I didn't like having to use pack horses as henchmen. Pack horses are notoriously unreliable. They are poorly trained, mean, stubborn old cusses only moderately more useful as haulers as they would be as raw materials for glue. They certainly won't attack an enemy goblin on command, or just stand it's ground on command when it perceives a threat... and anyone who's ever tried to get one in from pasture will tell you they never, Never, NEVER come when you call them.
This simple system replaces the henchman inventory system with a new container item called an animal pack. Each pack animal can carry one animal pack. Players can take the animal pack from the animal via a conversation, load/unload it from/to their inventory, and then re-pack the animal.
These pack horses have only two modes: "Stay here" and "Follow me". They cannot be controlled using henchman commands.
This pack contains 2 creatures with conversations: A pack horse (STR 16) and a heavy pack horse (STR 18).
It contains the animal pack item.
It also contains a trigger that can be used to restrict the pack horse's movements. If the packhorse (identified by a small undroppable item in it's inventory) crosses into this trigger area it will wander off to the nearest "Horse Grazing" Waypoint (also included). This serves two functions:
1. It can be used near doors and area transitions to forbid the pack horse from entering.
2. It can be used to make the animal "wander off" as pack horses are wont to do from time to time.
You don't need to overwrite anything. These creatures use the bioware default script sets.
The undroppable item shouldn't be a problem since the players can no longer access the the creatures inventory directly. I will definitely uncomment the flee from combat scripts in the onspawn script. That's a great idea. There will still be issues with combat though. I'm fairly certain that if the packhorse is in follow mode when an attack occurs the creature will remain in follow mode. I'm not certain, but I think the creature will remain in follow mode until a "clear all actions" action is called, and I'm not sure I can figure out how to modify the onspawn script to include one. I'm strictly a script moocher. All my scripts are copy and paste patchworks. :( _________________________ Urk's Greyhawk:
Old school PnP style RP: Link
I thought you might find two comments relevant to this effort.
First, you could replace the undroppable item in the creature's inventory with a creature skin. The result is that the players won't have to mess with that item, or even be aware of it. Personally, I find non-droppable items annoying, particularly when messing with someone's inventory. Since this project is entirely based around transferring inventory from PC to pack animal, ensuring that the pack animal has an empty inventory might be preferable.
Secondly, there will be problems starting a conversation with your pack animal if combat is initiated first. For example, if the PC is ambushed, there is no way to command the pack animal to stay put due to restrictions on conversations. He may very well follow you right into the thick of combat. There would also be a short period after combat where conversations won't be possible. This could result in unnecessary pack animal death.
If you haven't already done so, I'd recommend using the herbivore "flee from combat" scripts on the pack animal to ensure that the pack animal will not stand obediently in the middle of dangerous combat. It would be consistent with your purpose here to also ensure that the pack animals run (a short distance) away when attacked. Not only is this realistic behavior, but it eliminates any need for a "flee" command. When that donkey decides it is in danger, it's going to flee on its own whether you like it or not! Rounding up the pack animal after a combat makes perfect sense to me.
Well, these are just some ideas. Feel free to use them if you find them at all useful. Either way, I think what you're doing here is a *great* idea, and it will definitely add more excitement and realism to the game. Thanks very much for sharing it with the community!
_________________________ - Invisig0th
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at 2007-06-06 05:43:49
