My answers:

@ Amaranthine: http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/FQuestDelayTime

@ Arkingt:

Try opening existing companion mods and perusing the scripts attached to their NPCs. Most notably CM Partners and Companion Vilja, they both include commented explanations in their code. I am also very new at this, I only started learning CS scripting last week. But you can adapt existing mod's scripts rather easily if you know where to look. I mean, why reinvent the wheel right? Here's an example for invisibility.

if invisible == 0 && Player.HasMagicEffect INVI == 1		AddSpell "AAS14SpellInvisibility"		set invisible to 1	elseif invisible == 1 && Player.HasMagicEffect INVI == 0		RemoveSpell "AAS14SpellInvisibility" 		set invisible to 0	endif

I created an ability that casts invisibility on self named "AAS14SpellInvisibility" beforehand, and 'invisible' is a variable short.

My questions:

1) Very simple: How do I maintain the order of the topics in my CS with how it appears ingame? For example, when I talk to my companion, he should display TopicA, TopicB, TopicC, and TopicD, in that order. Yet when I test it ingame, the whole order becomes jumbled. It becomes TopicD, TopicA, TopicC, TopicB, etc. (I'm talking about Topics btw, not the infos)

I have tried using Addtopic to load them in the correct order through quest stages scripts, and even scripts on activators, to no avail. Also tried renaming their Editor ID's alphabetically, again no change. The only way they seem to maintain order is if I add them to the Choices menu. And that obviously won't work when dealing with the main dialogue topics. Reluctant to use the AddTopic box because of the AddTopic bug discussed in the wiki.

Also note that the dialogues by themselves, work fine. Their conditions are perfect, they show up at the correct stages, the correct branching order, do the correct result scripts, etc. My only real problem is the arrangement which affects how quickly a player can access commonly used dialogue topics in NPC's (like 'Follow Me').

2) My Companion seems to... die. I have set him as Essential in his Base object, even set his ref as essential using scripting, but he still dies instead of just getting knocked out. Has anyone encountered a similar problem? Very weird.

There's more, but I guess I'll settle for those two for now. I can probably solve the rest on my own. However, those two are my most puzzling problems. And yes, I have searched for answers elsewhere before asking this, with no luck.

As far as I can tell, topics are always ordered alphabetically by (the displayed) name. You can't change the order of topics without changing the name of the topic. If you want your topic to occur at or near the top consistently, you'll have to rename it to "Aardvark".


I assume you aren't using any of the "make essentials killable" mods? Otherwise, does the crown label show up when you point the crosshair at him? If you get the normal interaction icon, he isn't essential for some reason. If you're getting the normal icon, make your script print out his essential status to the console (or, if you're not using OBSE, a messagebox) when you talk to him (or any other time that won't result in spam).

Need some help with 'addtoleveledlist'. It doesn't work. At least not for some lists, no idea why. I try to add something to a vanilla leveled creature list, but when I try to save the script I get

Invalid inventory object 'ID of leveled list' for parameter leveled list.

Does that mean it doesn't work for leveled creatures (even though the description on the OBSE site says I can add stuff to creature lists)? The script compiles if I add something to a leveled item list.

Can you use negative numbers for the quantity when using AddItem in a script? Suspect I know the answer, but thought I'd ask

Ex. ActorRef.AddItem PotionRestoreHealthS -3

I don't think so.

ActorRef.RemoveItem PotionRestoreHealthS 3

But, IIRC, there is / was something screwy about RemoveItem. You'll need to check up on it.

Thanks. I wasn't looking to remove anything. I wanted to add an infinite number, in batches of 3 I believe the negative quantity in a container like a vendor's inventory means infinite number, with the specified quantity being available until the next cell reset. So, if you visit a vendor who has -3 as the quantity, he'll have 3 of that item for you to buy at a time.

I suspect you are correct though. You can only use the negative numbers on containers in the CS. I just wanted to confirm...

Is there a (easy) way to keep track of potions drunk by the player? I'm really only interested in counting the number of potions drunk, i.e. discovering each time the player drinks a potion.

I can keep track of the number of potions in the player's inventory and detect whenever the number decreases, but it can be hard to distinguish between the player drinking and dropping a potion - so is there anything that let me count the number of potions that are drunk?

