11-18-05 (a middle-of-the night update)

Almost all of the spells (wizard and priest) have been finished since the last update.

I only need to do a handful of True Dweomers, Quest Spells, Bard Spells, Specialty Wizard Spells, and a few alterations here and there, and I will be fully finished in terms of spells. I will probabbly have them done by the January of 2006. That would mean that two-thirds/three-fourths of the mod is already completed, with work speeding up (I have an easier year than the last two in terms of studies and such).

-Galactygon

11-20-05

I have introduced a new poison system into the game that works exactly like the system in PnP (all of my test results yielded success). Generally, there will be onset times before the poison starts working, and when the poison starts to affect the character, the damage is only applied once rather than multiple times over a limited duration.

For example, the weakest type of poison (labeled type A) inflicts 15 points of damage if the character fails his/her saving throw. However, this 15 points of damage is applied to the character 10-30 rounds after being injected (this is the onset time). The character will know if he/she is poisoned, because during the onset time, a poison icon will appear on the portrait, signifying the character is poisoned. Some poisons can only be negated partially by a saving throw. For example, a failed saving throw against the most dangerous type of poison (type E) would mean the character is killed outright, and a successful saving throw means the character suffers 20 points of damage. There is no onset time for poison types E and F: the effects happen instantaneously although it could be delayed if Slow Poison is cast before the poison is injected (see more details about Slow Poison below). Until the Lost Crossroads site is not finished, you could read more about the types of poison in greater detail (and how they work) in the AD&D Dungeon Master's Handbook.

If cast during the onset time, Neutralize Poison will negate any current poisons acting on the character. Slow Poison will simply delay the onset time by 24 hours (rather than 1 hour/level as in PnP due to engine restrictions and simplicity). Slow poison also delays any types of poison injected/ingested by the character during that 24 hours by another 24 hours. Thus, if a character is poisoned, a Slow Poison can be quickly cast unto the character to allow time for the poison to be neutralized by an antidote or a Neutralize Poison spell.

-Galactygon

The screenshots look great, and the concept and implementation of a variety of the subtle rules are impressive. I look forward to seeing this finished one day.

Galactygon, I think your Mod will be one of the "always installed" mod. One of the best, of course and the real way that the game should have been from the begining. In a game where magic is so important, the spell graphics were in some points awful, you are correcting this and you have to be congratulated for all of BG players. Thank you very much for your dedication and your work.

Thank you for the compliments, and yes, the many small details make a large mod good. The mod is still unreleased (meaning there is no proof I have done all of this with success), so the compliments would mean more if they are based on a released piece of work. Nevertheless, they are still welcome.

11-22-05

Silence 15-foot radius has been completed. Rather than casting the spell at an area, you do so at a creature, where the area effect moves with it. However, if the creature succeeds at a saving throw, the spell is centered on an area 1 foot behind the creature. In that case, the spell effect is stationary. There is no saving throw for entering a silenced area, although you may now cast vocalize even if you are silenced.

I have also started packaging the entire mod in a WeiDU installer as I go, so I don't have to worry about packaging everything all at once.

-Galactygon

11-26-05

Besides the WeiDU packaging work I have done over the past few days, Bolt of Glory, (Un)Holy Word, and Whirlwind have been completed (or re-modified). Rather than simple wing-buffeting, Whirlwind picks up creatures and carries them around if they fail their saving throws (one must be made for each round spent within the area of effect). A successful saving throw capitulates the creature out of the area of effect.

-Galactygon

1-3-05

Yet another rule has been implemented (I didn't anticipate this to work, but the Infinity Engine lives up to its name).

Dead party members' corpses don't disappear when they die - they remain lying on the ground until all of the party members leave the area. Spells that raise the dead will "wake" the dead character rather than make them appear beside the protagonist. Due to hardcoded issues, the range for any type of magic that raises the dead is unlimited.

For example, it is possible to be in the Adventurer's mart and raise a party member who has died in the main area of the Waukeen's Promenade. The dead party member will simply rise in main area without any choppy teleportation and such. If there are no party members in the outside area, then the corpse will reappear beside the protagonist.

I am thinking of somehow implementing the requirement of carrying corpses of dead party members between areas, but I don't know if it's possible or is worth the effort.

