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"Wizardry 8 Editor"

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mad god (4 posts) Click to EMail mad%20god Click to send private message to mad%20god Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-14-04, 03:02 AM (Pacific)
"Wizardry 8 Editor"
I decided to publish what I have done so far. Many things to do still left.

You can get it at http://www.angelfire.com/magic2/madgod/

Feel free to send me any comments.

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Kuli (Guest) (145 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-15-04, 08:56 AM (Pacific)
1. "RE: Wizardry 8 Editor"
My comment is: Fantastic work, MadGod!!!

Finally battling the Dark Savant can really be a challenge (by increasing his HP from 800 to 10.000 or so)!

I truly hope that you manage to create an Wiz8-editor as mighty as the Wiz6 & 7 part of the cosmic forge!

Keep up the good work!

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rbrown (2 posts) Click to EMail rbrown Click to send private message to rbrown Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-21-04, 11:34 AM (Pacific)
2. "RE: Wizardry 8 Editor"
I just loaded Wiz 7 on my machine last night and tried out the Wiz 7 map editor. Terrific so far. I think I created a beach next to the museum, but I won't be strong enough to enter town until I finish the starter dungeon.

One comment ...

Your program's screens are too big. My machine is set to 800x600 because I have a TV card in my machine and it wants 800x600. When I ran the editor, most of the screens were too big to see the stuff at the bottom. It looks like there is too much stuff to make it fit 800x600. I can't run your program and watch TV at the same time, and the new season is starting !

One suggestion for improving Wiz 7 ...

The pictures for trees, walls, ground and ceiling are contained in a separate picture file for each map file. You can't have trees or a gravel path in a city map. You can't have walls with doors and windows in a forest map. No isolated huts because buildings exist only in cities.

How many pictures can one of those picture files contain ? How many bits do they allocate for the picture-pointer within the map file ?

What I'm trying to say is, suppose you appended the forest picture file onto the end of the city picture file ? Do they allow enough binary bits in the map file to point at the extra pictures ?

I would like to create a sandy beach at New City, and a grove for golden apples or breadfruit behind the monastery. But the sand picture belongs to the forest picture file. The city can only have grass, water and stone floors. No trees inside the city.

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mad god (4 posts) Click to EMail mad%20god Click to send private message to mad%20god Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-22-04, 00:23 AM (Pacific)
5. "RE: Wizardry 8 Editor"
Yes, screen size is a pain in the .... Can you specify what dialogs are too big to fit in 800x600? I know Monster Dialog, what else? I'll try to compress controls.

The restriction on the walls and ground is a very nasty one. I See the one way to check this out:
1. Make editor to support those VGA format for terrain and walls images.
2. Append required amount of desired images to some file and see what happens.

The other way is more difficult
1. Analyse how this files are structured and understand how terrain ids and wall ids correspond to images.
2. See how executable loads image files and what will be if we change those image files.

I'll think about it. This is time and energy consuming task. I it will interest me I'll do it, otherwise.... It is too few people (no at all) that really like to make something with the scenario, I don't have the motivation, except for my fanaticism.

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rbrown (2 posts) Click to EMail rbrown Click to send private message to rbrown Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-22-04, 11:46 AM (Pacific)
7. "RE: Wizardry 8 Editor"
A few years ago your program was read-map-only, and I requested that you consider a map editor. You explained how difficult that would be. My patience has been rewarded.

Back in the days when we wondered if Wiz 8 would ever be released I started making a list of things to do to Wiz 7, with the idea that we could edit up the scenario files and challenge the other players to survive in OUR worlds.

Imagine Witch Mountain in the clouds. You need to walk a narrow path in the fog (borrowed from the entrance to Dragon Mountain) and if you misstep you f-a-l-l-l-l-l-splat.

Imagine Dragon Mountain with a few exits around the perimeter, a thousand foot drop to the ground below and dragons gliding on the wind currents (dialog only). You notice deep scratch marks in the rock at your feet. After all, winged dragons in a sealed cave? They need a way to fly in and out.

Imagine City of Sky without that wall around it. Some trees and flat ground outside the wall and a sheer cliff around the whole place and if you misstep you f-a-l-l-l-l-l-splat.

