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[MOD] -Will to Power- a 2E-inspired psionics system for the Infinity Engine

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  • wyakpawyakpa Member Posts: 62
    Awesome, seems to be working now. Going to playtest the whole SoB suite on Black Pits 2, so... I'll be in touch!
  • wyakpawyakpa Member Posts: 62
    So I have some results!

    BP2 is a terrible way to test this mod!

    The dead magic zone inbetween fights prevents you from picking abilities. So that means no psionics, no feats, no bardic abilities... Just a bummer maaan.

    So I guess I'll go back to BP1 as my testbench for those classes! I'll have to use BP2 for the rest.
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  • wyakpawyakpa Member Posts: 62
    Oh gosh, really? I would have thought you'd have to modify the scripts in Black Pits to do that. But that's purely on a hunch so I dunno. Let me know if you get it working; those games are ideal playtest areas.
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  • kjeronkjeron Member Posts: 2,367
    In addition to Dead Magic effects, it blindly disables the Special Abilities button. It's in "OHBANTIM.spl". You should be able to safely alter it in a similar manner as Tenser's Transformation was changed.
    COPY_EXISTING ~OHBANTIM.SPL~ override
    	LPF ALTER_EFFECT
    		INT_VAR
    			match_opcode = 144
    			match_parameter2 = 13
    			opcode = 145
    			parameter2 = 3
    	END
    BUT_ONLY IF_EXISTS

    You'll still need the "Ignore Dead Magic" flag.
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  • wyakpawyakpa Member Posts: 62
    1) No such ring in BP2. Characters have clear inventories at start.

    2) Haven't done much poking around so this is mostly conjecture; could you change the item type from ring->whatever? There must be a script somewhere that says "put this ring in the ring slot" during BP1, and you could modify that to the appropriate new item type.
  • kjeronkjeron Member Posts: 2,367
    It's assigned as such:
    IF
    	True()
    THEN
    	RESPONSE #100
    		CutSceneId(Player2)
    		CreateItem("BPRNG1",0,0,0)  // Slave Ring
    		FillSlot(SLOT_RING_RIGHT)
    END
    You would need to change the items category and the script.
    COPY_EXISTING ~BPRNG1.ITM~ override
    	WRITE_SHORT	0x1c 3 // Belts and Gridles
    BUT_ONLY IF_EXISTS
    COPY_EXISTING ~CUTBP00.BCS~ override
    	DECOMPILE_AND_PATCH	BEGIN
    		REPLACE_TEXTUALLY	~SLOT_RING_RIGHT~ ~SLOT_BELT~
    	END
    BUT_ONY IF_EXISTS
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  • kjeronkjeron Member Posts: 2,367

    I actually don't think it's necessary to change the item type... the gane has no problem sticking a ring in a belt slot or a helmet in an ammo slot.

    "FillSlot()" is an exception, it requires full validation: item type/slot, usability, multi-launcher rules.
    However, the IESDP is incorrect, any item already in that slot is placed in the inventory, not destroyed.
  • wyakpawyakpa Member Posts: 62
    Hey - I just wanted to check in - If this stuff (and the similar feat system stuff in MnG) for BP2, I'll hold off testing until it's ready for that (literal) arena. If this is proving to be too much of a pain, I can always do BP1 instead.
  • wyakpawyakpa Member Posts: 62
    edited December 2018
    Howdy!

    I moved to BG1 so that I could test things and I had a little more success, although I'm still finding issues.

    Some general issues:

    1: Psionic combustion doesn't work; the character takes damage and nothing happens (haha TRAP TALENT)
    2: When abilities do show up, they don't show up with names, just "necklace" and "quick spell x", which makes it hard to get the ability you want.

    Specific to black pits (so far as I can tell): The initial abilities don't show up at all, which also means that picking new abilities at level up has no effect. Bummer man.

    I'll play around some more later - from what I can tell the most up-to-date bard abilities work, and I haven't tested the soulblade yet. I'll be in touch.

