[Leilene Nessel]

Automatic Variants

Past threads http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1355628-relwip-automatic-variants/ http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1360923-relwip-automatic-variants-2/ http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1364221-relwip-automatic-variants/

http://www.mediafire.com/?uymz4vqyegei6kn

(1.3.1 alpha)

http://afterimagemetal.com/AutoVar/Automatic%20Variants%20Readme.html

Make sure to download some AV Packages as well:

Bellyache Animals Package (http://www.mediafire.com/?3gcw8tif6gcitqa) (http://www.mediafire.com/?8edl189mcc7wcy9)

StarX Packages (http://www.mediafire.com/?6mulzswrqepl0es) (http://www.mediafire.com/?9utoeibut1q6ebf)

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1364817-relz-sounaiprs-av-packages/ (not updated to AV 1.3 yet)

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1353944-relz-sickly-skeletons-5-flavors/

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1361042-relwip-insanitys-av-packages/ (not updated to AV 1.3 yet)

AV in action

http://imgur.com/a/OwwwI#0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK_h_x6CZiA

(Using 3rd party texture packages)

Other AV links

https://code.google.com/p/automatic-variants/source/browse/#git%2Fsrc%2Fautomaticvariants

A list of known bugs to be addressed. Add anything you wish.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E927IcNpzrWfssHIHRkm75oLk44fh6TngWBp4ytrxfM/edit

Some 3rd Party Testing Tools:

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1366638-relwip-wolverines-collection-of-av-packages-ports-examples-skeletons-and-tools/

Big thanks to Bellyache for allowing her mod to be used as the "flagship" example for AV,

And to StarX for picking up the torch and creating his fantastic package!

What Does AV do?

AV Provides an easy place to drag-and-drop alternate textures/models and have them automatically integrated into the game.


Modders:

What this means is you (a texturer/modeler) can make 20 skins for Trolls, drop them into AV, and have every troll in the game suddenly pick a random skin from the 20 you made. The same (will go) for models as well.

You could make 20 iron dagger variants with differing textures/models, some hooked slightly, some curved up a bit, some chipped, some gemmed; Drag them all into AV, and suddenly every time an iron dagger spawns, theres one of your dagger variants chosen randomly from the bunch.

No hassle, no work in the CK, just drag and drop into an http://afterimagemetal.com/AutoVar/Automatic%20Variants%20Readme.html#avpackage, and run the patcher. All the hard work of shuffling records around is done for you.

Note: Models not yet implemented, but will be soon. Just textures for now.


Users:

Never again will you have to choose only one texture or model from an entire selection.

Modders will offer AV Packages that you can drag and drop into your AV setup, and have them automatically integrated into your game. Think of it as a new way to install textures/models, where you don't have to pick just one.

If a texture/model pack you love doesn't offer AV Packages yet, don't fear! Just ask the modder to make an AV Package for their setup, or even do it yourself in the meantime with the http://afterimagemetal.com/AutoVar/Automatic%20Variants%20Readme.html#avpackage.


What should you expect from AV?

AV aims to make Skyrim a place full of diversity and variance; To never see the same thing twice.

It also strives to be extremely easy to use, while still offering an immense amount of power to users.

You should expect AV to make your world much more colorful, varied, and interesting... especially with the help of texturers/modelers to feed the algorithms with multitudes of choices to pick from.


What's in store for the future?

Down the road it will expand to allow for variants in many other areas. You can expect things such as variance in stat changes, allowing for random bell curve differences to be applied to stats, so no two things have exactly the same setup.

Also, expect the ability to specify rules for certain variants to be generally more expensive, do more/less damage, be more/less aggressive, have more/less health etc; So you can make a gemmed dagger or mangy troll and have it reflect stats that make sense for it.

And most likely much more! Be sure to check the http://afterimagemetal.com/AutoVar/Automatic%20Variants%20Readme.html#todo section for a full list of ideas for implementation.

