9 replies to this topic

[Justyn Kase]

Greetings all.

Since this is my first post in the forums (after spending four days looking around), I've decided it was high time I asked for ideas and suggestions for BGII.

I haven't played it in a very long time... and my skills with modding, scripting, and somesuch are practically non-existent, so it would greatly help if someone held my hand and gave me some advice.

I'm currently deployed in Iraq (3rd time!!! WOO HOO!!!), and got the old bug of wanting to play BGII again in me (it also helped that Amazon.com was selling the series for 10 bucks).  So I've looked up mods and such, trying to figure out what's best to play... but I have no idea what is going to screw up my game entirely.

What do people recommend I install?  What quests are the best?  Will too many NPC mods screw up one another, causing a cataclysmic crash of blue-screen of death proportions?  If I throw in all kinds of quests, will my whole life be deemed worthless when none of them work because of conflicts?

Also, sometimes I'm looking at the big down-loadable mods and I can't tell if they're going to rewrite the whole game or not.  I don't want that to happen yet   , since I'm starting all over again from the beginning.  

So if anyone can give me pointers, and possibly a good guide of what to put on and not to put on (such as a limit to how many NPCs I should put on... especially since I'm a fan of hordes of selectable people), please let me know.

Thanks to all, and may the Bhaalspawn not eat you (unless you're into that kind of thing, sickos).

Justyn Kase

PS: Deviant is my name-sake?  Gods, I feel so unloved with that.

Edited by Justyn Kase, 04 February 2007 - 02:05 AM.

[Gort]

What exactly do you want? More joinable NPC? More small quests? Another big plot? New kits for your PC? More items? Smth else?

[Justyn Kase]

I guess I should have explained myself a bit better... for instance...

Okay, here's the list of stuff I down-loaded that I may (or may not) actually add to my game.... I guess what I'm really saying is, how many conflicts could I possibly have after all this? I hate being someone who asks a million questions about "why isn't my NPC working???"

Okay *takes deep breath* here goes... I think I did download all the NPCs I could find.... course, I don't have BG1 or ToSC, so that limits alot of options.

Ajoc's Minimod v1.6
Allison NPC v1.5
Amber NPC v2.4
Auren NPC v4
Banter Packs v6
BG Fixpack v2
BG Fixpack v3.61 (okay... what the?)
The TOB patch 26498
BG2: TOB Items
BP s & h patch v8 (which I didn't download BP... so that's kind of silly)
Britt unplayable NPC (the name sounded funny, so I had to try it)
Beyond the Law v 1.3
Chloe NPC v1.2 w/patch
Crossmod Banters v4
EMaD v2
Fade SoA v3
Freedom's Reign & The Virtue MiniMod v3
G3 Anniversary MOD v4
G3 Debugging Suite v1.96
IronModders Pk 1-9 (oh wait, minus number 2, will have to down-load that)
Jerry Zinger Show v1
Kelsey NPC v2.1 (along with TOB content v2.2)
Keto NPC v2.0
Never-Ending Journey 2.68 (I think that's the correct name on my computer it has)
NPC Flirt-Pack v1.01
PotionQuest MOD
Saerileth NPC v1.3
Shadows Over Soubar (latest version, no idea what version that is off the top of my head)
SquareMod v3 (...... I'm not going to comment on why the heck I downloaded that)
The Darkest Day v1.1 w/fix 6.0
Tsujatha NPC v1.0
Tortured Souls MOD v6.1 w/patch 5.1
Unique Artefacts v1.0
Unfinished Business v1.5
Valen NPC v4.5
WeiDU-Windows-198 (another no idea one, but sounded good when I saw it)
XPpatcher 1.1 (even though my version runs on XP... hmm, maybe I don't need that)
Yasarena NPC v7

Okay... so that's all the stuff I downloaded today... I didn't download BP, because I just got more and more confused with the read-me's on the installation... so I said screw it because I think I have enough content to last me through the rest of my deployment.

So now I ask... what's the best way to insert as much of this without damaging the game to the point I smash my computer in frustration? What can go together, and what shouldn't? I've noticed NeJ is tempermental and basically I should play that one as a stand-alone, but anything else that should be separated? And will all those NPCs work without colliding? I know some of that stuff I really don't need, but what exactly? And is there any idea what interferes with something else, oh great and powerful gurus of the modding world (flattery tends to get faster responses, doesn't it? Can't really bribe people here...).

Oh, and if anyone can remind me of any other NPCs I missed, please let me know

Okay, off to watch the Super Bowl... woo hoo!! 2am, can't wait....

Edited by Justyn Kase, 04 February 2007 - 01:03 PM.

[Azazello]

Although it seems daunting, download and read the guide at [this thread]. You only "really" need to install G3-BG2-Fixpack; after that, just install what you want, just be sure to put them in the order described in the guide, and in the thread.

You're not going to avoid errors in installations, or even errors while playing, but luckily most of us will have run into them before so we be able to hep out.

