Welcome back to Grim Misadventures. Since the last time, Grim Dawn has seen a balance update that also introduced some new ways to collect Legendary items. You can check out Version 1.0.0.2 here. With some important fixes out of the way, we can once again focus some of our attention on getting the modding tools to you as soon as possible. We expect the tools to be out by the end of April, or sooner.
In today’s update, we will cover some of the functionality coming with the Quest and Conversation tools, which you can of course intertwine with the Lua functionality to create some more unusual gameplay.
Quest Editor
Quests in Grim Dawn are broken down into Tasks, which then have their own sets of Objectives. This flexible setup allows you to create branching situations in quests where one task can lead to several different tasks depending on resolution.
In addition, you can execute Actions (give skill points/attribute points/iron bits, give/take items, give Tokens, etc.) at the beginning of each task, upon completion of individual objectives and at the end of each task. Action execution can be further refined with Conditions (does the player have an item? A Token? Has killed X of a monster? Etc.).
For example, the Paying Tribute quest in Old Arkovia has 4 possible endings and required 6 quest Tasks. Which Task was started was largely controlled by what conversation choices the player made. This all intertwined further with Lua scripts to create the different endings. Including the quite fatal one with the entire village destroyed.
And with every quest come rewards. Using a combination of Conditions and Actions, you can give out rewards based on player choices, the game difficulty, even taking into account choices made on previous quests. You could even execute different Lua scripts based on player decisions that can affect the world itself and what enemies appear later on.
Conversation Editor
The Conversation Editor works closely with the Quest Editor to create content for Grim Dawn, but you can do quite a lot with just NPC dialogue alone. As examples of how you can impact the game world without doing a single quest include the bridge repair and detonation sites.
As with the Quest Editor, you have extensive control over what dialogues occur and what happens next with the careful use of Conditions and Actions. Has the player done a particular quest? Then offer them the next. Has the player already slain a monster for a quest? Rather than offering them the quest, let them skip right to the turn-in step.
Would you rather create a complex weave of dialogue options where the player has to overcome an NPC’s riddle to continue or face a tough opponent should they fail? Maybe you want to create a game world where every NPC can be threatened and killed permanently? These are just examples of what you can do by combining Conversations with Lua.
An NPC can have as many dialogue nodes as you wish, but you have to be careful of the dialogue conditions you check for. Dialogue nodes are executed sequentially. The game checks each dialogue node from the top down until it finds one that player meets the conditions for, as soon as the player meets the conditions of a dialogue node, the ones below are not be considered.
Grim Questions
Now that you know a little more about the tools, below are some of the questions you asked in our last Grim Misadventure, but this time with answers:
I have question about FX editor, will be there something to play with?
The Particle Effects editor will be included with the modding tools.
Is it possible we will be able to make a base building wave defense game? It could be fun.
Something like this would require extensive use of Lua, but if you set up some timers you could theoretically create a defense game with defenses selected by the player.
How about texture editor or something like this? Is there a way to export or import game textures?
Texture and art asset creation is something you would handle with external tools, such as Photoshop or 3DS MAX. They are not provided with the modding tools.
Will it be possible through conversation editor to give player a non-mastery skill at a specific level, remove this skill, increase the level of this skill?
Granting skills and editing skill levels are exclusive to the Skill and Skill Reclamation Window, or Equipment.
Will it be possible to save a token (an integer or a string token) for all characters (for example the achievement system must count all monsters killed by all characters so there must be a way)?
Token Strings are stored per character, per difficulty. It is not possible with current functionality to check a Token from another character. Achievements track progress per individual character as well.
Will it be possible to make some new achievements?
It is possible to create new Achievements, but only for the in-game Achievement window. You would not be able to create new Steam Achievements.
Will it be possible to mod the weaponblink skills like shadow strike to make it target the ground in order to use it as a movement power?
That would require you to edit the engine, which cannot be done with the modding tools.
Will it be possible to make item with skill modifier/transmuter?
That is not possible with current functionality.
Will it be possible to make new faction and keep all original factions?
Yes, you can create new factions, or even edit existing ones.
Do you think it would be possible for the community to translate the modding tools to other languages?
Not currently possible, but something we can look into down the line.
It will support Steam Workshop for this?