    EDIT:
    I should say that I am testing the following mods, in this load order:
    1. Faith and Powers
    2. Tome and Blood
    3. Will to Power
    4. Might and Guile
    5. Tweaks Anthology (mostly for things like ammo stacking and cosmetics)
    6. Scales of Balance
    Since WtP is the newest, I am focusing a lot of my initial tests on it.
    Post edited by wyakpa on
  • wyakpawyakpa Member Posts: 62
    Alrighty.

    General things: "Necklace" and "Quick Spell n" are still a thing in the menus. I feel like there has to be a way around that; it's hard to tell what abilities are about to happen. The only exceptions were one ability (can't remember which; one of the kinetic abilities I think) had an invalid flag, and the "Sensory Dissociation" was labeled as "Farsight". Which is technically true, I suppose.

    BP characters still don't get any abilities, BUT I did notice a weird bug where it looked like the icons for the psi abilities were showing up in a Mage's spell list.

    Bugged Abilities:
    • Confirmed that Combustion does not work for any class with my setup.
    • I don't think repulsion is working as intended. It sometimes does not activate, and when it does it affects the main character.
    • A clairsentience ability... the one that looks like the infravision icon.. does nothing that I can tell, and doesn't list its name when cast.
    • Molecular agitation does not appear to do FIRE damage, although it does seem to increase overall damage.
    • I don't see an AC increase with Visual Camouflage
    As best I can tell, all the other abilities are working.

    I'ma test the other SoB related stuff until I hear back about this one, assuming you're still working on it.
  • ArthasArthas Member Posts: 1,091
    No chance for BGT compatibility?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited January 2019
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • ArthasArthas Member Posts: 1,091
    Understood. If you've got the time, why don't you bundle also for EE the other psion mod? So one, when installing your mod, can choose between the two...

    I know this may prove a little obnoxious especially because of no permission from the other author involved, but making it more known and actually putting these as alternatives to each other may benefit both.
  • wyakpawyakpa Member Posts: 62
    No worries, both on the bug reporting and the RL stuff. I know how it is. Been working on a DnDesque tabletop system for years now that has been (frustratingly) delayed multiple times by the real world. Life has to come first.

    I appreciate you pushing the system! I've been playing Baldur's Gate (and its mods) in some capacity on and off since I was a kid, so I appreciate your fresh take on things. Psionics in particular is one of my favorite systems so I was pretty excited when you first introduced a mod that included quality psionics. And your mods always seem to be pretty high quality.

    Anyway, I'll keep an ear out for any updates on your end and be ready to test some more when they do. One of these days maybe I'll actually try my hand at modding... if I do, would you be okay with me cloning your repo and fiddling with it?

    GL with life. ;)
  • wyakpawyakpa Member Posts: 62
    Hello again,

    @subtledoctor ,I was snooping and saw you grant permission for people to clone and fiddle with your code. I am a coder for my day job so I figured I'd poke around.

    I'm curious about how I would go about fixing the bugs I've reported. I have found what seem to be the ability descriptions in the 100_psionics.tpa file, but it's hard to tell what is going on when the inputs to some of these functions are a bunch of numbers. Could you (or anyone else) point me to a .tpa crash course, or steer me in the right direction if I wanted to try fixing this? 'Twould be much appreciated.
  • HalcyonHalcyon Member Posts: 56
    I noticed some work has been done on SoB and Might and Guile, any luck making progress on WtP?
  • HalcyonHalcyon Member Posts: 56
    Halcyon wrote: »
    I noticed some work has been done on SoB and Might and Guile, any luck making progress on WtP?

    Oh, and I'm fully on board with play testing.

    Have tried out this version through Chateau Irenicus in SoA abd through tge Illesara fight in ToB, but the combination of no labels for the psionic powers after choosing and no guideline on how to learn higher tier powers (think I got the hang of it eventually... maybe) made utilizing the classes tricky at best.

    Still looking forward to the finished content in any case!
  • EbonslayerEbonslayer Member Posts: 10
    edited February 2019
    This mod seems like it has a lot of potential, and judging by your work with Might and Guile this will likely turn out to be spectacular. I've used the Psionics on that mod when it had them and they were great, and I imagine they'll only get better. I think I'll test this one out on a small playthrough and give you some feedback when I have time.

