IWD1tutu

[FredSRichardson]

Ugh, am I really seeing so many bugs in IWD1?  Does anyone know if there are a set of known bug(fixe)s?

As an example, a few scripts in HOW check the variable SEER_DEAD, but this variable doesn't exist as a "script name" or "death variable" in any CRE (and I don't see it set in a BAF or DLG).  So presumably this is a typo.  The side effect is pretty small.  SEER.CRE does set these death variables: DV1=Seer, DV2=Townie_Dead, DV3=Kill_Innocent
So I assume the fix would be to replace "SEER_DEAD" with "SEER".  Or does the engine construct the death variable by appending _DEATH onto what it finds in the CRE??

Lots of Dead("astSeenBy{Myself))") types of errors.  The fix to these is pretty trivial, but I'd like to know if someone's already gone through all this.

[Andyr]

Grog's mod Auril's Bane at CoM has a component with a good few bugfixes--may be worth asking him.

[FredSRichardson]

So you can get there without using that incorrect trigger. Perhaps they just added a working version of the reply rather than fix the broken one at some point?

Aaaah, yes!  You're right.  I haven't been looking to see if they just painted over things leaving old cruft in place.  That would explain a lot...

I think I know a way to deal with all these extra "script name"/"death variables" coming into play from IWD1.  If I just make sure the Actor name is unique in the area, then I believe I can do something like this in the area script:

Code: [Select]

// This would be appended to AR1234.BCS, each Actor is assigned a unique name
// (and this is only done when the DV's in the IWD1 CRE are used).  In this case
// "AR1234_ACTOR_1" is the "Seer" who has 3 DV's in her CRE.
IF
  Global("AR1234_ACTOR_1_RIP", "LOCALS", 0)
  Dead("AR1234_ACTOR_1")
Then
  RESPONSE #100
    SetGlobal("AR1234_ACTOR_1_RIP", "LOCALS", 1)
    // The DV behaviour is to increment the global variable when the CRE dies:
    IncrementGlobal("Kill_Innocent", "GLOBAL", 1)
    IncrementGlobal("Townie_Dead", "GLOBAL", 1)
    IncrementGlobal("Seer", "GLOBAL", 1)
    Continue()
END


[FredSRichardson]

Grog's mod Auril's Bane at CoM has a component with a good few bugfixes--may be worth asking him.

I'll take a look, thanks!

[FredSRichardson]

Wow, the iwg2 stats conversion is quite complex.  I can barely follow most of the stats adjustment stuff, but I think it goes like this:

Initial "multi-classing" penalty for fighters over level 4.  Those levels are redistributed into Fighter/Bard/Rogue.

Class bonuses.  This un-does the penalties above.  The bonuses are applied for each element in a class/level array (allowing for more than one bonus for the same class dpending on how the list is built up).

The attributes so far are actually only used to determine how the attribute points will be distributed from a total fixed number of points.  A new set of attributes is initialized to all 7's, and 34 new points are added to (more or less) match the distribution.

Finally stat racial adjustments are made.

Here's an example of what happened to a 1HD fire beetle from IWD1:  The beetle's stats from IWD1 are all all 9's.  The beetle has one level of fighter which gives it a +4 for Str/Con/Dex.  So now the rank ordered stats look like this:

STR 13
CON 13
DEX 13
INT 9
WIS 9
CHA 9

Now a new set of attributes is initialized to all 7's, and 34 points are added according to the above distribution resulting in:

STR 17
CON 16
DEX 16
INT 9
WIS 9
CHA 9

Wow, that's some bug!   This bug is supposed to be a monster you deal with at the very beginning of the game.  At this level, those stat bonuses make a big difference (+3 HP, +3 AC, +3 damage I think).  As a comparison. here are the stats for a 2nd level beetle (a summon is all I could find at this level):

STR 11
CON 11
DEX 14
INT 4
WIS 12
CHA 9

A Targos Gob has these:

STR 8
CON 11
DEX 13
INT 10
WIS 11
CHA 8

So I'm beginning to think that a better way to assign stats is to profile the creatures in IWD2 and create a table (with some interpolating where neccesary).  The method in iwg2 would be great if you wanted to create an army of adventurers to go up against the party, but I don't think it works for monsters in general.

[Andyr]

You could possibly use 3E stats for most monsters directly, rather than using an algorithm. Since a lot of them are generic monsters their stats will be in the d20 SRD. http://www.d20srd.org/

Fine-tuning can probably come later.

