Get Me Started - Scripting Help

[Tb0ne]

Thanks for dropping in, I am totally lost here and in need of assistance and guidance. I would love to learn how to do scripting and eventually animations, but I just can't seem to connect all the pieces together.

 

What I am working on is a mod that eventually will become "Dragonborns'" city, with a lot of interaction and active citizens within it. My first feat is my Guard Barracks which is at the City's main entrance. In the Barracks I will have many guard patrolling and whatnot. The barracks is complete with a jail, for those uncontrollable citizens and misfits, sleeping quarters and a bathing station.

 

Trying to fit in all the activities within the barracks alone has proven to be a challenge. While simple patrols can be established easily enough, the other routine activities are a pain to get functioning properly using just AI Packages. When just using the packages, any interruption of the schedule, ex. wait, or loading into the cell at certain times, cause the guard to skip a package and jump into the one fitting the time schedule. This cause an issue, as the guards outfits are setup according to the time of day but are managed by the AI Packages. So, if the guard was sleeping, wearing her night outfit, and the sequence got jumped via a wait cycle, then the work package had already began and therefor, the guard is patrolling in her night outfit because the command to SetOutfit didn't kick in.

 

This is one example, there are several times when the guard changes outfits, ex. unequipall so naked for the bathing routine..., when this type of situation effects the whole outcome. AI Packages also don't seem to run properly when there are a multiple of them running in sequence. It seems as though the first 2 or 3 run perfect and then it hangs up and doesn't continue down the stack.

 

I would like to know how I may use scripting to be more efficient and effective with controlling my guards, and other actors as the mod progress, and how I go about learning to achieve this. I have been working the tutorials in the Creation Kit wiki, I have tried writing a few scripts, but not to any success.

 

ANY advice and direction would greatly help me out and save me some frustration. Thanks again!!

 

*Right now my goal is to get my guards to do wake up, eat breakfast, change into the work outfit, go patrol, undress and bathe, dress into their night outfit, eat dinner and go to sleep, then start the sequence over the next morning. I'd like it to run without a hitch, even if I "wait" while in the cell, the guards should remember what the should be doing, wearing and such. The different outfit changes happen at specific locations. I don't want the guard naked before reaching the bathing station, etc..

Edited July 11, 2013 by Tb0ne