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About GhostDog's Planescape: Torment UI mod. (READ THIS FIRST)


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#1 ghostdog

ghostdog
  • Modder
  • 556 posts

Posted 05 October 2008 - 05:53 AM

Hello to all , this is my first WeiDU mod and it's for my favorite RPG game, Planescape: Torment. I'd like to thank Spellhold Studios for hosting my mod and giving me forum space to introduce, discuss and update the mod. Now, let's be a bit more specific as to what this is all about:

NOTE: The mod now supports ALL resolutions. (except those smaller than 800x480)


Mod_instroduction.jpg


Introduction:

This is a User Interface modification which in combination with Bigg's Widescreen Mod makes any resolution, bigger or equal to 800x480, viable for Planescape:Torment by changing a number of things in the user interface.

It all started with Bigg's mod that allows you to change the resolution in all of the infinity engine games. Bigg's mod is great, but especially in Torment when you change the resolution, almost all of the UI elements and game effects are shown in the top-left area , and the rest of the UI is chopped up. So what this mod does is that it centers all these elements and enhances the UI with original game art to fit nicely any given resolution.

This began as a joint effort with Taplonaplo. Without his help, findings and solutions the mod would have never reached this stage. Taplonaplo has helped a lot by providing many code tweaks and exe offsets.




Here is a video demonstration of the mod :

(It's from an older version without the bigger dialog window,check the screeshots for this. It looks choppy because of Fraps+Drraw)




Features:

  • Supports ALL resolutions. Resolutions smaller than 1280x720 have the default backgrounds centered. Resolutions bigger or equal to 1280x720 use the enhanced backgrounds.
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  • The Dialog window has been resized to fit the new resolution and the text area has been increased almost to double size. The dialog box background has been made darker, to make reading easier. Finally the screen now centers correctly to the character you're talking with.
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  • Bigger fonts are provided for those that find the original text too small. The new fonts are more clear than the original and are applied only to the Dialog/Journal windows and to the floating text. You get to choose from 4 different sizes.
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  • The Start screen has been centered and has been given a background. The background has been created from two previously unused UI files.
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  • The Character Creation and Journal screens have both been centered and given backgrounds. Both of the backgrounds are from two original promotional posters of the game.
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  • All Bottom UI Bar elements have been revamped to fit the all resolutions nicely. This includes the main UI menu , the resting , formation and looting screens.
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  • The Inventory, Spells, Map and Stats screens have been centered and enhanced. They also appear in way that lets you see the rest of the gameplay area.
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  • The Store screen has been centered and Action Box now shows correctly at the spot you click.
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  • All Spell Effects and Animations are now centered and show correctly. Spell animations and backgrounds of Desert hell, Celestial host, Deathbolt and Bladestorm have been edited to fit the new resolution.
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  • All Info/Warning window messages have been centered and all Tooltips show correctly.
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  • Loading/Unloading/Saving/CD screens have been centered and the Loading Bar now shows correctly.
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  • Worldmap now shows in full screen.
     
  • All movies now stretch to full screen.

 


Compatibility issues and solutions:

 

  • YOU SHOULD START A NEW GAME since the Widescreen mod has issues with old saves from a different resolution. Changing resolution mid-game is likely to cause crashes.
  • This mod is packed with WeiDU so it should be compatible with other WeiDU mods as long as they don't edit the UI. It has been tested with all of Qwinn's mods without any problems so far. Qwinn's mods are strongly recommended. For a comprehensive guide for having a fully modded game,look here
  • Resolutions below 800x480 are not supported.
  • The mod is compatible with both 2CD and 4CD versions of the game. This includes the GOG version.
  • If you're using Vista, Win7 or Win8 don't install the game in the Program files folder. These Operating Systems have restrictions in program files that are not weidu-mod friendly.
  • If you're having problems installing the mod, disable your Antivirus and try again. Some AVs (especially AVG free) will not let the installation finish.
  • In some random cases when you install multiple weidu mods that use different versions of weidu, the automatic update during the installation gives an error. To fix that, you can copy the .exe with the most recent version over the other ones (rename it accordingly and replace the other mod executables)
  • The mod is compatible with any Language version. The bigger fonts are compatible with all known language versions (except maybe Korean).
  • If you want to install a Language pack, make sure you install it PRIOR to installing this mod, otherwise the game may crash.
  • Desert Hell and Bladestorm backgrounds have been removed due to issues they cause at higher resolutions.
  • Using the 120% bigger fonts with resolutions lower than 1280x720 may cause a scrolling problem with the dialog box (it's unlikely, but I haven't thoroughly tested it), which will not let you continue. If this happens uninstall them and install a smaller font.
  • The text asking you to put in a CD, is a bit off.
  • Some flickering may occur, when you open certain windows.
  • You may experience black backgrounds around objects, this is an nvidia card related problem. You may also experience slowdowns or other graphical artifacts (especially with the fog of war), this is also most likely an issue caused by modern graphic cards and the way they deal with Direct Draw. For a DDraw Fix look here. Other solutions may be found in this thread. If problems persist, this may help you.
  • If you don't want the movies to stretch to full screen and prefer the old smaller centered video size, look here for a solution.

