Dragon Age 2 mod categories and forums
I have created a full set of forums for Dragon Age 2 on The Nexus Forums and I encourage any budding modders of Dragon Age 2 to make use of the modding forums to let us know what they are working on, or what they are planning to work on.
31 comments
If this is the tone, (or anything like it) that you've taken in your requests with them, I'm not surprised at the lack of response. Neither BioWare, nor any other developer, is under any oligation to reply to Demands of individuals. Although they can certainly do so if they choose...
That they have not responded to you only means that they have not responded to you.
I have received several replies from BioWare staff on various topics, to both public and private queries, including ones regarding bugs, patches-in-progress, and upcoming releases. I expect to do so in the future.
So far, I think they have provided all the public information they can (I paraphrase here, mostly from interviews):
In DA2 we used a slightly updated verison of the same basic tools as we used in DA...
Which is enough for the more energetic modders to get started figuring out what can be done at the moment,
--and--
We hope to release an updated modder's Toolset...
Which is an acknowledegement of the Community's desire and expectation.
If, after as much time has elapsed from DA2's release as passed after DA went Gold (~Feb 2009) before the Toolset was available, (so, six months) THEN I might share in your disappointment.
1) Bioware has flatly REFUSED to answer any request for basic modding information since Awakenings. I have posted three in the weeks leading up to DA2's release and they are still unanswered (two weeks after). Basic things, like can we use DAO content in DA2. Since they cannot be bothered to answer I cannot be bothered to care if they say No at some later date. (Do not worry Dark One, I will not jeopardize the Nexus if I do release anything with DAO material).
2) I requested their command-line ERF packer/unpacker since we *do not need* a full toolset (nice, but not critical). They of course ignored that. All packing/unpacking starts with this basic tool, and now that we have this via Third-Parties (there are more than one version), this just shows that it *was* possible, and that they do not want to support us (yet).
3) They even refused to respond to an official request to explain the Override folder, and why it no longer works (as it did in DAO). QED - They are *not* supporting modding (right now).
The question is why? The answer is simple. The first real addon is to be an Expansion Pack. They have promised that it will by much longer and detailed than Awakenings, which means it is going to be the other half of DA2 (since DA2's 40 hours is bloated with 20 hours of cut-scenes). They do not want to jeopardize that release since sales are going to tank as soon as Witcher 2 comes out.
I have been saying for the last two weeks that I expect DA2 to be on (at least a weekend) aggressive sale (40-50% off) just like FNV was. This is not only to artificially boost their sagging sales numbers (compared to expectations) for the first quarter review.It is to maximize their profits, by selling more base units in preparation for the Expansion (read second half of the game that you already paid for). Then they will make their magnanimous appearance, release the toolset, and wonder why we start ignoring *them*.
Cut-scenes do not a game make. They are topping, not cake.
As for using hashes, instead of file names, it is a faster indexing system. So why did they have to hide it? Why not give Chris Priestly a sticky to post on the official modding forum explaining it? It would take about half the time it took me to write all this. Then again, they could simply have released their command line ERF unpacker. Then we would not have had to collate 100K+ file names with the hasehs (a real PITA! - but we are nearly done).
No, this is an EPIC fail for support, which will directly impact the sales of their Expansion (sales not players).
Cheers!
Removing it does not speed up performance because they already packed their files in the .erf format to begin with.
The only things this accomplished was making the graphics harder (read: impossible without 3rd-party tools) to override, and made it far more difficult to mix and match separate alterations.
Loss of pre-existing functionality is the very definition of a step backward.
They were never required before.
You could let the Toolset pack them in .erfs, or you could leave them loose in the override folder. Both methods were equally viable.
Now, you apparently have to put them (textures/models) in .erfs for the game to read them right. That's a deliberate step backward.
Also, if the recent slew of GDA modifications are any indication, M2DAs have also been 'decommissioned'. Which would be a gargantuan hit to Mod-compatibility and knock us back to the NWN/NWN2 stage.Tested in-game and M2DAs still work fine. Seems these modders just didn't know about them.