[LE] Quick Questions, Quick Answers

[lofgren]

Do the function AddItem, EquipItem, and UnequipItem take Form ID or EditorName?

 

for example, should I use 0200575A or DLC1LD_AetherialCrown when calling functions AddItem, EquipItem, and UnequipItem?

 

You're going to have to learn scripting basics before you do anything. Check out the tutorials at the CK wiki:

 

http://www.creationkit.com/index.php?title=Category:Bethesda_Scripting_Tutorial_Series

 

Or just open up some scripts in the game and poke around.

 

Once you have a grasp of the basics, this site should help you find the functions you are looking for and tell you their syntax:

 

http://www.creationkit.com/index.php?title=Category:Script_Objects

[nakarisaune]

I created an NPC, then moved the actor to a different cell, using the 'move render' method (ctrl+m??), because this apparently keeps references. Now she won't say any dialogue - I've set all the 'getisid' on her dialogue to the same NPC again, but still no dialogue - did the references break any way, and if so, is there a way to restore them?? Thanks!

 

ETA: My game has now changed its mind, and the NPC is back in her original space and speaking. However, she's still marked as being in the new cell in the creation kit. Her persistence is set to the new cell, too.

Edited August 25, 2016 by nakarisaune

[Kroekr]

I am trying to make an item glow and emit light like a low level light source with unlimited duration. I am willing to give up an enchantment slot. Can this be done in the CK or do I have to learn how to add it to a nif file?

[csbx]

If I use a Game Start Enabled quest to use a reference alias to add a custom item to a vanilla NPC, then what happens when I later update that mod to add more reference aliases to other NPCs to make similar moves. I want for the game to re-check to see if new aliases have been added to that quest, but I don't want for it to 're-dole' out the items to the first alias I added in a previous version. How is this taken care of ? Do I have to keep adding new quests and new seq files ? My main concern is how I can update my mod for distribution in a way that works properly.

Edited August 25, 2016 by csbx

[IsharaMeradin]

If I use a Game Start Enabled quest to use a reference alias to add a custom item to a vanilla NPC, then what happens when I later update that mod to add more reference aliases to other NPCs to make similar moves. I want for the game to re-check to see if new aliases have been added to that quest, but I don't want for it to 're-dole' out the items to the first alias I added in a previous version. How is this taken care of ? Do I have to keep adding new quests and new seq files ? My main concern is how I can update my mod for distribution in a way that works properly.

If the quest is start game enabled, it won't fill any new aliases that you add. You'll have to force your users to perform the "clean save" trick which isn't a good solution. Basically, they'd have to start your mod all over from the very beginning.

 

If all you are doing is adding an item to an NPC that is in a reference alias, then you make that quest a non-start game enabled quest. Create a new start game enabled quest. The new quest will have a player alias and a script attached to the player alias. You will use this script to perform maintenance work on your mod. With the OnInit() and OnPlayerLoadGame() events you can start and stop your other quest as needed to ensure that new NPC aliases are filled properly. But items added to an NPC in this manner don't disappear when the quest is stopped. You'll need to run clean up code to remove each added item before you start and stop the quests.

 

That said, I do not know the ramifications of starting and stopping a quest that has dialogue, stages, scenes and all that other stuff. All I know is that when you restart a quest, almost everything is reset. And that may cause issues with user's games. However, because of the maintenance quest you can obtain and store current variables from the old quest and pass those on to the new version of said quest thus "bringing it up to date" in their game.

[csbx]

That--maintenance scripting--sounds too difficult for my very limited programming brain. Sheisse--I was hoping it wouldn't get this complicated. It makes me want to forego adding items to vanilla npcs altogether and just add items to the world--which in some cases wouldn't even make sense.

 

What is the problem with just making run-once NEW start-game-enabled quests that add more items to different vanilla npcs for each iteration of my mod ? Ie. v1.2 has quest01 with reference alias that adds to NPC01; v1.3 adds [sGE] quest02 with reference alias that adds to inventory of NPC02; etc.

