Mod Request: Enemy HP Boost / Nightmare mode

[Bubusworld]

Any chance somebody could do an enemy HP boost mod for classic BG2/BGT that will work on top of the difficulty slider (Core, Hard, Insane).  Something that’s similar to LoB difficulty but can work on top of SCS/Tactics mods as well.  Something like enemy_hp * 2 + 40 and call it Nightmare Lv 1, enemy_hp * 3 + 80 for Nightmare Lv 2, and enemy_hp * 4 + 120 for Nightmare Lv3.

[Jarno Mikkola]

You might want to recheck your request... see a gibberling that has 8 hit points in BGT would have 152 hit points and you have to kill it with weapons that do 1d8 damage... that's 33 hits on average instead of ... 2. Ouh, you there's 20 of them.

The game doesn't scale well, this way.

[Bubusworld]

Lv3 is certainly ridiculous, and I'm fine with there being impossible difficulties.  It could work for someone who just wants to start in BG2, where the power creep is already quite high soon into the game.  I'd be happy to have Lv1 or Lv2 Nightmare as described above.  Classic scaling is very boring when a solo sorc is 1-shotting mobs.  Either that or a lot of mobs go out in 1 cycle of an AoE disable.  With improved AI, classic enemy creatures can still die to cheese.   The increased HP on top of SCS/Tactics would definitely require a party of powergaming characters.

[Jarno Mikkola]

But even the level 1 Nightmare by your standard is inconceivable considering the BG1 levels... on BG2, it's ... somewhat less so... but if you throw SCS+Tactics and these, it's no way doable, because of the original monsters are already overpowered in the original, and you want to throw in *2+40.

But sure... try this .tp2 code:

BACKUP ~impposibblegame/backup~
AUTHOR ~Jarno Mikkola aka The Imp~
VERSION ~v1~

BEGIN ~Adjust monsters hitpoints to be 2*original+40~ DESIGNATED 1
COPY_EXISTING_REGEXP GLOB ~^.+\.cre$~ ~override~
READ_SHORT 0x48 "ismonster"
PATCH_IF ("%ismonster%" != 10) THEN BEGIN
READ_SHORT 0x24 "currenthp~
READ_SHORT 0x26 ~maxhps~
WRITE_SHORT 0x24 ("%currenthp%" *2 +40)
WRITE_SHORT 0x24 ("%maxhps%" *2 +40)
END

Ask if you need help using that.. I can't upload the file from here right now.

Maybe try to play with a Bard and party, and not solo Sorcerer. The game is not made to be single glass cannon gameplay, ala Diablo's. It's a Role Playing Game. Meaning that there's no single best way to experience.

 

Edited December 30, 2018 by Jarno Mikkola

[Bubusworld]

So set it up like a Weidu install?

Thanks a lot!

Edit:  Tried to use a renamed Weidu .exe with the .tp2 code you gave me.  Got a parsing error:

[C:\Program Files (x86)\Black Isle\BGII - SoA\Setup-Nightmare_Lv_1.exe] WeiDU version 24600
In state 87, I expected one of these tokens:
  [120] AND_EQUALS
  [240] DIVIDE_EQUALS
  [249] BXOR_EQUALS
  [255] PLUS_EQUALS
  [266] OR_EQUALS
  [268] TIMES_EQUALS
  [387] BLSR_EQUALS
  [396] BLSL_EQUALS
  [415] EQUALS
  [433] MINUS_EQUALS
Parse error (state 87) at ~~

[SETUP-NIGHTMARE_LV_1.TP2] PARSE ERROR at line 12 column 1-19
Near Text: " *2 +40)
WRITE_SHORT 0x24 ("
        GLR parse error

[SETUP-NIGHTMARE_LV_1.TP2]  ERROR at line 12 column 1-19
Near Text: " *2 +40)
WRITE_SHORT 0x24 ("
        Parsing.Parse_error
ERROR: parsing [SETUP-NIGHTMARE_LV_1.TP2]: Parsing.Parse_error
ERROR: problem parsing TP file [SETUP-NIGHTMARE_LV_1.TP2]: Parsing.Parse_error

FATAL ERROR: Parsing.Parse_error

Press ENTER to exit.

