[Corylea]

Morgwin asked if Geralt could have a pet.  I wasn't so sure that this would work with who Geralt is, but then E-ahmet suggested a white wolf.  Oooh.  That might be fun.



Summary:  This mod adds a white wolf to the game, one that follows Geralt around and fights for him.  I made it at the request of Morgwin and E-ahmet, so credit for the idea goes to them.

It takes the wolf a few seconds to join you when you go to a new area, so when you go to a new place, you should stand still for 3 - 4 seconds to allow your wolf to catch up with you.


WHERE TO GET IT:
You can get this at The Witcher Nexus or at corylea.com


INSTALLATION:  Download ONE of the folders, unzip it, and put all of the files it contains into your Override folder.  If you don't have an Override folder, then you'll need to make one.  The Override folder does NOT go into the Witcher folder where your saved games are; it goes in the Witcher folder where the game data is.  This is The Witcher Enhanced Edition\Data; in XP, the complete path is C:\Program Files\The Witcher Enhanced Edition\Data\Override


Versions

New in the "Whistles" version:  At the request of Blacklimo, I've added some wolf-management items.  These are in the form of whistles, since wolves' domesticated brethren, dogs, are often controlled with whistles.  Dog whistles are too high for humans to hear, so of course you won't hear anything when Geralt blows the whistles. )  They're quest items, so that they won't take up space in your regular inventory; remember to use the little arrows on the right and left side of your quest inventory to scroll it if you need to.

There are three whistles:

1.  The GOLD whistle causes the wolf to be created in any area that it isn't already in.  If Geralt already has a wolf in that area -- but you can't see it at the moment because it's somewhere else -- then no new wolves will be created.  Wait a moment and see if your wolf runs up to you.

2.  The SILVER whistle causes the wolf to go away.  He won't vanish instantly; he'll kind of fade out over a second or two.  Since the creature isn't spawned in the normal way, I couldn't have him run off, but at least I can have him fade out.  I guess maybe the wolf is partly spectral. )

3.  The RED whistle causes a new wolf to be created, even if the gold whistle thought you already had a wolf in the area.  You can use the red whistle if your wolf has gotten lost or if you just want two wolves.  Hell, you can have six or seven if you want, though that might slow your game down a bit. )  If you have used the red whistle, the silver whistle will get rid of your FIRST wolf in the area.  If the wolf that's in front of you is your second wolf, you'll need to blow the silver whistle again to make it go away.

If you decide to stop using the Wolf Companion Mod, I recommend that you blow the silver whistle to get rid of your wolf before uninstalling the mod, so that the game doesn't look for a now non-existent character.

The WithOUT Whistles Version doesn't contain any whistles, for those who don't want to have to manage their wolf.  The wolf will show up much of the time but not all of the time, as explained in the "Details" section.


Details: This wolf will spawn in most outdoor areas and a few indoor ones, but it won't go everywhere with you.  It stays outside when you go into houses.  (I mean really, how many householders allow wolves in the door? ) )  It won't go some places until certain things happen; for example, it will spawn in Triss's house at the start of Chapter 3, but it's not good with stairs, so it won't go downstairs with you, which means that it won't go out the door into the Trade Quarter with you. BUT, if you go to the Temple Quarter via the gate, then go back to the Trade Quarter, also via the gate, then the wolf will be outside in the Trade Quarter with you.

The wolf will help Geralt fight when he goes into combat mode, but it's not generally aggressive; it will only attack your enemies.  The wolf can't be killed, so you needn't worry about keeping it alive.  Just defend yourself; Wolfie will be fine. )

I wasn't completely sure what to name the wolf.  I mean, a man who calls his horse "Roach" could very well name a wolf "Flea" or "Chigger" or something. )  I finally decided to simply call it "Geralt's Wolf," and if you want to rename it, you can.


--->     Thanks to J_Slash for the def_arealoaded.ncs script.     <----


How to make the Wolf Companion Mod work with other mods:

There are several mods that use the def_arealoaded.ncs script; here's how to make them work together, even though they'd normally conflict.

