Detectable Stuff

[Wounded_Lion]

Can someone update me concerning Detectable Spells/Effects/Affects/whatever for BG2?

 

When last I was active in the communities, several versions of spell detection were competing to become the common standard. Was a compromise or clear victory (victory being acceptance by most major modding communities) ever attained? I'm working some mod magic and would like to use spell detection, so any helpful information would be appreciated.

 

aWL

[devSin]

No progress. DavidW posted somewhere here about his version; I'm sure that will be sufficient enough a "common standard."

[Guest Guest]

No progress. DavidW posted somewhere here about his version; I'm sure that will be sufficient enough a "common standard."

 

Hmm... I do not know "DavidW". When last I was active, G3 was competing with King Diamond to develop a common version of spell detection. Each was backed by several major modders/communities (similiar in some ways to the competition between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD). Only one version could function properly per installation (mix-and-matching mods that used rival versions didn't work), if I recall correctly.

 

So...

[aVENGER_(RR)]

At the moment, the most recent version of Detectable Spells is included in David's Sword Coast Stratagems II which is an AI enhancing mod for BG2. As far as I can tell, that version was build upon this wiki entry on G3 and subsequently expanded.

 

A while ago, David kindly provided us with a stand alone version of Detectable Spells which can be easily integrated into other mods. It still has some minor issues, but in general, I think it's the most stable and up to date version at this time.

[the bigg]

There still are the two different versions: old-school backed by Ascension, Kelsey, RtW and similar mods, and new-school backed by Big Picture, D0QuestPack and DavidW's SCS1&2. IA by Sikret claims to be incompatible with other mods using Detectable Stats, but I don't know if it's just the modder being a dick as usual, or he using an altogether different set (whereas the Ascension-style and the BP-style work similarly but using different magic numbers).

[Wounded_Lion]

@aVENGER: Thanks! That link looks very helpful.

 

@bigg: Will using the G3-based model provided by DavidW muck up the inner workings of Ascension (and the other "old school" mods)? Do I have to choose one or the other (new school or old school)?

[the bigg]

It will not break games to the point where you can't finish them (hopefully), but it will surely make your enemies act up in combat.

[Wounded_Lion]

It will not break games to the point where you can't finish them (hopefully), but it will surely make your enemies act up in combat.

 

So... what would be optimal is for someone to update Ascension (and other old school mods) to use the new model... Perhaps I'll tackle that project someday if my life ever settles down long enough to do some serious coding (as it stands I don't even have enough time/energy to devote to Morrow Gate). I have an idea for a sort of spell contest that I considered cool enough to draw me back onto the mod forums to ask about DS, but I'm (sadly) definitely not in the position to take on that kind of project (reworking Ascension) right now.

 

Thanks to all for the info!

[DavidW]

It will not break games to the point where you can't finish them (hopefully), but it will surely make your enemies act up in combat.

 

So... what would be optimal is for someone to update Ascension (and other old school mods) to use the new model... Perhaps I'll tackle that project someday if my life ever settles down long enough to do some serious coding (as it stands I don't even have enough time/energy to devote to Morrow Gate). I have an idea for a sort of spell contest that I considered cool enough to draw me back onto the mod forums to ask about DS, but I'm (sadly) definitely not in the position to take on that kind of project (reworking Ascension) right now.

 

Thanks to all for the info!

 

SCSII also has an optional component that replaces a lot of the ascension AI scripts with new versions. I hadn't actually realised that Ascension shipped with its own version of DS; I might look into doing something to SCSII to improve back-compatibility.

[Wounded_Lion]

SCSII also has an optional component that replaces a lot of the ascension AI scripts with new versions. I hadn't actually realised that Ascension shipped with its own version of DS; I might look into doing something to SCSII to improve back-compatibility.

 

I've never looked 'under the hood' of Ascension before... probably because I'm a bit frightened of what I might find there...

[aVENGER_(RR)]

I might look into doing something to SCSII to improve back-compatibility.

 

Note that Ascension is currently being updated and will likely use a more recent version of Detectable Spells in the future.

[DavidW]

I just posted a new version of "my" Detectable Spells (i.e., the one that I wrote about 10% of) - it'll ship with SCSII when I next release it, and it migrates Ascension and Kelsey over to the new(er) DS system.

[Wounded_Lion]

I just posted a new version of "my" Detectable Spells (i.e., the one that I wrote about 10% of) - it'll ship with SCSII when I next release it, and it migrates Ascension and Kelsey over to the new(er) DS system.

 

Sweet! I'll definitely grab it.