Icewind Dale: ToEE - Total Conversion

Discussion in 'Icewind Dale Total Conversion' started by Allyx, May 7, 2016.

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  1. Agetian

    Agetian Attorney General Administrator

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    Wow, this sounds like a really cool project, Allyx! :) I wish you the best of luck with it!
    I love Icewind Dale till this very day (replayed a part of it earlier this year, in fact - the EE GOG version). Will be happy to see it implemented on ToEE engine with the 3.5E edition upgrade :)

    - Agetian
     
  2. Allyx

    Allyx Master Crafter Global Moderator Supporter

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    You are more than welcome to lend a hand @Agetian, even if all you have time for is storyline advice, I know you're a very busy man most of the time.
     
  3. gabriel

    gabriel Member

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    Hello Alex, I'm sorry that took so long for me to reply. I didn't receive any notifications via e-mail and I forgot to come back here. Right now I don't own IWD EE, I own the original IWD from GOG - it doesn't do right? If not, I think I could buy the EE, I was waiting a sale, but it isn't that expensive. Do you need to do these righ now?

    I came back here because I remembered that there are a total conversion mod for IWD already, but for Neverwinter Nights 2. Actually there's a Baldur's Gate total conversion mod too, and the same team is making a Baldur's Gate 2 mod right now. So, I know that NWN2 has nothing to do with these project, but you guys could learn or ask for help to these moders. They could help you on how to extract information from these games or about legal issues.

    Anyhow, is there any "mechanical job" that doesn't require IWD EE? If there isn't I contact you guys when I buy it.
     
  4. ineth

    ineth Member

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    @gabriel:
    As far as I know, the map backgrounds are exactly the same in IWD and IWD:EE, so you should be able extract maps and remove doors like this:
    1. Install the game.
    2. Install Java 8, if you don't have it already.
    3. Download argent77's updated NearInfinity editor, extract it, and place the NearInfinity.jar file into your game folder. Then double-click the file to open the editor.
    4. In NearInfinity, open the ARE category in the left side bar. This shows you all the maps of the game, by their map number.
      (See this post for an overview of the game chapters and associated map numbers, and this page for the individual map names and numbers. Not sure which ones @Allyx has already completed.)
    5. Click a map number in the left side bar, and then click the "View Area" button just to the right of it, to open it in NearInfinity's area viewer.
    6. In this viewer, toggle the "draw closed" checkbox in the right sidebar to see how the map changes when all doors are opened/closed.
    7. Export both versions of the map (open and closed), using the PNG button in the top toolbar of the area viewer.
    8. Then open both of those PNG files in Paint or Photoshop or similar, and use copy&paste to try and remove the doors completely by taking the parts not obscured by the door, from each version. Ask @Allyx for details.
     
  5. Allyx

    Allyx Master Crafter Global Moderator Supporter

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    I've been taking a break from modding for about a week or so, personal life issues and screwing up what should have been a fairly simple script/dialogue thing made me step back for a bit.

    The #10xx, #11xx, #12xx maps are done so far... though instead of @ineth 's steps 6-8 I just extracted the maps as .BMP files and cut/copy/paste the 'non-door' bits of the 'door closed' tiles located at the bottom of the map over the 'open door' bits I want removed and fill in any other bits as best as possible to make crude door frames etc... before removing the tiles at the bottom completely.

    I have some time off work this month so I plan to get some more work done on this, and separate out my changes from a standard Co8 8.0.1 NC installation and package it up as it's own TFE-X style modpack as I think I'm going to need help with some of the scripting, and removing all the unchanged stuff will make the download much smaller.
     
  6. Shiningted

    Shiningted I changed this damn title, finally! Administrator

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    On a positive note, I've been working on the clipping stuff for Easthaven, I've got a final version to post tomorrow.
     
  7. Shiningted

    Shiningted I changed this damn title, finally! Administrator

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    And here it is. I've tried to improve every door in Easthaven and I think the results are pretty good. Unfortunately I couldn't get the 'open door and then transport straight away' idea going easily, so it's 'open door and find a door icon' still: this can be fixed if necessary (it will just mean writing a separate script for every individual door, painful but doable). The main drawback to that is that I have still not got the doors to automatically close, which means a second visit will require you to close the door to make it work, which would be silly.

    Can I suggest that all the doors have OPF_NO_STICKY added in protos.tab: this makes them shut a few seconds later if you don't use them. It can't be added manually with WorldEd (one of WorldEd's many limitations) and it looks quite cool for the doors to shut again if you don't bother using them.

    Allyx, did I send over the clipping file for the church with the arch done? I can't recall.
     

    Attached Files:

  8. gabriel

    gabriel Member

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    Ineth, are you sure it's not a problem to use the original IWD? If that's ok I'm going to try these steps you so carefully described (thank you). So my job will only to do that? Export open and closed *.jpg and edit those files deleting the doors and filling those empty spaces with the content of the other images? I think I can do that.

    I'm returning from a short vacation and I'm having a kind of crazy week right now, once things settle down I'll begin to do that. Then I contact you guys here to show the first one. And then you guys see if I'm doing it right.
     
  9. Allyx

    Allyx Master Crafter Global Moderator Supporter

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    It's likely that the maps themselves were unchanged between IWD and IWD: EE as the EE versions of the Infinity Engine games all share the same game engine, the conversions had no reason to alter the maps.

    We on the other hand are in a position to replace the doors and chests on those maps with ToEE's 3d animated doors and chests.

    As such the door/chest portions of those maps need to be modified in such a way that placing those doors (into empty doorframes) and chests (on top of closed chest images where applicable) is exceptionally easy to do.

    I'm sure there are plenty of other things that will need doing soon enough, but usable maps would be the first priority.

    @Shiningted Thanks for the clipping files, I'll take a look when I get a chance, I'll be away myself for a week from Friday for a week, then I have 2 weeks off at hope and I hope to get a lot done in that time, including bundling up the files I've altered that differ from Vanilla ToEE and make a proper module file for TFE-X to activate etc...

    I think I did get the church interior clipping files btw.
     
  10. gabriel

    gabriel Member

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    Hello guys, sorry it took so long, it took me some time to have time to learn editing pictures.
    So I have a sample of one door that I did. Is it ok? Is it what you wanted me to do? It was hard to do it and took me some time.
    examplework.jpg
    It's not perfect, I know, but I thought that it didn't need to be that perfect because you're going to put a door in this hole.
     
  11. gabriel

    gabriel Member

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    Now that I'm starting to editing I'm having some doubts and I hope you could answers them.
    First, some maps IMO don't need editing, because if you toggle to open doors the doors disappear.
    Second, in some maps the "draw closed" checkbox are greyed out, I think that's because they don't have doors, so they don't need editing either.
    Third, in other maps the "draw closed" checkbox, change chests and cabinets doors. Should I work on these too?
    I'm uploading some pictures to illustrate what I'm talking about.
    Chest.jpg exampledone.jpg
     
  12. Allyx

    Allyx Master Crafter Global Moderator Supporter

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    @gabriel The door you removed in the before/after pic is exactly what I'm after mate, the other pics are maps that I've already done, but you are right, if you can't see the open door when its open, leave it, likewise if there is no door, leave it.

    Chests should be closed, we can drop a 3d chest on top to cover it, that cupboard I actually removed the doors and placed scaled down doors on it, and added a locked drawer beneath the doors ;)

    Bedside tables that are considered containers yet have no open/closed variations can also be left alone, I can add a 'shelf' container for items that may or mat not be present.
     
  13. Shiningted

    Shiningted I changed this damn title, finally! Administrator

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    That looks good to me :)
     
  14. gabriel

    gabriel Member

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    So I don't need to work on the chests and cabinets, right? Just doors?

    I'm glad you guys liked what I did, now I can really start working. But before I do that, need to know which maps are already done, which maps needs to be done and which doesn't. To do so I was thinking of creating an online shared spreadsheet that anyone can edit. In this spreadsheet we catalog every map and write down if they need working or not, or if someone is working on it. I could do the cataloging and verify which maps needs working. But I need you to check on this spreadsheet the maps that are already done. What do you think?
     
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2016
  15. Badger-ude

    Badger-ude The nonPnP gamer PoV

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    Sounds great! Good luck! I have never played the Infinity engine games, only because I love ToEE so much!
     
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