Holy. Crap.

[Nightwoe]

So...I downloaded Hex Editor and the IESDP Index...I opened the hex editor and just about gagged. I wanted to try and learn everything I could before actually jumping on here and getting help, but I just have no idea how to do any of this. I've modded with NWN, NWN2, Dragon Age...but I have never modded for any of the older games. My first question is this...What are the first steps to starting making a mod for BG2?

[Grim Squeaker]

Firstly, don't go anywhere near a hex editor. You will pretty much never need one for modding BG2.

 

Secondly, what kind of mod do you want to make? A quest? Some items? A new NPC?

[Nightwoe]

I want to make NPC mods

[Ardanis]

Start here http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showtopic=14359

[Nightwoe]

Thank you, but this link seems to be broken...

[Kaeloree]

Try this: http://www.katbella.com/npctutorial.html

[Nightwoe]

Thank you all very much, the last link worked

[phordicus]

look into making a separate install of the game for you to experiment on. it'll save you a lot of headaches.

 

multiple installs

[Nightwoe]

I'm having 2 main problems at the moment.

"Dialogue: Right click and choose "edit as string" and type K#John. This is the dialogue that we just made." Near Infinity doesn't seem to recognize the file name when I type it in, I checked my spelling etc.

 

"10) Scroll down until you get to Override Script: type in K#John (or whatever your npc's filename is) " same problem. I have the CRE file and the dialogue file in the override folder.

 

 

what else do I have to do, or did I miss something I was supposed to create?

[Kaeloree]

Try using DLTCEP available here on G3 in the tools section. It's a lot easier to use, at least in my opinion.

 

Once you've downloaded it, follow the setup instructions in the text file (very easy to follow), and then open your .cre file. Each field is simpler to edit.

 

Alternatively, you can set the death variable, dialogue and override scripts in the .tp2 file by adding these after the COPY ~mynpc.cre~ ~override~ part, before the soundset strings.

 

  WRITE_EVALUATED_ASCII DIALOG		  ~##NPCDIAL~ #8
 WRITE_EVALUATED_ASCII DEATHVAR		~MyNPCDV~ #32
 WRITE_EVALUATED_ASCII SCRIPT_OVERRIDE ~##NPCSCRI~ #8

 

Make sense?

[Nightwoe]

thanks, this should help

[phordicus]

tangent/hijack

 

if you don't plan on the CRE ever dying, can you use the full 32 characters for the DV?

[berelinde]

tangent/hijack

 

if you don't plan on the CRE ever dying, can you use the full 32 characters for the DV?

You will be using that DV a lot while modding, and while you can probably copy and paste it periodically, you will still find yourself typing it out a lot. More characters = more chances for a typo. Plus, unless you type 200 wpm, it will get old after a while.

[DavidW]

tangent/hijack

 

if you don't plan on the CRE ever dying, can you use the full 32 characters for the DV?

You will be using that DV a lot while modding, and while you can probably copy and paste it periodically, you will still find yourself typing it out a lot. More characters = more chances for a typo. Plus, unless you type 200 wpm, it will get old after a while.

 

I guess you could always just use %DV%, and set the value of DV before compiling the script.

[the bigg]

IMHO, using your CRE file name as script file, dialogue file and DV helps with readability.