Changing a static from one to another based on conditions.

[Dbrock1980]

Hi folks,

I'm working on a player home and don't know much of scripting at all but watching tutorials. Anyway, I have a custom nif by insanity (the armor stands) what I want to do is have an activator to the empty armor stand (I guess make a custom container) then based on what is put in the empty armor stand (by proxy the container) it would change. I would set up multiple stands for most armor sets. For example, you see the empty armor stand and click on it in game. A window pops up and you put your nightingale armor in that you don't use anymore. The script detects you have the criteria armor for the the stand to change statics to the armor stand that has the nightingale armor (obviously a lot of this is behind the scenes for being in game) anyone willing to tell me how to do this?

[pcaviator]

Does this help creating a mannequin

[Dbrock1980]

hmm i dont think so, im using this resource

 

http://tesalliance.org/forums/index.php?/files/file/1480-static-armour-stands/

 

so you can see what the stands look like. They are already made and i can add them as a static item. There is a blank one that i want to use, so from that resource page you can see it has the steel set. So, in game, youll see a blank one and add the items needed to the empty armor stand. once the items that are shown on the armor stand are added to the empty armor stand it will change to show the steel armor stand instead of the empty one. does that make sense?

[nonoodles]

If you're saying you want the custom armour stand to act exactly like the vanilla mannequin, I'm not sure it can be done through only scripting. Vanilla mannequins are npcs rigged to the human skeleton (I think - haven't really checked). So in order for the armour stand to behave like them (i.e, equip the armour which is what the mannequins actually do), you will probably need to rig it to the human skeleton too. Not sure how well it would work. Filtering for specific armour types can be scripted, I guess.

[Dbrock1980]

Okay forget the activator on the stand idea, I guess that won't work. So rethinking here's what I want to do. Have an empty armor stand with an empty chest in front of it. Once certain pre defined items are put into the chest the empty armor stand changes to the armor stand that shows the armor (change nifs). Does that make sens? So I'm not putting anything on the empty armor stand

 

So to reiterate, you see a empty armor stand and a empty chest next to it. You put all the steel armor in it (gloves, shield, cuirass etc) empty armor stand changes to the one displayed on the website

[nonoodles]

Well, you could put an activator on an empty stand and a bunch of stands with armour on them that are set to 'disabled' and then enable them according to the filter you set. Bit of a hassle but it would work for both ideas.

[Dbrock1980]

Okay cool. Do you know of a tutorial that would cover how to go about doing this? Really don't know much about doing this scripting thing.

[nonoodles]

You could start with the Creation Kit wiki, Papyrus scripting section. Or open up a vanilla script with similar function to see how it works, though that presupposes some knowledge of scripting. I don't know if there's a specific tutorial, sorry.

[Dbrock1980]

Thanks! There are so many scripts I don't even know what to look at to start lol

[sLoPpYdOtBiGhOlE]

As I have a very limited net connection and I cannot at this point dl 21 MB file just to do an example I can only give approximate/untested help.

Basic of it:
It would take 2 scripts, a container that is hidden from player access (eg: a player chest placed in a cell that player can't access).

Each armor stand would need to be Linked Ref to the player container.
The player chest would also need to be Linked Ref to each armor stand using keywords.

1 script will be attached to each armor stand.
Other script would be attached to the player chest.

Setting things up:
Armor Stands:
Place your armor stand nif models in a folder in the Data\Meshes\ folder
Example:
Skyrim\Data\Meshes\myArmorStands\

In CK select Object Window -> WorldObjects -> Activator

In windows in the
Skyrim\Data\Meshes\myArmorStands\
Select all the armor stand nif models you want to use and drag them to CK Object Window -> WorldObjects -> Activator

This will create activators of the armor stand models (they will be the same name as the nif model without the .nif extension)
Tip: name your nif models accordingly (if they aren't already) before dragging them to the CK window.
eg:
myArmorStandBlank.nif
myArmorStandIron.nif
myArmorStandSteel.nif
etc...
It will make it easier later when your linking your chest to the stands with keywords.


In the Object Window -> Container -> PlayerHouseChest
Duplicate PlayerHouseChest and rename it to something you like.
eg: myAromrStandChest
Edit you new duplicate chest and give it a Display Name eg: Armor Stand

In Object Window -> Miscellaneous -> Keyword
Right click in the right hand side of the window and select New.
In the Keyword window that opens enter a name.
eg: ArmorMaterialNone
(This keyword name is for the no armor mode armor stand)

In CK at the top of the main window select the menu World -> Cells...
In the Cell window that pops up right click in the list of Cells and select New.
In the small window that opens type a editor id name for the new cell
eg: myArmorStandUtilityCell (can be any name you like as long as it's not the name of another editor id form).
Click Ok.

Select your new cell in the list and click the Interior Data tab.
Optionally you can enter a Display Name for the cell (for your use it's not needed).
In Encounter Zone dropdown box select NoResetZone.
Click apply at the bottom of window, click OK at bottom of window and it closes.

Drag your duplicate player chest from the Object Window into the Render Window into your new cell.

Go to the cell where you want to have your Armor Stand.
Select all your Armor Stand forms in the Object Window and drag them to the Render Window
(they will be grouped together sharing the same space, you want it like this)
Move the group of stands into the position you want (keep them all selected).

At the top of the CK Main Window select the menu View -> Reference Batch Action Window.
In the Reference Batch Action Window that pops up you can see all your selected Armor Stands.
Check the Set Linked Ref option to the right of the list.
Also check the Set Initially Disabled.
At the bottom of the window the Cell dropdown box select your cell you created.
In the Reference dropdown box underneath select your chest you created.
Hit the Do button and close the Reference Batch Action Window.

In the Cell View window select the Armor Stand Blank (the no armor one) right click and edit.
In the Properties window that pops up Uncheck the Initially Disabled option and click ok.

Now to the cell you created earlier and select the chest and right click edit.
In the properties that opens up go to the Linked Ref tab.
Right click the References box and select New.
In the Choose Reference window that pops up, select the cell your armor stands are in.
In the Reference dropdown box select your blank Armor Stand (no Armor)
In the Keyword dropdown box select ArmorMaterialNone (or what ever you named the keyword you created earlier)
Click Ok and the window closes.

Same as above
Right click the References box and select New.
In the Choose Reference window that pops up, select the cell your armor stands are in.
In the Reference dropdown box select your Iron Armor Stand (ArmorStand with Iron Armor)
In the Keyword dropdown box select ArmorMaterialIron (this keyword exists and is on Iron Armor)
Click Ok and the window closes.

Keep doing this till you have all your types of Armor stands done.
Obviously using the appropriate type ArmorMaterialXXXXX keyword for the armor stand your adding.

..........

Should i continue on with this rough guide or not...
I'm writing all this wall of text and I may be doing it for no reason...

Just giving you some insight on how things would be setup before even touching the scripting.

Edited September 22, 2015 by sLoPpYdOtBiGhOlE