[WIPREL] ASIS Thread #8 : V

» Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:26 pm

ASIS - Automatic Spells, Increased Spawns

Nexus page:
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/18436

You are not the only intelligent person in Skyrim - how unrealistic is it that NPCs do not use potions? How game-breaking that, if you install a magic mod, you are the only one able to use the new spells? That a fort is held by a handful of stupid bandits, instead of a swarm? What's the point of sneaking if you could just as easily dispatch the few draugr in your way by charging into them?

ASIS - standing for Automatic Spells, Increased Spawns - aims to change all this. It features:
---- NPC access to spells added by mods and missing vanilla spells. ----
---- NPC access to health, magicka and stamina potions. ----
---- NPC access to perks added by mods and missing from the originals. ----
---- Increased numbers of spawns. ----
---- Better enemy AI. ----
---- Almost total mod compatibility ----

Read below for installation instructions as well as more details on each feature.
If you receive a message about consistency data - do not worry if it's the first time activating it, or upgrading to version 1.2 or higher. It's only a problem if it happens after the first time.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Readme.html
Please see the readme section here for install instructions: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Readme.html#install
More information is in the readme! Please read it before asking questions!
Please report issues here: http://code.google.com/p/asis-skyproc/issues/list
Please see the change logs here: http://code.google.com/p/asis-skyproc/source/list

I want to give a big thanks to esoterism, my girlfriend (not her real name :tongue: ) for being extremely supportive in the many months I've been modding! If she makes fun of me in comments, she gets as much liberty as she wants to. I still benefit in the end. :smile: She's also the one who bought me Skyrim, so.. Well, yeah. Self-explanatory.

I'd also like to give thanks to Dres Croffgrin, and Leviathan1753 - the former for joining the ASIS project and helping out so much, and the latter for developing SkyProc and putting up with me as I bugged him about numerous java questions, one after another. And both for being great friends.

General Notice: Please add _PC to the Automatic Spells 'contains' exclusions section in the ini. This is for apocalypse spells that should only be for the player. This will be included in the next update.

A full blown SkyProc patch means this is fully compatible with (almost) all other mods! This is my PISE successor, and plans are extensive but are unreleased for now. For more information, check this thread http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1378972-wiprel-asispise-successor-thread-5 here. If that topic is closed, check the main mods forum for a new thread (threads are closed at 200 posts). Change logs and release notes are all listed there, and not here.

The main features of this include;

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Fully customizable spawn levels, including all added mods without any compatibility issues.
NPC's have spells they meet the skill requirements for - including missing vanilla spells and spells from other mods.
Customizable AI, with smarter enemies.
NPC's now have potions, in fully customizable rarity levels.
NPC's have perks appropriate for their skill levels, including mod perks.
Nearly full compatibility with other mods.

A important note:

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This is a dynamic patch, in the same manner as a bashed patch, but it generates changes instead of merging.
Being a dynamic patch, it must be loaded last (yes, this means run it after the bashed patch, and load it after the bashed patch!). It benefits from a bashed patch in that the data will be merged, and it will then use that merged data to create the mod plugin. Otherwise, it goes by the load order in determining what to use if there is conflicts (it does not merge the data itself).
Being a dynamic patch, it must be ran again when a mod affecting it is added.
DO NOT DELETE THE ASIS.esp UNLESS YOU ARE PERMANENTLY UNINSTALLING ASIS. It imports data from the old ASIS.esp generated to prevent saves from breaking.
The exclusions files are intended to be used for other mods. It excludes based upon PHRASES in an editor id (ie, putting down dragon on a new line will exclude every NPC with dragon in the editor ID).
If you have a mod that requires it to be excluded (Warzones, DFB Encounters, companion mods) - please, ask the authors what the NPC editor ID to add to the exclusion is, or in the case of larger mods, ask what the specific keyphrase in the editor ID is for the mod's NPC's.

An note on the Plugin vs Patcher:

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The patcher will merge data from other mods in - preserving compatibility. It will also add the increased spawns to new creatures, and it will add mod-spells to NPC's, both mod-added and vanilla.
The plugin is simply a normal mod generated with the default settings, and will not add in exterior mods.

***FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS***

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- I'm not playing an English Skyrim and ASIS is not working properly!
Answer: Change the entry in the ASIS.ini to correspond with your language.
- ASIS is the successor to PISE. Can I use the two of them together?
Answer: Yes. ASIS and PISE are 100% compatible. However, ASIS renders a good deal of PISE obsolete and redundant. Some individual plugins of PISE, such as Encounter Zones, are still viable when used with ASIS.
- Increased spawns are not working! Help!
Answer: Check your plugins list. While I try to have it work with every mod, a few aren't working right. The SkyRe - Enemies.esp is a known plugin that breaks ASIS, and Wars in Skyrim is a common one too.
---- As of 1.03, the SkyRe - Enemies.esp is fixed here with an exclusion.
- It's giving me errors and I use a language besides English!
Answer: The alternate language support isn't quite up to par. The work-around is to change the ASIS.ini to your language, and make a copy of strings for the Skyrim.esm/Update.esm and mods you use that have errors (that have alternate language support, really), and rename the copies to have 'English' instead of the alternate language. Then run ASIS as per the normal instructions. It will import the data inside the copies that contain the alternate language text, even though they are named with the english file name.

***Mod Recommendations***
Gameplay Changers (in order of lesser known great mods -> more well known great mods)

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http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/18434 - While I am doing this my own way, more algorithmic and less preset, he should get some credit for motivating me to finish it. He's new to SkyProc, so excuse bugs he has - I've been doing this since like, before January.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/2933 - An amazing weapons overhaul - materials and styles are now disassociated. That sounds pretty mechanical and uninteresting - so I'd say to check out the images to know exactly what I mean. You won't be disappointed.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/10037 - This is one mod you owe it to yourself to check out. It's extremely modular, easy to use, and very intelligently thought out to bring some zest into Skyrim without unbalancing it. His BYOG is also a nice add-on to make those small little tweaks easy for anyone.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/16225 - A brilliantly constructed spell pack - fairly well balanced, works well, and fits in extraordinarily well with the game.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/9694 - A fantastic addition to Skyrim - this guy has some amazing talents with art. If you are looking for more lore-friendly versions, those DO exist!
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/14037 - A great partner to my mod, overhauling the follower system (I'm not good enough to go without a follower when using ASIS!). Very useful and easy to use!
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/3829 - The classic and popular dragon overhaul. The authors are great, the mod is great - what's there to lose?

Other Mods (in no particular order - I use low-rez versions of textures in pretty much all cases)

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http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/4929 - Most of you have seen it - couldn't play without it!
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/7654 - A mod I have a very large stake in - of course I'd recommend it! Sydney has taken over most of the development, but that in no way hampers it - hope you all like it!
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/5400 - The best landscapes I've ever seen. Most other textures, too, really - really impressed.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11669 - A great pack of companions placed around Skyrim. Definitely useful, and gives lots of options - though they may not be as fleshed out as the game's built in followers, it's still a great option.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11222 - The same as above, except all placed in a convenient spot - a nicely made lodge where you can find the followers you need.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/13268 - A great mod - couldn't go without. Water looks so much better with it that it's hard to describe.

Other notable mentions include Sounds of Skyrim, SkyUI, Categorized Favorites, and UNP.

***TROUBLESHOOTING ASIS***
Please follow these steps before reporting bugs and errors.

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If the patcher is taking a long time to create, please close it, and re-download the patcher and ini with the latest versions - please check that they are ALL in the data folder together.
If you have a 64 bit operating system, make sure you download both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Java. This should fix issues with the java program not functioning in some cases.
If a program besides java (winrar, bitzipper, anything like that) is opening the .jar - Go to Application Defaults in the Windows options. You may be able to reassign it there. If not, right click on the JAR file and choose open with. Under that menu, select Java and tick the default option.
If the patcher is not running correctly, try running the ASIS.bat as an administrator.
Check here -> http://www.afterimagemetal.com/DynamicLeveledListsReadme4.0.html#Java to make sure the java is working properly.
Confirm that the folder structure is correct.
Configure the ini file to the manner you want.
Run the java file (if it doesn't work, start from step #1 or check the FAQ).
Confirm that the ASIS.esp is loaded after all other mods.