-Galactygon

I don't suppose there's anyway to have the raised party members keep their equipment, is there?

No, you have to pick them up with living party members.

-Galactygon

12-5-05

Even veterans hardly noticed that repeatedly casting blindness/deafness/etc. on a creature would nullify their saving throws, because they are all cumulative per casting. I somehow managed to make the saving throw/THAC0/AC penalties incurred via blindness, paralysis, unconsciousness, silence, and deafness non-cumulative. With the exception of spellcasting, I am treating saving throw/THAC0/AC penalties incurred via silence and deafness exactly the same (isn't the silenced state a form of deafness except you can't make any noise?). Oh, and silenced thieves recieve a significant boost to their "move silently" stat.

Also, I have redone the paperdoll and inventory icons/paperdoll colours for amulets and mage robes (they actually look pretty good now). So, for example, a robe of the good archmagi is light grey with golden stripes on the sides (english?). The newly implemented Robe of Scintillating Colours looks awesome ~ it will be shown when I update the screenshots again.

And lastly, I am still in the slow and arduous process of WeiDU packaging.

-Galactygon

Trollish Fortitude has been finished - not only do you regenerate at the same rate as the trolls do, but you are also knocked unconscious the way the trolls are if your hit points drop to 1 (in that case, you may only be killed by fire or acid).

Demishadow Magic and Shadow Magic have also been finished. Shadow Magic (a level 5 spell) may duplicate the effects of a level 3 or lower invocation spell, while Demishadow Magic (a level 6 spell) may duplicate the effects of a level 5 or lower invocation spell.

Disintegrated characters may now be raised by a wish or a resurrection spell but not with a raise dead spell. Also, I have handled the frozen deaths in that a character who dies of cold/fire damage may also be resurrected/raised in any way. I haven't implemented anything for the other damage types regarding character death yet.

I am estimating that all of the spells will be completed by the January of 2006, including ones restricted to bards and specialist wizards (yes, there will be those also).

-Galactygon

12-23-05

My WeiDU work is now updated with what I have completed in the mod; in fact, it is in releasable/installable form but with many unfinished spells. It took me a few months to organize everything, and it was worth the trouble; rather than thousands of disorganized files in a single override folder, all of the files are organized in a clean and logical manner.

Now I can easily make changes and keep track what I have left and what has already been done. I am also relieved from those woes of reorganizing everything at once and overlooking a few files that haven't been packed in the mod.

Most people don't realize this, but the lack of proper organization and documentation is a major factor that prevents large mods being released. It also makes progress go a great deal faster.

-Galactygon

12-25-05

I did a bit of refining here and there for a few spells - some of them (like disintegrating an Otiluke's Resilient Sphere via the 6th level Disintegrate spell) needed fixing. Otherwise, I still have a few spells left that I should finish. I have moved on to the items (which should be much easier than the spells), and I will hopefully finish them by March.

-Galactygon

Nice to hear about progress. The page linked by your signature's banner, though, is not found.

Yes, I still have to make sure the site (which will be hosted at BlackWyrm rather than geocities) is updated with the amount of work I have finished.

-Galactygon

Hmm...
Could you tell something more about your methods of organisation, please?
I'm having a lot of trouble with organising the work on my mod and I could use a tip or two on organisation.

Sure. This is what I use:

1.) Knowing when to stop (I sometimes get carried away with stuff I haven't planned).
2.) Knowing how much you want to do and how much you did (use a checklist).
3.) Knowing when to stop.
4.) Organize all the files in an easy-to-locate logical manner. The same applies to your WeiDU code. It doesn't hurt to make comments every few lines in your .tp2 file, since when (this is not an "if") you forget some of your code, you can easily reread everything and remember what the code is supposed to do.
5.) Knowing when to stop.
6.) Update your WeiDU installer with new files during regular periods of time. Make it a habit, so you don't have to work on remembering it.
7.) Knowing when to stop.
8.) Estimating how much time it will take to finish the entire mod and considering whether or not you will still be working on it by the time your enthusiasm is over. Alternatively, you could find ways to refresh you enthusiasm.
9.) Knowing when to stop.
10.) I don't know anything for #10.

