Looks pretty awesome. Would it also be possible to have an add-on or alternative version that scales encounters harder? I think it would be fun if there was a hardcore version that changes random encounters to include increasingly stronger enemies.
I always hate having to finish the game. I've always craved some late-game continuity.
Altering the difficulty of encounters would be more complex than changing the frequency of them, and a much larger project than I could take on at this point. Flash Creature Rescale includes edits to random encounters. Increased Difficulty has several options for making Nightmare difficulty more... nightmarish. And there's always Lemmings Refined Smarter Enemies Standard (and Prepare to Die).
Yeah sorry. It's been so long that I assumed Awakening and Origins run concurrently. Fired up the game to realize it's a completely separate campaign lol.
All good. Thanks much for recommending that FCR mod, I quite like it. Surviving by the skin of my teeth with the hard preset on nightmare. Seems almost every mob is elite. Unsure if loot tables correspond to that. Haven't really found much.
I find myself really missing the original companions. The awakening companions just don't do it for me. And there's no pupper either.. very sadge :(
Feeling like I may just start Origins again lol. Hoping I can induce near-infinite random encounters with your mod. MRE-DAA mentions this is possible via hub-swapping. I pray I can do the same in yours. :)
Sorry, no. My mod only increases the chances of rare encounters happening, it doesn't allow any of them to repeat. (Other than the normally repeating Old Tegrin encounter, of course.) There are only so many possible encounters in DAO, so if you play long enough with my mod, they will run out.
Ahh crud. Well good thing you told me that, else I would be playing towards and endgame that doesn't exist.
I don't like my chances but maybe the author of MRE could advise me how I could toggle that function in your mod. Have the RE's trigger again that is. I read somewhere that the base game is coded to allow for RE's every 20 or so hub-swaps, or something to that effect. Perhaps that is the key to it all.
Anyhow, appreciate the info on that. I need to investigate all your other mods. You have been busy lol.
There are several DAA encounters that are already repeatable, in the vanilla game files. LemmingoftheGDA's GDA edits don't change whether anything is repeatable; he only changes the trigger chances, and (IIRC) in some cases, the plot requirements for triggering.
The repeatable/not repeatable switch is a simple True/False in the GDA. A '0' in the Repeat column is non-repeatable, a '1' is an encounter that can be repeated.
Just changing the Repeat switch won't actually result in fully repeatable enounters, though. You will instead load into a empty map, with no enemies. (By request, some years ago I made a variant of this mod that changed that variable, and the result was as I've just indicated: empty maps, no respawn of ememies.)
I suspect that those vanilla Awakening encounters that are functionally repeatable have more coding than just that simple T/F switch to support the repeatability, since the enemies vary from one instance to another. Since there are no toolset files for the expansion, just how those varied instances are implemented is a mystery (at least to me).
My experience over the years (playing with More Random Encounters DAA) is that, in an extended playthrough, eventually, even those repeatable areas will load without any foes to battle.
Many thanks for that. I suppose I shall try my hand at tweaking that toggle. It's not really imperative that they trigger indefinitely. Would be cool though.
Going from my experience with FCR, I might even reach a point where enemies scale too high. I'm having major struggles in Ostagar tower. Any encounter that involves 6 or more enemies in a pod proves fatal. It's easier to manipulate them out in the open as you have the range to pull selectively. It seemed quite hopeless until I figured out you can block LOS by opening doors while butting yourself up against adjacent walls. Still very hard despite this. I've wiped at least 50 times already lol.
Thanks so much for explaining that. It will quite literally make or break my desire to stick with it.
Hmm, seems I glossed over the part where you mentioned you've already tested the repeat switch to no avail. Well now I am curious how MRE went about it.
I wonder if it would be easier just to enable respawns for literally everything. I have still yet to venture inside the GDA files. Not sure what I will find. :)
Spoiler:
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Edit: Yeah those columns aren't very descriptive. I can see the 0/1 values, but I don't see anything in the column list that corresponds with actual spawns or encounters. Very cryptic indeed.
Edit-2: I was just thinking, would it not be feasible to copy/paste existing encounters into each biome as a means to create a higher total of encounters? Essentially just duplicating the ones that already exist?
It would likely help a lot if I knew which encounter is which and what the values correspond to. I have a vague assumption that the first INT value is the level requirement, the String is the spawn template.
I tried duplicating list 14, managed to paste it in the correct structure level but cannot rename the structure in accordance with current hierarchy. Best I can do is 'GDA_COLUMN_15' - Not sure how you defined the others as plain numbers. Equally unsure if the game will recognize a new column structure listed as any other name.
Again, MRE doesn't change anything with regard to respawns. The three DAA areas with limited respawns are handled by the original Bioware coding and are vanilla behavior. (See the wiki entry I linked previously.)
(And technically, they aren't even 'respawns', in the strictest sense of that term, because they makeup of the spawns differs from one iteration to another. The zone map is actually being repopulated with a different set of hostile NPCs, which, as I said previously, is not something that can be accomplished with GDA edit. It might be something like a script, or an alternate map for the level invoked by a script, but I'm just guessing since I - like everyone else - do not not have the editable Awakening resources available for perusal.)
I still don't see how that system would prohibit copy/pasting existing encounters or adding totally new ones. I only mentioned copy/pasting as it might be in the scope of what a simpleton like myself could achieve. Under that circumstance it wouldn't be respawning anything, it would simply be drawing from the same pool but under a different ID. 13>14>15 (15 being a clone of 14)
What I don't know is how to rebrand each encounter sequentially and under a structure ID that the game recognizes. Using your Forest file, the RE's are ascending numerically to a total of 14. Duplicating that and amending it after 14 works but I'm having trouble with naming consistency. It won't let me use simple numbers.
