Branwen BG2 NPC for players and modders released!

[Kulyok]

Branwen, a non-player character from the first game in Baldur's Gate series, is a True Neutral human cleric. She worships Tempus, and one of her most famous quotes is "By Tempus' shield!"

But Branwen not just an NPC mod for BG2 players. It is also an NPC mod for modders! If you want to create an NPC mod, but don't know how, Branwen's files will help you and teach you. Of course, you can play her, too.

To start as a modder, open any of Branwen's files and read the comments. I recommend starting with Branwen/Dialogue/O#Bran.d and Setup-Branwen.tp2.
And, please, register a modding prefix here first, to replace mine(O#): http://forums.blackwyrmlair.net/index.php?showtopic=113

Get Branwen now at http://www.pocketplane.net/oneday

FAQ

Q: Where is she?
A: Branwen is in the Bridge district of Athkatla, not far from the main entrance. You should see her once you enter the area.

Q: Is there a romance between Branwen and a male PC?
A: Yes, for the "tall" races, including a human, elf, half-elf and a half-orc.

Q: Does Branwen really have a full romance?
A: Yes, with player-initiated flirts and Branwen-initiated flirts, as well, for SoA and ToB. Teen content only. There are also "obligatory" romance events, like Bodhi abduction, Gorion Wraith encounter and post-Saradush talk.

Q: What about Branwen's romance from BG1 NPC Project you wrote with Domi?
A: You can refer to it a few times, if you choose to, but the romance will continue just fine either way.

Q: Any special places for Branwen to talk to?
A: In addition to a friendship/romance track, Branwen has talks in Chapters 4,5,7, an additional talk an hour after Chapter 5 starts, a talk in Sahuagin city and a talk after the 3rd challenge in ToB.

Q: Any party advice?
A: All NPCs who were in BG1. Imoen, Jaheira, Minsc, Viconia, Edwin all get at least three conversations with Branwen in SoA. Also Xan, Tiax, Coran and hopefully other great NPCs, including BG1 favourites like Ajantis and Kivan, if Crossmod Banter Pack ever gets updated again.

Q: Can I install Branwen and continue playing?
A: Sure, just quit the game before installing mods.

Q: Is Branwen compatible with mod X?
A: Branwen should work fine with other mods. Install her together with other NPCs.



Q: I am a modder and I want to steal your code.
A: Steal away! You'll have to open files and read comments on how it works.

Don't forget to register your own prefix here: http://forums.blackwyrmlair.net/index.php?showtopic=113
(because you obviously can't have mine, I'm that greedy)

I also strongly recommend my dialogue tutorials at Pocket Plane Group forums.

And don't forget to download Infinity Explorer and DLTCEP! The links are below.

Q: I stole your code, changed it, and now I'm getting a syntax error in my mod. It sucks.
A: Yes, it does. I had the same problems, but you're going to get it done.

Visit the modding Q&A forums at shsforums.net, forums.gibberlings3.net and forums.pocketplane.net. But first, try to solve the problem yourself. A missing '~' is often the key.

Q: Can I e-mail or PM you instead?
A: (evil laughter) No. But I answer queries in Modding Q&A sometimes, when I'm active on the forums.

[Daulmakan]

You've been on a roll lately. Kudos on all the new releases.

[Kulyok]

Thank you! It's a relief to be done with the updates. Well, almost: we've still got BG1 RE in the works!

[Kaeloree]

Congratulations! Talk about follow-through! This is a fantastic resource for new modders. Thank you so much!

[Kulyok]

Thank you, it was a great idea! (Though coding Bodhi's abduction, naturally, was a pain. )

[Kaeloree]

It always is. 

[Zazei]

Found this a little late. Really though, once again you tempt me to replay Baldur's gate 2. This is almost evil. Especially since there was another quest in Unfinished Business too. If you keep this up we could one day do a full party with only NPCs made by you.

I wonder if I brought Branwen, Coran and Xan together would they talk to each other? ^^

[Kulyok]

They would, but please install both
Crossmod Banter Pack and my little add-on(.tp2 content to be added to crossmod's .tp2):

http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showtopic=23641&view=findpost&p=213835

It's really a shame there's not been a new version of Crossmod Banter Pack add-on for so long. And thank you for the kind words!

EDIT: edited the link.

[Kulyok]

I've started revising my mods for BG2:EE upgrade. Branwen is about the only one who doesn't seem to need it: she has no custom portraits, no kits, no item descriptions with usability sections. She has one journal entry for Bodhi abduction, which is non-traified for teaching/learning purposes, so in BG2:EE installs it will simply disappear - not a big deal.

If you have a BG2:EE install and a few minutes of spare time, please, do me a favor: try to install Branwen BG2 NPC on your BG2:EE game. If she installs correctly and spawns in the Bridge District and talks, please, let me know. If not, again, please, let me know. I'll check it myself when I download a copy of BG2:EE after release, but it's going to be a few weeks later.

[Kulyok]

Since it turned out that BG2:ToB checks on my mods do not work for BG2EE, I replaced them with a new check and made Branwen's Bodhi journal entries compatible with BG2EE. She also uses Weidu 234 now.

Version 2 is available! If you have BG2EE, go ahead and try her. If not, no real changes have been made - you're fine with v1.

[Beetle]

I was going to wait until I finished the game before gushing about how great Branwen is, but I just got through the Forest of Mir. You've created my favorite Wraith encounter of all time. Even in the darkest times, Branwen in delightfully free of angst. Well done and thanks for bringing Branwen into BG2!

[Kulyok]

Thank you very much! I loved Branwen's grandmother, too!

[Kulyok]

Version 3 is here, with Dorn, Hexxat, Neera and Rasaad banters. I'm partial to Dorn banters, myself.

