[Volunteers needed - newbies accepted] Caves and bandits settings (simple task)

Submitted by digitalparanoid on

Hi,

you want to help Skywind but don't know what to do? I have a task for you. It's simple and repeatable. Volunteer now!
 

This task will enhance Skywind by:
- Reducing occurences of bandits attacking each others and not you ==> IMMERSION! COMBATS!
- See cleared locations on the map ==> EXPLORATION!
- Prepare the first step for radiant quests ==> UNLIMITED CONTENT!
 

Requirement/Preparation
  • Skywind 0.9.0.1 installed
  • Creation Kit (CK) installed
  • Stripped Skyrim.esm (around 16mb) [Remember to backup your original skyrim.esm]
  • Start CK, load Skyrim.esm and Skywind.esm

I started a tracker for all the locations: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Arez62fgyoa5dDRLSGI0U3JMdDZzRmdQRGw0QXUwVFE&usp=sharing.

You can edit it to reserve locations and mark your progress.

For now we will make all the caves/tombs/Dwemer Ruins/Grottos/Mines.
Ignore all those that are related to quests, they might need some special work.

 

For each Dungeon/Cave, etc:

- check in UESP if the place is overrun by bandits (most of the time all NPCs will be marked aggressive in the page). If it's not, you can go to the next one.
    - Open all NPC:
        - in tab Faction: add them to factions 9BanditsFaction. => They will be allies to each other and attack you on sight instead of each other [This might not work with your version of the master when you test, but it will work in the next version]
        - in AI Data tab: make sure their aggression is set to "Very Aggressive" and their confidence is average/brave/foolhardy. => These are outlaws, not peasant by the nine!


    - in Cells (menu world/cells or right click in the cell list), find the interior cell/cells for your cave/dungeon.

  • check if it has a specific location associated (location with same name, not region location).
  •  if it has a specific location, go to World Data > Location, find the location and open it
    screen [External image]
  • if it doesn't have a specific location, go to World Data > Location. Ceate a new one called 0xxxxLocation where xxx is the name of the cave/tomb (without space)

screen


[External image]

          

  • set the parent location (use the region location that is used currently on the cell)
  • add keyword LocTypeClearable
  • save the location
  • go back to the cell and change its location to the one you just created.


 

  • Open the interior cell in the editor.
  • Find the all the outlaws actors
  • Edit them to set their Location Ref Type to Boss


Screen [External image]

Notice that a small rectangular red box has now appeared hovering above the Actors.

  • Open the exterior cell that is linked to this cell (easiest way is to double click the yellow box in front of the door leading outside)
  • Edit this cell and set its location setting to the same location as the interior.
  • Find the map marker (green marker M), edit it go to tab Location Ref Type, set to MapMarkerRefType.
  • save.
  • Notice that a small rectangular white box has now appeared hovering above the marker.

    All done.

Test in-game: when all the NPC marked as boss are dead, the place will be marked as "cleared" on the map.

[External image]

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Last edited by grumpycat on 14 Mar 2014 - 20:23.

I've been monitoring this site for a while and have decided to participate in the project as much as I can. What files would I be needing apart from the usual vanilla data files and creation kit?

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A stripped Skyrim.esm

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Be sure to back up your normal Skyrim.esm master file before using the stripped Skyrim.esm. Do not overwrite your Skyrim.esm with the stripped one, or you're going to have to reinstall Skyrim.

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I added a section for requirements/preparation

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I started working on it.

Can you clarify something for me?

For any humanoid NPCs, only way I could get into the AI Data and Factions tab was to edit base.

After editing base, I also assigned 9BanditFaction in their ref properties. (Refer to 2nd picture)

However, for non-humanoid NPCs (i.e. nix-hounds living with bandits), I did not touch their base properties (because I thought they could be used for non-bandits) and instead edited their ref properties, as seen here:

Can someone guide me in the right direction as to what I'm doing right and wrong?

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Yes, to edit the AI Data and faction you need to go on the base. That's ok because 98,75% of NPC are unique.

The current effort doesn't include creatures so you can leave them as is. For me it's ok that bandits attack/get attacked by hostile creatures.

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Thanks for the clarification. I'll work on the caves first as they seem most interesting.

I'll post the files here as soon as I can. 

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I'm not sure about adding bandit faction ownership on creature references (nix hound reference in screenshot).

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I am done with a cave Adanumuran. 

I tested the esp, and it works like a charm. 

However, since nix-hounds are not edited, they seem to be attacking local bandits. I think that beats the purpose of having nix-hounds and bandits together. 

So here's my suggestion:

Instead of placing a normal Nix-Hounds, can we make a duplicate object (named 1NixHoundBandit) solely for Nix-hounds living with bandits?

The first file does not edit anything related to nix-hounds.

Second file makes a duplicate object of nix-hounds (with  for banditry uses. However, I can't get it to not attack local bandits, even by adding the 1NixHoundBandit to 9BanditFaction.

 

Tell me which way you would like me to continue on. 

