Hey

Skim read all of the above info, I'll try and find some time to go through it in detail over the next few days.

-fc-

Mmm, frustrating. It only seems to be breaking when it goes up onto the server.

I wouldn't mind so much if I could replicate the problem but I can't as it all works when I test it on my PC.

Great, maybe post in here as well as create a new thread (similar to this one). Pin the new thread as an announcement and it should hopefully be nice and clear.

-fc-

I've updated this page to also include what was changed when items were updated.

Hi Grey

I've just emailed over the mod to you so it is good to go when convenient for you.

Email contains a bit more detail but it might be worth scheduling a specific release date and timedown for this release just because the mod will fail to load if the hak file isn't also loaded onto the server and in the right directory. Also gives players notice of the switch.

Once the server does start up after this switch it should just be a case of trying to login as a player just to make sure all is well with the mod and new hak file reference for players.

P.S. if you want to apply the update on an evening in the week, Monday - Thursday Europe time, PM me on the forum or email me, I can keep an eye on the forum/email and check the new version has been applied as expected. Weekends for the most part I am away/unavailable.

-fc-

Please see update:

http://www.gondorvsmordor.com/gvm2/forum/index.php?topic=3423.0

[Download:]

Hi all

Firstly let me appologies for the amount of time it has taken me to get around to preparing this next update, but that has all been explained in a previous post of mine so no need to get into the details here.

I'm preparing a Mod update which should resolve the Pale Master Bone Skin issue (and possible RDD AC issue? - was never able to get a confirmation on this).

Below is a link to a hak file which you will need to download in preparation for the Mod update.

Download:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C9rbRAkpH_CVkWSX08qtAYq_Syjnp9wf/view?usp=sharing

Place the file in the hak folder of your NWN installation. It seems that depending on how you've installed NWN and possibly CEP (e.g Steam/Steam Workshop install vs regular install) the location of where the hak file needs to go can vary. But I'm hoping that it will just be:
C:\Users\[YourUserName]\Documents\Neverwinter Nights\hak

If not and you play via steam it might need to go into:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\704450\1312882397\hak

Once the Mod is updated, you will not be able to enter the server without this hak file.

I plan on sending the updated Mod over the Grey next week at some point, so it gives at least 1-2 weeks notice for players to get this file downloaded so you are ready to go with minimal disruption.

This update will also include an update to the Witch King's Heavy Flail.

-fc-

Sounds sensible. To get this out does require 2 things - a new version of the mod and the hak file itself.

When I get some free time I can get the hak file prepared ready for people to download while the existing mod continues to run. Then maybe after a week or two the mod can be updated on the server (as without the hak you won't be able to enter).

-fc-

Hey there

With regret I'm seriously considering stepping down as lead developer and DM of the module.

Firstly I want to say that it is excellent to see the increased activity in both the mod and forum with both old players finding their way back as well as new players joining.

However, I have come to realise that with this increased activity in player activity naturally also requires increased activity from the Dev/DM team, which the player base will and has come to expect. This is how bugs get fixed, players can seek help, new areas get added and players see things turn around in a timely manner to keep the mod up-to-date, alive and popular.

You - the players, need and deserve someone active to do this and unfortunately I am no longer in the position to be that person, as I just don't have the time any more (sadly). I feel it has come to the point where I need to pass the torch on. In the last 3 weeks I've probably been able to find just 1 evening to look at things which isn't enough time.

When I stepped forward (now 7-8 years ago) to get things back online after Turril stepped down and the server went offline for months, I had all the time in the world (in a manner of speaking), and with Grey volunteering to host we got things back on-line with a lot of bugs fixed with several updates to new areas, quests and items. There were also a couple of other dedicated and experienced devs back then.

But since the move to EE, I'm finding the sheer amount of things that need attention to be quite a challenge in terms of the time needed to address them being the only 'active' dev, and I don't think it is fair on you guys to not be aware of this.

