4 réponses à ce sujet

[Clyordes]

Well, I'm probably being thick here, but I've got a situation I really don't understand - not that tricky, but if you understand what's going on, please advise - just write it as if I know nothing about programming or custom content, and there's a danger I might understand:

I'm building a short adventure that includes a bit of custom content.

In the past I've employed a whole bunch of HAKs but in case the multiple downloads were putting people off, I decided to try the NWPacker to combine the parts I wanted into a single HAK.

One of the main protagonists in the adventure are Sahuagin & I also need Ax Beaks, so I've imported the contents of Pain's RWS HAK
I also need a Rust monster, so have imported the contents of Pain's Misc HAK
For a Giant Scorpion I've used Pain's Creature Conversion HAK
I'm not an expert, but it looked like I would need Pain's Appearance 2da file, so I've added that too.

I've also used Lance Botelle's fog of war, the Trident HAK, TBH Shields2, RWS Deep Chams & the associated tiles 2da, and my own custom load screens & loadscreens 2da.


Now, every couple of months I've noticed that the sahuagin appearance vanishes.  For some reason, it just disappears from the list of appearances available, although the others from the various HAKs - ax beaks, scorions, etc. 
Originally - until a few weeks ago - I was working with all of the HAKs used seperately before I decided to try & take the parts I wanted & combine them into my own HAK - the same thing happened then.

I thought it may be something in my override getting in the way, so I cleared my override out, saved, re-opened the toolset - no change.

Then, I restored the previous contents of my override & next time I opened the toolset - the sahuagin were back - I couldn't work out why, or even whether I'd inadverently changed something in the toolset that suddenly let them back in.

For a few months all was well.  Then they vanished again - no obvious reason.

Then after what I think was clearing & restoring my override - they were back!

Fast forward to last night & my decision to combine the parts of the HAKs I wanted into a single HAK.

All was good & I thought I'd got my head around adding custom beasties - got the contents from the various Pain's HAKs I wanted, plus his Appearance.2da, plus the contents of the other HAKs.  Associated the HAK with the module, saved, closed, re-opened the module.

All looked good.  Had a quick playthough & apart from a couple of on-acquire scripts I've not got working yet, all was visible as it should be - custom tiles, weapons, creatures, etc.

Then later I re-opened the toolset to test something else in a conversation & noticed that the sahuagin had gone again.  The rust monster & other custom creatures are all present & correct, but not the sahuagin - and as before its the appearance that vanished from the list of available appearances.

And I'm a tad baffled.

Any advice very gratefully received - but remember I'm no programming genius, so no big words please.

Thanks,

Cly.

[MokahTGS]

All custom content is dependent on a 2DA and a blueprint pointing to the correct 2DA lines.  If something is missing, it is one of these issues:

• The 2DA in question is wrong or being overriden.  2DAs should be in a .hak not in your override, unless you are doing some quick testing.  For creatures, you are using the appearance.2DA and I suggest using a master version such as the one available in Pain's Monster Pack.  This 2DA should be in a .hak (I consistantly use a special 2DA.hak for everything I build) that way you know where your 2DAs are and stay away from conflicts and issues.  NEVER put 2DAs in your override unless you are doing quick testing.  95% of all issues arrise from stuff in the override folder.
• The Blueprints are not associated correctly in the toolset.  The blueprint for any creature must be set and unfortunately in most CC packs, they are wrong when using a large combined 2DA.  Fixing this is actually easier as you can just select the correct appearance in the creature blueprint properties.
• All custom content modification happens in the My Docs location of the game and never in the NWN2 install directory.

I suggest that all authors use a consistant CC method when compiling content.  Here's how I do it and have avoided most issues in the process:

• Use universal 2DAs for creatures and placeables.  Both are available on the Vault.  Even if you don't use the content listed, you avoid compatibility issues, and the extra entries in the 2DAs have no affect on your project.
• Make a 2DA.hak that contains EVERY 2DA you are using in your project.  This .hak is then associated at the top of your list in the modules properties.  This will override every other 2DA EXCEPT for 2DAs that are in a modules Campaign folder.  The best practise is to just never have duplicate 2DAs hanging about.  If you only have one of each type in your haks/campaign/override you can't possibly have conflicts.
• All other .haks should contain only content (models, textures, animations, etc.) and never 2DAs.  I make several .haks based on types such as creatures.hak, placeables.hak, VFX.hak, etc.  This way I know where everything is.

[Clyordes]

Well - blow me down with a kobold wig - I've just opened up the toolset to see what I can do after the reply above & all of the Sahuagin are back.

Weird thing is I thought I was sure that I'd not touched the HAK since I last saved & reopened the module & noticed that they'd gone. IS it likely there's any sort of lag in the module realising what HAKs its associated with? I presumed that associating the HAK in the mod properties then saving & closing the toolset & then reopening would be enough - does it take 2 saves or similar to register with the mod & show the content.

On the good side, I shouldn't need to do anything new to the HAK now - so I'll just hold my breath & crack on with the scripts, general bugbusting & balance testing before I release my baby.

And to think this was meant to be a quick one like Lichway!

Also good - from Mokah's kind notes above, I definitely feel that I have a fair understanding of how custom content works & over all, which is nice.

Mokah - you are a most worthy strumpet :-)

Cly.

[MokahTGS]

 Hopefully I can pass along some hard won wisdom after years of getting things wrong.

[johnbgardner]

Wisdom, unfortunately, can only be acquired on the installment plan. *grin*