This is a proof of concept on multiple levels.
First, I mentioned in the forums that I want to give players the option to gender bend an NPC. I think offering these options would provide a little bit of replay value, particularly for some of the older, more static characters.
For this experiment I figured Gnives would be the best candidate. This is because he’s more or less a finished character. There’s little to no chance he will be revised or expanded, so there’s no danger of having to get the consent of multiple actors every time I want to add a greeting.
Second, it’s an opportunity to show how simple it is to add your own voice to a character, should you choose to do so. At some point I want to make a more detailed tutorial on how to do this, but the basic idea is that patches can be made for personal use.
In any case, Zillac‘s version of FemGnives will be an optional download that will be released with v3.06, probably in a USER PATCHES section in the forums. It will simply require replacing the original audio and then using a console command. I tried making a separate patch instead of using the console, but it didn’t work – probably requires making the mod an ESM.
I definitely wouldn’t expect you choose to genderbend a khajiit after how many trouble you seem to had with casting suitable actresses to voice them. This one likes it. I think you have been also considering (or been convinced to do it) some fun quest with temporary genderbending, is it still a possible option?
Well, it’s because I didn’t really hold Zillac to doing the gravelly voice and sort of just let her do it on her own.
The quest I’m still debating how to execute it. I’ve considered integrating the idea into the quest I was working on that involves Skjarn and Carmella, but I don’t know if the tonal shift is right.