The southern map and the southeast corner map are completely useless. Nothing there but monsters. Not even the giant waterfall that appears on the map. I was designing a swamp for the southern part (alternating water and grass/tree squares) leading to an infinite plain. The plain would be grass and silent teleporters that always lead you away from the entry point, making it appear infinite.

Eryn River just sort of dead-ends. Suppose it dead-ended at a waterfall, with some flat grass next to it in case you get swept out of Giant Cave and fall down the waterfall. It would be necessary to artistically create the waterfall since none exist in the game.

Maybe add some shallow streams in the forested areas and turn off the drown effect (they do that at the Munkorama wading pool). Throw in a few stone bridges sometimes.

Does anyone else have some ideas for simple mods to the game, NOT requiring programming or creating new map segments ? Something that can be done with the EXISTING map editor and enlarged wall/ground picture files ?

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mad god (4 posts) Click to EMail mad%20god Click to send private message to mad%20god Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-22-04, 11:53 PM (Pacific)
9. "Great ideas!"
I could help you with all my humble knowledge and imagination, rbrown.

For myself, I feel pretty empty now, so empty you can feel when you have made a hard work with not-so-great-results for a long time and you still have many things to do.

So? I can't do anything good with scenario right now.
W7 is the only game where we can make a truly new scenario. WE can edit almost everything editable there.
W6 lack of editability of texts and monster pictures.
W8 is 3d-game and I'll never make monster or item models editor, nor map editor.

For the drownless water: it is a display feature called "fake water", true water is terrain.

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rbrown (2 posts) Click to EMail rbrown Click to send private message to rbrown Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-23-04, 11:03 AM (Pacific)
10. "RE: Great ideas!"
What language did you use to write the editor ?
I have Visual Basic 6.0 at home, haven't used it for two years now ...

Do you have data layouts for the map files ?

Do you have data layouts for the picture files ?

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mad god (4 posts) Click to EMail mad%20god Click to send private message to mad%20god Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-24-04, 01:34 AM (Pacific)
12. "RE: Great ideas!"
I use and used C++.

Map layouts won't help you. Editor allows to edit everything I know.

I have no layouts for vga files with map data. Editor does not support editing of them. But their format isn't too difficult, I think.

Don't be in a hurry, I'll check this soon.

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otter (Guest) (0 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-21-04, 02:52 PM (Pacific)
3. "not Gold or 8 Editor?"
I was doing fine in Wiz-Gold with the previous version of your editor, but the new one says something like "that's not Wizardry 6 or 7" when i try to refer it into my Wiz 8 OR Wiz Gold folder...and i wanna do some stuff to the Boomerang Shuriken!
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mad god (4 posts) Click to EMail mad%20god Click to send private message to mad%20god Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-22-04, 00:10 AM (Pacific)
4. "Current version 1.30 works fine with W8"
I just downloaded and checked ANSI version. It works fine with W8.

Check out the version of your executable (it must be 1.30) and download a new one if required. That should help.

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otter (Guest) (0 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-22-04, 01:04 AM (Pacific)
6. "No Forge in the .zip"
all i get are the .bmp's. Do i have to remove the old version completely?
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mad god (4 posts) Click to EMail mad%20god Click to send private message to mad%20god Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-22-04, 11:46 PM (Pacific)
8. "RE: No Forge in the .zip"
Yes, delete old exe file(s) and rename new bmps into exes.

Soon I'll remove that bmp extension, because it is confusing now.

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otter (Guest) (0 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-23-04, 03:27 PM (Pacific)
11. "Thanxes!"
Heh, i forgot about renaming...now it works fine, got the Boomer going! I'm also making the fanal sequence harder, i've always been disapointed at how easy the DS is...

Thanks!

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otter (Guest) (0 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-24-04, 12:38 PM (Pacific)
13. "Adding Spells?"
Ok, so i like it a lot, and i have done some fun things, but i can't get the Spells i've added to stuff to work in the game. The in-game info pop-up will show that the items have spells, but i can't "use" the items. And if i've set a charge quantity, that doesn't show at all. I have been able to change the spells on anything that has one, so i'm guessing there's something transparent to the editor that won't let a spell be added to anything???

