Does REF need to be an actor for OnTriggerEnter to fire?

[Belthan]

I'm guessing based on the behavior in game the answer is "yes", even though the GECK doc doesn't explicitly say so. I'm looking for a way to detect when a particular object is dropped into a particular hole (presumably via the Z key, although it would also be possible to lob it in with the RockIt Launcher). I have a trigger at the opening of the hole, and OnTriggerEnter fires as expected if the player jumps through it. But when I drop the object through it, nothing happens. Object is a persistent ref of a miscellaneous item.

 

Thanks,

 

Belthan

[rickerhk]

Pretty sure an actor is needed for a trigger. But there's other ways:

You want to make sure the object can't be picked up, like in the CG01TeddyBear01SCRIPT. That's because when you pick up a reference, it's gone from the world for good. Even if you 'drop' it, the object dropped is a completely different REF (prefix FF).
All you need in a script is something that monitors the distance of the object to the x,y,z coordinates of some point in the hole, or compute if it is within the coordinates of a cube around the hole. The fact that the object passes this test implies a Z key or some physics put it there. Don't think a rockit launcher will work because it shoots a projectile, not the object - and again - you would have to pick it up.

[Belthan]

I was hoping to do it without having script run every frame, so as an experiment I rigged up the object NIF to a simple skeleton and made it a creature with no sounds, anims or AI packages. Sure enough, if the creature is alive and I move it over the hole with console commands, OnTriggerEnter fires when it falls through. Of course, you can only Z-key if it's dead, and unfortunately OnTriggerEnter does not fire if it's dead. So I suppose the XYZ method is the only way to go.

 

Thanks,

 

Belthan