v1.10 changes

[Brista]

Apologies for cross-posting but I think some of the information I have just re-posted at the Basin from a thread on the PhrozenKeep might be of general interest

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/in...ST&f=42&t=24372

Big thanks to everyone at Blizzard, it does seem that it's going to be worth the wait :)

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

Would someone kindly provide a summary for all the Gentiles that don't do the daily worshipping of the dot-texts or delve into ethereal mathematics? :blink:

Please?

Thanks awfully.

*tips helm*

*edit - I hadn't scrolled past Foxbat's linked thread on the AB thread... didn't notice that you'd already done so. Thanks, Brista*

[NiteFox]

Forget it.

Blizzard can't even patch StarCraft correctly. What makes you think that D2 1.10 won't be followed by a necessary 1.11 patch sometime down the line to fix all the screw-ups inherent in the last patch?

[Baajikiil]

Thanks for the link, well worth the read. It looks likes mods will be much more attractive soon. (after they catch up at least).

[TaiDaishar]

Hmmmm... can someone copy/paste what has been written there (or at least the interesting part)? I seem to be banned from the Phrozen Keep forums yet I've never posted there and only even visited that site one time in my entire life...

[Brista]

Between my post and Foxbat's post in the Amazon Basin you should get a decent summary :)

[FenrisWulf]

What? Nothing about making Ravens blind monsters on attack?!

C'mon, you know that would be awesome! :D

[FoxBat]

Hmm, wonder what ISP you have? An IP-ban might be catching some people they don't want to catch, I might want to inform the keep staff...

[TaiDaishar]

I use ADSL.

What? Nothing about making Ravens blind monsters on attack?!

Yep, that would be awesome, the ravens pluck the monster's eyes, cool thinking :)

And it would give them some use, especially for elementalist that don't want to get noticed while still doing damage (nothing like using armageddon/hurricane so close to monsters without them noticing ;) )

P.S Can someone PLEASE copy/paste Isolde's replies?

[Ruvanal]

The thread at Phrozen Keep is currently at 12 pages and growing, not practical to try to repost that much. The synopsis at AB does cover most of the non-modding information rather well.

You may need to provide more information on what the message is when you are being 'banned'. I used to have to send them an email about once a week due to one of the AOL portal IP adresses being on the banned list (would not know that a post would not work until I actually tried to complete it... :angry: ). Something similar may be happening to you since several ADSL systems usually feed into a central IP portal for internet access.

[TaiDaishar]

Didn't ask to repost the whole thing, only what Isolde said...

And the message says:

Critical Information

You have been banned from this forum.
Please contact the webmaster or board administrator for more information.

[Artega]

I have to agree with NiteFox on this one. Maybe it's just that I'm jaded, but I'm not expecting much from D2 v1.1. From what Isolde and all of the others have said, it sounds like it'll breathe some more life into the game, but let's face it: D2 is showing its age. Sure, there are a great many mods out there (ones that I regularly play include SevenLances, V&K's Middle Earth, and the Baldur's Gate v1.06 Beta), but there are only so many things one can do in the game. If not for such excellent mods available, I would have stopped playing D2 a long while ago. My main gripe is how incredibly limited D2 is compared to a lot of other RPGs. D2 has seven classes, limitless stats, and a limited selection of skills. It's probably just me, but I love the intricate character creation process found in the AD&D-based games (BG2 being the most recent, but IWD2 sounds like it'll be absolutely joygasmic if I ever get my hands on a copy). Unfortunately, BG2 is limited in that it is very story-driven, and is rather linear. I'm hoping IWD2 will slake that lust for an intricate, non-linear game; at least, until World of Warcraft (or a new computer - whichever comes first, though the new computer will be needed to run WoW. Go figure) arrives. I'll probably get flamed for this opinion, but D2 requires no real skill, or it doesn't seem to. Strategies in my games (including Players 8 SevenLances) basically resort to ATTACK, RETREAT, REGROUP, REPEAT; there's not even the maniacal clicking that was in present in Diablo.

I'll probably reinstall D2 once the v1.1 patch is released (Quake II is currently in D2's place), though how much more life it will breathe into the game is questionable.

[WarBlade]

Didn't ask to repost the whole thing, only what Isolde said...

You're not taking the hint, so I'll spell it out.

THERE ARE 12 PAGES OF DEBATE ON CONTENTS OF .TXT FILES.

