I'm trying to make a bunch of activators behave like static objects in that they won't move when grabbed, bumbed, or shot.

First off, I know how to do this in nifskope. The problem with that is that I'll need to do it to so many vanilla meshes that it would be questionable if I could legally release the meshes. Also comes the time requirement to convert 100+ meshes to static havok which I'd prefer to avoid.

I've also tried resetting the positions and angles every frame within a GameMode block. With as many items in cell using this method, the lag becomes enormous.

I've also tried SetRigidBodyMass. This would be the ideal way to handle the problem but when set to 100, they fall to the ground when they are bumped. When set to 0, they start to float away as if they were in space.

If anyone has any other ideas, they would be greatly appreciated.

As far as I know geck doesn't treat moveable or immobile objects any differently, it relies on the nif data and havok. So I do not think there is any way you can change these in geck.

I am curious to understand why you want to make 100+ moveable objects immovable? Maybe we can brainstorm another way to accomplish this.

I made a static out of a Gecko hide by creating a new static object in the Geck without setting a model. Then open the plugin with FNVEdit and set the model path to the Gecho hide Nif that's in the BSA. Didn't need to do anything in Nifscope and didn't need to extract the mesh, even. The static Gecko hide is not movable and makes good wallpaper.

I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for without more info like such as what objects you are trying to use, but you can turn almost any object in the game into a static by creating a new static form and assigning the model you want it to look like in the GECK. For example, I could turn a teddy bear into crafting campfire activator just by giving the crafting campfire base object a new name, and saving it as a new form when the geck asks you. Then just edit your new form and apply the teddy bear model to it. (You'll have to extract that model into your meshes folder.) Then when you place the teddy bear, the power of Caesar won't move it, lol. I don't see why you couldn't do that with as many activators you wanted to. You'll probably just have to also apply the script for the activator you want to use though.

I don't know if that is what you're looking for or not but I hope it helps.

I just had another thought, that some misc. items and moveable statics also have a static version of their nif.

@Davidlallen
It's a house mod that stocks shelves with ammo, indigestibles, etc. and displays weapons that are in corresponding containers.

@RickerHK & Balok
Thanks for the suggestion but that won't work in my case, I need the items to be activators and not statics. The reason it worked for you is that all static objects automatically don't move. But if you try to use the same nifs as activators, they'll have havok.

I still don't understand why you want moveable objects to become immobile activators. Why can't you use the original objects? It seems to me as a player, that if I see a rifle in a display case, I should be able to pick up the rifle. If you don't want the user to take this particular rifle, can't you make the display case un-openable?

Have you tried putting a big collision box around the stuff, so that the player can't activate the items themselves?


Another way is:

1. Change the objects to statics, (Instead of editing the model path you can also just change the Signature Entry in FNVEdit or TESsnip to STAT)

2. Make a Static Collection from all your statics (Ctrl+G).

3. Use the created SCOL nif as an activator.

@DavidAllen
Picture this, you walk into the armory, there's a wall with a bunch of weapons on it. You activate one, and you are automatically given that weapon. But lets say you bump into it and it has havok, it falls to the ground, never to be placed back where it was and instead of a nice organized wall of weapons, you have a pile of weapons on the ground. It's very similar to Underground Hideout, but you can actually pull the weapons off the wall by activating them.
The second reason for the items would be stocking shelves. If you have a shelf of stimpacks arranged all nice and neat, then you bumb into it. The same problem occurs: the items get unorganized or fall off the shelf, never to be the same again. More importantly, some of the items are stacked on top of each other, such as ammo boxes and mines. If they have havok, they won't stay that way.

@ JOG
I need the player to be able to activate the items so collision box is a no go. I'm not familiar with static collections, but I'll look into it.

I guess I don't know any shortcut to making moveable items unmoveable but still activators. Regarding piles of items, perhaps you could make a "dispenser" vending machine which has a dialog box to ask how many items you want, and it just gives you that many.

When you press Ctrl+G to create a static-collection, a new NIF file in data/meshes/SCOL is created. This NIF can be used just like any other, so you just need to create an activator using this NIF. This is how I made a Shotgun for my WIP that hangs on the wall until the player grabs it.

The Collision-Box (invisible activator) approach I used for a well-laid buffet-table in my WIP - Neither should the player be able to make a fortune just by taking all the food, nor should the host seem stingy, so now the player can satisfy his hunger and thirst by activating the table, but he can't move or take stuff from it.