How-To make your own Background (char)

1. download the UnDAT utility and unzip it to your Arcanum directory
2. Go to your command prompt by pressing the "start" button, choosing "run" and typing "command"
Create a folder called modding on drive C: (or anywhere else, change the instructions accordingly)
go to your Arcanum directory and type undat arcanum3.dat c:modding
3. copy c:moddingmes description.mes and gameback.mes to the folder datames in your Arcanum folder.
4. copy c:moddingrules backgrnd.mes and effect.mes to the folder datarules in your Arcanum folder.
5. Now edit mesgameback.mes add this att the end the last arcanum background is 1076 so I make mine is 1077 at the end of the page. The name is before you press enter the info is after Ok like this.

{1077}{My own background

Yeah I am superhero.}

6. Now edit rulesbackgrnd.mes the one car that is before me is 780 every +10 is a new char. so mine is 790 here the 1077 is my info

{790}{1077} <--- Link to mes/gameback.mes for char info (1077)

{791}{359} <--- link to rules/effect.mes (359)

{792}{any} <--- race and gender see top of the rules/backgrnd.mes for help

{793}{100000} <--- Gold

{794}{8132 6088} <--- Link to items from mes/description.mes full list of all items. just add numbers with a space not , ok

7.time for the rules/effect.mes here is whare all fun is. edit effect.mes and go to the end of it and add after {359} line like the rest.
{359}{st +12} //My own background

now you have a background that give you +12 st if you look higher up in the list ju can put in all you like this
{359}{in +4, st +2, dx +3, ch +4, be +1, wp +6, resistdamage +25, resistfire +25, resistelectrical +25, resistpoison +25}

all is done have fun!!!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Zewy on 2001-08-30 22:42 ]</font>

 

It is done :smile:

 

Feel free to use this as the auto-level schamal that I talked about. --- to the admins of the page :smile:

 

So now one finds this intresting to make there own background o well.

 

I would but I'm still trying to figure it out.

 

Great guide, zewy....after some fiddling I believe I have everything down pat.

Now, now a complete documentation of the variables used in the effect.mes file...heh. Wonder if you can make reactions to hostile animals permanently neutral, for example.

 

for even more fun look in rules/monster.txt and rules/npc.txt and rules/unique.txt

mess around with that if you like I have not have any close look at em.

 

DO I have to recompile somehow?

DO I have to recompile the dat file somehow
Do I have to recompile this file or will the game just know to look at that file instead of arcanum3.dat?

Also, is there a way to get some of the more unusual effects like educator? All I could find was that it did maxfollowers-1, but it didn't mention anything about training followers. (is there a script of something that does it?)

 

NO recompile needed. just put the changed files in arcanum/data rules or mes
that done.

for edit you folloers look at this page http://www.terra-arcanum.com/council/articles/followeredit.shtml

 

In effect.mes look in it and you see all backgrounds. and just cut and past and take all things ju like.

 

four questions about making personal backgrounds

when i extracted the dat files from arcanum3.dat they weren't sent to modding file like they should have been instead they weresent to a file called arcanum3 that was created for the information automatically without my telling the computer to do so i moved the arcanum3 file inside the modding file but should this make a difference in my trying to create a background?

also you say to copy description.mes and gameback.mes to the mes folder and backgrnd. mes and effect.mes to the rules folder but the only files i can find called mes or rules are the ones they were in from the extraction what did i do wrong?

also is there a limit to the amount of items you can put on a background because i put quite a few and my background doesn't show up in the game when you're creating a character

also do you have to limit your stat modifications to what is within the chaacter's physical limits? for instance if you have a halfelf female (dx +1, bty +1, cn -1, +5% magic aptitude) can you only add 11 points of constitution to her starting values of 8 to make 19 or can you get around this?

i followed your directions in all steps except for the copying of files because i didn't know where to copy them to i only modified 5 stats and 5 skills please help me find what i did wrong so that i can get it to work and play the game thanks in advance for your help

 

Welcome to the forum, Arch! :smile: