It is really good news to hear ! I loved the AI part of Big Picture, but I really don't like TDD and SOS. If we can play with BP-Weidu without those (and without Ascension), it will be really great ! A real alternative to Tactics !
By the way, what's up with Tactics' components not included in Big Picture (like Shauagin's city) ? Can the user choose between Tactics and BP version of some battles ?
Another question : if I combine BGT-WeiDU and BP-WeiDU, will I get an improved AI in the BG1 part ? It would be great !
I have almost completed BGT-WeiDU's French translation. I believe there is not much text to translate, is'nt it ? If so, you can count on me for French translation of BP-WeiDU. 
The Ascension in BP has been modified; it almost exactly does what the original authors intended (AFAIK). They had hundreds of broken objects, missing spell referrnces, and so on. Mostly bugfixes to the AI here, plus some better detection.
I've already made improvements to Sahuagin City. The latest version of Tactics still overwrites IDS files, if they are not present in the override folder . No appendage, no checks for previous entries--nothing. I think compatability issues should be addressed to the overwriters, not to the appenders.
If I don't decide to biff BP (with >5000 files, I likely will), Tactics will work. If I biff BP, Tactics will break BP (or any other biffed mod with custom IDS entries in action, trigger, spell, or race). Most major mods I know of have both custom entries and biffs. Unless they "worked around" smaller mods, and purposely left these files in the override---big trouble with Tactics. Besides, most of the AI is of the cheating variety. We don't favor that here....
As my post stated, my AI will have an effect on any previously installed mod. without overwriting the scripts. I overwrite the script entries in the CRE files instead (subtle difference). So yes, any mod you think of (including
BGT) will have BP-quality AI...excluding custom scripts, naturally.
Excellent; when I get TRA files made, I'll be sure to make them available.
A few hundred lines or so, a thousand tops...
Can you tell us to what extent you are taking into account/cooperating with other enhancements out there, such as the upcoming BG2 fixpack, Rerfinements, Divine & Arcane Remix, possibly Galactygon's Lost Crossroads?
At this point, not at all. I'm so busy dealing with BP and its relation to the bigger mods it used to govern, I haven't looked at many smaller packages. It's not a matter of superiority complex, it's a matter of time. Cooperation on my end is not an issue. I hope they show some consideration for a three-year-plus-old mod.
When it comes to STATS.IDS, there unfortunately isn't much room for cooperation. You change it, you break BP in some way. Unless they used the buggered scripting states, that I purposely left alone.
That's why I released the BPDetectStats package two years ago (recently overhauled by King Diamond)--so people could see what I have, and take advantage of it in their own mods. Bottom line: It's the most accurate, most versatile system out there. No reason not to use it!
EDIT: Keep in mind that I am writing to the hex offsets, not overwriting in-game files. It is possible that someone else could alter the same file in the same manner (at different offsets), and
both modfications will work. I'm coding my "byte-writing" in a very fluid manner, which allows for presence of other modifications. Many mods that claim "smart appendage" are really just overwriting on a smaller scale, with no other allowances whatsoever. The proof is in the .tp2 file.
Case in point: Let's say I want BOB.CRE to have three Cure Light Wounds (CLW) spells. I'm mod # 4 in the install (mod D). First, I check to see if Bob knows the spell. If he doesn't, I teach it to him. Then, I check through his memorized spells. I count how many CLW he has. If he has 3 or more, I leave him alone. If he has 2, I add 1. 1, I add 2.
By doing it this way, all spells that mods A, B, and C may have added to the selection are still there. We modded the same file, but in a friendly, cooperative way.
I forget which mod exactly, but it is a (so-called) smart-
weidu game-enhancement type mod. I saw code in it that removes all known and memorized spells first, then adds the ones it wants a creature to have. Anything that anybody had added before them is thus lost and gone. See the difference?
Don't expect me to cooperate much with Galactygon. Last time we conversed, he had the nerve to offer me "scripting lessons". He was criticising a block of code I didn't even write! (KR's cloudkill detection). He offered nothing in the ways of improvement, I might add. I've seen his attempts at scripting...
[
CONCRETE FACT--so you don't think I'm pointlessly dis'ing him] His scripting system (when I saw it last) was based on checking the CRE's intelligence, and making major decisions based on it. This is fine and dandy, but it doesn't take into account that most of the CRE's were slapped together by lazy coders, and have most/all abilities set to a default 9.
If Lost Crossroads is
evar released, and it works with BP, then hey--it works. His original mission was to have it compatible with BP--let's hope he stuck to it. IMHO--I think your
BG2 discs will have melted or turned to dust before he gets it done!
BTW-- BPDetectStats now sets a scripting state on the
cloud itself, so detection of any web, stinking cloud, meteor swarm, incendiary cloud (you name it) --and if you are standing in it, taking damage or not--is possible. Accurately, as well--my Zone of Sweet Air code does not try to dispel a web, for example. KR's code has become outdated, at last.
Edited by horred the plague, 02 February 2006 - 01:41 PM.
