Geneforge 2 - Any mods to make the game feel less clunky?

[Aleister]

Re-Doing a play through of Geneforge 2 and I'm wondering if anyone can help me with mods/cheats that make the game feel less clunky such as:

->  Ways to play around with scripts or cheat codes to add money (none I've tried work) 

-> changing the thing where it takes 5AP to be able to attack etc. 

-> Graphic mods?

-> And overall anything else I can use to make the game extra fun that hasn't already been linked in the strategy peripheral.

Greatly appreciate any help! 

 

 

[alhoon]

1 hour ago, Aleister said:

Re-Doing a play through of Geneforge 2 and I'm wondering if anyone can help me with mods/cheats that make the game feel less clunky such as:

->  Ways to play around with scripts or cheat codes to add money (none I've tried work) 

-> changing the thing where it takes 5AP to be able to attack etc. 

-> Graphic mods?

-> And overall anything else I can use to make the game extra fun that hasn't already been linked in the strategy peripheral.

Greatly appreciate any help! 

 

 

 

1) Yes, that is easy. I don't have time right now, but it is very easy to do so. 

2) That can't be changed I think, what I did in geneforge 3 was to give extra APs to melee creations so they could move further and attack. It is probably possible in GF2 too.

3) The graphic mod I used is... somewhere in the site. However it made it very hard to spot a certain lever or two. Use with care.

4) Depends on what you mean by "fun". If you mean adding extra zones, that's waaaay too much work. If you mean adding text-based quests or descriptions that end up giving you stuff, then it is possible and quite easy. If you mean mods on the bosses to make them act differently or have more Zap powers etc, that is possible but it takes more effort. If you mean mods that try to bypass the bug with the strength-to-creations items that is also possible. If you mean adding more items that do stuff, it is possible but takes some effort. 

It is probably possible to have quests to add different people in your party, like those serviles you get etc. I.e. you could make a quest chain or something to get say the Barzites to give you a drakon or Rotdhizon for your party from those that sit around in their base - essence free. 
It is also very easy to modify the level of someone in a zone, so effectively you could go to Tuldaric, have a text-based quest chain, have him ZAAAAAAP to power a servile dude to say level 30 with bonus hit points and attacks and then assign him to you. 
It may also be possible to have those guys speak like Greta and Alwan do in GF3, but I haven't tested that. 

Edited May 29, 2019 by alhoon

[alhoon]

Thinking more about the previous one, it should be possible, without tremendous effort to add a "new" creation that is a bigger graphical version of another creation. I.e. the big drakons of the Awakened in the something-of-winds. 
I.e. you could have Learned-something (awakened boss) send a letter or something to the guys there and get them to shape for you a huge drakon and assign him to you, and with the right scrips here and there, the drakon could even say his thing, say when facing the Takers or something. 

Since adding a creation in the game is too much effort, your best bet, without huge effort, would be to have them give you a boosted-up creation. 

 

Reward-wise, if you want artifacts etc, it's much easier. You could make an item as imba as you like in the scripts and then insert it as a reward in the game at the end of a quest chain. Say, you could have the Banite guys ask you to steal important staff from the Awakened, then from lying Zakary the Deceiver, bring them a ton of essence pods and staff and Zaaaaaaap the item you've scripted so that you could get it as a reward from text. 

Edited May 29, 2019 by alhoon

[Aleister]

Thanks for the comprehensive replies. I'm not worried about adding npc's to party, all thats a bit too time consuming for me I'll leave it to the modding veterans such as yourself. About the graphics editor I did use one once from the gf1 graphic mod which was really good but like u said caused some issues when pasted to data of gf2. Adding money would be helpful because having to carry around gems and things all the time to sell with the old inventory system (items held in inventory count towards lbs carried) is a drag. If anyone could explain how to do that that'd be great. - Cheers 

 

Edit: Would it be possible to increase the value of a gemstone to like $10000 by editing the scripts folder? Seems like the simplest route. Can someone explain to me where I can find the data for the gemstone cause theres no folder names itemschars like in newer Gf games. Open to other ideas if anyone has something. 

