Seems like my guesswork from playtesting was fairly correct. The upgrade mechanic only works on the RTXX_Y group (Y being mlrv) and even there it only works on 'tiers" from l->m->r->v. And considering that in vanilla rt_norm.2da the "l" and "m" tiers only contain jewellery and no UP rolls, really it's just r->v. You cannot go from RT06 to RT07 or from RT07 to RT08 etc.
Now Massive Greataxe of Flame +5 is RMEW_09. The highest direct RMEW drop in the game is RMEW_07 from Iachtu Xvim. And UP doesn't work directly within RMEW so there's no pathway from RMEW_07 to RMEW_09. The highest indirect RMEW is RMEW_06 from RT15_V. And again, no pathway from RMEW_06 to RMEW_09. Meaning you cannot get the Massive Greataxe of Flame +5 in the game as a random drop.
Either that, or I'm just blind and I do not see the upgrade pathway
@emxd IWD2EE adds all of those unused items to the game as possibilities for random loot, but the really powerful ones like the Massive Greataxe of Flame +5 only appear in Heart of Fury Mode.
@OlvynChuru
But even in HOF, the axe appears only as a RMEW_09? Is there anyone in HOF that drops RMEW_09? My NearInfinity-fu is not up to snuff I'm afraid.
The latest version of IWD2EE adds another new feat: Counterspell! Using the Counterspell ability, you can counter an enemy's spell by expending one use of the same spell.
(Notice that the character had one fewer use of Improved Invisibility after countering M'darfein's Improved Invisibility)
Do you think this will be able to maintain compatibility with the NPC pack? Absolutely mandatory to give flavour to the game's story, in my book.
Quoted for awareness!
So hyped for this project (you guys rock) but this is the one thing I am most interested in, and I can't find much talk about it.
You guys mentions recruitable NPC companions in the OP (a ghost and a demon to name a few) - do these have dialogue/banter/personal quests/romance options (lol) and what is the compatibility with the existing NPC Project?
I played NWN 1 EE with the NPC project and having actual, bantering companions is just the best and really enhances (pun intended) the entire experience.
Hoping for good news on this front. We all want different things from a EE but companions is by far my most wanted
Much love and respect
theres an npc project for the nwn ee oc? thats the first i've heard about that.
The latest version of IWD2EE adds another new feat: Counterspell!
This is beyond impressive! I loved the concept of this ability in ToEE, but there was precious little use to be made of it against the enemies in that game.
@megamike15 : I'm positive they meant IWD1. There is no such thing for the NWN OC (although there is a Valen expansion of questionable quality for HotU).
IWD2 NPC Project is very, very different in style from IWD1. It is more modular and less detailed, and the characters are more ASOIAF-inspired than the heroic fantasy of IWD1 (Salomeya, Diriel and Sir Nord are all extremely well-written). It kind of fits the oddly dark plot of IWD2 though - you are playing a bunch of mercenaries hired to put down what essentially amounts to a rebellion of deplorables, after all). I enjoyed both very much.
And here's Rewind Time, a spell which returns you to the state you were in two rounds ago (you regain your previous HP, position in the area, and magical effects, though you don't regain expended spells).
This component allows several existing NPCs to join the party: the fighter Reig, the rogue Black Geoffrey, the diviner Veira, the cleric Emma Moonblade, the troll Vrek Vileclaw, the goblin Vunarg, the rogue/illusionist Zack Boosenburry, the abishai Xhaan, the sorcerer Pairi, and the monk Sersa.
NPCs gain experience upon joining to match the party's experience
Would you consider implementing those as potential followers / 7th party members akin to Jastey's BG companions or plot NPCs in ToEE? It would be nice to take one of them along for a time without having to drop any of your core group.
From everything OP has posted, I don't think it's fair to label it *just* a mod. It's a comprehensive rehaul of a game that in a lot of ways is archaic next to the other IE games.
And I can't speak for anyone else, but I had to give up on my recent attempt to play through the original version thanks to loads of tech issues, so for me this is like an answer to my prayers. Really looking forward to this!
Well, I understand that it's a major overhaul of the game and it took A TON of work, but the title got me excited only for a huge letdown as I read the post. For me the Enhanced Edition means that I can play it on my iPad, if that's not available then it might as well not exist for me. I really only can game at all on my iPad now, while waiting for kids in gymnastics or Tae Kwon Do or Ballet or any of endless other activities they do. I don't have the time to play anything on a PC anymore, and if I did I would just play the regular version.
Lookin' forward to this project! The engine tissues made playing IWD2 in coop quite a chore, but the many QoL features (and other improvements) have me excited to see you guys bring this to completion!
If you want tester(s), I'm willing to toss in some hours and report tissues.
From everything OP has posted, I don't think it's fair to label it *just* a mod. It's a comprehensive rehaul of a game that in a lot of ways is archaic next to the other IE games.
And I can't speak for anyone else, but I had to give up on my recent attempt to play through the original version thanks to loads of tech issues, so for me this is like an answer to my prayers. Really looking forward to this!
Well, I understand that it's a major overhaul of the game and it took A TON of work, but the title got me excited only for a huge letdown as I read the post. For me the Enhanced Edition means that I can play it on my iPad, if that's not available then it might as well not exist for me. I really only can game at all on my iPad now, while waiting for kids in gymnastics or Tae Kwon Do or Ballet or any of endless other activities they do. I don't have the time to play anything on a PC anymore, and if I did I would just play the regular version.
i kind of feel this is being disrespectful. iwd 2 was never coming to ios as the source code is lost. the mod is fixing all of iwd 2's issues as even compared to the other ie games before the ee it has a ton of designs flaws that need to be removed which is what this mod is doing.
most of iwd 2's dungeons suck and this mod is gonna stream line them for example.
i kind of feel this is being disrespectful. iwd 2 was never coming to ios as the source code is lost. the mod is fixing all of iwd 2's issues as even compared to the other ie games before the ee it has a ton of designs flaws that need to be removed which is what this mod is doing.
most of iwd 2's dungeons suck and this mod is gonna stream line them for example.
I think you need to review the definition of the word disrespectful. Stating that the term 'Enhanced Edition' placed after a classic Bioware RPG means that it will be available for iOS to me is in no way disrespectful... to anybody. To also state that when I read the title I got excited for IWD2 on iOS only to be disappointed on reading the thread that it's just a mod for the PC version is in no way disrespectful... to anybody.
I LOVED the dungeons in IWD 2, and the overall gameplay. It was a truly great example of what could be done in the infinity engine.
I sense no malintent here but I wonder why your first expectation is an ios release. The thread is not in a genetic beamdog news subforum which suggests it is mod development only. ios releases require quite a build change.
In any case, I hope you can find an alternative for when the kids are at their hobbies. Private time is tough to find
At the moment, it would be more accurate to call this an updated version of semiOverhaul with a bunch of tweaks, modifications, and new fun stuff all made possible by IEex rather than a true Enhanced Edition. But it's not ready for release, not yet.
Bubb is busy reverse-engineering IWD2's renderer, which is harder than it sounds given the lack of source code. Once he gets that figured out, improved area background graphics should be possible and probably EE-style zoom. Then it'll be worthy of the name.
Bubb is busy reverse-engineering IWD2's renderer, which is harder than it sounds given the lack of source code. Once he gets that figured out, improved area background graphics should be possible
Wow, so that graininess/aliasing was never actually part of the area backgrounds, it was just the renderer screwing things up?
In case you ever manage to make a UI that can show portraits at larger sizes, note that between IWD:EE and my latest portrait pack, all the official IWD2 portraits are available at a higher resolution than the one at with which they are stored in the IWD2 game files.
Bubb is busy reverse-engineering IWD2's renderer, which is harder than it sounds given the lack of source code. Once he gets that figured out, improved area background graphics should be possible
Wow, so that graininess/aliasing was never actually part of the area backgrounds, it was just the renderer screwing things up?
It actually is. @Rik_Kirtaniya has been investigating using AI upscaling to smooth out said graininess and those are the examples he's come up with so far. Once the renderer business gets figured out, that will give him the go-ahead to upscale other area assets, although this will increase the size of the game by some gigabytes - not that IWD2 is a large game to begin with.
Those were 4X upscaling. Here's 6X upscaling. To fully appreciate the difference, right click on the attached images and open them in a new tab. (This is the max I could go without the scaling algorithm getting borked. You know, that principle of decreasing returns or whatever they call it.)
Wow, so that graininess/aliasing was never actually part of the area backgrounds, it was just the renderer screwing things up?
No, the source pictures were of a very very crappy quality. The renderer isn't any good either, but for this case, the blame goes to very low resolution area background images in the game files.
Those images look amazing! And the prospect of world map zooming has me hyped!
Hot topic but what about black character outlines? I know they were controversial but I really liked them in Beamdog's EEs. Thinking they would be a bit too much to implement here.
Keep up the good work, here's hoping for a 2021 release and a Happy New Year to all!
Comments
Seems like my guesswork from playtesting was fairly correct. The upgrade mechanic only works on the RTXX_Y group (Y being mlrv) and even there it only works on 'tiers" from l->m->r->v. And considering that in vanilla rt_norm.2da the "l" and "m" tiers only contain jewellery and no UP rolls, really it's just r->v. You cannot go from RT06 to RT07 or from RT07 to RT08 etc.
Now Massive Greataxe of Flame +5 is RMEW_09. The highest direct RMEW drop in the game is RMEW_07 from Iachtu Xvim. And UP doesn't work directly within RMEW so there's no pathway from RMEW_07 to RMEW_09. The highest indirect RMEW is RMEW_06 from RT15_V. And again, no pathway from RMEW_06 to RMEW_09. Meaning you cannot get the Massive Greataxe of Flame +5 in the game as a random drop.
Either that, or I'm just blind and I do not see the upgrade pathway
But even in HOF, the axe appears only as a RMEW_09? Is there anyone in HOF that drops RMEW_09? My NearInfinity-fu is not up to snuff I'm afraid.
Edit: Ah sorry, you're talking about the EE.
(Notice that the character had one fewer use of Improved Invisibility after countering M'darfein's Improved Invisibility)
theres an npc project for the nwn ee oc? thats the first i've heard about that.
This is beyond impressive! I loved the concept of this ability in ToEE, but there was precious little use to be made of it against the enemies in that game.
@megamike15 : I'm positive they meant IWD1. There is no such thing for the NWN OC (although there is a Valen expansion of questionable quality for HotU).
Haven't tried the NPC mod for IWD2 but it sounds cool (the one for IWD1 was really good) I am hoping for compat with your IWD2EE project.
i remember the difference being iwd 1 story felt more in line with good characters while 2's was more for neutral characters.
which is why the npcs in 2 feel so much different from the iwd 1 npc project which was more in line with bg 2 npc mods.
Now IWD2EE includes Spell Sequencer!
And here's Rewind Time, a spell which returns you to the state you were in two rounds ago (you regain your previous HP, position in the area, and magical effects, though you don't regain expended spells).
Would you consider implementing those as potential followers / 7th party members akin to Jastey's BG companions or plot NPCs in ToEE? It would be nice to take one of them along for a time without having to drop any of your core group.
Well, I understand that it's a major overhaul of the game and it took A TON of work, but the title got me excited only for a huge letdown as I read the post. For me the Enhanced Edition means that I can play it on my iPad, if that's not available then it might as well not exist for me. I really only can game at all on my iPad now, while waiting for kids in gymnastics or Tae Kwon Do or Ballet or any of endless other activities they do. I don't have the time to play anything on a PC anymore, and if I did I would just play the regular version.
If you want tester(s), I'm willing to toss in some hours and report tissues.
i kind of feel this is being disrespectful. iwd 2 was never coming to ios as the source code is lost. the mod is fixing all of iwd 2's issues as even compared to the other ie games before the ee it has a ton of designs flaws that need to be removed which is what this mod is doing.
most of iwd 2's dungeons suck and this mod is gonna stream line them for example.
I think you need to review the definition of the word disrespectful. Stating that the term 'Enhanced Edition' placed after a classic Bioware RPG means that it will be available for iOS to me is in no way disrespectful... to anybody. To also state that when I read the title I got excited for IWD2 on iOS only to be disappointed on reading the thread that it's just a mod for the PC version is in no way disrespectful... to anybody.
I LOVED the dungeons in IWD 2, and the overall gameplay. It was a truly great example of what could be done in the infinity engine.
In any case, I hope you can find an alternative for when the kids are at their hobbies. Private time is tough to find
Bubb is busy reverse-engineering IWD2's renderer, which is harder than it sounds given the lack of source code. Once he gets that figured out, improved area background graphics should be possible and probably EE-style zoom. Then it'll be worthy of the name.
Wow, so that graininess/aliasing was never actually part of the area backgrounds, it was just the renderer screwing things up?
In case you ever manage to make a UI that can show portraits at larger sizes, note that between IWD:EE and my latest portrait pack, all the official IWD2 portraits are available at a higher resolution than the one at with which they are stored in the IWD2 game files.
It actually is. @Rik_Kirtaniya has been investigating using AI upscaling to smooth out said graininess and those are the examples he's come up with so far. Once the renderer business gets figured out, that will give him the go-ahead to upscale other area assets, although this will increase the size of the game by some gigabytes - not that IWD2 is a large game to begin with.
No, the source pictures were of a very very crappy quality. The renderer isn't any good either, but for this case, the blame goes to very low resolution area background images in the game files.
Hot topic but what about black character outlines? I know they were controversial but I really liked them in Beamdog's EEs. Thinking they would be a bit too much to implement here.
Keep up the good work, here's hoping for a 2021 release and a Happy New Year to all!