S.T.A.L.K.E.R.mod

by **Balious** on 08 Nov 2008 16:39

To begin with i want to create a mod with two factions (thats pretty much how much info i have right now for it but more ideas will come in my head). One of these factions will be in the freedom base but i do not want them to replace freedom and i thought two factions in that base could be done.

To actually do this i must learn scripting and as you all may know i am totally crap at.

So i decided to make my own thread instead of making thousands so all my needed problems can be in one tidy thread i can just return to for all the answers.

After talking with jamie i said i start with the AI or NPCs as they the main things i want to do with scripting. Jamie suggested i just look at the all.spawn for the vanilla stalker and hack some spawns around and try and get used to it. To do this i thought i need all.spawn so im beginning to read the guide for that.

My main problems are all scripting and as been told i know they are very difficult to do. So to begin your all fantasic modders mind challenge i shall ask for little bits of help while i try and do this as much as possible on my own (never happen).

So can you all give me some little help and pointers on how to script? beginning with the AI and NPCs. I think i can do the all.spawn so far so that may not be a problem but i will post if it is.

Edit:
After reading the all.spawn guide im offically lost.. From what i saw it did not tell me anything on what to do just what each thing means so i do not know what to do what :(

by **EggChen** on 08 Nov 2008 17:59

I can help you on the all.spawn a bit, but not scripting.

When you say you want them to share the freedom base, if I remember correctly that is one big smart_terrain, so you would have to search for "section_name = smart_terrain" in the alife_military file. When you find it (I guess it will have a large capacity like 40 or something), you add your community to it, so it would show "community = freedom, baliouscommunity".

The next problem is, your community can only go there and take up positions, if they are open, and at game start Freedom take all the positions. So you find some of the freedom spawns, and where it has "character_profile = svoboda_military_exp" or whatever, you change that to a profile you have created in the character_desc files. You also need to change the "visual" to match.

You then need to alter respawns, so that your new community is reinforced from time to time.

I cannot give you specific examples and variable names as I do not have access to Stalker where I am at the moment, but...

I seem to remember I helped Jamie do the same thing with his Duty camp in Cordon, and I think it was on his LITZ discussion thread on the Stalkerfiles forums, see if you can find that.

by **Balious** on 08 Nov 2008 20:40

Thanks eggchen.

I looked for the thread you talked about and i think i found it.

http://forums.filefront.com/s-t-l-k-e-r ... thead.html

I think this is the right thread you were talking about.

Will look through it now.

by **Balious** on 09 Nov 2008 18:25

Ok heres where i am act on my so called mod.

I created my two factions (corruption and dragons) from jamies guide of creating factions. So i can name anyone a member of them for example i can make wolf a corruption or dragons member.

I am totally not sure what my next step would be and not sure if i should post my mod in the mods and discussion part yet as some help i want belongs to modeling say change the suit and all that.

So im asking help to the people that create mods or know anything about modding if they could explain step to step on what i have to do to create the mod. And help me as much as possible with understanding scripting (damn i hate scripting being so hard for me.. And i know i always ask and none of you can teach me it and your lot are busy with other things so i understand if you cant help me right now)

So firstly should i post what i have about my mod what its about etc in the mods & discussions now or wait till i finally understand modding? (that be the day)

by **EggChen** on 09 Nov 2008 18:38

You may as well carry on here.... post your mod when there is something to try out, even a beta.

Ok you have created two factions, but what do you want to do with them??? Is the mod only creating and adding two new factions to the zone, or do you want missions for them, a trader, etc???

Your best bet would be to decide what you want to do, then break each piece down for us to help you on.... for example.....

I decided one of the factions will have a small outpost in Prypriat with a trader, how do I do that????

by **Balious** on 09 Nov 2008 18:56

Ah thanks eggchen.

Ok heres what i have for my mod so far.