Please refer to the http://afterimagemetal.com/AutoVar/Automatic%20Variants%20Readme.html for more information

[Svenja Hedrich]

@everyone. As said I'm currently building batch scripts like av-add-skeever5 (for atm all av-varitized npc's). The named batch script spawns 5 skeevers. The batch script runs a player.placeatme statement 5 to spawn 5 skeevers. Similiar batch files we be created for the rest (have 25+ done or so). Running into problems. For starters I'm don't no anything about Skyrim modding and the CK but I can google and can learn. The placeatme is fed by a baseid of the NPC. I looked the baseid up at the following two resources:
1) http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/475125-extensive-npc-base-id-list/
2) http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Console_Item_Codes_%28Skyrim%29/Characters

Problem is just they are not consistent, nor complete. The latter for example does NOT have foxes in it and the former has as baseid (EF607) for foxes which only spawns the red fox, not the silver fox. Same problem here for the skeevers. Resource 1 gives as baseid 23AB7 and resource2 gives as baseid EF610. The first spawns only 1 sort of skeever (with scars). The second one gives all kind of skeevers (including the famous pink skeever). Hence its VERY possible that I tell someone a certain NPC (say fox) does not work but this is not true because I use the wrong baseid.

Conclusion: I need a consistent/complete/faultless list of all NPC which have been AV-varitized. I assume that most if not all creators have tested there mods with a placeatme statement. Could you please sent me a list of the baseids you have used for your NPC's. This is the only way I can create my batch files. The last one is not true. If Ii had the knowledge I could probably look it up somewhere in the CK. But I don't have this knowledge and I do not want to know at this point in time

What is the relation between the formid in specification.json and the baseid. Are they the same or totally different. BTW the formid in specification.json for a skeever is 23AB7 (which when used in a placeatme statement) only gives me one type of skeever.

ANY help/tips is appreciated.

[Ana Torrecilla Cabeza]

BTW the formid in specification.json for a skeever is 23AB7 (which when used in a placeatme statement) only gives me one type of skeever.

No, it's 023AB7 , always 6 digits.

Wolverine: If you need the codes for player.place at me, run the package anolyzer. Forget the links at 1) and 2).

It gives you a Suggestions.txt like this (mudcrab.dds as example):

Spoiler

==============================================================================	  AV Package anolyzer	 ==============================================================================Original files:  Source Data\mudcrab.dds==============================================================These are groups of NPCs that share a common skin.It is suggested you put a seed from each group into your spec file,					 --or--make a separate Variant Set for each if it makes logical sense toseparate them (such as Black vs Ice wolves).Remember to use NPCs as seeds.  Do not use an ARMA record.Group 1: [ARMA | 0E40B8Skyrim.esm | NakedMudcrabMedium1AA]   Seed choices (pick one):	  [NPC_ | 0E4010Skyrim.esm | EncMudcrabMedium]	  [NPC_ | 000EB2Skyrim.esm | dunTransmogrifyMudcrab]   Source textures to include (include all of them):	  Source Data\mudcrab.dds-------------------------------------------------------------------Group 2: [ARMA | 0E40B9Skyrim.esm | NakedMudcrabLarge1AA]   Seed choices (pick one):	  [NPC_ | 021875Skyrim.esm | EncMudcrabGiant]	  [NPC_ | 0E4011Skyrim.esm | EncMudcrabLarge]   Source textures to include (include all of them):	  Source Data\mudcrab.dds-------------------------------------------------------------------Group 3: [ARMA | 0BA547Skyrim.esm | NakedMudcrab1AA]   Seed choices (pick one):	  [NPC_ | 0E662BSkyrim.esm | dunHunterMudcrab]   Source textures to include (include all of them):	  Source Data\mudcrab.dds-------------------------------------------------------------------

See all the 6 digits before Skyrim.esm in [NPC_ ....]? That'st he code you need for player.placeatme . dunXXX = dungeon, EncXXX = encounter, MQXXX = Mainquest, and probably a few I've forgotten.

[Josephine Gowing]

A list of all the directly modified NPCs can be found at the end of the async log created by AV.

