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> Orc Hearthfire, Help me with the story part
ghastley
post Mar 26 2014, 06:32 PM
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I created a new Orc character to do the testing for this, but she's distracting me in a different direction. I grabbed some alternative hair from the Apaachi SkyHair mod for her, and decided she looked a lot like She-Hulk when I finished. Since the game engine supports transformations for werewolves, werebears and vampire lords, I'm now looking at having a petite Breton (Genevieve Walters) hulk out when she gets angry (SetRace to Orc, and SetScale to 1.2, plus outfit change).

I'd post a screenshot, but she has a custom body with extra muscle, and I haven't yet adapted clothing that covers enough for decency. Angles that don't flaunt her assets don't show the muscles either. Building clothing for her has the same problems, of course. It has to be torn in all except just the right places, but still look like it wouldn't just fall off completely. The Breton character is naturally unremarkable.

Plus I need to complete the packaging of the Evergloam mod for Oblivion, and rebuild my mail server, and do my taxes, and ...

This post has been edited by ghastley: Mar 26 2014, 06:32 PM


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Acadian
post Mar 26 2014, 06:43 PM
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The She-Hulk transformation idea is brilliant!


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SubRosa
post Mar 26 2014, 07:00 PM
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I love the idea of hulking out! goodjob.gif


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ghastley
post Mar 27 2014, 04:51 AM
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Quick screen-shot to show some progress. The Riften guard is standing at her level, she's just that much bigger than him. Her alter ego (who can't be in the same shot of course) would be shorter than him by nearly a head.

I didn't go overboard with adding muscles to her, as She-Hulk isn't as exaggerated as her cousin, but she does have larger biceps, triceps, quads, calves and a few others than the regular large orc. Plus the scale-up. I tried out a normal map with extra muscle definition, but decided I preferred it without.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Jun 6 2015, 03:29 PM


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Grits
post Mar 27 2014, 12:10 PM
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Oh my gosh, she looks awesome! I love it! biggrin.gif


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Acadian
post Mar 27 2014, 12:35 PM
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Very nicely done, ghastley!


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SubRosa
post Mar 27 2014, 04:41 PM
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Looking very good!


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ghastley
post May 5 2014, 07:43 PM
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Well, after the interruption for Hulking, I got back to the Hearthfires this weekend, and discovered what might be a show-stopper. sad.gif It seems that when a property of a script is defined in a secondary master, the script-engine's gonna crash, because it will mess up adjusting the top byte of the reference.

My BYOHOrcHouseBuilding script contains the line

int logCount = Game.GetPlayer().GetItemCount(BYOHMaterialLog)

This counts the number of (hidden) log tokens the player has, and the script's job is to correct the global variable that shows when you activate a log pile. However, BYOHMaterialLog is defined in Hearthfires.esm, and so it has a first byte that depends on the Load Order. It appears that the Papyrus engine sets anything non-zero in the top byte to the Load Order of the running script, which is in my mod, not in Hearthfires.esm. So it can't find the item to count, and crashes.

I have the same issue, except that there are no scripts involved, with my Log Pile. Because I placed it in my mod, its name - which includes the global variable BYOHHouseLogCount - fails to show the count because it's trying to find a global with a different formID. I may be able to fix this one by editing the RefID of the activator to make it appear to be part of Hearthfires itself - which is possible in Tes5Edit.

But it looks like GetItemCount can't be used. I may be able to write a function to do the same thing, walking the player's inventory and looking for a FormID match, but then I'll probably run into another instance of the same problem trying to update Hearthfires' global that the LogPileActivator can't read.

If anyone has any wild ideas how to get around this, let me know!


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ghastley
post Dec 29 2014, 02:58 PM
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Revisited this over the holiday and bypassed the log update calls to unblock progress. The log pile is really just a gauge to indicate your log stock, and doesn't actually "hold" the logs for you, so it can be put back later. It's also quite likely that my crashing issues were all due to the model for the pegs of the hut layout.

I still hit some crashes, and Gol has now built the hut and longhouse no less than five times for his lovely Borgakh. He is fated to do so many more times, as most changes to the quest mean reloading the game from before it's started in order to test with the new property values. I may start giving him materials via the console, instead of re-clearing Halted Stream Camp every time! He's also had to fight a random dragon a couple of times during construction, and wolves spawn nearby for extra spice.

My latest gotcha was adding the cellar, and finding that the trapdoor didn't get enabled, so we can't go down there and make the furniture. I also have to add models for the stockade and guard tower for display in the workbench UI, and correct a few of the interior ones, such as the cook-pot.

Before release, I have to cut up the longhouse model into sections (layout, floor, knee-walls, framing and roof) so that it can be constructed in stages, rather than all at once like a stable. That will mean Gol building it again, probably multiple times. I hope Borgakh shows some appreciation for all his work!

