Bugs, issues, or suggestions?

[Daeros_Trollkiller]

On 8/16/2020 at 10:26 AM, Wolfsbane said:

Hey, thanks for the mod, this is great because there are many great sod items not included in BG2 EE particularly monk items. I was wondering if you coul add a couple of great monk items from the expansion, Bracers of the Shuttered lid   Sidestep Slippers.

Again Thanks for the mod.

Hello and I am glad you enjoy the mod!  I will take your suggestions into consideration for the next update.  Generally speaking, I don't add items in unless I can place them in a thoughtful, meaningful way that makes sense.

[Wolfsbane]

Many thanks, its fine if you cant, great work!

[Guest Gob Oafenplug]

 A brief perusal of EET's .TP2 didn't turn up anything that would be adding extra quasi-functional entries to TOOLTIP.2DA, and I can't imagine why k4thos would do such a thing. Some item mods however used to do this (Wes's Item Upgrade among them, though CamDawg may have changed this as a part of maintenance). If WeiDU -change-log TOOLTIP.2DA doesn't emit a list with the culprit, you could always adapt the code in your mod's .TP2 at lines 1879 - 1896 to

WITH_SCOPE BEGIN

  COPY - ~sod2bg2_iu/2da/tooltip.2da~ ~sod2bg2_iu/2da/tooltip.2da~ //
    COUNT_2DA_COLS patch_cols
    READ_2DA_ENTRIES_NOW r2en_sod2bg2_tooltip 1

  COPY_EXISTING TOOLTIP.2DA override
    COUNT_2DA_COLS num_cols
    COUNT_2DA_ROWS num_cols num_rows
    INNER_PATCH_SAVE insert_cols ~~ BEGIN
      FOR (; patch_cols < num_cols; ++patch_cols) BEGIN
        INSERT_BYTES BUFFER_LENGTH 3
        WRITE_ASCII (BUFFER_LENGTH - 3) ~ -1~ //
      END
    END
    FOR (row = 0; row < r2en_sod2bg2_tooltip; ++row) BEGIN
      READ_2DA_ENTRY_FORMER r2en_sod2bg2_tooltip row 0 item
      READ_2DA_ENTRY_FORMER r2en_sod2bg2_tooltip row 1 ability1
      READ_2DA_ENTRY_FORMER r2en_sod2bg2_tooltip row 2 ability2
      READ_2DA_ENTRY_FORMER r2en_sod2bg2_tooltip row 3 ability3
      LPF RESOLVE_REF STR_VAR ref = EVAL ~%ability1%~ RET ability1 = strref END
      LPF RESOLVE_REF STR_VAR ref = EVAL ~%ability2%~ RET ability2 = strref END
      LPF RESOLVE_REF STR_VAR ref = EVAL ~%ability3%~ RET ability3 = strref END
      INSERT_2DA_ROW num_rows num_cols ~%item%  %ability1%  %ability2%  %ability3% %insert_cols%~ //
      SET ++num_rows
    END
    PRETTY_PRINT_2DA
  BUT_ONLY

END

to pad out your new row with extra -1 column entries to match whatever wack column count the file has ended up with.

 

[CamDawg]

17 minutes ago, Guest Gob Oafenplug said:

Some item mods however used to do this (Wes's Item Upgrade among them, though CamDawg may have changed this as a part of maintenance).

Yep, still does, but as APPENDs since it's a pretty well-formed 2da.

EET has to mess with it because items with tooltips being added from BGEE/SoD/IWDEE will have different string references, so they'll need to be adjusted to their new string range and added.

[Guest Gob Oafenplug]

Adding extra rows is all well and good, it's adding extra columns past item name, first charges, second charges, third charges that causes problems (weapons only can only use two of these since the first ability has to be weapon damage). There's nowhere to store these supernumerary charge fields in ARE/CRE/STO so they can't work and the engine ends up bounds-checking them into the third ability...hopefully. Most of the time. It's not a great practice but several mods have done it and been recalcitrant about changing.

Maybe I'm misremembering how IU did this for its staves or whatever; it's been a long time since I've looked, so casual slander may on the table as a result :)

 

[Guest Gob Oafenplug]

...and after double checking, c2staff.itm has four abilities but doesn't add a corresponding fifth column to TOOLTIP.2DA, so WesDawg innocent of the install error.

[Daeros_Trollkiller]

Thank you for the tips on making this mod more compatible with EET.  I am working on wrapping up a new mod, and once done, I plan to revise this one.  I've a laundry list of changes I want to make and am going to probably end up re-writing much of the TP2 to make things much more clean and hopefully address compatibility issues with EET.

[Daeros_Trollkiller]

I am working on my next update to this mod.  As part of it, I have cleaned up how it installs existing SoD items (and other files needed for the mod).  It will now check to see if the SoD items and their associated effects and spells are already in the game files prior to installation, and if they are already present, it will skip them.   This should help a good deal with EET.  I went ahead and created a clean EET game install and tried installing the mod with the above changes.  I did not receive any errors or warnings, so hopefully, this will resolve the issue.  - this was with installing both prior to and after "completing" the EET install process.

Edited August 28, 2020 by Daeros_Trollkiller
added info

[Endarire]

@Daeros_Trollkiller
Greetings!

How fares progress on the next version?  What changes should we expect?

Thankee!

[Daeros_Trollkiller]

19 hours ago, Endarire said:

@Daeros_Trollkiller
Greetings!

How fares progress on the next version?  What changes should we expect?

Thankee!

Hey there and thank you for your interest in my mod!   Progress is coming along on the next update, the structuring changes for the install are already completed, which will hopefully resolve any issues with EET.

