81 replies to this topic

[CamDawg]

I have a few ideas for a tweak pack and wanted to see if anyone wanted to pile on some ideas. Here's what I have already:

1) Adjust weapon attack animations. UU has complained before about creatures using spears like swords; i.e. they use  as many swing and ovehead attacks as thrusts. I have working code for this at present.

2) Fix the f****** world map. Has anyone else ever noticed how it's 20 hours to de'Arnise Keep and 8 hours back? Why does it take 50+ hours from Trademeet to the Forest of Tethir? So, I now have a working worldmap that fixes a whole mess of issues.

3) A script that increases movement rates while not in combat, so you can cross the map at a faster rate of speed. I have some ideas for this, but haven't coded anything.

4) Implementing stealth/move silently penalties for heavy armor (instead of disabling stealth) using the penalties from the Ranger's Handbook.

Any other ideas?

[icelus]

It's late and I don't feel like thinking too much, but I do like the ideas so far.  I'd suggest reading over some of the posts at the Baldurdash forum and including things that aren't really bugs (people tend to post every piddly little thing over there.  Perhaps that's why Kevin Dorner is MIA.   )

[Harbinger]

Yes!! Finally someone has plans for that crazy f****** worldmap, it has always bothered me ughh. Well, I don't have alot of thoughts about this just yet, but I will think on it.

[CamDawg]

I think the biggest reason no one has dealt with the worldmap is that they're a pain in the rump to edit. The other problem is that there are a number of mods that alter it by overwriting it, which means that the worldmap component will automatically be incompatible with stuff like BGT, BP and other mods that change the map.

@icelus
I love the Baldurdash forum; it's a great source of ideas.

[JPS]

Doesn't the official patch change the de'Arnise Keep travelling hours? I know the Mac version does, but perhaps that was just a case of the guy doing the port doing more than was asked of him (he seems to have fixed the Jaheira romance as well, since I've never had any problems with it. Except for one time when I installed that part of Baldurdash anyway and ended up with no end of trouble. Well, actually the trouble did end when I unistalled the component, but anyway...).

Anyway, what I'd like to see when it comes to the world map is the option to rest on the way. Instead of walking 20 hours straight (or 50 hours if you happen to take the wrong route) and then collapsing when you get to your destination, it would make a lot more sense to camp when you're halfway there and actually be able to do something when you arrive.

And a small thing that has annoyed me from the beginning but that I've never found the right place to complain about: the goblin archers in Irenicus' dungeon (and elsewhere, I assume) are thieves, have 9 strength and use composite longbows. What's up with that?

[icelus]

@Cam: Here's an idea from FWP: http://forums.spellholdstudios.net/index.p....id=5053

[Meira]

How about having your party affect the travel times (if possible)? For example if you have ranger in your party travelling to certain wilderness destinations (like the Forest of Tethir, Temple Ruins and Druid Grove) should take much less time than with parties that do not include a ranger. It's just a small RP detail, but I think it would be neat.

Also maybe travelling with chars that have low con / are fatigued should increase travel time.

[Grim Squeaker]

Actually I think that would be a good tweak to the tracking ability.  I think ranger would this ability would find it easier to find decent paths through forests etc because he could follow animal tracks and find slightly more hidden paths etc.  Generally a reduction in travelling times would be nice as an added bonus to the mediocre tracking HLA.

[CamDawg]

I'm not sure what that guy was bitching about, since the Boots of Speed are fixed with Baldurdash.

In terms of being able to alter the way characters travel between areas, we start to run into hardcoded limitations. One way you could allow the party to rest along the way would be to force a stop at a random encounter area every time. No monsters, it just deposits you in the random encounter area. However, it also means that travelling now requires two area loads and would irritate folks who don't need to rest.

In terms of making travel times less with a druid/ranger... a good idea, but I think it's unimplementable. There are ways to alter travel times by making the party travel in between areas entirely by scripting. However, it also means that you miss random encounters, which could cause compatibility problems. I know of at least one mod (Elai) that requires a random encounter area to further the story.

[Grim Squeaker]

Okay lets scrap that idea then...

[Meira]

Grim Squeaker, on Jan. 19 2004,08:57, said:

Okay lets scrap that idea then...

Agreed. As I said it would be neat, but not that neat that one should sacrifice random encounters.

-Meira

[CamDawg]

Some more information on the animation adjustments; this  component is also going to be included in the ToB Refinements mod.  

This seems to be the default animation sets by weapon type (though some are different). Animations are overhand/backhand/thrusting:

Axes: 50/50/0
Blunt weapons (maces, clubs, flails, morningstars): 50/50/0
Daggers: 0/20/80
Halberds: 0/35/65
Hammers: 65/35/0
Spears: 33/33/34
Staves: 10/70/20 is most common though there are lots of variations
1H Swords: Split between 50/50/0 and 10/25/65
2H Swords: 60/40/0

Out of these, probably the only changes I would recommend is moving spears to 10/20/70, standardizing staves to 10/70/20, short swords to 10/25/65 and other 1H swords to 50/50/0. Comments, suggestions?

TGM has already stated he would like to see Long Swords get some thrusting attacks, possibly 45/45/10.

[JPS]

Well, I don't know. The thing I'd most like to see is some footwork, but I suppose that's not an option.

Quote

...Halberds: 0/35/65
...
Spears: 33/33/34...

I would probably just swap these two. That great big blade on the halbeard is there for a reason, you know...

Quote

1H Swords: Split between 50/50/0 and 10/25/65
2H Swords: 60/40/0

[rant mode on]

Umm... this is where the D&D rules have messed things up beyond recognition, really. A real longsword or bastard sword (both terms refer to the same weapon, really) was usually used with two hands (and never with a shield), a real two-handed sword was only used against pike formations on battlefields (and handled surprisingly much like a spear, or so I've been told) and a real short sword could be anything from a Roman gladius (which was used with a shield and a few hundred other Romans) to an English 16th-century sword which was about 3 feet long and basically looked a lot like the D&D "longsword"

So, unless someone sorts these things out I wouldn't even know where to start  

[rant mode off]

EDIT: By the way, a tweak I'd really like to see is changing the alignments to Good, Bad and Ugly   *Goes off to write a Baldur's Gate/Western crossover*

[CamDawg]

My bigger beef is the 1H katanas, or not allowing an offhand short sword or dagger to grant defense bonuses. Ah well.

Check out Idobek's Tweak Pack; it includes a component that allows you to wield any bastard sword or katana as a one or two-handed weapon. I don't think I've seen any mods that allow it with long swords though.

[JPS]

Well, it was just a general rant caused by prolonged exposure to the historical sword community. I'm feeling better already.

Thanks for the link. I think I saw it on FWS as well, but I didn't bookmark it.