[REQ/REL] Gender Neutral Classees? (Part 2 / 3 in Progress!)

[Sederien]

Happy Halloween all.

As the title suggests, this is a mod request... and it's split into three parts (simple to insane from a programming/graphics standpoint).

-------------------

Simple:

What I'd like to see (at first) is a very dumb model switch using the female Vanquisher model as a replacement for the male Destroyer model. Also, switch the voice package. That's it. Can we do it? (Basically, it's the Vanquisher female with Destroyer skills.)

If so, please do and give us an upload! You would recieve many virtual cookies... and they are yummy!

STATUS: DONE, but with minor issues. (Cookies have been awarded to Azrael and Krageon.)

Challenging:

If the Simple mod is doable and uploaded, then it would be time to tackle the challenging part. Actually modifying the character selection prompt to give you a choice between male and female (Vanquisher model for all female, Alchemist model for male Vanquisher class). This way players don't have to replace files every time they want to play one gender or another.

Can be done? *shrugs* This depends highly on the way the menus / hard variables were coded. I have no insight into the feasibility of this request... which brings us to part three:

STATUS: IN PROGRESS and issues need to be ironed out.

PLEASE help by downloading and reporting bugs encountered! UPDATE: Progress on this has not been made since the last patch. THIS WILL BREAK YOUR GAME IN CURRENT FORM!!

If you're looking for something that works right now, please see this page

Optionally, download the less stable nightly build, which is updated nightly... more or less. ^^ (Thanks to Krageon.)

Insane:

Simple and Challenging versions possible? Awesome... but as you're probably aware, switching the models alone gives us two issues that would be nice to fix.

First, all the females and the two Alchemist models look exactly the same. Let's toy with a little color variation / texturing to give them a unique look without breaking the armour/model clipping (this request does not ask for any NEW models... that would be the Batsh*t Insane request considering the amount of animations/clipping errors to contend with. This is also why I didn't ask for someone to give the Destroyer breasts. ^^). As an example, distinguishing facial tatoos might work.

Second, let's either strip out the voice where appropriate or record some new voices if necessary. Basically, this third version would make the gender choice seem like a seemless addition to the world where the player only has to wonder why all of the females are clones and not why they are referred to as male or have a male voice (switch gender pronouns for the male Vanquisher using the Alchemist model, of course).

STATUS: ???

-------------------

Ok. Who's up for making a bunch of people* happy?


*Me and the voices in my head. Bob says "Hi!"

[Azrael]

i tried changing the class's model to anothers but i run in to a problem
if i change the name of it in the class's file it will crash the game on startup
but if i leave it alone it will fuckup the armor thinking your the wrong model

so i just changed the stats and skill trees of the class's
that way you can just pick Vanquisher and use the mod to give her the stats and skills of a Destroyer or Alchemist

you can download it here if you want to use it
it has a mod for each class/skill combo
just follow the ReadMe to install the one you want

i have not tried it with already made characters
So if your trying to use it with a character you already have. Make a backup first.

[Sederien]

Azrael, these are for you. And in only three hours! Thank you!

Brilliantly simple solution for part one. I now have my female barbarian and it seems to work perfectly on a new character.

I have no reason to test it on an existing character, but I'm almost certain it would break things if used. Still... I wonder... *goes off to check*

UPDATE:

Yep, as suspected it broke things... but with interesting results. I had a previous level 7 Vanquisher that I loaded after installing the Vanquisher -> Destroyer skill switch. Had 4 levels in Ranged Attack and 3 in Critical Hits.

Apparently those are stored values attached to a skill number, which is different for each class. So loading up, I had 4 ranks in Slash (made sense as the first skill in both trees), but now 3 ranks in Chain Vortex. The character shouldn't have that until level 18.

Soooooo... Add in the respec mod and, yes, it should work with existing characters provided that you respec (spend 0 skill points) before installing. That having been said, backing up is always recommended.

[tedios]

actually it doesn't quite work because if u use the last destroyer skill in the 1st tree i forgot what it is(if u are a vanquisher with destroyer skills) the skill effect stacks if i use it more times also the 2nd skill stampede doesn't work and with the last one if i use even the aura skills i still get the effect of the last skill in the 1st tree and it stats to lag when u use 10+ spells with the effect stacking

[Sederien]

Thanks for the bug report, tedios...

I took a look into the skill (I think you mean Devastate) and it seems to contain a reference to

Code: Select all

FILE:media/skills/warrior/charge/chargehit.layout

like every other Destroyer skill. However, since we're using the Vanquisher model, it might be having issues with something in the layout file OR all of the skills might have a similar issue, but it's only apparent on this one. Not sure. We may need the editor before a full fix can be made (and I'm almost certain we need it for part 2 and 3 in any case).

[CombatLibrarian]

Hrm...would it be possible to make this easier by creating entirely new classes and fitting in the necessary info? (Sorry if this is a stupid question, haven't done much digging into the game files yet myself.)

In other words, you could create 3 new classes.

Destroyer (Female)
Alchemist (Female)
Vanquisher (Male) (Most likely using altered Alchemist info)

[Sederien]

Not stupid at all. It was my first thought that new classes could be made by copying the existing info... but we may need the TorchED before we can actually mess around with additions. Right now I believe we're only limited to replacing files that currently exist.

