Mod Compatibility with TSLRCM 1.7 (Discussion)

[Guest GarfieldJL]

I haven't had issues with Khoonda Lost Room mod and TSLRCM 1.7, but then I may be using an older version of that mod.

[Guest bendarby24]

I haven't had issues with Khoonda Lost Room mod and TSLRCM 1.7, but then I may be using an older version of that mod.

me to i havent had eny bugs on it ?

[Guest Qui-Don Jorn]

Yup, but I believe this is not related with the global.jrl issue.

 

 

Sorry, I just got to seeing this thread,..

Let me see what i can do with just merging the global.jrl's of all 3 mods..though I would have sworn I had my tslpatcher working correctly to add my journal entries to any existing global.jrl.

I could post it on my personal site if you still need it. let me know phil...

[MrPhil 58]

Check your PM, Jorn

[Player 0]

Hi there!

 

I am trying to figure out a way to make three of the mods listed as incompatible to work with TSLRCM v1.7 + HotOR v1.5. This is for personal use of course. I was hoping you guys could help me out with whatever information you can provide, if you've got the time.

 

The three mods and their compatibility issues are:

 

Force Fashion II by jonathan7, Marius Fett and Ender Wiggin - There are conflicting dialog files.

Handmaiden Choice for Females by Stoffe (AKA RevanAnt) - This mod makes changes to a lot of files - files that TSLRCM has already altered.

Game Balance Mod by Achilles - Although it will be possible to make it working together with TLSRCM by removing the N-darthnihilu001.utc file and any handmaiden/atris related files this mod installs.

 

I wanted to start with Force Fashion II.

 

[Potentially Conflicting DLG Files]

 

According to the Mod Compatibility List for TSLRCM 1.7 thread, the conflicts arise due to some of the DLG files provided with the mod. These are the DLG files that come with the mod:

 

- 101awake.dlg (101PER.mod) - I have checked this file and there is no conflict. TSLRCM does not seem to alter this file. They look exactly the same sans a script (mf_pgspawn) added to E6 (Editor info also differs, but this should be irrelevant).

- 102atton.dlg (102PER.mod) - Several changes. possibly due to Force Fashion using the vanilla DLG as a base. Relevant changes might be a script (mf_pcspawn) added to E40 and R39.

- attris.dlg (262TEL.mod) - MANY changes. Relevant changes might be a script (mf_atsafe) added to E6.

- atton.dlg (BIFs->dialogs.bif) - Several changes. Unsure if this file is edited by TSLRCM. I cannot find it in the Override folder. If it does include it, changes might be due to the same reason as above. Relevant changes might be a script (mf_attonrobe) added to E149 and E159.

- disciple.dlg (BIFs->dialogs.bif) - MANY changes (most of them related to index numbering modifications?), which is funny since I don't even think this file is modified by TSLRCM (I could be wrong, though). The relevant changes might be a script (mf_micalrobe) added to E281.

- miratch.dlg (301NAR.mod) - Barely modified. Relevant changes might be a script (mf_mirarobe) added to R41.

 

I will update the list as soon as I examine more DLG files. I have just started! (and sadly I don't have a lot of time on my hands right now).

 

[Potentially Conflicting NCS Files]

 

Additionally I have checked the NCS files that the mod adds. None of the changes seem to affect TSLRCM, in fact I don't think TSLRCM alters these files at all.

 

- a_transformt3m4.ncs (106PER.mod) - completely modified to place a container ("mf_t3cyl"). It also fires a_transformt3m42.ncs, which is a custom file provided by the mod that contains the original a_transformt3m4.ncs script.

- a_transformt3m42.ncs - original a_transformt3m4.ncs

- k_152area_enter.ncs (152HAR.mod) - similar changes to the ones in a_transformt3m4.ncs.

- k_152area_enter2.ncs - original k_152area_enter.ncs.

 

- mf_atsafe.ncs, mf_attonrobe.ncs, mf_micalrobe.ncs, mf_mirarobe.ncs, mf_pcspawn.ncs, mf_pgspawn.ncs - These seem to be custom NCS files designed to give NPCs their robes and items upon a certain dialogue trigger.

