My Simple Creature Companion Tutorial
Posted: April 11th, 2011
PLEASE DO NOT POST THIS TUTORIAL ANYWHERE ELSE WITHOUT ASKING ME FIRST.
PLEASE NOTE: If anyone wants to use this tutorial to create a companion for themselves using WAC resources other than for personal use, permission must be obtained from Waalx first.
This tutorial outlines the system I use to create my creature companions. It uses activation to Follow and Wander (stay) so you won't find a menu system here. I don't like menus for creature companions and I find it totally unnecessary.
The scripts are included, but there's also some latitude in what you can do with them. For example you can add or subtract spells, sounds or shaders etc inside the main and magic scripts if you wanted to, but I haven't included it here. My House Cats mod and a couple of others adds sounds like a bell that rings on activation or purring sounds as Idles and/or on activation.
You could also add extra functions to the creature script and it already includes Sneak. This function depends entirely on your own Sneak Skill.
I'm posting this over several topics as it's quite long and detailed. The main part has the script for the original mod it's based on, but the last post includes the updated script with the sneak function as well as having the summon spell added to it rather than an item.
Also located at:
SavageArtistry's forum
http://savageartistry.darkbb.com/
TES Alliance
http://www.tesalliance.org/
My Blog when I get around to posting it.
http://maigretsheadspace.blogspot.com
It has been translated to French by Sita Kaos, but I don't currently have a link.
CREATURE COMPANION TUTORIAL BASED ON MY SHER JA - MOUNTAIN LION COMPANION MOD.
***This tutorial assumes the user knows very little about using the Construction Set so I've tried to be as detailed as possible.***
Click the thumbnails for a better view so you can see what I'm referring to. If you think you've made a mistake in any open form, click Cancel instead of OK, but generally you can go back and make the necessary changes without problems. There is an exception to this. If you move an object unintentionally when placing the creature in the world you can go to Edit/Undo in the File Menu as long as you realize immediately you've done it. Otherwise you'll need to "clean" the mod afterwards. It's no fun if you find you've moved a door or house by accident and don't find out until later.
CREDITS:
Sher Ja - Mountain Lion Companion was my first mod besides some save games and has been updated and experimented with several times until found I was finally happy with it.
The scripts used here for the companion are adapted from the Fenrir the Wolf Companion mod by delphinus with his permission. They were created with OBSE by Jumonji, but have been changed so they no longer require OBSE which mainly dealt with fast healing after battle. This is now dealt with by adding a Healing Ability and making him Essential. Jumonji helped me to do this.
The Add Summon Spell script is by WillieSea. I found it on the Official CS forums where I also find a lot of other helpful information.
Thank You.
Fenrir the Wolf by delphinus and Jumonji
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=14192
Sher Ja - Mountain Lion Companion by Maigrets
http://savageartistry.darkbb.com/index.htm
The screen shot of Sher Ja is using themythofstrider's excellent Mythic Animals textures, but I'm now using the WAC Cougar (with whiskers.. ) for Sher Ja.
STARTING OUT:
This will create a simple creature companion that can be activated to stay and follow. It will fight anything that is your enemy or that attacks you in Follow mode. It will NOT be aggressive to friends or yourself, and is player owned. Otherwise, if you resist arrest for a crime, it will attack the guards who are chasing you, or if you go on a murder spree then you can rely on it to defend you. I make my companions Essential so they don't die, but become unconscious for a short time. That's up to you. I prefer not to have to reload or deactivate and reactivate the mod if it dies, especially when using overhaul mods like I do, where a non essential companion death is almost guaranteed.
In Wander mode it will patrol the area where you left it and will defend itself if necessary. When you first go to find your companion it will also start to wander as soon as you enter the cell it's placed in, so if it's not where you put it just search around a bit or use the summon spell as described below.
There will be a Summon Spell to call your companion if you've left them somewhere, if they get stuck (rare), or to remove them from battle. If they do happen to get lost, for example, falling from a great height, they will teleport to you or return on entering a new cell. Or, of course, you can summon them back.
