[02-11] November, 2002
Description: Archived Keep updates.
Categories: Keep Updates
November 24, 2002
by JBouley (Jeff)
Well, I hate to bump Phrozen Heart's news update from yesterday down the page so soon, but I also know
that if I don't make the site update now, it might be a while before I get a chance again.
;-)
So, make sure you catch his news update from Nov. 23 if you haven't already done so. Anyway, back to business.
Befitting a mod-making site, we have several new mod offerings this week. Without further ado, here they
are (plus some other tidbits for you mod-makers out there)...
New Mods / Mod Updates
Of course, you can always find mods in the Mods area of our
File Center, but each listing below has a quick link for you so that you can cut down a bit on hunting time.
Nude Assassin mod by Blue Orange
Well, this little number vanished around the time that we updated the site to .php pages. But Phrozen Heart
managed to find a copy, which bring it back to Phrozen Keep. It's definitely a bit more mature in nature than
most mods because, well...the assassin is naked or mostly naked throughout the mod. But it's also a great example
of what can be done with character animations and other animations if you have the proper tools and time.
(download now)
Cataclysm v0.02 by Trip
This is an update to the mod formerly known simply as 'Trip's Mod'. New features include:
- Added Hellbound's Graveyard Plugin
- Fade and Burst Of Speed Duration Set to Infinite (It will go away when you die or
you cast fade or venom or burst of speed)
- Added Deathfile's Duriel Tomb Plugin
- Added Life Leech as an automod on the Soul Blade, Soul Cleaver and Soul Reaver
(download now)
Summoning Lyncanthropes v1.0 by The Horde
A simple mod based on the tutorial by Fusman here at the Keep on summoning lycantrhopes. But hey, it's those little
changes sometimes that make D2 fun for many folks. ;-)
(download now)
Boss Minions v1.0 by The Horde
Another installment in The Horde's efforts to make simple mods from tutorials and plugins here at the Keep. This
one makes it so that Baal summons the Act Bosses as his bodyguards in the final battle of Act 5.
(download now)
Sound Off!
Phrozen Heart has converted a bunch of sound files from WarCraft 3 for use in D2 modding. We'll be rolling them out
week to week. They are found in the 'Sound Effects' area of the File Center, one of the subsections in the
Plugins section's 'Audio Plugins' area.
Azure Dragon
(download now)
Bandit
(download now)
Satyr
(download now)
Loading Up!
Also in the Plugins section, we have a new User Interface Plugin,
a loading screen made by Skullvain. You can get it right away, if you like...just
click here
New Looks for Old & New Items
The Plugins section is also home to inventory item graphics, and there
are two new entries there, both of them through the combined efforts of me and om. As it happens, om had a bunch of images
he had pulled together. I had the experience converting images for use as D2 item inventory graphics. Voila! Team effort.
The first two item packs are ready right now, through the links below (if you don't want to go to the Plugins section
yourself). The documentation links for the item packs will give you a rundown of what each pack contains, so that you
know what you're getting, more or less, before you download them.
OM-JBOULEY item pack #1
download now
OM-JBOULEY item pack #2
download now
November 23, 2002
by Phrozen Heart
I know it's pretty rare nowadays that I ever take part in the front end aspect of the site
but just for the hell of it, I thought I'd relay a few brief articles taken directly from the
Blizzard Insider mailing list. You can view the Insider directly by clicking here
Blizzard Hits Hollywood
Blizzard will be showing a new cinematic trailer for Warcraft III in theaters beginning November 22, 2002, with the opening of James Bond: Die Another Day. The new trailer will appear on more than 20,000 screens across the country before such movies as Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Star Trek: Nemesis, and Solaris, in addition to the new Bond film.
Patrons of AMC Theatres will be able to take home a free Warcraft III Game Sampler CD-ROM when they purchase a large Coke and a Butterfinger candy bar at the concession stand. This exclusive disc includes a playable demo of the game, featuring three new Warcraft III single-player missions and three new multiplayer maps to be used with the full version of the game.
The new missions chronicle the Orcs' journey from Lordaeron to Kalimdor - a previously untold chapter in the Warcraft III story. Each of the multiplayer maps are 'signed' for Battle.net(R) and can be used for custom games between teams of up to four players each.
We look forward to seeing you at the movies!
- To find an AMC Theater location near you, click here.
Blizzard DVD Collection
Just in time for the holidays, Blizzard has released a collection of its cinematic DVDs to specialty software stores nationwide. This exclusive set contains the complete in-game cinematics from StarCraft, StarCraft: Brood War, Diablo II, and Warcraft III. Each disc also offers director's commentary, concept art & storyboards, and trailers of classic and upcoming Blizzard games.
- Click here for more info.
Insider Offer: Saliva Sweepstakes
Island recording artists Saliva is giving Blizzard Insiders a chance to win a free PC-compatible Apple iPod, copies of Saliva's new hit release 'Every Six Seconds,' a copy of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, and more. Click this link to check out the contest and sign up online:
Click here for more info.
November 15, 2002
by JBouley (Jeff)
Well, my update to my SiC mod has been slowed a bit. Once some of the players realized I was planning an
update, I started getting all sorts of suggestions for balances/bug fixes. So, it will probably be out sometime in
the coming week, and with more than just new sets. So, for anyone playing the mod, consider the delay a blessing
in disguise.
Now, on with the updates...
Tools, Tools...Boy Do We Have Tools
We seem to have a little bonanza going for new modding tools lately. For one thing, we have another update for
Paul Siramy's Merge_DCC program. For this and other useful modding applications, you can visit our
Tools section. To get to the new version of Merge_DCC right away,
though, you can use my little shortcut and just click here.