 

 

[Methods]

 

To extract TSLRCM relevant files I installed TSLRCM and use Kotor Tool to generate a list of the new MOD files in the Modules folder. If there are any files in the Override folder, I open them independently using Kotor Tool.

 

To check the NCS files I use DeNCS Script Decompiler to decompile and look at them directly.

 

For the DLG files I run a GFF comparison using TSL Patcher and examine the results. Later I open the files with KotOR/TSL GUI Dialog Editor and check the relevant changes.

 

[irrelevant Supplemental]

 

Anybody else in here thinks Blue Moon is awesome beer? I'm just having one while I wait for atris.dlg to parse (this might be the second one )

 

[Discussion]

 

Okay I think this is pretty much it. I'm going to check these DLG changes in the Dialog Editor. If they look right, the next step should be to manually change the "TSLRCM modified" files (the ones I extracted, which might or might not be modified by TSLRCM) and test if they work in game.

 

The next mod, Handmaiden Choice for Female Exiles, is going to be quite more difficult to analyze. I don't even know if my methods are right.

[Hassat Hunter 571]

- atris.dlg (262TEL.mod) - MANY changes. Relevant changes might be a script (mf_atsafe) added to E6.

- atton.dlg (BIFs->dialogs.bif) - Several changes. Unsure if this file is edited by TSLRCM. I cannot find it in the Override folder. If it does include it, changes might be due to the same reason as above. Relevant changes might be a script (mf_attonrobe) added to E149 and E159.

- disciple.dlg (BIFs->dialogs.bif) - MANY changes (most of them related to index numbering modifications?), which is funny since I don't even think this file is modified by TSLRCM (I could be wrong, though). The relevant changes might be a script (mf_micalrobe) added to E281.

- miratch.dlg (301NAR.mod) - Barely modified. Relevant changes might be a script (mf_mirarobe) added to R41.

Ehm, no changes to Atton/Disciple? WHAT?

Also, all of these 4 files will be changed for 1.8, so... don't bother yet I would advise you!

[Player 0]

Hi HH,

 

Thanks for the advice! I'll try to find out which are the essential changes for those mods but will refrain from doing any tweaking until 1.8 is released then.

 

Meanwhile, so atton.dlg and disciple.dlg are modified by TSLRCM then? I did not check any of the modules for these files, since they tend to be in the override. Nevertheless, I think I properly identified the relevant entries from Force Fashion II.

 

Question for you (but don't take any time from 1.8 to answer it): Am I right in assuming that TSLRCM 1.8 will only clash with Force Fashion II in those dialogue files you quoted?

 

Also, I will start with Handmaiden Choice for Female Exiles today. It has a beautifully detailed readme in regards to the files it modifies. It might be easier than I thought, provided I can find and extract the proper scripts from TSLRCM.

[Hassat Hunter 571]

Meanwhile, so atton.dlg and disciple.dlg are modified by TSLRCM then?

Yes.

since they tend to be in the override.

They are.

Am I right in assuming that TSLRCM 1.8 will only clash with Force Fashion II in those dialogue files you quoted?

If the files you mentioned are the only files of FF II, then, yes. If there are more, then I couldn't tell.

Also, I will start with Handmaiden Choice for Female Exiles today. It has a beautifully detailed readme in regards to the files it modifies. It might be easier than I thought, provided I can find and extract the proper scripts from TSLRCM.

Yeah... you probably want to skip this one too .

[Hassat Hunter 571]

So, I've been e-mailed not to dash your hopes about the Handmaiden mod 0_0... but to be fair even MORE files are modified than with Force Fashion.

My estimate is about a little over 50%, and I doubt you'll want to re-work half your mod later on...

[Player 0]

Hi HH,

 

My bad!! atton.dlg and disciple.dlg are in fact in the override. Those should be the ones I compared Force Fashion II DLGs against, but I'll double check anyways.

