Jump to content

Silver_fox

Members
  • Posts

    1,013
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    51

Posts posted by Silver_fox

  1. It's good to hear that you decided to add all available skills to the list. At least now players won't be asking why you added one skill and not another.

     

    However I'm not sure about window height value that would fit everybody. Which UI design are you currently using? Is it the D2F one? I'm asking because with the default CM Patch UI and fonts the window height of 620 looks like this (both with and without UI scaling):

    bvLGtfrm.png

    Maybe it's just a weirdness on my laptop's part, or maybe different UI frames actually do affect the size of the space available inside the windows.

  2. Hello again, Flix. It's really great to see that you're still doing the mods for this game. It's a bit sad that its community is not as active as it once was, so I decided to drop by and give you a heads-up on the new version of the Spell Mod.

     

    Adding new skills is a great idea as it adds more character build opportunities and for some people might warrant a few more playthroughs. I would have suggested adding everything for everybody just for variety's sake, but I know that some things are technically impossible, or at least incredibly hard (the High Elf is not going to Dual Wield unless you spend an insane amount of time making animations for that). As it is, your list looks reasonable and I'd say to go for it, but like Shadowflare I would have suggested to add all three remaining offensive skills to DM's roster as well as maybe throwing in Hafted for seraphim and Staffs for SW. I wonder what's the reason for the limitation? Do you think it unbalanced to give them a greater amount of skills?

     

    If you feel limited by the technical side of the business, like fitting all skills in the window, then it's not hard to remedy, at least in DM's case. If you actually removed Pacifism from the game, then DM should have 4 Basic Defensive skills and only 2 Advanced ones. You can shift Spell Resistance to the Advanced level and thus free some room in the window (it's a personal opinion, but I can't think of character whose only defensive skill is Spell Resistance). Alternately you can make the window slightly bigger to accommodate the changes (that's what I did in my game when I thought about expanding the amount of skills). To do so you need to edit Attributes.xml from skin-xml: look for where it says "CWindow name="skilloverview"" and change height from 590 to 640 or 650 (640 is enough for everything to fit, but you might think that 650 looks slightly better). That adds enough space for one more row of skills but keeps the window small enough to fit the screen well at 720p (I've never seen this game running at 800x600 and even if this resolution is possible, I don't think that many people would try it nowadays).

     

    Anyway, regardless of what you'd decide with the skills, I'll be looking forward for the new version of the mod. I was going to recommend it to my friends next time we think about playing Sacred 2 co-op, so it's great to know that the more polished version is on the way.

    • Like! 1
  3. Removing CM patch v150 is pretty easy. You can do it by running cm-disable executable that is included in the CM Patch download, or by downloading and running CM Reset tool from here (https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B6mWJPtqErDcdFJfR1VlM202ek0&usp=sharing&tid=0B6mWJPtqErDcSkg0eGdubGdVaHM) The separate reset tool would only come handy if you modded the game after installing CM and cm-disable does not run correctly. Otherwise, the regular CM patch package with enable and disable executable files has all you need.

     

    However, disabling CM patch won't help you link to the console. The console version is Fallen Angel without expansion or patches, so PC Gold version without CM is already different from it.

  4. Actually, Gilberticus is right. There is a slight glitch in the wings textures. I noticed it too, and tried to tell about it during the internal testing of the Item Mod. But I got the same answer that the set never looked differently, and was not able to pinpoint the issue myself, so I let it slide.

     

    Now I found that the culprit is the volume texture. On most computers, when the game starts up, there is a slight delay in the loading of the volume maps and application of volume and fur effects. So you really see the base texture for a few seconds, then the volume map applies and you suddenly see black spots where there were none. Maybe on more powerful machines there is no such delay, so some people see the applied volume instantly and can never guess that the coloring might be different.

