When I first bought Blood 2 - The Chosen, I downloaded the Shogo Tools
in order to crack open the rez files. I was able to listen to the wav
files and look at the models, nothing more. Just as with Blood and its
tools, the rest seemed complicated and intimidating. I'm no programmer!
BROOKLYN REZ
April 20, 1999
How I Did It
When I first bought Blood 2 - The Chosen, I downloaded the Shogo Tools
in order to crack open the rez files. I was able to listen to the wav
files and look at the models, nothing more. Just as with Blood and its
tools, the rest seemed complicated and intimidating. I'm no programmer!
Then came the first series of Blood 2 Mods....
Revenant, FXEnhancer, Cult, Cultcon, Magna and their updates. These
are welcome additions to the game- I don't play without them. But wait
a minute- the source code and Blood 2 tools. How did these guys do it?
So I unrezzed these mods to see what makes them tick. I currently don't
have a program that can edit skins. What I did do was to examine the
structure of a mod. Obviously what it does is override original files of
the same name with new content. I can do that!
The hardest part is staying organized and focussed. It would be easier if
I had one computer running the game, another running sound editors,
another open to a DTX skin viewer (I DL'ed Photshop Trial towards the end)
and another open to Model Edit to view the sound events in the command
string. That's not happening anytime soon so it was a lot of trial and
error. BROOKLYN.REZ is the result of about 30 incarnations over the course
of one week. Along the way, I discovered that I can manipulate the
animation event timing as well. This can take the lethargy out of enemies
and weapons, but that's next. I would want to do it in a way that does
not compete or step on other mods.
Male Civilians
I switched around some wavs and added some new ones. I added the 4th
skin and replaced the others with Biosuits.
Lab Techs
I gave them Biosiuts also, but the skin stretching over the lab coat
tails shrunk the mask window and didn't look right. I switched the
model to Male Civilian.
Bone Leech and Thief
I switched both with the Rat model and skin, but could not get the
"warning" wavs to load. I can't as yet edit the frame strings. But
when you are attacked, you get the familiar Blood 1 rat sound. As
Bone Leeches, the Rat is more visible. As a Thief, somewhat less.
Use your NightVision if your eyesight isn't too hot.
Shikari
I'm sorry; I can't stand the Shikari. It belongs in a different
game. The sound it makes too. Like shooting a monkey-horse. The
last thing I need in a game like Blood 2 is to feel sorry for my
enemy. I switched the model and sound with the Behemoth. It's not
perfect because it carries some of the bugs of the Shikari but I
think you'll find the concept works overall and makes sense.
Misc.
I changed a few world objects, some wavs here and there, such as
the cut scene in Temple of Poon. Next up will be weapons, phones,
other static objects. Who can say what else when the tools and code
(which I'll have to teach myself) are finally released.
I'm grateful to all the aforementioned mod designers for blazing
the trail. Special thanks to Taniwha and MagnaMan for tips and
feedback.
Enjoy!
William Egan Simonson - "Brooklyn"
SOLAMENTE@MINDSPRING.COM
