43 replies to this topic

[Ulb]

@salomonkane

If I got that right, you just wanted to suggest those animations for porting, didn't you?

 

I tend to agree, some of those would probably be nice additions, thought I don't think there is need for a complete overhaul of all IE animations. In my opinion most IE 2d animations are esthetically vastly superior to any 3d modeled animation.

 

As for your question about the raven; I'm not really looking to import any new animations at the moment, so that's probably a no.

 

 

@Eric

A camel, horse and even a pony (a pony!!) are O.K. as animal companions but a moose is a huge no-go? That seems hardly fair to me.

[salomonkane]

Ok Ulb ,

 

I note that you prefer to spend your time in this project with scripting,
Also that you plan to use a priory the original animations (how do you overcome the eventual views / sequences, missing ?)
However, the lion, the snake and the eagle could integrate the mod as Rangers Companions  ...
In this way, perhaps, in the end, the pre-rendering work performed on these models will give satisfaction.
We'll see ...

 

Happy scripting then . 

[Ulb]

Thank you salomon.

 

Once all the scripting is done, it should be rather easy to implement more animal companions later on.

That is why I'll concentrate on vanilla game animations/animals first, and maybe add an 'IA animations creature pack' later on.

[Eric P.]

@salomonkane

If I got that right, you just wanted to suggest those animations for porting, didn't you?

 

I tend to agree, some of those would probably be nice additions, thought I don't think there is need for a complete overhaul of all IE animations. In my opinion most IE 2d animations are esthetically vastly superior to any 3d modeled animation.

 

As for your question about the raven; I'm not really looking to import any new animations at the moment, so that's probably a no.

 

 

@Eric

A camel, horse and even a pony (a pony!!) are O.K. as animal companions but a moose is a huge no-go? That seems hardly fair to me.

It's in the book. Of course, the selection could be expanded, but also keep in mind that animals appropriate to the surrounding terrain are appropriate, and the animal will leave the ranger if he or she spends too much time out of the animal's natural habitat.

Edited by Eric P., 27 April 2013 - 09:15 PM.

[Ulb]

This is a provisional list of all animal companions that will be available:

 

Brown Bear *W

Wolf *W
Leopard *W
Panther *W
Dog Wild *W/C
Spider Sword *W/D
Wyvern *W
~~Cat ***C
Rat ***D/C
Groundhog ***W
Rabbit ***W
~~Bat ***W/D/C

 

*= Combat Type

***= Stealth Type

W/D/C (Wilderness / Dungeon / City)= Area type you can find the creature.

~~ Cat and Bat are a maybe; their animations are rather lacking..

 

And I am sorry, but there won't be a moose.

The moose animation is just terrible (and it's a large circle one too).

[salomonkane]

And I am sorry, but there won't be a moose.

 

Here's just in case, one rendering of a moose from NWN I "Creatures of the Nordic Forests mod"
It will be seen that perspective, shadow, size and textures of wood & skin/fur of this animal model should be maybe reworked, and animation a little bit  tuning, however the major advantage of this pipeline (3ds max / NWMax plugin) is having all the action sequences "ad-hoc" that could to serve in a mod for BG,
And provide a model rather similar to the original, is not it ?

 

Otherwise you can always referrer to models from IcewinDale series and check if they have more sequences than BG ...

 

(full) :

 

 

(move) :

 

 

(vanilla) :

 

 

The moose animation is just terrible (and it's a large circle one too)

 

Here I reduced the size & angle of the model/sprite handle to correspond to size of circle (as deer), however, the circles were soft-coded in BGEE, I do not know if it can be soft-coded reverse also in one BGT  version  ... ?

 

 

Source :

http://social.biowar...ndex/12358881/6

 

Process :

 

NB

For possible work on 2D/pallet & "Bamisation", I provides, in attachment, the _West Move samples (.BMP), seen above .

FWI,

Extraction NWN archive : nwhak.exe

http://nwvault.ign.c...ols.detail&id=7

Rendering process : 3dsMax/Shaow, Antiliasing/options-disable, Output : 8bit/BMP)

Attached Files

•  NWNModMoose_sample.rar   735.21K   257 downloads

Edited by salomonkane, 01 May 2013 - 05:26 AM.

[Ulb]

The moose looks nice.

 

If it had all the required sequences and a shadow, it would certainly make a nice addition to IA. One could even argue to just replace the vanilla animation, since its not really 'taking away' an animation if you replace it with a better on. (Thought that way, it would still keep its large circle, since those are hard coded in BG2.)