PS. Have you ever experimented with 'zz_ran_debug' script? Using that I was able to induce any encounter. What eludes me is whether the 'finite' rule still applies there. I have a hunch that it doesn't/wouldn't considering these scripts are setup to induce completely different plot-stages, which if I'm not mistaken is what the whole RE system is built upon.
Works as advertised. I've known about the Axameter scene, but never been able to see it before. Now I finally have. Hysterically funny, that alone made it worthwhile.
According to Qwinn's documentation for his mod, there should be no incompatibility issues. My GDA edit only affects the trigger chances for the encounters. Qwinn's mod doesn't touch the GDA, and only includes alterations within the encounters.
I've been playing this game on and off for years and this is the first time I've ever seen the Axameter scene - thank you for that and the ensuing laughter :D
Really like the mod, because it makes encounters consistently appearing instead of hoping you are going to get in a cool fight. Encounters are everything, you know, exciting visceral AND give you the star blade. So, gg
Great mod. I've been having all kinds of fun experiencing random encounters that I've never seen before. I just got the "Axameter" encounter for the first time and about died laughing.
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Anyone who comments to just say they don't like the mod will be blocked from my content.
Constructive criticism is fine. Informing me that you personally have no use for a mod is of no value.
I always hate having to finish the game. I've always craved some late-game continuity.
Flash Creature Rescale includes edits to random encounters. Increased Difficulty has several options for making Nightmare difficulty more... nightmarish. And there's always Lemmings Refined Smarter Enemies Standard (and Prepare to Die).
Do I also need your mod for the Origins portion of the game, or does MRE-DAA cover both Origins and Awakening?
My Random Encounters are Less Random DAO = Origins only.
Thank you for suffering my stupidity.
I find myself really missing the original companions. The awakening companions just don't do it for me. And there's no pupper either.. very sadge :(
Feeling like I may just start Origins again lol. Hoping I can induce near-infinite random encounters with your mod. MRE-DAA mentions this is possible via hub-swapping. I pray I can do the same in yours. :)
I don't like my chances but maybe the author of MRE could advise me how I could toggle that function in your mod. Have the RE's trigger again that is. I read somewhere that the base game is coded to allow for RE's every 20 or so hub-swaps, or something to that effect. Perhaps that is the key to it all.
Anyhow, appreciate the info on that. I need to investigate all your other mods. You have been busy lol.
The repeatable/not repeatable switch is a simple True/False in the GDA. A '0' in the Repeat column is non-repeatable, a '1' is an encounter that can be repeated.
Just changing the Repeat switch won't actually result in fully repeatable enounters, though. You will instead load into a empty map, with no enemies. (By request, some years ago I made a variant of this mod that changed that variable, and the result was as I've just indicated: empty maps, no respawn of ememies.)
I suspect that those vanilla Awakening encounters that are functionally repeatable have more coding than just that simple T/F switch to support the repeatability, since the enemies vary from one instance to another. Since there are no toolset files for the expansion, just how those varied instances are implemented is a mystery (at least to me).
My experience over the years (playing with More Random Encounters DAA) is that, in an extended playthrough, eventually, even those repeatable areas will load without any foes to battle.
Going from my experience with FCR, I might even reach a point where enemies scale too high. I'm having major struggles in Ostagar tower. Any encounter that involves 6 or more enemies in a pod proves fatal. It's easier to manipulate them out in the open as you have the range to pull selectively. It seemed quite hopeless until I figured out you can block LOS by opening doors while butting yourself up against adjacent walls. Still very hard despite this. I've wiped at least 50 times already lol.
Thanks so much for explaining that. It will quite literally make or break my desire to stick with it.
I wonder if it would be easier just to enable respawns for literally everything. I have still yet to venture inside the GDA files. Not sure what I will find. :)
Edit:
Yeah those columns aren't very descriptive. I can see the 0/1 values, but I don't see anything in the column list that corresponds with actual spawns or encounters. Very cryptic indeed.
Edit-2:
I was just thinking, would it not be feasible to copy/paste existing encounters into each biome as a means to create a higher total of encounters? Essentially just duplicating the ones that already exist?
It would likely help a lot if I knew which encounter is which and what the values correspond to. I have a vague assumption that the first INT value is the level requirement, the String is the spawn template.
I tried duplicating list 14, managed to paste it in the correct structure level but cannot rename the structure in accordance with current hierarchy. Best I can do is 'GDA_COLUMN_15' - Not sure how you defined the others as plain numbers. Equally unsure if the game will recognize a new column structure listed as any other name.
(And technically, they aren't even 'respawns', in the strictest sense of that term, because they makeup of the spawns differs from one iteration to another. The zone map is actually being repopulated with a different set of hostile NPCs, which, as I said previously, is not something that can be accomplished with GDA edit. It might be something like a script, or an alternate map for the level invoked by a script, but I'm just guessing since I - like everyone else - do not not have the editable Awakening resources available for perusal.)
What I don't know is how to rebrand each encounter sequentially and under a structure ID that the game recognizes. Using your Forest file, the RE's are ascending numerically to a total of 14. Duplicating that and amending it after 14 works but I'm having trouble with naming consistency. It won't let me use simple numbers.
PS. Have you ever experimented with 'zz_ran_debug' script? Using that I was able to induce any encounter. What eludes me is whether the 'finite' rule still applies there. I have a hunch that it doesn't/wouldn't considering these scripts are setup to induce completely different plot-stages, which if I'm not mistaken is what the whole RE system is built upon.
What version of the mod are you installing and how did you install it, and can you please explain more fully what the problem is?
Thank you author!