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Mod Projects => Lord Nyriox's Playground => Topic started by: doudley on August 14, 2018, 02:38:37 am


Title: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: doudley on August 14, 2018, 02:38:37 am

MODERATOR NOTE:  Topic split from "[TL2] Ultimate Respec Lite (https://torchmodders.com/forums/lordnyriox%27s-playground/%28tl2%29-ultimate-respec-lite/)".

To see the results of the experiment, click here (https://torchmodders.com/forums/lordnyriox's-playground/(tl2)-ultimate-respec-lite-817/msg10458/#msg10458).


I don't think there's a way to add direct skill points unless cheated. Maybe an item that can give fame...I'm not sure.

Although it is very possible to make a UI that award stat points and simultaneously deduct money from your character. But I'm not sure how I feel about that, especially there are potions that does that already.

Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: Lord Nyriox on August 14, 2018, 04:45:42 pm
I'm not sure how I feel about that, especially there are potions that does that already.

Keep in mind that there are also "Stat Respec" potions, which also provide similar functionality to this mod.

Technically, this mod works using the exact same Effect coding as "Restat" potions, but triggered by a UI. 

I don't think there's a way to add direct skill points unless cheated. Maybe an item that can give fame...I'm not sure.

My proposed use case for this, is players who are already at max Level and Fame—but still want more Skill points in their builds.

Adding Fame and/or Levels would be technically unfeasable at that point.

Unless you can somehow reduce a character's Fame Level, without losing Skill points in the process?

What about this skill_potion (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=198103586&searchtext=elixir) Mod. :)


The potions in that mod work by boosting existing Skills, and only temporarily.  They do not change the total number of investable Skill-points available to a player. 
Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: doudley on August 14, 2018, 05:45:59 pm
Unless you can somehow reduce a character's Fame Level, without losing Skill points in the process?
This sounds interesting. We should experiment around this.

@Sch123
Hi! The effects on this potion mod could lead to interesting workarounds, like specific skill temp upgrades, or affect skills by their category. I think there's an old effect skill that does that, I'm not sure if they are functional.
Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: Lord Nyriox on August 14, 2018, 10:23:12 pm
Unless you can somehow reduce a character's Fame Level, without losing Skill points in the process?
This sounds interesting. We should experiment around this.

In TL1, there was a mod called "NoLevelUp (https://www.runicgamesfansite.com/mod_downloads/gameplay-tl1/download-959-nolevelup-v1-0-a.html)", which used a ring Item with this Effect code:

Code: [Select]
[EFFECT]
<STRING>ACTIVATION:PASSIVE
<STRING>TYPE:XP GAIN BONUS
<BOOL>NOGRAPH:1
<FLOAT>MIN:-2000000
<FLOAT>MAX:-2000000
[/EFFECT]

Though this is XP—rather than Fame—I always wondered whether XP loss also affected Stats and Skills.  Back then I did not have the nerve to find out for myself, though. 

The effects on this potion mod could lead to interesting workarounds, like specific skill temp upgrades, or affect skills by their category.


There were a few experimental mods that did exactly this, but the "SKILL BONUS" Effect has been plagued with bugs.  Most notably, @Chthon reported (https://forums.runicgames.com/discussion/56590/help-to-make-a-skills-effect) that using it on Passive Skills came at a massive performance penalty:

Quote from: Chthon
Do not do passive skills. There's a bug that slows the CPU to a crawl if the "SKILL BONUS" effect is applied to certain passives.
Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: doudley on August 15, 2018, 12:54:13 am
What I was thinking of is more on to quest editing rather than a fame debuff effect (Although there's a Fame Gain Bonus increase/decrease effect).  Maybe instead of granting positive fame points, you will alter it to grant negative fame points? But if you happen to do this, you need to set up a UI that checks if the player have gained enough fame before being allowed to be reset.

...I always wondered whether XP loss also affected Stats and Skills.  Back then I did not have the nerve to find out for myself, though. 
There's a high chance that the game only grants those points (stat & skill). Reducing xp/fame points will not affect already earned stat/skill points.


The effects on this potion mod could lead to interesting workarounds, like specific skill temp upgrades, or affect skills by their category.


There were a few experimental mods that did exactly this, but the "SKILL BONUS" Effect has been plagued with bugs.  Most notably, @Chthon reported (https://forums.runicgames.com/discussion/56590/help-to-make-a-skills-effect) that using it on Passive Skills came at a massive performance penalty:

Quote from: Chthon
Do not do passive skills. There's a bug that slows the CPU to a crawl if the "SKILL BONUS" effect is applied to certain passives.
Good point and great find!
Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: Lord Nyriox on August 15, 2018, 08:04:36 am
What I was thinking of is more on to quest editing rather than a fame debuff effect (Although there's a Fame Gain Bonus increase/decrease effect).  Maybe instead of granting positive fame points, you will alter it to grant negative fame points? But if you happen to do this, you need to set up a UI that checks if the player have gained enough fame before being allowed to be reset.


FYI, in Quests, Fame is granted by a "reward" tag in the Quest's DAT file—which may not even support negative values.  I have never checked.

But is it even possible to make a repeatable Quest in TL2?

Also, the "XP Gain Bonus" requires time to work (it behaves identically to normal XP gain, except that it reduces XP per kill, rather than increases it). 

There's a high chance that the game only grants those points (stat & skill). Reducing xp/fame points will not affect already earned stat/skill points.

If this does somehow turn out to be the case, then an item with the Effect field I previously described (like a 3-hour potion), could fill the appropriate use case nicely—without the headache that hooking it into UI code would cause.

Good point and great find!

For my "Lazarus Pack" project (which is a modpack that "resurrects" outdated content from TL1 and old TL2 mods), I was experimenting with adding content from Diablo 2. 

Since half the items in D2 have some sort of "+X to Skill Y" effect, it was inevitable that my research would stumble upon that RG thread, at some point.
Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: steffire3 on August 15, 2018, 10:21:27 pm
I have a theory... about the repeatable quest mod. Totally uneducated guess on Guts here.

When Quest X is completed then it opens Quest Y then when that's completed it opens Quest X again?

Did the Synergies mod have repeatable Quests on Boss Bounties or was that a string of linear Quests that had an end?
Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: Lord Nyriox on August 16, 2018, 01:19:11 am
When Quest X is completed then it opens Quest Y then when that's completed it opens Quest X again?

I doubt that method would work for the use case we are discussing.

The idea is to hijack an auto-completing Quest, to remove Fame points (instead of add them), and to trigger that Quest using a custom button within the Respec UI.


Though frankly, there are too many unknowns in that idea:


Each of these points need to be tested, before conceptualizing a final solution.
Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: Sch123 on August 16, 2018, 01:29:17 am
Maybe the only way is to use the Cheat code command: "skillpoints xxx". That way every time we drink the "Skill Point Potion" it will execute the Cheat code command to add our skill points. ;)
Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: Lord Nyriox on August 16, 2018, 01:36:34 am
Maybe the only way is to use the Cheat code command: "skillpoints xxx". That way every time we drink the "Skill Point Potion" it will execute the Cheat code command to add our skill points. ;)

Unfortunately, @Sch123, it is not possible to directly trigger Console commands using mods, at least not via any known Effects or Layouts.

And even if it was, that method would most likely flag any player who drank said potion, as a "cheater".
Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: Sch123 on August 16, 2018, 01:50:16 am
Then the safest way to get skill points is by adding skill point bonuses when you level up / get fame. That way even though our level is Max we can get to learn all the skills because we have many skill points. ;D

But of course it needs to be considered so as not too Over Power to distribute the skill point, especially when you are still at the lower level. :)

Or it could also be done like the idea I previously told, about the Skill_potion (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=198103586&searchtext=elixir) Mod even though it only gives temporary effects (only on the skills that have been learned), but that seems quite useful as a Skill Booster. ;)

Quote from: steffire3 9 Oct, 2016 @ 11:07pm on SteamWorkshop

These potions have the same effect as the "Skill Shrines" found in the original game.

This mod allows that bonus to be bought as potions that can be used to boost those skills that need some extra power temporarily.

Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: doudley on August 16, 2018, 08:00:52 am
The idea is to hijack an auto-completing Quest, to remove Fame points (instead of add them), and to trigger that Quest using a custom button within the Respec UI.


Though frankly, there are too many unknowns in that idea:
  • Whether or not XP or Fame points can be manually reduced in TL2.
  • Whether or not a Quest can accept negative Reward values.
  • Whether or not Level/Fame reduction will leave Stat/Skill points untouched.
  • Whether or not regaining a previously lost Level/Fame tier, will also reapply the appropriate Stat/Skill points.


Each of these points need to be tested, before conceptualizing a final solution.
Bump on this.

When Quest X is completed then it opens Quest Y then when that's completed it opens Quest X again?
I too end up to this question, I wish I know the answer but this is a good start if you want to play around the Quests editor. This needs to be tested as Lord Nyriox just said.

Maybe someone who has experience in adding quests could enlighten us about this.
Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: Lord Nyriox on August 16, 2018, 09:48:33 am
Maybe someone who has experience in adding quests could enlighten us about this.

Well, at least to answer my first 4 questions (regarding Fame and Skill points), we can edit the "A1-STARTOFGAME" Quest rewards. 

