Yes, it's a straight 5 days no matter what the circumstances. They just have to be your companion. Once the companion is one level below the PC, they won't level up until the PC levels up. So the time it takes a companion to level will be the same as the PC but with a minimum of 5 days.


In this case, the PC is 16 levels above the companion. It will take the companion at least 75 days of game time to reach level 19.

I picked 5 days after reviewing a number of my characters. I found the range to be 3 to 10 days average per level. The lower level characters leveled up more quickly; the higher ones, more slowly.

I could change the level up to occur more or less frequently depending on the difference in level between the PC and the companion. With a greater difference the companion would level up more quickly. As the difference in levels decreases, it would take longer. This may be a little more realistic with regard to training, but it won't make much of a difference in the time it takes the companion to reach the PC's level.

Hey, it's been a few days! :wavey:

I had a quick run with the new beta 6. The main changes I noticed so far are the addition of the "use/don't use magic" topics (very useful, indeed) and the brand new ammo controller.

This version has a few issues:

1) "Please restore yourself" still doesn't work as intended. After casting the spell, the companion's health is the same as before.

2) The new topic "take a healing potion please" gives me the following answer: "I'm fine, thank you for your concern though", despite the NPC's health being 66 out of 74.

3) Something weird happened with the controllers the first time I used them.

They didn't seem to work. I bought them, dropped them on Clagius' counter (not both at the same time)? and nothing happened.
The companions had been given money and they were right under Clagius' nose. I did let each controller on the counter during several minutes.
The weird part is that after I reloaded the same savegame, everything worked fine. Since then the issue has not occurred again.

Any idea?

4) Also, unlike the previous versions, the esp was not properly cleaned. It had 2 empty cells (Nchuleft Ruin & Ashlands Region -2, 9) and a few superfluous AMBI & WGHT data. Nothing dramatic as it's still a beta, but I think it is worth mentioning.

"Please restore yourself" works correctly. It doesn't restore health. It restores the attributes of the companion. Use it when the companion has lost attribute points after a fight with a Bonewalker, Bonelord, etc.

"Take a healing potion please" is also working correctly as it is based on percentage of health remaining. The companion won't drink a health potion unless their health is below 70%.

Both of these dialog choices come directly from Grumpy's Companion V3.1 template. I think the restore works as intended and doesn't need any tweaking. But there is plenty of room to tweak the health potion choice. I'll change it to 90% in the next beta.

As for issue 3, the scripting tests for the weapon type used by the companion. Just giving a companion a ranged weapon isn't enough for the game engine to register the weapon type. The companion has to use the weapon in battle before the game engine notices it. Another way would be to save and reload as you did because that forces the game engine to process the companions inventory and set the weapon type. A third possibility is save game problems. I added variables to the script for the ammo controller. Although I've done it in a way that minimizes conflicts, I have noticed odd values for previously recruited companions. It's rare but it can happen.

As for cleaning, oops! My bad! I started placing potion and ammo controllers at alchemists, apothecaries and smiths throughout the game world and didn't run the mod through TESTool when I was done. Thanks for catching that.

Ah OK. Good to know.

Did you find a workaround for the limitation you mentioned in your first post? (About the "unexpected results" that may occur when placing 2 controllers near each other)

Yes, there should be no problem with different shopping controllers placed near each other or with using group commands near a shopping controller. I now use a different global for each type of action.

Hmmm, looking forward to seeing all this work come to fruition! I might actually try using a companion for the first time in 5 years.

:P

Cheers
-kwm

As usual, Thaeleril is the first one to level up.

Here are her stats & skills with beta 5:

Before:
http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/8186/before1r.jpg
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6660/before2e.jpg

After:
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/369/after1t.jpg
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/6639/after2.jpg


While playing there were several instances where I had to individually ask my companions to sheathe their weapons. A "sheathe your weapons" dialog under group commands would be welcome.
Actually, the ideal would be to have all dialogs available to individual companions under group commands.

Her stats and skills look good with 2 exceptions, Magicka and Speechcraft. If you told her not to use magic, that would account for it. The low Speechcraft means my fix for it isn't being applied to previously recruited companions.

I like the idea of adding "sheathe your weapons" to group commands. I'll look at it. If it's simple, I'll add it. Otherwise you'll have to wait for version 2.

Uh oh, we may have a problem then.

She was not asked to not use magic and she was recruited after loading AMC.
(As previously stated, when trying a new beta I use to revert to an old save with only Mog and a CM Partner in follow mod).

OK. The easy answers have been eliminated. I'll look into it in more depth. The problem with her Magicka is unusual. The mod lets the game engine determine her Magicka except for the "fighting style" choices use magic / don't use magic. I'll see if there is anything I missed that could affect her Magicka level. I'll also check the scripting for Speechcraft. It should be adding a spell that fortifies Speechcraft by 200.

Hi HB

3 things:

1) An annoying issue you should investigate:

There are times where one or more companions "forget" to follow through doors. Most times, re-entering and exiting their cell is enough to set them back into follow mod, but there were instances where I had to ask them through dialog.

It happened with previous versions too, but I was not sure it was related to AMC, as I encountered this issue with Baron's Partners too. But only after I loaded beta6 (which implements the Mog Addon compatibily), the glitch affected Mog for the first time. It may just be a coincidence, but it should be looked into.

