Hex6168

Thank you guys for the input. Frank was correct about the conditions for the TravelCheck function, and looping Ishara suggested reduces a lot of unecessary property settings for the couple of test NPCs I made for this. What I'm doing now is following them around to see how the PathToReference function works to see if this really will end up producing more reliable behavior than packages. The one I'm going to be following right now begins in Whiterun, spends days 1-3 visiting different shops in town, goes to Alvor in Riverwood on day 4, back to whiterun to visit Adrianne on day 5, goes to Rorikstead's inn on day 6, then returns to whiterun to visit Eorlund on day 7. A question regarding Packages for complicated NPCs: Is there a way to add or remove AI packages through script alone, or will I need to push the NPCs into alias' to get "toggled" AI Packages?

I'm trying to create a generic script I can attach to multiple NPCs that causes them to travel across skyrim with unique actors as their targets. Here is what I have so far, and I was wondering if anyone sees any obvious problems this would cause? I decided to use a script instead of AI packages due to how buggy and messed up I've read that package execution gets when they're less than simple. The big concern I have is how 'PathToReference' stops the scripts execution until it completes. Is this a legitimate concern? Do I need to worry about how RegisterForSingleUpdateGameTime works while the script is paused? Here's the script so far: Scriptname BNC_MerchantScript extends Actor Import Utility ;for travel and switching in/out of sandbox mode (not yet implemented) DestinationMerchant should be initially set to editorloc's target merchant Bool IsTraveling ObjectReference Property DestinationMerchant Auto ;set merchants that this NPC will go between here, point unused to NONE ObjectReference Property Merchant1 Auto ObjectReference Property Merchant2 Auto ObjectReference Property Merchant3 Auto ObjectReference Property Merchant4 Auto ObjectReference Property Merchant5 Auto ObjectReference Property Merchant6 Auto ObjectReference Property Merchant7 Auto ;set unused TravelDays to 8 NPC will travel to next location on each of these days Int Property TravelDay1 Auto Int Property TravelDay2 Auto Int Property TravelDay3 Auto Int Property TravelDay4 Auto Int Property TravelDay5 Auto Int Property TravelDay6 Auto Int Property TravelDay7 Auto ObjectReference NewMerchant ;just sets new target, empty properties should be kept toward end so that all values are equal and resets to Merchant1 Function GetNewTarget() If(DestinationMerchant == Merchant1) NewMerchant = Merchant2 EndIf If(DestinationMerchant == Merchant2) NewMerchant = Merchant3 EndIf If(DestinationMerchant == Merchant3) NewMerchant = Merchant4 EndIf If(DestinationMerchant == Merchant4) NewMerchant = Merchant5 EndIf If(DestinationMerchant == Merchant5) NewMerchant = Merchant6 EndIf If(DestinationMerchant == Merchant6) NewMerchant = Merchant7 EndIf If(DestinationMerchant == Merchant7) NewMerchant = Merchant1 EndIf EndFunction ;walks NPC to target merchant, will be altered in future to produce less mundane behavior Function StartTravel() DestinationMerchant = NewMerchant NewMerchant = NONE PathToReference(DestinationMerchant, 0.5) EndFunction ;checks if NPC is on its travel day, will eventually set a sandbox mode that sends the NPC to the town's inn to poke about, will eventually support multiple travel days Function TravelCheck(int Int1, int Int2, int Int3, int Int4, int Int5, int Int6, int Int7) int CurrentDay = ((GetCurrentGameTime() as int) % 7) If((CurrentDay == Int1 || Int2 || Int3 || Int4 || Int5 || Int6 || Int7) && IsTraveling == False) IsTraveling = True GetNewTarget() StartTravel() Else IsTraveling = False EndIf EndFunction Event OnInit() TravelCheck(TravelDay1, TravelDay2, TravelDay3, TravelDay4, TravelDay5, TravelDay6, TravelDay7) RegisterForSingleUpdateGameTime(24.0) EndEvent Event OnUpdateGameTime() TravelCheck(TravelDay1, TravelDay2, TravelDay3, TravelDay4, TravelDay5, TravelDay6, TravelDay7) RegisterForSingleUpdateGameTime(24.0) EndEvent

Happily found the 1st person forms in statics and have made working 1st person nifs for the various staffs in the game. Really fun clubbing a mammoth to death with the skull of corruption :)

I love the tiered quills and woods idea. As well as unique re-skins for the various inks. I've a six month old son, so I'll see what I can do with my scarce free time. From conception 2 days ago, I've used nifskope to create a working craft station for scrivening. Have also added to the .esp the various inks and blank scrolls needed to scribe new ones. Have also created the base staff weapon as well, although i need to figure out how to create new 1st person nifs so that the staff can use 2h attack animations without looking dumb. 3rd person, you swing a staff around...1st person reverts to the iron warhammer.

Basic idea: Someone is writing all the scrolls and crafting all the staves...why not take part in it? My goal is to create a new crafting skill, Scrivening. It would be partially dependent on alchemy for crafting myriad inks, smithing to craft several tiers of unenchanted staves, and enchanting to produce certain magic stones for end-game level staves. Scrivening will use parchments, inks, and will temporarily disable the known spell used to craft a set of scrolls. Inks will require anything from charcoal and iron ore up to deadra and human hearts. Staffs will, at minimum, require a piece of lumber, with a few notable and unique exceptions. While unenchanted, a staff is classed as a warhammer, with a hidden attack speed modifier (a piece of wood can be swung around much quicker than a 30 lb hunk of metal). Magic stones, in enchanting, ought to require a grand soul, and then can be combined in smithing to create special unenchanted staffs. These are then able to be used in scrivenings end-game recipes. The basic idea for creating a scroll is that novice spells require just the bundle of parchments and your most basic ink. Master level spells would require scroll parchment made of human flesh and several rare inks - ebony, draconic, deadric, necromantic. I'm still working on the concept phase and have only created several of the recipes for the 3 vanilla craft skills. Still unsure of how to measure and track crafting skill...thinking of using a weightless, stacking, undroppable 'book' called a writ of commendation delivered by courier. Perks would be earned from special commission quests for famed mages in Skyrim. Please share your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions. I'm open to them all :)