BGII Creature creation info, please

[Miloch]

I'd like it to have a percentage chance of appearing and attacking a party that includes a druid or ranger character, maybe one chance per day, only in outdoor wilderness

All that is scriptable - see the IESDP for script commands. You'll have to script it enough to get it to appear at least. Usually this goes in an area script, or possibly by patching an area's spawn points for random encounters (I don't know much about that).

As for attacks, it does have the P1-10.ITM (skull) specified in the Item 0 slot. Why does it say "skull," though, if it's a claw attack?

The developers seem to've thought such items don't need descriptive names, because they can't be obtained or seen by players. The file name is supposed to represent it for development purposes (P1-10 is a 1d10 piercing attack).

I take this to mean that 0 represents something present, while -1 represents nothing present.

0 represents the first entry in the item index, while -1 indicates nothing. 1 would be the second entry, and so on. If you wanted to add a claw attack, you could, I suppose, add something like s1-8.itm (1d8 slashing attack) to the shield (off-hand) slot, as WizWom says.

Should I give it a ring of regeneration for this purpose, that isn't lootable after it dies?

That would be the easiest way (just flag it as no drop).

Now I have a question about a BGII creature's .d file. Is this needed, if there's no dialog?

No.

I opened a .dlg file from the override folder, to see if that would give me any clues, but all I saw was coding that meant nothing to my novice eyes.

A .dlg is a compiled .d (dialogue) file. Use WeiDU or NI to decompile and view it.

 

And creating an area (.are) is a huge project, probably even bigger than retouching loads of .bam sequences. Surely you're not going to tackle that in your first mod...

[ericp07]

Miloch, thanks for the information. This is greatly helpful! Now the damage ranges are obvious And no, I'm not about to dive into area modding just yet. Zyraen expressed to me that it's a daunting task, and I consider him a top-notch modder! I will want to learn about it, though, after I've become familiar with more than just the essentials of creating various kinds of mods.

 

Now it's back to NI to polish up the Beast of Malar a bit more...I'm liking the idea of creating each of the elements of my mod project as stand-alone packages (makes the work less complicated, I think, as I can focus on one at a time). Integrating it all will be interesting, to say the least There will be just a few custom items to make, and then a quest involving one or a few non-joinable NPC foes and their lackeys. I await response from Margot, creator of the Sorschana soundset, to learn if I may use it for my joinable NPC, and then I'll want to create some music

 

Happy modding,

Eric

[ericp07]

Hello,

 

I've hit another snag in creating this creature of mine. It's meant to shapeshift from one form to another, so I've created separate .cre and .tp2 files for each form. So far, so good, but should these be packaged as a single mod, or as two separate ones? The creature is supposed to attack when first finding a character/party, and then change forms after the first round or two. I'm wondering how to avoid confusion in the .tp2, and with any other related files.

 

I couldn't find an appropriate animation for the second form (claw slayer), but I want to distinguish it from the hunter form, which uses GREATCAT_PANTHER, so I chose GREATCAT_LEOPARD. It's really supposed to look like a big wolverine, but what can you do? Both forms have the same coloration, but need different shapes for easier recognition.

 

Please advise me on how to proceed with this, and then I'll be able to test it.

 

Thanks,

Eric

[Miloch]

should these be packaged as a single mod, or as two separate ones?

It should all be one mod. It's all related stuff, and there's no need to increase the player's download/install complexity.

 

You'll put something like this in the script (.baf) file associated with the creature(s). It could be as simple as a ChangeAnimation() to your alternate .cre under whatever conditions will trigger the change.

[ericp07]

should these be packaged as a single mod, or as two separate ones?

It should all be one mod. It's all related stuff, and there's no need to increase the player's download/install complexity.

 

You'll put something like this in the script (.baf) file associated with the creature(s). It could be as simple as a ChangeAnimation() to your alternate .cre under whatever conditions will trigger the change.

 

That's a great relief Means I can leave the .cre files where they are. Still need to determine what to include in the .baf. The conditions will be simply (?) that the change occurs after the creature completes two attack routines of claw/claw/bite.

 

Another thought about damage: as there's a list of attacks from which to select, if I wanted a different damage range, like 3-8 (1d6+2), I'd have to create a new .itm. I don't want to further complicate things, so I chose the attack damage ranges that were closest to what they should be.

 

Thanks,

Eric

[Miloch]

The conditions will be simply (?) that the change occurs after the creature completes two attack routines of claw/claw/bite.