 

Anyway, thanks for the input.

 

I hereby encourage you to start porting those animations to BG2.

 

*edit*:

 

Before I forget it, here is a little update on the mod progress:

 

The scripting is pretty much all done and seems to work as intended.

 

The animal companions are also done but still need lots of balancing and tweaking. Also the list of available companions has shrinked to 9 (cat, rat and bat are gone).

 

As of now, the pets will be available from level 3 onward and level up roughly once for every 3 levels gained by player1. Player1 will lose 10% of his/her max experience every time the pet levels, thought the maximum loss is capped at 150k per level up.

Also, the experience is only taken for the 'maximum level up' the pet can currently reach, to prevent new SoA and ToB players from loosing a huge chunk of experience right at the start. (E.g.: Player is level 15 when he gets his pet. The pet will then level up 4 times but only the fourth time will reduces the players experience.)

 

What still needs to be done:

 

The 'choose companion' dialogue and the actual animal companion dialogue(s).

Portraits for the animal companions

More balancing

More testing

German translation

Tp2 coding

Edited by Ulb, 29 April 2013 - 01:44 PM.

[salomonkane]

bat are gone

 

FI ,

This is the NWN 1 Version :

 

 

Adapt a flying pet could be a little challenging ...

But pretty cool , too, no ?

 

Infos :

 

Appropriate animal companions for rangers are: badger, camel, dire rat, dog, riding dog, eagle, hawk, horse (light or heavy), owl, pony, snake (small or medium viper), or wolf. For an elf, there's also the elven hound (cooshie).

 

&

 

Portraits:

 

Portraits for the animal companions

 

I don't know if the picture resolution could be suit well to the BG picture format , but ,

 

Here, the Portraits (on-line) from NWN  Familiar :

http://nwn.wikia.com...egory:Familiars

Infos :

http://nwn.wikia.com/wiki/Familiar

 

 

Idem, for Animal Companions :

 

 

http://nwn.wikia.com...ompanion_(feat)

http://nwn.wikia.com...nimal_companion

 

Portrait folder from the game (with animals, fantasy creatures and few tiles), in various resolution in TGA format :

 

http://www.mediafire...bq4plewix4ceihq

 

More links :

http://forums.blackw...?showtopic=1208

May be you can contact, if it's need,  Igi about it's  tutorial for companions

http://iimods.com/

 

For the fun :

 

Is this your mod / script / might give capacity to summon various followers objects like UFO, as  flying carpet, or a flying saucer
or a flying saucer for Giant/Miniature Space Hamster ?

 

http://www.baldursga...html#post289967

 

http://www.mobygames...eShotId,419063/

 

For myself, this is the pet that I would like to integrate with your mod :

 

 

 

Sources :

Some entries (also in french & english) about precedents discussions (animals/familiar/mount/birds, limitations engine supposed, graphical integration etc.) :

 

http://www.baldursga...html#post280470

http://www.baldursga...html#post279221

http://www.baldursga...html#post279075

 

 

 

Credits : ScreenShot from Paladin of Faerun Czech Mod with an Age Of Wonder cosmetic/environment I.E. animation like bird Sprite :

http://forum.sigil.c...wforum.php?f=28

Edited by salomonkane, 01 May 2013 - 05:32 AM.

[salomonkane]

owl

 

Non complete BG sequences, yet (need to try import/exchange/make/convert animations/motions format from various pipelines) ,                    but could be serve for cosmetic/scenario usage now .

 

                      

 

Credit : IcloneTemplate/pipeline

 

 

About prospective,

Always forward looking ... :

 

maybe add an 'IA [Infinity Animation] animations creature pack' later on

 

A.I. :

 

About AI in BG,

Could you consider :

Customs scripts for Animals Companions (/familiar) later  ... ?

(for a pokemon battle/party -lol-)

 

True Animal Companions List :

 

FY.I. :

 

This is all animal models inside NWN 1

(off course a rendering work may change the aspect of the 3D Model to the sprite conversion, & more suitable for IE)

 

 

Credit : NWN Toolset .

Edited by salomonkane, 02 May 2013 - 11:44 PM.

[Ulb]

Oh wow, that's a lot of information you posted there..

 

I'll have to look through it tomorrow if I find the time. (More likely the day after tomorrow.)