Put ONE of the mods --not the Wolf mod, one of the other ones -- in your Override folder, start the game, and wait until Geralt has been given the item(s).  Then save and exit the game and add the files for the second mod to the same folder as the first.  The files for the new mod have to be in the same folder, because you'll need to let custom_script for the second mod will overwrite the first one in your Override folder.  This is okay because you already have the item(s) from the first mod, and it's a different script that adds functionality to the items; all custom_script does is give the items to Geralt.  Start your game up again, wait a few seconds, and you should get the second item(s) added.  Keep doing this until you have everything you want -- J_Slash's "stuff," my stop-the-rain scroll, whatever you want.

Once you have everything you want except for the Wolf Companion mod, THEN add the Wolf Companion mod to the same folder; the custom_script for that will overwrite the other one, but that's okay, because Geralt already has his stuff.  Since the wolf gets "added" frequently, he needs to have the custom_script in the Override folder all the time, whereas most items are only added once, so the custom_script for those items can be dispensed with once Geralt has the yellow scroll, the "stuff" items, and so forth.

This mod will still conflict with mods that alter the appearance.2da.  Also, it's intended for use with the main game and will screw up the appearance of any fan-made adventure that adds new clothes or colors to the characters.





How to Rename the Wolf: You can call your wolf anything from "Wolfgang" to "Sugar Lumps," provided that you have Djinni installed.  To rename your wolf, start Djinni.  If the Resources Explorer is not open, open it by going to the menus at the top of Djinni.  Go to View, then down to Utility Windows, then across to Resources Explorer.

The Resources Explorer will show you everything that's in your Data directory.  Go to the Override folder, then to ck_wolf.utc.  Double-click on that, and a box will pop up.  The very first line in the box says "First Name."  Type anything you want in there, then save it, and that will be the name of your wolf.


Have fun!

[Ralf Duben]

Thanks. Should make the long roads less lonely :D

I really appreciate that you would take a complete strangers request and make it happen.

Thanks again!

[Corylea]

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I really appreciate that you would take a complete strangers request and make it happen.

*smile*  You're welcome.  I love this game, and I like to encourage that love in others.  So play The Witcher lots, and I'll be happy. :-)

[fchopin]

Does the wolf do anything else apart from travelling with Geralt?

[e-ahmet]

Wow! That's brilliant! Thanks for this. I actually wasn't so sure that we'd get a mod since I was just speculating and I being a mere community member. This wolf looks good with its current size. Now I think an overgrown one would be too much as it could shade magnificence of our Geralt. I'm really greatful. Thanks again.

[Ralf Duben]

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Does the wolf do anything else apart from travelling with Geralt?

Attack enemies ;)

Corylea...

I was wondering how you managed to make a great companion in such a short time. i might start using the D'jinni :).

For example if i wanted to make a human companion for personal use would it be very difficult?

Thanks.

[Corylea]

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Does the wolf do anything else apart from travelling with Geralt?

As Morgwin said, the wolf will also attack enemies.  I didn't give the wolf superhero powers or anything -- those belong to Geralt :-) -- it's the standard wolf attack.  Probably the most helpful thing the wolf does is draw the enemies' fire.  And the wolf isn't with you for every fight -- he can't cross the fire the Beast lays down, for example, and he doesn't go into houses.

The wolf also has some "dialogue," though only a tiny amount, since wolves don't say much. :-)

Wolfie is mostly intended to be a companion ... but I couldn't make any companion animal of Geralt's a total wimp, Dandelion not withstanding. :-)

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Wow! That's brilliant! Thanks for this.

You're welcome!

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I actually wasn't so sure that we'd get a mod since I was just speculating and I being a mere community member.

I'm also a mere community member.  Not only do I not work for CDPR, I'm not even a moderator, just another forum member, like you.

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This wolf looks good with its current size. Now I think an overgrown one would be too much as it could shade magnificence of our Geralt. I'm really greatful. Thanks again.

I'm glad you're happy with the size!  And you're welcome.  Thanks for saying the thing that sparked my imagination and made me want to take on this project.

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Does the wolf do anything else apart from travelling with Geralt?

Attack enemies ;)

I assume this means that you've tried Wolfie out in your game, and he's showing up okay (given that he doesn't show up everywhere)?

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I was wondering how you managed to make a great companion in such a short time.

Er, actually, I'm embarrassed that it took me all weekend.  But part of that was that I'd get sucked into the game whenever I started testing and would play for much longer than I "needed" to. :-)

There are two main ways that characters get into the game:
1)  Through Story NPC files, where the character's file has to be added to the module properties at the beginning of every chapter, and
2)  Through spawn sets, where the spawn set is enabled or disabled by a script or quest phase.

