NPCs At War Tutorial

Introduction

For me, the NPCs in Oblivion are rather dull. They seem to stand around a lot and stare into space. So I’m currently working on a series of mods that make the NPC schedules a little more interesting. In this tutorial, I will show how to create two NPCS that will fight each other on sight.

Place your character at the fight sight

• Start Oblivion and load a game
• Fast travel to Anvil Main Gate, go outside
• Fast wait till around 9PM, save the game, and quit

Start a new mod

• Start TES CS
• Click File, click Data…, double-click Oblivion.esm, click OK, and wait
• Click File, click Save, type “AtokversusVitok.esp”, click OK

Create two new NPCs by changing the IDs

• In the Object Window, under Actors-NPC-Argonian-Female, right click Beewos, click Edit
• Change the ID from Beewos to Atok
• Change the Name from Beewos to Atok
• Click AI (the AI window opens)
• Delete all the AI packages
• Change Aggression from 5 to 20
• Click Save
• Click Factions, Select and delete the two factions listed
• Click OK, Click Yes (to create a new form)

• Right click Atok, click Edit
• Change the ID from Atok to Vitok
• Change the Name from Atok to Vitok
• Click OK, Click Yes (to create a new form)
• Save

Place your NPCs

• In Cell View, World Space, choose Tamriel
• Double click AnvilMainEntrance
• Drag Atok from the Object Window to the Render Window (at the start of the small path heading to the right)
• Type “F” to have the Atok NPC fall to the group
• Save
• Using spacebar+mouse movement, pan down the path going to the right
• Drag Vitok from the Object Window to the Render Window (just past the yellow line)
• Type “F” to have the Atok NPC fall to the group
• Save

Mark a spot for the fight

• Using spacebar+mouse movement, pan down the path going to the left, stop where the small path joins the large path
• Drag an Xmarker from the Object Window (click Static and look for it in the list generated to the right) to the Render Window, placing it where the small path meets the large path, type “F” to make the marker fall to the ground
• Double click the Xmarker
• For the Reference Editor ID, type AVFightSpotMarker
• Click OK
• Save

Create two new factions

• Click Character (Main Menu Bar), Faction… (Faction Window Opens)
• Right-click on any faction and choose New (New Form Editor ID window opens)
• Type “WeHateVitok”, click OK
• For Name, type “We Hate Vitok”, click OK

• Click Character (Main Menu Bar), Faction… (Faction Window Opens)
• Right-click on any faction and choose New (New Form Editor ID window opens)
• Type “WeHateAtok”, click OK
• For Name, type “We Hate Atok”, click OK
• Save

Make the factions at war with each other

• Click Character, Faction…
• Left-click WeHateAtok to select it
• Right click under Interfaction Relations, click new
• Change WeHateAtok to WeHateVitok
• Change Disposition Modifier to -80
• Click OK

• Click Character, Faction…
• Left-click WeHateVitok to select it
• Right click under Interfaction Relations, click new
• Change WeHateVitok to WeHateAtok
• Change Disposition Modifier to -80
• Click OK
• Save

Give your NPCs a faction and AI package

• Double click on your Vitok in the Render window
• Click Edit Base
• Click Factions
• Click Character (Main Menu Bar), Faction… (Faction Window Opens)
• Position both windows so you can drag and drop from one to the other
• Drag WeHateAtok from the Factions window to the Factions and Ranks area of the NPC window
• Close the Factions window
• In the NPC window, click AI
• Right click under AI Package List, click New
• Choose Package Type Wander
• For ID, type VitokWanders
• Choose Time 22 (for testing, so you can be there to watch)

• Go to the Render window and pan to the AVFightSpotMarker
• Go back to the AI Package window, Under Location, choose Near Reference, Click Select Reference in Render Window
• Double click on the FightSpotMarker
• Click OK, Click Save, Click OK, Click OK (to close the Reference window)
• Save

• Double click on your Atok in the Render window
• Click Edit Base
• Click Factions
• Click Character (Main Menu Bar), Faction… (Faction Window Opens)
• Position both windows so you can drag and drop from one to the other
• Drag WeHateVitok from the Factions window to the Factions and Ranks area of the NPC window
• Close the Factions window
• In the NPC window, click AI
• Right click under AI Package List, click New
• Choose Package Type Wander
• For ID, type AtokWanders
• Choose Time 22 (for testing, so you can be there to watch)

• Go to the Render window and pan to the AVFightSpotMarker
• Go back to the AI Package window, Under Location, choose Near Reference, Click Select Reference in Render Window
• Double click on the FightSpotMarker
• Click OK, Click Save, Click OK, Click OK (to close the Reference window)
• Save

Load the mod

• Start Oblivion
• Under Data Files, choose AtokversusVitok.esp, click OK, click Play
• Load your game and wait, the AI wandering will start at 10PM