New (?) mod concept, curious about feasibility

[EphemeralBeing]

I'm not asking someone to make this for me. I intend to do it. I just want to know what I'll be getting myself into.

 

Gwent is pissing me off. I'm missing six cards, and I have no idea where they are. I'm assuming SOMEWHERE, there's a bit in the code that checks if a merchant has given you a card. I'm planning on making a mod that makes it so when you select "Collect 'em all" as your active quest, it puts an indicator on your map for anyone that can still give you a Gwent card. Honestly, I have no idea why this isn't already how it worked...

 

Anyway, I've done some minor mod work in the past, but I'm curious about a few things before I start. I figure someone here knows how the toolset works.

• Does this game have a toolkit, similar to what Neverwinter Nights ships with? I saw something in the Witcher 2 launcher, but nothing in 3.
• Is there an index of what's in each of these "content[x]" folders? Is that even where I start looking for stuff?
• How does Witcher 3 mark a location/NPC as a "quest objective?" Is that just a function I can call?
• Do we have a way of opening a save file and digging through what variables are set/tracked?

I'm WAY late to the party (and possibly out of my depth), but I like having a project to work on, and this seems interesting. If someone could help me with some background information to get started, I'd appreciate it. Otherwise, I'm going to go dig through posted Gwent mods to see what was done.

[Reaperrz]

With how obscure and shitty modding is, it's not worth the effort. Don't even bother with something like that.

[EphemeralBeing]

With how obscure and shitty modding is, it's not worth the effort. Don't even bother with something like that.

That's... very disappointing.

 

I'm installing Modkit 1.3 atm. Is that the most recent version? I'm going to go read through the documentation, see how stuff works, and then make a decision.

[djkovrik]

• Does this game have a toolkit, similar to what Neverwinter Nights ships with? I saw something in the Witcher 2 launcher, but nothing in 3.

Not even close. This game have a very poor toolkit so if you wanna dig in to modding prepare to have some pain :D

 

 

 

• Is there an index of what's in each of these "content[x]" folders? Is that even where I start looking for stuff?.

Game resources are not separated by content folders strictly, there are a lot of repeated files there.

 

 

 

• Do we have a way of opening a save file and digging through what variables are set/tracked?

No.

 

 

 

• How does Witcher 3 mark a location/NPC as a "quest objective?" Is that just a function I can call?

To find such stuff you can explore scripts folder in content0 (but don't try to change files there, you must make script changes as a separate mod).

 

 

Btw the best place to start exploring game resources is Mod Editor.

[djkovrik]

'm planning on making a mod that makes it so when you select "Collect 'em all" as your active quest, it puts an indicator on your map for anyone that can still give you a Gwent card. Honestly, I have no idea why this isn't already how it worked...

 

Doubt that this is possible because gwent cards are just records in the xml file, not standalone "items" which you can mark with a quest marker. Plus there are some element of randomness when you have to win certain cards by defeating every trader you meet.

[EphemeralBeing]

And, now I see they did EXACTLY THIS with the Skellige cards in "Blood and Wine." Which just leaves me wondering why the hell no one went back and amended "Collect 'Em All..."

 

Okay, so, that is more than mildly frustrating. But, it gives me somewhere to start looking. I guess I'll post if I come up with any other questions, and check out the Mod Editor.

[djkovrik]

And, now I see they did EXACTLY THIS with the Skellige cards in "Blood and Wine."

In Skellige quest devs marked NPCs, not cards. Perhaps just asigned quest markers manually (because each card has its own fixed owner).

 

Which just leaves me wondering why the hell no one went back and amended "Collect 'Em All..."

It is really hard to make quest stuff with current tools :wink: You can start with exploring quest related files in Mod Editor if you wanna try it

[EphemeralBeing]

I kinda figured I'd have to make new quests, having read some stuff.

 

What if I added four new quests, termed "Merchants of Velen/Novigrad/Oxenfurt/Skellige?" Flag each NPC, same way they did the B&W quest, with the flag to disable when you best them at Gwent? That's minimally invasive, and wouldn't involve messing with the actual Gwent system at all. It would just track the random merchants, which is the most frustrating part. Everything else comes from quests.

 

Small thing, though. I had a mark in the Gwent book that said I was missing 2 cards in Velen. Couldn't find them. I got them checked off by buying cards in B&W. One was a Black Legion Archer, the other I have no idea. Any clue what was going on there?

[djkovrik]

What if I added four new quests

This is the pitfall. You should check the Mod Editor first to get along with its possibilities.

 

Small thing, though. I had a mark in the Gwent book that said I was missing 2 cards in Velen. Couldn't find them. I got them checked off by buying cards in B&W. One was a Black Legion Archer, the other I have no idea. Any clue what was going on there?

Maybe you missed some NPCs which can sell you cards in Velen so they were shared to BW traders, don't know :smile: