125 replies to this topic

[Azazello]

Oh yeah, I remember him doing that. Bad seanas! Bad dog!

I am not sure if that procedure is still needed either (I still use it), but there is no harm in it, is there?, because it just ensures that mods installed after BP use a level-50 extension. Can you think of a scenario where it might interfere with other mods?

[chloemarqz]

Why can't we take the 'True Grandmastery' feature, does it cause conflict or is it already included in BD-Weidu?


yours,
chloe

_______________
Simulation pret

[Chevalier]

Hold on! Not sure if I can help, but if you reinstall your old save will be broken! Please start a new topic here or more likely here here. Please post your WeiDU.log in the New post.

[Fern]

Hold on! Not sure if I can help, but if you reinstall your old save will be broken! Please start a new topic here or more likely here here. Please post your WeiDU.log in the New post.

Thank you! I'll do just that!

[Lareth the Infamous]

Hello everyone, new poster here. I've trolled the site for a while, and have learned a great deal about the mods and compatibility issues over the years. I have a few easy (??) questions about compatibility that I thought could get answered. Please bear in mind I'm not a strong computer user.

I am planning to use the Big Picture mod along with a slew of other mods. I know that other 'script' mods are a no-no, so there won't be any of those added (shame too - I really liked COM - Encounters).

1. However, I can't tell from all the info I've read on the site if Big Picture is compatible with any other Mega Modification mods - specifically, Check the Bodies (v. 1.13), and Secret of Bone Hill (v. 2.75). I was thinking, it might be ok to install these monster-mods *IF* I install them BEFORE Big Picture, but I want to hear what you guys say first, before I screw my install or something.

I haven't seen the topic discussed before, which surprises me. The vast majority of compatibility questions are concerning 'tactics' mods, for the most part.

2. There are a number of great mods being discussed on the site, whose names keep coming up over and over again. However, because of the peculiarities of these mods, there are occasional compatibility issues.

My (admittedly off-the-wall) question is; is there any chance these (troublesome but great) mods shown below will ever be 'bundled' with Big Picture in order to remove many of these crashes and other problems?? The mods in question are the usual suspects:

a. Any tweak pack I ever saw (includes item upgrade and under-reported item mods)
b. Any fixpack I ever saw
c. Unfinished Business (v. 19)
d. Rogue rebalancing pack (v. 445)
e. Expanded Thief Stronghold (v. 2.
f. Oversight mod (v. 13.0)
g. Ajoc's mini-mod (v. 1.6.2.7)
h. Longer Road (v. 1.5)
i. Virtue (v. 1.9) - possibly older version here
j. Freedom's Reign / Reign of Virtue (v. 7.1)

I just thought it would be perfect if one day the above mods were all bundled into BP, think of all the compatibility discussions that would no longer be necessary! Of course, I play around with a much larger number of mods, but the ones I just listed seem to have the most players talking - It'd be perfect if they could be a part of BP, imo.

3. As far as fixpacks and tweak packs are concerned, is there at least one of each that you modders could recommend?

4. Last but not least. Should I be adding specific mod files to my override folder only when the mod readme says to? Not being a strong computer user, I tend to do EXACTLY what the readme says, BUT...sometimes the readme is missing, poorly written, or the author assumes the user knows exactly where to put the game files to begin with. Is it safe for me to assume that I should never add anything to the override folder unless the readme says so? Sorry for the newbie-ish question, but it had to be asked.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to running these new mods - and i do mean new - nearly all of them are fresh downloads complete with a lot of newly updated mods (I'm kinda picky about the mod version).

Thank you in advance if you know the answers to above, or just want to speculate.

[Jarno Mikkola]

2. ...
My (admittedly off-the-wall) question is; is there any chance these (troublesome but great) mods shown below will ever be 'bundled' with Big Picture in order to remove many of these crashes and other problems?? The mods in question are the usual suspects:

Nope. See the BPv180b is a bundle of old mods yes, but today the Big Picture dream is carried by the BiG World Project(totally outdated topic) with it's own temporarily flawed setup, as it needs manual update, and the BiG World .pdf files in English, Spanish & German.

And if you look, the BPv180b is one option to be installed with the other 300...

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 06 September 2011 - 02:32 AM.

[Lareth the Infamous]

Thank you for the quick reply, Jarno.

"today the Big Picture dream is carried by the BiG World Project"

I am a bit confused by this statement. Does this mean that no one cares about Big Picture much now, and it's all this 'Big World Project?'

Anyways, since Check the Bodies doesn't have any scripts that I am aware of, I don't think it would hurt to install it as long as I install it first. "Secret of Bone Hill' is another matter, because I'm worried it might screw up the world map or something. I'm going to go back and check the readme files on these mods. I have become overly dependent on mod descriptions from websites and hearsay.

I was a bit disappointed to hear that no one would consider bundling the 'troublesome' mods I mentioned in my last post with Big Picture. Of course, whole sections of some mods might have to be deleted to make them compatible, but isn't Big Picture a compatibility mod to begin with?

Actually, I would think the real problem with all this combining and bundling would be with the original mod creators - having a problem with their mod being altered so that it could be 'absorbed' into the Big Picture mod. Still, it's a shame.

I'm anxious for more of you guys to speak up. No need to be shy - my questions are super easy.

Edited by Lareth the Infamous, 06 September 2011 - 07:57 PM.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Does this mean that no one cares about Big Picture much now, and it's all this 'BiG World Project?'

