Write anything here in the topic, but take into account this is just a test yet! So please, hate will not take us anywhere! Balance has been taken a lot of care but still needs a lot to go, for example. Also possibly debugging and spell pictures. See notes for that.

Quote:

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__________________________________________________________________

GREATEST MOD HEROES 4 CHANGELOG
& COMMENTS

By NimoStar
___________________________________________________

+++ IF YOU HAVE ANY SOLUTION FOR THE MARKED PROBLEMS, PLEASE PROVIDE IT IN A COMMENT

PROBLEM - squares where there should be line-breaks, including on the spellbook (line doesn't change)

INCOMPLETE - Mod still doesn't have map editor of its own
(Using regular map editor is OK for most things, no crashes)

INCOMPLETE - No solution yet for missing spell icons
(spells can be used anyways)

---- SPELLS:

- Ice Demon summoning spell added to Order

- Demon summoning spells nerfed. Now added to common spellbooks and scrolls too
(Prestige class "demonologist" bonus still works, and the book too)

- Many more spells now learnable
- Spell costs adjusted individually

PROBLEM - "Town Gate Cannot be cast in combat" still nags you, even if I configured it to ONLY be able to cast in combat. Have to see what can be done, Equi may have edited the exe to disallow it even when the spell's table would have been more than enough.

---- CREATURE ABILITIES AND POWER:

- Devils now summon Efreet, not Ice Demons

- Pirates more powerful, less in quantity, give more XP

- Black dragon now costs 8000 gold + 2 sulfur + 2 gems

-- Hydra: No Retaliation changed for Regeneration

-- Efreet: Now Teleports (instead of flying)
-- Is a berserker instead of fire attack [test]

-- Titan now has lightning attack [no chaos ward]
-- Instead of normal melee, two melee attacks
---> With Wolves ability, got Total Spell Immune (!) but no lightning... confirming it was strange.

-- Dwarf now Chaos Ward [instead of Magic Resistance]

-- Gold Golems now Magic Mirror [instead of Magic Resistance or immune to magic]

-- Orc has Strenght instead of Ranged Stun

V- Air Elemental Changed:
x-- Now teleports (instead of fly) [test]
---> Go back to fly!
-- Lightning attack [instead of negate first strike]

V- Earth Elemental changed:
-- Magic Immunity, not magic resist
-- Has Toughness, not Teleport
---> Changed to Stone Skin (toughness doesnt seem to do anything)

V- Gargoyles became the ultimate neutral infiltration unit
-- Not elementals, but stunning
-- Now Teleport instead of flying
-- They are also Stealth instead of stone skin
- Stats adjusted (def increased)
- Now Order instead of Death (more like H3)

V- Modified dark knight abilities (not undead, regeneration, etc.)
-- Changed Undead by Curse [change for Bind?]
-- Changed Regeneration for No Retaliation
- Stats adjusted (+50 HP)

V- Modified goblin knight abilities (not stone skin, etc.)
-- Changed Stone Skin by Stealth
- Stats adjusted (def increased)


-- Nagas now Block instead of No Retaliation
--- Block works but doesn't display animation. This may be tied to creature type (minotaur)

-- Mantis now Blocks instead of Binds [probably will be changed]
??... why/how block AND binding? And still flies? Can't complain.
-- Realized I accidentally replaced first strike, but will leave it like this
- HP reduced, XP augmented, stats adjusted

x-- Monk now Blinds instead of Death Ward
---> Blind only works face to face, better angel blinds and Monk resurrects
(at least try)

-- Minotaur now Magic Resistance instead of Block
- Stats enchanced

-- Bone Dragon now deals random curses to enemies (instead of Panic)
- Lower health, stats tweaked
- Now costs 4000 gold + 1 crystal + 1 mercury

-- Ghosts now deal Panic (instead of Aging)
- Slightly stronger to compensate

- Mummies now Order, level 3 (from 2), much more powerful.
-- Mummies have Aging instead of Curse.

-- Vampires have Hypnotize instead of No Retaliation;
- Vampire defense weakened, attack boosted (easier to kill)

- Venom Spawn defense and HP increased, attack and DMG decreased

-- Fire elemental no longer ranged. Instead, it now has breath attack.
-- Phoenix no longer breath attack. Now has Fire Shield.

