So… back to normal posts, then?
Its not shameless when you’re sincere about it, no? Though I am proud of that mod…
Also regarding @Olivier_Leroux’s Aribeth menu backdrop question - it seems it’s not on the vault (or maybe it’s really well hidden). Maximum size of source wallpaper is 1280x960 - enough to recreate the mod - any volunteers?
Guys, don’t worry about it. I was a bit puzzled when I saw the thread evolving like that, because I hadn’t been aware I was opening a can of worm, but it was an interesting read regardless. Thanks for all the suggestions so far, as well as for the warnings! 
Generally, I tend to only use overrides that superficially change the look of default NWN, like GUI colors, title screens etc. And so far, in the all the time that I’ve played through scores of community modules, I never ran into any issues with those. I don’t have haks like Tony K’s Henchman AI installed, although admittedly the CCOH mentioned above does replace the crafting menu on the radial, but unless a module has an exciting new crafting system in place, I never bother with crafting anyway. For me it’s somewhat important that I can play a character whose looks I’m happy with; I can’t stand many of the default heads, armor appearances and colors.
And, as mentioned above, neither the voices. Some of them are nice enough (“Female, Playful”, “Female, Rogue”), but I always have a hard time finding one that would suit the characters I imagine. So, what about custom voicesets? Does noone use those? Are you happy with the default ones?
I was able to single out the files in question from one of my old override folders. Turns out they’re just simple .tga images with a format of 512x512, and they’re called gui_pre_nknd1.tga and gui_pre_nknd2.tga, looking like this (i had to convert them to .png though in order to upload them here):
I’ve also found a custom NWN screen to display before the main menu, this one replaces load_legal.tga (there is a load_legal2.tga to go along with it, but it’s completely black):
Thanks. I must’ve misunderstood your initial post - thought you were looking for these files on the vault. Anyway, that load_legal2.tga is exactly like gui_pre_bknd2.tga - with image chopped to few pieces.
Regarding custom voice sets, I’d really like to use one that makes PC mute.
I was, because I thought re-installing would be easier than searching for the right files on my harddisk. I didn’t think it would turn out this simple.
I’d just like to point out the benefit of loading overrides as haks through the userpatch.ini file in the Enhanced Edition (nwnpatch.ini in 1.69). See the FAQ here for how to do it. I maintain different versions of my userpatch file depending on whether I’m playing a CEP module, Project Q module, or something else.
A partial list of my favorite override haks:
PnP Vision, Light spells, & Torches by yours truly – although I use a darker version than what I posted because it better reflects the original 1974 edition of D&D rather than the 3.x version that I did post.
Fat Bottomed Girls by your truly
HDR Contrast Shader override by Symphony
Huge Bouncing Breasts by Herculo
Larger Character Creator Viewer by Ancarion
Complete GUI Alterations Package by Amethyst Dragon – except that I let the Ravenloft Prisoners of the Mist GUI override this (linked in an earlier post)
EE Castle Rural Hotfix by Symphony
TNO City Exterior Reskin by Mahtan Tasadur
New Rain by ShadowM
D&D Classic Gelatinous Cube by the Amethyst Dragon
Tilsets overrides by Zwerkules and Toro
Various creature overrides by Lord of Worms, Six Thrice, and Cervantes.
Thanks! Tarot_Redhand already sent me that link, I just didn’t know anymore how to create hakpaks from files, but it’s coming back to me now. You just use the nwhak.exe from the utils folder, drag the overide files into it, and save as e.g. “override.hak” right? (It might be helpful for total n00bs if you’d add that to your instructions.)
Having never tried it I don’t know that drag and drop works with nwhak EE. As they’ve made a new version to handle the new file types that EE can use, it may do but I just use the menu (Resource/Add). Navigate to where the files are and highlight/open all the files to put into the hak then save it.
TR
What about the override folder? Is it obsolete?
It just might be… I’ll leave it to others to make a case for still using the override folder.
I’ve found out that there still seem to be differences between using the userpatch.ini and the override folder. When I put the Ravenloft POTM GUI in a hakpak and call it via userpatch.ini, some elements in the GUI still use the default graphics (e.g. the window sliders). I double checked and created the hakpak a second time, to make sure I hadn’t accidentally forgotten to pack a few image files, but with the same result. It also happens when this hakpak is the last on the list of userpatch.ini, or even the only hak on it. If I put the GUI files in the override folder and call all of the other override haks via userpatch.ini, it works fine though, just as intended. No idea why the GUI doesn’t work as well when loaded as a hakpak, but unless this is something weird on my end, this seems to indicate that the override folder handles things a bit differently than userpatch.ini.
For some reason, .tga textures work in override, but not in a patch hak. The solution is to convert the .tga files to .dds (a trivial task).
Caution : this finding is based on a small sample.
Despite this minor limitation, the patch hak method is preferable to override, because you can easily turn content sets on and off. It’s available in 1.69 as well as EE.
It suffers from the same compatibility issues as override - patch haks impact every module - but makes it easier to switch off script collections and other high risk material before playing custom modules.
Oh, I see. Well, they do seem to work in my case, but not all of them. Do you know of a quick way to convert several files at once?
I don’t know why it doesn’t work there but yes there is a major difference between override and patch-hak.
The order of loading resource is this: bif files > ovr/ folder in NWN:EE > override > module > patch-hak > hak
This means that the same override package used in override folder will not replace same files in modules. Same override package used as patch-hak however will override the same files in modules. This means that using overrides as patch-hak increases chance of breaking modules. (Which unfortunately no patch-hak propagator mentions…)
This is especially the case of script-based or blueprint based overrides such as hyper gore. If you use hyper gore that modifies nw_c2_default7 (default AI OnDeath script) then you might compĺetely break the module if there are some modifications like custom XP calculation or plot/cutscene triggers.
So while patch-hak is a great solution to avoid having a mess in your NWN folder it should be used with care.
That explains why my attempt to convert nwncq textures into a patch hak always failed. Although weirdly I have other selfmade patch haks (eg colorized spells) where tgas are working fine. This is nwn original not EE though.
Try NwN Crunch. Extract to folder of your choice, read readme and you’re good to go. Includes pre-made batch files as well.
TR
Thanks! The new GUI hak using the dds files works as patch now.
That’s good to know, thanks! I guess in that case I should remove the CCOH (which uses the crafting menu on the radial) from the patch and put it in the override folder instead.
Oh, wait - it doesn’t. I forgot to remove the GUI files from the override folder when I tested it. Actually, with the dds hak, even more elements of the default GUI are kept. So apparantly there’s no way around using the override folder for this.
It’s working for me. Woah, empty override folder for the first time in decades!
Note, the dds files didn’t seem to work when in override so it could be that?
No, I used the dds files as a hakpak via userpatch.ini. Some GUI elements were present, others weren’t.
Odd. I have Custom Menus working as a patch hak - all those GUI elements work for me (as dds).
Any idea which files aren’t working?
Not really, only that with .tga in the hak it were the graphics for the window sliders and the “Customize Character” button in the character selection menu, with .dds in the hak it was the whole character selection menu GUI.
But it’s not a big problem, I can continue to use the override folder for files like the GUI which I hardly ever switch out anyway, and use the patch for more temporary stuff I want to try.
Also I think it wasn’t mentioned. NIT allows to manage overrides. Definitely an alternative to patch-haks.
