Weekly Update (1/19/18) — Beta 2 Release, Skyrim Sewers, Sunday Stream, & UI Changes

Hello my friends, and welcome to another weekly update!

A hearty welcome to our New Patrons:

• Brian Peirce
• Carlos Santana
• Daniel Sanusi
• Jeff Carr
• josh nonymous
• Justin Mohr
• kaderat123
• KrovaxTV
• Markus Pohl
• Nupanuzan
• Shyam Ajudia
• TheResolute
• Tyler Nau
• Veggie Burgers

This week is another doozy, so let's jump right in.

• Today marks Release 2 of the Ultimate Skyrim 4.0 Beta. Goodie Bag Patrons can access Beta r2 by clicking this link!
  
  
• A quick reminder that this month's Patron Stream will take place this Sunday, January 21st @ 12:00pm PST. We'll be playing the new Beta Release 2, and I'll be answering your questions about Ultimate Skyrim, the channel, and whatever else!
  
  
• This week's biggest new addition is Skyrim Sewers by Viltuska. I integrated this mod with the tremendous help of reddit user /u/IBNYX, who graciously allowed me to integrate their work directly into the main Ultimate Skyrim files.
  
  For those who aren't familiar, Skyrim Sewers adds intricate sewer networks beneath Solitude, Whiterun, Windhelm, and Markarth, as well as some forts and dungeons.
  
  You can use these sewers to remain undetected as you traverse the cities, which is particularly great for thieves, assassins, vampires, or anyone who needs to evade capture or utilize alternate routes in & out of the major cities. The sewers contain all new items, creatures, characters, and secrets to discover, so dive in... if you can brave the dark.
  
  
• Several essential mod powers have been reclassified as Abilities, given to all new characters on game start. These powers enhance your ability to survive and make use of the resources around you. Abilities include Item Crafting, Foraging, Cooking, Fishing, Wood Gathering, and more.
  
  
• I've replaced the Moonlight Tales Overhaul with its sister mod Moonlight Tales Essentials for cleaner functionality and better compatibility. Werewolves rejoice!
  
  
• With the return of the crosshair, I've integrated Dot Crosshair and Thinner Compass to replace the atrocious vanilla reticle without sacrificing compatibility for iActivate. Happy hunting, marksmen!
  
  
• Several mods have been removed to improve stability and functionality across the board. Here's a list of removed mods, and the reasoning behind their removal:
  
  Classic Level Up: slotted for replacement by "Sleep to Gain Experience", which provides similar functionality in a cleaner way
  Enhanced Blood Textures: heavily impacted performance in some cases, particularly large combat scenarios.
  Horizon of Dreams: no longer necessary alongside Snowfall's proprietary night skies and lighting.
  Randomized Word Walls: occasionally prevented players from properly receiving Words of Power, general wonkiness
  Stealth Meter Tweak: I decided to re-implement the detection eye, now that Skyrim Souls makes players detectable during crimes.
  Traveler's Covered Wagon: A nice idea, but the execution was simply too buggy and wonky. We'll implement a replacement, if possible.

That wraps up this week's update my friends. Thanks for reading as always, and I'll see you this Sunday for the stream!

Love,

BB