Hey I have now seen loads and loads of questions about this in the short time that I have been here. While some have been genuinely interesting, most of them have been asked because ppl have been afraid to experiment/lazy to find out. No offense to anyone intended http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...iles/smile.gif . What I'm saying, is everyone has to start somewhere, just by looking at what files u have and trying to figure out what they do, how, why and when the game uses them. The worst that could happen is that u have to reinstall the game.
If you are really worried and don't want to have to reinstall, just make backups of the important files: dialog.tlk, chitin.key and the worldmap file if u wanna mess around with area editing. You could always make a back-up of your entire override folder (seeing as the patch installs some files in there) and just delete everything if your game cocks up and start again with the backed-up version of the override folder. You should never need to place any edited files outside the override folder because anything that can be overridden will be checked for in the override folder. The only exceptions to this are when u are making MODs and want to have your own special version of dialog.tlk and/or chitin.key etc.
If u're not sure about something-try it out and if the worst happens (which let's face it is not very bad unless u are very very stupid in which case u won't be trying this stuff anyway http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...es/biggrin.gif ), just reinstall the game. However as I said, this shouldn't really be necessary if u make proper backups and try to edit only 1 or 2 things at a time and it certainly won't happen with basic item, spell and kit editing and most other editing.
Any other questions, I can try and answer, although I am just another experimenter like everyone else, so go easy on me. http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...miles/wink.gif

Vaskez, please can you read my recent post in my "tech help with custom kits"
any advice would be gratefully appreciated

I have answered, but it would be good if we could keep questions on here, so they wouldn't have to be answered more than once. Thanks.

Ive installed other kits (the psionics one and the anti-paladin) and they work fine (except the dialogue bit again). Ill try the lich again and see if I have any joy.

Well I hope it works for you. It should cos everyone else has said that it works. One thing that might make it crash is later in the game if u have the Mask of Strom (or whatever) in Firkraags dungeon, and u put it on and then u run out of spell points. I use an invisible helmet to disable spellcasting because the parameters for the "restore spellcasting ability" spell effect have not yet been determined and I couldn't get it to work (can't be bothered to experiment further at the moment). So the script might try and place the helmet on your head and if the mask is there, it might crash. that's the only thing cos as far as I am aware there is no other head-gear that amage can wear, no ioun stones? I hope. Oh yeah and stick to one Lich per game cos the global variables have might clash otherwise, but I have made a Local variable version of the scripts, just haven't put it up for download. I will only do this, if there is a demand, although no one has said yet that they wanna use more than one lich in a game and for now, I hope they don't. :]

Well I'm off now. Any questions, just post. I'll try and get back within 24 hours from now.

This can be the "Ask Uncle Vask" thread. http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...es/biggrin.gif

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Oy, that's enough out of you, you young whipper-snapper! http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...es/biggrin.gif

So, no questions then? OK I DON't wanna see any more questions on other threads then or else I'll have ta think y'all can't read! http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...es/biggrin.gif Well u had your chance! http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...es/biggrin.gif

Does "hex code" mean the words used to cast an evil spell? If you do something "with scripts" is that like "con-scription"? ("con" = "with" in Spanish). I can't think of any more stupid questions with which to pester anyone right now.

Anyway, Vaskez is absolutely correct folks---experiment. You'll learn more in one hour of trying things yourself than in one day of instruction.

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An intelligent mind is the key to the universe.

The most distressing thing about practicing magic is the fact that even the most learned sorcerers cannot accurately describe what magic *is*....

Here's a question for you, Uncle Vask, hopefully you can enlighten the rest of the guys:

How does ICM work and how has it revolutionized the whole area of area editing and mini-MODding (so to speak)? http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...iles/smile.gif

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Here's a question for you, Uncle Vask, hopefully you can enlighten the rest of the guys:

How does ICM work and how has it revolutionized the whole area of area editing and mini-MODding (so to speak)? http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...iles/smile.gif

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Well actaully ICM still isn't complete (the avatar workshop and such are still missing). However, it does make area editing much easier. I haven't done too much area editing but I know that editing the .ARE files with a hex editor is a pain and ICM allows u to "click and drag" new objects (eg. creatures, info points, triggers, exits, containers) onto the background without any hex editing, so yeah it sort of does revolutionalise it. http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...es/biggrin.gif However it by no means makes it simple and u still gotta know stuff about editing. It takes a bit of time to learn how to use it too. Also, u can extract any area of the background by just drawing a box around it and zoom in to edit things at the in-game level of zoom.
Down under what ICM is doing as I said is hex-editing the .ARE file and making a .WED for u. It allows u to associate new backgrounds with areas and it edits the dialog.tlk entries and chitin.key for u and makes u a BIF file with your area. All in all, bloody amazing project for 2 ppl. (Gaelion and Patternstorm).

