using near infinity...very odd

metalmunki

So I'm happily browsing through NI, when I notice something odd: party-joinable NPCs don't appear to be called in the ARE files as actors (which is where you expect them to be).

Example: Looking at AR5405, under actors it has: Kobold, Kobold, Kobold, Kobold, Mulahey..

Where the hell is Xan? I checked the link area script as well and all that contains is the script to change chapters when the letter is picked up, not even a mention of how the skeletons get spawned when Mulahey is triggered into attacking. It seems really odd to me, admittedly as a noob, that stuff like that isn't just there as it intuitively would be. What if you want to change that actors settings in the area? Or add him to another area? Seems very odd. What am I missing?

CrevsDaak

I think he is spawned via an area BCS (script).
Maybe there are several versions of the same ARE file, with different actors.

Mathsorcerer

NPC locations are built into the game itself, not the areas. If you start a new game, save, quit, then analyze the baldur.sav file you can look at the NPC list and it will show you where they are. You can change where the NPCs show up via script, of course, but some NPCs come with built-in quests and if you move them you might accidentally mess up their quest. For example, making Safana show up at the Friendly Arm Inn when you are level 1 or 2 will make it difficult to find the pirate treasure for which she seeks in only 5 days.

Wisp

It's not built into the game. The location of vanilla, joinable NPCs is controlled from baldur.gam. Most NPC mods use scripts and such instead.

metalmunki

Excellent, thanks for the clarification guys