Tool for distributing specific items to specific NPCs or Containers

[Xander9009]

Is there a mod currently available to distribute, say an armor set to a specific NPC that we could specify? Or maybe to a specific chest?

 

What I'm considering is a way to work within the rules of the Nexus to avoid stepping on anyone's toes, but still allowing users to distribute mod-added items. But, importantly, keeping them limited. My idea was to have a tool like SkyProc run through a list of pairs. Each pair is an Actor/ActorBase/Container/Location(X,Y,Z) and an Armor/Weapon/Ingredient/Potion/Ammo/Misc plus a count.

 

It simply runs through the list and adds the items to the containers/actors/whatever. I'd provide a list of various interesting locations for different types of things, and those references would be included. It would scan all active mods for valid items and let the players choose which ones they want to go where.

 

Each one would also have a flag to mark this as unique/semi-unique. If it's marked as unique, then it would be removed from anything it's found in (people/chests/locations) while it's distributing it where you want. If it's marked as semi-unique, it would remove it from containers such as chest and barrels but leave actors alone (this option would allow you to put the item somewhere you want without messing up people that should have been using the item).

 

The idea here is to take the items added by mods (such as a set of armor and maybe a weapon or two) that the mod just adds to a random chest (I've got one which adds a very nice armor set to a chest by the Ritual stone, and a few others that are similar) and instead give them to various other containers or people. Probably with the ability to add it to a random container or NPC from a given list.

 

Sort of like what a normal distributing tool would do, but maintaining the items' rarity/uniqueness. As an example, the mod I mentioned adds a set of high-powered armor and two weapons (well, more high-powered than I should have access to right away at least). I could use this to easily move that armor and weapons to, say, a random vampire boss or a chest near a vampire boss (vampire makes sense with the armor).

 

A few features it would probably need to include in order to be considered really useful:

• Add them to and remove them from leveled lists in addition to other sources.
• Compare weapons and armor with normal light or heavy low-grade and high-grade equipment to determine the power level of the item within this particular setup, and then randomly choose a fitting location based on that.
• Ability to specify that if a container is emptied by removing an item this way, then disable the container.
• Ability to specify a container, and distributing everything in the container. An option to keep it all together or split it up.
• Ability to save the settings you've chosen so you can repeat the steps in the future with ease, accounting for potentially missing mods. (especially needed if you need to uninstall one of the mods adding the items you distributed).
• Not mod specific. Not only would this need to be generic to avoid any potential issues with permissions (except where the permissions explicitly allow the use of its assets), but also to allow it to remain useful regardless of the rise and fall of any other mods independently.

Thoughts on such a tool? Useful? Lacking something? Too much?

[woodsman30]

So are you asking for interest in this or do you want to know if a mod like this exists? Only thing I have seen with a feature close to this was a castle mod near Riverwood "can't remember the name" but it had the ability to add an armor to a guards chest. Only one piece needed and all the guards would equip it as their own. Not sure if this was something the mod author created or was a mod in of itself Is that sorta what your talking about? As far as interest I thing any time you can customize the ability of NPC there will be interest.

[Xander9009]

It's a combination of both. I'm interested in making it (or having it made by someone more experienced, which would be ideal) if it doesn't already exist. If it already exists, I'm interested in using it.

 

The idea isn't really to alter NPCs for their own use, but mostly to take stuff that mods add to the game and distribute it throughout the game so it's not just sitting in a chest somewhere. Some mods can already do that, but they:

• Don't remove the original
• Don't preserve the uniqueness of the items (they'll distribute the items to various NPCs making many copies of what should be unique armor or weapons)
• Don't give different types of items to different people or places

I was (and am still) hoping this sort of tool already exists and I've just never come across it. It'd be rather difficult to make, since I'd need to learn to use the SkyProc patcher, and I've never even attempted that before. Scripting is what I'm good at, so I should be able to pull it off well. I'm just hoping I don't need to lol.

 

But yeah, I'd expect there would be a decent amount of interest.