Real-Time Game Tweaker

[I like Serena]

Is there a way to save the changes you make permanently? Im trying to edit the pop growth bonuses for races/buildings but the save button is permanently grayed out for some reason...

Hi Question! (Smile)

If you load a file, like a save game or wizards.exe, you can save that file.
If you connect to a game in progress, you cannot save. Changes are made in memory if possible, otherwise they are permanent (and in a section marked with "Modifies WIZARDS.EXE" or some such).

[Question]

Oh, thanks.

So is there a way to use the program to modify wizards.exe to change race data? That way i won't have to make the same changes with every new game?

Do i just load the .exe and then save the changes?

[Seravy]

I remember you mentioned a "special" flag on items which marks which items are available for Gift of the Gods and which is not.
This column is marked "Special" in the tweaker too.

I looked into the code and although it's more a guess than actual testing result but this flag seems to be marking which items are Artifacts and which are not. After I edited my items to be better, roughly 90% of them have the flag set.

This would make sense because there are no checks for artifact limits when the AI selected the predefined item as a target for an Enchant Item of Create Artifact spell.

Gift of the Gods does a type 2 item generation, which I believe is "Create Artifact" while type 1 is Create Item and type 0 is Treasure.
So yes, it does regulate which is available through the event, but it also regulates the create artifact spell.

In the 1.31 exe it was

If item generation type =1 and flag>0 : Item cannot be selected. (No artifact from Enchant Item)
If item generation type =2 and flag=0 : Item cannot be selected. (Always artifact from Create Artifact and Gift of the Gods)

Neither of these should have any effect on treasure which is type=0.

Insecticide seems to have removed the first check and changed the other into

If item generation type >=1 and flag=0 : Item cannot be selected.

which essentially means the AI will always take an item marked as artifact even when using the Enchant Item spell.

Could you please take a look at the code ($8DA02 in wizards.exe) and check if I'm right?
If yes, then the "Special" column should be renamed "Artifact" and more importantly the original 1.31 code should be restored, as insecticide code allows the AI to cheat and make artifacts with Enchant Item.

Edit : At Itemmake.exe, $7F6E, it checks if the value of a power is higher than 200 and if yes, sets the flag to 1. This matches the limitations of Item vs Artifact, and seems to confirm my theory.

Restoring original function will be difficult as addresses don't match up. He used the space for adding a check to bypass the book requirements for treasure and merchant items. Which is great and I want to keep that.
..whew, I managed to squeeze it in somehow.

Also, this means that you can only get items you have the books for, when receiving it from Gift of the Gods. No wonder my friend got trolled by getting a 6 attack 3 hit haste sword from the event when he was creating the same thing :D

[I like Serena]

Oh, thanks.

So is there a way to use the program to modify wizards.exe to change race data? That way i won't have to make the same changes with every new game?

Do i just load the .exe and then save the changes?

Yep. Just load wizards.exe, change the race data, either in the main view or in the table view, and save wizards.exe.

I remember you mentioned a "special" flag on items which marks which items are available for Gift of the Gods and which is not.
This column is marked "Special" in the tweaker too.

I looked into the code and although it's more a guess than actual testing result but this flag seems to be marking which items are Artifacts and which are not. After I edited my items to be better, roughly 90% of them have the flag set.

Yep. I agree. It's the Artifacts flag.
At the time I was not sure. I am now.
I'll update it in the Tweaker.

[Seravy]

Yep. I agree. It's the Artifacts flag.
At the time I was not sure. I am now.
I'll update it in the Tweaker.

Thanks for the quick reply.
Restoring wizards.exe to only give items for Enchant Item and artifacts for Create Artifact to the AI was the right thing then, I'll go and test if it works by making an AI spam items and artifacts. If the fix is effective it can even be added into that future Raid patch...or whatever the name is now.

Edit : yep, it works.
An interesting observation : I see no checks anywhere for the Spell Charges and the editor doesn't add a book requirement for these either. So...when the AI casts Enchant Item or Create Artifact and selects a premade item, it might have spells the AI doesn't have, even worse, it can be a spell from a realm the AI doesn't even have!
Also the AI was unable to select a premade item when using Create Artifact at all because it went for a cost 30000 item, so only items between 15k-30k cost were eligable...and those are impossible. It should have used 0 as the cost parameter, which has the meaning of "any cost" instead....or at least a reasonable value like 5000.