    That is how the wings look without volume texture (very flat, but the point is to notice the coloring):

    RnoEKdTt.jpg

     

    And that's how they look after the volume map is applied (notice the black spots with straight edges in the back view):

    RbVgfQJt.jpg

     

    The reason for the difference in looks is trivial - Sacred's game engine does not support mip maps for volume textures, and Pesmontis saved the wings' texture with mip map generation turned on (because it should be turned on for all other kinds of item textures). So while the volume map was originally created to match the diffuse texture, the engine interprets it differently, considering the area of the image filled with scaled down mip maps as part of the main texture, and applies the result a bit strangely. If you re-save the volume map with mip map generation turned off, that's how the wings would look:

    ZDaKPdpt.jpg

     

    By the way, for the diffuse textures (and other textures for which the engine supports mip mapping) it does not matter if you turn the mip map generation on or off - the result looks visually the same. When you see the difference, it means that the engine does not support this function for the particular kind of texture, and therefore the save setting should be "off".

     

    EDIT: I attached the re-saved volume map for those who might want to try it out. You just need to extract the DDS file from the archive, and drop it to the folder named "pak\mq\maps\heroes\seraphim\sets\genesis" inside your game installation.

    n90vol.zip

    • Like! 1
  5. Making a certain part of the armor invisible using textures is possible, but not for all armors. For some of them you really need to edit the model itself if you want to get rid of some parts. As far as I know, you should not have trouble with editing Angeldust set, but for other items, it's better to open itemtype.txt, search it for the model that is used for the item in question, and check the list of flags. If FLAG_EQUIPCUT is present, it means that the character's body is not rendered beneath the armor, and therefore making some parts of such armor invisible can effectively cut holes in the character. Does not mean that such items can not be edited, only that you should be careful with them.

     

    To make a part of armor or weapon invisible using its textures, you need to do the following:

    • Open the diffuse (_d) texture and check if it has alpha channel. Add it if it is not present.
    • Editing the alpha channel, you need to color the parts that you want to remove black, and all the other parts white.
    • Open surface.txt (found in scripts\client inside the game's folder) and find the surface entry for the item you are editing. To do so, you can simply search the file for the name of the texture without the extension (for example, for the Angeldust torso, searching for "c_sera-angeldust-torso_d" gives you the correct surface entry)
    • Check the flags. If the surface entry has SURFACE_FLAG_MASKED on the list, then no change is required. However, if it has SURFACE_FLAG_OPAQUE, it should be changed to SURFACE_FLAG_MASKED.
    • Save the texture, save the script and check in game. Note that the changes to textures can be done while the game is running and they are applied in game as soon as game's renderer reloads the texture. But any changes to scripts should be done when the game is not running and would apply only on the next launch.

     

    Note that if the item has fur or t-energy effects, making some parts of it invisible might be troublesome, because these two effects also use the alpha channel of the diffuse texture.

    • Like! 1
  6. With I&B addon, more and more people began advocating for the active usage of Regeneration Per Hit socketables to recharge the combat arts of melee and ranged fighters. It really is a good approach, and if you take it investment in Stamina becomes unnecessary. Another approach is to push Chance to halve regeneration time to 100%. But if you don't have Bargainer characters to supply you with good RPH and Chance to halve rings and amulets and/or plan to fill your sockets with something else, Stamina can come in handy.

     

    Unlike Strength, Stamina had not become redundant with the expansion, because it still has noticeable effect, but the items can do better job at reducing the regen times. So take your pick - it actually depends only on how much gear-dependent you want your character to be and how much time you plan to spend hunting for the said gear.

  7. To be able to start the game at difficulties that are not supposed to be unlocked yet, you can do the following:

    - Open balance.txt script that can be found in the "scripts/server" subfolder of the main folder where the game is installed.

    - Find the string that says:

     LevelMinForDiff = {1,1,60,100,140}, 

    and change all numbers to 1. That would allow any character to create and enter Multiplayer games of any difficulty.

    - Go to Multiplayer lobby and start the LAN game with the character you want, teleport to Sloeford, save at the monolith, and exit to the main menu.

    - Now, if the character you have was made for Singleplayer, you can go back to Singleplayer and press Continue with the character - it would start a new Singleplayer campaign at the same difficulty at which you started in Multiplayer before. If it was a Multiplayer character, this step is not even necessary, you can continue playeing after the previous one.

