This is completely obnoxious - Why Larian??? - 22/03/20 08:01 PM
Feedback for Larian - I HOPE you have improved the Editor usability for BG3 in v4 of the Divinity Engine. I suspect you will but here goes.
I've been trying very hard to make a similar change with Knocked Down status like Kalavinka does in Divinity Unleashed.
I've made roughly a dozen attempts to accomplish this without scripting, but here are the two primary I've tried using the Stat Editor:
Goal is to make Knocked Down status reduce AP but not skip an entire turn. The graphic of the effect must be such that target does fall down in the animation.
1. Changed the duration of Knocked Down status to 0 in hopes that the targets will recover as soon as it is their turn (thereby, not missing a turn). I changed this both under the Potion file as well as on the inflicting skill (various Warfare Skills). This does not work. 1 seems to be the minimum (unless you try -1, which means the duration is infinite). The status file for the debuff itself has no controls related to this except saving throw type.
2. Duplicated and edited the Shocked status effect but changes the animation of the status effect to be the same as Knocked Down. While the “mathematical†result is the reduced AP, the animation actually does not show the character knocked down at all. The knocked down animation is actually just a sparkling effect above the target’s head post impact. It does not make the target “fall down†at all.
Why does the default scripting of "Knocked Down" overwrite #1? It behaves completely different than nearly all other status effects that have a duration of "0". There is absolutely no reason for this.
Why is the animation of falling down not in any of the default spark animations? I've gone through 100+ animations and did not see any that mimicked this effect.
This freaking obnoxious. I realize this game was pretty much "half done" so you could devote your studio's time over to BG3. Yes, while it would be very challenging for me personally, I could learn to script but man I want to play a video game. It shouldn't be this complicated!! And yes, I can copycat other modders' scripts and duplicate what they did. That much I can figure out, but should I really have to do this?
There is such a thing as accessibility being a design principle in software. Another example is blind. Why do I need to edit the range of blind in a completely different place than where the actual status debuff lives? It's already bad enough there are 2 - 3 places needed to edit many debuffs, but blind range lives under Data for no explainable reason at all. It doesn't even matter if you specify in the stats file that it reduces Sight range... it literally seems to do nothing. Then why have a column called "Sight" at all if you're not going to actually use it?
Finally, it is really bad that you do not have the headers' help text in the Stats Editor showing up for more than a tiny handful of columns. The naming is so obscure and your wiki is absolutely minimalist. How are average gamers supposed to use this tool?
I'm a project manager who helps clients design CRM environments. I don't know how all the coding works and stuff, but I do know (a) what features, workflows, and business process flows that various CRMs support and (b) how to create a good UI and thus a good user experience. I understand relational DBs and such, and even I cannot fathom why some of the decisions were made with this stats editor.
How hard is it to write help text? How hard is it to plan, streamline, and build efficiency into your software design? Just start from the beginning and plan in advance. You need a non-dev to do this because their brain is not wired for this type of exercise, and their skills are better used for more difficult tasks.
FFS think about the skill level of your average customer and be better.
I've been trying very hard to make a similar change with Knocked Down status like Kalavinka does in Divinity Unleashed.
I've made roughly a dozen attempts to accomplish this without scripting, but here are the two primary I've tried using the Stat Editor:
Goal is to make Knocked Down status reduce AP but not skip an entire turn. The graphic of the effect must be such that target does fall down in the animation.
1. Changed the duration of Knocked Down status to 0 in hopes that the targets will recover as soon as it is their turn (thereby, not missing a turn). I changed this both under the Potion file as well as on the inflicting skill (various Warfare Skills). This does not work. 1 seems to be the minimum (unless you try -1, which means the duration is infinite). The status file for the debuff itself has no controls related to this except saving throw type.
2. Duplicated and edited the Shocked status effect but changes the animation of the status effect to be the same as Knocked Down. While the “mathematical†result is the reduced AP, the animation actually does not show the character knocked down at all. The knocked down animation is actually just a sparkling effect above the target’s head post impact. It does not make the target “fall down†at all.
Why does the default scripting of "Knocked Down" overwrite #1? It behaves completely different than nearly all other status effects that have a duration of "0". There is absolutely no reason for this.
Why is the animation of falling down not in any of the default spark animations? I've gone through 100+ animations and did not see any that mimicked this effect.
This freaking obnoxious. I realize this game was pretty much "half done" so you could devote your studio's time over to BG3. Yes, while it would be very challenging for me personally, I could learn to script but man I want to play a video game. It shouldn't be this complicated!! And yes, I can copycat other modders' scripts and duplicate what they did. That much I can figure out, but should I really have to do this?
There is such a thing as accessibility being a design principle in software. Another example is blind. Why do I need to edit the range of blind in a completely different place than where the actual status debuff lives? It's already bad enough there are 2 - 3 places needed to edit many debuffs, but blind range lives under Data for no explainable reason at all. It doesn't even matter if you specify in the stats file that it reduces Sight range... it literally seems to do nothing. Then why have a column called "Sight" at all if you're not going to actually use it?
Finally, it is really bad that you do not have the headers' help text in the Stats Editor showing up for more than a tiny handful of columns. The naming is so obscure and your wiki is absolutely minimalist. How are average gamers supposed to use this tool?
I'm a project manager who helps clients design CRM environments. I don't know how all the coding works and stuff, but I do know (a) what features, workflows, and business process flows that various CRMs support and (b) how to create a good UI and thus a good user experience. I understand relational DBs and such, and even I cannot fathom why some of the decisions were made with this stats editor.
How hard is it to write help text? How hard is it to plan, streamline, and build efficiency into your software design? Just start from the beginning and plan in advance. You need a non-dev to do this because their brain is not wired for this type of exercise, and their skills are better used for more difficult tasks.
FFS think about the skill level of your average customer and be better.