216 replies to this topic

[ScuD]

Hello,
Got a question about compatibility issues covered in TP2 files. If not doing biffing for the big mods during the installation, how do you handle the mod checks like

ACTION_IF NOT FILE_EXISTS ~data/ROT-RULE.BIF~     // Compatibility with RoT
THEN BEGIN
...

?


I'm sure if you are only doing the biffing in the end of installation process you'll possibly have a bunch of mod compatibility issues once you start playing.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Hello, got a question about compatibility issues covered in TP2 files. If not doing biffing for the big mods during the installation, how do you handle the mod checks like... ?

As said earlier, the biffmeister will only bif few files that are later not modified and put them to the .bifs that are checked.

[ScuD]

Thanks

[Lollorian]

Yup, like Jarno said, the stuff that don't patch get jampacked into those modcheck-biffs

Most of the megamods check for XXX-RULE bifs (TDD-RULE, CTB-RULE etc) and they now mostly contain wmv/chu/vvc/pro's (I think pro's get patched. Do they get patched? )

The out-of-character modchecks are BGT (BG1ARE and BG1BCS which now contain a mos file each from BG1MISC ) and NTotSC1 (which contains only bmps (and bam's sorry bout that it isn't breaking stuff, but does increase size by 1-3 MB will remove if I need to upload an rc4)

PS: Aurora seems to now directly copy wavc files from the main package and so doesn't need the package's .bats (haven't even finished downloading aurora yet to check it's been paused at 35% ... because of ... ALIENS?!?!? It's not a problem with SHS )

EDIT: Ah, just noticed a slight thingamajig in BGT (I forgot the possibility that BG1 might have bam's that aren't present in BGII ) Removed bams from DSotSC and NTotSC (ah, yes, this is a glaring mistake by me ) Sorry for the repeated uploads

Attached Files

•  biffmeister_rc4.7z   499.77K   265 downloads

Edited by Lollorian, 22 January 2010 - 06:37 PM.

[Miloch]

PS: Aurora seems to now directly copy wavc files from the main package and so doesn't need the package's .bats (haven't even finished downloading aurora yet to check it's been paused at 35% ... because of ... ALIENS?!?!? It's not a problem with SHS )

It needs the batch files for unpacking tiz files. Don't mess with it . If there's a problem downloading from SHS and it isn't SHS, then it must be you .

If you're doing this big megamod biffing-related overhaul, then you should remove creature animations from all the megamods - both the tp2 code for copying them and the BAMs themselves. Installing Infinity Animations at the end before biffing will install all the correct ones, so it'll probably save you some install time and disk space, since IA despite its size only has one set of all animations, whereas the megamods have several.

[Lollorian]

PS: Aurora seems to now directly copy wavc files from the main package and so doesn't need the package's .bats (haven't even finished downloading aurora yet to check it's been paused at 35% ... because of ... ALIENS?!?!? It's not a problem with SHS )

It needs the batch files for unpacking tiz files. Don't mess with it . If there's a problem downloading from SHS and it isn't SHS, then it must be you

The new .bat's are in aurora\batchlog\ So, yeah, the biffmeister's aurora folder can be deleted (although it won't be doing anything if it's present )

If you're doing this big megamod biffing-related overhaul, then you should remove creature animations from all the megamods - both the tp2 code for copying them and the BAMs themselves. Installing Infinity Animations at the end before biffing will install all the correct ones, so it'll probably save you some install time and disk space, since IA despite its size only has one set of all animations, whereas the megamods have several.

I thought IA just overwrote the megamod bams with its new bams (while inserting the new patchy code into the BGMain.exe)

If no, then this should be done But how can I know which bam's are the creature animations and which are just item icons/descs (unless you mean open each bam and check in NI or something ... in which case ... man, this is gonna take some time )

[Miloch]

I thought IA just overwrote the megamod bams with its new bams (while inserting the new patchy code into the BGMain.exe)

No, it doesn't overwrite because there aren't enough slots for all animations, so it adds new ones (the whole raison d'être for IA, as they say in French). The only case in which it overwrites is if some other mods have overwritten vanilla slots, in which case it restores those slots to what they should've been (in the IA_BG2_Restores.rar module).

