Book III Character and Map Editor

A forum for discussing all things regarding modding of Eschalon: Book III
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SpottedShroom
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

Post by SpottedShroom »

MyGameCompany wrote:Is there a way to create a custom book or note with some text on it? I'd like to place such a thing in a chest or on a pile of bones...
The narrative and book texts are in the datapak and can't be added to until BW releases real mod support. You can use "msg" or "condition", though.
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

Post by MyGameCompany »

Thanks!

I noticed a potential problem in the editor: the editor lists an object type of 50 for breakable walls; however, the breakable walls in Rockhammer Mine level 1 have an object type of 22. I created a breakable wall with object type = 50, and sure enough I can't destroy it. Unfortunately, there is no 22 on the object type pulldown in the editor. Would it be easy to add 22 to the editor's list?
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SpottedShroom
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

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MyGameCompany wrote: I noticed a potential problem in the editor: the editor lists an object type of 50 for breakable walls; however, the breakable walls in Rockhammer Mine level 1 have an object type of 22. I created a breakable wall with object type = 50, and sure enough I can't destroy it. Unfortunately, there is no 22 on the object type pulldown in the editor. Would it be easy to add 22 to the editor's list?
Good catch. I just did new builds which include what should be a fix for this.
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

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severian wrote:I`m quite puzzled - I keep saving, but the file I "save as" to keeps indicating "0 kB".

I`ve finished one map, and I`m too afraid to reopen it :roll:
Sorry about this! I just found and fixed the bug. Some Book III-specific values weren't getting initialized properly for from-scratch maps, leading to an inability to save them. The new builds I just uploaded should include a fix.
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

Post by MyGameCompany »

SpottedShroom wrote:Good catch. I just did new builds which include what should be a fix for this.
Works perfect! Thanks!
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

Post by IJBall »

Question - Is the current version of this Editor still "backwards" compatible with Book II and its maps? Or is it a totally separate app from the Book II Editor?...

'Cos I'm starting to think that some of us may actually want to 'Mod' for Book II still, for various reasons (e.g. the selection of spells in Book II)...
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

Post by SpottedShroom »

The OS X build contains a single .app executable which can launch all six of the utilities - the map and character editors for each of the three games. The Windows and Linux distributions each contain 6 separate programs.
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

Post by GChrisSfish21 »

Like MyGameCompany said. Same result for OSX 10.68 as well.
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

Post by MyGameCompany »

Two more issues to report:

1. I think there may be a problem with the Lava Slag (maybe an incorrect entity number or something). I placed one on a map (on lava), and when I entered the map, each step I took gave me a message about an Assassin Sentinel Stalk taking damage until it finally died. If I take the Lava Slag off the map, I don't get those messages.

2. If I place a Spineback Basilisk on the map, it comes with a prepopulated script for dropping an Advanced Key. Even if I clear the script field, the basilisk still drops the key after I kill it. (It might be hardcoded into the engine, but I hope not...)
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

Post by Oldhunter »

Ok, got it working. But I can't find the saved games. Running the game thru Steam, is that where my saved games are and how do I access them? They don't seem to be on my computer anywhere. HELP!
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

Post by IJBall »

Oldhunter wrote:Ok, got it working. But I can't find the saved games. Running the game thru Steam, is that where my saved games are and how do I access them? They don't seem to be on my computer anywhere. HELP!
Click on the "Copyright..." thing at the bottom of the game's Main Menu: that should show you the path to where the Saved Games folder is.
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

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MyGameCompany wrote: 1. I think there may be a problem with the Lava Slag (maybe an incorrect entity number or something). I placed one on a map (on lava), and when I entered the map, each step I took gave me a message about an Assassin Sentinel Stalk taking damage until it finally died. If I take the Lava Slag off the map, I don't get those messages.
Lava slags don't actually exist in Book III, although they're still present in the entities spreadsheet data file, along with several other creatures - Dwarven Spirits, Brimstone Spiders, Lycanthropes, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if any of them didn't work right. Lava slags in particular share an entity ID with Mutated Assassin Stalks in the data file, so the game can't tell one from the other. If you try to place a slag, you'll get a stalk instead.
MyGameCompany wrote: 2. If I place a Spineback Basilisk on the map, it comes with a prepopulated script for dropping an Advanced Key. Even if I clear the script field, the basilisk still drops the key after I kill it. (It might be hardcoded into the engine, but I hope not...)
It's not hardcoded in the engine, but it is hardcoded in the data file. I don't believe it can be overridden, at least not until we get real mod capabilities.
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

Post by MyGameCompany »

Thanks, SpottedShroom!

Brimstone spiders seem to work fine. I haven't seen one spit a fireball yet, but they walk over lava without taking damage and all the sounds and other behaviors are right.

Haven't tried the lycanthrope, but it doesn't really fit with the mod I'm making anyway.

I haven't tried the dwarven spirit yet either, but I thought I remembered seeing a dwarven spirit somewhere in Book III...
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

Post by IJBall »

SpottedShroom wrote:Lava slags don't actually exist in Book III, although they're still present in the entities spreadsheet data file, along with several other creatures - Dwarven Spirits, Brimstone Spiders, Lycanthropes, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if any of them didn't work right. Lava slags in particular share an entity ID with Mutated Assassin Stalks in the data file, so the game can't tell one from the other. If you try to place a slag, you'll get a stalk instead.
It occurs to me that, if it's not too much trouble, we may want BW to "fix" these Mobs in the Book III engine & spreadsheet data file, even if they aren't used "in-game", as it'd give us a few more options for Mobs when the Editor is eventually released.

(Unless the Editor ends up being powerful enough to allow us to 'switch out' and put entirely new Mobs into that entities spreadsheet data file with relative ease...)
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Re: Book III Character and Map Editor

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I would definitely like to have access to the full range of monsters from all 3 games in the editor, as well as the tile sets. That would give modders (and the resulting mods) a good variety to choose from. And if we could use our own custom tiles, object graphics, and parallax backgrounds, that would be great too.

I wish some of the Orakur machinery from Books 2 and 3 were also available as objects or graphics that we can insert into our maps. The machine from the magic shop in Old Moonrise, the machines under the Seawarden's Guild, and decorations from Fathamurk would be nice.

And 3 other things I would like in the official editor (so far, based on my experience trying to make a mod):
1) ability to create your own book/scroll items with your own text on them
2) ability to create your own friendly NPCs, complete with dialogue trees, merchant, and trainer abilities
3) ability to create your own quests (add them to the journal, set up completion/win conditions, etc.
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