-Galactygon

Thanks .
Looks like I made some major errors during working on my mod .

12-28-05

All of the in-game wands have been re-modified to their AD&D counterparts. I will give a short listing.

* Wand of fire lets you cast burning hands (1 charge), fireball (2 charges), or firewall (2 charges).
* The wand of frost may cast either Cone of Cold (2 charges) or Ice Storm (1 charge).
* The duration for wand of paralyzation is now random (5D4 rounds).
* The wand of the heavens acts as a flamestrike cast by a priest of 9th level. Note that the spell flamestrike (as well as many other priest spells such as Cure X Wounds) has been modified so that it gets better for higher level priests. The damage/hit points cured does not increase, but the chances of getting a better roll does.
* The wand of monster summoning may cast Monster Summoning I, II, or III, and up to 6 HD of monsters may be conjured per use.
* The wand of magic missiles launches 2 missiles rather than 1 missile.
I still have a few wands and rods left before I move on.

-Galactygon

These two statements contradict each other.

-Echon

I don't agree 100% with all AD&D rules, and I express some of my disagreements through subtle (or not so subtle) changes.

It is also important to note that it is impossible to re-create a perfect AD&D ruleset in the BGII engine. In an AD&D game, there are several additional factors that are brought into play that render a spell useful in certain situations such as fog, ignition of combustible materials, a tunnel collapsing, etc.). These many factors may not be implemented due to engine limitations, lack of time, etc. I compensate many of these factors with rules that I create and may be implemented without much hassle.

-Galactygon

I am not talking about engine limitations. Altering healing spells has got nothing to do with that. What struck me is that given the D&D 3E elements and the house rules you have made, this mod is more than just AD&D, and as such I find that term to be inadequate as well as imprecise.

-Echon

I see. I have dropped a great deal of 3E rules that I haven't posted in the "Mod/Web updates" thread (either because I forgot to do so or I was lazy to post them publically). For example, I decided to set the Flamestrike damage back 8D6 points a few days ago. Note that not all of them were dropped; I liked some of them.

So in conclusion, the mod looks far more AD&D from my perspective than from someone who has read many of my posts/threads simply because I know much more about it than anyone else. This is not anyone's fault except my own; I have done a bad job on keeping the outside world updated. I do intend to restore the site in February once my exams are over.

-Galactygon

C'mon, Galc, you are doing a fantastic work! Keep it up

1-6-06

All of the rods have been finished, and I introduced 3 new rods into the game: Rod of Flailing, Rod of Rulership, and Rod of Splendor. Due to engine limitations, I made a few changes to those rods from the AD&D versions.

-Galactygon

1-13-06

Potions may now be drunk by somebody other than the one who has the item, since realistically you could pour the contents into someone else's mouth. That means you could drink as many potions per round as you have party members in your party. That also means that a potion can be used to help characters that are unable to pour the contents into their own mouths (ie curing a paralyzed character of wounds, poison, etc).

-Galactygon

Thank heavens! I was often annoyed at the fact that I could not dispel a party-member's affliction if I had an appropriate potion handy on a different character.

1-29-06

I am finished with the amulets ~ many of them are deleted, while more have been redone (some amulets are repetitive), and still more introduced. They may not be more powerful, but they certainly have interesting abilities. Such amulets could range from a Gem of Insight to the well-sought Gem of Seeing.

EDIT#1: Before I forget, I have done all the potions too (with the exception of the Potion of Polymorphing, which acts as Polymorph Self).

EDIT#2: Apparently, I still live in the year 2005, since I forgot to change some of my update dates to 2006.

-Galactygon

2-3-06

I have done some work on the rings. A few of the changes I made were:
* Multiple rings (and cloaks) of protection can be worn at the same time, but their AC bonuses overlap rather than stack (as in AD&D). That will also I apply to magical armour (I haven't done those yet, hence the will).
* Because I discovered that you are not limited to 3 abilities in the TOOLTIP.2da, some rings (mainly those of Elemental Control) have more than 3 abilities.
* Many other rings have been balanced out and were given abilities similar to their AD&D counterparts.
* Rings that are not included in the AD&D manuals are given certain interesting abilities that I invented (such as a ring that gives all the bonuses and immunities of an elf).