[Question]

Thanks, i managed to edit the race data and saved it.

Some other stuff i was trying to edit doesnt appear to be available when i just have the .exe loaded though. Is there a way to permanently mod them using the tweaker?

-Hero item slot types and abilities (default ones and possible special abilities). The section under unit types doesn't seem to contain anything for these.

-spell stats (effects, damage, cost, etc). For example, i want to make warp wood require a save, can i do that?

-Building stats (costs, etc)

-The amount of food/production per farmer/worker, i thought it would be under race data, but i can't find it there...

-Is there a way to change the move speeds of a large number of units at once? Unfortunately the program does not appear to support bulk editing...

-The way the distance penalty is applied to ranged attacks

Also is there some kind of readme for this? There is a lot of stuff in the program that doesn't appear to have any labels, for example, what is catnip and lucern's mod?

[I like Serena]

Thanks, i managed to edit the race data and saved it.

Some other stuff i was trying to edit doesnt appear to be available when i just have the .exe loaded though. Is there a way to permanently mod them using the tweaker?

-Hero item slot types and abilities (default ones and possible special abilities). The section under unit types doesn't seem to contain anything for these.

The slot types are determined by the 'Hero Type' that you can change (Fighter, Shooter, Wizard, Warmage).
I did create a code-change for it, similar to the level bonus, but you can currently only activate it when you click the "Catnip mod (exp)".
After that you can freely change all slot types, although that will probably require some explanation.

The abilities are set in MAGIC.EXE, which is where you can permanently change them.
Load it, and you can see them, change them, and save them.

-spell stats (effects, damage, cost, etc). For example, i want to make warp wood require a save, can i do that?

You can change most spell attributes, including the save modifier.
Adding or removing a save requires a code change however, which the Tweaker does not support.

-Building stats (costs, etc)

It's all there.

-The amount of food/production per farmer/worker, i thought it would be under race data, but i can't find it there...

That's the kind of stuff that is hardcoded, meaning not so easy to change.

-Is there a way to change the move speeds of a large number of units at once? Unfortunately the program does not appear to support bulk editing...

No bulk editing, but in the table of Unit Types it's pretty straight forward to change a lot of them quickly.
Btw, the 'Catnip mod (exp)' already doubles the speed of most units.

-The way the distance penalty is applied to ranged attacks

There's a divider somewhere.
Hmm... I thought I exposed it, but I don't see it.

Also is there some kind of readme for this? There is a lot of stuff in the program that doesn't appear to have any labels, for example, what is catnip and lucern's mod?

Clicking catnip tells you what changed.
Lucern's mod is about changing pictures of units, but it is unfinished.
Note they are both marked as (exp), meaning they are experimental.
You'll find threads about them elsewhere in this forum.

Btw, the Tweaker comes with a CHANGES.TXT that explains what has been added, when, and what its purpose is.
That may not really be enough I guess, but I didn't document anything more fully than that.

[Question]

Thanks for the help again.

I took a look at the change log but i couldnt find anything that mentioned this :

The building menu (where you can edit building costs) only loads when i use the connect option instead of loading the .exe. The same thing applies to the hero stats menu (where you can change the hero abilities, stuff like leadership, arms master, etc). Does this mean that the program cannot make permanent changes to those? I want to do stuff like give some underpowered heroes extra abilities and lower the costs of buildings.

[I like Serena]

Thanks for the help again.

I took a look at the change log but i couldnt find anything that mentioned this :

The building menu (where you can edit building costs) only loads when i use the connect option instead of loading the .exe. The same thing applies to the hero stats menu (where you can change the hero abilities, stuff like leadership, arms master, etc). Does this mean that the program cannot make permanent changes to those? I want to do stuff like give some underpowered heroes extra abilities and lower the costs of buildings.

To change the building stuff permanently, load BUILDDAT.LBX, change it, and save it.
To change the hero data stuff permanently, load MAGIC.EXE.

(Anything for which it is feasible that it can be changed, _can_ be changed. )

[I like Serena]

Thanks for the quick reply.

For the record, I'm still quite interested in taking MoM apart, changing it, and making it possible to make mods.
I'm less interested in the actual mods, of which, just like TWSTAPP, I generally feel they make the game feel less authentic...
Crash fixes, yes, improvements to the interface, yes, improving AI, yes, improving broken functionality, yes.
On the other hand, I don't find rebalancing or blocking exploits particularly interesting.