142 replies to this topic

[terya]

In response to post #9441676. #9448895 is also a reply to the same post.

I know this 'problem' with the party picker, since I've played the first time karmas companions.
I have a CRT Monitor, large, heavy - a little bit old, but its a triniton, so the colors are excellent.
But it is 4:3, means, ther are some Companion at the left or righ, that are hard to see.
If you have also a 4:3 monitor, troubleshootiing in this case is very easy: Go to the video settings, deactivate full screen and chose a 16:10 setting.
It might look like a cinemaskop filn on TV, but you will see the whole party picker. And you will also see more of the game.

[BlazingSpeed]

Nvm...

Edited by BlazingSpeed, 13 October 2013 - 06:36 AM.

[Marakov]

Okay, let me give you my feedback - I endorsed the mod shortly after it was released. Bottom line, I think it's a great mod. In my opinion, there can never be enough mods - especially ones with new companions or equipment. There was definitely a dearth of mods dealing with dwarves and your mod with 5 recruitable companions helps address this issue big-time. Great timing too, with the recent release of the great mod, Loincloth Fashion, that has numerous armors that can be worn by Dwarves.

The only semi-major problem I have encountered is the party picker issue others have mentioned. I have quite a few companion mods: Karmas Companions, Lealion, Valeria (Quest and Legends), Bloodworks, Return to Korcari Wilds, and Sisters in Arms (Gina and Tory). The party picker works fine with all of the aforementioned mods except Sisters in Arms...and now yours. In Sisters in Arms, Gina and Tory are on top of each other on the left side of the screen - sunk halfway into the floor. Since one is a human and other is an elf, it is easy to choose which companion I want. Your companions show up the same way, just in front of Gina and Tory. Since all five are dwarves, it is virtually impossible to actually choose who I want to go with me on a mission. I've tried everything, to include completely uninstalling the Sisters in Arms mod (temporary solutions since I do not want to get rid of it) with no luck. So, what I have to do is recruit no more than three companions (I go with Silfranar, Jasmine, and Lady Danika) to make it possible to actually choose the appropriate one at the party picker screen. As much as I would like to be able to recruit all five dwarves, I do NOT consider it that big of a thing. I would have no real problem if this is not actually fixed.

When I first recruited Silfranar and Jasmine, I noticed that they were “silent.” No problem, I extracted the UTCs and added a soundset line. Silfranar is now ss_pc_fdwarf_exp, Jasmine is ss_pc_fdwarf_wise, and Lady Danika is ss_pc_felf_exp (I know...elf, but sounds good). The soundsets flesh out their characters, at least for me. I also renamed their morphs to df_jasmine, etc because I’m a simple guy and this helps me keep things straight. <shrug>

Speaking of morphs, I appreciate that you included the MRH files since it allowed me to tweak them while more or less maintaining your “vision.” Namely, got rid of the tattoos and did minor adjustments to skin tone and hair type. What can I say? I like to tweak. Also, your individual notepad document for each companion with pertinent information regarding mods used for mrh creation was a VERY nice touch. It made it so easy to get exactly what was needed – unlike so many mods out there.

Playability – no problems at all. Jasmine spots traps, disarms them, and trots over to pick locks when she discovers them (set up that way using Advanced Tactics mod). It might seem like a small thing for a rogue companion, but there are mods out there that have glitches that prevent this from happening.

I love the way you “introduce” Jasmine and Silfranar that first night in Redcliffe – kind of surprised me the first time. It’s also nice that you have such a diversity of backgrounds for Jasmine, Silfranar, and Lady Danika – really adds to their individuality. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of character development you have, with the various ways to increase approval. As far as their voices, I see no problem with what you have.

It is obvious that you put a lot of effort into this mod, and I appreciate it. The many, many positives easily dwarf (no pun intended) the one small negative (party picker). I’m sure that there are other positives that I have forgotten to mention, there are so many. Anyway, good job, you done good!

[mcgoy]

In response to post #9571538.

First, thank you for your many kind words. "done good" made me feel like I was back home where I grew up I'm going to respond 'twice' to your one message so that I can really get into the partypicker issue (2nd response will probably be a couple of hours from now).


mrh files - yes, those were included because some people like to install a lot of the appearance related mods and some don't. For those who like the various appearance mods, they can create the variation that they like. Even if the only change is removing tattoos. If you had some variations that you particularly liked, please feel free to take screenshots and upload!

soundsets - those are a future enhancement. I wanted the soundset to match the voice of the voice actor and since I'm ALL the voices..... I'm hoping that voice actors with more talent will replace me. Especially for the male versions of the dwarves since they are entirely voiceless! The relationships - even if it is 'just' a Best Friends Forever relationship (dwarf GWs only) need to be enhanced - which will add more conversations. At that point, I will have to record more lines. If no one has stepped up to take over for me, I'll record soundsets for them as well. Banter (since you mentioned soundsets) is another item on the 'wish list', but will probably only be 'dwarf to dwarf'. I am very very glad that my voice acting had some merit though!

