The Manipulator

[Guest ffabris]

Ok, [phew] 

[Grey Cloud]

 

 

 

I do admit that I use more than a handful of mods, in general. There's LAL, Immersive Armors, Immersive Weapons, Apocalyptic Spells, Inconsequential NPCs, No Magic Ninja Dodge, No Smoke, Black books Begone, etc, etc. But that's part of the reason to keep the number of adult mods to a reasonable level - there's already so many mods that are practically required.

 

On the funny side, I can now run a LOT more mods! Turns out I've NEVER had SKSE.ini in the right directory, so it's never been setting the memory block sizes larger in turn allowing more mods. SKSE doesn't complain if it can't find the ini file, so I never noticed. Herp-a-derp!

Could you please explain the 2nd paragraph?

 

 

Yeah, I've always put the SKSE.ini file in data/SKSE/plugins/. It SHOULD go into data/SKSE/. Then I ran into the second most common issue with skse: if you don't run Skyrim from Steam, you need to use the -forcesteamloader option with skse-loader.exe or it ignores the ini file even if it's in the right location. 90% of hits I got on google for people not getting the memory block features of skse 1.7.x working were all using a shortcut for skse-loader on the desktop. If you do so, you can add the -forcesteamloader option in the shortcut properties. In my case, I run skse-loader from the Nostromo profile manager app, which didn't allow me to pass a command line option. So I made a bat file that has but one line - "skse-loader.exe -forcesteamloader" and that finally got the skse memory block handling working for me.

 

I'd have never realized it wasn't working for me if I hadn't updated the Crash Fix skse plugin. The newest version checks the heap, and if it's not been set to at least 768, it warns you that you can have crashes. I was stunned when I got that warning since I thought I had been doing things right for the last TWO YEARS. So I checked and found I had the ini file in the wrong place. I moved the ini file, and still got the warning, so I checked again and found the info on -forcesteamloader. I made the bat file, and the warning finally went away... and things are MUCH better!

 

You can get the Crash Fix plugin here: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/72725/?

 

If you don't get a warning about the heap being too small, you're fine. If you get a warning, you might try what I did. It worked for me.

 

Thanks a lot,

My ini file is in the correct place and the memory settings are correct BUT I don't use the default Steam path. I'll try the CF plugin tomorrow and see what happens.

 

Hi JLF65,

I installed the plug-in and didn't get any error messages. (When and where do they appear?).

I had a read of the info on the Nexus mod descriptiion page and my ini files were both in accordance to what he recommends. I had done some digging and followed a tutorial a few months back (S.T.E.P. Project maybe?).

Hard to tell if it has made any difference as I fiddling with my install for several weeks and things are gradually getting better (famous last words...)

Biggest improvement I got was when I stopped running Skyrim in windowed mode. Everything got brighter as if the gamma had been cranked up. Even the dark and dismal interiors of ffabris' various men's clubs mods improved (he calls it 'romantic lighting' [snigger].

 

 

[Guest]

Elf Prince, on 06 May 2016 - 07:13 AM, said:

ffabris - thank you for your answer.

Well, i think I was right when saying that Save cleaner tool doesn't clean all files from uninstalled mods. I rechecked my game again and here is what I discovered:

 

If you add NPC that was your follower to your harem, that NPC is being "locked", unable to interact with. Once the mod is uninstalled, that particular NPC is "unlocked" and interaction is restored. Now, After doing a clean save with Save tool cleaner, the traces of that NPC are still present in DATA/SKSE/Plugins/StorageUtildata/Manipulator and installing new version (2.9), locks that NPC again. So, After clean save, manual deletion of Manipulator folder from that directory is also needed. I did that and that particular NPC wasn't locked for interaction.

 

2016-05-06 07_05_17-Manipulator.png

 

There is nothing in that file that could "lock" NPCs. It stores hotkeys and other stuff from Settings; it stores saved NPC stats from People but those are not automatically loaded; and then it saves defined outfits. So I dunno. Conflicting hotkey?

 

Added: If you're not dismissing harem members before cleaning the save, that might be the problem. They remain attached to scripts and forms which no longer exist. When cleaning, are you also removing deleted form, or just scripts? If you're leaving the forms, then that may well be why they end up locked

 

Answer: When doing cleaning, I do both, but still, Manipulator json file remains in SKSE folder. I don't know how to explain but deleting json file, unlock ex harem members that become locked with installation of the new version. Anyhow, after deletion that file I have no more "locking" issues.

[JLF65]

Ok, [phew] 

 

The last one you posted worked with SLA installed, but disabled. Had to wait a minute before it added the menu. On previous tests, I did wait to see if it was just slow, but I didn't wait more than three or four minutes. Is there some kind of loop you do waiting to see if things like SLA are present? Maybe your loop timeout is just a wee bit long.

