Using the new Conversion mode

Discussion in 'Modding' started by Nicholas, Jun 4, 2013.

  1. Nicholas

    Nicholas Technology Director Staff Member

    As of Dredmor beta 1.1.4, we now have support for "conversion" of items. What this means is that, rather than adding a new item to the game, you can now modify an existing one. The syntax is as follows:

    Code:
    <itemDB>
     
    <item name="Leather Cuirass" convert="1">
    <secondaryBuff id="10" amount="77"/>
    </item>
     
    </itemDB>
    (for instance)

    I'm going to do a few other things as soon as 1.1.4 hits the fan properly for a future 1.1.5; however, I want to get 1.1.4 out first because it's now been languishing in QA Heck for over 7 months or so. So! PLEASE TEST THIS FEATURE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. (I'm particularly concerned about saving.)
     
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  2. Vitellozzo

    Vitellozzo Member

    Oh god yes.
    This is the starting point for totalconversion="1".
     
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  3. Nicholas

    Nicholas Technology Director Staff Member

    I would really like somebody other than me to test this for a bit before we let it loose into the wild.
     
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  4. Dratai

    Dratai Member

    Define testing.
     
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  5. Nicholas

    Nicholas Technology Director Staff Member

    People to make some stuff with it, try it, and let me know if it breaks in any way I haven't anticipated? I tried primary and secondary buffs but I didn't try complex things like, say, putting triggers on things, and loading/saving/jumping into Wizardlands/whatever.
     
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  6. Dratai

    Dratai Member

    So if someone wants to, say... replace the main character's sprites?
     
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  7. Nicholas

    Nicholas Technology Director Staff Member

    Items only, right now.

    ... if somebody actually comes to me with a complete set of replaced character sprites and wants it added, I'll do the support for it. But nobody has yet to tackle the enormous task of creating a new player character other than Mr. Triolo, and I think it scarred him for life.
     
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  8. Dratai

    Dratai Member

    Well, I have a slight problem matching the style that DoD has in general... but I could try.

    And I wouldn't worry about the scarring, the scars should fear me.
    Especially if they're lions.
    Fictional lions.

    For items though...
    Well I guess I'm still getting used to modding so no promises, but items seem like a good place to start.

    On that subject though... do you think it would be possible to add a whole new category of crafting and make use of the conversion mode?
    Kind of like a function where you take whatever item you have and use it with an ore and it'll create another version of the same item.
    (Like having a portable anvil of krong, if expensive, I guess)
     
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  9. LionsDen

    LionsDen Member

    Will the game crash if you add the conversion to an item that doesn't exist in the game? I have a hammer in my mod and let's say that someone else has a hammer by the same name/id whatever in their mod. If I add the conversion to my hammer will it crash the game or blot out the other mods hammer. Plus sometimes we just make mistakes while typing and a name gets misspelled. Just wondering what will happen in those cases.
     
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  10. Nicholas

    Nicholas Technology Director Staff Member

    It shouldn't. But this is one of those things that should be tested. :D
     
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  11. Vitellozzo

    Vitellozzo Member

    I'll surely try this new feature by the next weekend.
    Time is ruthless.
     
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  12. Kaidelong

    Kaidelong Member

    What are the semantics of this? Do new values shadow existing ones? Do old values persist if not shadowed?
     
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  13. Kawauso

    Kawauso Member

    Could this be used to convert skills ftom the core game (in the future or even right now)? Manly aiming at a polymorph that can cast spells but not use weapons.
     
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  14. Kawauso

    Kawauso Member

    Ok new question. Can you apply that to crafting recipes somehow ?
     
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  15. Kaidelong

    Kaidelong Member

    Only for items, right now.
     
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  16. Monkooky

    Monkooky Member

    The first fringe case that comes to mind for me is two separate mods converting the same item. What is the expected behavior for this case?
     
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  17. MOOMANiBE

    MOOMANiBE Ah, those were the days. Staff Member

    For reference, the reason it's a big deal is because each main character gender has 519 unique sprite images. It's, well. A -very- time-consuming endeavor to replace them all.
     
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  18. Dratai

    Dratai Member

    Well, it's only 519 for one. and if this could work for inputting a whole different character.
    It might not have to be 519.
    Besides I wouldn't be doing both :V
     
  19. Nicholas

    Nicholas Technology Director Staff Member

    Anybody tried this yet?
     
  20. bluehinter

    bluehinter Member

    I take it the new conversion mode only works like for like, right?
    So I could replace the Wand of Laser with another, different, Wand of Laser, but I couldn't say... replace it with a custom Ray Gun item that uses overrideClassName="Ray Gun" (Which as far as I know, only works for Shields) It would still show up as a wand in my inventory.