Skip to content

[MOD] Animal Companions for Rangers and Druids (for BG1EE, SOD, BG2EE, EET)

UlbUlb Member Posts: 295
edited September 2018 in General Modding
Heya,
I have finally gotten around to updating my Animal Companions mod for the EEs.

I'll leave a short description down below. You can find more information on the mod's download page over at the Spellhold Studios or check out the readme which contains detailed information about each animal companion.


Overview:
With this mod all ranger and druid (optional) characters will gain the 'Find Animal Companion' ability.

Upon using your 'Find Animal Companion' ability, you will be able to pick an animal companion
from a list of available animals in your current area. (If there is no animal to your liking in a given
area, you can of course try it again in another area.)

Once you've picked your new animal friend, it will follow you around on your adventures and even
increase in power as you do.

NOTE: I should add that this mod only allows main character rangers/druids to get an animal companion. NPC characters are not affected.
It is also compatible with all kit mods and can be installed in any order.


So, should you choose to check out the mod, I'd be happy to hear from you about that. :)

UPDATE 9.26:
Added IWD1EE compatibility (untested but should work since its a very minor addition code wise).
Post edited by Ulb on
«134

Comments

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • UlbUlb Member Posts: 295
    Apart from patching one item and one spell, there is very little that could mess up any other mod or be messed up by another one.. so I think you can actually put this where ever you want. :)

    Go ahead with the weidu code.. :)

  • AWizardDidItAWizardDidIt Member Posts: 202
    Oh this is badass! I'd love to give this a try on my next playthrough!
  • Cal_ElCal_El Member Posts: 56
    Love this concept. It would be good if there was an Innate ability like Faldorns Summon Dread Wolf. Or even an item with daily charges (1-3 a day) but limited to Druid/Ranger classes only.

    Summons like Bear/Wolf/Feline/Wyvern/Spider(too dark?)/Hound etc

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • IllustairIllustair Member Posts: 878
    edited April 2016
    Would there be a conflict (or a romance option for that matter) between Boo and the groundhog companion?

    This looks awesome btw. Thanks
  • UlbUlb Member Posts: 295
    edited April 2016
    Cal_El said:

    Love this concept. It would be good if there was an Innate ability like Faldorns Summon Dread Wolf. Or even an item with daily charges (1-3 a day) but limited to Druid/Ranger classes only.

    Summons like Bear/Wolf/Feline/Wyvern/Spider(too dark?)/Hound etc


    Well, you can send your animal companion away and then call them back via an innate ability.. you can do that as often as you like.
    subtledoctor said:

    Hmm. So, do you grant the spell to the player via an AddSpell action triggered in an area script?

    So this is a Charname-only thing?

    Ah, yes maybe I should have mentioned that. It is a charname only thing, just like the find familiar spell does nothing for npc mages.

    Also, the most prominent NPC ranger already comes wiht his own companion. :smile:
    Illustair said:

    Would there be a conflict (or a romance option for that matter) between Boo and the groundhog companion?

    This looks awesome btw. Thanks

    Thank you.
    And no, no conflicts.
    I have no talent for writing so creating more elaborate banters is not for me.
    Post edited by Ulb on
  • IchigoRXCIchigoRXC Member Posts: 1,001
    Definitely going to follow this. Gonna have to try it out for sure!
  • AedanAedan Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 8,551
    Nice!
    Why don't you add some screenshots in the OP? It would be lovely :)
  • UlbUlb Member Posts: 295
    Hm, there isn't really much to see. The animals look.. well, like animals and you can see their portraits on the download page and in the readme.
    Gald you like it though. :)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • IllustairIllustair Member Posts: 878
    Off topic. I remember your name. You're the one who made the portrait pack before incl the one you're using now, right? I'm a fan of your work. Have you made more? Just asking
  • UlbUlb Member Posts: 295
    Illustair said:

    Off topic. I remember your name. You're the one who made the portrait pack before incl the one you're using now, right? I'm a fan of your work. Have you made more? Just asking

    Aye, that was me.
    I think I've got one or two unreleased portraits lying around.

    I've been meaning to re-touch some of the ones already released since I made them with classic BG portrait sizes in mind and some look rather rough on higher resolutions.

    Once I'm done with that I'll throw the other ones out there as well.

    I'm really happy you liked them so much. :)

  • UlbUlb Member Posts: 295
    subtledoctor said:


    I expected it to use CLAB files, and was going to suggest some code that could extend it out indefinitely to work with mod kits. But your solution using scripts already achieves that. :)

    Yeah, if there is a lazy way to do it, I'll find it. :)
  • comebackhomecomebackhome Member Posts: 254
    In terms of gameplay has any had any feedback on how strong these companions are? Looking at incorporating into my play through
  • NoobaccaNoobacca Member Posts: 139
    edited April 2016
    Looks like an awesome mod! I've downloaded it and placed it in my BG/SoD folder but it doesn't seem to install properly (it says it can't find the dialogue.tlk file?). Any tips for a mod noob? Cheers!
    Edit: I did a bit of reading and found how to fix the dialog.tlk file from CamDawg's post here which alows the setup to start up as per usual (it asks what language I would like, whether to open the readme file and whether to install the mod). However, when I hit [I] to install the mod, I get an error and am unable to install it. This is also the first mod I've installed since downloading SoD as well so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it...

    Edit 2: Might help if I mentioned the error...

