All right. I finally managed to replicate the problem of my Havok'd apples falling off the trees. I've got some apple trees with regular apples hanging on them, placed there with Don't Havok Settle checked so that they stay hanging until something hits them. It seemed to work fine for everyone except one person, who said that his apples were never on the trees when he went to check, they were always falling off immediately.

It took me awhile to replicate the problem because it never happens when I'm standing near the tree. Apparently, it only happens when the player isn't in the area. I can load the mod, coc myself to Riverwood, and the apples are fine. I can "wait" for hours or days and the apples are fine.

However, if I start the game in a different area, then walk to Riverwood... some of the time, not a single apple has fallen. Other times, every single apple -- all 2+ dozen -- has come off the tree and rolled into the river.

Clearly something is jostling them but since it refuses to happen while I'm standing there, no matter how long I wait, I can't figure out what.

Anyone have any ideas?

What I wanted to do is script the apples to not be Havok-enabled, and thus not move, until they're touched. Like the beehives. But the beehive script does not work; it just makes the apples totally intangible, and the player's hands as well as any projectiles just fly right through. I'm not a scripter, so I have no idea why the script works on beehives but not apples.

I'm just glad Isaac Newton didn't have that problem. We might still be in the dark ages.

Funny.

These apples are driving me batty. I get different results every time I test this. A save that I swore was a clean testing save evidently was not.

I'm just going to start over, assume all my "clean" testing saves are somehow compromised, and try testing this in a totally unmodded vanilla game.

There's a vanilla script you can attach to your apple ref's that might do the trick:

DefaultDisableHavokOnLoad

Be default it's set up so that the object won't be move by anything unless added to the inventory. But I think I remember there being a property that you can set on the script to make the object regain Havok when knocked (I might be remembering wrong...I'll check, bare with me)

Unfortunately, there's no quick way to do this. You've either got to add the script (and change the property) to each of your 24 apple ref's, or delete all of them except one, add the script to it, then ctrl+d position, ctrl+d position, ctrl+d position, etc

You're not alone, I learned this the hard way as well mate (mine was a huge dinner arrangement ).

- Hypno

yup, you're right about this one. Used the same script for arrows i wanted to make sure stayed in the archery target in my mod, player can pick them up, but wont bodge even if a dragon breathes on them. verious conditions can be changed in the properties for this

As it turns out, the beehive script actually does work. You just have to, you know, test it with a clean save and not one that's got leftover invisible apples in it. (coughs)

It's kind of funny, because you can pick the apples by hand, and you can smack them down with projectiles or attacks, but barring that, those apples ain't moving. Which means you can go and stand directly underneath one, then jump up and headbutt it, and you end up blocked as if you'd hit the ceiling. The apple just laughs at you and doesn't move. LOL.

I'll definitely take that over having to go diving in a quick-moving stream and following the current for a few miles until I suddenly encounter an underwater gully with about fifteen apples in it. Which is what happens when they fall off the tree, since both trees are near enough the water that anything falling out of the branches lands plop into the river, and evidently Skyrim-style apples are not at all buoyant.

I don't mind having to add the script to all 24 refs. It took me 2 minutes, compared to the several hours of frustration in trying to figure out why the apples only fall sometimes. This was the only issue I had to fix before I can start adding the trees all across Skyrim. Hooray, apples!

Fair play mate, glad you got it working. When I start my hunter character I'll definitely d/l this. I can't think of better target practice for learning archery

- Hypno