Pretty much yeah, see it's better, bigger & more up to date and all that. As the idea was not to combine mod contents, but allow them to be fitted to the frame while all things can be still not installed. So you can choose to install one mod component from here, one from there and so forth.

While, the BP evolved to be the BP AI and the add-on mods.

[agb1]

I'm updating conflicts for Big World Setup and I see an entry that doesn't make much sense to me:

 

Previous BP version incompatibility=C:Tactics(2|4|5|6|7|10|12|16|19|20|21|23|24|25|28|29|35|36):BP(35)

 

BP 35 is the 'add bags of holding and throwing daggers' component.  Are all of those Tactics components incompatible with BP v181?

 

For reference, all Tactics components:

 

Spoiler

@0=Improved Ilyich (requires ToB)

@1=The Ritual (requires ToB)

@2=Improved TorGal and De'Arnisse Keep

@3=Improved Sahuagin City

@4=Improved Bodhi

@5=Improved Irenicus

@6=Improved Guarded Compound in the Temple District

@7=Improved Twisted Rune

@8="Kuroisan", the Acid Kensai

@9="Red Badge" Poison-Based Encounter

@10=Gebhard Blucher's Improved Mae'Var

@11=Gebhard Blucher's Lich in the Docks

@12=Gebhard Blucher's Improved Demon Knights

@13=Kensai Ryu's Tougher Kangaxx and Guardians

@14=Kensai Ryu's Gnome Fighter/Illusionist in the Docks

@15=Kensai Ryu's Improved Crypt King

@16=Ishan's "Always Toughest Random Spawns in Dungeons"

@17=Gebhard Blucher's Random City Encounters

@18=Kensai Ryu's Random Wilderness Encounters

@19=Improved Undead

@20=Improved Golems

@21=Gebhard Blucher's Improved Mind Flayers

@22=Smarter Dragons in SoA

@23=Smarter Beholders

@24=Kensai Ryu's Smarter Vampires

@25=Slightly Smarter Mages and Liches

@26=Fighter-Class Archer Kit

@27=Anti-Paladin Kit

@28=Göran Rimén's Improved Nymphs

@29=Kensai Ryu's Improved Copper Coronet

@30=SimDing0's Improved Oasis

@31=Mike Barnes' Improved Small Teeth Pass

@32=Mike Barnes' Improved North Forest

@33=Mike Barnes' Marching Mountains

@34=Slightly Tougher Demons

@35=Tougher Druid Grove

@36=Tougher Fire Giants

@37=Streamlined Trolls

 

Any advice welcome.  Thanks!

[micbaldur]

Well, if you read BP readme  you might notice that Horred updated/rewrote overwriting code and added those components to BP.   So those Tactics components are obviously not compatible with BP, couple Tactics components can be used with BP.

 

From BP readme:

Spoiler

The Big Picture AI and Enhancement Mod

by Horred the Plague



Welcome to the Big Picture mod, for Baldur's Gate 2. First, a little history, and an explanation of what "BP" actually is.

BP actually started back on Devil's Night (October 30th), 2002. I had just gotten a new PC (my old one had 2.4 GB on two hard drives!, and 32 MB RAM). For months, I had been viewing the Read-Me's and advertised blurbs for the "big three" mods at the time:
The Darkest Day, Shadows over Soubar, and Tortured Souls. And drooling about them,
as I had no chance whatsoever of fitting them on my diminutive HD. I vowed back then that I would get a better PC, and that I would play them "all together", or not at all...since I had waited so long to get the chance to experience them.

On that chilly October night, I posted in the Team BG forums about my idea. Almost everybody thought I was insane---"That can't be done!" was the mantra of the day. One modder, however, was of a different opinion. Hlidskialf had been thinking precisely the same thing, and even had a couple of the files set up for it. He sent me a PM of encouragement (I was still relatively a NooB to modding then), and an E-Mail with a small filepack.

I contacted the individual mod-makers, and got mixed reactions of "go for it" to
"you must be insane, you can't do that!". They all graciously gave me the chance to try, however. I believe that they were curious if it could be done, as well. So, try I did, and the editors opened. Thus, BP was started.

Many months later, and 100's of posts in the forums got me some "outside interest". Progress was made, and it started to look like I could pull this off after all. I found I wasn't the only one interested in playing such a fusion, and continued requests from the gaming public convinced me to release the first public beta of BP (v121, or something like that). It was in IAP format, and an extremely buggy install. IAP was never meant to handle the multitude of files I fed it, and it showed.

It was then that I got ahold of Grjgori, the innovative hex-coder that had set up
TDD's chitin.key file...hand-stitched. After several requests and outright begging,
I convinced him to make me a master key file for BP. I set about the task of making
the master tlk file. Weidu was still in a development stage, so most of the work had to be done manually. That included reassigning every line of text in SoS and TS
to fit the structure of BP's TLK file! (Things were so much easier, and more difficult, back then...)








I also had several pieces of encouragement to "put my own stamp" on the package.
Out of this came the mini-region Horred's Lair, and of course, the BP AI system.
I had always found Bioware's AI to be a little on the corny side; it was so easily defeated. After running my PC in a thousand circles around the party, enemy on their tails relentlessly as the party ripped them asunder--I got really bored with it all. I caught wind of groups such as IEEAIS (Infinity Engine Enemy Artificial Intelligence Scripting), the group that had assisted David Gaider in the creation of Ascension. I met some of these pioneers of modernscripting, such as Gebhard Blucher and Kensai Ryu, got permission to use some of their scripts and ideas, and improve on them in any way I could. I studied, and studied, and then got to work
on redoing the enemy AI.

