Post by Emma on Aug 23, 2010 7:19:15 GMT
Companion Beryl - by Grumpy
Beryl...
Another companion for you're perusal and enjoyment.
Screenshot and download
This mod uses a slightly modified version of the "Companion Project 3.1" script.
Installation: Extract to your Data Files Folder and enable the.esp file. See following explanation.
Ask anyone in Seyda Neen about "someone in particular" to get her to show up.
She will give you a short intro, and then off you go. Dialog poor to say the least (Hey! At least I did a little this time...). In my attempts at companion creation, I tend to stay within the boundries established by other games. "Baulder's Gate 2" made some attempt at it (as opposed to BG1), and that was enhanced a bit more when "Neverwinter Nights" came out, but for the most part, most games don't have a great deal of interaction with companions.
She starts as a level seven guard, assigned to protect you.
Dialog Functions: Typical companion Dialog...
-Combat: Here you will find a few options for determining how the companion will comport themselves during combat:
Melee: Companion will only use melee weapons.
Marksman: Companion will only use ranged weapons.
Use what I use: This is a script function and will cause the companion to mimic the player's actions during combat. For example, I generally start combat with a ranged weapon, and then switch to melee as the creature/NPC gets closer. If you select this option, companion will mimic that behavior, even in the middle of combat.
Use what you wish: This mearly places the marksman skill to a more normal number (as opposed to the above... in melee mode marksman is set to 0 to force the companion to use only melee weapons, and in marksman mode marksman is set to a high number to force the companion to use marksman... "Use What I use" makes these adjustments on the fly...). At that point, she will revert to the game's own AI for determination of what weapon she will use. Generally winds up being the best she has in inventory at the time.
Be advised that she must have the appropriate weapons in inventory for these selections to work correctly.
-Condition: In this section I have included only a couple of options:
"You better take a health potion Beryl..." This function allows you to force the companion to take a healing potion if she has any in inventory. She will tell you if she doesn't Her health has to be below 80% for this to work. If it's above 80% she will tell you that she feels fine. If it's below 80% and she has appropriate health potions in inventory, she will take one and a new health % will be reported to you.
This only works with standard in-game potions...
"What are your current skills?" This is just a simple report of her current skill progression. Due to the auto-leveling I incorporate in this mod, you cannot affect these numbers. They are just there because people want them there...
-Follow: Typical follow commands for the companion. Self-explainitory...
One note here though: If you levitate with this companion and have her wait at some point during that levitation sequence, be advised that she will stop right where she's at. What this implies is that if you leave her and loose your method of levitaion (potion or spell runs out), you better hope she is low enough to the ground so that you can open dialog with her issue a follow command again.
She should wander correctly while levitating, but I wouldn't advise that.
On to the meat of the thing...
Potion-Saver by DinkumThinkum:
This is an excellent piece of scripting by DinkumThinkum that now allows you to give a companion as many health potions as you wish, and not have them guzzle them all at once. They will take them in an appropriate manner now, but don't think that this will make them invulnerable. DT did a lot of testing on this and believes the code for taking potions that was added when Tribunal came out is random based. In other words, they may take a potion at 50% remaining health, 30% remaining health, or not at all. DT's script only keeps them from guzzling them all at once. The how and why of when they take them is still goverened by the games own code.
This only works with standard, quality and exclusive health potions. Cheap ones aren't going to do you much good anyway.
DinkumThinkum has created a readme for his script. It's included with this mod, so please read it. His explanation will be much more concise than mine.
And a big "tip of the hat" to him for this. Some excellent stuff here.
Almsivi Intervention, Divine Intervention and recall:
This was a bear of a little script. Based on original work by Aftershock_81 and subsequently enhanced by MentalElf, TheOtherFelix, and Qarl (amongst others), this is my own version of the thing.
What this does is move the companion, automatically, with the player, but only to exteriors (neat work-around for that that I'll get to in a minute).
In other words, you're in a heated battle and decide to use an Almsivi Intervention scroll/spell to extricate yourself. When you hit the marker, companion will be right alongside of you. You do nothing. Happens automatically. Same for Divine Intervention and recall.
Thing about recall is that you cannot script for every interior cell in the game. Exterior is on one big coordinate grid, so you can do it there, but interiors have their own coordinate grid system and the functions used for this type of operation do not allow definition of a particular cell.
