kayti wrote: ↑Tue Aug 08, 2023 2:51 pm
I can't seem to get the ability score cheat working. I'm using the latest update from both the game and the engine, but it doesn't seem to work
The max ability score cheat does work however, and it lingers around so it's not temporary. Is there a way to edit the number from that script, so instead of 30 it gives me a number that I want?
Others, myself included, had the same question, and I suspect you have the same problem I did. So, I'll start by telling you what I would tell future me, when I find this post in the future... This stuff works, so you must be doing it wrong. However, I will also pass along what did work, paraphrasing what some kind folks responded somewhere in the 100-plus preceding pages of this thread.
Follow these steps in order, without deviation or substitution until you get it to work once. Seriously, don't get click happy and multi-task this with other activities. This tool works because of what is loaded in memory at certain times, so don't sabotage your efforts by trying to do too much too fast.
Then once you see it working, feel free to experiment.
Quit out of BG3 and Cheat Engine, so you can start from a known state.
Now, start up BG3
Load the save you want to edit
in the game, If you are at Camp, leave the camp (because in the camp, the tool might not load the character you want to edit)
open the Inventory screen for the character you want to edit
hover over each stat to see which stats have bonuses
- make a note of the stats with bonus for later
Start up Cheat Engine
Open BG3.CT (the most recent one from Zanzer's 1st post in this thread)
Select the BG3 process and click Open
in the lower pane, click the box next to "Saved Character Pointers"
switch window from Cheat Engine to BG3 (for most folks this means do an ALT-TAB)
in BG3, save the game (use the default naming)
- wait for the save to complete
then, switch window from BG3 to Cheat Engine (do another ALT-TAB)
- you should now see the Cheat Engine window atop the BG3 window
- in the lower pane, the values underneath Saved Character Pointers should have changed
-- click into the ones that changed (i.e. character 1, character 2, etc.)
-- the names should be populated
now, do a tiny bit of planning to ensure your success, and to make the subsequent step clearer
- pick 1 character to edit
-- for this first attempt - only edit the character whose inventory screen you have open in BG3
-- I am assuming for this example that your main character's name it Tav
- pick 1 stat to edit
-- for this first attempt - only edit 1 stat
-- I am assuming for this example that the stat to edit is Strength
- pick a value you want to give to the stat
-- there is a soft cap of 30 for stats (unless you have a mod to change it, which I am assuming you do not)
-- stats with inherent bonuses require adjusting the value you enter into the tool
-- you will need to do a tiny bit of math
--- for a value of 8, enter 0 in the tool
--- for a value of 30, enter 22 in the tool, unless that stat has an inherent bonus, then subtract the bonus
---- enter 22 for stats without bonuses, use 21 for +1, and 20 for +2
---- refer to your notes above on which stats are getting inherent bonuses
-- I will assume you are trying to set Strength to the maximum value of 30
-- I will assume that Strength has an inherent bonus of +2
double-click the right-most column for the row with Tav's Strength
- it should pop up a window asking you to change the value
-- for this example, I will assume you are not running a mod that exceeds the soft-limits
change the number in the popup window to 20, then press enter
switch window from Cheat Engine to BG3 (do another ALT-TAB)
save BG3 to a new save (use the default naming, etc.)
- after the save completes
load the save file you just created
open the inventory screen for the character whose stat you just edited (i.e. Tav's strength)
- you should see the updated stats
save BG3 to a new save (again using the default naming)
switch window from BG3 to Cheat Engine (do another ALT-TAB)
- the values should have refreshed from the new save
that should have worked, and you should be able to resume editing stats as you see fit
- I suggest only editing stats for 1 character at a time, then do the save-load-save before going to the next character
- the process will not save/keep the changes if they would exceed the softcap of 30 for any stat (unless you are using a mod changing the cap)
I hope this helps you, future me, and the next few folks with this same question.
Edit: I changed the reference to which cheat table to use to reflect changes made to that post, and I corrected some typos and unclear grammar.
