Trying to make my own simple mod - remove Deacon's sunglasses and wigs

[DonFulano]

Hi all,

 

I'm trying to make a simple .esp to have Deacon never reequip the sunglasses and wig. However, nothing I am trying is working. I've tried removing ClothesDeaconWig and ClothesDeaconSunglasses from Inventory, under CompanionDeacon - and I've deleted those Outfit Objects as well. But when back in game to test, the sunglasses and the wig always reappear.

 

Does anyone know how to get this to work? I'm also not opposed to using an already existing mod to do this, but I also want to learn how to achieve this.

 

 

Thanks

[Zorkaz]

Hm... with Deacon there might be a script responsible, since he's often changing outfits.

 

 

Also NPCs don't only have their inventory outfits equipped. There's something called "Default Outfit". I don't have much insight in the clothing system for now. so that's all I can lead you to.

[StormWolf01]

Heyas Don. Unfortunately, you picked a really tough one. Bethesda did not make this one easy.

The problem that you're having is that there are activators located all around the commonwealth. When the player (not Deacon) activates them, it triggers the change in D's clothes/appearance. I'm not sure tho if the activation is via proximity (IE- Getting close to them, getting in range of them) or by directly stepping on them. But they're Not manually activated by the player like doors, locks, light switches, items you can pick up, etc.

While I do not know what these activators are called, because I don't use the CK. I would say that the most simplest solution, IF you can locate them, is to simply change the clothing that they use into a unified list. IE- Use the same clothes in each activator, instead of the different clothes.

The reason I say that, is because I know that they are linked to lists and probably scripts. So just deleting the activators would most likely be bad. And cause bugs. But I could definitely be off on that.

 

Now also there is also several different characters for D in the character files. There is one for him in GoodNeighbor, there is one for him in the Memory Den, as well as one for him in Diamond City, as well as the CompanionDeacon character. The non-companion characters are linked. So if you kill one of them, the others will not show up. However, the Companion Deacon character still will.

 

I don't know if that will be a factor or not. As I don't THINK that the non-companion characters are affected by the activators. But again, I could be off on that.

 

[Edit] Thinking again, it might also just be a simple script as Zorkaz was saying. With something like "if the player character is at Cell abcd at xyz cordinates, do this" So it might be something as simple as locating the script. But it's not something that you'd want to remove during an active playthrough, since the script is baked into your savegame. So unifying the items changed in that script, or adding lines like "if clothing items = 1 2 3 4 do nothing" (Now obviously that's NOT working script or even close to the terms that the game uses. But I haven't checked into working with the scripting language for this game.[/Edit]

 

Like I said, this is gonna be a tough one for you. But maybe this will help give you some pointers.

Good luck!

-Storm

Edited March 8, 2020 by StormWolf01

[DonFulano]

Thank you both for the replies!

 

Thanks Zorkaz for point out the Default Outfit! I ended up finding it. However deleting the outfit objects ultimately didn't work - in fact, I came across glitches where all outfits given to him would "layer" and he would appear bulky. Sometimes his hands would just disappear, but..

 

I think I've figured it out. Like you said Storm, it's a script. I'll credit CloseUpCarnage's comment - So what I had to do was find the quest "COMDeacon", and edit the COMDeaconScript. Set property bCanSwapDisguises to 0, and set all properties with type "Armor const" and "Outfit const" to Value: None. Just setting bCanSwapDiguises = 0 did not work for me.

I fast-traveled to locations I knew where Deacon changed his outfit - Bunker Hill, Diamond City, etc. - and now he stays in whatever clothing/equipment I've given him.

I did activate this mid-game save, but so far I have not come across any issues/conflicts with baked-in scripts... But I'll keep an eye out and do further testing, thanks for pointing that out Storm!

 

I'm still in Act 1, so perhaps there could be conflicts later on with other scripts coming into play.

 

So far I have come across one issue/glitch though - after a fight with some raiders, Deacon was stuck in the "falling" pose (I think that's what it was) - arms up above his head and head looking down. The recycleactor command has fixed that so far, but something to keep an eye on to see if it reoccurs.

 

Thank you again for y'all's help!

[StormWolf01]

LOL is this a case of the blind leading the blind towards the light at the end of the tunnel? :D

 

Well, I'm glad that we were able to at least help you towards an end goal. And thanks for posting your work that you'd done. That helped me learn more info about the source of what does that :)

 

Just from your description, it sounds like D went into "T pose". Usually happens to me whenever I put an NPC into looksmenu. You might try something that would make him go into a different animated pose, like crouching/sneaking, you your self jumping, you equipping/unequipping a weapon, or changing zones by fast travel to another cell.

Thats odd tho.

 

Yeah, seeing what you've edited, it's a good thing not to just try to get rid of the script. It's got other things that it's referencing, or that are referencing it, if it's got the stuff in there about disguises. And the constant outfit. As that list would have to be somewhere. removing it would most likely ophan those lists. So whatever script those lists are attached to, might be ok, or they might fail to compile.

 

Glad to see that you've got this going in a positive direction tho! :D

-Storm

[DonFulano]

Well even with the blind leading the blind, we'll get there eventually haha

 

Hm, I had thought it was a T-Pose, but his arms were more like... straight up? I wish I had gotten a screenshot lol. But it probably was a T-pose for all intents and purposes. If it happens again, I'll try doing something to force him to change animation! Cause with recycleactor, it clears his inventory of stuff I've given him, so definitely not ideal.

 

Yah, I found simply deleting scripts/objects isn't the best approach :pinch: I think that's why I was getting issues like his hands completely disappearing when I first tried just removing his disguise "objects." Ah well, live and learn... it was interesting digging into Creation Kit and learning what stuff does (I don't really mind if I "break" my save - I like learning this stuff). Hopefully just null-ing some properties in this script instead of removing it will continue to work & hold up.

 

I suppose I could upload the .esp if it would help others (still giving credit to y'all for helping and CloseUpCarnage since they pointed me in the exact direction)

[Zorkaz]

Companions stuck in the falling pose isn't a unique thing and shouldn't have to do with your script.

I sometimes had one where they hovered in mid air, arms and head down.

 

It sure can be scary when you look back and they approach you from the end of a dark corridor

like a ghost rushing towards you. Thanks Cait!

[StormWolf01]

Companions stuck in the falling pose isn't a unique thing and shouldn't have to do with your script.

I sometimes had one where they hovered in mid air, arms and head down.

 

It sure can be scary when you look back and they approach you from the end of a dark corridor

like a ghost rushing towards you. Thanks Cait!

I personally haven't seen that in game. Tho I Have seen instances of the PC doing it, in vids on youtube.

HA! I totally laughed out loud, when I got the mental picture of that coming out of a dark hallway or room!

Thanks for the first good laugh of the day Zorkaz! ;D