GameBanshee Forums

Probably sounds like a strange request ... but is there such a thing as an XP reducing mod?

I like playing solo games, but I've never actually finished a game that way. The problem is since you're getting all the XP intended for a party of 6, you level up very quickly ... and before long, you're so powerful, the game just becomes boring. So is there a way to reduce the XP received so that I'm basically getting the same XP as if I was in a party? I know I could keep going into SK and reducing it manually, but that would be a pain ...

No, but the gibberlings3.net G3Tweak pack has lower xp caps (level 20/30) so you can simulate SoA and/or delay your HLAs. You can also edit your XPLEVEL.2da with a text editor so there is more experience required to level up. For example, if you level up like:

Level 5 20,000
Level 6 30,000

you can edit it so it's:

Level 5 20,000
Level 6 50,000

There is often a pattern, so it's easy enough. This method is probably the one you would like the most, just use your better judgement when your adding the xp. And back up your XPLEVEL.2da.

Thanks! That sounds like just the thing. And you're right that I prefer the second option - shooting up quickly then maxing out is not what I'm after (besides, I could easily simulate that by just not leveling up after a certain point).

[QUOTE=Grandpa]edit your XPLEVEL.2da with a text editor[/QUOTE]

What editor do you use? I've tried both Notepad and Wordpad, and both seem to mess it up. Even without actually changing anything (just add and remove a space for example), as soon as I save the file, the game no longer works. Try to create a character and I start at level 0 (it's actually kind of funny - Irenicus comes in to torture me, hits me once, and I die - game over!)

Haha, that is funny . You can do this with Notepad or Near Infinity for example, though with text editors you have to turn word wrap off or it is chaotic. I can't imagine why you are dying or the game isn't working. . .maybe show what you edited? The spaces are irrelevant for this file. Level 1 is 0 experience. Don't touch that column or the last column, as these prevent experience wraps. I wouldn't start adding xp until after level 8-9, but that's just my lazy arse.

You might be interested in taking a look at the project in-progress here, which seeks to reduce/rebalance XP rewards throughout the game:

http://forums.pocketplane.net/index.php?topic=537.0

As I said, I'm not really changing anything ... simply open the file, add a space, delete the space, and save.

When I open it in Wordpad, it looks nicely formatted - every class is on a seperate line, and the level columns are all lined up. When I open it in Notepad however, it looks like there's only one line, except Notepad can't handle a line that long - so it does wrap onto a few lines, even with word wrap turned off.

I've also noticed that the size changes slightly when I change it (even though, as I said, I'm not really changing anything). It goes from 6266 bytes to 6227 from notepad or 6253 from wordpad. So it's obviously changing something, and I'm guessing it has something to do with the line breaks ...

In any case, as I said, start the game and you're at level 0, with the next level at -1 XP. I'm guessing it can't understand the file anymore, so you've got no level info at all. I didn't take note of HP, but I probably don't have any, so that's why I die in the torture scene.

My advice would be, get a good editor. There should be quite a few for free everywhere on the web, I'm using Crimson Editor (search via google) for most things, but in this case I think it's simply a problem of using the proper encoding, so most would work fine.
I guess both Notepad and Wordpad use ANSI standard and probably don't allow anything else (they are MS products, after all), and BG most likely does not. Most other editors, however, should be able to read and write the proper format.

Thanks, I gave Crimson Editor a try, and it worked like a charm!

Ohh. . .I'm sorry Glen, I understand. I use Context myself, free and very featured. Glad you got something to work out.