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RELEASED Create-A-Friend v2.3 for SB v1.0

Create and equip custom NPCs!

  1. Peelz

    Peelz Giant Laser Beams

    Peelz submitted a new mod:

    Create-A-Friend - Create and equip custom NPCs!

    Read more about this mod...
     
  2. Fevix

    Fevix Heliosphere

    Seems interesting. Any chance of compatibility with custom races?
     
  3. Peelz

    Peelz Giant Laser Beams

    Custom races won't crash it, but you currently won't be able to spawn any custom races. I am definitely looking into providing supplementary mods for the more popular custom races though!
     
  4. Eternalmyst

    Eternalmyst Big Damn Hero

    Interesting. I have 2 questions :chucklefish:
    Are we (the player) able to hurt/damage the friends or are they immune like colonists?
    Do they follow us around or do they stay and roam planetside/shipside?
     
  5. Peelz

    Peelz Giant Laser Beams

    You can damage them with splash damage (ie bombs, rockets, etc) but regular attacks won't harm them. The villagers that spawn from the villager spawner will stay in one area, but the guards can follow you or stay put (think the survivor ally that used to be in the Floran mission).
     
    Eternalmyst likes this.
  6. MindExplorer

    MindExplorer Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    Excellent idea! I had run a little bit of testing and these are my findings...

    PRO:
    - Not bound to any "room"
    - Nearly full outfit customization (there is no "Alt" for 1-handed weapons like a shield!)
    - NPCs don't throw random crap at the player ;)
    - Guards do damage based on primary weapon (they never use the secondary!)

    CON:
    - There is no "Alt" for 1-handed weapons like a shield
    - "Just" the old spawner-scripts used
    - Guards forget to "stay put" after having fought a monster
    - Guards wander around uncontrollable far distances if nothing is blocking them
    - Guards never use the secondary weapon
    - Guards never use a bed to heal up
    - Every NPC is following the player around forever if not told to stay put (starts to become ridiculous at around 5 NPCs)
    - NPCs always spawn naked after death to then magically wear the assigned outfit after 2 seconds
    - The largest possible object (Apex pod) was used as spawner, which also doesn't fit to a lot of player builds

    Summary:
    This is "just" the old Spawners brought back and an "outfitter" tagged on.
    Don't get me wrong! The possibility to outfit my NPCs is my most desired wish. It's just disappointing to find out that this possibility was "just" tagged on the OLD, totally insufficient spawner-scripts and NOT the new ones.

    1 step into the right direction, 5 steps back into the wrong direction.
    Sorry, but as it currently is, this is nothing for me.
    ...and I would have loved to use it!

    EDIT:
    Oh, and I couldn't find the pods anywhere to craft. So I had to cheat them in. My ship is already Tier 8 and I have the highest tier crafting stations. Even making lower tier ones again, like the wooden crafting table and iron anvil etc., didn't help.

    EDIT2:
    This is simply not true. As of the current version of Starbound, which is Pleased Giraffe, there no longer is any "Employer's Station" (you misleadingly call "Spawner Station"). I finally found the pods in the 3D Printer and nowhere else (with /admin one also can find them on the crafting tables). Your own files are referring to the anvil, where they actually CAN'T be crafted!.

    I seriously wonder how you got 5 5-star-ratings so fast with a MOD not working as described. Especially in conjunction with all the flaws it comes with additionally.

    Sorry, but this smells like a bunch of friends doing you a favor here.
    I simply can't recommend this MOD.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2015
  7. sayter

    sayter The Waste of Time

    And? Not a reason for a one star. Perhaps ask for it's inclusion instead. Maybe he forgot?

    Who cares? It's the first release of the mod. Not a reason for a one-star. Do they get created the way you want from the UI? Yep. Do they follow you? Yep. Working as intended.

    Default functionality of the AI. He isn't an AI coder. No reason for a one star.

    Again, default functionality. Not his fault. NPCs regularly fall off the Outpost too. Not a reason for a one-star.

    Probably because they aren't assigned to use the AI that does this. Easy fix. Not a reason for a one-star.

    Neither do the vanilla guards, to my knowledge. Not a reason for a one-star.

    That's because they are using the follower AI. Vanilla functionality. Not a reason for a one-star.

