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Weidu command line: BGEE dialog.tlk is reported to have 34000 strings, expected 71404; can't append

ThunderburpThunderburp Member Posts: 51
edited May 2021 in General Modding
Hi,

Total Weidu noob here, using the unmodded BGEE 2.6.5.0 with SoD installed, with Weidu 24700 dropped in the main game folder.

I'm trying to use it to append 101 string entries to dialog.tlk with a bit of automation. I'd rather not climb the entry step to proper Weidu mod making just yet due to time constraints though, so I went with appending from command line. Here's the commands used:
weidu --game "PATH_TO_BG1EE"
weidu --use-lang en
weidu --strapp "MY_STRING_1" --strapp "MY_STRING_2" --strapp "MY_STRING_3" --tlkout newdialog.tlk

Weidu reports 34000 entries, and 34101 entries after I switch to the new dialog.tlk, so it works. But when loading game resources in Near Infinity, it can be seen that there are 71404 string refs, and all the ones that I appended have been overridden. A few checks with both Weidu and NI suggest that strings 0-33999 as displayed by NI should be those from lang\en_US\dialog.tlk (= newdialog.tlk moved and renamed) that Weidu can see, while 34000-71403 come from elsewhere or something. Anything I appended has been replaced with that other source of string entries.

So... can Weidu append to the right place through command line alone?
Post edited by Thunderburp on

Comments

  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,497
    If you purchased the game from GOG or Steam you have to install DLC Merger first. WeiDU won't recognize the SoD expansion, otherwise.
  • GraionDilachGraionDilach Member Posts: 602
    edited May 2021
    You need to install a DLC merger mod before you apply your own changes to dialog.tlk otherwise you get conflicts with SoD. The number differences are coming from your mod editing basegame tlk and NI loading SoD's.

    So install https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/71305/mod-dlc-merger-merge-steam-gog-sod-dlc-or-custom-dlcs-with-the-main-game first then your editing will work properly.

    EDIT: Well, I was the slower one. :sweat_smile:
  • ThunderburpThunderburp Member Posts: 51
    Oh thanks, didn't know about that SoD specificity =)

    @argent77 Since you're the author of DLC Merger: Are you confident that what it modifies is not something that has any noteworthy chance to alter game content or mechanics? When working on the BG wiki I need this install to be completely mod-free. Modifying the Wild Surge table so it displays surge IDs along with text is useful, but now that most of the testing is behind me I have to balance the remaining needs with the risk that merging SoD could have small unforeseen divergences with vanilla here and there. Does it seem likely?

    Thank you both either way; will be useful for another install =)
  • GraionDilachGraionDilach Member Posts: 602
    edited May 2021
    SoD modifies game content, there are some spells it adds to the basegame as far as I know atleast. It's not a "mod" though. What DLCMerger does is basically take the huge sod-dlc.zip in your folder and converts it from the ZIP package to standard BIF resources (then renames the original file to hide it from the game, while keeping it as it's own backup) WeiDU and other community tools can handle.

    You can filter most of the SoD additiions out because Beamdog used the BD modding prefix where they could for the SoD content, if that helps.
  • ThunderburpThunderburp Member Posts: 51
    edited May 2021
    Sorry wasn't clear, I was talking about the before/after DLC Merger. The comparison would be between fresh BGEE+SoD and merged BGEE+SoD, rather than BGEE and BGEE+SoD =)

    Depending on what the tool does, likelihood to unwittingly introduce small changes is lower or higher. Since this one runs over a LOT of the content and apparently has to do more than simple unzipping, I can't really say, so unless Argent77 is confident enough I'll probably stay on the safe side. (Best practise for recurrent wiki contributors is to secure a fresh, unmodified install, i.e. "lab conditions")
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,497
    DLC Merger is a purely technical mod. It integrates the resources from the SoD DLC archive into the main game without making any changes to the game resources themselves. A similar but less mod-friendly way to merge the game is using the original modmerge tool, made by a Beamdog developer, which does pretty much the same.

    However, if you want to be 100 percent sure you could purchase SoD directly from Beamdog. That version is already installed in a merged state by the Beamdog Client.
  • ThunderburpThunderburp Member Posts: 51
    However, if you want to be 100 percent sure
    Your confidence is way good enough, it's your code after all. If there were any realistic chance that a bug I should care about would occur you'd be able to make that guess based on what the code touches =)

    Thanks again.
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