I was trying some animation replacers today and I noticed something interesting.

Now, I think that we all know that oblivion dodge animations don't always work but
I think I may have found out "why".

Based on my observations, dodge animations don't work if there is an obstacle in front
of your character within the range of the dodgefront animation.

I was standing in front of a wall, crates etc. (Actors INCLUDED) and nothing worked.
Suddenly, by gradually stepping back I found a "gold spot" where anywhere beyond that
spot the dodge animations didn't work and anywhere behind they all kicked in just fine.

Can anyone else confirm this?

Also, since I know next to nothing about animating if anybody could post an empty animation
file I would appreciate it

I'm thinking that if the range of the dodgefront animation is limiting every other dodge animation
from kicking in, if I replace the dodgefront file with an empty file (that doesn't crash the game )
all the others would kick in normally under any circumstances. Then, it would be simple enough to
add the dodgefront animation through other means (DR or MAO logic).

UPDATE: I replaced the dodgeforward.kf with another vanilla .kf file which resulted in the dodgeforward
animation not playing at all. The issue persisted. Therefore, I am inclined to believe that the animations
not kicking in issue is somehow connected to the engine detecting objects in front of you within a certain
distance, regardless of the dodgeforward animation range.

UPDATE2: I am certain that my observation is indeed connected to the problem. The best way to
test it yourselves is by standing next to a corner. When your cursor is facing the wall, you cannot dodge.
When you turn your cursor to the empty space next to the corner, you can dodge. OB engine hurray!!!

At least now, if you want do dodge with certainty you can at least make sure you are not facing your
opponent ;P

Does anyone have a clue as to a GMST or scripting method that could be used to "fool" the game engine
as to the distance from the obstacle?

I don't know about any GMSTs, but I do know that you can force the player to play dodge animations with PlayGroup, even if there are objects in front of you. This is something that I plan to incorperate in one of my mods, because I never liked how the dodge command was unreliable. I make no promises on when I will release this mod though. The scripting is quite simple and I'll help you make your own mod if you want. Just send me a PM.