My mod creation videos for BGEE

elminster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoFUq0p0RGw&list=PLeOV-aWegI3UBb8mPxmh4dBLpydIqfuPc

Yea I know the audio (especially in the second part) sucks. It's a learning process. Turns out I forgot some things when I originally shot this and your voice changes a lot even at the same time on different days.

Nothing here is going to be particularly new for people who are familiar with modding in the engine. It's all very basic. I wanted to cover the basic components you'd see when trying to make your own quest.

It's a two part video. Clicking on this link should hopefully connect you to its playlist. But if it doesn't this is part 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uNX2W4wIfQ


Note: Despite my blue background I'm an independent contractor, I don't do regular work for Beamdog anymore, and this was done entirely on my own volition. They didn't even know I was doing it.

WarChiefZeke

Very cool! I learned it through trial and error and it was a bit of a grind.

Now if you could ever make an area creation video series, I could make great use out of that

elminster

Creating an area from scratch is beyond my abilities sadly. At best I could make a video about creating a new area using existing artwork.

elminster

And learning through trial and error (which is how I learned and I suspect how most modders learn) is why I started this. Its frankly too time consuming and limits how many people are going to become modders.

There has been a lot of work by people in the past about how to teach modding but (apart from one video I found about editing characters using Near Infinity) no one has ever made videos for it. So I thought what the heck.

WarChiefZeke

I think a video series like this is helpful for a lot of would-be modders. Reading walls of text is well and good but seeing it being done and having it explained has a lot of benefits.

elminster

Actually in the lead up to the release of Siege of Dragonspear I did actually work on a guide to all the opcodes in the engine (as part of sanctioned official work). Essentially giving examples of how each could be used (that was a bit more approachable than what you'd find elsewhere).

But the idea basically faded away after I realized how much work it would be (me being a full time student at the time). So I guess this is a very scaled down version of that.

In retrospect I wish we had done something related to this closer to when the games were first released. Especially when it comes to UI modding. There have been some great UI mods put out, don't get me wrong, but I don't think the customizability of the UI is something that was explained as well as it could have been (we did cover it a bit in some of the Twitch livestreams I think but those are long gone).

Maurvir

I have wanted to get into modding for a while, but it always seems so daunting - even for someone technical like myself. This is some really great information on how to spin up a new mod and gives me a bit of a boost that, maybe, I could pull it off.

Interestingly enough, most of what I want to mod is adding detective/mystery stories. I really hate that the skinner murder investigation was one of the very few such quests - and that it was so short. I would love to write some investigations that really drag a party all over the map and require some actual thought to resolve.

elminster

Yea this covers the basics of dialog, creating magic items, journal entries, and scripting a newly created creature to appear.

I can definitely do a video that explored more advanced dialog and scripting options though.

Blackbɨrd

Coming from someone with zero interest in modding, well done on the videos (I came to hear your voice and watch/support your video). You've got a great voice for voice overs!

The visuals were very well done for both videos. Congratulations! Now if I may ask a cheeky question, we have a voice reveal... when are we getting a face reveal?

elminster

Probably not for awhile. I've been home for awhile, free from the burdens of shaving and haircuts, and my present appearance is not that far off from this (though less beard and more stache).

elminster

My dnd stuff though will be posted about going forward on a specific account for it

https://mobile.twitter.com/dnddetective

elminster

I've been working on some BG3 stuff so I haven't finalized the next video for this series. But since @Maurvir brought up the murder mystery idea I might do a video on how to create your own joinable NPC.

A video like that will also teach you about how to make party banter. Party banter is a good thing to have in that kind of an investigative/murder mystery story.

So (on top of actually making an NPC that can join your party) you'll get an idea on how to get NPC's engaging with you and as well as between themselves.

Blackbɨrd

elminster wrote: »

I've been working on some BG3 stuff so I haven't finalized the next video for this series. But since @Maurvir brought up the murder mystery idea I might do a video on how to create your own joinable NPC.

A video like that will also teach you about how to make party banter. Party banter is a good thing to have in that kind of an investigative/murder mystery story.

So (on top of actually making an NPC that can join your party) you'll get an idea on how to get NPC's engaging with you and as well as between themselves.

That sounds great! Have you ever used Elminster as a companion, Elminster?

elminster

And forgo killing that imposter and getting the 26,000 XP? Never!

Sirick

As someone looking to get into modding BG:EE, this kind of thing is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

elminster

So the general I guess trajectory I have for this series (in order by each video) is

- Creating a joinable npc (I'm hoping to have the video out for this by the end of this weekend)
- The basics on file types (2da, bcs, dlg, eff, ids, itm, lua, spl, and pro)
- Creating a custom kit
- TRAifying and untraifying your mod
- Advanced items
- Understanding spells
- Area Files (area triggers, containers, actors, entrances, exits, sounds, setting appearance times, and setting scripts on actors within an area file, etc)
- Advanced non-combat scripting (timers, cutscenes, adding/removing map notes, changing creature names, etc)
- How modding Icewind Dale Edition is different
- How modding Planescape Torment Enhanced Edition is different

elminster

Alright well turns out writing the script for the joinable NPC video took longer than I thought. I should have it done by later today but then there is audio recording, audio editing, video/image creation, video editing, and then actually getting it uploaded. So next weekend is probably when it will be finished and uploaded.

elminster

I also posted a guide on Steam that will be giving links to my videos as I make them.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2268092669

Obviously I'll be posting them here as well.

elminster

elminster wrote: »

Alright well turns out writing the script for the joinable NPC video took longer than I thought. I should have it done by later today but then there is audio recording, audio editing, video/image creation, video editing, and then actually getting it uploaded. So next weekend is probably when it will be finished and uploaded.

