Category talk:Creatures

Death Items

Has anyone run into problems where a death item list generates multiple loot drops? --Dev akm 15:14, 6 November 2007 (EST)

Followup: Turns out this was caused by Streamline's "corpse kill" feature.--dev_akm 11:57, 24 October 2008 (EDT)

Dead Creature

How do you make a dead creature and be able to move the body around?

Article edit

Removed the notion that creatures exist soley for combat (horses and pet mods, anyone?) Removed the explicit statement that essential tag should never be set, added notes about essential creatures still giving the loot menu and that they only block when wielding a weapon/shield.--Relax and Play 21:11, 23 October 2008 (EDT)

Block

New edit, specified info about how certain creatures block while certain profusely refuse to do so. --Relax and Play 01:38, 1 November 2008 (EDT)

The latest change went from very specific info to much more vague wording. Why? From the change history:

Specific=good:

The reason behind this is the naming convention that the game requires to be followed; in the case of block animations, the name for block animations must be block.kf and blockhit.kf. Mudcrabs, Goblins, and Skeletons all have appropriately named block animations, while Clannfears do not, meaning unless one knows how to configure the game's animation system, they will never block.

Vague=bad:

Block animations must start with "block" or else the creature will not block.

Was there some compelling reason to remove the more specific (i.e., more useful) version of this?

--dev_akm 11:33, 14 November 2008 (EST)

Changed it again. I'm not sure how the first is any more specific, though. What naming convention - does every new animation need to be a certain name, and, if so, what names? More importantly, I thought it was the AnimGroup that determined what the animation did, not the name of the file.

--Haama 14:08, 14 November 2008 (EST)

Well, that would be a good reason to make it more vague then, which is why I asked rather than reverting the change. ;-)

I think you're probably right about the AnimGroup being the determining factor.

--dev_akm 14:21, 14 November 2008 (EST)

Block animations must be named block and blockhit, even if they are categorized under the appropriate animation groups (What the CS says isn't necessarily what the game processes it as.) --Relax and Play 17:28, 18 November 2008 (EST)

Look at any clannfear in the CS; their animations are categorized as block, and have block in the names. But, in-game, they never play the animations, or even are considered blocking, because handtohand was added to the names. (I learned this while making a pet clannfear mod, so I use clannfears as my reference creature.) --Relax and Play 17:24, 18 November 2008 (EST)

That's why I was so specific. Modified the block section once more, and did some more sprucing of it. Mentioned things my previous edit didn't note. --Relax and Play 17:06, 18 November 2008 (EST)

Edit: Blockidle also is accepted by the CS, alongside just simply block, for some reason, and later on, I'll see if this is an issue unique to the clannfears (or creatures in general), however. --Relax and Play 17:08, 18 November 2008 (EST)

Level

Wouldn't the level also (and more importantly) determine the items of the creature, whether it spawns, etc. I haven't played with this, just assuming from what I've read about overhaul mods like Frans. --Haama 10:26, 14 November 2008 (EST)

Yes on leveled items. On spawns, not exactly. It isn't directly tied to where/when a creature spawns, though most lists use it as a loose guideline for which levels things should appear at in the spawn lists.

--dev_akm 11:28, 14 November 2008 (EST)

Essential

At this moment, the article says: “Essential: No effect (creature can still be killed and body can be looted).”

Any reason to say this? Essential creatures cannot be killed by the PC nor by the “Kill” script function. They get unconscious for a few seconds and standup again. A message appears saying “CreatureName is unconscious”. They can be looted while unconscious (NPCs dont). The ‘Death Item’ does not appear in the inventory. QQuix 10:43, 19 November 2008 (EST)

Cleaned up the essential portion. Added the lootability notes.--Relax and Play 18:33, 19 November 2008 (EST)

Giant

From what I learned, it appears that the Giant creatures (or Mehrunes Dagon to be more specific, since he's the only member of that category) are instantly leaving combat if the target gets out of their range (since they're normally unable to follow him). Is it something noteworthy? - ZuTheSkunk 18:17, 19 February 2011 (EST)

Sure, why not. I'd use something along the lines of "It appears that". It's the sort of thing that someone might spend a lot of time trying to figure out the root cause of, and this could give them something to test.

Uhm, now I see that I was wrong. I've tested it more extensively, and as far as I can tell, it must be something related to Mehrunes Dagon's skeleton - I see no other explanation for this specific behaviour. I've decided to test the category with test version of Jyggalag - he was fighting with me normally. I've copied folder with his animations and skeleton, renamed it and removed all animations for movement - he was unable to follow me, but he did not left combat. I've made his stats and AI as close to Mehrunes Dagon as possible - nope, when he's in combat, he does not leave it. It came to my mind that perhaps this behaviour is hardcoded specifically for CreatureMehrunesDagon ID, so I tried to create a copy of Dagon - he still has his unique behaviour. And it still holds true with his script and combat style removed. If anyone is willing to check it further, go ahead. - ZuTheSkunk 15:44, 20 February 2011 (EST)