    Because they need to check the script, and then reequip based on that. Easy enough to improve as he goes, provided he knows anything about lua, which he might not. Again, not a reason for a one-star.

    Who cares? Makes sense to me. You're making a man-sized being, a man-sized pod makes sense. Deal with it. Also, the largest possible object? Hardly.



    Summary:

    You're being unfairly harsh to a new mod without any updates under it's belt and are being a bit rude in the process of doing so by saying "this sounds like a bunch of friends doing you a favor". I'm not his friend, by the way. First I've even noticed his existence (before you attempt to accuse me of such).

    Because all it takes is ONE review at 5-stars to be listed as 5-stars? Seriously though:

    I don't mind a one-star review when the mod doesn't function at all or breaks your game. This works, doesn't crash, and has a few tiny flaws. This is NOT a reason for a one-star review. Period. I don't care how you try to justify it. As such, I will be reporting your review as abuse. I'm offended for him from that nonsense. All I see here is a user being a dick to another user for no reason.

    If that wasn't your intent, perhaps review a bit more fairly.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2015
  8. MindExplorer

    MindExplorer Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    First, you completely ignore the timeline over which I came to my final cunclusion:
    MindExplorer, Today at 9:35 AM at this time I haven't given ANY rating!
    Last edited: 56 minutes ago (Tha'ts 3 hours LATER!)

    Second, you exclude me explaining anything "I don't care how you try to justify it. As such, I will be reporting your review as abuse." to then call for further actions from me "If that wasn't your intent, perhaps review a bit more fairly." How dumb is that?

    "This is NOT a reason for a one-star review. Period." and "I'd four star normally, but I will 5 star simply because of the previous guy giving a one-star for ridiculous reasons." CLEARLY shows that you too rate according your feelings regarding a MOD! Yet you have reported me/or want to report me for doing the exact same!

    Who do you think you are to claim rights for yourself, you not only forbid others, but also try to ridicule for making use of them!

    See, my reason to finally give it a rating at all and that so extremely low is because I simply felt/still feel totally arsed by 5 people giving this a 5-star rating in such a short time whereas this MOD clearly has a lot of flaws, and not small ones, which made me conclude that all 5 ratings are nothing more than a shady "friend-service". THIS I already brought to EVERYONES attention. And I have every right to rate this "friend-service" (as I still see this) as I see fit!

    I respect you as the great contributor to this community you are, but better don't try to mess with me in such a way again you just did.

    END OF STORY!
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2015
  9. The | Suit

    The | Suit Agent S. Forum Moderator

    The story will unfortunetly continue.
    I am going to need you to rewrite your review or I am going to remove it.
    What you posted is not a review but a conspiracy theory.

    Also all your "cons"
    Were never features he claimed to have added - nearly everything you said as a con were features you wish for. Which are quite different.

    So lets stick to a review based on the claims of what the author actually said the mod does and how well it does it.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2015
  10. sayter

    sayter The Waste of Time

    The timeline is completely irrelevant.

    Not dumb at all when you are being harsh over things the mod never claimed to add in the first place. In fact, the line regarding if it wasn't your intent...was being kind enough to address that perhaps you did not intend to come across as you did. Your reaction clearly proves you did, in fact, mean every word. Pity.

    No, I was simply being kind since you opted to be totally unfair about your review. I told him straight up it's a four-star product until he fine tunes it a bit, but was being generous because of other users that are being unfair. I've done this before, and will do so again, when a bad review is completely undeserved.

    I never made any claims at all. Nor did I forbid anything. I stated you were being unfair, and the various reasons for this. You don't have to like it. Also, don't bring up ridicule as an argument when you just ridiculed the hell out of the mod author over effectively nothing.

    Who cares how long it took to get some 5-stars? Perhaps the people using it aren't overly critical of a product not doing things it wasn't saying it could do in the first place and actually did love it to pieces. There's a thought. And it's certainly not friend-service, no matter how you slice it. I could claim the same utterly ridiculous thing about your 5-star reviews on your mod. Would I be right? No.

