This override allows module builders (and DMs) to see the standard animal companions, familiars, and summons in the the standard palette. I made this so that I could enter the stats for the familiars and companions in NWNWiki, and figured I would add the summons and release it for whoever wants it.
My thinking is that this is most useful for module builders, but it also works for DMs who want to see these creatures in the Creator. One warning for DMs, though: the level 10 fairie dragon's faction is invalid, making it unexpectedly hostile. (The remaining familiars and companions are in traditionally friendly factions, mostly "commoner". Summons are a mixed bag of hostile and friendly.)
With regards to the version required, this could actually be used with any version of the game. However, if used without the expansions or without the latest patch, the creatures added in the missing expansions and patches will appear in the standard palette, but will not be usable. If you are willing to put up with that, then go ahead and use this.
Other entries: The other two entries are imports that add the familiars and companions to the custom creature palette, which is useful if you want to modify those creatures for your module. On the downside, they remain in the palette, which could be problematic for DMs who are close to the 16K blueprint cap. In addition, if BioWare made any bugfixes to these creatures since the other entries' release (I'm not aware of any, but if they did), those fixes would be overwritten by the import. (These also overwrite the familiar fixes by Ben Harrison, although that could be compensated for by copying that fix to temp0, if you know what that means.)
This entry: This entry is an override of the standard palette, not an import of creature blueprints. This is useful if you want to see the creature stats or edit copies of the standard creatures. This override can be removed while DMing, so the 889 blueprints would not count towards the 16k limit. (It's not much, but if a module is close to the limit, every little bit can help.) In addition, since this is a palette, not blueprints, it will not overwrite any changes made to the blueprints, hence is (mostly) suitable for any version of the game (as described above).
Summary: This entry is useful for looking at and editing copies of the creatures, while the other entries are useful for editing the creatures themselves.
Files: This override consists of the following file:
creaturepalstd.itp
Updates: May 1, 2010: Added the summons from elemental swarm. Overlooked them before.
June 12, 2010: Added the red slaad spawned by the disease "red slaad eggs".
July 12, 2010: Added the paladin mounts (who are magical beasts, not animals, by the way).
Posted by MrZork at 2012-07-15 16:32:56 Voted 10.00 on 07/15/12
Thanks, TK! This saved me some trouble and it seems sensible that the standard creatures someone would be familiar with from playing would be available (even if just for ideas) when building.
Posted by FunkySwerve at 2011-11-30 10:12:46 Voted 10.00 on 11/30/11
Saved me a great deal of time hunting down default summon stats when doing revisions of the mord sword and shel pers. blade spells. Nice work.
Posted by tltlvilus at 2009-11-09 20:20:52 Voted 10.00 on 11/09/09
thank you _________________________ Forgotten Dimension 2.2
Posted by ASBay at 2009-03-01 17:18:30 Voted 10.00 on 03/01/09
This also makes it easier to re-use BioWare resources that you'd otherwise need to hunt down in NWN Explorer.
It's a shame that the categories aren't also available for Custom blueprints, but I know from my own fooling around with palettes that they're better left alone unless you're using hakpaks.
Posted by rawn_phoenix at 2009-02-16 05:20:50 Voted 10.00 on 02/16/09
I think this is great!
thanks for this, TK.
Posted by ShaDoOoW at 2009-02-16 01:15:50 Voted 10.00 on 02/16/09
"I don't know why a DM would want to create these creatures" Thats it I don't know either :).
This is not unusable by builders; you are just trying to use it for a different task than its intent. As I said in the description, if you want to edit the creatures themselves (not a copy), do not use this -- you want the older submissions. This is not intended to allow builders to change existing creatures.
The purpose I envision for using this is allowing a builder to create new familiars, companions, and summons, based on the existing ones. While it is always possible to create new blueprints from scratch, some people like a starting point from which to work.
__
What makes this unusable for DMs? (That's a non-rhetorical question.) I ran a test with the DM client and was able to create all the summons (and a selection of the other creatures), so it looked like it was usable to me.
I don't know why a DM would want to create these creatures, but since it's possible to do so, I figured it was worth mentioning. (I thought I indicated in the description that I consider use by DMs as secondary to use by builders.) Maybe someone else will find a use that I'm unable to think of. Maybe not. I don't see the problem in mentioning that something is possible.
Posted by ShaDoOoW at 2009-02-15 13:41:23 Voted 10.00 on 02/16/09
I don't know. This is quite unusable for DMs and when you can't edit it directly its quite unusable for builders too. A copy will not be used by nwn engine...
On the other hand it at least make resref visible so builer can make copy and then change the resref in Leto so he gets override... _________________________ [Boost System] [Door System] [Devastating Critical Immunity] [HIPS remake] [Circle Kick Mode] [1.69 Full 2da Source]
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