It's probably the easiest way that we'll be able to create this (much-needed ^^) mod. But as Azrael mentioned, the first attempt created some reference issues and all of those need to be ironed out.

EDIT: Attack of the typos!

[CombatLibrarian]

Hrmm...well, here's crossing my fingers that we don't have to wait too long for the editor.

I'm a big fan of games that come with robust editing tools. Neverwinter Nights, the various Bethsoft games, etc. Looking forward to seeing what TorchED can do, in addition to getting to rock a female Alchemist ^_^

[Krageon]

I've been stabbing at getting one of the models into the select menu properly and succeeded, I think. Charactercreate.layout (located in the UI folder) handles character creation. Here is the edited part with the new portait added in:

Code: Select all

        <Window Type="GuiLook/ItemText" Name="PortraitBox" >
            <Property Name="UnifiedPosition" Value="{{0,10},{.5,-200}}" />
            <Property Name="UnifiedSize" Value="{{0,280},{0,400}}" />
           <Property Name="MousePassThroughEnabled" Value="True" />

   <Window Type="GuiLook/RadioButton" Name="Destroyer">
            <Property Name="UnifiedPosition" Value="{{0,5},{0,0}}" />
            <Property Name="UnifiedSize" Value="{{0,128},{0,128}}" />
      <Property Name="SelectedImage" Value="set:Logo image:destroyericonselected" />
      <Property Name="HoverImage" Value="set:Logo image:destroyericonlit" />
      <Property Name="UnselectedImage" Value="set:Logo image:destroyericon" />
      <Property Name="Tooltip" Value="Select Destroyer" />
      <Property Name="onClick" Value="guiSelect1"/>
       </Window>

   <Window Type="GuiLook/RadioButton" Name="DestF">
            <Property Name="UnifiedPosition" Value="{{0,140},{0,0}}" />
            <Property Name="UnifiedSize" Value="{{0,128},{0,128}}" />
      <Property Name="SelectedImage" Value="set:Logo image:vanquishericonselected" />
      <Property Name="HoverImage" Value="set:Logo image:destroyericonlit" />
      <Property Name="UnselectedImage" Value="set:Logo image:vanquishericon" />
               <Property Name="ID" Value="3" />
      <Property Name="Tooltip" Value="Select DestF" />
      <Property Name="onClick" Value="guiSelect1"/>
       </Window>

   <Window Type="GuiLook/RadioButton" Name="Vanquisher">
            <Property Name="UnifiedPosition" Value="{{0,5},{0,135}}" />
            <Property Name="UnifiedSize" Value="{{0,128},{0,128}}" />
      <Property Name="SelectedImage" Value="set:Logo image:vanquishericonselected" />
      <Property Name="HoverImage" Value="set:Logo image:vanquishericonlit" />
      <Property Name="UnselectedImage" Value="set:Logo image:vanquishericon" />
            <Property Name="ID" Value="1" />
      <Property Name="Tooltip" Value="Select Vanquisher" />
      <Property Name="onClick" Value="guiSelect1"/>
       </Window>
      
   <Window Type="GuiLook/RadioButton" Name="VanqM">
            <Property Name="UnifiedPosition" Value="{{0,140},{0,135}}" />
            <Property Name="UnifiedSize" Value="{{0,128},{0,128}}" />
      <Property Name="SelectedImage" Value="set:Logo image:alchemisticonselected" />
      <Property Name="HoverImage" Value="set:Logo image:vanquishericonlit" />
      <Property Name="UnselectedImage" Value="set:Logo image:alchemisticon" />
            <Property Name="ID" Value="5" />
      <Property Name="Tooltip" Value="Select VanqM" />
      <Property Name="onClick" Value="guiSelect1"/>
       </Window>

   <Window Type="GuiLook/RadioButton" Name="Alchemist">
            <Property Name="UnifiedPosition" Value="{{0,5},{0,270}" />
            <Property Name="UnifiedSize" Value="{{0,128},{0,128}}" />
      <Property Name="SelectedImage" Value="set:Logo image:alchemisticonselected" />
      <Property Name="HoverImage" Value="set:Logo image:alchemisticonlit" />
      <Property Name="UnselectedImage" Value="set:Logo image:alchemisticon" />
            <Property Name="ID" Value="2" />
      <Property Name="Tooltip" Value="Select Alchemist" />
      <Property Name="onClick" Value="guiSelect1"/>
       </Window>
      
   <Window Type="GuiLook/RadioButton" Name="AlchF">
            <Property Name="UnifiedPosition" Value="{{0,140},{0,270}" />
            <Property Name="UnifiedSize" Value="{{0,128},{0,128}}" />
      <Property Name="SelectedImage" Value="set:Logo image:vanquishericonselected" />
      <Property Name="HoverImage" Value="set:Logo image:alchemisticonlit" />
      <Property Name="UnselectedImage" Value="set:Logo image:vanquishericon" />
            <Property Name="ID" Value="4" />
      <Property Name="Tooltip" Value="Select AlchF" />
      <Property Name="onClick" Value="guiSelect1"/>
       </Window>


        </Window>

See newest post for download link.

