28 replies to this topic

[temnix]

I've proposed this to Beamdog on their forum, but I don't know if they'll ever get around to it, or if they care to. Still, somebody has to do it. A lot of mod ideas require creatures to have Intelligence and Wisdom different from 9, where the designers left them because the stats didn't matter. My Illusions will use disbelief, tied to Intelligence. And common people and some monsters should have different alignments. Alignment should not be a privilege of VIPs. So long as it is, it's not going to matter, and then ideas and spells will ignore it likely they mostly do, while it's something to be played with. For example, right now hardly anyone casts Know Alignment and Detect Evil, because a) it's too obvious already, b) it's used almost nowhere, there are zero or next to zero alignment-restricted items, spells etc., and c) because the Know Alignment spell, in particular, only reveals the MASK categories - and currently allows no save; that's too easy. It should have a penalized save and use Glow + filters to show all of the 9 aligments instead of just three.

 

This is part of what made AD&D more than hack-and-slash. Complexity to build relevance on.

 

So this needs to be done. I just don't know what Weidu function could take care of all creatures in the game. But I'm ready to contribute my ideas, and whoever wants to bring the code - we can author the patching mod together.

 

The Int/Wis change and the alignment change would require two big combings-through of the CRE files, I think. For the first the code should go through all creatures and if they have Int and Wis both at 9 set them to something else, randomly, 0-5 points up and 0-5 points down. This won't matter to creatures immune to charm, sleep and illusions, like undead, because they have immunities from items and I'll make them immune for my spells where they don't. Then, after that's done, we should go by General, with ANIMAL getting a separate treatment (don't want dogs with 13 Int). Then separately by RACE like Carrion Crawler and Ogre and set them non-randomly. I can do this myself if I get an example. Again, Weidu should only do this to creatures with Int and Wis = 9.

 

As for alignment, the question is how to diversify it? Both towards what - should all bandits be Netral Evil? - and how actually, because if the bandits we meet use BANDIT.CRE, then they will all end up changed. I think the best idea is to go by CLASS and leave out real character classes like MAGE etc. Those NPC can be handled individually. But creatures of normally the same alignment (for Chaotic Evil, that's going to include those with OGRE, XVART and other classes) should be patched to carry a special item in a slot where they don't normally have anything (like Cloak or Belt). This undroppable item is going to have a Self-directed Change AI (opcode 72) on Instant/While Equipped, with some probability of a different alignment in the same range. So a spawning creature is going to be "colored" an alignment from a range. For those known to be normally Chaotic Evil we could set probabilities at, let's say, 100-90 to be Neutral Evil instead, 89-85 to be Lawful Evil, plus a few percentile points for Neutral and maybe even Good. A little moral dilemma for a paladin who bothers to use his Detect Evil power!

 

I can make the items, but who can tell me how to go about the code?

[The Imp]

Give a serious SIMPLE example ? And not just random noise from the top of your head.
I can show how to code it.

But the basic thing of it goes:

COPY_EXISTING GLOB ~*.cre$~ ~override~
READ_BYTE ~0xY~ ~thing~ //the Y is a number found here´
PATCH_IF (thing = 1) THEN BEGIN
WRITE_BYTE plah plaah plah...

´here. You can have multiple PATCH_IF conditions and so forth, so on. The COPY_EXISTING GLOB ~*.cre~ of course makes the install phase a bit slower than for example exact .cre name(s) with the other patch_for_each, but one uses the tools they got. The $ is there to make sure the file ends with that and so forth. The GLOB checks that the modified file includes the .bif'ed files too. And yes, we can randomize the stats between values.. but try to start with a SIMPLE action. And then procedure to harder ones.

 

For example, if you want to modify the goblins, you take a look at a goblin, and then you find one value that's a good identifier, say like race, and then you do stuff with that, knowing that is should be 112 on all of them..

COPY_EXISTING GLOB ~*.cre$~ ~override~
PATCH_IF (SOURCE_SIZE > 0x2d0) THEN BEGIN        // sorta protects against invalid files
  READ_BYTE ~0x0272~ ~thing~ //if the thing gets equalized as 112 then the write happens
  PATCH_IF (thing = 112) THEN BEGIN
    WRITE_BYTE ~0x027b~ ~0x13~ //this makes all of them into lawful_evil
  END
  BUT_ONLY //this is the usual but only if it changes thing
END //you started something twice so you also end them

Edited by The Imp, 28 March 2017 - 10:54 AM.

[temnix]

No offense, Imp, but you seem to be the one giving random noise off the top of your head here. Throwing a bunch of technical information at someone who obvioulsy doesn't know this stuff hardly helps. As if I can just pick it up and write out the rest. If I could do that, I probably wouldn't need to pair with a coder. If you want to participate, then you should instead give simple but complete examples that I can replicate.

 

You could start with a complete bit of code for X race that sets Int and Wis at Y - preferably a randomized Y up and down, as described - if they are both 9. If you do that, I can fill out the values, and so on I can also make the alignment-changing items, because this part isn't something that can be done with code alone.

[The Imp]

You could start with a complete bit of code for X race that sets Int and Wis at Y - preferably a randomized Y up and down, as described - if they are both 9. If you do that...

The thing with that is, you won't be able to do this in weidu, well as much as you would like to ... why, well, it's because the code changes the install time creature, not the in game creature so that they would be random, yes, but they would still all be the same in the same game. Which means you have to apply a randomized effect in game to the creature, with a possible script, as you cannot apply one to the creature that stands in for all them.

[temnix]

Okay, then how about doing this randomizing the same way I intend for alignment - with an equipped item? The same item, too, to save space. Belt or cloak or gloves would be best. So in the case of ghouls I would need code for: If GHOUL race and if Int and Wis = 9, then equip in the gloves slot X.

 

And I'll make the X with Effects:

 

Self - Instant/While Equipped - Nonmagical: Randomize alignment slightly around CE.

Self - Instant/While Equipped - Nonmagical: Randomize Int and Wis slightly around 5-6 (I believe that's what it was for Int in the Monstrous Manual, but common sense should do).

[The Imp]

if Int and Wis = 9

If you would bother to check the ghouls in your game, you'll notice that most of them(at least in BG2EE) have a Int of 16.

I am not sure that setting the effects in an item works, but anyways.

Name the item. In this case it will be bulldone.itm for now, revise the code as needed, duh. Here's the code that equips the said item on all them. You should try to make sure that the items you make are gloves, or the game could crash(highly unlikely, but it could happen).

COPY_EXISTING GLOB ~*.cre$~ ~override~
PATCH_IF (SOURCE_SIZE > 0x2d0) THEN BEGIN        // sorta protects against invalid files
  READ_BYTE ~0x0272~ ~thing~ 
  PATCH_IF (thing = 108) THEN BEGIN
  ADD_CRE_ITEM ~bulldone~ #0 #0 #0 ~IDENTIFIED&UNSTEALABLE&UNDROPPABLE~ ~GLOVES BELT CLOAK~ EQUIP
  END
  BUT_ONLY 
END 

[temnix]

Why did you call it bulldone?

 

Yes, I know ghouls have this high Intelligence. So do ogres. I was the one who called Beamdog's attention to this in the hopes they would release a patch. It hasn't happened yet. I'll obviously have to go race by race in case there are more irregularities.

 

Equipping items for effects always works, but does you code say in which slot to equip the item? Gloves, belts and cloaks use different slots, you know. You have them together in the umlauts...

[The Imp]

Why did you call it bulldone?

...

but does you code say in which slot to equip the item? Gloves, belts and cloaks use different slots, you know. You have them together in the umlauts...

You didn't name the item, so I had to. So bulldone it is then.

...

The code first tries to place the item to the creatures Gloves slot, and if it's occupied, then it tries to put it in the next, aka Belt slot and if that too is occupied, then it tries to put it in the last. I have no idea what happens if all the slots are filled, but in the vanilla game they are all clean, non occupied slots, so one of the three should do.

And the engine works with belts and whistles in the wrong slots... but one should avoid placing animation changing items to wrong slots... so no weapons in armor slots and no armors in helm and weapons slots. So yes, it says where the item is equipped. And you can't find the bulldone item after the creature perishes as it's destroyed with the creature, which is why I put the undroppable flag to the above.

