Making monsters drop their organs
Description: by JBouley
Categories: Tutorials (1.00-1.06x)
First off, while this is
a fairly simple process, it does require several steps. Three
files are involved in this process: MonItemPercent.txt, misc.txt,
and monstats.txt
MonItemPercent.txt simply controls the drop rate for organs.
Columns B & C are what you'll be looking for. You can leave
the drop rate 'as-is,' or make it higher. (Warning: When I
dropped it lower than 15, organs never seemed to drop at all).
Notice the respective titles of these columns are 'heart…'
and 'body part…' You'll be seeing this theme again when
you get to the monstats.txt file near the end of this process.
The body parts themselves are in the misc.txt file. First,
you'll need to make them spawnable. Go to column E and put a 1
in there (this will also make it possible to have organs and other
parts be sold by shopkeepers…more on that in a moment). I'm
not sure if you need to put anything in column D ('rarity'),
but I have usually put in 1 or 2 just to be on the safe side. I
don't think it matters though unless you are trying to include
organs in one or more of the treasure classes dropped by monsters.
(You DON'T need to worry about the TreasureClass.txt file, by
the way, because organ-dropping bypasses the treasure drop
function).
Next, you'll need to make sure the organ can be right-clicked
to turn into something else once you pick it up. Otherwise,
what's the purpose of having the organ to begin with? Many of
the body parts are already set to turn into something. You can
change that to be a different item, or you can make items that
don't currently transmogrify do so. To do this, make sure there
is a 1 in column W (transmogrify).
In column X (Tmog type) you put the three-letter (in some
cases, like exceptional weapons, a three-letter number/letter
combo) code for the item you want the organ to turn into. I made
the heart turn into a light healing potion in my mod, for example
(by entering hp2 in the X column), and the spleen turns into an
antidote potion (by putting yps in the X column). Play with your
own combos and desires.
Columns Y & Z (Tmog min and Tmog max) should both be 1
unless the item is stackable (like arrows, bolts, exploding
potions, etc.). If the item is stackable, column Y is the least
number that will appear in the stack that result, and column Z is
the most that will appear in the stack. NOTE: I have tried to make
this function create multiple non-stacking items (like gems), but
it has not yet worked for me.
You can also go to the individual shopkeepers and make them
sell specific organs if you like. Each of them has a 'min' and
'max' column (for Charsi, it's columns AW and AX). The min
is the minimum number of those items that will appear on the
shopkeeper's 'misc' screen in the game (along with things
like potions and arrows). Max, obviously, is the most that will
appear. Don't go too crazy here: Remember, there are only so
many squares on the shopkeeper's screen. I suspect the game will
crash if more items generate than there is room to hold them (or
maybe I'm wrong).
If you are having folks sell some of these organs, make sure
the price in column J is appropriate. For example, I have hearts
sell for just a little less than the potion they turn into, but I
also have the min/max for the shopkeeper set at 0 and 1,
respectively, so that the organ is not always there. I see organs
as sort of a 'smart shopper' option for my characters when
they can buy them.
A few quick warnings and tips:
1—Some organs have messed-up graphics (controlled by Column
T, which is 'invfile'). For example, the soul is set to use
the same graphic as the spleen. And the scalp shows up as a
scepter, which is really messed-up because the game tries to stuff
it into a 1X1 square area. So be aware and give the organs new
graphics if you want.
2—The tail can be dropped, but I have never been able to pick
it up from the ground when it does. So I simply have Gheed sell it
(and I set it to transmute into a belt, but made it cost much less
than a belt…so that there's a use for it)
3—Not all items are 'organs.' You can have monsters drop
the flag, or a jawbone, or the Black Tower key for that matter. I
have the shamans drop those flag-staffs they carry, which in my
mod transmutes into ID scrolls.
That's all I can think of for misc.txt. Now, on to the final
Excel/text file: monstats.txt
In monstats.txt, you will concern yourself with two columns: HA
(heart) and HB (body part) In HA, for example, you could put the
code hrt and that monster would occasionally drop its heart when
it dies. In HB, you could put fng and have a fang drop from time
to time from those monsters. You have to do this on a
monster-by-monster basis, and you could generate a lot of
combinations.
It seems (though I haven't fully tested this), that it
doesn't matter if you put something other than a heart in the HA
column. I'm sure you could assign any organ or part to that
column, and another organ in the HB column, and have the
possibility of either one dropping.
Also, I suspect that you could put ANY item in those two
columns, as long as it has one of the three-letter codes. So you
could probably set the HA or HB column so that the monster will
drop, say, a lance or a rejuv potion. Again, I haven't fully
tested this, but it seems to be the case, and offers another way
to generate 'treasure.'
There's one last thing to do: Edit the string.tbl file.
Unless you want to see the annoying 'Not xlated call ken'
message on your screen all the time with these organs, you need to
enter the three-letter codes for these body parts into the
string.tbl file and give them some kind of name (Hero's Heart,
Spleen, Ruptured Eyeball, whatever). The name does not, I repeat
does NOT have to match what is in misc.txt. But make sure the
three-letter code DOES match what's in misc.txt.
Unless I've forgotten something, that's it.
-Jeff
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