Community Patch discussion and development thread

[Legacy_Shadooow]

               

What is wrong with a bit flag?

Nothing, probably the best way. Yet Im not sure it is really needed so I decided to keep it the way I presented for now that is a single collumn in polymorph.2da UseItems with three values: default behavior (**** or 0), can use items (1), cannot use any items (such as potions) (-1). BTW it is fully compatible with custom content - it will allow to use any items that are not equippable and that are pointing to the rod, potion, scroll, wand, traps, thieves tool, healers kit, misc, container itemprops category. So its not hardcoded on a specific baseitem line and will work even with items from CEP for example.

 

If someone wants to help me, you can prepare a modified polymorph.2da file and set the values 0/1 for each polymorph.

 

Except that I also finished the feature to disable unequipping of cursed items (based on Game difficulty -> hardcore+). Which will come with a modified script for removing curse). Also I fixed the throwing weapon exploit, I mean directly in engine which is way better than my previous attempt in NWScript (which had some false positives over time...).

 

Few things I need to decide yet:

- if Remove Curse is cast on character wearing the cursed items what should happen: remove the items cursed flag?, unequip them but keep them cursed? or something else?

- any other standard spell/ability should do that ?

- additionally I can enable some extended behavior because builder can set the cursed flag to be not just 0 and 1 but even 2 (try putting 2 into SetItemCursedFlag and you will see) - so I can code that items with cursed flag 2 will be unequippable without problems etc.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Gruftlord]

               

<getting...>

 

"Spring to one side"?

Ok, that's intriguing...

 

Edit: Where are you getting your pfd0_chest013.mdl from? I've taken a look at the OC chest and it looks fine (only vertexes that flex are the hem of the shirt).

 

Edit 2: Read the thread you referenced... That issue, I am almost positive, is a driver issue similar to other gfx card issues I've run into read about specifically dealing with hot material updates (the main clue there being OTR's issue with loaded appearances working, but script-changed appearances being buggy). IOW, I don't think the issue in that thread is solvable outside the engine/driver communication. OTOH, I'm not sure the "Spring to one side" issue is the same. Can you screenshot?

 

<...sidetracked, as usual>

 

 

there it is. i agree, it's not the same issue as discussed in this thread. i observed, that most dangly meshes behave correctelly for me. only a few are bugged.

the mentioned part is vanilla and shows up on female dwarves on a standard leather armor +6 (btw: the leather armor +6 has a different chest piece than any other leather armor (+0-5 and 7). maybe also a "bug"?)

in motion it moves very rapidly from left to right with seamingly no frame in between for dangling.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Bogdanov89]

               

ShadoOow, i wanted to ask something about animal companion and familiars in your latest CPatch.

 

In your latest Community Patch, if i have 12 levels of Ranger and 14 levels of Druid - will those levels stack when determining the level of my Animal Companion?

 

I know that in the default NWN the levels of Ranger and Druid will NOT stack when determining the level of the Animal Companion - which is really really bad '>

 

If your CPP does not already fix this, could you please make an (optional) file that makes Ranger/Druid levels stack when determining the level of the animal companion?

 

Thank you very much! '>

 

edit:

I read on nwnwiki that a lot of wizard/druid/ranger/sorcerer familiars/animal companions (and even hired mercenaries like Daelan the Red Tiger) have bugged feats/stats/abilities on various levels and that they are overall buggy, especially when leveling up.

Does the latest CPP fix all these animal companion/familiar (and hired mercenary) issues and bugs?

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Shadooow]

               

ShadoOow, i wanted to ask something about animal companion and familiars in your latest CPatch.

 

In your latest Community Patch, if i have 12 levels of Ranger and 14 levels of Druid - will those levels stack when determining the level of my Animal Companion?

 

I know that in the default NWN the levels of Ranger and Druid will NOT stack when determining the level of the Animal Companion - which is really really bad '>

 

If your CPP does not already fix this, could you please make an (optional) file that makes Ranger/Druid levels stack when determining the level of the animal companion?

 

Thank you very much! '>

Hmm neat idea. But requires an engine modification (which is reason why nobody did this before) so this will take some time, the NWNX stuff is time consuming a lot.

 

I read on nwnwiki that a lot of wizard/druid/ranger/sorcerer familiars/animal companions (and even hired mercenaries like Daelan the Red Tiger) have bugged feats/stats/abilities on various levels and that they are overall buggy, especially when leveling up.

Does the latest CPP fix all these animal companion/familiar (and hired mercenary) issues and bugs?