 

The potential conflicting files provided with FFII should be the ones I posted before, as these are the only DLGs and NCSs included in the Force Fashion II download. However, other files might cause problems as well, including several UTI and UTC files. But hopefully these won't clash with TSLRCM.

 

As for the Handmaiden Choice for Female Exiles mod, every relevant change is already documented in the readme, so there's little else I can do regarding that matter. Now, script merging for this mod is necessary to provide compatibility with TSLRCM, so as soon as v1.8 is released I could start taking a look.

 

I have noticed that dialogue editing can be done in real time with TSLPatcher. This is in fact what Handmaiden Choice for Female Exiles mod does. Assuming this function works without error (and so far my tests corroborate it does), no manual changes on the DLGs should be needed. With the proper configuration in namespaces.ini, a separate installation for TSLRCM where the TSLRCM modified DLGs are provided to the program to serve as a base for patching, could work very well.

 

A side note: even though I said this is for personal use, if the authors of these mods wanted to take a look at whatever I may have done, I'll gladly give them all my tweaked files.

 

Anyway, thanks a ton for replying and answering my questions. I hope I didn't steal too much time from your work on TSLRCM v1.8. I'm looking forwards to its release. One way or another, these three mods are going to be compatible with it

[Player 0]

Hi there,

 

Not a fan of double posting, so I apologize for this.

 

I have been looking at the Handmaiden Choice for Female Exiles mod scripts. It seems most scripts are compatible, but I'm having troubles opening these three scripts:

 

- a_next_scene.ncs

- k_003ebo_enter.ncs

- k_hen_discipdlg.ncs

 

I also have noticed that somebody already checked compatibilities between these two mods and reported it in this thread. So I cheated and now I know that the first two are the ones that need to be merged

 

The problem is that I cannot access the source code from TSLRCM scripts. I tried extracting the scripts with Kotor Tool and opening them with DeNCS, but the program fails. Any advice would be more than welcome.

[Hassat Hunter 571]

Yeah, they will fail when trying to de-compile.

 

Got the first 2 though, so I could just send them over when 1.8's done (and there modifications are set in stone).

You should be able to extract the third with KOTORTool from the scripts.bif.

[Player 0]

Hi HH,

 

That'd be awesome, thanks a lot.

 

Meanwhile, I am already testing compatible versions of Force Fashion II and Achille's Game Balance Mod with TSLRCM.

 

For Force Fashion II I have created an extra installation setup with a changes.ini that patches DLG files instead of overwriting:

 

[101awake.dlg]
EntryList\6\Script=mf_pgspawn

[102atton.dlg]
EntryList\40\Script=mf_pcspawn
ReplyList\39\Script=mf_pcspawn

[atris.dlg]
EntryList\6\Script=mf_atsafe

[atton.dlg]
EntryList\149\Script=mf_attonrobe
EntryList\159\Script=mf_attonrobe

[disciple.dlg]
EntryList\281\Script=mf_micalrobe

[miratch.dlg]
ReplyList\41\Script=mf_mirarobe

 

The patcher uses TSLRCM to directly patch the relevant DLGs inside TSLRCM .mod files.

 

For Achille's Game Balance Mod, I did a similar thing but instead of patching I just extracted TSLRCM UTC files and applied his changes manually.

 

He also modified 4 scripts so they reference a new UTC filename: n_darthatris001.utc and n_darthatris002.utc, instead of n_darthtraya001.utc and n_darthtraya001.utc. I am unsure of the reason for this name change, so for now I excluded the scripts from my installation and applied the relevant changes to the original filenames I extracted with Kotor Tool.

 

Only Handmaiden Choice for Female Exiles remains then. As soon as you release TSLRCM v1.8 I'll try to merge the scripts. The author herself explains many of the changes in the readme, also here and here and probably in several other places. Hopefully it should be a matter of comparing and editing the TSLRCM provided scripts.