For both of these, there have to be spawn points in every area where the character will be, to spawn the character.

I first tried spawn sets and then NPC story files, which means that I first tried adding spawn points to every major area.  The good thing about that is that the wolf could go with you anywhere where I was willing to plunk down a spawn point.  The bad thing is that, to have one lousy wolf, players would have to add modified copies of every area in the game.

After spending all day Saturday testing various versions of this, I went to bed Saturday night thinking there must be some simpler solution.

I woke up Sunday wondering if I could create new spawn points using a script.  I knew how to create new placeables -- there's an invisible placeable created in "The Price of Neutrality" to provide a target for Sabrina's teleport special effect (when she comes in to look at Eskel, after the archespores attack him) and I've adapted that for something I'm doing in "Medical Problems, Chapter 2."  So can I create a spawnpoint?

Well, I looked at the create function, and it won't create spawnpoints.  One can create placeables or items or ... wait, CREATURES?  Oh!

I scrapped all the new versions of areas with special wolf spawnpoints and made a script that would create a wolf when Geralt first lands in an area.  I tried a version of that where I didn't check the number of creatures.  When I tested that, I found that a new wolf would spawn on every loading of an area, even if Geralt already had one.  I should have abandoned that one right away, but the growing number of wolves was actually kind of fun, and I finished Chapter 1 with a pack of seven wolves following me around.  I kinda miss them, now. :-)

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i might start using the D'jinni :).

Cool!  Please do.

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For example if i wanted to make a human companion for personal use would it be very difficult?

All you need to do to replace the wolf with a human is to take the "ck_wolf.utc" file out of your override folder and add in a different character template.  You can make a character file in Djinni quite easily.  There's a list of which appearances belong to which characters here and a description of how to make a new character here.  I'd offer to make you any character you wanted, but it would be much more exciting for you to learn how to do it in Djinni!

To make this character work with the existing script, give the character the tag (there's a tag box in Djinni; you'll see it) ck_wolf. 

Or you can redo the script with a new tag.  Open custom_script.nss in Djinni. 
Find the line object oPetwolf = GetObjectByTag("ck_wolf"); 
Change ck_wolf to something else, then make sure your new character's tag is whatever you put here. 
Then go down a couple of lines to
{CreateObject(OBJECT_TYPE_CREATURE,
  "ck_wolf",
  GetLocation(oPC),
  FALSE,
  "");
Again, change ck_wolf to something else, then make sure your new character's tag is whatever you put here.  SAVE the script and check the Aurora log to make sure it compiles correctly.

For my wolf, both the TAG and the FILE NAME are ck_wolf.  If you take the FILE ck_wolf out of your Override folder, you can make any kind of character you want with the TAG ck_wolf, and that character will spawn, not my wolf.  So you don't need to mess with changing tags in the script unless you like playing with scripts.

If you want the character to talk (Wolfie has some "conversation" if you click on it, but obviously, wolves don't say much :-) ), you'll need to create a conversation file as well, and assign it to the character's template.

[Ralf Duben]

Thanks, Im gonna have a look at what i can do in D'jinni. I hate requesting things and would rather try to do them myself :)

[Corylea]

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Thanks, Im gonna have a look at what i can do in D'jinni. I hate requesting things and would rather try to do them myself :)

I understand completely!

Muhahaha, and another modder is born!

[e-ahmet]

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I'm also a mere community member.  Not only do I not work for CDPR, I'm not even a moderator, just another forum member, like you.

Yeah, yet you're a skillful, hardworking modder which gains every community member's respect. I'm glad there are people who take upon this task of bringing more joy to the players.

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I'm glad you're happy with the size!  And you're welcome.  Thanks for saying the thing that sparked my imagination and made me want to take on this project.

No need mentioning it ;) I also would like to point out I'm most amazed like morgwin how swiftly you made it into a mod.

[Ralf Duben]

IM having some trouble replacing the Wolf template in Djinni.

When i try dragging it into the Wolfs folder it doesn't seems to copy.

[Corylea]

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IM having some trouble replacing the Wolf template in Djinni.

When i try dragging it into the Wolfs folder it doesn't seems to copy.