Yes. Though none of the hired mercenary fixes because there are no bugs to my knowledge.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Bogdanov89]

               

Thank you for replying '>

 

Could you (everyone else is also welcome ^^) please help me out with the following two questions, the first one being very long:

 

I recently formatted my PC so i am reinstalling NWN and both Expansions (not the Diamond edition) - after installation i guess i should apply the 1.69 HotU Critical Rebuild (about 300 megabytes).

 

I play neverwinter (original and expansion campaigns) with my brother over internet - i make the online game through the Neverwinter Nights game itself (not the separate dedicated nwn host tool) and then he joins it.

 

Both of us would like to have your latest Community Patch (1.71 final) active in our multiplayer game, along with the following additions:

- Hyper-Gore Re-Revised Edition

- Empower/Maximize boost override for a Community Patch Project

- Vanilla icons override for the Community Patch Project

- (maybe) Henchman Inventory & Battle AI mod v1.08 by Tony K

 

Since both i and my brother are really bad at all that techical installation and packing/unpacking/merging of files, could you please explain (in simple english ^^):

- How (and in what order) do i (and my brother on his PC) install all of the above mods/patches so that it all works properly with each other?

- Since i am making the multiplayer game that my brother joins, do i (or he) need to do anything additional to make all the mods/patches work properly in multiplayer (original campaigns)?

- Should i use the manual or the "installer" version of the 1.71 CPP from the http://neverwinterva...y-patch-project website? What is the difference between those installer versions?

- I already have the english version of NWN - do i need to separately download and install the 1.71 English Language Files and the Dialog English Text Tables?

 

My second question would be about the TonyK Henchman Inventory & Battle AI mod v1.08:

I read his list of improvements to the overall AI of enemies and companions/henchmen (text link): http://vnfiles.ign.c...READMEv1.08.txt

I like it's features (especially the ability to tell your henchmen what to do) but i do not know how many of those features are already present in 1.71 CPP.

Could you please also take a look at that text file and tell me how many of those AI features are already present in your latest CPP?

Would it be possible to have missing AI features implemented into the CPP in a future version?

Does the current version of "TonyK Henchmen Inventory & Battle AI mod" work properly with the latest version of your CPP, or are there potential issues/bugs?

 

Thank you very much for reading all that and helping out '>

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Gruftlord]

               In short: both you and your brother should mirror what you install. I could go into details which things are only needed on the host, but i think its easier to just install everything on both computers. There is no harm in that


Install order: hotu critical rebuild patch 1.69. Then cpp 1.71 installer. Its the easiest option for you. You chose the language during installation, so no need for additional files.


Everything else are overwrites of vanilla thing and they all should be installed/copied to you override folder. Order doesn't matter.


Possible tonyk improvements will make their way into cpp eventually and are already being looked into. For now,if you intend to play the original campaign or SoU i suggest installing tonyks ai. If you play hotu or any community modules (they already have henchmen inventory control) you could ignore tonyks ai altogether (most of his fixes are already present in cpp, often with additional fixes.) Tony k is usefull for the two first official campaigns mostly for the inventory and dialog options. Everything else is mostly covered by cpp nowadays
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Shadooow]

               

Thank you for replying '>

 

Since both i and my brother are really bad at all that techical installation and packing/unpacking/merging of files, could you please explain (in simple english ^^):

1) How (and in what order) do i (and my brother on his PC) install all of the above mods/patches so that it all works properly with each other?

2) Since i am making the multiplayer game that my brother joins, do i (or he) need to do anything additional to make all the mods/patches work properly in multiplayer (original campaigns)?

3) Should i use the manual or the "installer" version of the 1.71 CPP from the http://neverwinterva...y-patch-project website? What is the difference between those installer versions?

4) I already have the english version of NWN - do i need to separately download and install the 1.71 English Language Files and the Dialog English Text Tables?

1) 1.69 critial rebuild and then it doesn't matter. Though, maybe there is a conflict in hypergore and TonyK, if thats the case you might be asked to overwrite some files - I would suggest to install TonyK last and allow overwrite (or in reversed order not to overwrite files),

2) No, in multiplayer most of the modifications needs to be just on the host/server sidem however as Gruftlord said if you can mirror your installation on both machines, thats the best way to do that..

3) manual version is intented for those who are unable to execute EXE files.

4) no, this is there for players who downloaded non-english manual version and then they are decided to change language to english, so they wouldnt have to download full package with different language

 

My second question would be about the TonyK Henchman Inventory & Battle AI mod v1.08:

I read his list of improvements to the overall AI of enemies and companions/henchmen (text link): http://vnfiles.ign.c...READMEv1.08.txt

I like it's features (especially the ability to tell your henchmen what to do) but i do not know how many of those features are already present in 1.71 CPP.

