[LE] Custom Follower AI script

[UltimateNinjaOfDoom]

Hello Skyrim Modders Community,

 

I am a very new at creating mods and i am seeking advise for a follower mod I am making for a friend. My friend gave me a description on how she wants to meet her follower and it is not very conventional. she wishes to have her follower run up to her while her character is on the chopping block at the start of the game. I believe that triggering a NPC to run up to a character is not necessarily difficult due to a lot of NPCs doing so in the game, such as couriers. Though I may be mistaken due to having little knowledge in scripting, is it possible to implement such behaviour in the creation kit? and is it possible to add the character in Helgen before the dragon attack and have them interact with the player while they are in the sequence during the start or would it break the game? Please!, any advise is extremely appreciated as I want to build this mod for my friend to thank her for all she has done for me. I would also like to thank everyone for taking the time to read this. I look forward to hearing from all of you.

 

Kind Regards,

 

UltimateNinjaOfDoom.

Edited October 5, 2019 by UltimateNinjaOfDoom

[npdogg]

General consensus is that changing the opening sequence is risky at best. Outside of that, it is certainly possible to get an NPC to run up to and greet the player.

[UltimateNinjaOfDoom]

General consensus is that changing the opening sequence is risky at best. Outside of that, it is certainly possible to get an NPC to run up to and greet the player.

Hello npdogg,

 

Thank you for the reply, so I assume placing the character within that sequence would be a lost cause? as for the NPC running up to the character, would opening up a other NPC with that behaviour in the creation kit and perhaps coping and pasting it into my NPC work?

[npdogg]

 

Hello npdogg,

 

Thank you for the reply, so I assume placing the character within that sequence would be a lost cause? as for the NPC running up to the character, would opening up a other NPC with that behaviour in the creation kit and perhaps coping and pasting it into my NPC work?

 

I mean what you're trying to do is kind of advanced for someone new to modding. It's not just a simple matter of copy-pasting something. There are multiple parts that would need to work together to make this happen, including a quest, probably a story manager event, and maybe scripting.

 

I would recommend looking at how other similar events happen, such as the Courier (who force-greets the player both inside and outside towns) and the Dawnguard character Durak who always greets the player in the first town they enter at level 10.

[maxarturo]

All the things you want can be done, but as npdogg pointed out, this is advanced stuff for someone new to modding.

A sequence like this needs to be primarily based on a script that will handle everything, and there are a lot of different things that needs to interact with the player, with the game, with themself.

A script like this will be calling a bounch of different "Events" and "Functions" and everything needs to be well align for a sequence like this to run correctly and mainly to not cause CTD.

Even the most experienced modder/scripter will not get it right from first try, and something like this needs a lot... A LOT of testing !.

[UltimateNinjaOfDoom]

 

General consensus is that changing the opening sequence is risky at best. Outside of that, it is certainly possible to get an NPC to run up to and greet the player.

Hello npdogg,

 

Thank you for the reply, so I assume placing the character within that sequence would be a lost cause? as for the NPC running up to the character, would opening up a other NPC with that behaviour in the creation kit and perhaps coping and pasting it into my NPC work?

 

 

 

 

Hello npdogg,

 

Thank you for the reply, so I assume placing the character within that sequence would be a lost cause? as for the NPC running up to the character, would opening up a other NPC with that behaviour in the creation kit and perhaps coping and pasting it into my NPC work?

 

I mean what you're trying to do is kind of advanced for someone new to modding. It's not just a simple matter of copy-pasting something. There are multiple parts that would need to work together to make this happen, including a quest, probably a story manager event, and maybe scripting.

 

I would recommend looking at how other similar events happen, such as the Courier (who force-greets the player both inside and outside towns) and the Dawnguard character Durak who always greets the player in the first town they enter at level 10.

 

 

Apologises,

 

I realised I used poor Choice of words. I meant that if I looked into the characters with similar behaviour I could understand what i needed and replicate it. Durak is a really nice suggestion to look into as well, thank you!

[UltimateNinjaOfDoom]

 

All the things you want can be done, but as npdogg pointed out, this is advanced stuff for someone new to modding.