 

Anyway, while I really appreciate all the information you post about animations and resources, at the moment I really don't plan to port any new animations to BG2.

 

As for the mod:

 

Yes, it will be a WeiDU mod, which will allow all ranger kits to choose an animal companion (via a spell/dialogue) which will then follow them through the game.

 

The animals will have a limited AI (very limited ) for combat / none combat, which can be turned on and off separately via dialogue options. You'll also be able to send them away and call them back as you see fit.

They will be able do die (though no permanent death) and you'll have to resurrect them just like any other npc. (Though you need to cast the resurrection spell on their corpses, thus you can only resurrect them in the area they died.)

 

That's it pretty much.

 

I'm almost done with everything, most of the portraits I did still need confirmation from the owners of the DA stock photos I used and I'll also have to fine tune the .cres and the dialogues, but other than that, I'm pretty much ready to release an early alpha version.

[salomonkane]

Interactions/Autonomy/Limitations and special effects, sound effects, environment sound, soundset, subtitle /Animal Companions

 

[Edit : Banter ?]

ULB,

 

1)

I wonder if the animal companions be able to move on the map and make the recognition of map/area (as a scout),
Is it possible to move the animals companions alone through the map (pathfinding)?

Or are they restricted to the limit of visibility of Charac. / Ranger ?

2)

Only PC could use Animal Companions or even NPCs ?

3)

Just one Animal Companion/Party or More (How many, / PC ?, / NPCs ?) (only for Rangers Kit, yet, isn't ?)
4)
What about , of possibles special effects (eg spells) associated with companions ?

What about , of possibles special abilities ?
5)
Otherwise have soundset is still appreciable, it would have an opportunity to integrate it here, and play them when you're clicking/moving on the animal sprite/portrait , or  when  you introduce dialog/dialog box ... ?

6)

What about  (green) colored subtitle/Interjections In-Game ("arf, ouarf", "cui-cui", it could be give a funny works for translator), as you can see with lilacor or with Fallout 1/2 dog/cyber-armored-dog (good example of Animal Companions/NPC character exploitation BTW) (*) ...
 

Thank You .

 

FYI :

 

Here are a few complete soundset  (I specially appreciate the funny animals voice acting sounds : for yes and no ) :

 

NWN animal companions  soundset (bat, raven, wolf, falcon) (attachment)

 

[Edit] : Credit/Tool : NWN Explorer

 

(*)

 

 

 

http://fallout.wikia...i/Dog_(Klamath)

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Pariah

http://planetfallout...i/Fallout_2_NPC

Attached Files

•  NWN_animalcomp_soundset_sampl.rar   367.07K   242 downloads

Edited by salomonkane, 03 May 2013 - 12:26 PM.

[Eric P.]

Oh wow, that's a lot of information you posted there..

 

I'll have to look through it tomorrow if I find the time. (More likely the day after tomorrow.)

 

Anyway, while I really appreciate all the information you post about animations and resources, at the moment I really don't plan to port any new animations to BG2.

 

As for the mod:

 

Yes, it will be a WeiDU mod, which will allow all ranger kits to choose an animal companion (via a spell/dialogue) which will then follow them through the game.

 

The animals will have a limited AI (very limited ) for combat / none combat, which can be turned on and off separately via dialogue options. You'll also be able to send them away and call them back as you see fit.

They will be able do die (though no permanent death) and you'll have to resurrect them just like any other npc. (Though you need to cast the resurrection spell on their corpses, thus you can only resurrect them in the area they died.)

 

That's it pretty much.

 

I'm almost done with everything, most of the portraits I did still need confirmation from the owners of the DA stock photos I used and I'll also have to fine tune the .cres and the dialogues, but other than that, I'm pretty much ready to release an early alpha version.

Why ressurect, if animals don't have souls/spirits, the way characters do?

[Ulb]

@ salmonkane

 

At the moment the animal companions do indeed clear fog of war (i.e. they can move around the map on their own), though I'm thinking about removing that ability or at least postpone it and add some kind of 'awaken spell' for them on higher levels which would then turn them into magical beasts and allow them to better communicate with the player and move around on their own again.

 

I'll implement the 'find animal companion spell' via a script and not add it to a specific list of kits, therefore the companions will only be available to the main character.

(Also, Minsc already comes with his own animal companion, Val doesn't need one in my opinion and any mod with a ranger npc can add one on it's own.)

 

I haven't yet made a final decision whether to add special abilities for the pets or not.