Could you please also take a look at that text file and tell me how many of those AI features are already present in your latest CPP?

Would it be possible to have missing AI features implemented into the CPP in a future version?

Does the current version of "TonyK Henchmen Inventory & Battle AI mod" work properly with the latest version of your CPP, or are there potential issues/bugs?

 

Thank you very much for reading all that and helping out '>

Im working on it. Problem is that the readme claims a things that Im not able to verify neither copy into vanilla AI. or example:

6) Spellcasting henchmen will not waste their spells on weak enemies.

Anyway. I think that CPP AI have all the fixes and minor improvements that TonyK has. What remains are some extended features like the one above. I wont be definitely provide them all but I already managed to copy some of them and I plan to release it at sunday.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Shadooow]

               

Few updates on the NWNCX plugin.

 

1) Im pulling the cursed flag feature off. At least to be automatical, the ingame cursed flag = undroppable flag and while perhaps setting to value of 2 could work the item is still undroppable which is generally not needed for cursed items. Thus since Ive already coded this I keep this as an extra feature which will need to set a variable on an item, perhaps 71_CURSED or just CURSED with value 1 (im more inclined for the one without prefix myself so it can work with already established modules where this variable might be used).

 

2) Animal companions. Thanks for the idea, after quite lot time spent for this I am now able to softcode this function and will provide a way how to change it inside NWScript using the default summon animal companion/familiar scripts. This is best way because then you can code your own improvements such as custom feat that increase familiar/animal companion level or different animal version in case the character is cursed/blessed etc. etc.

 

And whats even better is that I found a way how to possess and control animal companions as if they were familiars! There is a small problem when character has both of them where using possess on animal companion moves control into familiar instead. But such combos are unlikely so I think I could keep this enabled by default.

 

 

Unfortunately, I have these features only for server version for now (NWNX_Patch not NWNCX_Patch) and coding this into client will take up to one week yet.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Bogdanov89]

               

Thank you both for replying.

 

About the animal companions - you mention that you will enable us to code stuff... but since i have no clue about coding, is there any possibility of a "druid+ranger levels = animal companion level" mod being made and uploaded to the neverwinter vault, so that it can be used by everyone even without coding knowledge?

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Shadooow]

               

Thank you both for replying.

 

About the animal companions - you mention that you will enable us to code stuff... but since i have no clue about coding, is there any possibility of a "druid+ranger levels = animal companion level" mod being made and uploaded to the neverwinter vault, so that it can be used by everyone even without coding knowledge?

This modification will be part of the plugin. It fits patch objectives, there is no reason why it shouldnt stack and there are no alance issues when this will be enabled. And mainly, anyone who wouldnt want this will be able to change it in NWScript.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Bogdanov89]

               

This modification will be part of the plugin. It fits patch objectives, there is no reason why it shouldnt stack and there are no alance issues when this will be enabled. And mainly, anyone who wouldnt want this will be able to change it in NWScript.

So my "lvl12 druid + lvl12 ranger" character will automatically have a lvl24 animal companion?

AWESOME, thank you! '>

 

Will this change come with the next version of the CPP, or with some other modification?

 

Also, about your next CPP version release (i think you mentioned it coming out this Sunday) - will it be a Beta or a full ("stable, no bugs") release?

What will that new version's main features/improvements be?

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Shadooow]

               

So druid and ranger levels will automatically stack when determining animal companion level?

AWESOME, thank you! '>

 

Will this change come with the next version of the CPP, or with some other modification?

 

Also, about your next CPP version release (i think you mentioned it coming out this Sunday) - will it be a Beta or a full ("stable, no bugs") release?

What will that new version's main features/improvements be?

With a help of Rollo I established a CPP own forums where I posted about this few days ago: LINK

 

And it will be beta for sure, I included some extra content such as Ravenloft Skies but its only for a trial and I will remove it if I get negative observations. (Plus I havent permission yet for this one...).

 

And the NWNX plugins should be always treated beta. The whole NWNX is. It was always at one's own risk. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't use it, ir works and if it wont you report it...

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Gruftlord]

               

Shadooow, will this also include Wizard/Sorcerer stacking for familiars?

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Shadooow]

               

Shadooow, will this also include Wizard/Sorcerer stacking for familiars?

yes, but dont they normally?

 

EDIT: btw. since this forum starts to be bloated by the discussion on this project, you can use forums on new vault here

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Gruftlord]

               

already made a new account, waiting for approval. btw: have you considered some form of Bug tracking solution? then all open issues would be visible much more easily, and volunteer contributers would know where they might be able to help. though that all depends on how long the open list is still for NWN.