Take a look at the triggers to find something that works. I don't think there's an absolute method for telling how many attacks it's completed, so the best way is just to put it on some sort of timer once it starts combat or gets hit, then once it's expired, do the transformation.

Another thought about damage: as there's a list of attacks from which to select, if I wanted a different damage range, like 3-8 (1d6+2), I'd have to create a new .itm. I don't want to further complicate things, so I chose the attack damage ranges that were closest to what they should be.

You should also think about your creature's Strength. Whatever STR it has above 15 will give it hit and/or damage bonuses.

[ericp07]

The conditions will be simply (?) that the change occurs after the creature completes two attack routines of claw/claw/bite.

Take a look at the triggers to find something that works. I don't think there's an absolute method for telling how many attacks it's completed, so the best way is just to put it on some sort of timer once it starts combat or gets hit, then once it's expired, do the transformation.

 

Ah, even my rookie mind came up with the idea that a timer might work It'll be a very short one, like five seconds. I'll check out the triggers as well.

 

Another thought about damage: as there's a list of attacks from which to select, if I wanted a different damage range, like 3-8 (1d6+2), I'd have to create a new .itm. I don't want to further complicate things, so I chose the attack damage ranges that were closest to what they should be.

You should also think about your creature's Strength. Whatever STR it has above 15 will give it hit and/or damage bonuses.

 

Cool, I'll adjust accordingly, as I don't want the upper end of damage to be more than it should be. The hunter form has STR 15, so no change needed there, but the claw slayer form has STR 30 (which I'm guessing BGII will reduce to 25). This is because the creature originally appeared in 3rd edition D&D, whereas BGII uses 2nd edition rules.

 

Thanks,

Eric

[Miloch]

the claw slayer form has STR 30 (which I'm guessing BGII will reduce to 25).

25 is the maximum the engine will recognise, so you don't want to go over that.

 

Frankly, I don't know why 3rd ed. saw the need to go past that either, as only godlike entities could have anything above 21 or so (well once upon a time anyway).

[ericp07]

the claw slayer form has STR 30 (which I'm guessing BGII will reduce to 25).

25 is the maximum the engine will recognise, so you don't want to go over that.

 

Frankly, I don't know why 3rd ed. saw the need to go past that either, as only godlike entities could have anything above 21 or so (well once upon a time anyway).

 

Because the concept of static ability scores sucks? Seriously, though, they redefined STR in such a way that scores from 19 to 28 are no longer considered godlike, and so that the score can be increased, and provide incremental bonuses with every even number, just like the others. It's all part of reformatting the game mechanics to fit the d20 model. But then, you probably already know these things Personally, I feel that 3.5e D&D is the best D&D rules set ever, and I don't foresee much in the way of improvement, save of course for individual house rules.

 

In any case, the IE limitation explains why I can edit ability scores to over 25 using NI, and yet they appear as "25" (colored red) on the character record screen.

 

Thanks again,

Eric

[ericp07]

After adding the lines to copy my second .cre and to name it differently from the first in my .tp2, I can make both versions of this creature appear in-game, but they don't attack or move (though they do show as hostile)! I must have forgotten to add something (END, perhaps?) in the file. Here's how it looks at this point:

 

BEGIN ~Beast of Malar~

 

COPY ~Beast_of_Malar/EP#MABP.cre~ ~override/EP#MABP.cre~

 

SAY NAME1 ~Beast of Malar, hunter~

SAY NAME2 ~Beast of Malar, hunter~

 

COPY ~Beast_of_Malar/EP#MABC.cre~ ~override/EP#MABC.cre~

 

SAY NAME1 ~Beast of Malar, claw slayer~

SAY NAME2 ~Beast of Malar, claw slayer~

 

What is missing here? In the claw slayer's .cre, I entered EP#MABC in the appropriate script fields (where I'd enter the name of the .cre if this was an NPC), even though there's no EP#MABC.bcs. Do I need to create that file, or did I forget to tell the installer to do it, or what?

 

Please advise on how I should fix this up, and what I need to do for .baf, and I'll get the thing to work again, and then see about scripting it.

 

One more thing: should I look at IESDP for how to flag the creature's ring as no drop? I had to give it a regeneration ability, but I don't want the slain creature to provide any loot.

 

Thanks!

