Relocating NPC's who (normally) disappear to proper areas.

[Reversinator]

Hello, world!

 

One thing that I really dislike about the game is that NPC's that you help or come across often run away and literally never show up again. After their quest, they get completely removed from the game, which is something that I always found really disappointing. I've noticed this especially with the Boulder City Showdown characters: Monroe and the hostages all poof from the game after a while. I wanted to start off small and have the hostages relocate to the closest NCR outpost (which would be Station Alpha, I think) and then sandbox around there, but I'm convinced that I'm illiterate with GECK after spending an hour trying to sort it out, with making them travel either as soon as they are released or when the quest is completed, and I can't find any tutorials that seem to be what I'm looking for. Even just a bump in the right direction would be greatly appreciated, but anyone who could actually do what I'm asking for, even with just the two hostages, would be amazing.

 

[devinpatterson]

I wanted to start off small and have the hostages relocate to the closest NCR outpost (which would be Station Alpha, I think) and then sandbox around there,

 

Sounds like a good idea, who else would you like to see relocated?

[madmongo]

Many NPCs like that are intentionally removed by Bethesda after their quest is done to help cut down on resources used so that the game gets better performance. For example, the winner of the lottery in Nipton actually runs off into the desert, reaches his destination, and promptly dies for no reason (assuming that he isn't killed by radscorpions first). Some NPCs die, others just vanish. Either way, the game doesn't waste any more resources on them.

 

There are two things you need to do to make this work the way you want it to.

 

First, you need to get your NPCs to go to RS Alpha and sandbox there. You might need to make a travel AI package, but I think all you need to do is make a sandbox package for RS Alpha and they'll walk there automatically, assuming that they can figure out a walk path from where they are to their destination. If you aren't familiar with AI packages, you create a sandbox package, make its location your new marker and give it some distance (the distance that you want them to be able to move around away from that marker), and you typically give it a script condition using script variables from the NPC's script. At the end of the Boulder City Showdown quest, you just set the script variable on the NPC and tell the NPC to evaluate their packages (use the evp command in your script).

 

Note that NPCs can sometimes be killed while walking to their destination (they might encounter a deathclaw or something along the way). Bethesda will often move the NPC to their destination instead of letting them walk there to avoid them potentially getting killed.

 

The second thing you need to do is get rid of the NPCs current behavior so that it doesn't interfere with what you want to do. You may need to delete or disable certain AI packages and modify the existing scripts so that they don't make the NPC disappear to Never-Never Land.

[Reversinator]

 

I wanted to start off small and have the hostages relocate to the closest NCR outpost (which would be Station Alpha, I think) and then sandbox around there,

 

Sounds like a good idea, who else would you like to see relocated?

Heck, if you start bringing up other people, my answer's gonna be, "All of them." I know, I know, start small. Off the top of my head, people I want to start off with are Oliver (Nipton lottery winner), Malcolm (Star cap explainer), Tomas/Jacklyn (couple fighting over Star caps), and maybe even Boxcars (Med-X powder ganger) if you give him enough chems, but I' won't cry if he isn't touched. I know the implication with some of them is that they're out adventuring, but it's kinda moot if you never actually see them, so I'd prefer plopping them in various areas with other people.

 

 

Many NPCs like that are intentionally removed by Bethesda after their quest is done to help cut down on resources used so that the game gets better performance. For example, the winner of the lottery in Nipton actually runs off into the desert, reaches his destination, and promptly dies for no reason (assuming that he isn't killed by radscorpions first). Some NPCs die, others just vanish. Either way, the game doesn't waste any more resources on them.

Bah, I'm a mod user. If the hundred-or-so mods that mess with the population aren't making me crash, a few more won't hurt.

 

There are two things you need to do to make this work the way you want it to.

 

First, you need to get your NPCs to go to RS Alpha and sandbox there. You might need to make a travel AI package, but I think all you need to do is make a sandbox package for RS Alpha and they'll walk there automatically, assuming that they can figure out a walk path from where they are to their destination. If you aren't familiar with AI packages, you create a sandbox package, make its location your new marker and give it some distance (the distance that you want them to be able to move around away from that marker), and you typically give it a script condition using script variables from the NPC's script. At the end of the Boulder City Showdown quest, you just set the script variable on the NPC and tell the NPC to evaluate their packages (use the evp command in your script).

 

Note that NPCs can sometimes be killed while walking to their destination (they might encounter a deathclaw or something along the way). Bethesda will often move the NPC to their destination instead of letting them walk there to avoid them potentially getting killed.

 

The second thing you need to do is get rid of the NPCs current behavior so that it doesn't interfere with what you want to do. You may need to delete or disable certain AI packages and modify the existing scripts so that they don't make the NPC disappear to Never-Never Land.

