Utraean Seizure of hopless Mapping

The region you're looking for is called a2_06_02_azunaitomb. You can extract it from the World.ds2map (found in Dungeon Siege 2 maps folder) using tankviewer into a working folder. Make sure to keep the folder structure for eventually retanking into a mod.

The lever you are having problems with is lever_glb_button_04 (scid reference 0x1670060c) found in the interactive.gas file in the objects folder in a2_06_02_azunaitomb. Gas files can be opened with notepad. Scid numbers are unique id reference numbers so the game engine knows where to find the object or command in question.

In the command.gas file in the same objects folder is a cmd_change_property (scid reference 0x16700131) that changes the properties of that lever. In turn that cmd_change_property is acted upon by a cmd_run_flick (scid reference 0x16700129) which runs the NIS sequence which results from completing the puzzle.

What I would try first is to change state2_visible = false; to true instead in the cmd_change_property command (n:0x16700131) which should make the lever visible even before doing the puzzle. Maybe even that small step might make the lever usable without even doing the puzzle?

Have a go with this and if you have problems I'll make a test hack changing it for you and you can see if it works.

@KrugLover: As Iryan has pointed there is an object controlling the visibility of the lever, so try this in-game:
- go to Aman'lu,
- stay close to the 'Tacho dummy' (nearby the weapon shop),
- type in 'gremal -0x16700131' (without quotes),
- wait 2-3 seconds,
- type in 'gremal +0x16700131' (without quotes),
- take the teleport back to Azunai's Tomb.

This should reveal the lever - assumed the placement is ok and the rest of the quest/activation states are as they should be.

Okay, tried it all, doesn't work. The savegame gets corrupted by one of the mods. I am 100% sure of it. I've found a lever that's a little out of place(DS2map North Greilyn Teleporter, The little Tower with a button/lever on the inside that makes a chest appear out of the ground). I'm going to load/unload every single mod by itself, to find out which on is causing the problem.

Yes the savegame is corrupted, but only because of one of these mods. Other savegames get corrupted because of this.

I tried what you guys suggested but the lever still doesn't appear (or is below ground), even on a freshly installed game and a fresh savegame with mods of course. Playing without them is just too plain, Hotfix for BW mod is fantastic.
Changing the value to true might have made it appear, however it's probably below ground.

IT IS ONE OF THESE MODS. I'm going to get to the bottom of this!
(maybe it's like on line of code inside one of these mods)

Pic of freshly installed mods:
http://gyazo.com/23dde1fc69615bd6c68553d06c45aea0

Also, while making tankfiles my Avast antivires blocks it as mallware, so i had to do that on a different computer

@KrugLover: It's sad to read about your on-going matters, however don't forget to check once the 'resources' folder form v2.2, it also will affect the addon even if v2.2 is installed in a completely different path.

I found the problem actually. Not the code but the exact mod that is causing the problem. I kept adding one mod at a time. Found one where the lever disappeared. Then, I put in all the mods(except the one causing the problem, the lever is there, EVEN with the original 'corrupt' savegame. Yes, the lever is there, on place, visible and everything!!

The mod causing this isn't actually a mod, but the converted Object.dsres drom DS1! I have no clue as to how it is related to the leversystem of a DS2 map, but it's the one causing the issue!

I converted it with Frhed and changed the numbers correctly (I checked). Then saved it as a ds2res file, named is DS1_Objects.ds2res.

Any ideas as to how a DS1 resource can influence a DS2 lever (multiple ones)?

@KrugLover: Great you have found the reason - honestly I rather expected the error elsewhere... :o

However, it seems your resource tank is broken anyhow or the addon assigns a higher priority to the tank than intended here.
It's possible that the hex-edited tank is broken for different reasons, so try the following approach:

I tried both your solutions, alas, it still caused the levers to dislocate (underground, outside the wall, etc.)
Anyway, for now I just put it outside the resource directory when a lever is out of place, and I put the objects file back in when I'm passed the issue and continue playing.

I didn't know the objects file is needed for some items on the DS2 map, it's even used for splatter effects when you hit a critical on a mob. Man I feel stupid, I wish could understand a little of this awesome game's code. This game has so much potential, been playing it on and off since I was eight. Can't wait for DS4 (although Obsidian is the developer )

I've been part of some modding communities, but I mostly just create HD textures or new textures for existing meshes.
As far as my programming knowledge goes, I know some Java and javascript, also actionscripts. You're a god KillerGermal, I swear.

Thanks for your help KillerGermal, iryan, and bare_elf!

@KrugLover: Thanks for the laudation, however it would be almost some more interesting to know if you really moved (test-wise) the converted tanks from DS1 into the 'resources' folder of DS2 v2.2, respectively into the folder where Logic.ds2res is (not xLogic.ds2res!).

