IEMod fork, new modding framework

[Springwight]

IEMod_pw Repository | Patchwork Repository

 

Hey. I've recently written a new modding framework for Pillars of Eternity (it started out like that, anyway; now it works on anything). I've ported IE Mod to it, and added a small mod of my own, though I'm not releasing it as a separate mod yet (I'm still kind of hoping to merge the code with IE Mod, or at least to add more mods).

 

The framework allows you to replace the game's code with your own, and add new code. It's a lot more powerful than official modding tools, but in order to use it you need to know C# or another .NET language, and you need to decompile undocumented code to find what to modify (many decompilers for .NET produce almost perfect source code though).

 

In this framework, there are practically no restrictions on what you can accomplish or the language features you can use. It has a number of other improvements over the old IE Mod framework, too many to list.

 

I'm hoping people would help me develop this fork by adding more mods, or help me develop the core framework.

[Quantics]

Hey, this is cool !

 

It's great to see modders taking interest into PoE. 

 

I'm a bit surprised by this though:

 

 

Originally I hoped to merge my fork into the original mod, but I couldn't contact any active developers, so I decided to continue development by myself for now.

 

I know Bester lost interest in PoE but I'm sure he would be happy if all his work wasn't lost. I think he mostly hangs on RPGCodex, and that's probably the best place to get in touch (I try to avoid this soulless place myself I'm sure there are some members here who would help ).

 

Recently someone else (I forget his name) took on the project and wrote a lot of code for the existing framework:

https://bitbucket.org/Bester/poe-modding-framework/commits/all

 

You guys should definitely get in touch, I'm sure you'd be much more efficient together.

[R.Alexander]

I am unfortunately currently unemployed, but with the extra time I have, it could do me some good to delve into a project like this.

[Springwight]

Hey, this is cool !

 

It's great to see modders taking interest into PoE. 

 

I'm a bit surprised by this though:

 

 

Originally I hoped to merge my fork into the original mod, but I couldn't contact any active developers, so I decided to continue development by myself for now.

 

I know Bester lost interest in PoE but I'm sure he would be happy if all his work wasn't lost. I think he mostly hangs on RPGCodex, and that's probably the best place to get in touch (I try to avoid this soulless place myself I'm sure there are some members here who would help ).

 

Recently someone else (I forget his name) took on the project and wrote a lot of code for the existing framework:

https://bitbucket.org/Bester/poe-modding-framework/commits/all

 

You guys should definitely get in touch, I'm sure you'd be much more efficient together.

I've sort of tried contacting a bunch of people there, including him. One person replied and said he wasn't really interested anymore, which is a shame; from the others I got no response.

 

I sort of really need help. I'm not really a modder who got interested in Pillars of Eternity, but rather a PoE player who got interested in modding (who also happens to be a developer). To be honest, I fixed up the code and significantly improved the infrastructure, but I really have no idea how the other guys discovered everything they did. 

 

I am unfortunately currently unemployed, but with the extra time I have, it could do me some good to delve into a project like this.

That's great I mean that's a shame

 

You could try it out. Just download the repo/fork it and play with it a bit. Patchwork (that's the framework for modifying code) has pretty good documentation, and there are a few examples. IE Mod pw, only the parts I've worked on recently. It should be fully ready to patch (you just need to set your paths in PathConsts.cs). If it's not, give me a heads up.

 

Forking is better if you want to make changes, so I can integrate them.

 

Personally, I got into modding the game by fixing my personal pet peeve, so if you have one of those you could try to work on it at first. 

[View619]

Your best bet is to contact the person currently responsible for updating the mod. I doubt you'll get assistance from Bester and co, since they have lost all interest in POE iirc. You can check the IE mod nexus forums for more details.

 

Edit:

 

Current modder's name is Brandon Wallace (bwallace). Good luck.

Edited August 12, 2015 by View619

[AndreaColombo]

If the IE Mod is currently not being maintained (e.g. Brandon Wallace and the guys from the repository all lost interest), I'm a sad, sad panda.