Attachments

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thanks. will test asap.

As I mentioned, unless it's specified that the beast of a particular cave are tamed, it feels ok for me to have them as a danger for the other inhabitants.

What I do in this cases is create a specific faction for this cave.

With regard to your nixhound issue (which i will probably not use) in your version of the master, 9banditFaction is not ally with itself I believe, so very aggressive actors will attack everything in sight.

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edit: no longer relevant

 

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As discussed on chat (but for the benefit of others)

- Smugglers/Slavers/Bandits = bad guys, so yes they are in scope

- For slavers, this is potentially different approach:

  • Obviously only bad guys are to be marked as boss
  • If the slaves are behind locked doors and don't get killed by very agressive bad guys then the initial approach is ok
  • HOWEVER, if the slavers frequently kill the slaves, you need to create a specific faction for this location, make it friend with itself and add all slavers+slave (that will prevent the slavers from attacking the slaves). Make the slaves unagressive + helps nobody ; make the slavers very aggressive + helps allies (or helps friends if you want them to defend slaves should you attack them).  With this approach, the slavers will never attack slaves but will continue to attack you.
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I tried my hand at it and have a couple questions too.
When creating a new location there's an awful lot of stuff left blank. Here's a screen to make sure I didn't leave out anything that was too obvious to be mentioned in the guide.

Screen [External image]

I'm guessing the other information is unnecessary because the new location just wraps another location and won't actually be used for anything other than organization in game. (?)

 I went through all the steps and tested it out. I didn't see any of them attack each other, but they were probably too far apart to notice each other anyway. I killed them all and went back outside to check if it was "cleared", but it was not. I'm sure I did not skip a step, but it's possible that I misunderstood something. Here is an esp in case you want to see for yourself.

/files/Lemonaids/files/SW_Kumarahaz_Edit.zip

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Location ref types, cells and actors are populated automatically when you set the location on the cell. You should see the bosses in the 1st tab, the cell in the 2nd, and the actors (NPC+creatures) in the second. This will not be updated automatically, so you might have to close and reopen the window. The rest looks ok for me.

I will have a look at your esp as soon as I can.

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Also it seems aretea has done Kumarahaz already.

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I haven't forgot about these digital. Just I'm gonna be having a busy week so might not have a lot of time to get any done. 

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Ah, thanks. That makes sense.

I didn't see the other tabs down there in the spreadsheet for some reason, so next time I'll claim one that's free.

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Ok, checked all the mines, dwemer ruins, grottos, a bunch of ancestral tombs too, and they are all either non-hostile (miners) or overrun with non-humanoids (unless you count Dreugh). So I did the last unclaimed cave. This time  it does say cleared when you clear it.

For the other locations, should we add undead, daedra, dreugh, etc to the 9BanditFaction, some other faction, or none at all?

Attachment Size
SW_Zenarbael_Edit.esp (external) 5.24 KB

Attachments

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Ok if all the bandits cave are done/reserved, you can start on round 2.

Round 2 is exactly the same as above BUT:

- for locations filled with only creatures (= beasts, monsters, undead)

- all creatures must be marked boss.

Chop chop ! :)

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It sure is nice to have other members participate in this "project."

For digitalparanoid:

I was a bit busy for a couple of days. Will continue working on the caves.

Here are 6 caves. (Dun-Ahhe, Nund to Panat)

Nund is not Navmeshed.

For others (including Lemonaids and Jobe wan Kenobi)

I have un-reserved myself from the "cave" list. If anyone feels like working on them, be my guest. However, please reserve them first, and then work on it.

 

Attachment Size
DunAhhe_Nund-Panat.zip (external) 24.3 KB

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Finished the remaining caves: Ibar-Dad, Pinsun to Zebabi

Here are the problems that I've encountered while working:

Nund, Sanabi, Sinsibadon, Tin-Ahhe: not NavMeshed

Pulk: Needs to have someone look at the Wilderness door to connect to the Pulk cave. The door is missing, not allowing the user to enter.

Also, I will assume that you will change the 9BanditFaction to ally.

Attachment Size
IbarDad_Pinsun-Zebabi.zip (external) 83.97 KB

Attachments

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aretea

Also, I will assume that you will change the 9BanditFaction to ally.

That is correct. (already done actually but not released yet). If that helps for test, you can do it in your files as it will not conflict when merging.

Thanks for the bugs list, will have a look.

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Do creatures and undeads have to be associated with 9BanditFaction too?

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nope

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So I have merged everything that was posted up to this point.

Two remarks:

1/ please group the locations in a single esp, otherwise it's really a pain to merge (40 esp merged!)

2/ For some reason, when merged the "cleared" indicator doesn't work anymore (works perfectly when it's in the esp file).. We will have to investigate why. Anyway all the work is now merged.

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Sorry for not working on these lately. I will get back on them soon.

Also, I will try to make changes within one esp file. 

@digitalparanoid

Is the "cleared" problem fixed in merged files?