[Cal Jones]

Great stuff! My next playthrough will contain all your new mods. You certainly are prolific! By the way, does Branwen banter with any of your other NPCs (Coran and Xan?)

[Kulyok]

Thank you! Yes, certainly, I've released all Branwen's banters for most of BG1 NPCs, including my own, they're in coded form in Crossmod Banter pack submissions thread: http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showtopic=23641&view=findpost&p=213835 (also Ajantis and Kivan there). Unfortunately, Crossmod hasn't been updated for quite a while(despite me suggesting help months ago, it got ignored), but you still can just insert my .tp2 code into Crossmod's Banter Pack setup file and dump the rest to crossmodbg2 folder, and it will work.

[Cal Jones]

Thank you.

[Ravenslight]

Thank you Kulyok! Your tutorials have been an invaluable resource for my husband and myself as we learn to craft our first mod.

[Kulyok]

Good luck with it! I hope you're going to release an excellent (NPC-related, right?) mod! And you're very welcome.

[Ravenslight]

Thank you. Yes, a male NPC for Baldur’s Gate EE with a romance track for female protagonists. Kerick, a chaotic neutral thief.

[Kulyok]

To correct for the next version:
== VICONIJ IF ~InParty("Viconia") InMyArea("Viconia") !StateCheck("Minsc",CD_STATE_NOTVALID)

Huge thanks to Raven for pointing this out(and sorry for not being able to reply on CoM forums - I lost my password _again_).

[Bill Bisco]

Hmm,

I can't think of a better place than to post this here:

1. In the Branwen mod the lovetalks start out with:

Code: [Select]

IF ~Global("O#BranTalk","GLOBAL",2)~ t1
SAY ~Let's stop and talk for a moment. By Tempus, I haven't seen you in ages!~
++ ~What for? You already know about Irenicus and Imoen.~ + t1.1
++ ~If it's about some rumors about me being a Child of Bhaal again, I will break someone's shield over their head. Just saying.~ + t1.2
++ ~Sure, let's talk. How have you been?~ + t1.3
++ ~Now is not the best time, Branwen.~ + t.0
END

IF ~~ t.0
SAY ~Until next time, then.~
IF ~~ DO ~IncrementGlobal("O#BranTalk","GLOBAL",1) RealSetGlobalTimer("O#BranTimer","GLOBAL",3600)~ EXIT
END
Now, where did you set O#BranTalk at 2 ?  This talk will not fire until that happens obviously and since each lovetalk is requisite on having increasing numbers, it seems that none of them will fire either.

2. Codewise, what prevents t.0 from always firing?  It has no requirements listed there for the dialogue to fire.

3. Here at the end of t2.6 you have an Increment Global regularly and an Increment Global if the Branwen Romance is Active at "1".

Code: [Select]



IF ~~ t2.6
SAY ~To <CHARNAME>! The best friend I could ever have.~
IF ~~ DO ~IncrementGlobal("O#BranTalk","GLOBAL",1) RealSetGlobalTimer("O#BranTimer","GLOBAL",3600)~ EXIT
IF ~Global("O#BranRomanceActive","GLOBAL",1)~ DO ~IncrementGlobal("O#BranTalk","GLOBAL",1) RealSetGlobalTimer("O#BranTimer","GLOBAL",3600)~ + t2.7
END

// Note how I placed a condition for O#BranRomanceActive below a "normal" exit.
// That's how it works if you want to add some "conditional" text to SAY dialogue.

IF ~~ t2.7
SAY ~And the most handsome man.~
IF ~~ EXIT
END
Does this talk in fact increment the Lovetalk by 2 if Branwen Romance Global is at "1"?

4. Where does the BranRomanceActive Global get set?  Where do the romance requirements (Gender, Race, etc.) get set?

Thank you,

Bill

[Kulyok]

These are regular mod-tutorial questions, which are better asked in the modding Q&A, I think.

- Naturally, since you're studying _scripting_, the first place you need to go to is Branwen/Scripts, and look to the biggest file, her main script, O#BranS.baf:

you should scroll down to the romance part, and everything about incrementing variables will be explained in detail, I promise!

(quote: // EXACTLY like the condition in the beginning of each talk, right?)

Also, her main dialogue mentions that

/* We need IncrementGlobal() and RealSetGlobalTimer() in every dialogue. The last state is the best place, IF the dialogue has one ending, otherwise you'll have to duplicate. */

And you have probably already read O#Bran.d, her first dialogue file, which mentions that

// We don't want this dialogue to trigger again, so we set O#BranMet to one. Do this to all your lovetalks and NPC banters.



TL;DR: start reading Branwen's files in the order I mentioned: O#Bran.d first. Then it will be easier for you to deal with the romance stuff.

"// Read this dialogue file FIRST.

// As for Branwen's scripts, I recommend to start with O#BranS.baf."

[Aedan]

In BGEE, now Branwen has got the Priest of Tempus kit.
Any chance to update this mod giving her this kit? It would be lovely.

[jastey]

Branwen updates to v4 with EET compatibility!

Changes:
- EET compatibility (with explanations!)
- corrected Viconia's DV in her interjection where Minsc's was checked instead
- added small note to readme about text formats needed in the EE
- renamed setup-Branwen.tp2 -> Branwen.tp2 to support ALIEN's "Project Infinity"
- added Branwen.ini to support ALIEN's "Project Infinity"
- moved readme call to the beginning
- Updated to WeiDU 246

[jastey]

Branwen updates to v6!
Thanks to Austin for providing a trified version.

Changelog:
- mod is now traified, by Austin.
- removed not needed Backup folder.
- links in branwen.ini updated.
- shortened mod name in .ini
- add Dynamic Install Syntax to support Project Infinity.