Sir_Carnifex

Lately I've been messing around with GIMP trying to get a BG2 style portrait out of a drawing or a picture. Below are a couple of efforts at it. The first is from a drawing (and also one I'm using for something I'm working on). The one on the bottom is done from a photograph. It is also the more recent of the two portraits. Also note that I didn't focus much on anything but the face in the second portrait, so the hood and padded armor likely look fairly unfinished. I'll probably post some more as I do them, whenever that may be.

Since I'm still working on improving, I'm open to constructive criticism - tips on anything, really. Shading, highlights, texture, smoothness, etc. I'd appreciate any such feedback. I've already gotten some tips that have helped a lot, but having more is always good! Thanks a lot!

https://dl.dropbox.c...BGPortrait9.bmp
https://dl.dropbox.c...apPortrait2.bmp

Sorry for not showing the images here, but apparently BMP isn't allowed to be shown on this site and I don't currently have them in JPG or PNG.

I just got to the interjections I coded in my four-year old script. I can't remember exactly how I came about the code since it was so long ago, but I'm guessing it was probably taken from some tutorial or I sneaked a peek at some other mod. Most likely the former since I started out almost entirely just using tutorials alone. Anyway, I had....

APPEND ARNGRL01
IF ~!NumTimesTalkedTo(0)
	!InPartySlot(LastTalkedToBy,0)
	Name("CXHalbo",LastTalkedToBy)
	Global("HalboMissy","LOCALS",0)~
THEN BEGIN HalboCommentMissy
SAY ~Drop that, stumpy! Get your paws off my coats! I'll not have another one go missing to a grubby little filcher!~
IF ~~ THEN DO ~SetGlobal("HalboMissy","LOCALS",1)~ EXTERN CXHALBOJ HalboCommentMissy2
END
END

-----------------------------These two sections are actually separated into different sections of the J file.-------------------------

IF ~~ THEN BEGIN HalboCommentMissy2
SAY ~insert witty (or not) retort.~
IF ~~ THEN EXIT
END

Now, I started comparing this to another mod to see what differences there were and also, hopefully, to get a better grasp of how to go about this. I noticed that it was similar except.... mine is missing EXTEND_BOTTOM. Also, there's a little difference with the THEN, and an extra END at the bottom. I went ahead and just filled in the second code with the content of the first to make it more similar. I left out the locals though...

EXTEND_BOTTOM ARNGRL01
  IF ~!InPartySlot(LastTalkedToBy,0) Name("CXHalbo",LastTalkedToBy)~ EXTERN ARNGRL01 HalboCommentMissy
END

APPEND ARNGRL01
IF ~~ HalboCommentMissy
  SAY ~Drop that, stumpy! Get your paws off my coats! I'll not have another one go missing to a grubby little filcher!~
  IF ~~ EXTERN CXHALBOJ HalboCommentMissy2
END
END

APPEND CXHALBOJ
IF ~~ HalboCommentMissy2
  SAY ~Insert witty (or not) retort.~
  IF ~~ EXIT
END
END

So is there something critical that I'm missing in the original? Is EXTEND_BOTTOM a necessary thing, or is this matter of preference? And about the END... would having the extra in the second be there possibly because of the order in which dialogues are done? Originally I followed a tutorial that puts the externs all at the top and the appends at the bottom. I'm not sure if that makes a difference in the number of ENDs that have to be added.

Also, I think I do actually prefer putting the APPENDs and EXTERNs together than doing them separately as I originally did. It's much, much easier to edit the text.

Thanks for any help.

Time for me second question. I noticed a long time ago when I started my mod that Imoen didn't have a banter file. I think at the time someone had suggested using Imoen2J for her banters with my NPC, so that is what I did. I tested them and they work just fine...seemingly, that is. But since I've returned after my extended break I've started poking around some more and notice other mods adding in the BImoen2 file instead of using J. The question is, is it possibly to go breaking things by using the wrong file for the banters, or is it a matter of preference?

Or perhaps posting what I was looking at (from Ninde) for an example would help. If I understand this script right, it's adding in the fix for BIMOEN2 only if it would apply changes to the file, but otherwise it would leave it alone. Is that correct? Also, I'd have to say I've never understood the tp2 file stuff very well. For my own mod, I just did a lot of copying and it seemed to work.

// Fixing Imoen's dialogue file
ACTION_IF FILE_EXISTS_IN_GAME ~mel01.cre~ THEN BEGIN
  COPY_EXISTING ~interdia.2da~ ~override~
	SET_2DA_ENTRY 17 1 2 ~BIMOEN2~ // fixes ToB version
	BUT_ONLY_IF_IT_CHANGES
END ELSE BEGIN
  APPEND ~interdia.2da~ ~IMOEN	   BIMOEN2~ // fixes SoA version
	UNLESS ~BIMOEN2~
END

Thanks for any help. I'll wrap my head around this stuff yet.

Also, if CMorgan reads this.... yes, I am picking a lot of this back up quicker than I thought.

It's been awhile (a long while!) since I've been around or even done any modding, but I'm starting to look into it again. While I'm more than a little dissatisfied with the old work that I was doing (amazing how four years absences make you see things different!), I decided that since I'm still basically a newbie to the modding world that it'd be a good thing to just continue working on it and use it as a means of becoming more familiar with everything in the "toolset". Once I'm more accustomed to everything then I can focus on a more serious project.

The past couple days I was reviewing the coding I'd done and noticed a number of glaring mistakes which I can fix in time. But I had a question in particular about one thing. Currently, my mod's banters will continue going even in the Underdark. Really, it's not something I even thought about until I started playing again and noticed other NPCs don't banter too much in there. Now, is there a short way of just excluding all banters from the UD (except special ones) or would I have to specifically mark IF not "in such-and-such an area" for each and every banter trigger? Or would it be more advisable to find the variable for the drow transformation and use that instead? Even so, would that have to be applied to each and every banter individually?

Thanks for any help. I'm looking forward to giving this another go in the near future.