Jump to content


Photo

Game play question


  • Please log in to reply
8 replies to this topic

#1 Boradordin

Boradordin
  • Member
  • 23 posts

Posted 02 November 2011 - 09:53 AM

logo-mine.png

Okay, so I don't have time to load the game, install all the modifications, etc., but I still have some questions.

I'm working on a little mapping project using game maps. I noticed that on Dudleyville's site (What a Treasure!) that in the Xvart Village he has various links to neighboring areas. A great idea on which I am expanding on. He had that you could travel to either the northeast (Fisherman's Lake) or the northwest (Archaeological Site). He gave links to those two areas and I will do the same once the pages have been created.

Now to my site. It is only for me to play with at present so please do not be too critical of it please. As you can see on my map of the Xvart Village I have in place two arrows indicating travel to the same two areas. The only links in place are those to and from the Village of Nashkel and the Xvart Village. And the questions marks which show interior areas.

Dudleyville says that the only traveling eastward is to Nashkel irregardless of the little map in the upper left corner of the site. Southward is Dryad Falls though it is actually southeast. However if you are in Nashkel, as shown on his site, you have only one option westward, the Xvart Village, and no option traveling southwest to the Dryad Falls. The only southern areas available are the Nashkel Mines and the Fire Leaf Forest.

Is it possible to travel directly from Naskel to the Dryad Falls? I'd rather not at this point load a game and play thru 'til I get to this point. I'd much rather spend it in development of my little site.

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

logo-mine-200ppi.png


#2 Sasha Al'Therin

Sasha Al'Therin
  • Modder
  • 615 posts

Posted 02 November 2011 - 10:35 AM

It is technically possible to travel between any 'unlocked' maps.
Some maps like Nashkel, Beregost & the Friendly Arm Inn are shown on the worldmap but not 'unlocked'
How to unlock a particular map so that it may be traveled to at any point in time:
-- For each main map that you visit:
---- Go to the edges and should the icon change to the one that indicates traveling
---- click to do so but return to the current map rather than traveling.
---- The maps available to travel to from the current map's edge become visible and accessible on the worldmap.

However, you probably already knew that information. More directly to your question...

In an unmodified BG:ToTSC game:

direct links from Nashkel:
North - ar4300 -- the map with Lord Foreshadow & Portalbendarwinden
South - ar5300 -- the map with larry, darryl & darryl
- ar5400 -- Nashkel mines
East - ar4900 -- Nashkel Carnival
- ar5400 -- Nashkel mines
West - ar4700 -- Xvart Village

So no you can not directly link to the map with the dryad falls from Nashkel

No need to load up the game and try out each map to find the link information. You can discover the link information easily by examining the Worldmap file in NearInfinity...

My working mods:
an AI Party Script for BG2 game engine DOWNLOAD LINK ONLY!
Interactive Tweaks for BG series with some IWD support. DOWNLOAD LINK ONLY!
Rest For 8 Hours an IWD mod
-------------------------------------------
My contributions: BG1Fixpack, BG1Tweaks
On Hold: Solestia an NPC for SOA
-------------------------------------------
My website: http://sasha-altheri...s.com/index.htm


#3 Boradordin

Boradordin
  • Member
  • 23 posts

Posted 02 November 2011 - 11:58 AM

Thanks for the reply Sasha. I opened the World Map using Near Infinity. It has no images on the map itself. The images for the various areas are in a scrollable list on the right. Opening Nashkel, and examining each item entry I see no listing of exits points to other regions. Two of the three, two Nashkel Mines, indicate that they are random encounters.

Any help is appreciated.

logo-mine-200ppi.png


#4 Sasha Al'Therin

Sasha Al'Therin
  • Modder
  • 615 posts

Posted 02 November 2011 - 02:50 PM

here is how I did it..

