Newbie Modding Questions

[Twani]

This doesn't belong in modding q&a as much as it would belong in 'writing 123', but is there anyone in a good mood and who can write Dynaheir who could take a quick look at these two banters? I can't write faux old English for the life of me, and I am completely unsure if this sounds in character for her at all. No more banters for her, I think. These are pretty bad, and even though I can think of other things they could talk about, I just don't think I can write for her correctly. I would appreciate if anyone has time to give them a gander.

 

Also, these are coded right, right? >.> Please tell me these are coded right.

 

// Dynaheir – healing minsc (every healer in the game has this conversation I swear why am I writing it I have no idea)

CHAIN IF ~InParty(“Dynaheir”)
See(“Dynaheir”)
InParty(“Minsc”)
See(“Minsc”)
!StateCheck(“Dynaheir”,CD_STATE_NOTVALID)
!StateCheck(“Minsc”,CD_STATE_NOTVALID)
!StateCheck(“M3Alt”,CD_STATE_NOTVALID)
CombatCounter(0)
!SeeEnemy
Global(“m3AltDyna1”,”GLOBAL”,0)~ THEN M3BALT
m3AltDyna1
~Dynaheir?  May I pry a bit?~
DO ~SetGlobal(“m3AltDyna1”,”GLOBAL”,1)~
== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~Thou may ask thine questions.  I can make no promise that I will answer.~
== M3BALT ~Fair.  I wish to ask of Minsc.  Did he acquire his animal companion before or after his head wound?~
== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~After.~
== M3BALT ~And now he is so bound up with Boo that I think it would be impossible to heal him without separating them.  I know a bit about head wounds, but his... I can think of nothing that would work as he is now.  And to separate a ranger from the animal he has bonded with would be cruel indeed.~
== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~Dost thou believe Minsc's tales about his hamster?~
== M3BALT ~I believe that their bond is real.  Unhealthy and dependent, but real.~
== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~Aye, tis an unfortunate predicament.  No priest we have spoke with hast been able to cure Minsc's wound.  I did not think thee would be different.~
== M3BALT ~No, I suppose not.  Still, I'm sorry all the same.~
EXIT

// Dynaheir - the path to the Sword Coast

CHAIN IF ~InParty(“Dynaheir”)
See(“Dynaheir”)
!StateCheck(“Dynaheir”,CD_STATE_NOTVALID)
!StateCheck(“M3Alt”,CD_STATE_NOTVALID)
CombatCounter(0)
!SeeEnemy
Global(“m3AltDyna2”,”GLOBAL”,0)~ THEN M3BALT
m3AltDyna2
~Dynaheir?  May I ask how you got to the Sword Coast from Rashemen?   Did you windwalk?  Did you cross the Anauroch?~
DO ~SetGlobal(“m3AltDyna2”,”GLOBAL”,1)~
== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~Nay.  We rode through Thesk to Aglarond, and there acquired a ship and sailed the Inner Sea.  We landed in Cormyr, then crossed the Heartlands heading for Nashkel.~
== M3BALT ~That's not as long as if you had taken the roads, but it's still a pretty hard journey, isn't it?  Did you run in to any difficulties?~
== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~Mostly at sea, where the good captain took care of them.  The first leg of our trip was smooth, and Cormyr was well protected from difficulties.  Our troubles only started truly when we were separated.~
== M3BALT IF ~InParty("Minsc")~ ~You were ambushed, right?~
== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~InParty("Minsc")~ ~Aye, and then <CHARNAME> saved me from the gnolls.~
== M3BALT IF ~!InParty("Minsc")~ ~I'm... sorry.  I didn't mean to remind you-~
== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~!InParty("Minsc")~ ~Say no more.  I will not forget the good memories we hadst together.~
== M3BALT IF ~!InParty("Minsc")~ ~Of course.~
== M3BALT ~Do you have any idea who would have wanted to ambush you?  It seems strange that the gnolls captured you, rather then, um, simply killing you.~
== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~I have wondered that myself.  I hadst wondered it to be agents of Thay.~
== %EDWIN_BANTER% IF ~InParty("Edwin") !StateCheck(“Edwin”,CD_STATE_NOTVALID)~ ~Miserable witch!  Must you blame all your failures on my glorious country?  (And now she shares her suspicion with idiots.  Fools everywhere.)~
== M3BALT ~Huh.  Would they truly travel so far to capture you?~
== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~I do not know.  I have seen Red Robed enemies all of my life; tis almost hard to see all the other opponents beyond them.~
== M3BALT IF ~InParty("Neera")~ Well, between you and Neera, I think we'll certainly end up seeing quite a few Red Wizards before we're done with this quest.~
== M3BALT IF ~!InParty("Neera") ~Well, the forces at work sure seem intent on finding us new enemies.  They're around every corner.~
== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~Indeed, true.  We hadst best be waiting for them.~
EXIT

[Rhaella]

The coding looks fine at a glance. At least, you definitely have the right idea.