The rest is probably well-known. BP grew and grew in popularity, as it improved. BP-BGT and BP-BGT-NEJ spinoff's came into the Picture, and the game became a whole new homonculous! The enemy AI got better and better, and my hunches were right. The better it got, the more fun the game was to play (and re-play).I always tried to avoid the "cheese" tactics of Forcing spells, and such...I wanted enemies to be on the same par level with PC's. This involved more upgrading to the NPC's than you would think! I also wanted to emulate the "human condition" in them; not make a set of "perfection-geared robotic types." BP's enemies could make some tremendous decisions that caused great devastation to parties. A minute later, they could drop the ball and make a crucial mistake that could cost them their lives. Such is the way
of mankind, especially when put to the test.

About a year or so ago, I finally came to the decision to break up the "BP franchise". Weidu had improved to such a point that it seemed inevitable. The number one (and rightfully so) criticism of BP had always been its clumbsy installation procedure. Since the modders had individually requested that their works remain
"individual", as was their right--I could not make the "one huge download" mod that was required to make this easier. Vlad had already made his first "TS-weidu", and it seemed that the other "big two" had to follow suit. So I got back to work, and put out the first crude TDD-weidu and SoS-weidu versions. Luckily, I had attracted the interest of a couple of great coders, King Diamond and Ascension64. KD worked on improving the TDD and SoS packages, and A64 picked up the baton and raced after BGT-weidu. I'm sure you are all aware of their resounding successes with these works.
Let me reiterate it here: great job guys! You rule!

But even with these fine version written, and installation turned into a "dream boat"--well, something just was missing. I thought about it, and it suddenly came to me. I missed the enemy AI, and all of the other little bells and whistles I had put into the game as I went along. Thus, BP-weidu was born.












The mod itself, and its various components

BP-weidu has been broken down into a main component, and various sub-components. Sub-components are "not necessarily" dependent on the core component, but it is highly encouraged to use. Installation is the same as any other weidu mod you'll encounter. Put the folder, execution, and tp2 file into your game folder, and run the execution (Setup-BP.exe). Answer "yes" or "no" to the various components. You may also choose
a "higher level" install, installing all components at once.


CORE

BP "Core" AI/Enhancement Mod

Required for most components. Not the huge all-in-one slam it used to be. This is simply Detectable Seplls and a few BP-specific additions.

GENERAL ENHANECEMENTS

GUI Switcher
This adds the BP GUI splash screen, in a format compatible with the GUI switcher mod (for most mega-mods).

Add Bags and Magic Daggers to Stores
This simply adds a couple containers and +1 and +2 throwing daggers to a couple stores in SoA and ToB.

Level-50 Ruleset
This installs rules necessary to reach level 50. Matches components in TDD and RoT, and detects if they’re installed already.

Custom Grandmastery
Similar to other mods’ workings, this also adds the extra ½ attack per round but cumulatively (another step at each proficiency tier).

Halberds and Spears Extended Range
This extends stabbing range from 2 to 3, to account for their extra-long length.

CREATURE ADDITIONS

Animals
This makes affected animals a bit more intelligent, but not much more. They won’t always chase the same person ad-infinitum, and react to a few situations. A few minor tweaks here and there, to toughen them up a bit.

Beholders
Adds some spells and innate abilities, plus tougher AI.

Demons & Devils
Adds innate abilities and tougher AI. Including the wicked BP Telekinesis

Dragons
Enhancements to various dragon encounters throughout the land, not as wicked as the uber-powerful versions out there.

Drow
Toughens up both creatures and encounters, adds their PnP innate abilities.

Duergar

Irenicus Dungeon Only: Adds the duergar innate abilities to only those in Jonny’s dungeon. Also adds some encounters, inc the sneaky exit of Illych
Leave Dungeon Alone: Adds the wickedness elsewhere, but leaves the first dungeon alone
The Works: Adds the wickedness everywhere

Elementals Toughens them up a bit, and adds a bit smarter AI inc Gebhard Blucher’s summoners’ scripts.

Generic Mages
A general toughening of mages throughout SoA and ToB. Adds many spells, smarter AI, pre-combat buffing. Still has the BP ‘random-intelligent action’approach.

Generic Priest
A general toughening of clerics throughout SoA and ToB. Adds many spells, smarter AI, pre-combat buffing. Still has the BP ‘random-intelligent action’approach.

Generic Thieves A general toughening of rogues throughout SoA and ToB. Adds smarter AI, including NPC trap laying, item usages, and other fun. Still has the BP ‘random-intelligent action’approach. Does not include Shadow Thieves

Githyanki
Smarter AI, some psionic abilities, and general toughening of giths in SoA

Golems
They still are dumb like automatons, but can throw rocks at you from distance.

Hellhounds
Slightly smarter AI, and the BP-exclusive fan-shaped breath weapon.

Humanoids
Handles humanoids not covered by the “class” components.

Knights and Paladins
Smarter AI, a little toughening here & there. Proper clerical spell support, turning of player’s undead summons, and other treats.

Mind Flayers
Based on Gebhard Blucher’s component from Tactics. Strong psionicsa inc dimension dooring, blasrs, and other horrors.

