Big item description standardization & update

lujo

I'm about to attempt to make a mod which standardizes templating for items, as well as brings it around to 2018. It ought to make the game more accessible to potential new players, and clear things up for old players as well. It's often pretty difficult to tell what things even do. This can be helped, and I'll do it.

I just need one thing cleared up by people with more modding experience. How do I actually DO this? I've downloaded Near Infinity and it seems pretty straightforward, but are there things to look out for? I'm just looking to go through the descriptions for items, how do I make my changes a distributable mod?

Thanks in advance

Doubledimas

Sounds like you need to learn how to mod. You might want to have a look here as it is full of tutorials on how to mod. Also, in the Wild Surge publications there is a (now) five-part modding tutorial by @LavaDelVortel although I don't know if there is a part on modding items.

lujo

Thank you for the link, and yes, I'd indeed like to learn how to mod.

However, this mod looks to be simpler than one which would require much knowledge of modding. Nearinfinity lists all the items in the game and I can use it to edit them, it seems. Since all I'd be editing are descriptions, this seems quite straightforward.

The question is then how to make my changes distributable and self-extracting the way other mods are? Which I suppose I can google up, too, but I thought maybe if it simple someone who knew how you do it might just tell me.

So it's not so much about actual modding as it's about making a PST:EE self extracting mod weidu thingy.

CamDawg

This is actually one of the easier things to write a mod for. Grab a copy of WeiDU, name it setup-mymod.exe*, make a folder named mymod, and then make a text file inside that called setup-mymod.tp2. Inside that text file goes just this:

BACKUP ~mymod/backup~ 
AUTHOR ~you@you.com~ // email address displayed if install fails

BEGIN ~Standardize PsT:EE Item Descriptions~

STRING_SET     
66289 ~new descript for Scent of the Storm~
11995 ~new descript for Adahn's Dagger~

The list at the bottom is the key, and can be extended as long as you want. The number on the left is the string reference which you can get from NI--enable Options > Show Strrefs in View Tab. Item descriptions will now have a "(Strref: 11995)" at the end; that's the number that goes on the left. The new description goes on the right; just wrap it in tildes.

* Replace 'mymod' with whatever you want to name your mod.

lujo

Thank you very, very much! I chose this particular thing because I suspected it to not be very difficult to do, thank you, thank you, thank yuo

One small question - the new description, how do I note line breaks? Row breaks?

CamDawg

Exactly what's between the tildes is exactly how it'll be in the game, line breaks and all.

However, I did think of one potential problem--you may want to use UTF-8 in your new strings, so we'll use something called a tra file instead. Basically this externalizes the new text into a separate file, and then you call in those references with @ signs. The above becomes instead

BACKUP ~mymod/backup~ 
AUTHOR ~you@you.com~ // email address displayed if install fails

BEGIN ~Standardize PsT:EE Item Descriptions~

LOAD_TRA ~mymod/mymod.tra~

STRING_SET     
66289 @66289
11995 @11995

You can make those @ numbers whatever you want as long as they match the same numbers in your tra file, but I would suggest using the same number as the strings you're replacing to help keep it organized.

This approach requires a new text file, mymod.tra, inside your mymod folder. This file should be encoded as UTF-8--if you're on Windows, use Notepad to create a new file and then Save as... and select UTF-8 in the dropdown at the bottom--and will consist of stuff like:

@11995 = ~ADAHN'S DAGGER
Damage: 2-5 Piercing
Enchanted: +1
THAC0: +1
Speed: 1
Weight: 0
Proficiency: Edged
Not usable by Priests

This is a gift you received from Adahn when you bid him farewell in the Smoldering Corpse Bar. It's a featureless metal dagger with a gold plated hilt. It is difficult to get a feel for its balance, as it is almost weightless. The dagger blade itself is made of some strange metal that shifts as you watch it, changing from silver, to bronze, to gold.~
@66289 = ~SCENT OF THE STORM
Invokes: "Acid Storm"

This is a perfume bottle. A small atomizer is attached to the bottle that produces a fine mist when used. There seems to be a small amount of liquid left in the bottle.

