Furniture and animations, How they work Options

[ghastley]

I'm at the point in The Diablo mod where I need to put Greta in a Pillory where she can be rescued. I can't use the shackles for this as they go against a wall, and her developing wings are either hidden, or clip through the wall behind her. Fortunately, the work has already been done, and I just have to extract the one piece from a huge animation resource pack.

The method of creating new furniture items, and connecting up the entry/loop/exit animations is a topic that's worth documenting, as I haven't found a decent one anywhere else. This thread will hold my notes as I find out all about it.

The "sit" animation isn't a standard one, so a mod using it will need FNIS to install the extra behaviour data and animations. At least that's become a standard, and users are fairly familiar with the process.

I may also include Idle Markers, which work in a similar fashion, but without a static item, and explain how Animation Objects work. These are items that appear only when the animation is performed, such as musical instruments, or the broom. Lots of things will be common between all these.

[ghastley]

Well, there are two ways to connect an NPC to furniture. The cheap and nasty way is simply to give the NPC a Linked ref which is their furniture. However if the player leaves the room and comes back, that way doesn't stick. This was the initial way I linked them up, and it also has the positioning issue.

The preferred method is to give them a "Sit Chair" package, all such furniture being special kinds of chair, which they'll do every time they evaluate it, so it covers re-entering the cell. A further nuance is that the target of the package can be "linked ref", if you choose. That allows one package to be applied to multiple NPC's. There can still be some sloppiness in aligning the NPC and the furniture, but that appears to be a game limitation.

So right now, I'm writing down the various steps of the whole process, and determining the best order to do things. Some steps require others to have already been done, as you can only select from a list of existing things, while in other cases, the easiest way to create what you need is to select "new" from a right-click menu, and do it in context. I'll want to explain the alternatives, rather than just write "do it my way", as I'm sure there will be times when each method is preferable.

The "Succubus Factory" now has NPC's in various stages of development (meaning I needed several sizes of wings and boobies), in appropriate restraints. That includes one who hasn't yet got her wings installed, tied down the table for that process to begin. There are wing statics on the nearby table, along with knives, bloody rags etc.

I need to find a good outfit for the necromancer/surgeon who's doing the wing jobs. I want something a bit better than the usual necro robe, preferably with a priestly look, as the Diablo character he's associated with is Archbishop Lazarus. I may rework the Dragonborn Temple Priests garb with a re-texture and a few other tweaks.