Poorman65 Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 I would like to write a mod that I can use to get rid of NPCs that I don't want to appear in the game. In particular, there is a mod that I am using that is great except that it adds some NPCs that don't really fit in with my immersion into the game. I am new to Creation Kit modding. My first thought was to simply remove the placement of the NPCs from the Cells so that I didn't risk messing up other things. I tried loading up the Mod in question and finding the Cell reference where one of the NPCs is located and clicking delete on the NPC. The NPC dissappears from the Cell, but the Reference count in the NPCs info doesn't change. Not sure if there is something additional I need to do or if there is a better way to accomplish what I want to do. Appreciate any help you can give. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cumbrianlad Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 I hope you backed up the esp before starting this! You have removed that NPC from the game. I know it's not directly what you are asking about but you'd have to be exceptionally careful with something like this. Deleting them in the render window amounts to more or less the same thing as deleting the actor record from the objects window. Any and all references to that NPC will be compromised. Bear in mind that each and every actor (NPC) can be called for in quests and scenes. If they are quest aliases and not flagged as 'optional', the quest will not start, however minor their role was in it. The consequences could be very damaging, if not game-breaking. In this case it may only break the mod. Look at the NPC, right click on it and view 'Use Info' to see where it is used. Next, from the menus on the top of the screen select 'Edit', then 'Find Text'. Type in the name of the NPC and search. That will bring up any references in quests, scenes and dialogue. Double-check by going through any of the mod's added quests and looking for them being used as a quest alias. If there's nothing showing after all that, you may be okay to delete the NPC. That's not to say it will never be immersion breaking, even if it doesn't break the mod/game. Let's say you delete a blacksmith called Bjorn. You go in game and hear a scene being played out by other NPCs who are talking about The blacksmith who doesn't exist any more... pretty immersion-breaking. If you want to go ahead with this, save a back-up of the game/mod at regular stages and test it thoroughly after removing each actor. Test on a game save that has never had the mod loaded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poorman65 Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 @cumbrianlad I actually hadn't saved the changes because I wasn't sure if I was doing it right. In these cases, the NPCs are pretty much just pretty filler characters. I'll check for quests, scenes and dialog the way you mentioned. What is the correct interface mechanism that I should be using to remove them? Do I just delete them from the Cell the way I did and then Save my mod? Bare in mind that my intention was to basically create a Patch so that I would be able to install any updates to the 3rd party mod without having to modify it every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agerweb Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 If the NPC's are Vanilla ones than don't delete just set them to disabled. Double click on the NPC in the render window and tick 'initially disabled'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poorman65 Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 These are from a 3rd party mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agerweb Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 Disable advice applies to objects in any mod that's not your own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cumbrianlad Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 Agerweb raised the point I was just going to add. If you're checking for the things I said and do as Agerweb suggested and disable them, you're good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poorman65 Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 Thanks for the help!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poorman65 Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 (edited) Looks like something went wrong. The Form Id is messed up when I look at it in xEdit. [ACHR:070479CF] (places [070428C4] < Error: Could not be resolved > in GRUP Cell Temporary Children of RiftenHaelgasBunkhouse "Haelga's Bunkhouse" [CELL:00016BD4]) Edited January 9, 2020 by Poorman65 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poorman65 Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 (edited) I'm sure this is a beginner error, but what I am seeing is that MyNPCPatch doesn't have the mod I am trying to override as a Master. It show the mods checkbox as being checked when I look at the Data dialog box in xEdit, but when I select MyNPCPatch , their mod is not shown as a Master. What I did to create MyNPCPatch was to make the change after loading their mod and then do a Save As. I had not set any of the mods as being Active prior to this. I do have multiple masters enabled. The mod I am trying to override is an "esp" if that makes a difference. Edited January 9, 2020 by Poorman65 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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