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completely different order

CyrusJVCyrusJV Member Posts: 36
in Builders - Toolset
So I have several custom armor parts mdl files, and have created a custom parts_chest.2da file.
In the toolset however, they appear in a completely different order then their mdl names.
How does the toolset read the mdl or 2da files? What makes it choose the order in which the parts are shown in the toolset?

Comments

  • ProlericProleric Member Posts: 1,281
    edited September 2020
    Unfortunately, the parts in the 2da are sorted by AC to arrive at the order presented in the toolset.

    Arguably, this was a spectacularly bad design decision when NWN was first made, which we seem to be stuck with.

    Chest parts are the only ones whose AC is used in game, so in that special case, the order makes it easier for builders to choose a chest part for a given AC.

    For all other parts, the AC is meaningless, so you can, for example, set the AC to 8.nnn, where nnn is the 2da line number, so that the toolset part number matches the 2da. Only the 2da line number is held in the .uti file for the armour, so messing with the toolset order is harmless IIRC.

    You can't do that for chest parts, obviously. Loading the 2da into a spreadsheet and sorting on AC then 2da line number should give you the toolset line number, as I recall.

    The .mdl file names have to match the 2da line number, of course.
  • CyrusJVCyrusJV Member Posts: 36
    I placed everything in a spreadsheet and it still doesnt make sense. I got chest 25, 26, 27 all three with armor class 0, but chest 25 appears in the toolset on line 25, 26 on line 15, and 27 on 17.
  • ProlericProleric Member Posts: 1,281
    Yes, back at my desk, I see that the toolset sort places parts in a seemingly random order within AC. There are lots of AC 0 pieces, of course.

    Even for chest parts, the game truncates AC to an integer, so you can get a predictable sequence if you change AC for AC 0 pieces to 0.nnn, where nnn is the line number, 1 to 1.nnn and so on. I have done this in my own module to some extent.
  • CyrusJVCyrusJV Member Posts: 36
    I have already given up making sense out of it:). Kinda made it in a kinda okay order now, using your suggestion. It's fine, just a bit annoying that I have to search everytime through hundreds of armor pieces to find the correct ones:)
  • meaglynmeaglyn Member Posts: 149
    Fwiw, I think CEP (at 2.6 I think) did the AC trick on all the parts so the order is the same in toolset as 2da.
  • dunahandunahan Member Posts: 139
    edited September 2020
    @CyrusJV Like @meaglyn said, I don't know exactly, but the CEP did that with a sort of placing a decimal. So if you want to sort all AC 8 you should do something like 8.01, 8.02 and so on.
  • meaglynmeaglyn Member Posts: 149
    To be fair, that's exactly the same as what @Proleric suggested :)
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