Thank you again for your comments! I really appreciate them and they provide motivation to continue work on the mod. Some things were 'not done' because I really didn't know if anyone other than me would play and like the mod. It seemed like a LOT of work for some aspects (soundsets and banter come to mind) if no one, other than me, ever played!

[mcgoy]

In response to post #9571538. #9573796 is also a reply to the same post.

Some players have had problems with the party picker and some have not. I'm going to have include better instructions next time The Compatible Party Pickers were originally created by Karma and don't look like the partypicker that I use -'mine' is a smaller variation. For her new version of Karma's Companions (not yet released), she created a larger partypicker so that all Companions could fit more easily. They can be crowded if you have a lot of them, but if you have a lot of them, it provides more room for the Companions

Common problems
All standing in one 'spot'. This means that a partypicker that does not include the Dwarves is overriding my char_stage. In your override directory (C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\override on my desktop), make sure that the only files that contain some variation of "char_stage.are" are from 'my' Compatible PartyPickers download. This includes kc_char_stage since my mod did not exist when karma create Karma's Companions.

Embedded in 'floor'. This means that two party picker layouts are competing. In your override directory (C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\override on my desktop), make sure that the oth999 folder is installed from 'my' Compatible PartyPickers download and that the file names which appear in that folder are the only version that appear. This includes Karma's mod since she created the 'new and improved' party picker after the most recent release of her own mod.

IF I have misnamed a partypicker (and my spelling is creative on a good day), it might result in some of these issues. However, I don't have the Companion mods installed so I have no way of testing this. It is a simple matter to rename a party picker if that turns out to be the issue.

If you have any Companions that are not included in one of the 'Compatible' party pickers, they can (probably) be added. I say 'probably' because Gina and Tory had more than one tag associated with them depending on what version you have installed.

Edited by mcgoy, 14 October 2013 - 03:58 PM.

[BlazingSpeed]

I have a quick question about Jasmine I'm about to go into the Circle Tower and I wanted to know if Jasmine has her own nightmare scenario also will the Guardian at the Sacred Ashes quest ask Jasmine a question about her past?

Thanks in advance,

[mcgoy]

Jasmine has her own Nightmare (it is lame, but it exists
The Guardian won't ask Jasmine about her past (future upgrade), but she will have a doppelganger when you get to that point.

(note to self, reply through project page, not through forums so that the reply is with the question)

Edited by mcgoy, 14 October 2013 - 09:53 PM.

[BlazingSpeed]

In response to post #9582680.

Cool, I also forgot to ask about voiced generic battle cries example "Just call me the reaper!" will there ever be any?

[mcgoy]

In response to post #9582680. #9601769 is also a reply to the same post.

Generic battle cries aren't going to be 'for a while'. I would like the generic/ambient conversation voice to match the conversation voice. I was hoping to find voice actors to replace me. No luck with that so far so I'll have to break down and do it - when I add more conversations and 'complete' the relationships (best friend or love interest).

[mcgoy]

So far, there have not been any reports of 'game breaking' bugs. I am going to start working on all of the 'small' bugs that have been identified with the goal of providing an updated version of MerAnne's Dwarf Companions by the end of November. The actual date of the updated version will be dependent upon the issues identified, the severity, and how much time I have to work on it. If there are really very few issues, the update may be delayed until there is more content.

1) Please report bugs on this forum so that they can be discussed.

2) Compatible Party Pickers, please report those issues (or that you don't have any issues) here. Some people don't seem to have any problem with them and others do. So far all of the problems have appeared to be installation problems. If I have misnamed a partypicker or there is a problem with the partypickers, I can't fix it if no one is willing to discuss the problems that they are having - and then identify that it was fixed or not. If I need to include clearer instructions and/or screenshots in partypickers zip file, I consider that a 'fix' so let's discuss this.

3) Voice Actors - I did all of the female Dwarf Companion voices. If anyone is interested in doing the voiceovers for any of the female or male Dwarf Companions, please contact me. There are also a few roles with fewer lines if anyone is interested in those.

4) Other assistance - I don't know how to do some things. For example, players may have noticed that all of the new Bard talents have the same icon. I'm not morally opposed to changing that, I just don't know how! If anyone has the knowledge/skills to provide this type of enhancement, please let me know.