[FredSRichardson]

Andyr, you're a life saver.  I was scouring the net looking for an online 3E monster manual with no luck.  This is perfect, thanks!

[Andyr]

The ones there are those WotC says you can use without breach of copyright, though there might be a few setting specific creatures missing... but yeah, might save a little time.

[FredSRichardson]

Yes, I was almost tempted to actually buy the new monster manual, but I don't think I can bring myself to do it.  Maybe I can fnd someone who has one and ask for specific entries when needed.

[Andyr]

I own the Monster Manual 1 (3.0 edition) though everything in there is AFAIK on the site. I also have the Monsters of Faerun supplement.

[FredSRichardson]

Well, I'll try not to berage (sp?) you with too many questions when I can't find a resource.  I think all the RACE fields used in iwd1 are these:

Code: [Select]

ANKHEG
BEAR
BEETLE
BEHOLDER
BUGBEAR
CARRION_CRAWLER
CHIMERA
DJINNI
DOG
DOPPLEGANGER
DRAGON
DRAKE
DRIDER
DROW
DWARF
ELEMENTAL
ELF
ETTERCAP
FAIRY
GHOUL
GIANT
GNOLL
GNOME
GOBLIN
GOLEM
HALFLING
HALFORC
HALF_DRAGON
HALF_ELF
HARPY
HOBGOBLIN
HOOK
HUMAN
KEG
LIZARDMAN
MINDFLAYER
MINOTAUR
MYCONID
NO_RACE
OGRE
ORC
OTYUGH
RAKSHASA
SALAMANDER
SHAMBLING_MOUND
SHAPESHIFTER
SKELETON
SLIME
SPIDER
TANARI
TROLL
UMBERHULK
UNDEAD
Unknown
WILLOWISP
WOLF
WYVERN
YETI
YUANTI

and all the "general" fields are these:

Code: [Select]

ANIMAL
GENERAL_ITEM
GIANTHUMANOID
HUMANOID
MONSTER
UNDEAD
So the only tweaking I might need to do is for level/HD and perhaps for class (if the rules for monsters follow the rules for humans, then they should get a stat increment every 4 levels I think).  I'll check the d20 docs to see what level up info there is.

[Andyr]

Some creatures progress by character class, while others just gain hit dice (which means hit points, saves, BAB, skills, feats and so on). There's a table in the Monster Manual telling you different progressions for different creature types. For example, a construct which advances by hit dice progresses in BAB as a Cleric does and rolls a D10 for hit points whereas a Fey progresses as Wizard BAB and only rolls 1d6 for hit dice.

Most intelligent beings progress by character class, and have a favoured class. So, for example, Goblins tend to have levels in Rogue while Carrion Crawlers advice by hit dice (and are classed as Vermin).

[Grim Squeaker]

Barrage.

Edit:  Fucking great.  Letting Fred know how to spell the word properly, I make a typo...

[Andyr]

?

[FredSRichardson]

Barrage.

Great, now everyone gonna know why I don't write dialogs!  Now, if I had a grammar/spell/coherencey checker that I could wear like a pair of gloves...

[FredSRichardson]

Andyr, the sites a gem, maybe I can even try to do things in a pretty close 3E way.  The only real danger is that the strict rules may imbalance the game in some cases, but I think it'd be fun to try

[Grog]

you might also try http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/

[FredSRichardson]

Excellent Grog, thanks!  I should really d/l all those manuals so I have them handy.

[FredSRichardson]

Just a quick update.  I spent some time mapping potion items and the non-magical jewelry.  There are many potions that don't exist in IWD2, and I'm thinking of doing a little mapping there.  Potion of fire/cold resistance to potion of minor elemental barrier as an example.  Potion of Null Effect to Dispelling.  I'll try to keep the match as close as possible, but in some cases this won't be that close.

Overall, I'd like to go with the philosophy of using IWD2 items in place of IWD1 items at least for the most frequent ones.  There are a few that I think should be made hand-made like the "of the hand" items and a few other unique items that would be missed.  This part I might, um, need some help with.

[edit]
I forgot to mention that I've also been working on the random items "RNDTRES.2DA", and I'm not quite sure if I should attempt to translate the iwd1 to iwd2 (mapping the items where possible) or use the existing IWD2 version and map those items as closely as I can to the IWD1 2DA file.  The problem with the second approach is that you loose the optoin of getting certain items, but on the other hand the IWD2 version of the RNDTRES has a broader representation of the items available in IWD2, so perhaps the best approach is to combine both approaches.

[FredSRichardson]

Just a quick note: there is now an "official" IWD1Tutu form here