Keeping Drizzt kit

[ShadySands]

So now that I've graduated from college and thus lost the last little bit of self-respect and dignity I had, I've decided to start an NPC mod. Incidentally, if anybody wants to give it a spin, just give the say-so!

 

God help me.

 

Congrats on the loss of dignity and self respect... and graduating too!

[Pop]

'spose I could, but this BG2 mod is something I've always wanted to do, since all the NPC mods I've really enjoyed have either died on the vine prior to completion (thinking of Fade specifically) or are Kelsey. So I'm making my own. Plus I always wanted a Monk CNPC but didn't really want to start a phantom LAN game just to create a mute one. Plus it gives me an excuse to nostalgia trip on all my old 3.5 Forgotten Realms flavor books, which were, in retrospect, of exceedingly high quality. Mostly.

Edited June 24, 2011 by Pop

[Gfted1]

Did you mean D&D 2.5 or are you going to convert all of BGII to version 3.5?

[Pop]

Nah I'm really just pulling from the Unapproachable East 3.5 sourcebook because my dude's from Aglarond and the specific year that BG2 takes place in is on the Aglarond timeline. So it's just a matter of disregarding everything after that point. **** a bunch of continuity grognards if they've got a problem. The FR setting is such a beautiful mess it's hard to care about that stuff and BG isn't canon anyway. So **** it.

 

I feel for people who try to make a good NPC mod, I really do. People underestimate how hard it is to write dialogue as good as Bioware's (which isn't that great half the time). Add to that the MAXIMALIST tendencies of the FR setting and the fear of making a bland character and most NPC mods end up overcooked and / or hijacking the story (Saerilith's Gate II: Shadows of Saerilith, etc.). Plus there's the romance thing which doesn't do anyone any favors.

 

I plan on taking my time with this. But it's gonna get done, believe.

Edited June 24, 2011 by Pop

[ShadySands]

I'll be interested in checking it out when it's all done.

[Pop]

I'll let you know once I've got the first beta completed.

[Pop]

Okay I'm gonna be frank here: I registered an account on Pocketplane.net over 3 years ago and I have yet to see Admin approval. I think G3's overseers are likewise AWOL. Plus they seem to be seeing new posts site-wide on a month-to-month basis. That being the case, if anybody's around who's done this type of thing before and whose brain is available for picking, I would be most appreciative, and willing to buy them things on Amazon or whatever, cause I'm nice that way.

 

At the moment I just need a few things elucidated, like maybe setting up innate abilities that kick into gear at certain character level thresholds. Stuff like that. The existing online tutorials are fairly thorough but there are things to be desired nonetheless. Nothing all that fancy, I just want to spruce up the dude a bit, know what I'm saying? Make him presentable. Like with a Mirror Image ability usable once per day at level 13.

Edited June 25, 2011 by Pop

[Tigranes]

Both communities still seemed to have some life in them last I checked a few years ago, but perhaps the BG2 modworld is finally running out of steam. Can't help with the modding, but interested to try it out. I usually avoided NPC mods like the plague - generally the refuge for self-indulgent, undisciplined, fanboy-gushing writing and design prone to overpowered NPCs, horribly fanfic deviations of Bioware romances or awful voice-acting... but hey, Obsidianites unite, I guess.

[Pop]

Yeah, no romances is a rule.

[CoM_Solaufein]

BG modding is alive and well.

[Pop]

Wish I could join the club! I'm out in the wilderness as is.

[Monte Carlo]

Pop am happy to look at and polish dialogue. I know I write like a simpleton on this forum, but that's because I have to write copy in my day job.

[Pop]

Thanks! I'll take you up on that once I finish up the next few banters / interjections. If you don't want to actually play BG2 you can just open up the .d files in the character's folder in Notepad or a freeware coding program.

 

I guess at this point all I really need is the knowledge to create a functional installation package (with portraits / soundsets / all that jazz) and maybe a few of the more esoteric programming techniques. I'd be able to learn from existing code if there wasn't so much shorthand in use.

[Pop]

Okay! v1.0 is online! Have at it!

 

Probably shouldn't call it 1.0 because it's very, very much a work in progress, but as far as I can tell you can install it and it doesn't freak out or mess anything up, so I'm calling it my first finished build!

 

If reading readme files is not your thing, just remember to install the mod via the WeiDU module and check in that opium den in the dungeon / sewer entrance hall of the Copper Coronet. Auden* will be standing smack-dab in the middle of it.

 

Also as it turns out, the G3 Oversight mod adds the monk HLAs that I was going to add manually! Golf claps for G3! Golf claps! Now I just need to figure out how to make interesting LLAs (right now Auden* can cast the innate equivalent of Armor of Faith once per day)

 

Let me know what you think via email or PM or whatever.

 

*- I realized well into coding the .d file that 1. "Auden" is just one letter away from "Auren", a fairly popular NPC mod and 2. I was using the J#* naming convention, which has been taken for about forever. Whoops! **** happens.**

**- Also I'm using an IWD2 soundset and slightly altered portrait, so I probably can't host it on any of the big collectives anyway. **** it, I'm a lone wolf! Yeah!

Edited June 27, 2011 by Pop

[CoM_Solaufein]

You really need to change that J# prefix.

 

Banter files start with a B as in BJ#AUDEN otherwise you may confuse the game.

[Pop]

Hmm that's probably a good idea. I'll do that today.

[Monte Carlo]

Pop I'll take a look at the banters later, if you want to PM me an email addy I'll knock out a Word Doc (I'm on Word 2007 on this machine).

[Pop]

Banter files start with a B as in BJ#AUDEN otherwise you may confuse the game.

Huh! That's not what Kat Bella's tutorial recommended, but you're probably right (and I've seen the Bxxx.d convention used elsewhere). It's been changed

 

Pop I'll take a look at the banters later, if you want to PM me an email addy I'll knock out a Word Doc (I'm on Word 2007 on this machine).

Sent!

[Pop]

Banter files start with a B as in BJ#AUDEN otherwise you may confuse the game.

I had a question actually. Considering the market for prefixes is pretty fierce I've decided to just go with BJ#. Would my banter file be BBJ#Auden? or would the game think every .d file is a banter file?

[CoM_Solaufein]

BBJ#Aude is what it would be. The naming convention is limited to eight characters.

[Pop]

Word. Have any advice on the ability coding? Once I've got that down, I will have learned pretty much all I need to in terms of coding this mod!

[Monte Carlo]

Pop I didn't get that PM.

[Pop]

Resent!

 

Also it's in the mod readme!

[Monte Carlo]

Resent!

 

Also it's in the mod readme!

 

Got it.

[Pop]

Welp, just stumbled over IESDP. I have The Power, now.