 

This would be the easiest way to do this. I guess I'm totally failing to see how it would be problematic. You've probably already answered this and I'm just obtuse :D

 

I should also add: the ONLY thing that I'm doing is adding items to the inventory of a very small number of vanilla NPCs [3-4]. But, yes, as the mod develops, I'd be adding a few more items to different NPCs.

 

 

If I use a Game Start Enabled quest to use a reference alias to add a custom item to a vanilla NPC, then what happens when I later update that mod to add more reference aliases to other NPCs to make similar moves. I want for the game to re-check to see if new aliases have been added to that quest, but I don't want for it to 're-dole' out the items to the first alias I added in a previous version. How is this taken care of ? Do I have to keep adding new quests and new seq files ? My main concern is how I can update my mod for distribution in a way that works properly.

If the quest is start game enabled, it won't fill any new aliases that you add. You'll have to force your users to perform the "clean save" trick which isn't a good solution. Basically, they'd have to start your mod all over from the very beginning.

 

If all you are doing is adding an item to an NPC that is in a reference alias, then you make that quest a non-start game enabled quest. Create a new start game enabled quest. The new quest will have a player alias and a script attached to the player alias. You will use this script to perform maintenance work on your mod. With the OnInit() and OnPlayerLoadGame() events you can start and stop your other quest as needed to ensure that new NPC aliases are filled properly. But items added to an NPC in this manner don't disappear when the quest is stopped. You'll need to run clean up code to remove each added item before you start and stop the quests.

 

That said, I do not know the ramifications of starting and stopping a quest that has dialogue, stages, scenes and all that other stuff. All I know is that when you restart a quest, almost everything is reset. And that may cause issues with user's games. However, because of the maintenance quest you can obtain and store current variables from the old quest and pass those on to the new version of said quest thus "bringing it up to date" in their game.

 

Edited August 26, 2016 by csbx

[IsharaMeradin]

I was under the impression you were asking about what would happen if you added to an already running quest. Yes, you can simply create new quests each time. Tho at some point you may have too many to keep track of.

 

Something to consider, if all you are doing with the quest or quests is adding items to NPC inventories and not actually using them for anything else, you could use a single script and add the item(s) directly with AddItem.

[csbx]

Phew. That makes things easier. It would be 4 quests max--I'd make sure to cover multiple aliases at once per quest if needed.

 

I could use AddItem--but then I'd have to do scripting that I just don't know how to do [e.g. I wouldn't even know where to add such a script]. Start Game Enabled quest approach at least makes me confident it will do the job + only run one time and without a lot of overhead.

 

Thanks IsharaMeradin !

I was under the impression you were asking about what would happen if you added to an already running quest. Yes, you can simply create new quests each time. Tho at some point you may have too many to keep track of.

 

Something to consider, if all you are doing with the quest or quests is adding items to NPC inventories and not actually using them for anything else, you could use a single script and add the item(s) directly with AddItem.

[PeterMartyr]

My question is what the big deal about Script Bloating, is it a Myth? I know that user save is the last Quote "esp" loaded overwriting the load order. I know the Game Engine save "Stuff" to your save for Performance Reasons, so it easy to find. So do people generally just have no idea, misunderstand, then if they don't understand it it bad?

PS if you uninstalled, reap what you sow.

So What Say You.

[MaxShadow09]

My question is what the big deal about Script Bloating, is it a Myth? I know that user save is the last Quote "esp" loaded overwriting the load order. I know the Game Engine save "Stuff" to your save for Performance Reasons, so it easy to find. So do people generally just have no idea, misunderstand, then if they don't understand it it bad?

PS if you uninstalled, reap what you sow.

So What Say You.

I'm not sure what you mean. I have over 400 mods installed, and my save files always have a size of 30mb or less. More mods means more scripts stored in your save, and also more objects in the world, so yeah, the size increases, but not much. However, once I had a mod that was throwing errors constantly, and it made my save files go over 100MB, but uninstalling it fixed the problem. It was Throwing Weapons Redux.