reasonable horizon

A curated mini-model and unity patch that changes Skyrim's gameplay to require more thought in every aspect of the game.

Introduction

Thoughtful Horizon is a curated mini-model and a unified patch that changes the gameplay of Horizon to make more thought necessary in every aspect of play. While the enemies are more challenging than vanilla, well-thought-out Horizon still emphasizes exploration, adding more emphasis on future planning.

what it does

The following is a high-level summary, for complete details you should read the full module list below.

It emphasizes exploration. You really need to look around you now as you walk. No fast travel means you'll need to learn your way around the sky. To help you, there are a growing number of signposts. At the same time, all compass symbols have been removed, and the player's position has been removed from the map, so you actually need to look at the world to find out where you are.

It makes combat more diverse. You can't go into every battle in a blind manner, wielding your weapon of choice, instead you need to think about what enemy you're facing and prepare accordingly. Enemies now have a variety of resistances that you need to remember, as well as a wider variety of attacks that you need to be prepared for. Your strategy will include what weapons or spells you use, what armor you wear, and what potions you bring.

It puts the economy in trouble. The economy is rebalanced to discourage unskilled construction from hoarding materials and churning out low-quality items. The value of basic crafting items has been reduced, while gold reward quests have been increased. This encourages non-handmade construction and allows them to actually get out there and play games. Meanwhile, new perks can reward crafting experts.

It makes the grinding job a snap. You now have complete freedom to level up the skills you want, even if you rarely use them, since skills are no longer leveled through practice. Instead, skill advancement now occurs entirely through an expanded training system: You earn money by completing quests, selling loot, or crafting items, and then use your earnings to pay trainers to teach you. There's no need to make 100 hidden helmet levels, just go out and play the game.

It discourages hoarding. Your carrying capacity is greatly reduced, and players are not encouraged to bring back every piece of junk to sell, but instead to create treasures such as gold and jewelry that are particularly valuable. Craft-based builders will want to make dedicated trips to specific elements (with the support of a game guide) and for the rest of the trip, they can just enjoy the scenery.

It slightly disrupts the world. You can no longer recharge in any dungeon without worrying about what lies ahead: the world is now wiped out, and some places are effectively off-limits to low-level characters. Enemy HP doesn't grow as fast as it does in vanilla, though, so a well-prepared player will likely outgrow their level. Still, for low-level characters, City Dwellers offers a variety of simple tasks to get you started.

This way you won't scratch anymore. The ability to save quickly and load quickly is a long-standing problem in Sky that gets no reward from the achievement, as all opponents, no matter how difficult, can eventually be defeated through persistent effort. To prevent this, the player cannot save at will, but instead must sleep or consume a craftable/purchasable elixir.

Highly modular. Most of the mods below are 100% compatible with all other mods on the list, so you can skip them if you don't like them. If you have a modlist compatibility patch installed, some of the difficult requirements will appear, while others are partially tied into the patch itself, these are represented by the "and" symbol in the modlist below.

things it can't do

It doesn't add demand or survival to the game. Many survival factors hinder exploration. Skyrim was thoughtfully designed to allow players to experience e …