This spell can be added to an object and you can create a quest to find it if you like, or you can place the object near the creature. Make sure to mention it in your readme if you plan to release the mod.
I am including the option of adding the spell to an object to this tutorial. When the object is taken the spell is automatically added to your spellbook. The item doesn't need to be in your inventory afterwards, so you can throw it away or keep it depending on the item used.
The spell can also be added via a quest script which will add it as soon as you load your save, but will not be included in this tutorial. I prefer not to add the Summon Spell by a quest because I like to put my creatures somewhere to find, rather than an easier location like the Waterfront District.
Quest related options will be included in another tutorial which will outline a simple quest to find a companion or object with a small story attached to a note or book. This can be added to your inventory when you load your game with the mod active or you can use the quest to search for it. It will also include how to add spells via a quest and other options like sounds and messages which can be added to the scripts.
NOTE: I haven't gotten around to doing this addition yet.
I used to make it a habit to take screen shots of all my open windows in the Construction Set. For example: scripts, spells, stats etc. I can see at a glance what I've done for future reference, without loading the mod. But that's just me. I sometimes still do it for new mods depending on what I add to them.
Regarding Shivering Isles and companions: I haven't played SI for some time, but I know if you tell the companion to wait before entering the portal and then summon it when you are in the SI world there should be no problems. I've done this with Sher Ja and a couple of others and it was fine. That also relates to Oblivion Gates. Make the companion wait, enter the gate, then summon. Do the reverse BEFORE taking the sigil stone and summon once outside. Unlike other types of companions they obviously have no inventory that can be reset when the cells update.
FIRST STEPS:
This tutorial will create a lion companion, but can be used for any creature. I've never bothered making a companion from a Shivering Isles creature, but I know someone who did using this tutorial and it worked out as far as I'm aware.
It's a good idea to name all References and ID's with a prefix. For example - JJMyLion. Don't use numerals at the beginning of the ID, and have no spaces in the ID field. Using the JJ, or any other prefix makes it easier to find your entries. You can use AA or aa, or your initials as long as it's always the same for consistency.
Load the Construction Set and go to File/Save and create a new esp with the name of your choice. This will automatically make it active.
Click OK and Oblivion ESM will load automatically because you are loading a mod that requires it. Otherwise you can select Oblivion ESM only to load and choose to save your esp when you've started work on your mod.
Go to the Object Window on the left and expand the Actors\Creature\creature tree. Select the CreatureMountainLion and double click to open it's Stats Form.
In the ID field give it a NEW unique ID. If you don't give it a new ID every lion will be a clone of yours. Close the window by clicking OK, and you will prompted to make a new form because you've changed the ID. Click YES to create a new object. In the NAME field give it a name which will appear in game.
Open the lion's Stats Form again.
Here you can change the Essential status and whether he will Check Corpses. I leave it checked for dogs and wolves, but not the lion because it does nothing and can slow the creature down. Canines have animations so it works well and they only do it after combat is over. Check swimming so they can follow in water. Again, canines seem to be better for this since they do actually swim while other creatures sink like a stone or have to find another path, but they will catch up.
Take the tick out of No Low Level processing and Respawns. Leave his Combat Style at Default for the mountain lion.
Tick PC Level Offset to have him level with you. Choose whether you want him to level above or below you by entering a number in the Offset box. For example, 1 to stay at your level or -1 to be one level below you.
In the Calc Min box type 1 and in the Calc Max box type 0. This will adjust his health, speed and fatigue modifiers on the right of the window.
Starting out it's probably best to leave his health and other stats as they are. You can adjust them later if you want. Although, I give my creatures an Intelligence of at least 30 so they can follow up stairs and through doors. They will even open gates. This also relates to successful fast travel so they zone with you instead of getting lost and having to be summoned.
Always leave Personality at 20 or even at the default as anything higher can make him passive, and enemies, depending on their Faction will ignore him when you want him to fight.
From now on I'm referring to the Lion as Leo to make things a bit easier. The abbreviation, CS, will refer to the Construction Set.
