Workshop Items Persistence

[kinggath]

Are items you create in the workshop (I'm talking everything from floors and walls, to workbenches and generators) persisted in the same way that items created with PlaceAtMe are persisted?

 

Or are they handled in a special way that allows them to stick around without permanently sitting in memory? Or am I mis-understanding persistence in the game?

[Ethreon]

You mean if they persist after being scrapped? I sure hope not, that'd be awful.

[kinggath]

No, I mean that when you create an item in workshop mode, it will still be there when you come back. In order to have this same thing occur using PlaceAtMe in a script, you have to flag it as persistent. Which according to documentation of persistence, it remains in memory until you delete it.

 

I want to know if workshop created items remain in memory the same way. If so, it would seem that the more objects you create, the slower your game would get over all, even when in a different location.

 

Ultimately, I'm trying to determine how careful I have to be with Persistence. I'm creating workshop items that generate other items nearby via PlaceAtMe. If workshop items are persisted in the same way, than I'm actually going to be saving memory with what I'm working on. If not, then I may need to get a little more creative with my scripts.

[Ethreon]

I'd like to know that too. I'd expect performance drops around the settlement, but not randomly in the middle of nowhere..

[kitcat81]

You can try to use placeatme with false,false,false. If the wiki page I`ve read is correct then it should make the item non persistent, not initially disabled and will not delete it later. But it`s really hard to know as those pages were written for Skyrim and some things might work not the same with FO4.

[kinggath]

I've tested it. It deletes it unless you set the last argument to true, or set the created objectreference as a script property or quest alias.

[kitcat81]

That`s a bit weird . Oi found fallout 4 wiki page saying this :

 

 

Parameters

• akFormToPlace: The base form to create references of.
  • Note: the akFormToPlace can be things such as MiscObject, ActorBase, etc...
• aiCount: How many references to make at once.
  • Default: 1
  • Caution: Only the last reference created is returned.
• abForcePersist: True to force the created reference to be persistent.
  • Default: False
• abInitiallyDisabled: True to force the reference to be initially disabled
  • Default False
• abDeleteWhenAble: True to force the reference to be deleted as soon as it is no longer persisted by a property or quest and is no longer in the loaded area.
  • Default True

 

I`m doing some testing with it too and for now it works. But it`s just few days and maybe I need to wait more and to check that location again.

Though my object is set as non constant script property. So you might be right...Then the wiki page is missing some details.

Edited January 3, 2017 by kitcat81

[kinggath]

Did some testing and found that Workshop items are handled special. If you place an item and select it in console mode you can see it doesn't have the persistent flag (looks like [PP] next to the form id). Also, if you leave the location you won't be able to run the prid command to select it, while anything, anywhere in the world you placed with PlaceAtMe can be selected with prid.

 

So the next question is, what is the cost of persisting a static? I would assume it's just keeping the form id, position, and rotation - which shouldn't be very expensive.

[kinggath]

Hmm.. Shortly after posting this I was able to make a PlaceAtMe item remain without persisting it. Though it was persisted for a short while as a script property. Going to have to do some more tests in the morning.

[kitcat81]

Did some testing and found that Workshop items are handled special. If you place an item and select it in console mode you can see it doesn't have the persistent flag (looks like [PP] next to the form id). Also, if you leave the location you won't be able to run the prid command to select it, while anything, anywhere in the world you placed with PlaceAtMe can be selected with prid.

 

So the next question is, what is the cost of persisting a static? I would assume it's just keeping the form id, position, and rotation - which shouldn't be very expensive.

 

This is even more weird as half of my settlers has PP flag and another half has EP flag. They are all usual settlers and came themselves. Also many vanilla objects have pp flags. Turrets, all crops, some decorations and many scripted items like dlc cages , vault soda machine etc. Also some workshop walls , stairs and really many other objects have this flag. And they can be called with prid. Maybe persistant means that game just keeps their ID in some memory list. Misterious thing.

 

I tested it for a bit and all EP and PP can be called with prid. No flags - can`t be called. I think game just keeps their ID in some memory list so they are accesisble from another location.

Edited January 3, 2017 by kitcat81