So the trick is this: Companion will not recall to an interior, but as long as she's in follow mode, she will recall to an exterior. If she is in follow mode (she HAS to be in follow mode when you recall for this to work) and you recall to an interior, all you need to do at that point is walk outside and she will appear. Once that's done, go back inside and continue your exploring...
She has to be in follow mode for this to work. But, I have also included a ring so you can recall her if she is not in follow mode. She will give it to you when you first meet her.
Sidenote: In order to get this to work correctly, I had to kind of inadvertantly fix the problem with companions levitating through doors. If you haven't seen this, generally what happens is that they will not appear at all on the other side, or they will appear, but upwards of 15 or 20 seconds later. BUT! Be advised... This still doesn't work 100%. In the first of two consecutive tests, she made it through the same door five of six times. The sixth, she got blown out of the game. On the second run-through she made it all six times, so what I'm telling you is that it's probably NOT a good idea to do this. At the very least, save your game before you do. Given that it worked back-to-back 11 out of 12 times, it may be stable enough for normal gameplay, but I'm not going to guarantee it.
Best I could do with this due to script function limitations, but I see that "cdcooley" is working on a version of this using MWSE (Morrowind Script Extender) that should resolve these issues. I wish him luck.
Auto-healing if diseased:
Some have had problems with companions loosing strength from time to time and not knowing why. Little known fact, but they can become diseased also. Section of script that runs out of the leveling script and checks to see if she is diseased. If she is, she will automatically heal herself, so don't get excited when you see her cast it.
This happens for the player also. If you are diseased, she will detect it when you open dialog with her and then she will cure you as well. I hee-hawed around about this, but I figured if I was going to do it for her I might as well allow it for the player as well. Keeps you from having to carry around a few extra potions is all.
Auto-move:
Sorry, but I'm going to ram this down your throats... One of my favorites, and it has never gotten any attention. Non-selectable...
What happens here is that if you get very close to the companion, they will go into AIWander mode for a brief time. It happens quickly, and they will just as quickly revert to following you. The caveat is that if they are in this AIWander mode and you activate any kind of teleport device (door, siltstrider, etc.) they will not follow you. All you need to do is return from whence you came and they will be waiting for you. This happens a few times, and you'll get into the swing of it. Just make sure they are stationary before you use any kind of teleport device. As a rule they are following, so this has no effect unless you get close enough to them. You run up a siltstrider platform and start dialog with the operator and port, and all will be fine. You will usually have problems if you do a couple of 360's and bump the companion at some point, moving them into this AiWander mode and then immidiately activate the siltstrider operator. Like I said: You leave them a few times and you'll figure it out. Being auto, it requires no dialog. Faster... So if they're in your way, just bump them out of your way. Sometimes if they have a shield equipped, you won't be able to get close enough to activate this. Just bump her from a different angle. She'll move.
Auto-leveling:
Still the same old auto-leveling I've always used. Script has been spiffed up a bit though. Little simpler. Just keeps the companion in step with the player as he/she levels throughout the course of the game. This is nowhere near the type of leveling that some have used (TheOtherFelix's work on the Laura mod for instance), but my feelings are that the end justifies the means here. You just want to insure that the companion stays relatively even with the player, and this script will do that.
She does start out as a level 7 character though. She will begin leveling once you have reached that level, or if you are already above that, she will automatically adjust to your current level and begin adjusting from there.
Others:
She auto-levitates if you do, auto-waterwalks and auto sneaks.
The end:
I made one small adjustment to the warping script here, so hopefully her following will be a bit smoother. Not something that you'll probably notice, but it has seemed to help a bit.
Like to thank Emma for the head re-skin. Pretty good looker here...
Hair – by Gorg - I stole from the "Better Heads" mod.
...and many thanks to several hundred people who have had their hands in this development in one way or another. I list but a few:
Emma
Reznod
Devlor
TheOtherFelix
ManaUser
Simpleton
Aftershock_81
Qarl
GahnBuriGahn for SFD
...too many. I can't even think of all the little gems of modding wisdom I've picked up from the forums.
Always enjoy reading them even if they don't pertain to what I'm doing.
...and of course Bethesda for such a great game...
