Is it possible for me to edit the dialogue to suit my own tastes?

[Bursk]

I was just wondering if it's easy enough to do. If so, I may make the odd tweak here and there, making notes on what to change as I play through the game.

 

If you could tell me what files I'd need to edit, that'd be great.

[berelinde]

It's always possible to dialogue files. There are two ways to do this. For the first, you would unpack the mod, make your changes to the files, then run the installation. For the second, you would install the mod as normal, then *while the game is closed and completely not running* use Near Infinity to modify the files.

 

You would need to know which actors' dialogues you wanted to change.

[Kulyok]

Oh, with your local copy you can do whatever you like. I do it like this, when I want to get rid of extra-tight romance requirements:

 

- unpack the mod into TUTU directory, but do not install it;

- find the .tra file with the dialogue(or .baf file with the conditions) and tweak it the way I like;

- install the mod.

[Bursk]

Ah, so for dialogue it's always the tra file I need to alter? Is everything in \BG1NPC\TRA\english?

 

Thanks for the help, you two (such nice wimmin).

[berelinde]

Oh, with your local copy you can do whatever you like. I do it like this, when I want to get rid of extra-tight romance requirements:

 

- unpack the mod into TUTU directory, but do not install it;

- find the .tra file with the dialogue(or .baf file with the conditions) and tweak it the way I like;

- install the mod.

 

 

Absolutely correct, of course, but do you find it ironic that you find it jarring to have an NPC asking you to select proficiencies but you don't find it jarring to have an NPC behaving toward you in a manner inconsistent with your stats/alignment/race/class/whatever? I always play an elf with Xan even though it wouldn't be my first pick because it doesn't feel right having him talk about our shared elvendom when I'm a human paladin. I'd rather SK my elf a new class.

[berelinde]

Ah, so for dialogue it's always the tra file I need to alter? Is everything in \BG1NPC\TRA\english?

 

Thanks for the help, you two (such nice wimmin).

 

 

Everything is there, but you are going to have to know a bit about file naming conventions to save yourself some intense searching. Except for Ajantis, they're all in the format:

 

X#NAME.D = NPC/pc talks and banters.

X#NATYP.D = X# followed by the first two letters of the NPC name, followed by the file type. X#MIINT.D would be Minsc's interjections

[Bursk]

Ah, so for dialogue it's always the tra file I need to alter? Is everything in \BG1NPC\TRA\english?

 

Thanks for the help, you two (such nice wimmin).

 

 

Everything is there, but you are going to have to know a bit about file naming conventions to save yourself some intense searching. Except for Ajantis, they're all in the format:

 

X#NAME.D = NPC/pc talks and banters.

X#NATYP.D = X# followed by the first two letters of the NPC name, followed by the file type. X#MIINT.D would be Minsc's interjections

Thanks. Could you just clarify this for me, using Alora?

 

We have:

 

X#ALINT.tra - Interjections, I take it.

X#ALORA.tra - NPC/pc talks and banters?

X#ALORAN.tra -

X#ALOREPL.tra -

[Kulyok]

Absolutely correct, of course, but do you find it ironic that you find it jarring to have an NPC asking you to select proficiencies but you don't find it jarring to have an NPC behaving toward you in a manner inconsistent with your stats/alignment/race/class/whatever?

 

I think these two are different matters. As I see it, saying "Select my proficiencies" is clear fourth wall breakage. The character says: "Hello, I am a computer game character; just thought I'd remind you". I'd delete it to make my game more realistic.

 

Altering requirements - for me it means disagreeing with the original author's characterization, and, again, making my game more realistic.

 

For example, Edwin's Romance: I do not see it requiring intelligence from the PC in any of its lovetalks(and I read the texts very attentively), so I delete the INT requirement without hesitation.

 

Or - I cannot believe that Ajantis, Gavin or anyone else can detect that my PC is neutral, not good, if my PC is a master of deception, and can easily outsmart them, so I delete the alignment requirement without hesitation.

 

And so on. If someone would, in their own game, contest me and say that, yes, Xan romances half-elves, and it makes their game more realistic - more power to them! As long as everyone is happy, and nobody redistributes their modified versions.

[cmorgan]

Well, the task of finding and editing a dialogue is exactly as the ladies have described, but there are some complications (and you have found one of them, Bursk!).

 

There are several additional sources of dialogue, notably CHAINs and interjections scripted from other files (X#PCINIT, some P# files, the Move component additions, and even some .tra that realte to BAF/scripts rather than .DLG. In general, you can avoid these problems by doing a "Find in Files" restricted to the .tra subdirectory searching for the exact text you want to change - then double check the number reference against the code to make sure that you are actulally changing Alora. I use Crimson Editor and TextPad to do this.

 

p.s. - the two files extra you mentioned are fixes for dialogue mostly concerned with changes needed ifthe player installs the "Move Alora's Start Location".

[berelinde]

Tinkering with a tra file is one thing. You aren't going to break anything by fiddling with the stuff after the @## and between the ~~. I'd suggest that you not fool with the BAF, though, because altering script can mess up your game, and retroactive troubleshooting is never fun.