For example the issue around the Wemic/Brownie races which keeps surfacing. On hindsight and to be blunt, these races should have been disabled from the start as they are OP, and now they are causing login issues and maybe other bugs that people have bought to my attention. I was not aware of these races when we made the switch to EE (due to not having the time to fully analyse the EE/CEP build of the mod) and they have been used by players for months/years, so just disabling them now will just cause a stir. This is understandable as people have invested the time in playing them. This issue now needs a proper analysis and a sensible approach.

The same goes for the PM Bone Skin issue to a lesser degree. I think not having access to the EE server compounds this one as well as needing time to look into NWSync, so it is a little frustrating.

I realise that not only am I the lead Dev but also the only official 'active' Dev. I'm not going to disappear or anything, but it does leave things a little open in terms of what happens next. I have had some offers of support from one active member of the community but I don't know whether they would consider leading the future of the mod.

I guess this is the opportunity for people to have a think and possibly volunteer or come up with ideas.

As I said, this decision comes from what the mod and community needs going forward - a fresh torch bearer to take move things forward and keep this awesome place alive.

-fc-

Hello

There is not an official list of drops (e.g. provided by devs/DMs) as it kind of acts as a spoiler. The wiki I think was setup many years ago but I think it has been broken for most of its existence. I'm not sure who set that up either.

A few of the player base over the years did create posts on the forum with screenshots of items to share which I guess there is no harm in - as long as they are marked with spoiler in the title as not everyone may want to know what the mod has to offer.

Regarding a map - I created a new image based one a year or two ago which should be very up-to-date, see this thread:

http://www.gondorvsmordor.com/gvm2/forum/index.php?topic=3342.0

Or for a direct link to it:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13RQvZDitm6wWAFd77sckjKp88rkMImnJ/view

-fc-

Mmm, that could certainly be a problem. Without really testing further I guess the Enforce Legal Characters should be left as-is. If it becomes a problem a custom script might be needed to check valid characters instead.

Cheers for noticing Thia!

Welcome back!

We're still finding our feet a little since the switch over to EE, as a fair amount of bugs have only just been found/reported even though the mod has now been running for nearly two years on EE (and I've not had the chance to be the most dev the last couple of years), but slowly we're getting there.

Good to see another old face around though!

-fc-

No need for me to be on if you can send me a copy of the character as I don't have access to the vault in order to grab them myself. PM me if you are not sure how to do an export and I can provide instruction and how to send it to me

I should be able to reproduce this offline locally then, hoping that I can replicate the problem.

Thanks for reporting!

Ok, I'm currently unable to access the mod at the moment (covid reasons) but as soon as I can I'll check it out. 25 levels of monk I'm 90% something 'should' happen, but it was a couple of years ago I looked at this.

No this is not intensional but I think the way the server is configured to start at the moment.

Grey, can you double check the settings and make sure the same settings are used that the pre EE version was running, from the top of my head the specific ones should be:

Difficulty : D&D hardcore rules

Enforce Legal Characters : enabled
Item Level Restrictions : enabled

-fc-

Without looking some distant memory is telling me that the benefits of this set does require so many monk levels to work. Maybe 20+? I'll have a look next time I can though.

After looking at things in more detail again and what Godsmack found, it looks like we are going to have to go down the root of providing a custom hak to fix these issues.

Firstly I did some testing on a server I hosted briefly withThia who connected and the PM fix that I reported as working locally also worked for him, so I find it strange that two different servers running the same mod/overrides are behaving differently. It makes me wonder if there is some configuration issue still.

Anyway, creating the hak file itself is a pretty easy task, however distribution the hak will be more of a problem as everyone who wants to connect will need to download an extra resource or they won't be able to connect. This is why I much prefer overrides for light changes as it doesn't require players to have to find and download extra crap manually. It seems Beamdog decided to do something with EE and lower the priority of files in the override directory so they are basically useless if you run other packages such as CEP.