The faction Corruption are a evil faction (the name may of gave that away) and are like monolith in some ways and plan to take over the whole of the zone and want the whole world to be the zone. I want them to be either in pripyat or red forest (havent made my mind up yet)

The other faction Dragons are a good faction and i want them to be in the freedom base. They like the zone as it is wanting to protect it from dangers and also want to destroy the faction Corruption. They help the ecologs/scientists (soz if spelt wrong) with their jobs.

I want these factions to act as if they been there from the start so everyone knows about them. I want dragons to have another building in the freedom base (one like the freedom one with the trader and leader in there) and i want the troops to walk across the base and are great friends/allies with freedom.

It be great to have some features from other mods (like the AI being better like using greandes and avoiding anomolys etc).

I want this mod to deffiantly feature:
Faction Wars (due to Corruption and Dragons wanting to destroy each other)
Improved AI (say everything that happens in newsa and OL like greandes, using medkits, avoiding anmolys, steal off other bodies all that stuff and whatever else i missed out)
Mutant Wars (this in other words is that every mutant attacks all the other mutants say the cats are attacking the dogs. I do know how to do this so i can do this myself)
Add deleted Mutants (all the mutants not in the vanilla game)
More (can't think of any others i wanted atm)

I was thinking of just having the mod to myself and upload it if anyone wanted to play it. I was also thinking just combine it with NEWSA as it fills my requirements (if thats okay with nightwatch and everyone tells me how to do that)

I think thats it for now.

I will also confess on not completing stalker (not sure if i already did but some people know of this jamie being one of them). So far with NEWSA i have got the furthest yet of getting the mission for x16. So places i have not been to are Red Forest and Chernobyl. I been to pripyat thanks to jamie for letting me test his mod on Infested City to test the zombie spawns with him.

by **EggChen** on 09 Nov 2008 20:05

Firstly, NEWSA may not be your best bet, as it is so complex... you may want to look at something like Alive first, or build it ontop of ZRP.

Anyway, one of the first things I would do is download ZRP, and install it. With that you can jump/teleport around the zone at will, and with their debug function, you can collect co-ordinates (including level and game id's) which are essential in altering the all.spawn.

Easiest way is you Escape to main menu, hit d, then come back in. Top right of your screen are the co-ordinates, and just take a screenshot whenever you want a co-ordinate. That way you get levelname in the filename, so you can quickly find co-ordinates you want.

For example, this new faction in its own building in the Freedom camp. Use ZRP, find the building you want to use, and take screenshots, where you want the leader/quest giver, the trader, the guards, etc, etc.

You will then need to create a smart terrain, which I have never done I am afriad. Dezowave team had a tool that helped, and it is in the Mod wiki.

One thing you need to consider for these factions, they need a theme in colour of their armour etc. Also to fully integrate them you need to change many files :-

Encyclopedia, so they appear in the faction tab (including icon).
Treasure_manager, so they give stashes.
Stories, add or change stories in the PDA to make them part of the zone.
Icons in ui_npc_unique to give their characters a unique pda icon.
Tasks, so you can build relations with them.
Or use dialogs.....

I don't want to tout my goods, but download my Ecologist mod and just have a look at it, you will see some of the things I did with the icons, and config/ui files.

Hell, as you want them to help Scientists you could even situate a small outpost in Yantar and use some of my files.

Edit: Yes that was the right thread, but I also helped him with the Duty camp in Cordon, that must have been done via PM. Still there are some useful tips in that thread anyway, and also check out my editing all.spawn thread, Nightwatch has linked to it in the modders resources topic.

Also, check out ket's thread in this section, you will find some useful info on all.spawn in there as well.

by **Balious** on 09 Nov 2008 23:13

Thanks again for all the help eggchen

Ok i go find the ZRP mod and yours.

I guess my first step is to get the coords for dragons. I think i solely concentrate on Dragons first as i have more of an idea what to do with them then corruption.

Good idea on about the outpost part in Yantar.

Is the Encyclopedia easy to edit? along with the other files to make them fully part of the zone.

