NPC Issues

[bomo99]

Hello, i have made some npcs in the CS and want to use them later, just in the process to see if they are working before i start scripting them, but for some reason when i enter the cell they are located in they are not where i placed them in the Construction Set, it seems they like to hop in the air, even though i put them on the ground close to the floor so that they aren't clipping through it, and i have no idea why these npcs are doing this, if anyone can shed some light on this, i would be grateful.

 

i can also take a screenshot of where the NPC is suppose to be, and make a video showing what is actually happening

[Striker879]

Does the cell they are in have a pathgrid?

[bomo99]

a Pathgrid?

[Striker879]

The game uses a connected series of nodes for the AI to follow when an NPC moves. You can view the currently loaded cell's pathgrid by clicking the toolbar icon that looks like a few orange boxes connected by yellow lines.

 

Chances are the cell you've picked either has no pathgrid or you're placing them in an area that has no pathgrid nearby enough for the AI to use.

[bomo99]

i dont see that icon, but under the tab World there is a menu Called Path Grid Generation, no matter what i click in that menu;

Generate Active Cell

Generate Selected Cells

Generate All BUT Selected Cells

Generate Entire World

 

i only used Active and selected but CS Crashes after i click, And i Selected the Cells that i have for my mod for the selected cells ottion, but again crash, am i not doing it right?

[Striker879]

First you need to have the cell you dropped the NPC into active in the Render window.

 

Two ways to activate the pathgrid overlay in the Render window ... in the World menu select Edit Cell Path Grid (found directly above the Path Grid Generation you mentioned) or look directly under the letters la on the menu option Gameplay and you will see the toolbar button I described.

 

Both ways act as a toggle ... first click activates the pathgrid overlay in the Render window, the next click on either the menu option or toolbar button turns off the overlay.

 

One last point to note is you can't change things in the Render window while the overlay is active (so no moving your NPC to a pathgrid node while they are displayed). NPCs don't need to be exactly on a node anyway.

 

You can add a normal orange node using a right mouse click in the Render window and link the currently selected node to another by holding Ctrl and left clicking the desired node (no need to use generate for a small cell).

[bomo99]

ok i found the button on the toolbar now, and i see what you mean, it seems that the ai is "Hopping" to one of these Nodes, even if i put one under its feet, it still is in the air but stays in the area

 

"(no need to use generate for a small cell)"

 

well the 2 areas that have NPC's, are a cell with just chorrolhousemiddle07interior as the interior area, and a modded Cheydinhal sanctuary that is one cell seen here since those will be the areas that npcs are going to be located at for now

[Striker879]

Make sure that you are 'grounding' your pathgrid nodes (hit f with the node selected). Sounds to me like the node is up in the air. The z key works as well.

[bomo99]

ok so that works, thank you so much, now i have a question do i have to use the same thing for worldspaces?

 

Edit: The NPC's are moving to where they arent placed still, even though there is a node at their feet, do i need to link them to the node?

 

also these npcs have no packages or anything so they essentially have no ai right now

Edited October 4, 2023 by bomo99

[Striker879]

I have no experience working with world spaces but I would think that for them you'd use the auto-generate option and then fine tune specific areas by hand.

 

The game AI is wonky at best when deciding what an NPC should do vs the pathgrid. Spend some time following NPCs around and you'll get an idea of how unlogical some of the ways they use to get from A to B can be at times.

 

Bottom line ... if they are in the general vicinity of their editor location and have access to pathgrid nodes that would allow their other packages to execute I'd go looking for bigger problems to solve.