Version 28 of Sword Coast Stratagems released

[kreso]

AI takes the shortcut by cheating and skipping that mandatory step.

While this is true, it has two alternatives

a) cast the spell repeatedly at an immune target (kind of sub-optimal, considering SCS is supposed to be an AI mod)

b) expand the scripts with a check if spell had been casted

 

b) is lovely in theory (I have a vague idea of how it can be made work) but - it would make the scripts unbearingly long.

Irenicus in Hell script (just for him!) is 27000 lines long. That's almost 1mb of code. Doing this would double it for him, and every other caster. I don't think that's plausible solution, unless you have some kind of NASA supercomputer. (I don't).

It's not the challenge that makes me set the ini to auto-detect, but the fact that it decreases game lag.

In short, I think DavidW simply chose to do "the lessest of 3 evils". The alternatives are very poor.

[DavidW]

 

Incidentally, you do know that the library file is mostly auto-generated?

Now I understand.....that's exellent, I don't need to make a seperate one.

 

To expand slightly: any item which produces (as a persistent/when equipped effect) any of the opcodes in stratagems/ssl/libdata.txt will be detected. The method of detection varies: if you have ToBEX, it works by adding new detectable flags to those items and then detecting those flags. If you don't have ToBEx (e.g., on EE games) it automatically adds the items to the SSL library. (The former leads to shorter code). It's possible that the EE engine now supports something like the first method; I should check.

[DavidW]

 

AI takes the shortcut by cheating and skipping that mandatory step.

While this is true, it has two alternatives

a) cast the spell repeatedly at an immune target (kind of sub-optimal, considering SCS is supposed to be an AI mod)

b) expand the scripts with a check if spell had been casted

 

b) is lovely in theory (I have a vague idea of how it can be made work) but - it would make the scripts unbearingly long.

Irenicus in Hell script (just for him!) is 27000 lines long. That's almost 1mb of code. Doing this would double it for him, and every other caster. I don't think that's plausible solution, unless you have some kind of NASA supercomputer. (I don't).

It's not the challenge that makes me set the ini to auto-detect, but the fact that it decreases game lag.

In short, I think DavidW simply chose to do "the lessest of 3 evils". The alternatives are very poor.

 

Yep, that's it exactly. I don't think it's *impossible* to do (b) but it would have a pretty high script-length and variable-setting overhead and I haven't got that much headroom.

[kreso]

To expand slightly: any item which produces (as a persistent/when equipped effect) any of the opcodes in stratagems/ssl/libdata.txt will be detected.

Yeah, that's what I noticed. I was afraid it doesn't work correctly sometimes, but the errors were in scripts, not the detection.

[Adaon]

So not being used to how much tougher SCS mages are, I got it in my head to pick on poor Firebead Elvenhair; Kivan pegged him with an acid arrow, whereupon he promptly vanished--see, he'd cast Improved Invisibility along with his Stoneskin and the like this morning. (He then proceeded to kill my whole party, which I suppose is what I get for meddling in the affairs of wizards. Next time, Potions of Fire Resistance.)

 

Which seems a little silly, since five minutes ago I'd been talking to him, which would have been a very different conversation if he'd been invisible.

 

I understand that there's probably no way to produce the appropriate visual effects for long-term spells on neutral NPC mages (so no gray NPCs to indicate Stoneskin, etc.), but is it possible to take spells like Invisibility/Improved Invisibility off the pre-buff list entirely, since if every NPC mage was always running around invisible it would seriously impair their ability to go about their daily lives? Or, even better, to treat them as short-term buffs despite their long durations, so that it can be restricted to mages created in the party's sight?

[Mad Mate]

snip

You are great! I'll try to include all of this tonight.

What I can't or don't know how to fix, I'll add to a file, so DavidW can look at it at when he's back to mod.

I know, for example, that "Better calls for help" is buggy, and from look at code, it is changed a lot from v21 to v22-28. If someone can better describe, what is wrong, and specifically what creatures misbehave, it would be easier for DavidW to find what is problem.

drow\drow.tpa

 

improved Drow Ambush in my scs28 install that dosent work it seems, no clue why.

in scs21 cut44a.bcs is expanded correctly, it should look like

 

But in my scs28 install cut44a keeps vanilla.

This is because you installed aTweaks component "Use Icewind Dale's Dimension Door animation" before SCS and it changed

all CreateCreatureDoor to CreateCreature and that is why tpa can't change these lines.

@all: if someone could in due course organize these various fixes into a coherent list, I'd appreciate it. (No rush; I'm expecting to come back to this around December with luck, though who knows if it'll be sooner or later.)

Thank you, DavidW. Like kreso said, I keep track what is changed and txt files with detailed changes are in the fix file, so you can check it whenever you like.

And I included reason why we fixed it, so you can decide if some of this was intentional or really a bug.