-Galactygon

4-10-06

While I have been doing GuI work here and there, my most notable achievement is the implementation of the AD&D Chain Lighting spell. Of all the spells I have done, this one was by far the trickiest to implement; I had to use 131 subspells until Chain Lightning worked the way it does in AD&D.

Despite this, there are a few minor errors that I couldn't really fix due to engine limitations. Unlike the AD&D spell, Chain Lightning can strike a creature more than once, but it doesn't happen very often, and it happens with bolts with a large damage difference (so a creature might be struck by a 2D6 and 11D6 bolt, but not a 10D6 and 12D6 bolt).

For those that don't know how the spell works in AD&D, it is radically different than the way it works in BGII. In AD&D, the spell begins as a single stroke of lightning that causes 12D6 points of damage to a single creature. After causing damage, the stroke continues to strike the nearest creature to the former one, causing 11D6 points of damage. The stroke continues on, striking 12 different creatures, with each creature weakening the stroke by D6. The last (fortunate) creature only suffers 1D6 points of damage. Magic resistance/Spell Turning/Anti-magic Shell doesn't stop the bolt, but negates (or turns in the case of spell turning) the damage itself. Thus, it is a bad idea to cast a Chain Lightning in the midst of 4 mages protected by Spell Turning, since every time the bolt strikes, the damage it turned back to the caster.

Also, Charm Person has been changed so that:
A.) It could be could be cast on neutral creatures.
B.) When it expires, affected creatures revert to their default allegiance rather than ENEMY.
C.) You may initiate dialogue with charmed creatures as in BGI. This might be of interest to SimDing0/Cam/Ghrey/whatever. For those that are interested, drop me a line and we can discuss.
D.) You can't control the actions of the creatures as you would with Domination spells. Creatures use their own scripts to act accordingly.
E.) The charmed individual may attempt to shake off the spell every turn by attempting a new saving throw versus spells.

And lastly, I have finally implemented light and vision (and THAC0/saving throw penalties that come with less light) into the game.

-Galactygon

This sounds interesting. Could you elaborate on the specifics of this a little?

Light and Vision is measured on a scale, from 1-15. 1 represents total darkness, while 15 represents full daylight vision. In the game, if you are blinded, your vision would be 1, and normally it is set to 15. So 2-4 would be light from a single candle, 5-7 would be light from many candles, 8-11 would be light from a torch/many torches (as well as light from the stars during the night), 11-12 would be normal indoor lighting, and 13-15 would be daylight (13 or 14, depending on the number of trees affecting the sunlight).

As for penalties to AC, THAC0, and saving throws, there would be a penalty ranging from 1 to 4 depending on the lighting. Total darkness, the equivalent of blindness, would inflict penalties of 4 to those stats. Such penalties are non-cumulative if you are blinded (since it doesn't matter how dark it is when you are blind). Infravision allows the character to see farther in darkness and negate some of the penalties to them stats. There will be varying degrees of infravision, from 20 feet, to full vision (60-feet). That depends mostly on race (some creatures have a larger range of infravision than elves/half-elves, for example).

Enemies will have a big advantage over you in dungeons, because the ones that are found underground will use infravision or their sense of smell (I will mimick it with infravision and Detect() and Range() triggers).

-Galactygon

I see that the AC penalty will affect everyone. Will the offensive hindering effect serve only to weaken physical attackers or will there be some sort of spellcasting impediment as well?

Everyone at varying degrees. Creatures who see perfectly in hindered lighting conditions/total darkness as well as though who rely on a sense other than sight (smell, hearing, psionics, etc.) don't suffer those penalties; they enjoy an advantage over those impaired by limited light. The AC/THAC0/SR penalty only works against such creatures; the penalties balance out to 0 between two creatures who are equally affected by lighting.



Not directly. It will be really easy to score a hit and disrupt spell casting in darkness, however. I was thinking of temporarily giving light from the casting graphics, and I might implement that if the engine allows.

What I dislike about my implementation of light and vision is that in certain areas, the game slows down too much. I might restrict it to certain areas.

-Galactygon

Maybe I'll actually use the spell "Infravision" now.... maybe.

