Custom Companions Lockpicking/Hacking

[RatB0Y68]

A while back, I made a custom companion.

 

This custom companion can hack terminals and pick locks. However, there is a difference in her behaviour to Cait and Nick Valentine.

When Cait or Nick do their task, they will make multiple attempts before either suceeding or failing. With my custom companion, she will try once, then have to be ordered to do it again if she fails.

 

My question is, how would I make my custom companion make multiple hacking/picking tries before stopping?

I've looked in the Creation Kit for answers as to what causes this behaviour, but I have nothing. I don't even know where to start.

 

Is it a Quest? A script? An AI Package? How would I go about making my custom comp's unlocking progress properly like Nick's and Cait's?

[AeonsLegend]

I don't think the companions actually have several attempts. They just pretend they do and then get locked out permanently. But I could be wrong.

Edited January 12, 2020 by AeonsLegend

[Modok71]

You can look in quest's by quest "followers" there is the hack terminal and lockpick Scene.

 

 

 

 

-- Sorry for my bad english ---

Edited January 12, 2020 by Modok71

[taryl80]

Imo, there is only one way for doing it "right" what hacking matters and that includes to edit the mentioned followers quest above and several other minor steps.

 

Unfortunately I can't remember every necessary step, but I believe you need also to add a specific textgroup to the companion-mainquest and adding a specific keyword to your companion.

 

The best would be, if you look for the minor tweaks at Nick's companion quest and him self, but as always - if you look at vanilla files go sure that you nothing change there.

Edited January 12, 2020 by taryl80

[lilkandeekid]

Took a quick look and seems the keywords would be "000F4B91 Followers_Command_LockPick_Allowed" and "001760E4 Followers_Command_HackTerminal_Allowed".

 

They both are referenced by the quest - Followers "Follower & Companion System Control Quest" [QUST:000289E4]

The two scenes inside the quest are certainly the hack/lockpick scene's your talking about, tho im not sure what the proper way to hook your companion into it would be atm.

[Modok71]

it's possible to add a new dialogue group to the followers quest with condition getisid - actor:'customcompanionxyz' without changing the script's. so the companion do Play the Scene. i think.

 

 

 

 

-- Sorry for my bad English --

[taryl80]

Luckly I have found my companion-tutorial again (my hd is currently a mess, because I had bought a new system).

 

For months I had started to write a tutorial on how to do affinity followers in Fallout 4. It's not out yet, so nobody need to search it on the Nexus and it is a) more a guildline as a tutorial and b) based on my follower RandomPanser.

 

So... Should you read anything in the text about "Panser", remove it and turn it to the name of your companion.

 

If you follow what I have write there, your companion should be able to hack without any bugs and no... My companion is at the moment not a good example for it, because she still uses a outdated method of hacking. With the new version she will however then use this method that I will post here - just to answer any of your might be coming up questions beforehand.

 

So here is the snippet of my companion tutorial about hacking:

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Let's get to hacking now.

 

For a companion to hack the followers quest must also be edited. Please be very careful, because you are working on a vanilla quest which can cause significant bugs if you make mistakes.

 

So let's start.

 

Since the quest already exists we do not have to worry about most things.

 

Go directly to "Scenes" and look for the "Command_Hack_Terminal_Scene".

 

Most of the phases you can ignore except the phases that are important to you, and those are Phase 3, Phase 5, and Phase 6.

 

In these phases, look at the dialogues of Nick Valentine and create info groups and comments with the same characteristics as Nick Valentine has for your companion.

 

Of course, you will need to change the conditions that are directly aimed at Nick Valentine to your Companion with the entries that you create. After the Affinity Quest you know the drill.

 

Now we are already nearly finished with this in order to give your companion the hacking ability.

 

Since this is the best place for this I will write the rest here, even though not all of this has to do with a quest.

 

Next go back to the affinity quest of your companion.

 

Then go to the tab "Favors" and create a new info group under "Refuse".

 

This one you can name for example: "PanserHackTerminalRefusalOverride".

 

Here you should add some comments from your companion, like "I will try my best.".

 

Then make sure these settings are accurate:

 

-Do all before repeating

-Force all children random

-Conditions

GetLocked NONE == 1:00 AND

GetItsObjectiveType Terminal == 1:00 AND

 

Now you go once again into the "COMPanserScript" and add another property:

 

-pCommand_HackTerminal_Scene Scene const Command_HackTerminal_Scene

 

Now close the Affinity Quest again and open your NPC Companion.

 

From there go under the tab "Keywords" and add the following keyword:

 

-NONE Followers_Command_HackTerminal_Allowed

 

Now your companion should also be able to hack.

 

Sometimes some minor bugs can happen like he/she stands a bit farther behind a terminal than usual, but he/she will definitely not get stuck behind it and catch up with the player after a short amount of time.

 

 

 

Hope it will help.

Edited January 13, 2020 by taryl80

[RatB0Y68]

Thanks all for the advice. I've now taken a look at the quest and scenes.

 

I have decided this is far too labourious, tiring and complicated for me to want to tackle, and I don't want to fiddle with a vanilla quest. So for the time being, I'm out.

 

Maybe later, when my endurance levels are higher, as it stands, even looking at the whole thing has given me a headache.

[RatB0Y68]

Now for another question.

 

Is there a way to set my companion's success rate with locks and terminals to higher than vanilla default?

 

I've tried using the 'set auto-lockpicking/hacking chance' perk entries, but they seem to have no actual effect.

 

At least this way I can make my comp's picking/hacking skills less of a command spamfest for the player. After commanding my follower for the 17th time to open a master lock, even I get tired.

[taryl80]

As you have already discovered, the hacking perks are mostly useless for a companion.

 

I have no answer to your question, but I don't think that this would be possible with quests and scripts that are modeled after the original companions in Fallout 4.

 

However, I have heard that custom companions can do this, that use other "frameworks" (for a lack of better words) as the standard followers in Fallout 4. After all I have read, the companion "Heather" can do this. So you might can learn from this companion a bit.

 

I don't know if this is true, since I haven't use a other custom companion as my one in my games, because my Fallout 4 "playthroughs" ending always in testruns for my follower, or other mods I working on.

 

But maybe there you can find help, if you want to have a higher success rate.

Edited January 13, 2020 by taryl80