 

Thanks for stepping up, Spiritwright! Without the IE Mod I would most likely lose interest in PoE altogether...

[Quantics]

Current modder's name is Brandon Wallace (bwallace). Good luck.

 

Does anyone know his (obsidian) forum username? 

 

He used to post here sometimes, but I can't find any of his posts with that sh!tty search function...

Edited August 13, 2015 by Quantics

[View619]

Pretty sure it's bwallace on these forums. Ask around on the nexusmod page, you should be able to find details there.

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity/mods/1/?

Edited August 13, 2015 by View619

[archangel979]

If the IE Mod is currently not being maintained (e.g. Brandon Wallace and the guys from the repository all lost interest), I'm a sad, sad panda.

 

Thanks for stepping up, Spiritwright! Without the IE Mod I would most likely lose interest in PoE altogether...

I am really really hoping someone will update it for 2.0 patch once it is released. I don't plan to replay PoE without it as some of the things in the IE mod are a requirement since I did 1st play of PoE without it and I got frustrated too often. Edited August 13, 2015 by archangel979

[archangel979]

I noticed your addition:

Target Turned Enemies

 

I've added an option called "target turned enemies" that makes enemies that have switched allegiance due to e.g. dominate, confusion, etc. to be considered hostile against your attacks. I always hated how being a little confused gave your enemies miraculous defensive benefits.

Can you also make it so allies that get charmed or confused can still be buffed with allies only spells like those vs charm and confusion that are supposed to halve the duration of such negative effects and make sure that the charm and confusion affecting them are than halved in duration?

Edited August 14, 2015 by archangel979

[Springwight]

Thanks for the advice everyone I'll try to contact bwallace.
 

I noticed your addition:

Target Turned Enemies

I've added an option called "target turned enemies" that makes enemies that have switched allegiance due to e.g. dominate, confusion, etc. to be considered hostile against your attacks. I always hated how being a little confused gave your enemies miraculous defensive benefits.

Can you also make it so allies that get charmed or confused can still be buffed with allies only spells like those vs charm and confusion that are supposed to halve the duration of such negative effects and make sure that the charm and confusion affecting them are than halved in duration?

 

Yup, can do. What would you prefer from the following:

• Turned allies count as both friend and enemy (e.g. you can heal them but also damage them).
• They only count as friendly

I'm probably not going to be able to make it based on the ability used, though.

---

I'm sort of planning to try to do the following. Tell me what you think:

1. Try to make world objects more transparent, so that you can see the characters when they're behind a wall or some trees.
2. Add a widget like the abilities bar that shows you a list of your queued actions.

Edited August 14, 2015 by Springwight

[View619]

Well, you can always put together a list of planned changes and get some feedback/suggestions before starting. Also, feel free to provide brief details on how you plan on implementing some of the changes since random .Net developers could be willing to assist every now and then. =)

Edited August 15, 2015 by View619

[archangel979]

 

Thanks for the advice everyone I'll try to contact bwallace.

 

I noticed your addition:

Target Turned Enemies

 

I've added an option called "target turned enemies" that makes enemies that have switched allegiance due to e.g. dominate, confusion, etc. to be considered hostile against your attacks. I always hated how being a little confused gave your enemies miraculous defensive benefits.

Can you also make it so allies that get charmed or confused can still be buffed with allies only spells like those vs charm and confusion that are supposed to halve the duration of such negative effects and make sure that the charm and confusion affecting them are than halved in duration?

 

Yup, can do. What would you prefer from the following:

• Turned allies count as both friend and enemy (e.g. you can heal them but also damage them).
• They only count as friendly

I'm probably not going to be able to make it based on the ability used, though.

---

I'm sort of planning to try to do the following. Tell me what you think:

1. Try to make world objects more transparent, so that you can see the characters when they're behind a wall or some trees.
2. Add a widget like the abilities bar that shows you a list of your queued actions.

 

I really don't care as long as these spells will be able to affect the duration of Charm, Confusion and similar effects. 

