Just wrote this little patch today to allow anyone to set their own starting XP for SOA and ToB. THe problem is I can only test it on my own .exe which is the ToB UK version.

I need people to test it for plain SoA UK version as well as ToB and SoA USA, Australia etc. versions.

The reason editing your starting XP is not in any editing utils is because you need to edit the game's .exe file. Nothing should go wrong but just in case, make a backup of BGMain.exe before you start. The worst that could happen is that you need to restore this backup.

So, if you can spare 5 minutes, please get it at:

http://vaskez.tripod.com/Files/XPPatcher.zip

Debug mode=1

CLUAconsole:SetXP("ludicrousamount")

I can't remember if that is the exact code, but Baldurdash or some such site has all the commands so quit messing around with exe files.

If you can't find the commands, I will get the web page for you.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Lord Ludtke:
quit messing around with exe files.
<hr></blockquote>

I totally agree here. Since the cheats were built into the game there is no need to go altering the .exe files. People who don't know about the cheats and download this file might get mightily pissed off if something goes wrong with their game.

i agree here to. if anyone really want more starting XP, then they can get it any number of ways. i am even considering starting a level 1 char, just to make it tougher. does anyone know if this will work with BG2?

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by andrewas:
i am even considering starting a level 1 char, just to make it tougher. does anyone know if this will work with BG2?<hr></blockquote>

Well i don't know but theirs one way to find out, by trying it.
One thing is for sure the game could be very hard, but come tho think of it you'll probably go up a level for killing a handful of monsters. Another thing i think NPC's have a set amount of XP so they will be much higher levels than you, unless you play in multi-player mode.

You lot don't know what you are talking about.

Changing your XP via cheats doesn't actually change your level. To start as a level 1 character for example you HAVE to hex-edit the exe and set the starting XP to 0. This way the game will detect you as a truly new character.

If you just cheat, you will still have your stats and proficiencies and special abilities. Don't you think I know about the cheats? Even if you apply a level drain spell that can be dispelled with a restoration. Editing the exe actually sets your XP BEFORE you have created your character so the basis for your character will be correct.
I wouldn't be so stupid as to mess around editing the exe if I didn't need to.

The point in this is to allow for the creation of Total Conversions using the infinity engine and to save us having to distribute the exe which is illegal.

Perhaps if you want to start with a xp LOWER then usual, but to make it higher is no problem at all.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Lord Ludtke:
Perhaps if you want to start with a xp LOWER then usual, but to make it higher is no problem at all.<hr></blockquote>

True, but how professional would that be in a total conversion:
"When you start, please use the cheat commands to set your XP to 2 million because the game was designed on this basis."

Not exactly professional, is it? Now, if I have an edited version of this patch that is run during the MOD installation, the player will not need to do anything and the XP will be set to what I want at the start.

And I think you now understand, you have to do this if you wanna start with a lower XP....most Total Conversions will start with 0 XP because in BG2 you only started higher because it was continuing a previous story.


Anyway, luckily not all boards were as annoying ;) as this one and I got some testers. Unfortunately it seems that every version of the exe has the starting XP at a different offset. This means that I will have to write a new version that searches for the default value then remembers the offset at which it was found and uses that thereafter.....

I guess I was kinda naive to post this on a gaming forum. I should have kept it on the editing forums, I just thought I'd get testers quicker here.

There is a fine line between a programmer and a slapdick with a computer. Your original post did not really show which side of the line you were on. It appears you know what you are doing, so good luck to you.

BTB, have you tried The Darkest Day? Do they make you start at level 7, or how did they get around it? No sense reinventing the wheel.

No, I haven't played Darkest Day but the makers are friends of mine.... They didn't need to deal with this problem seeing as TDD is an add-on and add-in and not a conversion. You are essentially still playing the SoA storyline with extra quests and features stuck in and on the end.

In short, TDD does not edit the exe so you start at the default 89000 XP.

The MOD I am working on scraps the SoA storyline altogether and starts with a new (maybe not level 1 but a low-level) character.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Vaskez:
[QB

Anyway, luckily not all boards were as annoying ;) as this one and I got some testers. Unfortunately it seems that every version of the exe has the starting XP at a different offset. This means that I will have to write a new version that searches for the default value then remembers the offset at which it was found and uses that thereafter.....

[/QB]<hr></blockquote>

we do know what were talking about. had you mentioned you were modding BG we would probably have been more supportive, even if such a thing is just slightly off-topic on this board. as your post read though we assumed that you were just wanting to play the game with more XP, which would be foolish since there are many cheats to do this.

I could have told you about the different offsets. since start XP is likley a Constant in the program it'll be at the end of the exe, and therefore will move with any program changes. annoying, but there you go. even if its local and not a gloabal constant, any changes before that point will still move it.

might it not be easier to use a quest script to modify you characters to level 1 though. it is possible to modify all the other variables this way. the jaheria curse quest messes with her stats, Lum the Mad can drain 15 levels, although i think its temporary. and there are any number of sections which add a special ability or take one away.

the point is then your mod would work with any version of BG2, and would work with any future versions as well (not that there are likley to be any, but it is possible), without the risk of some rare version not much used not having the right offset.

if you insist on exe modification though you might find it easier to insist upon the latest version being installed before you start. that way theres less chance of someone installing a later official patch (which might or might not replace your modified exe, depends on how you work it) and there will be less bugs, which means less emails to you about known issues.

anyway, this post is getting far to long, so i'll just ask you to post details about your conversion when you finish it (hey, i want to play all the good mods) and then finish it.

*sigh* I wish it was as simple as scripting or applying spell effects. The only effect that comes close to actually getting rid of proficiencies, HP and abilities is level drain. The default is 89000 XP and I wanna start lower without level draining.

Messing with stats is not the same. Spell effects can change almost any stat but that is not what I want. After all, how can I know what to reduce the stats to? It would not be random HP if I did that. I could make a huge script that looks at class, applies spell effects to remove abilities and stats based on class and removes XP as well.
But it is easier just to set the starting XP.

All versions do have a different offset for XP. You could have told me that could you? Hmmmm.....
I will still try and make my universal patcher.....the value 89000 only turns up once in the whole file and so can be found and the offset stored in a log file.

Anyway, thanks for the encouragement....of course I'll let everyone know when it's done.....it'll be a while yet... :( (we are after all scrapping the whole storyline and making a new one)