Creatures and NPCs glitch into newly added objects.

[RngrHawk]

Hey folks, I've got a problem with the GECK and need some help if anyone knows how to fix it. Whenever I add new objects into the world (eg boulders, and they usually are natural environmental objects), creatures that spawn near them tend to glitch into them, rendering the enemies almost impossible to kill and friendlies impossible to interact with. Am I missing something or is this just how the engine is and nothing can be done about it?

Edited December 2, 2020 by marekto98

[madmongo]

Did you redo the navmesh in the cells where you added the boulders etc?

[RngrHawk]

Did you redo the navmesh in the cells where you added the boulders etc?

Not entirely sure how to do it. Could you elaborate?

[JimboUK]

https://geck.bethsoft.com/index.php?title=Bethsoft_Tutorial_Navmesh this explains how to do it, you need to remove the navmesh where your new objects are and then fill in any empty areas around them.

[RngrHawk]

https://geck.bethsoft.com/index.php?title=Bethsoft_Tutorial_Navmesh this explains how to do it, you need to remove the navmesh where your new objects are and then fill in any empty areas around them.

Thanks a lot, I'll have a look into it tomorrow!

[madmongo]

That tutorial is focused on interior navmeshes. Creating a navmesh for an exterior cell is basically the same, but there are a few things you need to be aware of.

 

Exterior navmeshes cannot cross cell boundaries. You can press B in the render window to see where the cell boundaries are.

 

When you finalize the navmesh, the GECK will link the edges of the navmesh with the navmeshes of the adjoining cells. If the navmeshes link together, they'll turn green. When editing the cell's navmesh, you will need to get the navmesh reasonably close to the adjoining cell navmeshes, but it doesn't have to be exact. If it's close enough the GECK will fiddle with the edges a bit and make it link up. What I have found easiest to do is finalize the navmesh and see what parts turn green. If parts don't link up that I want to link up, then I redo the navmesh in that part of the cell and finalize again and repeat as necessary until it turns green.

 

For exterior cells, the GECK's automatic navmesh generator works fairly well. It doesn't work very well for interior navmeshes though, so only use it for exterior cells. Once you have your navmesh toolbar open, you'll see two question mark icons, just to the right of the Finalize check mark icon. The left of the two question marks (the one without the red circle around it) is the one you want. In my experience, it works best if you check Height Map Only Generation Mode. Note that the GECK will often happily navmesh over fences and on top of rooftops, so you'll probably need to manually fix those.

 

Don't forget to finalize the navmesh (click the check mark icon). If you check the box in the automatic navmesh to finalize it then it will automatically finalize the cell after creating the navmesh. If you make any changes after that though (like fixing a rooftop or fixing edges that don't link up) you'll need to finalize the navmesh again by pressing the check mark icon.

 

So basically this is probably as simple as going to the cell where you added the boulder or whatever, clicking the navmesh toolbar icon, click on the question mark icon for the navmesh generator, check height map only and finalize, click OK, verify that the edges of the cell are green where you want them to be green, exit the navmesh toolbar and save your mod. That's it. Sometimes you'll need to do some fiddling with the navmesh afterwards, but most often that's all there is to it.

 

Do not ever use the automatic navmesh generator on interior cells. Trust me. You won't like the results.

[RngrHawk]

That tutorial is focused on interior navmeshes. Creating a navmesh for an exterior cell is basically the same, but there are a few things you need to be aware of.

 

Exterior navmeshes cannot cross cell boundaries. You can press B in the render window to see where the cell boundaries are.

 

When you finalize the navmesh, the GECK will link the edges of the navmesh with the navmeshes of the adjoining cells. If the navmeshes link together, they'll turn green. When editing the cell's navmesh, you will need to get the navmesh reasonably close to the adjoining cell navmeshes, but it doesn't have to be exact. If it's close enough the GECK will fiddle with the edges a bit and make it link up. What I have found easiest to do is finalize the navmesh and see what parts turn green. If parts don't link up that I want to link up, then I redo the navmesh in that part of the cell and finalize again and repeat as necessary until it turns green.

 

For exterior cells, the GECK's automatic navmesh generator works fairly well. It doesn't work very well for interior navmeshes though, so only use it for exterior cells. Once you have your navmesh toolbar open, you'll see two question mark icons, just to the right of the Finalize check mark icon. The left of the two question marks (the one without the red circle around it) is the one you want. In my experience, it works best if you check Height Map Only Generation Mode. Note that the GECK will often happily navmesh over fences and on top of rooftops, so you'll probably need to manually fix those.

 

Don't forget to finalize the navmesh (click the check mark icon). If you check the box in the automatic navmesh to finalize it then it will automatically finalize the cell after creating the navmesh. If you make any changes after that though (like fixing a rooftop or fixing edges that don't link up) you'll need to finalize the navmesh again by pressing the check mark icon.

 

So basically this is probably as simple as going to the cell where you added the boulder or whatever, clicking the navmesh toolbar icon, click on the question mark icon for the navmesh generator, check height map only and finalize, click OK, verify that the edges of the cell are green where you want them to be green, exit the navmesh toolbar and save your mod. That's it. Sometimes you'll need to do some fiddling with the navmesh afterwards, but most often that's all there is to it.

 

Do not ever use the automatic navmesh generator on interior cells. Trust me. You won't like the results.

Ah! Thanks so much for this post, even just the 'B' key bind will make my life easier in general:P I was curious how different would it be editing the exterior navmesh indeed. I'm not much of an expert in modding and I don't have a lot of time on my hands currently so this will help greatly. Thank you!

[madmongo]

Yes, the B key is your friend.

 

In addition to showing cell boundaries for navmeshing, furniture markers and doors often don't work properly if they are placed directly on a cell boundary. Keep your doors and furniture markers away from cell boundaries.

[RngrHawk]

Yes, the B key is your friend.

 

In addition to showing cell boundaries for navmeshing, furniture markers and doors often don't work properly if they are placed directly on a cell boundary. Keep your doors and furniture markers away from cell boundaries.

 

I've taken a look around the areas I modified and I can see I've a lot of work ahead of me^^ Thanks again for the explanation, its really helpful. I'll be messing around with the navmesh for the next while after I backup everything just in case!

Edited December 4, 2020 by marekto98