What can and what cannot be done

P

platon

First time out of the vault
Now we have Fallout 2 mapper. Only mods are we waiting for.

But meanwhile let's gather the knowledge together.. what CAN we change? What can we do? Most (or all) of the file formats are open. Making new critters is only very difficult, not impossible... mapper2 makes it possible to edit protos make maps and all.. what else?

Wouldn't be a bad idea to gather some sort of list about these things somewhere..

The other question (really interesting one): what cannot be done? What parts of Fallout2 are still beyond our limits?

Are there still parts of the game we are not able to touch? As far as I understood perks are hardcoded and are (nearly) impossible to change (or make new ones). Then there are of course starting year/date/time and such that can't be changed by scripting, but those can be altered by editing the executable. (if someone wishes to know about those three, I can tell how... :) ) just like removing City limit. Some parts of engine (what parts?) can't be changed. What else can't we do?

Shouldn't be a bad idea to make a list of those things either..

I think that IanOut is a great thing and if it gets fully functional it will probably solve many problems (I am not totally aware of the project status, I'll look into it when I've got some time), but now just non-IanOut-conversation :wink:

-platon
 
I got another question, what are we allowed to do? Are we allowed to change, reverse engineer, the fallout exe-file? Has Interplay said anything about this? If not, don't one break a bunch of copyright laws when one distribute a modified fallout exe-file?
 
alex957 said:
I got another question, what are we allowed to do? Are we allowed to change, reverse engineer, the fallout exe-file? Has Interplay said anything about this? If not, don't one break a bunch of copyright laws when one distribute a modified fallout exe-file?
Click to expand...

:shock:

Allowed to do? Anything your little heart desires I would imagine. Most editing tools come with a EULA that basically says you can't sell what you make and everything belongs to Interplay. Beyond that do whatever you have the smarts and werewithal to accomplish. Reverse engineering is extremely difficult and even when you know what you are doing it is easier to start from scratch.
 
JJ86 said:
alex957 said:
I got another question, what are we allowed to do? Are we allowed to change, reverse engineer, the fallout exe-file? Has Interplay said anything about this? If not, don't one break a bunch of copyright laws when one distribute a modified fallout exe-file?
Click to expand...

:shock:

Allowed to do? Anything your little heart desires I would imagine. Most editing tools come with a EULA that basically says you can't sell what you make and everything belongs to Interplay. Beyond that do whatever you have the smarts and werewithal to accomplish. Reverse engineering is extremely difficult and even when you know what you are doing it is easier to start from scratch.
Click to expand...

Well that sounds good enough. I wouldn't like to put down hours of work and then find out that I weren't allowed to distribute my creations. :roll:
 
Editing Fallout games is not exactly legal, but there's no real problem unless your trying to sell it. Or advertise with it. That sort of stuff.

Anyway, I believe I have found something that cannot be done: Make your own .mve's. You can convert mve's to avi's, but so far I have seen no method of converting an avi to an mve. Seems it would be something like rewriting the MVE2AVI program in reverse, but I cannot and it seems no one else has.

As for what can be done:
-Edit and create FRMs
-Write and edit scripts
-Edit and create maps
-Edit items (maybe create)
-Edit and create critters
-Edit and create scenery
-Edit and create walls
-Edit and create tiles
-Edit and create talking heads (long and painstaking, but possible)
-Probably more
----------------------
If we could make a definative list and maybe add some tutorials, etc., we could try and get this as a sticky, making the NMA forums one of the most useful resources ever! Mwah hahahahaha!
 
Hmm.. yes yes..

I understood that MVE2AVI just captures the frames and saves them to a file and doesn't really convert anything. BUT fallout community has ABel :wink:
http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=881

I wonder what's the status on making own MVEs is right now... and where can I get those worms...

So much to do and so much can be done. Hopefully someone actually finishes a mod... Well, good can't be rushed...
 
We can't add or change perks. I don't think it's possible to add new kinds of ammo either, I didn't mange a few days ago at least.

We can add new music but what about new sound effects? We can always change old ones, but adding new ones?
 
Yep, I have tested it with 30 new different types of ammo and it works ok; I believe you can use up to 98 different ammo types including the 18 used in the game. Sound effects are a bit trickier to add but it is possible with a lot of patience; one problem is that mapper crashes if I use my soundlist which has at least 3 new sound effects added, as a result I have to disable the sound list everytime I want to use mapper.
Another problem is mapper won't allow you to assign the new ammo types to prototypes (only applies to caliber, you can assign any ammo PID) which means you'll have to use FIME, FIC or preferably a hex editor to do this.
 
I think (haven't tested this, but) you can put the ammo art in the art/items folder and add it to the .lst. Then, if you have it set up so you can edit protos, you can edit the one at the end of the list. Then you select the art you want and specify the other stuff for it. After a little medling with the directories, you might even be able to edit it further with the FIC, but you may not even have to. I don't know.
 
About MVE.
Yesterday the first test version of avi2mve was released to visitors of teamx.ru forum. The program seems to work, but I would prefer to beta-test it for a while before present to the general public.
 
i'm trying hard to figure out how to explain this.... so bear with me....

when the game plays the vsuit.mve, it gives the player the vault suit, and pip-boy.. but it's not scripted... it just hapens when that particular .mve is played..
Is it in the .mve? or hard coded into the exe that calling that .mve to play triggers the player to get the suit...?
 
i know double posting if generally frowned upon.. but this is a different subject from my last post....

It is against the EULA that you agree to when using the editor to redistribute the original/modified fallout2.exe...

it amounts to the same as posting the game on the internet.. i know you need the rest of the .dat's and stuff, but let's face it, you can get those already.. if you know where to look or ask..

that said however, i've know it's not practical to make a TC mod without editing the exe.. ( unless it's on a parallel timeline to the original... i supose you could alter the pipboy art to have the year part broken...)


also, I would like to know if anyone has found a way of stoping the "cut scenes".. like the frank horrigan "random" encounter, and Hakunin reminding you to hurry the hell up with the G.E.C.K.??
 
when the game plays the vsuit.mve, it gives the player the vault suit, and pip-boy.. but it's not scripted... it just hapens when that particular .mve is played..
Is it in the .mve? or hard coded into the exe that calling that .mve to play triggers the player to get the suit...?
Click to expand...

Yep it's hardcoded in exe . There is a list of all mve files( about 000F1B7D i think) .
 
EXE?

And how would you recommend going about editing the exe?

Please bare in mind I am new to all this so I might be a little slow but hey, at least I'm trying right? :P

Anyway! I use reshack, what do you use?
 
OK guys, I promuise this is the last dead thread I will dredge up, but does the EULA preven people from editing the Fallout2.exe or just distributing the edited file?
 
Yes, but where do I get a virtual patcher? I cant seem to find one on google, I can find a few patchers, but no virtual ones :|
 
Has there been any progress on the forced cut-scenes or events (like meeting Frank Horrigan early on)?

I know we could turn off all the movies, but what if we want to have movies in the mod?
 
Has there been any progress on the forced cut-scenes or events (like meeting Frank Horrigan early on)?
I know we could turn off all the movies, but what if we want to have movies in the mod?
Click to expand...

It's the secondary encounter. See data\data\maps.txt, "lookup_name=In Game Movie Map 1" at the end of the file. Try to delete this entry, I think it will help you.
 
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