Aside: What is "Sandboxing"?

"Sandboxing" is a behavior meant to make an NPC appear active by letting them interact with their environment. A sandboxing NPC will variously:

• • Eat/Drink

  • Sleep (if an appropriate time)

  • Sit at a furniture marker (including "working" furniture like anvils, alchemy tables, and so on)

  • Use an idle marker

  • Wander around

  • Start conversations with nearby NPCs (if such conversations exist)

Using a sandbox procedure is an easy way to make an NPC appear "alive" without needing to directly control what they are doing and when they do it.

Because the DMP is meant more for bandits and the like than NPCs with actual schedules, the Skywind DMP by default will not allow NPCs to sleep. However, you can change this for specific NPCs if you want---just read to the next section.

Extra Notes on Patrols

• If you want NPCs to stand at an specific xMarkerHeading or use a specific idle marker for a certain amount of time, double-click on the marker and go to the Patrol Data tab. There, you can set the amount of time the NPC will stay at that marker.

• "Patrol" is just the name of the mechanic; it doesn't mean your NPC has to be actually on the lookout for enemies. For instance, you can make a "patrol" out of farming idle markers or sweeping idle markers, as a way to put an NPC to work across a set path.

• If you only want an NPC to pass through a point, use an xMarkerHeading. These are more optimized than idle markers. Please do not use a PatrolIdleMarker in your patrol unless you want your NPC to actually stand at the point for an amount of time.

• It is possible to include furniture objects in a patrol, but there may be issues of the NPC popping in/out of the furniture if multiple pieces of furniture are linked together. You should make sure there is always at least one xMarkerHeading or idle marker between furniture objects on a patrol route.

How do I set up an ambush?

What is an ambush?

Ambushes are special combat encounters where an "Ambush NPC" waits outside of combat, typically in special furniture (the Creation Kit object type, not always literally furniture). The level designer can then control when and how the NPC gets up and starts attacking the player. 

In Skyrim, think of things like Draugr or Dragon Priests bursting out of sarcophagi, Dwemer spiders and spheres rolling down out of ports, Falmer climbing out of holes in the wall, Spriggans materializing out of trees, and so on. In Skywind, these are used for skeletons and bonewalkers, ancestral ghosts, Dwemer creatures, and so on.

What NPCs can I use for an ambush?

Technically, you can make any type of actor into an ambush NPC, but generally you will want to use the ones that have already been created in the CK. In the object window, filter for 1_Ambush_ for unleveled ambush creatures and 1_Lvl_Ambush_ for leveled ambush creatures. (Remember to read Skywind Creatures for creature naming conventions.) Packages require special NPC AI/Behaviors, so unless you really know what you're doing, try to stick to the premade ones.

What are the types of ambush?

This can mean a few different things, so I'll go over all the different distinctions here.

Standard vs. GroundFX vs. Runner

This is the first prefix after Ambush on the creature ID. 

• Standard: 99 times out of 100, this is the type you want.

• GroundFX: Mechanically, this is the same as the Standard ambush. The exception is that this one will add some effect shaders to the NPC as they climb out of their ambush furniture. This variant was introduced by Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC, for ash spawn climbing out of the ashy ground. That's the intended use case. Only place this type of creature if you really need those effect shaders during the ambush.

• Runner: This is a special behavior type made for Squally, and follows its own set of rules for setting it up and using it. See the "Runner Type" NPCs section for details on this. The rest of this section will not apply to them.

OnDetect vs. OnTrigger

All ambush NPCs must must be activated before they will come out of their trigger. Prior to being activated, they will ignore combat and either wait ("sleep") at their ambush furniture, or do whatever else it is their packages tell them to do.

The next question is, what do they do when activated?

• OnDetect: If an ambush NPC has an "OnDetect" label, then when activated, the NPC will start "listening" for enemies and will be allowed to enter combat, however they will not get out of their ambush furniture or otherwise change their behavior until they detect an enemy (i.e., the player).

• OnTrigger: If an ambush NPC has an "OnTrigger" label, then when activated, they will immediately climb/rise out of their ambush furniture or break whatever other behavior they may have been set on. They will then wander/sandbox in the general area of where they "woke up", and will attack the player as soon as they can.

Furniture Types

Actually, there's no different types here. Skeleton/bonewalker alcove ambushes; wisp ground ambushes; Dwemer centurion ports; mechanically these are all identical. The type of furniture you want to use has no bearing on how the ambush NPC is named or how their packages are set up.

How do I set up an ambush?

Let's go through this in different steps.

Note: You may need to review the Level Design Coding guide if you aren't familiar with Linked Refs, Activate Parents, and placing Trigger Boxes.

Step 1: What does the NPC do while waiting?

• Use Ambush Furniture: Link them to the furniture you want them to use. There will need to be navmesh going to the furniture's entry point. No navmesh, no ambush. Waiting in these furnitures is considered a "sleep" behavior, so this won't work if you, say, link an NPC to a random chair. 

• Patrol: Ambush NPCs don't need to use ambush furniture! You can actually set them up to do other things. The default "other thing" is to patrol. (Different "other things" require some different AI packages that we don't have set up by default.) To use a patrol instead of an ambush furniture, set up the patrol as described earlier on this page ("I want my NPC to... Patrol in a loop/Patrol back and forth" and "Extra Notes on Patrols"), then link your ambush NPC to where you want them to start the patrol using the LinkCustom01 keyword.

• Stand in Place: Place an xMarkerHeading or an appropriate idle marker at the spot you want your NPC to stand. Double-click on the marker and navigate to the "Patrol Data" tab. Click the "Patrol Data" checkbox and enter some large number (e.g. 300) in the "Idle Time" field. (Basically, we're tricking the engine into treating this single point as a patrol.) Link your NPC to this marker using the LinkCustom01 keyword.