Spoiler

...[10273][0m:29s][959]				[AV_FileVar]  ===================================================[10274][0m:29s][4]				  [AV_FileVar]  Printing all NPCs that have a matching variant LList.[10275][0m:29s][3]				  [AV_FileVar]  ===================================================[10276][0m:29s][1186]			   [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 0C97D1Skyrim.esm | C00GiantForWhiterunBattle][10277][0m:29s][8]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 06681ESkyrim.esm | CWMission08EncCowPainted][10278][0m:29s][6]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 01BFC5Skyrim.esm | DA03Barbas][10279][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 104F46Skyrim.esm | DA05EncWhiteStag][10280][0m:29s][6]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 090CE8Skyrim.esm | DA05QuestingBeastGhost][10281][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 0C0BE5Skyrim.esm | DA06GiantBoss][10282][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 0A19FESkyrim.esm | DBLis][10283][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 0A19FFSkyrim.esm | DBLisDead][10284][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 09A744Skyrim.esm | E3demoFox][10285][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 0936D1Skyrim.esm | E3demoGiant01][10286][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 0936D3Skyrim.esm | E3demoGiant02][10287][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 058303Skyrim.esm | EncC06WolfSpirit][10288][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 0A5600Skyrim.esm | EncChaurus][10289][0m:29s][103]				[AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 023A8FSkyrim.esm | EncChaurusReaper][10290][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 0A91A0Skyrim.esm | EncChicken][10291][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 023A90Skyrim.esm | EncCow][10292][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 0C39F1Skyrim.esm | EncCowPainted][10293][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 023A92Skyrim.esm | EncDog][10294][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 055937Skyrim.esm | EncDraugr01Melee1HHeadF00][10295][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 055938Skyrim.esm | EncDraugr01Melee1HHeadF01][10296][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 055939Skyrim.esm | EncDraugr01Melee1HHeadF02][10297][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 05593ASkyrim.esm | EncDraugr01Melee1HHeadF03][10298][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 05593BSkyrim.esm | EncDraugr01Melee1HHeadM00][10299][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 05593CSkyrim.esm | EncDraugr01Melee1HHeadM01][10300][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 05593DSkyrim.esm | EncDraugr01Melee1HHeadM02][10301][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 05593ESkyrim.esm | EncDraugr01Melee1HHeadM03][10302][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 05593FSkyrim.esm | EncDraugr01Melee1HHeadM04][10303][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 055940Skyrim.esm | EncDraugr01Melee1HHeadM05][10304][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 055941Skyrim.esm | EncDraugr01Melee1HHeadM06][10305][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 055942Skyrim.esm | EncDraugr01Melee1HHeadM07][10306][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 055943Skyrim.esm | EncDraugr01Melee1HHeadM08][10307][0m:29s][5]				  [AV_FileVar]	[NPC_ | 055944Skyrim.esm | EncDraugr01Melee1HHeadM09]...

These are all the NPCs DIRECTLY modified by AV. (Consequently, any NPCs templated to them will also be affected).

A good rule of thumb is looking for any NPC with "Enc" at the start.. as that's Bethesda's prefix for "run of the mill NPC"

Note that the logs (SkyProc) list FormIDs like "055944Skyrim.esm" which translates to "00055944" since Skyrim is at index 00 in your load order.

If these dont spawn variants.. then something else is wrong such as not having AV last in your load order, or using Wrye's faulty load ordering (consequently causing the first issue), or perhaps the patch was incorrectly created.

[Adrian Morales]

Hey Lev, I know you're working out the kinks of the creature variants, but is there any news to report on other things AV could be used for? Like armor, clothes and weapons?

[Nick Swan]

I was wondering if we should be only using this on a new game? I've been having issues with invis mobs and textures swapping. When I started this time everything was working fine. Chickens were chickens and skeletons varied. Now though, I went back to riverrun and the chickens have morphed into dragaur and the skeletons inside the dead hall in white run are invisiable. The only thing I have changed is adding starx female dragaur. Would remaking the patch cause issues?

[Vicky Keeler]

@StarX
No progress on items yet, just trying to get the overall design solid for creatures still. I think weapons will more easily extend from that. It seems like all this is taking a while, but it's only because actor variants are the hardest part of AV's goals. Once it's fully cemented and streamlined, I expect loads of features to flood out soon after, since weapons will be a close carbon-copy, and the rest should be just simple attached scripts. 8)

@Rahven32
Did you erase your old Automatic Variants.esp and/or experience a "consistency patch" error?
AV needs to import the old patch in order to keep formIDs consistent when it's remaking the patch.

If you didn't experience an error, and didn't erase your old esp, then that shouldn't be the case. Perhaps the patcher did switch around formIDs strangely? Let me know and I'll look into it.

[Fiori Pra]

Weapons and armor, or other objects, should be much easier because there is no AI for them, right? No need to worry if variants of a sword have proper behavior.

[no_excuse]

Well, SkyProc duplicates the records byte by byte, so the duplicated NPCs necessarily get the same AI packages copied over too. 8)

But yeah, weapons seem to have a much more basic structure, so it should definitely be less of a spaghetti bowl to handle them.

[Mélida Brunet]

Well, SkyProc duplicates the records byte by byte, so the duplicated NPCs necessarily get the same AI packages copied over too. 8)

But yeah, weapons seem to have a much more basic structure, so it should definitely be less of a spaghetti bowl to handle them.

