[LE] Getting the game to recognize the Story Manager LockPick Event

[IsharaMeradin]

This I understand. Still it is necessary to test under such a scenario as the mod you are working on never having existed prior. Whether it is a brand new game or a carefully created save file does not really matter. What matters is that none of the mod in question has been seen by the save in use.

[Martimius]

Clean saves didn't do any good. Will try just using the test esp dylbill provided, since what I did before was copy what he did (including the scripts) over to my main mod plugin.

[Martimius]

Ok, so I tried dylbill's exact test esp (no modifications, I just added a Normal Branch Type dialogue topic with the dialogue (no conditions, other than GetIsID DLC1Serana=1) and also filled the script with that dialogue topic's name. It seems to work at least partly. Clicking on Serana on the debug console, I can see that she at least has "LockPickDetectAbility", but upon picking a lock, there still is no dialogue.

Edited June 1, 2020 by Martimius

[dylbill]

Hmmm, did you get the debug notification when picking a lock? Sometimes, other quest's / scripts will prevent the ability script from firing. I noticed this when testing my NPC Death Alert's mod, which also uses a scripted ability on NPC's. I started testing in Riften, the first time you enter. There's a lot of dialogue scenes happening between other NPC's and the ability script event wouldn't fire. It's only after those scenes ended that the ability script would fire.

[Martimius]

No, I didn’t. I also can’t see how conflicting scripts could prevent this one from running successfully. I did all my testing in the “RiftenThievesGuildHeadquarters” cell, and I don’t think there’s particularly much going on there.

[IsharaMeradin]

Serana does have a different AI setup than normal followers, perhaps something there is interfering? I know it will take going through almost the entire Dawnguard quest line, but have you tried to see if it works after it is all done and she is no longer needed for any quest specific things?

[dylbill]

I've also had trouble testing in the thieves guild quarters for the same reason. try going somewhere more secluded. I think It's a problem with Skyrim's scripting engine. When I tested, I did so on Serana, and it was before I had ever met her in game. I used the script to move her to me.

[Martimius]

Serana does have a different AI setup than normal followers, perhaps something there is interfering? I know it will take going through almost the entire Dawnguard quest line, but have you tried to see if it works after it is all done and she is no longer needed for any quest specific things?

The testing save was done after the Dawnguard questline. No quest-related stuff currently running in relation to her mental model.

 

I've also had trouble testing in the thieves guild quarters for the same reason. try going somewhere more secluded. I think It's a problem with Skyrim's scripting engine. When I tested, I did so on Serana, and it was before I had ever met her in game. I used the script to move her to me.

Gotcha. Will try going to some NPC's house and try picking a lock there.

[Martimius]

Tried testing in a different cell (this time in the Dragonsreach Jarl's Quarters, as its the first place I thought of with stuff to lockpick) and still I'm getting the same result.

[Martimius]

This may be something I should hold off now, since it's been giving me more headaches than anything.

 

And this may not strictly be related to the first issue I encountered in this thread, but what should I do when a scripted scene isn't firing? I basically have a scene (with the same NPC) which should occur after she has said a particular dialogue line to the player. This should be triggered through an "End" fragment in the Topic Info, scripted like this. The scene doesn't have any prerequisites, and is basically just multiple consecutive dialogue actions said by one NPC. The reference alias for it doesn't have anything special ticked for it, other than choosing the unique actor DLC1Serana.

 

 

;BEGIN FRAGMENT CODE - Do not edit anything between this and the end comment

;NEXT FRAGMENT INDEX 1

Scriptname TIF__0563DB54 Extends TopicInfo Hidden

;BEGIN FRAGMENT Fragment_0

Function Fragment_0(ObjectReference akSpeakerRef)

Actor akSpeaker = akSpeakerRef as Actor

;BEGIN CODE

SeranaDialogueAddonDBComes.Start()

;END CODE

EndFunction

;END FRAGMENT

;END FRAGMENT CODE - Do not edit anything between this and the begin comment

Scene Property SeranaDialogueAddonDBComes Auto

 

The quest does start and the alias fills (since the alias does not have an "Optional" flag checked) but the appropriate scene doesn't trigger after the topic info is said. Also, no errors with the Papyrus script compile.

 

EDIT: Turns out the alias was not filling. sqv in the console for this quest points to NONE for this alias.

 

EDIT 2: Ok I think I've solved part of my problem. The aliases did fill on a new testing save (which didn't have the mod installed prior; I was able to tell via the sqv command) and the scripted scene properly fired after the dialogue topic info. My problem now I guess is what to do with existing saves which already had the mod installed- since alias won't be filling on those ones. I also do think a filled alias attached to a scene could possibly fix the problems I've been having with the first lockpick thing. The problem just is getting to fill the quest alias on an existing mod save.

Edited June 7, 2020 by Martimius