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Mod: New Dragon Mage Sets [In Development]


Flix

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Updated progress report. Items have all been added to the drop tables.

 

That means all the script edits are complete, all the files are named and in place, everything's locked and loaded and ready to go....EXCEPT for naming the items in global.res. I've got the editor up and running (yay!) so testing may begin as early as tomorrow and a release could be by the end of the week.

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Whooo!!!

Sounds fantastic!

Also thanks for sharing your other ideas with us. I do like how You have put some of the sets together to combine them in an eye pleasing way.

So, good luck for the testing on the global.res!

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Alright, I've been testing and the items are dropping, the textures and icons are correct, and so are the item properties and set bonuses! That means everything I've done so far has worked out. The only problem is:

 

RsRqWD8.jpg

 

Names are still missing/wrong. I got the editor working but I'm getting error messages when recompiling global.res. If I can get it working, the set will be ready just as soon as I can get it uploaded. But until then, I dunno how long it might take...

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Ok, made some breakthroughs but still hitting some roadblocks with properly naming the items in-game. Working on figuring it out each day...

 

Also, I'm starting to rethink doing all 3 sets. There's a possibility I could try to get the Mutation set implemented into the final release of the CM Patch. There's an open ticket for it on the CM Patch Bugtracker and I've made my work known, so hopefully something will come of that.

 

That possibility, combined with how much freakin' work it is to put together a new set, kind of makes me think I might abandon my idea to make three sets and instead just make one really good set. It will still be called Draco's Armor, since a Mutation Set is probably the most desirable set for the Dragon Mage. However, I'm seriously thinking of using the "Chaoskampf" look in place of the one I currently have for Draco's. That fiery horned look is by far my favorite and if there's anything I'd like to be remembered for (or to have implemented into the CM Patch), it would be that set's look.

 

This is just something I'm rolling around in my head, it may turn out I'll still do all three sets, or that the CM Patch is a no-go. I'll continue to update...

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Cheers for keeping us in the loop.

And it is good to hear that You are in contact with the CM-Patch team. I dearly hope that some help is coming forward for You out of that as they already implemented some new set into the game. So they should know how to do that!?

Anyway, good luck for your work and progress!

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The editor tool for the global.res file won't be released, because it's meant for the CM-patch (only).

With the CM-patch it is important to have some kind of control over the use of scripting IDs and text hashes.

Of course it is important that it will work, even if someone made his/her own changes to Sacred 2.

 

Besides the IDs, the guys that are working with this tool know exactly how to use it in combination with their flawless knowledge of the game mechanics and scripting. There has been a great testing effort behind this, and a public release will start this all over again. I am 'only' the programmer for this tool, and I'm afraid of unlimited support questions. For Flix I have made an exception because of his continuous high quality work. I'm not saying that I regret this, but the problems he encountered have made me extra wary.

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Suggestions sure ;-)

1. Don't develop an editor for the global.res file (see my previous post);

2. If you still want to develop such an editor, then see suggestion 1;

3. If you really, really still want to develop an editor.. then you must be a programmer, because you want to create it for the shear challenge.

In this case I can only say that the CM-patch editor was built with the help of other programmers who know far more about compression algorithms than I do.

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The problem in this case is that the knowledge of how to use the editor wasn't properly preserved, so we are like archaeologists uncovering lost technology. A proper, user friendly step-by-step guide to the entire set creation process would not be hard to make, in fact I plan on writing one when/if I ever finish this. The problem is that whoever has successfully used the editor in the past has either forgotten how or just vanished into the ether. So I just have to piece together what I can and infer what the process should be. These are NOT problems that every subsequent modder would/should have to face, just the first modder, and so long as he/she records their knowledge then this whole implementation process could probably take just a day or two to implement, after concept is finished of course.

 

As it is, I have tried every thing I can think of, and am pretty much ready to throw in the towel. I can rename existing items in the game, so I know my editing process is correct. My created items show up in the game, in every way correct except for the names, which have auto-generated names (items) or just a blank space (set name), so I know my scripting and item creation is correct. There is some crucial link between the item blueprints and the entry in global.res that I simply do not know and have not guessed or deduced.

 

So, taking a few days off from it, so maybe something will click when I come back to it fresh.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just a small update to say item names are finally correct. Testing now to make sure all pieces are dropping and all textures and set bonuses are correct.

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Suggestions sure ;-)

1. Don't develop an editor for the global.res file (see my previous post);

2. If you still want to develop such an editor, then see suggestion 1;

3. If you really, really still want to develop an editor.. then you must be a programmer, because you want to create it for the shear challenge.

In this case I can only say that the CM-patch editor was built with the help of other programmers who know far more about compression algorithms than I do.

