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Changing entities for use in SP game

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2003 5:10 am
by Strap
i was playing FOT and i wanted to know if i could change some guns or items in the entities_0.bos file.

i have extracted all the entities for use in the editor. i picked out the steyrAUG so i could change it around a little.
my main goal is to be able to play a normal game (SP full campain) with guns that i have altered...

so, i switched around a few of the things on the AUG, and now heres were im stuck, were do i save it if i want to use it in game?
it is a modification of an origional gun, so im guessing i replace the old SteyrAUG, but i dont know were that is.

i tried "add/update" the file using the win.zip, but the file doesnt retain its core/entities/weapons/smg/...name tag, it just plops it in the base of the zip file, if you know what i mean..

so basicly i want to know were to save an item that i modified for use in an SP game of tactics...

thanks

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2003 5:30 am
by Jimmyjay86
You don't have to rezip it into the bos file. Just save over the "steyrSub.ent" file with your new version in the entities/weapons/Smg/ directory and you should be good to go.

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2003 2:49 pm
by Strap
really?

it overides it without even going to the bos file?
ok, that makes it a ton easyer

thanks

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2003 5:27 pm
by OnTheBounce
Strapon2 wrote:it overides it without even going to the bos file?
Yes, that's why you can play the game w/your files uncompressed, which is what every Map Rat is doing.

OTB

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2003 10:37 pm
by Red
In fact it makes the game faster (hence the "FO:T accelerator" applciation that came out... ALl it does is extract everything (and potentially delete the .BOS file which are now useless to save space).

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2003 11:57 pm
by Max-Violence
OnTheBounce wrote:Yes, that's why you can play the game w/your files uncompressed, which is what every Map Rat is doing.
Well, most of us...

I like to have a backup handy incase I screw something up, and having the .bos files handy is handy, indeed.

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 2:52 am
by Strap
neeto... thanks

realistic weapons... here i come!

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 3:00 am
by OnTheBounce
Max-Violence wrote:I like to have a backup handy incase I screw something up, and having the .bos files handy is handy, indeed.
I spoke of uncompressed files, not deleting them. It was Red that mentioned deleting them.

One bad thing about the BOS files: they contain only the unpatched version of the entities.
Strapon2 wrote:realistic weapons... here i come!
We've created a monster... 8O

OTB

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 3:41 am
by Strap
wait a sec... i changed some weapons, and moved the origional entities_0.bos file out of core folder, but only some of the weapons i altered actually are altered in game...

whats wrong?

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 3:55 am
by Jimmyjay86
What do you mean, "in game"? In which game? Did you make a map or are you just playing a saved game?

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 4:21 am
by Strap
savedgame,

it worked with a few weapons... but not some others

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 4:22 am
by Jimmyjay86
All entities in a saved game are stuck. So if you change the properties of one with the entity editor it will not update in the saved game. That's just the way it works.

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 4:40 am
by Red
For mods and whatnot I create seperate directories and use the -path option or whatnot.

Course this slows down the game, so I try to stick with that standard I came up with which no one gives a hoot about understanding... (MOFO) so I never screw up the original files.

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 4:43 am
by Strap
so wait... why did a few of the changes that i made actually effect the weapons...?

iirc, the weapons that i modified, i had to barter back from the quartermaster to see their effects, but the weapons that i alteredt that my chars had on themselfs did not change, im gonna check it out.

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 6:02 am
by requiem_for_a_starfury
Strapon2 wrote:so wait... why did a few of the changes that i made actually effect the weapons...?

iirc, the weapons that i modified, i had to barter back from the quartermaster to see their effects, but the weapons that i alteredt that my chars had on themselfs did not change, im gonna check it out.
The save game contains all your inventory information, think of it as time, you can't change the past you can only alter the future. When you alter an entity you will change all the versions of that entity that you haven't come across yet, so all the maps you haven't visited will feature your changes.

The reason that the items you bartered to the quarter master are changed is because the quarter master works differently to traders. If you sell them something it doesn't go into their inventory instead it's taken out of the game, when you buy it back you are in effect getting a new version.

