38 replies to this topic

[Mario]

Actually I don't have much free time (preparing to become a Policeman is very hard in Spain nowadays...) but I'm going to install it (mid game now, in the Underdark) and see how he helps me.

 

Just thinking...... I don't know what you have planned and don't want you to spoil anything but... if finishing his quest and all that makes he free and obviusly grateful, and being a Djinni who can grant wishes.... are you going to add a Wish granted or something? I know you better not grant anything too powerful but story wise if someone help me get my freedom back after years and years of imprisonment and being a slave... I would gladly give them anything in my power.

 

So.... fixing something you could not avoid (Khalid, Dynaheir, Gorion, Yoshimo...) could be great. That would mean a lot more material for you to write and of course some negative opinions from people who would prefer Gorion staying dead for example, but you could simply not choose that wish.

 

I'll stop rambling now and try your light version.

Edited by Mario, 25 January 2013 - 12:41 PM.

[Nightwoe]

Actually I don't have much free time (preparing to become a Policeman is very hard in Spain nowadays...) but I'm going to install it (mid game now, in the Underdark) and see how he helps me.

 

Just thinking...... I don't know what you have planned and don't want you to spoil anything but... if finishing his quest and all that makes he free and obviusly grateful, and being a Djinni who can grant wishes.... are you going to add a Wish granted or something? I know you better not grant anything too powerful but story wise if someone help me get my freedom back after years and years of imprisonment and being a slave... I would gladly give them anything in my power.

 

So.... fixing something you could not avoid (Khalid, Dynaheir, Gorion, Yoshimo...) could be great. That would mean a lot more material for you to write and of course some negative opinions from people who would prefer Gorion staying dead for example, but you could simply not choose that wish.

 

I'll stop rambling now and try your light version.

 

Sounds cool to me, I like the idea, but I also see that it could cause a single NPC mod to turn into, (well, with what you have here,) 4 more mods. Eh, but as I always say, it depends on the author and the final outcome...and ultimately the decisions being made. Judging before completion is just silly.

[Argent77]

A major part of Afaaq's journey will deal with his imprisonments, that's why the djinni will regain his full power rather late in the game. His innate immortality is already slightly overpowered in my opinion, but it's a necessary evil to deal with. (Well, he needs to restore himself for a while, so maybe it isn't.)
 

So.... fixing something you could not avoid (Khalid, Dynaheir, Gorion, Yoshimo...) could be great. That would mean a lot more material for you to write and of course some negative opinions from people who would prefer Gorion staying dead for example, but you could simply not choose that wish.

I'm aware of how a too powerful djinni can destroy the gameplay, so I try to keep his powers under control. He is also a dawn-of-time kind of djinni who likely knows fully well the consequences of his actions.
It would be tempting indeed to undo certain actions of the past, but afaik there are already mods out there which deal with those situations in one way or another. I don't really want to interfere with them if possible. (But there may by a few surprises to his Wish-granting powers.   )

 

Sounds cool to me, I like the idea, but I also see that it could cause a single NPC mod to turn into, (well, with what you have here,) 4 more mods.

I'm the only one working on this mod at the moment, hence adding the contents of a couple of NPC mods will be too time-consuming.

At the moment I'm experimenting with different ways how to keep the djinni under player's control, because the current version has a few weaknesses (as outlined in the readme). There are also tons of banters and interjections I have to write, so it will take some time before I can release the djinni into the wild.
 

[Argent77]

Soo, I have finally overhauled the way how to control the djinni. Now he feels like a real "seventh" party member (well, there is still no inventory access or spell selection support). However, a side effect of the new control method is a couple of messages which could be displayed in specific situations (referring to Afaaq as familiar ).

Another idea I've been thinking about for a while is to add context-sensitive tips and suggestions Afaaq could give whenever the player asks for it. Maybe something randomly chosen from a pool of answers. I thought about different types, like universal, areatype-based (city/dungeon/forest), map-specific or quest-specific kind of tips.
I guess there would be at least 100 different hints to write. What are your thoughts about a feature like that?

[Kulyok]

You're going to see a noticeable, if slight, delay between adressing Afaaq and the dialogue menu appearing, IF you're going to place over a hundred replies with various area/NPC/variable conditions there. I'd recommend a submenu:

 

(Main menu)

Hello, <CHARNAME>.

- Hey, how's life?

- You still owe me a wish, bro. How about I collect now?

- I'd like your opinion on something -> (Menu 2)

 

(Menu 2)

Sure, what's on your mind?

- (Area1000) Well, I'm thinking about bribing some Cowled Wizards...

- (Area0800) You don't happen to have some holy water with you?

- (Chapter=5) Don't tell anyone, but I'm scared of the dark. And illithids. Did I mention the dark?

...

[Argent77]

My thoughts exactly. I've planned to do it as an additional option which is selectable in his PID.
 
I've tested it with hundreds of dummy entries right now and I can see a delay of one or two seconds, but only when I chose it for the first time. After that, the tips pop up without delay.
 