The dropping problem http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/GetPCLastDroppedItemRef. It doesn't appear to be possible to directly listen for potion use, nor is there a function that could be called to find the last used potion. Even simply counting how many have been used doesn't appear possible (you can find potions made or ingredients eaten, but not potions used).

How about GetActiveMenuSelection and IsAlchemyItem/IsPotion? Just check what the item is, then check for a Click of the Mouse Button under the right conditions (i.e., Left-shift not pressed, so not dropping)

http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/GetActiveMenuSelection
http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/IsAlchemyItem

Hip, I'm trying to put some Havok-proof furniture in my house mod, and I wonder how should I manage Havok-ed objects. For example, I'm trying to hang a shield (from a new mesh of a resource mod) onto a wall, but my first try (I created a new Static and placed it) results in the shield falling off as soon as I enter the cell (and, as it's an static, I can't pick it up). What would be the best way to remove physics from this object? Editing the .nif file and removing the physics? (with NifSkope? And how should I do it..?), or creating an Activator instead? (I think that I used Activators to make static objects back in Morrowind...I don't know if it'd be the same in Oblivion...).

Thx for the quick answer!

NiceOne, have you looked at the quest script for The Hist (FG09, I believe). That quest has the player consume a potion and the game knows when he has so the quest continues. I haven't looked at it myself, but there might be something in there...

Check http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/927663-need-help-converting-clutter-to-static/page__view__findpost__p__13445647

Thanks for the potion help all:

I will be able to use that function to help checking if a potion has been dropped or been drinked from the inventory menu, so thanks


That may help. I guess it is impossible to drop it without activating it from the inventory menu. It is possible to drink it without doing so though (through hotkeys), so it will not be very simple.


No help there. That quest is handled by having a special effect script from drinking the hist potion, and the effect script sets a specific tookpotion variable.

It worked, thx! Long live Havok-proof stuff!

I attached this script to an NPC

scn 00tutpalscriptbegin gamemode		PlaySound 00TestSound01		end

It works fine but the sound keeps looping. How do I stop this?

You need some sort of start and stop,

begin gamemode
if xxx == 0
playsound
set xxx to 1
endif
end

pardon the no code box...

Quick question:

"Bergen Hus" is Scandinavian for "Mountain Dweller' House"?

Will placing an amount of NPC in a (restricted)cell cause the same strain on the game as placing them in the game world?
I need to refer to them as quest targets and in the conditionals thereof, so I am assuming that placing them in a percipient cell will enable me to.
My worry is that it will cause more strain on the game(which I have been trying to eliminate).

NPCs in an unloaded cell (interior or exterior) should not be a problem.

The problem is too many NPCs in the loaded cells around the player, as the game engine has to check, each frame, where to move each one, where are the path nodes, whether they are going up/down a slope, whether they are bumping into something, whether they are in combat, etc.

Awesome, thanks than all is well!:)

Is there any way (in the CS or using some other tool) of locating all uses of a specific scripting function - not necessarily in scripts, but in conditions on topics, etc?

Context: I've noticed that the BribeGuard topic is conditional on both IsGuard being true and GetIsRace returning Imperial. This slightly breaks my http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=24614 mod, since it prevents that topic from showing up in non-Imperial guards. I believe that the GetIsRace check is redundant here (I could be wrong, and if so I'd like to know why), and I'd like to locate other such redundant checks without having to manually trawl through everything that might contain a condition.

Thanks

Find text in the cs should search in dialogue conditions IIRC

DO NOT START EDITORIDs with NUMBERS - you will sooner than later hit a mysterious bug

Hopefully a quick and easy question, or two of them actually-- For those who mod much and often and who play the game with SI installed (and thus with the SI-modified Oblivion.esm)--

Do you prefer to mod off of that esm, and thus end up with a mod that requires SI in order to work, or do you work off of the original, non-SI esm? If the latter, how? With a separate install or simply with a copy of the original esm that you can swap with your gaming esm just for the purpose of modding?

TIA

If you mod with the SI injected Oblivion.esm the mod won't require SI unless you use resources from SI.