Hi all! I've been stuck on this problem for quite a while so any insight you could give me would be appreciated. The kind of information I'm after breaks down into two categories:

For the mod I'm trying to make it's very important for me to know what actors are capable of when they player is not near them and, by extension, what packages actually do (not just practically do). For example, in a simple patrol package does an actor's position actually change (which could trigger other scripts or behaviors) or does the engine simply keep track of where they should be if the player happens to come by? It seems that NPCs can't fight or engage in certain other behaviors when the player is not nearby via scripting or actor settings, but should a hunt package (such as the package http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1350192-help-with-my-package/) function properly even if the player is not nearby?

The second thing that would be helpful are ideas for simulating behaviors that cannot be done by the packages of actors who are not near the player. This is kind of the functionality I'm shooting for: two patrols of rival factions are sent towards each other. The player is not anywhere near them (but may show up at some point). They intersect, enter combat (either actual or simulated combat if necessary), and the winning faction continues along their patrol route. Think along the lines of the Immersive Patrols mod but potentially without player interaction. http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1506369-tutorial-detect-nearby-actors-using-quest-aliases/ thread seems like it may be helpful for when to start combat simulations, although I'm not sure a similar technique would work if the player is not around due to the questions in the first point.

Basically any info you have on how packages work "under the hood" or advice on how to simulate battles between moving groups of actors that are not near the player would be great.

Thanks!