Opened NI using my BG:ToTSC 4n1 set up
opened the world map (WMP)
went to the list of worldmap icons on the right
selected Nashkel
clicked view/edit at the bottom of that pane
new window opened with the worldmap area link data for the specific area
highlighted one, and selected view/edit below the pane of the one selected
made note of the value for 'target area' (this is the entry number into the list of areas in the worldmap file)
went back to main NI window
selected Edit at the top above the worldmap canvas (not on the menu bar)
highlighted the Map 0 entry (the list of areas in the worldmap file)
scrolled the lower pane contents till it showed 'area X:' where X = the value from the target area in the other window

To determine graphically which map it was
I used Infinity Explorer using my BG:ToTSC 5+1 setup (dialog.tlk and other warnings pop up if trying to use both editors on the same game at the same time)
selected the listed ARXXXX.ARE file that corresponded with the entry into the worldmap area list (where XXXX = the map number)

Do note that this worldmap info is what areas will be exposed on the worldmap when traveling from the given side of the map.
At the same time there are some corresponding links inside the area file. You'll want to compare those as well for any discrepancies or additional information

My working mods:
an AI Party Script for BG2 game engine DOWNLOAD LINK ONLY!
Interactive Tweaks for BG series with some IWD support. DOWNLOAD LINK ONLY!
Rest For 8 Hours an IWD mod
-------------------------------------------
My contributions: BG1Fixpack, BG1Tweaks
On Hold: Solestia an NPC for SOA
-------------------------------------------
My website: http://sasha-altheri...s.com/index.htm


#5 Boradordin

Boradordin
  • Member
  • 23 posts

Posted 03 November 2011 - 12:21 AM

highlighted one, and selected view/edit below the pane of the one selected

Then I must be missing something. When I click and edit the Naskel area in the right-hand list I get six area links.
  • No such index (Exit 4800)
  • No such index
  • No such index
  • Nashkel Mines
  • Carnival
  • Nashkel Mines
Clicking into the first "Nashkel Mines" I see what you are talking about. The first line reads "Target index" and has the value of "48". I have no line reading "Target area". For the two Nashkel Mines entries one shows area 5700 and the other 5701 for the random encounters.
sample1.png

made note of the value for 'target area' (this is the entry number into the list of areas in the worldmap file)
went back to main NI window
selected Edit at the top above the worldmap canvas (not on the menu bar)
highlighted the Map 0 entry (the list of areas in the worldmap file)
scrolled the lower pane contents till it showed 'area X:' where X = the value from the target area in the other window

To determine graphically which map it was
I used Infinity Explorer using my BG:ToTSC 5+1 setup (dialog.tlk and other warnings pop up if trying to use both editors on the same game at the same time)
selected the listed ARXXXX.ARE file that corresponded with the entry into the worldmap area list (where XXXX = the map number)

Do note that this worldmap info is what areas will be exposed on the worldmap when traveling from the given side of the map.
At the same time there are some corresponding links inside the area file. You'll want to compare those as well for any discrepancies or additional information

All said and done this routine shows me the map I want, AR4800, which is Nashkel. That I knew. It does not tell me all the possibilities of traveling to other areas. Yes, and thanks to you, I now know I cannot travel directly from Nashkel to the Dryad Falls. Does the game mechanics say anywhere, If I'm in map ARXXXX and I am exiting on the south and I am <50% width of map I exit southwest OR I am >50% width of map I exit southwest.

To use an example. From AR4400 Lonely Peaks you can exit on the south edge of the map towards either Nashkel Carnival or to Durlag's Tower. Am I correct in this? The game script states that to the south is AR4900 Nashkel Carnival. No mention is made of traveling directly to AR0500 Durlag's Tower. Meanwhile Dudleyville indicates that from Lonely Peaks you can travel to both areas. Was this an inadvertent error on the site's page for Lonely Peaks?

The reason for all the questions is that on my site I do not want to be giving a link from Lonely Peaks to the Carnival and the Tower and be in error.

logo-mine-200ppi.png


#6 Sasha Al'Therin

Sasha Al'Therin
  • Modder
  • 615 posts

Posted 03 November 2011 - 06:30 AM

Does the game mechanics say anywhere, If I'm in map ARXXXX and I am exiting on the south and I am <50% width of map I exit southwest OR I am >50% width of map I exit southwest.