Just read your edit and i go and check them threads as well see if i understand it and post here if i have any questions

by **EggChen** on 10 Nov 2008 00:21

The encyclopedia is easy if you know which files (there are a few). I'll send you an example when I am home tomorrow, I have added two factions into my encyclopedia. This sort of stuff is not absolutely required, but it does make the factions seem like a real part of the zone when you see them in your enyclopedia.

Also think about including one of their armours as a wearable outfit, and how you want them to look.

Take a look at my Journal thread, you will see some examples of retextures, including the suit that the Hunter faction I have added wear.

One other thing, if you could find a building with a picture or something outside it, you could reskin that to be your faction's logo, giving their area a feeling of being a base.

by **VINTAR** on 10 Nov 2008 07:34

Balious, you could also , with his permission, use Kanys trader in pripyat in OL if you are wanting a trader there.

by **Balious** on 10 Nov 2008 20:50

With extreme diffculty i have yet to find the ZRP mod which i struggled to find on GSC. Anyone care to help me out here?
I managed to find the ecologists mod easy enough though.

For Dragons i want them to wear a light colour. Like how the freedom ones are light i want the dragons to have a light colour but not the safe as freedom. I was thinking white.

I take a look at your journal thread soon eggchen.

Thanks for the suggestion Vintar i have a look if the trader is what i want first then ask kany if i can use him.

by **EggChen** on 10 Nov 2008 20:53

OK, how to add some background to your new faction(s)....

gamedata\config\text\eng folder :

stable_stories - These are stories that show up under Local Folklore in your PDA, you get them when you loot a corpse depending on who your looting.... you could add additional stories in here, or just change an existing one. I'll come to how they are randomly chosen later.

string_table_enc_social - These are factions that show up in your pda, chosen in the same way as the stories.

gamedata\config\gameplay folder :

encyclopedia_social - This file includes the "key" for which text entries and which texture it will show in the PDA. The text entries it calls should match what you name them in the string_table_enc_social file, and it refers to textures found in textures\ui\ui_icons_npc, by starting position then the x and y value (horizontal then vertical).

gamedata\scripts folder :

xr_info - This is the list of all available encyclopedia entries, and when and how you can obtain them. This is divided into rank and community, and after the list, the actual random function is included. So your Dragons for example, you could add them in the same places as Freedom, as you will encounter them at the same stage in the storyline. The name of the entry you add into the list should match the entry in encyclopedia_social.

So, basically :

- You loot a body.
- xr_info decides what PDA entry to give you.
- The "key" to that entry will be found in one of the files in the gameplay folder.
- This in turn points to a text file and entry, and in some cases a texture.

I have not sent you my files as I changed them quite a lot.

by **Balious** on 11 Nov 2008 19:20

Ok i managed find the ZRP mod and after im finished with my IT work i will then go and get the coords for dragons. Then hopefully someone can reveal the next step for me.

I try out editing the encyclopedia later along with the other bits to make dragons part of the zone.

by **EggChen** on 15 Nov 2008 02:23

Hey Balious, I have just succesfully added a trader to Prypriat (after a few CTD's)!!! The only thing I used from OL was the NPC logic to make him ignore combat and stay in one place. I did the rest in a different way, using all.spawn rather than a scripted spawn, just because I am more comfortable with all.spawn.

Happy to share it with you when you get to that stage, You just need to thank/credit Kany, I don't think you need to ask for his permission to copy the logic, but of course do so if you feel you should.

I even have a nice spot for him, inside a building, downstairs in a besement. You could add some smart terrains around the building for your bad guys.... I'll grab a photo of the building at some point.

by **Balious** on 10 Apr 2009 15:18

Okay once again this noob at modding these the experts help. This time with traders.

Im trying to make a trader mod and using the one on the wiki to edit their files I did as it said to add the gauss and it works. But it doesnt quite explain to me how to change the money or how to add the other items that say NO TRADE such as the dog tail. Could anyone explain it to me?

This is what part of my trade_trader file looks like so far:
wpn_svu ;NO TRADE
wpn_svd ;NO TRADE
wpn_rg-6 ;NO TRADE
wpn_rpg7 ;NO TRADE
wpn_g36 ;NO TRADE
wpn_fn2000 ;NO TRADE
wpn_gauss = 0.00004, 0.00004

by **EggChen** on 10 Apr 2009 15:37

I'm not sure what your actual question is Bal?

