Item help

[Evilyn]

You can un-tick the "Tagged entry" boxes in the Description tab for your item and put -1 in the "number slots" to make the various descriptions say <Not Available>. Then use the setup.TRA file to fill in the descriptions so they'll easily install and uninstall WeiDU-like without permanently messing with the dialog.tlk.

 

Here's a tiny modified bit of the setup.TRA of the very first item mod I made (the @# referencing the tp2):

 

@1=~Belt~

@2=~Whatever Belt~

@3=~A belt is (etc).~

@4=~Whatever Belt

This belt (etc).

 

STATISTICS

 

(etc)

Did that make any sense?

[berelinde]

Not really, but I'm hoping it will once I've had a chance to run through a couple tutorials. I'm a rank amateur, so it's going to be slow going.

[Evilyn]

Would it make any more sense if I then gave the tiny bit of the tp2 that is relevant to the above?

 

COPY ~bukstedt/a#belt01.itm~ ~override~

SAY NAME1 @1

SAY NAME2 @2

SAY UNIDENTIFIED_DESC @3

SAY DESC @4

 

See how the setup.tp2 works with the setup.TRA?

 

SAY NAME1 @1 (unidentified name)

SAY NAME2 @2 (name when item has been identified)

SAY UNIDENTIFIED_DESC @3 (unidentified description; "a belt is what's holding your pants up")

SAY DESC @4 (description for the item when it's been identified - all the nifty effects coming from wearing the belt)

 

I think I got lost somewhere along the way. The point was that doing the text this way won't leave permanent marks in your dialog.tlk that remains there even after you've uninstalled the mod. But all I seem to have done was get us both confused... pardon me.

[berelinde]

Actually, I don't think it would be possible to make me more confused. So, in a sense, you haven't.

 

I'm still waiting for my AHA-moment.

 

I know the way my brain works. I read a lot of stuff that doesn't make much sense, but I don't stop reading. I just keep plugging away at it, even if it doesn't make sense at the time. Then, at some unforseen moment of astrological significance or just dumb luck, something clicks, and it all makes sense, even the stuff that was previously a mystery. I got through calculus like that, which really surprised the professor. He thought I was a lost cause, with terrible marks about half-way through the term. But then, I had my AHA-moment, and managed to pull my grade up to a B.

 

The point is that I really appreciate all the help and advice people are giving me. Because at some point in the no-so-distant future, it will all come together.

 

Thanks for the help. Even if I'm still stumbling, I'm not going to write it off just yet, and I hope that all those who continue to take the trouble to offer advice don't stop just because I'm as thick as 2 short planks.

[WizWom]

Ok, the first thing you need to do is make the object ITM file, right? You've got the idea of that, I hope: open NearInfinity, choose an item of the type you want, use the Export... button to save a copy as your new object's name. File->Refresh Tree... will make NI re-read the directories and Chitin.key, so you can see your new object. The, edit the item however you like, but put '-1' in all the places where it looks for a text from the dialog.tlk.

 

That will make it so that the object does not reference dialog.tlk at all. Now, you could just go ahead, use "edit" in NearInfinity to make new dialog.tlk entries for your bobject, but if you do that, it's a one-time thing just for you. Here's where WeiDU comes in. WeiDU is a dialog utility, with some file handling features. It uses a copy of the WeiDU exe and a tp2 with the same name. The TP2 is Talk Procedure (version 2) file. Now, the simplesy way to do this is:

 

Let's say I'm making some Studded Leather Armor which is basically worthless because an Orc's been using it. I've called it WxOrcL4.ITM

BEGIN ~Orc Leather Armor~

COPY ~WxOrcs/WxOrcL4.ITM~ ~override~  // tells WeiDU I'm copying this file
SAY NAME1 ~Studded Leather~  // NAME1 is a WeiDU constant - it points to 8 bytes into the file, and WeiDU knows to write the reference number it generates for the text
SAY NAME2 ~Orcish Studded Leather~
SAY UNIDENTIFIED_DESC ~Smelly Studded Leather~
SAY DESC ~This Studded Leather armor was recently worn by an Orc.  It has unidentified stains and the studs are rusty, and some are taring out of the backing.  Someone would have to be desparate to wear this lice-ridden stuff.

AC: 7
Weight: 15 lbs
Not Uasble by:
  Mage
  Monk~

You don't have to close the WeiDU sections, it just keeps going with one command until it finds something that indicates something else starts.

 

The '@2' stuff is for a translation file, which, really, is getting more advanced than you should get for your first item.

 

Doing it this way, you'd be able to make a zip of the WeiDU exe, the tp2, and your ITM file, and anyone could install it as a removable component, so you could share it. It's actually a lot cleaner than the old TeamBG "TBG" style of distribution, but it accomplishes the same thing - you get items which anyone can use with any mods they happen to have installed.

[Evilyn]

I was trying to explain basically the same thing, though from the DLTCEP perspective rather than using NI; I think that's simpler when just doing items. (I also managed to split my example into two posts, but that's another matter...)

 

I detest the TBG style - it may have been useful back in the old days, but in the age of infinite mods it just messes everything up. Or that's been my experience.

[berelinde]

When confronted with a problem, my usual modus operendi is to throw stuff at it until something sticks. Kind of like a chimp, but that's a story for another day.

 

But I think I might deviate from my usual plan this time, and see how it goes.

 

The big scary part is WeiDU. I'm terrified of it. I can handle the dialog. I believe I can even code it. And I don't think I'm going to have trouble with the CHR-CRE conversion. But that scary tp2 monster is sitting there mocking me, and I've just been too fraidy scared to start playing with WeiDU. Or NI.

 

So, I'm going to do the non-scary bits first. I'm going to get the cre file, write a joining dialog, and see if I can get an NPC in the game. That will get me through the initial terror of working with WeiDU.

 

*Then* I'll start on the item.

 

Start with something you know?

[Evilyn]

I learned what little I know by tearing apart other people's mods and looking at how the tp2 and other files were written. I was too proud (foolish, more like) to read any guides or similar and so had to put up with a few minor setbacks.

 

Such as my first NPC that refused to stop spawning... She was supposed to wait by the Vulova house in the Gov't District, and she did - but every two seconds or so she spawned a copy, and within a minute I couldn't go from the insertion point to the Council building's door.

 

Ah, the fond memories of how I swore and ranted, waking my neighbours... (She did actually fill up every available inch of ground on the whole map, until it crashed from exhaustion or something.)

[berelinde]

Thanks. Now I don't feel quite so bad. At least I'm not the only person who has had issues.

[Rabain]

I've found Jcomptons Gareth npc is the one to use for npc coding examples.