HDTP and Shifter

[Dark Reality]

I'm here on behalf of the GameFAQs board for Deus Ex; we would like to know how, if at all, HDTP will affect Shifter, a mod popular in our community. From Shifter's author Yukichigai:

It all hinges on whether or not HDTP replaces any of the elements within DeusEx.u. If it requires overwriting DeusEx.u, Shifter won't work with it. [source]

I don't think HDTP will, from what I know of it. If it simply replaces the textures' filenames as they are called from the various .uc files, it should be compatible, as Shifter merely replaces DeusEx.u.

Your representative there (posts as thalesa7x1) says he or she does not know what Shifter is. It's a mod you should consider checking out, as fans of the game. It essentially enhances gameplay, basically changing the rules somewhat. It adds a few custom weapons and a new type of ammo, but the author is committed to maintaining the integrity of the game's balance.

If HDTP and Shifter will be incompatible, I strongly urge cooperation between your team and Yukichigai to allow the option of using the two together. If they will be compatible - it's still a good mod to check out. Here's the link.

It's great to hear that HDTP will be having a release soon; I think I speak for all of us at GameFAQs' Deus Ex board when I say we're all really excited and looking forward to seeing what you've been working on the past few years.

[DDL]

It'll involve deusex.u changes, yes.

It's far, far easier to change the model/texture references in the code than it is to give all the textures/models names that the original code references.

Plus for models suddenly acquiring unique models (hello Gunther, Hello JC, hello pretty much anyone major), where before they were only generic models (GM_trench, etc), this is the ONLY way to do it.

What I suspect will happen is that we'll make all the code open source anyway, so Yuki can sift through and incorporate the relevant changes into a "HDTPShifter" mod. Most of the changes will be cosmetic defaultproperties stuff, anyway, so it should be pretty easy to do.

[Smoke39]

Plus for models suddenly acquiring unique models (hello Gunther, Hello JC, hello pretty much anyone major), where before they were only generic models (GM_trench, etc), this is the ONLY way to do it.

No it isn't. Provided you did name the animations the same, you could change the default properties of the characters in the maps, or you could program some object that would actively look for the said characters and change their properties.

[Dark Reality]

This may be a little above what I know about the code, but what if, in addition to the release, HDTP have some file which basically has all the code and where it's added/changed, and Yuki do the same with Shifter - is it possible, in this way, to merge the two mods, on a dynamic and ongoing basis? I mean, like, automatically. Take the vanilla DX files, run a script which would add the latest HDTP changes, and then run another script which would add the latest Shifter changes. Each project would then merely update the script, and the installer would uninstall the old version (restore vanilla DX code) and then apply the new changes.

Or... is that an impossible solution?

[Y|yukichigai]

I think if I really, really tried hard I could find a way to incorporate the changes AUTOMATICALLY, so that they'd detect whether or not the appropriate shape files were or weren't there using DynamicLoad. That would probably be a pain in the ass, a big one, but then again I have a lot of free time. So long as the modified code is available (who am I kidding, if it comes with a DeusEx.u file anybody can decompile it) I should be able to do that, or like DDL said make an "HDTPShifter" mod.

Rest easy, there will be high-def Shifter goodness one way or the other.

[DDL]

No it isn't.

Fair enough: The only non-horrible way to do it, then.

[Darkshade]

Smokes + HDTP + Shifter = Delicious Deus Ex.

[Jonas]

lol woah, that would be some significant pimpage of DX!

Yukichigai, welcome to our forums. Don't be a stranger. I would've checked out your mod ages ago, but I'm dead scared of messing up my precious TNM installation.

I promise I'll play Shifter (and Smoke's mod, for that matter) when we're done.

[Y|yukichigai]

Well, Shifter is a pretty basic "swap out your DeusEx.u file for this new one" mod, but I imagine TNM is fairly to completely unstable at times during development. You could do an ini+exe copy, modify the ini to use a different directory and run it like that if you wanted to, but I wouldn't want to chance screwing anything up if I were in your position either. I am really, really curious to see how the two will interact though.

Actually, I won't lie, I like seeing how any mod interacts with mine. Burden of 80 Proof + Shifter = surprisingly good, for example.

Anyway, it's always nice to know my insane-ramblings-put-to-code are appreciated by at least some small segment of the community. I'll be around here from time to time, now that I've actually bothered to create an account.

[warman]

Insane?
Some of the things incorporated into Shifter are sooo damned fun!
The pigeons and the whole skill point system are really well done!

I love playing Shifter!

[Billy Bob Joe]

Yes, if it is possible to merge Smoke's mod and Shifter, then add the HDTP over that, well... that would be really awesome.

[Mr_Cyberpunk]

Then we can CRAM all of it into DX:reborn lol here's wishing.

[Jonas]

I imagine TNM will mix pretty decently with DeusEx.u replacement mods (let's abbreviate that to DXUR) like Smoke's or Shifter, because we've made it a point not to replace that package. Anything we've changed from DX in TNM will use new classes, and will thus be unaffected by DXUR mods. All the stuff we just left unchanged from DX will be changed accordingly.

And we're working on fixing a problem with our installer so TNM will work right if you've added something to your DeusEx.ini file before you install our mod (in other words, it should no longer break our mod if you've installed eg. Smoke's mod before you install ours).

But we'll see how that turns out

[Dominic_Denton]

Does Smoke39 affect Shifter?

[ThalesA7X]

From what I understand they both replace the DeusEx.u (?) file. so you can NOT use them both at the same time.