That quest, is a semi-hidden quest, which completes when you accept "Warn the Estherians" from the Destroyer.  For my "Rapid Starting Equipment (https://torchmodders.com/forums/lordnyriox's-playground/(spawnclass)-rapid-starting-equipment/)" template-mod, I modified that Quest to give items on completion.

But, we can also modify the reward field on "A1-STARTOFGAME", to read something like this:

Code: [Select]
[REWARD]
<INTEGER>GOLDMINPCT:999999
<INTEGER>GOLDMAXPCT:999999
<INTEGER>XPMINPCT:999999
<INTEGER>XPMAXPCT:999999
<INTEGER>FAMEMINPCT:999999
<INTEGER>FAMEMAXPCT:999999
[/REWARD]

Followed by changing the reward for "A1-FIRSTQUEST" to something similar:

Code: [Select]
[REWARD]
<INTEGER>GOLDMINPCT:-999999
<INTEGER>GOLDMAXPCT:-999999
<INTEGER>XPMINPCT:-999999
<INTEGER>XPMAXPCT:-999999
<INTEGER>FAMEMINPCT:-999999
<INTEGER>FAMEMAXPCT:-999999
<STRING>TREASURECLASS:QUESTREWARD_FIRSTQUEST
[/REWARD]

If it works as intended, you should gain 999999 Gold, XP, and Fame, when you accept the "Warn the Estherians" quest—and lose 999999 Gold, XP, and Fame, when you complete said quest.

Then you can modify one of the sidequests (which unlock after that point) to provide the first reward code, and therefore verify whether regaining that XP and Fame provides the same benefits as the initial acquisition. 


EDIT:  Regarding making quests "repeatable", the only information I could find regarding that, were some old RG Forums posts.  This TL1-era post (http://forums.runicgames.com/discussion/10223/repeatable-quest), as well as this TL2-era post (https://forums.runicgames.com/discussion/comment/494983/#Comment_494983), mention an undocumented tag. 

Quote from: DeeZire
If you add <BOOL>REPEATABLE:1 to your quest you can do it over and over again. You'll have to edit the quest DAT file to do so though, this option is not in the GUTS editor window.
Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: Phanjam on August 17, 2018, 11:52:35 pm
I just thought of something (may be totally useless but here goes) - u kbow how u can choose your reward after the quest? what if these were just choices instead of items? And the "next step" (whatever it might be) is affected by the choice you make like you get a certain affix or ur teleported to use a certain path etc
Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: Lord Nyriox on August 18, 2018, 10:15:08 am
u know how u can choose your reward after the quest? what if these were just choices instead of items? And the "next step" (whatever it might be) is affected by the choice you make like you get a certain affix or ur teleported to use a certain path etc


I have not gotten that far into Quest coding, but regarding the rewards subcomponent, here is what I know:


Also, @Phanjam, you are off-topic.  We are exploring the idea of creating a "merchant" that uses the Quest subsystem, to allow players to purchase Skill-points. 

Perhaps you can help test my idea of putting negative values in the reward fields of a Quest? 

My proposed testing environment is described in this post (https://torchmodders.com/forums/lordnyriox's-playground/(tl2)-ultimate-respec-lite/msg9646/#msg9646).
Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: Phanjam on August 21, 2018, 01:27:51 am
Also, @Phanjam, you are off-topic.  We are exploring the idea of creating a "merchant" that uses the Quest subsystem, to allow players to purchase Skill-points.

Lol my bad sorry! :D
Title: Re: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: Lord Nyriox on August 22, 2018, 02:04:11 pm
Lol my bad sorry! :D


No worries.  :}

Do you have any ideas, on methods to directly remove Fame from a player? 


P.S.  Regarding your "decision tree questing" idea, the discussion for that should probably continue on Discord. 

Title: Results: [EXPERIMENT] Negative Quest Bonuses
Post by: Lord Nyriox on December 17, 2018, 10:50:20 am
Quest testing experiment run complete… 

@doudley, @Phanjam:  Unfortunately, using a Quest to reduce raw Experience and/or Fame, does not actually reduce Character Level or Fame Level.  Instead you wind up with a "negative progress" to your next Experience and/or Fame level—but you remain the same Level as you were before the modifier.

This may be a case in which you have to restart the game for the change to take effect, but I did not test that possibility.

See the attached (https://torchmodders.com/forums/lordnyriox's-playground/(tl2)-ultimate-respec-lite/?action=dlattach;attach=1932) screenshots (https://torchmodders.com/forums/lordnyriox's-playground/(tl2)-ultimate-respec-lite/?action=dlattach;attach=1934).