SSE How to add an NPC 'equip' idle or 'con' the game engine.

[cumbrianlad]

Right. This is the last, definitely the last, issue with my mod prior to release.

 

It concerns NPCs not having idles to equip certain weapons, specifically daggers.

 

As the title says, can I con the game engine by making the weapon form have keywords relating to swords, not daggers (the race equips swords fine), so WeapTypeSword, not 'WeapTypeDagger', or will that result in weird animations?

 

I created an entire story-line, new races with morph races, at times, and made unique weapons, all to fit together in one seamless, believable, beautiful quest...

 

... only to find that I'd missed something with one race I'd morphed. Doh! :sweat:. They don't have the 'EquipDagger.hfx' animation. My mage variation is meant to use my unique daggers, but they can't. They wander about with their arms upraised (but no dagger in hand) and the dagger that they want to equip can be seen trailing along the ground behind them. Once they're dead, the daggers can be looted but that's not the point. It also seems to stop them from using their (left hand) spells. The mages are therefore impotent... not good... nobody likes an impotent mage!

 

I could choose an entirely separate race for the mages but that would look daft. To undo the dagger requirement means undoing all the 'Lore' that I've laid down in countless books, incidents of the dagger occurring in cells and more. I can't bear it.

 

Unless somebody can think of something else, I don't know how to add idles to a race and I don't want there to be a requirement for mod users to use FNIS, anyway.

 

I can equip them with swords (I have unique swords used by the warrior variations and the mages use them and use their spells, it just doesn't look right) but I'd like them to use the daggers.

 

Any advice will be very gratefully received! :thumbsup:

 

I've just wondered if swapping the 'anim type' from 'OneHanddagger' to 'OneHandSword' might work? Edit: no, it doesn't. I just altered all 10 forms to that effect... they still won't equip a dagger.

[maxarturo]

Quick workaround:

- If your npc can equip swords then, open a sword nif in NifSkope delete only the "NiTriShape" of the sword and the blood Lighting & Effect (nothing else) and in the same position place the "NiTriShape" of your dagger.

The dagger must be in the exact position that the swors handle was (handle to handle). Now create a "NEW SWORD" weapon with that nif.

If you need the actual dagger to be lootable and for the player to not be able to see the "Fake Dagger" then, make a script that 'OnDiyng' > 'UnequipAll' > remove from the npc's inventory the "Fake Dagger" and add the "REAL DAGGER".

* Also place on your npc a key word "NoDisintegration", so that you won't encounter CTD while the script is making the change of the daggers and your npc might become an ash pile from an enchanted weapon. This process makes a removal of the items in the npcs container to the ash pile container, so ctd will eventually happen to someone....

NoDisintegration will forbide the transformation of the npc into an ash pile on death, i'm not entirly sure that 'NoDisintegration' is the correct key word and i can't remember right now, i can bearly keep my eyes open...

I hope it helps or that it might give you some other ideas.

Have a happy moding !.

Edited February 19, 2020 by maxarturo

[cumbrianlad]

I'm now beginning to think that this is a hopeless cause and time for a total re-think.

 

Despite the fact that my NPCs' morph race (armoured Skeleton) has 'dagger' checked in its combat data tab, the skeleton model is the draugr skeleton. The nif for that has no node for 'dagger' weapons, only sword and axe. That's what fooled me.

 

The standard 'human' NPC skeleton nif has nodes for all weapon types.

 

Am I right in saying that this goes even deeper than the Dagger equip and dagger unequip animations being absent from the actor's animation list goes? The reason they're not there is because the skeleton doesn't support them?

 

I suppose I could make my mages wield axes (the warrior types have swords), but that doesn't fit with mages. Darn it, but the race doesn't even have animations to carry staves. Having said that, they have all the animations to use shields but I couldn't get a single warrior to use the shields I gave them, so i took them out of their inventories.

 

It just goes to show you never to make judgements based on appearance. I chose them because they looked cool. It turns out they can wield nothing but an axe or a sword... useless, undead, skeletal (insert derogatory term here)s !

 

For the derogatory term in the last sentence, I was thinking 'cad'. What were you thinking? I jest. I was of course thinking 'duckers', or something similar.

[cumbrianlad]

Hey there Maxarturo!

 

I was so busy typing my despondent post that you'd offered a solution while I was doing it.

 

You'll have to excuse my post about stupid duckers that can't wield a dagger!

 

That was borne from sheer frustration.

 

I'll definitely give that a shot.

 

'No disintegration' is most definitely a problem, since I've given these useless so-and-so's the ability to resurrect their own dead. They do need to be lootable, since the dungeon boss always carries the best dagger.

 

Thanks immensely for this... you may have just saved something really important to me with this mod!

 

Edit: I've not only given them the ability to raise their own fallen comrades... they also have spells to conjure duplicates of themselves. I suppose this won't be an issue since the conjured versions should just disappear like all other conjured NPCs.