 

Wish me luck with the testing. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

[Sith Holocron 2,473]

As long as Achilles' mods are being mentioned, I thought I may as well mention this one too: Crippling Strike Mod

 

I'll quote his page for the description of what this mod is supposed to do:

 

One of the first bugs I noticed when when TSL came out was that Bao-Dur's tree of specialized unarmed feats was broken (Repulsor Strike, Electrical Strike, & Gravitonic Strike). Unfortunately, this wasn't fixed in the 1.0b patch, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

 

Since Handmaiden's Echani Strike feats works, I decided to rename that feat tree to something neutral and give Bao-Dur access as well.

 

If I recall correctly, when I bugged the powers-that-be about this mod, I recall hearing that it wasn't compatible. (I'll adjust the main list to add this mod once I get this confirmed that it is incomaptible.) Player - as long as you're working on making old mods compatible with TSLRCM 1.7 (or higher), I hope you'll keep this one in mind too!

[MrPhil 58]

I used to like this mod, but I think it clashed with Force power mods (though that was a long time ago. Or maybe it was with Shem's feat gain mod (which I also used at the time. The latter is more probable, but anyway, incompatibility with any feat mod is frustrating...)

[Player 0]

Hi Sith Holocron,

 

I didn't know Bao-Dur's feats were broken, I definitely want to take a look at that one (in fact I am looking at it right now).

 

I am not sure why this mod would be incompatible, though. Changes to the default UTC and 2da files are patched using TSLPatcher. The only thing that occurs to me is that these files are not by default on the override after a TSLRCM installation, so if the author used vanilla (or other non-TSLRCM related) files as a base for TSLPatch to place-and-patch, incompatibilities might arise. If this is the case, then replacing the default files provided with the mod with extracted ones from TSLRCM might be sufficient to provide compatibility. I'll investigate further . Also, I have noticed the presence of additional extra UTC and 2da files with "_new" appended to them, I'm not sure what these are for.

 

Meanwhile, I am re-visiting my modifications to Achille's Game Balance Mod. Using TSLPatcher to patch the UTC files seems to work fine, so I'm setting up a changes.ini for this purpose. I was having troubles understanding what the author intended to do with these modified NCS calls, but I think I got it now. The files n_darthatris001.utc and n_darthatris002.utc are consistent with n_darthtraya001.utc (4064) and n_darthtraya002.utc (4066) found in 262TEL_s.rim, which differ from n_darthtraya001.utc (5432) found in 904MAL_s.rim, which the mod also modifies but in this case without altering its name. Thus the filename change and scripts modifications are there as a means for the game to distinguish between these files, since the mod has to place them all in the override. If I am right in these assumptions, then using TSLPatcher to patch and integrate the UTC files (with their original filenames) into their corresponding modules should be enough to make both mods compatible and would allow me to get rid of the NCS files. The UTC files to be patched would have to be from TSLRCM of course.

 

When I have a while I'll try to figure out a way to make these two mods compatible with TSLRCM by patching files, rather than overwritting. The weekend is almost over though, so I don't know "when" that is going to be.

 

 

UPDATE (04/24/11)

 

Force Fashion II: I think I can safely report that Force Fashion II is now (locally) compatible with TSLRCM v1.7. I just made it to Telos, but everything is working fine so far. Since I plan to play through the game with it installed, I should pick up any possible bugs I might have inadvertently introduced if there are any. I will mail the author.

 

Achille's Game Balance Mod: I configured TSLPatcher to modify the relevant UTCs inside the corresponding TSLRCM MOD file. So there is no need to even have the files in the installation folder. Neat. ( TSLPatcher)

 

*I have gone through the two renamed UTCs manually and I can see no relevant changes in comparison to vanilla 1.0b. I mailed Achilles about this, and if I understood him correctly, this is expected. The renamed files and their associated scripts were there only to prevent any unintentional override of these files in other modules. Since I am directly modifying them inside the TSLRCM modules, there is no need for them or the scripts.

 

Handmaiden Choice for Female Exiles: On hold until TSLRCM v1.8 is released and I have the source scripts to tweak (because I don't have the know-how to parse the bytecode manually myself, and I don't want to bother Stoffe with this).