Mists
The wicked BP mists w/ spelllike abilities and abilitiy to become incorporeal for brief times.



Sea Devils:
Sahuagin and Kuo Ta AI and creature enhancements. Includes boosts to encounters throughout the underdark.

Shadow and Wraith:
Wicked BP enhancements. Spelllike abilities, inc ability to summon more shadows in some cases. Options include:
Shade Lord Only: Just beef up this encounter. Makes a tougher boss battle.
Leave the Shade Lord Alone: Skips the quesr zone, but beefs up shdaows in general. Could make the shade lord’s supporting cast (pre-boss battle) tougher.
The Works: Beefs up all the shadows in the land


Shadow Thieves
Beefs up the shadow thieves you encounter; in some cases, with enemy trap laying.
Includes the bunch you see in Jonny’s dungeon, but doesn’t add the extra enemies of Mae Var encounter

Trolls
Troll enhancements, some quite nasty. Some have ability to drain strength, and others can go incorporeal for a while. AI enhanced as well as general toughness.

Undead
Gives the more powerful some innate spell ability to make them even more wicked of a negative “life force”. Dumb weak undead like zombies and skeletons not affected at all (maybe a slight bump in AI). Doesn’t touch wraiths, shadows or vampires.

Were Animals
Makes tougher lycanthropes, inc enhancements and AI.

Generic Creature and Script Processing:
Converts enemies not handled above (and on a certain basic level, them too if not selected) to the BP generic enemy AI system. This is what you would remember of prior BP versions, but broken down to allow greater customizations. This, to be precise, is the “leftovers”.

Fewer On-Screen Shouts
BP adds a lot of enemy string heads, to make some of its choices clearer and to add in-game immersion. Some people don’t like it. This removes the bulk of them. A few might have slipped through the cracks, thus “fewer” instead of “no shouts”.

ENCOUNTER ENHANECEMENTS

Generic Enhancements
This adds a few creatures here and there throughout the mod. Based on difficulty slider. Set to EASIEST you’ll have no additions. Whatever isn’t handled in the components below, from prior BP versions, is here.

Beholder Cult
This adds more creatures to the beholder and cult side of the encounter, and toughens them up.





Vampire Encounters
This includes AI and creature enhancements to vampires in general. It will beef up encounters in the sections you choose to use it, as well as the creatures you find there. Choices of w/ and w/o Bodhi to allow other Bodhi-boosting mods if you so choose.

Copper Coronet and Slavers
This was originally based on the Tactics component by Kensai Ryu, but underwent further BP expansions over the years not limted to including the slavers at the sewer’s end.

Brown Dragon
Back by request! This is a slight touchup of Kensai Ryu’s Difficult Brown Dragon mod.It will add a very tough encounter to the druid’s grove, after the main battle.

Improved Crypt King
KR's greatly improved Crypt King encounter, with a few BP twists and enhancements thrown in for emphasis.

Drizzt Chapter 6 Encounter
Some slight enhancements to make it more difficult if you decide to double-cross Drizzt.

Druidic Improvements
Enhances spells and AI. Adds pre-combat buffing and full support for NPC druidic shapeshifting amongst other improvements. Adds the BP-original Animate Tree spell, also usable by players (7th level Druidic). Adds a random encounter on the worldmap as well, support to the druid’s grove encounter/quest—depending on your choices.

Including Druid’s Grove: Encounter addition as well as Druid grove surprises
Druid Encounter Only: Leaves the grove alone, but adds the random encounter
Druid Spell Only: Just adds the Animate Tree spell

Treant Encounter
A post-grove enhancement if you chose the evil path. Teaches you not to mess w/ Mother Nature.

Gnome Fighter/Illusionist in the Docks

Yet another Kensai Ryu enhancement (is it obvious I liked his work?). This one add a tough little gnome to a building in the docks. He packs a few surprises for the unwary adventurer.

Hell Trials
Some assorted enhancements to the creatures and encounters in this latter stage of the game.

Horred’s Lair
A BP-original, there is a series of two keys found in regular encounters that can open an otherwise-hidden lair. Each will let you into a level of Horred’s Lair, the latter initiating combat with Horred the Plague (son of Orcus). Loosely ties into the Wand of Orcus component



Improved Kangaxx

Another of Kensai Ryu's classics. This component greatly increases the difficulty of the Kangaxx encounter, including the dreaded demilich.

Kuroisan, the Acid Kensai

Another of Weimer's classics from the Tactic mod, except this installs nicer. This adds a formidable kensai with a severe case of "katana envy". Like his name applies, he specializes in acid warfare.

Lich in the Docks

KR wasn't the only modder with an affinity for the Docks district! Gebhard Blucher added this little treat, as well. The otherwise useless building near the shadow thief complex now has a nasty lich (and his crew) for denizens. Enter at your own risk!

Mae Var
Based on the Tactics component of the same name, but less “cheating”powers and more AI-based “honest” challenge. Also adds a couple of cronies for Mae Var’s protection.

Nalia Quests
This component is primarily improvements and encounter enhancements for Roenall keep, Nalia’s invaded home. Note that this does not impart the special BP abilities of Trolls and Golems components, just beefs up the creature files a little and smartens the AI.

Tavern Brawl (Seven Veils)
This makes the little brawl in the upper floor of the Seven Veils inn a bit tougher.

