Making static objects move? : IV

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 11:31 am

I've been making a mod with a quest revolving around an Imperial Trading Ship on Lake Rumare, but whenever I test it I always notice that the ship looks weird just floating in the middle of the Lake. Is it possible to make a group of static objects slowly move along a predetermined path, without causing problems for anything placed on top of it (Objects, Containers, NPCs...)?
Thanks.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:27 am

Possible, but, definitely, neither trivial nor easy.

You have to move/reposition every single piece of the group (ship, containers, etc) a little bit every frame to simulate a smooth movement.
The math for moving in a straight line at a constant speed may not be that complex, but it gets difficult if you want to make curves or speed up and slow down.

While moving, all regular statics lose their solidness, so NPCs and the player will fall thru. There have been discussions on how to work around this problem tweaking the mesh, but this is not my area and I don't know how it is done.

Also, you may want to take a look on one of the pilotable ship mods to get some ideas.

For a simple example of moving statics, check the code: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/632323-reqwip-modfood-snippets-tips/page__view__findpost__p__13319870

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 9:06 pm

I hope I'm not hijacking too much, but I have the opposite problem - my statics DO move.

I've made a container that for some reason acts like an item, and you can move it using the z key. I have no idea what I've done wrong...

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:56 am

I don't know a thing about modeling, and, long time ago, I needed an apple that behaved as a static.
Asked here and TomBrightblade gave me the instructions below. Hope they may help you too.

If it is really a static apple that you want, I mean, a static like a wall, you can do the following:

- go for NifSkope 1.0.16 and load apple NIF file
- in Block List expand all nodes
- search for: 4 bhkRigidBody and left click on it
- press F3 or go to menu View -> Block Details
- - - in Block Details search for "Motion System" and change it to MO_SYS_FIXED
- - - in Block Details search for "Quality Type" and change it to MO_QUAL_FIXED

(not necessary) in Block Details search for "Layer" and change it OL_STATIC
(not necessary) in Block Details search for "Layer Copy" and change it to OL_STATIC

save the NIF file in Oblivion\Data\meshes\your_mod_name (or sth like that) and close the NifSkope
open CS, load your plugin, make a new Static and as a model choose the NIF file that was just created in NifSkope

"Not necessary" steps are only for a proper color of a layer, that can be seen in CS and in game, when you toggle collision geometry. Now you should have a static apple.

-TomBrightblade

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 9:08 pm

I don't know a thing about modeling, and, long time ago, I needed an apple that behaved as a static.
Asked here and TomBrightblade gave me the instructions below. Hope they may help you too.

Thanks.

I changed the nif of my static, and now it behaves properly. I'll definitely refer to this in the future though!