- ALL CREATURE BANKS CHANGED, most of them mix of three creatures.
(they need the expansions to work with the mod)
Fights tend to be harder later on.
Most of rewards slightly increased.
No creature is repeated.
Some creature's starting number is zero (particularly level 4 ones). They appear randomly with time.
- Pirate Cove: Pirates, Ballistae, Phoenix
- Delirict Ship: Mermaids, Water Elementals, Sea Monsters
- Shipwreck: Air Elementals, Ice Demons, Bone Dragons
- Labyrinth: Minotaur, Naga, Venom Spawn
- Pyramid: Mummy, Gargoyle, Gold Golem
- Lair: Troglodytes, Evil Eyes, ???
- Mines: Dwarf, Halfling, ???
- Ivory Tower: Magi, Sorceress, ???
- Imp Cache: Imp, Cerberus, Devil
- Dragon City: Black Dragons, Faerie Dragons, Megadragon
And more.

_________________________________

- ALPHA FEATURES:
- Cheat manu always enabled (on window mode)
THis is for testing all creatures and spells easily.
If you don't want it, just ignore, or put the game on fullscreen.
NOTE HOWEVER that the alignement of creatures in the menu is not automated, but vainilla. Actual alignements in the mod have been changed from this, and the cheat menu not updated.

_________________________________
Notes:

- "Invalid" artifact locations on hero, placed on map editor, still work ingame and do not crash
- This could have uses for custom maps and campaigns

To do:

- Dont remember where I put the note (or if accidentally erased), but There is "mind" immunity... the artifact Mind Shield has it. It is only a matter of finding the ability code (many are lacking, skipped, etc.)

EXE:


CREATURE TABLE:
- Change mantis HP/stats

SPELL TABLE:
TEST - If a summoning spell can be turned into a Raise spell
(if so, use for Raise Golems, Raise Gargoyles (order))

- UPDATE creature descriptions
- UPDATE summon demon ability description

disabled- Fix Stone Gaze (Description, name, can be cast in combat)
- Fix Panic (Can be cast in combat, level?)
- Change to the alternate "raise" spells (skeleton->zombie,ghost->mummy,vampire->skeleton dragon)
-- Hope changing spell levels doesn't break maps!
- Check learnable on summon devil/darkknight, summon venom spawn, etc.

________________________________

FUTURE, THEORY AND NOTES
........................................................

- THE LAST "ABILITY" IS ACTUALLY THE CREATURE NAME POINTER, DO NOT CHANGE

STILL CAN'T MAKE WORK DATA JUMPS PROPERLY - THEY DON'T ALLOW TO LOAD EQUI MAPS
THAT "EMPTY" DATA MUST BE USED FOR SOMETHING OF THAT

- THE HEX VALUES OF LOCATION POINTING ARE "INVERTED" - EACH COUPLE OF NUMBERS GO IN MIRROR TO THE LAST

ALL "ADDITIONAL" CREATURES MUST HAVE FOUR ABILITIES! no matter if placeholder, else will repent later
- There seems to be no ability for mind spell immunity :/ only was used with undead, mechanical or elemental
- But there is "Negate mind immunity" há; and the "Mind" in spells... maybe in creatures table there is something? Very doubtful or would have seen it...

- Try more than 4 abilities? Would it be possible? Research if such end code exists, in theory or used at the end of a creature...
- In some windows of the GUI, there is five squares for abilities in the creature, no?
YES- In fact, in the combat window, you can see "five abilities"
RESEARCH- see where the referrals go, and if anyone has...
- Uses of fifth:
- Give Rebirth to fire elementals
- I would also LOVE berserker fire elementals, but no space on abilities...
- Give Spellcaster/Sparks to Phoenix (No fire shield?)
- See if spellcaster + rebirth spell counts as "rebirth" ability

- EFREET:
-- Teleport [no fly]
-- Fire attack
-- Fire Shield
-- Fire Resistance
¿5-- Berserker/Spellcaster? + Fire Aura

