Icewind Dale: ToEE - Total Conversion

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

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  1. Allyx

    Allyx Master Crafter Global Moderator Supporter

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    @Shiningted OK so using the Moathouse exterior map for the Easthaven outdoor area is ok? Or should I use Hommlet's exterior map instead so it doesn't screw up game.area numbers? Even though Easthaven itself is approx 1/9th of the size of Hommlet.

    I'll have to alter the map image for the pub that I posted earlier to another area then as the Inn is actually another building entirely.

    I believe there is a way to make nighttime maps with Near Infinity, I'll have to adjust the time settings and copy screenshots then piece those together to make them.
     
    Allyx, May 18, 2016
    #106
  2. Allyx

    Allyx Master Crafter Global Moderator Supporter

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    @ineth

    Is there any chance that you could start compiling those dialogue files, like that one for the bar keep then .zip the files and upload them here? They seem to follow a similar (though still using a different programming language) method to ToEE's *.dlg files, so copying/adapting IWD dialogues would be a less daunting task.

    I tried weidu and found it very confusing, but I'll search for a tutorial for it and try again.
     
    Allyx, May 18, 2016
    #107
  3. Allyx

    Allyx Master Crafter Global Moderator Supporter

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    Wow crap, I both love and hate how my brain works sometimes...

    I just had a thought, so I'm leaving this note more as a reminder to myself, but if I remove the doors from the maps, then import them into IWD somehow, then in Near Infinity change the time of day to nighttime, THEN copy/paste the maps, I don't have to remove the doors on the maps twice!
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2016
    Allyx, May 18, 2016
    #108
  4. ineth

    ineth Member

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    No need to take and piece together screenshots of the NearInfinity map viewer... just click the "PNG" export button in the toolbar at the top! ;)

    Even simpler, we can probably find out what filter NearInfinity (and IWD itself) applies to the background images to turn them into a "night" or "twilight" version, and then we can automate it, using an image batch-processing toolset like ImageMagick. I'm pretty confident I could get that to work.

    So yes, for IWD, don't remove doors twice.
    Just do the daytime maps for now, we can batch-process them into night-time maps later.

    BG1 seems to have separate background images for day and night time in the game files, with the night-time versions showing lights from streetlamps and windows in the city, among other differences. So in that case, you'd have to edit out the doors twice.

    PS: Please make sure to save all your edits to the maps as PNG, and don't loose those PNG versions. Only convert them to JPG as a last step when importing them to ToEE. Because opening a JPG, modifying it, and saving it as JPG again, causes cumulative quality loss. In the screenshot of the AR1006 map you posted, the JPG artefacts are already quite visible on the floorboards and cupboard.
    (Scale-wise it looks fine though!)

    I'm on it. I think it should be possible to batch-decompile them all at once using weidu. I'm not a weidu wizard (yet?), but I hope I can find out how to do it.

    Make sure to put the weidu.exe in the correct directory - which is the one that contains the "chitin.key" file.
    In the GOG.com version of the game, it's subdirectory called "game", inside the main installation directory of IWD or BG1. If you bought the game from Steam or Beamdog, the directory structure might be a little different, so just look for the "chitin.key" file.
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2016
    ineth, May 19, 2016
    #109
  5. Allyx

    Allyx Master Crafter Global Moderator Supporter

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    The quality loss on that are probably my fault, I used the splitter in World builder rather than the splitter app that fixes that exact issue by mistake.
     
    Allyx, May 19, 2016
    #110
  6. Shiningted

    Shiningted I want my goat back Administrator

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    Does IWD (still haven't played it) have a 'base' map or starting map akin to Hommlet you can come back to? Changing the first map you encounter is easy enough - keep in mind you start ToEE on a vignette map, not the Hommlet main map - but I dare say the Hommlet main map with it's 3 worldmap locations should be kept for, well, whatever equivalent spot there is.

    'Attached' maps - so maps with identical game area numbers, like all the Moathouse maps are area 2 - should be readily changeable to your needs by Sitra, I should think. Not-necessarily-up-to-date-list HERE.

    @ineth - that's great what you have posted on the dlg stuff, the formats are very different but the underlying concepts I think are compatible (so you can check in ToEE if NumberOfTimesTalkedTo(0) - we call it npc.has_met( pc ) - same basic idea). The main issue other than assigning line numbers will I think be dividing what goes in the dlg file & what in the .py file that controls it. I am not sure what would be more work - writing a converter or just doing them manually. I guess a converter that does most of the files - assuming most of them are reasonably simple - would be better than nothing and the complicated ones for major characters or questlines could be case-by-case.

    Anyway, that will have to be someone else's problem - string handling is not my strong point.
     
    Shiningted, May 19, 2016
    #111
  7. ineth

    ineth Member

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    The game starts in Easthaven (inside the local tavern, to be precise). But that's just the prologue, which is all about preparing for an expedition to Kuldahar. Once you embark on the expedition, you can't return.