Diablo II Unique and Set Editor v1.0
by Colby Clary
I don't really have to explain what this program does, do I? ;-) To get it, go ahead and
click here.
MonEdit v3.1.6
by TheWizard
Also pretty self-explanatory. Helps you make adjustments to monster stats. Get it
here.
Udie Too v0.0001
by Sloan
This program has made the rounds a bit around our staff and has been getting some good reports, though I haven't been
able to test it myself. It's still in the alpha stage, and may not work on all versions of Windows but hey, that's what
alpha versions are about, huh? Give it a run and let the author know what needs fixing, and we could have ourselves one
sweet tool here.
;-)
Oh, you want to know what it does, eh? Well, Udie stands for Ultimate Diablo 2 Item Editor. It allows you to load your
characters and change whatever you want in terms of items, with a very friendly user interface. The program is
designed to used the actual D2 files when it does its work so, theoretically, if the game changes, the editor should
be able to handle those changes. To get it, click here.
Muh, Muh, Muh....Mods!
More growth in the Mods area of our File Center (a new mod) as well
as an updated version of another one. So, what have we got?
Bando Mod v1.0
by Bando
Many people comment about how they'd like to combine elements of various mods. It can be tricky sometimes to pull off
without encountering crashes somewhere, but Bando has made just such a mod here, combining The Horadric Mod and the
UNIQUELY YOURS Mod, and throwing in the Megainventory Kit and 250 Level (boost) plugin for good measure. To grab it,
click here.
Zy-El v1.02a
by Kato
As I mentioned last update, Kato had actually updated Zy-El already by the time we got version 1.02 up in the File
Center. Well, here's the official announcement of the updated version, 1.02a, which you can get by
clicking here.
Seeing Duriel in a Whole New Light
deathfile has kindly provided us with a whole new map plugin for Duriel's lair, significantly different from his
first effort. So, now you can take your pick. You can find it in the Map Plugins subsection of the
Plugins area, or to get to Duriel's Lair v2.00 a little more directly,
just click here.
Item Extravaganza for You
Also in one of the subsections of Plugins, we have another item pack from
Joel Falcou, this time with items pulled from Neverwinter Nights. We have even more item packs on the way, including a
dual effort between me and om, author of the Crusades mod, and that should be ready by next update or the one
thereafter. To get to the item pack right his very second, just
click here.
You Might as Well 'Jump'
The Plugins area sure is active...we've got something else in there too,
in the DLL Plugins portion. It's the d2extra.dll Jump Table by Myhrginoc. This file is a complete listing of all the
jump table references used by D2Extra for importing functions that are exported by Blizzard DLLs.
Get to it in speedy fashion by clicking here.
Also, Phrozen Heart added added the jump table to the d2extra.dll pack too while he was at it, which you can get
if you just click here.
November 6, 2002
by JBouley (Jeff)
The janitorial crew has been in to clean up around the place, so now we have a fresh clean new home page with all the
October news swept into our dusty attic, otherwise known as the News Archives. Now, if only they
would get around to cleaning the Microsoft Windows(R). OK, bad joke...on to the real news.
One more thing before I start, though...the Sanctuary in Chaos site is being worked on again, finally. So, for those of
you who've clicked on the link and are getting tired of just having one page to look at, I've added a few. It's still under
reconstruction, but at least you can link to four new pages from that temporary home page. I'm also working on an update to
the mod, which will be Version 2.2 and should be out by next week. It will mostly have new sets, something I didn't do for
any earlier versions. Probably be adding 15 to 30 new sets, as well as some more uniques and perhaps some tweaks/fixes as
well, including a boost to the necro's poison skills.
A New Site Joins Our Ranks
Recently added to our little D2 modding empire here is a new hosted site for om's Crusades mod. It's been added
to the nav bar with the rest of the hosted site, but if that's too long of a journey to scroll down the page, just
click here to visit it.
well in our Phrozen Forums.
Talking to a Modding Master
Phrozen Heart has conducted an interview with D1/D2 mod guru Jarulf. It's possible many of you might not recognize the
name, as Jarulf doesn't post very often in the forums. But when he does...oh boy, does he have answers. Some of our
tutorials and file guides owe a lot to his work in deciphering various files and how they work. Click on the Interviews link
in the nav bar, or just click here to read it.
I Finally Got Around to It...
...The Clue Recipe Tutorial, that is. I've been promising it for weeks, and finally finished it recently. Head over to
our Tutorials section, or click here for direct access.
For those who don't know, Blizzard had originally intended (and hinted) that there would be clues you could find with
clues about runewords and things like that. They failed to deliver on that concept, but there are some ways to do it in
the game. The methods I describe are not the way they had planned on doing it, but it works.
;-)
Zy-El Update for Y'All
We have an updated version of the Zy-El mod, version 1.02, in the
Mods area in our File Center. You can also get to the download and documentation page directly by
clicking here.
Kato actually updated the mod again recently, and we should have that version (1.02a) up in a matter of days.
Getting Those Items to Drop Right
Angel Master has given us an item drop and item ratio reference file to help your modding efforts. It's in the
Resources section of our File Center, or you can just
click here.
A New Character Editor in Town
I've gotten a couple interesting editing tools recently. The one we've got up right now (more are on the way) is the
Diablo 2 Character Editor v1.88 by Burton Tsang. You can find it in the
Tools section of the Keep's File Center, under the 'Mod Testing' subcategory, or take the shortcut by
clicking here.
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[url=https://www.d2mods.info/forum/kb/viewarticle?a=142&sid=73264759533b77d8fb754eac3fb3cbb8]Knowledge Base - [02-11] November, 2002[/url]