    I could just as easily claim the same about your Tier6 guard enhancements. Why don't they actively leave their homes to hunt threats all over your colony? Why don't they teach themselves to play poker, and breed with the women folk to make new generations of even more badass guards? Because there is no functionality in place to do that, and you probably don't know how to code the lua to cause them to do anything of the sort in the first place. Would I be a dick for one-starring you for that? You bet.

    It's all a matter of being objective, not subjective. If the mod was completely busted, your one-star would be perfectly fine. The mod works, does what it says, and makes no promises of being capable of doing anything more.

    Or what? What, exactly, will you do if I "mess with you" for abusing the rating system (for which a moderator has now stepped in to inform you is the case)? Threats are a bit silly, boyo.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2015
  11. MindExplorer

    MindExplorer Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    So remove my "conspiracy theory" then.
    Oh, and has sayter to rewrite his review then?
    "I'd four star normally, but I will 5 star simply because of the previous guy giving a one-star for ridiculous reasons."

    EDIT:
    Sorry, I couldn't resist:

    Released: Yesterday at 10:56 PM,

    Review: Tremerion
    Epic Mod :D so much posibilities
    Yesterday at 11:08 PM
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2015
  12. The | Suit

    The | Suit Agent S. Forum Moderator

    Well - I asked nicely.
    Your review is removed.

    Satyr actually wrote more then you quoted, please don't try to act smart.

    Capture.PNG

    The last the user is saying he enjoyed the mod.
    That is what a review is, some one saying they enjoyed it or didnt.

    Not - "I bet all your friends wrote your reviews"
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2015
  13. sayter

    sayter The Waste of Time


    What does that time-stamp have to do with anything? Guy downloads mod, guy installs mod, guy loads game. Guy tests it and makes a few NPCs to follow him around. Guy likes it. Guy rates 5-stars. That's quite possible within a few minutes. Certainly within the 12 minutes he had after downloading. You're fishing at this point, and finding reasons to hate on this mod that don't really exist in the first place.
     
  14. MindExplorer

    MindExplorer Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    Yes, you did. No one said otherwise.

    As I wished. Thanks.

    I was pointing at the specific part of the review and not trying to play smart. Sorry, if this came across otherwise.

    And the following, I guess you will see it otherwise, is just me applying logic: Sayter clearly stated that he would have given 4 stars, but gave it 5 because of my no longer existing review. What I see is his review revised in text, but still having 5 stars. Which leads me to believe that rating "out of feelings towards other people" is okay, as long as it results in a positive rating.

    And no, I will not discuss this any further. All I wanted to point at and say I did.
    Sorry for the inconvience I caused. Will not happen again, promise. ;)
     
  15. sayter

    sayter The Waste of Time

    and it was left at 5 stars because I fiddled with it, and found no faults worth giving less than what I gave, since it does exactly what it claims it does. Instead, I pointed out that there was room for improvement, and a suggestion on what could be improved.

    Voting high is fine. Voting low is fine, if it has a reason. Your reasons were not sufficient for the rating you gave it. That was the issue, not the review being negative in-and-of itself.

    Let's consider the matter closed, then. There's no harm in simply asking that you be a bit more fair with a review , and make said review about the product itself and not a wish-list of things you would like that even the vanilla product does not currently do out of the box. Now you know, and everyone walks away without raging.
     
  16. Peelz

    Peelz Giant Laser Beams

    Whoah... a lot has happened since I went to bed last night.
    @sayter : thank you for the kind words for my humble mod!
    @MindExplorer : thank you for the feedback. I will do my best to respond to what I can.

    I'm not sure what you mean here. Are you saying that the NPC doesn't swap between weapon sets like vanilla NPCs do? I realize this and am trying to fix it, but I decided to release the mod without this feature due to the fact that NPCs were never designed to be equipped with gear outside of what their JSON dictates, and doing so causes issues with their AI.

    Again, I THINK what you are wanting to see is the current colony-based spawning scripts? That is entirely possible, and I may include that script with the villager NPC, but I intentionally used a different script for the guard so that it would follow you around if you wanted. The colony scripts cause the NPC to despawn if they wander too far from their house.

    It is important to note that this is the initial release of this mod. I would LOVE to implement many quality-of-life improvements in the future though. For now I was just focused on figuring out how to add custom equipment onto NPCs without breaking them.