I haven't tested yet to see if Uzi will move in there once adopted. I'm only including one WIP in any game, to avoid confusion.

The quest to get the plot of land will be similar to the Thane quests in the major holds. I.e. the player will do a qualifying quest (Malacath's) and also "help" a number of Orcs, via the favour quests, such as mining ore, Fight! Fight! or those for the non-stronghold Orcs, such as fetching a book for Urag. These latter are the same quests that can make you Blood-kin. Doing it this way, with a courier-delivered note announcing the grant, avoids needing any new dialogue and voice files.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Dec 29 2014, 08:33 PM


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ghastley
post Jan 1 2015, 01:05 AM
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I started a new Orc to test this as a first Hearthfires house, and discovered another major annoyance. The sale of logs is conditioned on tests on any of the existing plots being purchased, but this was done as three tests OR'ed together, rather than a single test on a global, so I can't just set the same flag in my mod. nono.gif

I can't just duplicate the dialog, or it will appear twice in the list if the player owns Greenspring Stronghold as well as one of the others. So I have to make dirty overrides to the existing quests whether I want to or not. I think I'll change them to use a global in case anyone else makes a new house. sad.gif


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ghastley
post Jan 5 2015, 04:36 AM
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There may be light at the end of the tunnel. I found a way around the lumber vendor issue that lets me use my mod's dialog only when the Hearthfires one isn't used. And my problems with adoption are solved by another mod - Hearthfires Multiple Adoptions which also allows properly configured mod homes to be used for the kids. I tested it with the Orc Stronghold and the Elf kids, and it works!

IPB Image

Now back to trying to make partial meshes for the longhouse. And there are still a couple of pieces of furniture that don't enable when they should, and glitches with the Drafting Table.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Jun 6 2015, 03:30 PM


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Grits
post Jan 6 2015, 04:32 PM
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Very exciting news, ghastley! There’s little Uzi sitting at the dining table. happy.gif

I like the way you’re using orc quests to qualify for getting the land. A new stronghold is a pretty big deal, and multiple quests reflect that.


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ghastley
post Jan 12 2015, 12:58 AM
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Quest-testing is under way. I had to adjust the criteria for the "helping the Orc people" part a bit as the original only counted the quests for the stronghold inhabitants, but that's working now. Yarob has reached four by mining at two of the strongholds, doing Ghorza's quest for a book for Tacitus, and clearing Kolskeggr for Pavo and Gat. I want her to do The Cursed Tribe before the fifth, as I'm not sure if that quest will complete the total, or she'll need another. I may have to help her kill the giant via the console, as she's only the minimum level (9) needed to start the quest.

I've made the partial meshes for the longhouse, but need to add collision to them before adding them to the game. I may also need to nav-mesh the floor, as you can walk inside the half-built structure. You'll build layout (pegs and string), then walls, then floor, then framing, and finally the roof will include adding the door, as it gets enclosed at that point. Gol and Borgakh will have to do it all again a few times when I get that far, but since I can test the quest part with a one-step longhouse, they get to rest for a while.

I plan to include Uzi in a separate esp, so you can use any other child mod, such as Urshug, but you'll have a default one.

Edit: Yarob completing The Cursed Tribe did kick off the Stronghold quest as intended, but perhaps because she also hit the five "Help the Orcs" count at the same time, it didn't trigger the courier properly. After console help, the courier delivered nothing. I have another problem with creating the letter to deal with. But when she went to the site, the workbenches and chest were enabled, and she was able to build a home and adopt Uzi.

However, I'm a bit worried about her. I mean, she doesn't just tidy her room, she cleans it. The kid's not normal, especially for an Orc!

This post has been edited by ghastley: Jun 6 2015, 03:31 PM


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ghastley
post Jan 13 2015, 04:04 PM
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Of course, the changes I had to make to the quests prevent me testing in Yarob's game where it's already running, so I have another character (a small archer this time) running around the strongholds and helping the other Orcs. That's helping me refine the counting mechanism, or at least documenting it. For example, doing two favours for the same character doesn't count as two. You need to make new friends for it to count. So mining ore for Gharol and delivering the blade to Lash don't add up to two.

I looked up what it takes to make a new collision mesh for Skyrim, and it looks laborious. Most "tutorials" just cover copying a collision mesh that's near enough from another model, or do it all in 3DS MAX (I use Blender). However, the current "build the whole longhouse in one step" process works, so I'm concentrating on getting the quest logic right first. The house-building logic is already tested with the hut and outbuildings, and the interior, so making the longhouse build multi-step is only dependent on the meshes. (Only!!)

