Greetings fellow modders! (I guess I count as a modder now)
This might be old news to some of you, but this afternoon I discovered that I could add lines to RACETEXT.2DA and RACE.IDS in order to add more displayable races to the game. Previous the only 'abnormal' races that could be displayed were Tiefling, and more recently [spoiler]Vampire[/spoiler]. All other races display a blank space and frequently crash the game. This might crash the game too, since I haven't done extensive testing.
Here is a screenshot of my latest Charname as an Aasimar. I should note that I also had to add the string references for 'aasimar' and 'Aasimar' to dialog.tlk so that it would display properly.
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Basically, I am seeking some advice from the Devs and Senior Modders who know their way around the Infinity Engine to clarify a few points.
In RACETEXT.2DA there is a field titled 'Biography'. This seems to be the field that dictates racial benefits. Tiefling is listed with the same code as Elf, which is presumably why they gain the Elven THAC0 bonuses to Swords and Bows. When I added Aasimar I gave it the same Biography code as Human, which allows me the option of dual-classing with the character. The codes written in the Biography column look like string references, but are not. They presumably point to some other file that may have not yet been externalised. I notice, regarding the new NPC in BG2EE that [spoiler]her racial Biography field is listed as '-1', which presumably gives her no bonuses. Hence her vampiric abilities being conferred by her amulet.[/spoiler]
First question, I guess, is 'Am I right about what the Biography field does?' Second is 'What is the file that the Biography codes point to?' Third: 'Is it possible to add new racial 'Biographies', which confer appropriate racial bonuses to tieflings/aasimar/genasi/whatever, or are we limited to linking any new races to already established biographies?'
I'm hoping some of the more experienced modders can give me some advice about how these files work.
This might be old news to some of you, but this afternoon I discovered that I could add lines to RACETEXT.2DA and RACE.IDS in order to add more displayable races to the game. Previous the only 'abnormal' races that could be displayed were Tiefling, and more recently [spoiler]Vampire[/spoiler]. All other races display a blank space and frequently crash the game. This might crash the game too, since I haven't done extensive testing.
Here is a screenshot of my latest Charname as an Aasimar. I should note that I also had to add the string references for 'aasimar' and 'Aasimar' to dialog.tlk so that it would display properly.
Basically, I am seeking some advice from the Devs and Senior Modders who know their way around the Infinity Engine to clarify a few points.
In RACETEXT.2DA there is a field titled 'Biography'. This seems to be the field that dictates racial benefits. Tiefling is listed with the same code as Elf, which is presumably why they gain the Elven THAC0 bonuses to Swords and Bows. When I added Aasimar I gave it the same Biography code as Human, which allows me the option of dual-classing with the character. The codes written in the Biography column look like string references, but are not. They presumably point to some other file that may have not yet been externalised. I notice, regarding the new NPC in BG2EE that [spoiler]her racial Biography field is listed as '-1', which presumably gives her no bonuses. Hence her vampiric abilities being conferred by her amulet.[/spoiler]
First question, I guess, is 'Am I right about what the Biography field does?' Second is 'What is the file that the Biography codes point to?' Third: 'Is it possible to add new racial 'Biographies', which confer appropriate racial bonuses to tieflings/aasimar/genasi/whatever, or are we limited to linking any new races to already established biographies?'
I'm hoping some of the more experienced modders can give me some advice about how these files work.