Dragon Age Toolset Wiki - User contributions [en]

Creating modules for Dragon Age

2011-02-13T01:49:29Z

Ladydesire:

This will be a general tutorial on creating modules for Dragon Age: Origins; it will apply to both stand-alone addins (player created playable modules) and addins that extend one or more of the official campaign modules created by Bioware. Please note that I will not be assuming that you have read the Official Tutorials created by Bioware and will cover as much as is needed for a thorough understanding of the module creation process, but I will assume that you have installed the Dragon Age Toolset successfully.

== The toolset layout ==

The toolset is roughly divided into four sections; the Editor Window, the Log Window, the Palette Window and the Object Inspector. I will describe the function of each of these sections in the following subsections.

=== The Editor Window ===

This section of the toolset is where the majority of the work is done in the Dragon Age Toolset. It starts out empty whenever the toolset is started, and it is where all of the usable editors will load when doing specific tasks, like editing scripts and creating new levels.

=== The Log Window ===

This section of the toolset is where you will see all of the error messages and other message output from the toolset when you do certain things, like exporting resources from the toolset (I will talk about this later in this tutorial).

=== The Palette Window ===

This section of the toolset shows all resources available in the module, by catagories; if you are building a new module and have not associated an existing module with it, this will be empty.

=== The Object Inspector ===

This section of the toolset will allow you to examine the properties of any item stored in the toolset database except for the ownership properties.

== Editors ==

==Pallets ==

== Creating a new module to work in ==

You should always create a new module to do the majority of your work in the DA Toolset. The only time you should work in the Single Player module (which is what the Origins Campaign is called in the toolset database) is when building new levels; this is required due to a bug in how levels are packaged by the toolset.

=== Module Properties ===

=== Module Hierarchy ===

== What now? ==

Now that you have your module, what do you do next?

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-30T01:30:43Z

Ladydesire: /* Editing the creature template */

This tutorial will be useful to anyone that wants to create a new class for Dragon Age: Origins or a stand-aone module using the Dragon Age game engine; I will assume that you have installed the toolset successfully and have read through the tutorial Creating modules for Dragon Age. This will contain much of the existing custom class tutorial, but expanded on to include details on creating new abilities and skills, as well as making sure these function properly in Bioware's official Expansion and stand-alone DLC. It may include guidance for creating content specific to the class that will transfer from the base game to official expansion\DLC content as well.

== Designing the new class ==

There are a number of things that need to be considered when creating a new class for Dragon Age; how does it fit into the existing game lore, what abilities will it have, what races and origins will be able to use it, and are those abilities Stamina-based or Mana-based. New Specializations, which are created in the same manner as classes have to take these factors into consideration as well.

=== Lore considerations ===

When designing a class that will be used in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, you need to consider how the class fits into the lore of Thedas; when I created the Tevinter Warden Class (using a previous class creation tutorial) I initially intended for the Warden class (the original name) to be a fusion of the Ranger and Druid from Dungeons and Dragons. After careful consideration, i felt that since the game lore did not provide a way to justify "earth spirits" granting spell-like abilities, I would make them into a group of highly trained Warriors with arcane spellcasting abilities. I also felt that the origins of the class should tie into the setting in such a way as to give it the feel of something that Bioware would have created if they had desired to.

Designing classes for stand-alone modules may or may not be similar, depending on the setting used; an module set in Thedas obviously should follow the above guidelines, but modules set in other places (like the BAldur's Gate 2 Redux mod) should be made more loosely tied to lore.

=== Class Abilities ===

=== Race and Origin Restrictions ===
This is an interesting thing; while there may be no lore-based reason to deny a given custom class to any race or origin, there may well br other reasons to do so. For example, there may be certain things that you want to give to your new class that don't fit well with your vision of certain of the races in the game; this is where restricting by race or origin comes in. The easiest way to implement these restrictions in the Origins Campaign is to limit the class to specific origins. There is one caveat I need to mention though; due to how Bioware implemented the Noble Origins, you cannot easily restrict a class to either the Human Noble or Dwarf Noble, nor can you properly implement restricting a Magic-using class in the Origins Campaign. That is one current bug in my Tevinter Warden class that I do plan on fixing eventually.

=== Other Ability decisions ===

One of the most important decisions you have to make is whether your class will be Stamina-based or Mana-based; this impacts several things and creates some interesting dilemas if you are adding this class to the Origins and/or Awakening Campaigns. Most notable is that if you create it as a Mana-based class, you gain access to all Mage spell schools and if Stamina-based, you gain Dual-wield and Archery for free. If you don't want those abilties there is some extra work involved in separating them out, which I will explain how to do when the time comes.

=== What Bioware Modules to support ===

This decision is up to you, but I have designed my class to support Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. I will explain how to do it so that the individual modules can be safely installed at the same time and not interfere with each other. It is possible to create a single installation for all related modules; I will attempt to explain this as well. Also, if you are adding a class that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the Extended Community Canon Project, send me a PM on BSN (username ladydesire) and I will assist you with the lore tie-ins and compatibility with my class; you may also wish to contact Questorion or daywalker03 to have them add information about your class project to the Extended Community Canon project page on Wikipedia.

=== Should you support Community modules ===

This is a difficult question to answer; if you're doing this for a custom campaign you are making, and the class doesn't make much sense outside of it, then you don't need to. On the other hand, if you're going to support the official Bioware modules like I did, it might be a good idea to contact module authors to see if you can work with them to make your class work in their stand-alone module; I have contacted one and have attempted to make a mod for his module and I may contact others to do the same thing.

== Equipment ==

Your new class (and specializations as well) will need items that they can use; you can just equip them with basic armor and weapons, but they should also have specific items that are only usable by that class. As an example, in my Tevinter Warden class mod, I added starter versions of custom armor and weapons that had specific properties that would benefit the class. One thing you need to do, especially if you intend for your class to be usable in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, is make sure those items are set as Core Game Resources owned by your Origins class module; this will enable them to transfer into the expansion and DLCs without your character ending up naked. This is what Bioware did with the items from the Return to Ostagar DLC, but was not used for Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep.

=== Armor ===

Your new class needs to provide something to protect it, be it armor or robes (no naked berserkers allowed). What they will look like depends on your ability to create new models yourself or acquire them from someone who can do the work for you; you can also use the models provided by Bioware if you wish.

=== Weapons ===

As with Armor, your new class needs weapons (unarmed combat is strongly discouraged by the in-game load screens). As with Armor, you can make or acquire models, or use the ones Bioware provided.

== Class foundation data ==
Now that you have a vision for your class and some idea of the equipment they will need, we can move on to actually creating the class; this part can be very frustrating, but I've pulled my hair out figuring these things out so hopefully you won't have to.

Please note that there are some steps that may seem senseless in the following sections, and they may not all be needed, depending on what kind of module you are using the class in; I will point out the things that are likely not going to be needed for stand-alone modules when I go through the actual assembly process for the module.

=== 2da files needed ===
The following is a list of files that are needed when creating new base classes for DAO's Origins campaign; I will also show the files needed to add the class to Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt:

==== Origins 2DA Files ====
ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base

background.xls\Backgrounds

background.xls\background_defaults

background.xls\chargen_preload

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default

Achievements.xls\Achievements

guitypes.xls\guitypes

CLA_base is where the classes are defined for the game engine to find. You will need to make two copies of the CLA_base worksheet; I will explain why later on.
M2DA-base is where you will add references to any new 2DA files you create; this will allow the game engine to know what to do with them.
Backgrounds, background_default, and chargen_preload are where you define the specifics of your new class so that you can create new characters in the character generation screen.
ALWizard is the class's AutoLevel package (this is mainly useful if you plan to create companions with the class in your mod; it's not strictly neccesary otherwise)
Achievements is used in two ways; one is to add new class-specific achievement messages (like when unlocking specializations) and the other is related to the reason you need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet.

==== Awakening 2DA Files ====

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base_gxa

background.xls\Backgrounds_gxa

background.xls\background_defaults_gxa

background.xls\chargen_preload_gxa

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default_gxa

Achievements.xls\Achievements_gxa

classes_filter_gxa

Most of these files serve the same purpose as their Origins counterparts; the classes_filter_gxa file is new for Awakening and the stand-alone DLCs Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. It handles restricting classes by race, since there is only one Origin that is used for new character creation in these modules, if you have Awakening installed; I believe (I have not yet tested it, though) that if you do not have Awakening installed, or it is installed but not enabled, Golems of Amgarrak and Which Hunt will allow you to use the Origins gda files to create characters.

=== Scripts needed ===

You will need copies of many of the default scripts; I will include a builder to builder file with these premade, so you won't need to do it yourself.

You will need a module script; I will include a basic one in the builder to builder file.

One thing that is critical to note; you do not need to put any files in the users packages/core/override folder for your class mod to work.

==== The module script ====

The module script for a custom class mod needs to do several things; it needs to do event handling and it needs to hand certain events to a customized sys_chargen script for further handling.

===== Event handling =====

Your custom class abilities may need to work in a manner that is consistent with how similar abilities included in the game work; for this to happen, you need to listen for certain events to occur and provide a way for the abilities to respond to them. For example, a modal ability that is supposed to end at the end of combat needs to do that; the way to do this is to capture the end of combat event and turn off the modal ability in your module script, then allow the game to continue processing the event to disable other modal abilities that also need to be handled. Another example is an ability that immobilizes a foe; When the foe enters the field of effect, the on_enter event needs to be handled to apply the immobilization effect, if the foe would be captured, and apply some other effect (like slowing movement rate) if they are not immobilized completely.

=== Creature templates ===

You will need to make duplicates of the default_player character template in the toolset; one each for the races/origins you wish the class to be available to. I may include these in the builder to builder file for you to rename as needed. While you can use one template for all Races and Origins, having multiple templates allows you to provide different equipment sets for each, to help blend the class into the existing Origins; I have done this with the Tevinter Warden class so each starting character has weapons that fit the introductory cutscene as seamlessly as possible. This is not needed if you are building a custom class for a stand alone module that doesn't have a fancy Origin story to set the stage for later events.

== Putting it all together ==

To quote Han Solo in Star Wars "Here's where the fun begins". Now we need to put all these things together to make a working class.

=== Creating the work modules ===

If you have not already done so, you need to create at least one module to work in; I explain how to do this in the Creating a Module tutorial, so I won't repeat it here. Once you have done so, you will want to import the scripts into your working module and check them in; this simply allows you to make a backup of the entire database so you can recover from a serious problem without losing what you have built. You should make weekly backups at minimum; daily would be better, but it all depends on how much work you do on the mod each day. You will need one module for each Bioware module you choose to support; you will also need one dummy module for the modules that are not currently included in the database (a total of 7 modules if you choose to support all 4 modules like I do).

==== The dummy module names ====

To support Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, you will need to create the following dummy modules; be sure to enter the information exactly as shown:

Awakening: dao_prc_ep1

Golems of Amgarrak: dao_prc_gib

Witch Hunt: dao_prc_str

=== Creating the gda files ===

There are two ways to procceed at this point; you can simply make copies of the original Excel Spreadsheets included with the toolset (these are found in the game installation directory under tools/source/2da/) and duplicate pages (which is how I do it) or you can create a new spreadsheet and copy the above named pages into it. Either way will work, though the second method simplifies the process quite a bit. In either case, I recommend creating a directory elsewhere on your hard drive to store the files you will be editing.

Now, remember when I said you would need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet? I'm going to explain why this is needed; due to how the game interpretes a formula in the default sys_chargen script, you have to renumber the rows for the Bioware default specializations to have a working row id for your new base class. I have moved them up to start at row id 30 in mine and will provide a set of files set up that way as a starter kit to make things easy for you. The first cla_base file will replace the original one; this is also why you need to include the Achievements.gda, as you will need to edit the rows related to the specializations to match the cla_base file. The second cla_base will hold information related to your custom class and any specializations you decide to make for it.

Your new ABI_base file will tell the game how to handle the new spells/talents your class will have; I will go into more detail in the section on scripts.

=== Editing the scripts ===

=== Creating the items ===

=== Editing the creature template ===

The default_player templates provided for the three officially supported classes have several things that need changed to enable a custom class to used; the following method is one way to create new creature templates for your class:

*Duplicate one of the existing creature templates for your chosen race and give it a name similar to what the game shows for them.
*Change the class of the new template to your custom class; if the gda files are properly installed, it will show up in the drop down menu.
*Open the creature inventory and change the equipment as needed.
*Save the template, check it into the database, then export without dependent resources.

=== Exporting the files ===

=== Testing your work ===

== Specializations ==

=== GDA files needed ===
You don't need as many gda files for Specializations as you do for the full class. The following list is what you need for Origins, followed by the ones needed for Awakening.

==== Origins Specializations GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data

guitypes.xls\guitypes

==== Awakening Specialization GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base_gxa

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

guitypes.xls\guitypes_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

=== Items ===

Making a module for the Extended Community Canon project

2011-01-26T01:54:47Z

Ladydesire:

This will be a guide to making modules that work with the Extended Community Canon Project.

== Making modules for the Extended Community Canon Project ==

If you're reading this, I assume the title has piqued your curiosity; it was meant to. I also assume that you are interested in making modules for Dragon Age and wonder what exactly the Extended Community Canon Project is. To quote Daywalker03's Wikipedia article on it, it is a initiative by community developers to extend and expand the lore of Thedas.

== What makes them different from regular mods set in Thedas? ==

A good question. There are several things that set them apart from normal mods. One, if they are integrated into the Origins campaign, they are written in such a way as to fit in as seamlessly as possible into the campaign. Alley of Murders by AmstradHero, Ser Gilmore NPC by DLAN_Immortality, and Dark Times: The Confederacy of Malkuth, to name a few of the existing integrated mods, all take place during the course of the Origins campaign. Two, they not only integrate into the main campaign, but they also interconnect; for example, if you have Ser Gilmore and Alley of Murders installed, there will be references to Ser Gilmore when you are doing the actual quests that are a part of AmstradHero's mod. This also will happen with Dark Times Act 1; when the 1.08 patch is released, ser Gilmore will have spoken dialog in Malkuth in much the same way as he does in the rest of Origins.

== How do I do it with my mod? ==

I thought you'd never ask. ;)

A good start would be joining the Extended Community Canon Project Group on the Bioware Social Network; we can help you with the little touches needed to tie our mods together.

Making a module for the Extended Community Canon project

2011-01-26T01:53:14Z

Ladydesire:

This will be a guide to making modules that work with the Extended Community Canon Project.

== Making modules for the Extended Community Canon Project ==

If you're reading this, I assume the title has piqued your curiosity; it was meant to. I also assume that you are interested in making modules for Dragon Age and wonder what exactly the Extended Community Canon Project is. To quote Daywalker03's Wikipedia article on it, it is a initiative by community developers to extend and expand the lore of Thedas.

=== What makes them different from regular mods set in Thedas? ===

A good question. There are several things that set them apart from normal mods. One, if they are integrated into the Origins campaign, they are written in such a way as to fit in as seamlessly as possible into the campaign. Alley of Murders by AmstradHero, Ser Gilmore NPC by DLAN_Immortality, and Dark Times: The Confederacy of Malkuth, to name a few of the existing integrated mods, all take place during the course of the Origins campaign. Two, they not only integrate into the main campaign, but they also interconnect; for example, if you have Ser Gilmore and Alley of Murders installed, there will be references to Ser Gilmore when you are doing the actual quests that are a part of AmstradHero's mod. This also will happen with Dark Times Act 1; when the 1.08 patch is released, ser Gilmore will have spoken dialog in Malkuth in much the same way as he does in the rest of Origins.

=== How do I do it with my mod? ===

I thought you'd never ask. ;)

A good start would be joining the Extended Community Canon Project Group on the Bioware Social Network; we can help you with the little touches needed to tie our mods together.

Making a module for the Extended Community Canon project

2011-01-26T01:51:20Z

Ladydesire: /* How do I do it with my mod? */

== Making modules for the Extended Community Canon Project ==

If you're reading this, I assume the title has piqued your curiosity; it was meant to. I also assume that you are interested in making modules for Dragon Age and wonder what exactly the Extended Community Canon Project is. To quote Daywalker03's Wikipedia article on it, it is a initiative by community developers to extend and expand the lore of Thedas.

=== What makes them different from regular mods set in Thedas? ===

A good question. There are several things that set them apart from normal mods. One, if they are integrated into the Origins campaign, they are written in such a way as to fit in as seamlessly as possible into the campaign. Alley of Murders by AmstradHero, Ser Gilmore NPC by DLAN_Immortality, and Dark Times: The Confederacy of Malkuth, to name a few of the existing integrated mods, all take place during the course of the Origins campaign. Two, they not only integrate into the main campaign, but they also interconnect; for example, if you have Ser Gilmore and Alley of Murders installed, there will be references to Ser Gilmore when you are doing the actual quests that are a part of AmstradHero's mod. This also will happen with Dark Times Act 1; when the 1.08 patch is released, ser Gilmore will have spoken dialog in Malkuth in much the same way as he does in the rest of Origins.

=== How do I do it with my mod? ===

I thought you'd never ask. ;)

A good start would be joining the Extended Community Canon Project Group on the Bioware Social Network; we can help you with the little touches needed to tie our mods together.

Making a module for the Extended Community Canon project

2011-01-26T01:50:20Z

Ladydesire: /* What makes them different from regular mods set in Thedas? */

== Making modules for the Extended Community Canon Project ==

If you're reading this, I assume the title has piqued your curiosity; it was meant to. I also assume that you are interested in making modules for Dragon Age and wonder what exactly the Extended Community Canon Project is. To quote Daywalker03's Wikipedia article on it, it is a initiative by community developers to extend and expand the lore of Thedas.

=== What makes them different from regular mods set in Thedas? ===

A good question. There are several things that set them apart from normal mods. One, if they are integrated into the Origins campaign, they are written in such a way as to fit in as seamlessly as possible into the campaign. Alley of Murders by AmstradHero, Ser Gilmore NPC by DLAN_Immortality, and Dark Times: The Confederacy of Malkuth, to name a few of the existing integrated mods, all take place during the course of the Origins campaign. Two, they not only integrate into the main campaign, but they also interconnect; for example, if you have Ser Gilmore and Alley of Murders installed, there will be references to Ser Gilmore when you are doing the actual quests that are a part of AmstradHero's mod. This also will happen with Dark Times Act 1; when the 1.08 patch is released, ser Gilmore will have spoken dialog in Malkuth in much the same way as he does in the rest of Origins.

== How do I do it with my mod? ==

I thought you'd never ask. ;)

A good start would be joining the Extended Community Canon Project Group on the Bioware Social Network; we can help you with the little touches needed to tie our mods together.

Making a module for the Extended Community Canon project

2011-01-26T01:49:21Z

Ladydesire: /* What makes them different from regular mods set in Thedas? */

== Making modules for the Extended Community Canon Project ==

If you're reading this, I assume the title has piqued your curiosity; it was meant to. I also assume that you are interested in making modules for Dragon Age and wonder what exactly the Extended Community Canon Project is. To quote Daywalker03's Wikipedia article on it, it is a initiative by community developers to extend and expand the lore of Thedas.

== What makes them different from regular mods set in Thedas? ==

A good question. There are several things that set them apart from normal mods. One, if they are integrated into the Origins campaign, they are written in such a way as to fit in as seamlessly as possible into the campaign. Alley of Murders by AmstradHero, Ser Gilmore NPC by DLAN_Immortality, and Dark Times: The Confederacy of Malkuth, to name a few of the existing integrated mods, all take place during the course of the Origins campaign. Two, they not only integrate into the main campaign, but they also interconnect; for example, if you have Ser Gilmore and Alley of Murders installed, there will be references to Ser Gilmore when you are doing the actual quests that are a part of AmstradHero's mod. This also will happen with Dark Times Act 1; when the 1.08 patch is released, ser Gilmore will have spoken dialog in Malkuth in much the same way as he does in the rest of Origins.

== How do I do it with my mod? ==

I thought you'd never ask. ;)

A good start would be joining the Extended Community Canon Project Group on the Bioware Social Network; we can help you with the little touches needed to tie our mods together.

Making a module for the Extended Community Canon project

2011-01-26T01:44:54Z

Ladydesire: Created page with '== Making modules for the Extended Community Canon Project == If you're reading this, I assume the title has piqued your curiosity; it was meant to. I also assume that you are i...'

== Making modules for the Extended Community Canon Project ==

If you're reading this, I assume the title has piqued your curiosity; it was meant to. I also assume that you are interested in making modules for Dragon Age and wonder what exactly the Extended Community Canon Project is. To quote Daywalker03's Wikipedia article on it, it is a initiative by community developers to extend and expand the lore of Thedas.

== What makes them different from regular mods set in Thedas? ==

A good question. There are several things that set them apart from normal mods. One, if they are integrated into the Origins campaign, they are written in such a way as to fit in as seamlessly as possible into the campaign. Alley of Murders by AmstradHero, Ser Gilmore NPC by DLAN_Immortality, and Dark Times: The Confederacy of Malkuth, to name a few of the existing integrated mods, all take place during the course of the Origins campaign. Two, they not only integrate into the main campaign, but they also interconnect; for example, if you have Ser Gilmore and Alley of Murders installed, there will be references to Ser Gilmore when you are doing the actual quests that are a part of AmstradHero's mod. This also will happen with Dark Times Act 1; when the 1.08 patch is released, ser Gilmore will have spoken dialog in Malkuth in much the same way as he does in the rest of Origins.

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-19T02:33:07Z

Ladydesire: /* Creating the work modules */

This tutorial will be useful to anyone that wants to create a new class for Dragon Age: Origins or a stand-aone module using the Dragon Age game engine; I will assume that you have installed the toolset successfully and have read through the tutorial Creating modules for Dragon Age. This will contain much of the existing custom class tutorial, but expanded on to include details on creating new abilities and skills, as well as making sure these function properly in Bioware's official Expansion and stand-alone DLC. It may include guidance for creating content specific to the class that will transfer from the base game to official expansion\DLC content as well.

== Designing the new class ==

There are a number of things that need to be considered when creating a new class for Dragon Age; how does it fit into the existing game lore, what abilities will it have, what races and origins will be able to use it, and are those abilities Stamina-based or Mana-based. New Specializations, which are created in the same manner as classes have to take these factors into consideration as well.

=== Lore considerations ===

When designing a class that will be used in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, you need to consider how the class fits into the lore of Thedas; when I created the Tevinter Warden Class (using a previous class creation tutorial) I initially intended for the Warden class (the original name) to be a fusion of the Ranger and Druid from Dungeons and Dragons. After careful consideration, i felt that since the game lore did not provide a way to justify "earth spirits" granting spell-like abilities, I would make them into a group of highly trained Warriors with arcane spellcasting abilities. I also felt that the origins of the class should tie into the setting in such a way as to give it the feel of something that Bioware would have created if they had desired to.

Designing classes for stand-alone modules may or may not be similar, depending on the setting used; an module set in Thedas obviously should follow the above guidelines, but modules set in other places (like the BAldur's Gate 2 Redux mod) should be made more loosely tied to lore.

=== Class Abilities ===

=== Race and Origin Restrictions ===
This is an interesting thing; while there may be no lore-based reason to deny a given custom class to any race or origin, there may well br other reasons to do so. For example, there may be certain things that you want to give to your new class that don't fit well with your vision of certain of the races in the game; this is where restricting by race or origin comes in. The easiest way to implement these restrictions in the Origins Campaign is to limit the class to specific origins. There is one caveat I need to mention though; due to how Bioware implemented the Noble Origins, you cannot easily restrict a class to either the Human Noble or Dwarf Noble, nor can you properly implement restricting a Magic-using class in the Origins Campaign. That is one current bug in my Tevinter Warden class that I do plan on fixing eventually.

=== Other Ability decisions ===

One of the most important decisions you have to make is whether your class will be Stamina-based or Mana-based; this impacts several things and creates some interesting dilemas if you are adding this class to the Origins and/or Awakening Campaigns. Most notable is that if you create it as a Mana-based class, you gain access to all Mage spell schools and if Stamina-based, you gain Dual-wield and Archery for free. If you don't want those abilties there is some extra work involved in separating them out, which I will explain how to do when the time comes.

=== What Bioware Modules to support ===

This decision is up to you, but I have designed my class to support Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. I will explain how to do it so that the individual modules can be safely installed at the same time and not interfere with each other. It is possible to create a single installation for all related modules; I will attempt to explain this as well. Also, if you are adding a class that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the Extended Community Canon Project, send me a PM on BSN (username ladydesire) and I will assist you with the lore tie-ins and compatibility with my class; you may also wish to contact Questorion or daywalker03 to have them add information about your class project to the Extended Community Canon project page on Wikipedia.

=== Should you support Community modules ===

This is a difficult question to answer; if you're doing this for a custom campaign you are making, and the class doesn't make much sense outside of it, then you don't need to. On the other hand, if you're going to support the official Bioware modules like I did, it might be a good idea to contact module authors to see if you can work with them to make your class work in their stand-alone module; I have contacted one and have attempted to make a mod for his module and I may contact others to do the same thing.

