Help : How to edit a mod?

[Question2]

Create a new string id and change the string id in the gda file to your new string id.

 

Its not possible to edit an existing string?

 

 

 

No, the oCreator is needed for syntax reasons. If you just remove it, the code probably don't compile.

 

Okay. I think i found the code for it :

 

case ABILITY_TALENT_AURA_OF_PAIN:

{

// apply damage to caster

ApplyEffectDamageOverTime(oCreator, oCreator, nAbility, PAIN_INTERVAL_DAMAGE, PAIN_INTERVAL_DURATION, DAMAGE_TYPE_PLOT, Ability_GetImpactObjectVfxId(nAbility));

 

fInterval = PAIN_INTERVAL_DURATION;

 

break;

}

 

If i delete this, it shouldn't do damage to the reaver right?

 

 

 

I don't believe it is in the toolset, you'll need to look in the original (not modified) excel file to find the original value. I don't remember where I downloaded the excel files from - they may have even been included with the toolset install. Or you can check on BSN projects.

 

I found some excel files in D:\Dragon Age\tools\Source\2DA, but i can't figure out which one has the racial animation speeds. I've already checked more than a dozen files in there. Any idea which file would have it?

 

I also ran into a problem with trying to edit DLC items in the toolset. For some reason the toolset can't find it...not even if i place the DLC data into the D:\Dragon Age\packages\core\data directory. I tried extracting the .uti files manually from the .erf and opening them in the toolset, but i just get gibberish and the toolset refuses to let me use the object inspector to edit the .uti (and since i can't find it in the palette, i have no way of using the object inspector to view the .uti). Any ideas on how to do this? Wiki doesn't say anything about editing DLC items...

 

http://i.imgur.com/r2biFRl.png

Edited January 9, 2015 by Question2

[mcgoy]

Edited: I decided to remove my initial response.

 

All of your questions come down to the fact that you are trying to make changes to files that you didn't create and this is your first attempt at using the toolset. The toolset wiki is based on the assumption that you have knowledge of programming and that you have the rights/privileges to make the changes that you want to make.

 

I modify Core resources as rarely as possible.

 

It is a personal preference. But it means that when you ask questions specific to changing Core resources and/or files/resources that you didn't create, my best response is really that you need to do the research, learn to use the toolset, and experiment to see what you can and can not achieve.

 

Oh - to find the right excel spreadsheet - use the Search feature of the Windows OS.

[Question2]

I'm not even doing programming here. I'm stuck trying to figure out which files contain what, something the wiki doesn't actually tell you because nobody bothered to make a reference table for this and everyone seems to be jealously guarding the knowledge for a 5 year old+ game for some reason.

 

I do have the rights/privileges to make the changes that i want to make, i'm not sure why this was brought up.

 

It doesn't help to say "do the research" when that info isn't available anywhere. If it is, please tell me where it is because it's not on the wiki from what i can tell. I'm happy to go read a guide or something if it actually includes the info i'm looking for. But it's pointless to tell people to look for information that doesn't exist.

 

Not sure why you brought up the search function either because that only searches via filenames, and it wont find the excel file with the combat animation figures that way (try it if you don't believe me).

 

Right now i'm stuck trying to figure out how to edit DLC items in the toolset, but as i mentioned in my last post they just won't appear in the toolset no matter what i do and again, the wiki makes no mention of how you are supposed to get them to appear.

[Thandal]

Making/editing mods *is* "programming". That's exactly what it is. And if you don't have a good understanding of the basics, then you're really working blind when you try to make changes to someone else's code.

 

And the "Search" functionality that mcgoy mentions is the advanced capability to search file contents for the specific terms you're trying to find. (NOTE: If you don't know how to do that in Windows Search, maybe we've identified another problem...)

 

As for modding DLC assets, IIRC BioWare encrypted (some of?) the files within the DLC .erf files, so extracting those in a format that you can modify becomes an even bigger challenge.

[Question2]

That's a difference of opinion i guess. Writing code to do something, sure that's programming. Figuring out which files to open? I don't think most people would call that programming. If the wiki assumes that you know exactly which file does what, that's a huge assumption because that information isn't included anywhere from what i can tell so only bioware devs would know. I mean, how are you supposed to find out what file contains what? Even if you take a programming course, they are not going to know because this is a game specific question.

 

Also thanks for suggesting the advanced search option, apparently thats turned off by default in windows 7 so i didn't see it.

 

The .uti doesnt appear to be encrypted...it's just that it won't appear in the palette for some reason? I can extract it just fine but i can't edit it properly and there is no tutorial on how to get the toolset to open a DLC item...

[Thandal]

See this topic for a similar discussion of modding DA using the Toolset.

(Especially this post regarding the encrypted assets in the DLC .erf files.)

[mcgoy]

I tried to be nice and didn't post my initial response because I thought it was too blunt. Since I was evidently withholding information - I should have just posted it.