A sequence like this needs to be primarily based on a script that will handle everything, and there are a lot of different things that needs to interact with the player, with the game, with themself.

A script like this will be calling a bounch of different "Events" and "Functions" and everything needs to be well align for a sequence like this to run correctly and mainly to not cause CTD.

Even the most experienced modder/scripter will not get it right from first try, and something like this needs a lot... A LOT of testing !.

 

Hello maxaturo,

 

thank you for the reply.

 

Ah so it is possible to place the follower into the starting sequence, I heard that the starting sequence was very fragile and was hoping to have a more experienced modder to confirm if what I wanted to achieve was achievable or if it was a too complex thing for the starting sequence to handle. I realised that this could take a long time and a lot of testing and even when complete could still be randomly and unexplainabley buggy, Kinda like the software Maya. If possible could you lead me in the right direction to a resource I could study to help me build the required sequences of events and functions to build this? the creation kit tutorials are quite handy in helping me build the follower themselves, though it is very vast and hopped to have a lead to narrow it down.

[maxarturo]

UltimateNinjaOfDoom i'm afraid i'll have to disappoint you here... such a resource doesn't exist.

In order to be able to do such a thing - build a sequence like this you need to, well... it all comes down to the modders knowledge of CK, knowledge of Papyrus, knowledge of the game engine, knowledge of the game (as executable), knowledge of the limitations that papyrus & the game engine has, knowledge of some exterior programs (it might require such a thing) + experience + and the most important of all, the modder's ABILITY TO INNOVATE !.

As you have realise by now, this is an ability and skill gain / earn through time and a lot... A LOT of headaches !.

But don't get your hopes down... every single modder, scripter, even game companies, were exactly in the position you are right now at some point !.

We all need to start from somewhere and we all need to climb the ladder of experience...

* A friendly advice, take it step by step and don't try to go quickly from A to Z, because you'll miss some of the most important things along the way that usually no one pays attention to, and at the end they turn out to be the key for everything !.

Sorry for causing you disappointment...

[UltimateNinjaOfDoom]

 

UltimateNinjaOfDoom i'm afraid i'll have to disappoint you here... such a resource doesn't exist.

In order to be able to do such a thing - build a sequence like this you need to, well... it all comes down to the modders knowledge of CK, knowledge of Papyrus, knowledge of the game engine, knowledge of the game (as executable), knowledge of the limitations that papyrus & the game engine has, knowledge of some exterior programs (it might require such a thing) + experience + and the most important of all, the modder's ABILITY TO INNOVATE !.

As you have realise by now, this is an ability and skill gain / earn through time and a lot... A LOT of headaches !.

But don't get your hopes down... every single modder, scripter, even game companies, were exactly in the position you are right now at some point !.

We all need to start from somewhere and we all need to climb the ladder of experience...

* A friendly advice, take it step by step and don't try to go quickly from A to Z, because you'll miss some of the most important things along the way that usually no one pays attention to, and at the end they turn out to be the key for everything !.

Sorry for causing you disappointment...

 

Hello Maxaturo,

 

Thank you for the friendly advise, it means a lot that you took the time to help me with this!

i will defiantly keep researching and testing, i now have the NPC built and it has basic follower behaviour. i will make a break down of the elements and focus on building it step by step. I sorry for making you feel the need to apologise, i came into this with uncertainty in mind, i was worried that what my friend wanted was possible or not, i did not want to disappoint her, but you gave me the courage to give it a go and keep at it. thank you very much!. Take care!

 

UltiNin :thumbsup:

[maxarturo]

Don't mention it.

 

One quick and easy way to do something like this - "kind of similar" to your original idea and still satisfied your friend.

Is to put your follower & build a simpler scene sequence inside "Helgen Keep", here is where the actual game starts.

This way you can do it in a shorter time (at a reasonable time than the original idea, that required to gain the skills first) + you will gain experience and know how, take it as an opportunity to experiment and learn, basicaly if you have a wild imagination you can build something really cool.

Also you won't have to deal with all those mechanics that the "starting game" has that requires the necessary skills to be able to handle them.