JMarso

Okay, what you suggested worked- sort of. There was one more step, which was to duplicate the NPC and use the duplicate. What that probably means is that doing the NPC as a separate mod is a waste of time- if you just create it as part of the original .esp file with the custom world space selected as the master. I'm going to try that next and see if it works as well, but I suspect it will. Thanks for the tip! You basically got me on the proper path there.

No, I was trying to develop the NPC part of the mod as a separate mod that used the custom world space as a parent master file. An overlay, if you will. So does the custom cell need to be the active file in order to place an NPC inside it? (As opposed to the NPC mod being active- judging by your comment, I may have been doing this backwards.) Lemme go try it the way you described and see what happens.

Can you see other game markers but just not the light markers or no markers at all? Are you sure you didn't bump the M key by mistake? If you can't see any makers at all, click anywhere in the render window and hit the 'M' key. That's the obvious solution, I know. Otherwise I can't think of anything that would make marlers arbitrarily vanish.

Okay, I'm at the end of my rope here. I'll start by describing what works and what doesn't, then outline what I've tried to fix the problem, but with no success. The overriding issue: I cannot place a custom made NPC into a custom made cell. What does work: The NPC will place and function fine within the Tamriel worldspace, as well as all vanilla interior cells. Furthermore, if I recruit the NPC in one of those other places they will follow me into the custom made cell and function normally inside it. 1. The customs cells are navmeshed. 2. I've tried using linked references and xmarkers to aid in making the NPC appear, but nothing I've tried on that front has worked. I've tried placing a simple xmarker and linking the NPC to it, and I've tried doing the same through the AI packages by either creating a custom AI package or editing an existing sandboxing package. It doesn't matter whether I try using the custom cell itself as the linked reference or an xmarker in the cell, nothing works. 3. As an experiment, I tried to COC into the custom cells from the main menu, which may provide a clue: Although the custom cells appear and function normally in game, trying to COC into them results in a teleport to nowhere. Either total blackness or a grey nothingness. Here's the interesting thing, though: both times I tried this with the custom NPC in the cell, I could hear their voice giving me a standard greeting even though they weren't visible. So on the face of it, it would seem that the NPC's are heading to the same empty limbo that I go to on a COC console command. Yet the cells work fine in-game, except that NPC's won't spawn there. Researching on line hasn't yielded anything that works, and I'm new enough with the CK that I'm not sure if I'm making a mistake in the process somewhere. The tutorials I've looked at all involve dropping NPC's into existing vanilla cells, and that's not a problem for me. If anyone knows the fix for this, I'm all ears. The COC teleport to nowhere thing has me a little concerned, though. It seems as though that shouldn't be happening.

Ran into this a little while ago after not having had any problems with it. Turned out the fix for me was to make sure I had the 'Actors' category selected before highlighting my NPC and hitting CTRL- F4. Hope that helps; I've been tinkering with the CK for a couple of weeks and it is NOT the most user friendly thing ever.

The only problem I noted so far (and might not have noticed right away except I just started a new char) is that whatever they did to Smithing, smithing anything now massively pumps your smithing skill and artificially levels you. I went to the smith in Riverrun at LVL 1, and after smithing/improving the iron dagger, hide helmet, an imperial bow, and a sword my smithing skill was 50+ and the leveller let me level up to 7 on the spot. Seriously f'n broken. :(

A mod request for the outfit worn by Wesley AKA The Dread Pirate Roberts in the Princess Bride. Should looks like 'clothes' but count as 'light armor' for game purposes. Black do-rag/mask Black laced-neck pirate shirt Black pants Black cuffed boots If anyone could do it, much gracias!

Disregard this mod request- I found a mod that will get me the same result. Mods- please lock.

I've got no modding ability with this game. What I'd like is to have the various ranger outfits (casual, vest, red scarf) available for purchase and use from the merchants in Goodsprings and/or Primm, or maybe the barracks at the Mohave outpost. I think the game vanilla versions are faction free and that is fine (actually preferred), nor do they provide any protection- they're just clothes. Currently the only way to get a set is off a dead ranger, and most of my characters who would wear a ranger outfit aren't about to assassinate one just for his duds. :P If any modders out there could gen this up and publish it, I'd be much obliged. Ciao!