 

 

 

I installed the plug-in and didn't get any error messages. (When and where do they appear?).

I had a read of the info on the Nexus mod descriptiion page and my ini files were both in accordance to what he recommends. I had done some digging and followed a tutorial a few months back (S.T.E.P. Project maybe?).

Hard to tell if it has made any difference as I fiddling with my install for several weeks and things are gradually getting better (famous last words...)

Biggest improvement I got was when I stopped running Skyrim in windowed mode. Everything got brighter as if the gamma had been cranked up. Even the dark and dismal interiors of ffabris' various men's clubs mods improved (he calls it 'romantic lighting' [snigger].

 

 

The warning only appears when you load a save game. If you sit at the main menu, you never see the warning. I imagine it would show on a new game, but I didn't try that. If you get into the game and start playing without a warning, you're good.

 

You have to be careful when people tell you to edit the ini file. Best to look up the entries to see what they do first before screwing with them. I've edited the shadow entries to take care of the awful shadow handling in vanilla, and the grass entries to work with Grass on Steroids (HIGHLY recommended).

[Guest ffabris]

Answer: When doing cleaning, I do both, but still, Manipulator json file remains in SKSE folder. I don't know how to explain but deleting json file, unlock ex harem members that become locked with installation of the new version. Anyhow, after deletion that file I have no more "locking" issues.

OK - except nothing in the JSON can do that. My guess is that you loaded the game, saw a locked NPC, saved, quit, deleted the file, reloaded ... but what fixed the issues was saving, which cleared empty forms. But yeah, that's a guess. I think the issue really is, cleaning without first dismissing harem members.

 

The last one you posted worked with SLA installed, but disabled. Had to wait a minute before it added the menu. On previous tests, I did wait to see if it was just slow, but I didn't wait more than three or four minutes. Is there some kind of loop you do waiting to see if things like SLA are present? Maybe your loop timeout is just a wee bit long.

No loop, no.

    If (Game.GetModByName("SexLabAroused.esm") != -1) && (Game.GetModByName("SexLabAroused.esm") != 255)
        sla = Game.GetFormFromFile(0x4290F, "SexLabAroused.esm") as slaFrameworkScr
    EndIf

Simple check.

 

 

[kujoe]

 

The Harem essentially overrides everything, by design. It has to in order for it to be able to control NPCs which might also be under the control of high priority quests. As Karlpaws said, if you need/want an NPC to follow, release from the harem, then you can get him/her to follow again.

 

 

Thanks for the clarifiaction from you both. 

 

Sorry, just another question: the description mentions that you can marry harem members but upon release from the harem, that npc is automatically divorced. So, if I were to include Lydia in the harem and marry her and then take her out of it to be my adventuring companion, she is divorced automatically, correct? And then I can include her in the harem again, from which she can be married again, if I so choose.

 

Pardon me for asking, but isn't that a bit immersion-breaking... I guess, is the right word? It seems weird that the factions are switching in repeatedly, back and forth if the npc is a follower that you can take with you. Is it possible for npcs to at least stay married even when they're off the harem?

[Guest ffabris]

Sorry, just another question: the description mentions that you can marry harem members but upon release from the harem, that npc is automatically divorced. So, if I were to include Lydia in the harem and marry her and then take her out of it to be my adventuring companion, she is divorced automatically, correct? And then I can include her in the harem again, from which she can be married again, if I so choose.

 

Pardon me for asking, but isn't that a bit immersion-breaking... I guess, is the right word? It seems weird that the factions are switching in repeatedly, back and forth if the npc is a follower that you can take with you. Is it possible for npcs to at least stay married even when they're off the harem?

Think of the harem for being what the (admittedly stereotypical) concept of it is: a bunch of people you have around because they look good and have a good time with. If you want an NPC to be mainly a follower, then keep him/her that way, and don't use harem on him/her at all.

 

The idea of dismissing a harem NPC is that you're allowing them to return to their usual "life". Thus you also should forfeit your marital relationship, since you've just kicked them out, basically. Dismissed NPCs are also downgraded one rank from lover - for the same reason.

[kujoe]

Think of the harem for being what the (admittedly stereotypical) concept of it is: a bunch of people you have around because they look good and have a good time with. If you want an NPC to be mainly a follower, then keep him/her that way, and don't use harem on him/her at all.

 

The idea of dismissing a harem NPC is that you're allowing them to return to their usual "life". Thus you also should forfeit your marital relationship, since you've just kicked them out, basically. Dismissed NPCs are also downgraded one rank from lover - for the same reason.

 

I see. Thanks for the explanation.

 

Originally, I was thinking of using the harem system as mainly a way to gather followers plus possibly spouse(s) all in one large home. If this is the case, I guess I would have to think of another way to go about it .

