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How to get rid of the ridiculous exploding body gore animation...(?)

AkuroAkuro Member Posts: 93
edited September 2012 in General Modding
So here's my concern:

As you all know, the game turns a little bit more "realistic" and violent if you enable blood & gore in Baldur's Gate 2 via the "Memory Access=100" entry:

- bodies actually turn into a pile of dust if you cast "Disintegrate" on them instead of leaving behind the corpse on the floor
- enemies shatter to little pieces of stone/ice if they suffer any damage and were turned to stone/were frozen before

AND:

- enemies explode into huge chunks of meat in a ridiculous animation if they suffer too much damage while dying.
Although I like that effect *if an enemy gets destroyed by a mighty arcane spell* (for example in the cutscene after escaping from Irenicus' dungeon) I find it hilarious and very unrealistic if an Athkathlan City Guard - wearing full plate mail - explodes into huge pieces of flesh *because you stabbed him into his back with a DAGGER*! *Ahem..* You get the point...

So I tried to prevent this "glitch" via modding, but until now I was not successful ;-(
As far as I know, the *.BAM - file of the chunk-animation is called "SPFLESH".
I tried to make enemies immune to the animation via the "Protection from specific animation" effect or the "protection from specific death" effect, but it didn't have an effect...

My idea is to add an effect to ALL melee weapons with the conditions:

- applies on hit
- makes the target immune to the death animation *dying in huge meat chunks* for 2 seconds

Therefore all gore effect would still be in the game but if you kill enemies in *melee* combat, they'd just fall down and die instead of triggering this unrealistic effect.
The thing is that I couldn't get the "immune to specific animation" effect to work until now...

Does anyone have an idea how to prevent this animation from being shown in melee combat?
I think this forum is the right place to ask because:

- there are many talented modders here
- this "glitch" concerns BG1 and BG2
- I guess there are more people out there who feel the same

I hope someone can help ;)

Comments

  • RhulqdahrRhulqdahr Member Posts: 28
    I'm not a modder, but I think it would be possible to achieve if a new animation was added specifically for the situation you're describing and I guess it'd hard to make it blend into the BG style.

    You can't actually get rid of the animation completely (unless you play on a lower difficulty), something must be there instead because those meaty chunks mean that a killed character/creature can't be resurrected in any way.
  • WardWard Member Posts: 1,305
    edited September 2012
    I don't know how to remove this animation, but I assume if you DO then your enemy just vanishes. The 'anatomy flying directions' thing is weird though.

    I tried not to question it. If you get this to work, make it a mod and I'll download it heaps. I'd like it to be more convincingly animated too.
  • ArdanisArdanis Member Posts: 1,736
    Check SCS2, it has a component to prevent chunking death from massive physical damage.
  • MoomintrollMoomintroll Member Posts: 1,498
    edited September 2012
    I wouldn't want to discard the massive false sense of achievement I get when that animation happens but still, I agree that it would make more sense if it were optional as it is so over the top!
  • AkuroAkuro Member Posts: 93
    edited September 2012
    Ardanis said:

    Check SCS2, it has a component to prevent chunking death from massive physical damage.

    For real?! As far as I know the component prevents only your party members "from dying irreversible". The last time I installed SCS 2 version 2.0, maybe that's a new feature in version 2.1? (I hope it is, otherwise I'll try to prevent the chunking death from melee hits via modding...)

    edit:
    I just had a look at the readme - unfortunately the component is called "Make *party members* less likely to die irreversibly" :-(
    Maybe there's a way to rewrite this component's code, so that it affects all creatures (and oc only melee hits)...
  • ArdanisArdanis Member Posts: 1,736
    Well, I'm currently short of a normal modding "laboratory", so I can only point out valid directions.

    To affect all creatures this ought to do

    COPY_EXISTING_REGEXP GLOB ~.\*.cre~ override
    LPF ADD_CRE_EFFECT INT_VAR opcode=??? timing=9 parameter1=??? parameter2=??? END
    BUT_ONLY

    Look up correct values for ??? in SCS' code.

    I think patching melee weapons will make no difference, because the base damage is delivered before any effect kicks in. Inelegant solution, it is.
  • AkuroAkuro Member Posts: 93
    Ardanis said:

    [...]

    I think patching melee weapons will make no difference, because the base damage is delivered before any effect kicks in. Inelegant solution, it is.

    Ahhh, I guess that's why my first idea didn't work out as intended...