Eric

[Icendoan]

You could do it simply with WeiDU and the ADD_CRE_ITEM command, like this

BACKUP ~BeastOfMalar/Backup~
AUTHOR ~Thisthread@gibberlings3.net~

BEGIN ~Beast of Malar~

COPY ~Beast_of_Malar/EP#MABP.cre~ ~override/EP#MABP.cre~

SAY NAME1 ~Beast of Malar, hunter~
SAY NAME2 ~Beast of Malar, hunter~

COPY ~Beast_of_Malar/EP#MABC.cre~ ~override/EP#MABC.cre~

SAY NAME1 ~Beast of Malar, claw slayer~
SAY NAME2 ~Beast of Malar, claw slayer~

COPY ~YourCustomWeaponsformod~ ~override~

ACTION_IF FILE_EXISTS_IN_GAME ~EP#MABC.cre~ THEN BEGIN

COPY_EXISTING ~EP#MABC~ ~override/EP#MABC.cre~
ADD_CRE_ITEM ~ring31.itm~ #0 #0 #0 ~unstealable~ ~RRING LRING~
END
END

 

I'm still a WeiDU n00b so don't blame me if it goes wrong.

 

You might also want to remove part of your copy destination.

 

For example

COPY ~Beast_of_Malar/EP#MABP.cre~ ~override/EP#MABP.cre~

SAY NAME1 ~Beast of Malar, hunter~
SAY NAME2 ~Beast of Malar, hunter~

 

I beleive you are trying to copy it to EP#MABP.cre in the override directory, which, won't work. a) as it isn't there and b) because I don't think it can contain it. It always seems to copy with this;

 

COPY ~MyCRE/MyMod~ ~override~

SAY NAME1 ~My Creature~
SAY NAME2 ~My Creature~

 

I think trying to organise all your override files into subfolders would mess things up a little.

 

Icen

[ericp07]

Oops...OK, yeah. I see where I goofed up, and now I see how to make that ring undroppable, so HUGE THANKS!!! I'll fix up the .tp2, then reinstall and test some more.

 

This is quite an adventure, and I appreciate being able to learn efficient modding habits along the way.

 

Happy modding,

Eric

[ericp07]

Icendoan, I'll credit you for your assistance, if you'd like--and everyone else who offers assistance with this project--when I get around to writing a ReadMe for it

 

- E

[ericp07]

Problem! I just attempted to install my fixed Beast of Malar mod on the Mac, using Install-mod.sh, and this is what happened:

 

Silverbird:~ ericp$ cd /BGII\ -\ SoA

Silverbird:/BGII - SoA ericp$ ./Install-tools/Install-mod.sh

 

| Drop the Mod's folder here and press RETURN (or type quit to exit)

| => /BGII\ -\ SoA/OSX-Beast_of_Malar\ Folder/

TP2 file Setup-MABP.tp2

|

| Mod converted for Macs. Run WeiDU to install it now? (Yes/no): y

Running Setup-MABP.exe ...

[setup-MABP.exe] WeiDU version 20300

{Setup-Kelsey} Queried (pid = 8867)

 

Why is it referencing Kelsey? I have Kelsey installed (but haven't yet encountered him in-game), and that mod's files are strewn about the BGII folder (because they're packaged differently from most mods I've seen), so perhaps there's some confusion, but I haven't had this problem before.

 

I might have messed something up here. I'm also confused that the installer reports WeiDU version 203, instead of 204, which is the version of weidu-mac that I have installed. I've gone through all my mod folders, and made new setup-[modname].command files out of copies of weidu-mac version 204. I've even run the updater component of WeiDU to update all mods, but that doesn't appear to have worked.

 

Other mods are installing properly. I've downloaded three OS X updates of mods that I had installed, so I had to uninstall them, then install the new versions. That was a pain, because the install process always got an error during the reinstall of one mod, saying too many files were open. However, re-running Install-mod.sh and reinstalling that mod resulted in successful installation.

 

I'm at a loss at this point, and would appreciate some help here.

 

Thanks and best wishes,

Eric

[Steve]

Short version: delete the program "Setup-Kelsey".

Long version: (sorry, I tried writing this but it quickly turned into a morass. I'll just list the events that caused it.)

1) Install-mod was written to convert Windows-only mods, not install Mac mods.

2) Weidu-mac v.203 has a broken auto-update feature.

3) You downloaded OSX-Kelsey with weidu-mac v.203.

 

There are new versions of all of these that fix the problem.