    Anyhow, once you reach Kuldahar, chapter 1 starts. Kuldahar then becomes your "base of operations" for the rest of the game. You'll return there in between chapters (via worldmap travel), in order to restock, sell off loot, and get directions for where to go next... :p

    Easthaven cannot be accessed from from the worldmap (for plot reasons), so again, you cannot return there.
    Except that the very final end-game sequence happens in Easthaven again, but you don't get there using the wordmap, you're automatically teleteleported there once you beat the pre-final boss. And it's a changed version of Easthaven, using a different map background and area ID than the one you started in... :p

    TL;DR: Kuldahar probably comes closest to the role of Hommlet in the game.
     
    ineth, May 19, 2016
    #112
  8. Shiningted

    Shiningted I want my goat back Administrator

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    In that case, Easthaven can't have access to the worldmap I guess.
     
    Shiningted, May 19, 2016
    #113
  9. Allyx

    Allyx Master Crafter Global Moderator Supporter

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    Ah right, ok. Well then I can make our
    "Easthaven" on a standard map or vignette map with no world map access, and Kuldahar in place of Hommlet.

    I've yet to leave easthaven in my first playthrough, how does IWD handle the journey to Kuldahar?
     
    Allyx, May 19, 2016
    #114
  10. Allyx

    Allyx Master Crafter Global Moderator Supporter

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    The Icewind Dale Bestiary will require a fair few new or modified 3d models to implement in ToEE, most notably Yuan Ti, Ice Salamanders, Frost Giants etc, some new beasts can be added fairly easily, Flaming Skeletons could just be a regular skeley with Balor flame particles added. :D
     
    Allyx, May 19, 2016
    #115
    Oleg Ben Loleg likes this.
  11. Oleg Ben Loleg

    Oleg Ben Loleg Established Member Supporter

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    I'm thrilled with the progress you make every day. I really very much hope you will finally make an Icewin Dale Game (and /or Baldurs Gate). Was so disapointed with 'Pillars of Eternity'.
    If this some day is a matter of necessary resources I definetly would donate for such a project. Keep going guys.
     
    Oleg Ben Loleg, May 19, 2016
    #116
  12. ineth

    ineth Member

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    Ah, ToEE doesn't have the tundra climate monsters I guess?
    In that case yeah, they might cause some extra work for an IWD conversion.
    On the plus side, those monsters appear again in IWD2, so creating the models now will benefit @Sitra Achara's planned conversion of that game too...

    As for the Burning Skeletons, they don't even have a flame animation in IWD. They just use a model that looks less fragile than a normal skeleton, glows a little (and with glowing eyes I think), and they cast Fireballs at your party... :D
    (But there's no reason you couldn't apply some artistic freedom!)

    With a video cutscene.

    You talk to Hrothgar again in his house in Easthaven once you've finished his two preparation quests, and tell him you're ready to go.
    The screen fades to black, and this video plays.
    When you get control of your character again after the video, you're at the West edge of the goblin-infested "Kuldahar Pass" map (AR2000).
    Once you've fought your way to the East edge of that map, you can worldmap travel from there to Kuldahar.
     
    ineth, May 19, 2016
    #117
  13. Allyx

    Allyx Master Crafter Global Moderator Supporter

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    A big part of my plan for doing this was to do the maps justice by bringing the animations up to date, replacing 2d sprites with 3d models is the biggest noticeable visual difference between the two games, seems only fair to show off what ToEE can do.

    I have completed the Easthaven map files, though clipping and usable doors are not yet implemented, I'm going to need a place to upload them though, any suggestions?
     
    Allyx, May 19, 2016
    #118
  14. Gaear

    Gaear Bastard Maestro Administrator

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    This has pretty clearly become a modding thread/project as opposed to just a thread discussing the possibilities, so I've moved it to the modding section. Carry on. :)
     
    Gaear, May 19, 2016
    #119
  15. Sitra Achara

    Sitra Achara Senior Member

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    The area table is mostly hardcoded at 0x1006ECD0 (or offset 0x6ECD0 if using a hex editor).

    The table is coded byte-wise, with 116 entries (corresponding to map IDs 5000-5115). The mapping of byte value to area ID is
    0 → area 1
    1 → area 2
    2 → area 3
    And so on, except that 0x0D (13) correponds to area 0 rather than area 14.
    Currently the maximum permissible value in that table is also 0x0D.

    Above 5115, it will generally return area 0, except for the following maps IDs which were altered/hardcoded by SpellSlinger:

    5121 - area 14
    5132 - area 15
    5108 - area 16

    I'll be changing this to read from a mesfile in Temple+. Will also take a look at the 200 map limit while I'm at it.
     
    Sitra Achara, May 19, 2016
    #120
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