Mod on people...
Dennis
aka Grumpy
Beryl...
Another companion for you're perusal and enjoyment.
Screenshot and download
This mod uses a slightly modified version of the "Companion Project 3.1" script.
Installation: Extract to your Data Files Folder and enable the.esp file. See following explanation.
Ask anyone in Seyda Neen about "someone in particular" to get her to show up.
She will give you a short intro, and then off you go. Dialog poor to say the least (Hey! At least I did a little this time...). In my attempts at companion creation, I tend to stay within the boundries established by other games. "Baulder's Gate 2" made some attempt at it (as opposed to BG1), and that was enhanced a bit more when "Neverwinter Nights" came out, but for the most part, most games don't have a great deal of interaction with companions.
She starts as a level seven guard, assigned to protect you.
Dialog Functions: Typical companion Dialog...
-Combat: Here you will find a few options for determining how the companion will comport themselves during combat:
Melee: Companion will only use melee weapons.
Marksman: Companion will only use ranged weapons.
Use what I use: This is a script function and will cause the companion to mimic the player's actions during combat. For example, I generally start combat with a ranged weapon, and then switch to melee as the creature/NPC gets closer. If you select this option, companion will mimic that behavior, even in the middle of combat.
Use what you wish: This mearly places the marksman skill to a more normal number (as opposed to the above... in melee mode marksman is set to 0 to force the companion to use only melee weapons, and in marksman mode marksman is set to a high number to force the companion to use marksman... "Use What I use" makes these adjustments on the fly...). At that point, she will revert to the game's own AI for determination of what weapon she will use. Generally winds up being the best she has in inventory at the time.
Be advised that she must have the appropriate weapons in inventory for these selections to work correctly.
-Condition: In this section I have included only a couple of options:
"You better take a health potion Beryl..." This function allows you to force the companion to take a healing potion if she has any in inventory. She will tell you if she doesn't Her health has to be below 80% for this to work. If it's above 80% she will tell you that she feels fine. If it's below 80% and she has appropriate health potions in inventory, she will take one and a new health % will be reported to you.
This only works with standard in-game potions...
"What are your current skills?" This is just a simple report of her current skill progression. Due to the auto-leveling I incorporate in this mod, you cannot affect these numbers. They are just there because people want them there...
-Follow: Typical follow commands for the companion. Self-explainitory...
One note here though: If you levitate with this companion and have her wait at some point during that levitation sequence, be advised that she will stop right where she's at. What this implies is that if you leave her and loose your method of levitaion (potion or spell runs out), you better hope she is low enough to the ground so that you can open dialog with her issue a follow command again.
She should wander correctly while levitating, but I wouldn't advise that.
On to the meat of the thing...
Potion-Saver by DinkumThinkum:
This is an excellent piece of scripting by DinkumThinkum that now allows you to give a companion as many health potions as you wish, and not have them guzzle them all at once. They will take them in an appropriate manner now, but don't think that this will make them invulnerable. DT did a lot of testing on this and believes the code for taking potions that was added when Tribunal came out is random based. In other words, they may take a potion at 50% remaining health, 30% remaining health, or not at all. DT's script only keeps them from guzzling them all at once. The how and why of when they take them is still goverened by the games own code.
This only works with standard, quality and exclusive health potions. Cheap ones aren't going to do you much good anyway.
DinkumThinkum has created a readme for his script. It's included with this mod, so please read it. His explanation will be much more concise than mine.
And a big "tip of the hat" to him for this. Some excellent stuff here.
Almsivi Intervention, Divine Intervention and recall:
This was a bear of a little script. Based on original work by Aftershock_81 and subsequently enhanced by MentalElf, TheOtherFelix, and Qarl (amongst others), this is my own version of the thing.
What this does is move the companion, automatically, with the player, but only to exteriors (neat work-around for that that I'll get to in a minute).
In other words, you're in a heated battle and decide to use an Almsivi Intervention scroll/spell to extricate yourself. When you hit the marker, companion will be right alongside of you. You do nothing. Happens automatically. Same for Divine Intervention and recall.
Thing about recall is that you cannot script for every interior cell in the game. Exterior is on one big coordinate grid, so you can do it there, but interiors have their own coordinate grid system and the functions used for this type of operation do not allow definition of a particular cell.