 

If they are considered friendly only your team's AI will not automatically start attacking them but they will also ignore them and provoke Opportunity Attacks. That is if this change affects things like AI or Opportunity Attacks.

If they are considered both friendly and enemy who know what kind of problems that can cause. 

 

In the end you need to try out these changes before releasing them to us. 

[Perturabo]

As long as this framework is used to update IEMod for 2.0, I don't even care if any new features are added.

 

That said, it would be nice to have an option to control how much focus ciphers start combat with (i.e. full, half, quarter), and perhaps even an option to manipulate the focus gain per attack.

 

And/or (if I may indulge in wishlisting here), maybe even dynamic focus regeneration in combat...

[Quantics]

Ah, I finally found bwallace: 

 

 

http://forums.obsidian.net/user/151113-bman654/

 

He was still interested in PoE in April 2015, maybe we can get him back

 

 

 

For those of you unhappy with the need to walk slowly to be able to detect hidden objects, I've just made a mod to "fix" this.  With the mod, Stealth Mode uses the normal run animations.
 
Currently only supports Windows and not compatible with the IE Mod.  When I get more time, I'll figure out how to incorporate it into the IE Mod.
 
Get the mod from Nexus.

 

 

 

@bman654, come back !

[View619]

So, who is doing the frequent ie mod updates on nexusmod if not bwallace?

[Guest 4ward]

 

i'd also agree that for you guys who play this game with the IE mod it's important that it's updated since the enemy AI now is supposed to have changed and enemies also go by meleers (risking a disengagement attack, though Obs probably also could raise their hp to get around that) and attack ranged chars.

 

What i don't understand is the fixation and holding unto that melee system by the other folks here and specifically by Obsidian though. It was introduced during KS in PoE because the 'kiting problem', protection of weak chars and probably also giving meleers more power. But the thing is, IMO, that system encourages kiting in the worst form that i could imagine, i'd like to call it the 'standstill' kiting, i.e. you send a char to engage the enemies and then finish them off with your ranged chars. In BG2, at least i had to move around for kiting making it more risky and challenging and thus too tedious to use especially against the trash mobs in BG2. And if they now balance the talents and change the AI to counter this, then we're again where we were with BG2 kiting or what do you think?? We all know from BG2 that there's other ways to protect chars and locking up enemies by meleers than the PoE system. It can be passive, just attack with weapon that can stun or slow on succesfull hit, you don't really have to be active and move if you don't want. We all know from BG2 also that enemies like beholders who shoot from any angle and aroiund the corner/through obstacles cannot be IMO succesfully kited or if you take the fight vs Firkraag who moves fast and acts fast in his lair.

 

When Josh says in the lastest pcgamer issue on PoE that he will introduce fights who BG2 fans will like i do believe his good intentions although it's clear that he wants to get back some fans. But i believe him and some steps are already IMO taken in that direction. Enemy AI, for example, or immunities which could be widened later to spells like in BG2 where i could hit a clay golem with a hammer but had to use sword against stone golem (if i recal right) or where i could cast hold undead vs undead but that wouldn't help me against another type of enemy. Also, allowing sequencers and shortening the base casting time and allowing for e.g. healing spells outside of combat makes up for being able to cast before battle like in BG2 IMO. The per-encounter thing is different though becasue in BG2 i enjoyed the challenge of fighting with just a portion of my spells, it was added challenge which led to different battles since i couldn't rely on all of my spells. In PoE that isn't so, i've got all spells available so can't regulate the difficulty and the battle will play similar.

 

Only raising the difficulty by e.g. raising enemies stats, improving the AI, and introducing immunities will not automatically make BG2 fans happy, though surely goes in the right direction and i for one applaud this and am grateful to the Obsidian guys. Additionally and in conclosuion, IMO the engagement system with the disengagement attacks as now implemented has in the first place IMO led to a complication of trash mob fighting, so fights that are supposed to be simple and has encouraged a kiting uber-strategy. With the many talents that are tied to engagmenet i don't see how the system ever can change even in future titles if there will be any.

