Taking and releasing an NPC

This is the full list of what the API gives you, one section for each part. Every call takes modId, the id of your mod. The framework uses it to remember which mod holds which NPC (see Owner in the glossary).

NpcControl take and release NPCs

Call Take with your mod’s id and the NPC’s id to hold it, and Release to give it back. IsTaken and TakenBy tell you whether another mod holds it.

public static class NpcControl
{
    public static bool IsAvailable { get; }

    public static bool Take(string modId, int npcId, NpcControlFlags flags = NpcControlFlags.All);
    public static bool Release(string modId, int npcId);
    public static int ReleaseAll(string modId);

    public static bool IsTaken(int npcId);
    public static string TakenBy(int npcId);
}

Method	Returns	What it does
`Take(modId, npcId, flags)`	`bool`	Takes the NPC and switches off the parts named in `flags`. `true` on success.
`Release(modId, npcId)`	`bool`	Gives the NPC back. `false` when your mod holds nothing on that NPC.
`ReleaseAll(modId)`	`int`	Gives back every NPC your mod holds, and returns how many.
`IsTaken(npcId)`	`bool`	`true` while any mod holds the NPC.
`TakenBy(npcId)`	`string`	The id of the mod that holds the NPC. `null` when it is free.

Property	Type	What it means
`IsAvailable`	`bool`	`false` when the NPC control feature was turned off.

NpcControlFlags which parts of the NPC to switch off

Take takes one of these to choose which parts of the NPC to switch off. Leave it out and every part is switched off.

[Flags]
public enum NpcControlFlags
{
    None = 0,
    Sight = 1,
    Talk = 2,
    Barks = 4,
    Fade = 8,
    Movement = 16,
    All = Sight | Talk | Barks | Fade | Movement
}

Value	Meaning
`None`	Hold the NPC but change nothing.
`Sight`	The NPC stops noticing anything around it.
`Talk`	The player can no longer start a conversation with it.
`Barks`	The game’s own comments from it stop.
`Fade`	It is no longer hidden when you are far away or look away.
`Movement`	It stops walking and stays where it is.
`All`	Every part above.

Things to know

Take switches off every part by default, or only the parts you name in flags.
Only one mod can hold an NPC at a time. Another mod’s Take on the same NPC returns false until the mod that holds it releases it.
Calling Take again with the same mod changes the parts you hold. A flag that is no longer in the set is put back. A new flag is switched on at once. It returns true.
Take with None holds the NPC without changing anything about it. Other mods can’t take it while you hold it.
Release puts back each thing your mod changed.
ReleaseAll returns how many NPCs it released.
TakenBy tells you which mod holds the NPC.
IsAvailable is false when the feature group was turned off. Release and the reads keep working, so a mod can still give back an NPC it took earlier.

Limits

Take returns false when it can’t take the NPC. That happens when another mod already holds it, when the NPC is unknown, dead or in a different scene, when it is switched off for any other reason than being far away, while a save is loading or being written, and when the feature group is turned off.