Step 2: Does anything else need to be activated when the NPC is triggered?

• When the NPC is activated, they will pass on this activation to (potentially) four other things.

  1. They will activate their linked ref (i.e., the furniture they are sleeping in). This triggers any "wake up" animations like a dwemer port's door opening.

  2. They will activate their linked ref's linked ref. This handles thing like breaking a sarcophagus lid. 

  3. They will activate their linked ref's linked ref's linked ref. There is no common use for this, but you may find it handy in some special encounter might you devise.

  4. They will activate their linked ref with the keyword of your choice. On the placed NPC, you can fill the linkKeyword property with the keyword of your choosing, and then link your NPC to something using that keyword to make them activate it when they come out of their ambush.

• If you need any of this behavior, then set up these links now. If not, you can skip this step.

Step 3: How is the NPC triggered?

• Two things will always force the NPC out of their trigger: Being attacked/taking damage (from any source), and the player activating them directly. This cannot be changed. 

• Otherwise, NPCs are triggered by activating them through something other than the player.

• There are literally endless ways to handle this. I'm only going to cover the most common one here: The defaultActivateSelfTRIG triggerbox. This is a triggerbox that, when entered by an actor, will activate itself as its name suggests. We can then set our ambush NPCs to inherit this activation, thus triggering them. Here's how to set it up:

  1. Navigate to near where you want the triggerbox to be placed, and click on a large object in that area, preferably a part of the tileset.

  2. Click the "Create Triggerbox" icon on the menu bar (the cube with a T in it), then find and select defaultActivateSelfTRIG. This will create a triggerbox that fills the bounds of the object you had selected.

  3. Move and adjust the size of the triggerbox as desired.

  4. Edit the properties of the defaultActivateSelf script as you see fit. The defaults are: Player Only, Do Once, and No Minimum Level. 

  5. Double-click on your ambush NPC and navigate to the Activate Parent tab. Create a new activate parent, and set it to the triggerbox you just placed. Optionally, you can add a delay timer to the activation if you don't want to trigger the NPC immediately. 

  6. That's all! Your ambush should now work.

• Note: Multiple NPCs can have the same triggerbox as their activate parent.

• Note: One NPC can have multiple activate parents, such as different triggerboxes placed at different entryways to a room.

How do I make a custom ambush NPC?

That depends on how custom. The easiest way is to make your new NPC templated off of an existing ambush NPC. Make sure to inherit Scripts, AI Packages, AI Data, and Default Packages. Anything else can be changed. Also, make sure to follow the naming scheme described in Skywind Creatures. 

If you need to make a completely new ambush NPC, then these are the things that are required for the ambush to work correctly. 

1. The NPC must have a default aggression of zero.

2. The NPC must be set to "Helps Nobody".

3. The NPC must not have any Aggro Radius.

   • If any of the above are not set this way, it is likely that your NPC will come out of its ambush state early.

4. The NPC must have the masterAmbushScript attached to them.

5. The package at the top of the NPC's package stack must be conditioned on Subject.GetActorValue(Variable01) == 1.0000. This is what the NPC will do once they have woken up from their ambush. The default is AmbushSandboxEditorLocation512.

6. The package below this will be whatever you want the NPC to do before they "wake up". The standard is AmbushPatrolLinkCustom01 followed by AmbushSleepPackage. It is recommended that you only use the existing default ambush packages (filter for "Ambush" in the Packages section of the object window).

"Runner Type" NPCs

This was a special request from Squally and isn't technically a part of the Skywind DMP , but it works pretty similarly to it so I'm putting the guide on it here.

A "Runner Type" NPC has the following behavior.

• • Wait around sandboxing at either near their editor location, or near a reference linked to with the LinkDefSandbox keyword. 

  • When the player enters a triggerbox (0_dun_ReleaseRunnerTriggerBox), the NPC runs with their weapon drawn to a point linked to without a keyword. This point must be the start of a patrol (looping or  back-and-forth).

  • The NPC begins patrolling, keeping their weapon drawn (as if they were searching for the player).

NPC behavior is affected by the fbmw_DefaultMasterPackageScript when applicable:

• • What the NPC does while sandboxing  (i.e. prior to the trigger)

  • Whether the NPC has their weapon drawn while sandboxing (it is always drawn once triggered)

  • Whether the NPC runs or walks while sandboxing and after they reach their patrol (they always run to the patrol)

  • Whether they ignore combat while sandboxing (when 0_dun_ReleaseRunnerTriggerBox is entered, they will stop ignoring combat)

To set this up:

1. Make a version of NPC's base object that has the 0DefaultPackageRunnerType package at the top of their package stack. This new base object should be templated on the original, and inherit everything except packages.

   1. • Note: Make sure such an NPC hasn't already been made.

2. Place the NPC(s) where you want them to wait, and optionally link them to an xMarker where you want them to wait, using the LinkDefSandbox keyword on the link.

3. Link the NPC(s) to an xMarkerHeading or idle marker that you want them to run to.

4. Link the xMarkerHeading or idle marker to other markers to form a patrol.

5. Place an instance of 0_dun_ReleaseRunnerTriggerBox where you want the player to trigger the running behavior.

6. Link the 0_dun_ReleaseRunnerTriggerBox instance to the NPC(s), with no keyword for the first NPC and using the LinkCustom## keywords for any additional NPCs.

7. Optionally, add any delay to when NPCs are released and if the triggerbox is player-only (this works the same as in the Ignore Combat section).

8. Optionally, add the fbmw_DefaultMasterPackageScript to the NPC(s) and set any desired flags.