Here is my Duty trade file with some explanations prefixed with ;*** (some things removed just to limit the size).

Code: Select all: [trader] buy_condition = dolg_generic_buy ;*** They will always buy the same things sell_condition = dolg_start_sell ;*** They will always only sell the same things buy_supplies = {+bar_svoboda_rg6_done} supplies_after_rg6, supplies_start ;*** After you find the RG6 the supplies change [dolg_generic_buy] ammo_5.45x39_ap = 0.2, 0.2 ;*** buy ammo off you for 20% wpn_abakan = 0.1, 0 ;*** buy weapons for 5% wpn_addon_grenade_launcher = 0.5, 0.5 ;*** buy addons for 50% bandit_outfit = 0.1, 0.1 ;*** buy clothes for 10% antirad = 0.3, 0.3 ;*** 30% mutant_boar_leg = 1, 1 ;*** 100% - Duty pay a "bounty" for mutants bread = 0.2, 0.2 ;*** food 20% outfit_bandit_m1 = 0.5, 0.5 ;*** uniques at 50% detector_simple ;NT ;*** All the items you cannot sell to Duty detector_advances ;NT detector_elite ;NT device_pda ;NT device_torch ;NT hand_radio ;NT harmonica_a ;NT guitar_a ;NT gunslinger_flash ;NT af_blood_tutorial ;NT esc_wounded_flash ;NT quest_case_02 ;NT dar_document1 ;NT dar_document2 ;NT dar_document3 ;NT dar_document4 ;NT dar_document5 ;NT kruglov_flash ;NT lab_x16_documents ;NT good_psy_helmet ;NT bad_psy_helmet ;NT decoder ;NT dynamite ;NT quest_case_01 ;NT hunters_toz ;NT bar_ecolog_flash ;NT bar_tiran_pda ;NT bar_lucky_pda ;NT af_medusa ;NT ;*** Duty won't buy artefacts as it says in the encyclopedia [supplies_start] ;basic supplies ammo_9x18_fmj = 15, 0.5 ;*** possible 15 items, each with a 50/50 chance ammo_9x39_sp5 = 3, 0.5 ;***poss 3, 50/50 each one ammo_9x39_ap = 5, 0.5 ;etc ammo_9x39_pab9 = 10, 0.5 ;etc wpn_ak72 = 1, 0.2 ;I made duty only sell Eastern Bloc weapons wpn_ak74u = 1, 0.2 wpn_ak74 = 1, 0.2 wpn_abakan = 1, 0.2 wpn_bizon = 1, 0.2 wpn_fort = 1, 0.2 wpn_groza = 1, 0.2 wpn_ot33 = 1, 0.2 wpn_svd = 1, 0.2 wpn_addon_scope = 1, 0.1 ;*** they only sell Eastern Bloc addons wpn_addon_grenade_launcher = 1, 0.1 dolg_outfit = 1, 0.4 ;*** Eastern Bloc outfits dolg_scientific_outfit = 1, 0.4 specops_outfit = 1, 0.4 bandage = 5, 0.5 medkit = 3, 0.5 medkit_army = 1, 0.5 antirad = 1, 0.5 bread = 1, 0.1 kolbasa = 1, 0.1 conserva = 1, 0.1 vodka = 1, 0.1 energy_drink = 1, 0.1 bread = 1, 0.1 kolbasa_a = 1, 0.1 conserva_a = 1, 0.1 [supplies_after_rg6] ;*** Possible supplies after delivering RG6 ammo_9x18_fmj = 15, 0.5 ammo_5.45x39_fmj = 15, 0.5 ammo_5.45x39_ap = 10, 0.5 ammo_9x39_sp5 = 5, 0.5 ammo_9x39_ap = 10, 0.5 ammo_9x39_pab9 = 15, 0.5 ammo_7.62x54_7h1 = 10, 0.5 ammo_7.62x54_7h1 = 5, 0.5 ammo_7.62x54_ap = 5, 0.5 ammo_vog-25p = 2, 0.1 ammo_vog-25 = 2, 0.1 wpn_ak74u = 1, 0.2 wpn_ak74 = 1, 0.2 wpn_abakan = 1, 0.2 wpn_bizon = 1, 0.2 wpn_fort = 1, 0.2 wpn_groza = 1, 0.2 wpn_ot33 = 1, 0.2 wpn_svd = 1, 0.2 wpn_val = 1, 0.2 wpn_addon_scope = 1, 0.1 wpn_addon_grenade_launcher = 1, 0.1 dolg_outfit = 1, 0.3 dolg_scientific_outfit = 1, 0.3 military_outfit = 1, 0.3 specops_outfit = 1, 0.3 bandage = 5, 0.5 medkit = 3, 0.5 medkit_army = 1, 0.5 antirad = 1, 0.5 bread = 1, 0.1 kolbasa = 1, 0.1 conserva = 1, 0.1 vodka = 1, 0.1 energy_drink = 1, 0.1 bread = 1, 0.1 kolbasa_a = 1, 0.1 conserva_a = 1, 0.1 [dolg_start_sell] ;*** What they will sell you, either from supplies, or selling back items you sold them ammo_5.45x39_ap = 4, 4 ;*** 400% wpn_abakan = 3, 3 ;*** 300% wpn_addon_grenade_launcher = 4, 4 ;*** 400% mutant_boar_leg ;NT ;*** So when you sell them a mutant part, it wont show in the trade window for sale back to you

