Posted July 29, 2016
I sent the below message to Jeff Ludwig via the contact form on his website a while ago, but since I haven't heard back from him - and I'm not even sure messages submitted on the contact form actually reach him anymore - I was hoping someone here could give me some tips, or possibly let me know if there's an alternate way to get in touch with Jeff directly. Basically, I'm looking to install only some parts of Jeff's World of Xeen mod, but not others. Cheers!
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For many years, I've been planning to play through my GOG.com version of Might and Magic: World of Xeen, but have been put off by some of the more obnoxious aspects of the interface (e.g. a lack of easily accessible in-game information on character and item stats) and "survival" mechanics (especially equipment breakage, character age, and party food management). However, I recently found your mod at http://www.jeffludwig.com/xeen/download.php, and see that it apparently addresses several of these issues. I'm not interested in the mod's monster respawn mechanic or most of the other game difficulty/balancing changes the mod makes, but I'm very interested in implementing the 14 specific tweaks that I've listed below, and only those. (In fact, I'd ideally like to take the equipped armor breakage and five "Miscellaneous" category changes I've listed a step further - e.g. make equipped armor break only when a character is knocked below -1000 HP, effectively removing the mechanic altogether; make a year even longer than 240 days; make a normal step take 1 minute rather than 3 minutes; etc.)
So, my humble request: would it be possible for you to provide me a version of the mod that includes only the below 14 changes to the base game (which I assume are all compatible with the current GOG.com version)? If not, could you provide me some tips on exactly how I could modify the three relevant game files (XEEN.DAT, XEEN.CC, DARK.CC) to achieve this myself? Either way, I'd be willing to pay you for your time by any method available.
Thanks very much for your consideration!
Sincerely,
Mike P.
New Events and Map-Specific Changes
---Robert the Burglar has been added in the town of Vertigo! He'll teach you Thievery skill if you lack a natural brigand in your party makeup... if you got the gold.
---The Gemstone weaponsmiths now can make any weapon or armor out of their respective material. Before, they could only make 9 of the 33 (non-Xeen-Slaying) weapons, or the 7 torso armors.
---The copy protection event, which asks for a specific word in the manual, is removed from its locations. This affects Vertigo's exit, Castleview's exit, and entrance to Castle Burlock.
Character Development
---You will be able to see the statistic's bonus easily when you click on stats in the status screen. No more vague "Very Low" or "Astonishing" monikers.
Spells
---The Suppress Poison and Suppress Disease spells have been removed from the game. In their place: Remove Curse and Mental Integrity.
Items
---Blacksmiths sell better merchandise. You'll want to buy some of those beauties in Shangri La, Castle Kalindra, Olympia...
---Equipped armor breaks when a character is knocked below -80 HP (before this threshold was -10 HP).
---It is now possible to receive Sapphire, Diamond, or Obsidian bows in random loot.
Monsters and Battle System
---Damage output is changed. You can see differences in damage in x2 increments... starting at 8 damage. You won't see monster-sized splats until you begin doing 1024 damage in a hit.
Miscellaneous
---A year is 240 days long, allowing for longer lifespans for your characters.
---A normal step outside takes 3 minutes (before it took 10 minutes).
---A visit in most shops and town businesses takes 1 hour (before this took 1 day).
---Training one character costs 6 hours (before, this took 1 day).
---Many trainers will train your characters to higher levels (especially the trainers on the Clouds side).
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For many years, I've been planning to play through my GOG.com version of Might and Magic: World of Xeen, but have been put off by some of the more obnoxious aspects of the interface (e.g. a lack of easily accessible in-game information on character and item stats) and "survival" mechanics (especially equipment breakage, character age, and party food management). However, I recently found your mod at http://www.jeffludwig.com/xeen/download.php, and see that it apparently addresses several of these issues. I'm not interested in the mod's monster respawn mechanic or most of the other game difficulty/balancing changes the mod makes, but I'm very interested in implementing the 14 specific tweaks that I've listed below, and only those. (In fact, I'd ideally like to take the equipped armor breakage and five "Miscellaneous" category changes I've listed a step further - e.g. make equipped armor break only when a character is knocked below -1000 HP, effectively removing the mechanic altogether; make a year even longer than 240 days; make a normal step take 1 minute rather than 3 minutes; etc.)
So, my humble request: would it be possible for you to provide me a version of the mod that includes only the below 14 changes to the base game (which I assume are all compatible with the current GOG.com version)? If not, could you provide me some tips on exactly how I could modify the three relevant game files (XEEN.DAT, XEEN.CC, DARK.CC) to achieve this myself? Either way, I'd be willing to pay you for your time by any method available.
Thanks very much for your consideration!
Sincerely,
Mike P.
New Events and Map-Specific Changes
---Robert the Burglar has been added in the town of Vertigo! He'll teach you Thievery skill if you lack a natural brigand in your party makeup... if you got the gold.
---The Gemstone weaponsmiths now can make any weapon or armor out of their respective material. Before, they could only make 9 of the 33 (non-Xeen-Slaying) weapons, or the 7 torso armors.
---The copy protection event, which asks for a specific word in the manual, is removed from its locations. This affects Vertigo's exit, Castleview's exit, and entrance to Castle Burlock.
Character Development
---You will be able to see the statistic's bonus easily when you click on stats in the status screen. No more vague "Very Low" or "Astonishing" monikers.
Spells
---The Suppress Poison and Suppress Disease spells have been removed from the game. In their place: Remove Curse and Mental Integrity.
Items
---Blacksmiths sell better merchandise. You'll want to buy some of those beauties in Shangri La, Castle Kalindra, Olympia...
---Equipped armor breaks when a character is knocked below -80 HP (before this threshold was -10 HP).
---It is now possible to receive Sapphire, Diamond, or Obsidian bows in random loot.
Monsters and Battle System
---Damage output is changed. You can see differences in damage in x2 increments... starting at 8 damage. You won't see monster-sized splats until you begin doing 1024 damage in a hit.
Miscellaneous
---A year is 240 days long, allowing for longer lifespans for your characters.
---A normal step outside takes 3 minutes (before it took 10 minutes).
---A visit in most shops and town businesses takes 1 hour (before this took 1 day).
---Training one character costs 6 hours (before, this took 1 day).
---Many trainers will train your characters to higher levels (especially the trainers on the Clouds side).
Post edited July 29, 2016 by mikegogrichard
