Companion creation

[Daisyderp]

So Iv been wondering, is it possible to make a saved character a companion somehow?

[Poontank]

Certainly. The easiest way to do this is by using the 'CM Partners' system: http://tes.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=7819

In the archive is a text file which serves as a tutorial to make your own custom partners. The basic steps are like this:

- Install the 'CM Partners' system, at least 'CM Partners.esm' and its respective esp.

- Open the Construction Set with the above files checked, but nothing selected as active file. Ignore the error message the CS throws at you.

- Generate your own companion esp by clicking on the 'Save' icon.

- Use Wrye Bash's 'Import Face' function to transfer face (and race) data from a savegame to your newly created esp.

- Open your new mod and select one of the existing CM partners. This will be the template for your own creation. To avoid multiple copies of those incorporated characters (if you intend to use 'CM Partners.esp' in your game), simply delete all other CM characters from your own mod.

- Start editing your character's every aspect like stats, inventory, factions and available spells. Find the character you created with Wrye Bash's face import - males have the prefix 'sgUnku', females 'sgUnka'. Open your imported temporary character.

- Click on the tab 'Face Advanced' and use the 'Copy' button. Open your own CM partner, select 'Face Advanced' and click on the 'Paste' button. After that, you can delete the temporary character, it served its only purpose by 'donating' its face data.

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In case your character is from a custom race, this race mod has to be made a master file to your CM partner.

- If the race has no esm (very probably), you have to use Wrye Bash's 'Copy to ESM' function, generating a temporary master file of your race mod.

- Select your CM companion mod, right-click on it and select 'Add master'. Browse to the newly created race mod esm and confirm.

- Open the companion mod in the CS. Now you can change your character's race to your custom race. Save the mod to set the race dependency.

- Back in Wrye Bash, select your CM mod, right-click on its race master file in the small right-hand window and use the 'Change to...' function. Browse to the esp of your race mod, select it and confirm. Use the 'Save' button below to save this new dependency.

Notice that you must change the dependency back to the race's esm whenever you edit your mod (if you haven't got the OBSE-extended CS).

[galgat]

I prefer madcompanionspells and some of the loversPK mods that make sexslaves in combination, but CM Partners is a good mod, I just had some problems with it adding character that I could not remove from the game easily even after disabling it.

[Poontank]

To be honest, the CM partners system has stopped working in my game a long time ago for reasons unknown.

I've tried fixing it for a while, but when I installed MCS and saw its superior possibilities, CM really wasn't that important to me anymore. Nowadays I just implement my characters into one of several CM-based NPC mods and recruit them afterwards with MCS. Using a huge player home as a 'character center' to dump all these NPCs, I can call upon them whenever I need one of these guys (and especially girls) as actors.

In general, to learn the process of transferring player characters to companions, CM partners is a good and easy enough system. The existing CM NPCs are a good template to start out, everything necessary is already there, ready to be tweaked. I never encountered the glitch you mentioned with those unremovable characters, deleting NPCs from a mod removes them for me without fail.