Edited May 29, 2019 by Aleister

[alhoon]

"Would it be possible to increase the value of a gemstone to like $10000 by editing the scripts folder? " 

 

Yes. 

Geneforge 2 > Data > Scripts 

 

open gforscen.txt

 

find this and make the changes 

 

begindefineitem 2;
    it_name = "Gemstone";
    it_variety = 11;
    it_graphic_sheet = 2;
    it_which_icon_ground = 7;    
    it_which_icon_inven = 8;
    it_charges = 1;
    it_value = 10000;
    it_extra_description = 8;

 

[Aleister]

Thanks!

 

IMPORTANT Edit: The flaw with increasing item value is shops limited money. I got around this by changing the amount he gives you for iron bars from 10 to 2500. Works great. Info if anyone wants to try it: 

 

Spoiler

begintalknode 58;     

state = 50;     

personality = 0;     

nextstate = -1;     

condition = (get_flag(2,20) > 0) && (num_of_item(262) > 0);   

question = "I have some metal to sell you. (Sell iron bars.)";     

text1 = "Zuniga eagerly takes the iron and counts out coins for it. _Thank you, Shaper. This is iron today, it'll be blades tomorrow, and it'll be inside dead rogues the day after that._";     

code =         i = take_all_of_item(262);         

award_party_xp(5 * i,get_level(pc_num()));         

change_coins(2500 * i);     

break;

 

Edited May 29, 2019 by Aleister

[alhoon]

Congratulations on your first mod. 😎

It may seem small to you, but it is still a mod. Perhaps you could find the courage to make a cheat-mod where you talk to someone and he, she or it raises your stats and then upload it.

 

Truth be told, the Barzites and even Tuldaric should be on board even story-wise.

Edited May 29, 2019 by alhoon

[TheKian]

In general, game editors will function across Geneforge games, since the scripts haven't changed much. If you look at editors for other Geneforge games (for example, my Geneforge 5 editor), it's pretty easy to just add something to an obelisk or sign in the first area to get you free money, stats, whatever.

 

In regards to Alhoon saying "adding a creation in the game is too much effort", that's not quite right. It is, in fact, not at present possible to add a creation, since everything involved with Shaping a creation in-game is hardcoded. Since nobody has ever (to my knowledge) looked into the code (and would probably not be allowed to post it on the forums regardless), the required information to do so does not exist.

 

Also, adding too much money to yourself will cause your money to reset. Max amount of money is 30000, and if you have 30000 and try to add 30000 more with a script, it goes back to 0.

[alhoon]

Just to be clear: When I said "adding a new creation" I meant things like adding creature #44 to a zone with 43 creatures in it, whether it is a servile, a cryora or a Gazer. Which requires hex editing and since the zones are different than GF4-5 etc, it frankly requires both work and guesswork. 

[alhoon]

Doing some guesswork, in case anyone wants to do some serious modding of GF2 or I decide to take on it in the future (although I would guess GF2 remake would be in the works in like 4-5 years making such work kinda redundant) the creations probably start 25500 in the hex editor. In the Drypeak zone, I can see Shanti's z1 script a little down, leading me to think that indeed the mass FF FF FF FF things are for creations, hopefully in the format found in GF5. 

 

EDIT: Nope, they don't follow the same format. The creation entries are somewhat shorter for GF2. 
So... yeah, a lot of guesswork. 

Edited May 30, 2019 by alhoon

[TheKian]

On 5/30/2019 at 2:59 PM, alhoon said:

Doing some guesswork, in case anyone wants to do some serious modding of GF2 or I decide to take on it in the future (although I would guess GF2 remake would be in the works in like 4-5 years making such work kinda redundant) the creations probably start 25500 in the hex editor. In the Drypeak zone, I can see Shanti's z1 script a little down, leading me to think that indeed the mass FF FF FF FF things are for creations, hopefully in the format found in GF5. 

 

EDIT: Nope, they don't follow the same format. The creation entries are somewhat shorter for GF2. 
So... yeah, a lot of guesswork. 

FF FF typically indicates a null entry in the data (since 0 is used as an index), which could be a lot of things.

[alhoon]

Yes. But the entries for Creations is shorter. You can check that yourself if you want Kian.