Go to the Factions Tab and right click to delete anything in there which is usually Creature Faction.
Next go to the CS Menu at the top of the screen and select Character -- Factions. Scroll down the list until you find Playerfaction. With Leo's page still open drag it to his Factions Tab. You can make a custom Faction, but it's not necessary. Player Faction gives Leo all the rights and privileges as the Player.
Select the Inventory Tab. You can leave anything there or delete it. If you make him Essential he can't be looted anyway.
Select the Spell Tab. Depending on your choice of creature there may be a Disease listed. If so, delete it. The mountain lion has a Resist Frost ability which you can leave intact. Other creatures may have their own Abilities which can stay as well. This can depend on whether you decide to give him a Defensive spell that includes what he already has or boosts it. In that case remove the default spells.
There's no need to do anything with the other Tabs except if you want to add new meshes and textures for your creature, but this tutorial deals with the default Mountain Lion..
You can preview him moving and attacking by selecting the Animations Tab and clicking each movement to see him in the preview window. Tick the Preview Full box to do this.
**Remember to save often. Make regular backups of the esp so you can revert to a previous file if you make a mistake and have saved it! **
NEXT:
AI Tab:
At the bottom of the stats Form is the AI Tab. Click to change the values at the top of the new window.
Aggression -- I've found 5 or 10 works well. Some companions use zero, but I found it causes the companion to be passive at the most inopportune times. Anything above can cause him to attack indiscriminately, including friends.
Confidence -- the higher the setting the less likely he is to run from a fight. 75 is a good number. If he's Essential and you want him to break off a fight if you decide to run or come back to fight another day, you could try a lower number. I have several Pet Only mods. Their aggression and confidence settings are different so they will flee when danger approaches and return when combat is over. It's not necessary to script this.
Energy Level -- This determines how much he moves around and animates when idle. Actors with low energy levels idle more often. You can leave it at the default for your creature.
Responsibility -- leave this at zero otherwise you will be reported for crimes by Leo and he can also accrue a bounty which applies to you being the owner.
At the bottom is the AI Package List. Right click on any packages in the list and delete all of them.
**Click SAVE and OK at the Stats page. Save the esp.
PLEASE NOTE: If anyone wants to use this tutorial to create a companion for themselves using WAC resources other than for personal use, permission must be obtained from Waalx first.
This tutorial outlines the system I use to create my creature companions. It uses activation to Follow and Wander (stay) so you won't find a menu system here. I don't like menus for creature companions and I find it totally unnecessary.
The scripts are included, but there's also some latitude in what you can do with them. For example you can add or subtract spells, sounds or shaders etc inside the main and magic scripts if you wanted to, but I haven't included it here. My House Cats mod and a couple of others adds sounds like a bell that rings on activation or purring sounds as Idles and/or on activation.
You could also add extra functions to the creature script and it already includes Sneak. This function depends entirely on your own Sneak Skill.
I'm posting this over several topics as it's quite long and detailed. The main part has the script for the original mod it's based on, but the last post includes the updated script with the sneak function as well as having the summon spell added to it rather than an item.
Also located at:
SavageArtistry's forum
http://savageartistry.darkbb.com/
TES Alliance
http://www.tesalliance.org/
My Blog when I get around to posting it.
http://maigretsheadspace.blogspot.com
It has been translated to French by Sita Kaos, but I don't currently have a link.
CREATURE COMPANION TUTORIAL BASED ON MY SHER JA - MOUNTAIN LION COMPANION MOD.
***This tutorial assumes the user knows very little about using the Construction Set so I've tried to be as detailed as possible.***
Click the thumbnails for a better view so you can see what I'm referring to. If you think you've made a mistake in any open form, click Cancel instead of OK, but generally you can go back and make the necessary changes without problems. There is an exception to this. If you move an object unintentionally when placing the creature in the world you can go to Edit/Undo in the File Menu as long as you realize immediately you've done it. Otherwise you'll need to "clean" the mod afterwards. It's no fun if you find you've moved a door or house by accident and don't find out until later.
