Skyrim Control NPC Tech Demo

[fingerscrossed]

After having an idea or two and working on it the last day or two, I wanted to post a short tech demo of some things I figured out for controlling an NPC.  I had been somewhat interested in having the ability to control an NPC, particularly for things like combat, when the player is bound and therefore a non-combatant. Most control NPC things I've found don't really have that good of functionality, so I decided to see if I could make something that might be interesting. Attached in the 7z is an ~3min video (Warning: Video is NSFW with PC outfit) of controlling an NPC with a little more capability than most other mods I've seen that do something similar.  Brief synopsis of video and what I was able to do:

At the start of the video, you see the player character is currently yoked.  A nearby mercenary offers his services to help escort her safely to her destination.  She accepts, tells him he can lead, and picks the destination of Riverwood from a list.  As part of accepting, the player is set to be running AI and has a package to follow the escort.  The area around Whiterun is somewhat janky for this, so that's why you see some of the escort moving to the end of the leash distance for escorting and stopping before the player moves (As well as some use of TC to move the PC along). ((These are things that are relatively known))

After a few moments of this, PC talks to the mercenary and selects and option to take control of the mercenary (~1min 10 sec mark) - (There's some weird player movement here that's the result of the janky whiterun pathing and starting a conversation).  Controls and PoV switch over to the Mercenary. ((These are things that are relatively known))

 

For a quick demo, Mercenary draws his weapon (using the r key on a keybind) and takes a few swings with it (using left click on a keybind).  After that, he switches to a spell (using a keybind) and casts a summon spell, summoning an animate weapon (using left click on a keybind).  ((These are things that, to my knowledge, are new))

 

After this, the Mercenary moves towards the gate.  The gate is selected in the console, and a keybind is pressed causing the Mercenary to go through the gate and enter Whiterun.  The Camera glitches out for a moment before the player then follows them into Whiterun.  ((This is also new to my knowledge, and the activation should also work for other items selected in console))

 

At the entrance to Whiterun, a simple method of starting conversations (using the e key on a keybind) is shown both starting a conversation with the "player" (actually themself, but with modified dialogue condition to make it seem like the player is the one being spoken to) and then the player is told to stay where they are as the controlled NPC ventures into Whiterun.  Along the way, they speak with other NPCs starting conversations even when further away from the player.  ((Relatively new to my knowledge))

 

Finally, near the end of the video, the controlled NPCs takes a few more swings for good measure and then goes into sneak stance. ((Sneak stance separate from player sneaking also I believe new?))

 

I don't currently have any intentions on developing this along and releasing it, but it seemed like something worth posting out there in case someone did.

Skyrim Special Edition 2025-01-26 16-58-44.7z