    Big thanks for this solution, I'll give it a try as soon as I figure out how to use that code with the specific SCS2 component code...
  • Avenger_teambgAvenger_teambg Member, Developer Posts: 5,862
    If you don't find it in scs, look for this on iesdp #295 (0x127) Graphics: Disable Permanent Death [295]
  • AkuroAkuro Member Posts: 93
    Avenger_teambg said:

    If you don't find it in scs, look for this on iesdp #295 (0x127) Graphics: Disable Permanent Death [295]

    Thanks @Avenger_teambg. Unfortunately this effect didn't work for me :-(
    I applied it to a ring with the following conditions:
    - timing mode 9 (permanent after death - as stated in the DLTCEP description)
    - constant value set to 1 (as stated in the DLTCEP description)
    - while equipped
    - target self

    Then I added the ring to some creatures (Oger Magus and Jasper St. Baird in Irencus' dungeon) via the editor and started a new game.
    Nevertheless both of them exploded into meatchunks because I backstabbed them and they suffered too much damage from one hit :-(
    Hell, I even made a sword with the effect but all I try simply doesn't work. I'm a little bit desperate here, but I'm afraid I'll never be able to get used to that awful and unrealistic animation... Hmm
    However this script code from SCS2 seems to work for Npc's, because Jaheira always "made it to the other side in one piece" when I backstabbed her to death.

    Do you have another idea?
  • Avenger_teambgAvenger_teambg Member, Developer Posts: 5,862
    @Akuro If it worked, why do you need another idea. I'm pretty sure scs2 uses that opcode. If it does something else, then i definitely don't have another idea.
  • AkuroAkuro Member Posts: 93
    The Problem is: I don't know how to implement the code:

    COPY_EXISTING_REGEXP GLOB ~.\*.cre~ override
    LPF ADD_CRE_EFFECT INT_VAR opcode=??? timing=9 parameter1=??? parameter2=??? END
    BUT_ONLY

    from SCS into the game, so that it works for all creatures, not only party characters( as Ardanis suggested).

    The Opcode #295 from the DLTCEP doesn't seem to work, at least I can't get it to work...
    Anyway, big thanks for your effort Avenger!
  • Avenger_teambgAvenger_teambg Member, Developer Posts: 5,862
    well, use 295 for opcode, 0 for parameter1 and 1 for parameter2. That should work... At least for most regular npcs.
  • keetelkeetel Member Posts: 9
    edited February 2017
    Avenger_teambg said:

    well, use 295 for opcode, 0 for parameter1 and 1 for parameter2. That should work... At least for most regular npcs.

    How exactly does one run the command? The chunked animations are starting to annoy.

    Edit: Sigh... I managed to fix it by disabling gore.
    Post edited by keetel on
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,478
    I have noticed that the legacy option "Memory Access" from the original games still works to prevent exploding deaths. Add the following line to the Baldur.lua:
    SetPrivateProfileString('Game Options','Memory Access','0')
  • ChidojuanChidojuan Member Posts: 211
    There's an even simpler fix, stop taking the Bloody Mess Perk. B)
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    You could set the minimum HP of the target critter to -9, since chunking is supposed to happen when the target reaches -10 HP. I don't know if this works, but I've seen an item that set minimum HP to -9, and it was assigned to Shadows. I assumed that the item was there to prevent incorporeal things like Shadows from exploding into chunks.
  • switswit Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 495
    edited July 2019

    As far as I know, the *.BAM - file of the chunk-animation is called "SPFLESH".
    There is no "SPFLESH" BAM or VVC file in BG:EE and BG2:EE. If someone can provide correct name of this animation I will try to code it via "Cast spell on condition", "Immunity to specific animation" opcodes (assigned to all weapons).

    edit: the animation name is "SPCHUNKS". Unfortunately Immunity to this animation doesn't protect CRE from chunk death, so this solution won't work.

    Disable Permanent Death [295] opcode would be a good candidate for this feature if it doesn't disable other forms of "gore" death (ice, stone)

    edit2: As a test I've patched all cre files in game with opcode 295 like this: 

    COPY_EXISTING_REGEXP GLOB ~.*\.cre~ ~override~
    	LPF ADD_CRE_EFFECT INT_VAR opcode = 295 /*Disable Permanent Death*/ target = 1 /*Self*/ parameter2 = 1 /*Stat value*/ timing = 9 /*Instant/Permanent*/ END
    BUT_ONLY
    Looks like it only works on party members unless I've missed something - common folks still chunks with this opcode applied.

    edit3: I give up, Minimum HP -9 also doesn't seem to prevent chunking when applied as a global effect with this code: 

    COPY_EXISTING_REGEXP GLOB ~.*\.cre~ ~override~
    	LPF ADD_CRE_EFFECT INT_VAR opcode = 208 /*Minimum HP*/ target = 1 /*Self*/ parameter1 = "-9" /*HP amount*/ timing = 9 /*Instant/Permanent*/ END
    BUT_ONLY
    Tested with common folk attacked from shadows (damage x3) - always chunks. Same result also for Minimum HP = 0. Opcode works only with positive values.
    Post edited by swit on
  • keetelkeetel Member Posts: 9
    argent77 said:

    I have noticed that the legacy option "Memory Access" from the original games still works to prevent exploding deaths. Add the following line to the Baldur.lua:
    SetPrivateProfileString('Game Options','Memory Access','0')

    I will try this option, but it does work? Only prevents exploding death and not freeze or disintegration?
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