Making NPC mods

[Strontium Dog]

OK, I've decided, after all, to make a stab at creating some NPC mods. I think it's high time that Faldorn and Safana should be made joinable NPCs, given that most of the BG1 NPCs, missing from BG2, have already been added in via other mods , such as the Tiax/Xan/Branwen mods etc. - one could have an alternate quest, involving killing Cernd and his non-Shadow Druid-allies and erasing Trademeet/saving the forests and environment etc.. With Safana, it could be made so that she can survive the werewolf encounter. Given that both those NPCs have their own dialogue, and can be even allied with the group by just using the relevant CreateCreature() code and using EnableCheatKeys() and the "Q" button on the NPCs in an average game, these mods should be easier to set up than most.

 

 

Obviously, since I know nothing about programming(other than a little knowledge of C), this all may take 3-6 years to produce! Can anyone tell me exactly which specific software tools I need to download in order to make these mods - pointing me to a page of diverse software tools would just confuse me even further.

[Ieldra]

I'd like to see Safana as a playable NPC in BG2, I've always liked her. But going from the werewolf encounter is not a good idea, it's chapter 6 after all. Better to write a new story for her so that she can appear earlier.

 

As for tools, I've recently started myself and I'm using these three:

 

WeiDU - for dialogue, any in-game text stuff, install scripts and some more.

NearInfinity - easy to get into, excellent for script debugging and analyzing, but not so good for the fiddly stuff like items and spells.

DLTCEP - not so easy to get into, but can do almost anything. Use IESDP (menu bar on this page) for reference.

 

You can find these listed in the PPG Tools Index, among other sites. Ghreyfain's classic NPC making tutorial has helped me greatly. There's this one here on G3 as well.

 

(I don't need to mention Shadowkeeper for testing and a good text editor, do I?)