The game doesn't decide which map you go to. The links in the worldmap file show what areas become visible when the player goes to a specific map edge to travel to another area. The player decides which area they want to go to. The links in the area file typically show those areas directly adjacent to the current area. It is completely allowable for the player to travel from the southern edge and choose to travel to the map north of the current map. It is also allowable to travel from just outside Baldur's Gate to Candlekeep even tho those two areas are not near each other.

The reason for all the questions is that on my site I do not want to be giving a link from Lonely Peaks to the Carnival and the Tower and be in error

Once made visible on the world map, all areas are linkable between each other. There would be no error per se if you did link every map together. Tho I'd think you'd rather stick with neighboring maps as listed in most ARE files or the 'unlocked' maps as listed in the WMP file. And have textual data about the length in time perhaps it took to travel to further areas

Then I must be missing something. When I click and edit the Naskel area in the right-hand list I get six area links. *and other related stuff*

This may be due to differences in program setup... and/or program version I am using NI v1.33 beta 20

I think whatever version you have is displaying my 'target area' entry as 'target index' since in fact it is an index entry into the list of areas located within the worldmap.wmp file. Also your 'traveling time' is displayed as 'distance scale' on my version of NI

My working mods:
an AI Party Script for BG2 game engine DOWNLOAD LINK ONLY!
Interactive Tweaks for BG series with some IWD support. DOWNLOAD LINK ONLY!
Rest For 8 Hours an IWD mod
-------------------------------------------
My contributions: BG1Fixpack, BG1Tweaks
On Hold: Solestia an NPC for SOA
-------------------------------------------
My website: http://sasha-altheri...s.com/index.htm


#7 Boradordin

Boradordin
  • Member
  • 23 posts

Posted 03 November 2011 - 07:13 AM

Then I must be missing something. When I click and edit the Naskel area in the right-hand list I get six area links. *and other related stuff*

This may be due to differences in program setup... and/or program version I am using NI v1.33 beta 20

I think whatever version you have is displaying my 'target area' entry as 'target index' since in fact it is an index entry into the list of areas located within the worldmap.wmp file. Also your 'traveling time' is displayed as 'distance scale' on my version of NI

That explains why I was talking oranges and you were talking apples. My install of Near Infinity is, according to the the license.txt file, Version 2.1 and dated Feb. 1999. I believe though that I actually have Version 2.2 and dated in 2002.

Since it is my site and, I'm doing the work, I'm going to go by the world map which shows areas as being northwest, southwest, etc., and create links between the areas in that fashion. I hope to have the majority of the bottom sections, especially the southeast, done by this evening. This is fun!!!

Thanks for all the help.

logo-mine-200ppi.png


#8 Sasha Al'Therin

Sasha Al'Therin
  • Modder
  • 615 posts

Posted 03 November 2011 - 05:34 PM

where did you get that version of NI?

Mine came from here and all of them are listed as 1.33b20

My working mods:
an AI Party Script for BG2 game engine DOWNLOAD LINK ONLY!
Interactive Tweaks for BG series with some IWD support. DOWNLOAD LINK ONLY!
Rest For 8 Hours an IWD mod
-------------------------------------------
My contributions: BG1Fixpack, BG1Tweaks
On Hold: Solestia an NPC for SOA
-------------------------------------------
My website: http://sasha-altheri...s.com/index.htm


#9 Boradordin

Boradordin
  • Member
  • 23 posts

Posted 03 November 2011 - 09:29 PM

where did you get that version of NI?

Mine came from here and all of them are listed as 1.33b20

I see what has happened. You have the newer version and I have the older 1.32 version. The license text file I was reading, with the revision number of 2.1 and a date of 1999 was for the GNU license. Because it was in the Infinity folder I mistakenly took it as being for Near Infinity. I was wrong.

I just created a brief, very brief, article on my site which can be read here.

Edited by Spider, 03 November 2011 - 09:29 PM.

logo-mine-200ppi.png