== Equipment ==

Your new class (and specializations as well) will need items that they can use; you can just equip them with basic armor and weapons, but they should also have specific items that are only usable by that class. As an example, in my Tevinter Warden class mod, I added starter versions of custom armor and weapons that had specific properties that would benefit the class. One thing you need to do, especially if you intend for your class to be usable in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, is make sure those items are set as Core Game Resources owned by your Origins class module; this will enable them to transfer into the expansion and DLCs without your character ending up naked. This is what Bioware did with the items from the Return to Ostagar DLC, but was not used for Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep.

=== Armor ===

Your new class needs to provide something to protect it, be it armor or robes (no naked berserkers allowed). What they will look like depends on your ability to create new models yourself or acquire them from someone who can do the work for you; you can also use the models provided by Bioware if you wish.

=== Weapons ===

As with Armor, your new class needs weapons (unarmed combat is strongly discouraged by the in-game load screens). As with Armor, you can make or acquire models, or use the ones Bioware provided.

== Class foundation data ==
Now that you have a vision for your class and some idea of the equipment they will need, we can move on to actually creating the class; this part can be very frustrating, but I've pulled my hair out figuring these things out so hopefully you won't have to.

Please note that there are some steps that may seem senseless in the following sections, and they may not all be needed, depending on what kind of module you are using the class in; I will point out the things that are likely not going to be needed for stand-alone modules when I go through the actual assembly process for the module.

=== 2da files needed ===
The following is a list of files that are needed when creating new base classes for DAO's Origins campaign; I will also show the files needed to add the class to Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt:

==== Origins 2DA Files ====
ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base

background.xls\Backgrounds

background.xls\background_defaults

background.xls\chargen_preload

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default

Achievements.xls\Achievements

guitypes.xls\guitypes

CLA_base is where the classes are defined for the game engine to find. You will need to make two copies of the CLA_base worksheet; I will explain why later on.
M2DA-base is where you will add references to any new 2DA files you create; this will allow the game engine to know what to do with them.
Backgrounds, background_default, and chargen_preload are where you define the specifics of your new class so that you can create new characters in the character generation screen.
ALWizard is the class's AutoLevel package (this is mainly useful if you plan to create companions with the class in your mod; it's not strictly neccesary otherwise)
Achievements is used in two ways; one is to add new class-specific achievement messages (like when unlocking specializations) and the other is related to the reason you need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet.

==== Awakening 2DA Files ====

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base_gxa

background.xls\Backgrounds_gxa

background.xls\background_defaults_gxa

background.xls\chargen_preload_gxa

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default_gxa

Achievements.xls\Achievements_gxa

classes_filter_gxa

Most of these files serve the same purpose as their Origins counterparts; the classes_filter_gxa file is new for Awakening and the stand-alone DLCs Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. It handles restricting classes by race, since there is only one Origin that is used for new character creation in these modules, if you have Awakening installed; I believe (I have not yet tested it, though) that if you do not have Awakening installed, or it is installed but not enabled, Golems of Amgarrak and Which Hunt will allow you to use the Origins gda files to create characters.

=== Scripts needed ===

You will need copies of many of the default scripts; I will include a builder to builder file with these premade, so you won't need to do it yourself.

You will need a module script; I will include a basic one in the builder to builder file.

One thing that is critical to note; you do not need to put any files in the users packages/core/override folder for your class mod to work.

==== The module script ====

The module script for a custom class mod needs to do several things; it needs to do event handling and it needs to hand certain events to a customized sys_chargen script for further handling.

===== Event handling =====

Your custom class abilities may need to work in a manner that is consistent with how similar abilities included in the game work; for this to happen, you need to listen for certain events to occur and provide a way for the abilities to respond to them. For example, a modal ability that is supposed to end at the end of combat needs to do that; the way to do this is to capture the end of combat event and turn off the modal ability in your module script, then allow the game to continue processing the event to disable other modal abilities that also need to be handled. Another example is an ability that immobilizes a foe; When the foe enters the field of effect, the on_enter event needs to be handled to apply the immobilization effect, if the foe would be captured, and apply some other effect (like slowing movement rate) if they are not immobilized completely.

=== Creature templates ===

You will need to make duplicates of the default_player character template in the toolset; one each for the races/origins you wish the class to be available to. I may include these in the builder to builder file for you to rename as needed. While you can use one template for all Races and Origins, having multiple templates allows you to provide different equipment sets for each, to help blend the class into the existing Origins; I have done this with the Tevinter Warden class so each starting character has weapons that fit the introductory cutscene as seamlessly as possible. This is not needed if you are building a custom class for a stand alone module that doesn't have a fancy Origin story to set the stage for later events.

== Putting it all together ==

To quote Han Solo in Star Wars "Here's where the fun begins". Now we need to put all these things together to make a working class.

=== Creating the work modules ===

If you have not already done so, you need to create at least one module to work in; I explain how to do this in the Creating a Module tutorial, so I won't repeat it here. Once you have done so, you will want to import the scripts into your working module and check them in; this simply allows you to make a backup of the entire database so you can recover from a serious problem without losing what you have built. You should make weekly backups at minimum; daily would be better, but it all depends on how much work you do on the mod each day. You will need one module for each Bioware module you choose to support; you will also need one dummy module for the modules that are not currently included in the database (a total of 7 modules if you choose to support all 4 modules like I do).

==== The dummy module names ====

To support Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, you will need to create the following dummy modules; be sure to enter the information exactly as shown:

Awakening: dao_prc_ep1

Golems of Amgarrak: dao_prc_gib

Witch Hunt: dao_prc_str

=== Creating the gda files ===

There are two ways to procceed at this point; you can simply make copies of the original Excel Spreadsheets included with the toolset (these are found in the game installation directory under tools/source/2da/) and duplicate pages (which is how I do it) or you can create a new spreadsheet and copy the above named pages into it. Either way will work, though the second method simplifies the process quite a bit. In either case, I recommend creating a directory elsewhere on your hard drive to store the files you will be editing.

Now, remember when I said you would need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet? I'm going to explain why this is needed; due to how the game interpretes a formula in the default sys_chargen script, you have to renumber the rows for the Bioware default specializations to have a working row id for your new base class. I have moved them up to start at row id 30 in mine and will provide a set of files set up that way as a starter kit to make things easy for you. The first cla_base file will replace the original one; this is also why you need to include the Achievements.gda, as you will need to edit the rows related to the specializations to match the cla_base file. The second cla_base will hold information related to your custom class and any specializations you decide to make for it.

Your new ABI_base file will tell the game how to handle the new spells/talents your class will have; I will go into more detail in the section on scripts.

=== Editing the scripts ===

=== Creating the items ===

=== Editing the creature template ===

=== Exporting the files ===

=== Testing your work ===

== Specializations ==

=== GDA files needed ===
You don't need as many gda files for Specializations as you do for the full class. The following list is what you need for Origins, followed by the ones needed for Awakening.

==== Origins Specializations GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data

guitypes.xls\guitypes

==== Awakening Specialization GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base_gxa

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

guitypes.xls\guitypes_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

=== Items ===

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-19T02:22:56Z

Ladydesire: /* Creating the work modules */

This tutorial will be useful to anyone that wants to create a new class for Dragon Age: Origins or a stand-aone module using the Dragon Age game engine; I will assume that you have installed the toolset successfully and have read through the tutorial Creating modules for Dragon Age. This will contain much of the existing custom class tutorial, but expanded on to include details on creating new abilities and skills, as well as making sure these function properly in Bioware's official Expansion and stand-alone DLC. It may include guidance for creating content specific to the class that will transfer from the base game to official expansion\DLC content as well.

== Designing the new class ==

There are a number of things that need to be considered when creating a new class for Dragon Age; how does it fit into the existing game lore, what abilities will it have, what races and origins will be able to use it, and are those abilities Stamina-based or Mana-based. New Specializations, which are created in the same manner as classes have to take these factors into consideration as well.

=== Lore considerations ===

When designing a class that will be used in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, you need to consider how the class fits into the lore of Thedas; when I created the Tevinter Warden Class (using a previous class creation tutorial) I initially intended for the Warden class (the original name) to be a fusion of the Ranger and Druid from Dungeons and Dragons. After careful consideration, i felt that since the game lore did not provide a way to justify "earth spirits" granting spell-like abilities, I would make them into a group of highly trained Warriors with arcane spellcasting abilities. I also felt that the origins of the class should tie into the setting in such a way as to give it the feel of something that Bioware would have created if they had desired to.

Designing classes for stand-alone modules may or may not be similar, depending on the setting used; an module set in Thedas obviously should follow the above guidelines, but modules set in other places (like the BAldur's Gate 2 Redux mod) should be made more loosely tied to lore.

=== Class Abilities ===

=== Race and Origin Restrictions ===
This is an interesting thing; while there may be no lore-based reason to deny a given custom class to any race or origin, there may well br other reasons to do so. For example, there may be certain things that you want to give to your new class that don't fit well with your vision of certain of the races in the game; this is where restricting by race or origin comes in. The easiest way to implement these restrictions in the Origins Campaign is to limit the class to specific origins. There is one caveat I need to mention though; due to how Bioware implemented the Noble Origins, you cannot easily restrict a class to either the Human Noble or Dwarf Noble, nor can you properly implement restricting a Magic-using class in the Origins Campaign. That is one current bug in my Tevinter Warden class that I do plan on fixing eventually.

=== Other Ability decisions ===

One of the most important decisions you have to make is whether your class will be Stamina-based or Mana-based; this impacts several things and creates some interesting dilemas if you are adding this class to the Origins and/or Awakening Campaigns. Most notable is that if you create it as a Mana-based class, you gain access to all Mage spell schools and if Stamina-based, you gain Dual-wield and Archery for free. If you don't want those abilties there is some extra work involved in separating them out, which I will explain how to do when the time comes.

=== What Bioware Modules to support ===

This decision is up to you, but I have designed my class to support Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. I will explain how to do it so that the individual modules can be safely installed at the same time and not interfere with each other. It is possible to create a single installation for all related modules; I will attempt to explain this as well. Also, if you are adding a class that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the Extended Community Canon Project, send me a PM on BSN (username ladydesire) and I will assist you with the lore tie-ins and compatibility with my class; you may also wish to contact Questorion or daywalker03 to have them add information about your class project to the Extended Community Canon project page on Wikipedia.

=== Should you support Community modules ===

This is a difficult question to answer; if you're doing this for a custom campaign you are making, and the class doesn't make much sense outside of it, then you don't need to. On the other hand, if you're going to support the official Bioware modules like I did, it might be a good idea to contact module authors to see if you can work with them to make your class work in their stand-alone module; I have contacted one and have attempted to make a mod for his module and I may contact others to do the same thing.

== Equipment ==

Your new class (and specializations as well) will need items that they can use; you can just equip them with basic armor and weapons, but they should also have specific items that are only usable by that class. As an example, in my Tevinter Warden class mod, I added starter versions of custom armor and weapons that had specific properties that would benefit the class. One thing you need to do, especially if you intend for your class to be usable in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, is make sure those items are set as Core Game Resources owned by your Origins class module; this will enable them to transfer into the expansion and DLCs without your character ending up naked. This is what Bioware did with the items from the Return to Ostagar DLC, but was not used for Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep.

=== Armor ===

Your new class needs to provide something to protect it, be it armor or robes (no naked berserkers allowed). What they will look like depends on your ability to create new models yourself or acquire them from someone who can do the work for you; you can also use the models provided by Bioware if you wish.

=== Weapons ===

As with Armor, your new class needs weapons (unarmed combat is strongly discouraged by the in-game load screens). As with Armor, you can make or acquire models, or use the ones Bioware provided.

== Class foundation data ==
Now that you have a vision for your class and some idea of the equipment they will need, we can move on to actually creating the class; this part can be very frustrating, but I've pulled my hair out figuring these things out so hopefully you won't have to.

Please note that there are some steps that may seem senseless in the following sections, and they may not all be needed, depending on what kind of module you are using the class in; I will point out the things that are likely not going to be needed for stand-alone modules when I go through the actual assembly process for the module.

=== 2da files needed ===
The following is a list of files that are needed when creating new base classes for DAO's Origins campaign; I will also show the files needed to add the class to Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt:

==== Origins 2DA Files ====
ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base

background.xls\Backgrounds

background.xls\background_defaults

background.xls\chargen_preload

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default

Achievements.xls\Achievements

guitypes.xls\guitypes

CLA_base is where the classes are defined for the game engine to find. You will need to make two copies of the CLA_base worksheet; I will explain why later on.
M2DA-base is where you will add references to any new 2DA files you create; this will allow the game engine to know what to do with them.
Backgrounds, background_default, and chargen_preload are where you define the specifics of your new class so that you can create new characters in the character generation screen.
ALWizard is the class's AutoLevel package (this is mainly useful if you plan to create companions with the class in your mod; it's not strictly neccesary otherwise)
Achievements is used in two ways; one is to add new class-specific achievement messages (like when unlocking specializations) and the other is related to the reason you need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet.

==== Awakening 2DA Files ====

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base_gxa

background.xls\Backgrounds_gxa

background.xls\background_defaults_gxa

background.xls\chargen_preload_gxa

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default_gxa

Achievements.xls\Achievements_gxa

classes_filter_gxa

Most of these files serve the same purpose as their Origins counterparts; the classes_filter_gxa file is new for Awakening and the stand-alone DLCs Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. It handles restricting classes by race, since there is only one Origin that is used for new character creation in these modules, if you have Awakening installed; I believe (I have not yet tested it, though) that if you do not have Awakening installed, or it is installed but not enabled, Golems of Amgarrak and Which Hunt will allow you to use the Origins gda files to create characters.

=== Scripts needed ===

You will need copies of many of the default scripts; I will include a builder to builder file with these premade, so you won't need to do it yourself.

You will need a module script; I will include a basic one in the builder to builder file.

One thing that is critical to note; you do not need to put any files in the users packages/core/override folder for your class mod to work.

==== The module script ====

The module script for a custom class mod needs to do several things; it needs to do event handling and it needs to hand certain events to a customized sys_chargen script for further handling.

===== Event handling =====

Your custom class abilities may need to work in a manner that is consistent with how similar abilities included in the game work; for this to happen, you need to listen for certain events to occur and provide a way for the abilities to respond to them. For example, a modal ability that is supposed to end at the end of combat needs to do that; the way to do this is to capture the end of combat event and turn off the modal ability in your module script, then allow the game to continue processing the event to disable other modal abilities that also need to be handled. Another example is an ability that immobilizes a foe; When the foe enters the field of effect, the on_enter event needs to be handled to apply the immobilization effect, if the foe would be captured, and apply some other effect (like slowing movement rate) if they are not immobilized completely.

=== Creature templates ===

You will need to make duplicates of the default_player character template in the toolset; one each for the races/origins you wish the class to be available to. I may include these in the builder to builder file for you to rename as needed. While you can use one template for all Races and Origins, having multiple templates allows you to provide different equipment sets for each, to help blend the class into the existing Origins; I have done this with the Tevinter Warden class so each starting character has weapons that fit the introductory cutscene as seamlessly as possible. This is not needed if you are building a custom class for a stand alone module that doesn't have a fancy Origin story to set the stage for later events.

== Putting it all together ==

To quote Han Solo in Star Wars "Here's where the fun begins". Now we need to put all these things together to make a working class.

=== Creating the work modules ===

If you have not already done so, you need to create at least one module to work in; I explain how to do this in the Creating a Module tutorial, so I won't repeat it here. Once you have done so, you will want to import the scripts into your working module and check them in; this simply allows you to make a backup of the entire database so you can recover from a serious problem without losing what you have built. You should make weekly backups at minimum; daily would be better, but it all depends on how much work you do on the mod each day.

=== Creating the gda files ===

There are two ways to procceed at this point; you can simply make copies of the original Excel Spreadsheets included with the toolset (these are found in the game installation directory under tools/source/2da/) and duplicate pages (which is how I do it) or you can create a new spreadsheet and copy the above named pages into it. Either way will work, though the second method simplifies the process quite a bit. In either case, I recommend creating a directory elsewhere on your hard drive to store the files you will be editing.

Now, remember when I said you would need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet? I'm going to explain why this is needed; due to how the game interpretes a formula in the default sys_chargen script, you have to renumber the rows for the Bioware default specializations to have a working row id for your new base class. I have moved them up to start at row id 30 in mine and will provide a set of files set up that way as a starter kit to make things easy for you. The first cla_base file will replace the original one; this is also why you need to include the Achievements.gda, as you will need to edit the rows related to the specializations to match the cla_base file. The second cla_base will hold information related to your custom class and any specializations you decide to make for it.

Your new ABI_base file will tell the game how to handle the new spells/talents your class will have; I will go into more detail in the section on scripts.

=== Editing the scripts ===

=== Creating the items ===

=== Editing the creature template ===

=== Exporting the files ===

=== Testing your work ===

== Specializations ==

=== GDA files needed ===
You don't need as many gda files for Specializations as you do for the full class. The following list is what you need for Origins, followed by the ones needed for Awakening.

==== Origins Specializations GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data

guitypes.xls\guitypes

==== Awakening Specialization GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base_gxa

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

guitypes.xls\guitypes_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

=== Items ===

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-19T02:13:52Z

Ladydesire: /* Putting it all together */

This tutorial will be useful to anyone that wants to create a new class for Dragon Age: Origins or a stand-aone module using the Dragon Age game engine; I will assume that you have installed the toolset successfully and have read through the tutorial Creating modules for Dragon Age. This will contain much of the existing custom class tutorial, but expanded on to include details on creating new abilities and skills, as well as making sure these function properly in Bioware's official Expansion and stand-alone DLC. It may include guidance for creating content specific to the class that will transfer from the base game to official expansion\DLC content as well.

== Designing the new class ==

There are a number of things that need to be considered when creating a new class for Dragon Age; how does it fit into the existing game lore, what abilities will it have, what races and origins will be able to use it, and are those abilities Stamina-based or Mana-based. New Specializations, which are created in the same manner as classes have to take these factors into consideration as well.

=== Lore considerations ===

When designing a class that will be used in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, you need to consider how the class fits into the lore of Thedas; when I created the Tevinter Warden Class (using a previous class creation tutorial) I initially intended for the Warden class (the original name) to be a fusion of the Ranger and Druid from Dungeons and Dragons. After careful consideration, i felt that since the game lore did not provide a way to justify "earth spirits" granting spell-like abilities, I would make them into a group of highly trained Warriors with arcane spellcasting abilities. I also felt that the origins of the class should tie into the setting in such a way as to give it the feel of something that Bioware would have created if they had desired to.

Designing classes for stand-alone modules may or may not be similar, depending on the setting used; an module set in Thedas obviously should follow the above guidelines, but modules set in other places (like the BAldur's Gate 2 Redux mod) should be made more loosely tied to lore.

=== Class Abilities ===

=== Race and Origin Restrictions ===
This is an interesting thing; while there may be no lore-based reason to deny a given custom class to any race or origin, there may well br other reasons to do so. For example, there may be certain things that you want to give to your new class that don't fit well with your vision of certain of the races in the game; this is where restricting by race or origin comes in. The easiest way to implement these restrictions in the Origins Campaign is to limit the class to specific origins. There is one caveat I need to mention though; due to how Bioware implemented the Noble Origins, you cannot easily restrict a class to either the Human Noble or Dwarf Noble, nor can you properly implement restricting a Magic-using class in the Origins Campaign. That is one current bug in my Tevinter Warden class that I do plan on fixing eventually.

=== Other Ability decisions ===

One of the most important decisions you have to make is whether your class will be Stamina-based or Mana-based; this impacts several things and creates some interesting dilemas if you are adding this class to the Origins and/or Awakening Campaigns. Most notable is that if you create it as a Mana-based class, you gain access to all Mage spell schools and if Stamina-based, you gain Dual-wield and Archery for free. If you don't want those abilties there is some extra work involved in separating them out, which I will explain how to do when the time comes.

=== What Bioware Modules to support ===

This decision is up to you, but I have designed my class to support Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. I will explain how to do it so that the individual modules can be safely installed at the same time and not interfere with each other. It is possible to create a single installation for all related modules; I will attempt to explain this as well. Also, if you are adding a class that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the Extended Community Canon Project, send me a PM on BSN (username ladydesire) and I will assist you with the lore tie-ins and compatibility with my class; you may also wish to contact Questorion or daywalker03 to have them add information about your class project to the Extended Community Canon project page on Wikipedia.

=== Should you support Community modules ===

This is a difficult question to answer; if you're doing this for a custom campaign you are making, and the class doesn't make much sense outside of it, then you don't need to. On the other hand, if you're going to support the official Bioware modules like I did, it might be a good idea to contact module authors to see if you can work with them to make your class work in their stand-alone module; I have contacted one and have attempted to make a mod for his module and I may contact others to do the same thing.

== Equipment ==

Your new class (and specializations as well) will need items that they can use; you can just equip them with basic armor and weapons, but they should also have specific items that are only usable by that class. As an example, in my Tevinter Warden class mod, I added starter versions of custom armor and weapons that had specific properties that would benefit the class. One thing you need to do, especially if you intend for your class to be usable in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, is make sure those items are set as Core Game Resources owned by your Origins class module; this will enable them to transfer into the expansion and DLCs without your character ending up naked. This is what Bioware did with the items from the Return to Ostagar DLC, but was not used for Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep.

=== Armor ===

Your new class needs to provide something to protect it, be it armor or robes (no naked berserkers allowed). What they will look like depends on your ability to create new models yourself or acquire them from someone who can do the work for you; you can also use the models provided by Bioware if you wish.

=== Weapons ===

As with Armor, your new class needs weapons (unarmed combat is strongly discouraged by the in-game load screens). As with Armor, you can make or acquire models, or use the ones Bioware provided.

== Class foundation data ==
Now that you have a vision for your class and some idea of the equipment they will need, we can move on to actually creating the class; this part can be very frustrating, but I've pulled my hair out figuring these things out so hopefully you won't have to.

Please note that there are some steps that may seem senseless in the following sections, and they may not all be needed, depending on what kind of module you are using the class in; I will point out the things that are likely not going to be needed for stand-alone modules when I go through the actual assembly process for the module.

=== 2da files needed ===
The following is a list of files that are needed when creating new base classes for DAO's Origins campaign; I will also show the files needed to add the class to Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt:

==== Origins 2DA Files ====
ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base

background.xls\Backgrounds

background.xls\background_defaults

background.xls\chargen_preload

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default

Achievements.xls\Achievements

guitypes.xls\guitypes

CLA_base is where the classes are defined for the game engine to find. You will need to make two copies of the CLA_base worksheet; I will explain why later on.
M2DA-base is where you will add references to any new 2DA files you create; this will allow the game engine to know what to do with them.
Backgrounds, background_default, and chargen_preload are where you define the specifics of your new class so that you can create new characters in the character generation screen.
ALWizard is the class's AutoLevel package (this is mainly useful if you plan to create companions with the class in your mod; it's not strictly neccesary otherwise)
Achievements is used in two ways; one is to add new class-specific achievement messages (like when unlocking specializations) and the other is related to the reason you need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet.

==== Awakening 2DA Files ====

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base_gxa

background.xls\Backgrounds_gxa

background.xls\background_defaults_gxa

background.xls\chargen_preload_gxa

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default_gxa

Achievements.xls\Achievements_gxa

classes_filter_gxa

Most of these files serve the same purpose as their Origins counterparts; the classes_filter_gxa file is new for Awakening and the stand-alone DLCs Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. It handles restricting classes by race, since there is only one Origin that is used for new character creation in these modules, if you have Awakening installed; I believe (I have not yet tested it, though) that if you do not have Awakening installed, or it is installed but not enabled, Golems of Amgarrak and Which Hunt will allow you to use the Origins gda files to create characters.

=== Scripts needed ===

You will need copies of many of the default scripts; I will include a builder to builder file with these premade, so you won't need to do it yourself.

You will need a module script; I will include a basic one in the builder to builder file.

One thing that is critical to note; you do not need to put any files in the users packages/core/override folder for your class mod to work.

==== The module script ====

The module script for a custom class mod needs to do several things; it needs to do event handling and it needs to hand certain events to a customized sys_chargen script for further handling.

===== Event handling =====

Your custom class abilities may need to work in a manner that is consistent with how similar abilities included in the game work; for this to happen, you need to listen for certain events to occur and provide a way for the abilities to respond to them. For example, a modal ability that is supposed to end at the end of combat needs to do that; the way to do this is to capture the end of combat event and turn off the modal ability in your module script, then allow the game to continue processing the event to disable other modal abilities that also need to be handled. Another example is an ability that immobilizes a foe; When the foe enters the field of effect, the on_enter event needs to be handled to apply the immobilization effect, if the foe would be captured, and apply some other effect (like slowing movement rate) if they are not immobilized completely.

=== Creature templates ===

You will need to make duplicates of the default_player character template in the toolset; one each for the races/origins you wish the class to be available to. I may include these in the builder to builder file for you to rename as needed. While you can use one template for all Races and Origins, having multiple templates allows you to provide different equipment sets for each, to help blend the class into the existing Origins; I have done this with the Tevinter Warden class so each starting character has weapons that fit the introductory cutscene as seamlessly as possible. This is not needed if you are building a custom class for a stand alone module that doesn't have a fancy Origin story to set the stage for later events.

== Putting it all together ==

To quote Han Solo in Star Wars "Here's where the fun begins". Now we need to put all these things together to make a working class.

=== Creating the work modules ===

=== Creating the gda files ===

There are two ways to procceed at this point; you can simply make copies of the original Excel Spreadsheets included with the toolset (these are found in the game installation directory under tools/source/2da/) and duplicate pages (which is how I do it) or you can create a new spreadsheet and copy the above named pages into it. Either way will work, though the second method simplifies the process quite a bit. In either case, I recommend creating a directory elsewhere on your hard drive to store the files you will be editing.

Now, remember when I said you would need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet? I'm going to explain why this is needed; due to how the game interpretes a formula in the default sys_chargen script, you have to renumber the rows for the Bioware default specializations to have a working row id for your new base class. I have moved them up to start at row id 30 in mine and will provide a set of files set up that way as a starter kit to make things easy for you. The first cla_base file will replace the original one; this is also why you need to include the Achievements.gda, as you will need to edit the rows related to the specializations to match the cla_base file. The second cla_base will hold information related to your custom class and any specializations you decide to make for it.

Your new ABI_base file will tell the game how to handle the new spells/talents your class will have; I will go into more detail in the section on scripts.

=== Editing the scripts ===

=== Creating the items ===

=== Editing the creature template ===

=== Exporting the files ===

=== Testing your work ===

== Specializations ==

=== GDA files needed ===
You don't need as many gda files for Specializations as you do for the full class. The following list is what you need for Origins, followed by the ones needed for Awakening.

==== Origins Specializations GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data

guitypes.xls\guitypes

==== Awakening Specialization GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base_gxa

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

guitypes.xls\guitypes_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

=== Items ===

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-19T02:11:29Z

Ladydesire: /* Awakening 2DA Files */

This tutorial will be useful to anyone that wants to create a new class for Dragon Age: Origins or a stand-aone module using the Dragon Age game engine; I will assume that you have installed the toolset successfully and have read through the tutorial Creating modules for Dragon Age. This will contain much of the existing custom class tutorial, but expanded on to include details on creating new abilities and skills, as well as making sure these function properly in Bioware's official Expansion and stand-alone DLC. It may include guidance for creating content specific to the class that will transfer from the base game to official expansion\DLC content as well.

== Designing the new class ==

There are a number of things that need to be considered when creating a new class for Dragon Age; how does it fit into the existing game lore, what abilities will it have, what races and origins will be able to use it, and are those abilities Stamina-based or Mana-based. New Specializations, which are created in the same manner as classes have to take these factors into consideration as well.

=== Lore considerations ===

When designing a class that will be used in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, you need to consider how the class fits into the lore of Thedas; when I created the Tevinter Warden Class (using a previous class creation tutorial) I initially intended for the Warden class (the original name) to be a fusion of the Ranger and Druid from Dungeons and Dragons. After careful consideration, i felt that since the game lore did not provide a way to justify "earth spirits" granting spell-like abilities, I would make them into a group of highly trained Warriors with arcane spellcasting abilities. I also felt that the origins of the class should tie into the setting in such a way as to give it the feel of something that Bioware would have created if they had desired to.

Designing classes for stand-alone modules may or may not be similar, depending on the setting used; an module set in Thedas obviously should follow the above guidelines, but modules set in other places (like the BAldur's Gate 2 Redux mod) should be made more loosely tied to lore.

=== Class Abilities ===

=== Race and Origin Restrictions ===
This is an interesting thing; while there may be no lore-based reason to deny a given custom class to any race or origin, there may well br other reasons to do so. For example, there may be certain things that you want to give to your new class that don't fit well with your vision of certain of the races in the game; this is where restricting by race or origin comes in. The easiest way to implement these restrictions in the Origins Campaign is to limit the class to specific origins. There is one caveat I need to mention though; due to how Bioware implemented the Noble Origins, you cannot easily restrict a class to either the Human Noble or Dwarf Noble, nor can you properly implement restricting a Magic-using class in the Origins Campaign. That is one current bug in my Tevinter Warden class that I do plan on fixing eventually.

=== Other Ability decisions ===

One of the most important decisions you have to make is whether your class will be Stamina-based or Mana-based; this impacts several things and creates some interesting dilemas if you are adding this class to the Origins and/or Awakening Campaigns. Most notable is that if you create it as a Mana-based class, you gain access to all Mage spell schools and if Stamina-based, you gain Dual-wield and Archery for free. If you don't want those abilties there is some extra work involved in separating them out, which I will explain how to do when the time comes.

=== What Bioware Modules to support ===

This decision is up to you, but I have designed my class to support Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. I will explain how to do it so that the individual modules can be safely installed at the same time and not interfere with each other. It is possible to create a single installation for all related modules; I will attempt to explain this as well. Also, if you are adding a class that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the Extended Community Canon Project, send me a PM on BSN (username ladydesire) and I will assist you with the lore tie-ins and compatibility with my class; you may also wish to contact Questorion or daywalker03 to have them add information about your class project to the Extended Community Canon project page on Wikipedia.

=== Should you support Community modules ===

This is a difficult question to answer; if you're doing this for a custom campaign you are making, and the class doesn't make much sense outside of it, then you don't need to. On the other hand, if you're going to support the official Bioware modules like I did, it might be a good idea to contact module authors to see if you can work with them to make your class work in their stand-alone module; I have contacted one and have attempted to make a mod for his module and I may contact others to do the same thing.

== Equipment ==

Your new class (and specializations as well) will need items that they can use; you can just equip them with basic armor and weapons, but they should also have specific items that are only usable by that class. As an example, in my Tevinter Warden class mod, I added starter versions of custom armor and weapons that had specific properties that would benefit the class. One thing you need to do, especially if you intend for your class to be usable in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, is make sure those items are set as Core Game Resources owned by your Origins class module; this will enable them to transfer into the expansion and DLCs without your character ending up naked. This is what Bioware did with the items from the Return to Ostagar DLC, but was not used for Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep.

=== Armor ===

Your new class needs to provide something to protect it, be it armor or robes (no naked berserkers allowed). What they will look like depends on your ability to create new models yourself or acquire them from someone who can do the work for you; you can also use the models provided by Bioware if you wish.

=== Weapons ===

As with Armor, your new class needs weapons (unarmed combat is strongly discouraged by the in-game load screens). As with Armor, you can make or acquire models, or use the ones Bioware provided.

== Class foundation data ==
Now that you have a vision for your class and some idea of the equipment they will need, we can move on to actually creating the class; this part can be very frustrating, but I've pulled my hair out figuring these things out so hopefully you won't have to.

Please note that there are some steps that may seem senseless in the following sections, and they may not all be needed, depending on what kind of module you are using the class in; I will point out the things that are likely not going to be needed for stand-alone modules when I go through the actual assembly process for the module.

=== 2da files needed ===
The following is a list of files that are needed when creating new base classes for DAO's Origins campaign; I will also show the files needed to add the class to Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt:

==== Origins 2DA Files ====
ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base

background.xls\Backgrounds

background.xls\background_defaults

background.xls\chargen_preload

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default

Achievements.xls\Achievements

guitypes.xls\guitypes

CLA_base is where the classes are defined for the game engine to find. You will need to make two copies of the CLA_base worksheet; I will explain why later on.
M2DA-base is where you will add references to any new 2DA files you create; this will allow the game engine to know what to do with them.
Backgrounds, background_default, and chargen_preload are where you define the specifics of your new class so that you can create new characters in the character generation screen.
ALWizard is the class's AutoLevel package (this is mainly useful if you plan to create companions with the class in your mod; it's not strictly neccesary otherwise)
Achievements is used in two ways; one is to add new class-specific achievement messages (like when unlocking specializations) and the other is related to the reason you need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet.

==== Awakening 2DA Files ====

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base_gxa

background.xls\Backgrounds_gxa

background.xls\background_defaults_gxa

background.xls\chargen_preload_gxa

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default_gxa

Achievements.xls\Achievements_gxa

classes_filter_gxa

Most of these files serve the same purpose as their Origins counterparts; the classes_filter_gxa file is new for Awakening and the stand-alone DLCs Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. It handles restricting classes by race, since there is only one Origin that is used for new character creation in these modules, if you have Awakening installed; I believe (I have not yet tested it, though) that if you do not have Awakening installed, or it is installed but not enabled, Golems of Amgarrak and Which Hunt will allow you to use the Origins gda files to create characters.

=== Scripts needed ===

You will need copies of many of the default scripts; I will include a builder to builder file with these premade, so you won't need to do it yourself.

You will need a module script; I will include a basic one in the builder to builder file.

One thing that is critical to note; you do not need to put any files in the users packages/core/override folder for your class mod to work.

==== The module script ====

The module script for a custom class mod needs to do several things; it needs to do event handling and it needs to hand certain events to a customized sys_chargen script for further handling.

===== Event handling =====

Your custom class abilities may need to work in a manner that is consistent with how similar abilities included in the game work; for this to happen, you need to listen for certain events to occur and provide a way for the abilities to respond to them. For example, a modal ability that is supposed to end at the end of combat needs to do that; the way to do this is to capture the end of combat event and turn off the modal ability in your module script, then allow the game to continue processing the event to disable other modal abilities that also need to be handled. Another example is an ability that immobilizes a foe; When the foe enters the field of effect, the on_enter event needs to be handled to apply the immobilization effect, if the foe would be captured, and apply some other effect (like slowing movement rate) if they are not immobilized completely.

=== Creature templates ===

You will need to make duplicates of the default_player character template in the toolset; one each for the races/origins you wish the class to be available to. I may include these in the builder to builder file for you to rename as needed. While you can use one template for all Races and Origins, having multiple templates allows you to provide different equipment sets for each, to help blend the class into the existing Origins; I have done this with the Tevinter Warden class so each starting character has weapons that fit the introductory cutscene as seamlessly as possible. This is not needed if you are building a custom class for a stand alone module that doesn't have a fancy Origin story to set the stage for later events.

== Putting it all together ==

To quote Han Solo in Star Wars "Here's where the fun begins". Now we need to put all these things together to make a working class.

=== Creating the gda files ===

There are two ways to procceed at this point; you can simply make copies of the original Excel Spreadsheets included with the toolset (these are found in the game installation directory under tools/source/2da/) and duplicate pages (which is how I do it) or you can create a new spreadsheet and copy the above named pages into it. Either way will work, though the second method simplifies the process quite a bit. In either case, I recommend creating a directory elsewhere on your hard drive to store the files you will be editing.

Now, remember when I said you would need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet? I'm going to explain why this is needed; due to how the game interpretes a formula in the default sys_chargen script, you have to renumber the rows for the Bioware default specializations to have a working row id for your new base class. I have moved them up to start at row id 30 in mine and will provide a set of files set up that way as a starter kit to make things easy for you. The first cla_base file will replace the original one; this is also why you need to include the Achievements.gda, as you will need to edit the rows related to the specializations to match the cla_base file. The second cla_base will hold information related to your custom class and any specializations you decide to make for it.

Your new ABI_base file will tell the game how to handle the new spells/talents your class will have; I will go into more detail in the section on scripts.

=== Editing the scripts ===

=== Creating the items ===

=== Editing the creature template ===

=== Exporting the files ===

=== Testing your work ===

== Specializations ==

=== GDA files needed ===
You don't need as many gda files for Specializations as you do for the full class. The following list is what you need for Origins, followed by the ones needed for Awakening.

==== Origins Specializations GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data

guitypes.xls\guitypes

==== Awakening Specialization GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base_gxa

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

guitypes.xls\guitypes_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

=== Items ===

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-19T02:01:29Z

Ladydesire: /* Creature templates */

This tutorial will be useful to anyone that wants to create a new class for Dragon Age: Origins or a stand-aone module using the Dragon Age game engine; I will assume that you have installed the toolset successfully and have read through the tutorial Creating modules for Dragon Age. This will contain much of the existing custom class tutorial, but expanded on to include details on creating new abilities and skills, as well as making sure these function properly in Bioware's official Expansion and stand-alone DLC. It may include guidance for creating content specific to the class that will transfer from the base game to official expansion\DLC content as well.

== Designing the new class ==

There are a number of things that need to be considered when creating a new class for Dragon Age; how does it fit into the existing game lore, what abilities will it have, what races and origins will be able to use it, and are those abilities Stamina-based or Mana-based. New Specializations, which are created in the same manner as classes have to take these factors into consideration as well.

=== Lore considerations ===

When designing a class that will be used in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, you need to consider how the class fits into the lore of Thedas; when I created the Tevinter Warden Class (using a previous class creation tutorial) I initially intended for the Warden class (the original name) to be a fusion of the Ranger and Druid from Dungeons and Dragons. After careful consideration, i felt that since the game lore did not provide a way to justify "earth spirits" granting spell-like abilities, I would make them into a group of highly trained Warriors with arcane spellcasting abilities. I also felt that the origins of the class should tie into the setting in such a way as to give it the feel of something that Bioware would have created if they had desired to.

Designing classes for stand-alone modules may or may not be similar, depending on the setting used; an module set in Thedas obviously should follow the above guidelines, but modules set in other places (like the BAldur's Gate 2 Redux mod) should be made more loosely tied to lore.

=== Class Abilities ===

=== Race and Origin Restrictions ===
This is an interesting thing; while there may be no lore-based reason to deny a given custom class to any race or origin, there may well br other reasons to do so. For example, there may be certain things that you want to give to your new class that don't fit well with your vision of certain of the races in the game; this is where restricting by race or origin comes in. The easiest way to implement these restrictions in the Origins Campaign is to limit the class to specific origins. There is one caveat I need to mention though; due to how Bioware implemented the Noble Origins, you cannot easily restrict a class to either the Human Noble or Dwarf Noble, nor can you properly implement restricting a Magic-using class in the Origins Campaign. That is one current bug in my Tevinter Warden class that I do plan on fixing eventually.

=== Other Ability decisions ===

One of the most important decisions you have to make is whether your class will be Stamina-based or Mana-based; this impacts several things and creates some interesting dilemas if you are adding this class to the Origins and/or Awakening Campaigns. Most notable is that if you create it as a Mana-based class, you gain access to all Mage spell schools and if Stamina-based, you gain Dual-wield and Archery for free. If you don't want those abilties there is some extra work involved in separating them out, which I will explain how to do when the time comes.

=== What Bioware Modules to support ===

This decision is up to you, but I have designed my class to support Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. I will explain how to do it so that the individual modules can be safely installed at the same time and not interfere with each other. It is possible to create a single installation for all related modules; I will attempt to explain this as well. Also, if you are adding a class that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the Extended Community Canon Project, send me a PM on BSN (username ladydesire) and I will assist you with the lore tie-ins and compatibility with my class; you may also wish to contact Questorion or daywalker03 to have them add information about your class project to the Extended Community Canon project page on Wikipedia.

=== Should you support Community modules ===

This is a difficult question to answer; if you're doing this for a custom campaign you are making, and the class doesn't make much sense outside of it, then you don't need to. On the other hand, if you're going to support the official Bioware modules like I did, it might be a good idea to contact module authors to see if you can work with them to make your class work in their stand-alone module; I have contacted one and have attempted to make a mod for his module and I may contact others to do the same thing.

== Equipment ==

Your new class (and specializations as well) will need items that they can use; you can just equip them with basic armor and weapons, but they should also have specific items that are only usable by that class. As an example, in my Tevinter Warden class mod, I added starter versions of custom armor and weapons that had specific properties that would benefit the class. One thing you need to do, especially if you intend for your class to be usable in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, is make sure those items are set as Core Game Resources owned by your Origins class module; this will enable them to transfer into the expansion and DLCs without your character ending up naked. This is what Bioware did with the items from the Return to Ostagar DLC, but was not used for Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep.

=== Armor ===

Your new class needs to provide something to protect it, be it armor or robes (no naked berserkers allowed). What they will look like depends on your ability to create new models yourself or acquire them from someone who can do the work for you; you can also use the models provided by Bioware if you wish.

=== Weapons ===

As with Armor, your new class needs weapons (unarmed combat is strongly discouraged by the in-game load screens). As with Armor, you can make or acquire models, or use the ones Bioware provided.

== Class foundation data ==
Now that you have a vision for your class and some idea of the equipment they will need, we can move on to actually creating the class; this part can be very frustrating, but I've pulled my hair out figuring these things out so hopefully you won't have to.

Please note that there are some steps that may seem senseless in the following sections, and they may not all be needed, depending on what kind of module you are using the class in; I will point out the things that are likely not going to be needed for stand-alone modules when I go through the actual assembly process for the module.

=== 2da files needed ===
The following is a list of files that are needed when creating new base classes for DAO's Origins campaign; I will also show the files needed to add the class to Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt:

==== Origins 2DA Files ====
ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base

background.xls\Backgrounds

background.xls\background_defaults

background.xls\chargen_preload

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default

Achievements.xls\Achievements

guitypes.xls\guitypes

CLA_base is where the classes are defined for the game engine to find. You will need to make two copies of the CLA_base worksheet; I will explain why later on.
M2DA-base is where you will add references to any new 2DA files you create; this will allow the game engine to know what to do with them.
Backgrounds, background_default, and chargen_preload are where you define the specifics of your new class so that you can create new characters in the character generation screen.
ALWizard is the class's AutoLevel package (this is mainly useful if you plan to create companions with the class in your mod; it's not strictly neccesary otherwise)
Achievements is used in two ways; one is to add new class-specific achievement messages (like when unlocking specializations) and the other is related to the reason you need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet.

==== Awakening 2DA Files ====

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base_gxa

background.xls\Backgrounds_gxa

background.xls\background_defaults_gxa

background.xls\chargen_preload_gxa

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default_gxa

Achievements.xls\Achievements_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

You will need copies of many of the default scripts; I will include a builder to builder file with these premade, so you won't need to do it yourself.

You will need a module script; I will include a basic one in the builder to builder file.

One thing that is critical to note; you do not need to put any files in the users packages/core/override folder for your class mod to work.

==== The module script ====

The module script for a custom class mod needs to do several things; it needs to do event handling and it needs to hand certain events to a customized sys_chargen script for further handling.

===== Event handling =====

Your custom class abilities may need to work in a manner that is consistent with how similar abilities included in the game work; for this to happen, you need to listen for certain events to occur and provide a way for the abilities to respond to them. For example, a modal ability that is supposed to end at the end of combat needs to do that; the way to do this is to capture the end of combat event and turn off the modal ability in your module script, then allow the game to continue processing the event to disable other modal abilities that also need to be handled. Another example is an ability that immobilizes a foe; When the foe enters the field of effect, the on_enter event needs to be handled to apply the immobilization effect, if the foe would be captured, and apply some other effect (like slowing movement rate) if they are not immobilized completely.

=== Creature templates ===

You will need to make duplicates of the default_player character template in the toolset; one each for the races/origins you wish the class to be available to. I may include these in the builder to builder file for you to rename as needed. While you can use one template for all Races and Origins, having multiple templates allows you to provide different equipment sets for each, to help blend the class into the existing Origins; I have done this with the Tevinter Warden class so each starting character has weapons that fit the introductory cutscene as seamlessly as possible. This is not needed if you are building a custom class for a stand alone module that doesn't have a fancy Origin story to set the stage for later events.

== Putting it all together ==

To quote Han Solo in Star Wars "Here's where the fun begins". Now we need to put all these things together to make a working class.

=== Creating the gda files ===

There are two ways to procceed at this point; you can simply make copies of the original Excel Spreadsheets included with the toolset (these are found in the game installation directory under tools/source/2da/) and duplicate pages (which is how I do it) or you can create a new spreadsheet and copy the above named pages into it. Either way will work, though the second method simplifies the process quite a bit. In either case, I recommend creating a directory elsewhere on your hard drive to store the files you will be editing.

Now, remember when I said you would need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet? I'm going to explain why this is needed; due to how the game interpretes a formula in the default sys_chargen script, you have to renumber the rows for the Bioware default specializations to have a working row id for your new base class. I have moved them up to start at row id 30 in mine and will provide a set of files set up that way as a starter kit to make things easy for you. The first cla_base file will replace the original one; this is also why you need to include the Achievements.gda, as you will need to edit the rows related to the specializations to match the cla_base file. The second cla_base will hold information related to your custom class and any specializations you decide to make for it.

Your new ABI_base file will tell the game how to handle the new spells/talents your class will have; I will go into more detail in the section on scripts.

=== Editing the scripts ===

=== Creating the items ===

=== Editing the creature template ===

=== Exporting the files ===

=== Testing your work ===

== Specializations ==

=== GDA files needed ===
You don't need as many gda files for Specializations as you do for the full class. The following list is what you need for Origins, followed by the ones needed for Awakening.

==== Origins Specializations GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data

guitypes.xls\guitypes

==== Awakening Specialization GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base_gxa

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

guitypes.xls\guitypes_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

=== Items ===

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-19T01:52:37Z

Ladydesire: /* Scripts needed */

This tutorial will be useful to anyone that wants to create a new class for Dragon Age: Origins or a stand-aone module using the Dragon Age game engine; I will assume that you have installed the toolset successfully and have read through the tutorial Creating modules for Dragon Age. This will contain much of the existing custom class tutorial, but expanded on to include details on creating new abilities and skills, as well as making sure these function properly in Bioware's official Expansion and stand-alone DLC. It may include guidance for creating content specific to the class that will transfer from the base game to official expansion\DLC content as well.

== Designing the new class ==

There are a number of things that need to be considered when creating a new class for Dragon Age; how does it fit into the existing game lore, what abilities will it have, what races and origins will be able to use it, and are those abilities Stamina-based or Mana-based. New Specializations, which are created in the same manner as classes have to take these factors into consideration as well.

=== Lore considerations ===

When designing a class that will be used in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, you need to consider how the class fits into the lore of Thedas; when I created the Tevinter Warden Class (using a previous class creation tutorial) I initially intended for the Warden class (the original name) to be a fusion of the Ranger and Druid from Dungeons and Dragons. After careful consideration, i felt that since the game lore did not provide a way to justify "earth spirits" granting spell-like abilities, I would make them into a group of highly trained Warriors with arcane spellcasting abilities. I also felt that the origins of the class should tie into the setting in such a way as to give it the feel of something that Bioware would have created if they had desired to.

Designing classes for stand-alone modules may or may not be similar, depending on the setting used; an module set in Thedas obviously should follow the above guidelines, but modules set in other places (like the BAldur's Gate 2 Redux mod) should be made more loosely tied to lore.

=== Class Abilities ===

=== Race and Origin Restrictions ===
This is an interesting thing; while there may be no lore-based reason to deny a given custom class to any race or origin, there may well br other reasons to do so. For example, there may be certain things that you want to give to your new class that don't fit well with your vision of certain of the races in the game; this is where restricting by race or origin comes in. The easiest way to implement these restrictions in the Origins Campaign is to limit the class to specific origins. There is one caveat I need to mention though; due to how Bioware implemented the Noble Origins, you cannot easily restrict a class to either the Human Noble or Dwarf Noble, nor can you properly implement restricting a Magic-using class in the Origins Campaign. That is one current bug in my Tevinter Warden class that I do plan on fixing eventually.

=== Other Ability decisions ===

One of the most important decisions you have to make is whether your class will be Stamina-based or Mana-based; this impacts several things and creates some interesting dilemas if you are adding this class to the Origins and/or Awakening Campaigns. Most notable is that if you create it as a Mana-based class, you gain access to all Mage spell schools and if Stamina-based, you gain Dual-wield and Archery for free. If you don't want those abilties there is some extra work involved in separating them out, which I will explain how to do when the time comes.

=== What Bioware Modules to support ===

This decision is up to you, but I have designed my class to support Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. I will explain how to do it so that the individual modules can be safely installed at the same time and not interfere with each other. It is possible to create a single installation for all related modules; I will attempt to explain this as well. Also, if you are adding a class that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the Extended Community Canon Project, send me a PM on BSN (username ladydesire) and I will assist you with the lore tie-ins and compatibility with my class; you may also wish to contact Questorion or daywalker03 to have them add information about your class project to the Extended Community Canon project page on Wikipedia.

=== Should you support Community modules ===

This is a difficult question to answer; if you're doing this for a custom campaign you are making, and the class doesn't make much sense outside of it, then you don't need to. On the other hand, if you're going to support the official Bioware modules like I did, it might be a good idea to contact module authors to see if you can work with them to make your class work in their stand-alone module; I have contacted one and have attempted to make a mod for his module and I may contact others to do the same thing.

== Equipment ==

Your new class (and specializations as well) will need items that they can use; you can just equip them with basic armor and weapons, but they should also have specific items that are only usable by that class. As an example, in my Tevinter Warden class mod, I added starter versions of custom armor and weapons that had specific properties that would benefit the class. One thing you need to do, especially if you intend for your class to be usable in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, is make sure those items are set as Core Game Resources owned by your Origins class module; this will enable them to transfer into the expansion and DLCs without your character ending up naked. This is what Bioware did with the items from the Return to Ostagar DLC, but was not used for Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep.

=== Armor ===

Your new class needs to provide something to protect it, be it armor or robes (no naked berserkers allowed). What they will look like depends on your ability to create new models yourself or acquire them from someone who can do the work for you; you can also use the models provided by Bioware if you wish.

=== Weapons ===

As with Armor, your new class needs weapons (unarmed combat is strongly discouraged by the in-game load screens). As with Armor, you can make or acquire models, or use the ones Bioware provided.

== Class foundation data ==
Now that you have a vision for your class and some idea of the equipment they will need, we can move on to actually creating the class; this part can be very frustrating, but I've pulled my hair out figuring these things out so hopefully you won't have to.

Please note that there are some steps that may seem senseless in the following sections, and they may not all be needed, depending on what kind of module you are using the class in; I will point out the things that are likely not going to be needed for stand-alone modules when I go through the actual assembly process for the module.

=== 2da files needed ===
The following is a list of files that are needed when creating new base classes for DAO's Origins campaign; I will also show the files needed to add the class to Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt:

==== Origins 2DA Files ====
ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base

background.xls\Backgrounds

background.xls\background_defaults

background.xls\chargen_preload

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default

Achievements.xls\Achievements

guitypes.xls\guitypes

CLA_base is where the classes are defined for the game engine to find. You will need to make two copies of the CLA_base worksheet; I will explain why later on.
M2DA-base is where you will add references to any new 2DA files you create; this will allow the game engine to know what to do with them.
Backgrounds, background_default, and chargen_preload are where you define the specifics of your new class so that you can create new characters in the character generation screen.
ALWizard is the class's AutoLevel package (this is mainly useful if you plan to create companions with the class in your mod; it's not strictly neccesary otherwise)
Achievements is used in two ways; one is to add new class-specific achievement messages (like when unlocking specializations) and the other is related to the reason you need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet.

==== Awakening 2DA Files ====

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base_gxa

background.xls\Backgrounds_gxa

background.xls\background_defaults_gxa

background.xls\chargen_preload_gxa

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default_gxa

Achievements.xls\Achievements_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

You will need copies of many of the default scripts; I will include a builder to builder file with these premade, so you won't need to do it yourself.

You will need a module script; I will include a basic one in the builder to builder file.

One thing that is critical to note; you do not need to put any files in the users packages/core/override folder for your class mod to work.

==== The module script ====

The module script for a custom class mod needs to do several things; it needs to do event handling and it needs to hand certain events to a customized sys_chargen script for further handling.

===== Event handling =====

Your custom class abilities may need to work in a manner that is consistent with how similar abilities included in the game work; for this to happen, you need to listen for certain events to occur and provide a way for the abilities to respond to them. For example, a modal ability that is supposed to end at the end of combat needs to do that; the way to do this is to capture the end of combat event and turn off the modal ability in your module script, then allow the game to continue processing the event to disable other modal abilities that also need to be handled. Another example is an ability that immobilizes a foe; When the foe enters the field of effect, the on_enter event needs to be handled to apply the immobilization effect, if the foe would be captured, and apply some other effect (like slowing movement rate) if they are not immobilized completely.

=== Creature templates ===

You will need to make duplicates of the default_player character template in the toolset; one each for the races/origins you wish the class to be available to. I may include these in the builder to builder file for you to rename as needed.

== Putting it all together ==

To quote Han Solo in Star Wars "Here's where the fun begins". Now we need to put all these things together to make a working class.

=== Creating the gda files ===

There are two ways to procceed at this point; you can simply make copies of the original Excel Spreadsheets included with the toolset (these are found in the game installation directory under tools/source/2da/) and duplicate pages (which is how I do it) or you can create a new spreadsheet and copy the above named pages into it. Either way will work, though the second method simplifies the process quite a bit. In either case, I recommend creating a directory elsewhere on your hard drive to store the files you will be editing.

Now, remember when I said you would need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet? I'm going to explain why this is needed; due to how the game interpretes a formula in the default sys_chargen script, you have to renumber the rows for the Bioware default specializations to have a working row id for your new base class. I have moved them up to start at row id 30 in mine and will provide a set of files set up that way as a starter kit to make things easy for you. The first cla_base file will replace the original one; this is also why you need to include the Achievements.gda, as you will need to edit the rows related to the specializations to match the cla_base file. The second cla_base will hold information related to your custom class and any specializations you decide to make for it.

Your new ABI_base file will tell the game how to handle the new spells/talents your class will have; I will go into more detail in the section on scripts.

=== Editing the scripts ===

=== Creating the items ===

=== Editing the creature template ===

=== Exporting the files ===

=== Testing your work ===

== Specializations ==

=== GDA files needed ===
You don't need as many gda files for Specializations as you do for the full class. The following list is what you need for Origins, followed by the ones needed for Awakening.

==== Origins Specializations GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data

guitypes.xls\guitypes

==== Awakening Specialization GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base_gxa

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

guitypes.xls\guitypes_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

=== Items ===

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-18T16:47:37Z

Ladydesire: /* GDA files needed */

This tutorial will be useful to anyone that wants to create a new class for Dragon Age: Origins or a stand-aone module using the Dragon Age game engine; I will assume that you have installed the toolset successfully and have read through the tutorial Creating modules for Dragon Age. This will contain much of the existing custom class tutorial, but expanded on to include details on creating new abilities and skills, as well as making sure these function properly in Bioware's official Expansion and stand-alone DLC. It may include guidance for creating content specific to the class that will transfer from the base game to official expansion\DLC content as well.

== Designing the new class ==

There are a number of things that need to be considered when creating a new class for Dragon Age; how does it fit into the existing game lore, what abilities will it have, what races and origins will be able to use it, and are those abilities Stamina-based or Mana-based. New Specializations, which are created in the same manner as classes have to take these factors into consideration as well.

=== Lore considerations ===

When designing a class that will be used in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, you need to consider how the class fits into the lore of Thedas; when I created the Tevinter Warden Class (using a previous class creation tutorial) I initially intended for the Warden class (the original name) to be a fusion of the Ranger and Druid from Dungeons and Dragons. After careful consideration, i felt that since the game lore did not provide a way to justify "earth spirits" granting spell-like abilities, I would make them into a group of highly trained Warriors with arcane spellcasting abilities. I also felt that the origins of the class should tie into the setting in such a way as to give it the feel of something that Bioware would have created if they had desired to.

Designing classes for stand-alone modules may or may not be similar, depending on the setting used; an module set in Thedas obviously should follow the above guidelines, but modules set in other places (like the BAldur's Gate 2 Redux mod) should be made more loosely tied to lore.

=== Class Abilities ===

=== Race and Origin Restrictions ===
This is an interesting thing; while there may be no lore-based reason to deny a given custom class to any race or origin, there may well br other reasons to do so. For example, there may be certain things that you want to give to your new class that don't fit well with your vision of certain of the races in the game; this is where restricting by race or origin comes in. The easiest way to implement these restrictions in the Origins Campaign is to limit the class to specific origins. There is one caveat I need to mention though; due to how Bioware implemented the Noble Origins, you cannot easily restrict a class to either the Human Noble or Dwarf Noble, nor can you properly implement restricting a Magic-using class in the Origins Campaign. That is one current bug in my Tevinter Warden class that I do plan on fixing eventually.

=== Other Ability decisions ===

One of the most important decisions you have to make is whether your class will be Stamina-based or Mana-based; this impacts several things and creates some interesting dilemas if you are adding this class to the Origins and/or Awakening Campaigns. Most notable is that if you create it as a Mana-based class, you gain access to all Mage spell schools and if Stamina-based, you gain Dual-wield and Archery for free. If you don't want those abilties there is some extra work involved in separating them out, which I will explain how to do when the time comes.

=== What Bioware Modules to support ===

This decision is up to you, but I have designed my class to support Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. I will explain how to do it so that the individual modules can be safely installed at the same time and not interfere with each other. It is possible to create a single installation for all related modules; I will attempt to explain this as well. Also, if you are adding a class that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the Extended Community Canon Project, send me a PM on BSN (username ladydesire) and I will assist you with the lore tie-ins and compatibility with my class; you may also wish to contact Questorion or daywalker03 to have them add information about your class project to the Extended Community Canon project page on Wikipedia.

=== Should you support Community modules ===

This is a difficult question to answer; if you're doing this for a custom campaign you are making, and the class doesn't make much sense outside of it, then you don't need to. On the other hand, if you're going to support the official Bioware modules like I did, it might be a good idea to contact module authors to see if you can work with them to make your class work in their stand-alone module; I have contacted one and have attempted to make a mod for his module and I may contact others to do the same thing.

== Equipment ==

Your new class (and specializations as well) will need items that they can use; you can just equip them with basic armor and weapons, but they should also have specific items that are only usable by that class. As an example, in my Tevinter Warden class mod, I added starter versions of custom armor and weapons that had specific properties that would benefit the class. One thing you need to do, especially if you intend for your class to be usable in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, is make sure those items are set as Core Game Resources owned by your Origins class module; this will enable them to transfer into the expansion and DLCs without your character ending up naked. This is what Bioware did with the items from the Return to Ostagar DLC, but was not used for Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep.

=== Armor ===

Your new class needs to provide something to protect it, be it armor or robes (no naked berserkers allowed). What they will look like depends on your ability to create new models yourself or acquire them from someone who can do the work for you; you can also use the models provided by Bioware if you wish.

=== Weapons ===

As with Armor, your new class needs weapons (unarmed combat is strongly discouraged by the in-game load screens). As with Armor, you can make or acquire models, or use the ones Bioware provided.

== Class foundation data ==
Now that you have a vision for your class and some idea of the equipment they will need, we can move on to actually creating the class; this part can be very frustrating, but I've pulled my hair out figuring these things out so hopefully you won't have to.

Please note that there are some steps that may seem senseless in the following sections, and they may not all be needed, depending on what kind of module you are using the class in; I will point out the things that are likely not going to be needed for stand-alone modules when I go through the actual assembly process for the module.

=== 2da files needed ===
The following is a list of files that are needed when creating new base classes for DAO's Origins campaign; I will also show the files needed to add the class to Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt:

==== Origins 2DA Files ====
ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base

background.xls\Backgrounds

background.xls\background_defaults

background.xls\chargen_preload

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default

Achievements.xls\Achievements

guitypes.xls\guitypes

CLA_base is where the classes are defined for the game engine to find. You will need to make two copies of the CLA_base worksheet; I will explain why later on.
M2DA-base is where you will add references to any new 2DA files you create; this will allow the game engine to know what to do with them.
Backgrounds, background_default, and chargen_preload are where you define the specifics of your new class so that you can create new characters in the character generation screen.
ALWizard is the class's AutoLevel package (this is mainly useful if you plan to create companions with the class in your mod; it's not strictly neccesary otherwise)
Achievements is used in two ways; one is to add new class-specific achievement messages (like when unlocking specializations) and the other is related to the reason you need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet.

==== Awakening 2DA Files ====

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base_gxa

background.xls\Backgrounds_gxa

background.xls\background_defaults_gxa

background.xls\chargen_preload_gxa

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default_gxa

Achievements.xls\Achievements_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

You will need copies of many of the default scripts; I will include a builder to builder file with these premade, so you won't need to do it yourself.

You will need a module script; I will include a basic one in the builder to builder file.

One thing that is critical to note; you do not need to put any files in the users packages/core/override folder for your class mod to work.

=== Creature templates ===

You will need to make duplicates of the default_player character template in the toolset; one each for the races/origins you wish the class to be available to. I may include these in the builder to builder file for you to rename as needed.

== Putting it all together ==

To quote Han Solo in Star Wars "Here's where the fun begins". Now we need to put all these things together to make a working class.

=== Creating the gda files ===

There are two ways to procceed at this point; you can simply make copies of the original Excel Spreadsheets included with the toolset (these are found in the game installation directory under tools/source/2da/) and duplicate pages (which is how I do it) or you can create a new spreadsheet and copy the above named pages into it. Either way will work, though the second method simplifies the process quite a bit. In either case, I recommend creating a directory elsewhere on your hard drive to store the files you will be editing.

Now, remember when I said you would need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet? I'm going to explain why this is needed; due to how the game interpretes a formula in the default sys_chargen script, you have to renumber the rows for the Bioware default specializations to have a working row id for your new base class. I have moved them up to start at row id 30 in mine and will provide a set of files set up that way as a starter kit to make things easy for you. The first cla_base file will replace the original one; this is also why you need to include the Achievements.gda, as you will need to edit the rows related to the specializations to match the cla_base file. The second cla_base will hold information related to your custom class and any specializations you decide to make for it.

Your new ABI_base file will tell the game how to handle the new spells/talents your class will have; I will go into more detail in the section on scripts.

=== Editing the scripts ===

=== Creating the items ===

=== Editing the creature template ===

=== Exporting the files ===

=== Testing your work ===

== Specializations ==

=== GDA files needed ===
You don't need as many gda files for Specializations as you do for the full class. The following list is what you need for Origins, followed by the ones needed for Awakening.

==== Origins Specializations GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data

guitypes.xls\guitypes

==== Awakening Specialization GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base_gxa

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

guitypes.xls\guitypes_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

=== Items ===

Creating modules for Dragon Age

2011-01-18T16:45:12Z

Ladydesire: /* Module Hierarchy */

This will be a general tutorial on creating modules for Dragon Age: Origins; it will apply to both stand-alone addins (player created playable modules) and addins that extend one or more of the official campaign modules created by Bioware. Please note that I will not be assuming that you have read the Official Tutorials created by Bioware and will cover as much as is needed for a thorough understanding of the module creation process, but I will assume that you have installed the Dragon Age Toolset successfully.

== The toolset layout ==

The toolset is roughly divided into four sections; the Editor Window, the Log Window, the Palette Window and the Object Inspector. I will describe the function of each of these sections in the following subsections.

=== The Editor Window ===

This section of the toolset is where the majority of the work is done in the Dragon Age Toolset. It starts out empty whenever the toolset is started, and it is where all of the usable editors will load when doing specific tasks, like editing scripts and creating new levels.

=== The Log Window ===

This section of the toolset is where you will see all of the error messages and other message output from the toolset when you do certain things, like exporting resources from the toolset (I will talk about this later in this tutorial).

=== The Palette Window ===

This section of the toolset shows all resources available in the module, by catagories; if you are building a new module and have not associated an existing module with it, this will be empty.

=== The Object Inspector ===

This section of the toolset will allow you to examine the properties of any item stored in the toolset database except for the ownership properties.

== Creating a new module to work in ==

You should always create a new module to do the majority of your work in the DA Toolset. The only time you should work in the Single Player module (which is what the Origins Campaign is called in the toolset database) is when building new levels; this is required due to a bug in how levels are packaged by the toolset.

=== Module Properties ===

=== Module Hierarchy ===

== Editors ==

==Pallets ==

Creating modules for Dragon Age

2011-01-18T16:42:07Z

Ladydesire: /* Creating a new module to work in */

This will be a general tutorial on creating modules for Dragon Age: Origins; it will apply to both stand-alone addins (player created playable modules) and addins that extend one or more of the official campaign modules created by Bioware. Please note that I will not be assuming that you have read the Official Tutorials created by Bioware and will cover as much as is needed for a thorough understanding of the module creation process, but I will assume that you have installed the Dragon Age Toolset successfully.

== The toolset layout ==

The toolset is roughly divided into four sections; the Editor Window, the Log Window, the Palette Window and the Object Inspector. I will describe the function of each of these sections in the following subsections.

=== The Editor Window ===

This section of the toolset is where the majority of the work is done in the Dragon Age Toolset. It starts out empty whenever the toolset is started, and it is where all of the usable editors will load when doing specific tasks, like editing scripts and creating new levels.

=== The Log Window ===

This section of the toolset is where you will see all of the error messages and other message output from the toolset when you do certain things, like exporting resources from the toolset (I will talk about this later in this tutorial).

=== The Palette Window ===

This section of the toolset shows all resources available in the module, by catagories; if you are building a new module and have not associated an existing module with it, this will be empty.

=== The Object Inspector ===

This section of the toolset will allow you to examine the properties of any item stored in the toolset database except for the ownership properties.

== Creating a new module to work in ==

You should always create a new module to do the majority of your work in the DA Toolset. The only time you should work in the Single Player module (which is what the Origins Campaign is called in the toolset database) is when building new levels; this is required due to a bug in how levels are packaged by the toolset.

=== Module Properties ===

=== Module Hierarchy ===

Creating modules for Dragon Age

2011-01-18T04:06:43Z

Ladydesire:

This will be a general tutorial on creating modules for Dragon Age: Origins; it will apply to both stand-alone addins (player created playable modules) and addins that extend one or more of the official campaign modules created by Bioware. Please note that I will not be assuming that you have read the Official Tutorials created by Bioware and will cover as much as is needed for a thorough understanding of the module creation process, but I will assume that you have installed the Dragon Age Toolset successfully.

== The toolset layout ==

The toolset is roughly divided into four sections; the Editor Window, the Log Window, the Palette Window and the Object Inspector. I will describe the function of each of these sections in the following subsections.

=== The Editor Window ===

This section of the toolset is where the majority of the work is done in the Dragon Age Toolset. It starts out empty whenever the toolset is started, and it is where all of the usable editors will load when doing specific tasks, like editing scripts and creating new levels.

=== The Log Window ===

This section of the toolset is where you will see all of the error messages and other message output from the toolset when you do certain things, like exporting resources from the toolset (I will talk about this later in this tutorial).

=== The Palette Window ===

This section of the toolset shows all resources available in the module, by catagories; if you are building a new module and have not associated an existing module with it, this will be empty.

=== The Object Inspector ===

This section of the toolset will allow you to examine the properties of any item stored in the toolset database except for the ownership properties.

== Creating a new module to work in ==

You should always create a new module to do the majority of your work in the DA Toolset. The only time you should work in the Single Player module (which is what the Origins Campaign is called in the toolset database) is when building new levels; this is required due to a bug in

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-18T03:03:29Z

Ladydesire: /* What Bioware Modules to support */

This tutorial will be useful to anyone that wants to create a new class for Dragon Age: Origins or a stand-aone module using the Dragon Age game engine; I will assume that you have installed the toolset successfully and have read through the tutorial Creating modules for Dragon Age. This will contain much of the existing custom class tutorial, but expanded on to include details on creating new abilities and skills, as well as making sure these function properly in Bioware's official Expansion and stand-alone DLC. It may include guidance for creating content specific to the class that will transfer from the base game to official expansion\DLC content as well.

== Designing the new class ==

There are a number of things that need to be considered when creating a new class for Dragon Age; how does it fit into the existing game lore, what abilities will it have, what races and origins will be able to use it, and are those abilities Stamina-based or Mana-based. New Specializations, which are created in the same manner as classes have to take these factors into consideration as well.

=== Lore considerations ===

When designing a class that will be used in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, you need to consider how the class fits into the lore of Thedas; when I created the Tevinter Warden Class (using a previous class creation tutorial) I initially intended for the Warden class (the original name) to be a fusion of the Ranger and Druid from Dungeons and Dragons. After careful consideration, i felt that since the game lore did not provide a way to justify "earth spirits" granting spell-like abilities, I would make them into a group of highly trained Warriors with arcane spellcasting abilities. I also felt that the origins of the class should tie into the setting in such a way as to give it the feel of something that Bioware would have created if they had desired to.

Designing classes for stand-alone modules may or may not be similar, depending on the setting used; an module set in Thedas obviously should follow the above guidelines, but modules set in other places (like the BAldur's Gate 2 Redux mod) should be made more loosely tied to lore.

=== Class Abilities ===

=== Race and Origin Restrictions ===
This is an interesting thing; while there may be no lore-based reason to deny a given custom class to any race or origin, there may well br other reasons to do so. For example, there may be certain things that you want to give to your new class that don't fit well with your vision of certain of the races in the game; this is where restricting by race or origin comes in. The easiest way to implement these restrictions in the Origins Campaign is to limit the class to specific origins. There is one caveat I need to mention though; due to how Bioware implemented the Noble Origins, you cannot easily restrict a class to either the Human Noble or Dwarf Noble, nor can you properly implement restricting a Magic-using class in the Origins Campaign. That is one current bug in my Tevinter Warden class that I do plan on fixing eventually.

=== Other Ability decisions ===

One of the most important decisions you have to make is whether your class will be Stamina-based or Mana-based; this impacts several things and creates some interesting dilemas if you are adding this class to the Origins and/or Awakening Campaigns. Most notable is that if you create it as a Mana-based class, you gain access to all Mage spell schools and if Stamina-based, you gain Dual-wield and Archery for free. If you don't want those abilties there is some extra work involved in separating them out, which I will explain how to do when the time comes.

=== What Bioware Modules to support ===

This decision is up to you, but I have designed my class to support Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. I will explain how to do it so that the individual modules can be safely installed at the same time and not interfere with each other. It is possible to create a single installation for all related modules; I will attempt to explain this as well. Also, if you are adding a class that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the Extended Community Canon Project, send me a PM on BSN (username ladydesire) and I will assist you with the lore tie-ins and compatibility with my class; you may also wish to contact Questorion or daywalker03 to have them add information about your class project to the Extended Community Canon project page on Wikipedia.

=== Should you support Community modules ===

This is a difficult question to answer; if you're doing this for a custom campaign you are making, and the class doesn't make much sense outside of it, then you don't need to. On the other hand, if you're going to support the official Bioware modules like I did, it might be a good idea to contact module authors to see if you can work with them to make your class work in their stand-alone module; I have contacted one and have attempted to make a mod for his module and I may contact others to do the same thing.

== Equipment ==

Your new class (and specializations as well) will need items that they can use; you can just equip them with basic armor and weapons, but they should also have specific items that are only usable by that class. As an example, in my Tevinter Warden class mod, I added starter versions of custom armor and weapons that had specific properties that would benefit the class. One thing you need to do, especially if you intend for your class to be usable in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, is make sure those items are set as Core Game Resources owned by your Origins class module; this will enable them to transfer into the expansion and DLCs without your character ending up naked. This is what Bioware did with the items from the Return to Ostagar DLC, but was not used for Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep.

=== Armor ===

Your new class needs to provide something to protect it, be it armor or robes (no naked berserkers allowed). What they will look like depends on your ability to create new models yourself or acquire them from someone who can do the work for you; you can also use the models provided by Bioware if you wish.

=== Weapons ===

As with Armor, your new class needs weapons (unarmed combat is strongly discouraged by the in-game load screens). As with Armor, you can make or acquire models, or use the ones Bioware provided.

== Class foundation data ==
Now that you have a vision for your class and some idea of the equipment they will need, we can move on to actually creating the class; this part can be very frustrating, but I've pulled my hair out figuring these things out so hopefully you won't have to.

Please note that there are some steps that may seem senseless in the following sections, and they may not all be needed, depending on what kind of module you are using the class in; I will point out the things that are likely not going to be needed for stand-alone modules when I go through the actual assembly process for the module.

=== 2da files needed ===
The following is a list of files that are needed when creating new base classes for DAO's Origins campaign; I will also show the files needed to add the class to Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt:

==== Origins 2DA Files ====
ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base

background.xls\Backgrounds

background.xls\background_defaults

background.xls\chargen_preload

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default

Achievements.xls\Achievements

guitypes.xls\guitypes

CLA_base is where the classes are defined for the game engine to find. You will need to make two copies of the CLA_base worksheet; I will explain why later on.
M2DA-base is where you will add references to any new 2DA files you create; this will allow the game engine to know what to do with them.
Backgrounds, background_default, and chargen_preload are where you define the specifics of your new class so that you can create new characters in the character generation screen.
ALWizard is the class's AutoLevel package (this is mainly useful if you plan to create companions with the class in your mod; it's not strictly neccesary otherwise)
Achievements is used in two ways; one is to add new class-specific achievement messages (like when unlocking specializations) and the other is related to the reason you need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet.

==== Awakening 2DA Files ====

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base_gxa

background.xls\Backgrounds_gxa

background.xls\background_defaults_gxa

background.xls\chargen_preload_gxa

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default_gxa

Achievements.xls\Achievements_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

You will need copies of many of the default scripts; I will include a builder to builder file with these premade, so you won't need to do it yourself.

You will need a module script; I will include a basic one in the builder to builder file.

One thing that is critical to note; you do not need to put any files in the users packages/core/override folder for your class mod to work.

=== Creature templates ===

You will need to make duplicates of the default_player character template in the toolset; one each for the races/origins you wish the class to be available to. I may include these in the builder to builder file for you to rename as needed.

== Putting it all together ==

To quote Han Solo in Star Wars "Here's where the fun begins". Now we need to put all these things together to make a working class.

=== Creating the gda files ===

There are two ways to procceed at this point; you can simply make copies of the original Excel Spreadsheets included with the toolset (these are found in the game installation directory under tools/source/2da/) and duplicate pages (which is how I do it) or you can create a new spreadsheet and copy the above named pages into it. Either way will work, though the second method simplifies the process quite a bit. In either case, I recommend creating a directory elsewhere on your hard drive to store the files you will be editing.

Now, remember when I said you would need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet? I'm going to explain why this is needed; due to how the game interpretes a formula in the default sys_chargen script, you have to renumber the rows for the Bioware default specializations to have a working row id for your new base class. I have moved them up to start at row id 30 in mine and will provide a set of files set up that way as a starter kit to make things easy for you. The first cla_base file will replace the original one; this is also why you need to include the Achievements.gda, as you will need to edit the rows related to the specializations to match the cla_base file. The second cla_base will hold information related to your custom class and any specializations you decide to make for it.

Your new ABI_base file will tell the game how to handle the new spells/talents your class will have; I will go into more detail in the section on scripts.

=== Editing the scripts ===

=== Creating the items ===

=== Editing the creature template ===

=== Exporting the files ===

=== Testing your work ===

== Specializations ==

=== GDA files needed ===
You don't need as many gda files for Specializations as you do for the full class. The following list is what you need for Origins.