- MUMMY:
-- Undead
-- Ages
-- Curses
-- Toughness
¿5-- Spellcaster

- GARGOYLE:
-- Mechanical
-- Stealth
-- Teleports
-- Stuns
¿5-- Stone Skin

- TITAN:
-- Ranged
-- Lightning attack
-- Double Melee / Normal melee
-- Chaos Ward
¿5-- Strenght

- MINOTAUR:
[Take off block]
-- Give magic resistance,
-- charge,
-- Stealth,
-- mind immune? (like wolf, or Strike Twice like wolf (?) = Extra Melee / that or Strenght)
- Adjust stats

- AIR ELEMENTAL:
-- Elemental
-- Immaterial
-- Lightning Attack
-- Flying/Teleport
¿5-- Negate First Strike

- EARTH ELEMENTAL:
[Take off teleport]
-- Elemental
-- Magic Resist / Magic Immune
-- Toughness / Stone Skin
-- Stone Gaze / Strenght ?
¿5-- +1 of left off

- MERMAID:
-- Boosts Morale (how? Spell? "Mirth" ability?)
-- Bonuses At sea
-- Regeneration?/Block?
-- [still hypnosis]
¿5-- Long Weapon (see if anim)

- SEA MONSTER:
-- Bonuses At Sea
-- Terror (Panic)
-- Mind immune? / Or cold resistance
-- [still devouring]

- GOLD GOLEM:
-- Mechanical
-- Magic Immune / Resist
-- Stone Skin
-- "Taxpayer"
¿5-- Chaos Ward

- DWARF:
-- Taxpayer
-- Chaos Ward / Magic Resist? Or other.
-- Toughness/Stone Skin
-- Block
¿5-- +1 of left off

- IMP:
- Flying
- Mana Leech
- Spellcaster
- Long Attack

- PIRATE:
-- Is "taxpayer" (change ability name)
-- Bloodlust ? Or is it spell? / Block?
-- Has First Strike
-- [still bonuses at sea]
- Adjust stats

- BANDIT:
-- Poisons with attack
-- Attacks twice? (double dagger anyways) / If not, negate first strike
-- Is "Taxpayer"
-- [Still stealthy]
- Adjust stats

_____________________________________

EXTRA SPELLS
NOPENOPE---> ... Are there up to three extra spells per creature/quantity or even seven with the 00 00 00 00? Test
UNDERSTAND - First quantity, then spell. This for every time 01(Q)EE(S)-02(Q)EF(S), and so on (until you run out of that space allocated for the creature on the file)

Dark Knight should have his "terror" replaced...
As he will have anti-life spells
--- Spellbook: Life Ward, Drain Life, Unholy Song ;

Nightmare should also join the party (only chaos caster);
MP: 10
POW: 38 c/u
--- Spellbook:
Stone Gaze, Mana Leech, (2+ if pos) Terror

Imp Should be a Caster:
MP: 3/4/6? [If use the disintegrate, tailor it so it fits]
POW: 3 c/u
--- Spellbook:
(1)Sparks, (66+) Misfortune, (166+) Mana Flare, (666+) Disintegrate
---- Make Sparks spell more AI-friendly

TO REPLACE: (still don't know where, but maybe search "spells")
--- Magi should not have raise skeletons (zombies)
----> Switch for Raise Gargoyles (When change summons, perhaps elf)
-----> If not, just re-shuffle spell effects (both are "raisers")

+ SATYR
+ LEPRECHAUN
46 - Dark Champion
44 - Evil Sorceres
3e - Water Elemental
30 - Phoenix
2d - Ogre Mage
2b - Nightmare
23 - Mage
21 - Imp
18 - Genie
15 - Faery Dragon
0f - Devil
01 - Angel

THEORY:
if can make new spellcaster units work (no more than 5 extra, remember... but can change existing ones for up to 5 more)
- PERHAPS YOU CAN HAVE 10 EXTRA (think hex, up to 15 and the empty space)

NOT YET. MONKS CANNOT "SPELLCAST" RESURRECTION EVEN WHEN THEY HAVE IT
SOMETHING RELATED TO ADV.OBJECT AND/OR ANIMATION?

SEE: COMBAT_ACTOR files! (name is equal to pictures)
...not so hard to "decode"...
...see if breaks with normal builder?