Haha sounds like it wasn't easy :s Maybe this will require some thought...

 

Just a small update to say item names are finally correct. Testing now to make sure all pieces are dropping and all textures and set bonuses are correct.

Glad to see you got this working Flix! Means you can show us your hard work to its greatest extent.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Alright basically all I have to do now is change all the Blueprint and Itemtype ID #'s so that they'll be compatible with future CM Patch release.

 

I had compatible numbers (basically I just skipped ahead several hundred digits), but then I wasn't sure if they needed to be consecutive numbers in the game files so I switched them (I thought that might be the source of my naming troubles - it wasn't). Now, I know that you can skip numbers, and so to allow for items from other modders and from the CM Patch, I need to switch all my numbers back.

 

It's just a tedious little task, one that wouldn't take too long, but I just gotta find motivation to do it...

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There's one last CM Patch in development. They've fixed lots of little nagging bugs and issues, but there's also some big stuff (new sets, new mounts) that's not so close to being finished. So I don't know when a release might be...probably not soon.

 

On the other hand, the Mutation set is ready. I just finished typing the ReadMe. I'm basically just sitting here trying to think if there's anything I forgot...

 

The way the release will work is that I'll just keep adding to it, so when I make a new set or item, the new release will be cumulative, and it will probably end up being called "Flix's CM Patch mod" or something.

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Draco's is released. Download Thread.

 

Let me know if anything goes wrong in this thread and I'll try to fix it.

 

Also updated progress report in first post. Changed name to "Draco's Garments of Mutation." And work on Chaoskampf is now proceeding.

Edited by Flix
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Updated progress report. Finished surface entries, itemtypes, and iteminfo for Chaoskampf. I've made the blueprints and I'm just reviewing each bonus right now. Then it's just adding to drop tables and naming. This is a chance to experiment with some things, whereas with Draco's Garments I kept the bonuses faithful to the other Mutation Sets.

 

I've been working on some redesigns for Auspicious Powers (a.k.a. the set that is no one's favorite), trying to make it look less dull and monotone. It's not just that, but I don't want to use the standard textures that might show up on just any old random pieces of DM equipment. I want to make the sets look unique. I haven't quite nailed down just how I want it to look but I'm getting very close:

 

Q0lIHVy.jpg

 

It's not right where I want it yet, but almost. It took several tries. These are some of the attempts so far:

 

pSalf6A.jpg

 

A) was way too clownish, I don't know why I thought that might look good, I just wanted to get some blue colors into the set.

B) was actually a glitch I think, with those bright red pants. But I liked how the shoulders and wrist armor were toned down and not glowing quite so brightly. I may try to recreate that properly.

C) is where I'm at right now. It looks good in low light but in bright daylight the grey parts look blue, and the glowing orange is very bright, making it look a little too garish. So I will probably be toning down some of the glow and saturation.

Edited by Flix
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I like the idea of flames! Like the Draconicon's hooves. I will try that with Chaoskampf (the Western Dragon set should be orange and fiery), but I want the one I'm struggling with, Auspicious Powers (the Eastern Dragon set) to be a little more cooled down and regal.

 

I think I finally nailed it last night just before I went to bed. I was so excited by it I couldn't go to sleep:

 

gi9GRSJ.jpg

 

A) Is about where we left off before...I tried removing the glow on the "scaly" parts. It helped some but it was still very bright and loud. I set out to differentiate the look of this set from Chaoskampf, but making it brighter and even more orange was not the solution.

B) Thinking there was too much color, this is the result of lowering the saturation of several tones really low. It looked ok here, but in-game it looked terribly faded and washed out compared to the rest of the game world. Sacred 2 is a very colorful game.

C) Is where I knocked it out of the park, if I do say so myself. I kept the color saturation intact but adjusted the darkness of several tones. This kept it richly colored but much more realistic and not like a gaudy Power Ranger villain.

 

Compare this to the original design, and see what a huge improvement it is. It keeps the same general tone and color palette but adds so much more detail and contrasts:

 

IAeYZxd.jpg

 

So, more updates coming soon.

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Thank you. I think this set is my favorite one now. Just needed some TLC.

 

Updated Progress Report again (probably last one for a little while). I've done the surfaces, itemtypes, and iteminfo for Auspicious Powers. It's now at the same level of completion as Chaoskampf. What I'm doing with them both now is adding the item bonuses and testing to see if they have the desired effects. That may take a while. Once that's done the final steps should go pretty quick.

 

I also updated all the Auspicious Powers pics and icons in the first post. Looking at the lineup, it really pops now. I also changed a few modifiers around (don't be surprised if more change before release).

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