Planar Prison
This component improves and toughens the Planar Prison quest of Haer Dalis.

Planar Sphere Improvements (with Tolgerias)
Not to be confused with Planar Prison, this is difficulty improvements to the Planar Sphere in the Slums district. It includes the tougher Tolgerias component of BP, as well as the Lavok encounter improvements. It should be fully compatible with the Planar Sphere mod resurrected by Hlidskialf years ago.

Improved Random Encounters

This is a fusion of two modders' fine works; Gebhard Blucher and (who else?) Kensai Ryu. Blucher made a fine city encounters component, and KR a wilderness system. Here, the two are put together for your "convenience".A couple BP-exclusive encounters have been thrown on top. Enjoy!

Red Badge Poison-Based Encounter

Believe it or not, a couple of the "Tactics components" in BP actually did come from Tactics (others were taken from the original sources). This is Westley Weimer's devious encounter with a group of poison-worshippers. You can try to hold your breath, but it's a long fight...



The Ritual

Still another of Weimer's mods, this adds a unique encounter to the Watcher's Keep region. You must deal with this strange cult, disrupting their dark ritual that will threaten the safety of Athkatla and perhaps Faerun. Trust nobody in the scenario, especially the man that hires you. But he is at least nice enough to warn you of this!

Improved Small Teeth Pass

This is the same Mike Barnes component you'll find in the Tactics mod, but redone in such a way that it does not overwrite such other mods as TDD. It brings a few nasty dragons into the region. In BP's version, the amount of dragons is loosely controlled by the difficulty slider bar. NOTE: Contradictory to prior news, this mod does NOT contain the improved Brown Dragon mod by Kensai Ryu—just parts of it (shouldn’t add any dragons, just supporting AI).

Improved Spellhold
This adds general BP-style enhancements to the creatures and encounters of Brynnlaw and Spellhold Asylum (and gives you choices of which to choose).

ITEMS:
A cause for many headaches over the years...I finally seperated this from the basic enhancements!

This component adds a nice twist to the Asylum. Irenicus will actually take away your precious gear when you are "checked in". This is really just logical, and follows suit with his behavior in his Athkatla complex. It also makes you think, and plot your next step, while surviving the challenges below. Bohdi has already been stepped up in challenge in the core component, and she also recruits a few charmed shadow thieves for a nice ambush at the onset.
Fret not; when you pass the challenges, you'll be given ample opportunity to regain your plundered gear; before the fight with Irenicus if you wish it. It will be safely locked away in the office desk.

WARNING!: This component might cause you issues, if you have item mods installed. Items will be dropped on the floor instead of tucked safely into the desk. If you’re using item mods I do not recommend this. Use SCSII’s version instead, it’s more universal. BP’s version is safe with TDD, SoS, and TS (as part of the original BP).

Options (New):
Spellhold Enhancements Only: Only adds the improvements to Spellhold (disappearing items, creature additions) **NO ITEM TAKING**
Chapter Four Enhancements: Beefs up the Brynnlaw side of the mod, but leaves Spellhold alone in case you want a different mod in its place. **NO ITEM TAKING**
The Works: Improves both Brynnlaw and Spellhold **NO ITEM TAKING**
(NEW in b3003): Spellhold Only, with Item Taking
The Works, with Item Taking









Improved Suldanessallar

A BP-original, this adds some level of difficulty to the city of Suldanessallar (pre-Tree of Life). Many new creatures have joined the forces of darkness, including a fierce red dragon. This dragon will fly overhead and "bomb" you periodically as you pass through the city. You'll have your chance for revenge. The dragon comes in for a landing after you defeat the existing black dragon.

Tanners Quest
Enhancements and improvements to the Tanner’s quest in the Bridge District. Also includes an additional encounter by modder Jacky-O, made exclusively for BP.

Trademeet
Some improvements to the initial encounter as well as the intrigue between the household groups, should you choose to fight them.

Wand of Orcus

My first mod ever! Included for nostalgia sake, as well as being pretty nifty. It adds the pnp classic rod of the demon prince to a specific location in the game. The wand has some rather powerful abilities and penalties; including a slight chance of summoning the Wand's previous owner--Prince Orcus himself!!! Perhaps he has come to congratulate you on your deft usage of his fine weapon....

Windspear Hills
Toughens up encounters throughout the region, including ones inside of Firkraag’s Lair. Note that this does not toughen up Firkraag himself—you can do that with BP’s Dragons component, or another mod of your choice.


Xvart Village

This is a comeback from classic BP-BGT, where the Xvart Village was a "bonified Village". Brought back by popular request.Lotsa the nasty little blue buggers to contend with. Newest for this version: set it up more like a "Tutu spawn"; the amount will vary by number in party, average level of party, and a random consideration. Not offered in BGT is not installed.


















TOB IMPROVEMENTS


Watchers Keep
Toughens up encounters and creatures throughout the keep, except specific creatures covered in another component (generic demons, mages, Demogorgon, etc).

ToB Improvements
General enhancements to creatures and encounters throughout the ToB side of the game. Does not include the Keep, or other creature improvements handled elsewhere.
Some occasional files might cross over between this and the various Improved parts of Ascension, but for the most part mutually exclusive.

Ascension

One of my favorite mods from the early days, reproduced and improved upon with David Gaider's permission. Most improvements take the form of bug-fixes (broken Object.IDS entries, to be precise). I wished to keep as much of the original content intact as possible. Plus, additions to STATS.ids to improve AI intelligence even more. Only requires the BP core component, which as previously stated is nothing more than DS w/ a couple BP additions. As light as it gets, until a new stable standalone version is released.