- WAIT! perhaps adventure spells don't have such limitation.
This would also help see if the animation/actor theory is right or if the spellcasters are hardcoded... to adventure spells we go! (summon boat...)
-- Summoning ship with the monks crashes the game... but may be it is only hero spell? -works when hero, now there's to try on other "spellcasting"creatures... and other map spells on the monk and other creatures
- ALSO try with "spellbook" and not only "ressurection"
--> "Actual" spellcasters even with spellbook also crash summon ship
-- Perhaps even it is that it can't be a "mass spell", maybe no spell was designed to be cast on map that way
-- Or simply creatures werent designed to cast on map
---> Monk Endurance also crashes...
Genie Endurance = Last test

+ EXPERIMENT ...Can you add spells without spellbook abilities?

- WAIT! 2 ...maybe "passive" spells like Vampirism, Stone Gaze or Rebirth do work, since "spellcasting animation" doesn't ever have to be used? hmhmhm

- WAIIIIIIIT!!! Monks DO have spellcast animation, I just found it. It just must be not initialized -__- so it IS adv_actor probably...


FOR COMBAT:

COULD copy the "defense" frames/anims files, change them to "spell", see adv_object with hex editing, compare with spellcaster's adv_obj, change relevant parts,
re-build
(perhaps using .h4l files to not corrupt?
...and/or "adding" with resedit2)
I just hope none of them have "offsets", checksums and whatnot...


***

Mummy is the closest to "necromancer" we have (after Vampire maybe)
--- SpellBook: Aging, Raise Zombie, Gas Cloud ; Wasp Swarm

__________________________________________________


---> CONFIRMED: BREAKER CREATURE WAS DEVIL. COMPARE & FIX CREATURE TABLE
----> SEEMINGLY TOWNS CANNOT HAVE CREATURES OF NOT-ALIGNEMENT (!?)
-----> DO NOT use notepad for table edit, it destroys them
RESEARCH&FIX
why does the custom data make the Death town screen crash?
- See if it is because of Creatures, Spells, or combination of both
- Check for "bad lines"
- It is likely it is caused by the Devil
- It could be a bad character or line
- Or bad stats config (in creature or summon spell)
- Other option: Because of Imp Mana

___________________________________________

INCLUDE - thanks in post: Developers, Equi, Guides, Utilities, Community



TEST- if Megadragon works (the cheat doesn't)
YES -- No expansion cheat works, this doesn't seem to affect the creatures working ingame

YES - at least in equi-like games, Prison is always on
-- IF you put prison as "not built", still appears there as built

- Put cost to prison, see if it stills "auto-builds"
- EVEN if you disable prison, it appears. X- See if disabling prison works or not
- See if in default game this is like in equilibris/greatest

- Wolves seem to be immune to terror(panic). Why? Does it come with their ID, or ability?
_____________________________________________________________________

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NimoStar said:

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Well "terrible" actually means "scary", same as "awesome"; but perhaps will change it for "terrific" to not confuse (?)

Elemental factions can still not be used because of the existance of creature portal. Once anyone deciphers how to disable or change Creature Portal, it will be more possible.

As for making more .exe s to have more faction arrangements: Yes, this is possible. Buty they also neer another .h4r file, and changing stats and alignements of creatures all over again. It is like making multiple mods. Considering there are only enough creatures in the game for 9 full factions (at most), you cannot have *completely*¨different ones unless you also switch their abilities. New images as of now seem to be impossible (what opens or creates .df2 files?). In any case, it is too much work for me to do. I will focus in a single creature/faction arrangement, which is the one I posted.
That is already a lot of things to do for a single man.

__________________________________________________

PROGRESS REPORT to next version:
- All creatures and faction dwellings HAVE been changed
- AI can use the new factions correctly! (checked)
- Most original maps still compatible
- NINE new creature spellcasters in the game, with different spells each!
- Creature abilities reshuffled, some changed, others also added.

NOW WORKING:
- Changing hero looks to suit new factions.
- Also changing their skills.
- For example: Dungeon now has Warlocks, dark, aristocratic characters with Chaos Magic and Nobility.
- Making a new map to showcase all the new factions, in their context, playable free for all, high difficulty.


Who said Desert town could not be the good guys?


The new town, Inferno, to understand their place better.

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