When Journal Portrait Conversations was discussed on the Beamblog among the five mods featured in their PsT:EE mods spotlight, they said that this mod was only possible for Planescape: Torment because of code specific to the Enhanced Edition engine. I don't remember hearing that anywhere on this topic. Did the mod's author mention this fact, did Beamdog just figure it out themselves by looking at the mod's code, or were they wrong about how and why it works?
When Journal Portrait Conversations was discussed on the Beamblog among the five mods featured in their PsT:EE mods spotlight, they said that this mod was only possible for Planescape: Torment because of code specific to the Enhanced Edition engine. I don't remember hearing that anywhere on this topic. Did the mod's author mention this fact, did Beamdog just figure it out themselves by looking at the mod's code, or were they wrong about how and why it works?
The mod uses EEs updated UI. It has capabilities that the original doesn't.
I was able to figure this out with help based on our experience with the other EE UI modding capabilities.
I Think this is a great mod...works beautifully with the Bestiary pics. I actually suggested something like this (before I saw this mod for PST EE, of course) to inXile for something nice to do with wasted UI blank space in the dialogue UI that pops up in TToN, On the right side of the dialogue UI popup ( looking face-on at the screen), there's a symmetrical, matching area corresponding to the image of the PC on the left side of the pop-up. But in most cases in the game, the right blank space stays disconcertingly blank--empty. I suggested to them that this would be the perfect place to rejigger the code to put portraits of the people the PCs are speaking with when the dialogue tree appears--it's really sort of a no-brainer, imo, and would add a lot of depth to the game. So far, though, no go on that implementation in TToN.
But although of course you are pulling the pre-rendered images from the bestiary and using them in the left-hand spot of the dialogue UI in PST EE, I applaud your efforts because it adds a lot of depth to the game! Very nice touch! I have but one small wish about this mod...
...I wish that maybe using Photochop or some other relatively simple means, you could take the images used that repeat for different characters in the dialogue UI and make them all different/unique...;) Like for instance put jewelry on one but none on the other, or a blue shirt on one and a red shirt on the other--or just different-colored hair--eye color, etc., just so that the Dialogue UI images of the different individuals you are conversing with would not sometimes look 100% identical to another individual with a completely different name, etc. As these are static images it wouldn't be very difficult to implement this--but I don't know how easy/hard it would be to shoehorn more images into the bestiary pic reservoir than the game code currently supports, etc. But as I'm sure you see my point--I feel as though you certainly have already thought about it...;) Anyway...even if you can't do it I'd like to say that yours is a mod that should be incorporated into the EE version of the game officially. While it changes nothing fundamental to the game it also adds a great deal to the game's depth! Great mod!
Playing this game, after having owned the CD versions of the original game when it shipped, the later the GOG version, and after having modded the original to the largest possible extent, I still think the EE version here is hands down the best version of the game released so far. And, once more--I love this mod for the EE version...;)
it's hard to do. somehow really really hard. the little touches, subtle changes like jewelry and color of clothes are too superficial to be worth it (it would come out tacky; at least with the same portraits you can try to interpret it as some kind of legitimate abstraction) and bigger changes like facial features, body poses etc are almost impossible because the images are relatively raw 3d renders that don't take well to manipulation, painting over etc.
The installed files will be removed after Uninstall buy the install /setup files will be there. Suggest looking into Weidu for more details.
Thanks Well obviously if the mod is unistalled the files are deleted. This for the mod itself. I tried. But the .exe, the folder that is in the mod archive and other things that appear in the main game folder during installation, stay there when i unistall...
The installed files will be removed after Uninstall buy the install /setup files will be there. Suggest looking into Weidu for more details.
Thanks Well obviously if the mod is unistalled the files are deleted. This for the mod itself. I tried. But the .exe, the folder that is in the mod archive and other things that appear in the main game folder during installation, stay there when i unistall...
What about if i install the mod during my gameplay? A few pages back if i'm not wrong there was a file that solved the portrait question for all the characters in game.
What about if i install the mod during my gameplay? A few pages back if i'm not wrong there was a file that solved the portrait question for all the characters in game.
Is it working?
I recommend starting a new game. Because of the way the infinity engine saves old characters in your saved games, people in areas you've been before and NPC you have won't have portraits. Any other fix anyone else made is used at your own risk and your mileage may vary.
This mod ought to have been a EE feature as far as I'm concerned. They should just patch it in.
However, here's a classification bug which I'm not sure if it's wrong in-game or there's something wrong with the mod: Named skelletons in Dead Nations (Puzzled Skeleton, Skeleton Merchant, Riddling Skeleton), don't display a portrait for some reason. All skeletons and zombies except Stale Mary in Dead Nations seem to not have portraits associated with them.
Is there a way to get all instances of this (like several missflaggings reported here) properly reported to beamdog to get fixed in the next patch? (there probably ought to be one at some point because of the modron maze biffing bug).
There are 4 Gouls in the drowned nations intersection, and 2 of them are missing portraits. These are the two, I think (I'm not sure). Nearinfinity shows multiple male goul .CRE files without portraits.
Male Ghoul (should be JRGHMKN.BMP)
GHOULM02.CRE GHOULM03.CRE
There might be more things to report, as Nearinfinity shows plenty more things which don't have an associated portrait, although many of those things don't have dialogue (but might have scripts of some sort).
portraits are set automatically by script for creatures that have dialogue files associated. If they don't speak, then they don't get changed to have a portrait.
Scripted dialogue creatures are exceptions and would not get portraits assigned. There's no easy way to account for scripted conversations.
Those aren't scripted conversations, which is why I was interested in how exactly did your script choose it's targets as it missed those for no reason I could see.
As far as easy - I can assign them all portraits by hand in Nearinfinity, as well as all things you can't have a conversation with (which do have graphics). The question is could you implement that then? Because right now this otherwise great mod creates a big dissapointment in Dead Nations (where most characters are missed by the script).
Those aren't scripted conversations, which is why I was interested in how exactly did your script choose it's targets as it missed those for no reason I could see.
As far as easy - I can assign them all portraits by hand in Nearinfinity, as well as all things you can't have a conversation with (which do have graphics). The question is could you implement that then? Because right now this otherwise great mod creates a big dissapointment in Dead Nations (where most characters are missed by the script).
I don't really want to implement onesie twosie exceptions. Burned out on that from portraits portraits everywhere.
It would be better to find out what's wrong with the creatures that are missed by the loop.
I don't really want to implement onesie twosie exceptions. Burned out on that from portraits portraits everywhere.
It would be better to find out what's wrong with the creatures that are missed by the loop.
This is essentially why I was asking, something's randomly wrong with these and I'm too noob to tell what. I thought you might be able to tell me what, and then I'd report it to Beamdog to fix it as these have no reason to be exceptions.
Oh, and if the implementation effort is the problem, I wouldn't mind implementing it myself it's just that I'd end up with your mod and a private patch I'd have to keep track of instead of having the portraits mod add portraits (for me and everbody).
Just wanted to say thanks to the creator of this mod. This was one of the only changes I hoped to see in PS:T and I was disappointed they didn't include it. I'm currently making my way through BG2 so it'll be a while before I play PS:T, but I already tested your mod out and, from what I've seen, it works great. Thanks so much for your work.
@smeagolheart Several of them have their dialogues assigned in the Area file, not the CRE file. AR1500.ARE does this a lot.
That would be the Dead Nations, yes?
I reported the whole thing as an official feature request in the bugtesting place. Not the mod as such, but just assigning portraits. It would be really nice if the developers just assigned portraits to all .CRE files in the base game.
@smeagolheart Several of them have their dialogues assigned in the Area file, not the CRE file. AR1500.ARE does this a lot.
Right those unusual assignments are not currently captured by the install script that sets portraits. It looks for creatures with dialogue, not scripted conversions.
I'm not sure how to handle those exceptions. I'd prefer not to individually assign portraits but another scripted way to capture them in case someday Beamdog or a mod was to add more characters with scripted dialogues.
I'm not sure how to handle those exceptions. I'd prefer not to individually assign portraits but another scripted way to capture them in case someday Beamdog or a mod was to add more characters with scripted dialogues.
This procedure should catch them: 1. Scan all ARE files for actor structures 2. If actor structure provides a valid DLG resref then apply portrait code to the associated CRE file
I just want to mention that actors can also be defined in INI files. A good example is AR0300.INI which contains a number of merchant entries with dialog references. I don't know if you miss any creatures when you skip this part though. It seems most creatures defined in INI files are simply duplicates of actors from ARE files.
Just a question - why not simply hit all .CRE files?
That way he'd only miss Ilquix who needs portrait adjustment added to his transformation?
Because then that adds a copy of all creatures to the override which might make an issue in disk space and it will increase the install time quite a bit longer
Because then that adds a copy of all creatures to the override which might make an issue in disk space and it will increase the install time quite a bit longer
My override folder with your mod in it and about 5 other mods including UB is only 7 1/2 megs. And the .cre files in it (which this mod creates) are 2 KB each, meaning not very significant.
There are 1113 .CRE files in the game. You're missing around 97. In terms of making the install longer it's not even 10% more .CRE files.
So the only significant difference between how it is now and just hitting all the .CRE files is randomly not having portraits in for a bunch of monsters.
EDIT: Oh, and if it's really that simple, and you whip up a script which just associates all the .CRE files and their portraits, it's possible that a formal request to implement that association will be accepted. If that happens then you've cut down install time significantly.
Comments
I was able to figure this out with help based on our experience with the other EE UI modding capabilities.
But although of course you are pulling the pre-rendered images from the bestiary and using them in the left-hand spot of the dialogue UI in PST EE, I applaud your efforts because it adds a lot of depth to the game! Very nice touch! I have but one small wish about this mod...
...I wish that maybe using Photochop or some other relatively simple means, you could take the images used that repeat for different characters in the dialogue UI and make them all different/unique...;) Like for instance put jewelry on one but none on the other, or a blue shirt on one and a red shirt on the other--or just different-colored hair--eye color, etc., just so that the Dialogue UI images of the different individuals you are conversing with would not sometimes look 100% identical to another individual with a completely different name, etc. As these are static images it wouldn't be very difficult to implement this--but I don't know how easy/hard it would be to shoehorn more images into the bestiary pic reservoir than the game code currently supports, etc. But as I'm sure you see my point--I feel as though you certainly have already thought about it...;) Anyway...even if you can't do it I'd like to say that yours is a mod that should be incorporated into the EE version of the game officially. While it changes nothing fundamental to the game it also adds a great deal to the game's depth! Great mod!
Playing this game, after having owned the CD versions of the original game when it shipped, the later the GOG version, and after having modded the original to the largest possible extent, I still think the EE version here is hands down the best version of the game released so far. And, once more--I love this mod for the EE version...;)
Mod runs fine! Is this the right way to install it?
And what about if i want to unistall?
Thanks!
After unistalled, i've to manually delete all the files related to the mods?
Well obviously if the mod is unistalled the files are deleted. This for the mod itself. I tried. But the .exe, the folder that is in the mod archive and other things that appear in the main game folder during installation, stay there when i unistall...
When you say 'Buy', you mean 'But'?
Is it working?
This mod ought to have been a EE feature as far as I'm concerned. They should just patch it in.
However, here's a classification bug which I'm not sure if it's wrong in-game or there's something wrong with the mod: Named skelletons in Dead Nations (Puzzled Skeleton, Skeleton Merchant, Riddling Skeleton), don't display a portrait for some reason.All skeletons and zombies except Stale Mary in Dead Nations seem to not have portraits associated with them.Is there a way to get all instances of this (like several missflaggings reported here) properly reported to beamdog to get fixed in the next patch? (there probably ought to be one at some point because of the modron maze biffing bug).
These are all skeletons in the dead nations who lack portraits and ought to have them:
DN_MERCH.CRE
DN_SKEL.CRE
DN_SKEL1.CRE
DN_SKEL2.CRE
DN_SKEL3.CRE
DN_SKEL4.CRE
DN_SKEL5.CRE
DN_SKEL6.CRE
DN_SKEL7.CRE
DN_SKEL8.CRE
DN_DOUBT.CRE
DOUBTFUL.CRE
PUZZLED.CRE
RIDDLING.CRE
They all ought to be: JRSKWKN.BMP
These are the zombies in Dead Nations
Female (should be JRZMFKN.BMP )
NONAMEZ.CRE
DN_ZOMF.CRE
DN_ZOMF1.CRE
DN_ZOMF2.CRE
DN_ZOMF3.CRE
DN_ZOMF4.CRE
DN_ZOMF5.CRE
DN_ZOMF6.CRE
Male (should be JRZMMKN.BMP)
DN_ZOMM.CRE
DN_ZOMM1.CRE
DN_ZOMM2.CRE
DN_ZOMM3.CRE
DN_ZOMM4.CRE
DN_ZOMM5.CRE
DN_ZOMM6.CRE
There are 4 Gouls in the drowned nations intersection, and 2 of them are missing portraits. These are the two, I think (I'm not sure). Nearinfinity shows multiple male goul .CRE files without portraits.
Male Ghoul (should be JRGHMKN.BMP)
GHOULM02.CRE
GHOULM03.CRE
There might be more things to report, as Nearinfinity shows plenty more things which don't have an associated portrait, although many of those things don't have dialogue (but might have scripts of some sort).
Scripted dialogue creatures are exceptions and would not get portraits assigned. There's no easy way to account for scripted conversations.
As far as easy - I can assign them all portraits by hand in Nearinfinity, as well as all things you can't have a conversation with (which do have graphics). The question is could you implement that then? Because right now this otherwise great mod creates a big dissapointment in Dead Nations (where most characters are missed by the script).
It would be better to find out what's wrong with the creatures that are missed by the loop.
Oh, and if the implementation effort is the problem, I wouldn't mind implementing it myself it's just that I'd end up with your mod and a private patch I'd have to keep track of instead of having the portraits mod add portraits (for me and everbody).
AR1500.ARE does this a lot.
I reported the whole thing as an official feature request in the bugtesting place. Not the mod as such, but just assigning portraits. It would be really nice if the developers just assigned portraits to all .CRE files in the base game.
I'm not sure how to handle those exceptions. I'd prefer not to individually assign portraits but another scripted way to capture them in case someday Beamdog or a mod was to add more characters with scripted dialogues.
1. Scan all ARE files for actor structures
2. If actor structure provides a valid DLG resref then apply portrait code to the associated CRE file
I just want to mention that actors can also be defined in INI files. A good example is AR0300.INI which contains a number of merchant entries with dialog references. I don't know if you miss any creatures when you skip this part though. It seems most creatures defined in INI files are simply duplicates of actors from ARE files.
That way he'd only miss Ilquix who needs portrait adjustment added to his transformation?
There are 1113 .CRE files in the game. You're missing around 97. In terms of making the install longer it's not even 10% more .CRE files.
So the only significant difference between how it is now and just hitting all the .CRE files is randomly not having portraits in for a bunch of monsters.
EDIT: Oh, and if it's really that simple, and you whip up a script which just associates all the .CRE files and their portraits, it's possible that a formal request to implement that association will be accepted. If that happens then you've cut down install time significantly.