==== Origins Specializations GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data

guitypes.xls\guitypes

==== Awakening Specialization GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base_gxa

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

guitypes.xls\guitypes_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

=== Items ===

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-18T03:02:21Z

Ladydesire: /* Should you support Community modules */

This tutorial will be useful to anyone that wants to create a new class for Dragon Age: Origins or a stand-aone module using the Dragon Age game engine; I will assume that you have installed the toolset successfully and have read through the tutorial Creating modules for Dragon Age. This will contain much of the existing custom class tutorial, but expanded on to include details on creating new abilities and skills, as well as making sure these function properly in Bioware's official Expansion and stand-alone DLC. It may include guidance for creating content specific to the class that will transfer from the base game to official expansion\DLC content as well.

== Designing the new class ==

There are a number of things that need to be considered when creating a new class for Dragon Age; how does it fit into the existing game lore, what abilities will it have, what races and origins will be able to use it, and are those abilities Stamina-based or Mana-based. New Specializations, which are created in the same manner as classes have to take these factors into consideration as well.

=== Lore considerations ===

When designing a class that will be used in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, you need to consider how the class fits into the lore of Thedas; when I created the Tevinter Warden Class (using a previous class creation tutorial) I initially intended for the Warden class (the original name) to be a fusion of the Ranger and Druid from Dungeons and Dragons. After careful consideration, i felt that since the game lore did not provide a way to justify "earth spirits" granting spell-like abilities, I would make them into a group of highly trained Warriors with arcane spellcasting abilities. I also felt that the origins of the class should tie into the setting in such a way as to give it the feel of something that Bioware would have created if they had desired to.

Designing classes for stand-alone modules may or may not be similar, depending on the setting used; an module set in Thedas obviously should follow the above guidelines, but modules set in other places (like the BAldur's Gate 2 Redux mod) should be made more loosely tied to lore.

=== Class Abilities ===

=== Race and Origin Restrictions ===
This is an interesting thing; while there may be no lore-based reason to deny a given custom class to any race or origin, there may well br other reasons to do so. For example, there may be certain things that you want to give to your new class that don't fit well with your vision of certain of the races in the game; this is where restricting by race or origin comes in. The easiest way to implement these restrictions in the Origins Campaign is to limit the class to specific origins. There is one caveat I need to mention though; due to how Bioware implemented the Noble Origins, you cannot easily restrict a class to either the Human Noble or Dwarf Noble, nor can you properly implement restricting a Magic-using class in the Origins Campaign. That is one current bug in my Tevinter Warden class that I do plan on fixing eventually.

=== Other Ability decisions ===

One of the most important decisions you have to make is whether your class will be Stamina-based or Mana-based; this impacts several things and creates some interesting dilemas if you are adding this class to the Origins and/or Awakening Campaigns. Most notable is that if you create it as a Mana-based class, you gain access to all Mage spell schools and if Stamina-based, you gain Dual-wield and Archery for free. If you don't want those abilties there is some extra work involved in separating them out, which I will explain how to do when the time comes.

=== What Bioware Modules to support ===

This decision is up to you, but I have designed my class to support Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. I will explain how to do it so that the individual modules can be safely installed at the same time and not interfere with each other. It is possible to create a single installation for all related modules; I will attempt to explain this as well.

=== Should you support Community modules ===

This is a difficult question to answer; if you're doing this for a custom campaign you are making, and the class doesn't make much sense outside of it, then you don't need to. On the other hand, if you're going to support the official Bioware modules like I did, it might be a good idea to contact module authors to see if you can work with them to make your class work in their stand-alone module; I have contacted one and have attempted to make a mod for his module and I may contact others to do the same thing.

== Equipment ==

Your new class (and specializations as well) will need items that they can use; you can just equip them with basic armor and weapons, but they should also have specific items that are only usable by that class. As an example, in my Tevinter Warden class mod, I added starter versions of custom armor and weapons that had specific properties that would benefit the class. One thing you need to do, especially if you intend for your class to be usable in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, is make sure those items are set as Core Game Resources owned by your Origins class module; this will enable them to transfer into the expansion and DLCs without your character ending up naked. This is what Bioware did with the items from the Return to Ostagar DLC, but was not used for Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep.

=== Armor ===

Your new class needs to provide something to protect it, be it armor or robes (no naked berserkers allowed). What they will look like depends on your ability to create new models yourself or acquire them from someone who can do the work for you; you can also use the models provided by Bioware if you wish.

=== Weapons ===

As with Armor, your new class needs weapons (unarmed combat is strongly discouraged by the in-game load screens). As with Armor, you can make or acquire models, or use the ones Bioware provided.

== Class foundation data ==
Now that you have a vision for your class and some idea of the equipment they will need, we can move on to actually creating the class; this part can be very frustrating, but I've pulled my hair out figuring these things out so hopefully you won't have to.

Please note that there are some steps that may seem senseless in the following sections, and they may not all be needed, depending on what kind of module you are using the class in; I will point out the things that are likely not going to be needed for stand-alone modules when I go through the actual assembly process for the module.

=== 2da files needed ===
The following is a list of files that are needed when creating new base classes for DAO's Origins campaign; I will also show the files needed to add the class to Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt:

==== Origins 2DA Files ====
ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base

background.xls\Backgrounds

background.xls\background_defaults

background.xls\chargen_preload

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default

Achievements.xls\Achievements

guitypes.xls\guitypes

CLA_base is where the classes are defined for the game engine to find. You will need to make two copies of the CLA_base worksheet; I will explain why later on.
M2DA-base is where you will add references to any new 2DA files you create; this will allow the game engine to know what to do with them.
Backgrounds, background_default, and chargen_preload are where you define the specifics of your new class so that you can create new characters in the character generation screen.
ALWizard is the class's AutoLevel package (this is mainly useful if you plan to create companions with the class in your mod; it's not strictly neccesary otherwise)
Achievements is used in two ways; one is to add new class-specific achievement messages (like when unlocking specializations) and the other is related to the reason you need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet.

==== Awakening 2DA Files ====

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base_gxa

background.xls\Backgrounds_gxa

background.xls\background_defaults_gxa

background.xls\chargen_preload_gxa

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default_gxa

Achievements.xls\Achievements_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

You will need copies of many of the default scripts; I will include a builder to builder file with these premade, so you won't need to do it yourself.

You will need a module script; I will include a basic one in the builder to builder file.

One thing that is critical to note; you do not need to put any files in the users packages/core/override folder for your class mod to work.

=== Creature templates ===

You will need to make duplicates of the default_player character template in the toolset; one each for the races/origins you wish the class to be available to. I may include these in the builder to builder file for you to rename as needed.

== Putting it all together ==

To quote Han Solo in Star Wars "Here's where the fun begins". Now we need to put all these things together to make a working class.

=== Creating the gda files ===

There are two ways to procceed at this point; you can simply make copies of the original Excel Spreadsheets included with the toolset (these are found in the game installation directory under tools/source/2da/) and duplicate pages (which is how I do it) or you can create a new spreadsheet and copy the above named pages into it. Either way will work, though the second method simplifies the process quite a bit. In either case, I recommend creating a directory elsewhere on your hard drive to store the files you will be editing.

Now, remember when I said you would need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet? I'm going to explain why this is needed; due to how the game interpretes a formula in the default sys_chargen script, you have to renumber the rows for the Bioware default specializations to have a working row id for your new base class. I have moved them up to start at row id 30 in mine and will provide a set of files set up that way as a starter kit to make things easy for you. The first cla_base file will replace the original one; this is also why you need to include the Achievements.gda, as you will need to edit the rows related to the specializations to match the cla_base file. The second cla_base will hold information related to your custom class and any specializations you decide to make for it.

Your new ABI_base file will tell the game how to handle the new spells/talents your class will have; I will go into more detail in the section on scripts.

=== Editing the scripts ===

=== Creating the items ===

=== Editing the creature template ===

=== Exporting the files ===

=== Testing your work ===

== Specializations ==

=== GDA files needed ===
You don't need as many gda files for Specializations as you do for the full class. The following list is what you need for Origins.

==== Origins Specializations GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data

guitypes.xls\guitypes

==== Awakening Specialization GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base_gxa

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

guitypes.xls\guitypes_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

=== Items ===

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-18T02:52:31Z

Ladydesire: /* What Bioware Modules to support */

This tutorial will be useful to anyone that wants to create a new class for Dragon Age: Origins or a stand-aone module using the Dragon Age game engine; I will assume that you have installed the toolset successfully and have read through the tutorial Creating modules for Dragon Age. This will contain much of the existing custom class tutorial, but expanded on to include details on creating new abilities and skills, as well as making sure these function properly in Bioware's official Expansion and stand-alone DLC. It may include guidance for creating content specific to the class that will transfer from the base game to official expansion\DLC content as well.

== Designing the new class ==

There are a number of things that need to be considered when creating a new class for Dragon Age; how does it fit into the existing game lore, what abilities will it have, what races and origins will be able to use it, and are those abilities Stamina-based or Mana-based. New Specializations, which are created in the same manner as classes have to take these factors into consideration as well.

=== Lore considerations ===

When designing a class that will be used in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, you need to consider how the class fits into the lore of Thedas; when I created the Tevinter Warden Class (using a previous class creation tutorial) I initially intended for the Warden class (the original name) to be a fusion of the Ranger and Druid from Dungeons and Dragons. After careful consideration, i felt that since the game lore did not provide a way to justify "earth spirits" granting spell-like abilities, I would make them into a group of highly trained Warriors with arcane spellcasting abilities. I also felt that the origins of the class should tie into the setting in such a way as to give it the feel of something that Bioware would have created if they had desired to.

Designing classes for stand-alone modules may or may not be similar, depending on the setting used; an module set in Thedas obviously should follow the above guidelines, but modules set in other places (like the BAldur's Gate 2 Redux mod) should be made more loosely tied to lore.

=== Class Abilities ===

=== Race and Origin Restrictions ===
This is an interesting thing; while there may be no lore-based reason to deny a given custom class to any race or origin, there may well br other reasons to do so. For example, there may be certain things that you want to give to your new class that don't fit well with your vision of certain of the races in the game; this is where restricting by race or origin comes in. The easiest way to implement these restrictions in the Origins Campaign is to limit the class to specific origins. There is one caveat I need to mention though; due to how Bioware implemented the Noble Origins, you cannot easily restrict a class to either the Human Noble or Dwarf Noble, nor can you properly implement restricting a Magic-using class in the Origins Campaign. That is one current bug in my Tevinter Warden class that I do plan on fixing eventually.

=== Other Ability decisions ===

One of the most important decisions you have to make is whether your class will be Stamina-based or Mana-based; this impacts several things and creates some interesting dilemas if you are adding this class to the Origins and/or Awakening Campaigns. Most notable is that if you create it as a Mana-based class, you gain access to all Mage spell schools and if Stamina-based, you gain Dual-wield and Archery for free. If you don't want those abilties there is some extra work involved in separating them out, which I will explain how to do when the time comes.

=== What Bioware Modules to support ===

This decision is up to you, but I have designed my class to support Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. I will explain how to do it so that the individual modules can be safely installed at the same time and not interfere with each other. It is possible to create a single installation for all related modules; I will attempt to explain this as well.

=== Should you support Community modules ===

This is a difficult question to answer; if you're doing this for a custom campaign you are making, and the class doesn't make much sense outside of it, then you don't need to. On the other hand, if you're going to support the official Bioware modules like I did, it might be a good idea to contact module authors to see if you can work with them to make your class work in their stand-alone module; I have contacted one and have attempted to make a mod for his module and I may cotact others to do the same thing.

== Equipment ==

Your new class (and specializations as well) will need items that they can use; you can just equip them with basic armor and weapons, but they should also have specific items that are only usable by that class. As an example, in my Tevinter Warden class mod, I added starter versions of custom armor and weapons that had specific properties that would benefit the class. One thing you need to do, especially if you intend for your class to be usable in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, is make sure those items are set as Core Game Resources owned by your Origins class module; this will enable them to transfer into the expansion and DLCs without your character ending up naked. This is what Bioware did with the items from the Return to Ostagar DLC, but was not used for Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep.

=== Armor ===

Your new class needs to provide something to protect it, be it armor or robes (no naked berserkers allowed). What they will look like depends on your ability to create new models yourself or acquire them from someone who can do the work for you; you can also use the models provided by Bioware if you wish.

=== Weapons ===

As with Armor, your new class needs weapons (unarmed combat is strongly discouraged by the in-game load screens). As with Armor, you can make or acquire models, or use the ones Bioware provided.

== Class foundation data ==
Now that you have a vision for your class and some idea of the equipment they will need, we can move on to actually creating the class; this part can be very frustrating, but I've pulled my hair out figuring these things out so hopefully you won't have to.

Please note that there are some steps that may seem senseless in the following sections, and they may not all be needed, depending on what kind of module you are using the class in; I will point out the things that are likely not going to be needed for stand-alone modules when I go through the actual assembly process for the module.

=== 2da files needed ===
The following is a list of files that are needed when creating new base classes for DAO's Origins campaign; I will also show the files needed to add the class to Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt:

==== Origins 2DA Files ====
ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base

background.xls\Backgrounds

background.xls\background_defaults

background.xls\chargen_preload

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default

Achievements.xls\Achievements

guitypes.xls\guitypes

CLA_base is where the classes are defined for the game engine to find. You will need to make two copies of the CLA_base worksheet; I will explain why later on.
M2DA-base is where you will add references to any new 2DA files you create; this will allow the game engine to know what to do with them.
Backgrounds, background_default, and chargen_preload are where you define the specifics of your new class so that you can create new characters in the character generation screen.
ALWizard is the class's AutoLevel package (this is mainly useful if you plan to create companions with the class in your mod; it's not strictly neccesary otherwise)
Achievements is used in two ways; one is to add new class-specific achievement messages (like when unlocking specializations) and the other is related to the reason you need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet.

==== Awakening 2DA Files ====

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base_gxa

background.xls\Backgrounds_gxa

background.xls\background_defaults_gxa

background.xls\chargen_preload_gxa

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default_gxa

Achievements.xls\Achievements_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

You will need copies of many of the default scripts; I will include a builder to builder file with these premade, so you won't need to do it yourself.

You will need a module script; I will include a basic one in the builder to builder file.

One thing that is critical to note; you do not need to put any files in the users packages/core/override folder for your class mod to work.

=== Creature templates ===

You will need to make duplicates of the default_player character template in the toolset; one each for the races/origins you wish the class to be available to. I may include these in the builder to builder file for you to rename as needed.

== Putting it all together ==

To quote Han Solo in Star Wars "Here's where the fun begins". Now we need to put all these things together to make a working class.

=== Creating the gda files ===

There are two ways to procceed at this point; you can simply make copies of the original Excel Spreadsheets included with the toolset (these are found in the game installation directory under tools/source/2da/) and duplicate pages (which is how I do it) or you can create a new spreadsheet and copy the above named pages into it. Either way will work, though the second method simplifies the process quite a bit. In either case, I recommend creating a directory elsewhere on your hard drive to store the files you will be editing.

Now, remember when I said you would need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet? I'm going to explain why this is needed; due to how the game interpretes a formula in the default sys_chargen script, you have to renumber the rows for the Bioware default specializations to have a working row id for your new base class. I have moved them up to start at row id 30 in mine and will provide a set of files set up that way as a starter kit to make things easy for you. The first cla_base file will replace the original one; this is also why you need to include the Achievements.gda, as you will need to edit the rows related to the specializations to match the cla_base file. The second cla_base will hold information related to your custom class and any specializations you decide to make for it.

Your new ABI_base file will tell the game how to handle the new spells/talents your class will have; I will go into more detail in the section on scripts.

=== Editing the scripts ===

=== Creating the items ===

=== Editing the creature template ===

=== Exporting the files ===

=== Testing your work ===

== Specializations ==

=== GDA files needed ===
You don't need as many gda files for Specializations as you do for the full class. The following list is what you need for Origins.

==== Origins Specializations GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data

guitypes.xls\guitypes

==== Awakening Specialization GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base_gxa

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

guitypes.xls\guitypes_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

=== Items ===

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-18T02:44:40Z

Ladydesire: /* GDA files needed */

This tutorial will be useful to anyone that wants to create a new class for Dragon Age: Origins or a stand-aone module using the Dragon Age game engine; I will assume that you have installed the toolset successfully and have read through the tutorial Creating modules for Dragon Age. This will contain much of the existing custom class tutorial, but expanded on to include details on creating new abilities and skills, as well as making sure these function properly in Bioware's official Expansion and stand-alone DLC. It may include guidance for creating content specific to the class that will transfer from the base game to official expansion\DLC content as well.

== Designing the new class ==

There are a number of things that need to be considered when creating a new class for Dragon Age; how does it fit into the existing game lore, what abilities will it have, what races and origins will be able to use it, and are those abilities Stamina-based or Mana-based. New Specializations, which are created in the same manner as classes have to take these factors into consideration as well.

=== Lore considerations ===

When designing a class that will be used in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, you need to consider how the class fits into the lore of Thedas; when I created the Tevinter Warden Class (using a previous class creation tutorial) I initially intended for the Warden class (the original name) to be a fusion of the Ranger and Druid from Dungeons and Dragons. After careful consideration, i felt that since the game lore did not provide a way to justify "earth spirits" granting spell-like abilities, I would make them into a group of highly trained Warriors with arcane spellcasting abilities. I also felt that the origins of the class should tie into the setting in such a way as to give it the feel of something that Bioware would have created if they had desired to.

Designing classes for stand-alone modules may or may not be similar, depending on the setting used; an module set in Thedas obviously should follow the above guidelines, but modules set in other places (like the BAldur's Gate 2 Redux mod) should be made more loosely tied to lore.

=== Class Abilities ===

=== Race and Origin Restrictions ===
This is an interesting thing; while there may be no lore-based reason to deny a given custom class to any race or origin, there may well br other reasons to do so. For example, there may be certain things that you want to give to your new class that don't fit well with your vision of certain of the races in the game; this is where restricting by race or origin comes in. The easiest way to implement these restrictions in the Origins Campaign is to limit the class to specific origins. There is one caveat I need to mention though; due to how Bioware implemented the Noble Origins, you cannot easily restrict a class to either the Human Noble or Dwarf Noble, nor can you properly implement restricting a Magic-using class in the Origins Campaign. That is one current bug in my Tevinter Warden class that I do plan on fixing eventually.

=== Other Ability decisions ===

One of the most important decisions you have to make is whether your class will be Stamina-based or Mana-based; this impacts several things and creates some interesting dilemas if you are adding this class to the Origins and/or Awakening Campaigns. Most notable is that if you create it as a Mana-based class, you gain access to all Mage spell schools and if Stamina-based, you gain Dual-wield and Archery for free. If you don't want those abilties there is some extra work involved in separating them out, which I will explain how to do when the time comes.

=== What Bioware Modules to support ===

This decision is up to you, but I have designed my class to support Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt.

=== Should you support Community modules ===

This is a difficult question to answer; if you're doing this for a custom campaign you are making, and the class doesn't make much sense outside of it, then you don't need to. On the other hand, if you're going to support the official Bioware modules like I did, it might be a good idea to contact module authors to see if you can work with them to make your class work in their stand-alone module; I have contacted one and have attempted to make a mod for his module and I may cotact others to do the same thing.

== Equipment ==

Your new class (and specializations as well) will need items that they can use; you can just equip them with basic armor and weapons, but they should also have specific items that are only usable by that class. As an example, in my Tevinter Warden class mod, I added starter versions of custom armor and weapons that had specific properties that would benefit the class. One thing you need to do, especially if you intend for your class to be usable in Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt, is make sure those items are set as Core Game Resources owned by your Origins class module; this will enable them to transfer into the expansion and DLCs without your character ending up naked. This is what Bioware did with the items from the Return to Ostagar DLC, but was not used for Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep.

=== Armor ===

Your new class needs to provide something to protect it, be it armor or robes (no naked berserkers allowed). What they will look like depends on your ability to create new models yourself or acquire them from someone who can do the work for you; you can also use the models provided by Bioware if you wish.

=== Weapons ===

As with Armor, your new class needs weapons (unarmed combat is strongly discouraged by the in-game load screens). As with Armor, you can make or acquire models, or use the ones Bioware provided.

== Class foundation data ==
Now that you have a vision for your class and some idea of the equipment they will need, we can move on to actually creating the class; this part can be very frustrating, but I've pulled my hair out figuring these things out so hopefully you won't have to.

Please note that there are some steps that may seem senseless in the following sections, and they may not all be needed, depending on what kind of module you are using the class in; I will point out the things that are likely not going to be needed for stand-alone modules when I go through the actual assembly process for the module.

=== 2da files needed ===
The following is a list of files that are needed when creating new base classes for DAO's Origins campaign; I will also show the files needed to add the class to Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt:

==== Origins 2DA Files ====
ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base

background.xls\Backgrounds

background.xls\background_defaults

background.xls\chargen_preload

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default

Achievements.xls\Achievements

guitypes.xls\guitypes

CLA_base is where the classes are defined for the game engine to find. You will need to make two copies of the CLA_base worksheet; I will explain why later on.
M2DA-base is where you will add references to any new 2DA files you create; this will allow the game engine to know what to do with them.
Backgrounds, background_default, and chargen_preload are where you define the specifics of your new class so that you can create new characters in the character generation screen.
ALWizard is the class's AutoLevel package (this is mainly useful if you plan to create companions with the class in your mod; it's not strictly neccesary otherwise)
Achievements is used in two ways; one is to add new class-specific achievement messages (like when unlocking specializations) and the other is related to the reason you need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet.

==== Awakening 2DA Files ====

CLA_base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

2da_base.xls\M2DA_base_gxa

background.xls\Backgrounds_gxa

background.xls\background_defaults_gxa

background.xls\chargen_preload_gxa

ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default_gxa

Achievements.xls\Achievements_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

You will need copies of many of the default scripts; I will include a builder to builder file with these premade, so you won't need to do it yourself.

You will need a module script; I will include a basic one in the builder to builder file.

One thing that is critical to note; you do not need to put any files in the users packages/core/override folder for your class mod to work.

=== Creature templates ===

You will need to make duplicates of the default_player character template in the toolset; one each for the races/origins you wish the class to be available to. I may include these in the builder to builder file for you to rename as needed.

== Putting it all together ==

To quote Han Solo in Star Wars "Here's where the fun begins". Now we need to put all these things together to make a working class.

=== Creating the gda files ===

There are two ways to procceed at this point; you can simply make copies of the original Excel Spreadsheets included with the toolset (these are found in the game installation directory under tools/source/2da/) and duplicate pages (which is how I do it) or you can create a new spreadsheet and copy the above named pages into it. Either way will work, though the second method simplifies the process quite a bit. In either case, I recommend creating a directory elsewhere on your hard drive to store the files you will be editing.

Now, remember when I said you would need two copies of the CLA_base worksheet? I'm going to explain why this is needed; due to how the game interpretes a formula in the default sys_chargen script, you have to renumber the rows for the Bioware default specializations to have a working row id for your new base class. I have moved them up to start at row id 30 in mine and will provide a set of files set up that way as a starter kit to make things easy for you. The first cla_base file will replace the original one; this is also why you need to include the Achievements.gda, as you will need to edit the rows related to the specializations to match the cla_base file. The second cla_base will hold information related to your custom class and any specializations you decide to make for it.

Your new ABI_base file will tell the game how to handle the new spells/talents your class will have; I will go into more detail in the section on scripts.

=== Editing the scripts ===

=== Creating the items ===

=== Editing the creature template ===

=== Exporting the files ===

=== Testing your work ===

== Specializations ==

=== GDA files needed ===
You don't need as many gda files for Specializations as you do for the full class. The following list is what you need for Origins.

==== Origins Specializations GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data

guitypes.xls\guitypes

==== Awakening Specialization GDA files ====

ABI_Base.xls\ABI_base_gxa

CLA_Base.xls\CLA_data_gxa

guitypes.xls\guitypes_gxa

=== Scripts needed ===

=== Items ===

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-18T02:35:11Z

Ladydesire: /* Other Ability decisions */

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-18T02:26:44Z

Ladydesire: /* Origins 2DA Files */

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-18T02:24:33Z

Ladydesire: /* Origins 2DA Files */

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-18T02:21:47Z

Ladydesire: /* Creating the gda files */

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-18T02:01:18Z

Ladydesire: /* Specializations */

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-18T01:36:52Z

Ladydesire: /* Other Ability decisions */

Talk:Add A New Class Tutorial

2011-01-16T01:38:31Z

Ladydesire: /* Help */

== Initial edit ==
I have started to edit this page at the author's request to try and fix up some of the formatting. It was prety much a cut and paste from the forum. I think it has a way to go yet. I would recommend replacing all the capitalised text with appropriate markup such as '''bold'''. Also the structure could perhaps be improved and some of the content organised better in sentences rather than point form. Please help out if you have the time and incliniation. [[User:Stuntpope|Stuntpope]]

=== edit ===
Embedded all images and added dascript tages

--[[User:Rigortauri|Rigortauri]] 13:12, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

did some table formating

--[[User:Apolyon6k|Apolyon6k]] 09:14, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

== Errors ==

The following section is incorrect:

Next goto "// Undo Class and Race selection" and add the 4th CharGen_ClearAbilityList

<dascript>
// Note: This wipes the ability list clear
CharGen_ClearAbilityList(oChar,1);
CharGen_ClearAbilityList(oChar,2);
CharGen_ClearAbilityList(oChar,3);
CharGen_ClearAbilityList(oChar,4);
</dascript>

Next goto "// enabling proper tactics presets" and add the ValidForClass4 parts

<dascript>
nForClass1 = GetM2DAInt(TABLE_TACTICS_USER_PRESETS, "ValidForClass1", nCurrentRow);
nForClass2 = GetM2DAInt(TABLE_TACTICS_USER_PRESETS, "ValidForClass2", nCurrentRow);
nForClass3 = GetM2DAInt(TABLE_TACTICS_USER_PRESETS, "ValidForClass3", nCurrentRow);
nForClass4 = GetM2DAInt(TABLE_TACTICS_USER_PRESETS, "ValidForClass4", nCurrentRow);
if(nCoreClass == nForClass1 || nCoreClass == nForClass2 || nCoreClass == nForClass3 || nCoreClass == nForClass4)
AddTacticPresetID(oCreature, nCurrentRow);
</dascript>

The author has misunderstood the purpose of these methods. There is no need to modify the first of these. The int parameter in CharGen_ClearAbilityList is actually the ability type - not a class id. In the second part there is no point modifying this unless you also modify user tactics 2da table. The three columns allow up to three classes to be listed and since the third column is not used already there is really no need to add a fourth column anyway.

I considered removing this but it really needs to be replaced with the correct approach. I suspect that there are other aspects of AI that need to be dealt with too. [[User:Stuntpope|Stuntpope]] 13:13, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

: I went ahead and deleted it, as those should really be part of an advanced tutorial, rather than a basic one; I also went ahead and added some new data that I've been testing that eliminates the need to provide files in packages\core\override. [[User:Ladydesire|Ladydesire]] 21:48, 29 January 2010 (UTC)
==="Cleaning up" errors?===
I'm not sure but there seems to be an error in the section about cleaning up. If you delete all files you also delete your edited core files (2ds_constants_h and chargen_h). Without those files the new class wouldn't work. It should be mentioned after the export section that those files are needed and that they should be moved to module/core/override.[[User:Apolyon6k|Apolyon6k]] 03:46, 11 December 2010 (UTC)
:: Those files aren't needed by the module; the only thing needed are the compiled scripts (*.ncs) and any plots created for the module. [[User:Ladydesire|Ladydesire]] 23:33, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

== String IDs above 8.3 million don't work? ==

There is a discrepancy between the current tutorial and the actual functionality of the toolset with regards to the string table entries; it is no longer necessary to manually set a range for the string tables, as ExcelProcessor now handles up to at least 650,000,000. [[User:Ladydesire|Ladydesire]] 20:18, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

:Heh. I just spent a bit of time asking around the office about this bug too, the line's been in the tutorial since November. And then I posted here on the talk page without reading it completely first, is my face red. I'm going to provisionally remove the line from the "creating a module" section and store it here:

::Make sure your string sets go from in between 8,000,000 - 8,300,000, if it goes above that range the strings will not work. BioWare has already posted about this SQL problem.

:I'm pretty sure this has been fixed now, unless this is a separate bug that we weren't aware of. [[User:BryanDerksen|BryanDerksen]] 23:28, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

:: I've been using a class built with string tables as I indicated in my comment, so I'd say it's safe to remove it. [[User:Ladydesire|Ladydesire]] 22:22, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

== Will there be an advanced class tutorial? ==

This is a basic tutorial for quickly creating new classes, but those classes are rather basic themselves. They use standard spells, talents and abilities but those are not really the right ones for costum classes. In the forum there were questions about custom spells and such, wouldn't it be nice to have a page here that combined or even linked to all the tutorials required to create a full customized class? [[User:Apolyon6k|Apolyon6k]] 03:59, 11 December 2010 (UTC)
:: I've been planning to do a much more extensive class and specialization creation tutorial by editing the existing tutorial, but since I'm working on two mods at the moment, time to create one is rather scarce. [[User:Ladydesire|Ladydesire]] 23:35, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

== Help ==

i have followed this tutorial step by step but I have run into a problem in that my command prompt gives me an error message when I input the command excelprocessor.exe New_Class.xls -outdir "<My Documents path>\Bioware\Dragon Age\AddIns\New_Class\module\override"

the error message is:
ERROR: Unknown command line parameter -outdir
Press any key to terminate...

i have done everything else, but my class is not showing up in the character creation. I am guessing that this error is throwing it off.

: I would suggest creating a separate folder to make your gda files and them move or copy them into the addin folder manually. [[User:Ladydesire|Ladydesire]] 01:38, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-08T14:36:48Z

Ladydesire: /* Putting it all together */

Talk:Compatibility

2011-01-06T23:26:58Z

Ladydesire:

== What if my mod extends both Single Player and Awakening? ==

I moved this section here because it's under discussion. [[User:Proleric1|Proleric1]] 08:27, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

-------------
NOTE:

There is an easier way than creating two scripts. Just put the information for both in the manifest.xml file. For one of my mods, the manifest file looked like this:

<pre>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<Manifest Type="AddIn">
<AddInsList>
<AddInItem UID="elf_cat_pet" Name="ELF the pet cat for DAO and Awakening" ExtendedModuleUID="Single Player" Priority="100" Enabled="1" State="2" Format="1">
<Title DefaultText="ELF the pet cat for DAO and Awakening"></Title>
<Description DefaultText="ELF the pet cat adds a 'Cat Toy' to the players inventory (rest of text deleted for brevity)

((This package will work in both DAO and Awakening!))"></Description>
<Image>ico_elf_cat_sleep</Image>
<Rating DefaultText="10"></Rating>
<RatingDescription DefaultText=""></RatingDescription>
<URL DefaultText="www.ELFpath.com"></URL>
<ReleaseDate>6 April 2010</ReleaseDate>
<Version>2.0</Version>
<GameVersion/>
<Type>1</Type>
<Publisher DefaultText="Angel == monkeysnest@yahoo.com"></Publisher>
<PrereqList/>
<FileList>
<Folder src="packages/" Type="package"/>
<Folder src="addins/" Type="addin"/>
</FileList>
</AddInItem>

<AddInItem UID="elf_cat_pet" Name="ELF the pet cat for DAO and Awakening" ExtendedModuleUID="DAO_PRC_EP_1" Priority="100" Enabled="1" State="2" Format="1">
<Title DefaultText="ELF the pet cat"></Title>
<Image>ico_elf_cat_sleep</Image>
<Rating DefaultText=""></Rating>
<RatingDescription DefaultText=""></RatingDescription>
<URL DefaultText="www.ELFpath.com"></URL>
<ReleaseDate>6 April 2010</ReleaseDate>
<Version>2.0</Version>
<GameVersion/>
<Type>1</Type>
<Publisher DefaultText="Angel == monkeysnest@yahoo.com"></Publisher>
<PrereqList/>
<FileList>
<Folder src="addins/" Type="addin"/>
</FileList>
</AddInItem>

</AddInsList>
</Manifest>
</pre>

doing this allowed users to install one package (using DAModder) which worked for both awakening and DAO.

============== ++ Angel

@monkeysnest - good to have the update concerning the manifest. A few queries:

* Perhaps the article would be clearer if you explained which line has to change, rather than reproduce the entire manifest here?

* Would DAUpdater work? I don't see DAModder listed as a project download on the Bioware social site.

* We don't normally leave our signatures on the content pages of a wiki.

Thanks.

[[User:Proleric1|Proleric1]] 05:47, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

I don't think the "dual entry, single manifest" approach should be followed or encouraged. Creating two separate .dazip installations as mentioned in [[Compatibility#What_if_my_mod_extends_both_Single_Player_and_Awakening.3F | Compatibility: What if my mod extends both Single Player and Awakening?]] is IMHO the preferred approach.

--[[User:Nukenin|Nukenin]] 00:24, 24 April 2010 (UTC)

I'll have to agree with Nukenin here, especially since using the "dual entry, single manifest" approach will cause DAUpdater to crash and would unnecessarily force players to use third-party apps. Moreover, it's perfectly possible to include several addons (each one with its own manifest entry) in a single dazip package :
* Package root
** Manifest including several AddInItem elements
** Contents
*** addins
**** addin_uid1
**** addin_uid2
**** addin_uid3
**** etc
*** packages

--[[User:Phaenan|Phaenan]] 06:45, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

I find myself agreeing with Phaenan and Nukenin on this; end users should only use community created tools if they want a specific function that's only available to them that way (like the ability to uninstall a dazip).
[[User:Ladydesire|Ladydesire]] 18:40, 25 December 2010 (UTC)

== Override Events while minimizing compat issues.. ==

I believe this may be useful to others - through trial and error, and with some help, I have figured out a way to override events only when my module is running - I had to add a variable to var_module.xls/gda (which is probably where the only potential compatibility issue will arise via string ID, though I am not sure what would happen if someone tried to override the same events - depends on which engineevents get's loaded last I suppose...).

The variable is defaulted to a 0....in my modules properties, I set the variable to a 1. My event overrides check for this variable to be == 1, if not, send it off the proper handler.

See the following post where I came to this 'workaround'...would love to know if there is a better way:

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/8/index/2371093/1#2531362

== Resource scope edit ==

I have removed the reference to tint maps following the discussion at http://social.bioware.com/group/2937/discussion/12738/ .

Also beefed up the recommendations about not putting files into packages --[[User:Gaxkang55|Gaxkang55]] 12:43, 30 December 2010 (UTC)
-------------
Good update! I'm very much on the same wavelength. I have one question, though, concerning the Talk Table. Normally, the best way to change a core string is to make a new one, then point the appropriate 2DA at it. However, there are cases where no such mechanism exists. For example, if you want to make a module that isn't set in the Ferelden gameworld, you need to change the gender descriptions, replace all instances of "marabi" with "dog" and so on. To the best of my knowledge, this can't be done without an override - see [[String_editor]]. If there's a better solution, I'd be keen to hear it. [[User:Proleric1|Proleric1]] 08:50, 31 December 2010 (UTC)
-------------
As it happens, I had to do exactly that for the campaign I have in development, where I wanted to override the gender description. Create the string but make the Owner Module your module. This will be exported to the talktable placed in your core, and will overwrite the core string as long as your module is enabled. Also tested the head morph stuff, and that doesn't need to be in packages either, so will make a further update. --[[User:Gaxkang55|Gaxkang55]] 04:28, 3 January 2011 (UTC)
-------------
Have you tried to reproduce this [[Bug:_Talk_table_exported_to_packages_override | bug]] for the specific string mentioned there? I double-checked that the Owner Module is set correctly. It isn't exported to the talk table in core (which seems to be empty), nor does it work if the talk table in packages override is moved to any of the add-in folders.

A couple of other issues:

You recommend moving content from the override folders before B2P packaging. Is there any technical reason for that? I haven't heard this from Bioware. "If it ain't bust, don't fix it" might apply here?

You've added some strong words about mods that use packages override. My heart is with you, but my head says the tone could be counter-productive. We seem to be making some progress with persuading the community that compatibility is important, but the "package overriders" are still in the majority. IMO we need to convince them to change their approach voluntarily, not antagonise them. After all, none of us has the power to deprecate anything (nor would we wish to have it). What do you think? [[User:Proleric1|Proleric1]] 08:27, 3 January 2011 (UTC)
-------------
Moving the compiled scripts and exported plots out of the toolsetexport folder '''into''' the override folder is a good idea, since when doing an "empty export directories", you could accidently delete files needed for the builder to player package. I'm not sure why it would be necessary to move files out of the override folder.

As far as the "package overriders" go, some may never change, no matter what we do; I have even seen people that were doing it basically the right way change because they weren't wanting to build multiple packages for their mods. [[User:Ladydesire|Ladydesire]] 00:03, 4 January 2011 (UTC)
-------------
1. I have deleted the sentence about DAZIPs. On re-reading it actually compresses together two different ideas, and in any case doesn't really belong there. I will have a rethink about this when I have a bit more time on the weekend :-)

2. Proleric, the string I override is the gender description string 377283. I export the talktable (which creates the three files) and delete the one in packages, ''core_en-us.tlk'', together with everything else there). Start my game and the string in overwritten correctly by the ''<uid>_c_en-us.tlk'' table.

3. On the issue of packages override, the issue is whether or not this wiki contains correct information and procedures. If someone disagrees that this is the correct procedure (particularly in terms of mod inter-compatibility), I am more than happy to have the discussion. I suspect real change is only going to happen if the end-users start complaining in the comments sections of the download pages, but that's another story. In the meantime, the wiki should stick to the straight and narrow of providing the best information we can assemble --[[User:Gaxkang55|Gaxkang55]] 04:37, 4 January 2011 (UTC)
-------------
1. Thanks.

2. Issue closed. EDIT [[User:Proleric1|Proleric1]] 17:16, 4 January 2011 (UTC) It is not necessary to put a talk table in packages override. Instead of changing core strings, it's better to refer to new strings in the 2DA files (even though finding them is a lot of work when making a global change, such as "Marabi" to "Dog". The gender description string does have to be overridden, but since it's only used in character generation, it's not affected by the save-load bug.

3. Agreed. However, the wiki is about practical advice. The section in question talks about deprecating other people's stuff, which is beyond the reader's control! Instead, I suggest a two-pronged approach. Firstly, we already have the Disclaimer section of this article. Secondly, contribute to the [http://social.bioware.com/project/3966/ project] which is developing an FAQ for players. Just my 2 cents. [[User:Proleric1|Proleric1]] 08:33, 4 January 2011 (UTC)
-------------

On 3, since most players assume that the modder knows best, or are from a game where adding mods can only be done in a specific directory (TES III and TES IV, Fallot 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, just for a few examples), they won't be the ones to complain about having to do that. We should be suggesting the use of modules/Single Player/override for Origins content, addins/<uid>/module/override for things for DLCs (where uid is the folder name of the specific DLC (I listed several of them in the Module Priority tutorial) instead of packages/core/override if a mod '''must''' use the override. The only mods that need to be done this way are compatibility files for various mods that might be editing the same files, at least as far as I'm concerned; everything else should be done as dazips. [[User:Ladydesire|Ladydesire]] 23:26, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

Talk:Compatibility

2011-01-06T23:26:38Z

Ladydesire:

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-05T23:30:11Z

Ladydesire:

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-05T23:20:40Z

Ladydesire: /* Class foundation data */

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-05T23:18:05Z

Ladydesire: /* Origins 2DA Files */

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-05T03:21:28Z

Ladydesire: /* Class foundation data */

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-05T03:11:08Z

Ladydesire: /* Equipment */

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-05T02:56:12Z

Ladydesire: /* 2da files needed */

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-05T02:43:35Z

Ladydesire: /* Race and Origin Restrictions */

Talk:Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-05T02:28:05Z

Ladydesire: Created page with '=== Work In Progress === Please note that I am currently working on this and it's not ready for public use; I will put a link to it in the tutorial section when I believe it is ...'

=== Work In Progress ===

Please note that I am currently working on this and it's not ready for public use; I will put a link to it in the tutorial section when I believe it is ready. Thank you for your patience and cooperation in this matter. [[User:Ladydesire|Ladydesire]] 02:28, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

Add A New Class Tutorial

2011-01-05T02:19:24Z

Ladydesire: Undo revision 15412 by Ladydesire (Talk)

== Introduction ==
Creating a new class in Dragon Age is a fairly complicated process, compounded by the fact that currently there are bugs in the 2DA handling which we must work around till they are fixed by Bioware.

Before going in and editing the files, make sure you know at least the following details for your class
* Class Name
* Will it be a magic- or a stamina-based character?
* Will the new class reuse existing abilities/spells or new ones?
* What backgrounds will be available for this new class?

For the purpose of the basic tutorial, we will create a new class called Shaman that will be a copy of the Mage and will be available for the Noble origins.

== Create the module ==
Fire up the toolset and create a new module. Let's call it New_Class for this tutorial. Since we want to test this class in the single player campaign, make sure that '''Single Player''' is selected in the Extended Module drop-down under Module Properties and the Module Hierarchy includes '''Single Player''' as well.

Go to Tools -> String Editor and create the following strings:
(for the purposes of this tutorial, I am using stringIDs starting at 15000000. Use whatever stringID is generated in your module)
{| rules="all" style="border: 1pt solid black"
|-
|'''String ID''' ||'''Text''' ||'''Description'''
|-
|15000000 || Shaman || Class Name (Singular)
|-
|15000001 || Shamans || Class Name (Plural)
|-
|15000002 || Shaman is a new class || Class Description
|-
|15000003 || Shaman || Class Tooltip
|-
|15000004 || JohnD || Default first name for male character (dwarf)
|-
|15000005 || JaneD || Default first name for female character (dwarf)
|-
|15000006 || JohnH || Default first name for male character (human)
|-
|15000007 || JaneH || Default first name for female character (human)
|}

{{TutorialRef|String editor}}

== Editing 2das ==
NOTE: '''DO NOT''' edit the .xls files present under <Dragon Age install>\tools\source\2DA directly and generate the GDA. Bioware has given us the power of M2DA precisely for this purpose.

* Create a new empty workbook or copy or rename one of the workbooks from the 2DA folder and delete the existing worksheets. Lets call this New_Class.xls
* Copy the following worksheets into the the new workbook. Rename all worksheets!!
CLA_base.xls\CLA_data -> New_Class.xls\CLA_data_nc
2da_base.xls\M2DA_base -> New_Class.xls\M2DA_base_nc
background.xls\Backgrounds -> New_Class.xls\Backgrounds_nc
background.xls\background_defaults -> New_Class.xls\background_defaults_nc
background.xls\chargen_preload -> New_Class.xls\chargen_preload_nc
ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default -> New_Class.xls\ALShaman_default
Achievements.xls\Achievements -> New_Class.xls\Achievements_nc
* Save the workbook New_Class.xls
 
==== Edit CLA_data_nc ====
In the New_Class.xls workbook, navigate to the CLA_data_nc worksheet.
NOTE: The procedure below has to be done because this 2DA is read sequentially and
adding a class at the end (ID:26 using standard resources) does not generate a unique
background ID. This section will be modified when Bioware fixes these bugs.
Copy line #4 (Wizard Class with ID:2) and paste it below the Rogue class, moving the subsequent lines one down. Te
The important columns to change are:
* '''Label''': Shaman
* '''NameStrref''': 15000000 (''String ID referencing the class name'')
* '''PluralStrref''': 15000001 (''String ID referencing the class in plural'')
* '''DescStrref''': 15000002 (''String ID referencing the class description'')
* '''TooltipStrref''': 15000003 (''String ID referencing the class description'')
* '''Icon''': classico_spirithealer (''You can create a new icon and put that icon's name in here too. For this tutorial, we are reusing the Spirithealer specialization icon'')
* '''Constant''': CLASS_Shaman
* '''StartingAbility1''': ID of the ability assigned during chargen. We will keep this the same as Mage for now (4023).
* '''CharGenLabel''': Shaman

{{TutorialRef||CLA base.xls}}

==== Edit M2DA_base_nc ====
In the New_Class.xls workbook, navigate to the M2DA_base_nc worksheet. 
Remove all lines except the first 2 lines. 
Add the following:
{| rules="all" cellpadding="2" style="border: 1pt solid black"
|-
|ID above 1000000 ||ALShaman_default ||ALShaman_default
|-
|}

 

==== Edit backgrounds_nc ====
In the New_Class.xls workbook, navigate to the backgrounds_nc worksheet. 
Insert a new column after the Mage column and name it Shaman. Since we want to use this class for the Noble Origins, put a '''1''' against the Noble row. Refer the image below.
[[File:Backgrounds.jpg]]
 The current design of the backgrounds tab makes it difficult to assign different classes to different races for the Mage and Noble origins. Independent modules can override this backgrounds worksheet completely though they would still have to work within the current GUI limitation of 6 backgrounds.
 
==== Edit background_defaults_nc ====
In the New_Class.xls workbook, navigate to the background_defaults_nc worksheet. 
The ID column in this worksheet is populated according to the following formula:
(1000 * Race ID) + (100 * Class ID) + Background ID

Currently, this formula has also been reported to Bioware since this allows for 99 backgrounds
and requires the Class ID to be in multiples of 100 to yield unique results.
In this tutorial,
* Dwarf Noble Shaman = (1000 * 1) + (100 * 4) + 5 = 1405
* Human Noble Shaman = (1000 * 3) + (100 * 4) + 5 = 3405

Change the DefaultNameMale and DefaultNameFemale stringID references to the strings created earlier. The result should look like the image below. We will create the default_shaman.utc and the Ability referenced by the ID 5000000 later in the tutorial.
[[File:Background_defaults_nc.jpg]]
 
==== Edit chargen_preload_nc ====

In the New_Class.xls workbook, navigate to the chargen_preload_nc worksheet. 
This sheet lists the character templates to load before the chargen so that the model corresponding to the race/class/origin is shown.
 
Copy the ID and Template for the new character templates from the background_defaults_nc worksheet.
{| rules="all" style="border: 1pt solid black"
|-
|'''ID''' ||'''Template'''
|-
|1405|| default_shaman.utc
|-
|3405 || default_shaman.utc
|}
 

== Generate the .GDA file ==

Open a command prompt and navigate to the <Dragon Age install directory>\tools\ResourceBuild\Processors
Execute the following command: '''excelprocessor.exe New_Class.xls -outdir "<My Documents path>\Bioware\Dragon Age\AddIns\New_Class\module\override"'''
 
== Editing the scripts==
You now need to edit some scripts.
=== Edit the 2da_constants_h file ===
find the 2da_constants_h file under Core scripts

right click on 2DA_CONSTANTS_H, select CHECK OUT

Go down to the following sections and edit it like below:

<dascript>
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_DUELIST = 4030;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_RANGER = 4029;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_REAVER = 4019;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_ROGUE = 4020;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_SHALE = 4033;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_TEMPLAR = 4021;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_WARRIOR = 4022;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_SHAMAN = 5000;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HURLOCK_PROPERTIES = 90080;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_INDOMITABLE = 28;
</dascript>

and

<dascript>
//Class Constants
const int CLASS_WARRIOR = 1;
const int CLASS_WIZARD = 2;
const int CLASS_ROGUE = 3;
const int CLASS_SHAMAN = 4;
const int CLASS_SHAPESHIFTER = 30;
const int CLASS_SPIRITHEALER = 31;
const int CLASS_CHAMPION = 32;
const int CLASS_TEMPLAR = 33;
const int CLASS_BERSERKER = 34;
const int CLASS_REAVER = 35;
const int CLASS_ARCANE_WARRIOR = 36;
const int CLASS_ASSASSIN = 37;
const int CLASS_BLOOD_MAGE = 38;
const int CLASS_BARD = 39;
const int CLASS_RANGER = 40;
const int CLASS_DUELIST = 41;
const int CLASS_SHALE = 17;
const int CLASS_DOG = 18;
const int CLASS_MONSTER_ANIMAL = 19;
</dascript>

Please note that the constants for the specializations have been changed; this will require editing of the Achievements gda via an M2DA to correct the displayed data when unlocking specializations. You may also have to recompile one or more of the plot scripts, but I have not been able to test this personally.

Afterwards on top select SAVE then CHECK IN

Now at the top and click "EXPORT WITHOUT DEPENDENT RESOURCES"

=== Edit the sys_chargen_h file ===
Find the sys_chargen_h file under _Systems ==> _Includes

right click on sys_chargen_h, select CHECK OUT

Go down to the starting skills section and edit it like below:

<dascript>
// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Starting Skills
// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
if (nClass == CLASS_WARRIOR)
{
_AddAbility(oChar, 100100);
}
else if (nClass == CLASS_ROGUE)
{
_AddAbility(oChar, ABILITY_SKILL_POISON_1);
}
else if (nClass == CLASS_WIZARD)
{
_AddAbility(oChar, ABILITY_SKILL_HERBALISM_1);
}
else if (nClass == CLASS_SHAMAN)
{
_AddAbility(oChar, ABILITY_SKILL_HERBALISM_1);
}
}
</dascript>

Next goto starting ability

<dascript>
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
// Load the starting ability for the background
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
int nAbility = GetM2DAInt(TABLE_STARTING_EQUIPMENT,"Ability", nIdx);
_AddAbility(oCreature, nAbility);
}
else
{
string sTemplate = "default_player.utc";
switch (nClass)
{
case CLASS_WARRIOR: sTemplate = "default_warrior.utc";
break;
case CLASS_ROGUE: sTemplate = "default_rogue.utc";
break;
case CLASS_WIZARD: sTemplate = "default_wizard.utc";
break;
case CLASS_SHAMAN: sTemplate = "default_shaman.utc";
break;
}
LoadItemsFromTemplate(oCreature, sTemplate, TRUE);
}
}
</dascript>

Afterwards on top select SAVE then CHECK IN

Now at the top and click "EXPORT WITHOUT DEPENDENT RESOURCES"
=== Edit the sys_chargen file ===
Find the sys_chargen ==> under _Systems

right click on sys_chargen, select Duplicate; name the file something like wd_sys_chargen.

Change this line:

<dascript>
const int MAX_CLASS_INDEX = 4; // Last index of available base classes in cla_base.
</dascript>
This value does not have to be limited to the minimum number of base classes in the file; it simply has to be higher than the default value of 3.

Go down to the following section and either comment it out as I show it, or delete it; if it is left in place without being commented out, it will cause your class to provide double the attribute points at character creation or level up.

<dascript>
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
// This fires whenever the player presses + or - on an attribute to spend
// points on the attribute screen of character generation
//
// int(0) - Constant PROPERTY_* integer
// int(1) - # of points spent
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
/*case EVENT_TYPE_CHARGEN_ASSIGN_ATTRIBUTES:
{
int nAttribute = GetEventInteger(ev,0);
int nPoints = GetEventInteger(ev,1);

// -----------------------------------------------------------------
// Subtract from available points to spend
// -----------------------------------------------------------------
Chargen_ModifyCreaturePropertyBase(oChar, PROPERTY_SIMPLE_ATTRIBUTE_POINTS, IntToFloat(nPoints*-1));

// -----------------------------------------------------------------
// Spend it.
// -----------------------------------------------------------------
Chargen_SpendAttributePoints(oChar,nAttribute,nPoints,FALSE);
break;
}*/
</dascript>

Go down to the special handling section and edit it like below:

<dascript>
// special handling for aluvian
if (nQuickStart == 0 )
{
Log_Trace(LOG_CHANNEL_CHARACTER,"sys_chargen","Setting default values for player character");
int nRandClass = abs((GetLowResTimer()%3)+1);
if(nRandClass == CLASS_ROGUE || nRandClass == CLASS_WARRIOR || nRandClass == CLASS_SHAMAN)
{
_RunChargen(RACE_HUMAN, nRandClass, oChar, BACKGROUND_NOBLE );
WR_SetPlotFlag(PLT_GEN00PT_BACKGROUNDS, GEN_BACK_HUMAN_NOBLE, TRUE);
}
else // mage
{
_RunChargen(RACE_HUMAN, nRandClass, oChar, BACKGROUND_MAGI );
WR_SetPlotFlag(PLT_GEN00PT_BACKGROUNDS, GEN_BACK_CIRCLE, TRUE);
}
Chargen_SetNumTactics(oChar);
SetCanLevelUp(oChar,Chargen_HasPointsToSpend(oChar));

SendEventModuleChargenDone("", "");
}
</dascript>

next go down to the tactics sections and add the following:
<dascript>
// associate some tactics preset table
int nPresetTable;
if(GetCreatureCoreClass(oChar) == CLASS_WARRIOR)
nPresetTable = 1; // tank
else if(GetCreatureCoreClass(oChar) == CLASS_ROGUE)
nPresetTable = 2; // damage dealer
else if(GetCreatureCoreClass(oChar) == CLASS_SHAMAN)
nPresetTable = 1; // damage dealer
else // mage
nPresetTable = 5; // nuker
</dascript>

Afterwards on top select SAVE then CHECK IN

Now at the top and click "EXPORT WITHOUT DEPENDENT RESOURCES"

=== Create the module script ===
Create a new script and give it a descriptive name like "loadscript". This script will intercept the Chargen events and redirect them to the custom version of the sys_chargen script you just created. It can also be used to intercept other events if you want to alter other things or add items to a newly created character's inventory. This is a good example of how to use it to add custom items and redirect the chargen to the custom script.

<dascript>
#include "utility_h"
#include "wrappers_h"
#include "events_h"
void main()
{
event ev = GetCurrentEvent();
int nEvent = GetEventType(ev);
Log_Events("", ev);
switch (nEvent)
{
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Sent by: The engine
// When: The module loads from a save game, or for the first time. This event can fire more than
// once for a single module or game instance.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
case EVENT_TYPE_MODULE_LOAD:
{
//Nothing is needed here, unless you are doing other things with your module.
}
default:
{
// -----------------------------------------------------------------
// Handle character generation events sent by the engine.
// -----------------------------------------------------------------
if ((nEvent >= EVENT_TYPE_CHARGEN_START && nEvent <= EVENT_TYPE_CHARGEN_END) || nEvent == EVENT_TYPE_PLAYERLEVELUP )
{
HandleEvent(ev, R"ld_sys_chargen.ncs");
}
else
{
Log_Trace(LOG_CHANNEL_EVENTS, GetCurrentScriptName(), Log_GetEventNameById(nEvent) + " (" + ToString(nEvent) + ") *** Unhandled event ***");
}
break;
}
}
}
</dascript>

Afterwards on top select SAVE then CHECK IN

Now at the top and click "EXPORT WITHOUT DEPENDENT RESOURCES"
{{TutorialRef|Script}}

== Creating the UTC template file==
Back in the toolset we need to do the following:

Click on the "creature tab" (red head icon)

Right click on default_player ==> duplicate
Do like the following:

[[Image:Class tut dfs1.jpg]]

Now we need to edit the values and give them some armor and weapons, like so:

Class: Shaman (from dropdown)
Name: Default Male Shaman

[[Image:Class tut dfs2.jpg]]

Now, you need to make one for each race and origin that you wish for the class to be available to (this is how Bioware does it, if you look carefully at the various entries in the backgrounds.xls worksheets); name each one with the following abbreviations for race or origin: hm_noble, hm_mage, dw_comm, dw_noble, elf_city, elf_mage, or elf_dalish (gender is handled automatically by the game, based on race). Making different versions of the template allows each version to have different armor and weapons available to them, which helps them blend into the base game (if you are using it in a module that extends Single Player). Be sure to use the proper names in each location in the backgrounds.xls worksheets or the template will not be displayed when you select the background in the game.

Now at the top and click SAVE ==> CHECK IN for each template.

Now at the top and click "EXPORT WITHOUT DEPENDENT RESOURCES" for each template.
{{TutorialRef|Designer Resources#Creating new resources|Creature|Exporting a module}}

== Putting it all together ==
Up on top ON THE EXPORT TAB

"EXPORT WITHOUT DEPENDENT RESOURCES"

"GENERATE MODULE XML"

"GENERATE MANIFEST XML"

"EXPORT TALK TABLE"
{{TutorialRef|Exporting a module}}
== Cleaning up ==
DON'T SKIP THIS PART

Delete all files in the name/mydocuments/bioware/dragonage/packages/core/override/toolset; these are not needed.
== Trying it out ==
Start up your game (It may take a min) and start a new game.

*WARNING* IF ANYTHING HAS GONE WRONG HERE YOUR GAME WILL BE SEVERELY DAMAGED

Select MALE ==> HUMAN ==> SHAMAN ==> MAGI

YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR NEW CHARACTER

IF SOMETHING HAPPENED QUIT AND DOUBLE CHECK YOUR STEPS

Make sure you did not miss ANY ";" or "{ }" as a single one of these missed can destroy the game.
== Troubleshooting ==
MY SPELLS ARE NOT SHOWING UP IN THE CREATION SCREEN, HELP!!

* You may not have sort your ability file back to ID. It has to be sorted by ID in order to show up.
* You may not have assigned the new abilities to your new class "5000" in the prereqability column

MY MODEL IS NOT SHOWING UP WHEN I GOTO MALE ==> HUMAN ==> SHAMAN ==> MAGI

* It is very likely you did not EXPORT your default_shaman.utc model
* Double check the background file to make sure you are using default_shaman.utc for the template
* Try rebooting your computer.
[[Category:Character generation]]
[[Category:Tutorials]]

Add A New Class Tutorial

2011-01-05T02:12:18Z

Ladydesire: /* Editing 2das */

== Introduction ==
Creating a new class in Dragon Age is a fairly complicated process, compounded by the fact that currently there are bugs in the 2DA handling which we must work around till they are fixed by Bioware.

Before going in and editing the files, make sure you know at least the following details for your class
* Class Name
* Will it be a magic- or a stamina-based character?
* Will the new class reuse existing abilities/spells or new ones?
* What backgrounds will be available for this new class?

For the purpose of the basic tutorial, we will create a new class called Shaman that will be a copy of the Mage and will be available for the Noble origins.

== Create the module ==
Fire up the toolset and create a new module. Let's call it New_Class for this tutorial. Since we want to test this class in the single player campaign, make sure that '''Single Player''' is selected in the Extended Module drop-down under Module Properties and the Module Hierarchy includes '''Single Player''' as well.

Go to Tools -> String Editor and create the following strings:
(for the purposes of this tutorial, I am using stringIDs starting at 15000000. Use whatever stringID is generated in your module)
{| rules="all" style="border: 1pt solid black"
|-
|'''String ID''' ||'''Text''' ||'''Description'''
|-
|15000000 || Shaman || Class Name (Singular)
|-
|15000001 || Shamans || Class Name (Plural)
|-
|15000002 || Shaman is a new class || Class Description
|-
|15000003 || Shaman || Class Tooltip
|-
|15000004 || JohnD || Default first name for male character (dwarf)
|-
|15000005 || JaneD || Default first name for female character (dwarf)
|-
|15000006 || JohnH || Default first name for male character (human)
|-
|15000007 || JaneH || Default first name for female character (human)
|}

{{TutorialRef|String editor}}

== Editing 2das ==
NOTE: '''DO NOT''' edit the .xls files present under <Dragon Age install>\tools\source\2DA directly and generate the GDA. Bioware has given us the power of M2DA precisely for this purpose.

* Create a new empty workbook or copy or rename one of the workbooks from the 2DA folder and delete the existing worksheets. Lets call this New_Class.xls
* Copy the following worksheets into the new workbook. Rename all worksheets!!
CLA_base.xls\CLA_data -> New_Class.xls\CLA_data_nc
2da_base.xls\M2DA_base -> New_Class.xls\M2DA_base_nc
background.xls\Backgrounds -> New_Class.xls\Backgrounds_nc
background.xls\background_defaults -> New_Class.xls\background_defaults_nc
background.xls\chargen_preload -> New_Class.xls\chargen_preload_nc
ALWizard_default.xls\ALWizard_default -> New_Class.xls\ALShaman_default
Achievements.xls\Achievements -> New_Class.xls\Achievements_nc
* Save the workbook New_Class.xls
 
==== Edit CLA_data_nc ====
In the New_Class.xls workbook, navigate to the CLA_data_nc worksheet.
NOTE: The procedure below has to be done because this 2DA is read sequentially and
adding a class at the end (ID:26 using standard resources) does not generate a unique
background ID. This section will be modified when Bioware fixes these bugs.
Copy line #4 (Wizard Class with ID:2) and paste it below the Rogue class, moving the subsequent lines one down. Te
The important columns to change are:
* '''Label''': Shaman
* '''NameStrref''': 15000000 (''String ID referencing the class name'')
* '''PluralStrref''': 15000001 (''String ID referencing the class in plural'')
* '''DescStrref''': 15000002 (''String ID referencing the class description'')
* '''TooltipStrref''': 15000003 (''String ID referencing the class description'')
* '''Icon''': classico_spirithealer (''You can create a new icon and put that icon's name in here too. For this tutorial, we are reusing the Spirithealer specialization icon'')
* '''Constant''': CLASS_Sha

== Generate the .GDA file ==

Open a command prompt and navigate to the <Dragon Age install directory>\tools\ResourceBuild\Processors
Execute the following command: '''excelprocessor.exe New_Class.xls -outdir "<My Documents path>\Bioware\Dragon Age\AddIns\New_Class\module\override"'''
 
== Editing the scripts==
You now need to edit some scripts.
=== Edit the 2da_constants_h file ===
find the 2da_constants_h file under Core scripts

right click on 2DA_CONSTANTS_H, select CHECK OUT

Go down to the following sections and edit it like below:

<dascript>
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_DUELIST = 4030;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_RANGER = 4029;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_REAVER = 4019;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_ROGUE = 4020;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_SHALE = 4033;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_TEMPLAR = 4021;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_WARRIOR = 4022;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HIDDEN_SHAMAN = 5000;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_HURLOCK_PROPERTIES = 90080;
const int ABILITY_TALENT_INDOMITABLE = 28;
</dascript>

and

<dascript>
//Class Constants
const int CLASS_WARRIOR = 1;
const int CLASS_WIZARD = 2;
const int CLASS_ROGUE = 3;
const int CLASS_SHAMAN = 4;
const int CLASS_SHAPESHIFTER = 30;
const int CLASS_SPIRITHEALER = 31;
const int CLASS_CHAMPION = 32;
const int CLASS_TEMPLAR = 33;
const int CLASS_BERSERKER = 34;
const int CLASS_REAVER = 35;
const int CLASS_ARCANE_WARRIOR = 36;
const int CLASS_ASSASSIN = 37;
const int CLASS_BLOOD_MAGE = 38;
const int CLASS_BARD = 39;
const int CLASS_RANGER = 40;
const int CLASS_DUELIST = 41;
const int CLASS_SHALE = 17;
const int CLASS_DOG = 18;
const int CLASS_MONSTER_ANIMAL = 19;
</dascript>

Please note that the constants for the specializations have been changed; this will require editing of the Achievements gda via an M2DA to correct the displayed data when unlocking specializations. You may also have to recompile one or more of the plot scripts, but I have not been able to test this personally.

Afterwards on top select SAVE then CHECK IN

Now at the top and click "EXPORT WITHOUT DEPENDENT RESOURCES"

=== Edit the sys_chargen_h file ===
Find the sys_chargen_h file under _Systems ==> _Includes

right click on sys_chargen_h, select CHECK OUT

Go down to the starting skills section and edit it like below:

<dascript>
// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Starting Skills
// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
if (nClass == CLASS_WARRIOR)
{
_AddAbility(oChar, 100100);
}
else if (nClass == CLASS_ROGUE)
{
_AddAbility(oChar, ABILITY_SKILL_POISON_1);
}
else if (nClass == CLASS_WIZARD)
{
_AddAbility(oChar, ABILITY_SKILL_HERBALISM_1);
}
else if (nClass == CLASS_SHAMAN)
{
_AddAbility(oChar, ABILITY_SKILL_HERBALISM_1);
}
}
</dascript>

Next goto starting ability

<dascript>
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
// Load the starting ability for the background
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
int nAbility = GetM2DAInt(TABLE_STARTING_EQUIPMENT,"Ability", nIdx);
_AddAbility(oCreature, nAbility);
}
else
{
string sTemplate = "default_player.utc";
switch (nClass)
{
case CLASS_WARRIOR: sTemplate = "default_warrior.utc";
break;
case CLASS_ROGUE: sTemplate = "default_rogue.utc";
break;
case CLASS_WIZARD: sTemplate = "default_wizard.utc";
break;
case CLASS_SHAMAN: sTemplate = "default_shaman.utc";
break;
}
LoadItemsFromTemplate(oCreature, sTemplate, TRUE);
}
}
</dascript>

Afterwards on top select SAVE then CHECK IN

Now at the top and click "EXPORT WITHOUT DEPENDENT RESOURCES"
=== Edit the sys_chargen file ===
Find the sys_chargen ==> under _Systems

right click on sys_chargen, select Duplicate; name the file something like wd_sys_chargen.

Change this line:

<dascript>
const int MAX_CLASS_INDEX = 4; // Last index of available base classes in cla_base.
</dascript>
This value does not have to be limited to the minimum number of base classes in the file; it simply has to be higher than the default value of 3.

Go down to the following section and either comment it out as I show it, or delete it; if it is left in place without being commented out, it will cause your class to provide double the attribute points at character creation or level up.

<dascript>
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
// This fires whenever the player presses + or - on an attribute to spend
// points on the attribute screen of character generation
//
// int(0) - Constant PROPERTY_* integer
// int(1) - # of points spent
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
/*case EVENT_TYPE_CHARGEN_ASSIGN_ATTRIBUTES:
{
int nAttribute = GetEventInteger(ev,0);
int nPoints = GetEventInteger(ev,1);

// -----------------------------------------------------------------
// Subtract from available points to spend
// -----------------------------------------------------------------
Chargen_ModifyCreaturePropertyBase(oChar, PROPERTY_SIMPLE_ATTRIBUTE_POINTS, IntToFloat(nPoints*-1));

// -----------------------------------------------------------------
// Spend it.
// -----------------------------------------------------------------
Chargen_SpendAttributePoints(oChar,nAttribute,nPoints,FALSE);
break;
}*/
</dascript>

Go down to the special handling section and edit it like below:

<dascript>
// special handling for aluvian
if (nQuickStart == 0 )
{
Log_Trace(LOG_CHANNEL_CHARACTER,"sys_chargen","Setting default values for player character");
int nRandClass = abs((GetLowResTimer()%3)+1);
if(nRandClass == CLASS_ROGUE || nRandClass == CLASS_WARRIOR || nRandClass == CLASS_SHAMAN)
{
_RunChargen(RACE_HUMAN, nRandClass, oChar, BACKGROUND_NOBLE );
WR_SetPlotFlag(PLT_GEN00PT_BACKGROUNDS, GEN_BACK_HUMAN_NOBLE, TRUE);
}
else // mage
{
_RunChargen(RACE_HUMAN, nRandClass, oChar, BACKGROUND_MAGI );
WR_SetPlotFlag(PLT_GEN00PT_BACKGROUNDS, GEN_BACK_CIRCLE, TRUE);
}
Chargen_SetNumTactics(oChar);
SetCanLevelUp(oChar,Chargen_HasPointsToSpend(oChar));

SendEventModuleChargenDone("", "");
}
</dascript>

next go down to the tactics sections and add the following:
<dascript>
// associate some tactics preset table
int nPresetTable;
if(GetCreatureCoreClass(oChar) == CLASS_WARRIOR)
nPresetTable = 1; // tank
else if(GetCreatureCoreClass(oChar) == CLASS_ROGUE)
nPresetTable = 2; // damage dealer
else if(GetCreatureCoreClass(oChar) == CLASS_SHAMAN)
nPresetTable = 1; // damage dealer
else // mage
nPresetTable = 5; // nuker
</dascript>

Afterwards on top select SAVE then CHECK IN

Now at the top and click "EXPORT WITHOUT DEPENDENT RESOURCES"

=== Create the module script ===
Create a new script and give it a descriptive name like "loadscript". This script will intercept the Chargen events and redirect them to the custom version of the sys_chargen script you just created. It can also be used to intercept other events if you want to alter other things or add items to a newly created character's inventory. This is a good example of how to use it to add custom items and redirect the chargen to the custom script.

<dascript>
#include "utility_h"
#include "wrappers_h"
#include "events_h"
void main()
{
event ev = GetCurrentEvent();
int nEvent = GetEventType(ev);
Log_Events("", ev);
switch (nEvent)
{
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Sent by: The engine
// When: The module loads from a save game, or for the first time. This event can fire more than
// once for a single module or game instance.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
case EVENT_TYPE_MODULE_LOAD:
{
//Nothing is needed here, unless you are doing other things with your module.
}
default:
{
// -----------------------------------------------------------------
// Handle character generation events sent by the engine.
// -----------------------------------------------------------------
if ((nEvent >= EVENT_TYPE_CHARGEN_START && nEvent <= EVENT_TYPE_CHARGEN_END) || nEvent == EVENT_TYPE_PLAYERLEVELUP )
{
HandleEvent(ev, R"ld_sys_chargen.ncs");
}
else
{
Log_Trace(LOG_CHANNEL_EVENTS, GetCurrentScriptName(), Log_GetEventNameById(nEvent) + " (" + ToString(nEvent) + ") *** Unhandled event ***");
}
break;
}
}
}
</dascript>

Afterwards on top select SAVE then CHECK IN

Now at the top and click "EXPORT WITHOUT DEPENDENT RESOURCES"
{{TutorialRef|Script}}

== Creating the UTC template file==
Back in the toolset we need to do the following:

Click on the "creature tab" (red head icon)

Right click on default_player ==> duplicate
Do like the following:

[[Image:Class tut dfs1.jpg]]

Now we need to edit the values and give them some armor and weapons, like so:

Class: Shaman (from dropdown)
Name: Default Male Shaman

[[Image:Class tut dfs2.jpg]]

Now, you need to make one for each race and origin that you wish for the class to be available to (this is how Bioware does it, if you look carefully at the various entries in the backgrounds.xls worksheets); name each one with the following abbreviations for race or origin: hm_noble, hm_mage, dw_comm, dw_noble, elf_city, elf_mage, or elf_dalish (gender is handled automatically by the game, based on race). Making different versions of the template allows each version to have different armor and weapons available to them, which helps them blend into the base game (if you are using it in a module that extends Single Player). Be sure to use the proper names in each location in the backgrounds.xls worksheets or the template will not be displayed when you select the background in the game.

Now at the top and click SAVE ==> CHECK IN for each template.

Now at the top and click "EXPORT WITHOUT DEPENDENT RESOURCES" for each template.
{{TutorialRef|Designer Resources#Creating new resources|Creature|Exporting a module}}

== Putting it all together ==
Up on top ON THE EXPORT TAB

"EXPORT WITHOUT DEPENDENT RESOURCES"

"GENERATE MODULE XML"

"GENERATE MANIFEST XML"

"EXPORT TALK TABLE"
{{TutorialRef|Exporting a module}}
== Cleaning up ==
DON'T SKIP THIS PART

Delete all files in the name/mydocuments/bioware/dragonage/packages/core/override/toolset; these are not needed.
== Trying it out ==
Start up your game (It may take a min) and start a new game.

*WARNING* IF ANYTHING HAS GONE WRONG HERE YOUR GAME WILL BE SEVERELY DAMAGED

Select MALE ==> HUMAN ==> SHAMAN ==> MAGI

YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR NEW CHARACTER

IF SOMETHING HAPPENED QUIT AND DOUBLE CHECK YOUR STEPS

Make sure you did not miss ANY ";" or "{ }" as a single one of these missed can destroy the game.
== Troubleshooting ==
MY SPELLS ARE NOT SHOWING UP IN THE CREATION SCREEN, HELP!!

* You may not have sort your ability file back to ID. It has to be sorted by ID in order to show up.
* You may not have assigned the new abilities to your new class "5000" in the prereqability column

MY MODEL IS NOT SHOWING UP WHEN I GOTO MALE ==> HUMAN ==> SHAMAN ==> MAGI

* It is very likely you did not EXPORT your default_shaman.utc model
* Double check the background file to make sure you are using default_shaman.utc for the template
* Try rebooting your computer.
[[Category:Character generation]]
[[Category:Tutorials]]

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-05T02:04:38Z

Ladydesire: /* 2da files needed */

Talk:Compatibility

2011-01-04T00:03:23Z

Ladydesire: /* Resource scope edit */

== What if my mod extends both Single Player and Awakening? ==

I moved this section here because it's under discussion. [[User:Proleric1|Proleric1]] 08:27, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

===============
NOTE:

There is an easier way than creating two scripts. Just put the information for both in the manifest.xml file. For one of my mods, the manifest file looked like this:

<pre>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<Manifest Type="AddIn">
<AddInsList>
<AddInItem UID="elf_cat_pet" Name="ELF the pet cat for DAO and Awakening" ExtendedModuleUID="Single Player" Priority="100" Enabled="1" State="2" Format="1">
<Title DefaultText="ELF the pet cat for DAO and Awakening"></Title>
<Description DefaultText="ELF the pet cat adds a 'Cat Toy' to the players inventory (rest of text deleted for brevity)

((This package will work in both DAO and Awakening!))"></Description>
<Image>ico_elf_cat_sleep</Image>
<Rating DefaultText="10"></Rating>
<RatingDescription DefaultText=""></RatingDescription>
<URL DefaultText="www.ELFpath.com"></URL>
<ReleaseDate>6 April 2010</ReleaseDate>
<Version>2.0</Version>
<GameVersion/>
<Type>1</Type>
<Publisher DefaultText="Angel == monkeysnest@yahoo.com"></Publisher>
<PrereqList/>
<FileList>
<Folder src="packages/" Type="package"/>
<Folder src="addins/" Type="addin"/>
</FileList>
</AddInItem>

<AddInItem UID="elf_cat_pet" Name="ELF the pet cat for DAO and Awakening" ExtendedModuleUID="DAO_PRC_EP_1" Priority="100" Enabled="1" State="2" Format="1">
<Title DefaultText="ELF the pet cat"></Title>
<Image>ico_elf_cat_sleep</Image>
<Rating DefaultText=""></Rating>
<RatingDescription DefaultText=""></RatingDescription>
<URL DefaultText="www.ELFpath.com"></URL>
<ReleaseDate>6 April 2010</ReleaseDate>
<Version>2.0</Version>
<GameVersion/>
<Type>1</Type>
<Publisher DefaultText="Angel == monkeysnest@yahoo.com"></Publisher>
<PrereqList/>
<FileList>
<Folder src="addins/" Type="addin"/>
</FileList>
</AddInItem>

</AddInsList>
</Manifest>
</pre>

doing this allowed users to install one package (using DAModder) which worked for both awakening and DAO.

============== ++ Angel

@monkeysnest - good to have the update concerning the manifest. A few queries:

* Perhaps the article would be clearer if you explained which line has to change, rather than reproduce the entire manifest here?

* Would DAUpdater work? I don't see DAModder listed as a project download on the Bioware social site.

* We don't normally leave our signatures on the content pages of a wiki.

Thanks.

[[User:Proleric1|Proleric1]] 05:47, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

I don't think the "dual entry, single manifest" approach should be followed or encouraged. Creating two separate .dazip installations as mentioned in [[Compatibility#What_if_my_mod_extends_both_Single_Player_and_Awakening.3F | Compatibility: What if my mod extends both Single Player and Awakening?]] is IMHO the preferred approach.

--[[User:Nukenin|Nukenin]] 00:24, 24 April 2010 (UTC)

I'll have to agree with Nukenin here, especially since using the "dual entry, single manifest" approach will cause DAUpdater to crash and would unnecessarily force players to use third-party apps. Moreover, it's perfectly possible to include several addons (each one with its own manifest entry) in a single dazip package :
* Package root
** Manifest including several AddInItem elements
** Contents
*** addins
**** addin_uid1
**** addin_uid2
**** addin_uid3
**** etc
*** packages

--[[User:Phaenan|Phaenan]] 06:45, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

I find myself agreeing with Phaenan and Nukenin on this; end users should only use community created tools if they want a specific function that's only available to them that way (like the ability to uninstall a dazip).
[[User:Ladydesire|Ladydesire]] 18:40, 25 December 2010 (UTC)

== Override Events while minimizing compat issues.. ==

I believe this may be useful to others - through trial and error, and with some help, I have figured out a way to override events only when my module is running - I had to add a variable to var_module.xls/gda (which is probably where the only potential compatibility issue will arise via string ID, though I am not sure what would happen if someone tried to override the same events - depends on which engineevents get's loaded last I suppose...).

The variable is defaulted to a 0....in my modules properties, I set the variable to a 1. My event overrides check for this variable to be == 1, if not, send it off the proper handler.

See the following post where I came to this 'workaround'...would love to know if there is a better way:

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/8/index/2371093/1#2531362

== Resource scope edit ==

I have removed the reference to tint maps following the discussion at http://social.bioware.com/group/2937/discussion/12738/ .

Also beefed up the recommendations about not putting files into packages --[[User:Gaxkang55|Gaxkang55]] 12:43, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

Good update! I'm very much on the same wavelength. I have one question, though, concerning the Talk Table. Normally, the best way to change a core string is to make a new one, then point the appropriate 2DA at it. However, there are cases where no such mechanism exists. For example, if you want to make a module that isn't set in the Ferelden gameworld, you need to change the gender descriptions, replace all instances of "marabi" with "dog" and so on. To the best of my knowledge, this can't be done without an override - see [[String_editor]]. If there's a better solution, I'd be keen to hear it. [[User:Proleric1|Proleric1]] 08:50, 31 December 2010 (UTC)

As it happens, I had to do exactly that for the campaign I have in development, where I wanted to override the gender description. Create the string but make the Owner Module your module. This will be exported to the talktable placed in your core, and will overwrite the core string as long as your module is enabled. Also tested the head morph stuff, and that doesn't need to be in packages either, so will make a further update. --[[User:Gaxkang55|Gaxkang55]] 04:28, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

Have you tried to reproduce this [[Bug:_Talk_table_exported_to_packages_override | bug]] for the specific string mentioned there? I double-checked that the Owner Module is set correctly. It isn't exported to the talk table in core (which seems to be empty), nor does it work if the talk table in packages override is moved to any of the add-in folders.

A couple of other issues:

You recommend moving content from the override folders before B2P packaging. Is there any technical reason for that? I haven't heard this from Bioware. "If it ain't bust, don't fix it" might apply here?

You've added some strong words about mods that use packages override. My heart is with you, but my head says the tone could be counter-productive. We seem to be making some progress with persuading the community that compatibility is important, but the "package overriders" are still in the majority. IMO we need to convince them to change their approach voluntarily, not antagonise them. After all, none of us has the power to deprecate anything (nor would we wish to have it). What do you think? [[User:Proleric1|Proleric1]] 08:27, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

Moving the compiled scripts and exported plots out of the toolsetexport folder '''into''' the override folder is a good idea, since when doing an "empty export directories", you could accidently delete files needed for the builder to player package. I'm not sure why it would be necessary to move files out of the override folder.

As far as the "package overriders" go, some may never change, no matter what we do; I have even seen people that were doing it basically the right way change because they weren't wanting to build multiple packages for their mods. [[User:Ladydesire|Ladydesire]] 00:03, 4 January 2011 (UTC)

Talk:Compatibility

2011-01-04T00:02:18Z

Ladydesire: /* Resource scope edit */

2DA ranges in use

2011-01-01T17:08:53Z

Ladydesire: /* ABI_base */

This page is meant to enumerate row ID ranges that are used by the main game and by various popular addins, to avoid accidental overlap. See also [[Prefixes in use]] and [[Compatibility]].

Note that there's no need for 2DA row IDs to be sequential, so you can use very large row ID numbers to reduce the chances of collision.

Version 1.0 of the toolset had a bug in ExcelProcessor that caused problems with high row ID numbers, but this has been fixed in subsequent releases. See [[Bug: ExcelProcessor doesn't handle row IDs above 8.3 million correctly|the bug report]].

As of now there is a bug that prevents ID's above 255 to be used for some M2DA's. Most certainly it is ''"only"'' [[ItemVariations.xls]] related. See [[Bug: High M2DA ID ranges might work in the toolset, but not in game|Bug report]].

== ABI_base ==

According to the [[ABI_base]] page under the ''tooltipstrref'' column, anything over 500000 is considered a debuff. This would limit the range a fair amount.

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 200262'''
| '''Bioware - Main campaign'''
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 24000 - 26000
| [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Community_Contest_Main_Page Community Contest]
|-
| 37000 - 38000
| [http://bg2redux.student.utwente.nl/trac/wiki Baldur's Gate Redux]
|-
| 50000 - 50001
| Anakin's [http://social.bioware.com/project/861/ Advanced Tactics]
|-
| 51000 - 51002
| Anakin's [http://social.bioware.com/project/1888/ Advanced Quickbar]
|-
| 450000 - 450300
| ladydesire's [http://social.bioware.com/project/815/ Tevinter Warden class]
|-
| 901974-903000 and 401974-403000(modal)
| Idomeneas' [http://social.bioware.com/project/3152/ Valeria Addon]
|-
| 1337000
| amcnow's [http://social.bioware.com/project/3823/ Respecification]
|-
| 2560000 - 2560500
| Timelord's [http://social.bioware.com/project/1845/ Blood and Lyrium]
|-
| 5680000 - 5680250
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/672/ The Winter Forge]
|-
| 30000000 - 40000000
| MCC's Senderfall: The Last Bastion (To author: unreasonable range, please correct)
|-
| 300000-300047
| rebel5555's [http://social.bioware.com/project/2646/ 2 Handed Weapon Abilities for Arcane Warriors]
|-
| 300000-300047
| rebel5555's [http://social.bioware.com/project/3637/ Dual Weapon Abilities for Arcane Warriors]
|-
| 300000-300047
| rebel5555's [http://social.bioware.com/project/2644/ Weapon and Shield Abilities for Arcane Warriors]
|}

----

== AI_TacticsPresets ==

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 9'''
| '''Bioware - Main campaign'''
|-
| 10 - 15
| Anakin's [http://social.bioware.com/project/861/ Advanced Tactics]
|}

----
== ambient_ai ==

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - Main campaign'''
|-
| 1000000-1001000
| [http://social.bioware.com/project/178/ Crown of Creation]
|}

----

== ANIM_base ==

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| 65000 - 65002
| BioSpirit's [http://social.bioware.com/project/1647/ Hilltop Under Siege]
|}

----

== APR_base ==

Note that there is a bug involving this 2DA: [[Bug: APR base maximum M2DA row ID is 65535 in the toolset]]

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 90'''
| '''Bioware - Main campaign'''
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 24000 - 26000
| [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Community_Contest_Main_Page Community Contest]
|-
| 37000 - 38000
| [http://bg2redux.student.utwente.nl/trac/wiki Baldur's Gate Redux]
|-
| 40000 - 40010
| [http://social.bioware.com/project/3175/ Horses]
|-
| 65000 - 65001
| BioSpirit's [http://social.bioware.com/project/1647/ Hilltop Under Siege]
|-
| 55000 - 57000
| World of Grone (by Shodushi) [http://social.bioware.com/project/2194/ World of Grone]
|-
| 30000000-40000000
| MCC's Senderfall: The Last Bastion (To author: unreasonable range, please correct)
||-
| 65010 - 65025
| Mutantspicy Oracle and Enchanted Armor [Dragonage Nexus]
|--
| 1000001 - 1100000
| DA Workshop / by frosti [http://www.dragon-age-workshop.de/forum/viewforum.php?f=19/ Icewind Dale Remake]
|-
|}

----
== armor_massive_variation ==

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 8'''
| '''Bioware - Main campaign'''
|-
| 50-50
| [http://social.bioware.com/project/3666/ Sandbox]
|}

Note: the highest working tested ID for this variation is 141. See [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Bug:_High_M2DA_ID_ranges_might_work_in_the_toolset,_but_not_in_game bug report]
----

== BITM_base and ItemStats_ ==

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| 24000 - 26000
| [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Community_Contest_Main_Page Community Contest]
|-
| 30000 - 30500
| Ambaryerno - [http://social.bioware.com/project/415/ Arms and Armor]
|-
| 37000-38000
| [http://bg2redux.student.utwente.nl/trac/wiki Baldur's Gate Redux]
|-
| 40000 - 40200
| DA Workshop / by frosti [http://www.dragon-age-workshop.de/forum/viewforum.php?f=19/ Icewind Dale Remake]
|-
| 57000-59000
| [World of Grone (by Shodushi) [http://social.bioware.com/project/2194/ World of Grone]
|-
| 30000000-40000000
| MCC's Senderfall: The Last Bastion (To author: unreasonable range, please correct)
|-
| 50000 - 50100
| Feline Fuelled Games - (by Silk) [http://www.felinefuelledgames.de/ Feline Fuelled Games]
|-
|}

----

== CLA_base ==

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 25'''
| '''Bioware
|-
| 10000 - 10012
| Ladydesire
|-
| 24000 - 26000
| [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Community_Contest_Main_Page Community Contest]
|}

== crafting_recipe_types ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 7'''
| '''Bioware - Main campaign'''
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 30000000-40000000
| MCC's Senderfall: The Last Bastion (To author: unreasonable range, please correct)
|-
| 5680000 - 5680020
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/672/ The Winter Forge]
|}

----

== crafting_recipes ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 91'''
| '''Bioware - Main campaign'''
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 30000000-40000000
| MCC's Senderfall: The Last Bastion (To author: unreasonable range, please correct)
|-
| 5680000 - 5682000
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/672/ The Winter Forge]
|}

----

== engineevents ==

Those ranges relates to custom events types/ID and not to engineevents based [[Event_override|events overriding]].

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 500 - 500
| Anakin's [http://social.bioware.com/project/861/ Advanced Tactics]
|-
| 510 - 511
| Anakin's [http://social.bioware.com/project/1888/ Advanced Quickbar]
|-
| 5680000 - 5680050
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/672/ The Winter Forge]
|}

----

== guitypes ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 600 - 600
| Anakin's [http://social.bioware.com/project/861/ Advanced Tactics]
|-
| 601 - 601
| Anakin's [http://social.bioware.com/project/1888/ Advanced Quickbar]
|-
| 24000 - 26000
| [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Community_Contest_Main_Page Community Contest]
|-
| 1337000
| amcnow's [http://social.bioware.com/project/3823/ Respecification]
|-
| 1974100-1974200
| Idomeneas' [http://social.bioware.com/project/3152/ Valeria Addon]
|-
| 2560000 - 2560050
| Timelord's [http://social.bioware.com/project/1845/ Blood and Lyrium]
|-
| 5680000 - 5680010
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/672/ The Winter Forge]
|-
|}

----

== Heraldry ==
There is a [[Bug:_High_M2DA_ID_ranges_might_work_in_the_toolset,_but_not_in_game | bug]] with this table. The range 0-255 is known to work.
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 1000001 - 1001000
| [http://social.bioware.com/project/178/ Crown of Creation] (using 201 onwards temporarily)
|-
|}
----

== itemprps ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 10022'''
| '''Bioware - Main campaign'''
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 24000 - 26000
| [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Community_Contest_Main_Page Community Contest]
|-
| 37000-38000
| [http://bg2redux.student.utwente.nl/trac/wiki Baldur's Gate Redux]
|-
| 1000001 - 2000000
| DA Workshop / by frosti [http://www.dragon-age-workshop.de/forum/viewforum.php?f=19/ Icewind Dale Remake]
|-
| 5680000 - 5680050
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/672/ The Winter Forge]
|-
| 7570000-7770000
| [World of Grone (by Shodushi) [http://social.bioware.com/project/2194/ World of Grone]
|-
| 536873321 - 536873322
| Elys' [http://social.bioware.com/project/522/ Mysterious Gifts]
|-
| 30000000-40000000
| MCC's Senderfall: The Last Bastion (To author: unreasonable range, please correct)
|-
| 2560000-2560050
| Timelord's [http://social.bioware.com/project/1845/ Blood and Lyrium]
|-
|}

----

== itemsets ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 30'''
| '''Bioware - Main campaign'''
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 30000000-40000000
| MCC's Senderfall: The Last Bastion (To author: unreasonable range, please correct)
|-
| 5680000 - 5680500
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/672/ The Winter Forge]
|-
| 7570000-7770000
| [World of Grone (by Shodushi) [http://social.bioware.com/project/2194/ World of Grone]
|-
| 1405261000 - 1405261999
| nezroy - [http://social.bioware.com/project/1834/ Warden Shields], [http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=793 Leliana Item Set]
|-
| 1000001 - 2000000
| DA Workshop / by frosti [http://www.dragon-age-workshop.de/forum/viewforum.php?f=19/ Icewind Dale Remake]
|-
| 7771000 - 7771500
| [http://social.bioware.com/project/2157/ Dark Times: The Confederacy of Malkuth] (reserved by Starlight on Questorion's behalf)
|-
|}

----

== ItemVariations (all) ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 30'''
| '''Bioware - Main campaign'''
|-
| '''0 - 1000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved (guessed)'''
|-
| 12000 - 12100
| [http://social.bioware.com/project/1923/ Adonnay's Weaponry] (reserved by mikemike37 on his behalf)
|-
| 140 - 160
| [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Community_Contest_Main_Page Community Contest]
|-
| 101000 - 400000
| [http://social.bioware.com/project/2157/ Dark Times: The Confederacy of Malkuth] (reserved by Starlight on Questorion's behalf)
|-
|}

note: ItemVariations are affected by the bug which prevents ID's above 255 from appearing properly in the game. See [[Bug: High M2DA ID ranges might work in the toolset, but not in game|Bug report]].

----

== M2DA_base ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 1016, 2000 - 2010, 10011 - 10142, ...? '''
| '''Bioware - Main campaign'''
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 5000 - 5014
| Anakin's [http://social.bioware.com/project/861/ Advanced Tactics]
|-
| 24000 - 26000
| [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Community_Contest_Main_Page Community Contest]
|-
| 37000 - 38000
| [http://bg2redux.student.utwente.nl/trac/wiki Baldur's Gate Redux]
|-
| 100000 - 100000
| Anakin's [http://social.bioware.com/project/1907/ Event Manager]
|-
| 690000 - 690100
| [http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1617 Karma's Origins Companions]
|-
| 1000001 - 1100000
| DA Workshop / by frosti [http://www.dragon-age-workshop.de/forum/viewforum.php?f=19/ Icewind Dale Remake]
|-
| 2300000 - 2300100
| [http://social.bioware.com/project/178/ Crown of Creation] (M2DA prefix: COC)
|-
| 2560000 - 2560050
| Timelord's [http://social.bioware.com/project/1845/ Blood and Lyrium]
|-
| 5000000 - 5000010
| Noob766's [http://social.bioware.com/project/3827/ Companion Compatibility pack]
|-
| 5680000 - 5680050
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/672/ The Winter Forge]
|-
| 5680050 - 5680055
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/3185/ Flexible craft UI]
|-
| 5681000 - 5681005
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/2896/ DACrafting framework]
|-
| 6000000 - 6000050
| TreDawn - [http://social.bioware.com/project/1750/ Nesiara Companion]
|-
| 7000000 - 7000050
| FtG - [http://social.bioware.com/project/1688/ UI Mod]
|-
| 7000051 - 7000055
| FtG - [http://social.bioware.com/project/3663/ Custom Loading Screen]
|-
| 7570000 - 7770000
| [World of Grone (by Shodushi) [http://social.bioware.com/project/2194/ World of Grone]
|-
| 7777770 - 7777799
| Magic - [http://social.bioware.com/project/1429/ Void Walker] (M2DA prefix: VWK)
|-
| 9000000 - 9000050
| Ambaryerno - [http://social.bioware.com/project/415/ Arms and Armor]
|-
| 30000000 - 40000000
| MCC's Senderfall: The Last Bastion (To author: unreasonable range, please correct)
|-
| 1140150041 - 1140150091
| DLAN_Immortality - [http://social.bioware.com/project/789/ Ser Gilmore NPC]
|-
|}

----

== materialrules ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 24000 - 26000
| [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Community_Contest_Main_Page Community Contest]
|-
| 37000-38000
| [http://bg2redux.student.utwente.nl/trac/wiki Baldur's Gate Redux]
|-
| 536873321 - 536873323
| Elys' [http://social.bioware.com/project/522/ Mysterious Gifts]
|-
| 1405261000 - 1405261999
| nezroy - [http://social.bioware.com/project/1834/ Warden Shields], [http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=793 Leliana Item Set]
|}

----

== materialtypes ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 88'''
| '''Bioware - Main campaign'''
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 24000 - 26000
| [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Community_Contest_Main_Page Community Contest]
|-
| 37000-38000
| [http://bg2redux.student.utwente.nl/trac/wiki Baldur's Gate Redux]
|-
| 30000000-40000000
| MCC's Senderfall: The Last Bastion (To author: unreasonable range, please correct)
|-
| 5680000 - 5680300
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/672/ The Winter Forge]
|-
| 536873321 - 536873340
| Elys' [http://social.bioware.com/project/522/ Mysterious Gifts]
|-
| 1405261000 - 1405261999
| nezroy - [http://social.bioware.com/project/1834/ Warden Shields], [http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=793 Leliana Item Set]
|}

----

== PartyPicker ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 11'''
| '''Bioware - Main campaign'''
|-
| '''????'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 101-199
| [http://social.bioware.com/project/178/ Crown of Creation]
|-
| 200 - 299
| DA Workshop / Author: frosti [http://www.dragon-age-workshop.de/forum/viewforum.php?f=19/ Icewind Dale Remake]
|-
| 300 - 350
| [World of Grone (by Shodushi) [http://social.bioware.com/project/2194/ World of Grone]
|-
| 1974-1980
| Idomeneas' [http://social.bioware.com/project/3152/ Valeria Addon]
|-
| 6900000 - 6900200
| [http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1617 Karma's Origins Companions]
|-

|}

----

== PRCSCR ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 24000 - 26000
| [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Community_Contest_Main_Page Community Contest]
|-
| 37000-38000
| [http://bg2redux.student.utwente.nl/trac/wiki Baldur's Gate Redux]
|-
| 690000 - 690100
| [http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1617 Karma's Origins Companions]
|-
| 30000000-40000000
| MCC's Senderfall: The Last Bastion (To author: unreasonable range, please correct)
|-
| 10100000
| Camp [http://social.bioware.com/project/463/ storage chest]
|-
| 10100011-10100013
| Didymos' [http://social.bioware.com/project/2620/ Camp Merchant Chest]
|-
| 10100014-10100016
| Didymos' [http://social.bioware.com/project/2717/ Item Sets Fix]
|-
| 10100100-10100110
| Eshme's [http://social.bioware.com/project/1929/ Sleeping Tent]
|-
| 5680000 - 5680020
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/672/ The Winter Forge]
|-
| 6000000 - 6000050
| TreDawn - [http://social.bioware.com/project/1750/ Nesiara Companion]
|-
| 7570000-7770000
| [World of Grone (by Shodushi) [http://social.bioware.com/project/2194/ World of Grone]
|-
| 1000197400-1000197410
| Idomeneas' [http://social.bioware.com/project/3152/ Valeria Addon]
|-
| 1140150041 - 1140150091
| DLAN_Immortality - [http://social.bioware.com/project/789/ Ser Gilmore NPC]
|-
| 1672464532 - 1672464542
| DLAN_Immortality - [http://social.bioware.com/project/2991/ Ser Gilmore NPC Awakening]
|-
| 1405261000 - 1405261999
| nezroy - [http://social.bioware.com/project/1834/ Warden Shields], [http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=793 Leliana Item Set]
|-
| 1000001 - 1100000
| DA Workshop / by frosti [http://www.dragon-age-workshop.de/forum/viewforum.php?f=19/ Icewind Dale Remake]
|-
| 2000000-2000050
| [http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=942 Oracle,mutantspicy's magic vault, and other custom armors]
|-
| 42006090 - 42006100
| [http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1120 Morrigan Restoration Patch]
|-
| 1109197751 - 1109197799
| Schwinni - [http://dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1020 Awakening Runes Fixes], [http://dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1112 Awakening Blackblade Armor Dragon Drop Fix]
|}

----

== placeable_types ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 14000 - 16000
| [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Community_Contest_Main_Page Community Contest]
|-
| 17000 - 19000
| Standalone modules (see discussion tab)
|-
| 37000-38000
| [http://bg2redux.student.utwente.nl/trac/wiki Baldur's Gate Redux]
|-
| 43050-43061
| Eshme's [http://social.bioware.com/project/1929/ Sleeping Tent] (Greater 65535 is showing bugs so this is until it is fixed)
|-
| 43062-43065
| BioSpirit's [http://social.bioware.com/project/1647/ Hilltop Under Siege]
|-
| 56000-56200
| [http://social.bioware.com/project/2472/#details Mikes Invisible Boxes]
|-
| 2696549 - 2696700
| PavelNovotny - [http://social.bioware.com/project/517/ Gay Bars of Ferelden] (NOTE: I'm using the 6000-6200 range until Bioware fixes the bug which prevents m2da ID ranges above 900000 from showing up in game.)

|-
| 7570000-7770000
| [World of Grone (by Shodushi) [http://social.bioware.com/project/2194/ World of Grone]
|-
| 30000000-40000000
| MCC's Senderfall: The Last Bastion (To author: unreasonable range, please correct)
|-
| 1000001 - 1100000
| DA Workshop / Author: frosti [http://www.dragon-age-workshop.de/forum/viewforum.php?f=19/ Icewind Dale Remake]
|-
| 1974-1978
| Idomeneas' [http://social.bioware.com/project/3152/ Valeria Addon] (They are low so they'll show in game, recall the toolset bug)
|-
|}
----

== popups ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 1000001-1001000
| [http://social.bioware.com/project/178/ Crown of Creation]
|-
| 1337000
| amcnow's [http://social.bioware.com/project/3823/ Respecification]
|}
----

== PRJ_base ==

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 5680000 - 5680050
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/672/ The Winter Forge]
|-
|}

----
== String ID ==
It is not generally necessary to register String ID ranges here. The values generated by the toolset are sufficiently random to minimise the risk of collision. Exception : the Community Contest reserved the range below so that the builders will stick to that and can import VO without having to renumber the VO files.

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 10000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 89000000 - 89999999
| [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Community_Contest_Main_Page Community Contest]
|-
|}

----

== tint_override ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| 500 - 520
| PavelNovotny - [http://social.bioware.com/project/517/ Gay Bars of Ferelden]
|-
| 6900 - 6920
| [http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1617 Karma's Origins Companions]
|-
| 1000001-1001000
| [http://social.bioware.com/project/178/ Crown of Creation]
|-
| 30000000-40000000
| MCC's Senderfall: The Last Bastion (To author: unreasonable range, please correct)
|-
| 1109197701 - 1109197750
| Schwinni - [http://dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1064 Helmets without wings and retints]
|}

----

== ts_material ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| 1405261000 - 1405261999
| nezroy - [http://social.bioware.com/project/1834/ Warden Shields], [http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=793 Leliana Item Set]
|}

----

== TS_Category ==

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 5680000 - 5680005
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/672/ The Winter Forge]
|-
| 1000001 - 1100000
| DA Workshop / by frosti [http://www.dragon-age-workshop.de/forum/viewforum.php?f=19/ Icewind Dale Remake]
|-
| 7570000-7770000
| [World of Grone (by Shodushi) [http://social.bioware.com/project/2194/ World of Grone]
|-
|}

----

== vfx_base ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 1000000'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| 24000 - 26000
| [http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Community_Contest_Main_Page Community Contest]
|-
| 37000-38000
| [http://bg2redux.student.utwente.nl/trac/wiki Baldur's Gate Redux]
|-
| 5680000 - 5680010
| Phaenan's [http://social.bioware.com/project/672/ The Winter Forge]
|-
| 5680011 - 5680019
| BioSpirit's [http://social.bioware.com/project/1647/ Hilltop Under Siege]
|}
----

== worldmaps (has to be less than 256) ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Range
! Used by
|-
| '''0 - 6'''
| '''Bioware - reserved'''
|-
| '''210 - 220'''
| [http://social.bioware.com/project/1845/ Blood and Lyrium]
|}
----

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-01T05:32:34Z

Ladydesire:

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-01T05:32:16Z

Ladydesire:

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-01T05:30:49Z

Ladydesire:

Creating custom classes with minimal impact on the game

2011-01-01T04:02:32Z

Ladydesire: