GemRB
shevy123456
Member Posts: 299
A few days ago or so, give or take, I actually discovered GemRB. Several here will probably know it already.
Homepage: https://gemrb.org/
Github: https://github.com/gemrb/gemrb
"GemRB is a portable open-source implementation of Bioware's Infinity Engine."
They are at version 0.9.4, so while the last steps in general tend to take more time, I think we can say they are "somewhat close" to a 1.0.0 release that should be somewhat (consistently) playable. Or at the least I think this would make sense, if they reach a 1.0.0 "milestone" eventually.
Right now they point out that they are not fully playable in regards to e. g. BG2. I do not know how mods relate to this; if it was not tested then some mods probably may require either downstream change, if they are maintained, or change in regards to the engine used by GemRB.
They also seem to be more closely related to the gibberlings, possibly because they may have more programmers than other mod-communities, but I am not too familiar with the different mod-communities nor am I affiliated with any one either.
One thing that interests me here, aside from the engine as such, is how weidu relates to this.
I have had issues with weidu in the past, even if not all may be due to weidu itself (e. g. mods using some of the weidu-macros incorrectly, such as by overwriting files when they should not be overwritten).
I found some threads, such as this one here on the gibberlings forum from about 4 years ago:
https://www.gibberlings3.net/forums/topic/32862-alternatives-to-weidu-or-how-to-write-a-smarter-sound-set-installer/
Not going into all comments made, but the threadstarter wanted to create (or have) a simpler alternative. While I do not necessarily have the same opinion, I also thought having a domain-specific language (DSL) wrapper over weidu would be nice to have. Anyway, this is not about pros or cons in regards to weidu, though, but about how weidu relates to GemRB. I assume that GemRB kind of have to support or be amenable to what weidu can change, in that this will be necessary for many mods. And some mods are of such an intrinsic quality that it would be bad if GemRB could not eventually allow those mods to also run there. Yet, if there is full control over the game engine available, logically we should have an alternative to the weidu set of macros, such as a programmable API. Does anyone know if this is planned or already possible? It would not diminish anyone coming up with a better DSL than weidu, but new mods could possibly be much easier if one would only target GemRB and not have to worry about legacy oddities (weidu is quite complex for newcomers really; the examples shown by DavidW actually scare me, so I would concur with Taylan more from a principle point of view).
Another, also somewhat indirect question, would be how easily one could make the whole world evaluation "open ended". With that I do not necessarily mean "infinite gameplay" as such, mind you, but just to connect all parts found in mods and add-ons "together". For instance, with most of the available mods installed on BG2, I tend to pursue a path where I avoid the copper coronet inn and solve various other sub-quests first. EET also taps into this in one way or another, but I actually have not used it (I ran into some unrelated issues and also then found it a bit too difficult to integrate; this is also one reason why I stopped using sword coast stratagems, and why I am trying to look for alternatives to the tweaks-mod, although I still need it for a few key changes I think make sense. For instance, XP limit never made any sense to me, and I also like bags of holding to be able to store more items, though not necessarily bottomless. I don't know if and which changes GemRB may do here; I assume right now that they will probably try for full compatibility with the older game engine, but perhaps may allow more versatility by default, without any mods - right now I don't know either way.)
Homepage: https://gemrb.org/
Github: https://github.com/gemrb/gemrb
"GemRB is a portable open-source implementation of Bioware's Infinity Engine."
They are at version 0.9.4, so while the last steps in general tend to take more time, I think we can say they are "somewhat close" to a 1.0.0 release that should be somewhat (consistently) playable. Or at the least I think this would make sense, if they reach a 1.0.0 "milestone" eventually.
Right now they point out that they are not fully playable in regards to e. g. BG2. I do not know how mods relate to this; if it was not tested then some mods probably may require either downstream change, if they are maintained, or change in regards to the engine used by GemRB.
They also seem to be more closely related to the gibberlings, possibly because they may have more programmers than other mod-communities, but I am not too familiar with the different mod-communities nor am I affiliated with any one either.
One thing that interests me here, aside from the engine as such, is how weidu relates to this.
I have had issues with weidu in the past, even if not all may be due to weidu itself (e. g. mods using some of the weidu-macros incorrectly, such as by overwriting files when they should not be overwritten).
I found some threads, such as this one here on the gibberlings forum from about 4 years ago:
https://www.gibberlings3.net/forums/topic/32862-alternatives-to-weidu-or-how-to-write-a-smarter-sound-set-installer/
Not going into all comments made, but the threadstarter wanted to create (or have) a simpler alternative. While I do not necessarily have the same opinion, I also thought having a domain-specific language (DSL) wrapper over weidu would be nice to have. Anyway, this is not about pros or cons in regards to weidu, though, but about how weidu relates to GemRB. I assume that GemRB kind of have to support or be amenable to what weidu can change, in that this will be necessary for many mods. And some mods are of such an intrinsic quality that it would be bad if GemRB could not eventually allow those mods to also run there. Yet, if there is full control over the game engine available, logically we should have an alternative to the weidu set of macros, such as a programmable API. Does anyone know if this is planned or already possible? It would not diminish anyone coming up with a better DSL than weidu, but new mods could possibly be much easier if one would only target GemRB and not have to worry about legacy oddities (weidu is quite complex for newcomers really; the examples shown by DavidW actually scare me, so I would concur with Taylan more from a principle point of view).
Another, also somewhat indirect question, would be how easily one could make the whole world evaluation "open ended". With that I do not necessarily mean "infinite gameplay" as such, mind you, but just to connect all parts found in mods and add-ons "together". For instance, with most of the available mods installed on BG2, I tend to pursue a path where I avoid the copper coronet inn and solve various other sub-quests first. EET also taps into this in one way or another, but I actually have not used it (I ran into some unrelated issues and also then found it a bit too difficult to integrate; this is also one reason why I stopped using sword coast stratagems, and why I am trying to look for alternatives to the tweaks-mod, although I still need it for a few key changes I think make sense. For instance, XP limit never made any sense to me, and I also like bags of holding to be able to store more items, though not necessarily bottomless. I don't know if and which changes GemRB may do here; I assume right now that they will probably try for full compatibility with the older game engine, but perhaps may allow more versatility by default, without any mods - right now I don't know either way.)
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