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 6:26 am
by Strap
yea, all i have to do to "update" and item is sell it to the quarter master, and buy it back. when i get it back, it has the new stats.

btw, how do i change the name of the item?
all etempts so far have failed.

thanks for the help

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 7:54 am
by OnTheBounce
Strapon2 wrote:yea, all i have to do to "update" and item is sell it to the quarter master, and buy it back. when i get it back, it has the new stats.
Yes, the QM is your ticket to updated items. Selling things to the QM also removes tag names...

That last bit is yet another hitch to setting up scripting to allow the player to upgrade weapons through an NPC, among other things.
Strapon2 wrote:btw, how do i change the name of the item?
all etempts so far have failed.
For this you will need to do one of two things:
  • You can simply change the display portion of the entry in the items.txt (core/locale/game) to suit your tastes, or...
  • Change the "Display Name" entry for an item. You will then have to either make it match something in the items.txt, or you will have to make an entry for it in the items.txt.
Just remember to follow the format in the items.txt and do not leave any braces ("{" or "}") open or accidentally put a parenthesis in one's place. The game will not run if the items.txt is fuX0red in this way.

OTB

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 8:53 pm
by Strap
ok, great. thanks otb

until i have more questions...


oh wait, what is the avrage HP of a: raider, tribal, reaver, sm, and robot?
and for all of these, do they have any specific parts you can aim at for a swifter kill?

or.. with a weapon could i make the critical chance go up if you aim for... say, a specific body part, such as the head. im guessing no, but if so, i would be happy

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 10:45 pm
by MacBeth
heh :) it seems that im not the only one who likes something called "realism" (well at least quasi-realism :P) in the game. good luck in creating your mod strapon2
or.. with a weapon could i make the critical chance go up if you aim for... say, a specific body part, such as the head. im guessing no, but if so, i would be happy
i dont think so, but in F1/2 the critical chance was mutlipied according to what part of body you were aiming (in the eyes it was x5 i suppose). how is it in FT im not sure.
oh wait, what is the avrage HP of a: raider, tribal, reaver, sm, and robot?
look into their ent. (entities\actor\raiders, tribals, reavers, whatever\) files, and read it from actionstatus>hitpoints
and for all of these, do they have any specific parts you can aim at for a swifter kill?
the only thing that is modified by aiming at any part of the body is (probably) the critical chance and to hit of course

Advice

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 11:28 pm
by PaladinHeart
You should have a relatively easy time killing raiders, tribals, etc.. with normal weaponry. By the time you encounter deathclaws and super mutants later, you should have some shotguns which will be ideal for taking them out, esp with AP ammo. The best way to deal with super mutants is to take a character with big guns skill, or a shotgun, that you don't care about (max or alice for instance) and give them a couple psychos and let them kill everything on the level for you. They might get blown up by explosives but they'll usually get most of the job done. This is how I did most of the super mutant missions on hardest difficulty/tough guy modes.

Now that I am doing the robot missions I am resorting to the method employed in common 10k multiplayer games. Use a psycho (to get your resists up) and some voodoo (at least 2 to 4), and you should be able to take out most of the robots on any given level if you act quickly. You will probably fail a few times due to laser fire, critical bypass and/or explosives but you'll eventually learn where you need to be careful. I have done 2 robot missions this way so far and it is very effective. I later went back and killed all the super mutants on the first super mutant mission for the DU ammo when I had enough drugs to absorb the -50% DR that the mutants employ there. I figured I would be needing it for the behemoths coming up soon.

After a few robot missions you should have sufficient numbers of energy using squad mates such that they can make a concentrated effort of taking out individual robots very quickly. If you need more voodoo go steal it from some tribals in Preoria with Babs (warning, you should complete this mission first and have your game recently saved at a nearby bunker). Also always barter expensive single items for large quantities of items. This way you can easily steal back the item you bartered. It is nearly impossible to steal large quantities of items, but can be done (preoria's turrets are a good example).