 

As for the banters, I can fix your tenses easily enough. Some of the sentence structure seems a bit too modern for her, but that's less of a glaring problem than the grammatical one.

 

~Dynaheir? May I pry a bit?~

DO ~SetGlobal(“m3AltDyna1”,”GLOBAL”,1)~

== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~Thou may mayst/mayest (I think they're both right) ask thine thy questions. I can make no promise that I will answer.~

== M3BALT ~Fair. I wish to ask of Minsc. Did he acquire his animal companion before or after his head wound?~

== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~After.~

== M3BALT ~And now he is so bound up with Boo that I think it would be impossible to heal him without separating them. I know a bit about head wounds, but his... I can think of nothing that would work as he is now. And to separate a ranger from the animal he has bonded with would be cruel indeed.~

== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~Dost thou believe Minsc's tales about his hamster?~

== M3BALT ~I believe that their bond is real. Unhealthy and dependent, but real.~

== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~Aye, tis 'tis an unfortunate predicament. No priest we have spoke spoken with hast hath been able to cure Minsc's wound. I did not think thee would thou wouldst be different.~

== M3BALT ~No, I suppose not. Still, I'm sorry all the same.~

 

 

~Dynaheir? May I ask how you got to the Sword Coast from Rashemen? Did you windwalk? Did you cross the Anauroch?~

DO ~SetGlobal(“m3AltDyna2”,”GLOBAL”,1)~

== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~Nay. We rode through Thesk to Aglarond, and there acquired a ship and sailed the Inner Sea. We landed in Cormyr, then crossed the Heartlands heading for Nashkel.~

== M3BALT ~That's not as long as if you had taken the roads, but it's still a pretty hard journey, isn't it? Did you run in to any difficulties?~

== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~Mostly at sea, where the good captain took care of them. The first leg of our trip was smooth, and Cormyr was well protected from difficulties. Our troubles only started truly when we were separated.~

== M3BALT IF ~InParty("Minsc")~ ~You were ambushed, right?~

== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~InParty("Minsc")~ ~Aye, and then <CHARNAME> saved me from the gnolls.~

== M3BALT IF ~!InParty("Minsc")~ ~I'm... sorry. I didn't mean to remind you-~

== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~!InParty("Minsc")~ ~Say no more. I will not forget the good memories we hadst had together.~

== M3BALT IF ~!InParty("Minsc")~ ~Of course.~

== M3BALT ~Do you have any idea who would have wanted to ambush you? It seems strange that the gnolls captured you, rather then, um, simply killing you.~

== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~I have wondered that myself. I hadst had wondered it to be agents of Thay.~

== %EDWIN_BANTER% IF ~InParty("Edwin") !StateCheck(“Edwin”,CD_STATE_NOTVALID)~ ~Miserable witch! Must you blame all your failures on my glorious country? (And now she shares her suspicion with idiots. Fools everywhere.)~

== M3BALT ~Huh. Would they truly travel so far to capture you?~

== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~I do not know. I have seen Red Robed enemies all of my life; tis 'tis almost hard to see all the other opponents beyond them.~

== M3BALT IF ~InParty("Neera")~ Well, between you and Neera, I think we'll certainly end up seeing quite a few Red Wizards before we're done with this quest.~

== M3BALT IF ~!InParty("Neera") ~Well, the forces at work sure seem intent on finding us new enemies. They're around every corner.~

== %DYNAHEIR_BANTER% ~Indeed, true. We hadst had best be waiting for them.~

[Twani]

Thank you so much for the fixes. I'll try checking the modernity of the sentences a bit and see if I can soften them. Thanks!

[Twani]

This is probably the dumbest question in the world.

 

I have my portrait. Yay, exciting!

 

I have DLCT.

 

I've loaded up my cre file. I can not figure out how to find the portrait I have and assign it to my character/creature. It doesn't work if I put the portrait in the portraits folder, it doesn't work if I put the portrait in the override folder. It's simply not finding it. How do I assign a proper portrait to my NPC in DLCT? Or is this something I should do in another program? The mod tutorial that I linked up there seemed to imply I could do it easy enough DLCT, but I'm not seeing how.

