Vilja and painting at the Lakeside Home

[Hektor Riven]

Greetings Emmates,

even if recently applied to this forum, I'm very fond of Companion Vilja since the beginning of my Oblivion journey.

Naturally, Vilja isn't just a companion or a mod, she's a game by herself, and changed the way Oblivion is played. So far there's no other AI companion for any game, that I'm aware of, which gives the impression that it's so real.

I was wondering, by the way, if this is the right place to ask for experiences concerning Vilja's behaviour in Lakeside Home.

I've noticed that, in fact, especially recently in my playthrough, Vilja refuses to paint. She says that it's a wonderful idea but then stands still and doesn't move.

I've seen, too, that sometimes she doesn't go to sleep even if it's after 1 a.m., yet she does if I invite here to do a nap. Similarily, she didn't sit down and eat, in Lakeside Home, when "evening at home" was ongoing. I still see her going to Northern Goods & Trade to restock and taking a beer in the basement, and she goes gardening when asked, and picks up flowers spontaneously. As you've probably understood, so far, it can't be said that her AI is totally broken on my end, yet that it's like it got  partially "corrupted".

All of the above mentioned things happened recently and they do not constitue the rule, but I'm worring if something happened to her AI packages, and I'm afraid of being in need of a reinstall, so I wonder: what's yours experience? Do you think these things may happen or is it particularily weird? I've reset her variables a few times and that seems to change things, but then she gets "corrupted" again.

Thanks in advance for any answer.

[dogonporch]

Feb 24, 2023 20:01:19 GMT Hektor Riven said:

Greetings Emmates,

Thanks in advance for any answer.

It has been a while for me and Oblivion, but my wife often complains that Vilja can 'go off the rails' for little reason only to start suddenly behaving properly again. But stick around, some folks with better understanding of the scripts will likely have some suggestions.

[jgf]

First thing to try when Vilja begins acting strangely is to leave her alone for a while. Go to an interior cell, tell her to wait, and leave; stay out of that cell for at least 72 hours then return. This will reset many of her scripts and timers which clears many problems.

There are a few localized issues which this doesn't help, but they do not materially affect the game. For example in Red Rose Manor Vilja will not swim in the pool in the basement, though she should (she will change to her swimsuit, wade into the pool then turn around and exit, donning her normal clothing); in one cave she will not follow you past the third level, even if you try to summon her, but will remain on that level running around til you return.

For me Vilja is an essential part of Obilvion, can't imagine the game without her. In fact my only complaint is there isn't more of her - more quests, more dialog, etc.

[Hektor Riven]

Thanks for your feedback. I've left Vilja at home and I'll stay away for a while, then I'll see if these things will solve by themselves. I already tried the "Vilja start combat" spell on herself, manually resetting her variables, but, as said, I had no luck in solving all of her issues.

By the way, Vilja is an essential part of my whole gaming experience too! She's a videogame by herself and makes Oblivion a truly endless game as exploring Cyrodiil with her can be done continuously! Emma's addition to Oblivion is just leggend (and her Morrowind mods too).

[Hektor Riven]

Problem solved.

Vilja doesn't paint if it's snowing.

The odd thing is that she isn't recognizing the "bad" weather so she says that going out for painting is a "wonderful idea" but she actually stops and (I suppose) awaits when the weather improves.
I was used, but I may be wrong, to hear her comments on the weather when asked to practice an outdoors activity in one of the supported houses by Emma. Maybe it's not for snow, just for raining, or maybe it's not for painting.

Other activities are affected, I think, by food, bevarages and other items in her inventory (if there are or not).

Lastly, the fact that she may stands still for a lot of time can be due to the custom timescale. I use a timescale of 10 but I understand that most of NPC activities are based on the default timescale.

[Sniffles]

Vilja doesn't paint if it's snowing.

You solved the issue. What I call a script log jamb. Weather or other functions running in the background can slow scripts like painting to a crawl or stop them dead. Go with jgf's suggestion and give the scripts a chance to sort themselves. Doing a reset or toggling AI is the nuclear option that may or may not work and can have unforeseen side effects.

[Sniffles]

See emmates.proboards.com/thread/2937/game-doing-mod-working

[Emma]

Ah, she isn't painting when it is snowing? Clever girl!
I don't know why she doesn't. I replied in Sniffles thread first, and then I wrote it was probably a conflict with an animation mod, but obviously it only happens during certain weather conditions. Now, what I really wonder is, why does it snow at Lakeside home? I thought that was a non-snow area? (Although admittedly I haven't played Oblivion for quite some time) Are you maybe using another mod that changes the weather types?
I can't see why this would interfere with Vilja's painting, as there is no script running that is doing this - she is simply using an AI-package that is initiated by her dialog, and a one-time script running from it to start executing the AI-package. But if you are indeed using a weather mod, are there maybe any new animations also added with it? (Like for instance shivering with cold). If so, it might be that this conflicts with her AI-packages.
Indeed, if you are using a custom timescale, tha would interfere with her activities and probably make her stand idle more than normally. Probably the same goes for other npcs in your game.