[Guest ffabris]

Originally, I was thinking of using the harem system as mainly a way to gather followers plus possibly spouse(s) all in one large home. If this is the case, I guess I would have to think of another way to go about it .

For that, you're better off using some other existing mod, like My Home is Your Home, for example. Since such mods already exist, I didn't want to re-invent the wheel. Harem is, therefore, much simpler.

[Grey Cloud]

ffabris,

What is the difference between a place being player owned and player faction owned? (I'm tempted to ask why we can't just rent but I wont).

[Grey Cloud]

 

Originally, I was thinking of using the harem system as mainly a way to gather followers plus possibly spouse(s) all in one large home. If this is the case, I guess I would have to think of another way to go about it .

For that, you're better off using some other existing mod, like My Home is Your Home, for example. Since such mods already exist, I didn't want to re-invent the wheel. Harem is, therefore, much simpler.

 

 

A follower mod such as IAFT will do that. Just tell the follower to 'wait here' and then when you want them as a side-kick tell them 'follow me'. The 'here' in 'wait here' can be anywhere, it doesn't have to be your own place. You could, for instance, put a follower in every inn in Skyrim.

 

[Guest ffabris]

ffabris,

What is the difference between a place being player owned and player faction owned? (I'm tempted to ask why we can't just rent but I wont).

 

More broadly, what's the difference between owned by an individual or a faction? Factions can include multiple individuals. So a family living in a home would have a faction, with each family member being part of it. The home would then be owned by their faction, and therefore, all family members.

 

Same thing applies to Player vs PlayerFaction. The vanilla game sets the housecarls you can acquire to be members of PlayerFaction, so they have full access to any home owned by that faction, along with any items set as owned by the faction.

 

Most of the time, the distinction won't make any difference. But you can imagine a scenario like this (which I have observed): you have a housecarl, and use MHIYH (or similar) to have him/her guard the interior of a house owned by PlayerFaction. If any NPC enters who is not part of PlayerFaction, the housecarl will become aggressive to them.

 

 

 

Originally, I was thinking of using the harem system as mainly a way to gather followers plus possibly spouse(s) all in one large home. If this is the case, I guess I would have to think of another way to go about it .

For that, you're better off using some other existing mod, like My Home is Your Home, for example. Since such mods already exist, I didn't want to re-invent the wheel. Harem is, therefore, much simpler.

 

 

A follower mod such as IAFT will do that. Just tell the follower to 'wait here' and then when you want them as a side-kick tell them 'follow me'. The 'here' in 'wait here' can be anywhere, it doesn't have to be your own place. You could, for instance, put a follower in every inn in Skyrim.

 

 

 

Yep... that too. MHIYH just offers a lot more micromanagement than most follower mods do.

[Grey Cloud]

 

ffabris,

What is the difference between a place being player owned and player faction owned? (I'm tempted to ask why we can't just rent but I wont).

 

More broadly, what's the difference between owned by an individual or a faction? Factions can include multiple individuals. So a family living in a home would have a faction, with each family member being part of it. The home would then be owned by their faction, and therefore, all family members.

 

Same thing applies to Player vs PlayerFaction. The vanilla game sets the housecarls you can acquire to be members of PlayerFaction, so they have full access to any home owned by that faction, along with any items set as owned by the faction.

 

Most of the time, the distinction won't make any difference. But you can imagine a scenario like this (which I have observed): you have a housecarl, and use MHIYH (or similar) to have him/her guard the interior of a house owned by PlayerFaction. If any NPC enters who is not part of PlayerFaction, the housecarl will become aggressive to them.

 

 

 

Originally, I was thinking of using the harem system as mainly a way to gather followers plus possibly spouse(s) all in one large home. If this is the case, I guess I would have to think of another way to go about it .

For that, you're better off using some other existing mod, like My Home is Your Home, for example. Since such mods already exist, I didn't want to re-invent the wheel. Harem is, therefore, much simpler.

 

 

A follower mod such as IAFT will do that. Just tell the follower to 'wait here' and then when you want them as a side-kick tell them 'follow me'. The 'here' in 'wait here' can be anywhere, it doesn't have to be your own place. You could, for instance, put a follower in every inn in Skyrim.

 

 

 

Yep... that too. MHIYH just offers a lot more micromanagement than most follower mods do.

 

Thanks ffabris,

The difference is simple and obvious now I've seen it written down.

I have MHIYH installed but I don't use it as such. I'm thinking of uninstalling it as it will at least reduce the number of entries in dialogues. Manipulator and IAFT would between them, hopefully, provide all I need and one less mod.

[Guest ffabris]

The difference is simple and obvious now I've seen it written down.

