modding default item cost / magic item modding infos

[letsdance]

edit: replacing this by the information that we know so far. i also copied everything from this post to the general "how to mod" thread.

values for default item cost are in itemmake.exe beginning with byte 29B46 and in wizards.exe beginning with byte 2F078, 2 bytes each, low order byte first. same order as in the create item interface.

due to the way the items are saved, specials cannot be added or replaced in itempow.lbx (removal is possible by not setting any item flags). for example, it is not possible to add a +7 attack special, or edit another special to have this effect. changing cost for the "spell charges" special doesn't seem to have any effect. hardcoded cost for each spell charge = casting cost of spell*20. The number 20 is at wizards.exe: 8c0e4 and at 72A0 in itemmake.exe

Wizards.exe:98290 contains 50, which is the artificer reduction percentage.
wizards.exe:982de contains 25, which is the runemaster reduction percentage.

return from destroying items: Currently wizards.exe:5863d contains 2B C2. If you replace it by D1 F8, you'd divide the cost by 4 instead of by 2.

wizards.exe:8c488 is the enchant item cap of 200.
8c481 is the create artifact cap of 10000.

At wizards.exe:62d82 and 62e32 you've got a value of 1200 of the substitute item value for 1 book/skill respectively 2 books/skills.

[letsdance]

itemdata.lbx file info
letsdance 2012/05/12 for v1.40m

This file specifies the available artifacts in the game. it can be easily modded by using the itemmake.exe

38 byte per item

Start Byte(Bit),End Byte(Bit) in hexvalues -> Field Description
(LO in the description means it's saved with the low order byte first)
01,18 -> Item Name
19,1C -> maybe also reserved for item name
1D -> probably always 0
1E -> item picture #
1F -> 0 (maybe item picture 2nd byte)
20 -> item type (Table 1 below)
21 -> item subtype (Table 2 below)
22,23 -> item cost
24 -> attack
25 -> to hit
26 -> defense
27 -> movement
28 -> resist
29 -> spell skill
2A -> spell save
2B -> # of spell (note: itemmake.exe doesn't delete spell charges once they were saved)
2C -> charges of spell
2D -> 0
2E,31 -> same specials as 27,30 in itempowers.txt
32
33 -> ? flaming = 2, see 34
34 -> ? can only get a value if other special is selected, seems to depend on magic realm?
35 ->
36 -> some sort of counter? classification of costs for lairs? merchants?
38 -> almost always 01

Table 1
1 -> melee weapon (sword, mace, axe)
2 -> bow
3
4 -> magic weapon (staff/wand)
5 -> shield/chain
6 -> miscellaneous
7
8
9 -> plate

Table 2 (note: itemmake uses this in case of conflict with table 1 entry)
0 -> sword
1 -> mace
2 -> axe
3 -> bow
4 -> staff
5 -> wand
6 -> misc
7 -> shield
8 -> chain
9 -> plate

[letsdance]

another issue: is it possible to add additional item powers? i tried to copy the to-hit bonus, edited the filesize in 0C,0D; updated the number of chunk entries in 220. but it does only read the same number of entries that were in the file before. if i add the additional ones inbetween, it cuts of the same amount of entries at the end of the file.

it also saves the boni depending only on the order of the values (using a template equal to the original itempowers.lbx), no matter how they are defined in itempowers.lbx.

[letsdance]

updated itempowers.txt

itempow.lbx file info
George McGinn (georgemcginn@yahoo.com) 1999/12/15
updated by letsdance 2012/05/12 for v1.40m

This file specifies what artifact specials powers are, costs are, creation requirements and which items it can be enchanted on. You can now restore the Merging special, which was taken out of the game by requiring 22 spell book in Nature! Each record is 30 bytes long, data starts at hex 224, and there are 66 specials.

letsdance: due to the way the items are saved, specials cannot be added or replaced in this file (removal is possible by not setting any item flags). for example, it is not possible to add a +7 attack special, or edit another special to have this effect. changing cost for the "spell charges" special doesn't seem to have any effect. hardcoded cost for each spell charge = casting cost of spell*20.

values for default item cost are in itemmake.exe beginning with byte 29B46 and in wizards.exe beginning with byte 2F078, 2 bytes each, low order byte first. same order as in the create item interface.