It is very important that you do a lot of reading and preparation yourself first, before posting questions. There's a lot of info on the forums that will guide you thru the process. Take the time and effort to make things work. It'll be worth it, believe me. Your list is fairly involved, but not the most complicated at all. And Don't worry, we'll help you if you get stuck.

[Gort]

well, you didn't find all NPC mods I know=). I have more in my collection, but I don't remember where I downloaded them from. Check http://modlist.pocketplane.net/
The question is - do you really need them all? There are only 5 rooms in party).

NEJ and TS is designed to be "stand alone".

And about Unique Artefacts - it should work fine with any other mod (but you can never know, right?=) No one emailed me with a problem yet, and no one let me know about succeful completing the game with it).

[Justyn Kase]

Thanks, Azazello and Gort. I appreciate the assistance on this matter.

I've been looking over the readme and some of the newer stuff wasn't listed on it. I'm assuming some of the newer mods can still be installed regularly. At least I hope so.

As for having all the NPCs... well... I'm greedy that way. Yes, I only have room for five... but then again, I always felt that there are more adventurers out there willing to lend aid (or find wealth or slay enemies, whatever motivates them) than the standard heroes. Besides... I tend to swap out party members more than Sylvester Stallone makes Rocky movies.

Also, I picked up alot of the tools on G3, and some extra other stuff on Pocketplane and Blackwyrm (....more NPCs), not to mention a tweak for the game... so once I transfer all this stuff into my game either a) It'll be a beautiful, magical game, with more choices and options to choose, or B) I'll be reinstalling and installing quite a bit . Either way, I'm bound to have an interesting time of it.

Speaking of which, since I'm thinking about it right now, does anyone suggest anything, and I really do mean from Mods, to NPCs, to Items and spells, that might make the game a little more light-hearted?

Once again, thank you all for your time.


Famous Last Words - DM: You've entered a room with 99 wights and 1 ghoul.
Player: Well, at least there's only one ghoul to paralyze us.

Edited by Justyn Kase, 05 February 2007 - 01:14 AM.

[Sticz]

If you have as much free time as I did in the 'Stan', then I would try getting into the modding buisness. There are alot of tutorials and you can make your own mods or tweak existing mods to your own devious designs. As far as importing all of those NPCs, if you haven't explored all of the NPCs in the original game, you will not likely explore all of the add-ons.

Personally I go for the K.I.S.S. method when installing MODs, I get either a really big one and play with it, or several really small ones and see how they interact. Your best bets are some of the mods that have several versions out, as they have been refined several times to allow for greater compatability.

Keep your head down.

Sticz

[Justyn Kase]

If you have as much free time as I did in the 'Stan', then I would try getting into the modding buisness. There are alot of tutorials and you can make your own mods or tweak existing mods to your own devious designs. As far as importing all of those NPCs, if you haven't explored all of the NPCs in the original game, you will not likely explore all of the add-ons.

Personally I go for the K.I.S.S. method when installing MODs, I get either a really big one and play with it, or several really small ones and see how they interact. Your best bets are some of the mods that have several versions out, as they have been refined several times to allow for greater compatability.

Keep your head down.

Sticz

Duly noted on that. I think I'm going to try out all the little mods first, see how they play.

As for the NPCs, did Jaheira ever have a romance in ToB? I played through that game so many dang times and there was never any inkling of her romance carried over from SoA. It was more like "sure, I know we were all hot and heavy a few months ago, but now, I'm just going to pretend nothing happened between us." Course, I'm hoping romance wise some of these other NPC mods seem to be a bit more flavorable, since your choices on the women were either the ultra-needy woman, the raging biatch, or the "I had to get by, so I was banging men left and right" one.

And let's not even talk about Amnomen. I hated him in the game, and then playing a chick he wants to woo me? Bleh.

Hmm... modding myself? Well, that's a possibility. If I knew anything about how to do it. Guess looking at tutorials is a good start. Just any suggestions here? What would be a good beginner thing to start a guy with no skill in modding with? I have ideas for characters and adventures, but those seem to be the most pain-staking ones, and I'd really not care to tackle that as my first challenge if it only leaves me frustrated, then I wouldn't want to try again.

Well, back to my inane chatter. Adios, muchachos (and muchachas, for anyone reading this).

[Gort]

http://www.sorcerers.../index_tips.php - there you can find romance guide

For modding, check tutorial forum=) http://www.shsforums...p?showforum=125. For making a mod you'll need at least weidu from weidu.org, iedsp and dtlcep from gibberling3.net

[Sticz]

I started with an item, just an item that I wanted to make and put into a store.

The code was really simple, I will try to get you a good example of it. From there I moved to adding interjections, so that my party would talk more trash if they were evil. It pretty much exploded after that. I have not written any romances as of yet, but shy of addin a new area to TOB (which I have not seen a tutorial on yet) I have pretty much done it all and I have absolutely no computer skills to speak of. I do know a bit about the infinity engine though, and it was 100% for reading and posting on this site.

Good luck, and remember that "its not the bullet with your name on it thats the problem, its the one marked 'to whom it may concern' that you need to watch out for."

Sticz