I have MHIYH installed but I don't use it as such. I'm thinking of uninstalling it as it will at least reduce the number of entries in dialogues. Manipulator and IAFT would between them, hopefully, provide all I need and one less mod.

OK ... whatever works best for you.

[Repofd]

Hello. I installed The Manipulator 2.9 and I cannot access it in MCM. I want the option to change an NPC's apperance

[Grey Cloud]

Hello. I installed The Manipulator 2.9 and I cannot access it in MCM. I want the option to change an NPC's apperance

 

In MCM it is called 'Manipulator' not 'The Manipulator' so perhaps you missed it? Also, if by 'appearance' you mean the face/body then Manipulator does not do that as such.  What it does is give you access to Bodyslide (via a hotkey if you wish) where you can change some aspects of the body (not the head/face). You can also change clothing/armour with Manipulator.

 

[JLF65]

2.9 and earlier have a requirement for SL Aroused. The 3.0 test posted in thread allows you to have SLA installed, but turned off. Also, I've noticed that my install of Skyrim takes almost a full minute for some mods' menus to get registered with MCM, so maybe you aren't waiting long enough. So that's my suggestions: install SL and SLA (but don't turn on SLA if using the 3.0 test), and wait longer.

 

[Repofd]

 

Hello. I installed The Manipulator 2.9 and I cannot access it in MCM. I want the option to change an NPC's apperance

 

In MCM it is called 'Manipulator' not 'The Manipulator' so perhaps you missed it? Also, if by 'appearance' you mean the face/body then Manipulator does not do that as such.  What it does is give you access to Bodyslide (via a hotkey if you wish) where you can change some aspects of the body (not the head/face). You can also change clothing/armour with Manipulator.

 

 

Oh I have misread it. I want to change the faces using the race menu for NPCs ingame. I have been using Alternate Actors from the Nexus but it does have issues with saving faces. I wanted an alternative. However 'The Manipulator' does not show up in my game despite making a new game. I use 'Jaxonz MCM Kicker' which uses setstage SKI_ConfigManagerInstance 1 in the console each time the game is loaded. 

[Guest ffabris]

Oh I have misread it. I want to change the faces using the race menu for NPCs ingame. I have been using Alternate Actors from the Nexus but it does have issues with saving faces. I wanted an alternative. However 'The Manipulator' does not show up in my game despite making a new game. I use 'Jaxonz MCM Kicker' which uses setstage SKI_ConfigManagerInstance 1 in the console each time the game is loaded.

Changing the face is not possible with Manipulator; it would result in grey face in-game.

 

As for the MCM not being available, make sure you have all requirements installed, even the optional ones, to be safe.

[ranrou]

Great mod . thanks

i used manipulator with RaceMenu Overlay Compilation.

 

so i can change easily npc follower bodytype and tanlines.

i think this mod like MHYH and Bodytype.

 

last problem is finding house suitable for harem.

 

[PervyPotter]

Great mod . thanks

i used manipulator with RaceMenu Overlay Compilation.

 

so i can change easily npc follower bodytype and tanlines.

i think this mod like MHYH and Bodytype.

 

last problem is finding house suitable for harem.

 

Here's a couple of mods with room for about 40 npcs each  http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/59543/?

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/61812/?

 

Two mods that are very near each other in Whiterun with room for 20 npcs each, they're from the same mod auther and don't conflict with each other so if you want the harem in Whiterun these two mods are useful http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/45370/?   and    http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/49289/?

[Nepro]

I change outfits by making a NPC a follower and changing their inventory through EFF. Then I dismiss them. Would that break that NPC and its quests? Because I don't know how to use this outfit option.

[PervyPotter]

I change outfits by making a NPC a follower and changing their inventory through EFF. Then I dismiss them. Would that break that NPC and its quests? Because I don't know how to use this outfit option.

 

It's not likely to break the npc or any quests related to the npc, but if you removed their default clothes/armour and gave them something else they could end up walking around naked eventually.

 

Most vanilla npcs seem to eventually become incapable of wearing non default clothes/armour when released from the control of a follower mod, they'll happily stroll around naked rather than wear items in their inventory.

[Bondage-Sealed]

i have to say i love this mod an all in one package it is in my essentials list

[Guest ffabris]

Great mod . thanks

Glad you like!  

 

I change outfits by making a NPC a follower and changing their inventory through EFF. Then I dismiss them. Would that break that NPC and its quests? Because I don't know how to use this outfit option.

I don't know exactly how EFF handles outfits. Manipulator doesn't equip/unequip items, but rather changes the default outfit for the NPC. So the NPC will continue to wear that outfit unless you change it again. The one exception is harem members, who will revert to their original outfit when dismissed.

 

i have to say i love this mod an all in one package it is in my essentials list

Thank you!