Author Topic: Ding0 Experience Fixer  (Read 43577 times)

Offline SimDing0™

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Ding0 Experience Fixer
« on: January 07, 2005, 05:19:12 PM »
Ding0 Experience Fixer, aka "DEF JAM", has been released!

- The mod that always needed making!
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- Who says minimalism isn't good for making the game harder?

BG2 allows you to attain ridiculously high levels. While I frequently see suggestions for removal of the XP cap to allow people to reach levels higher than 50, rarely do I see anyone mention the idea of LOWER levels. That's what this mod's all about. Some of the BG2 XP rewards are, frankly, ridiculous. Tens of thousands of XP each for simple Fed-Ex quests? Not so, I say.
Ding0 Experience Fixer (or DEF JAM, as it's otherwise known; feel free to imagine what the JAM part stands for) allows the XP rewards to be reduced. Split into 3 separate sections (creature XP, skill XP and quest XP), you can choose the new XP rate for each component irrespective of the others. Choices vary from 10% to 75% of the original XP.
Who knows. Maybe 10% XP rewards would provide a challenging alternative to Tactics-type mods.

DEF JAM is available from the House of Sim, on the PPG main site:
http://www.pocketplane.net/sim/
« Last Edit: January 08, 2005, 06:53:06 PM by SimDing0™ »

Offline Stoplight Red

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer Released!
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2005, 05:21:37 PM »
Yay Sim!

This'll be nice not only for those looking for a different challenge, but for making JC feel like positive things can actually happen while he's away.
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Offline Andyr

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer Released!
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2005, 06:57:24 PM »
Cool. :D
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Offline Ghreyfain

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer Released!
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2005, 11:00:29 PM »
So we can, say, choose to have Creatures give us 50% of their former XP when killed, skills give 75%, and quests give 25%, for instance?
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Offline Echon

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer Released!
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2005, 02:18:04 AM »
Sweet! :) I am looking forward to reduce those insane amounts of quest XP.

Do you think you could be bothered to include a component that removes the ridiculous XP gained for learning spells?

-Echon

Offline SimDing0™

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer Released!
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2005, 06:30:51 AM »
So we can, say, choose to have Creatures give us 50% of their former XP when killed, skills give 75%, and quests give 25%, for instance?
Yup.

Sweet! :) I am looking forward to reduce those insane amounts of quest XP.
"Skills XP" includes XP gained for learning spells. I can probably split it up into separate skills (locks, traps, spells) if you're interested, and/or put a 0% option in there.

For the next version, I'll also make some coding changes which should mean it works with any IE game.

MoonElf

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer Released!
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2005, 09:04:51 AM »
EXCELLENT!!!!

I have to say I have been waiting for a mod like this, thanks alot.
One question I have is how is it done, have you changed all the creature files, dlg files etc. manually or have you used some other method, I ask this because I would like to know if it is also compatible with mods.

MoonElf

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer Released!
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2005, 09:15:43 AM »
Ok I took a look at the files and answered my own question, but a couple more things;

Are there any plans for tutu versions or does it already work with tutu?
Is starting XP changed at all either for NPCs or the player?

Offline SimDing0™

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer Released!
« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2005, 10:05:06 AM »
It'll work with Tutu I think, although it currently needs ToB. Next version should probably work with pretty much any IE game when I make some coding changes.

If someone (Ghrey, Cam?) can recall the code, I can probably also add starting XP patching as an extra component.

Offline Andyr

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer Released!
« Reply #9 on: January 08, 2005, 10:20:05 AM »
I think that there should be an option to remove XP from learning spells, yeh. :)

I think that thief skill usage should gain you XP, though, so I'd like it to be separate from any spell-XP-removing stuff.
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Offline SimDing0™

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer Released!
« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2005, 12:43:05 PM »
Okay, v2 is out, adding all the options requested.

MoonElf

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer Released!
« Reply #11 on: January 08, 2005, 01:22:54 PM »
OMG! yes this is great.

One thing though, if you're gonna reduce CHARNAME's xp it might be an idea also to reduce NPC starting xp with this option.

Offline SimDing0™

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer Released!
« Reply #12 on: January 08, 2005, 01:25:23 PM »
Hmm. Easier said than done, unfortunately. You'll get lower versions of NPCs later on in the game, since you won't have such high XP, but Minsc and Jaheira won't go below level 7 (or whatever), I don't think.

