[LE] Best method to move NPCs without breaking references?

[nakarisaune]

Trying to change what cell my NPC is in. I found a method that supposedly didn't change references, using ctrl+m in the creation kit, and though I could see my NPC in the render window in the new cell, in game the NPC would not talk. I set the dialogue to the NPC's id again, and when I next loaded the game, the NPC had returned to the original cell.

 

Any suggestions on how to get the NPC to the new cell, keep it there, and either keep the references or fix them? I'd rather not completely remake the quests the NPC references, because I've already got a lo of dialogue. And sorry about how noobish a question this is - the only thread I've found with a similar question hasn't worked for me.

 

Thanks!

 

ETA: I can get the NPC to talk when I change 'getisid=npc' to 'getisreference=npc', BUT any follower-related dialogue still doesn't come up.

Edited August 27, 2016 by nakarisaune

[dalsio]

Did you point your quests to a reference alias or to the object reference of the NPC itself (directly to the NPC in the cell)? If you used a reference alias all you simply need to do is place the npc in the new cell and re-assign the reference alias to the new object reference.

 

Otherwise, you might want to try placing a new copy of the NPC in the new cell (keep the old one) and use TES5Edit to overwrite the old reference, but I don't exactly know how or if this would work.

 

In the future it's usually best to have quests and such refer to a reference alias so that if you need to change what cell an NPC is in or even completely change what NPC it refers to you can just change all of them at once to whatever one you need by re-assigning the alias.

Edited August 28, 2016 by dalsio

[agerweb]

Why don't you use a change location event to place the NPC in whichever cell you want them in when the player enters it - would require separate quest for each location. You delete the NPC after each quest completion and it only exists in the world during the quest.

[dalsio]

That would work, but would require a bit of scripting knowledge and I don't know if the OP wants to get into scripting. It might be easier for them to just manually change the references in the quests.

Edited August 29, 2016 by dalsio

[Shadohz]

"Otherwise, you might want to try placing a new copy of the NPC in the new cell (keep the old one) and use TES5Edit to overwrite the old reference, but I don't exactly know how or if this would work."

Since noone ever confirmed it, I will. This appears to be working correctly for me so far. I working with an experimental build but nothing appears broken... yet.
The steps aren't as dalsio mentioned. it's actually simpler.

1. Make your backup copy of your mod first.

2. Create your experimental build.
3. In CK add a new copy of your NPC to the new location (this is only a temporary placeholder).
4. Save and exit CK.

5. Go into TES5Edit and find your dummy NPC in it's corresponding Cell/Block location.

6. Write down (copy and paste to a blank text file) the information shown there (Cell, Signature, DataSize, FormID, FormVersion, VersionControl, NameBase, Position X/Y/Z.
7. Select Remove to delete the dummy NPC.

8. Exit and relaunch TES5Edit.

9. Go to Cell/Block location again and find your "real" NPC (that contains your references).

10. Edit the "Cell" by adding the cell value from the dummy file to this cell.

11. Confirm the "name base" is the same.

12. Set the X, Y, and Z positions so they match your dummy values.

optional: check the record flag for persistant or temporary status

13. Save and exit again.

14. Launch your game and check your mods behavior (does NPC sandbox correctly, does NPC use spells correctly, does NPC dialog still function correctly, what references are listed in CK and do they all work correctly).

The edit itself should only take you a matter of minutes. Most of your time will be spent testing that everything functions as normal. If you only have a few cell references it is best to convert those to alias references. In my case however the previous modder had over 30 references that needed changed including critical dialogue. So far it was worth using this alternate method. I may at a later date correct those other cell references as well.

[agerweb]

Why don't you use a change location event to place the NPC in whichever cell you want them in when the player enters it - would require separate quest for each location. You delete the NPC after each quest completion and it only exists in the world during the quest.

No scripting required using SM and a change location event; it is the simplist way of placing NPC; trigger box is next easiest but that does require a script.

 

I did a tutorial on how to do it:

 

http://shumer-a-new-world.wikia.com/wiki/Spawning_NPCs_Using_Story_Manager