Oh Great Plague,
Have you been keeping up with Bestial Animations and The WoRmHole? I bet you have, but if you hadn't I just wanted to point it out. They look like some really cool animations
Yeah, I was in chat with max when he first came up with the idea. In fact, I had a few of these set up in that way already, a while back--and abandoned them because of the death animation issue. It seems that Galactygon hasn't gotten any further into solving this issue. The talk at the time was making a VVC file to do the job, but I guess that didn't pan out after all.
I also had started converting NWN models into BAM's, back when TeamBG was still flourishing. I ended up giving it up, due to time constraints and too many ongoing unfinished projects already.
But the real problem we're facing here is compatability. If every modmaker had used a standardized mod pack for anim's (like bestial, for instance)--it would be easy. Of course, they did not. The only way I'm able to pull this off is due to the fact that I have a say in every big mod involved except
NeJ. SoS,
CtB,
TDD--I can do what I like with those. Max and CB have given me free reign, because they trust me and my work.
I even have a little bit of say in TS--it's a little known fact, but I'm listed as a co-author of Tortured Souls, under my real name.
I might have to pick up the torch on the TSv6xx
weidu, figure out exactly what is wrong with it (people say there are problems, I haven't played it yet), and make a release--one that accounts for the presence of other major mods, maybe even an optional biffing component while I'm at it (like what I have on the BP yahoo site now, except more polished
).
I've actually renamed any conflicting animations in SoS,
CtB, and
TDD to fit the TS/
NeJ animation system. Why? Because I can, that's why.
Next thing I have to do is rename a dozen or so spells in these three mods to fit the NeJ2 lineup. Hunt up any items, cre's, etc that use these spells and change those files too.
An intelligent person would ask: why are you changing all the old mods, instead of having the new-mod-on-the-block do this? The answer is simple: it's either that, or leave
NeJ entirely out of the BP experience. I know leaving it out would make the modmakers of
NeJ happy--they don't want a hodge-podge, they feel that
NeJ should stay a stand-alone adventure. We of the BP crew disagree, we like the fullest possible experience in our game. We think the multitude and diversity of plots and adventures enriches the experience, instead of distracting from it. So, if I make all the other big mods compatible with
NeJ (or close enough that even an intermediate modder could make it so on their pc)--well, who can say anything about that? "If you can't move the mountain to Mohammed...."
NOTE (for the record):
It should really be taken as a compliment to the integrity and quality of Vlad's (and his team's) work, that I'm willing to do so much to make
NeJ a part of the group.
When I complain about all the extra work I have to do on this (those who follow these forums for a while know I've blown my stack on this topic, on several occasions :bash: ), it's because I know it doesn't have to be this way. We modders could and should communicate more, let each other know when we take up a slice of the pie (many file formats are painfully finite in
IE modding)--respect their work, and base ours around it if at all possible, because "they were here first". Especially when it comes to the major mods, because there are only a few. It would make compatability work 99% easier, and make this much more of a "modding community" than a "meeting of modders". And please note that I'm not trying to single out Vlad here, nor his team, nor any other modder here--I merely mention this mod because I'm knee-deep in their files currently, doing exactly what I'm talking about here. (And not touching one single
NeJ file while I'm doing this, BTW)
Well, that's my two cents, at least.