MoonElf

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer Released!
« Reply #13 on: January 08, 2005, 01:40:13 PM »
That's a shame, I like the SoA starting levels but of course ToB NPC's will be too high. Well all should be ok playing from a SoA start anyway. I look forward to not having planetars in the underdark.  :)

Offline hlidskialf

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer
« Reply #14 on: January 11, 2005, 05:20:01 AM »
Good job Sim, it's a much needed mallet to the expansion-that-is-TOB's ridiculous awards.
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Offline Zyraen

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer
« Reply #15 on: January 11, 2005, 05:27:41 AM »
Brilliant! :) Though I'm not a fan of reducing the rewards, because I'm no fabulous gamer.
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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer
« Reply #16 on: January 11, 2005, 11:32:15 AM »
Will this work with BGT and BP?

Offline SimDing0™

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer
« Reply #17 on: January 11, 2005, 11:34:55 AM »
Probably.

MoonElf

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer
« Reply #18 on: January 18, 2005, 12:44:09 PM »
Any chance of IWD 1/2 support?

Offline SimDing0™

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer
« Reply #19 on: January 18, 2005, 01:06:26 PM »
IWD support, yeh. I don't have IWD2 though.

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer
« Reply #20 on: January 20, 2005, 01:14:53 PM »
I am totally *ENTHUSIAST* about this,SimDing0!! I am gonna apply this Mod of yours to be used for Bg1 TuTu when I start my new campaign! Absolutely brilliant! Now we don't have to fear to have too powerful characters in the party if we "adventure too long"!  :P

Offline jester

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer
« Reply #21 on: January 20, 2005, 01:40:07 PM »
@ Echon

Actually gaining XP for using your skills successfully is NOT silly. Everytime you disarm a trap and don't botch it (fail critically) you should get XP. Like in IWD2 it should get less the higher your level already is, but with a higher spell and a higher failure rate of actually mastering that spell you should get XP. Killing your 1000st Xvart does not give you any insight into how to maim them more effictively.  How often do you get XP for learning a spell? Once. Compared to XP gain through combat that is nothing. A fighter should not gain any XP for slaughtering someone who is half their level as it is just too easy. XP should come from challenges.

XP gains for the whole group do not make a lot of sense to me most of the time. Learning and thus XP gain should also be tied to WIS.

Oh so this is not applicable to BG2. Well nevermind. Carry on. ;)
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Offline Echon

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer
« Reply #22 on: January 20, 2005, 01:54:31 PM »
I do not recall mentioning anything about thieving skills. Yes, like you, I think characters should gain XP from using skills such as lock picking or finding and removing traps. I also think a mage should gain XP for researching a new spell or scribing a scroll if those features were in the game and if they did not automatically succeed, but in my opinion scribing a spell from a scroll into a spellbook should not yield any XP.

-Echon

Offline jester

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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer
« Reply #23 on: January 20, 2005, 05:39:23 PM »
I always considered the act of scribing a scroll a placeholder for the tedious process of learning that spell. Which gestures, words and ingredients are to be used. You could just copy a Chinese poetry book verbatim (read copy the signs and I assume that you do not know any Chines atm), but you would not learn anything from it. So the writing process is the actual research. It looks easy, because of game mechanics, but so is clicking on a trap and unlike in Fallout I never set off a trap by lack of trap skills while trying to disarm it.

The spell system should actually be revised in a way that reflects that way of learning the art. If you copy a very high spell in your book does your percentage to fail increase? You should be able to attempt to cast any spell in your book, but spells which are a lot about your current level should get a very high rate of failure. This is somewhat inconsistent with my argument above. So it might be better to disallow for a flrdgling mage to scribe level 8 or 9 scrolls until they reach that level to understand them.
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Re: Ding0 Experience Fixer
« Reply #24 on: January 20, 2005, 08:12:30 PM »
"It looks easy, because of game mechanics, but so is clicking on a trap and unlike in Fallout I never set off a trap by lack of trap skills while trying to disarm it."

Actually I think there are a couple of places in BG2 where that does happen.  One I can think of off the top of my head is a painting on the wall in Neb the Child Killer's house in the Bridge district.  Not even Jan could disarm that trap in my game (I'm not sure what disarm level would be sufficient to disarm it, if any), and just trying almost always got him killed.

Not saying that this radically changes your point, just saying it does happen.

Qwinn

 

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