     

     

    Alternately, you can get the Character Editor tool here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6dnJV_74z7jTU9oajlPa2s5NlE/edit?usp=sharing open your savefile with it, set the "Difficulty reached" parameter to Niob, save and exit. However, if your character's save is already bugged, editing it with this tool can make the situation worse, so it's better to backup the savefile before trying.

    • Like! 1
  8. If you are building a close combat fighter, than survivability would be much more important than whatever damage increase you can get from stats, so vitality+willpower is a good choice. Damage bonus from stats is not as big as what you can get simply by keeping your weapons at optimal item level, and extra defense never hurts. For a Seraphim or a Temple Guardian who use energy shield buffs willpower becomes better investment than vitality because it boosts the shield as well as magic resistance. If you are building a ranged character and considering a glass canon approach, putting some points to dexterity can be a valid choice, but for melee characters it's simply not worth it.

    • Like! 1
  9. The Item Mod replaces nothing in the game. It simply adds to the variety. The Mod added a large number of new models to the pool of random items because they were not interesting enough to make them into new uniques, but it set them to spawn alongside the original random models, not to replace them. Everything that was originally present in game can still spawn just like it did before Item Mod and CM v150.

     

    Also, for everybody who struggles to install CM v150 over V140hf - while complete reinstall of course helps to solve the issue with CM not being able to update itself correctly, it is not always necessary. Some time ago Marcuswob uploaded a CM Reset tool which can return any version of the game to vanilla I&B 2.65.2. You can grab the tool from his Google Drive here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B6mWJPtqErDcdFJfR1VlM202ek0&usp=sharing&tid=0B6mWJPtqErDcSkg0eGdubGdVaHM

    • Like! 1
  10.  

    It's not just that, but I think the "dismount trick" that allowed users to access this normally off-limits testing area was fixed or removed at some point. Maybe a note added somewhere explaining why those bosses are on the map twice would be good.

    Was the dismount trick patched in the CM? I know it exists in vanilla Ice and Blood.

    It was working fine for me with CM v140. Haven't tried in v150 yet, but I don't think anything had changed in that regard.

    • Like! 1
  11. The page is looking great, Flix. While it does not look big, it has all necessary and useful information as well as the index. The readers are forewarned and know what to expect from the new items, and the page looks neither bloated nor empty. I also like that you put the lightsabers on their own separate page. While this Easter Egg-y distinct kind of weapons is affected by Sword Lore, they would have looked rather odd in between swords and daggers.

     

    Which reminds me: Is there a particular reason why the shortest kind of Sword weapons is called "Daggers" on the Weapons page, but "Blades" in the Uniques Database? Maybe it would be better to use the same name everywhere?

     

    And you don't need to worry. Of course I can always make more items, but I don't think I'll go for the integration with the CM Patch in the future. Time will tell, but it's always safer to assume that any mods would be released on their own than as a part of CM Patch.

    • Like! 1
  12. I shudder to think about what people will request next.

    Come on, Flix, do you absolutely need to go around poking fun at all ideas you do not wholeheartedly welcome? I understand your being on the fence with Diablo 2 Fallen, since this mod is more about your interpretation of Diablo classes and was never announced as a community brainstorming venture, but this thread has always been about crazy ideas thrown in and the more viable of them possibly getting implemented. Though you don't need to worry - I'm not about to go on lightsaber craze regardless of what people suggest.

     

    As for those pics... the first one is not interesting enough, the third one is wa-ay over the board, and the second, well:

    uUVw6Vf.png

     

    I think those Ascaron guys would have made this kind of weapon themselves if they ever created working whip animations for Sacred 2.

