Black Pits II run during SoA (a la Watcher's Keep)

TvrtkoSvrdlar

I've been playing the Black Pits II, and it's definitely an awesome side adventure.

Thing is, I want to do it with my main party (the one that goes through the storyline), and as part of a single, large playthrough. I'd like to be able to do SoA, then Watcher's Keep, followed by the Pits, and finally move into ToB. Now, the way this is currently set up is impossible since the Pits are a stand-alone adventure, but...

There was some talk in a couple of older threads about being able to use the console to teleport your party to the Pits starting area, then do all the missions there, and after finishing all the content, use the console again (just before the final fight) to teleport back to an area in SoA where you originally left off (like the Promenade, or whatever).

Now, I have a couple of questions about this method:

- first, what's the area name of the Black Pits II starting zone? (the one with the initial cutscene)... AR????
- will my saved-game variables and quest/journal flags be preserved after finishing the Pits and teleporting back to SoA?
- will companions start acting funky in the Pits and 'forget' romances/talks? (currently using Dorn, Hexx, Korgan, and Viccy)
- is there any way to preserve the party's gold upon entering the Pits? (aside from messing around with Shadow Keeper, ofc )

- is there any way to preserve the party's gear upon teleporting into the Pits? (don't want to lose Flail of Ages, Carsomyr, etc :v)... I think a script is responsible for wiping the party's inventory when they enter the initial cutscene area (not sure, as I've only played it with the pre-made party shown on the starting screen), but if that is the way it works, can the script be overridden with a 'blank' one (which does nothing) by dropping it into the Override directory? (if disabling this script is impossible, would it be possible to stash all the party's gear in some container in SoA, do the Pits 'naked', and, upon returning to SoA retrieve your stashed gear? also, is it possible to keep the items earned in the Pits and transfer them out back to SoA once finished?)


I know this isn't the way the Pits *should* be played, but the point of games is to have fun, and while some people enjoy min-maxing their parties or doing solo playthroughs, I get the most enjoyment from going through all the content in one single, large run. So don't judge me! :P

Anyway, I'd really appreciate it if one of the devs could answer my questions

edit: oh dang, I posted this in the wrong sub-forum... could one of the mods please move it to General?

TvrtkoSvrdlar

Bumpity bump!

And where's @LiamEsler when you need him? :P

I ought to purchase a dev-summoning genie lamp from Ribald.

LiamEsler

Without doing some script-editing, this will be a difficult slog.

OH8000 is the initial area name.

Your gear and gold will be taken after the initial area; without script editing, there's no way to change this. The script is a complicated one and can't just be overridden with a blank file, unfortunately.

Your quest flags etc. will be preserved.

I don't think the romances will necessarily work correctly, but any unconditional talks should in theory trigger fine.

You will need to CLUA out of The Black Pits before the end of the game (probably when the final sequence begins; it interrupts the flow of things, you'll know it when you see it). Otherwise your game will end.

You should be able to stash your gear in SoA, and if you CLUA out before the end of BP2 you'll be able to keep your BP2 gear.

TvrtkoSvrdlar

I can live with all that!

The important part are the quest flags, and that they get preserved.

Anyway, thanks a bunch for answering, I really appreciate it

Ardanis

Bear in mind that Black Pits 2 will leave you with several millions worth of reward XP, i.e. by the time you CLUA yourself back into the main campaign you'll be around the cap limit.

And if you were to tweak the reward values (a quick edit in OH8100.BCS OHBHUB.BCS), you'd be eventually overwhelmed by powerful BP2 opponents designed for very high-level parties.

TvrtkoSvrdlar

@Ardanis

That's alright, I enjoy the challenge

But speaking of tweaks, I can't find OH8100.BCS anywhere.

It's not in the Override directory, and it doesn't show up in the game's script list.

Btw, I'm using DLTCEP if that means anything.

Eudaemonium

I just looked in NI and the highest number I can see is OH8000.BCS. After that OHB_101.BCS is the next file.

I'm tempted to try this as an adventure pre-ToB. Stash my gear somewhere safe in some nice chests or something and go to town. Or Thay, I guess.

TvrtkoSvrdlar

Eudaemonium said:

I just looked in NI and the highest number I can see is OH8000.BCS. After that OHB_101.BCS is the next file.

I'm tempted to try this as an adventure pre-ToB. Stash my gear somewhere safe in some nice chests or something and go to town. Or Thay, I guess.

Yup, that's how I'm treating it - like a fairly linear, inescapable (up until the very end via the consle) Watcher's Keep.

That's my story, and I'm sticking with it! :P

Ardanis

@TvrtkoSvrdlar
My bad. It's actually OHBHUB.BCS

TvrtkoSvrdlar

@ArdanisArdanis

I'm looking at OHBHUB right now, and I'm wondering what part of it controls the amount of XP given and what I need to do to slash it by ~50%.

Any ideas?

Ardanis

There's a total of twelve AddXPObject actions in two blocks there. Edit their values, e.g. change AddXPObject(Player1,250000) to AddXPObject(Player1,125000)

TvrtkoSvrdlar

@Ardanis
Thanks a bunch, you're a lifesaver!

EDIT: OK, after fiddling with the script a bit, I'm not content with slashing XP by N%, rather, I'd like to make it so the amount of XP awarded to each partymember is random (the limits should be ~100k minimum and ~500k maximum). Is there a command similar to something like 'RandomNumber(100k, 500k)'? If so, can it be plugged into the AddXPObject part of the script?

Ideally, every partymember would get a different amount of XP after the fights, which I think looks more realistic and organic than each of them getting an identical chunk of it.

EDIT#2: Come to think of it, since I'm messing with the scripts anyway, would it be possible to edit out the part of the initial script which removes the party's items when they enter the Pits? Commenting out segments of a script in order to have them not fire is possible, yes? Also, is the syntax for it the two vertical slashes (//)?

EDIT#3: Continuing this train of thought, would it be possible to comment out whichever part of whatever script ends the game after the final fight is finished? I haven't beaten it yet myself (haven't gotten that far in Pits II), but winning ends the game and brings you back to the main menu, right? There's got to be a single snippet of code controlling that.

@LiamEsler
@Ardanis

TvrtkoSvrdlar

Hate to necro this thread, but I need some help editing the BP2 script(s).

I'm starting a new playthrough, and I'd like to include the Pits in it.

Naturally, to make it fit, I need to make some changes to its scripting...

So, my questions:

- how to make the XP granted at the end of each fight random (100k-500k) instead of fixed

- how to disable the code which takes all the items from the entire party at the beginning (just to clarify, I'm not talking about the entire script, but just the portion which destroys all the items carried by the party)

- how to disable the 'outro' section which ends the game after the final fight

- how to disable the dead magic effect (I want to prebuff - don't judge me! )

- this one's probably the toughest (and it's not even that high on my priority list): how to disable the in-engine cinematics that play before each fight... they're fine the first time around, but having to re-watch them after every failed attempt starts to get annoying


If anyone could chime in, I'd really appreciate it!

@Wisp
@kulyok
@LiamEsler
@Avenger_teambg
@CamDawg