3-22-06

I have decided to set hp-draining spells/items non-cumulative rather than not allowing the caster to recieve extra hit points.

I can explain this better with an example. Consider Kangaxx, the Lich. He first casts Larloch's Minor drain, and drains 6 hit points from a party character, and thus gaining the same amount to his current (and maximum) hit point total. Sometime later on, he casts Vampiric Touch, and drains 21 hit points. Since Kangaxx already has 6 extra hit points to his maximum total, he recieves only 15 hit points from the spell, and the other 6 points are lost (the victim still suffers 21 points of damage).

-Galactygon

3-26-06

I decided to implement Reincarnation as a 6th level necromancy spell. Reincarnation works exactly like Raise Dead, except for the following exceptions:
1.) Elves could be restored
2.) There is no constitution loss (I might remove this from the list) from the recipient's part.
3.) Rather than restoring the character into his/her old body, a new one is created from a random race (races the player can pick) the raised character inhabits.

Because there are no reactions from the NPCs being reincarnated as a different race, I might decide to drop this spell. For the time being, I will keep it. If someone would like to create some dialogue options for characters' reactions of being changed to a different race, then I am open to it. I do not plan on creating them myself, due to time constraints, and lack of writing skills.

-Galactygon

4-20-06

Although I haven't posted any updates for almost a month, I have done a fair amount of work. Some spells still need to be finished, but I have finished 95% of the spells that are restricted to bards and specialty wizards (e.g. only necromancers and bards may learn Skull Trap, etc.). This could easily be done by adding up the appropriate values of the kits restricted from learning that particular spell. I have also started working on the spells and abilities only creatures may cast (mind flayer psionics, Umber Hulk confusion).

And lastly, I have replaced the BGII graphics (if you call them graphics) with better-looking IWDII ones for the following items: Axes, Clubs, Hammers, Fails, Morning Stars, Armour (all types), Bows, Daggers, Darts, Arrows, Slings, Bullets, Halberds, Keys, and Shields.

I will do spears and swords tomorrow.

So far, I haven't made any non-cosmetic changes to the items themselves, but I will do so after I am finished with the cosmetic changes. I will strive to make +4 items an extreme rarity.

-Galactygon

I appreciate this. I must say that it is tiring having to weed through items in some mods and nerf them before playing a multiplayer game.

4-22-06

Swords (of all types), spears, and crossbow icons have been replaced.

-Galactygon

Sorry, I'm new here and to be honest, this mod sounds great, I can't wait 'til it's released. One question though - you mentioned toning-down weapons so that +4 weapons were a rarity - is that just for mod weapons or, if it's for the built-in weapons as well, do you then change some of the immunities for various creatures like the marilith that can only be hurt by +5?

Yes, and yes. Built-in weapons will be affected, and creatures will recieve immunities based on AD&D sources rather than what Bioware invented. Still, some creatures can only be harmed by +5 weapons (such as Demiliches), so I might place a +5 weapon somewhere in the game.

-Galactygon

5-6-06

Axes of all types have been re-modified:

* I have downgraded/changed some of their abilities. Most of the abilities that occour randomly (ie effects that have a % chance tied to them) have been replaced with similar and weaker abilities that always happen.
* Throwing axes inflict 1D6 points of slashing damage instead of 1D6+1 missile damage. Magical adjustments are added to the total.
* If your throwing axe scores a hit, then it can be retrieved from the creature's inventory once they are dead (this feature is still under experimentation and might be deleted/revised). If it misses, the axe is lost forever (this is due to engine limitations).
* 2-handed axes have been introduced, appearing like Halberds in all areas except they use points from the "axe" proficiency slot rather than the "halberd" one.

I plan on introducing a few new axes with interesting (not necessarily powerful) abilities. An example might be an axe that charms low-level summoned creatures within a 10-foot radius. Just a thought.

-Galactygon

5-8-06

Arrows, bolts, clubs, maces, and morning stars have been changed/remodified. Most importantly, the base damages of some of the above are different depending on the size of the victim:

* Maces inflict 1D6+1 points of damage against man-sized creatures or less, while only inflicting 1D6 points of damage against larger creatures (in this case, they are monsters).
* Clubs inflict 1D6 points of damage against man-sized creatures or less, while only inflicting 1D3 points of damage against larger creatures (in this case, they are monsters).
* Morning stars inflict 2D4 points of damage against man-sized creatures or less, while only inflicting 1D6+1 points of damage against larger creatures (in this case, they are monsters).

