Replacing Creatures

[MerlinCross]

Okay, so easy question about GECK. Well maybe not so easy.

 

How do I replace one creature with another in GECK? Like if I made a new ghoul creature and wanted to put it into the game, replacing Mantis creatures with them? Or if I wanted to replace some Raiders with Legion guys. Is there an easy way of doing this, beside going in, deleting the first creature, and moving on?

[MyGoodEye]

There is a SEARCH AND REPLACE function in GECK, so yes, in theory, you can do what you're asking about.

 

There are a few ways to go about it.

 

I'm not in front of my GECK-computer right now, so, I think it's CNTL+F

 

The short answer is: Select the item -> select SEARCH AND REPLACE -> REPLACE the item -> Done.

 

BUT, you've implied that you want to REPLACE more than one instance, so...

 

 

IF YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR INSTANCE (or small group) OF THE THINGS YOU WANT TO REPLACE IN THE RENDER WINDOW:

 

Click on an instance of the "thing that you want to replace".

 

After a moment, it'll pop up a window with the name of the "thing you want to replace".

 

I'm fairly sure I recall there being a drop-down below the "thing you want to replace" (TYWTR) with a list of "what you want to replace it with" (WYWTRIW).

 

You have the option to replace only the individual TYWTR, all of the TYWTRs present in the CELL or all of the TYWTRs in the WORLDSPACE.

 

If you select CELL, then if there are 5 MANTIS is the active cell, you will replace all 5. If that's what you want, move on to the next cell and do it again.

 

I'd say to be careful about doing a full on WORLDSPACE replacement of anything. If you're altering EXTERIORS, the NVWASTELAND WORLDSPACE is HUGE and you'd likely screw something up (nothing personal... haha) and I THINK that all INTERIORS "exist" in one worldspace. Don't quote me on that... most of my mods have been in EXTERIORS so I'm not positive.

 

IF YOU WANT TO REPLACE EVERY INSTANCE AND THE ITEMS/NPCS ARE PART OF "VSPAWN" LISTS (RANDOM LISTS CONSISTING OF "SUB-OBJECTS" THAT GIVE THE APPEARANCE OF RANDOMNESS

 

So, yeah, this one is a bit more complicated.

 

If you've dug around in GECK at all, you've seen these "M WITH ARROW" markers all over the place.

 

Those typically indicate the presence of NPCS or CREATURES that are determined on-the-fly. Meaning, if you go to that same place at another time or on another playthrough you may not get the same NPC/CREATURE. This gives the appearance of a bit more "randomness" to the world.

 

Within these MARKERS are LISTS, which we won't go into now.

 

However, the important part is that if you "drill down" you end up with a list of single NPC/CREATURES.

 

These NPCS/CREATURES can be found in the appropriate sub-section of ACTORS in the OBJECT WINDOW.

 

You will then find that some NPCS/CREATURES have multiple, yet similar, types to further enhance randomness AND to accommodate LEVELS. In the case of MANTIS, you will find 8 different individual CREATURES, yet, when the player approaches the marker, only ONE of those EIGHT is displayed. MANTIS appear to have only one TIER, but in the case of more widely used NPCS/CREATURES you can end up with easily 20 or 30 ACTORS that end up in the LISTS. So, if you're looking to replace FIENDS with LEGION, you'll be at it for a little while...

 

Hopefully, I'm not getting you confused... hahah

 

Next thing would be to FIND the NPC/CREATURE you want to REPLACE in the OBJECT WINDOW and hit CNTL+F

 

Same as above... after a moment a window will pop up asking you what you want to REPLACE the selected ACTOR with. (this will work with STATICS also, but you used ACTORS as examples, so I assume that's what you're after).

 

Again, you'll have the option to REPLACE the SELECTION ONLY, the CELL (which is not likely to do anything other than replace the selection since you are not choosing NPC/CREATURES in a cell) and WORLDSPACE.

 

If you're committed to changing every instance of an NPC/CREATURE in-game then select WORLDSPACE.

 

If you're NOT committed to changing every instance of an NPC/CREATURE in-game then you've got to get a bit more complex in your methods.

 

You'd have to create your own LEVELED CREATURE/CHARACTER, then populate it with whichever NPC/CREATURES you want (I did this with my WARZONES mod if you want to nab it and deconstruct it although I did not replace vanilla NPC/CREATURES I did create my own VSPAWNS and the like). Then either manually swap out the instances where you want them or use REPLACE to alter all of the LEVELED NPC/CREATURE of your choice.

 

I can help you with this if you need, but let's get through this message first, yeah?

 

POSSIBLE MOD CONFLICT ALERT:

 

The one thing to be mindful of is that it is possible that if the TYWTR is used/utilized/present in another mod, you're probably start getting comments like: YOU BROKE MY f***ing GAME YOU a**hole! Reason being, what appears to be one of the most notorious causes of CTDs due to incompatibility is deleted/removed items. I'm not 100% sure how this relates to a REPLACED item, but I'm guessing it won't go well... ha.

 

So, to use your example above:

 

If you replace all the MANTIS (mantii? Mantum? Mantises?) in the game and someone else has made a mod that uses those MANTIS references (maybe it moves some of the vanilla ones which are now no longer in-game) then you two will very likely have an incompatibility.

 

I don't know that I'd sweat that right now since you'll hear about it as soon as your mod goes live ;)

 

Good luck and enjoy!

 

- David

Edited December 22, 2011 by MGE

[RNC123]

It worked ?

[dubiousintent]

Please note the date of the previous post, and see the Nexus "Terms of Service" about not resurrecting old threads. The primary reason is that the original thread participants are seldom still around, and it is unlikely that you have exactly the same setup. Details matter. Unsolved problems are usually due to vague descriptions of symptoms without any underlying details. And unless you are providing a definitive solution or significant new solid leads towards such a solution, it does not justify resurrecting an old thread. Even in the latter case you are better off starting your own thread and providing all the details requested in the wiki "How to ask for help" article.

Please see the "Custom Creatures" and "Creature Creation" entries of the wiki "Getting started creating mods using GECK" article for links to tutorials and "Tips" from experienced mod creators.

 

-Dubious-