CREDITS:
Sher Ja - Mountain Lion Companion was my first mod besides some save games and has been updated and experimented with several times until found I was finally happy with it.
The scripts used here for the companion are adapted from the Fenrir the Wolf Companion mod by delphinus with his permission. They were created with OBSE by Jumonji, but have been changed so they no longer require OBSE which mainly dealt with fast healing after battle. This is now dealt with by adding a Healing Ability and making him Essential. Jumonji helped me to do this.
The Add Summon Spell script is by WillieSea. I found it on the Official CS forums where I also find a lot of other helpful information.
Thank You.
Fenrir the Wolf by delphinus and Jumonji
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=14192
Sher Ja - Mountain Lion Companion by Maigrets
http://savageartistry.darkbb.com/index.htm
The screen shot of Sher Ja is using themythofstrider's excellent Mythic Animals textures, but I'm now using the WAC Cougar (with whiskers.. ) for Sher Ja.
STARTING OUT:
This will create a simple creature companion that can be activated to stay and follow. It will fight anything that is your enemy or that attacks you in Follow mode. It will NOT be aggressive to friends or yourself, and is player owned. Otherwise, if you resist arrest for a crime, it will attack the guards who are chasing you, or if you go on a murder spree then you can rely on it to defend you. I make my companions Essential so they don't die, but become unconscious for a short time. That's up to you. I prefer not to have to reload or deactivate and reactivate the mod if it dies, especially when using overhaul mods like I do, where a non essential companion death is almost guaranteed.
In Wander mode it will patrol the area where you left it and will defend itself if necessary. When you first go to find your companion it will also start to wander as soon as you enter the cell it's placed in, so if it's not where you put it just search around a bit or use the summon spell as described below.
There will be a Summon Spell to call your companion if you've left them somewhere, if they get stuck (rare), or to remove them from battle. If they do happen to get lost, for example, falling from a great height, they will teleport to you or return on entering a new cell. Or, of course, you can summon them back.
This spell can be added to an object and you can create a quest to find it if you like, or you can place the object near the creature. Make sure to mention it in your readme if you plan to release the mod.
I am including the option of adding the spell to an object to this tutorial. When the object is taken the spell is automatically added to your spellbook. The item doesn't need to be in your inventory afterwards, so you can throw it away or keep it depending on the item used.
The spell can also be added via a quest script which will add it as soon as you load your save, but will not be included in this tutorial. I prefer not to add the Summon Spell by a quest because I like to put my creatures somewhere to find, rather than an easier location like the Waterfront District.
Quest related options will be included in another tutorial which will outline a simple quest to find a companion or object with a small story attached to a note or book. This can be added to your inventory when you load your game with the mod active or you can use the quest to search for it. It will also include how to add spells via a quest and other options like sounds and messages which can be added to the scripts.
NOTE: I haven't gotten around to doing this addition yet.
I used to make it a habit to take screen shots of all my open windows in the Construction Set. For example: scripts, spells, stats etc. I can see at a glance what I've done for future reference, without loading the mod. But that's just me. I sometimes still do it for new mods depending on what I add to them.
Regarding Shivering Isles and companions: I haven't played SI for some time, but I know if you tell the companion to wait before entering the portal and then summon it when you are in the SI world there should be no problems. I've done this with Sher Ja and a couple of others and it was fine. That also relates to Oblivion Gates. Make the companion wait, enter the gate, then summon. Do the reverse BEFORE taking the sigil stone and summon once outside. Unlike other types of companions they obviously have no inventory that can be reset when the cells update.
FIRST STEPS:
This tutorial will create a lion companion, but can be used for any creature. I've never bothered making a companion from a Shivering Isles creature, but I know someone who did using this tutorial and it worked out as far as I'm aware.
It's a good idea to name all References and ID's with a prefix. For example - JJMyLion. Don't use numerals at the beginning of the ID, and have no spaces in the ID field. Using the JJ, or any other prefix makes it easier to find your entries. You can use AA or aa, or your initials as long as it's always the same for consistency.
Load the Construction Set and go to File/Save and create a new esp with the name of your choice. This will automatically make it active.
Click OK and Oblivion ESM will load automatically because you are loading a mod that requires it. Otherwise you can select Oblivion ESM only to load and choose to save your esp when you've started work on your mod.
Go to the Object Window on the left and expand the Actors\Creature\creature tree. Select the CreatureMountainLion and double click to open it's Stats Form.
In the ID field give it a NEW unique ID. If you don't give it a new ID every lion will be a clone of yours. Close the window by clicking OK, and you will prompted to make a new form because you've changed the ID. Click YES to create a new object. In the NAME field give it a name which will appear in game.
Open the lion's Stats Form again.
Here you can change the Essential status and whether he will Check Corpses. I leave it checked for dogs and wolves, but not the lion because it does nothing and can slow the creature down. Canines have animations so it works well and they only do it after combat is over. Check swimming so they can follow in water. Again, canines seem to be better for this since they do actually swim while other creatures sink like a stone or have to find another path, but they will catch up.
Take the tick out of No Low Level processing and Respawns. Leave his Combat Style at Default for the mountain lion.
Tick PC Level Offset to have him level with you. Choose whether you want him to level above or below you by entering a number in the Offset box. For example, 1 to stay at your level or -1 to be one level below you.
In the Calc Min box type 1 and in the Calc Max box type 0. This will adjust his health, speed and fatigue modifiers on the right of the window.
Starting out it's probably best to leave his health and other stats as they are. You can adjust them later if you want. Although, I give my creatures an Intelligence of at least 30 so they can follow up stairs and through doors. They will even open gates. This also relates to successful fast travel so they zone with you instead of getting lost and having to be summoned.
Always leave Personality at 20 or even at the default as anything higher can make him passive, and enemies, depending on their Faction will ignore him when you want him to fight.
From now on I'm referring to the Lion as Leo to make things a bit easier. The abbreviation, CS, will refer to the Construction Set.
Go to the Factions Tab and right click to delete anything in there which is usually Creature Faction.
Next go to the CS Menu at the top of the screen and select Character -- Factions. Scroll down the list until you find Playerfaction. With Leo's page still open drag it to his Factions Tab. You can make a custom Faction, but it's not necessary. Player Faction gives Leo all the rights and privileges as the Player.
Select the Inventory Tab. You can leave anything there or delete it. If you make him Essential he can't be looted anyway.
Select the Spell Tab. Depending on your choice of creature there may be a Disease listed. If so, delete it. The mountain lion has a Resist Frost ability which you can leave intact. Other creatures may have their own Abilities which can stay as well. This can depend on whether you decide to give him a Defensive spell that includes what he already has or boosts it. In that case remove the default spells.
There's no need to do anything with the other Tabs except if you want to add new meshes and textures for your creature, but this tutorial deals with the default Mountain Lion..
You can preview him moving and attacking by selecting the Animations Tab and clicking each movement to see him in the preview window. Tick the Preview Full box to do this.
**Remember to save often. Make regular backups of the esp so you can revert to a previous file if you make a mistake and have saved it! **
NEXT:
AI Tab:
At the bottom of the stats Form is the AI Tab. Click to change the values at the top of the new window.
Aggression -- I've found 5 or 10 works well. Some companions use zero, but I found it causes the companion to be passive at the most inopportune times. Anything above can cause him to attack indiscriminately, including friends.
Confidence -- the higher the setting the less likely he is to run from a fight. 75 is a good number. If he's Essential and you want him to break off a fight if you decide to run or come back to fight another day, you could try a lower number. I have several Pet Only mods. Their aggression and confidence settings are different so they will flee when danger approaches and return when combat is over. It's not necessary to script this.
Energy Level -- This determines how much he moves around and animates when idle. Actors with low energy levels idle more often. You can leave it at the default for your creature.
Responsibility -- leave this at zero otherwise you will be reported for crimes by Leo and he can also accrue a bounty which applies to you being the owner.
At the bottom is the AI Package List. Right click on any packages in the list and delete all of them.
**Click SAVE and OK at the Stats page. Save the esp.