I will do damage adjustments vs. creature sizes for all types of weapons, where one is applicable (at least, according to the Player's Handbook).

-Galactygon

Are monsters always larger creatures? It is true in case of Giant Humanoids, Dragons and several other creatures that blunt weapons don't do as much damage, but I think there are creatures which are considered to be monsters and does not have too big weight. Or is this a solution issue/would make detection too complex? (I might be wrong and all Monsters are larger creatures. Are you referring to monsters based on the CRE file value, by the way?)

At the moment, I use the "Damage bonus vs. Creature Type" opcode, with bonuses/penalties based on the general.ids. I have not refined the system as of yet (so Sword Spiders and Cave Bears are still considered medium-sized because their general type is "2 ANIMAL", while ettercaps are considered to be large because their general type is "255 MONSTER").

I will might refine this to the race.ids, but it will be painstakingly long. For now I am using the general.ids as a placeholder.

-Galactygon

5-17-06

I worked on a variety of miscellenea for the past few weeks - cloaks, boots, bracers, etc. I have also taken interest into modifying the graphics for the ground piles of the items themselves. There will be more variations of the same types of piles. For example, cloaks of different colours will not only appear different in the inventory screen, but also if they are dropped onto the ground.

I have also reworked the inventory graphics of the cloaks themselves, but in the direction of BGI rather than IWDII. The cloaks look as if they actually made out of cloth rather than some sort of metal or plastic.

Otherwise, I have revised all of the bracers, chain mail armour, leather armour, cloaks/robes, ammo, and boots. This includes resetting the money and lore values of those items to something more appropriate.

And lastly, Cloaks and Rings of protection work exactly as in AD&D, meaning that:
1.) They can be equipped with magic armour, but don't always work. In that case, rings of protection still grant bonus to saving throws, but not bonuses to AC. Cloaks do not function at all if you have magical armour equipped or any type of nonleather, but may be worn to free up that extra inventory slot.
2.) Rings and Cloaks of protection are not cumulative, but both may be worn at the same time. In fact, 2 such rings could be worn at the same time. For example, if you have a pair of +1 rings and a single +2 cloak, you recieve the most powerful bonuses - in this case, the +2 cloak. Equipping non-magical leather renders the cloak useless, so you still recieve +1 bonuses to AC and saving throws from the rings.

I am considering on placing elven chain under the category of nonmagical leather or simply nonmagical armour. I am not sure about this at the moment, so input would be welcome.

-Galactygon

5-20-06

Daggers, Darts, Halberds, and Warhammers have been revamped. Of all of these items, the Hammer of Thunderbolts is the most interesting one: with every hit a deafening noise deafens creatures within 30 feet of the wielder for a (random) short period of time. A .wav file is attatched to the item

It is important to know that I haven't touched cursed items as of yet. I will do that after I am done with the rest.

EDIT: Hammer of Thunderbolts does not emit lightning bolts, but can be thrown instead.

EDIT#2: I just realized this is my 666th post at blackwyrm.

-Galactygon

(Please note the 2 edits I made above)

6-4-06

Lightning bolt spells, abilities, and items now hit all creatures who cross the path of the bolt, rather than creatures who cross the path of the bolt after the bolt hits the target.

This was a minor oversight in the original game, where if you cast lightning bolt at someone at your line-of-sight, creatures are not affected who stand between you (the caster) and the target. Creatures were only affected after either the first rebound of the bolt (due to a solid object), or after the bolt hit your intended target. I have changed that to affect all creatures.

Of course, as in all area effect spells, Mirror Image is completely useless; the spell not only disperses all the images, but affects the caster of the images as well.

-Galactygon

Hmm always wondered about that concerning lightning bolts . . .

One question though - why should a lightning bolt dispell ALL images, I can understand that it wouldn't be affected by them but I do not understand why it should cause all of them to disappear (unless that's the only way it can ignore all of them).