Sometimes a mod needs to store some NPC related data. The simplest way to do it is to use global or local variables. And it works fine if your mod affects only a couple of NPCs. But what if you want to do something like making NPCs remember the day they met PC so you can use it in dialogue? This can be done by adding an item to NPCs' inventory. The item should be a light with no "can carry" flag so that player can not steal or loot it. But unfortunately NPCs equip at night any light they have and when they equip a light that has no "can carry" flag they look like they are holding an invisible torch. The good news is that there is a simple workaround for this bug. The following script adds "dummy_light" object to NPCs ( the number of copies added is the day of the month they meet PC ) and makes sure they don't equip it. The script uses MWSE functions so it has to be compiled in MWedit.
begin example_script
short state
short count
short workaround
If ( state == 0 )
If ( GetDistance Player <= 256 )
return
endif
endif
if ( reload_detector->getscale < 3.0 ) ; reload_detector is a persistent item reference
reload_detector->setscale 3.0
set workaround to 1
endif
ifx ( state )
else
set count to day
xadditem "dummy_light" count ; additem does not accept variables
set state to 1
endif
ifx ( workaround )
if ( getInterior == 1 )
set workaround to 0 ; NPCs don't equip lights in interior cells
return
endif
if ( gamehour < 20.15 ) ; NPCs equip lights only when gamehour is between 20 and 20.15
return
elseif ( gamehour > 7.5 )
return
endif
set count to getitemcount "dummy_light"
xremoveitem "dummy_light" count
xadditem "dummy_light" count ; after this NPCs will never equip dummy_light again unless game is reloaded
set workaround to 0
endif
end