[Sniffles]

By the way, I owe @emma an apology for using Vilja as an example. I remember amgepo explaining how careful Vilja had been made to avoid the script pitfalls. And speaking of which, a mod for Skyrim, an NPC I briefly tried. She was so script loaded she create a dead zone in the cell she was in. Inigo and several other followers sort of went brain dead when I had her active. Not saying names here or badmouthing.

[Wolf]

I second Emma's post especially regarding the possible issue with the altered time scale. Just checked and there is definitely no fault in the Vilja Mod.

Additionally I should lead your attention as usual to the well known importance of the load order. Put weather and time mods before the 1em_Vilja.esp in the load order afterwards followed by the Vilja addons. Vilja is relying on getting the correct informations about time and wheather from the game, otherwise she will be totally confused, poor gal. (Maybe it was unneccessary to mention, still one sometimes forgets)

Check the culprit by deactivating or resetting the time Mod (remember the change will only take effect with an new clean save). Could be that with changing the timescale the game engine's frequency of the repeated checks for general ingame conditions (like ISRaining, ISPleasant or ISSnowing) is delayed or isn't working at all which is of course essential for Vilja's free scheduled activities while forced checks for conditions by dialogue are still more likely to work.

I don't know which weather Mod lets it snow in Lakeside Home but as a suggestion: Natural Weather shouldn't affect Vilja's behaviour. At least it's running smoothly alongside Vilja in my game without any issue.

But actually Vilja doesn't care about if it's snowing and you ask her to paint. She obviously loves painting snowy landscapes. Her AI-package has no restriction in the freezing cold (ISSnowing is not excluded). But she definitely refuses to paint when condition=ISRaining for obvious reasons and she doesn't like painting in the dark as well, that is between 6pm and 6am.

Hope this helps a little.

[Hektor Riven]

Fellow Emmates, I thank you all for the kind answers, especially Emma, to whom it goes my warmest regards and my deepest thanks for having carved such a precious gem.

Technically speaking, allow me to add some information which may prove a useful reference in the future.

Mar 2, 2023 1:44:20 GMT Emma said:

[...]and then I wrote it was probably a conflict with an animation mod[...]

I actually use "Feminized Idle Walk Run Animations for NPCs", from Nexus Mods, and manually tweaked Vilja (and other characters from Vilja's mod) to use these animations.

[...]Now, what I really wonder is, why does it snow at Lakeside home? I thought that was a non-snow area? (Although admittedly I haven't played Oblivion for quite some time) Are you maybe using another mod that changes the weather types?[...]

I use, in fact, the old good "Natural Environments", which adds seasonal weather patterns and makes every day full of snow in certain times of the year, even in the area around Lakeside Home.

In the end I decided to move my home to the newly updated Dwemer Skyship and Mobile Home by Chambcra, because airships are my passion.

After having played Oblivion for so long, I'm convinced that variables are so many that it becomes impossible to keep track of everything.

I think that in 2024 there may still be odd engine behaviours that haven't been tracked properly, but it's because of the richness and mystery of this unique game, the only one which ever gave me the impression to be so real.

The other day, arrows from my follower NPCs hit the targed from the opposite direction compared to where they were shooted. Many years ago I wake up in Anvil and didn't found Vilja nearby, so checked her position via markers and found her, along with Wolfgang, on the opposite side of the map, standing still on a road. The only time I went to prison (for the quest in Bruma), one of the two brothers running the inn in Anvil appeared outside the town and got killed by a bear on its road back, but I discovered it only days later and it was a pain to put him back in place... And so on.

It's the random aspect of this game that makes it so unique, and Vilja, which is incredibly polished and fine tuned, may also occasionally show apparently unintended behaviours... But in the end I'd say I wouldn't like her if it isn't for her own "willpower"!

[Sniffles]

Mar 29, 2024 18:44:22 GMT Hektor Riven said:

 Many years ago I wake up in Anvil and didn't found Vilja nearby, so checked her position via markers and found her, along with Wolfgang, on the opposite side of the map, standing still on a road.

I had that happen once. Escorting her father to Riften for the wedding, Vilja supposedly already in Riften with her family getting ready. On the road climbing up from the hot springs area south of Windhelm, standing on a rock off to the side, was Vilja in her underwear, standing still and non responsive. Reload game. Something got nicely toasted into charcoal. (Sad sad. I even had a screenshot of that, lost forever when Photobucket decided to shaft their customers.)

Giving daddy to be the Skyrim tour, "And if we encounter your daughter in her underwear with a blank stare and nothing to say....." Oh fudge, now when did I last save?

[jgf]

Mar 29, 2024 18:44:22 GMT Hektor Riven said:

.... one of the two brothers running the inn in Anvil appeared outside the town and got killed by a bear on its road back...

[/div][/quote]

Many NPCs have schedules which entail them traveling. They can be killed by bandits or animals on the road between two towns; a true pain if you need to interact with one of them ...and find them lying face down in the road.