But how can I know which bam's are the creature animations and which are just item icons/descs (unless you mean open each bam and check in NI or something ... in which case ... man, this is gonna take some time )

All the existing megamod animations follow a naming convention, basically anything that starts with an M is fair game, but they are all listed here, as well as which mods use which. There's a few rogue mods that aren't included, like Sheena, RPG Kitpack, but those are also listed in Arkenor's thread.

Most mods might (if they're smart) just do something like COPY ~mymod/bams~ ~override~ which means you don't have to change any code per se, just delete the animations from the bams folder or whatever, which could be done in one fat batch file for all mods at once (maybe include as part of the BWP Fixpack or "Smoothpack" or whatever).

[Leomar]

Most mods might (if they're smart) just do something like COPY ~mymod/bams~ ~override~ which means you don't have to change any code per se, just delete the animations from the bams folder or whatever, which could be done in one fat batch file for all mods at once (maybe include as part of the BWP Fixpack or "Smoothpack" or whatever).

Could that be done with a batch code (like to go through the mod folders and if it detect bams, it will delete them)? If yes, we could include the code into the Install.bat and it will be used if it detects the mod Infinity Animations.

Greetings Leomar

Edited by Leomar, 26 January 2010 - 07:50 AM.

[Miloch]

Could that be done with a batch code (like to go through the mod folders and if it detect bams, it will delete them)?

Yes, that's what I was suggesting. You also just want to make sure any mods that copy creature animations file-by-file (instead of by folder) get commented out of the tp2s, which can be handled by a patch if there are any mods like that.

[Lollorian]

Doh Another glaring boo-boo

CTB-RULE and SOS-RULE weren't being created cause the files that go in them aren't present in the CtB and SoS packages (all the megamods use some kinda standard template or something for their bif's )

So, moved the bmp's from CTB/SOS-MOS to the -RULE's and we now have .... (drumroll)

Biffmeister_RC5

EDIT: New one up (already )

Edited by Lollorian, 28 January 2010 - 03:36 AM.

[Lollorian]

And a damn again BPv179 checks for BGTCRE.bif too (for its Improved Xvart Village component ) I'm in the middle of an install right now, so can't search for other such strings (will update again if there are more)

Here be biffmeister rc6 (I dunno bout you, but I'm kinda liking these fast updates )

EDIT: It's best to use the newest one, right??

Edited by Lollorian, 28 January 2010 - 08:50 AM.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Here be biffmeister rc6 (I dunno bout you, but I'm kinda liking these fast updates )

Well, the faster you make mistakes, the faster upgrades, the faster results, the faster we get all this done.

[Lollorian]

Ok, now a purely cosmetic update Added if exist blocks to all wildcard move operations to prevent messages like "file cannot be found in specified directory" Ah, yes, pure cosmetics

(third update in a day lol )

Attached Files

•  biffmeister_rc7.7z   499.6K   296 downloads

[Lollorian]

Ok, no new version for now, but a slight inconvenience As y'all know, I removed bam's from being biffed, so now they're overwritten by many of the megamods. But NTotSC wants to xcopy its bam's so, it asks for confirmation (yes/no/all) to overwrite The problem only exists with NTotSC's bams so... (and I know that xcopy can auto overwrite with /y btw Just wanna know whether the bam's are intended to be overwritten (for all I know, them bams could point to completely different types of items in the mods )

So:

NTotSC-NeJ

2701SA1
IARMPEN
IKRESWRD
IERON
IRINGCOP

NTotSC-SoS

ICBCL009

NTotSC-TS

IKEYBRON
INAMJI

NTotSC-DH-TDD

ICLCK51

NTotSC-TS-NeJ

ICLOAKSC

Can someone please check whether they should be overwritten??

Edited by Lollorian, 28 January 2010 - 10:56 AM.

[Lollorian]

Ok, so ... been a while Anyway,

@thebigg: Can the genbiff.tp2 be modified by the BWP Smoothpack (after a confirmation from the user ) to not create the backups in the prod folder?? It looks like it's just a matter of deleting the line:

MOVE ~override/%BASH_FOR_FILE%~ ~generalized_biffing/prod/0/biffs/%currentFile%/%BASH_FOR_FILE%~

from the .tp2, but pessimist in me thought I should confirm first

So, if the prod isn't even created (if the user wants ofcourse ) then there's no need for the Cleanup.bat to do that after everything's been moved and stuff

[the bigg]

No, it can't - gen_biff creates biffs from the contents of the prod/blahblah folders, and if the tp2 was changed so that those folders weren't populated then empty biffs would be created

deleting prod/ can be done by cleanup.bat if the user is not interested in being able to uninstall/reinstall/tweak anything after BWS has run.

[Lollorian]

Ohhhh I understand!! So, the prod deletion stays in the cleanup.bat

Anyway, did I mention that the (kinda) new gen_biffv2 is noticeably faster than the v1 (or it may just be some kinda placebo effect thing cause of the scrolling text when the biffs get created )

[Jarno Mikkola]

Anyway, did I mention that the (kinda) new gen_biffv2 is noticeably faster than the v1 (or it may just be some kinda placebo effect thing cause of the scrolling text when the biffs get created )

The bigg said it himself, as he upgraded the function to work 'correctly' within the WeiDU v213 when the mod was last updated.

[Lollorian]

If you're doing this big megamod biffing-related overhaul, then you should remove creature animations from all the megamods - both the tp2 code for copying them and the BAMs themselves. Installing Infinity Animations at the end before biffing will install all the correct ones, so it'll probably save you some install time and disk space, since IA despite its size only has one set of all animations, whereas the megamods have several.

Ok, it's time to have a look at this

I've all the slots listed (from both the Animation listing and Arkenor's awesome thread ) here:

Spoiler

MBAS
MBAS2
MBBM
MBBMA
MBBMC
MBBMD
MBBMF
MBBMH
MBBMM
MBBMQ
MBBMW
MBET
MBETA
MBETC
MBETD
MBETF
MBETH
MBETM
MBETQ
MBETW
MBFI
MBFIA
MBFIC
MBFID
MBFIF
MBFIH
MBFIM
MBFIQ
MBFIW
MBRH
MBRHA
MBRHC
MBRHD
MBRHF
MBRHH
MBRHM
MBRHQ
MBRHW
MCOR
MCYC
MDOC
METN
METNA
METNC
METND
METNF
METNH
METNM
METNQ
METNW
MGH2
MGH3
MGHO
MGIC
MGLA
MGO1
MGO2
MGO3
MGO4
MHIS
MKUR
MLER
MLERA
MLERC
MLERD
MLERF
MLERH
MLERM
MLERQ
MLERW
MLI2
MLI3
MLIC
MLIZ
MMAX
MMIN
MMUM
MMUMA
MMUMC
MMUMD
MMUMF
MMUMH
MMUMM
MMUMQ
MMUMW
MMY2
MMY2A
MMY2C
MMY2D
MMY2F
MMY2H
MMY2M
MMY2Q
MMY2W
MMYC
MMYCA
MMYCC
MMYCD
MMYCF
MMYCH
MMYCM
MMYCQ
MMYCW
MN01
MNO1
MNO2
MNO3
MNO3A
MNO3C
MNO3D
MNO3F
MNO3H
MNO3M
MNO3Q
MNO3W
MOR1
MOR2
MOR3
MOR4
MOR5
MSA2
MSAL
MSH1
MSH2
MSHR
MSHRA
MSHRC
MSHRD
MSHRF
MSHRH
MSHRM
MSHRQ
MSHRW
MSKA
MSKB
MSKT
MSPL
MTAN
MTANA
MTANC
MTAND
MTANF
MTANH
MTANM
MTANQ
MTANW
MTAS
MTIC
MTRO
MTROA
MTROC
MTROD
MTROF
MTROH
MTROM
MTROQ
MTROW
MTSN
MUM2
MUMB
MWAV
MWAVA
MWAVC
MWAVD
MWAVF
MWAVH
MWAVM
MWAVQ
MWAVS
MWAVW
MWI2
MWI3
MWIG
MWWE
MYU1
MYU2
MYU3
MZO2
MZO3
NELL

But all the bams I have are kinda in another format For eg: there's no MCYC, but there are MCYCA1, MCYCA1E, MCYCA2, MCYCA2E ... and it goes on I have no idea what could be (safely) deleted ...

[Miloch]

MCYC is just the slot, or BAM prefix, so it really means MCYC*.bam. Pretty much any large BAM that begins with an M in a mod is probably an animation, but you can open them with BAM Workshop to double-check.