Right now we are focused on the core functionality and stability of the mod tools, but Steam Workshop is something we may look into as well.
Will modifications/game overhauls be capable of being applied to the main campaign, or will we have to work with the Custom Campaign switcharoo with Custom Campaign-specific characters again for that sort of stuff?
Modding tools will allow you to create Custom game modes. Editing the Main Campaign would constitute editing core game files, which is technically possible (see Soulvizier for Titan Quest as an example of this), but is not directly supported by the modding tools.
How much easier will it be to blend textures around map edges?
So long as textures exist in both regions, you should have no trouble blending them seamlessly.
Can we put objects near edges without too many problems?
With the exception of Set Pieces (which have an area that must be fully encompassed by a single world region), you can place objects as close to the world edge as you like.
Are objects now really pathable?
You can create objects such as bridges and platforms that are pathable, while still allowing pathing underneath them.
Undergrounds. I see a great deal of beautiful asymmetry in the game’s dungeons (Darkvale Gate for example). Did the “grid type” (sorry can’t remember name) maps survive? Are there curved assets? How can you make curves in grid mode?
The Grid Dungeon system was not used in the creation of Grim Dawn levels.
I remember Rhis said a long time ago that anything like a scoring/tracking system between players can be done with the right scripts. Is this still true? Ie. monster kill, death etc.
Those functions are not currently exposed to Lua, but if there is high demand for them they could potentially be added.
Is it possible to mod in custom music and ambient file?
Yes, you can add custom music and sounds to your mods.
If you’re familiar with Warcraft 3 siege map, is it something like that possible?
This was a type of mode where players try to hold out in a fixed area as monsters continuously assault them? That should be possible with extensive Lua scripting.
I wonder what can be changed by mods. For example: Disabling critting dots? Changing how Conversion works?
Things like that are core engine functionality and cannot be edited with the modding tools.
Will it be possible to edit how the damage types work? For instance, make that only 4 or 5 damage types exist in the game, with the related resistances, and with the damages over time computed over the related damage types, for instance all the fire damages always do an extra x% burn damage over y seconds.
You would have to completely remove any reference to certain damage types from every skill, item and monster. Not impossible, but a major task to tackle. The second and third parts require editing core game functionality and cannot be done with the modding tools.
Will it be possible to edit how the masteries work? For instance, make that the first mastery can unlock the skills up to level 50, while the second mastery can only unlock up to level 40. And will it be possible to select a third mastery?
Both of these would require editing core game functionality and cannot be done with the modding tools.
Will it be possible to restrict skills to specific items? For instance, bash to maces, bleeding to swords, charge to shields etc.
You can assign specific item types as requirements to use particular skills. This is already the case with several Mastery skills.
Will it be possible to assign the special attacks of the devotions to the default attack? Will it be possible to make that the completion of a specific devotion, or a specific item, or a specific reward from a quest, is required in order to unlock a specific devotion?
This would require editing core game functionality and cannot be done with the modding tools.
Will it be possible to edit how the death work? For instance, make that the character who dies has all his/her experience back to zero from his/her current level, or that all his/her inventory drop where he/she died, or that a specific quest is then required in order to get back the experience and the items?
This would require editing core game functionality and cannot be done with the modding tools.
Will it be possible to completely remove the components and the unique items from the drop system? To make that only random weapons/armors/jewels can be picked up. Will it be possible to define specific attributes to items? For instance, that only weapons have a chance to have +% physical damage, and that no book(focus) can ever do that.
You would have to edit all of the item loot tables, but yes, you can completely eliminate certain items from the loot pool with a mod. You can also completely redefine the affix tables by item type as well with the same method.
Will it be possible to enable dual wield by default for any character for any set of items? If so, will it be possible to setup a default penalty for dual wield, and specific passive skills that reduce that penalty?
This would require editing core game functionality and cannot be done with the modding tools.
Did today’s update inspire new modding ideas? Any new questions? Let us know in the comments below. What modding tool would you like to hear about in more detail?
Like knowing what is coming up next for Grim Dawn? Check back on 04/04/2016 for the next Grim Misadventure.
Attachment: Quest Tool.jpg
Attachment: Quest Tool 2.jpg
Attachment: Conversation Tool.jpg
Attachment: Conversation Tool 2.jpg
Attachment: Conversation Tool 3.jpg