On a sidenote, some of the stuff in the main game structure is really weird. It really shows there was a destroyer before there was any other class, for example (The destroyer gets a lot of privileges - not using subfolders, being consistently called 'warrior', etc). There's some other discrepancies (different argument order in files that do the same thing, but for different classes). It's the little things you notice after staring at them for 6 hours

[tedios]

hope that it works because i loved when i saw my vanquisher with destroyer skills through it has some bugs it still was awesome using shadow armor and doomquake

[Sederien]

Krageon, you get some of these at least.

Thanks for the continued effort! Hopefully we can iron out some of the major issues pre-TorchED... but if not, I'm at least crossing my fingers that the release of the editor will allow a full release of this mod without issues.

[kybarsfang]

i tried changing the class's model to anothers but i run in to a problem
if i change the name of it in the class's file it will crash the game on startup
but if i leave it alone it will fuckup the armor thinking your the wrong model

so i just changed the stats and skill trees of the class's
that way you can just pick Vanquisher and use the mod to give her the stats and skills of a Destroyer or Alchemist

you can download it here if you want to use it
it has a mod for each class/skill combo
just follow the ReadMe to install the one you want

i have not tried it with already made characters
So if your trying to use it with a character you already have. Make a backup first.

Does this make it so that all new characters have this setup, or can you install the mod, create a character (say, an Alchemist with vanquisher skills), uninstall the mod, and create new regular Alchemists while keeping your Vanquisher Alchemist?

[Krageon]

You'll need to keep the mod, but once I finish the second part of the deal it will be easy on the eyes and compatible (I hope).

[Sederien]

Does this make it so that all new characters have this setup, or can you install the mod, create a character (say, an Alchemist with vanquisher skills), uninstall the mod, and create new regular Alchemists while keeping your Vanquisher Alchemist?

Azrael's mod changes the entire class regardless. Which means both new and old characters adopt the change.

However, you can install the mod, make a new character, play as long as you'd like and when you want to switch to the old character... simply remove the mod. When you want to play your changed skills character again, put the same mod back before you start play.

Obviously, far from ideal and a few bugs still exist, but it works.

[kybarsfang]

Does this make it so that all new characters have this setup, or can you install the mod, create a character (say, an Alchemist with vanquisher skills), uninstall the mod, and create new regular Alchemists while keeping your Vanquisher Alchemist?

Azrael's mod changes the entire class regardless. Which means both new and old characters adopt the change.

However, you can install the mod, make a new character, play as long as you'd like and when you want to switch to the old character... simply remove the mod. When you want to play your changed skills character again, put the same mod back before you start play.

Obviously, far from ideal and a few bugs still exist, but it works.

True, that's a sensible workaround.

This will be so much easier when TorchED finally gets released!

[Azrael]

well i just woke up so il take a whack at it in an hour or two and see if i can find anyway to fix some of the bugs

is there a console command for leveling up?
that way i can take a look at the higher lvl skill you talked about

if not il just modify the skills lvl req to 1

[Krageon]

Stage two is done. It's all there, except for proper armor modeling (it would've cost me a lot of time, which I'm planning on spending sleeping now). This is easily fixable, however. Any skillbugs result from improper use of modifiers (carried range bonus from vanq template to male destroyer makes for a large slash). I'll attempt to fix these now, and update the zip file.

[Azrael]

Great job man

small bug here

Code: Select all

      <Property Name="HoverImage" Value="set:Logo image:destroyericonlit" />

you have the hover image on each of the new class's set to the old image
so when you hover over one it turns back to the normal genders image

il let you know if i find any other small bugs



edit.

On a sidenote, some of the stuff in the main game structure is really weird. It really shows there was a destroyer before there was any other class, for example (The destroyer gets a lot of privileges - not using subfolders, being consistently called 'warrior', etc). There's some other discrepancies (different argument order in files that do the same thing, but for different classes). It's the little things you notice after staring at them for 6 hours

yeah i noticed that aswell

[Krageon]

The hovering this is intentional - It's so you know what the original face of the class that you want to choose was (you know, in case you can't look left ). Also I was feeling goofy. Thanks for the feedback

Characters are as balanced as they were when they had another gender now.

Crash bug is fixed. All three characters selectable and hopefully done with the item placing done right. Download it here

Fixing the floating armor was done in a dirty hack sort of way: I edited the base types for every armor and added wardrobe data for the new classes. It's a quick fix until the proper editing can be done. Note that this might (will probably) mean that your leet gear will not show up properly, I apologize. I'll get to that when I wake up in the morning. Now that I've not botched on the GUID part (that was causing the crashes. Two different classes with the same GUID causes weird behaviour, I may be able to get away with using the armor progression of be model class.

Things I need to fix:
- Armor progression - untested, but unlikely to work.
- The stupid names and lame descriptors. I was tired, hmkay?

Please comment on the mod so I can do my best to fix things. Armor progression will be done soon.

[Sederien]

Topic and thread updated. Hopefully we can find and squash any issues.

Thank you Azrael and Krageon!