I try not to do complicated fixes, due of my limited coding knowledge, as I think it is better not to do anything, then to break something else. Kreso knows what I'm talkin about. :-)

[Dakk]

So not being used to how much tougher SCS mages are, I got it in my head to pick on poor Firebead Elvenhair; Kivan pegged him with an acid arrow, whereupon he promptly vanished--see, he'd cast Improved Invisibility along with his Stoneskin and the like this morning. (He then proceeded to kill my whole party, which I suppose is what I get for meddling in the affairs of wizards. Next time, Potions of Fire Resistance.)

 

Which seems a little silly, since five minutes ago I'd been talking to him, which would have been a very different conversation if he'd been invisible.

You sure he didn't just have a Contingency ready?

[DavidW]

So not being used to how much tougher SCS mages are, I got it in my head to pick on poor Firebead Elvenhair; Kivan pegged him with an acid arrow, whereupon he promptly vanished--see, he'd cast Improved Invisibility along with his Stoneskin and the like this morning. (He then proceeded to kill my whole party, which I suppose is what I get for meddling in the affairs of wizards. Next time, Potions of Fire Resistance.)

 

Which seems a little silly, since five minutes ago I'd been talking to him, which would have been a very different conversation if he'd been invisible.

 

I understand that there's probably no way to produce the appropriate visual effects for long-term spells on neutral NPC mages (so no gray NPCs to indicate Stoneskin, etc.), but is it possible to take spells like Invisibility/Improved Invisibility off the pre-buff list entirely, since if every NPC mage was always running around invisible it seriously impair their ability to go about their daily lives? Or, even better, to treat them as short-term buffs despite their long durations, so that it can be restricted to mages created in the party's sight?

IIRC there is a console option to show neutral mages' prebuffs; check the readme. (I stopped showing them by default early in SCS's history because people complained that all neutral mages were grey.

 

Also IIRC, initially-neutral mages aren't supposed to use Invisibility (and Improved Invisibility is short duration so should only be used via prebuff options 1-2. So I'm not sure what's going on there. Are you sure he didn't fire off a Minor Sequencer?

[kreso]

Mad Mate, here's another one -

low_level_area.ssl - line 175, triggercheck is for Fire resistance, I'm somewhat convinced it should be cold (Ice Storm ) (apperantly, Minor Globe checks for Globe as well, so leave that).

[kreso]

+1 - dragbrow.ssl - lines 139-143 should check for ACID, not ELECTRIC resistance

[Mad Mate]

Thanks kreso, added both.
I just found one two more typos in initial\bg1fix.tpa (line 33):
LAF edit_creature STR_VAR creature=avaricem edistring="class=>THIEF" END
to
LAF edit_creature STR_VAR creature=avaricem editstring="class=>THIEF" END

and in mage\mage.tpa (line 893):
LAF clone_creature STR_VAR creature=~dw#time=>dw#wtime~ edistring=~swap_script=>"dw#time=>dw#wtime"~ END
to
LAF clone_creature STR_VAR creature=~dw#time=>dw#wtime~ editstring=~swap_script=>"dw#time=>dw#wtime"~ END

LAF clone_script STR_VAR script=~dw#time=>dw#wtime~ END

LAF swap_text STR_VAR files=~dw#wtime.bcs~ swaps=~17=>35 11=>29~ END

Reason: typo & missing script (copied info from SCSv21)

[kreso]

meliss03.ssl - line 656 (or around there) - Boneblades have Slay trigger, it's irrelevant

[Mad Mate]

Added all and updated file.

[CrevsDaak]

There's a bug on stratagems/item/elemental_arrows.tpa, the elemental arrows aren't toned down correctly for BG:EE installs (and their description isn't correctly updated). I don't know how to fix it with SFO but providing a simple WeiDU fix wouldn't be too difficult (the part of the code to update the Enchantment (4-bytes long int at 0x60) and bonus damage (on the extended ability header of the .itm) simply don't exist).

DEFINE_ACTION_FUNCTION elemental_arrows BEGIN

    ACTION_IF enhanced_edition BEGIN
       MAKE_PATCH
          match=>"opcode=12"
          dicenum=>1
          dicesize=>3
       END
       LAF edit_item STR_VAR item=arow04 editstring=~patch_effect=>patch_data say_description=>16010~ END
       MAKE_PATCH
          match=>"opcode=12"
          dicenum=>1
          dicesize=>2
       END
       LAF edit_item STR_VAR item=arow08 editstring=~patch_effect=>patch_data say_description=>16011~ END
       LAF edit_item STR_VAR item=arow09 editstring=~patch_effect=>patch_data say_description=>16012~ END

    END ELSE BEGIN
    ACTION_FOR_EACH arrow IN arow04 arow08 arow09 BEGIN
       LAF clone_item STR_VAR item=~%arrow%=>%tutu_var%%arrow%~ END
    END
    END



END

Also, is there any way to make BG1 casters with enough level to cast spells form BG2 use those spells (BGT install)?

[kreso]

 

Also, is there any way to make BG1 casters with enough level to cast spells form BG2 use those spells (BGT install)?

Which spells? In a BGT install, they already use BG2-specific spells (I think it's one of the first install choices).