Creatures who can cast spells?

[MMMowSkwoz]

Right, after quite a lot of frustration, I've discovered that creatures using certain .nif files are unable to cast spells, but others can. For example, a creature using AncestorGhost.nif or Liche.nif can cast spells but any creature using Rust rat.nif or TR's butterfly model cannot. Does anyone know why this is? Are there some kind of spell casting requirements specific to a model?

What I really want to know is: is there an easy way for me to create a model for a creature that is completely invisible in game (like the EditorMarker.nif) and can cast spells? It doesn't need to be able to move, attack, or do anything else.

Thanks.

[Thrignar Fraxix]

I'd take a look at those proximity mines from tribunal, see how they work.

Creatures themselves probably have to have animations for spell casting... I dunno... now that I think about it, I don't think scrips ever did anything special...

[MMMowSkwoz]

They don't actually use the Cast function, they use ExplodeSpell instead, which may actually be quite helpful. The question still stands though.

[Bloodthirsty Crustacean]

Isn't this one of the exact problems that Dirnae solved with the Esurio Viridis just a few days ago?

Eerily convenient.

I think there's also just been a thread about this over at BGSF.

[MMMowSkwoz]

Isn't this one of the exact problems that Dirnae solved with the Esurio Viridis just a few days ago?

How so? Did it have to be modified so it could cast spells?

I've now used ExplodeSpell to get around this (thanks Thrig ), but I'm still quite curious.

[Bloodthirsty Crustacean]

I think so.

I'm not an expert, but there was a thread on BGSF that made it seem like a major discovery... Dunno.

[dirnae]

yes i did have to modify it, nothing big, just text key editing, you can read bout it at the make creatures throw stuff thread at the BGSF

i wouldn't call it a major discovery, it's just common sense really, though i guess to a lot of people who don't understand animation, it is a very handy tutorial
you can use the techniques there to make a creature that can cast spells instantly, and it shouldn't take too long seeing as you don't need it to have animations

however if you don't mind a delay before a spell is cast, it would probably be easier to open the ancestor's ghost .nif file with x at the start and delete all the meshes in the .nif file. Then save as something else, copy and paste the other ancestor ghost .nifs, renaming them appropriately as well, and there you have it, an invisible creature that can cast spells

or alternatively, you could create an invisible NPC if it doesn't have to be a creature, you'd just have to create a race which has no body objects i think, or use an empty .nif for the different body parts

you could then take away there ability to walk through burdens if needed


there are a lot of ways to get the same result

[MMMowSkwoz]

Awesome, I really wish I'd known that earlier. Problem solved now anyway. Thanks.