I have discovered another interesting bit: i wanted to be able to use a Phaser in each hand--i couldn't until i made them "close (or extended) weapon" and set the Range to Long. Just setting the Hand to P/S didn't do it. I also had to change the attack mode from "shoot" to any melee action. The Skill could stay Modern Weapon. Additionslly, because it's now a melee weapon, it gets Strength bonus to Damage...

Couldn't make it possible to throw stones with both hands, though, there's another thing transparent to the editor that keeps them only "secondary" in the game...even if redefined as Short Weapon.

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mad god (4 posts) Click to EMail mad%20god Click to send private message to mad%20god Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-26-04, 11:16 PM (Pacific)
14. "Well, I can answer your questions"
1. There is a flag that determines what item will do when used and when it has a spell (a spellbook, a potion, a simple item, etc). My editor does not support it yet, because I never tested most things, only the fact that game does not became corrupted. I'll fix the soon.

2. Yes P/S flag is not enough right now. Somehow range or/and item type determines if the weapon can 'live' in the second hand.

I tried to make an extended one-handed spear and failed. You can only use shield with one-handed extended weapon, you cannot use another weapon, so I made a short spear, so Vi can fight with a mace in the left hand. I love two weapons - mush more attacks and actions.

3. Item type determines the slot usage I believe. Stones are ammo and can be used in secondary hand only. Change them to THROWING WEAPON type. If you have already changed this, there are may be additional flags that I didn't noticed.

You can help alot in the research when you discover such things.

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otter (Guest) (0 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-27-04, 03:38 AM (Pacific)
15. "Extended P/S works"
if you change the 2H to 1H...i made Training Spears and Training Staves (using Spike Spear and Beck de Corbin because i never see/use them as are) I made them:
+5 att/round, -10 to hit (target lasts longer) +5 Stam Regen, +15 Dex (covers most skills involved) and though i tried making 0-0 damage (which makes the slot blank) but they still do a point if they hit. And only one, even at 2X on KO'd mobs.

It's also passible to call something a "short weapon" at the top and then give it any range you want, and still use a melee attack mode while giving "points" to any skill you put in the skill slot.

I also got the stones to be throwable, and P/S, by reclassing them to Thrown from Ammo. Now they can't also be ammo, is all.

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otter (Guest) (0 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-27-04, 03:24 PM (Pacific)
16. "Can't edit...more info:"
You can only Dual-Wield weapons of the SAME range, regardless of type.

And yes, Bec de Corbin was a P/S Extended in W-7, which i always dualled with a Cat.

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mad god (4 posts) Click to EMail mad%20god Click to send private message to mad%20god Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Sep-27-04, 11:14 PM (Pacific)
17. "RE: Extended P/S works"
It seems that when weapon's damage is calculated, it is then checked for zero, and if it is zero it becomes 1.

Yes, weapon type and weapon range absolutely independent characteristics - it lasts at least from W6.

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SarknohTrath (Guest) (0 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Oct-04-04, 10:45 AM (Pacific)
18. "RE: Wizardry 8 Editor"
Okay i must have gone brain-dead but for some reason when i rename the bmp to .exe it has .exe.bmp on end and still tries to open a picture.
Someone please help the idiot!!
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Llevram (5413 posts) Click to EMail Llevram Click to send private message to Llevram Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Oct-04-04, 11:40 AM (Pacific)
19. "Get thee to a DOS prompt"
That sounds like Windows Explorer trying to help you out. If you go to a DOS prompt, in the folder, then rename it, you should be ok.

like:

ren x.bmp x.exe

where "x" is the file name.

Tools for Wizardry(r) 7

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mad god (4 posts) Click to EMail mad%20god Click to send private message to mad%20god Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Oct-05-04, 05:38 AM (Pacific)
20. "Well, no more BMPs..."
I just updated files. Now you can download archives with exe files.

Some minor changes were done:
1. W8 Item Editor fixed to allow correct item's spell editing. Though I didn't teseted, but it should work.
2. NPC Editor improved. But it is too slow and will be modified soon to became faster.

enjoy!