Make a new character template in Djinni.
Save the template.
Close Djinni.
Using Windows Explorer, go to The Witcher Enhanced Edition\Data.
Select your new character template and move it to the Override folder.
Open the Override folder, make sure your new character template copied okay, and make sure you deleted the wolf character template.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of character did you make?

[Ralf Duben]

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IM having some trouble replacing the Wolf template in Djinni.

When i try dragging it into the Wolfs folder it doesn't seems to copy.

Make a new character template in Djinni.
Save the template.
Close Djinni.
Using Windows Explorer, go to The Witcher Enhanced Edition\Data.
Select your new character template and move it to the Override folder.
Open the Override folder, make sure your new character template copied okay, and make sure you deleted the wolf character template.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of character did you make?

I based him on one of the town guards, He's ingame now ;). How can i make him follow Geralt everywhere? He shouldn't be left outside im in the cold :P

[Corylea]

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How can i make him follow Geralt everywhere? He shouldn't be left outside im in the cold :P

The only way I know of to make a character follow Geralt EVERYwhere is to use the first method I started -- the one I scrapped -- that would give the character a spawnpoint in every area of the game.  Not only would that be a lot of work, but it would mean that the player would have to replace the area files for the whole damned game.  The simpler method I ended up using has the character with Geralt in some places but not others.

Or do you just mean "follow" as in "run along behind"?  The script should be making the character do that, but you can set ROLE_PC_FOLLOWER under "Profile" in the character template, to make sure.  Geralt is FAST, so you might want to make sure that the character's speed is set to "very fast" in the template, to give him a better chance of keeping up.  Set "Perception" to "Long," so the character will SEE Geralt to follow him.  And I imagine the Djinni Wiki articles I referred you to told you this, but just to be sure, set "AI Script Set" to "Default."

[Ralf Duben]

I've started writing some dialogue for him. Corylea ill send you a pic later :)

[fchopin]

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Does the wolf do anything else apart from travelling with Geralt?

Attack enemies ;)

I assume this means that you've tried Wolfie out in your game, and he's showing up okay (given that he doesn't show up everywhere)?

No, i am playing DA:O with a few mod's but the next time i play the witcher will add wolfie to the game.

[Petra_Silie]

Corylea, you are just amazing :-) Unfortunately smilies don't work -.-

What happens when Wolfie dies during a fight? Does it take cover in time in a dangerous situation or is it immortal?

[Corylea]

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Does the wolf do anything else apart from travelling with Geralt?

Attack enemies ;)

I assume this means that you've tried Wolfie out in your game, and he's showing up okay (given that he doesn't show up everywhere)?

No, i am playing DA:O with a few mod's but the next time i play the witcher will add wolfie to the game.

Actually, that remark was addressed to Morgwin, since he answered your question about what the wolf does.  It meant, "So, Morgwin, if you know Wolfie attacks enemies, I guess s/he's showing up okay in your game?"

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Corylea, you are just amazing :-) Unfortunately smilies don't work -.-

*smile*  Thanks, hon.  That's sweet of you to say, but I borrowed the only tricky bit from J_Slash.  His def_arealoaded.ncs is essential.  (I don't have access to the uncompiled version of the script -- either his or CDPR's original version -- so I don't know what CDPR needs to have happen in that script, which is why I can't make a new version, myself.)

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What happens when Wolfie dies during a fight? Does it take cover in time in a dangerous situation or is it immortal?

Wolfie is supposed to be immortal, but I haven't really tested this yet.  I was play-testing on Easy, to get through areas as quickly as possible, so I could see how the spawning worked out in various areas, so s/he hasn't been in any really tough fights yet.  What should happen is that Wolfie just lies down for a bit, then gets up again later, just as Abigail does during the Beast fight or Siegfried does during the kockatrice fight (if you're mean and hang back to see how a human knight handles the monster :-) ).

[Ralf Duben]

Wolfie works perfectly ingame :).

Corylea can i send you my human companion? See what you think of a Djinni newbie :)

[Corylea]

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Wolfie works perfectly ingame :).

Good!

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Corylea can i send you my human companion? See what you think of a Djinni newbie :)

Sure!  But really, I'm sure you did fine.

So, now that you know you can make stuff in Djinni, what will you make next? :-)