Please help me create three swords for BGII

[ericp07]

Hello,

 

I've been unsuccessful in creating three versions of a weapon based on Belm for my mod, as no character will hold the weapon in hand when I bring it into the game after adding effects. I can get it to appear in inventory, and even in the weapon slot, but it won't equip. I've examined the fields in the .itm, Item ability, and effect sections in NI, and can't identify the problem to fix it.

 

All three versions of this item are to have the same kinds of effects. The main difference is that there's a +2, a +3, and a +5 version (the +5 is for ToB). All three represent a single item and its upgrades. I want to add a "bleeding" or "wounding" effect (for which I select a poison effect, as Jhor the Bleeder does the same to represent this effect), and a temporary suppression of the target's regeneration.

 

If I add the poison effect to the Melee ability, then quit and relaunch NI, then open the .itm file again, the poison effect shows in the .itm section, not in the Melee ability. There are also two "Unused bytes" lines at the bottom that weren't there before. Bringing this item into the game with the CLUAConsole, I experience the failure noted above. Before adding the poison effect, I can equip the item on any character.

 

I've set the To hit and damagebonus fields in the Melee ability to correspond with the weapon's plus value. In the .itm section, I've set Enchantment the same way.

 

For the Poison effect on the +2 version, I've set Target Type to TargetPresetTarget, Damage amount to 2, Damage type to HP damage per round, Time to 18, and Probability 1 to 25. For the +3 version, Time is 30 and Prob1 is 25. For the +5 version, Damage amount is 1, Damage type is HP damage per second, Time is 14, and Prob1 is 40.

 

For the Regen effect on the +2 version, I've set Target Type as above, Value to 0, Type to HP regen per second, Time to 8. Prob1 is 100 for all three versions. For the +3 version, Time is 10, and for the +5 version, Time is 14.

 

I'm also trying to add a colorglow pulse effect, with the value 32 h in the Cycle field. The best I've managed with this so far has been to give the blade (major) a color, but it doesn't pulse.

 

How can I set these things up properly with NI, so I can test them in-game and include them in my mod package? This is the only custom weapon I'm giving my mod NPC; she starts with the +2 version, and gets upgrades only after completing certain tasks.

 

Thanks,

Eric

[devSin]

Use WeiDU to construct your items, not NI. We will eat your items for breakfast.

[Jarno Mikkola]

For the Poison effect on the +2 version, I've set Target Type to TargetPresetTarget, Damage amount to 2, Damage type to HP damage per round, Time to 18, and Probability 1 to 25. For the +3 version, Time is 30 and Prob1 is 25. For the +5 version, Damage amount is 1, Damage type is HP damage per second, Time is 14, and Prob1 is 40.

Is there a logic for this? For why the damage amount halves...

I made these with th same damage amount, but advancing time and probability... I think...

 

Use WeiDU to construct your items, not NI. We will eat your items for breakfast.

You could of course use .tp2 code, but as there's more than a few effects to modify, it's not that easy. ... show us how.

[ericp07]

For the Poison effect on the +2 version, I've set Target Type to TargetPresetTarget, Damage amount to 2, Damage type to HP damage per round, Time to 18, and Probability 1 to 25. For the +3 version, Time is 30 and Prob1 is 25. For the +5 version, Damage amount is 1, Damage type is HP damage per second, Time is 14, and Prob1 is 40.

Is there a logic for this? For why the damage amount halves...

I made these with th same damage amount, but advancing time and probability... I think...

 

Use WeiDU to construct your items, not NI. We will eat your items for breakfast.

You could of course use .tp2 code, but as there's more than a few effects to modify, it's not that easy. ... show us how.

 

The damage is 2 when it's per round, but 1 when it's per second, as I don't want the effects to cause huge amounts of damage in and of themselves.

 

Thanks for the link! I'll check out the contents now. In the mean time, I've examined Jhor the Bleeder and the bastard sword that's +3 vs. Shapeshifters, to see how the effects I'm looking for are set up in vanilla items. Looks like a very different approach, especially in the case of the second weapon.

 

As for using WeiDU, I'll check out the documentation, as well as the iesdp, and see if I can figure out how to do things that way...but I do welcome any insight and assistance in building the items this way, instead of using NI.

 

Thanks,

Eric

[Miloch]

This is obviously an example of Near Infinity item corruption. Too bad you can't use DLTCEP on OS X but maybe some of the older TeamBG tools? I dunno.

 

Yes, you can also use WeiDU... kind of a pain if you want to make items from scratch but if you're just modding existing items, it's doable. Check the sections on macros/functions in the WeiDU doc (it's toward the end). You want stuff like ADD_ITEM_EFFECT, ADD_ITEM_EQEFFECT from the sound of it.

[devSin]

Or if you want to hunt through AbstractStruct, you can be the hero to finally fix our handling here.

[ericp07]

This is obviously an example of Near Infinity item corruption. Too bad you can't use DLTCEP on OS X but maybe some of the older TeamBG tools? I dunno.

 

Yes, you can also use WeiDU... kind of a pain if you want to make items from scratch but if you're just modding existing items, it's doable. Check the sections on macros/functions in the WeiDU doc (it's toward the end). You want stuff like ADD_ITEM_EFFECT, ADD_ITEM_EQEFFECT from the sound of it.

 

I don't believe there are any modding tools besides NI that work on a Mac (that doesn't run Windows). I can still look for the TeamBG tools you mentioned, if any are out there to be downloaded, but I won't hold my breath I don't understand why NI behaves the way it does, sometimes preserving perfectly functioning files, while other times messing things up.

 

Looking at that WeiDU documentation now. So, I would add that kind of code in the .tp2, after the COPY command to move the .itm file to override. I'll see if I can figure out how to correctly write it all in, and I predict failure in doing so *L*

 

So far, I'm able to get a customized version of Belm into the game, and it functions as it should until I add the poison effect, whereupon the item can no longer be held by a character (doesn't go onto the paperdoll in the inventory screen, yet it appears in the weapon slot if I drop it there). Most puzzling, that!

 

I'll keep messing with stuff. The items Jarno created appear to function as they should, so I'm trying to adjust them further without rendering them unusable in-game.

 

Thanks,

Eric

[ericp07]

For the Poison effect on the +2 version, I've set Target Type to TargetPresetTarget, Damage amount to 2, Damage type to HP damage per round, Time to 18, and Probability 1 to 25. For the +3 version, Time is 30 and Prob1 is 25. For the +5 version, Damage amount is 1, Damage type is HP damage per second, Time is 14, and Prob1 is 40.

Is there a logic for this? For why the damage amount halves...

I made these with th same damage amount, but advancing time and probability... I think...

 

Use WeiDU to construct your items, not NI. We will eat your items for breakfast.

You could of course use .tp2 code, but as there's more than a few effects to modify, it's not that easy. ... show us how.

 

Jarno, I've tested IJ#ERIC2.ITM in-game, and it appears to function perfectly The only thing I'd like to change, if possible, is that "Poisoned" appears in the text during combat, but I want it to say "Bleeding" instead. For this, do I need to add an Effect to the Melee ability, to add a Display String? Or, if not, what is the correct way to do this?

 

As soon as I know how to add this detail, I think I'll be able to use renamed copies of these .itm files in my mod...with credit to you, of course!

 

Thanks,

Eric

[Jarno Mikkola]

Jarno, I've tested IJ#ERIC2.ITM in-game, and it appears to function perfectly The only thing I'd like to change, if possible, is that "Poisoned" appears in the text during combat, but I want it to say "Bleeding" instead. For this, do I need to add an Effect to the Melee ability, to add a Display String? Or, if not, what is the correct way to do this?

I don't really know if there is a possibility to make the displayed string work that way, as the displayed string is opcode based... so if you would make the required change, every time you would have a spider bite the characters, they would be "bleeding" instead of poisoned.

 

As soon as I know how to add this detail, I think I'll be able to use renamed copies of these .itm files in my mod...with credit to you, of course!

What comes to the credits, they should all go to the DLTCEP makers... as that's the tool I used and I just stumped around in a maze I can't get out of...

[Wisp]

Use several opcode 12's with timing 4 instead of the poison opcode and you can display whatever string you like (and avoid a few other problems along the way).

[Jarno Mikkola]

Use several opcode 12's with timing 4 instead of the poison opcode and you can display whatever string you like (and avoid a few other problems along the way).

Like this... I would presume. Those should have all the requested features...

[ericp07]

Use several opcode 12's with timing 4 instead of the poison opcode and you can display whatever string you like (and avoid a few other problems along the way).

Like this... I would presume. Those should have all the requested features...

 

Thanks again Now, I've removed the added attack per round, as my item doesn't include that feature. I'm going to see about changing the colorglow pulse's shade in each file, so there will be a visual difference to distinguish them.

 

Happy modding,

Eric

[ericp07]

Use several opcode 12's with timing 4 instead of the poison opcode and you can display whatever string you like (and avoid a few other problems along the way).

Like this... I would presume. Those should have all the requested features...

 

Thanks again Now, I've removed the added attack per round, as my item doesn't include that feature. I'm going to see about changing the colorglow pulse's shade in each file, so there will be a visual difference to distinguish them.

 

Happy modding,

Eric

 

Well, I changed the RGB values in each .itm, but I see no difference in-game. The blade is pretty enough, though, so I'll leave all as-is.

 

- E

[ericp07]

After changing the color values for the colorglow pulse effect in each item, I can now equip the +5 version, but not the +2 or +3 in-game. Don't know why that is. Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

Eric

[ericp07]

Use several opcode 12's with timing 4 instead of the poison opcode and you can display whatever string you like (and avoid a few other problems along the way).

Like this... I would presume. Those should have all the requested features...

 

...to which I added Damage vs. Type to do additional damage against Lycanthropes. The +5 item functions as it should.

 

Now, instead of saying "Poisoned," the combat text simply states that the target takes 1 point of damage each time the effect takes effect Not sure how to make the string say Bleeding, so I'll go back to NI and look.

 

Happy modding,

Eric