If I have an actor which I copy from their actor base and I want to remove them from factions which out effecting the original actor how can I do that ?

I have been told try Alias, and I know you can add an actor to a list of factions in the Alias but does that remove them from the factions they were in before you invoked the Alias ?

So you have an actor inheriting things from another actor? Just uncheck 'Factions' in the 'inheritance' checkbox, then remove the faction in question.

I am nit sure where that is? Maybe I did not explain this well. I am using a script which makes a copy of the actor so I then have a reference to the copied actor but if I remove the factions from the copy the original actor is also effected since they share the same actorbase. some one told me I might be able to use Alias to do this but an Alias in a quest appears to have only a faction list to add factions to thus my question is if I use an Alias Will they only have the factions in the Alias list or the factions the actor had before they were an Alias as well ? Or is their another way to copy the actor in a script and not have the factions in the copy?

Yes, switching Aliases would - temporarily - switch or remove the Factions that "Actor" is present in.

So, you would have created an NPC in the CK, named MyActor (or named whatever you want!)

Then you would need a REPEATABLE quest in which you create an Alias (and add that Alias to whatever Factions you like ... On the Quest Alias Form) ... and then assign MyActor (the ActorBase) to that Alias.

Then you would need a second REPEATABLE quest in which you create another Alias (and add that Alias to whatever Factions you like ... On the Quest Alias Form) ... and then assign MyActor (the ActorBase) to that Alias.


Now, when you want to make the switch, you STOP one Quest and START the other. And the Actor will take on whichever "role" is specified in the ACTIVE Quest. As soon as that Quest stops he will go back to being his normal self.

So, you can also have what you might call his "normal" behaviour on the actual Actorbase object, if NONE of your switch-quests are currently active the Actor's behaviour will be whatever packages you have on the actual ActorBase (the NPC in the CK).

You could also have many, many switch-quests ... And those quests can have roles for multiple NPCs. So you could have, for example, a group of Imperial Guards who, at a trigger you script, switch sides and go on the rampage, wiping out their fellow soldiers ... and then flip back to "normal" when you flip another switch (this storyline is Apple Copyright ... you will be sued for billions if the ghost of Steve Jobs evens smells that you might be getting close to using it! ).

If you want to alter the Actor's base stats - those you find on the actual actor-form in the CK, like HEALTH - then you attach a script to the alias, that fires at a particular stage of the relevant switch-quest, that alters those variables. In the final stage of that quest - your shut down stage - you revert those values back to their normal state (again, in a script attached to the alias).

Watch out for QUEST PRIORITIES. A single Actor can't be two people at once (well, they can, but obviously you will get conflicts), so the routines - the ALIAS - that take presidence are the ones in the Quest with the HIGHER Priority. This can cause you troubles ... the Actor will still attempt to be two roles at once, and so can exhibit some odd behaviour. It's good practice to only have one switch-quest active at any one time ...


The way I look at it, Actors (NPC) - called BaseActors, most of the time ... apart from those based on Templates - take on Roles (Aliases) that you write for a Story (Quest).

So do you think this would work say on http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Belrand ? for example could I make him with his already assigned follower quest suddenly hate the player ? and if I make a copy of an actor already with factions maybe some from the quest and some of their base would I be able to alter their behavior. My goal is that if the player has a follower I create an evil copy of that follower with out destroying the original.

You could make the same NPC Actor hate the player one moment, then love him the next.

It just needs two Aliases, that are switched on and off (by switching two quests on and off), changing the Faction(s) that the NPC is a member of. The Aliases go in the factions, the NPC is just a dumb actor who does what his latest Alias-role tells him to do.

Like I hinted above, I have a mob of Imperial Soldiers - or Stormcloak, depending on the route a player took in game - who are against the player by default, but on starting a particular quest are with him (for a while, and only if the player continues to "help" them).

Although many game-designers/modders will tell you switching the role of an NPC is not a good idea for game play, I think it can be if you do it right (and not too unexpectedly)

I understand the two Aliases, but I guess what I am trying to relay is say I have an NPC in the game that already has factions regardless of the quests. How do I make a quest Alias supersede those or can I ?

They just automatically do.

Anything in an Alias (Packages, scripts whatever) is always on top of anything on the NPC itself.

The order is: SCENES, QUESTS, ACTORS

(that's the beauty ... while a quest is active, it's routines always take presidence over basic NPC packages ... So just stopping and starting the quest gives your actor a whole new personality)

Cool Thanks so much for your help, You may find it interesting if you did not all ready know that a quest Alias seems to be filled even if the quest has not been started. I have another thread on here where I asked this because I thought I was imaging it....

Yes, I read and contributed to that http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1406678-quest-question-concerning-alias-and-start/.

So, some more odd behaviour has been identified ... I'm a bit puzzled by it and I wonder what problems are caused by filling before a quest has started. I don't think I would do it that way, I think it may cause bugs further down the road?