[Hassat Hunter 571]

Repulser Strike works for me.

On hit, bye bye Shield used. It's why all Czerka troops on the surface use shields, to use Bao's nifty feature.

 

So... what???

[Guest Mablus25]

1.7 is awsome restore mod of all made the game much more fun for TSL hope more features will come for Kotor 2 TSL

[MrPhil 58]

1.7 is awsome restore mod of all made the game much more fun for TSL hope more features will come for Kotor 2 TSL

Such as?

[Player 0]

Hi everybody,

 

Just dropping by to wish you a nice week and say thank you for letting me flood this thread with my personal ramblings about quasi-modding

 

I think I can happily play the game now!

[Player 0]

Update 04-30-2011

 

Again, I really dislike double posting. It is not a nice thing to do and I deeply apologize for doing it. This post was meant to be an edit of my last one, in fact this was going to be my previous post, but I had to get some permissions before I started writing it. In any case, I wrote too much here to make it an edit, so I am starting a new post. Hopefully this will be the last time I have to do this.

 

Okay. So I have been testing compatible versions for the three mods above. As I write this, I am also writing PMs to the relevant authors about a possible release of an updated version of their mod. I cannot promise anything, but the least I can do is to try. However, before anything happens, I would like to know if anybody is interested in having compatible versions of these mods. The reason I ask this is because, aside some personal messages I received regarding other mods, no one showed a real interest in this. If you are interested, post here, otherwise just ignore me and I shall do the same.

 

Below I am going to detail everything that I have done to their mods, so this post can serve as a reference for the authors to know the changes prior making any decision / granting any permission (I will also mail them the tweaked files upon request, of course). Also, take a look at the last three points of the post.

 

Note: In addition to TSLRCM v1.7, these mods should be compatible with HotOR v1.5.

 

 

Force Fashion II

 

For Force Fashion II I have created an extra installation setup with a changes.ini that patches DLG files instead of overwriting:

 

[101awake.dlg]
EntryList\6\Script=mf_pgspawn

[102atton.dlg]
EntryList\40\Script=mf_pcspawn
ReplyList\39\Script=mf_pcspawn

[atris.dlg]
EntryList\6\Script=mf_atsafe

[atton.dlg]
EntryList\149\Script=mf_attonrobe
EntryList\159\Script=mf_attonrobe

[disciple.dlg]
EntryList\281\Script=mf_micalrobe

[miratch.dlg]
ReplyList\41\Script=mf_mirarobe

 

The installation directly patches the relevant DLGs inside TSLRCM .mod files.

 

In addition, I seem to have detected a bug that may have been present in the original release of the mod where multiple instances of some containers are created. I have taken this to the author to see if anything needs fixing. Meanwhile I corrected it locally.

 

 

Achilles Game Balance Mod

 

In Achilles own words,

 

99% of the mod is the .2da file. The .utcs are there to beef up the boss fights, but are non-essential and were configured for my tastes.

 

The only thing I had to do to make this mod compatible was to re-configure TSLPatcher to modify the relevant UTCs directly inside the corresponding TSLRCM MOD file. Thus in this installation no UTCs and no NCS files have to be included with the mod.

 

If an updated version of this mod were to be released, most likely a small modification to those UTCs would have to be included where they have the actual class level described in the readme (right now it is lower and in one instance the class does not correspond).

 

 

Handmaiden Choice for Female Exiles

 

Thanks to Hassat Hunter I was able to access the source code for the two potentially conflicting scripts. The code I have is a bit different from v1.7, since it includes some (but not all) changes pertaining to v1.8. I won't be talking about those changes, but HH has granted me permission to comment on the lines relevant to the Handmaiden mod.

 

I could find absolutely nothing in the source code of k_003ebo_enter.ncs or a_next_scene.ncs that could cause compatibility issues with Stoffe's handmaiden mod. HH already provides compatibility with this mod's scripts, so we can start by thanking him for that. In fact, k_003ebo_enter.nss uses Stoffe's fixed version as a base for modification, so nothing to do here.