***Credits***
Leviathan1753; So much assistance I can't even begin to describe it. And creating SkyProc. Basically the only reason any of this has ever happened.
Dres Croffgrin; Well, he's part of the team, so I guess you all know he's involved.
lifestorock; Great help in troubleshooting, ini additions, and more!
CorePC; ini enhancements, thanks!
Martigen; For discussing the mechanics of increased spawns, clearing up a few things, giving me some ideas, and being a great inspiration.

If you would like to see source code, please send me a PM. The project is listed on google code under GPL v3, here; http://code.google.com/p/asis-skyproc

The project page for SkyProc is listed here; http://code.google.com/p/skyproc.

Changes:

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Version 1.21+
Changes listed here:
http://code.google.com/p/asis-skyproc/source/list

Version 1.2 -> 1.21

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ASIS.ini exclusions fixed.
NPC Potions flags on leveled lists properly set.
Default reduction in spawns to ambient creatures. Still more than vanilla, but less than enemies.
Couple other smaller miscellaneous changes.

Version 1.11 -> 1.2

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Too many changes to count. Lost track. Main ones - new ini parser, updated skyproc, consistency moved out of plugin so asis.esp is safe to delete. Revamped auto spells algorithm.

Version 1.04 -> 1.11

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Auto Perks Added
Auto Spells switched to a mod inclusion list versus an exclusion list.
NPC Potions script modified.

Version 1.03 -> 1.04

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Fixed the automatic spells that I broke with the mod exclusions add-in.

Version RC 1.02 -> 1.03

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NPC Potions typo fixed in code.
Automatic Spells ini expanded with more default inclusion/exclusion data.
SkyRe_Enemies.esp added as an exclusion under the Automatic Spells [NPCModExclusion] header, as it has some faulty data in it. Most likely the fault of TESVSnip not handling compressed records very well. It will now run with this mod installed.

Version RC 1.01 -> 1.02

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NPC Potions fix (again, hopefully? I'm not sure why it was having issues in the first place).
Automatic Spells Mod Exclusions ini fixed - the correct headers are '[NPCModExclusions]' and '[spellModExclusions]', to exclude NPC's and spells respectively.-Made a mistake in the cell exclusions, the line of '01582C' should be '01528C' to fix the companions quest - fixed (again - I accidentally broke it from 1.0 to 1.01).
Massively updated readme for mod exclusions and other ini information (check it out!).
Updated FAQ for SkyRe - Enemies.esp, which breaks the NPC data. (thanks lifestorock).
Global script errors should be gone.

Version RC 1.0 -> RC 1.01
Mod exclusions now possible.

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NPC Potions should be fixed.
Mammoths, Skull of Corruption, ini fixes.

Version 1.83 -> RC 1.0

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Modified a couple minor ini entries.

Version 1.82 -> 1.83

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Draugr bug should be fixed.

Version 1.81 -> 1.82

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Actually fixed the automatic spells ini this time.

Version 1.80 -> 1.81

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Fixed the Automatic Spells (had an ini change in the code, that I forgot to put into the ini itself - also, added many exclusions to get the proper clean spell lists). Big thanks to lifestorock for pointing out all those exclusions!

Version 1.62 -> 1.80

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Many many bug fixes, customized AI added, all sorts of stuff.

Version 1.61 -> 1.62

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Fix that actually adds the NPC potions check box option.

Version 1.6 -> 1.61:

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Fixed issue with scripts deleting NPC's early.

Version 1.53 -> 1.6:

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Added in NPC Potions.

Version 1.52 -> 1.53:

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Added ini entries courtesy of CorePC, updated from newer SkyProc, added NPC reset code to prevent spawn stacks.

Version 1.51 -> 1.52:

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Fixed aggression levels (used a SetAV instead of ModAV for reliability) of ambush NPC's.