    Post edited by Noobacca on
  • UlbUlb Member Posts: 295
    edited April 2016
    Hey, sorry for the late answer.

    @Noobacca
    Do you use the GoG/Steam version of SoD and if so, did you by chance not yet use the modmerge tool?

    You will need to use this tool first to make your game "modd-able": https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/50441/modmerge-merge-your-steam-gog-zip-based-dlc-into-something-weidu-nearinfinity-dltcep-can-use#latest

    If this error still occurs afterwards, please let me know.

    @comebackhome
    Sorry, I haven't had much feedback on their strength yet. They should be a bit weaker than a real NPC though.
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,215
    if you would be interested in making animal companions for npcs too, you can check the code of my mod "more style for mages" where I made "familiars for npcs" component.
  • NoobaccaNoobacca Member Posts: 139
    edited April 2016
    @Ulb No, I bought SoD through the Beamdog client. It's odd because I can find the area bif's (AR01XX.bif etc) but I have no idea what the last error line means:

    Sys_error("%MOD_FOLDER%/lib/handle_charsets.tpa: No such file or directory")

    I don't have any folders in the game directory called "mod_folder" :neutral:

    Thanks for getting back to me though. Dying to try this out because rangers are always my go to pick for PC's and it looks like heaps of fun!

    Edit: Ah! Found the handle_charsets.tpa file (I'm so silly!). Does that mean the mod is looking for the folder called "Mod_folder" and not "AnimalCompanion"?
    Post edited by Noobacca on
  • UlbUlb Member Posts: 295
    edited April 2016
    @Noobacca
    Hm yeah, %modfolder% should be a variable and resolve to the current mod's folder.. or so I assumed. I can install the mod just fine on my installation so I'm not sure what the problem is. You could try to just replaced %modfolder% with animalcompanions and see if that works.



    @Pecca Thanks for the offer, though for now I have no plans to do that. :)
  • NoobaccaNoobacca Member Posts: 139
    I tried replacing %modfolder% with animalcompanions but I get the same error. Most peculiar!
  • UlbUlb Member Posts: 295
    Hm, could you try to install an other mod? Just to see if this is a problem specifically with animal companions or maybe something else.
  • NoobaccaNoobacca Member Posts: 139
    Ulb said:

    Hm, could you try to install an other mod? Just to see if this is a problem specifically with animal companions or maybe something else.

    I just installed Rogue Rebalancing without any errors. Maybe @subtledoctor could shed some light on this as he's looked through the code..?
  • UlbUlb Member Posts: 295
    Yes, to be honest I'm a bit lost. When it comes to using WeiDU much of what I do is try and error and since I get no errors on my end the "try" part is very hard right now. :)

    The confusing part is that your installation fails long before WeiDU should actually do anything to your game files. You are supposed to get two prompts, asking you whether to include druids and asking you for the name of your animal companion first.

    Yet, WeiDU complains about not being able to load those biffs.. I don't see why it even wants to load those biffs at that point (since you were able to install RR without an error it must be caused by my mod).

    The only thing I can think of right now is that it is either related to different game versions (I use the GoG version) or maybe your installation directory. (I have heard using C:/program files/.. is a bad idea since it might prevent weidu form changing data, but again, you installed RR without problems so this is unlikely the cause.)

    As a last resort I will turn to the dark side and ask the master of WeiDU logs for help, stay tuned!
  • UlbUlb Member Posts: 295
    For anyone else reading this: If you isntalled this mod I would really appreciate it if you could just leave a quick note as to whether you encountered any issues or not and which game version you were using.
  • UlbUlb Member Posts: 295
    edited May 2016
    @Noobacca I've consulted with my local expert and it seems that I just forgot to include an up-to-date version of WeiDu with my mod when I made it EE compatible. (Thanks to the Imp for his help.)

    I will upload a new version later but for now you should be able to install the mod by just trying it again. (WeiDu should auto-update from the RR WeiDu mod that is now in your game directory. That mechanic is probably also why no one else complained about it; as long as there is another mod WeiDu will automatically update itself.


    Sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you.
  • UlbUlb Member Posts: 295
    Mod has been updated to version 1.1

    Changelog:


    Updated WeiDu installer to latest version
    Added french translation (Thanks to Gwendolyne)

  • NoobaccaNoobacca Member Posts: 139
    @Ulb Thanks for chasing that up mate, that awesome. I'll try it out when I get home from work!
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    @Ulb I recalled I translated your mod some time ago, but totally forgot about it. Here's a .tra of Polish translation. If you could squeeze it for next version, it would be splendid :)
  • UlbUlb Member Posts: 295
    edited May 2016
    Cahir said:

    @Ulb I recalled I translated your mod some time ago, but totally forgot about it. Here's a .tra of Polish translation. If you could squeeze it for next version, it would be splendid :)

    'edit' Hey, looks like you missed two lines.

    line 16 and line 56 are missing from your tra file, causing any polish installation to fail right now.
Sign In or Register to comment.

2024 Overhaul Games, a division of Beamdog. © 2024 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Baldur's Gate, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, Baldur's Gate, Wizards of the Coast and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries, and are used with permission. Hasbro and its logo are trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. and are used with permission. © 1998 BioWare Corp. All Rights Reserved. BioWare, the BioWare Infinity Engine and the BioWare logo are trademarks of Bioware Corp. Black Isle Studios and the Black Isle Studios logo are trademarks of Interplay Entertainment Corp. Atari and the Atari logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.