[radroach]

I've been trying to design a group of NPC's that will basically start wandering when they're spawned, but as a group. So like a nomadic pack of dogs that has a designated leader. The others just follow him. My problem is that I want to be able to place the leader and followers anywhere, anytime, and have them operate correctly. The Goal is to be able to load my plugin, put in the IDS using the console and the Npc's scripts and packages automatically take care of the rest, Allowing me to randomly place a roaving tribe of raiders or brahmin and be able to ajust how many are in the pack. Any thoughts?

[BadPenney]

Make one NPC the alpha male and give him a broad default wander area package and give the other 3 follow packages with the alpha male as the target. Check out Brotherhood of Steel Outcast patrols for ideas, too.

[radroach]

Thanks, looking into that helped but can I set a base ID as the alpha? So that whenever I spawn a leader and groupies in console, they will pick up the package automatically? Or do I need to put in every instance of a wandering pack in the GECK?

[BadPenney]

You might investigate creating templates with your NPCs in order to place multiple spawns of programmed NPC groups.

If you look at vanilla generic raiders and supermutants you will see that the majority use templates that include their specs, factions and packages and are placed to respawn with programmed behaviors and levelled armor and weapons. You should be able to mimic that method.

[radroach]

I'll definately look into that also do you know where I can find a more inclusive guide to modding besides the Geck tutorial? The one on this site is really just a collection of answered questions and not really a "Guide"
Also do you know if the ID for a script package is the base ID or something different?

[BadPenney]

I'm the wrong person to ask about tutorial methods for learning to mod FO3. Mostly I use the vanilla game as a reference for how things work. Finding reference material like tutorials that will tell you what you want to know is problematic and your ability to search is your best chance for finding something. There really aren't a lot of them yet, and I reckon that most of the best modders are probably making mods right now instead of making tutorials. Sometimes I have found helpful portions of tutorials, but mostly I learned to mod the way I learned to fix my motorcycle, by tearing it apart and putting it together again. When I get stuck I read a manual or ask for advice, but mostly I just like to riddle things out myself if I can. There's the fun in it.

Other than that, the pinned topics at the top of the General Modifications Forum have many links to helpful info.

[radroach]

Alright then I'll search around and do some digging.