6 replies to this topic

[Shay81]

I'm sure everyone who has played both DAO & DA2 with mods shares my pain and lament that no one has yet picked up the gauntlet and created a DA2 version of Origin's excellent Advanced Tactics mod. Once again the Bioware team have given us this unique and stimulating party combat system, but forgotten to finish it.

To speed things along, I propose we create a thread to assist someone with the skills to eventually create this frequently requested mod. I'd like to update this post regularly with observations from the community exposing the obvious flaws in the current system which absolutely must be addressed (but could easily be overlooked without a thread like this... I mean even Bioware forgot some important stuff... again). I will return here regularly to add everyone's updates. I thought I might also run a subsection below listing people's ideas for inclusions they might enjoy (but which are not specifically bug fixes, such are more tactics slots etc.

OVERSIGHTS/ERRORS-

1. Bioware default tactics conditions include 'ally>surrounded by at least X enemies'. This command cannot be reproduced in a custom configuration without directly editing prearranged tactical conditions.

2. Enemy status does not have 'stunned'. This is super important as stunned has a big role in setting up those cross party combos. For example a certain ability can yield a 100% of staggering a stunned target, ready for that combo. This is clearly an oversight.

3. I can't think now but the list goes on for conditions that can be set for self or an ally but not vice versa or logical combinations that would make combat more strategic or efficient. If you can think of a tactic that you think would be commonly used or that the game was most likely designed to include... I will insert it here


COMMUNITY WISHLIST-

1. I have heard a lot of people online asking for more tactics slots (mods do already give up to 50 from what I've seen) or more specifically, more levelled tactics slots earlier on.

2. Like with the DAO tactics mod, I would like a lot more specific configurations. The stock tactics are still less varied than Origins ended up as after that brilliant mod. For example I'd like to take Anders and cast "If 2 or more allies are dead, cast regroup". Currently you can only chose Ally>Dead without being able to save that spell for if 2 have died (when you might instead prefer to use an item).

Edited by Shay81, 06 September 2011 - 07:27 PM.

[Sunnie]

A lot of people have asked about this, but we have a huge roadblock called "no updated toolset", and no way to see the source scripts for the game.
Doesn't matter how loudly people cry out for some mod to be made or ported, the reality is that until BioWare gives us a toolset update, many of the more useful (and complex) mods are just not going to happen. And judging by the current interest level of most of the DA2 modders, by the time they(BioWare) get around to giving us an update (if they even will), not many will be interested any more.

/sadbuttrue

[Shay81]

nooooo. Can... not.... process!

I knew there must be a reason why it had no emerged.

I haven't modded for dragon age at all. I'm a bottom level modder, sticking to meshes, textures and construction set modding (namely TES III & IV). That was complex enough that I didn't start to mod for a different series with less tools. What do you mean by no updated toolset? Does the original set not work for the later upgrades or is there something the original was missing?

Edited by Shay81, 06 September 2011 - 10:06 PM.

[Shay81]

A lot of people have asked about this, but we have a huge roadblock called "no updated toolset", and no way to see the source scripts for the game.
Doesn't matter how loudly people cry out for some mod to be made or ported, the reality is that until BioWare gives us a toolset update, many of the more useful (and complex) mods are just not going to happen. And judging by the current interest level of most of the DA2 modders, by the time they(BioWare) get around to giving us an update (if they even will), not many will be interested any more.

/sadbuttrue

Damn. I knew there must be something jamming the works. What do you mean specifically? Is it that the toolset doesn't work for the 1.03 version of the game or that the original was flawed beyond use?

Hm, don't be too dejected by apparent interest levels. If you get into TES modding at all, you still see new people join the Morrowind community and mod their little hearts out. Some major contributors have been around almost 10 years now,but others only joined a year or two ago. You never know when a key contributor will show up, one of those true packages or awesomeness personified who produces more mods in a month (consistently and for years) than the rest of us will in a lifetime... and they keep doing, year after year.




*Edit Can a moderator please delete my post directly above? It didn't show up originally so I wrote 2 lol

Edited by Shay81, 06 September 2011 - 10:21 PM.

[Sunnie]

No, it has nothing to do with the version, it has everything to do with DA2. They made some pretty large and sweeping changes to the game engine for DA2, and the DA toolset literally can only be used for a few things (like compiling new scripts, possibly editing some tint files but the values will be different, etc). I've been around in one form or another since the days of Doom, so I am aware of the modding communities and how some endure. Sadly, there are quite a few reasons why modders are losing interest in DA2 (this really isn't the place to discuss them), but due mainly to the lack of support from BioWare in the form of a toolset update.

[Shay81]

So you're saying that the only toolset available is the one made for the original Dragon Age or Origins? They didn't make a new one at all for DA2? I can certainly see why that would cause people to lose interest. How frustrating.

[Sunnie]

Correct, they have not released a toolset update for use with DA2. The toolset in its current form is meant for use only with DA:Origins.