Weird NPC Issues - any help appreciated

[JonesenoJ]

Hello, So I have spent a lot of time (50+hrs?) working on this small mod, but it's somehow starting to fall apart in certain aspects, the NPCs for example, here is the issue:

 

The cell consists of two parts, with a teleport door inside. If I re-enter the cell then enable the NPCs, they will teleport to the upper level, if I go directly to the NPCs and enable them, they will go to their respective xmarkerheading and stay there, but once I re-enter the cell they will appear at the upper level. (Don't know if this has anything to do with me generating the wilderness navmesh where the cell is.)

https://imgur.com/a/GGOY53q

 

Also, One of the NPC greeting is set to say something only once, problem is he never says that but rather go to the alternative directly before leaving the dialogue. 3 other NPCs share the same structure and this doesn't seem to be happening for any of them, making pinning down the problem a pain. Removed the greeting topic and now I can no longer add it back!

 

And lastly, is there a way to alter a non human NPC' skills?

 

Any help would be appreciated because I'm clueless at this point, and I have spent way to much time on this already...

 

 

[dubiousintent]

Re NPCs in cell: did you place a "North" marker? Please see the "TIP Center_On_Cell COC Markers" and "TIP Finding cell North in GECK" entires under the "Worldspaces" section of the wiki "Getting started creating mods using GECK" article. Also see the "TIP Making NPCs move aka AI Packages" entry under the "Custom NPCs" section of the same article.

 

* How are you enabling the NPCs: OnActivate. OnReload, etc.? See 'TIP Reference Variables explained' (especially the last paragraph by FiftyTifty) under the "GECK Form-ID Base-ID Ref-ID and Editor-ID" section of the same article. What is your intention when someone re-enters the cell: for the NPCs to start from the xmarker, from the place where they were "last seen", or to restart everything as if the cell had never been entered at all? What sort of "test" are you using to determine each of those possible "initial states"?

 

Re: Dialog. Please see the "TIP Multiple Greetings" entry under the "Dialogue and Lipsynch" section of the same article. It sounds like your problem is the "conditions" on the desired line of dialog for the one NPC are being met before that specific line of dialog is processed. The very first line meeting all conditions for a "Greeting" or "Topic" is used and the rest of the list is never evaluated.

 

A "non-human" NPC is a "Creature". See the "Creature Creation" section of the same article. Once you have created a new "Creature" you can edit it's traits, skills, etc. Be sure you understand or refer to the 'GECK Form-ID, Base-ID, Ref-ID, and Editor-ID' section when doing so.

 

-Dubious-

[JonesenoJ]

Dear Dubious, after placing both the COC and North markers in the cell, the NPCs seem to have settled down in their respective locations.

I still don't know what those two markers affect NPCs exactly, but I'm just happy it works now.

It seems the problem still persists, they will return to the upper-level after re-entering the cell.

 

As for the NPC greeting, it turns out one of the other NPCs didn't have a GetIsID condition in his greeting, and that made things a bit messy, fixed it now.

 

Lastly, I'm still clueless on how to edit a creature's skills, perhaps I can add an actor effect somehow that will grant it permanent bonus?

 

The thing with geck is that it's a wonderful tool, easy to learn yet very difficult at the same time, one ought to stumble across the unspoken rules so often to build some basic understanding of what they are doing. However I certainly am enjoying this for now as much as playing the game itself, but I'm sure it will burn out like everything else eventually.

Edited July 26, 2020 by JonesenoJ

[dubiousintent]

So, progress. Good.

 

Re: NPC location upon re-entry. Once they reach the final location you want them at, are you giving them a different AI package like "Guard" to keep them there? You may need to add some "flag" variable to the AI package determination conditions so only that final package is valid once they have reached the xMarker. Basically, act as if the cell doesn't know anything about having been entered previously. See "Encounter Zones" on the "Reference" page.

 

Re: Creature skills. That is part of the "Base Form" (the template of the creature). See "Stats List" in the GECKWiki. If you want only certain reference instances of the basic creature to have "bonuses" to the base form stats, then the "Actor Effect" script attached to that specific reference is the way to go.

 

-Dubious-

[JonesenoJ]

To be honest, I don't know at this point. But my guess is that there is something wrong with the navmesh.

[madmongo]

Try to avoid having one area above another in a single cell. Even if you properly navmesh everything, I've seen NPCs jump through the floor to get from one area to the other. I have also seen them get stuck in the floor halfway through. Even if you have stairs that connect the two and everything is navmeshed properly, they will still often go through the floor instead of walking down the stairs.

 

NPCs also don't stay put unless you specifically tell them to stay put. If you leave a cell, they can end up anywhere inside that cell that has a proper navmesh, even if that means going through a wall that they can't possibly go through. Locked doors won't stop them either.

 

If you need an NPC in a specific spot, put something there and give them an AI package that keeps them there. For example, put a sit marker on the floor or a wall marker next to the wall and give them a travel package that forces them to it. Or put a chair there and give them a travel package to the chair. Or just put an xmarker on the floor and have them travel to that.

[JonesenoJ]

I hate to be so random. but this whole thing has been overshadowed by another issue entirely, I will have to figure that out first. Cheers though.