 

I'm not even doing programming here. I'm stuck trying to figure out which files contain what, something the wiki doesn't actually tell you because nobody bothered to make a reference table for this and everyone seems to be jealously guarding the knowledge for a 5 year old+ game for some reason.

No, I'm not jealously guarding the knowledge. I have no desire to do the work for you, look up file names, find links to pages in the toolset, etc etc. As Thandal said, the search I recommended is a part of the basic Windows Operating System functionality. I would have to use that search to answer your question so I was suggesting that you do your own search. Once you know all - you can create the reference table that you believe someone should have already created.

 

I do have the rights/privileges to make the changes that i want to make, i'm not sure why this was brought up.

Because you have permission from the original author/developer doesn't mean that the Toolset recognizes that you have privileges to alter a file. If there is already a file with the same name the toolset may not recognize two copies of the same file with the same name or you may have to move the file you want to change to another location, etc etc etc It has been over a year since I looked at editing a file from another mod that I had permission to change. I had to 'mess around' with the toolset until I found a way to edit a file that I had the author's permission to change. No. I am not going to spend a few hours with the toolset so that I can recreate those steps and write them down for you.

 

It doesn't help to say "do the research" when that info isn't available anywhere. If it is, please tell me where it is because it's not on the wiki from what i can tell. I'm happy to go read a guide or something if it actually includes the info i'm looking for. But it's pointless to tell people to look for information that doesn't exist.

The information doesn't exist? I must have learned through the psychic friends network then. I sure thought I searched the toolset for information to see how various files interacted. I thought I spent HOURS going through excel spreadsheets figuring out their interactions. I thought I spent even more HOURS going through the toolset wiki and B2B files to see what others had done and documented. And I thought I spent countless HOURS writing scripts and testing to figure out how to get things to work. But you're right, it was pointless for me to spend all that time because the information doesn't exist.

 

I'm telling you to learn exactly the same way I did. There is no guide that I'm aware of so I had to do my own research.

 

Right now i'm stuck trying to figure out how to edit DLC items in the toolset, but as i mentioned in my last post they just won't appear in the toolset no matter what i do and again, the wiki makes no mention of how you are supposed to get them to appear.

If I recall, you are trying to edit a .uti file. A .uti is a saved/exported version of a .utc (if I remember correctly). It isn't the easiest type of file to edit. No, I don't know of an instruction manual for how to edit a .uti file. No, I don't typically edit .uti files so I can't give you step by step instructions on how to edit a .uti file. A .uti file doesn't appear in a palette.

 

That's a difference of opinion i guess. Writing code to do something, sure that's programming. Figuring out which files to open? I don't think most people would call that programming. If the wiki assumes that you know exactly which file does what, that's a huge assumption because that information isn't included anywhere from what i can tell so only bioware devs would know. I mean, how are you supposed to find out what file contains what? Even if you take a programming course, they are not going to know because this is a game specific question.

How do you know what file does what? See earlier statement - you spend hours in the toolset, hours in the wiki, and it is good if you already know how to program so that you understand the concepts a little more quickly and how the interactions work.

 

 

Before you make changes to Core resources, I STRONGLY suggest that you create some really simple mods for your personal use. If you don't care to read the toolset wiki and want to get right into making changes, the best outcome is that nothing will happen. The worst is that you will corrupt the database to the point that you have to un-install/re-install both the toolset and DAO so that you can play your own game. For your 'really simple mods', please start with the main DAO campaign, not Awakening. Start small and work your way up to complex.

This is a statement I made through private messaging. And this situation is exactly why I say "start small and work your way up to complex" You have started by trying to edit an existing mod that alters Core resources and is very complex. You started with something complex, got frustrated, and are taking your frustration out on others because we aren't giving you step by step instructions on how to do something that we have never done.

 

If you had started with something simple like creating a new piece of equipment for example, you probably would have had the warm glow of success by now.

 

This message also strikes me as too blunt, but I sure wouldn't want to be accused of "jealously guarding knowledge"

[Question2]

See this topic for a similar discussion of modding DA using the Toolset.

(Especially this post regarding the encrypted assets in the DLC .erf files.)

 

Thanks, not getting any password prompts though? Either way i can extract the .uti just fine.

 

mcgoy : If you didn't know how to do something, you should have simply said so. My frustration is with the continual insistence that the info i need is out there somewhere or that the wiki actually teaches you how to do a ton of things which it does not do. It doesnt help at all when people link to the wiki, when it doesnt contain the info needed. It's really dissapointing there are so few guides out there for the toolset.

 

I found an excellent post on the forums that explained how to edit items, which helped me to figure out what to do with the .uti. Making an entirely new item in the toolset would not in any way have helped me figure this out since it wouldn't have taught me anything about editing an existing .uti. Unfortunatley it took hours of searching to find the thread because it was not on the wiki for some reason.

 

Either way if you dont know how to do something, its fine to say you dont know it. If you know where to get the info, by all means post it. Simply insisting that the info is out there somewhere, that you should go figure it out yourself or linking to places where the info isn't there doesn't help.