    Skyrim weapons - especially Deadric and Dragon - transferred to Sacred 2 would be nice. ;)

     

    But if that's too much work; how 'bout changing the hot-air ballons of the Ice and Blood area's into a Millenium Falcon? :)

     

     

    Thorin :D

    I have all TES games and their modding tools, so theoretically I can transfer any item from Skyrim to Sacred, but the question is whether or not it should be done. We actually had an internal conversation about this topic a while back, after Pesmontis converted the Dragon Scale armor set (which is going to make it into the mode someday). As I remember, Pesmontis was quite fond of Daedric items, Flix was not so fond of idea of adding any more Skyrim items because they might stand out too much from Sacred's mood and atmosphere, and I could not really make up my mind because on one hand I rather like the designs, but on the other I know that Bethesda is not very lenient toward people who rip off their games. I'm not so sure that these designs are worth the possible legal trouble. Though recently the developers tend to allow more to the modders who don't profit from their mods, even Blizzard stopped asking to take down every single mod that had WoW stuff in it, so maybe porting some Skyrim items would be fine. Still, the Daedric gear is very specific to TES universe, so the question of fitting in comes up again.

     

    So I think I'd need more people vouching for this request before I seriously consider working on it.

     

    And no, I'm not as big of a Star Wars fan to even think of making the Millennium Falcon ;)

    • Like! 1
  13. Now those are sweet, exactly how I pictured they'd look like. When I said "modding team", I meant modding team. Flix has always given credit when credit is due, and has made it well known that he doesn't work alone.

    I'm glad that you like the designs, especially since they were your request in the first place.

     

    I never meant to sound disrespectful, and I'm sorry if I did (writing replies at 2 AM was probably not the best idea, but I really wanted to show these pics). After the Item Mod v1.1, Flix released a number of high-quality mods entirely on his own, and everything that was showcased in Diablo 2 Fallen thread so far is a result of his work as well. It never fails to impress me how much he manages to accomplish and how he keeps his projects known and discussed even while they are still in development. And all I did recently was turning up here, promising you to work on the Item Mod and then all but disappearing from the public forums again. You guys really had no reason to think that I'm still there, let alone working on something useful. So I was merely berating myself for not letting you know that the Elite Mounts were shelved again and that I'm participating in another project, which currently takes precedence over the Item Mod, because Diablo 2 Fallen is scheduled for release quite soon.

     

    On second thought I really like that spiky hilt with the eye. I think that would look very good on a bladed sword.

    I thought so too. The original thought was about a lightsaber, so that's how it currently looks. I'll keep this look, but make a normal bladed version as well, since I'm not the only one thinking it might look good.

    • Like! 1
  14. >"...is it possible to split items in a "light" and a "dark" version?.."

    If you're asking whether or not we can make the items that can only be worn by Light or Shadow path characters, then no, it's not possible. The only restrictions that can be placed on items are the character class, item level, and difficulty where it can drop. We can, of course, make the item into a reward for an alignment-specific quest, but the existence of the shared stash makes this idea ineffective.

     

    >"...we're able to find a lot of items starting with Potter's, but none of them is an actuall set-item..."

    Well, "Potter" was a profession first, and only then became a surname. The "Potter's" affix in Sacred 2 references the professional meaning, as it appears on items that have their material set as "ceramics". For the Item Mod, we were usually trying to avoid any possible confusion between random items with auto-generated names and unique custom-named items, so the new uniques are not named something that can also appear as random affix.

     

    >"...a set for magical characters and the DM in particular..."

    The problem with new DM sets is that Flix already made a lot of them for his Dragon Mage Sets mod, and added more in the first release of the Item Mod itself. It just becomes harder to come up with new original item stats for this character. There is a solid possibility that the new version would have a new set for DM, because Pesmontis contributed new 3D models for the set pieces, but as its look is Dragon-themed, so would be the item names. So far, I don't want to promise more DM sets, because I'm still struggling to come up with good bonuses for the one that is already in the works.

    • Like! 1
  15. In I&B, Experience bonus on gear does NOT stack with anything else. If you have this bonus somewhere on your equipment, the mentor potions and hero statues won't provide their temporary buff for you. If you want to be drinking potions, just remove all experience gear and potions would work again. So it's a matter of choice - whether you prefer to stack constant experience bonus on equipment or use temporary boost from potions.

     

    However, this bug is exclusive to the expansion. If you play the original Fallen Angel or the console version of the game, mentor potions and hero statues stack with gear bonuses without any trouble.

     

    This bug was reported many times, but sadly it can't be fixed without access to the game's source code, which is why CM Patch never resolved this issue.

    • Like! 1
×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up