 

Also, I think all but the groundhog animation already come with fairly sufficient sound sets, so I'll probably won't have to add new ones.

 

@Eric

 

Because it's a very special soul-or-spirit-owning animal of course!

Also, it makes a lot of sense from a game mechanics point of view.

 

Seriously though, I wasn't aware D&D had that kind of backward sight on animals. Seems like Ed Greenwood had a little too much Descartes... anyway, as I mentioned above, there is always the possibility to 'turn' the pet into an awakened animal / magical beast. I hope that would allow the animal to get resurrected legally?

 

Edited by Ulb, 02 May 2013 - 11:48 AM.

[Eric P.]

I just never heard of resurrecting anything other than a humanoid/demi-human, that's all.

[Ulb]

Well, if you as an old school D&D nerd (no offense intended ) never heared of it, that makes it a lot less likely that there is a huge chapter on how animals cannot be resurrected, in any D&D source book.

That is enough for me to keep them resurrect-able.

[salomonkane]

RP background

 

I just never heard of resurrecting anything other than a humanoid/demi-human

 

Something may be approaching here :

 

Animal (D)

Animal Friendship (1st)

Charm Person or Mammal (1st)

Detect Snares & Pits (1st)

Invisibility to Animals (1st)

Locate Animals or Plants (1st)

Messenger (2nd)

Snake Charm (2nd)

Speak with Animals (2nd)

Hold Animal (3rd)

Summon Insects (3rd)

Animal Summoning I (4th)

Call Woodland Beings (4th)

Giant Insect (4th)

Repel Insects (4th)

Animal Growth (5th)

Animal Summoning II (5th)

Commune with Nature (5th)

Animal Summoning III (6th)

Anti-Animal Shell (6th)

Creeping Doom (7th)

Reincarnate (7th)

http://www.akrael.com/BackToNature.pdf

 

Reincarnate

Transmutation

Level: Drd 4

Components: V, S, M, DF

Casting Time: 10 minutes

Range: Touch

Target: Dead creature touched

Duration: Instantaneous

Saving Throw: None; see text

Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

http://www.d20srd.or...reincarnate.htm

 

 

if animals don't have souls/spirits

 

Good ontological question,

Especially regarding the nature of the relationship between Charac / Ranger / Animal Companion / Animal Sphere .

 

A sort of point of view :

 

Reincarnating an Animal Companion, still an Animal Companion? The Sage says not.

 

We could looking, if you want, for more info about (in the Dungeon/Dragon Magazines archives, by eg.) ... for may be add more interactions options ...

Edited by salomonkane, 03 May 2013 - 03:15 AM.

[Ulb]

Thanks, for digging that up. (Though, I'm not a D&D expert, is that canon stuff?)

 

Anyway, it seems that there is at least no commonly known standard D'n'D rule that says animals can absolutely not be resurrected/re-animated and that's enough for me to keep things as they are.

 

Right now they can be resurrected via raise dead and resurrection, though mass resurrection seems to be buggy (the script just won't detect it).

For the Rod of Resurrection and the ToB Bhaal-spawn resurrection ability to work, they need to be patched/(overwritten). I'll probably offer that as an optional component.

 

 

[salomonkane]

True Animal Companions

Alignment Restriction (as Ranger/LG/CG vs Evil PC) :

 

Speaking of orthodoxy or apocryphal sources,

 

 

Here are some links & a search engine that I find quite useful (with all the references pages indexed, AD&D2, FR, etc.) :

 

Search Engine :

http://www.imarvintp...dlive/index.php

 

Dragon Magazine Index & FR Bibio :

http://www.aeolia.ne...ndex/index.html , http://www.aeolia.ne...s-articles.html ,  http://www.aeolia.ne...alms/index.html

 

Animal Companion, Dragon Magazine entry :

 

 

Animal companions	"Greater Familiars of Faerun"		Jean Rabe		228(76)		D&D2

http://www.aeolia.ne...dex/realms.html

 

A more additional & exhaustive  list of possible companion  & valuable infos with some special abilities options :

 

Also, Animal list add :

Cooshe, Fox, Iguana, Winged Serpent, Elven Cat, Unicorn, Griffon , etc .

 

Eg :

Talking owl:

HD 3+2; AC 2; THAC0

18; #AT 1; Dmg 1–4/1–4/1–2; MV 1 fly

36

(B); SZ S

A diminutive bird of prey with a large head and a small hooked bill,

the owl can fly at any time of the day, though it is clear the bird prefers to be about in the

evenings. Its master soon feels more at ease when the sun sets, and he acquires

a taste for small rodents.

A talking owlspeaks the language of its master, plus six additional tongues.

The bird can detect good at will six

times a day.

However, if it forgoes any of the uses of that ability in a day, it can transfer them to its wizard-companion.

For example, if a talking owl decided notto use its detect goodability during the

course of a day, it could grant its mastersix uses of the detect goodspell.

The owl is immune to the following spells: cause

fear, charm person, command, friends, hypnotism, forget, hold person, ray of enfeeble-ment, scare,and fear.

 

About Companion Conjuration/Summoning and death :

"Greater Familiars of Faerun"

 

By Jean Rabe, illustrated by Terry Dykstra

 

Far below Waterdeep, where the labyrinths of Undermountain twist and spiral ever downward, treasurewaits.

One band of adventurers, braving the dangerous tunnels, came back battered and shaken – recovering only a book before escaping with their lives. But such a treasure it was– an ancient snakeskin-bound spellbook written in elvish.

Among the enchantments inside were spells to attract powerful

familiars. These creatures, which bind themselves to the wizards [Rangers !]

who cast the spells, imbue their mentors with wondrous abilities.

 

Find Companion

(Conjuration/Summoning)

Third Level

Range: 1 mile/level

Components: V, S

Duration: Special

Casting Time: Eight hours

Area of Effect: One creature

Saving Throw: None

This enchantment is similar to the first level spell

find familiar; however, it brings to the caster an animal companion with

enhanced abilities.

The creature attracted benefits a wizard by conveying its sensory powers to its master

, conversing withhim, and serving as a guard, scout, or spy. A wizard can have

only one animal companion at a time, though he also can have a normal familiar drawn by the first level spell.

The animal companion enters into a magical bond with the

wizard [Ranger !] and will no longer age at the rate a similar normal animal would.

The animal lives as long as its wizard mentor–unless it is killed earlier by spells

, physical attacks, or neglect. In addition, like afamiliar, the animal companion gains the saving throws of its

wizard-mentor. The wizard gains an empathic link with the animal and can issue it mental commands at a distance of up to

10miles.

Because it is enhanced through the casting of the

find companion spell, such an animal usually has more hit dice and a

better Armor Class than a creature like it would normally possess.

Its hit points are improved also. In addition to rolling hit points based on the animal’s hit dice, a number of hit points are

added equal to the caster’s level – to a maximum of 20.

Forexample, a 7th-level wizard [Ranger !?] with a badger companion would

add 7 hit points to the creature’s total. A 9th-level wizard would add 9.

Wizards can call upon these creatures to perform various

tasks and missions and can rely upon their innate magical abil-

ities. Smarter than a natural creature, companions easily can

carry out basic orders and can understand when their masters

are in danger. All animal companions initially have a Neutral

alignment. Through association with the wizard, however, the

companion assumes the same alignment as its master.

If the companion is separated from its wizard mentor by more

than 50 miles, the wizard loses one hit point a day until he dies

(at which time the companion also dies) or until the companion

returns to within the 50-mile radius. These improved familiars

gain the saving throws of their wizard-masters.

If the companion is killed, the wizard [the Ranger ?!] must successfully roll

an immediate system shock check or lose two levels of experi-

ence. If the check is successful, the wizard loses one level of

experience.

Companions vary in power and abilities, and the type of companion gained is random. Roll 1d20 and consult the following chart .

 

Read-On-line (p.76) :

[Edit /Link]

http://www.google.fr....45960087,d.ZG4

 

About the Author

http://forgottenreal.../wiki/Jean_Rabe

 

Others Concepts :

 

-Reincarnate :

http://www.imarvintp...lls.php?ID=3414

 

About this, is that you know that the animals companions could also accompany Evil  Characters (D3) ... ?

Feral Animal Companion Animal companion class feature, evil* alignment. 

 

Or Monstrous Creature ... ?

Monstrous Animal Companion Ability to gain an animal companion, Savage Empathy.

 

About Non Ranger :

Non druid/ranger animal companion

http://www.giantitp....ad.php?t=250246

 

Sources :

http://www.baldursga...html#post292446

Edited by salomonkane, 03 May 2013 - 08:37 AM.

[Eric P.]

Changing the animal companion to something closer to a familiar would be OP, IMHO.