Larian Studios Forums Beyond Divinity (English) Suggestions level editor

i was wondering if beyond divinity will have a level editor/custommapcreator tool? and if not i think one should be made so we can have new stuff to do after we finish...

No, there will not be any. And the one that exists will not be released to the public.

but in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> II I'm pretty sure that they will release they're editor with it

you mean they have one? but aren't giving it away! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

The tools they used for the game may not be very user friendly. They may require the use of another program, or include proprietary software they can not distribute. Also, the Larians may not have the resources to write up any documentation on how to do everything, even if the programs could be made available.

I don't think they ever said there would not be any tools released, just that it was unlikely.

I wonder, was divine ever modded?
If devine could be modded than i'm sure beyond could be (if you can get past the anti pirating of course).
Also arnt the backgrounds bitmaps so i'm guessing if you can find a way to import bmps into the game you could change the backgrounds?

Oo|GHOST|oO

no. the only editors we ever got.

was the hex editor
and the weapons editor.
and the stat editor.

all made by forum members. except the hex editor, that was just discovered.

I have programmed JAVA in netbeans. EVERYTHING is more user friendly then netbeans. Even programming in notepad is easier. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/badsmile2.gif" alt="" />


If its from microsoft I can get it from my school <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />


I don't thrust documentation I only thrust code. And it would give the PIF something to work on <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />



Would be nice if they made the engine open source in a coupple of years. Lets say after the release of <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />²

IMHO the main reason why they won't do this is because they'll be giving away valuble company secrets. I can imagine that the random quest & level generator would be reused in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />². Theire would be many developers that would just die to get a look at those codes.

COBOL ? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

I stand corrected <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />

There is no need for a level generator, ppl will just keep going to battlefields.

But I wish for DDII to be moddable, It would be great to have mods in the Divinity Universe, new stories, quests, monsters, weapons.

Mods as addons not tweaks to the original game, that code should remain locked. To prevent hacks, and all sorts of superweapons tricks etc.

things like save as ... crash? right during my examn! can I use notepad?
- no you have to use the software we gave you
sigh.

Or learning Office online with a software/site that is experimental and mostly offline :s
You would get flunked because the bastards are to lazy to teach themselves.

But there's only so many quests that will be available. The main point with modable games of this style is that you can create your own stories, not just hack-and-slash maps.

Yeah but on 2D background that's very hard to do.

wait for DD2

I thought it'd be easier on a 2D background? There's less to worry about. Although I think the roofs in the game are each a single graphic, so you wouldn't be able to shape your own buildings. You'd have to use the same ones as in the game.

Don't mind my rambling. I don't...

will do... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin1.gif" alt="" />

[color:"orange"] I thought it'd be easier on a 2D background? [/color]
No it is not .. reason the countryside layout would have to be totally created in 2 D without the benefit of 3D tiles as per NWN, take Baldur's Gate for instance, the BGTeam spent near to a year creating a small mod called "Dark side of the Swordcoast" and that was all done with member created tools, and ofcourse the "Infinity" engine which was fairly flexible.

So yeah when DD2 comes out in 3D it may be more possible to get a toolset, but once again it will depend a lot on the flexibilty of the Game Engine <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

How about binary data files with a checksum embedded somewhere deep within it? Diablo II happens to be moddable because everything was stored in delimited text files. To extract the data files for DD (or BD), we have to find out where they are stored (certainly not a MPQ




"Propeietary" may refer to their in-house editors which may be buggy and only work under certain conditions (such as a very high-end machine). Maybe the editors also need some, *gasp, source code and I don't think Larian is willing to part with them for ten thousand euros!
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There's are some things which you can't deduce from the GUI, especially if they are written in a language not native. I don't know German - and so I doubt I am able to use their GUI with ease.

At any rate, if we are using Larian's editor, there is not to push or shove code, or to thrust them around <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> We won't get the source code from Larian no matter how hard we whine - the best thing we could get is to find out where the data for spells, equipments and skills are stored and try fiddling with them. Quests are harder to mess with because it is likely to be hard-coded, and having many dependencies.


[/quote]

Whether a game s moddable depends largely on the inital design of the engine. I don't know what route Larians have taken, but it seems to me it is not going to be that easy, unless they kindly release the offsets for values to their datafile and let inspired programmers out there write the tools.

One particular idea that Larians may consider is to allow us to define some simple quests and perhaps even enemies. As the battlefields are random, the random map creator can look through the custom monsters list and pick a few which are suitable for the level of the map.

This has some advantages over modding the whole game. First, there is no need to support the monsters in the whole game - Larians can be sure that the core game works. Second, Larians can always introduce new content to keep the battlefields refreshing and fun. Some maybe once per month the Larians release some monster which we can add to the battlefield.

As for quests, I doubt the quests in the battlefield will be very plot intensive - at best they will be 'fetch the axe for the woodcutter' type of variety, but please, Larians, prove me wrong! Anyway, the developers could give us certain quest templates to customise. So instead of fetching wood for woodcutter, we can be fetching chicken for the colonel, sheep to the slaughter and what-not.

Personally, I believe that a game that is intended to be "moddable" should have the correct interfaces for that. D2 for example - simple text files you say ? Well, was the game made that way for purpose or why ? I mean - almost anyone can find out if there are "simple textfiles".

The makers of NWN made it *completely* the other way round : They didn't make it "moddable", but instead the editor is made "gameable" ! I mean that NWN is basically one big editor with modules, at least that's how I understood it.

These interfaces for enabling a game to be "moddable" must be invented early, that's why I believe that <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> 2 could be a good canidate (or candidate ?) for that, rather than already existing games where the devs didn't have this in mind.