I have only experimented with it because in our mods we haven't got onto making the areas yet, so I'll prob be able to give a better answer later on. http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...iles/smile.gif

Ok dude,i have a question. Im looking for a nice dark black colour to use on the grip of a halberd.The only black i know is 21 which is a bit pale.? Thx.

BUMP FOR BLACK!

ok guys Ill be the first to admit that im a complete rookie when it comes to the editing thing. i downloaded the Infinity Engine Editor Standard and cant even get it to open ANY file much less an item that id like to edit. what do i have to do to get this thing working???? or am I simply using the wrong program??? any help would be much appreciated.

thanks

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WANNA PASS ME A BEER??? THANKS!!!!!!

Earthdog, I'd recommend Getting the 'IEE pro' version.I't sounds like you may need to download the VB6 and VB5 'dependency' files from www.teambg.com ,they are needed by the infinity engine editor to ensure compatibility.Download 'shadowkeeper' from www.mudmaster.com and you should have everything you need.
Just read your other post.... All the action goes on in your 'override' folder which is in your BG2 folder. The only items you'll find in there are ones from the patch(?) and Bonus CD files. ITM.files are items ,SPL.files are spells.You can put other ITM. and SPL.files in the override folder using shadowkeeper and then open and edit them with IEE pro.
There was an ok tutorial on how to make a couple of things with IEE on the net somewhere but i forgot where(maybe Accord knows about this?).

[This message has been edited by white heron (edited 05-22-2001).]

Actually, Vaskez, did TeamBG ever come up with a full list of known opcodes, gradient colors and other parameters for IEEP?

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i already had vb6 and i just downloaded vb5 and the pro version. i know i ahve to send everything to override. im just hoping i can get this thing going right. all your help is truely appreciated. if i can come up with some cool stuff youll be the first to hear about it. thanks!!!!!!

Earthdog, I replied to your question on someone else's editing post, I just can't remember which post it was.

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Hehe, I was just checking yesterday. I opened BGMain.exe in a hex editor and found where it listed all the possible spell effects. Looks like IEEP has them all covered although the parameters are still undetermined for many.
Gradient colours...I'll get back to u on that one...

Hmm, why don't u use one of the colouring effects in IEEP like strong/dark colourisation. Then set the RGB values to like 10, 10,10 whihc should be black if I remember from art lessons back at school! http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...es/biggrin.gif Cos white is like 255 255 255 so lack of colour should be black, hehe.

Mmm? I'll give it a go Vaskez.I've used shining colours before but not this.I guess i'll go have a look http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...iles/smile.gif
I tried a few numbers yesterday but ended up with a green Halberd,blue,yellow,LOL.
-I'm itching to make some cool shiny black full plate too.

As a side-note people keep asking about editors, which ones are good, what to use etc. Here are the full contents of my BG2Utils directory (all u need for editing http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...es/biggrin.gif ):

Teambg scriptor
Scriptw
BAM workshop
BG1 creature editor
Teambg Dialog Utility
Hextool
ICM
IEEP
IE
Near Infinity
MOSWorkshop
Shadowkeeper
Sound converter (acm2wav)
TBG Mass converter
TISUtil


hmm, actually I'm still missing a few programs like the info extractor....better go download them http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...es/biggrin.gif

OH, u wanna make it shine like celestial fury and some other magic weapons... well try looking at those to see how it;s done. There are loads of spell effects to do with colour and to tell u the truth colour has been the least of my worries in editing. Here they are in the order that they appear in the game's exe, type the number in the spell effect box in IEEP and then click on a different box to activate it (decimal mode):
effect 7: colourchange
8: colourglow_solid
9: colourglow_pulse
41: sparkle
50: single colour pulse all
51: colour tint solid

of course TL has named them differently in IEEP but I can't be bothered to look all around IEEP for them all http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...es/biggrin.gif