Here are two samples of Isolde's posts . . .

edit: Make that one sample, because even with only two I managed to stuff it up. :lol:

compcode.txt
component - this field isn't read, it's just for ease of use
code - 3 letter code which matches the component portion of the filename

example record (compcode.txt):
component = light, code = lit

the entries in compcode.txt are used in monstats2.txt to specify monster components. the relevant fields are HDv, TRv, LGv, Rav, Lav, RHv, LHv, SHv, S1v, S2v, S3v, S4v, S5v, S6v, S7v, and S8v. these correspond to the various monster components (head, torso, legs, etc...)

example record (monstats2.txt):
id = skeleton1, RHv = axe,fla,hax,hax,hax,mac,mac,mac,scm,scm

this makes skeleton1 spawn using one of the above components in the right hand. (this is graphical only, it doesn't actually generate the item). entries are repeated to make them more likely to be picked. thus there's a 1/10 chance of spawning with a flail and a 3/10 chance of having a mace. each component field can have a maximum of 12 entries.

compcode.txt doesn't have a hardcoded limit to the number of records, but if you want to add new ones, you'll also need to know how to add new graphics (dc6, dcc, cof).

And this goes on for 12 pages.
You still want 12 pages of that? :huh: Because that's the kind of material you are asking someone to spend an hour ferreting out for you. <_<

[FoxBat]

Hmm, looks like two of the same sample. B)

But yeah, it's quite a jumble of tech stuff. Looking into an unbanning would probably be easier, get either me or ruvanal the details of your ISP, might need the usual IP prefix (first 3 numbers)

[CelticHound]

Since it's now far too late to do anything about it, I think I'll post my 1.10 wish list:

- I wish that Elric would post the stats for the Cracked Set.

- I wish that the speed of slowed/chilled things matched between the client and the sever.

- I wish they'd had the budget for voice actors so the assassin and druid could have someone special to talk to in the earlier acts.

- I wish I knew why the (blowgun?) fetishes had a sound in 1.00 that was removed later.

-- CH

[jbouley]

And the message says:

Critical Information
&nbsp;
You have been banned from this forum.
Please contact the webmaster or board administrator for more information.

Sorry about that...we have a wide IP ban range that we were using to deal with a former troublemaker at the forums. :(

Working with my partner at Phrozen Keep, Phrozen Heart, to sort that out and hopefully narrow the IP ban range.

Hope to have it all sorted out soon. Foxbat, thanks for bringing this to my attention, by the way. :)

[WarBlade]

Hmm, looks like two of the same sample.&nbsp; B)

ROFL! :lol:

I rest my case. If I lose a copy/paste between a mere two things, I'd hardly be making a good attempt at the multitude of like posts. :lol:

Thanks . . . editing . . .

[jondifool]

Greetings
Now briefly looking trough all the moding and coding stuff, I honestly didn't understand a lot off, one question comes too my mind.

Why all that changes to the internal structure off the game ?
I expect most off the bug removal and the changes to could have been done without reorganising the code to that level I understand it have been done! It might even could have been done a lot faster!

I could be wrong, but could't blizzard be seting the game up to some sort of a sequal or add on?

It would be reasonable to do as the game still have a lot off potential, both for playing and sales!
especial if given one or 2 new characters toplay with and a new act or 2 to play in!
Not that I would expect blizzard to have such a gift ready anytime soon!

with regards
Jondifool

[Ruvanal]

Why all that changes to the internal structure off the game ?
I expect most off the bug removal and the changes to could have been done without reorganising the code to that level I understand it have been done! It might even could have been done a lot faster!

Most of the 'internal' changes were done to the skills and monsters set up to make it easier to do adjustments for balance tweeking. In a C program, if you are needing to change an internal data table (most skills and quite a bit of the monster AI/interactions had internal 'hard coded' settings), you would need to write the changes to the appriate source file and then recompile the executable again (potentially 1-3 hours would be my guess for this size of program). On the other hand if you can use data tables that are read in at program start (the stuff that is stored in the MPQ files normally), then you can do adjustments to those in usually very fast turn around times. When I am doing some testing of some of the game mechanics, I can frequently get some of the adjustments that I need done to the data files and a new game using these adjustments up and going in 5 to 15 minutes of starting the data file editing. A considerable savings in time if you will need to be going in frequently doing fine adjustments to some of the settings in skills and such. There was also a lot of adjustment to some of the support parts of the game 'properties' that would allow them to be more flexible also (these were parts that had almost exclusivly been in internal tables before).

For a single 'rebuild' of the game, it would typically be quicker to just do it at the source code level. But that 'rebuild' would need to almost exactly correct on the first rewrite. The more you would need to go in a fiddle with various adjustments to things (like trying to balance the skills to each other and the monster capabilities), the more you would be in need of a way to quickly do these adjustments. In which case you can get better savings by putting the effort in up front and making it easier to do these (numerous) adjustments later in the balancing process.

[Roland]

...they just made modding a HELL of alot easier. ;)

Once we figure out all the changes, that is. :unsure: