

• Elf Destiny Invite Elfess
• Elf Destiny: Flavourful Names
• Elf Destiny: Regional Expeditions
• Elf Destiny/Cities of Wonders 3 Compatibility Patch

I also have a custom patch for "Time is on my Side" loaded 2nd to last on my list

[thorn crypt]

Nice work on these, I missed it!

[remote vigil]

Yeha, the bug persists for me, it is super weird. Ito nly happens on same race pairings. So lf+Elf while Elf+Human is completelly ok

[remote vigil]

The issue might be solely on Fewer Half Elves

Didn`t test dominant

Body Hair Elfed doesn`t mess with anything related to the mod, it is simply some extra traits

[eager summit]

i had something similar happen but only when using the lotr men at arms mod as soon as i turned it off the bug stopped

[remote vigil]

@regal trench Can you also share your custom patch for TIme is on my side? Sounds fun.

This is run was with this load order

[remote vigil]

Can`t be more basic than this really

[sturdy oasis]

I am currently working on a big compatch submod that ties game mechanics and lore between several supernatural mods, and I have been fantasizing integrating your two mods and adding a third option (one which still cuts down on half elves and humans descending from elves—but by only a fraction), and a fourth option (the OG elf destiny setting) as a game rule. Wanted to ask if you’d be okay with that?

I did introduce a trait for human descendants of elves called trace_elf_blood (a slight modification from the elven blood trait in Old Gods Expanded) that is functional and tied to the racial genetics system in Elven Destiny (and is virtuous to some tenets). So I have given a reason to play with a some human elf descendants, but still would like to have elven genetics be a bit more resilient than the OG mod—hence adding the third setting idea.

[remote vigil]

Something you could do that I also worked on is changing the Werewolves to Shapeshifters and then being able to expand for other types later by using a separate trait.

Basically makes so you can have other types of Animal Human combos like druids.

[regal trench]

Hello, sorry for the late response. IRL problems. I'll test later with the load order to see what's going on. I restarted my previous Elf Destiny run and was still having no issues on my end. I promise to try and figure it out today.
I'm not sure if I won't get in trouble with the original mod author for sharing my TIOMS changes, as on top of patching in traits from mods I use (Polyglot, warlord, plunderer, champion, inquisitor, alchemist, bard, witchcraft), I also changed the death_reason, made the Witch trait carry over, and removed it as a requirement for elves. I also changed the localization because I wanted to headcanon that the soul transference is a secret skill available to the realm lord (from the sigil). Thus, rather than the evil-themed ritual sacrifice story, I have it go that you pretend to be on your death-bed and do the transference when you call your heir over to "give parting words" (never been a fan of the whole "there are terrible costs to seeking immortality" thing).

[regal trench]

This sounds interesting. Go for it. If you happen to find a fix for the issue some people are having (elf/elf kids being human) before I do, please share it with me.

[remote vigil]

It neever hurts to try and contact them, besides, it seems with the externsive work you did it would almost go towards a modification on top of it. But it is oyur call.

Worst case scenario is you can simply create an inspired version of the mod, you rewrite it in a more concise and unique way, while distancing yourself from the original vision (Even Linux was built this way based on a Netherlands professor's book) And you go form there.

[sturdy oasis]

Thank you! I doubt I will be the one figuring out how to fix the issue. I am very new to modding! But if somehow I become really good in such a short time period and I find and fix the issue, I will definitely share. I was already planning on sharing the game rule version of the mod as a standalone with you in case you wanted to release that. It’s a bit lower in my to do list though, as right now I am focused on trying to wrap up the last bit of compatch work needed between Old Gods Expanded and Elf Destiny!

[remote vigil]

Can you send your versions you run for Half Elves and Dominant?

[regal trench]

Sorry for not updating you in a while. So I was able to replicate the bug using the modlist you shared. I spent way more time than I like to admit making changes and testing them. I think there was a point when I somehow made it work for myself but not the ai. I also spent too long scratching my head over why Seraphine (Queen of Feywood)'s brother starts with a human son. Only just a little while ago did I remember to test the game with nothing else but Elf Destiny, and it turns out the kid is still human i.e. it wasn't even my issue to worry about.
Another funny thing is that I now got the bug on a new game with the modlist it was working on before. I have made a fix. I'm not very happy with it because it just repurposes what I did with Fewer Half Elves. However, I'll be out of town for the holidays, and won't be able to do more, so this is the best I can do.
The bug should be gone now, but there will now be a 10% chance of elf/human pairings giving elf-blood. I can't seem to force elves only, and any chance above 90% seems to break the trend towards elf (or RNG-sus really hated me during testing). I'll update the mod shortly.

[remote vigil]

No worries, hope you have a nice holyday, if you need any help to try and find the cause of the bug let me know

[remote vigil]

The issue still persists with Fewer half elves for what I can see.

[meager plover]

@regal trench I'm not sure if you have had time to look at the bug, but I've been working a version of this mod for my own use, and seems to be fine on my end. Basically, instead of using total_parent_elf_value to determine if one of the parents is elf-blooded, it instead checks the mother and real father for any of the race_elf flags. In this version's case, if one parent is human and the other is elf-blooded, there is a 25% chance of having an elf-blooded child and 75% of having a human, but you can change these values. If you would like, I can send the script to you, along with my test results.

[remote vigil]

Please post it here

it is a community effort after all :3

[meager plover]

Like I said, its basically, its a nested OR-AND statement that checks father and mother for the elf character flags, and should only trigger if one parent is a half elf and the other is human.

I tested only with this and the base Elf Destiny mod, with the results seen in this screen shot.

[regal trench]

Hello, sorry for the late response. Your edits look good. I've always wondered if one could get away with assigning "do nothing" when it came to random lists. I used the total_parent_elf_value as a way to simplify the process for myself (to avoid having to code for every elf tier), and I found it to work as more functional alternative to my original method of just having the child undergo a free ascension on birth. This is a great setup to control elf blood/human pairings though, and can be fairly easily edited to make human/elf pairings or elf blood/elf pairings have desired results. Will you upload this? I don't mind taking my mods down if necessary (since they we have similar goals). Alternatively, If you don't mind, I can also incorporate your edits into my mods.

[meager plover]

Thank you. I don't mind if you incorporate it.

[meager plover]

Actually, please test on your end before incorporating it. I just noticed that several children were born with no flag at all, either human or elf. I'll double check my values and scripts.

[meager plover]

For the "do nothing", I thought that by not doing anything, the base mod would simply apply human as normal. @thorn crypt , is there a human flag in the mod or in the species framework? When I looked through it, I didn't see anything.

[thorn crypt]

Human I think occurs when a baby has no elf genotype value
and
the absence of a manual character flag like "race_high_elf"

[meager plover]

Hmm, let me test some more then.

[meager plover]

OK, nevermind. I think this might be an issue with the base mod. I just tested without my script, and all 8 children were born with no flag. I'm assuming that this means the game will just treat them as human.

[thorn crypt]

the flags are a manual way to create elves, but I believe children just need to have some value of elf genotype character flag to become elf

they inherit that value from their parents

[meager plover]

@regal trench Please hold off on incorporating this code. I just ran additional tests, and I'm seeing that 4 of my children are born human. This is despite the fact that I now the half elf condition ran, since I added logs for that:

random_list = {
50 = { # 50% chance the child is a half elf
debug_log = "Running half elf assignment"
add_character_flag = race_elf_blood
debug_log = "Child born is half elf"
}
50 = { # 50% chance the child is human (no flag added)
debug_log = "Running human assignment"
debug_log = "Child born is human"
}

[remote vigil]

It is a really complicated system

even now I still get human children somehow

[regal trench]

Haha, agreed. I'm still somewhat salty that my original method of just forcing the child to undergo a free ascension to elf from elf-blood on birth didn't work 100%. It makes sense in theory. Meanwhile the cases of human kids just seems absurd (since you'd expect the game to just ignore the mod and function as normal). But I guess more knowledgeable coders might see what I don't.

[meager plover]

OK, so after trial and error, I think I have a version of the code that seems to work correctly, which is much closer to your original code @regal trench

The difference here is that urf_for_all_phenotypes = { APPLY = urf_base_race_init } and set_appropriate_elf_immortality_age = yes have been moved into the random_list with the add_character_flag, and the father and mother checks are using is_elf_blood = yes for half elf detection (I saw this in your original code to check if the child was a half elf) and is_any_elf_type = no for human detection. I haven't had chace to do a full amount of testing with this yet, though; real life got in the way this week.

I'll test tonight, to see if it fully replicates the original results.

[meager plover]

Ok, so I've had some time to test, with the following results:

The header is the characters I played as, both father and mother, and the left column is the corresponding NPC parent. The latest version of the code seems to be working as expected. I expect if I continue to play as other elf types, this will look like the chart I posted on January 3rd.

[regal trench]

This looks pretty good to me. I'll do some testing of my own tomorrow and make an update if all goes well. Real life's been getting in my way as well. Made this mod when I was still unemployed. Now that I am, I'm struggling to give a lot of things (mod included) the attention they deserve. Thank you very much for your help. I appreciate it.

[remote vigil]

Yall are GOATs for this effort. Thanks

[candid pollen]

I noticed on the steam page people have mentioned issues with certain pairings producing the wrong phenotype. Curious if this is still an issue, or if we have a workaround for it? Am sick of these filthy half-bloods of the disgusting elves thinking it's okay to marry a human smh

[remote vigil]

Still an issue

But the tmntfan34 has the solution there

makes it less of a elf blood to human pipeline

[remote vigil]

Hey big fella, you think you could update this version on steam until Aetheroth gets back?

Maybe if you can tell me I could perhaps make a elf predominance version

[meager plover]

Sure, I'll link that once I do. In the meantime, the zip file I have here is the mod itself, so if anyone else wants to work on it, go right ahead.