[jastey]

Have a look at berelinde's tutorial here: http://www.tolkienacrossthewater.com/forum/index.php?topic=1150.0

 

In one of the pictures, you can see the portraits and a field where you can type in the portrait name.

The portrait should then be placed in the override folder, then you will see the portrait on your NPC in the game.

[Twani]

A totally new site I had never heard of with all sorts of nice information! Cool! I read like, every topic there. And found an elven fighter NPC for my next all elf-run. Not bad at all. Thank you for the link, Jastey.

 

I've finished all my banters (at least for now... I might write another Faldorn one, another Imoen and Jaheria one, and I probably should do a few reacting to the romance). I did chapter talks and the generic 'OMG U BHAALSPAWN!' talk every mod needs. Now I'm back to romance talks, and they're hard. ;_; I don't want to step on any other romance-mod niches. Like, I want to do a talk about the stars and the constellations, but I really don't want it to come across at all like Ajantis's stars talk, for one example. Hm. Maybe I should just not read any romance mods till I'm done doing this romance, then I won't worry about copying things.

 

Can someone explain to me exactly how the OR command works? Lately, say, if I wanted a conversation that addressed halflings, dwarves, and gnomes, I've been three separate responses and just having them lead all to the same place. But I understand that's just making extra work for me and for any wonderful people that may one day want to translate this mod. So could someone say, show me an example of a response option that would work for halflings, dwarves, and gnomes, but no other races? If anyone has the time? I've glanced around in mods, but I haven't yet stumbled across one. Just looking in the wrong places, I guess.

[Rhaella]

~OR(3) Race(Player1,HALFLING) Race(Player1,GNOME) Race(Player1,DWARF)~

 

is how you'd do it.

[jastey]

The number in the backets behind the OR is the number an triggers that work each on their own. The example Rhaella gave is for the three cases you mentioned (dwarf, gnome, halfling), so there is a "3" in the OR(). Anything after that wouldn't be counted to the OR() trigger.

 

Romance talks: There is only so much romance scenes and I am sure every new mod/book/play uses ideas that have been used at some place - but since it's your NPC with his own personality, I am sure even if he would talk about the stars with <CHARNAME>, the dialogue would go completely differently than Ajantis's, so no worries.

[Twani]

I see. So, say, if I wanted an OR command for half-breeds only, it would be ~OR(2) Race(Player1,HALFELF) Race(Player1,HALFORC)~, right? The OR(#) just corrisponds to how many option there is. So if for some reason I wanted an option to appear to every alignment but neutral evil, it would be OR(8), right?

 

 

Thanks, Jatsey. That's what I ended up doing. The talk about stars turned in to a talk about the Calim Dessert and/or elven gods, depending on what route <CHARNAME> felt like walking, so not that much like Ajantis at all (though it's not as romantic, either). I should try not to worry too much. Honestly, the mod he's most likely to turn out is like Domi's Garrick mod, and I don't have that installed at this time so I won't be unconsciously stealing ideas... and Altan is a bit wiser then Garrick. A bit. At least, he'd like to think so.

[Twani]

...And here's the scary part that I'm almost afraid to try, but I feel like I should at least do my best.

 

If you're in to AD&D P&P, you know Windwalkers of the Helping Hand (who are, thankfully, allowed to multiclass in to rangers (they can even take a few ranger kits!) and still remain Windwalkers) can use bows and swords. I'd like to make Altan a Windwalker, as to be honest, bows and scimitars and daggers make more sense for him then slings and flails and hammers. In return, they can't wear anything higher then chain mail and they can't turn (or command, not that Windwalkers are allowed to be evil) undead. (They also have some special spells and abilities, but I'm not putting in the ability to windwalk/fly at will. That would be a tiny (or more exactly, crazy) bit difficult to implement. And 'not get lost anywhere on Faerun' is a bit hard to translate in to game terms. And making new spells like Windwall scares me.) I don't really want to implement the spell spheres (maybe take away 'earth specific' spells, like earthquake, while in turn giving him... shield, apparently (not much of a trade off, huh)), which means I don't want to do the Divine Remix or the Faiths of Faerun deal (though if either mod ever made a Windwalker it, I'd happily code an option for it to work as I love them both- I just worry people would get annoyed by a limited spellbook). No, what I want to do is make my own custom kit.

 

My own custom kit. Those are very scary words.