[temnix]

It's not going to be called bulldone, but otherwise, thanks. So this is the code for ghouls. Where do you find the number for the race? Can you give the code for the bandit class as well?

[The Imp]

It's not going to be called bulldone, but otherwise, thanks. So this is the code for ghouls. Where do you find the number for the race? Can you give the code for the bandit class as well?

The .cre's assigned values can be found in the race.ids file for races, the class numbers are in the class.ids file. Same thing goes for Gender.ids, Alignme.ids, kit.ids etc.

Bandit's will not be able to be identified this way, as they have humans, dwarves, etc. most  are fighters, but there are clerics, mages and thieves too. And it's better to edit the exact .cre file, bandit.cre for example, not EVERY darn idiot that's in the game. To find the exact match always, push the x button in the game area, that gives you the .are name, then you open the .are file with Near Infinity and find the exact .cre files name... and then you open the file in NI, and then edit the .tp2 file ...

[temnix]

There are several CRE files for bandits. A few are only used for special spots. The main file is BANDIT.CRE. And all bandits are humans of the fighter class and NE alignment, regadless of the CRE file. That's why I want to diversify them. How about going by the name of the creature? Is that possible?

[The Imp]

How about going by the name of the creature? Is that possible?

You could just do it like this;

COPY_EXISTING ~bandit.cre~ ~override~
PATCH_IF (SOURCE_SIZE > 0x2d0) THEN BEGIN        // sorta protects against invalid files
  ADD_CRE_ITEM ~bulldone~ #0 #0 #0 ~IDENTIFIED&UNSTEALABLE&UNDROPPABLE~ ~GLOVES BELT CLOAK~ EQUIP
  BUT_ONLY 
END 

Yes... but then the item's properties need to extremely well considered and I would recommend that you try something else.

Besides the bandits are a part of an army of hired thugs in BG1... so for them to be diverse, you are looking at a wrong part of the story. 

 

In BG1 the bandit's are the bandit camp bandits, yes... but in BG2 for example, the "Bandit" titled Firban01.cre for example is a 16th level mage. The Firban02.cre is a 12th level Dwarf fighter. And there's redban0x.cre, where the x is number from 1 to 5, all different things, alignment and other things.

The non hostile bandits in BG1 are special characters by the way in the camp... so you can probably skip all of them. The other "bandits" are the "Black Talon" mercenary gang, and the hobgoblins, with a few others.

Edited by The Imp, 31 March 2017 - 12:37 PM.

[temnix]

Your code gives a parsing error as written. Is it missing an END or something?

[The Imp]

Could be... but give me the files and I'll see them. Both your code and the .debug...

[temnix]

This is the tp2. Do I need to write the item's name with "itm"? The error is that Weidu says it expected "one of these tokens" - END - near the last line.

 

BACKUP ~Round-out-Bandits-test/backup~
AUTHOR ~Chimeric (Temnix) & the Imp~
VERSION ~1.0~
AUTO_TRA ~Round-out-Bandits-test/TRA/%s~
LANGUAGE ~English~ ~english~ ~Round-out-Bandits-test/TRA/Setup-Round-out-Bandits-test.tra~

BEGIN ~Round-out-Bandits-test~
 

COPY ~Round-out-Bandits-test/BANDI+_#.bcs~ ~override~
SAY NAME1 ~Round-out: Bandits~
SAY NAME2 ~Round-out: Bandits~
SAY UNIDENTIFIED_DESC ~Randomizes alignment, Int, Wis and Cha of standard bandits.~

COPY_EXISTING ~bandit.cre~ ~override~
PATCH_IF (SOURCE_SIZE > 0x2d0) THEN BEGIN
  ADD_CRE_ITEM ~BANDI+_#~ #0 #0 #0 ~IDENTIFIED&UNSTEALABLE&UNDROPPABLE~ ~GLOVES BELT CLOAK~ EQUIP
  BUT_ONLY
END

[The Imp]

Do you have the bandi+_#.itm in the game folder ? As that needs to be there .. as you aren't copying it in the code. Also you might need to switch the BUT_ONLY to be after the first END. But I can't actually say that for sure as you didn't tell me at WHICH LINE THE CODE breaks. The .debiug contains that.