 


Installation:

For a detailed procedure of how to have a fully modded installation of PST look here
If you're using Vista/Win7 do not install the game in the Program Files folder.

1. First of all you must make a full install of Planescape Torment. The Full install is not the "maximum installation" option from the game installer, it's a manual procedure. You can find instructions on how to do this here. Also, if you're using Vista, Win7 or Win8, don't install the game in the Program files folder.
2. Install Bigg's Widescreen Mod with your desired resolution.
3. Extract the archive into your game directory.
4. Run Setup-PST-Widescreen-UI.exe
5. The mod will detect if the Widescreen mod is installed and in what resolution and then install the appropriate UI elements.
6. Afterwards you'll be asked if you want to install Bigger fonts. If yes, choose your language and desired size. You get to choose between 3 different sizes. I strongly recommend trying them out if you're using bigger than 800x600 resolutions. Of course it's always a matter of resolution, screen size and distance.

You can easily uninstall the mod by running the .exe again and choosing the [U]ninstall option. Afterwards, to completely remove all components, delete the PST-Widescreen-UI folder, the Setup-PST-Widescreen-UI.exe and the Setup-PST-Widescreen-UI.tp2 file.

Always uninstall the old version if you are to install a new one.


Credits:

- Many thanks go to TAPLONAPLO who has done a fantastic job at solving almost all of the technical problems that appear when you change the game's resolution. Without his findings and fixes, this project would probably never have reached this stage. Taplonaplo has discovered most of the game .exe offsets. He also found a way to move and resize the journal pics, the loading bar and the CD-messages. Finally, he has made a fix for the store dialog screen flicker and a fix for the contrast/brightness transparency problem.
- Many thanks should also go to THE VANISHED ONE (another dweller of the RPGCodex forums) who helped me a lot when I started editing the UI and has also provided WEIDU code for the version check and also the code to resize the MOS files. Check out his excellent 1024x768 UI for PST here.
- Qwinn, For helping me with WeiDu code questions and for making some great PST mods. He helped a lot with his replace script and code tweaks.
- Scient, for providing the modified code for the journal pics and loading bar. Also, for finding the offset pattern for the cursor scrolling fix and generally for doing extensive bugfixing with the PST engine.
- Weak-ling, a member of the Gibbrlings3 forums , who has found the action box and tooltip offsets.
- The Bigg: For creating the amazing widescreen mod for the Infinity engine games.
- Haen, for providing his awesome font bam generator, which I used to create the new fonts. You can find it here
- All the people that tested the bigger fonts for the various languages.
- a9214, yyfeng and maoliyuanjiu for the offsets for the Chinese version and to Mephisto Devil Satan for testing it.
- aqrit for providing the offsets for stretching the movies.


Mod distribution:

- Some People have reported problems downloading the game from Spellhold. Here is an alternate download location.
- Modders can use this mod as whole or parts of it , but they should give credit where it's due and I'd appreciate it if they let me know about it.
- If you want to host this mod at your site feel free to do so, but you should also let me know.
- Use this mod at your own risk, I don't take any responsibility for any damage it may cause.



:cheers:


Edited by ghostdog, 07 September 2015 - 02:20 AM.