Of course, not all suggestions make sense in every conceivable situation. It sounds funny when the djinni warns you of adventurers plundering the dungeon's treasures when you are in hell mastering your challenges, only because the hell is marked as a dungeon.

Edited by Argent77, 04 February 2013 - 08:32 AM.

[Argent77]

Dealing with a familiar-type creature is a real pain. There are so many shortcomings of the BG2 engine which force me to find work-arounds for even the simplest of actions such as transferring potions. Other things don't work at all; for example spell sequencers and contingencies will lock the game in a crippled spell selection screen, and you have to force-quit the game to get out of it.
 

[prune1]

Just wanted to inquire how close the mod is to completion? I've been looking forward to this a lot ever since I read about it, and am holding off a new mega install for it, unless it's not due for a few months yet.

 

All the best with it regardless.

[Argent77]

Just wanted to inquire how close the mod is to completion? I've been looking forward to this a lot ever since I read about it, and am holding off a new mega install for it, unless it's not due for a few months yet.

I had taken a break working on this mod. But now that BG2EE is out, I'm feeling motivated enough to work on it again.

 

The mod is almost complete. Only banters with party members and BG2EE support are not yet completed. And, of course, a lot of testing and debugging is needed, since a number of quests expand or modify several of BG2's quests and events. I fear it will still take a while to complete, though.
 

[koteko]

Seems very cool, I'm looking forward to trying it

 

About the fact that he's the seventh member of the party - don't you think he could "break the game", making it too easy? Have you found a way to counteract this?

[Argent77]

About the fact that he's the seventh member of the party - don't you think he could "break the game", making it too easy? Have you found a way to counteract this?

I think in the first half of the game the djinni is rather well balanced, considering his special conditions (I won't tell more about it). Later on, his presence in the party will make life easier for the protagonist, but at that stage the party is probably already strong enough to deal with almost any resistance without relying on his help. The quests attached to the djinni may also be a tad more difficult (if you choose the violent paths) than the usual quests.
 

[Sergio]

Any new?

[Argent77]

Any new?

I'm still on it, but progress is rather slow because all that's left are banters and conversations. And writing dialogs isn't really my strong point.
 

[Gwendolyne]

Hello Argent!

 

Nice to see you have finally found time to work on this mod again.

 

As you know I have ported several animations from Diablo II. Among them I will use a "scimitar creature" (a lighting scimitar summoned by a spell). If you want to try it for your special abilities, just let me know. I will be happy to PM them.

For the moment, the animation is a sparkling blue energy shape looking like a scimitar, but I planned to provide red (fire), green (acid) and gold versions, using the NI BAM converter.

[Argent77]

As you know I have ported several animations from Diablo II. Among them I will use a "scimitar creature" (a lighting scimitar summoned by a spell). If you want to try it for your special abilities, just let me know. I will be happy to PM them.

For the moment, the animation is a sparkling blue energy shape looking like a scimitar, but I planned to provide red (fire), green (acid) and gold versions, using the NI BAM converter.

A scimitar creature (similar to Mordenkainen's Sword) would be an interesting feature, but the djinni already has a lot of unique innate abilities which make him very strong towards the end of the game (including whirlwind abilities which are also using Diablo 2 animations). An additional "remote-controlled" scimitar would make him too overpowered imo.

However, he's using a lightning-enchanted scimitar later in the game. I've seen specially animated short swords in 1PP (and BG2EE as well). It would look awesome to see him running around with a scimitar that is sparkling with electrical energy. Unfortunately the scimitar is hardcoded into the djinni animation and adding a lightning effect to his weapon would be a daunting task. Furthermore, I'm not even sure if you can add custom creature animations to BG2:EE.
 

[Sergio]

Know that I'm looking forward to this mod. Good luck!

Edited by Sergio, 12 August 2014 - 05:41 AM.

[Sergio]

Hey, how are things going with this mod?

[Argent77]

Slowly, I'm afraid. I've found some very nasty bugs when playing the mod in BG2:EE, which I have to sort out first. Unfortunately they are very hard to reproduce, so it'll probably take a while to come up with a solution.

 

Edit: Apart from that, the mod itself is running more or less smoothly in both BG2 and BG2EE. All that's left are a number of banters with the protagonist and most of the Bioware (and Beamdog's) NPCs.

Edited by Argent77, 23 July 2014 - 04:26 AM.

[Argent77]

I have decided to reduce the numbers of banters for the initial release or the mod will never see the light of day. Currently I'm working hard to finish the remaining talks with the protagonist and banters with a few selected NPCs.

A mod of this size needs to be thoroughly tested in all kinds of situations. It already includes fixes for issues caused by a few specific mods, but I might have missed others. Moreover, I've never tested this mod in a mega-mod installation yet.

I will make a separate post when the Djinni Companion mod is ready for playtesting, but if you're interested you can already drop me a PM or post in this thread.