Edited December 31, 2018 by Bubusworld

[Jarno Mikkola]

Sorry for the mixup... here's an actual file:

impposibblegame.zip

This actually works, now. Well, to everyone else exept those monsters that have effective Armor Class of 10, this is because that should eliminate all the NPCs the game has.

BACKUP ~impposibblegame/backup~
AUTHOR ~Jarno Mikkola aka The Imp~
VERSION ~v1~

BEGIN ~Adjust monsters hitpoints to be 2*original+40~ DESIGNATED 1
COPY_EXISTING_REGEXP GLOB ~^.+\.cre$~ ~override~
PATCH_IF (SOURCE_SIZE > 0x2cc) BEGIN // kinda protects against invalid files
READ_SHORT 0x48 "ismonster"
PATCH_IF ("%ismonster%" != 10) THEN BEGIN
READ_LONG ~0x24~ "currenthp"
READ_LONG ~0x26~ "maxhps"
PATCH_IF (%currenthp% > 0 AND %maxhps% > 0) THEN BEGIN
WRITE_LONG ~0x24~ (%currenthp%*2+40)
WRITE_LONG ~0x26~ (%maxhps%*2+40)
END
END
END

Also, this makes it easy to edit the values too, so it has that value ... but I don't see the *2+40 as a possible balancing act, like said above, the bonus HPs the monsters would have with these values is ... horrific, considering that it takes so few swaips to kill the player char. Yes, the Sorcerer is a glass cannon class, which can kill the monster in a few spells, but if those spells are resisted or absorbed during the time the Sorcerer is free from being hurt with their other effects, they get beaten to a pulp in a matter of seconds, without a second chance.

Edited December 31, 2018 by Jarno Mikkola

[Bubusworld]

Awesome.  With an HP boost I will feel inclined to play with a carefully built party, and cheese/arcane spells will not be enough.

How would I revert the changes?  Do I apply a *1, or reverse the arithmetic ( (X-40) / 2 )?

[Jarno Mikkola]

You just uninstall the mod. For this to be effective though, you need to load a save game that hasn't visited the area the creatures are in with too many hit points.. as that usually triggers their conjuration to solid obstacles with a defined amount of Hit Points.

I would suggest that you start at trying to play the game from the SoA start... and see what happens. It's a single large area, so there's no reversing it in the middle though.

Now, you can copy the above and making it's reverse component as another component by just copying the above code and applying your arithmetic. But like said, that won't affect already existing creatures in a save game. Say like this:

BEGIN ~Reverse adjust monsters hitpoints to be the original~ DESIGNATED 2
COPY_EXISTING_REGEXP GLOB ~^.+\.cre$~ ~override~
PATCH_IF (SOURCE_SIZE > 0x2cc) BEGIN // kinda protects against invalid files
READ_SHORT 0x48 "ismonster"
PATCH_IF ("%ismonster%" != 10) THEN BEGIN
READ_LONG ~0x24~ "currenthp"
READ_LONG ~0x26~ "maxhps"
PATCH_IF (%currenthp% > 0 AND %maxhps% > 0) THEN BEGIN
WRITE_LONG ~0x24~ ((%currenthp%-40)/2)
WRITE_LONG ~0x26~ ((%maxhps%-40)/2)
END
END
END

 

Edited December 31, 2018 by Jarno Mikkola

[Bubusworld]

Unfortunately the mod doesn't work for me right now.  It looks to be installed correctly, with the new folders and backup files written without any problems.  When I tried to start a new game, the game froze with a black screen when usually the "loading" screen appears.  In the middle of a game save right now, so it will probably be a while before I can do a fresh install to really test the mod.