Improved (Ascension Parts)
These include the original Ascension AI augmented by BP as above. Some noteworthy changes are the throwing boulders for giants and some loose changes for Sendai quest compiled into an Improved Sendai component.


PLEASE KEEP IN MIND:

This is by no means a finished product. I have decide to release the (stable) BETA package due to an overwhelming need. The rest of the mods that were formerly a "part of BP" have made significant advancements thanks to the weidu utility. Diehard fans of BP were still installing the old, unsupported version of these mods; dealing with the clumbsy install, old bugs, and little assistance. This release will officially eliminate the need for the "old mods", bringing your install to a "100% weidu" status. Compatible with all the latest versions of your favorite mods.
We finally got the 2000+ overwriting files converted to modern weidu. Many other old-code parts were similarly converted. Most of this is thanks to the BP Crew, who handled it in my absence.


I will continue work on BP after this release, as the goal is a 100% modern installation as split up as possible. Also planned are some massive script rennovations (they work fine right now, but I always think they could be "a little better". An obsessive trait, this...) Updates will come in the form of new editions, not patches. I will release a new version when I feel enough progress has been made, or something significant has either been developed or is needed (for example, a game-crashing bug that my testers and I somehow missed--not that I think there are any...).





CREDITS:

I have decide to leave the credits from classic BP seperate from this document, and concentrate on those that helped specifically with this modernized version. Otherwise, this document could double in size!

KingDiamond: Number one in my list of credits. His formidable programming skills and generosity have made this project possible. I would have thrown in the towel on numerous occasions were it not for his assistance.

Yacomo: For his artwork that comprises the new BP GUI Startscreen.

The Beta Testing Crew: We've been at this a long time (due to a few month's absence on my part...).
I'll try to list the crew in order of appearance in the workshop forums), rather than in order of assistance. This way, I don't make distintions. I assure you, some were more helpful than others, but they know who they are...


Hlidskialf AmazingGameGuru Mythrandar Seifer Ascension64 SirBillyBob Ronin69hof Jyzabyl Chevalier ScuD TheWizard Seanas Paktu Reiner BPFan SimDing0
Sir Kalthorine SirLancelot SConrad Weigo
Turambar Miloch GeN1e Anomaly
Dannyb1166 blento







If your name is not included, I apologize. This list spans many years of development, and forgetting only takes a moment. Just remind me, and maybe I’ll remember to add it next time (just being honest, I intend to but often forgetful).

Some people were of great assistance, and others were "simply there". I do not wish to make any distinction, because anybody who lifted a finger deserves my thanks.

Special Thanks to:
You, the fans: For your ongoing support of the BP project. Without you, BP would be naught but a pile of files on my own PC.


Cheers! And happy gaming!

Horred the Plague




Change Log:

v.181 (public beta stages)
General installer fixes
Added Generic Vampires component
Made Spellhold item taking an optional component
Added Brown Dragon (revival)
Added Hell Trials
Tested every component as standalone as possible, no installer errors
Started Major AI overhaul – first stage, general cleanup/prep (done)
- second stage, reworked targeting blocks (done)
third stage, overhauling conditional blocks (waiting on function from BG2EE)
fourth stage, cleanup (waiting on third stage)

v4600 (Beginning of the end)
Cleaned up installer, deleted old unneeded files here & there
Worked out compatability w/ BP Series. I could install either order
Installs clean on BG2EE. I offer NO guarantees AT ALL, beyond this. Self-support only, be warned.
Updated to WeiDu v235
Fixed all reported bugs (or tried to)
Added all submitted translation updates
Separated encounters into BP originals, Tactics snippets, and ‘other modder’ contributions

v4601 Quick hotfix for BP and BP Series compatability
v4602 Another quick hotfix for BP – BP Series compatability. Sorry!!!

v4610 Fixes for bugs reported in Weimer’s Tactics install
Tested and working on a BG2EE install
Fixes for blatant errors noticed in BP components while testing
---Those who didn’t turn hostile when hearing a shout
---Tolgerias encounter works as intended (at last)
---Lavok can die (at last)
---The troll in Spellhold w/ the troll head can be killed (at last)
A few (very few) script revisions and enhancements/cleanup
Other details I forgot, and didn’t record



v.181

Years of overhauls. Modernization of code by BP crew, splitting into 70+ components by yours truly. Many little change in-between, far too many to document


v.177:

Numerous bugfixes reported in the forums, corrected. Thanks to all that cared enough to report!

Thousands of creatures converted to proper weidu coding. Special thanks to Intox, for writing a fine Python program to automatically convert the raw files to weidu code! Only a couple hundred more to sort through. This will have many positive effects (the "strings messed up" issue, and compatability with DefJam, to mention a couple).

Removed a couple animations that BP wasn't actually using. MBBR creature animation also removed. (I should remove the (currently unused) driders as well, but I'd rather find a more proper usage for them instead...)

Added the German Translation of BP, written by Leonardo Watson.

Weidu v192 seems to make for a stable install....Thanks, TheBigg!


v.176:

Removed the accidental dependency on BGT-weidu.Changed all shoutids entries to numerical values, due to major issue with Weiduv190. Hopefully v191 has solved this.