This put aside, I really enjoy beta6. The Mog Addon compatibility is especially appreciated. :goodjob:

2) Regarding the compatibility with teleport mods (I use Melian's): it works flawlessly with new companions, but the ones which were recruited prior to AMC are not automatically recognized.

3) My suggestion of the day:
You should use 2 different models of statuette for the controllers. They will be easier to differentiate in the inventory, and it will add some diversity now that they are placed in shops.

I fixed some bugs in the level up routine. Some variables needed to be reset. There was also a possible bug that may have prevented Speechcraft from being raised. I rewrote that section. I have no idea what is going on with her Magicka. I haven't found anything in the mod that would cause her to lose Magicka. The only thing I've thought of is that she was in a battle and used up her Magicka right before leveling up.



This is most likely due to the auto-move function. If they can't get out of your way quickly enough, they will be in wander mode when you go through the door. I think I will include Grumpy's readme or portions of it in the release version.


Yes, that's how it works. My assumption is that if you are using a MWSE teleport mod, you've already added the companions you have to the teleport list.


That's a good idea! I'll implement it before releasing the next beta.

I have to confirm that "Take a healing potion please" works, as you previously stated. Yet there is no visual indication of it. It would be nice to have some magical effect associated.

Oh, and did you know that dead NPCs could level up? :hubbahubba: I lost Thaeleril in a fight and, shortly after, a message popped up telling she just reached level 4?

I can add a sound or some other indication that something happened.


I didn't think that was possible. I'll look into it. After all we don't want her turning into one of the undead. :laugh:

Hell no!!


The same visual effect that happens when using a healing potion would be perfect IMO. :hubbahubba:


Edit: It seems that you forgot to remove Mog's auto regeneration ability.

Mog's don't have any special regenerative ability aside from the one added to all MCA companions. I've added a check for the MCA ability and remove it when found. This should help make previously recruited companions more compatible with this mod.


The check for death got buried deep inside the script. I moved it and dead companions should no longer level up.


Ammo controller now uses a statuette of Malacath.


I added a choice, "Kill the rat!", to the "Additional requests" topic. Use it when companions don't sheathe their weapons or just for fun!


I added a drinking sound to the "Take a healing potion" choice. I may still add the restore sound.

The mod now includes a separate esp with support for Companion Initiative - Global.

Unfortunately the CI Global support is causing problems. The companions just drop out of follow mode when they encounter an enemy. If anyone knows how to fix this, let me know. Otherwise, I'll be dropping support for CI Global.

Edit: I moved the section of code required by CI Global so that it matches the placement in companion Janine's script. The companions no longer drop out of follow mode but they don't act with any initiative.

Real life monopolized most of my time in the last few days, so I didn't have much time to play. Still I confirm that the issue with companions dropping out of follow mod is fixed. I need more time to test the CI Global AI.

In the meantime, what I can tell for sure is that the leveling routine needs more work. While I was playing a message popped up reading that one of my companion just reached level 4. Problem is that my weakest companion at this time was already level 5.

Also, it seems that the CI Global version has some stability issues. For the first time since I started beta testing this mod, I experienced CTDs.

They seem to be random. One happened during a fight, another just after going through a door and the last one while walking in the wilderness (maybe also while loading a new cell as in the previous case? Not sure about that…).


Edit: I have to confirm that the companions show no initiative... :shrug:

Hey HB, does the "Take a healing potion please" dialog still work on your side??
It didn't only fail to issue the sound you mentioned earlier but it also stopped working altogether. :shrug:

The wounded companion had about a third of her HP left.

I'm back from RL.


Although I couldn't find a direct solution for this problem, I made some more fixes in the leveling routine.


The stability issues are from the CI Global mod. Does anybody use it? Does it work for anyone? If nobody is interested, then I'm going to drop support for it.


No, I screwed it up trying to enhance it. :facepalm: Oops! :blush2:

CI_Global is required for 'Useful Summoned Creatures v1.1' by ElderScroller - from the readme:
Works as advertised.

This could be related to the issue of post-mortem leveling I reported earlier. The reason why I thought it was Thaeleril leveling up is because she was the only lev.3 companion I had at the time. Maybe I put you on a wrong track?


Like Tetchy, I have Useful Summoned Creatures in my game. It was loaded while I was testing the previous betas of AMC. I didn't experience a single CTD until beta8.
I also played Woman-at-Arms Janine a few months ago. I didn't use it long, but I don't remember any stability problem.


Let's be positive and see the good side: fixing it again is a good occasion to implement that visual magical effect I requested, isn't it? :hehe: :whistling:

Double post.

I can put the plugin with support for CI_Global in the release version as is. But there's no way I can address any MWSE stability issues. Most MWSE mods either don't work for me or cause CTDs. The only ones I don't have a problem with are CDCooley's teleportation mod and Melian's teleportation mod.

If it doesn't work, including it in the release doesn't make much sense. On the other hand, delaying the release of v1 because of this issue would be a bad idea too. IMHO, you should just put the CI Global version on hold until v2, and focus on the regular version.

After the release of v1 you will have all the time in the world to figure out why the CI Global version doesn't work. I still hope you won't drop it completely. Hopefully someone with MWSE scripting skills (AND a working computer :hehe: ) will be willing to help…


Oh, and just in case you wonder, I'm still playing beta9 (I switched to the regular version). If you didn't hear from me lately, that only means good news: no new bug to report.