    This is the result of a conscious decision I made to have the npcs only check for new equipment every 8 seconds or so. I was worried that having a lot of them in one place would cause horrendous lag otherwise.

    I am aware of the issue and hope to release some alternatives soon!

    You are entirely correct Sir, and that is my mistake. I was testing the mod on a previous character who had a previously-existing employer station (in my defense, it IS called a spawner station in the assets) and I was unaware that it was uncraftable in this build. I will fix this ASAP. Rest assured however that there are no "favors" being done here. All those who have downloaded the mod and left any kind of review have done so without any urging from me.


    If anyone else has any comments or criticism for my mod, please feel free to voice them here and I will be more than happy to take them into consideration. That being said, please don't make it a personal thing if you dislike the mod. Modding is a fun hobby for me and I am by no means a professional. Thanks!
     
    Lindazana likes this.
  17. Peelz

    Peelz Giant Laser Beams

    Peelz updated Create-A-Friend with a new update entry:

    The spawners are now, well, craftable :)

    Read the rest of this update entry...
     
  18. sayter

    sayter The Waste of Time

    No worries dude. You got unfairly reviewed over crap that wasn't your fault, for the most part. Just defending a fellow modder from that sort of thing
     
  19. MindExplorer

    MindExplorer Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    You have "forgotten" (maybe not interested in) to add the "alt" (it is defined as "alt" in the guard templates), which stands for the 2nd slot for1-handed weapons. Normal behaviour is: 2-handed weapon = NO alt is used/to see. 1-handed weapon = alt is used/shown (normally a shield or a flashlight or a second 1-handed weapon). Exactly like for the player.

    Then yes, they never switch to the secondary weapon. No matter if it is a gun or a sword. I have tested this several times with several different combinations: P Gun S Sword / P Sword S Gun / P+S Sword / P+S Gun. I have a special "testing room" (originally to test my guard modifications) where I have thrown them against level 7 + 8 monsters repeatedly.

    This would be fantastic! I have been playing around with player-spawned NPCs since the spawners were introduced. AS I see it, the actual "deed-scripts" regarding NPC behaviour bring way more positive than negative. In comparison to the old "spawner-scripts" they are a way better base for modification, IMHO.

    As I tried to point out, and you thankfully confirmed ;)
    - vanilla "deed-guards" go to bed to heal up
    - vanilla "deed-guards" switch to the secondary weapon (if it is melee) when a monster comes very near
    - vanilla "deed-guards" have a fixed "patrol-path" they only leave seldom, if at all
    - vanilla "deed-guards" don't mess around with any doors
    - vanilla "deed-guards" actually guard and don't do random things like the old "spawner-guards"

    That vanilla "deed-guards" don't follow the player any longer I don't see as a huge drawback in relation to the much improved behaviour. But that is personal opinion, I guess. ;)

    Ah, I see... now. ;)

    I haven't looked that deep into the scripts by now. But there should be a way to "save them as is", because that's what vanilla does. What I have no clue of is, if there is an "event" accessible through lua through which to check the end of the interaction with the spawner (spawner closed). So that you could reduce the checks to just this one event. This would solve a lot of "too many timers running" problems.

    Sounds great! Thanks a lot in advance. ;)

    OK. Also very nice to hear. Thanks a lot in advance. ;)

    OK. I have no reason to distrust your word after your very kind and detailed explanations. Please understand that a 5-star review 12 minutes after the MOD was released made my alarm bells ring. And the following reviews also all being 5-star without mentioning what you yourself just said is fully correct: In v1.0 no one can craft the pods the way described in the info didn't help to make them stop. I had to look at every station there is to finally find them under the 3D-Printer.

    As I said in my first comment here: It was after 3 hours of me searching where to actually craft the pods to then see the old "spawner-scripts" being in action and not the new ones, which made me very disappointed. Then I came back to write my comment and remembered all the 5-star ratings at which I then took a closer look. The rest is known.

    I never developed any hate towards you! ...and it looks like I will have no reason to do so ever. ;)
     
  20. sayter

    sayter The Waste of Time

    See how much simpler the entire thing would have been, had you approached this calmly and rationally rather than flying off the handle? That's what I got bent out of shape over it.

    Glad to see you realized the error of your ways.

    We good?
     

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