Item tweak mod

Calanor · #1 November 2nd, 2003, 07:51 PM

Well, I frankly don't know if this will be that interesting to the public, but I might just as well offer it for download, I guess. Chances are that these tweaks will become completely obsolete as soon as the mod tools are released.

I've made some item tweaks to the demo - my main intent is to restrict item creation a little. In this Version, I've basically just added +1 to the required skill levels and tweaked the way the gem costs are calculated a bit. Not that special perhaps, although it will probably affect gameplay a bit - especially for rainbow mages, I'd expect.

This is a patch that will make changes to the Dominions 2 exe, but you will the option to make a copy of the original file during installation. Also, it has not been tested at all in multiplayer, so I have no idea if it will behave properly in such games.

Also included is a master list of all items that can be created in the Forge, along with their original skill requirements as well as the tweaked, new ones. Far from all of the items listed can be created in the demo Version, though. Some might feel that an item list is kind of a spoiler - if you are one of them, don't download the package or refrain from reading the list

If you think this might be interesting, click on this link to download the package. Note that this patch will only work with the Windows Version of the demo.

[Edit: Changed link]

[ November 03, 2003, 00:48: Message edited by: Calanor ]

Alneyan · #2 November 2nd, 2003, 08:00 PM

It sounds interesting to say the least. Out of idle curiosity, how did you manage to alter the costs, and to find the list of all items? Hopefully it won't get too technical.

If anyone has a problem with downloading from Geocities: try to reload the page. Geocities has some restrictions on remote linking, so you may have to reload the page. (If you are using Mozilla and its tabs for example)

Calanor · #3 November 2nd, 2003, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Alneyan:
It sounds interesting to say the least. Out of idle curiosity, how did you manage to alter the costs, and to find the list of all items? Hopefully it won't get too technical.

If anyone has a problem with downloading from Geocities: try to reload the page. Geocities has some restrictions on remote linking, so you may have to reload the page. (If you are using Mozilla and its tabs for example)

It is technical - it involved a certain amount of trial and error, as well as some basic understanding of assembler directives

Saber Cherry · #4 November 2nd, 2003, 08:15 PM

Were you finding magic items overbalancing? Or did you just do this to impress everyone

Calanor · #5 November 2nd, 2003, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Saber Cherry:
Were you finding magic items overbalancing? Or did you just do this to impress everyone

Heh, well, some magic items might be a bit unbalanced in power level and/or cost IMO, but basically I wanted forging to become a tiny bit little more special - not something that your newly hatched little initiate would necessarily be able to pull off.

josh_f · #6 November 2nd, 2003, 09:04 PM

Nice, work. Would you mine posting the source code? That way people can write patches for other OS.

Calanor · #7 November 2nd, 2003, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by josh_f:
Nice, work. Would you mine posting the source code? That way people can write patches for other OS.

I don't know how that would help - the file offsets in the exe will not be the same between different platforms, so all you'd end up with is a program that ruins your exe, heh.

Zerger · #8 November 2nd, 2003, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Calanor:
Well, I frankly don't know if this will be that interesting to the public, but I might just as well offer it for download, I guess. Chances are that these tweaks will become completely obsolete as soon as the mod tools are released.

I've made some item tweaks to the demo - my main intent is to restrict item creation a little. In this Version, I've basically just added +1 to the required skill levels and tweaked the way the gem costs are calculated a bit. Not that special perhaps, although it will probably affect gameplay a bit - especially for rainbow mages, I'd expect.

This is a patch that will make changes to the Dominions 2 exe, but you will the option to make a copy of the original file during installation. Also, it has not been tested at all in multiplayer, so I have no idea if it will behave properly in such games.

Also included is a master list of all items that can be created in the Forge, along with their original skill requirements as well as the tweaked, new ones. Far from all of the items listed can be created in the demo Version, though. Some might feel that an item list is kind of a spoiler - if you are one of them, don't download the package or refrain from reading the list

If you think this might be interesting, click on this link to download the package. Note that this patch will only work with the Windows Version of the demo.

Is it legal to modify the .exe?

Calanor · #9 November 2nd, 2003, 10:57 PM

That probably varies, depending on what country you live in. Usually, I wouldn't expect devs to mind all that much, unless we're dealing with outright on-line cheats or cracks. Out of common courtesy however, I asked Johan if going public with this tweak was OK and he didn't mind.

Sammual · #10 November 3rd, 2003, 12:25 AM

I can't access the zip file.
Any chance you could pass it on to Sunray_be or DominionsX?

Sammual