Yes, the duplicated AI was what I was saying might cause problems from time to time. I have seen some instances where several creatures spawning where the game originally expected only one or two can create issues with stuff like pathing. It can also create issues with max number of AIs for complex scenes, of course. To my knowledge, that is really not a problem (or potential problem) with objects. The only thing I can think of as a problem for objects (and also for creatures, of course) is large numbers resulting in save game bloating to some extent. I consider that to not be much of a problem, though, or at least not one that can be avoided if we want greater variety, increased spawns, etc.

[Laura Samson]

You bring up a good point, but I'm not sure it applies to AV so much as it doesn't add more creatures to the game at once. It will never place two creatures in the same place, or even create more creatures than normal at all. The same amount and type spawn, It just adds lots more "options" for the game to pick from.

When I get around to DLL (or maybe AV's AI scripts later).. that might be a different story. 8X

Right now I think AV is AI safe, though. 8)

[Lewis Morel]

AV works perfectly fine for me with a new game. Only problem is, I have to choose the AV packages 'permanently' for each character. But with nearly 2GB of content for AV available already, I have many options You're doing a great job with AV, Leviathan, keep it up

[brian adkins]

Yeah. 8( That's one thing I'm definitely sad about.
My previous mod DLL was completely removable/adjustable/re-addable and the game didn't blink twice about it. I'm used to that flexibility, and it's sad to see AV becoming more of a "set it down and don't touch!" mod.
I'm at least hoping in its current state that people will be able to add IN packages safely. Have you been able to? Or does adding packages bug out your save as well?

Hopefully it will be more flexible in the future if SKSE ever comes out with a function comparable to SetRace (or if Bethesda fixes theirs. 8P)

I've put in my request for a SetRace-comparable SKSE function, but feel free to head over to their forum and put in your word as well. 8)

[Killah Bee]

I have skater creatures without animation (with AV enable) and flying mammoths (with ASIS enable) in my old savegame :S

Do I need start a new savegame for AV/ASIS working? Thx for all

[Darren]

I have skater creatures without animation (with AV enable) and flying mammoths (with ASIS enable) in my old savegame :S

Do I need start a new savegame for AV/ASIS working? Thx for all

Unfortunately, from my experience, yes, you do have to start a new game if you want the skating creatures to be gone completely. The following things will ensure that AV works perfectly:
1. Starting a new game
2. Not using quicksave/quickload or even autosaves. Making normal saves everytime.
3. Using fast travel as little as possible.

[Krystal Wilson]

@Leviathan. Playing with the Package anolyzer.

I've noticed a few things:
1) The Unofficial Skyrim Patch v1.02 BETA (Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp) lets the PA hang at 99%. Luckily I read somewhere that some else had the same problem with the Unofficial Skyrim Patch 1.0 release. Removed it and PA run to completion. The debuglogs reveals no info which I could track to this mod however.
2) Related to 1.When I run AV to create an AV.esp everything runs fine I have the Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp installed.
3) Did run the PA on the Bellyache V3 package. most of them show 'Patching done' but the progressbar stopped at 75%. See http://dl.dropbox.com/u/73082907/Automatic%20Variants/Bug%20reports/Packageanolyzet%20stuck%20at%2075%25.jpg. Dropbox rocks!!
4) I have problems with ..\Frostbite Spider White\Grey\frostspider.dds of Bellyache. When I rename frostspider.dds to "frostspider - grey.dds" or "frostspider_grey.dds" or even frostspidergrey.dds NO seed information is shown. See http://dl.dropbox.com/u/73082907/Automatic%20Variants/Bug%20reports/BR-PA-Bellyache_frostspider-grey.txt .
5) Deleted whole texture/av packages dir, copied fresh bellyache v3 into av-packages and ran automatic variants. Checked the debuglog and it seems that AV does handle it well. Haven't checked it ingame though..

(1) and (2). Do you know why AP borks on it and why AV can handle it?
(3) Any idea why it mentions I'm at 75% but still everything seem to be handled OK.
4) I think I've figured it out and its my own fault (noob and all). Is it because PA checks for specific names in Skyrim.esm and only specific names are allowed (like skeever.dds, skeever_n.dds ). As 1.0 is intended for laymen (like me) some sort of mesg saying 'the .dds file(s) is/are badly named" would be appreciated.....
5) Is it correct that ones I have a correct specification.json for a certain NPC I'm from that moment on free to (re)name the .dds in a directory to whatever I want?

