Noob 2da/CEP Questions

[Legacy_Hardcore UFO]

               Hello, I'm a noob.

I've been building a module for a little while, making it pretty with hopes of someday setting it up as a PW. I got into scripting to refine parts of the spells and so on, which was an enriching transition. Now I'm having to get involved in ... FILES! Here is where I'm at a total loss. My questions are as follows:

1) First of all, if I modify a CEP 2.4 file at all (i.e. extract "baseitems.2da" from "cep2_add_sb_v1", modify it to what I want, then re-insert it in the sam hak), will my module-to-be require players to download a version of my modified CEP files, or will CEP in itself suffice?

2) Second, will modifications as detailed in 1) mess with backwards compatibility of CEP 2.4?

3) Is there another way to have both CEP and a customized 2da if that 2da is already in a CEP hak?

Thanks in advance!

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P.S. If you like low-magic and low-level worlds with focus on immersion, I could always use some help. The project is born mostly from the enjoyment of basking in mystery that I got when I was totally new to NWN and to D&D and all these forces were swirling around. I'd like to retain an IC sense of mystery similar to that, where players cannot just hit up a wiki page for info, but let the elements resolve or reveal themselves in the module's own narrative. Oh, and it's based in Chondath just because (3.5, since 4th edition thoroughly removes a chunk of the interesting elements I was planning to use from that region). There's leeway for cusomizing away from FR lore, since I'm not an expert on it, and some spell effects already do that. Anyway, let me know if that interests you. Oh, and if you can answer my questions above.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_SHOVA]

               Hello UFO.
1 yes, you can do it that way, but most here will tell you it is a bad idea.
2 yes it will, it will also mess with future updates from CEP, and your changes will be overwriten when they update, if you choose to update.
3. yes, make the changes to the 2da, and save it in a new hak, place the new hak above the CEP, and it will work. NWN uses the top most 2da, even if there are multiple and different copies in the other haks.

good luck!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Lightfoot8]

               Some 2da files work from the server side only, some have to be on both the clients and the server.  

1) the baseitems 2da should be server side only.

2) yes.  It is not a good idea to modify the CEP haks.  It will effect any game that sues the haks.  

3) Yes.  CEP added a hak called custom.hak  or something like that.  It is currently empty.  The Idea is that you can place any of you modified server side only files into it for use by the server.  the clients will not have to download the file because the files in it are only used by the server.  The clients will just use the empty copy that is already in thee CEP package allowing then to start the game without the dreaded Resource missing message.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Hardcore UFO]

               Thank you for the replies. I'm still hesitant about the way to proceed, specifically. Here's why.

On nwn.wikia.com/wiki/CEP_2.4_file_list it says: "The

cep2_custom

hak pak can also be used to override certain CEP resources (e.g. scripts, blueprints, and dialogs). This is why it is listed near the top of the hak pak list. It should not, however, be used to override .2da resources, which is why it is not at the top of the hak pak list."

Until I read this, I thought I would simply add "baseitems.2da" into "cep2_custom.hak" and place that hak at the top so it overrides the version contained in "cep2_top_v24" - which made sense to me based on what I have read so far regarding hak priorities. But now I'm confused.

Can someone help to clarify how exactly I can use "cep2_custom" to have my own 2da files taking effect if it should not be placed before the CEP top hak?

Also, is there a list of which 2da files need only be server-side?

The help is appreciated.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Hardcore UFO, 12 août 2011 - 06:24 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Hardcore UFO]

               Just giving this a slight bump, and an apology if it sounded like I was contesting the advice given. I just want to make sure the inversion of "cep2_custom" and "cep2_top_v24" won't cause any problems given what the wiki says about it. The bulk of what I'd be putting in "cep2_custom" are 2da files after all.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Hardcore UFO]

               I think I figured this out.

Server-side 2da files go in custom.hak which goes above cep2_top_v24;
Customized data of other kind goes in a custom hak.
I guess nwnwiki is wrong on this one.

Axe_Murderer's mechanics tutorial helped a ton.

Thanks!
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Hardcore UFO, 15 août 2011 - 07:18 .