Spraying this into the air will call forth a storm of acid to fall upon your enemies.~

lujo

Alright, I made a nice cleanup of all Tattoo descriptions in PST:EE and was going to test it but I can't find a working WeiDU link.

Does anyone have a copy to send me or know of a working link?

hook71

Try here: http://forums.pocketplane.net/index.php/topic,29731.0.html

lujo

First alpha: describemod v0.1-alpha1

This is my very first attempt at any kind of PST Mod, so bear with me. I've so far edited the descriptions only for tattoo's. They are a big mess templating wise, and once I'm happy with a new template I'm pretty sure it would be a good idea to just apply the changes to the base game.

It should be safe to apply the mod without having to restart the game. Just unzip to the game folder and run the installer.

Changelog:

• Removed all instances of "Weight: 0" from tattoo descriptions.
  
• Moved party member / class restrictions to the top
  
• Made everything clearer
  
• Added the nubers of initial charges to invoke effects
  
• Added spell effect summaries for spells invoked
  
• Added XP numbers to XP bonuses invoked
  
• Added MUCH NEEDED usage instructions
  
• Standardized tattoo expiration warnings
  
• Fixed some typos
  
• did about 5-6 template revisions until I was happy with things
  

lujo

I ran into a small but significant problem. If I can get assistance on this it could actually help with future translations and such.

Items can have both a general description and an identified description. Now there seems to be no order to which items have only their general description, which have only the identified description and which have both. Even when they don't need two descriptions, as they're the same when identified and when not identified, or they have such low lore requirements that you'll never see their general description (if that's what makes the other one kick in).

I'm perfectly capable and willing to sort this whole mess out, as can be seen from my attempts to get the item weights standardized and oderly. But I need to know HOW exactly to report this. How exactly does it work, so that I can easily give instructions about what needs to be done about which item, and which descrtiption to give items which don't need identifying.

@JuliusBorisov , if you don't mind me namedropping you, you are the boss as I understand it, so I need to ask you. I'll report it all on the official report channel, I just need the proper format for the report which is going to include a lot of items which will need a string removed (or changed to "no such refference").

JuliusBorisov

@lujo thanks for all the recent reports both on this forum and on the Redmine. You should really only make a report if it makes a difference in the game. Making things tidy in the editor is not a priority.

lujo

JuliusBorisov said:

@lujo thanks for all the recent reports both on this forum and on the Redmine. You should really only make a report if it makes a difference in the game. Making things tidy in the editor is not a priority.

The problem with that is that this issue makes translating, moding descriptions and reporting text issues about 2X as difficult unless it's fixed. Any item whatsoever can seemingly have 2 descriptions and they're not both accessible from the main Nearinfinity window, but you have to dig for it. (And this isn't obvious to people making reports and it might not even be obvious to people making corrections, which could easily result in more mess visible in-game.)

Which means that all the stuff I reported when it comes to text errors I have to go recheck now and probably report the pointless "other" streff for it too. Pointless work for me, pointless work for whoever gets to apply those corrections.

And my nice templating up there is going to take re-checking every single Tattoo for the other streff again, and then for every one that randomly has both descriptions it's going to take making entries in both the .tra file and the .tp2 file.

Also, they both need translating if you want a translation. And if you're PAYING for a translation you're looking at a load of pointless text that you're paying for which shouldn't even be there. But you have to translate it otherwise you get random untranslated pannels of text whenever it crops up. And if you're getting a pro-bono translation the poor guy or girl making it has pointless extra work to do.

Why don't we just get it nice and fixed? I have to go through all the items again because of it anyway. I'll just make a list, and that's kind of all it takes. Applying the changes can probably be scripted.

JuliusBorisov

Tagging @Coriander as the one who is responsible for the Translation tool.

Coriander

@lujo You should coordinate your effort with the translation community. They may already have the information you're working on.

@CamDawg could likely produce a weidu script for you that compares the strrefs automatically and checks the items lore values.