Let me know if you have any questions.

by **Balious** on 10 Apr 2009 16:31

Oh sorry about that Egg I try and be a little more clear my fault.

I want to know say how to change money. I know you change the numbers but I don't know what the actual price will be (I failed maths and may fail the next one). Is there a more simple way of figuring out what the price for each item they will sell be? as I don't understand why wpn_gauss = 0.00004, 0.00004 will equal 1 RU.
I hope that explains it better.

My other part of the question is how do you add the ones that say NO TRADE to they will sell or buy the item. Do you just remove NO TRADE and add the numbers (I believe it would be to make sense but im a noob to this kind of stuff). Also another question is what are the list of names for each item?

Thanks for the explanations on your Duty trade file. I read it when I can.

by **EggChen** on 10 Apr 2009 16:58

No worries, I just wasn't sure what you meant.
Well the Duty file should explain what you need, and a bit more :-?

Basically the answer is yes, remove ;No Trade and add values like the other items, and the price is the base cost of the item multiplied by the middle point of the two figures in the trader file.

So, in my Duty example :

Code: Select all: wpn_addon_grenade_launcher = 0.5, 0.5

... means that whatever the cost of the grenade launcher is you multiply that by 0.5 to get the price the trader will give you for the item. So he'll pay you half price. In the opposite, (the sell section) you'll normally see something a lot higher like 2, 2 or 3, 3, meaning he'll charge 2x or 3x the base cost. The base cost is always set in the items own ltx file, so unique_items.ltx, w_abakan.ltx, items.ltx, etc, etc.

by **Balious** on 30 May 2009 19:38

Okay I have another look at the trader stuff another time but I am more keen on trying to learn something completely different.

Okay I remenbered how to do music again and made another mod (will post it soon as I set it all up to upload). Now I want to go one step closer to my dream mod (part of it is in the first post). Anyway wanna help me with suggesting me the next bit to do (like quests? traders? weapons? dialogs? or something else that will benefit)

One thing I been wanting to know recently is how to mod the PDA. I want to know all the different things you can do with it and mainly about the rankings. As in can you change it to be more realistic (I believe theres a mod that does that but no idea what) or infact edit and add another detail on it like last seen or where they normally like to hang (like cordon rookie village).

I never been so keen in trying to learn something before. Perhaps I now have a dream of wanting to be the best modder but I doubt I get it with all these great modders around.

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