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nope, but truly this must be something to do with Skyrim itself. In the esp version it works, once merged everything looks ok but it doesn't work.

Maybe we'll find what's happening later on. Anyway It's worth continuing this, due to the other benefits (bandits helping each others etc...)

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Hi, firstly I want to volunteer.

Secondly, do you need Xmarkers like BossContainer, BossTreasureMarker or InsideEntranceMarker?

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From what I've worked on so far, everything is there to begin with. All I needed to do was modify settings on NPCs and Markers, not create new one. However, if one of the caves is missing a mark, I suggest you contact digitalparanoid.

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@digitalparanoid

The problem where 'cleared' sign does not show up when looked up in World Map happens to me, too. I tried playing with an esp that modified 4 caves, and cleared wouldn't show up. Funny thing is, when you enter the cave and look at the local map, cleared sign shows up.

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@digitalparanoid

A problem I've encountered while debugging:

Some mines are not able to be cleared out, even when checked in Local Map. I am assuming it has something to do with Markers that inhabit the area (i.e. 1exUwildUratUlevX0actor) instead of actual NPCs.

When I'm doing the actual debugging in game, some of the markers fail to show up when I enter an area (i.e. 1exUwildUratUlevX0actor -> rat: rats are not showing up, as opposed to 0Slaughterfish -> slaughterfish show up when debugging).

Do you think it has to do with the Marker not showing up?

If you want to test them for yourself, here is a file (Mauser Caverns to Akimaes-Ilanipu Egg Mine). Check Massama Cave for what I'm talking about.

Attachments

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@aretea will check

@Maetveis for this particular effort, they're not necessary/mandatory. But any enhancement is welcome for sure, when they make sense in a particular location.

 

 

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@digitalparanoid

I think I found the cause of the problem where caves are not being marked as cleared even in local map.

The cause is the markers used in mines. Whenever I debug the mines, the Marker placeholders do not show up in game and does not allow the user to 'kill' them, making user unable to clear the mine out.

(Concerned Markers are: 1EggMineActor, 0inUeggUkwamaUlevX0actor)

When I deleted all the markers and replaced them with actual NPCs, the mine is clearable.

I'm thinking it has to do with either the Creation Kit itself or skywind.esm. 

If it is latter, I say we might be able to figure out a solution, whereas if it is former, then we cannot go on. 

EDIT) Whenever I change 0inUeggUkwamaUlevX0actor to not be a boss (de-select 'Boss'), the map is able to be cleared out.

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I finished the mines.

Bugs I've encountered:

1. Check worksheet for caves not being cleared

2. Caves not NavMeshed: Eretammus-Sennammu, Missir-Dadalit, Sarimisun-Assa, Sinamusa, Sinarralit

Attachment Size
Skywind_Mines.esp (external) 80.88 KB

Attachments

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thank you sir. I will have a look.

Once we have the next dev release (ie everything in this post merged), you could probably have a look in the master directly.

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ok tracker updated :) thanks.

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I am relatively new to modding, however I have mostly figured out dungeon design. I think the Veloth Ancestral Tombs would be a good first place to test my design abilities, I'll reserve that one and attempt it when I get the chance. Hopefully I will not disappoint.

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hey Swordblazer, this thread and effort is about a relativily precise point (describe in the OP).

If you want to clutter, design, etc... you'd better coordinate with other contributor just to make sure of the general direction :) Try happychappy for example.

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Everything up to this point has been merged.

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I really don't know what you've done with 0.9.1 files, digitalparanoid. But the bug we discussed about caves not being marked as cleared when merged? It's GONE. So, either you are a frickin' wizard, or CK is shitting with us. 

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I looked through a lot of the areas in the spreadsheet...most of them have undead and/or daedra in them, and the ones that don't have vampires. I see no bandits according to uesp.

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@ZeroSbr

The title is a bit misleading, imo. This post aims to make most of dungeons show up as "clearable" when actually cleared, as well as properly setting enemy's factions in dungeons so that they don't fight each other when player enters. (that includes bandits AND vampires...)

Most of the area is finished by me, and some is left (ancestral tombs, iirc)

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aretea

I really don't know what you've done with 0.9.1 files, digitalparanoid. But the bug we discussed about caves not being marked as cleared when merged? It's GONE. So, either you are a frickin' wizard, or CK is shitting with us. 

I'll go with wizard (but really I have no idea :P )

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Hello! I'm new and I'd like to help with this. I downloaded all the files posted so far but I'm not sure where I can download: 

  • Skywind 0.9.0.1 installed
  • Creation Kit (CK) installed

I need guidance. Please help? Thanks!

Hoderon

PS: Also If you have any advice for a newbie like me please tell me anything! : )

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Private message digitalparanoid and he can get you a download.

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Happy to be of service. 

 

EDIT: I had Aryon Ancestral Tomb finished and then the CK crashed. I'll do it again tomorrow

Attachment Size
arethanancestraltomb.esp 3.61 KB
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