EDIT: The problem has been halfway fixed in weiduv191. If you "beat on" the installer enough, it can break. However, the worst that will happen is a big mess of parse errors. The scripts will run as they were written in-game, and will appear as normal in an editor. The installer does NOT shut down.











Cleaned up some bad hex-patch code I found on a few creature files.

Removed "AT_INTERACTIVE_EXIT ~Setup-GUI.exe~" (the part of the program that ran the GUI Switcher) from the core component. Seems that several people "could not resist"installing it (even though their install was not finished), then put a bunch of other mods on top, and marveled when weidu did a mass uninstall when they switched GUI components. I'm washing my hands of the whole affair.

All components can be installed seperately from the BP core component, except Wand of Orcus. It is not offered, if BP core is not present. This includes Ascension!
NOTE: Much of the package will not make sense without BP, even though it installs.
You can narrow this down tremendously by installing the BPDetectStatsv2 program,
or Scriptable Spells v3 (same thing, basically) from Gibberlings 3 modsite before doing this.
If you plan on installing BP core afterwards, go ahead and skip the Detectable Stats package. All should be rectified at game-time.

Made the ReadMe file into uni-color, as some people complained of optical stress.

v.175:

Public BETA (re-)release; first weidu version.



v.161g:
Last pre-weidu version

[agb1]

We have conflicts entries in BWS for each of the individual Tactics components that are also in BP.  That's why I'm puzzled by the "Previous BP version incompatibility" and BP component 35 conflict entry.  I guess it's just a mistake?

[micbaldur]

Well current BWP 15.4 pdf says:

Skipping Component installation - already included with Big Picture mod.
This component may or may not be compatible with SCS's "Smarter Priests". Try at own risk.
The Faldorn part ovelaps with SCS's Improved Faldorn

for component 35 "Tougher Druid Grove"

 

I have:

~SETUP-TACTICS.TP2~ #0 #3 // Improved Sahuagin City: v25; Lol's Update to v26
~SETUP-TACTICS.TP2~ #0 #32 // Mike Barnes' Improved North Forest: v25; Lol's Update to v26
~SETUP-TACTICS.TP2~ #0 #37 // Streamlined Trolls: v25; Lol's Update to v26

~SETUP-TACTICS.TP2~ #0 #26 // Fighter-Class Archer Kit: v25; Lol's Update to v26
~SETUP-TACTICS.TP2~ #0 #27 // Anti-Paladin Kit: v25; Lol's Update to v26

from tactics components installed and almost all BP components.

[agb1]

Thanks.  I will disable that conflict line for now.

[Quiet]

Dig deeper. The problem is not in BP or Tactics mod, but in BWFixpack. Once upon a time when BP was consisted not from a tens of components, but only one component, for better compatibility with the Tactics was created a fix. It checks for the presence in game folder BPBAG04.ITM file (which adds by BP of course) and skips the corresponding Tactics' components. Now, after separation BP into components, BPBAG04.ITM adds by BP's component #35 'add bags of holding and throwing daggers', which has nothing common with Tactics' components. But for some reason this fix is still included in the BWFixpack and therefore BWS is still present this strange conflict, allowing to avoid the pile of questions on the topic "Why I can not install a particular Tactics' component if I did not install the tactical components of BP?".

[Lollorian]

Lol that was stupid I'll regenerate the patch this weekend with proper GAME_IS and MOD_IS_INSTALLED predicates

[agb1]

While you're at it, the Improved Irenicus in Tactics appears to have no conflict in current BP.

[Lollorian]

Ok revised patch is up

 

For reference, BP v181-4611's component list:

Spoiler

@0=Big Picture, core component
@10=Level 1 Innate Fixer
@25=GUI Switcher
@35=Add Bags of Holding & Throwing Daggers to Stores
@50=Level 50 Rules
@60=Custom Grandmastery (w/ extra attacks)
@75=Halberds and Spears Extended Ranges
@325=Animals
@350=Beholders
@375=Demons and Devils
@390=Djinni
@400=Dragons
@425=Drow
@440=Duergar: The Works
@450=Duergar Irenicus Dungeon Enhancements Only
@460=Duergar: Leave Irenicus Dungeon Alone
@475=Elementals
@500=Generic Mages
@525=Generic Priests
@550=Generic Thieves
@575=Githyanki
@600=Golems
@625=Hellhounds
@650=Humanoids
@675=Knights and Paladins
@700=Mind Flayers
@725=Mists
@750=Sahuagin, Kuo Toa
@760=Shadows - The Works
@770=Shadows - Just the Shade Lord
@780=Shadows - Leave the Shade Lord Alone
@800=Shadow Thieves
@875=Trolls
@900=Undead
@925=Were-Creatures
@150=Generic Creature Processing
@175=Fewer Shouts
@1000=Generic Encounters
@1020=Beholder Cult
@1030=Vampires, Chapter 3 w/ Bodhi
@1040=Vampires, Chapter 3
@1050=Vampires, Chapter 6 w Bodhi
@1060=Vampires, Chapter 6
@1070=Vampires, Chapters 3 & 6 w/ Bodhi
@1080=Vampires, Chapter 3 & 6
@1090=Generic Vampires Only
@1100=Improved Copper Coronet & Slavers
@1110=Brown Dragon, by Kensai Ryu
@1120=Crypt King, by Kensai Ryu
@1130=Drizzt Encounter (Chapter 6)
@1140=Druid Grove (with Druid Encounter)
@1150=Druid Encounter (w/ Treant Spell)
@1160=Treant Spell Only
@1170=Treant Encounter
@1175=Gnome Fighter/Illusionist, by Kensai Ryu
@1190=Hell Trials
@1200=Horred's Lair
@1210=Irenicus Dungeon Enhancements (except Duergar)
@1225=Kangaxx, by Kensai Ryu
@1250=Kuroisan, by Westley Weimer
@1275=Lich in the Docks, by Gebhard Bluchers
@1300=Mae Var
@1315=Nalia Quests
@1330=Tavern Brawl (In the Seven Veils)
@1350=Planar Prison
@1375=Planar Sphere
@1400=Improved Random Encounters, by Gebhard Blucher & Kensai Ryu
@1425=Red Badge, by Westley Weimer
@1450=Ritual, by Westley Weimer
@1525=Small Teeth Pass, by Mike Barnes
@1550=Improved Spellhold -> Spellhold Enhancments - Only
@1560=Improved Spellhold -> Chapter Four Enhancements - Only
@1570=Improved Spellhold -> Spellhold Enhancments - Full Package
@1580=Improved Spellhold -> Spellhold Only w/ Item Taking
@1590=Improved Spellhold -> Full Package w/ Item Taking
@1600=Suldanessallar
@1625=Tanners
@1650=Trademeet
@1675=Wand of Orcus
@1700=Windspear Hills
@1725=Xvart Village
@1750=Watchers Keep
@1800=ToB Improvements
@2000=Improved Ascension
@2100=Improved Abazigail
@2200=Demogorgon
@2300=Gromnir
@2400=Illasera
@2500=Sendai
@2600=Yaga Shura

