Difference between revisions of "Adding a Merchant NPC to Skyrim"

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After placing your container in the world you can always edit its contents to add new items or delete existing items. You won't need to place it in the world again: any changes you do to the container charactersistics will be automatically replicated to the container copy you placed in the world.
 
After placing your container in the world you can always edit its contents to add new items or delete existing items. You won't need to place it in the world again: any changes you do to the container charactersistics will be automatically replicated to the container copy you placed in the world.
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=== Create a new vendor faction ===
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[[File:Merchant_5_Faction_vendor.jpg|right|thumb|Adding a new vendor faction]]
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[[File:Merchant_4_Faction_Location.jpg|right|thumb|Vendor location]]
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The next step is to create a new vendor faction.
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Again, we are going to use an existing faction as a template for creating the new one.
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# In the ''Object window'' expand the menu ''Character'' -> ''Faction'' and look for one of the factions used by vanilla merchants (their names usually begin by ''Services''). For this tutorial I've chosen the ''ServicesMarkarthSilverFishInn''.
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# Double click on the selected faction and a window will pop-up like the one shown in picture ''Adding a new vendor faction''.
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# Change the faction ID (the field at the top left of the window) and type a new ID for your faction.
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# Press the OK button, the CK will ask you if you want to create a new form: answer ''Yes''.
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# Now look for the faction you've just created, and double click on it to open the faction details window again.
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# Click on the ''Vendor'' tab and check the ''Vendor'' flag if it is not already checked.
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# Enter the hours you want your merchant to work. For this tutorial I've set them to the whole day (from 0 to 24 hours): that means that my merchant will be able of selling and buying items at any time.
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# Click on the ''Location'' button and a window like the one shown in picture ''Vendor location'' will pop up. Here you set where your merchant has to be to be able to trade. I've selected the ''Near Self'' option: this means that my merchant can sell and buy items anywhere as she will be always near herself. Click the OK button to close the ''Location'' window.
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# Again on the faction vendor tab, set the Radius to whatever value you want. This radius means how close to the location place you've chosen your merchant has to be to be able of selling and buying goods. As I've set the location to ''Near Self'' I can safely set the Radius to 0.
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Revision as of 16:03, 2 April 2012

Overview

This tutorial shows all the main steps you need to follow to add a merchant NPC to Skyrim.

Required tools

  • Creation Kit: available on Steam (Menu option View -> Tools and then select Creation Kit)
  • The Figment's TESVSnip: TESVSnip

Add a Merchant NPC

The main steps for adding a merchant to Skyrim are:

  1. Create a new container
  2. Create a new vendor faction
  3. Create a new NPC

Create a new container

Adding a new container
Editting the container
Placing the container under the floor

The easiest way for adding new content for Skyrim with the Creation Kit is to copy an existing object and that is what we are going to do in this tutorial.

First we are going to add a new container that will have all the objects our merchant is going to sell. To do this:

  1. Launch the Creation Kit
  2. Load the Skyrim master file:
    1. Select the menu option File -> Data ...
    2. Check the flag at the left side of Skyrim.esm and Update.esm
    3. Press the OK button and wait until the CK has finished uploading everything
      Note: the CK has a bad habit of showing lots of warning messages. When the first one appears click on the Cancel button and you won't see more of these warnings.
  3. In the Object window expand the menu WorldObjects -> Container and look for one of the containers used by vanilla merchants (their names usually begin by Merchant). For this tutorial I've chosen the MerchantMarkarthArnleifandSonsChest.
  4. Double click on the selected container and a window will pop-up like the one shown in picture Adding a new container.
  5. Change the container ID (the field at the top left of the window) and type a new ID for your container.
  6. Press the OK button, the CK will ask you if you want to create a new form: answer Yes.
  7. Now look for the container you've just created, and double click on it to open the container details window again.
  8. The Item list section has all the items the container has (and the merchant can sell):
    1. Delete the items you don't want that your merchant has by selecting one or several of the items and pressing the delete key.
    2. Add any items you want your merchant to sell by selecting those items in the Object window and dragging and dropping them into the Container's Item list. In the Count box you can set the quantity of that item that the merchant is going to have.
    3. If you want your merchant to have more gold pieces than 50 to buy items:
      1. Add the item Gold001 to the Container's Item list (it is under the Items -> MiscItem menu) and set the Count to whatever amount you want (in this tutorial I've added 5,000 gold pieces, as shown in picture Adding a new container).
  9. Once you are done press the OK button.

It is good to save your progress from time to time just in case the CK crashes. To save your work seelct File -> Save and then type the name of your plugin (for example MyMerchant.esp).

The next step is to place the container in the world. To do that:

  1. In the Cell view window select the cell where you are going to place the container. I decided to place it in the Silver Blood Inn, in Markarth, so I chose the MarkarthSilverBloodInn cell.
  2. Double click on the name of the cell you've selected and wait while the CK loads it in the Render window. Once it is loaded, select an object in the Render window (just select it, don't move anything!) and move around the cell until you find the place where you want to put your container. To move around the cell:
    1. Use the mouse wheel to zoom in or out.
    2. Press the Shift key and move the mouse (without pressing any mouse button) to rotate the view.
    3. Press the Space bar and move the mouse (without pressing any mouse button) to move the cell up, down, right or left.
  3. Select your container in the object window and drag and drop it into the cell in the Render view window: now your container is in the world but it will be most likely floating above the ground or in a position you don't like. To fix that, the easiest way for me is to:
    1. In the Cell view window, select the copy of your container from the list of objects at the right side of this window.
    2. Left click on this copy of your container and select Edit from the pop up menu. This will open a window like the one shown in picture Editting the container
    3. In this window, in the Position section change the X, Y o Z values to move your container around the cell. Or change the X, Y o Z values of the Rotation section to rotate it. You can see the changes in the Render view window.
    4. For a merchant's container, it is best to locate the container in an unreachable place, like under the floor as shown in picture Placing the container under the floor. This way nobody will be able of looting its contents.

After placing your container in the world you can always edit its contents to add new items or delete existing items. You won't need to place it in the world again: any changes you do to the container charactersistics will be automatically replicated to the container copy you placed in the world.

Create a new vendor faction

Adding a new vendor faction
Vendor location


The next step is to create a new vendor faction. Again, we are going to use an existing faction as a template for creating the new one.

  1. In the Object window expand the menu Character -> Faction and look for one of the factions used by vanilla merchants (their names usually begin by Services). For this tutorial I've chosen the ServicesMarkarthSilverFishInn.
  2. Double click on the selected faction and a window will pop-up like the one shown in picture Adding a new vendor faction.
  3. Change the faction ID (the field at the top left of the window) and type a new ID for your faction.
  4. Press the OK button, the CK will ask you if you want to create a new form: answer Yes.
  5. Now look for the faction you've just created, and double click on it to open the faction details window again.
  6. Click on the Vendor tab and check the Vendor flag if it is not already checked.
  7. Enter the hours you want your merchant to work. For this tutorial I've set them to the whole day (from 0 to 24 hours): that means that my merchant will be able of selling and buying items at any time.
  8. Click on the Location button and a window like the one shown in picture Vendor location will pop up. Here you set where your merchant has to be to be able to trade. I've selected the Near Self option: this means that my merchant can sell and buy items anywhere as she will be always near herself. Click the OK button to close the Location window.
  9. Again on the faction vendor tab, set the Radius to whatever value you want. This radius means how close to the location place you've chosen your merchant has to be to be able of selling and buying goods. As I've set the location to Near Self I can safely set the Radius to 0.


References