Kane's post about the Mage Tower is incorrect. The Zevran subplot will start after you finish the first of ANY of the major questlines. If you do the mage tower first, Zev's plot will spawn after that. If you do the Brecilian Forest or Orzamar first, it will spawn after either of those. You merely have to complete one of the army-building quests to get it going. So, if you want to get Zev quick, you should probably go straight to the mage tower and knock it out because it is a) the easiest of those quests, and; b) the quickest to complete. It's possible to stroll into Redcliffe with Zev in your party.

Nord Viking Warrior with a Big Axe and a Big Sword and a Big Round Shield, Baby! Horned helmets are optional!

You can do it with the latest version of the Winter Forge.

Having problems with this too. Specifically, I think the script is not compiling properly. This is the log entries: I: 14:22:13 - my_event_handler.nss - The resource "my_event_handler.nss" has been saved. I: 14:22:13 - Offers.xml file has been updated successfully. I: 14:22:13 - AddIns.xml file has been updated successfully. E: 14:22:13 - Could not get client script resource information. W: 14:22:13 - No starting area specified for campaign. I: 14:22:13 - Compile failed E: 14:22:13 - my_event_handler.nss - my_event_handler.nss(6): Variable defined without type (while compiling var_constants_h.nss) I: 14:22:13 - Compiling my_event_handler.nss... Anyone know what it means when it says it can't get the client script resource info? Been following the tutorial word for word.

Another question (maybe a dumb one): Do 'Areas' happen inside 'Levels', or is it the other way around? I'm having trouble figuring out what the basic difference between an 'area' and a 'level' is.

Okay, I've started playing around with the toolset, looking at some tutorials, and so on. I'm just about ready to dive in and start working on my first custom module, which I plan to be a standalone. I also know from past experience that getting started is going to be a frustrating trial and error sort of thing. Scripting in particular will be a problem for me as I have no modern programming knowledge, but that's a bridge I'll cross when I come to it. Looks like there is plenty of scripting 'help' in the tutorials. So here's my basic question, in an effort not to totally screw myself out of the gate: which is the proper order to do everything? My guess (and it's just that) is that I ought to go something like this: 1. Plan what I want to do on paper. (Basically a checklist with some story and plot points, etc) 2. Create a new module. 3. Create the levels 4. Create the areas and do the placeables. 5. Populate the areas with people and creatures. 6. Do the various conversations / plotting 7. Do the scripts. I'm going to need a world map for travel between locations as well, but currently have NO IDEA how to make that work in game. Read a tutorial on it but it hasn't gelled int he slightest yet. Does that sound right, or should the order of things be different? Some folks have probably forgotten more about modding this game than I may ever figure out, so hints and help would be much appreciated. Here's my general outline for my first try: When the module starts, generate a LVL 1 character. Player's choice as to race, class, etc, although the storyline will favor either a human or dwarf. They'll start in a wilderness area on the way to the village that will sort of be their central base for most of the module. This will be sort of a viking/nordic setting, something along the lines of the Icelandic Sagas set in a harsh, cold climate rife with dangers, but set in THEDAS and mostly true to DragonAge lore. Dwarves will be major players alongside the humans, with the Dalish having a small showing as well. From the village, the player will pick up their first quests, form their first associations, recruit allies, and sally forth on their upcoming adventures. Most of it will be as straightforward as I can make it, given it's my first attempt at this. If I can make this one work, my next project will be the 'Teryn of Gwaren' mod that I outlined in the mod request thread, but that's way too complex a deal for me to cut my teeth on. Anyway, anyone who can sort of help me 'flowchart' the best order to tackle the various tasks involved, please chime in. Thanks!

In my experience, if you deactivate an armor mod and then go back and reactivate it when returning to a prior savegame, it should work fine. Of course, it my depend on the various mods you are running because sometimes they tend to conflict with one another, but generally speaking you should be okay. Where you need to be careful with armor/weapon mods is when starting a NEW game. One example I can think of is the Forgotten Armor: great set, but if you start a new game with it activated it glitches out; you'll get the codex entry but not the gear. You have to wait until after you start, save the game, activate the mod, and then load your save game and it works fine. Before I start a new playthrough I always go through my 'installed DLC' list and double check it to make sure anything I want to use in the right 'state' for starting a new game, and that anything I don't plan to use that playthrough is turned off. There are a couple of bigger mods (Dark Times) that I flat out uninstall when I'm not playing them because they cause a couple conflicts in the OC. Have fun!

Well, it's sort of a subjective thing, but: Must Have Mods 1. The Winter Forge 2. Adonnay's Weapon Replacer 3. Natural Bodies All in One 4. Dragon Age Face Replacer 5. Advanced Tactics 6. Respecification Great Mods Kite shield mod that makes the shields look good (gets rid of the stretched hide heraldry) Tombs of the Undead Return to Castle Cousland Alley of Murders Dragon Age Redesigned Black Templar Armor Armor of the Black Fox Improved Sex Scenes (The Pearl Mod- can't remember the exact name) Extra Dog Slot Expanded Dog Talents

Companions: Haven't devoted much thought to it yet. Some places would lend themselves to certain main characters becoming temporary companions, but it would be fun to have more permanent companions. Not sure about feasability, but retaining Leliana, Roland, Wynne, and/or Zevran might be interesting. Others might include: 1. A City Elf turned Dalish archer/ranger type- perhaps one of your 'Forest Reeves'. Could help interact with the Dalish, Bandit, and Beast of Gervais plotlines. 2. An apprentice mage of some sort, perhaps an assistant to either Amber or your Court Mage. 3. If not the Guard captain or Knight Commander himself, a loyal squire, young, relatively inexperienced, and eager to please. Don't know if it would be more fun as a male or female, elf or human. 4. A few wicked analogs of those above for the morally challenged. :) All the stuff in the above few posts is a broad outline. There would obviously be some minor characters, maybe some comic relief, a romance or fling potentially, and a couple of those really short quests in the same vein as paying 80 sovereigns for workers or finding granite for the walls at Vigil's Keep. This is obviously a really ambitious project, and a few days before DAII hits the stores might not be the best time to float the idea. But for any modders out there that might be interested in joining a team to make this happen, keep it in mind and post your ideas here!

Forgot a couple quests: Pirates Sort of a seaborne/coastal parallel to the bandit plotline. The catch: the Guildmaster of Thieves is a close relative of a certain pirate captain. If the captain is brought to heel, will it distrupt the delicate balance in the city between the Watch, the Merchants, and the Guild? The Thieves Guild of Gwaren Perhaps not a quest unto itself, but the guild and its members will play a role in several plotlines, be it as quest-giver, plot-driver, opponent, or ally. Sometimes maybe a little of all four!

