No Experience

[doubtheart]

I tried searching these forums for this, but just searching 'experience' brings up so many undesired results, and the search function won't allow for keywords shorter than three characters, so I can't add 'no' or '0' to that. So, here is my request.

 

I enjoy doing personal challenges for games, and I'd like to be able to do a low-level run on Dragon Age. The problem with doing this mod-free is that so many fights are unavoidable and you can't flee. Even doing as little as possible and doing only what's required, you'll still level a lot throughout the story.

 

There was something on GameFAQs about just not using your skill and stat points, but you still gain bonuses as you level, and enemies and recruited characters scale to your level, and so it kind of defeats the purpose of a low-level challenge.

 

So if someone could find a way to set experience rewards for monsters, quests, etc., to give nothing, that's ideally what I'm looking for. You get experience from unlocking doors/chests, disabling traps and reading codexes, too. I suppose doors/chests and traps can just be left alone or triggered intentionally, so that's a non-issue, although I'd prefer to be able to do these things as well. Some codexes are needed for quests, and quests give non-experience rewards as well. So if it's possible to remove experience there, too, that would be awesome.

 

I know little about modding this game, so if this can't be done, or would be overly tedious to do, I would understand if no one wanted to attempt it. But if someone should try, thanks in advance, and I hope someone comes up with something.

[hdhd]

I currently have no time to test this but here something that I tried:

http://filebeam.com/bc020be8cfb31c56dea063a2b167706b (just put the file in your override folder)

 

If it doesn't work you could try opening the sys_rewards_h in toolset and remove from the void RewardXP and void RewardXPParty the lines that give creature XP or create a new script that overrides the event EVENT_TYPE_DYING.

[doubtheart]

I'll check it out. Thanks for trying, was beginning to think I wasn't gonna get any responses.

 

Edit: Ok, tried it out, started a new mage real fast to see. Wasn't getting experience from the Wisps and Wolves, and killing Valor, so it does work at least. Unfortunately just kills isn't going to be enough for what I'm wanting to do. After the section with Valor, I was given 750 experience for the quest reward, so I need to find a way to remove every bit of experience possible... if it even is possible. But good work with the kills part at least, thanks! It's a start at least. Was gonna give you a rep point but apparently Strangers have a quota of 0. :(

 

An idea I just came up with... if there's a way to increase the required experience needed to go from level 1 to level 2, that would work just as well, and would likely be easier. Just set it to something that cannot be reached through normal gameplay means.

[hdhd]

So basically you just want that you never get any XP and be forever level 1? Here's the version without XP: http://filebeam.com/1b01e82b7b9395c2d349e4335a274d93

[doubtheart]

Yes that's exactly what I'm wanting to do. Surely you've heard of low-level challenges before for other games? The problem with Dragon Age is most fights are unavoidable and you'll end up leveling so much anyway. And furthermore, even if you don't use the stat points, you are still considered that level, and enemies scale to your level. I would imagine being level 20ish with level 1 stats would be pretty much impossible to play at end-game.

 

Anyway, I'll try it out. I downloaded the toolset and poked around the scripts a bit, but couldn't really figure out exactly what I needed to do, so I'm glad you managed to come up with the rest of what I needed. Thanks again!

 

Edit: Got experience for completing Beraht's Favor, then again for Proving Loyalties. Those two quests alone nearly leveled me. There must be a way to remove quest reward experience, too! Also, still getting unlocking experience, and I'd assume codex experience as well. Is there any way to override the tables the scripts reference? Could just up the experience requirement for level 2 and avoid all this lol..

[doubtheart]

Perhaps you need to compile player_core for the codexes, quests, etc. rewards, since it references the RewardXP statements.

 

Edit: Nevermind that. I commented out all within the RewardXP and RewardXPParty functions and compiled the creature_core and player_core files, and that gave me the same effect as your creature_core file: No exp from kills, but I was still getting quest and codex rewards, and assumably lockpicking and any other means of exp. There must be away. We need to find the event that covers exp rewards other than from kills. There is that one belt that increases exp from codexes, maybe that could be a lead...

[hdhd]

I don't know why it doesn't work I removed all lines that give you XP. Maybe your should try disabling the creature scaling or increase the XP needed for the next level (C:\Program Files\Dragon Age\tools\Source\2DA\rules\exptable.xls: http://dragonagemodding.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/2da-or-not-2da-overriding-2da-files/). The void RewardDistibuteByPlotFlag(string sPlot, int nFlag) gives you the quest xp so maybe try something with this function.

[doubtheart]

Tried the exptable bit. Got it to compile and everything just like the tutorial explains, but it doesn't seem to do anything. I start a new character, and its the same exp for level 2, and it does still level at that point. The thing I find most interesting about this whole thing is that in the sys_rewards_h it actually states that all exp rewarded to the player for any reason goes through those functions. If that was the case, then commenting out everything therein would negate all exp, but it clearly doesn't. I'm lost on this. Who'd have thought this would be such a mess...

 

Edit: Nevermind, I was putting the gda in the wrong place. Someone commented somewhere on that page about 2da's that the gda was meant to go in addins instead of override. Now I've put it in with my other overrides, and I'm looking at Experience: 0 / 999998. I hope this is the end of it lol...

 

Edit2: Awesome, started a mage, completed the Fade intro, still at 0 / 999998. Not only can level 2 never be reached because of how much exp it requires, for some reason, I'm being given no exp anyway, probably has something to do with the other fields in the exptable that were formulas. Nevertheless, you have lead me in the right direction, and I believe this will do. Thanks a ton hdhd, you've been a huge help! :D

[doubtheart]

Ok, slight problem. The mod does work as intended. You and your followers will never achieve level 2. The problem is that neither will any enemy. The game doesn't set levels of enemies directly, but instead it spawns them with their set minimum experience plus enough more to be the level the game has them balance out to according to your level. But they too use the same table to level up as your party, therefore, no enemy is spawned with enough experience to pass level 1. So, it's back to the toolset to see if I can figure out a script to do what I need, again. :(

[hdhd]

So you want that you always remain level 1 but the enemies can level up? You could open the C:\Program Files\Dragon Age\tools\Source\2DA\areadata.xls and change Minlevel and Maxlevel. But why don't you just change the autoscale.xls/difficulty.xls set e.g the fHealthScale really high if you want that they have more life.