Yes I did, I tried it with the manually converted ones (Frhed), and with the bat file converted ones. Both cases had the same outcome

I can continue just by removing the Object resource, and later re-adding it. I mean, it's just a 'few' levers.
I just wonder what file inside of the Object resource is causing the problem.
Like, there have to be some lines of code that make them move, direct or indirect.

I could test this myself and go into the code, but my anti-virus won't let me create ds2 tankfiles.
The ds1 tankcreator is fine, but the one for ds2 is classed as malware o.o

Epiphany here I come!

srsly, remove/uninstall or at least deactivate your antivirus while gaming or especially when running user made modding software. its well known that anti virus software makes games run slower and possibly makes them buggier/glitchier as well.

and since your anti virus software has a habit of producing false positives, it shows that the anti virus is not really very good.

u do know that anti virus software will not make your computer 100% immune to viruses right? and also u do know u cant really be infected by worms while gaming? do not believe everything u read on the internet about viruses and worms. some of it is propaganda to milk money from people.

@KrugLover: A few levers seem to bother for any strange reason (i really hope it's an unique case), however on all 'DS1=>DS2 maps' object.dsres is required for monsters, (loot) chests and many ambient objects too.

If you want to try to fix this matter yourself with an auxiliary mod, then open Objects.ds2res and readd...
- art\meshes\items\global\m_i_glb_switch-01.asp
- art\meshes\items\global\m_i_glb_switch-02.asp
- art\meshes\items\global\m_i_glb_switch-03.asp
- art\meshes\items\global\m_i_glb_switch-04.asp
- art\meshes\items\global\m_i_glb_switch-06.asp
...in a separate mod for DS2.

If you can't overcome the anti-virus problem anyhow then tank it with the DS1 tank creator and convert the mod into a DS2 tank as you did with the other DS1 tanks. A bit adventuresome but hopefully it will work.

I too have had issues with rapid tank creator being flagged as malware. kaspersky and avg are 2 known antivirus that absolutely refuse to let tank creator 2 work,
not sure what antivirus u r using but... the work around is to disable the antivirus, create the tank and turn the antivirus back on, I have been using tank creator 2 for years and know its not a virus or malware.

also can use the ds2 construction kit and tank that way, but unfortunately it don't let u set a priority, or if it does I haven't been able to with it.

As Dark_Elf noted there are several anti-virus programs that see things like tank creator 2, and other game editing programs as either a virus or malware which really are not. It does not matter if the anti-virus program is shareware or purchased. I have always followed this path. When installing a program, mod or an update (even the windows updates) I turn off my anti-virus program. When modifying things within Dungeon Siege or any other game I turn off my anti-virus program until the editing is done. When playing a non-online game I use my anti-virus program's Enable Gaming/multimedia mode.
Which turns off some of the functions and makes the game run faster than if the anti-virus program is totally on. I would recommend that you turn off your antivirus program and then re-convert all the DS1 files to DS2 files using KillerGermal's Batch File. This may even cure the lever issue who knows.

So I created a tank file with the switches, tried to put it into v2.2 and BW, however the lever was still out of place (underground, anywhere really)
Then I altered the modified date and date created which a little tool, just to see if it would get priority. I put it in v2.2, no effect. But when I put it into BW, I get something like "expectional data detected (this may take a few minutes)". In other words the file did get priority but it led up to this error.

Try this hack which makes the lever visible; http://www.siegetheday.org/~iryan/files/DS2_Azunai_Tomb_Hack.ds2res

I tested it playing Broken World with the hack residing in the DS2 resource folder so it shouldn't matter where you find it. I had to press the lever twice to get the elevator to come up, possibly because the lever is initially under the influence of a flick. Remember to wait for the lever to reset (takes about 10 sec) between attempts.

I simply flagged the initial state as 1 instead of two and you can look at the file to see what I did.

If this doesn't work then the lever itself must be in an incorrect position. Lever_glb_button_04 is found in the obj_usable.gas file in the interactive folder. It's model is m_i_glb_switch-01 which is also found in the converted DS1 Objects file but is a different model to the DS2 version. However I have verified that this doesn't/shouldn't make any difference as I tested with both the DS1 Objects ds2res installed and not installed.

Incidentally I found that why monsters level with the party using the monster_level_adjust mod, environmental hazards do not! Poor Taar was obliterated by one of those nasty traps found on the paths between the portal and the puzzle.

So I used the hack that iryan just put up here. It works, more or less.
This is with all the mods inside the resource folder of BW2 as it should be,
I didn't leave out any mod, not even the DS1 converted object resource.

