Hi. Id like to know if there is any way to remove all of the standard NPC's in the game, specifically an easier method than going around and removing them manually?

Id like to also remove ALL of the quests that usually exist in the game (if that's actually necessary when all the NPC's are gone) so if you know how to do that as well it would be great.

I have all but stages 0 and 5 removed from the charactergen quest, and a new start location set, and Id like to be rid of every other quest in the normal game too, if that's possible (or as easy as just deleting them)

Cheers

MVK

Uhhh... "easiest" way would simply to select all the NPCs in the editor window (except for the Player, of course) and hit the Delete key. It's my guess that this approach will make Oblivion none too happy, however.

If you wanted something a little less hard-coded, you could easily whip up a script that would instead disable every actor using a spell effect. Again, the side effects of this one are that it might cause CTD issues when some script tries to perform a function on a given NPC and the NPC is disabled (and the script isn't designed to notice this).

Hmm thanks Reneer. My aim is to remove all of the quests, scripts and NPC's that exist in the default game then rebuild the cities as open cities and repopulate the place. Big job but probably a lot of fun, and if it works out Id have a working world as a base for as many different quests as I can think of.

If I were to remove all the quests, have you any idea of how to add a basic quest to get the player into the world? Iv not actually started on this yet, but its going to be soon, when Iv finished the little bits on the current mod.

cheers

MVK

Unfortunately I have no idea.

Thanks anyway Reneer.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Cheers

MVK

Unfortunately, so much of the game is designed around the NPCs and quests, so there won't be any sort of quick way to do it and you may need to make several concessions in how you accomplish what you do (IE: not removing quests, just preventing them from starting and not removing NPCs, instead just giving them all a package that locks them away in some limbo cell somewhere). You also need to remember that many interiors, environments, and other stuff relates in some way to the NPCs inside. Then there's that whole part of how other mods being present might totally screw up what you're wanting to do.

What exactly is the point of this? What is this being used for?

I'm not worried about the amount of work needed or the actual method, just the result.

What's the objective? Well, Id like to get Tamriel, as it stands in the game (buildings, scenery etc) either:

A ) Completely devoid of life so that I can add my own NPC's and packages to an empty world, or
B ) With the same NPC's, but no quests as such, allowing me to adjust the NPC packages as required, ending up with the same result as A

In the process Id like to convert the cities to open cities (not such a chore if the main quests are not a consideration), and probably add some extra NPC's to each city, and possible some wandering merchants etc, who appear in various cities at various times etc etc.

As an item such a mod is worthless of itself: The player can start a game and wander about, but there is actually nothing to do, however, it does mean that there is a world available as a base template on which to work, which is itself a working world, with working NPC's who will get on with their lives irrespective of the player unless they are specifically edited to interact with a quest.

Its kind of like having a blank canvas on which to work without having to worry about how the normal game quests will interact with whatever you want to do. I know that other mods would probably get upset with it, but that's okay - primarily I'm doing this for myself and for the fun of it. If anyone else wanted to use the same blank canvas then they would be welcome, understanding the caveat that other mods would probably not like it.

As for the method; I don't mind lots of work and I don't mind cheating either. If you have an idea about how to turn off the main quests then that's fine too - I don't have a problem with the default NPC's, just with the quests that operate them (for example the guards; I would want to edit them so that they would know about crimes in their own city, and not those that you committed on the other side of the continent!)

The default shopkeepers etc, can be left alone if all they do is sell their wares, its just those that want to engage me in a quest of some kind that are the problem (that and the guards with mobile phones who know what I did miles away!)

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated. This is just a fun project, but Id still like to give it a go!

MVK

You are aware that Oblivion supports having more than 1 worldspace right? What you are looking to achieve as your own side project would probably work better as a new worldspace built from scratch.

You might also want to look at the Open Cities mods, they seemed to tackle the quest problem easily enough. The regional bounty mod might also be worth noting.

Indeed - I looked at worldspaces a little while ago, however, while I said that I don't mind hard work, I also don't want to re-invent the wheel! If there was a way (that would be easier than rebuilding the whole world) of removing all the generic stuff from Tamriel and re-using it and its buildings, then that's the way Id go, hence the post.

As for Open Cities and Regional Bounty mods, both are favorites of mine when I play, and no doubt Ill learn a lot from them, but Id like to take things a step further and include similar functionality in a single mod that is, as I said, a blank canvas waiting to be manipulated.

Judging from the things Iv read so far, and your own comments (thanks by the way) I think it might be an idea to use a separate worldspace after all. As I said, this was about looking for a (slightly) quicker alternative to a total rebuild of the world, but it looks as if Ill have to go that way in any case.

Anyway, thanks for your ideas - its always better to get other perspectives before you jump, and if you come up with any other ideas I'm certainly open to them.

Cheers

MVK