[MERGED] Tel Branora AI

Attachment	Size
TelBranora_AI.esp	36.68 KB

The first set of npcs is finished. This includes everyone outside the tower but the guards (who, in my opinion, are fine).

Next up are the denizens of the tower, then finally Therana herself.

I adjusted the pathgrid where necessary so the two on the waterfront could get where they were going. Also, one TB citizen is a hunter, so I gave her some weapons and armor and sent her out to do some hunting.

Still need to add some randomness so they aren't doing the same thing every day, but I'll finish the basic work first before adding polish.

Stairs still need work (npcs and probably player getting stuck on the bottom step), but I'm not great with collision related stuff and I think this is already in the bug tracker. A bucket will be moved in the smithy when I get around to it (check the shop out if you're curious what I mean) but I'm tired so that's going to be on the next release.

Feel free to grab the esp below. Just replace whatever version you have with the latest when I update and you're good to go.

Therm or other moderator, if you want to move this below the .56 release post please do. I would if I knew how but I'm an absolute noob to forums so I have no idea if I even can.

Last edited by qwertyasdfgh on 9 May 2013 - 14:07.

Looks good Word of advise:

Looks good :)

Word of advise: when setting up smithing animation use XMarkerHeading instead of regular XMarker, so blacksmith always turns towards the anvil before starting the animation.

Oh, and do you use CSE?

I probably should use cse.

I probably should use cse. I'll take a look at it. I'll look at XMarkerHeading and how to use it. Saw it in the Mar Gan stuff but I wanted to learn how both work. I'll make the change on the first update.

Downloaded ver 5.1 and 6.0 of cse.

I'm slightly nervous about installing the obse 2.1 beta to use 6.0, but If you recommend it I'll give it a go. Is obse 2.1 stable enough to go for it?

Got the cse 6.0 up and running. Where has this been all my life. I can even understand the scripting language without getting a headache .

Basically XMarker tells NPC

Basically XMarker tells NPC where to stand and XMarkerHeading also makes them turn into right direction.

ok. good to know

I made the change and will upload it when I'm done finishing everyone but Therana this weekend.

One question: Do you know of a limit on how many packages a single npc can have, either a hard limit or a practical (i.e. it causes problems above a certain number even though they are allowed) ?

I'm asking because what I plan for Mistress Therana will need a very complex set and if a more experienced modder can keep me from being over ambitious so much the better.

I'm prepared if there is a limit. I've got three levels of crazy in mind depending on what'll work and I'll drop back from my third level to a less eccentric set of behaviors if it would require too much of the ai engine.

If you're not sure I'll experiment and see what works, just wondering how many packages I can realistically stack.

I don't know if there's a

I don't know if there's a hard limit, but keep in mind that AI processing in game is kinda slow. So if you want specific NPC to perform complex actions, you'll need to use script to force AI packages to update.

Tel Branora AI done. esp still at first post.

did all the remaining npcs, including Therana.

If her behavior strikes you as odd in the extreme, it's supposed to.

Still to do:

add a random factor so occasionally the npcs veer from their usual schedule.

Create invisible versions of certain items Therana uses. What she does is odd enough but I'd rather she merely think she's doing these activities.

Implement forced ai updates on Therana via script.

Nice, so Tel Branora is close

Nice, so Tel Branora is close to completion now? :)
(not sure what do you mean by "random factor")

I see you deleted the reference for Galen Berer and placed a new one. Doing so may result in double NPCs on existing savegames.

Accidental delete, meant to

Accidental delete, meant to delete a package I'd made for him. I'll clean that up. (to be sure I'll save the mod without any reference to him, then redo his ai in the cleaned .esp)

By random I mean scheduling a few activities in the middle of other longer ones with a variable (random number, weather, whatever else makes sense) controlling whether or not they trigger.

Might need scripting but I'm hoping by careful arrangement of the ai packages the engine can handle it.

For example a package sending them home just above the wander package, and triggered by rainy weather. Only real problem with that approach is the slowness of the ai processing you mentioned, but it might work often enough . .

Cleaning and a few extra packages like I just described are the main thing left to do.

I'd like Therana to rake, hammer, etc with invisible objects to simulate her hallucinating doing these things but I haven't dug back in to the nuts and bolts of how these animations work enough to know if it's possible.

Raking her chamber and hammering on an anvil that isn't there may be crazy enough anyway. I'd just hoped to go that extra step.