Here's a picture showing that the lever is now actually usable and (maybe) visible.
It's easy to click on when the elevator is down, however when it's up, you can't seem to click it.
(not even a hover option when you rotate the camera so you can see in the gap)
Link: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=dcevwh&s=5

But when you're further away from the elevator, clicking the lever through the ground is very easy.
Just by hovering in close proximity, you get the button-option.
(in other words, I can access the lever, it's just a few feet underground now, but usable )
Link: http://tinypic.com/r/2njftj7/5

Thank you very much for the pics and report. It narrows down the problem quite considerably.

The phenomena with the lever is being caused by the z-axis being shifted, probably by the version of m_i_glb_switch-01 mesh overwriting the DS2 version which you would expect though it hasn't manifested in any of the DS2 regions during any of my playthroughs. It does manifest in the DS1 converted maps but with the levers floating in the air. So it quite clearly is a quirk with the model and the way the DS2 engine handles the mesh when placing it into the world.

So you have two alternatives you can try.

The first is to simply move or deactivate the converted DS1 Objects resource tank while you play DS2. It's not needed for playing vanilla DS2 or Broken World unless you're using characters recruited there or objects, etc.

The second is to try an updated hack which moves the z-axis of the lever into the air;
http://www.siegetheday.org/~iryan/files/DS2_Azunai_Tomb_Hack.ds2res
This is an estimation based on your pic but I believe it should work.

So iryan, the lever is now fully usable. But it's a little too high. (doesn't really matter)
Here are some screenshots to illustrate the position:

Hey there everyone!

I'm really interested in this mod. I've tried it some time ago in its earlier stages, and now in its present form as well. It seems pretty authentic to the original, except for one issue that is bugging me - the level adjustment system doesn't seem to work well at all.

More specifically, it seems that the monsters are scaling far faster than I am as a player. Starting in Eldim at Level 0, the nearby Krug and phraks are a bit more difficult than I expect, but certainly beatable. As I go up in level, the simple Krug start getting tougher and tougher. At level 5 or 6, it becomes exceedingly difficult, and by level 10 or so, impossible. I simply can't gain in power fast enough to survive - or rather, gaining power is actually relatively weakening me.

Am I missing something? I have to give the benefit of the doubt that this mod has been thoroughly tested, and that such a problem would have been spotted very quickly by any of the numerous people working on it. So, what am I doing wrong? How do I stop the Krug from kicking my sorry hind end? And does this sort of level adjustment system continue throughout the game?

Do you have the latest version of the mod found at the link above? This issue has been reported before and I've struck it myself so I know what you're talking about (though it wasn't until monsters were above level 30 that it manifested).

With the latest version these problems for me have disappeared and I've used it in both the DS1 Map Pack mod, DS2 and Broken World. There is a setting that can be used to adjust the map difficulty and the DS1 Maps and DS2 Adepts have it set on 75-80%.

I haven't played the Utraean Peninsula Mod for a long time and maybe there may be peculiarities unique to it as it doesn't seem to have been updated to take advantage of the MonsterLevel Adjust Mod new settings, though KillerGremal would be the best one to ask about that. Still from what he told me the monsters on Mercenary Level shouldn't adjust too much from the defaults no matter what settings are used.

If all else fails the map difficulty can be set in a small mod. We'll wait though for KillerGremal to comment on your issues first.

I do indeed have the latest version, as found at the top of this post. I'm not sure I understand your advice to help use it, though. If it's just a matter of settings, that doesn't sound too difficult.

Really, it surprises me that the scaling is used at all in the first place. Wouldn't it be far better to use custom-defined levels for the creatures, as the original adventure and DS2 both did anyway? Is the scaling system not something used as only a temporary placeholder, and if so, how difficult and time-consuming is it to fully personalize the adventure in that way?

DS2 and Broken World are balanced (mostly) so that the monsters are always near the player's level. Even if they aren't the game is designed that experience is drastically reduced the further away the monster is from the player's level so that level progression isn't disrupted. This is so players can revisit earlier areas of the game and finished quests without gaining too much experience.

Also you can continue playing with the same party through mercenary up to elite, something you couldn't do in DS1. There was no singleplayer veteran or elite mode in DS1.

Without scaling if you played the Utraean Peninsula with a party that has finished mercenary mode, the map would be way too easy and all the monsters would be green coded (indicating that they are way below the player's level). If you played the map with a new character, that character would probably end up around level 40-45 at the end (there's no recruitable characters in this version of the map). Due to the way DS2 locks you out of Broken World until you finished mercenary mode DS2 that character would have to play DS2 from the start, which would be a long, boring and tedious process as all the monsters would again be way too easy to defeat.