The lack of nav-mesh cuts when the stronghold is built has caused issues. The site is on the route of at least one Imperial courier, and he got stuck inside the stockade, running against the wall. Again, stuff I know how to do, but laborious because of the number of collision boxes that need to be added, and parented to the enable markers. There aren't any creature spawns on the site, but a few nearby (which will give the guard on the watchtower some target practice later). The mammoths walk up and down the next valley, but the nearby one leads to Drelas' Cabin, and doesn't get them. There's a dragon mound not far away, but I haven't yet played a character who's seen that being used.


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Grits
post Jan 13 2015, 04:19 PM
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Yay!! Good idea to nav mesh the unfinished floor if you can walk inside. I’ve had a few characters camp in their partially built Hearthfire homes for a time while they collected ingredients.

Uzi looks adorable sweeping her room. So that’s what it looks like when a child actually cleans! biggrin.gif

Would it help to have a test character ready who has already completed the quest requirements to see what happens when your mod is added to an old save? I’m going to start a new orc so that the Hearthfire Adoptions mod has the best chance of working (also to test the Bless Home spell with my own very basic house mods), and I could get him or her started on the appropriate quests in their free time. Keeping old saves, of course. Oh, and when you’re ready I can try the Alternate Start mod’s orc start to see how that works with your quest requirements if that would help.

Pretty excited, ghastley!! biggrin.gif


Edit: It takes me so long to post that you updated while I was posting. laugh.gif Good luck with your next steps. I only know enough about this stuff that the word “nav-mesh” makes my stomach turn over, lol.

This post has been edited by Grits: Jan 13 2015, 04:30 PM


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ghastley
post Jan 13 2015, 04:52 PM
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The problem you'll have with an existing game is that there aren't many Orcs you can do a "Favor Quest" for. The mechanism is triggered by Story Manager when the there's a Relationship change, and the Favor Quests usually end with a SetRelationshipRank(1) to make you a friend of the other character. If you already did one for them, it's not a change, so it doesn't start the count tracker quest. I haven't yet scanned through to make a list of all the Orc-related quests that qualify, but it may be quite a short one.

I'm using SM's ChangeLocation event to detect when the player leaves Largashbur with DA06 completed, so it doesn't matter if they did that before installing. A revisit to Largashbur provides another chance to fire it off, once you leave again. The quest ends before you take Volendrung, while it's still on the altar, so it doesn't matter if you took it or not.

If you're already friends with too many Orcs, it's probably possible to console-set the global, but I may just add a "manual" stage to the quest, so you can do it that way. I'd prefer not to, as too many people will want to use the "cheat" and complain if it has bugs.

Edit: I'm having worries about the navmesh for the floor of the incomplete building. It has to be there only when the building is part-built, and it has to connect to the world, so that followers can follow. The first part should just be a matter of a nav-cut box that wraps the floor and enables/disables opposite to it, but I can't find anything out there about how to join navmeshes in game. Regular Hearthfires must do it, but I haven't yet found where. I do know that unconnected navmeshes don't allow an NPC to pass between them.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Jan 13 2015, 09:30 PM


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ghastley
post Jan 17 2015, 02:41 PM
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Another small but significant step. My latest Orc, Dhul, has finally received the letter telling him he has land. It took ages to track down all the niggling little details that prevented some of the aliases from filling, that were needed to construct the text, the courier origin, and all the other little pieces for the delivery quest. It's complicated by the fact that the Civil War can replace the Jarl and his steward, so there has to be provision for the new ones' names to be used. I should have built nearer to Solitude!

This post has been edited by ghastley: Jun 6 2015, 03:32 PM


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Grits
post Jan 19 2015, 04:01 PM
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QUOTE(ghastley @ Jan 17 2015, 08:41 AM) *

Another small but significant step. My latest Orc, Dhul, has finally received the letter telling him he has land.

Yay!! biggrin.gif That approaching courier must have been a welcome sight!


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ghastley
post Jan 27 2015, 03:05 PM
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Houston we have a problem!

I just started placing the meshes for the longhouse under construction, and realized that I can't remove the slope where the longhouse gets built. It looks like it will have to be released with the one-step build for the longhouse, as some of the ground will be above floor level. The only remaining decision is whether to modify the pegs to follow the slope, and mark the location, or just build without them (the current situation).

I still have some detail stuff to do, such as inventory models, and the navmesh tweaks as things get made, so there's time to decide. But the scripts are working, the quests fire off when they're supposed to, so it's getting there.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Jun 6 2015, 03:33 PM


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Grits
post Jan 28 2015, 04:01 PM
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Yikes. Can you adjust the slope down just a little so that the rope barely shows? That way it would look like the ropes indicate building something level. Of course skipping the ropes entirely is not a big deal.


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