SSE Input wanted for a mod mechanic

[Meridias561]

Yes, I'm a noob mod maker as this is my first serious attempt at making a mod and as such I'm unfamiliar with most of the possibilities and/or limits of what can be made but I'm learning as I go. That being said, the basic mechanic of the mod is very similar to the favorites system. Highlight an item in inventory, hit a hotkey, that item gets tagged and is shown with an icon. While my mod is going to do a bunch of stuff after an item is tagged (making a gear swapping-type mod), the part I'm wondering about is that specific part of getting an item tagged and indicated with an icon next to it in the inventory list. Is that something that can be done with the CK and scripts or are we talking dll's, interface swf's and other stuff? Any info or links to related topics will be helpful. I haven't gotten to the point in the creation process where I'm working on the inventory part yet (still figuring out stuff I need before then) so I'm just asking as a general feeler for if what I'm thinking of will even work before I get too far into it. Thank you.

[shumkar]

the part I'm wondering about is that specific part of getting an item tagged and indicated with an icon next to it in the inventory list. Is that something that can be done with the CK and scripts or are we talking dll's, interface swf's and other stuff?

 

Drawing an icon in the inventory list can be done for sure only with Flash (.swf), as in SkyUI. "InventoryMenu".

 

Tagging an item... not sure; it may need a Papyrus script (in the case of hot key?) or an interaction between ActionScript (built in Flash) and Papyrus script (in the case of mouse click?). Never looked into it especially.

 

SKSE plugins (.dlls), AFAIK, are usually used for the tasks that can not be done in Papyrus, or can be very slow in Papyrus. Though, there are SKSE plugins that can be fully rewritten in Papyrus (what I did in my last mod).

 

Edit: The best tutorial about working with Flash: https://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1509769-tuthow-to-create-widgets-using-flash-tools/

Edited February 17, 2020 by shumkar

[Meridias561]

I already have the hotkey working (doesn't do anything yet but works according to debug.not) in the inventory so I was mainly worried about the drawing of the icon. Thanks for the link. Now, is there going to be a conflict I have to worry about with multiple mods tweaking the inventory system, ie skyui and my mod?

edit: And apparently in their infinite wisdow Bethesda is shutting down those servers today. Not even keeping them up as an archive. Hopefully there's a copy of that tutorial or something similar somewhere.

Edited February 17, 2020 by Meridias561

[shumkar]

Now, is there going to be a conflict I have to worry about with multiple mods tweaking the inventory system, ie skyui and my mod?

 

I am afraid only one .swf (only one video clip, roughly speaking) for each menu (InventoryMenu in this case) can be active at a time... So, you'll have to make a tweak of the SkyUI's file(s).

 

edit: And apparently in their infinite wisdow Bethesda is shutting down those servers today. Not even keeping them up as an archive. Hopefully there's a copy of that tutorial or something similar somewhere.

 

Do you know Wayback Machine? This service stores snapshots of almost all popular web pages for many years. I've just made a snapshot of the tutorial at Bethsoft (imho, it's more convenient to use than other reposts, with all scripts in spoilers), it's going to be available all the time while the service works.

 

Edit: If you know other valuable pages at Bethsoft, you still have time, for now, to make snapshots of them! :thumbsup:

Edited February 17, 2020 by shumkar

[Meridias561]

ISo, you'll have to make a tweak of the SkyUI's file(s).

 

As in, a full modification and recompile of SkyUI's original inventorymenu .fla?

[shumkar]

As in, a full modification and recompile of SkyUI's original inventorymenu .fla?

 

 

Yes, editing .fla and .as and then recompiling .swf. And also (see below) editing .psc and recompiling .pex.

 

My expirience in tweaking SkyUI is not great. I managed to achieve my goal with editing just a few lines in ActiveEffect.as and without creating my own clips/pictures: https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/7979018-skyui-not-showing-effect-hud-icons-only-time-bars/&do=findComment&comment=76423198

 

As you have to add your own picture, it's a more difficult task, because it requires not only a work of creating this picture, but also may require editing the SkyUI's widget manager which handles all icons, widgets, everything (look at SKI_WidgetManager.psc) and, possibly, other files that are being called up the chain of functions.

Edited February 18, 2020 by shumkar

[shumkar]

 

also may require editing the SkyUI's widget manager which handles all icons, widgets, everything (look at SKI_WidgetManager.psc) and, possibly, other files that are being called up the chain of functions.

 

 

No, SKI_WidgetManager.psc handles HUDMenu only (which I dealt with)... In case of InventoryMenu it's SKI_Main.psc.

 

[Meridias561]

Something else I've been trying to figure out is whether SkyUI is written in actionscript 2.0 or 3.0. From what adobe animate cc (since cs4, cs6 and flash pro are all gone and animate replaced them) tells me I'm guessing 2.0 which really sucks since animate has completely removed all support for and ability to code in AS2.0. Does anybody have any suggestions for alternative programs to use?

[shumkar]

SkyUI is written in ActionScript 2.0. I used CS6. About alternatives, may be this discussion could help: https://www.afkmods.com/index.php?/topic/4491-fo4-swf-recompilation/ - it's for Fallout, but many tools are mentioned here...

 

Edit: Especially, look at JPEX. I remember positive reviews about it (but never used myself): https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/5927613-remove-level-from-loading-screens/&do=findComment&comment=53616633

Edited February 19, 2020 by shumkar