So the trick is this: Companion will not recall to an interior, but as long as she's in follow mode, she will recall to an exterior. If she is in follow mode (she HAS to be in follow mode when you recall for this to work) and you recall to an interior, all you need to do at that point is walk outside and she will appear. Once that's done, go back inside and continue your exploring...
She has to be in follow mode for this to work. But, I have also included a ring so you can recall her if she is not in follow mode. She will give it to you when you first meet her.
Sidenote: In order to get this to work correctly, I had to kind of inadvertantly fix the problem with companions levitating through doors. If you haven't seen this, generally what happens is that they will not appear at all on the other side, or they will appear, but upwards of 15 or 20 seconds later. BUT! Be advised... This still doesn't work 100%. In the first of two consecutive tests, she made it through the same door five of six times. The sixth, she got blown out of the game. On the second run-through she made it all six times, so what I'm telling you is that it's probably NOT a good idea to do this. At the very least, save your game before you do. Given that it worked back-to-back 11 out of 12 times, it may be stable enough for normal gameplay, but I'm not going to guarantee it.
Best I could do with this due to script function limitations, but I see that "cdcooley" is working on a version of this using MWSE (Morrowind Script Extender) that should resolve these issues. I wish him luck.
Auto-healing if diseased:
Some have had problems with companions loosing strength from time to time and not knowing why. Little known fact, but they can become diseased also. Section of script that runs out of the leveling script and checks to see if she is diseased. If she is, she will automatically heal herself, so don't get excited when you see her cast it.
This happens for the player also. If you are diseased, she will detect it when you open dialog with her and then she will cure you as well. I hee-hawed around about this, but I figured if I was going to do it for her I might as well allow it for the player as well. Keeps you from having to carry around a few extra potions is all.
Auto-move:
Sorry, but I'm going to ram this down your throats... One of my favorites, and it has never gotten any attention. Non-selectable...
What happens here is that if you get very close to the companion, they will go into AIWander mode for a brief time. It happens quickly, and they will just as quickly revert to following you. The caveat is that if they are in this AIWander mode and you activate any kind of teleport device (door, siltstrider, etc.) they will not follow you. All you need to do is return from whence you came and they will be waiting for you. This happens a few times, and you'll get into the swing of it. Just make sure they are stationary before you use any kind of teleport device. As a rule they are following, so this has no effect unless you get close enough to them. You run up a siltstrider platform and start dialog with the operator and port, and all will be fine. You will usually have problems if you do a couple of 360's and bump the companion at some point, moving them into this AiWander mode and then immidiately activate the siltstrider operator. Like I said: You leave them a few times and you'll figure it out. Being auto, it requires no dialog. Faster... So if they're in your way, just bump them out of your way. Sometimes if they have a shield equipped, you won't be able to get close enough to activate this. Just bump her from a different angle. She'll move.
Auto-leveling:
Still the same old auto-leveling I've always used. Script has been spiffed up a bit though. Little simpler. Just keeps the companion in step with the player as he/she levels throughout the course of the game. This is nowhere near the type of leveling that some have used (TheOtherFelix's work on the Laura mod for instance), but my feelings are that the end justifies the means here. You just want to insure that the companion stays relatively even with the player, and this script will do that.
She does start out as a level 7 character though. She will begin leveling once you have reached that level, or if you are already above that, she will automatically adjust to your current level and begin adjusting from there.
Others:
She auto-levitates if you do, auto-waterwalks and auto sneaks.
The end:
I made one small adjustment to the warping script here, so hopefully her following will be a bit smoother. Not something that you'll probably notice, but it has seemed to help a bit.
Like to thank Emma for the head re-skin. Pretty good looker here...
Hair – by Gorg - I stole from the "Better Heads" mod.
...and many thanks to several hundred people who have had their hands in this development in one way or another. I list but a few:
Emma
Reznod
Devlor
TheOtherFelix
ManaUser
Simpleton
Aftershock_81
Qarl
GahnBuriGahn for SFD
...too many. I can't even think of all the little gems of modding wisdom I've picked up from the forums.
Always enjoy reading them even if they don't pertain to what I'm doing.
...and of course Bethesda for such a great game...
Mod on people...
Dennis
aka Grumpy
