Cheat a "permanent" companion?

[dangerousbrick]

I want to cheat the amount of time a companion hangs out with you. Basically I want a permanent/semi-permanent (more than 1 month) companion. I plan on simulating them eating food by tossing a set amount of meat into the ocean

Does anyone have experience doing this, or any ideas on how to achieve this? Something tells me that if companions already have different amounts of days they're willing to be with you, it should be some value you can crank up.

I used a hex editor to change character stats before, but couldn't for the life of me figure out how to use Cheat Engine. But I'm willing to do ANYTHING to get myself some friends to share salted seal fat and turnips with! 

[dangerousbrick]

I ACTUALLY DID IT!!!   

With the power of an energy drink and too much free time, I figured out how to make companions stay longer.

It is relatively simple: look up the name of the NPC using the value type "String", browse to the memory region of said NPC (you will know it's the right one if it has SWORD, KNIFE, BOW skills and their portrait filename), open another scan tab and use value type "Byte", change the "Memory Scan Options" to start and stop roughly around the NPC's memory regions and use "Changed value" scan type. Pass a day or two, scan again and VOILA! You'll see some values go down. I found it useful having the NPC tell me they'll be traveling "a few more days" with me in-game (3-4 days), and then seeing if it corresponds with any decreased values. Then just change the value of the address, it's maxed out at 64 bytes, which seems to be 100 days or so.

I know my explanation wasn't that good, but I have literally never used Cheat Engine before this, LOL. Hopefully if anyone ever wants to do this, they have this clunky guide 

I'm off to hunt reindeer and eat turnips with my buddy Pietu 

[Night]

You've got good intuition. Nice find

[Brygun]

Well done


I wonder how much you have to pay them at the end of 64 days?

[dangerousbrick]

I wonder how much you have to pay them at the end of 64 days?

I will report back when the time runs out! Shouldn't be a problem for me, since I have so many furs. Also NPC companions eat now, Pietu told me "It's your responsibility to provide food" 

[dangerousbrick]

Update!

Pietu stayed with me for a total of 66 days. He helped me hunt at least 7-10 elk/reindeer, 5 bears, 2 lynxes, and 1 wolf. He assisted me in finishing up my giant cabin, skinning, and roasting meat. Even though mechanically he didn't, I like to pretend he also helped me harvest my 700kg of turnips 

At the end of our adventures, when time came to reward him, I tested how many goods he wanted. I gave him a northern spear at some point and couldn't get it back because he was wielding it, so I'm not sure if that item counts towards the final value. He seemed totally satisfied with 120 pieces of dried elk meat.

But for roleplay purposes I ended up giving him a fine bear fur, 50 dried elk meat, the aforementioned northern spear, and a bear tooth necklace. I like to think of us as good friends and I'll will be visiting him every once in a while, since he lives in a nearby village.

Next goal is to find another NPC companion and keep them around for a whole year!