 

Just a final note regarding tanking, i did enjoy sending e.g. Korgan fully equipped and carrying healing potions to engage enemies and then at the right time drink a potion or move away, that was the 'twitch' factor of BG series/IWD series, because if you failed to time it right the battle would change and that's why combat was fun and different from PoE, you'd have to adapt to new situations during a battle, the battles played different depending on many things. Well, just some thoughts anyway. Carry on

[AndreaColombo]

Springwight, any chance you could have a look at this bug while you're at it?

[Quantics]

So, who is doing the frequent ie mod updates on nexusmod if not bwallace?

No idea... But indeed the Nexus says the mod has been update at "22:00, 13 Aug 2015", so there must be someone in charge

Edited August 19, 2015 by Quantics

[Springwight]

Hey guys. Kind of been away for a while.

 

I've managed to contact a person who goes by Delfosse on the Nexus site, and exchanged a few words. Basically, it seems like no one is managing the project anymore. The last person who worked on it was Dan Chieffallo (also called SiliconMage). He doesn't seem to be managing the project anymore. His last update was June 28th (in the Bitbucket repository), and I've so far been unable to contact him.

 

At this point, I don't think I'm going to continue these attempts, because if they're not replying, I'm sure they're busy with something else, or have some other reason. Also, I'm expecting more interest in Pillars of Eternity when White March/2.0 come out.

 

Delfosse gave me permissions on the IEMod Nexus page and to the Bitbucket repository (probably the update you saw, Quantics ). This means I can upload stuff to the IE Mod main, which I will do at some point.

 

Springwight, any chance you could have a look at this bug while you're at it?

I don't remember if I've experienced it, but I'm 90% certain I know what causes it, and have already fixed it as part of doing some other changes.

---

I'm probably not going to release anything before version 2.0 comes out, though, because that requires testing I'll have to redo anyway. On the other hand, I don't expect there to be many problems porting most of the mods to 2.0 and/or White March, with a few notable exceptions.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Springwight

[AndreaColombo]

Springwight,

 

do you think it would be possible for a non-programmer to learn how to update the mod to a new version of the game?

 

Appreciate it takes coding, but if it is always the same process, I guess I could write up a few notes and learn some code by heart so I could be a back-up updater of sorts

 

Again, words can't express my gratitude for your taking the mod up. I would likely drop the game if the mod became unavailable after a patch.

[Springwight]

Springwight,

 

do you think it would be possible for a non-programmer to learn how to update the mod to a new version of the game?

 

Appreciate it takes coding, but if it is always the same process, I guess I could write up a few notes and learn some code by heart so I could be a back-up updater of sorts 

 

Kind of depends. If it's a very small update, like a hotfix, it's unlikely it's going to influence the mod, so you just need to compile the existing code in a certain way and run the patcher on the new DLL file. Just moving files and pressing buttons, basically.

 

However, if the patch does change things that affect the mod, it's going to require changing the code. Anyone can learn to program, but as far as programming tasks go, this one isn't easy at all. You'd need to know the language fairly well (or another language, or alternatively be very familiar with the Unity engine pretty well).

 

Again, words can't express my gratitude for your taking the mod up. I would likely drop the game if the mod became unavailable after a patch.

Thank you

 

I appreciate it 

[AndreaColombo]

However, if the patch does change things that affect the mod, it's going to require changing the code. Anyone can learn to program, but as far as programming tasks go, this one isn't easy at all. You'd need to know the language fairly well (or another language, or alternatively be very familiar with the Unity engine pretty well).

 

Ah, unfortunately none of those apply to me

[Quantics]

Yeah, same for me.

 

I know a bit of python, but my knowledge of C/C++/C# is too limited for any project of this scope... And I don't know Unity at all.

 

Damn it's a shame to see this project go to waste. Looked like a LOT of work. Here's to hoping some other brave soul joins you at some point Springwight.

[View619]

I would be willing to assist occasionally; I have a day job, but I should be able to find some time on weekends to help out. As a user of the IE mod, I would hate to see updates cease. For reference, I know VB.Net and C#.

Edited August 21, 2015 by View619