Thank you very much for the tips, but I swear the more I look at the GECK, the less I understand it. For starters, I rooted around in the hostage's script and got rid of this chunk of code:

 

begin OnReset

; Despawn if I've been rescued

if ( VMS20.HostagesFreed == 1 ) ; JSH 04/27/11 - Updating variable to prevent zombie. Yes, zombie.

Disable

MarkForDelete

endif

end

Which should solve the problem of them poofing (I'm kinda interested in hearing more about the zombie, though...). And that's basically the only thing I can confidently say I accomplished; I have a rudimentary plugin file (I'd upload it here if I knew how) set up solely to work with one of the hostages, and at the moment, I'm spawning her in via console commands to see what she does. So far, she has run around in circles with no destination in mind.

Progress!

[devinpatterson]

There are two things you need to do to make this work the way you want it to.

Actually there are more aspects to consider (addScriptPackage, EvaluatePackage, at least one var to set them on their path etc), you'v touched on the most elementary, rudimentary aspect, but it's not a big deal. The whole concept is fairly simple and straight forward, so it doesn't require breaking down the steps or any real detail (it's not complicated) in the post.

 

Heck, if you start bringing up other people, my answer's gonna be, "All of them." I know, I know, start small. Off the top of my head, people I want to start off with are Oliver (Nipton lottery winner), Malcolm (Star cap explainer), Tomas/Jacklyn (couple fighting over Star caps), and maybe even Boxcars (Med-X powder ganger) if you give him enough chems, but I' won't cry if he isn't touched. I know the implication with some of them is that they're out adventuring, but it's kinda moot if you never actually see them, so I'd prefer plopping them in various areas with other people.

So where would you like to see your wandering peeps head to? I think Tomas/Jacklyn are supposed to end up fighting it out to the death....but I suppose in some games they both survive and one flees. How about Oliver Boxcars? Where do you see their travels taking them?

[Reversinator]

 

Heck, if you start bringing up other people, my answer's gonna be, "All of them." I know, I know, start small. Off the top of my head, people I want to start off with are Oliver (Nipton lottery winner), Malcolm (Star cap explainer), Tomas/Jacklyn (couple fighting over Star caps), and maybe even Boxcars (Med-X powder ganger) if you give him enough chems, but I' won't cry if he isn't touched. I know the implication with some of them is that they're out adventuring, but it's kinda moot if you never actually see them, so I'd prefer plopping them in various areas with other people.

So where would you like to see your wandering peeps head to? I think Tomas/Jacklyn are supposed to end up fighting it out to the death....but I suppose in some games they both survive and one flees. How about Oliver Boxcars? Where do you see their travels taking them?

 

The first place I though of was Primm. It's close enough to Nipton where most of them appear (besides Malcolm who can spawn pretty much everywhere, though since he starts walking towards the Mojave Outpost before disappearing, maybe moving him there would be simpler) and it's got enough room to support them. Also, Tomas and Jacklyn both die? In all of my playthroughs, one kills the other and then engages me in a conversation about the person killing them. And then if Jacklyn survived, she almost always dies, because 90% of her dialog options revolve around attacking me.

[devinpatterson]

The first place I though of was Primm.

sounds good. I'll try to start piecing them together soon-ish. Maybe it can combine with another mod I'v been working on off and on (Viva New Vegas, changing the gameworld after the final battle at hoover).

 

Also, Tomas and Jacklyn both die?

No, they fight to the death (ie until one of them kills the other), I believe. I guess there's a small, non zero chance they could kill each other simultaneously.

[fcmem]

Found some I think, Layla and some thugs

They confront you when you go into vikie and vennies casino in primm after a new sherif is selected.

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/A_Team_of_Moronic_Mercenaries

 

Near as I can tell they don't actually go anywhere after the encounter, It looks like they leave via the door but I think they actually just get disabled.

Not sure if they show up later in the game but I doubt it.

 

As for what should happen to them? not sure, still on my first play thru and have'nt any great / easy ideas.

 

1. send them to good springs, I'd have suggested novac but there is a ranger and 2 ex-ncr snipers there, so probably not deserter friendly.

2. send them to new cannon ? I think the town was called? not sure if that's an actual place in game or not I have'nt found it if so.

3. set them up in a small camp somewhere (since it's suggested they hide)

4. have them setup a roadblock posing as NCR and rob people.. might require new voice overs.

 

 

It's a bit hard to find a place they will "fit in" since being deserters they're hated by everyone, khans/powder gang would'nt have them because they're ex-ncr.

legion would of course just kill them, and NCR obviously is not to happy.

[devinpatterson]

Found some I think, Layla and some thugs

Thanks for pointing them out. I do seem to remember a mod that did something like this for Layla, but I could be mistaken.

 

As for what should happen to them? not sure, still on my first play thru and have'nt any great / easy ideas.

Some good ideas, interesting twist on them posing as NCR while being wanted by the republic.