43 replies to this topic

[khay]

Mostly because I find Cromwell and Cespenar too automatic and boring.

CESPENAR IS NOT BORING!

[T.G.Maestro]

May I ask you to name that "mysterious wizard" Magnus Silverhand? This is some king of personal issue for me, you know...
The secret lab idea is nice, though you could simply put him somewhere outside of Athkatla - Trademeet maybe?
Try to add as much upgrade options as possible!

[GreyViper]

Some upgrades require an item, other just gold.

How about using all the gems depending on color blue for cold, red for fire, green for poison and so on. Same way as in Diablo 2.

[Nesquaam]

@bt_igi: Are there already standard beta testers ? Or can anyone try it?
Because I would like to help. So if you're in need of testers, I will be available.

[jester]

@jester: what download link?

exactly Let's just say, I just wanted to encourage you.

[igi]

Lo folks,
Just an update on the progess of the mod, and some queries on how it should work.

First, some numbers:
Dialog: 50+ lines (easy)
Script: 300+ lines (bearable)
Items : 600+ (wtf!?)

Anyway, using this mod it's pretty easy to create uber-items, ie. a weapon doing 16d acid damage, 1d6 fire damage, 1d6 cold damage etc etc. So.. shall I make it so you can only pick 2 damage ugrades, or a limited amount? Of shall I just allow them all, and leave it to the players discretion?
On a similar note, all the extra damage upgrades atm do 1d6. I was thinking (as per T.G's original proposal) to allow varying strength damage upgrades, so minor would be 16d, major would be 2d6, and divine would be 3d6. Shall I implement this? If so, shall I cap this as well, maybe 1 divine damage? As well as the 2 minors? And 1 major? Or allow the player to have everything (so a divine damage rating in all the damage types).
Same question for the damage resistances.
So... feedback is required!!

[jester]

You definitely must limit them. There are so many uber items in the game already. Decent tradeoffs would be nice, but 600 is a lot to take into consideration.

[igi]

How about I make the extra elemental damages 1d3. And allow 3 minor damages (1d3), 2 major damages (2d3), and 1 divine damage (3d3)... that would allow a total extra damage of 6d3 points... Not exactly huge, some people may not even bother. But then, few creatures are resistance to 3 types of elemental damage.
I'll do something similar with the elemental resistances as well I think.

As for disadvantages... I'm not going to add individual disadvantages to 600+ items. Hopefully, needing certain components, a lot of gold, and having a chance of failure is enough. Maybe I'll add a few generic disadvantages though... if you have elemental resistance, your CON goes down a point (cos your wearing some mild acid, and ice) or something.

[T.G.Maestro]

I was thinking (as per T.G's original proposal) to allow varying strength damage upgrades, so minor would be 16d, major would be 2d6, and divine would be 3d6.

I'd suggest something like +1 damage as minor, +1D4 as normal and +1D10 as heavy (sorry, but why do you call the highest enchantments "divine"? I don't thionk that a mage's enchantments have anything to do with divine magic.. )

[Andyr]

Does it work out you have to code this creating a different item file and dialogue branch for every specific possibility, then? That seems like a lot of work...

[CamDawg]

With a properly planned patching process and naming convention, you could clone the items and add the abilities on the fly. Take a look at Idobek's 2H katanas/bastard swords for an example of adding abilities to an existing item. Toss in some COPY_EXISTINGs, READ/WRITEs, a WHILE or two, and you could end up with 600+ items without ever opening NI.

Dialogue and scripting, on the other hand...

[Stone Wolf]

Does it work out you have to code this creating a different item file and dialogue branch for every specific possibility, then? That seems like a lot of work...

Well, I think it could be done using local variables that are cleared after each creation is completed (or aborted). That would at least make the dialog easier to do. Item creation is still a pain, but at least you could copy and paste extension headers and do items in batches. It is a huge job, though.

[igi]

Lo folks,
I used "divine" as I couldnt think of another word at the time.

The system at the moment is a dialog, which sets variables, and a script which checks / sets variables. This is the most efficient way I found (after about 3 attempts), though its still a lot of work (mostly in the script).

Atm I make items using ICIE, a grep like program, and a file renamer, so making the items is not a problem. Though a weidu patching process would shrink the download size.

Anyway, the good news is that the alpha is as finished as it's likely to get.

The bad news is that it's unlikely to get any more finished whatsoever

I started this mod to prove how much work it would be, and I think I've made my point. Atm, I have over 600 items, and a script over 2000 lines long, and this only allows a longsword to be upgraded via enchantment, weight and damage.

So, development is now halted. I'll upload the alpha later tonight, and you can see what I did, and how not-far I got.
If anyone wants to continue my work, I'll be glad to explain how my system works.
/igi

[igi]

As promised, here is the ALPHA release.
http://www.teambg.net/~igi/files/mods/iiItem(00).zip

All feedback and ideas are welcome, though baring anything major, I've stopped development on this (though anyone else is free to carry on with it)

[Stone Wolf]

Heh, it is an extreme amount of work. It's too bad that ToEE wasn't an Infinity Engine game, since that has at least a minimal system for item enchantment.

[Xaositect_Crayon]

wouldnt it be cool if you could find some level 4 spell that could turn a normal weapon to a +1 or even add elemental damage permanently?
maybe add in a level 7 spell to add a +2 with a small chance of +3 or 4 as a level 7 magic.....

both have a % chance of the weapon blowing up in your face turning it into a little grenade...

[Stone Wolf]

Well, there's this effect (quoted from IESDP):

#248 (0xf8) Item: Set Melee Effect [248]
Parameter #1: Irrelevant
Parameter #2: Irrelevant
Description:
Sets the effect specified by the resource key as a melee
effect.
The specified effect will be applied to the target of each
successful melee attack.
(The resource key isn't a spell, it is an .eff file!)

This could add an eff file to a weapon temporarily.

[Feanor]

Maestro, in the Planar Sphere MOD exists such a feature. You have a forge where you can creat your own items (that's just a information, not trying to discourage you). But I don't understand why that wizard upgrades only non-enchanted items. I think the upgrades should depend on the weapon's enhancement. I mean, if you go at him with Blackrazor or Carsomyr, he should say it's too dangerous to try, but he should upgrade lesser weapons, as Kundane or Ilbratha.

[Xaositect_Crayon]

or permanently... there is a permanent effect you know...

[CamDawg]

Yes, but EFFs can not change everything--for example, the base enchantment of the weapon.