Version 2.0 Update
I have been working quite hard on a substantial update for this mod. There is still a fair amount of work that needs to be done, but I want to share some of my progress with you guys.
The main new feature of the update will be a new table structure for displaying item stats. Here is a comparison to show the new table (still work-in-progress, obviously - might change some before release):
BEFORE (v1.3.3) - AFTER (v2.0.0)
It took a VERY large amount of work, and several clever tricks, but I finally managed to build a customizable table structure within the Item Effect panel. The table in the example image above shows two different stat types and one status effect definition. I designed the table to be able to hold up to three different stat types (columns) and two status effect definitions underneath the table (although I'm not sure if there is anything in the game currently which would have more than two and one). The number of columns and width of the columns can be adjusted easily to fit the text that is in it, so more/longer text can fit than what is shown. More rows can also be added easily as well - I can add as many as I need.
The new icons really allow me to save a lot of space. I'm hoping the icons for each stat type will be clear, and the colors used for each will also match what is used in previous versions of the mod. The smaller icons used for the status definitions line can also be used anywhere else, so I will be adding them to item descriptions anywhere a stat type is mentioned, to help familiarize people with what the icons represent. For example:Alleviate all * blood loss accumulation and * frostbite accumulation.
The new fixed-width font (only used for the tables - not other texts) allows me to create very clean and organized tables. I have also made several other small modifications to the font and menu files. The biggest changes include reducing the amount of empty vertical space between lines of text, slightly increasing the max width and height for text boxes, and reducing the text size for item panels ever-so-slightly. These changes combined allow me so much more room for text in item descriptions.
In version 1.3.3 of the mod the max number of lines I can use is 12. So much of that is used up by the stats being listed, which each take up one line (or two for status definitions). With these new changes, I could have an item that has 3 columns and 3 rows in its stats table, plus a status effect definition line, and I would still be able to fit another 12 lines of text underneath that! Without these changes I would have only been able to fit 8 lines underneath that table. And for item descriptions which don't utilize the new table, I can fit a total of 15 lines of text now. Since the stats wouldn't be using up any of that space, this really gives me a ton of room for adding more useful information in item descriptions.
There is still quite a lot of work to be done on this update, so it will probably be at least a couple more weeks before release (maybe mid-March). I still have to actually convert all of the items to the new table format (I just finally finished making the table work and I only converted the one item for the example image). I also have a list of various other tweaks, fixes, and whatnot that I want to include with this update. The regulation.bin file will finally be updated for version 1.10.1 of the game as well (sorry for not getting to that earlier).
If you have any ideas, comments, or questions, I appreciate all feedback. If there is any additional information you'd like to see added to the mod in version 2.0, or any descriptions you think are a bit too vague, please let me know. I will have plenty of room to expand and add more information now.
DLC Plans
I'm sure everyone is aware From Software announced a new expansion for the game, set to release on June 20th. Obviously it will take a long time for me to gather information about the DLC items, so I will not be able to add detailed descriptions immediately. I am planning to release an update for the mod as soon as I possibly can after the expansion is available, which will simply add any new pieces of text to the game (otherwise new item names, descriptions, place names, etc will not show up at all in-game). This update will only add the default text, just to make the mod compatible with the expansion.
It will probably take me a few weeks to gather all of the information about all of the items. It sounds like this is going to be a pretty big expansion, with a lot of new items. Research takes time, and I also want to play the DLC... So there will be another update later down the line, probably July or perhaps even August, which will add detailed information for all of the DLC items.
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I have the final structure for the table finished now (actually took quite a bit longer than I thought it would). It is a bit different than what is shown in the preview images above, but the table is now able to display more information. I am now able to show the values for both charged and uncharged attacks, where applicable. I added a row specifically for spells, to show whether spells can be cast while moving, while on Torrent, and whether or not there is a speed benefit to casting the spell repeatedly. I also added a small note to let people know that the values shown are base values, and do not take scaling into account.
I made several fixes to various menus. Ammunition panels now properly show two lines for passive effects, and so do the comparison panels for both weapons and ammunition. I managed to add a matching passive effects section to the armor panel as well. Attribute scaling values have been changed from showing as letters (A, B, C, etc) to exact values, which is very helpful.
I also finished adding built-in compatibility for 10 different mods. I wanted to add compatibility for many more, but it is crazy how many mods on here claim to be updated for the most recent game update and are not (in fact, almost none of the mods that modify the text files are). I have fixed the mods that I was able to add compatibility for, but the others have text ID conflicts that need to be resolved by the original mod authors. The DLC might force people to actually do this, so I may be able to add more mod compatibility after that.
I have the regulation.bin file updated, and made a bunch of changes to the manual modification files as well. I added instructions for DS Map Studio, and also included CSVs for DS Map Studio which only update the modified columns for maximum mod compatibility.
I still need to convert the descriptions to the table format. Now that I have finalized the table structure I can actually start doing that, and will slowly get through that over the next week or so. The update is mostly done after that, although I do still have a few other things I want to get done before I release it.