[temnix]

Oh, blast it. Of course, I copied the code line whole-cloth from another file. ITM, not BCS.

 

I changed the code, but the error is still there. There is only one END in the code. Do I need another? It's your code, you wrote it!

 

Here is the corrected code for the item:

 

BEGIN ~Round-out-Bandits-test~

COPY ~Round-out-Bandits-test/BANDI+_#.itm~ ~override~
SAY NAME1 ~Round-out: Bandits~
SAY NAME2 ~Round-out: Bandits~
SAY UNIDENTIFIED_DESC ~Randomizes alignment, Int, Wis and Cha of standard bandits.~

COPY_EXISTING ~bandit.cre~ ~override~
PATCH_IF (SOURCE_SIZE > 0x2d0) THEN BEGIN
  ADD_CRE_ITEM ~BANDI+_#~ #0 #0 #0 ~IDENTIFIED&UNSTEALABLE&UNDROPPABLE~ ~GLOVES BELT CLOAK~ EQUIP
  BUT_ONLY
END

 

Here is the debug file:

 

[ROUND-OUT-BANDITS-TEST/ROUND-OUT-BANDITS-TEST.TP2] PARSE ERROR at line 17 column 1-10
Near Text: BUT_ONLY
    GLR parse error

[ROUND-OUT-BANDITS-TEST/ROUND-OUT-BANDITS-TEST.TP2]  ERROR at line 17 column 1-10
Near Text: BUT_ONLY
    Parsing.Parse_error
ERROR: parsing [ROUND-OUT-BANDITS-TEST/ROUND-OUT-BANDITS-TEST.TP2]: Parsing.Parse_error
ERROR: problem parsing TP file [ROUND-OUT-BANDITS-TEST/ROUND-OUT-BANDITS-TEST.TP2]: Parsing.Parse_error

Edited by temnix, 02 April 2017 - 06:35 AM.

[Gwendolyne]

COPY_EXISTING ~bandit.cre~ ~override~
  PATCH_IF (SOURCE_SIZE > 0x2d0) THEN BEGIN
    ADD_CRE_ITEM ~BANDI+_#~ #0 #0 #0 ~IDENTIFIED&UNSTEALABLE&UNDROPPABLE~ ~GLOVES BELT CLOAK~ EQUIP
  END
BUT_ONLY

[temnix]

Thank you, Gwendolyne. That got us out of an embarassing hold-up, or it would have, except now I want to do a sweeping change by creature name and class instead of equipping a particular CRE. Imp, here is the code I have so far, put together from the pieces you've provided. I want to go by creature name first, Bandit, and make them all equip this randomizing item. The mod is going to have to be for BG:EE only. I haven't played BG2 in ages and don't remember it. If people like what this mod does for the first game, let someone else pick up the torch for part two. The second item is fine-tuned similar but different. It is for AMNIAN SOLDIER, which is a class. I got the numbers out of Near Infinity. That part of the code probably works, but the code fails earlier. Here it is in its entirety:

 

COPY ~Round Out Test/BANDI+_#.itm~ ~override~
SAY NAME1 ~Round Out: Bandits~
SAY NAME2 ~Round Out: Bandits~
SAY UNIDENTIFIED_DESC ~Randomizes alignment, Int, Wis, Cha and appearance of standard bandits.~

COPY_EXISTING GLOB ~*.cre$~ ~override~
PATCH_IF (SOURCE_SIZE > 0x2d0) THEN BEGIN
  READ_BYTE ~0x08~ ~thing~
  PATCH_IF (thing = 13825) THEN BEGIN
  ADD_CRE_ITEM ~BANDI+_#~ #0 #0 #0 ~IDENTIFIED&UNSTEALABLE&UNDROPPABLE~ ~GLOVES BELT CLOAK~ EQUIP
  END
  BUT_ONLY
END

 

(8 is creature Name, but I don't know if I'm referring to the string correctly. Never done it before. The failure is earlier, though.)

