[Hellbilly]

Ok, so here's a total noob question, but nonetheless the rather empty English modding wiki, the thread here in this section nor the German modding wiki (probably due to my rather limited knowledge of German) have not helped me to figure this out:

I want to do something so simple as to add two young scavengers to two waypoints entitled WP_01 and WP_02 that are spawned at the start of the game. How exactly do I do this?

By studying the resources I've found, I've come this far:
- Of course, I have to create the waypoints in the spacer
- And I have to add appropriate lines to the startup-script -> Wld_InsertNpc (YScavenger,"WP_01"); (and another one for the second monster)
- To build the mod I have to use GothicVDFS
- ...and I have to make an ini-file, which I think I got right by looking what the other ini-files look like and reading the rersources.

But then what? What shall I load into the VDFS to build the mod? And the startup.d-file, which is found in _work/DATA/scripts/content/story... this is the one I have to change, right? Or?

And then what?

I think I've got the basic fundamentals of the scripting language itself and the spacer figured out, but the directions on how to actually make your mod work, how to build it, are so vague that they elude me.

So if somebody could be so kind as to point me in the right direction, that'd be nice

[rockfest]

But then what? What shall I load into the VDFS to build the mod? And the startup.d-file, which is found in _work/DATA/scripts/content/story... this is the one I have to change, right? Or?

Everything you modify. The scripts have to be compiled into a .dat file and then add all stuff you modified into the packer.

[Hellbilly]

Everything you modify. The scripts have to be compiled into a .dat file and then add all stuff you modified into the packer.

All right, I gathered that much. But how exactly do I go about packing the scripts into a dat-file? The wiki says "To compile changed scripts into an up-to-date DAT-file, you may use parameter -zreparse when starting Gothic. GothicStarter.exe can also do that (Advanced-Options: reparse all scripts).", which I've done. But it didn't work, the game did start and the menus + dialogue were in German instead of in English (so it's running the mod, right?) but no scavengers where I put them.

Elsewhere I read that the reparsing option in the Spacer is more reliable, but when I try to use it on startup.d, it seemingly can't read it properly, so that doesn't work either.

[rockfest]

Elsewhere I read that the reparsing option in the Spacer is more reliable, but when I try to use it on startup.d, it seemingly can't read it properly, so that doesn't work either.

Then you have a parsing error. What exactly did it said? I also used the spacer version. Not something else.

[Hellbilly]

Well, first of all, when browsing for files, as default it only shows files with .src and .dat as extension, and when I try to use the startup.d-file anyhow, it gives a series of errors, beginning with U:PAR:Syntax Error : C_NPC (line 1088), then U:PAR: Expected ';' (line 1088) and so on for a while.

The resources weren't very clear on this, so I guess it's entirely possible and even likely I'm doing something totally wrong here

[rockfest]

Well, first of all, when browsing for files, as default it only shows files with .src and .dat as extension, and when I try to use the startup.d-file anyhow, it gives a series of errors, beginning with U:PAR:Syntax Error : C_NPC (line 1088), then U:PAR: Expected ';' (line 1088) and so on for a while.

The resources weren't very clear on this, so I guess it's entirely possible and even likely I'm doing something totally wrong here

Sorry about that. You must understand that i haven't opened a gothic script in almost a year now.
Anyway, .src files are containers (open them with a text editor) wich hold the name of the scripts that will be compiled.

In the spacer you will have to open src files wich will tell the program what files to compile. I'm installing right now the mdk to remember the exact procedure.

[NicoDE]

dialogue were in German instead of in English (so it's running the mod, right?) but no scavengers where I put them.

I don't know if the original English scripts for Gothic 1.08j are available for download. If not, drop me a note and I will dig in my backups...
Seems like the scripts are working, yes.
1) Is your ZEN in the MOD volume (with the same path as the original file)?
2) Did you start a new game for testing your changes?

Elsewhere I read that the reparsing option in the Spacer is more reliable

The Spacer generates new output units (OU.bin) while compiling the scripts.