Out of 300 op codes, IEEP lists 256 of them (not suprising). Why there are some gaps between op codes is anyone's guess. There are about a dozen codes for which the parameters/effects are currently unknown (like "duration modifier", the one I'm currently investigating).

btw, 7 = set item colors, 8 = change colors by RGB, 9 = shining colors by RGB, 41 = sparkle, 50 = character colorization, 51 = strong/dark colorization, and 52 = very bright colorization.


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An intelligent mind is the key to the universe.

The most distressing thing about practicing magic is the fact that even the most learned sorcerers cannot accurately describe what magic *is*....

You mean that is what TL has named them, yeah I know, but I was listing them from the hex editor, so I couldn't remember exactly and I thought that the original names would help the guy out more. I think there's a lot more than a dozen for which the parameters are currently unknown. The first 23 in the list are undetermined and many of the other ones later on in the list (even those that don't have brackets around the name) still have undetermined parameters.

Hmm, yeah I don't know why there are gaps, maybe there are some obscure effects that they took out at the last minute or are there, but were never used. Good luck with the duration modifier thing, it's good that so many ppl are contrubuting to the effort to discover all the effects and then telling TL about it. The only contribution I've made so far is the 9 timimg mode which TL has named "Permanent after bonuses" although that is not quite the right name for it. It should be something like "Permanent applied continuously". Oh well it's a lot of work finding out new stuff and then testing it, that's my excuse for not having discovered more....http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...miles/wink.gif

Hey ,strong/dark colorisation did the trick, in fact 10/10/10 was perfect.heh.

Whats the secret to having a 3D effect play at the same time as the relevant strike,sure there's save vs spells and % ,but it's not working for me ,Will using the 'power' field help here. What does the 'power' field do?
For instance i made a 'Blackjack' for my thief to clobber people with.It would knock people unconcious and confuse them however the 3D effect for confusion would play long after they my victim was dead.Really i need to know how to use the Timing mode correctly for 3D effects.Any explaination MOST welcome! http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...iles/smile.gif thx

Oh I'm SO proud, hehe, I guessed the colours correctly. *Brain to mouth: Shut the F@~* up!*
Seriously, the power field is usually set to the level of the spell so I think it has to do with ease of dispelling it etc.
The 3d effect should either have a duration of permanent or for say 3 seconds, depending on the effect. Set the effect state parameter to 1 as well. If u want confusion to play when u hit someone, u gotta make sure it has the same probability and saving throw details as the effect u wanna play it with, ie. the confusion effect on the blackjack. The target should be pre-target. In the case of confusion, put the 3d effect duration at the same as the duration for the confusion.

Thanks. Well,everything you've said makes sense and is the way i generally do it? Wierd? I guess i need to look at that item.

Well Sir Vaskez I downloaded the proversion as i said before. When I open it and try to edit an item it asks me where to look then a box opens up but inside each of my bg2 files there is absolutely nothing there. Should I import my items from Shadow Keeper??? I know ya'll make it sound really easy to do all this and im sure I can too if I can just figure out how to get STARTED, lol.

Anyway, I thank you for you help.

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IS THE PIZZA HERE YET????
WANNA PASS ME A BEER??? THANKS!!!!!!

Earthdog, I replied to you here.

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well I thank all of you for your assistance on this and I know I must ber getting on your nerves but once I get all of this figured out maybe ill get to help someone else down the line.

Yes Memnoch I do remember you answering me but its due to my old age that I didnt recall it LOL. Funny thng is i went back into IEEP and then opent SK and exported all the items and then shut it down and opened my file from IEEP. THEN i reread all the stuff in here and saw your last post on this topic.

Thanks heaps guys. i really do appreciate your help and patience with me on this. just sorry to know that im sure ill have more annoying questions for yas.

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IS THE PIZZA HERE YET????
WANNA PASS ME A BEER??? THANKS!!!!!!

No need to say sorry, they're all relevant questions and they're all going to help others one day. Plus we gotta keep Uncle Vask busy. http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...es/biggrin.gif

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