I have an NPC that is a ghost, so I made the form for him. But I have it show up in various places throughout the mod, always entirely scripted, uninteruptable and never at the same time. I do not move him around with moveto or anything, just when he is in a new place I literally place a new ref of him in. Is there any threat to having the same NPC in the game in several places? Could anything with them be messed up, or is it just like having an object in hundreds of places at once? I don't know why but I have a feeling this might cause an issue so I wanted to check. Thanks.

Gunmaster95

It's better practice to use MoveTo whenever possible, since each individual reference takes up space in the save game.

If it's a seperate form with different ID, then the game treats it as a unique NPC.. and even a PlaceAtMe mirror copy will have a different refID, so presence shouldn't be an issue. You're likely to find your problems if they share the same dialog and you don't have the dialog isolated by specific NPC.. then you have one completing dialog and possibly quest stuff for the other one.

Edit: and yeah Dood, use MoveTo when you need him, then just park him somewhere and disable him until you need him.

Ok, well it is the same form ID. As in, I drag the same object from the object window each time I place him. But he never speaks, so dialog is not an issue (he is a 'ghost' so the player never directly contacts him) and he is never really enabled for long. Only in quick short 'sightings'. Would it still be better to enable him, then move him, even if its entirely different cells pretty much each time? So far I am about to use him for his 3rd time. Each of the three times are in a different cell, and I heard that using MoveTo to move things to other cells can cause issues?

Well, if it is this same form ID, and you haven't given each placed copy a unique EditorID, then I personally would go in and change that.. give 'em each a unique editor id just to be safe. Other than the dialog I can't think of any real issues with dualities, unless it would be smarter to make one a base template and only drop copies that use that template into cells, like Bethesda does it with mutants and so on.. If you're using limited small number of copies of him for these sightings, and properly disposing of them after their job is done, then I don't think it should be a problem doing it how you are then. As for MoveTo causing problems.. I've never heard that. All my summonable followers use MoveTo from half the world map away every time I summon them and never a single issue.

Alright, so I will remain doing it how I am. But if any problems related to him arise, I will use a template. I had forgotten about those, as it is a good system to use. That will be the backup surefire way to eliminate issues. I just wanted to make sure there were no major issues with it, as I do not think I have every seen the same NPC used in multiple places before.

Thanks everyone for all your input and advice. Mod on!

Gunmaster95

I've never had problems using moveto when I move to an Xmarker or XmarkerHeading.

Yea, I just remember someone warning me, I think it was WillieSea (Not to point fingers ) but I also believe that was about the player, and not NPC's. Anywho, I will cease to worry about it unless problems arise, at which point I will try the suggested things, and come back here if none of them work. (Which making a new Editor ID will, so that won't be necissary)

Gunmaster95

I have had issues trying to use one NPC in multiple places with moveto, especially with AI Packages. Since your ghosts only appear and don't speak then several different NPCs that look the same should not cause a problem. Cloning NPCs is easy, just look at the Gary vault. Place them at various spots as initially disabled and enable them when needed. A few extra NPCs will have minimal increase to your mod's filesize. I have used several NPCs to give the illusion of one NPC moving to different locations without problems. I have even allowed them to use the same custom audio dialogue by referencing voicetype rather than individual NPCs, the same way that generic vanilla pvssyr is done.