    Also, I have an idea that you could possibly consider at a later point: maybe make a kit that is heavily focused around psionics? From what I remember from the Might and Guile version, even the Psypher was basically just a thief with a few spells, I could never get that feeling of a true Psionic that could wipe a battlefield with their mind. I'm thinking a sort of mage kit that forgoes the normal spellbook and stuff and instead uses a large amount of Psionics powered by an exceptionally large health pool (like 1d10 HD or something), which would be offset by the mage class's armor restrictions so you aren't too tanky, and even if it did it wouldn't matter because Carapace exists and makes any Psionic nigh-immortal in the first place.

    Edit: Tried to bring a group of Psions into the Black Pits and can't find the abilities to use them.
    Post edited by Ebonslayer on
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited February 2019
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
    Post edited by [Deleted User] on
  • EbonslayerEbonslayer Member Posts: 10
    I was looking over something and I noticed something about that Pyrokinesis + Telekinesis spell. Is it possible it could end up being a little OP? I'm not sure what the save, the difficulty of the save, or the health cost will be but it sounds like a Monk's Quivering Palm but can be cast multiple times a day and it only costs some health (which can probably be healed through so you can nearly spam it), and even if it doesn't kill it does a shitload of damage, and you can get it at level 14 (unless I'm mistaken), and on a Thief no less. I understand that the dual Psionic high sciences are supposed to be very powerful, but I'm not sure if this would work well balance wise.

    Just a thought though, as I said I don't know all the specifics of the spell which is exactly what will decide it's usefulness like the saving throw, health drain, damage if the throw fails, etc.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited February 2019
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • EbonslayerEbonslayer Member Posts: 10
    edited February 2019
    Ebonslayer wrote: »
    I was looking over something and I noticed something about that Pyrokinesis + Telekinesis spell. Is it possible it could end up being a little OP? I'm not sure what the save, the difficulty of the save, or the health cost will be but it sounds like a Monk's Quivering Palm but can be cast multiple times a day and it only costs some health (which can probably be healed through so you can nearly spam it), and even if it doesn't kill it does a shitload of damage, and you can get it at level 14 (unless I'm mistaken), and on a Thief no less. I understand that the dual Psionic high sciences are supposed to be very powerful, but I'm not sure if this would work well balance wise.

    Just a thought though, as I said I don't know all the specifics of the spell which is exactly what will decide it's usefulness like the saving throw, health drain, damage if the throw fails, etc.

    You mean this?
    Atomic Disruption
    The psion attacks the very bonds between an enemy's molecules, subjecting the target to massive damage and, on a failed save, utter disintegration.

    It's literally just the "Implosion" HLA. So theoretically a cleric could cast it 3-4 times in a single encounter; if you do the same thing with a psion it would cost you 60-80 hit points and a bunch of fatigue. That strikes me as favoring the cleric. The main advantage of the psion is that you don't have to rest between encounters to be able to do it again. (But, you probably have spellcasters in your party who do need to rest, so this advantage might be meaningless.)

    EDIT - also it looks like, at least in my local copy, I coded in a limitation the only lets you use each HLA-level ability once per turn. So no spamming allowed.

    Oh, it's an HLA. I never actually played through to TOB with a Cleric so I didn't know about that, the only "save or die" ability I knew of before now was Quivering Palm. Even then, it would probably be unbalanced in certain circumstances if that turn cooldown wasn't there, as a Thief can get to level 14 really quickly in BG2, but since the cooldown is there it balances it out quite nicely.
  • ArthasArthas Member Posts: 1,091
    Hello,

    1) Is this still worked on?
    2) is it compatible with EET?
    3) Did you release another mod with Psion related content?
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  • ArthasArthas Member Posts: 1,091
    I'll be waiting for it.

    Honestly, I would love to play your mod and the other one (Psionic unleashed) by Kwiat
  • ArthasArthas Member Posts: 1,091
    Subtledoctor, please don't forget this mod.

    By the way, any chance you could also bundle Kwiat's version within it?
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