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New version of Sword Coast Stratagems (v32) available

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  • KrabatorKrabator Member Posts: 53
    DavidW wrote: »
    Don't look for subtle explanations of 'Fear'. Some ancient SCS code, presumably written when I was feeling lazy (and/or before a lot of modern tools were available) gives Fear regeneration just by giving him 'trollreg', rather than by applying an effect. The way 'trollreg' is implemented in EE (especially if the SCS troll-regeneration component is installed) then screws up Fear.

    Fixed locally; thanks for the report.

    Hello, is there any way to fix it on an existing install please ?
    I don't want to reinstall everything just for that :(
  • AasimAasim Member Posts: 591
    Krabator wrote: »

    Hello, is there any way to fix it on an existing install please ?
    I don't want to reinstall everything just for that :(

    He can be killed regardless, the bug doesn't always happen. If u use Nearifinity you can remove the trollreg item from him.
  • polymorphedsquirrelpolymorphedsquirrel Member Posts: 114
    edited June 2019
    1. Standard problem on mobile SoD: the script tries to patch some non-existing areas.
    In components 'replace +1 weapons with non-magical): AR1401

    I know that SoD isn't in the main sphere of interests of SCS, but as it contains a lot of features other than AI, people like to have other modifications consistent between games.

    2. Unresolved VCS merge in stratagems.ini; troll_regen_multiplication is defined twice.

    3. Likely not an issue with SCS itself, but the Emily NPC (1.33) breaks the 'Better NPC customization' component. Even if it's a bug in the NPC mod, it would be cool if instead of failing to install the component only printed a warning and ignored that particular NPC. End of file, script X3MILY.
    Post edited by polymorphedsquirrel on
  • DavidWDavidW Member Posts: 823
    (2) is now fixed locally; thanks.
    (3) is a consequence of a general issue with that component (you're right, it didn't like spaces); also fixed locally.

    I don't understand (1). AR1401 is the Ankheg area: it's present on my version of SoD. Is this something about the mobile version specifically? If so, you're probably on your own: I already support 7 different versions of the game and I don't think I can cope with managing mobile versions too, especially as I'm trying hard not to look at the code of SoD until I have a chance for a playthrough myself.
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    @DavidW And about the Gnoll Stronghold component, any chance?
  • DavidWDavidW Member Posts: 823
    @Raduziel: not any time soon, sorry (I'll consider it, but I've got a long backlog of my own projects first).
  • polymorphedsquirrelpolymorphedsquirrel Member Posts: 114
    edited June 2019
    @DawidW Yeah, SoD on both mobile platforms is standalone - they don't include the BG1 campaign, and although they seem to have all items and creatures from it, some/most/all of original areas are naturally missing. I don't know if the 'masterwork weapons' component modifies the existing files (+1 weapons literally become masterworks) or if it replaces all their usage with new items. The first is simpler and should in principle work on SoD, too - maybe a missing area could be skipped with a warning instead of producing an install failure? It's a bit of a 'fingers crossed' approach, but it seems that it works for many mods.

    But if you haven't had the time in last four years to play SoD yourself than I guess I have no right to have any expectations here, go play it instead!

    Encouraged by the fixes, I thought I'd also point out that the 'Better NPC customization' component takes more time on B!Gavin (BGEE) than all the rest of the installation. Not exactly a problem (at least until something worse manifests), but might be worth giving it a glance.

    Post edited by polymorphedsquirrel on
  • GusindaGusinda Member Posts: 1,917
    Hi @polymorphedsquirrel, I haven't had any problems installing this version of SCS onto the mobile platform (Android) using the method discussed previously. Works fine, although in some instances, it bogs down due to the low processing power of mobile devices. You just need to be wary of conflicts with some other mods.

    Gus
  • ramirami Member Posts: 17
    Wooow, great update for SCS thank you for keeping your work on this superb mod! :):):)
  • ramirami Member Posts: 17
    edited June 2019
    Found a bug or feature?(v32) maybe... if i turn on standard KI and the mages autocast things like stoneskin and armor mage selfbuff they will have something like improved alacrity casting speed for a short time mb 1-2 rounds, they can cast everythin instantly what is op^^

    if already patched in newer version: i have megamod installation, can i update my scs32 to scs32.3 without reinstall the whole megamod?
  • DavidWDavidW Member Posts: 823
    Intentional.
  • Minsc2017Minsc2017 Member Posts: 34
    edited July 2019
    Very excited to try out this update - it motivated me to update from v2.3 to v2.5.

    DavidW, two questions:

    1. Since your difficulty slider replaces the old vanilla slider, how are the vanilla difficulties being handled?

    Specifically if I choose your Hardcore setting, I see GAMEDIFFICULTY = 5 in my global variables. Under vanilla, Core Rules was GAMEDIFFICULTY = 4. So now that my GAMEDIFFICULTY = 5, am I also getting vanilla Hard (i.e. opponents do 50% more damage?) Or do I now default to Core Rule regardless of SCS Difficulty?

    I almost always stay on Core Rules, but is there a way to select vanilla (Easy, Normal, Core Rules, Hard, Insane) independently of SCS difficulty?


    2. I've played a lot of BG2EE v2.3 with SCS30 (or 31), and I love it. Specifically I preferred "Mages never cast short-duration spells instantly at start of combat". Does that correspond to the new Mage pre-cast setting IMPROVED? Maybe it's not that different than TACTICAL since most of those bastards use triggers to put up a lot of short-term spells anyway (which I'm perfectly fine with).

    Thanks for all the work
    Post edited by Minsc2017 on
  • DavidWDavidW Member Posts: 823
    1. It’s in the readme, but SCS turns off (most of) the game-mechanical effects of the slider. If you want to turn them on again, just click the button on the gameplay options page.
    2. Yes, pretty much. Though v32 is a bit more fine-grained about what counts as ‘short duration’. I think I’d suggest trying ‘tactical’ for this, and scaling it down to ‘improved’ if it’s too much.
  • Minsc2017Minsc2017 Member Posts: 34
    edited July 2019
    DavidW wrote: »
    1. It’s in the readme, but SCS turns off (most of) the game-mechanical effects of the slider. If you want to turn them on again, just click the button on the gameplay options page.
    2. Yes, pretty much. Though v32 is a bit more fine-grained about what counts as ‘short duration’. I think I’d suggest trying ‘tactical’ for this, and scaling it down to ‘improved’ if it’s too much.

    Thanks, the readme is very good but I misinterpreted it to expect a button that would toggle the difficulty slider back to its original format. I now understand how it works.

    I've had a chance to play a few hours and the new SCS is incredible. I know I'm biased but BG2+SCS just blows away all the new-generation isometric rpg's. I exclusively like to play permadeath without any cheesing (by my definition), and your work is the only way I can tweak myself the correct challenge.

    There are a lot of subtle changes I appreciate. I like how the spell protection removal descriptions now list all the affected spells. I like how spell protection removals don't count against the creature summon limit (I know how a lot of spells use the invisible summons trick... I was always annoyed when something like Secret Word gave me 'You cannot control more than 5 monsters at any given time"!)

    I have a couple of trivial feedbacks which I'll post later (e.g. the Antimagic Shell not seeming to work as described, can't remove it via secret word, ruby ray, etc... only by Spellstrike.)

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Separate Topic >>

    My modding is very limited, but I have one thing you might be interested in: "more fair" versions of Mislead and Project Image.

    e.g. my Mislead does the following:

    - Create clone that can't move, and can't be made invisible

    - Clone has a 30' line-of-sight tether to PC. Clone dies if this LOS is broken. You get a 6 second warning if you violate the tether (either by moving > 30' away, or by breaking LOS. The warning gives you 6 seconds to move back toward the clone and return to LOS).

    - Clone lasts 6 rounds (while caster's improved invisibility duration is the same as per original spell)

    So you can no longer hide the clone behind a door, around a corner, or even move > 30' away without killing the clone. The clone is forced to truly act as a visible, accessible decoy and give enemies a fair chance against it. I tweaked the parameters until I found myself treating Mislead roughly on par with PfMW, Improved Haste, etc.

    If you're interested I'd be happy to send you my kludgey code!
    Post edited by Minsc2017 on
  • DavidWDavidW Member Posts: 823
    Glad you're liking it - and do send those feedback when you have a chance. (Antimagic Shell is an interesting case, and I'm not sure how exactly it should work. It's intentional that only Spellstrike removes it - in fact, the vanilla version isn't removed even by Spellstrike, so that's an SCS change - but it might not be the best choice.)

    Will think about Mislead/Pro-Im - those sound like cool changes - but I mostly don't borrow other people's code for SCS because I have enough trouble keeping track of my own code.
  • Minsc2017Minsc2017 Member Posts: 34
    edited July 2019
    Very Cool.


    Antimagic Shell
    Yeah, I figured that may be the intended behavior re. only Spellstrike. So the spell descriptions for Secret Word, etc. should be modified to remove Antimagic Shell as an affected spell. Personally A.S. is the only IWD spell I'm disallowing in my game for the moment, for the same reasons I always disallow scrolls of magic protection/protection from undead. Particularly on a dual fighter/mage, it feels WAY too overpowered against mages, liches, beholders, etc. On a fighter-mage with a few decent item buffs, I tested it against multiple lich01.CRE, BEHOLD01.cre and it's a slaughter.

    In theory, I see how the right AI could make it a little more fair. In particular, it currently dispels everything on the caster (not sure if intended? description mentions dispelling feeblemind/deafness, but it currently dispels all buffs. I'm totally in favor of dispelling all prebuffs, without which it's even more overpowered).

    So on a single-class mage, a summoned demon would absolutely shred you as you're sitting there with no PfMW, stoneskin, no protection from fear, etc. and no way to restore them. But at the moment against a couple of summoned lich01.CRE, they mostly try to melee me instead of summoning something. Poor LAVOK01.CRE wanders around helplessly casting defensive spells, etc.

    Anyway, it feels like it would be a ton of work for you to change every caster's AI for the sake of this one new spell. My personal vote would be to disallow it or maybe very heavily nerf it to a few rounds or something.


    Mislead
    I'd give you my amateurish code outright to do with as you see fit. I don't remotely have the knowledge to create a standalone mod, and frankly it would be pointless even if I did. Without it being part of SCS, no one would ever use it.

    Most importantly, it has a hardcoded kludge to keep track of the tether between the close and caster. I couldn't make it work with something like LastSummonerOf(Myself) in the clone's AI script, and it would require your knowledge to fix if it's even possible.



    Will post a couple of small bugs in another post!
  • CyberfanCyberfan Member Posts: 10
    edited July 2019
    Hello DavidW

    I've got a problem installing the mod on my BGEE v. 2.5.17.0

    After unpacking the initial "stratagems-v32.3.exe" archive into the game's directory I get the error whenever I launch "setup-stratagems.exe"

    "The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you're running. Check your computer's system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the program, and then contact the software publisher."

    I own Windows 7 Home premium 32-bit SP1.

    Any ideas? :/
  • ALIENALIEN Member Posts: 1,271
    @Cyberfan The best solution is to install Windows 64-bit, the workaround is described here: https://www.gibberlings3.net/forums/topic/29961-scs-on-32-bit-windows-machines/
  • CyberfanCyberfan Member Posts: 10
    Shit. I'm out of luck then. I don't have the option to install 64-bit right now. Thanks anyway.
  • Minsc2017Minsc2017 Member Posts: 34
    edited July 2019
    I tried to be careful that all these comments actually apply to SCS v32.3 and not to one of my own files or another mod.


    Cause Light Wounds SPPR117
    double counts damage (has two HP Damage effects)


    Cause Serious Wounds sppr428, Cause Critical Wounds sppr524
    restricted to evil only (readme says this should be removed. The lower level cause wound spells do correctly have the alignment restriction removed)


    Storm Shell sppr328
    currently stacks with itself (possible this is intended? I don't quite remember which elemental protection spells don't self-stack by default, vs. which spells I have modded to make sure they don't self-stack)


    Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Globe of Invulnerability

    spwi406 dwsw406 dw#mlglb
    spwi602 dwsw602 jwglobe

    Are all the mGoI/GoI spells intended to be non-dispellable in SCS? I'm guessing they are, in which case there's no issue.

    But do you have strong feelings about this dispellable vs. non-dispellable option from a balance perspective? I'm aware of the discrepancy between the original manual description for mGoI/GoI "The globe can be brought down by a successful Dispel Magic spell" and the actual behavior.

    In my SCS v30 game, I modified some atweaks code to make them all dispellable.
    ~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #103 // Allow Dispel/Remove Magic to take down Globes of Invulnerability: v4.53

    If your party doesn't have an Inquisitor, this dispellability is largely moot. But my protagonist is often an Inquisitor and there are plenty of mages with PfMW, etc. along with mGoI. So if I allow mGoI/GoI to be non-dispellable, it's a reasonably big nerf to the inquisitor's signature ability.



    Righteous Wrath of the Faithful sppr518
    Not a bug, just a comment. RWotF assigns 16 fatigue, which corresponds to Luck of -10. So a single casting of RWotF gives me -10 on ThaC0 and damage rolls upon expiration! Particularly since I use a "no resting in dungeons" mod, that is a crazy penalty that renders the spell useless. I'm guessing 16 fatigue maybe means something different in IWD than BG2?

    At the moment I've changed it to fatigue 7 (so luck -1). And as I write this, I'd probably knock it down further to fatigue 4 (same as Haste). I feel like its power is about on par with Haste.



    Saving Throw improvement spells
    Again not a bug, just a comment. Without the IWD spells, we can get group saving throws buffs from Chant (+1) and Protection from Evil 10' (+2 against most enemies).

    Now with IWD, we can now also stack Prayer + Recitation + Emotion(Hope) for +5 to saves, Thac0, etc. If RWotF's fatigue is adjusted to something more reasonable, that's another +2 on the table. I'm probably missing some other spells too.

    Not sure how I'll personally handle this. Emotion(Hope) particularly feels overpowered. It straight up dominates Recitation (1 hr vs. 1 round/level). I know Recitation puts a penalty on enemies, but I suspect it's primarily used as a pre-fight buff. And saving throw buffs feel like they should be the domain of clerics, not mages.
    Post edited by Minsc2017 on
  • DavidWDavidW Member Posts: 823
    OK, going through these:

    - Cause Light Wounds, the alignment issues with Cause Wounds, and Storm Shell not stacking are all bugs (some in IWDEE, some introduced in SCS). All fixed locally.
    - SCS doesn't mess with whatever vanilla behavior is for MGoI: I think that's 'non-dispellable'.
    - I don't think RWotF is bugged: looking at vanilla IWD, I think fatigue is interpreted the same in both games.
    - I'm kind of inclined to agree that Hope is a bit overpowered, but I think not so much that I'm inclined to mess with it in SCS. It's not meant as a systematic spell-tweak mod. (Still, I'll give it more thought.)
  • polymorphedsquirrelpolymorphedsquirrel Member Posts: 114
    edited July 2019
    IWD spells fail to install on my ios BG: no spell SP#906 in override.
    Any ideas?
  • DavidWDavidW Member Posts: 823
    No idea, sorry: I don't really support iOS. At a guess some resource that's present on the normal version of BG is missing in the iOS version.
  • GusindaGusinda Member Posts: 1,917
    @polymorphedsquirrel, I suspect that this actually isn't an iOS problem or indeed an SCS prob. It looks like it is a conflict with Spell Revisions. In vanilla BG, there is no SPWI906.spl. This is a new spell introduced by Spell Revisions (Monster Summoning IX). What you could try to install SCS is to rename SPWI906.spl to SPWI906.pl prior to installing SCS, then renaming it back after. It should go past the error.

    I think last time I did this, I had to rename 3 spells, it wasn't Spell Revisions but a different one (can't remember now).

    Hope that helps
    Gus
  • AndreaColomboAndreaColombo Member Posts: 5,530
    @DavidW - A question about the porting of IWD spells to the BG games. I reckon these components are exclusively for the Enhanced Editions owing to the fact that, the engine being the same across Enhanced Editions, the port would be generally easier? Do you have plans to port IWD spells for the original games as well?
  • Minsc2017Minsc2017 Member Posts: 34
    edited July 2019
    @DavidW - some general feedback and a question.

    After experimenting with the IWD spells for a bit, I've decided to play without them for now. This has nothing to do with your excellent implementation. It's just my subjective feeling that some of the more powerful ones would require rebalancing downward to make them more 'fair', and they generally blur the mage vs. cleric differentiation a bit too much. And the majority of less powerful IWD spells suffer from the same problem as the majority of vanilla spells -- they're never worth selecting.

    But for the first time I've taken a closer look at Spell Revisions and I mostly like what I see. I like the ideal of most spells being equally good within a given level rather than the clear tiers we've always had in vanilla.

    So since you've already done the huge job of integrating SCS and SR, which do you personally prefer: vanilla or SR spells?
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