 

Components which I recommend to "mark as Expert" are because they overwrite like hell.

 

Also, recommend installing BP components over corresponding conflicting Tactics components by rule-of-new.

When I say "no conflicts", I specifically mean no conflicts with only BP

 

Changes:

Improved Ilyich - conflicts with 440 & 450 (mark as expert)

The Ritual - conflicts with 1450

Improved TorGal - conflicts with 1315

Improved Sahuagin City - no conflict

Improved Bodhi - conflicts with 1030, 1050 & 1070

Improved Irenicus - no conflict

Improved Guarded Compound - conflicts with 1100

Improved Twisted Rune - no conflict

"Kuroisan", the Acid Kensai - conflicts with 1250

"Red Badge" Poison-Based Encounter - conflicts with 1425

Gebhard Blucher's Improved Mae'Var - conflicts with 1300

Gebhard Blucher's Lich in the Docks - conflicts with 1275

Gebhard Blucher's Improved Demon Knights - conflicts with 375 (mark as expert)

Kensai Ryu's Tougher Kangaxx - conflicts with 1225 (mark as expert)

Kensai Ryu's Gnome Fighter/Illusionist in the Docks - conflicts with 1175 (mark as expert)

Kensai Ryu's Improved Crypt King - conflicts with 1120 (mark as expert)

Ishan's "Always Toughest Random Spawns in Dungeons" - no conflict (mark as expert)

Gebhard Blucher's Random City Encounters - conflicts with 1400

Kensai Ryu's Random Wilderness Encounters - conflicts with 1400

Improved Undead - conflicts with 900

Slightly Smarter Golems - conflicts with 600

GB's Improved Mind Flayers - conflicts with 700

Smarter Dragons - conflicts with 400

Smarter Beholders - conflicts with 350

Smarter Vampires - conflicts with 1030, 1040, 1050, 1060 & 1070

Smarter Mages - conflicts with 500

Generic Archer Kit - no conflicts

Anti-Paladin Kit - no conflicts

Göran Rimén's Improved Nymph - no conflicts

Kensai Ryu's Improved Copper Coronet - conflicts with 1100

SimDing0's Improved Oasis - no conflicts

Mike Barnes's Improved Small Teeth Pass - conflicts with 1525

Mike Barnes's Improved North Forest - no conflicts

Mike Barnes's Marching Mountains - no conflicts

Slightly Tougher Demons AI - conflicts with 375

Tougher Druid Grove - conflcits with 1140

Tougher Fire Giants - conflicts with 2600

Streamlined Trolls - no conflicts (consider recommending a certain component in polytweaks over this one though)

[agb1]

Ok revised patch is up

 

Improved Sahuagin City - no conflict

No conflict with BP 750 either?

 

Improved Twisted Rune - no conflict

No conflict with BP 150 either?

 

Kensai Ryu's Tougher Kangaxx - conflicts with 1225 (mark as expert)

Does Dark Side of Amn #7 also overwrite files?

 

Kensai Ryu's Gnome Fighter/Illusionist in the Docks - conflicts with 1175 (mark as expert)

Does Dark Side of Amn #5 also overwrite files?

 

Kensai Ryu's Improved Crypt King - conflicts with 1120 (mark as expert)

Does Dark Side of Amn #3 also overwrite files?

 

Smarter Vampires - conflicts with 1030, 1040, 1050, 1060 & 1070

Not also BP 1080 and 1090?

 

Streamlined Trolls - no conflicts (consider recommending a certain component in polytweaks over this one though)

No conflict with BP 875?  Does this conflict with SCS 8030?

 

I have a commit ready with these changes.  Thanks for the analysis!

Edited by agb1, 05 December 2015 - 11:35 AM.