Can't find specific animation in the CK

[sammidraco]

This is my first post to these forums, so I believe I'm in the right place. I'm in the process of creating my first mod, so I'm pretty new in general. I've figured out quite a lot on my own but I'm stuck on one tiny thing that's driving me bonkers. What I'm trying to do is use the same animation that's used in the Dawnguard DLC in Castle Volkihar, where the vampire NPCs are basically eating red bread that's supposed to look like meat. I can't find any idle markers for it, and I've tried figuring it out by looking at Castle Volkihar in the CK but I'm at a loss. There are some things in the AI packages having to do with DLC01vampirebreakfast / lunch ect something or other, but I'm not entirely sure what to make of it, or if it's related. I also don't want to download another mod to address this. I'd rather do it myself if I can. (If there's custom scripting involved, that's out of the question for now, due to something I screwed up.) But any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[fore]

It's not as easy as a simple Idlemarker. It's a furniture animation sequence, and a relatively complex one, comparable to the usual sitting with eating/drinking.

 

In the behavior files (mt_behavior.hkx) this sequence is defined, activated by the "ChairEatingStart_VampireMeat" event. This event you can find in the CK under the Gameplay -> Animations... pulldown. I cannot look further in the CK since it is currently broken, and I don't want to spent time for it. But probably somewhere in the area of 0_master.hkx -> ActionActivate -> ActivateRootChar you should find a animation definition that uses said animation event "ChairEatingStart_VampireMeat".

 

Now this animation construct should have a condition for a furniture keyword which defines on which furniture this animation sequence can be used. Look for furniture that has this keyword. And then you can define a sittarget package for this type of furniture.

 

That's probably pretty hard stuff for someone just starting. But I can only tell the general direction without CK. Maybe someone else can help further.

[sammidraco]

.. Edited April 24, 2019 by sammidraco

[sammidraco]

It's not as easy as a simple Idlemarker. It's a furniture animation sequence, and a relatively complex one, comparable to the usual sitting with eating/drinking.

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In the behavior files (mt_behavior.hkx) this sequence is defined, activated by the "ChairEatingStart_VampireMeat" event. This event you can find in the CK under the Gameplay -> Animations... pulldown. I cannot look further in the CK since it is currently broken, and I don't want to spent time for it. But probably somewhere in the area of 0_master.hkx -> ActionActivate -> ActivateRootChar you should find a animation definition that uses said animation event "ChairEatingStart_VampireMeat".

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Now this animation construct should have a condition for a furniture keyword which defines on which furniture this animation sequence can be used. Look for furniture that has this keyword. And then you can define a sittarget package for this type of furniture.

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That's probably pretty hard stuff for someone just starting. But I can only tell the general direction without CK. Maybe someone else can help further.

 

Okay great, that helps. Thanks. I actually know how to set up things like sittarget packages, so this should be pretty easy. I've spent a little time looking since your response, but so far I'm having a hard time finding the right furniture with the right keyword. Right now the only one I've found is for the "sitting-at-table-and-feed-on-victim" chair. (I don't remember what the actual name for that chair is at the moment.) But I'll keep looking. At least I have an idea what to look for. Thank you!

[fore]

But you can make your own custom furniture and assign this keyword.

 

And if it would conflict with the vanilla furniture, you can also make a new animation object definition which uses the same animation event but new key words for a new furniture type.

[sammidraco]

*Edit*

Thanks for all your help so far! I got it to work! Super excited about it. I'll post how I got it in case anyone else has this problem. Or if you read through and think I made it more complicated on myself than it needed to be, then feel free to leave your input. =P

 

I've found it, but it's in a slightly different place than you thought. There is also no furniture condition. Here's what I found and where I found it:

 

Actors/character/behavior/0_master.hks > ActionIdle > NPCIdleRoot > NonCombatIdles > EatingRoot > ChairEatingStart > IdleEatingStandingStart_VampireMeat

 

and same path from 0_master.hks through ChairEatingStart, > ChairEating_VampireMeat

I actually didn't even notice this one until later, even though that's more specifically what you were referencing. I think I just got ahead of myself.

 

The two conditions are GetInCell which is obviously set for Volkihar, and HasKeyword "vampire". With an Anim Event "idleEatingStandingStart_DLC1Vampire". No furniture condition.

 

I tried seeing for a minute if I could work that into a furniture type but nothing happened. He just sat there. Maybe I did it wrong. From here I took a few guesses. I duplicated the "idleEatingStandingStart_VampireMeat" and changed the GetInCell condition to my mod's cell. Then I tried an X marker and plugged in the keyword "vampire".

 

(To be perfectly honest, I plugged that keyword in everywhere I could: double-clicking the x marker and plugging it in under both Keyword and Interaction Keyword, linking my NPC to the x marker and choosing "Vampire" under Keyword in the reference window, and even editing my NPC and selecting "Vampire" in the Keywords section. A lot of that was probably unnecessary, but that's what I did.)

 

That got my npc to use the correct animations (sit eat and drink), but the action is suppose to use the AnimObject "vampire meat", that way he's not just eating regular bread. But it was only using the normal bread and drink AnimObjects.

 

So I duplicated the "ChairEating_VampireMeat", hoping that would somehow include the correct AnimObject, and also changed its GetInCell condition to my mod's cell. Saved the CK, loaded up Skyrim and voila! It works! Now my NPC is the cannibal I've always wanted him to be. ^_^

 

Now I may be awfully new at modding, and probably a lot of what I did was unnecessary, so if you have any better, cleaner insight on how to go about it, feel free. But otherwise, thank you very much for your input! It definitely lead me in the right direction and I was able to figure out the rest, whether it was the correct way or not. :) Much appreciated!

Edited April 25, 2019 by sammidraco