It's the same situation with the DS2 versions of Kingdom of Ehb, Yesterhaven and Legends of Aranna. Without scaling you would have to start all of these as a new player. And from a modder's point of view, it would be a lot more work to balance the monsters in those maps. I'd probably still be working on them right now.

Even in DS2 and Broken World I find it a lot more fun playing with the monsters always around my level. No more green or red monsters like what occurs in DS2 (remember always having to revisit earlier areas to finish quests of those undead azunai or taclak that were overlevelled when you first encountered them).

It's not difficult changing the map's difficulty level yourself but you do need to know how to make tanks. The settings are found in level_adjustment_config.gas in the Info folder of the map's folder once it's untanked.

@SouthpawHare: Try to enable the monster_adjust_declared option in your DS2(BW) *ini file, it will list the current main stats of the monster behind its screen name.
Please post these stats or make a screen-shot, it would also help if you could remind if the monster had any resistances (won't belisted). Like this a comparision would be possible with the unadjusted monster GPG made.

I hope this heps for the moment...

I'm not entirely sure what you mean. I don't see any files with the ".ini" extention in my game directory, nor do I understand what "ds *.ini" means specifically. Furthermore, I don't have the BW expansion (I know it's like 7 years old now, but hey, I never bought it). The readme file makes references to this file, but it's written in a way that isn't very noob-friendly. I'm afraid that things about mods that you might take for granted, I haven't the clue about. I'm just a guy who wants to play Utraean Peninsula again. =)

As for the balance issue, it seems very easy to reproduce. At about 5th or 6th level, the enemies around the starting area seem to become very unbeatable. Sometimes, it takes one or two respawns to take down a single Krug dog! I can only assume it is less a problem with the monster scaling and more with the fact that I an under-equipped, but I can't get money fast enough, and that's a facet of the level-scaling, too! In killing enemies for gold, I'm actually gaining in level too fast relative to my gold gain, which isn't going hardly anywhere.

I do apologize for complaining so much - I hate being that guy to just burst into a scene and start criticizing. It does seem like a problem, though, and it's certainly ruining my fun of the game in comparison to the original. I can't go anywhere without dying and dying and dying. It's pretty severe.

My apologies. As opposed to the readme, the answer was actually in the FAQ which points to the readme! I found the file, so I may be able to handle this now...

So, I was able to modify the file with the adjustments, and they seemed to work appropriately for a little while. I lowered the difficulty to 80%, which was a good amount it seemed.

Then, I found an item in a drop that was worth some 17,000 gold. An unexpected fortune for someone of 6th level who had never before accumulated more than 200 at a single time. Pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen. But hey, it fixed my issue of not having enough gold. So, I went back to town and geared up. The enchantable emulates didn't seem to work, so I skipped those.

Then, I teleported out, and got insta-killed by a LEVEL 30 Royal Turkey...

I traveled slightly outside Elddim again, and there they are. They're everywhere. Screenshot here: http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss46/SouthpawHare/DungeonSiegeIIScreen-0000_zps70a6b7cb.png I am clearly level 6, and yet there are level 30 enemies running around. *le sigh*

Again, I'm not necessarily blaming you guys - I could just be a dumbass - but I am utterly confused.

Put it in the resources folder

For it's clear that the level adjustment isn't working correctly and it won't unless there's support for it in the map itself. In Alpha10 version of the map this config file is located in the moods folder and is setup a lot differently to the latest version of the mod.

Well, after all my troubles, I've managed to enjoy things thus far, so I figure I'll stop clogging up your thread and dismiss any earlier troubles I might have had.

The biggest concern seems to be a big unbalance in the early levels where experience greatly outstrips gold and potential equipment. Once you can keep yourself equipped according to your level, be it through grinding money but not monsters, cheating, or getting a random super-valuable item out of nowhere, the scaling system starts working rather well. Although, I still play on 80% =P.

Oh, and restarting fixed my weird Level 30 Turkey situation. So it's whatever.

So, I did end up trying this patch after all, and... It's subtle, but I think it does work out the best, honestly. If my reading of the expanded monster stats are correct, it seems to be ignoring my "80% difficulty setting" and setting the monsters to oddly specific power ratings of things like "98.6%" or such (wait, isn't that the human body temperature?), but overall it is a much more forgiving level of damage. In some cases, I can actually wade into the thick of it as a fighter and tank damage, as opposed to having to kite each and every enemy in the game, which is how I expect it to work.

So yeah, thanks a lot, and good work on that!

I've just uploaded a new version of the Level Adjustment mod.
New is only the trap support, however minor changes too for sanctuary doors and act bosses.