 

(Do I need the second END?)

COPY ~Round Out Test/AMNS+_#.itm~ ~override~
SAY NAME1 ~Round Out: Amnian soldiers~
SAY NAME2 ~Round Out: Amnian soldiers~
SAY UNIDENTIFIED_DESC ~Randomizes alignment, Int, Wis, Cha and appearance of Amnian soldiers.~
 
  COPY_EXISTING GLOB ~*.cre$~ ~override~
PATCH_IF (SOURCE_SIZE > 0x2d0) THEN BEGIN
  READ_BYTE ~0x0273~ ~thing~
  PATCH_IF (thing = 212) THEN BEGIN
  ADD_CRE_ITEM ~AMNS+_#~ #0 #0 #0 ~IDENTIFIED&UNSTEALABLE&UNDROPPABLE~ ~GLOVES BELT CLOAK~ EQUIP
  END
  BUT_ONLY
END

 

--

 

The compiling fails with a missing token error (again) at the first GLOB:

 

[ROUND OUT TEST/ROUND OUT TEST.TP2] PARSE ERROR at line 14 column 1-18
Near Text: GLOB
    GLR parse error

[ROUND OUT TEST/ROUND OUT TEST.TP2]  ERROR at line 14 column 1-18
Near Text: GLOB
    Parsing.Parse_error
ERROR: parsing [ROUND OUT TEST/ROUND OUT TEST.TP2]: Parsing.Parse_error
ERROR: problem parsing TP file [ROUND OUT TEST/ROUND OUT TEST.TP2]: Parsing.Parse_error

FATAL ERROR: Parsing.Parse_error
 

--

 

Alignments will stay mostly around the original, but with some deviations. For bandits, about half will stay NE, LE and CE get 15% each, and the rest are neutrals with a couple of percentile points for good alignments. Here is a screenshot I took with alignment glows in the item, for demonstration. With the code not working, I put the item on them by hand. The color codes are the same I'm going to use in my version of Know Alignment: the two orange guys are CE, the one glowing purple is LE and there is an azure True Neutral in their midst.

 

 

After I took the picture and saw the clones on it, I realized that I can also vary appearance and body type with the same item. Indeed, I could put gameplay effects there as well, like randomized weapons or speed and damage bonuses. That might have been a good thing, but I decided to refrain. I drew on several body types and heights for bandits and Amnian soldiers. They are still recognizable but not identical twins.

 

Example: bandits storming Candlekeep.

 

 

Amnian soldiers are more uniform, but there is some variety of metal, helm decorations, body type and skin color etc. All in all, they look more like real troops now. Their alignment is mostly in the Lawful range and their mental stats a little higher than for the bandits.

 

 

[The Imp]

COPY_EXISTING GLOB ~*.cre$~ ~override~
PATCH_IF (SOURCE_SIZE > 0x2d0) THEN BEGIN
  READ_BYTE ~0x08~ ~thing~
  PATCH_IF (thing = 13825) THEN BEGIN
  ADD_CRE_ITEM ~BANDI+_#~ #0 #0 #0 ~IDENTIFIED&UNSTEALABLE&UNDROPPABLE~ ~GLOVES BELT CLOAK~ EQUIP
  END
  BUT_ONLY
END

Thew 0x08 data size is not 1, but 4... so you don't read a _BYTE, but _ASCII .. and if it's 2, it's _SHORT, and 4 is _LONG generally.
This should fix to that issue:

COPY_EXISTING GLOB ~*.cre$~ ~override~
PATCH_IF (SOURCE_SIZE > 0x2d0) THEN BEGIN
  READ_ASCII ~0x08~ ~thing~
  PATCH_IF (thing = 13838) THEN BEGIN
  ADD_CRE_ITEM ~BANDI+_#~ #0 #0 #0 ~IDENTIFIED&UNSTEALABLE&UNDROPPABLE~ ~GLOVES BELT CLOAK~ EQUIP
  END
  BUT_ONLY
END

PS, the 0x08 needs to be 13838, the 0x0c is the 13825, but that's not the same string, probably as it's length is different.