Start Byte(Bit),End Byte(Bit) -> Field Description
(LO in the description means it's saved with the low order byte first)
1,17 -> Artifact special name
18 -> 00
19(1) -> Can be enchanted on Sword (letsdance: i reversed order, 1 is the lowest bit, 8 the highest)
19(2) -> Can be enchanted on Mace
19(3) -> Can be enchanted on Axe
19(4) -> Can be enchanted on Bow
19(5) -> Can be enchanted on Staff
19(6) -> Can be enchanted on Wand
19(7) -> Can be enchanted on Misc items
19(8) -> Can be enchanted on Shield
20(1) -> Can be enchanted on Chain armor
20(2) -> Can be enchanted on Plate armor
21,22 -> Mana cost to enchant LO
23 -> Power Type (uses power Type table below)
24 -> Magic Realm of Enchantment (Table 2 in Spelldoc.txt)
25 -> Required Spell Books (if a Stat special, it currently shows the Stat bonus but has no effect)
26 -> 00
The rest give the special named if the bit is on: (reversed bit order from above)
27(1) -> Path Finding
27(2) -> Regeneration
27(3) -> Wraithform // weapon immunity; immunity vs web, entangle, mud; different movement costs on map
27(4) -> Destruction // resist or disintegrate
27(5) -> Cloak_of_Fear // resist or cannot attack (each figure)
27(6) -> Lightning // armor halfed
27(7) -> Guardian_Wind // +50 shields vs ranged attacks
27(8) -> Vampiric // before normal melee attack, transfer 1 life for each failed resist (?)
28(1) -> Invisibility
28(2) -> Haste // attacks twice
28(3) -> Edurance_1 // +1 movement
28(4) -> Stoning // resist at -1 or die
28(5) -> Chaos // half attack damage automatically (nothing protects, like automatic damage)
28(6) -> Elemental_Armor// +10 resistance and defense vs chaos and nature
28(7) -> Resist_Elements// +3 resistance and defense vs chaos and nature
28(8) -> Water_Walking
29(1) -> Phantasmal // no armor
29(2) -> True_Sight // sees and can target invis at range, illusion immunity (some sorcery spells and phantasmal attacks)
29(3) -> Holy_Avenger // bless, dispell evil (chaos/death resist -4/-10 or die)
29(4) -> Flaming
29(5) -> Magic_Immunity
29(6) -> Resist_Magic
29(7) -> Flight
29(8) -> Death // resist at -3 or die
30(1) -> Invulnerability// weapon immunity (raises shields to 10); ignores 2 hits from any attacks against it
30(2) -> Righteousness // immunity to death and chaos spells
30(3) -> Merging
30(4) -> Planar_Travel
30(5) -> Giant_Strength // +2 melee attack
30(6) -> Lion_Heart // +3 melee, ranged attack, resistance, hit points
30(7) -> Bless // +3 resistance and defense vs chaos and death
30(8) -> Power_Drain // resist or lose 2-20 mana

-----------
Power Type:
These values describe what type of special it is.
-----------
Value Description
0 + to Attack Stat Bonus
1 + to Hit Stat Bonus
2 + to Defend Stat Bonus
3 + to Spell Skill Stat Bonus
4 - to Spell Save Stat Bonus
5 + to Movement Stat Bonus
6 + to Resistance Stat Bonus
7 Resist Elements, Elemental Armor (letsdance: effect unknown)
8 Resist Magic, Magic Immunity (letsdance: effect unknown)
9 all other Enchantments (letsdance: effect unknown)
264 Sorcery Specials (letsdance: doesn't occur in file)
265 Sorcery Specials (letsdance: doesn't occur in file)
521 Chaos Specials (letsdance: doesn't occur in file)
777 Life Specials (letsdance: doesn't occur in file)
1033 Death Specials (letsdance: doesn't occur in file)

[letsdance]

answer to initial question found. updating post. next question: does anyone have a clue how to mod the costs for embedding spells? atm it's 20*casting cost*number of charges

[I like Serena]

answer to initial question found. updating post. next question: does anyone have a clue how to mod the costs for embedding spells? atm it's 20*casting cost*number of charges

Yep. That's how it is calculated.
The number 20 is at wizards.exe:8c0e4.

Note that itempowers 0-32 are hard coded to be stat bonus effects.
And that 33-65 are other special effects.

[letsdance]

The number 20 is at wizards.exe:8c0e4

cool thx now the last missing piece to complete my item cost rebalancing is the artificer bonus

[I like Serena]

cool thx now the last missing piece to complete my item cost rebalancing is the artificer bonus

Wizards.exe:98290 contains 50, which is the artificer reduction percentage.

Btw, wizards.exe:982de contains 25, which is the runemaster reduction percentage.

[FrancoK]

cool thx now the last missing piece to complete my item cost rebalancing is the artificer bonus

Well, I still miss where to mod the cap limit for Enchant Item and Create artifact.

[letsdance]

i just remembered, i'm also still missing something: the return for using the anvil (destroying an artifact). i don't like that artificier+runemaster is such a strong combo, and beside that a reduced return won't really hurt anyone.

i don't mind the caps for enchant item/create artifact. i think they are good as they are. of course, to know everything about item modding, this should be known too. it would be nice to restrict wands to 2 spell charges (as i think it was in 1.2), or restrict them to use weaker spells only, but it's not that important.

more important, and related to items, would be to know the cap for items appearing in lairs, and where it can be found. (if such a cap exists, in my test games, all items could be offered by merchants. but i don't know about lairs, might be in the lairs settings)