I love how optimistic I was 5 days ago.

So I just now finished the script. Turns out there was more to cover than I realized.

By the end of this two-part video you are going to know how to

• Create a creature in the game. This creature will be our joinable NPC.
• Give that creature equipment and adjust their stats, proficiencies, and skills (using Near Infinity).
• Give that creature access to spells they can cast.
• Give that character some sounds.
• Give this character different types of dialog, including allowing the NPC to have banter with other party members
• Create a custom script to allow that joinable NPC to automatically gain spells and experience when they join a higher level party, just as joinable NPC’s now do in the Enhanced Edition
• Alter an area file to include that character in the game.
• and you’ll also learn a bit about the limitations of using monsters when creating joinable NPCs.

So I'm probably going to split it up into two videos. So that all the creature and sound stuff in the first video and then in the second video go over dialog, scripting, and modifying an area.

Anyways, I'm not sure when it's going to be released. Probably sometime in the next week.

elminster

So unfortunately, I've found out that the voiceover I did for these videos had too much popping (even though I had a pop filter and I thought stayed far enough back from the microphone). So I'm going to have to re-record the audio. So I'm not sure when I'll get the next video out but it is coming.

Maurvir

I, for one, would like to thank you for doing this. I'm looking forward to actually trying some of this stuff as opposed to begging for mods I'd like to see.

elminster

Once I finish this part 3 and 4 video I think I may go back and redo the audio on the part 1 video (since it's only like 4 minutes long). Because it's really not good.

elminster

Figured I'd provide an update. The audio has been re-recorded and edited for both videos and the visual creation/video editing is like 75% done on the first video. So both should be released by next weekend.

elminster

The part 3 video, which handles creature files and sounds, is now done. It took waaay longer to do because it involved explaining things while recording Near Infinity.

Part 4 will round out the other aspects of joinable npc creation like scripting, dialogue, and putting them in an area. This should be waaay easier to do. Just because I can do it with still images.

elminster

On that note I got accepted into a masters with a winter term start. So I'll be working on this video series until early January (11th or so) and then it's going to go on hiatus until my 1 year degree is over. So we'll see what else I can get out by then.

elminster

Hey everyone. Sorry for the delay with this. I got a DnD related product in the mail on friday and I was not happy with the quality of the product vs how much I paid for it (I won't say what the product is and I'm keeping this thread solely about BG modding... but you can check out the video on my channel when it comes out).

So I've been channeling that annoyance into a review video I'm making about it. I'm almost finished with that video and when I am I'm done with that I'll focus on finishing the part 4 video.

StummvonBordwehr

Glad to hear it @elminster
I’d be happy to send to you some more crappy DnD related products if that could help advance the project even further...

elminster

elminster

Alright so everything is done with the the NPC creation videos. It's two videos each about 25 minutes long.

Uploading is going to take a long time. So I'll start upload them tonight and then post here again when the videos go live.

elminster

@JuliusBorisov @WarChiefZeke @Permidion_Stark @ThacoBell @StummvonBordwehr @Blackbɨrd @Arvia @Timbo0o0o0 @megamike15 @gorgonzola @leeux @EekanImp

Part 3 - Creature file and sounds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06talQwAZjo

Part 4 - Dialog, scripting, and putting them into an area

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQagIZ1JLKk

Alright, I'm going back to bed

energisedcamel

Hello @elminster ! These videos are really useful, and the effort you've put into it all is greatly appreciated. Seeing you do all the steps is a lot easier than just reading about it.

I just want to play around a little, so I've had a go at copying your quest mod video with Mendak, but I wanted to make a few alterations (I did it in BG2, with Mendak supposedly appearing in the Adventurer's Mart, using a different CRE file as a base, and Ribald being the one to identify the item)

I felt like I followed all the instructions painstakingly, minus my very simple changes, but I still get an installation error when I try and install the mod. Specifically, there is a problem with the following line:

COPY ~IZquest/CRE/IZMendak.cre~ ~override/IZMendak.cre~

The error says:

Parse error (state 138) at DIVIDE

[IZQUEST/SETUP-IZQUEST.TP2] PARSE ERROR at line 31 column 1-14
Near Text: /
GLR parse error

[IZQUEST/SETUP-IZQUEST.TP2] ERROR at line 31 column 1-14
Near Text: /
Parsing.Parse_error
ERROR: parsing [IZQUEST/SETUP-IZQUEST.TP2]: Parsing.Parse_error
ERROR: problem parsing TP file [IZQUEST/SETUP-IZQUEST.TP2]: Parsing.Parse_error

FATAL ERROR: Parsing.Parse_error

I've checked my tp2 file vs. the one your uploaded on github (very useful, by the way - good idea) and they seem identical, and I even replaced the line I had written out manually by copying yours exactly, but I'm still getting an error. Any ideas what it could be? A problem with the CRE file itself?

Sorry if the thought process behind making these videos was to avoid these annoying, basic questions Thanks again for creating such a great resource for absolute beginners like me. Back in the day, even enabling the cheat console made me feel like a tech wizard, so perhaps I'm being too ambitious.