Lord of Gwaren! Intro: One of the possible endings of DAO involves the character choosing 'a title and riches to go with it' as their boon for becoming the Hero of Ferelden. They are then granted the lands of title to Gwaren, in effect replacing Loghain as Teryn. We know that if they plan to continue later as Warden Commander of Vigil's Keep, they'll only have about six months on the job before changing venues again. So what happened during those six hectic months in Gwaren? For a while now I've wanted to develop a mod involving the lordship of a terynir or arling- some of which we saw in Awakening, but this time with other challenges aside from the ever-present threat of a darkspawn horde rolling over the place. I've got a bunch of ideas rolling around in my head, but it's waaaaay too much work for one person, especially one whose knowledge of the toolset is in the fledgling stages. So I wanted to throw out some of my ideas and find out if there might be any interest in a team collaboration on such a mod. The best mods out there seem to be team efforts for the most part anyhow. I'm going to outline some ideas in the following post; it's a fine line between showing where I want to go with the mod and giving away every plot detail, so if you aren't a modder and you might be interested in playing such a mod sometimes, be careful what you read lest you spoil yourself too much. I'll try not to give away the whole enchilada with my descriptions. Basically though, what I'm aiming for is an experience that will vary depending on race, class, and gender, and the idea is to have something good for each possibility. The way an Elven teryn would be greeted would be substantially different than the reception the second child of Teryn Cousland would receive. And what would the Chantry think of a mage being handed any sort of title at all? Characters Some of the people of interest populating Gwaren would be as follows: 1. The Player: the PC gets first mention because the interactions with all the others will depend greatly on the PC's race, gender, and class. 2. The Seneschal of Gwaren 3. Knight Commander of Gwaren's remaining knights (those that survived Denerim and the Blight) 4. Captain of the Castle/City Guard 5. The Guildmaster of Thieves (a public, relatively popular figure leading a double life. He/she also has a relative who's involved in seaborne piracy, which is going to cause some problems for everyone...) 6. Mage Advisor assigned to Gwaren by the Circle of Magi. This character would be of the Loyalist persuasion with Aequitarian leanings- important for plot, because one of the big ongoing plotlines involves the fallout of Uldred's rebellion and the strife between the fraternities. This of course is prior to the meeting of the College of Magi in Cumberland that Wynne refers to in Awakening. 7. Head of the Local Mages Collective (Libertarian mage, whose identity would be generally unknown) 8. Revered Mother of the Gwaren Chantry- a powerful figure in her own right, akin to a bishop of sorts among the various Gwaren Chantries due to hers being the central Chantry in the Ternyr. 9. Knight Commander of the Chantry's Templars in Gwaren 10. A mage emissary from the Circle. This character, unbenknownst to everyone, is a Libertarian Blood Mage, evil in the extreme, and going to cause a whole lot of problems around Gwaren before all is said and done. A very Machiavellian sort of cat. 11. Jade and Amber of the Jade Tower: The former is the Arl of Burne, a warrior of some reknown. Amber is his sister, an Isolationist/Aequitarian mage with Libertarian leanings. Their holding will be the locale of a major quest-line. 12. The Arl (or Arlessa) of Gervais, another vassal state of Gwaren. Gervais and its Arl will be the subjects of a quest. Factions: The following groups/ alliances/ sub-states would exist in Gwaren: 1. The Arling of Burne 2. The Arling of Gervais 3. The Bannorn of Gwaren 4. The Thieves' Guild 5. The City Guard 6. The Mages Collective 7. The Merchants' Guild 8. Pirates 9. Qunari Raiders 10. The Chantry 11. Bandits 12. The Dalish 13. Surface Dwarf Traders (The lyrium trade) Last but not least, another sub-group would be the PC's immediate advisors, consisting of the Seneschal, Captain of the Guard, Mage advisor, and so on. Of course, one or more of these characters might have multiple and/or conflicting loyalties, especially given the PC's involvement in the demise and/or banishment of Loghain, the HERO OF RIVER DANE!! Quests These are the initial quests/plots I've come up with- the list is by no means all inclusive. There would be essentially two quest-types here: the standalone sort, and the sort that tends to influence other events. This is also where the player character's background and alignment comes into play. Different plotlines will have different outcomes depending on how the player handles them, perhaps resulting in catastrophic collisions with other plotlines down the road. In the end, did the crown ask the PC to take on the Darkspawn in Amaranthine because they were so sorely needed, or because the crown had to do SOMETHING to get that train wreck of a Teryn out of Gwaren before the land went into full revolt? Court Sessions: There will probably be about three of these at various stages, to be used partially as 'mood setters' in which the Teryn's dispositions of justice or injustice shall be noted by his vassals. Does the teryn provide good lordship or poor? Is he/she worthy of loyalty or not? Subplots: - Grazing disputes -Taxation -Droit de Signeur (rape case in the Bannorn) -Bann-ditry (handling poor lordship on the part of vassals) -Dispensing proper measures of justice to criminals -Petitions by the Dalish -Petitions by subjects, mostly to serve as plot hooks/ quest givers The Blood Mage The emissary from the Circle Tower is not who or what he appears to be. His goal is to incite mages into a full revolt against the Chantry, and he will be working behind the scenes in Gwaren to accomplish this. He is an old acquaintance of the Court's mage advisor, it is true, and thus will have his ear, at least initially. But there are other local mages to influence as well, not the least of whom is Amber of the Jade Tower, sister to the Arl of Burne. This will be a long-running quest line, with potentially a very interesting outcome if the PC happens to be a blood mage too! (Or even just agrees with the Libertarian philosophy!) This plot would be fed to the player at several different points in order to make it long-running. Subplots: -Murdered templars -Isolated veil sunderings -Collaboration with the thieves guild to deal in stolen lyrium -The seduction and fall of Lady Amber -Fighting alongside Gwaren's forces during the Qunari Raid, perhaps tipping his/her hand. Qunari Raid! The Gwaren coastline is subjected to a raid in force by the Qunari. Relatively straightforward quest that will involve the Teryn leading a large force in a large battle. Factors which may influence this plotline include how the Teryn has been handling his subjects in terms of lordship and taxation and such: will the Banns show in force and fight willingly, or will the Teryn have to bribe, cajole, or worse still, face the Qunari horde understrength? Bandits in the Brecilian Passage Straightforward plotline involving bandits preying on trade. Of particular interest to many parties here is one particular case, where a caravan of surface dwarves transporting lyrium for the Chantry is waylaid. Where that lyrium ends up will be of great interest to many parties, and may even cause political ripples in the city itself. How the teryn handles past cases will determine the severity of banditry in the ternyr, and how in turn the vassals react to the teryn. The Beast of Gervais Standalone module involving some sort of werebeast molesting the population of that Arling. The Arl, bled dry by the Blight, petitions you for aid. Finally, a vacation from court intrigues! Trouble with the Dalish Everywhere you go, there they are! These problems may be minor or they may be huge depending on your character's race and disposition. Elves and elf-friends will find the Dalish more trusting than callous human lords. In addition, how the teryn deals with banditry in the ternyr will have a serious impact here. Subplots: - Bandits vs the Dalish - Halla poaching -Bandits framing the Dalish? -Dalish aid against the Qunari raid? The 'Halloween' Quest I'm not sure what form this will take just yet, but a standalone module with the mood of the Blackmarsh: a haunted mansion, and lots of undead with some sort of custom bogeyman like a vampire analog or a particularly nasty Arcane Horror/ Revenant style boss. Gotta keep the ternyr free of these types if you want to keep your oath to the vassals!! The Cairn These gloomy hills on the edge of the haunted Brecilian Forest have long scared away travellers and locals. Something wicked lies there, and its power is growing bolder and more dangerous. A short standalone module. Revolt! The end-stage of an evil PC's handling of affairs in the arling. Be prepared to deal with pitchforks, feathers, and hot tar! The Summons The endgame module. Life is either better or worse in Gwaren depending on the player, but now a summons has come from Denerim: the player is once again needed in their capacity as Grey Warden, far to the north in Amaranthine. Who shall rule Gwaren as regent in their absence?