Version 1.5 -> 1.51:

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Fixed broken coding logic to properly check against the form lists (which made all the checks fail and not have any NPC's spawn), and a couple other fixes.
Added ambush changes, so any increased spawns around an ambush spot will not just stand there.

Version 1.4 -> 1.5:

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Adding a reduced spawns setting.
Reworked entirely to not use duplicate NPC's.
Added ASIS-Dependency which contains a unique faction for NPC's, used to prevent spawn loops.
Re-added encounter NPC's.
Updated to latest SkyProc for proper import of plugins.

Version 1.3 -> 1.4:

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Changed the exclusion list to exclude templates.
Removed all encounter creatures from the lists to fix the face mismatch.
Integrated progress bar.
Few minor other improvements.

Version 1.2 -> 1.3:

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Rewrote most of the code to be significantly more organized. Source IS available on request, if anyone's interested.
Adding a second duplication of NPC's to re-link templates in Increased Spawns, to make sure it's linking to exact, identical NPC's for safety's sake.

Versions <1.2 -> 1.2:

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Most of the base code was written and rewritten during this stage, isolating and determining bugs and the best ways to evaluate the spawn increases.

Old Versions:

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Old versions past this point will be hosted on the nexus, but are available on request from my personal dropbox storage.

Version 1.83:

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Patcher (1.83):
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Patcher%20-%201-83.zip

Plugin (1.83):
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Plugin%20-%201-83.zip

Version 1.82:

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Patcher 1.82:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Patcher%20-%201-82.zip

Plugin (1.81 plugin was built with an updated ini):
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Plugin%20-%201-81.zip

Version 1.81:

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Patcher:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Patcher%20-%201-81.zip

Plugin:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Plugin%20-%201-81.zip

Version 1.80:

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Patcher:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Patcher%20-%201-80.zip

Plugin:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Plugin%20-%201-80.zip

Version 1.61:

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Patcher:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Patcher%20-%201-61.zip

Version 1.6:

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Patcher (haven't built a default plugin yet):
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Patcher%20-%201-6.zip

Version 1.53:

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Patcher:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Patcher%20-%201-53.zip

Patcher (w/ Debug):
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Patcher%20-%201-53%20-Debug.zip

Generated Plugin w/ vanilla:
http://dl.dropbox.cm/u/56852942/ASIS%20Plugin%20-%201-53.zip

Version 1.52:

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Patcher:
http://dl.dropbox.co...%20-%201-52.zip

Plugin:
http://dl.dropbox.co...%20-%201-52.zip

Version 1.51:

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Patcher:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Patcher%20-%201-51.zip

Plugin:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Plugin%20-%201-51.zip

Version 1.5:

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Patcher:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Patcher%20-%201-5.zip

Plugin:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Plugin%20-%201-5.zip

Version 1.4:

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Patcher:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Patcher%20-%201-4.zip

Plugin:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Plugin%20-%201-4.zip

Version 1.3:

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Patcher:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Patcher%20-%201-3.zip

Plugin:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/56852942/ASIS%20Plugin%20-%201-3.zip

» Tue Aug 14, 2012 8:22 pm

Huh. Sometimes I look back on my list of changes and it's like, christ, how long have I worked on this?..

Anyways: for 1.33.2, possible solutions I've seen if you have troubles on export or with the increased spawns not working;

Check the option for reduced interior spawns in the increased spawns page. It's a divider - set it to 1 to be equal to outside spawns, set it to .5 to double inside spawns, set it to 2 to halve inside spawns. Setting it to 0 eliminates any interior spawns entirely. Check that it's not 0.
Run with the bat file as administrator.
Disable Real Wildlife (if applicable), or add it to the mod exclusions.
Update Java to Java 7 update 5.

Possible issues with previous mods being included when excluded in the ASIS.ini; try making a backup of the ASIS.esp in the Data directory, and then make a backup of Consistency file located in the skyproc folder in the documents\skyrim folder (where the Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini are). Then delete the originals, and re-gen the patch. Are the mods included? If they are and shouldn't be, there's a problem. If they aren't included, it's carrying over data from previous patches.

Thanks BootySweat for reminding me to grab the thread text before closing.