 

As mentioned, Stoffe already integrates her dialogue modifications by patching DLGs with TSLPatcher. The only thing I did was to point the program to the specific .mod filename that TSLRCM installs, and I was good to go.

 

 

Discussion

 

A couple of things here:

 

- First, these modifications are still on testing phase. Meaning I don't know how right (or wrong) I have modified these mods to make them compatible. I am currently playing the game with them installed and for now they 'seem' to work. However, TSLRCM is a big mod and I have never played the game before, so I don't really know if it is working the way it is supposed to.

 

- Second, the changes I have made are really easy modifications. I want you to have in mind that if the authors wanted their mods to be compatible with TSLRCM, they could have done this by now with ease. In fact they could've skipped my reverse-modding methods completely, since they already know the modifications included in their mods. This is specially true for Stoffe; she is the source of many scripts we are using today to mod this game and could have done my changes blindfolded and handcuffed (nobody take these words out of context, please).

 

- Third (yes, I lied when I said 'a couple'), I don't tend to stay in any community for long. To be honest, I usually stay for as long as I am playing the game, and many times I don't even finish them. So any support I could provide for the new releases would be very limited at best. In addition, as you can already tell if you've been reading my posts, I am very busy during the weekdays (piece of advice here: never work in research, damn thing will suck the life out of your bones). This makes it very complicated for me to fix anything in a reasonable time-frame.

 

 

Please, take your time to read through these three points before posting. Please, only reply to this post if you are really interested in this stuff. Please, have in mind this is my time and, more importantly, the other modders' we are talking about.

 

Thank you for reading.

[MrPhil 58]

Indeed, I am very interested in your "compatibilizations" of these great mods. And there are so much people that asked for compatibility between Handmaiden for Female that it is a wonder you'd even ask about that one, no kidding. I myself wanted to look into making FF II compatible, so yup.

 

By the way, no problem with "a couple" being bigger than two. In Quebec, when we say "une coupe", it means more than two, granted the etymology may not be the same

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to do this stuff. If you could send the stuff my way trough PM or something, I'd love to try and test the bugger for ya (more specifically Handmaiden mod and Force Fashion II).

[Hassat Hunter 571]

Handmaiden Choice for Female Exiles

As mentioned, Stoffe already integrates her dialogue modifications by patching DLGs with TSLPatcher. The only thing I did was to point the program to the specific .mod filename that TSLRCM installs, and I was good to go.

Interesting.

 

Hate to tell you all work might be in vain for 1.8 then 0_0.

Well, most probably.

 

Then again, can't having an overwritten ebo_onenter script, but the TSLPatcher probably doesn't do that?

[Player 0]

Hi HH,

 

Well, I don't have a lot of time on my hands right now, so I wouldn't be surprised if the new version of TSLRCM is out before I am done with the testing. I guess we'll find out soon enough. It's Sunday already and I'm signing off the game for the rest of the day. These next two to three weeks are going to be pure horror

 

The worst thing it might happen that I can think of would be you changing the Entry/Reply index numbers in the dialogue files. That would force me to hunt those entries manually, but I don't think that's going to happen, is it? Other than that, wherever the .dlg is I could just specify the relative path to the program and that's pretty much it. Once v1.8 is out I'll recheck that no scripts are already added to those E/R. I already had a hiccup between HotOR and Force Fashion II because I was careless.

 

True about the scripts, but as long as the handmaiden mod does not install its own k_ebo.. and a_next_scene... it should be fine. They are set to no-replace, but since you don't place them in the override... Anyway, I don't think any of your scripts are incompatible, definitely not the ones you sent me, those already had the gender checks removed.

[Hassat Hunter 571]

Who knows. It's not out yet, and may still take a while. Stuff left to do.

 

While that can happen, it's mostly just adding new entries and replies. So more numbers, not replacing old. Although old entries may have been deleted, for various reasons.

 

Exactly. Ebo_onenter.ncs files in the override have been the biggest cause of incompatibilities and conflicts so far...