SCSII & Baldurdash

[Wounded_Lion]

SCS II is designed to work with the (G3) BG2 Fixpack. I very strongly recommend that you install this fixpack first, before any other mods but certainly before SCS II. It probably installs without the Fixpack (or with Baldurdash) but it's designed on the assumption that Fixpack is installed, and odd things may happen if it isn't.

 

I am considering switching back to Baldurdash (from the G3 BG2 Fixpack).

 

Is there any reason that you are aware of why using Baldurdash instead of the G3 BG2 Fixpack would cause problems with SCSII?

 

To be clear: Let's focus on "Known Issues Using SCSII w/Baldurdash" and avoid "Baldurdash vs. G3 BG2 Fixpack".

 

aWL

[aVENGER_(RR)]

During my playtesting of RR v3.9, I've noticed that a few aspects of Detectable Spells don't work well without the G3 BG2 Fixpack. A specific example - SCRIPTINGSTATE2 (Death Ward) doesn't work properly with Baldurdash (and in the unmodded game) since the effect which sets the state flag in SPPR409.SPL is mistargeted. OTOH, the G3 Fixpack addresses this:

 

// opcode has wrong target in death ward
COPY_EXISTING ~sppr409.spl~ ~override~
 READ_LONG  0x64 "abil_off"
 READ_SHORT 0x68 "abil_num"
 READ_LONG  0x6a "fx_off"
 FOR ("index" = 0; "%index%" < "%abil_num%"; "index" = ("%index%" + 1)) BEGIN // fix existing effects
READ_SHORT  ("%abil_off%" + 0x1e + ("%index%" * 0x28)) "abil_fx_num"
READ_SHORT  ("%abil_off%" + 0x20 + ("%index%" * 0x28)) "abil_fx_idx"
FOR ("index2" = 0; "%index2%" < "%abil_fx_num%"; "index2" = ("%index2%" + 1)) BEGIN
  READ_SHORT ("%fx_off%" +		(0x30 * ("%abil_fx_idx%" + "%index2%"))) "opcode"
  PATCH_IF ("%opcode%" = 282) BEGIN // damage opcode
	WRITE_BYTE  ("%fx_off%" + 0x02 + (0x30 * ("%abil_fx_idx%" + "%index2%"))) 2 // preset target
  END
END
 END
 BUT_ONLY_IF_IT_CHANGES

 

There's also a critical bug in AR0800.BCS which Baldurdash doesn't address but I'm not sure how relevant that is to SCSII.

[Wounded_Lion]

During my playtesting of RR v3.9, I've noticed that a few aspects of Detectable Spells don't work well without the G3 BG2 Fixpack. A specific example - SCRIPTINGSTATE2 (Death Ward) doesn't work properly with Baldurdash (and in the unmodded game) since the effect which sets the state flag in SPPR409.SPL is mistargeted. OTOH, the G3 Fixpack addresses this:

<snip>

There's also a critical bug in AR0800.BCS which Baldurdash doesn't address but I'm not sure how relevant that is to SCSII.

 

Would it be possible to include a check for the (G3) BG2 Fixpack in Detectable Spells? DS itself could repair Death Ward and anything else that has direct relevance to its proper operation if the (G3) BG2 Fixpack isn't detected. It'd be a bit of extra work, but the benefit of full compatibility with Baldurdash seems worthwhile to me.

 

aWL

[Garza]

It'd be a bit of extra work, but the benefit of full compatibility with Baldurdash seems worthwhile to me.

But why would someone use baldurdash instead of fixpack?

[Wounded_Lion]

But why would someone use baldurdash instead of fixpack?

 

That's the sort of thing that I was hoping to avoid. But...

 

I have issue with the lack of documentation included with the download (why should you have to be online to read detailed fix info?), general practices regarding fix decisions/discussions, and general theory of what constitutes a fix rather than a preference.

 

But again: I'd rather focus on "Known Issues Using SCSII w/Baldurdash".

 

aWL

[Silverstar]

I have Baldurdash with SCS II, and I am in Underdark. I only had one bug so far which prevented me from entering the Kuo Toa lair (see my thread in this forum) but I was able to fix it easily. Other than that, I do not know.

[DavidW]

I'm not personally aware of any issues with Baldurdash. SCSII is written on a Fixpack platform; last time I checked, it installs on a Baldurdashed (and indeed, on a vanilla) install, but I haven't done any more detailed checks than that.

 

I'm not myself interested in adding to DS (i.e., the version I've been circulating recently) to allow for the absence of the Fixpack. Life's too short. If someone else wants to write such an addition they could always circulate it themselves and those who wanted to could include it in their mods along with DS.

[Wounded_Lion]

I'm not myself interested in adding to DS (i.e., the version I've been circulating recently) to allow for the absence of the Fixpack. Life's too short. If someone else wants to write such an addition they could always circulate it themselves and those who wanted to could include it in their mods along with DS.

 

That's unfortunate. I was looking to your version of DS to become "the one DS" and finally bridge the divisions between different base platforms and myriad DS versions. But I suppose it was a bit unfair to place that kind of expectation on you (it's a LOT of work).

 

aWL

[Arkain]

Mhm... on the other hand there's a "new" Baldurdash supported by Vlad. Those fixes might as well be already in there, gotta read the documentation. Aside from that I think you can simply report any bug issues to him, which he might fix.

[DavidW]

I'm not myself interested in adding to DS (i.e., the version I've been circulating recently) to allow for the absence of the Fixpack. Life's too short. If someone else wants to write such an addition they could always circulate it themselves and those who wanted to could include it in their mods along with DS.

 

That's unfortunate. I was looking to your version of DS to become "the one DS" and finally bridge the divisions between different base platforms and myriad DS versions. But I suppose it was a bit unfair to place that kind of expectation on you (it's a LOT of work).

 

aWL

 

Not interested, sorry. As I say, life's too short to allow for bugs that are anyway fixed by a fixpack. There are people who don't like BG2 fixpack and that's their prerogative, but then it's their job to sort out the bugs.

[Wounded_Lion]

Not interested, sorry. As I say, life's too short to allow for bugs that are anyway fixed by a fixpack. There are people who don't like BG2 fixpack and that's their prerogative, but then it's their job to sort out the bugs.

 

No need to apologize, as I understand.

 

Besides, being a modder myself, I can snip and install anything that I happen to actually need from the G3 Fixpack (basically, create a personal mini-fixpack that addresses only critical bugs overlooked by Baldurdash - if there are any other than AR0800, that is... I'm not convinced that most of the G3 Fixpack's fixes are actually necessary or called for, but that's another matter entirely). So... I'm not too upset about this.

 

aWL