Just a few quick questions about mods

[diablo loves donutz]

Sorry if this is to be posted in a sticky somewhere, but I couldn't tell exactly where it should go.

I'm still very new to RWM as I just installed it about a week ago. I'm assuming I did it right by making another shortcut for d2 and putting it on there and that I was able to make a simple Spirit.

Just a few questions I have though:

So now if I play with anyone who doesn't have RWM they will be "tainted"? I have a few arrangements of playing with people who usually play bnet, but I will play ip games with them. So they are tainted I guess, but would it really matter as they hardly play single player and would it really have a negative effect on them?

As I said before, I made a shortcut to d2, but what happens if I'm playing on my original d2, basically the one that's not a shortcut, and I have a ladder rw?

Is there any way to create a vanilla shortcut? If I make a shortcut from the original will it be vanilla? What if the original was tainted as well?

I'm sorry if these are questions you guys have heard thousands of times, but I just can't seem to find the answers to them all.

Thanks again guys

-Donutz

[Hp_Sauce]

If you make a shortcut that doesn't have the -direct -txt in it then it will be running a "vanilla" copy of the game, but if you load up a character who's using Spirits, and who's merc is using an Insight stick he will not be a Vanilla character since once the r/w is made in RWM it stays in non RWM'ed games.

You could easily play vanilla characters using the original d2 shortcut (without the -direct -txt) but you would have to be very careful to not mix them up, or probably more importantly not mix up their items with ATMA.

-hps

[diablo loves donutz]

But can your original d2 shortcut become infected and make it impossible to make a vanilla shortcut?

[Arreat_mercenary]

What becomes "infected" is the vanilla items and the vanilla characters, you will always have a vanilla diablo 2 if you have a shortcut without the -direct -txt

[Ralic]

*Aggred with above*

[Hp_Sauce]

No, no infecting.

If you go back to that folder where you placed "Runes.txt" you will find a whole bunch of .bin files now. When you start the game using your RWM Shortcut (the one with -direct -txt) it uses those new .bin files.

When you run the game with the original shortcut that the game created (or any shortcut you make in the future that doesn't have the -direct -txt in it) the game has no idea those new .bin files are there and just turns on normally, or "Vanilla style" if you like.

There is no way for those .bin files to escape into another directory, or for Diablo 2 to notice that those .bin files are there and start using them instead without the -direct -txt telling the game that they are there.

You need to make separate characters though, and separate stashes. It's not actually the shortcut or the -direct -txt (or even those new .bin files) that "taint's" the character, it's the items. So if you have an untwinked Vanilla character (Joe), he will be Vanilla. If you load Joe using the RWM shortcut he will still be Vanilla until you make a normally impossible r/w on him, or move one onto him with ATMA, or if you move an item onto him that was found on another character that was using a normally impossibel r/w. This is why it's important to keep ALL your RWM items off your Vanilla characters.

Alternatively, if you have a RWM character (Sam), and you make a Spirit sword on him, he is now very much "tainted" with RWM. You can load him up using the Vanilla D2 shortcut, but RWM is only required for the act of creating the normally impossible r/w, so the Spirit sword will still be intact even though you're playing using the "vanilla" shortcut. This is why it is important to keep your characters and items separate, because the link doesn't actually matter after the r/w is created, it's who has the items and where they came from.

-hps

Edit: The first 3 paragraphs about .bin files are just there as background to sort of help you understand what's going on. If they are confusing just ignore them. All you need to worry about is keeping your characters and items separate and the only time you need to worry about which shortcut you start the game with is if you are planning on making a r/w that session.

[Shagsbeard]

Just let the other player know you're not vanilla... that you have a spirit or have used on this character in the past. Let that person decide if you are tainting them by your presence.

Officially? The official policy on MP is a bit vague on this issue. Unless you're rushing the "vanilla" player, or he needs your insight merc to really soar... I'd not bother with it. But yes... you are only "allowed" to MP with people playing with similar rulesets as you.

[diablo loves donutz]

Well one thing I was trying to clear up was HexVex and me are in the co-op tourney and we've been playing ip games. The zon I'm playing as has never been exposed to any rwm items or items found by a char with rwm. So hex is still not tainted if I follow what everyone said.

[Hp_Sauce]

Well one thing I was trying to clear up was HexVex and me are in the co-op tourney and we've been playing ip games. The zon I'm playing as has never been exposed to any rwm items or items found by a char with rwm. So hex is still not tainted if I follow what everyone said.

HexVex and your zon both sound like they are safely Vanilla to me.

-hps