(wip) modder diary

[subtledoctor]

Srsly.

[Awachi]

The narrower the focus, the more profound the change. 

Treating TotSC and ToB as optional is really liberating. 

Definitely leaning towards piecemeal release. I'm positive I'll burn out if I make a trilogy-spanning mod my goal. 

Edited April 21, 2022 by Awachi

[Awachi]

I just realized (from a friend) that if you can't tolerate -- much less enjoy -- BG's convoluted interpretation of magic combat, you're most likely not going to want to play at all.  Barring masochistic solo runs and/or extreme cheese, you pretty much have to have an arcane caster by the end of BG1 and certainly for BG2.  You can't even offload this from Charname's responsibility, as party NPC scripts are even worse at spell use than even the most elaborate of enemy AI.

[subtledoctor]

You can streamline it.

Also just use AoE spells against protected mages. 

Also, note that this really only matters in late-game play. (From Spellhold through ToB.) BG1 and even a fair amount of SoA  just don’t get into it that much. 

Also SCS mages lean on spell protections a lot, so if you don’t install SCS Improved Mage AI then it won’t be as prominent. 

Finally, there really is value to this: if mages can’t protect themselves then a bit of focus fire would kill them immediately, in every fight. That wouldn’t be fun, it would be boring. This gives them teeth. 

Last thought, a weird one: could be interesting to make a mod that just outright changes every mage into a cleric. Change the Cowled Wizards into an autocratic theocracy, etc. Don’t even have to mess with their spellbooks - I think SCS would take care of it for you. 

[Awachi]

I like getting to the original problem, which I alluded to in another question, namely the complete lack of (what is usually known as) melee engagement, tiny battle maps, inability to physically block most CREs, and the absurdity of missile weapons in bg (zero obstacles, shooting into melee without restrictions, etc). I'm just looking for a way to redress it without onion layers of protection. 

I've been thinking of giving every (combatable) CRE a small aura that reduces movement speed. 

Edited April 27, 2022 by Awachi

[jmerry]

20 hours ago, Awachi said:

Barring masochistic solo runs and/or extreme cheese, you pretty much have to have an arcane caster by the end of BG1 and certainly for BG2. 

I refer you to my "Wee Cant Spell" run, posted over at the Beamdog forums. SCS/Insane, completionist, no memorized arcane or divine spells ever.

The final BG2 party:

Magpie: halfling fighter/thief, protagonist.

Haer'Dalis: tiefling blade. Had spell slots but didn't use them.

Keldorn: human inquisitor

Korgan: dwarf berserker

Mazzy: halfling fighter

Rasaad: human sun soul monk

It wasn't a matter of extreme cheese. Just plenty of ambush and disruption tactics, and I did have some defense-breakers like Keldorn's dispel and wands of spell striking. Which I used a lot less than I expected to going in. I even did three takes on the Ascension final battle, all successful. The only challenges I backed off from were the SCS Ust Natha defenders (not enough killing power for the hordes of level 9 fighters) and actually fighting Demogorgon instead of just trapping him to death (he gets Time Stop on SCS/Insane, and uses it to attack in melee).

[subtledoctor]

5 hours ago, Awachi said:

I've been thinking of giving every (combatable) CRE a small aura that reduces movement speed

That's... actually an interesting idea. I was going to complain that it would make it annoying to disengage enemies and move around the battlefield but... yeah it would, and it would effectively introduce opportunity attacks to the game! Sort of! Which is the point, right? I mean it could make things terrible, or it could make things interesting and cool. Hard to say which off the top of my head.

I have an existing short-range slow aura in Might & Guile - install Revised Bards and then you can copy the effects from D5BD47A.spl and D5BD47B.spl, changing the Slow effect to movement rate adjustment. Maybe it could save you a few minutes.

[jmerry]

I'm a big fan of backstabbing and skirmisher tactics myself. And movement speed is the absolute key to that. You have to be able to get away after landing your hit.

So ... your suggestion would slightly buff tank-style melee (you can slow down the enemies even if they're trying to get past you. It would leave archery pretty much the same. And it would hurt the high-engagement melee skirmisher style favored by the likes of thieves and monks. Is that really what you want to do?

[Awachi]

Skirmishers would start out faster due to armor choices. Not all CREs would give the same "engagement" penalty, and some will ignore it completely. I'm glad you brought this up, because a trait/ability like "slipstreaming" (?) could be available to appropriate classes. 

@doc:  thank you, this is manifested only on the "try to implement" worksheet while I learn to code in the less controversial/radical/stupid stuff. 

Edited April 28, 2022 by Awachi

[Awachi]

I can't find a way to remove/negate a target's DEX bonus to AC. Is there any way to put a custom STAT check in the equipped effect of an item? I don't want to rely on scripts. 

[subtledoctor]

39 minutes ago, Awachi said:

I can't find a way to remove/negate a target's DEX bonus to AC. Is there any way to put a custom STAT check in the equipped effect of an item? I don't want to rely on scripts. 

You can add several lines to SPLPROT.2da for different DEX values. Then have a bunch of opcode 326 effects in your spell or item* like:

• if DEX = 13 then cast subspell1
• if DEX = 14 then cast subspell2
• if DEX = 15 then cast subspell3
• ...etc.

And the effects of those subspells should exactly negate the bonuses for each DEX value in DEXMOD.2da.

Of course, it is entirely possible that a user will change the contents of DEXMOD.2da before or after your mod is installed, in which case this won't work. So what you want to do is read the contents of each row of the .2da file, and dynamically create the subspells at install time to automatically match them. And then tell the player that any changes to DEXMOD.2da must be done before installing your mod.

* If this is for an equipping ability in an item, then the 326 effect will only fire once, when you equip the item. Any changes to the DEX stat while wearing the item will not be noticed. If you want it to dynamically respond to DEX changes over time, then you need to put the 326 effect in a spell that gets cast every round via a repeating effect. This... adds some complexity.

[Awachi]

I was not clear so sorry for the well-intended effort, but you're doing this for an item that the CRE with the DEX AC to be ignored is wearing.  I want this in a weapon or spell that is attacking him instead.  Is there no way for an item/spell to set a token on a CRE that another item/spell can have differing effects on?  All we have afaik is EFFs that can only use the different IDSs (EA, CLASS, etc).

[subtledoctor]

You can do it that way too - not being an equipped effect makes it simpler. BUT, you still need to apply the offsetting penalty via an applied effect of some sort. And it removes the target’s bonus, for all attackers. 

So “targets struck by this dagger lose all DEX-based bonuses to armor class” is totally doable. But “this dagger ignores DEX-based bonuses to armor class” is more or less impossible. AFAIK.

[Awachi]

I appreciate your responses. 

Anyone know if 2.7 is likely a '22 release? Following the eefp stuff makes me think I'd be better off waiting till the dust settles once and for all. 

[InKal]

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