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aa004 (0 posts) Click to EMail aa004 Click to send private message to aa004 Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Oct-09-04, 01:20 PM (Pacific)
21. "RE: Wizardry 8 Editor"
Hi Mad God,

Good work.

Could you share what information you have on the Wiz8 file internals? Specifically, I'm looking for the SLF file specification and can't seem to find it online.

Thanks in advance.

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mad god (4 posts) Click to EMail mad%20god Click to send private message to mad%20god Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Oct-10-04, 10:51 PM (Pacific)
22. "RE: Wizardry 8 Editor"
My editor has a quick "SLF manager" dialog. It can pack and unpack slf content files.

The main restrictions for now are: I can't delete old or add new content files. Also I can't modify content file so it changes its size.

I have only basic information on SLF format (has no time ot dig it further). That basic information allows me to change many aspects of the game data without crossing with aforementioned restrictions.

Basic info includes: amount of files in the slf and size and offset of each file. There are still some additional info of that I have no idea.

So, if you need just a tool that deals with them - use my editor. If you want to write something else... send me a mail and I'll send you back all I know about SLF.

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Aragon (Guest) (35 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Nov-06-04, 02:18 PM (Pacific)
23. "RE: Wizardry 8 Editor"
The problem is that the changes are not taken over if one the German Patch installed! Because of what will be???
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mad god (4 posts) Click to EMail mad%20god Click to send private message to mad%20god Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Nov-08-04, 11:03 PM (Pacific)
24. "RE: Wizardry 8 Editor"
Because of some different patch files name(s).
Send me a content of your patch folder (not files, just file names).
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Aragon (Guest) (35 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Nov-09-04, 01:51 PM (Pacific)
25. "RE: Wizardry 8 Editor"
I do not point which files are changed, after one installs the German Patch hectar. I become times questions. The changes which I, is .cfg, saw however which is called that already...
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otter (Guest) (0 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Dec-17-04, 08:40 AM (Pacific)
26. "RE: Wizardry 8 Editor"
So i downloaded Version 1.30 and now i can edit the Flamestryke mods, but an interesting note:
In the Item Editor where you can select Attributes, both where you can enhance an item and where you can restrict it, the list is:
(none)
Piety
Vitality
Dexterity
Senses
Speed
Carried
Party Items

This is not a big problem, if you "translate" the list according to the sequence of attributes in the game (eg "Piety" = Strength) It's just a confusing error.

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mad god (4 posts) Click to EMail mad%20god Click to send private message to mad%20god Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Dec-20-04, 01:14 AM (Pacific)
27. "RE: Wizardry 8 Editor"
It's not a confusing error. If you read Recent Updates on my site you'll see following strings:

6, December, 2004
* W8: Now editor can take all strings from data files. Since people have different versions with/without different patches, this feature may work slightly incorrect sometimes. To fix that goto Strings Editor Dialog and reassign roles for strings (This feature not implemented yet, though)

But nobody reads manuals or other things. Peaople just want everything to work fine.

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otter (Guest) (0 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Dec-20-04, 04:03 AM (Pacific)
28. "Oh, so there's a manual..."
Thanks for telling me where to look, for this, the first time.
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mad god (4 posts) Click to EMail mad%20god Click to send private message to mad%20god Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Dec-20-04, 09:31 AM (Pacific)
30. "RE: Oh, so there's a manual..."
Actually, there is no manual for W8 editor.
Only some aspects for W7 are brightened in readme file.
But sometimes it is usefull to see the history of making the program.

However that may be, it is good when anybody reports a bug or something.

Soon I'll make the ability to assign string roles, so your local version of the editor will show all correctly.

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Scary (16 posts) Click to EMail Scary Click to send private message to Scary Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Dec-20-04, 04:09 AM (Pacific)
29. "RE: Wizardry 8 Editor"
>But nobody reads manuals or other
>things. Peaople just want everything
>to work fine.

Well, that's true, but don't think for one minute that we don't all appreciate what a great piece of work the Cosmic Forge is.

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mad god (4 posts) Click to EMail mad%20god Click to send private message to mad%20god Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Dec-20-04, 09:33 AM (Pacific)
31. "RE: Wizardry 8 Editor"
Sorry, I went out of control for a while...
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