As far as changes:  this is certainly subject to change, as my ideas tend to, when I am working on a mod, but here is an idea of what's to come:

1.  Enhanced audiovisuals for the new spells the mod adds.
2.  New spells properly added to spell.ids (doesn't impact function, but is required for a script to be able to use it, among other things)
3.  Reworked effects on several of the items in the mod.
4. New/updated icons for several items.
5. Tentative: additional items brought in from SoD and/or IWD, along with upgrade recipes for them.
6. Tentative: new priest spells.

I am also considering some changes to how the SoD items are obtained.   I've received plenty of feedback asking for specific SoD items to be added and to avoid over-saturation of adding more items, I am considering making some of them random.  For example:  You kill the monster that currently drops Element's Fury +2, after the change it would be a 50% chance of obtaining either element's fury +2 or acid-etched dagger +2.  You could get one or the other, but not both.

I am a big fan of that type of thing to make each play-through different, though some probably don't care for it.   So, if I do decide to go that route, it will likely be limited to only a few items.

[Mike1072]

5 hours ago, Daeros_Trollkiller said:

I am also considering some changes to how the SoD items are obtained.   I've received plenty of feedback asking for specific SoD items to be added and to avoid over-saturation of adding more items, I am considering making some of them random.  For example:  You kill the monster that currently drops Element's Fury +2, after the change it would be a 50% chance of obtaining either element's fury +2 or acid-etched dagger +2.  You could get one or the other, but not both.

I am a big fan of that type of thing to make each play-through different, though some probably don't care for it.   So, if I do decide to go that route, it will likely be limited to only a few items.

You could make that an optional component.

[Daeros_Trollkiller]

28 minutes ago, Mike1072 said:

You could make that an optional component.

Yeah, that's one option too.  I'll have to think about how I want to approach it.

[Endarire]

@Daeros_Trollkiller
+1 to this being an optional component.  Our group already plans to play with Item Randomizer (which, for a long time, I thought was stupid but I eventually grew to like or love some randomizers) meaning I"m unsure how much that component matters for us.  Having optional internal item randomization is a nifty option

What do you mean by oversaturation of items?  Our group already has tens or hundreds of mods planned to be used, and we plan to use your mod after you release the new version and certain other mod authors release updates of their mods.  I'm OK with having more options than we can use:  ToB already gives people options on how to use an Eye of Tyr to upgrade Purifier/Carsomyr, for example.  We plan to play with a varying roster, and outfitting an army - and a group of less than 50 people at a time seems inherently like a small army - means we can use more gear!

+1 to making IWD gear upgradable.  I wanted to have even more IWD items in the BG games to increase their tie.

I'd also like more spiffy robes!  From what I recall, there are 3 main grades of robes - technically better than nothing (Robe of the Knave for minor AC), late-BG1 grade (Robe of the Archmage), and the Robe of Vecna.  Someone on Beamdog's Forum suggested a robe of permanent aura cleansing (AKA permanent improved alacrity) as a RoV alternative.  What about robes that boosted STR/DEX/CON, especially for Monks, and INT/WIS/CHA for casters?  What about a robe that cast stoneskin, haste, and mirror image (what I consider basic buffs for any arcane caster) immediately after regaining all spell slots?  What about a more 'accurate' Robe of Vecna (with the current RoV renamed and restatted) that turns its wearer Undead while worn, granting him the relevant bonuses, resistances, and immunities of Lichdom, minus the self-resurrection?

Caedwyr and Temnix have done various BG icons for mods.  (I mention this should you want it.)

Thankee!

[Daeros_Trollkiller]

@Endaire:

To me, over-saturation of items means availability of too many items in a specific area, which IMO, trivializes progression.

My approach to this mod from the beginning was thoughtful placement of items in places where they made sense to be, if one goes on the assumption that most of your gear from BG1 was either stolen by the shadow thieves, and/or sold off by Irenicus to finance his capture and experimentation on the Bhaalspawn.

It seems you have a penchant for monks and mages  .   My other goal in this mod wasn't to make god-level gear, but to provide different choices for the player, so that each playthrough could be more varied.   While some of the gear you mention sounds pretty awesome, to me, they would be too overpowered.  I did do something interesting with the RoV in my mod though, if you haven't already seen it.  Monk robes with stat boots or other minor improvements as such I don't think would be too overpowering though.

To sum it up:  What I wanted to achieve with this mod is a situation where the player has to think:  "If I get this item, with this property that I like, I won't be able to get this other item, with this other property that I like.....hmm, which to choose"   From the feedback I have received, it seems I hit the nail on the head in that respect.   

I am going to be taking a break for a few days to think about how I am going to approach a few things with the update and come back fresh.  I tend to work best that way.

For the icons - do they make them upon request or just have a library of them that folks can use?  While I do like making my own icons, it can be very tedious and time consuming, since I am no pixel artist, lol.

 

Again, thank you for your kind words about my mod, and I am thrilled all of you enjoy it!

[Endarire]

@Daeros_Trollkiller
Caedwyr and Temnix have seemingly made custom icons on demand for their mods.  Ask for their help.

Regarding items, what I mentioned were suggestions.  I wasn't sure what power level you intended.  I agree that providing interesting options to varying player tastes is wise.  I also acknowledge that, by the time I had played through much of BGII for the third or fourth or fifth time, I didn't care that much about balance and just wanted to efficiently beat it for the first time!  (That's a story for another day.)

As an aside, when I played Baldur's Gate in the 90s, it was soon after playing Diablo for years and I was annoyed that there were so few items!  Having played video game RPGs for years, especially the Final Fantasy series, I expected a lot more stuff to get!  Then again, BG1 was a spiffy game but also a proof of concept.  Itemization is a significant part of feelings of progression, and feeling like I have the best gear worth using early in the game means I felt less incentivized to do anything but rush to the end.