[Blaine]

@karrelan and @javi. I agree with (1) but I'm using quick/auto save and loads all the time and I also fast travel (quite a lot) but LUCKILY I haven't experienced skaters yet. I do experience skaters however when I combine wildlife mods like skytest realistic animals and real wildlife skyrim. Ones it exists they never go away. The authors of those mods warn for that.

[Matt Bigelow]

Actually not using quicksave/load & fast-travel were precautions I took after starting a new game. I can't play Skyrim without AV because it adds so much variety to the game (at this early stage), so I desperately wanted AV to work right, after getting 15 hours of skaters on existing saves. So, I guess quicksave/load and fast travel doesn't cause any problems as long as you start a new game. That's a Good Thing^TM

[Travis]

The main thing, I think, is testing how it reacts when you start a game with an AV package, and then add another AV package later. Adding them into the game straight up is bad - what about adding one into a game that already has some?

If it's related to the creatures, it could mean that a new game has to be 'prepped' with a base AV package, maybe of the vanilla textures or something, and then all future successive packages added in work fine. Just throwin' ideas.

[Lady Shocka]

@Karellan
Since you seem to be the running expert on sliders, I've a few questions:

• Do sliders appear in NEW areas? As in, you have an existing savegame, install AV.. get sliders in A, B, C (all areas you've already visited). Do you get sliders in a brand new area that you've never been to before? I'm trying to figure out if it only bugs it out for areas already spawned for the savegame.. or if it just bugs it out for all areas ever.
  
• Have you been able to add in new AV packages without issue? Or have you even tried?

@Pluto
That's a fantastic idea. 8)
We'll have to test "AV prepping" and see if Bethesda throws up when a package is added. Only testing can really say whether it'll work or not.

@Leviathan. Playing with the Package anolyzer.

I've noticed a few things:
1) The Unofficial Skyrim Patch v1.02 BETA (Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp) lets the PA hang at 99%. Luckily I read somewhere that some else had the same problem with the Unofficial Skyrim Patch 1.0 release. Removed it and PA run to completion. The debuglogs reveals no info which I could track to this mod however.
2) Related to 1.When I run AV to create an AV.esp everything runs fine I have the Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp installed.
3) Did run the PA on the Bellyache V3 package. most of them show 'Patching done' but the progressbar stopped at 75%. See http://dl.dropbox.com/u/73082907/Automatic%20Variants/Bug%20reports/Packageanolyzet%20stuck%20at%2075%25.jpg. Dropbox rocks!!
4) I have problems with ..\Frostbite Spider White\Grey\frostspider.dds of Bellyache. When I rename frostspider.dds to "frostspider - grey.dds" or "frostspider_grey.dds" or even frostspidergrey.dds NO seed information is shown. See http://dl.dropbox.com/u/73082907/Automatic%20Variants/Bug%20reports/BR-PA-Bellyache_frostspider-grey.txt .
5) Deleted whole texture/av packages dir, copied fresh bellyache v3 into av-packages and ran automatic variants. Checked the debuglog and it seems that AV does handle it well. Haven't checked it ingame though..

(1) and (2). Do you know why AP borks on it and why AV can handle it?
(3) Any idea why it mentions I'm at 75% but still everything seem to be handled OK.
4) I think I've figured it out and its my own fault (noob and all). Is it because PA checks for specific names in Skyrim.esm and only specific names are allowed (like skeever.dds, skeever_n.dds ). As 1.0 is intended for laymen (like me) some sort of mesg saying 'the .dds file(s) is/are badly named" would be appreciated.....
5) Is it correct that ones I have a correct specification.json for a certain NPC I'm from that moment on free to (re)name the .dds in a directory to whatever I want?

1) Yeah, I heard about the unofficial patch, I just haven't gotten around to looking at it yet. 8(

3) The Package anolyzer is jerry-rigged, for sure. The progress bar probably just isn't calibrated right? I'll look into it when I integrate the anolyzer into the main GUI.

4) Renaming files to something unique will always result in empty seed lists. This is because the PA is scanning all nifs for ones that USE frostspider.dds (or whatever texture). When you change it to frostspider - grey.dds... well, no nifs use a file of that name! XD So it doesn't match it with anything.

The PA is used to find out what NPCs use a certain texture.. so you should really only be using it on textures you know are used in Skyrim already.

