NPCs that keep following me

[Federica85]

Hi there, when I first activated Cyrodiil Extended (https://www.moddb.com/mods/cyrodiil-extended-by-team-kinetic) three NPCs suddenly appeared near my player character and start following her everywhere! I think it has to do with their AI packages, but I'm a noob in that field so I'm asking help: Iâd love to solve the problem without killing or disabling them. Thanks in advance.

[Pellape]

You could open consolle and click at them and type evp and also update3d and then they will pick new packages if they have any. I do not use that mod myself, otherwise I might looked into that issue. But what you need to do is to check if they have more packages than 1.

 

Otherwise, you could try to change it your self. The CS Wiki has a saction about AI and packages, and it is like sorting papers, not harder than that. :D

 

 

Her is a guide how to make a simple patrolling and that will make them stop follow you. Make sure that package gets moves down in those NPCs packages lists. First package is alwys used first. Therefor we put an any any any package in the end of the list and that is usually a sleeping package or an Idle package.

 

• Any Hour
• Any Day
• Any week group days.

Any any any... :wink:

 

But you start with timed packages and end with any any any. Like adding a slot into a scheduler or portfolio.

Edited February 24, 2022 by Pellape

[Federica85]

That's a very quick and detailed answer, better than I could have hoped for! Thank you very much :) Edited February 24, 2022 by Federica85

[Pellape]

Well there are a couple od very talented players here that help eachother out and try our best to give good answers. :D

 

Honestly when I think about it. I am or have been in different Oblivion Reddit and FB groups and I got nothing out of it at all. This is the only place where I feel I can debate modding and solve ours problems and get my own problems solved as well. One big Oblivion FB group do not even let me debate modding, Damn consolle owners... :wink: I do not understand those groups or the purpose of them at all honestly... Still I read them... :/ I am such a fool... :wink:

 

 

By the way, keep us updated with the progress, will you?

Edited February 24, 2022 by Pellape

[Federica85]

So, I just opened in the CS one of the NPCs I spoke about; his first AI package of the list says:

Type: Wander Day/month/day: Any

Time: 14 Duration: 6

Target data: N/A

And this, which I think is the culprit of the strange behaviour: Location data Reference: Player in cell NONE (00000014).

For now I'm not editing the esp: I'll try the console commands in-game first, then I'll let you know. Thanks :)

Edited February 25, 2022 by Federica85

[Federica85]

The second character has exactly the same AI packages as the first, in the same order, while the third has that strage Wander package in the second-last position in the list: I think that's the reason why she usually appears later than the other two.

 

That's an useless behaviour after all, is it safe if I just cancel the package, without moving it down the list?

Edited February 25, 2022 by Federica85

[Striker879]

I've never used or looked at Cyrodiil Extended before this, but I see two details that I'd need before I could offer anything beyond basic generic advice on AI packages ... first, which of the ESPs included with the Cyrodiil Extended download contains the three NPCs in question, and second what are the exact Form IDs of those NPCs?

 

Some basics of how AI packages work in the game.

 

The game evaluates the AI packages of any NPCs that are located within the cells it has loaded from the top of that particular NPC's package list to the bottom, and will execute the first package it finds that satisfies all of the conditions that it finds (e.g. date and time, any conditions set etc). That means that the order that packages are listed from top to bottom is important.

 

Example ... two packages for an NPC are shown as Any Day and both have a time of 14:00, one is supposed to happen if the NPC is in the cell named Joe's House (we'll call this package A) and the other is supposed to happen if the player has completed stage 20 of quest FindMaidForJoesHouse (call this package B). Let's say that package A has the NPC do the sweeping animation in the Joe's House cell for 6 hours duration and package B is a wander package in cell Joe's House for 2 hours.

 

So the design intent is once the player has found/hired this NPC then every day at 2 pm the NPC walks to Joe's house (which could take from between a few minutes to an hour and a half depending on where their previous package for any given day has them ... maybe doing some shopping on a Monday or visiting another NPC on Saturday) and once the NPC gets to Joe's house the idea is they start sweeping and continue until 8 pm.

 

If the order of these two packages is package B higher in the list than package A what will happen is the NPC will head towards Joe's house at 2 pm every day. When the NPC gets to Joe's house they will wander around in the house until 4 pm and then will start sweeping (not the intended behavior). If instead package A is above package B they will head to Joe's house at 2 pm and will start sweeping shortly after they arrive in the house (the intended behavior).

 

What happens that is different is when the game evaluates that NPC's packages at 2 pm in the second package order it first comes to package A, but finds that the NPC is not in the cell Joe's House so the game moves to the next lower package in the list (package B). The time varable is correct so the game assigns package B to the NPC and they head towards Joe's house. The next time the game cycles through to evaluate packages if it finds that the NPC is now in the cell Joe's House it will assign package A ... if the NPC has not yet reached Joe's house it will reassign package B as long as the time has not yet reach 4 pm. The NPC eventually reaches Joe's house and they start sweeping as intended.

 

This example allows for a single sweeping package for the NPC with the flexibilty for that NPC to be anywhere within a two hour's walking distance from Joe's house beforehand. This allows a variety of daily tasks in the hours before 2 pm, even some from before the player has started the quest.

[Pellape]

I think you SHOULD edit that file. It does not behave as you expect it to, therefor it is broken for you. You already solved the issue. You could make another ESP, that is depened on Cyrodiil epxpanded and that you load after. What you need to do is to add another packages or make new ones for those 3. If you change the Current package, it might get broken for other companions like the Adoring Fan and others that are supposed to follow the player.

 

New Packages are made in the meny TAB Character and Packages. If you wanna make it simple, Just make a any any any and wander at Editor location 1500 or 2000. If you wanna make them more immersive, they should eat, sleep, pick resources, wander around at different hours. You did choose that mod for immersion right? ;)

 

I can make a quickfix if you do not manage to give them new packages with the console. It depends how big the mod really is and maybe it is so good that I might keep it? I will see. :) It is best you learn how to fix it your self though. :D It is so bloody easy... ;)

[Federica85]

Great explanations, thank you both very much! Those three characters already have other packages (like eating), that's why I thought of just getting rid of the Wander one. I'll try your suggestions as soon as I have enough time.

 

BTW I'm on mobile now, so I can't give the precise info Striker879 asked for: I just can say from memory that the most annoying characters of the three are a Wood Elf called Silvan and an Orc called Morantok, and they both come from the Roxey Inn esp.

Edited February 26, 2022 by Federica85

[Striker879]

Had a quick look at those two and I can see a number of problems.

 

Your biggest annoyance (the following the player) can be somewhat alleviated by setting the Radius field to 256 (or even 512 or 1024 if you want more space). They'll still follow you for the time duration set but they at least won't be glued to your character's face.

 

The two obvious problems with the mod that jump at me right from the first glance are ... a) no ID whatsoever assigned to any of the AI Packages and b) Editor IDs starting with a number. I haven't looked to see what other problems could be found. I also haven't looked at what possible use the mod may make of either of those two NPCs (the Use Info in the CS reports only their editor location so possibly all they offer is their AI Packages ... i.e. no quest involvement).