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Backward Mod Compatibility/Conversion

Submitted by leocreed on Thu, 2013-01-03 18:34

Hi Guys!?

I've been thinking about this idea that i can get some
decent mods for DS1 and DSLoA by converting them from
DS2 and DSBW. So far i tried re-tanking with the mod
'RenownChance' from DS2. Didn't go so well. Either the
game didn't recognise the file or it completely igored
it. I figured with this and 'MonsterLevelAdjust' mod,
DS1 and DSLoA will be nicely playable, even if using
XP altering mods (which become unnecesary since...well
...can you imagine a lvl 102 party vs lvl 101 or 102 GOM?
...scary stuff!).

Either way, can anyone tell me if it's possible or direct
me to where it's been done?

forums: 
DS1 & LoA Mod Development
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Submitted by ghastley on Fri, 2013-01-04 14:23

It's not going to work that way round.

DS2 added a new scripting language "Flick" that built on the older skrit, so the old stuff carried forward from DS1 to DS2 with only a little adjustment, but the reverse direction is just impossible. The effects system was completely rebuilt, without any overlap. Models (with some exceptions) are compatible, and some didn't even change.

The people who are moving things up from DS1 to DS2 have an easier job, because they're basically doing the same as the GPG developers did, and adding new things on top of the old. The newer game has all the capabilities of the old engine, plus others. But you're never going to get the old engine to support the new features. If it did, they would not have needed to upgrade it.
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Submitted by bare_elf on Fri, 2013-01-04 15:45

As Ghastley said you can go from DS1 to DS2 but not the other way. There is no backward compatibility for the reasons he stated. It is kind of like taking all the electronics in a smart phone and installing it all in an old land line dial phone. You can put the parts in but the old phone has nothing to connect it to. So anything created with the new game engine would not be seen with the old game engine.

Elf
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Submitted by leocreed on Sun, 2013-01-06 01:35

I'm getting that. So is there any chance there's a mod that works similar to it. If not then I'll have to just continue with my playthrough of ds1 maps in ds2 to get it, though it would have been cool, don't you think!
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Submitted by leocreed on Wed, 2013-01-16 09:27

So how about converting mods from ds1 upto ds2. Does converting straight with the utility for ds1 file converting work or how do you do it?
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Submitted by bare_elf on Wed, 2013-01-16 14:22

leocreed wrote:
So how about converting mods from ds1 upto ds2. Does converting straight with the utility for ds1 file converting work or how do you do it?


That would depend on what type of mod you where trying to convert from DS1 to DS2. Converting a map requires quite a bit more than just using the conversion utility. I would suggest reading the forums by KillerGermal and Iryan and the problems we as modders and testers have encountered. Converting a DS1 weapon mod is somewhat easier but it requires in some cases creating the weapon mesh, changing the scale of the weapon in some cases, creating the required art work may also be necessary. Of all the mod conversion an Armor Mod (from my point of view only) is the least difficult. In this case you first need to convert the armor image from the DS1 layout to the DS2 layout (there is quite a difference) once you get the layout right you need to create a copy of the armor for each race and skin tone.
So you go from 1 image in DS1 to 22 images for DS2. 9 for female, 6 for human and elf male 3 for half giant and 3 for dwarf and 1 image for the armor on the ground if you can believe that.
Hope that helps answer the question.

Elf
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Submitted by leocreed on Thu, 2013-01-17 19:09

I was actually thinking along the lines of simple mods. In perticular, the 'auto-potion' mod. Would there already be something like this? Is converting this mod direct? Or would it not work!?
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Submitted by Darkelf on Thu, 2013-01-17 21:44

i think the succubus mod does autopotions but not sure, been a long time since i used it
seems like there was ds2 version of autopots but i cant remember, it should be doable with some editting. i doubt ds1 mods like that will fully work without errors as lot of code has change but u can take the ds1 to ds2 converter and try it, never hurts to try
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Submitted by iryan on Fri, 2013-01-18 00:54

Darkelf wrote:
i think the succubus mod does autopotions but not sure, been a long time since i used it
seems like there was ds2 version of autopots but i cant remember, it should be doable with some editting. i doubt ds1 mods like that will fully work without errors as lot of code has change but u can take the ds1 to ds2 converter and try it, never hurts to try

I doubt any DS1 mod would work in DS2 without modifications, the template structures contain too many changes. That doesn't mean though that DS1 mods can't be duplicated in DS2 and I'm sure many have been.

Darkelf is right that the succubus mod supports autopotions but there's nothing mysterious about it. It just includes a simple line in the heroes base template in the mind block that enables the character to use potions automatically, this line is disabled in base DS2.

	[mind]
	{
		actor_auto_heals_self_life = true;
		actor_auto_heals_self_mana = true;
	}

You can either use the succubus mod or create a small mod to add the changes. The default actions in the succubus mod is for a character to use autopotions at 33%life and healing spells at 80%life. Unfortunately you need to start a new game to enable the changes. It won't work for existing characters.
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Submitted by Elys on Sat, 2013-01-26 09:54

iryan wrote:

Darkelf is right that the succubus mod supports autopotions but there's nothing mysterious about it. It just includes a simple line in the heroes base template in the mind block that enables the character to use potions automatically, this line is disabled in base DS2.
	[mind]
	{
		actor_auto_heals_self_life = true;
		actor_auto_heals_self_mana = true;
	}

You might also want to to modify brain_hero.skrit script, so the hero will also "autoheal" life and mana when out of combat.

Which incidentally reminds me I needed to update that skrit and I totally forgot about it xD
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