PA may "bork" because when i make changes to SkyProc, I don't always rebuild it with the changes (I usually just forget). So AV could be fixed to handle it while PA is using an old SkyProc version. 8\

5) NO! Again.. the skins are matched up in similar ways where Nif texture fields are matched up by name (it's the only way TO match them). So if you rename the .dds.. then AV will locate the right NPC/Armor to tweak, but then will NOT sub in your new texture, as it doesn't match any of the nif fields on that NPC.

Instead of renaming the .dds files for organization.. just rename the folders containing them. (that's why we have the folders for each variant, so we can name them and differentiate.. as each of their files have to be named exactly the same)

I'll see if i can update some FAQ articles on this. 8)

[Rebecca Clare Smith]

Leviathan, I can offer a couple of pieces of input, although it sounds like Karellan is doing much more in-depth testing.

Regarding (1), I believe I have seen some sliders in new areas. Either that, or perhaps it was just pathing issues. It's not always easy for me to tell due to the herds spawning and the fact that I am not specifically looking for sliders.

Regarding (2), I have not restarted my current game yet. I have simply added stuff like AV, PISE, and ASIS, and a couple of other mods, to my current game. I am testing with that right now as I am currently developing my Hatsune Miku mod and don't care about some issues that others may worry about such as sliders. So, in essence, I have succeeded in simply adding AV to the current game.

[Frank Firefly]

@Everyone. In the past I've been playingtesting AV quite a bit. Also I've been suggesting quite a few things concerning AV and what IMHO could be improved concerning things like testing and installation. Its time for a bit of "Put your money where your mouth is".

When testing I found it VERY cumbesome to remember the hexcodes when using a player.placeatme statement. Hnece I have for the Bellyache V3 package created a set of 39 batch files to spawn NPC's. The bach files are called something like av-add-cow5 which spawns 5 cows. There are 38 of those. Also there is a batch files called horses which calls in effect the 5 available batch files for all tyes of horses (spawns 5x5=25 horses). The last one is called av-testmode. This basically calls tai and tdetect so that you are undetected and the spawned npc's don't move (great for testing).

See this work as a Proof Of Concept. I will create batch files for the rest of the AV-varitized NPC's. At this point in time I would like to ask you (if this does interest you) to download it and play with it. If somethings does not work, or you think the naming convention is not OK or ... or ... or the docs re suboptimal or ... Please tell me me so that I can see if can I (hopefully) improve (some) things.

Remark: I tested with only the Bellyache V3 package enabled. If you do that also to its possilbe that you think that bears, cavebears, snowbears, deers and elk don't seem to work. I thought that also. Turns out when looking in the AV package that they only have one variant. AFAIK AV 1.2.4 does not use the vanilla as a variant so this means all the time the same texture is shown. I have not tested if ALL variants for a certain NPC's are shown, but have tested to see IF i see variants at all. I guess we have to put faith in the magic performed by AV. But feel free to fully test it using the batch files.....

If have a few more ideas for the future but first I have to start getting to know the tools I need for that a bit.

URLS:
Index of what can be downloaded: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/73082907/Automatic%20Variants/Index%20-%20Wolverines%20AV%20ports%20packages%20and%20tools.txt

Bellyaches V3 batches (7zipped file): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/73082907/Automatic%20Variants/Batch%20Files/skyrim-batches-bellyache_v0_5.7z


I DO NOT WANT TO POLLUTE THIS THREAD.
Can someone tell me how I can create a thread like this one, StarX, Porscha's one etc so everything is in one place. Can't seem to find it anywhere?

[Nicole Kraus]

So have anyone tried to make variations for dragons?

[FLYBOYLEAK]

I DO NOT WANT TO POLLUTE THIS THREAD.
Can someone tell me how I can create a thread like this one, StarX, Porscha's one etc so everything is in one place. Can't seem to find it anywhere?

You could start a new topic with an appropriate name related to your work and AV (this is so that people can find it, of course). Levlathan might also include a link to that topic from AV (and you would do vice versa, of course). You can also include relevant keywords in the Tags when you select "Start New Topic" (the button for starting a new topic is at the top of any forum page).

[Devin Sluis]

@wolverine
Thanks. 8)
Hopefully we can devise an automated testing plan.. as I expect doing this for every variant under the sun that gets released won't be realistic.

To make a new thread, just go to the top, click Skyrim Mods to go to the skyrim mods forum, and at the top right should be a start new topic button.