Difference between revisions of "Unplayable Items"

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Ok, so you've probably heard about tokens all over the forums by now and are wondering "what are they" or "what's all the fuss about".

In fact, despite their modest name, tokens are perhaps the most powerful tool that scripters have in the unextended CS. Tokens themselves are really almost that - i.e. they are an object that exists just to get the attached script to run on a target. What is actually important is the 'token effect'.

In the default game, unplayable items such as the Emperor's Robe and the Imperial Palace Guard armour are not checked as "playable", preventing the player from taking these items from the person when they are killed.  Another example of armour which is flagged as unplayable is the armour belonging to Glenroy and Captain Renault in the original dungeon.  When Renault is killed, you can take her sword, but if you examine your corpse you are likely only to find a steel shortsword; you won't be able to take her Blades Armour, as this would unbalance the early game.

This is accomplished because unplayable items are not seen by the player, either in an actor's or player's inventory. Some other points about using an unplayable item on the player will be noted later. However, beyond this unplayable items behave pretty much like any other [non-persistant] item.

From here on unplayable items will be referred to as tokens. Here's a list of important token properties with respect to scripting:

# Token variables are persistant, unlike scripted spells and abilities (which reset when the actor comes into scope (same cell) as the player, meaning any local variables are re-instantiated to 0).

# You can add a token remotely - i.e. to an actor not even in your cell, so long as it is a persistant ref.

# Like spells, tokens can remove themselves or be removed from a calling script (very handy for instant or 1-time effects).

# Choose any item in the game that has the Playable switch. These are essentially clothing and weapons. Most favored choice seems to be a 0-value ring. Actors can equip an unplayable item, but if you use a ring it probably will not matter and making it worth 0 gold means they will not be inclinded to put it on.

# Attach/create your object script - your 'token effect'.

To deploy a token on a target actor simply do the following command from any active script:

actor.AddItem MyToken 1

  scn VendorTokenEffect

  ; add items (or spells) to inventory and remove effect

   set type to 0.03*GetRandomPercent

    target.AddItem MyItem01 1

   elseif type == 1

    target.AddItem MyItem02 5

   else

    target.AddSpell MySpell01

To deploy this particular token effect I would suggest a quest script. There are other ways to do this but having a startup quest is a good idea for almost any mod involving scripting. Here is a skeleton start up quest script, attached to quest ID MyStartupQuest:

  <InGameVendor1>.AddItem VendorToken 1

  <InGameVendor2>.AddItem VendorToken 1

(Very useful for OBSE key programming.)

Firstly a couple of notes:

# Adding a token directly to the player will produce message spam.

# Equipping a token on the player will make it appear that the token is equipped and will unequip an item of the same type, even though the item will not show up rendered or in the player's inventory. This can be useful BUT it will produce the usual item-equipped message spam.

To give a player a token without causing any messages it is necessary to first add this to a container. However, since you cant be sure one exists near the player it is better to use your own persistant actor, or ''shadow'' (see [[Remote Activators]]).

 

This is a 1-time token script to add a token to the player using a shadow [actor]. The key thing here is that the shadow (hidden container) has to be in the player cell before you can get scripted items to remove themselves (silently) to the player. The first part of the token script would be:

 

  RemoveMe player

; actual token script goes below...

You can also use the shadow to bring in 3D items to the game. In this case  the '''Activate''' command would be used in place of the '''AddItem''' command (see [[Remote Activators]]). The important thing with these extended effects to watch for is ''timing''. In this case the commands that have to be handled carefully are MoveTo and RemoveMe.

Because tokens are always active make sure you dont add them repeatedly or to almost very NPC you meet (in-game). Sometimes using a spell, ability or other method to get your active script going is more appropriate.

'''Token Origin''': I wish I could say I invented tokens but I didn't. It appears they started out in thread discussions and were eventually put to use by early adopters such as Scruggs. Through thread discussions, I have only helped solidify our understanding of how and when to use them. [[User:GuidoBot|GuidoBot]]

'''Timing/persistance issues''': Tokens on actors that are engaged in major activity, e.g. fighting, may not get executed predictably every frame. [[User:GuidoBot|GuidoBot]] 16:09, 19 October 2006 (EDT)

'''Tokens in Containers''': It turns out that '''Unequip <item> 1''' does not appear to work when applied to actors to force them to not equip an item, even if they have it currently equipped. This means you cannot ensure that any ''valuable'' wearable item added to merchant will be available for sale (although it should always be available for pick-pocketing). The safest way to ensure such items show up for sale is to add them to a nearby vendor chest instead. Fortunately, this is an example of where adding a (vendor) token to a container is more useful than adding it to an actor. [[User:GuidoBot|GuidoBot]] 15:00, 30 November 2006 (EST)