Is there a manual for CS?

[davethewave]

I've been trying to make a simple npc, and I'm not doing a very good job... I have alot of it accomplished, but now, just as I feel I'm getting somewhere, the game crashes every time I try to load it up...

My npc was attacking everyone in sight (I don't want this behavior) before the game started crashing every time, and I kept tweaking the npc and then loading the game to see the changes that I thought I was making. I then changed things back to how they were before the game started crashing and it still crashes!

It bothers me that there is no manual or instructions on the features or purposes for this very complicated program. Why would that be?

The tutorials only get you so far. Short of someone holding my hand through this process, I doubt I will accomplish this goal of finishing this npc...

Any help or suggestions?

[Hanaisse]

Well, you're already here in The Enclave section, the tutorials on NPC & AI are a fantastic start to basic NPC creation. And lots of people here are available to answer any questions you may have.

There's also the CS wiki for additional detailed information you might be looking for.

Good luck, and keep at it. It may take a while and a lot of reading but it will come!

[Lady_Nerevar]

The wiki is as manual-y as it gets. Besides tutorials (many of which are excellent) it also has descriptions of all the object types and their features. Of course, there are the classes on this website, which is as close to hand-holding as it gets. The NPC creation one definitely covers your problem.

[edit] ninja'd.

The CS is really not a complicated program and is incredibly user friendly. It does take some patience and persistence though, like everything in life.

[DarkRider]

The whole purpose of the Enclave here is to provide tutorials that are guided by their authors so you literally can receive that personalized education.

It is very difficult to learn the CS by collecting only the information you need to complete a single goal you have in mind. You should definitely take the NPC class and I recommend the CS Basics class for getting a general foundation of knowledge in using the program.

[davethewave]

Thanks for the support and encouragement... I have read through all the tutorials I have found, But there are things I run into in CS that I would like to know the purpose of.

And can anyone answer why the game is crashing on startup every time now?

[InsanitySorrow]

And can anyone answer why the game is crashing on startup every time now?

Most likely cause is a missing Master (ESM) file, double check the mods you installed to make sure you're not missing a Master File they need.

[DarkRider]

We can't really say offhand for sure, there are as many reasons for crashing as there are stars in the sky. You can try to narrow the field somewhat. Try disabling the mods you added to your load order recently or the mod you are currently modding and see if that solves the issue. If it does you can reasonably assume one of the mods you disabled is the culprit for the crashing. Try that and see if you can resolve the crash then post back with anything you discover or not.

[EDIT] Check IS's suggestion as well, that's a common reason.

[davethewave]

Well, it's definitely my npc mod that's causing the crashes... I knew that, but when it started, I was suspicious that it was because of one of the changes I made to my npc, so I unchecked it and ran the game. It started up just fine... So the variables are down to being my npc. Everything was fine until I messed with the AI package with target and location... Then I changed it back to what it was before the problems and it still crashes.

[Lady_Nerevar]

First thing I'd do is check if its clean, and clean it regardless. You can do this through TES4Gecko or TES4Edit (which will also determine conflicts, in case your mod is conflicting with another).

[DarkRider]

Is your AI package custom? Or did you change an existing package? Changing an existing package is a fairly common beginner mistake and can cause great hoards of NPCs to try to access it at the same time and crash you.

[davethewave]

I changed the package types back to what I thought they were, and now the game opens up until the game is finished loading, then crash...

I was messing with follow, escort, and accompany...

I have it back on follow, but what are the default settings for this? I think if I changed it back, it would at least get me back to where I was before the crashing...

[DarkRider]

If the packages you messed with were vanilla you need to clean the edits out of your mod using TES4 Gecko. Check out Lesson #4 in the CS Basics class for instruction on using Gecko.

As an alternative, if you find the job too confusing, you may send me a PM with your .esp attached and I will attempt to fix it for you.

[davethewave]

I downloaded the Gecko program, but the installation seems to be a pain... While I'm quite a dummy concerning CS, I am pretty good at making programs work... I'm confused: which directory do I drop those files into?

Also, I have since got everything back to how it was, but I can't find my npc now...

I started to just copy everything the "adoring fan" has as far as AI Packages, but he has quest stuff in his conditions, and I don't know if just copying that stuff and trying to alter it to my needs will be better than creating my own stuff...

As I said, I just want this guy to be in the tavern at first, strike a conversation, and then be a "bodyguard"...

Would "escort" or "accompany" be better suited? Does it matter?

[Lady_Nerevar]

You can dump them anywhere, I believe. Mine are in Games/Oblivion/TES4Gecko. I'm not 100% sure, however, the readme will have all the necessary details. Then just create a shortcut to the .jar file. Its a lot simpler than it sounds

[DarkRider]

Gecko doesn't "install" it just runs from wherever you unpacked it. If it doesn't run you need to update java.

Copying stuff and altering it causes issues as I said before. You don't want to change vanilla AI packages, you have to make your own if you want changes. "Follow" is the package type you want though.

[davethewave]

That's what I thought about the location... I did it already.

What's the purpose of "accompany" and "escort"?

And I am doing better now, I have him in the IC Marketplace merchant's inn, but within seconds, he goes and attacks the proprietor... Why? I want him to attack only when danger is about or certain NPC's... Not for no reason...

[Lady_Nerevar]

Check his aggression level and make sure he is not in a faction thats making him kill people.

For accompany/escort, check this.

At this point, I would scrub the esp with Gecko (by hand, preferably) and re-do the NPC, likely by first reading and then following all tutorials/classes on the subject. You seem to be jumping into it head first and kinda expecting us to sort out the errors - it would be easier for everyone if you learned NPC making from the ground up. Its much easier to sort out whats wrong when you're beginning with a clean NPC not a conglomeration of edited vanilla stuff.

[davethewave]

That wiki page was helpful... Thanks for that-

His aggression is 40, confidence 40, responsibility 70, and he's in my faction, but the faction has nothing to it...

Will scrubbing the npc take everything away I've done? what will that do?

[davethewave]

-Scratch that... I learned that when I duplicated the Breton race for my npc, I failed to see that under it's characteristics they have a "problem" with Nords, which is what the tavern owner was (I'm not %100 sure if I'm getting the races correct, but you get the point), so I changed that and now he's fine. I'm trying to import the sound files into the greetings now. Apparently, all that stuff got erased somehow.

Thanks for all your help- I appreciate the efforts you have made and will make in the future on my behalf.

[DarkRider]

Aggression for a companion shouldn't need to be higher than 5-10. If he's in the player faction he will defend you but high aggression will just make him aggressive to everyone and pick fights. Lower it to solve those issues.

[davethewave]

Gee, I had no idea the scale was so small... I guess 40 was a tad high...

I'll have more questions tomorrow, of course...

[DarkRider]

We never close.

[davethewave]

Well, I tried to make the Gecko thing work, and it was a flop- I did what you and the instructions said, but when I try to run it, an error message comes up that says:

"Windows cannot find 'C:\WINDOWS\system32\javaw.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again."

[davethewave]

And, for my second issue of the day, I am trying to import voice files (I already know how and did it before I changed my npc's race), but

now when you click on the response line, there is nothing, and the reason is that under "race", it still says Breton. I duplicated that race to

make my own, and have created the folder for the new race, deleting the old Breton folder and it still does this...

What is the solution?

[davethewave]

Scratch that last one- I'm a genius...

Under race, the editor ID said "ElBorracho", but the name still said Breton, so I edited it to the same as ID... Problem solved!

See, I'm not such an inept moron as I seem to be most of the time...