On the newest version of TWF you wouldn't even have to create a new item- just do a model change on the Juggernaut helmet to turn it into whichever helmet model catches your fancy. If you stick to just the model change, the material and enchantments on the item will stay the same, as well set bonuses. However, with the forge, all, some or none of those things can be modified at will. It is really the ultimate DAO mod in terms of being able to alter the model, appearance, and abilities of in-game items.

Okay, somehow I got the toolset working finally. Don't ask me how because as far as I can tell I didn't do anything differently this time compared to the other times I tried to install it. I have reinstalled the game itself since then so maybe that had something to do with it. Okay, questions: 1. First and foremost, what are the BEST tutorials (video and written) out there for the toolset? Particularly interested in level and environment creation, plotting, and scripting. 2. Is it even possible to run the character generator at the front end of a custom made module and then launch into it with a new character? 3. If you have custom gear installed, can these items be accessed through the toolset from the override folder? I'm thinking if you want to nerf a mod items god-like abilities down to something playable. 4. This is far beyond my current capability but I was wondering: could you possibly mod an entirely new origin for the game? Say... a hedge mage or a barbarian type character? Thanks for any replies.

You can and I use that mod a lot, but you can't change the class of an NPC with it (as far as I know), only respcialize them within their default class. The Meta game tool allows you to actually alter the class of the PC or any party NPC at any point in the game. You can literally turn Morrigan into a rogue and Leliana into a mage, and so on. That said, I think respecialization mod is the best one to use if you just want to rework talents, spells, etc. It's super easy to use.

Can any of you toolset gurus reproduce this hairstyle as a mod for human and elven females in the character generator? http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b34/JMarso/Vikingbraids.png Domo arigato!