Game Journal

[Spider]

Got a question for you experts. I'm in the midst of playing a BGT-WeiDU game and just about to head into Baldur's Gate proper. I have quote a few journal entries in my game.

 

Here is the question. Is there a way to dump my journal entries to date? Or conversely, a way to look at my saved game file to see which quests have been completed and which ones have been started but not finished.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Erhm, why do you need the info for starters ?... the journal has no obvoius reason to exist than just inform the player when things happen, it doesn't reflect the reality of the game that's saved, only the variables in the game do, the variables that each of the quests log and look for.

[ericp07]

Does the BG1 journal behave differently from the BG2 journal?

[Spider]

Erhm, why do you need the info for starters ?... the journal has no obvoius reason to exist than just inform the player when things happen, it doesn't reflect the reality of the game that's saved, only the variables in the game do, the variables that each of the quests log and look for.

Just as I was about to report on my progress, who makes an appearance, the Imp himself. As to why, I want to create a file from which I can pull material so as to create a Dudleyville-esq book with journal snippets.

 

I did find where the information lies. If you use DLTCEP and edit / load an external game file from your save directory, you can see a section indicating journal entries. Now how to get it from there into a flat file is beyond me. Furthermore, the time number seems to use an internal routine wherein it takes that number and converts it to game jargon. At this point I would have to load NI and do a RefStr search. It can be done but could get involved.

 

This little bit of fun would include the actual names of the quests which Dudleyville does not include. If you want to see what I'm talking about I could send a PM with a link to show a sample. Speaking of which, did you get the PM from the other day and any comments would be much appreciated.

[Spider]

Update. You can find all the quests in the game, almost. Using Near Infinity do a search for the string "AddexperienceParty". This will show all items in the dialogue files that contain that string. The results list can then be saved as a flat text file. Within that file each string reference will be followed with opening and closing parentheses with a number in them. This is the amount of experience the party will receive. For instance: AddexperienceParty(1000).

 

But, that does not correlate to a quest that you can easily find. Within the DLG file for which experience you are viewing more often than not it will state: EraseJournalEntry(xxxxx). The "xxxxx" is a string reference which will be removed from your journal. In this case I am talking about the experience awarded for completing the Dog-gone quest involving Albert and Rufie. Since the EraseJournalEntry string, 74516, is set to erase itself it never appears in your in-game journal as having taken place. The dialogue / quest contained in Albert.DLG is as follows:

Dog-gone.

 

I met a child named Albert outside of Nashkel. He requested that I find his little Rufie dog for him. He had such an innocent demeanor, how could I refuse? He gave me a chew-toy to entice the little fellah with.

 

Returning to the Albert.DLG file it gives two amounts for awarding experience. One is tied to string 74516 which awards 1,200 XP and a bandit scalp, while the second reference string, 75072, seems to award 1,000 XP.

File: ALBERT.DLG  Name: Action 2  Attribute: Action 2=EraseJournalEntry(75072)
EraseJournalEntry(74516)
TakePartyItem("MISC63")
GiveItemCreate("MISC86",LastTalkedToBy,0,0,0)
SetGlobal("Rufie","GLOBAL",3)
AddexperienceParty(1000)
ClearAllActions()
StartCutSceneMode()
StartCutScene("Rufcut01")

File: ALBERT.DLG  Name: Action 3  Attribute: Action 3=TakePartyItem("MISC63")
SetGlobal("Rufie","GLOBAL",3)
AddexperienceParty(1200)
EraseJournalEntry(75072)
EraseJournalEntry(74516)
ClearAllActions()
StartCutSceneMode()
StartCutScene("Rufcut02")

 

To make an even longer story short, there is no easy way. It would have helped if a flag was set in the saved game file indicating which ones had been begun, finished or pending. In this case the variable "RUFIE" has been set to "3". But that does not indicate whether the quest was taken up, whether you returned Rufie, or killed him.

 

In the case of the game I am playing I killed Rufie. I believe it means I got no XP. The only way I found out that I had killed Rufie is that, using DLTCEP, I loaded an external game which states that in my journal, Chapter 3, I killed the missing dog... [string: 75074]. Dudleyville says I get 1,375 XP. The game metrics seems to disagree. Rufie.CRE says you only get 175 XP.

 

Now just how the heck to retrieve journal entries added by the player is a mystery. Perhaps a larger concern is how to translate the time string of 8964652. In the case of my game it translates to Day 83 Hour 0 (24 Flamerule, 1369).

[Spider]

Does the BG1 journal behave differently from the BG2 journal?

I don't know. But I will find out once I get to that stage. I'm playing a BGT-WeiDU install so the assumption would be that it does.

[Spider]

Jarno,

 

This link sort of explains what I'm gettin' at. Turn to page 5 to see a check list I'm trying to create. Those items in green denote things of import and / or for which you get experience points. I'm trying to put in place the actual quest name from the game files in lieu of what is shown on Dudleyville. Items in italics are, hopefully, self-explanatory in that they offer no experience but do offer treasure.

[Mike1072]

Update. You can find all the quests in the game, almost. Using Near Infinity do a search for the string "AddexperienceParty". This will show all items in the dialogue files that contain that string. The results list can then be saved as a flat text file. Within that file each string reference will be followed with opening and closing parentheses with a number in them. This is the amount of experience the party will receive. For instance: AddexperienceParty(1000).

BG2 also uses some AddXP actions. If you want to find journal entries, search for AddJournalEntry. Make sure to check both dialogues and scripts.

 

Now just how the heck to retrieve journal entries added by the player is a mystery. Perhaps a larger concern is how to translate the time string of 8964652. In the case of my game it translates to Day 83 Hour 0 (24 Flamerule, 1369).

IESDP. Player-set entries are those where none of the journal flags (quest, completed quest, journal info) are set. The strings added by players are stored in the .tot/.toh files in the saved game's .sav file. I'm not sure why you'd need them for a walkthrough, though. Same with the time field - it will be different in each saved game, depending on how much time elapses in game before the journal entry gets added.

[Spider]

Here's a question for you Mike. So if I open the default toh or tot files I should see any journal entries I added on my own. I saved the game and opened it using NI 1.33 and opened each default file using a text editor. They do not contain my custom added journal entry. I would like to add in-game notes while playing and have some manner to retrieve them later.

[Mike1072]

I'm using the latest Near Infinity version, 1.3.0.

 

 

If you want to extract entries en masse, you'll probably want to use a little WeiDU script, since these are binary files.

[Spider]

Odd, I was using NI 1.33 beta. I also use 1.32 at times. All that being said both versions come up with a "Unsupported File Format" when I try to view / edit either default file. Using 1.30 which I downloaded and installed as well, I get the same thing. Oh well, back to the drawin' board.

 

Update, I went via the link you provided and downloaded the ZIP file and extracted that. Now it works, odd.

 

What might be of interest as a side note is that in-game you can highlight the text and try to copy it. But it cannot be pasted.

 

Thanks for the help and it looks like I'll be using NI 1.30 from here on out.

[Mike1072]

Odd, I was using NI 1.33 beta. I also use 1.32 at times. All that being said both versions come up with a "Unsupported File Format" when I try to view / edit either default file. Using 1.30 which I downloaded and installed as well, I get the same thing. Oh well, back to the drawin' board.

 

Update, I went via the link you provided and downloaded the ZIP file and extracted that. Now it works, odd.

The version numbering has changed since the original developer took off. I'm not sure which 1.33 beta you have, since there were quite a few. This official name of this release is actually "v1.33, w1.3.0".

 

Here's a cool graph showing changes made since 2009. The first commit there was checked in as "v1.33 beta 19":

https://github.com/taimon/NearInfinity/network

[Spider]

Yeah, that was interesting. I might have one of the 'misnamed' versions. Just now I'm having to switch between the three on my computer, which is acceptable.

[Wisp]

Here's a cool graph showing changes made since 2009. The first commit there was checked in as "v1.33 beta 19":

https://github.com/t...nfinity/network

However, be aware that because I just had to be different, my commits will no longer show up on the network graph for Taimon's repository.

(Technically, my NI and WeiDU repositories are no longer considered forks by github.)

[Spider]

Yes, and thank you for you work Wisp.

 

I need one or two people who are not against an in-game walk through to review what I am doing. It would help if that person or two was a modder so as to point out oddities and the like.