Any news about merging CEP 2.61 with Project Q 2.0?

[Legacy_Aztec2012]

               

Hi all!

 

Any news about merging CEP 2.61 with Project Q 2.0?

 

It will be great for all modding community.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Xorina]

               

Absolutely agree - all the goodies should be streamlined together to make it look and play as well as possible. I gather there is also haks and overrides to update to 3.5 Edition aas far as possible.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Mad Poet]

               

Dunno if I agree it would be great for everyone. Q overwrites a lot of standard resources, and their shields/rings/amulets are all 3 parts. I think it would be better for someone to maintain a 'Compatibility' 2da set that merges Q and CEP so that it is optional to merge them together easily rather than CEP just integrating it completely. That's just my two cents.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

Q and CEP are pretty easy to merge using the approach The Mad Poet suggests. You just have to decide which haks you wish to give priority to - if you want Q resources to take precedence over CEP resources then you put the Q haks on top of CEP (or CEP haks on top of Q if the reverse is true). Then all that remains is to design a top hak that merges the necessary 2da files.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Aztec2012]

               

If use The Mad Poet suggests then many resurces is missing. Like armor, creatures and etc.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Mad Poet]

               

Nothing would go missing if the 2da are merged right.

 

Creature appearances would just have to move. Likely it would be easier to move Q resources into CEP 2da's, because I think Q has less to change over than CEP does. Blueprints would have to be manually edited I imagine to account for the change in position of the 2da.

 

Body parts like armor and such would have to be renamed to fit in places that CEP hasn't used, though I'm not sure how many empty places CEP has left in bodyparts 2da's.

 

Things that override in Q would just override normally if both hak sets were used together. As far as I know CEP doesn't override standard resources like Q does.

 

Weapon appearances would have to be renamed, though I think the Reforged from Q would just go together fine with CEP. Not sure. I don't think Q has a great deal in their weapons that CEP doesn't have. Might be best just to nix Q's weapons altogether.

 

Icons would have to be renamed to fit where CEP doesn't have content.

 

Shields, Amulets, and Rings, and I think Boots (?) would be the big issue. You'd probably have to just choose which flavor you liked. CEP or Q. You could probably go with Q's 3 part setup and just rename the appropriate models/icons to fit in the bottom slots... though it will probably be a bit more complicated than JUST that. Or you could just snatch the appearances from Q and add them into CEP without going 3 part.

 

Then there is the TLK merge, which is probably the most tedious part. They may share lines, I dunno. If they do then things get VERY complicated for scripts and editing many many 2da's to account for it.

 

You could probably just make a top hak that contained all these resources to put over CEP's to merge them. Q did a VERY good job keeping their haks organized. Chances are anything you need to rename to be compatible with CEP is all in one or two separate haks. Could just remove those from the list of used ones.

 

It can be done, just not easily. More time consuming than difficult. It would be better than trying to completely merge them in say CEP 2.7 or something. Some people don't want overriding content. Others don't want the tilesets Q has. Some people who use Q's content (myself) don't want CEP in their haks. A separate merge project just seems to me a better option as a 'Package' deal, rather than taking Q and forcing CEP users to have it. That way module builders/server admins can pick and choose a whole lot easier. 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_henesua]

               

I agree with the Poet. It is only laziness that would lead others to ask for a merge of the two projects. Simple enough to do some 2da edits and have both packages.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Aztec2012]

               

The Poet way is only for super modders only but merging CEP 2.61 with Project Q 2.0 needing for all players for new expirience of NWN.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

Not too hard to merge 2da files when there are tools available that will do it for you.

 

As stated numerous times over the years, there are certain elements in Q that prevents it from playing nicely with CEP - and also reduce the probability of a full merge between the two projects. Essentially, because of the overlapping content and the afore mentioned changes in Q to core elements of the game, you can't have it ALL. Therefore, the onus falls upon the Builder to decide which content he wants to use more - Q or CEP. Once that decision is made then the HAK order can be established and the final CUSTOM tophak designed that does all the work of merging the content using CUSTOM 2da files. 

 

There are several builders who have managed to merge both Q and CEP - Andarian, and TAD (aka Amethyst Dragon). There are also several PWs that use content from both, usually using CEP as the core and then adding in elements from Q as desired. Other PWs use Q as the core and then cherry-pick from CEP.

 

Ultimately, a full merger between CEP and Q would also require a complete redesign of each project, stripping them right down to their very base elements and then creating a unified package that eliminates any overlap and redundancy. It would also require a merging of visual aesthetics as well. CEP's artistic tone - for the most part - is more akin to the original game, whereas Q has a darker, more gritty feel to it. Any merger would need to fall somewhere in the middle between the two.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Mad Poet]

               

Exactly. Probably at least 3/4 is completely compatible and would just require editing 2da's to merge right. Rest takes some work. Which is why I think it would be best to have someone make, or publish their own 2da top hak that would make it easy to merge the two for novice builders, rather than trying to slam this square block into a round hole and do a full merge. It's easy for any novice builder to download CEP and Q, add both hak sets to the module in a certain order, and then add a single hak to the top, and then change the tlk file. 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_rjshae]

               

Aren't the permissions more restrictive on Q? Merging the two would therefore make CEP more restricted.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_henesua]

               

Good question, Rjshae. I hear rumors all the time that Project Q was changed to Open Content, but I have not confirmed whether Q's permissions have changed.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

Project Q is open content and has been since v2.0 was released.

 

See Point 5 for the last question - pertaining to the rights authors grant to Project Q for their work - in the FAQ posted on the Q Website. See also the terms listed on the Vault Download Page. 

 

The final point of the original Project Q EULA - "Project Q reserves the right to alter the terms of this agreement at any time, without notice." - is what allowed for Project Q to be converted to open content. All I ask is that the original credit files - found in the docs/Q docs folder - be included with any compilation that includes assets from Project Q.

 

The original Q website located at http://qnwn.net/home/ was supposed to be taken offline more than a year ago. However, the webmaster for that site is no longer reachable or active within the community, and since he had paid for a 5-year lease on the site, decided to just let it expire. ANY information on that site is outdated and users are directed either here or to the new Q site for any updates or news concerning Project Q.

 

Hopefully, this will finally put to rest ANY questions about Q being open content.

 

Lastly, and then this thread can get back on track, MY BURNOUT IS OVER! If TAD is willing, I'm more than ready and willing to take back Project Q and move it forward.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_rjshae]

               

Perhaps then it should be named QED?

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Mad Poet]

               

I am both excited and terrified at the idea of Q's return. I love the content, but now that I've merged Q with my own haks and 2da's it will be THAT much more work to add from it. *sigh* That's just me though. Frankly I'd love to see what Q comes up with next. Merging WW and the TNO set was excellent for me.