My understanding is that NWSync may automate this for us, but I have not had proper time to look at NWSync - I believe it would need to be installed and configured (probably on the server)? I have no idea if it knows where to put these hak files either for players using Steam vs Non Steam, as Steam seems to create some very specific directories.

I suppose just to get things going I could update things to require a manual download of the hak, unless anyone has time to look into NWSync? I'm not sure realistically when I will be able to that.

Regarding the original issue I'll need to look into it more. The mod has always avoided using hak files as it requires the client (player) to download custom files before being able to connect. This was why custom 2da files in the servers override folder is a much nicer solution as there are no dependencies that have to be downloaded.

Regarding the soundset 2da, it allows players to pick non - standard voice sets. In diamond edition the server didn't have/need a custom soundset 2da as character creation used the players override directory rather than the servers, this must have changed for EE or is linked to the original problem with classes.2da.

But yeh leave it with me and I'll look at both and I'll finally look into nwsync. I probably won't get onto this until Monday now though as I don't have my computer with me this weekend.

Ok, I've re-tested locally and via the proper NWServer.exe and the updated file is definately fixing the issue for me.

Grey - can you just recheck the file is good on the server? If you search for 'cls_stat_palema' (without the quotes) within the classes.2da file in overrides it should be found and will indicate it is the up-to-date version (the old version doesn't have this).

If the file looks good maybe try another restart and maybe even an OS restart just incase?

If this doesn't work I'm at a bit of a loss.

-fc-

Erg, I'll have another look tonight :/

Hi all

Another update, the other 2da files look fine, so I've just emailed over the fixed classes.2da file to Grey. He'll just need to replace the old broken version with the new one and do a server restart and we should be all good on the Pale Master front!

-fc-

Ok I've rebuilt the classes.2da and can confirm that the PM Bone Skin is working again after testing locally.

It is also possible that the RDD class may have had a bug too, as it also has new configuration in the EE version of the 2da, I've checked an RDD locally and it seems to be fine too.

I'm going to try to check the other 2da overrides the mod uses (there are 5 in total) just to see if anything looks like it could be missing, but I would have thought players may have spotted any other bugs.

So with all being well I'll send the updated 2da's to Grey either tonight or tomorrow night at the latest so he can update them on the server, then all should be well with the PM class again.

-fc-

Thanks @bad_karma! After looking at the classes.2da which I believe is the culprit, I think the modifications should be easy. Comparing the Diamond version to the EE version there is a whole load of new columns (and some rows), as well as some other PM specific changes, which probably explains why Bone Skin might be broken.

I think creating a new custom EE version of a classes.2da shouldn't be a problem as the Diamond version only had changes to remove XP penalty and alignment restrictions, which are just two columns.

Problem I do have though is I think my copy of the Diamond edition classes.2da, which I need to refer to, to is out of date, so I've asked Grey to send me the one the server is running so I don't go an introduce a new bug (like accidentally re-enabling the alignment restrictions).

I'm so tempted to put these damn 2da files in source control as its always been a pain to keep them inline or remember what state they are in  

But yes I may run them by you, thanks

So it look like there is a bug with the Pale Master Bone Skin feat that isn't just effecting the Wemic race after-all. It appears to be effecting all races. Essentially there is currently no AC bonus from Bone Skin on the server.

It looks like this might be something to do with one of the 2da files we use to modify classes, this particular file was just copied from the original game and pre-EE version. However it seems that this might be why it is broken as bits of NWN under EE are now working differently.

So it looks like I'm going to have to rebuild the 2da file in question from scratch using the default EE version as a starting point. I'm not sure how long this will take me but it will be a right pain as it is a horrible format to work with.

I thought I'd create this thread to track its progress rather than it getting lost in another thread that has other things being talked about.

The good news is that it is just a file and doesn't require a whole new version of the mod, so hoping it can be fixed relatively easily with a rebuild of this file.

-fc-

VERSION
lotr_gondor_vs_mordor_ee_2020-10-05

DATE
5th October 2020

MISCELLANEOUS UPDATES
29
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