 

Does anyone have a link to kit making? What I want to do isn't too hard- allow bladed weapons and bows, restrict plate male, turn off turn undead and maybe add shield as a custom ability. (And maybe the 13th levels 'allow two attacks per round'.) At least, it doesn't sound hard in theory. Are there any good tutorials for making a kit? That work in BGEE/BG2EE, as I know BG(2)EE messed up kit making a ton?

 

...This is sort of my 'hey, let's make my mod slightly more unique then the mod next door!' venture, and not the most important part of it. I've never done anything as complicated as making a kit before. But I'm not completely stupid, and if there are any tutorials, I... might be able to do it? I don't know. I could give it a try if anyone has any tips or suggestions on where to start.

 

(Would people even want this sort of kit put in? Do halberds count as swords? Do I have any idea what I am talking about? I dunno.)

 

(Right now, I'm just intending this as an NPC only kit that only works for him. I mean, if enough people wanted it, I could make it PC enabled, but I don't want to worry about kit limitation spots at this moment. Or did BGEE finally fix that?)

[Rhaella]

As for the half-breeds, I believe Half-orc is actually Race(Player1,HALF_ORC) instead. Strange but true.

 

Custom kits are scary indeed. And I'm not sure to what extent WeiDU can install on BGEE yet without tinkering either, since there is new stuff going on there.

 

For regular TuTu, though, this guide is very helpful:

 

http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showtopic=584

 

Do you intend to take Altan into BG2 at any point, btw? Because if you do and are going to be continuing the romance, you're going to be juggling a lot of balls once you get there. My suggestion would be to keep things as simple as possible in BG1 so that you have less variations to worry about once you get to BG2.

[Ardanis]

Does anyone have a link to kit making? What I want to do isn't too hard- allow bladed weapons and bows, restrict plate male, turn off turn undead and maybe add shield as a custom ability. (And maybe the 13th levels 'allow two attacks per round'.) At least, it doesn't sound hard in theory. Are there any good tutorials for making a kit? That work in BGEE/BG2EE, as I know BG(2)EE messed up kit making a ton?

On the contrary, it is hard, because there're only so many usability bits and all of them are used up. And since you had to ask, I suspect it's not something you might be able to do.

 

...This is sort of my 'hey, let's make my mod slightly more unique then the mod next door!' venture

That's a bad common practice. I advise to keep things as modular and independent of each other as possible. Quite often players may like the main idea of a mod, but dislike another, and if they happen to be intertwined, the overall rate would drop.

If you wish to make your mod unique, do it within one aspect you're already familiar with, i.e. writing.

[Thimblerig]

Something that people do sometimes, instead of making a kit, is attach some special abilities to an undroppable item, slap some flavour text on it, and give it to the character - so for example Edwin has an amulet that gives him extra spells to mimic the special ability of a Red Wizard of Thay.

 

I have no idea if you could attach extra weapon proficiencies to an item, but since you only want the abilities to apply to the one character, it might be a simpler workaround.

 

Near Infinity is a pretty friendly program for editing items - go have a play and see what you can do.

[Jarno Mikkola]

I have no idea if you could attach extra weapon proficiencies to an item, but since you only want the abilities to apply to the one character, it might be a simpler workaround.

It can be done, the thing with that is, you cannot remove the proficiency points after they are applied to the character, so quick equipping the item and then switching to another better will net you the points for none what so effort. Not the optimal solution in most cases.

 

Near Infinity is a pretty friendly program for editing items - go have a play and see what you can do.

Well, yeah, until you run into a bug that destroys your hardworked item completely... for whatever reason... item editing is usually made with the DLTCEP... it's easier, believe me.

[Thimblerig]

Near Infinity is a pretty friendly program for editing items - go have a play and see what you can do.

Well, yeah, until you run into a bug that destroys your hardworked item completely... for whatever reason... item editing is usually made with the DLTCEP... it's easier, believe me.

 

Fair enough. (I'm still a newbie and getting my head around available software myself.)

 

... so quick equipping the item and then switching to another better will net you the points for none what so effort. Not the optimal solution in most cases.

 

I'm not sure what you're trying to say, here.

 

a) As far as I'm aware, Edwin's Amulet (my example) isn't something you can unequip in the first place, because it was made Undroppable;

 

b) 'Effort'? We don't want 'effort'. We want a simple way of tweaking a single character's abilities as a possible alternative to designing a complete kit that only gets used once;

 

c) What do you mean by 'better' in this context? A different custom item with stronger abilities? I could see how Twani might want to swap the items invisibly as the NPC levels up, to mimic different class abilities, but how is that a bad thing?