11 replies to this topic

[Sevarus]

Just like to get this stuff out of the way before I go on my merry way. Should I run through the game once and make notes where interjections should be used? Should I use all the NPCs (I still don't think I've ever used Cernd) and notice their personalities and how my NPC would interact with them? Are there specific spots that I should make saves at that I can go back to? Is it possible to do all this in a single run-through? I'd just like to be prepared.

[berelinde]

How often have you played the game before? Have you ever played all the way through?

You should definitely have each NPC in your party at least once, and lean on CTRL-I to get all the banters. That will help you know what they sound like, if nothing else.

Playing through and making notes of interjection points is useful. I do that, but I usually have a digital voice recorder handy while i'm playing. Which reminds me that I need to find mine.

[Sevarus]

How often have you played the game before? Have you ever played all the way through?

You should definitely have each NPC in your party at least once, and lean on CTRL-I to get all the banters. That will help you know what they sound like, if nothing else.

Playing through and making notes of interjection points is useful. I do that, but I usually have a digital voice recorder handy while i'm playing. Which reminds me that I need to find mine.

I've played the game many, many times, and I've completed it around five times, I think.

[Kellen]

Infinity Explorer works great for that (finding personalities), so far as I know.

I'd suggest playing with those you haven't gone through with for the majority of the game, and just brush up on what you know well. Then again BGhead made a mod, I didn't. His advice probably comes in a few ranks higher than mine in this case.

[Sticz]

Personally I cannot stand Nalia, Aerie or Imoen. I would rather fall on my own sword than listen to them complain about dungeons or broken wings. The only banters I ever wrote for those three were some where my new NPC either verbally attacked them, discounted their opinions, or even caused them to leave the party.

As a point of thoroughness, however, I would suggest you at least run through their dialog trees a few times using NI or INF Explorer. This has a nice benefit of also letting you see some of the quests that you may have never seen in certain characters if you moved through the game too rapidly to let them begin.

Sticz

[berelinde]

The problem with using any tool/editor to view a BioWare banter is that it is invariably spread across two or more files. Flipping back and forth between them means that most of the energy of the banters gets lost in transition.

Sorcerer's Place has an NPC Interaction Guide that lets you view all the banters and get a better idea for the tone of various NPCs.

You've probably played the game often enough so that a full play through might be nice, but is not absolutely necessary.

What I did:
Wrote all my banters, practically in one sitting, without playing the game at all.
Used WeiDU to decompile just about every dialogue file in the game to plan my interjections. Had well over 500 of them. Eliminated most of them.
Then I wrote the friendtalks and lovetalks.
During playtesting, I made notes of other places I felt an interjection was in order and added them later. I'm still adding them.

Yeah, I know what Sticz means about Nalia and Aerie. Unfortunately, it would be in character for my neutral good cleric to *love* Aerie. He can safely tell Nalia to get over herself and grow up, since she acts like a spoiled child, but he's going to have to be gentle with our little whiner. *sigh* It's always tough when you and your NPC do not share the same tastes in traveling companions.

[Kellen]

Sorcerer's Place has an NPC Interaction Guide that lets you view all the banters and get a better idea for the tone of various NPCs.

Link?

On another note I always liked Aerie. Actually the more I play the more I realize that the only people I hate are those I haven't played.

Also a note. It was suggested to me that you do your modding on a clean install. (Patched, but without other mods. I don't think I asked about Fixpack core fixes though. )

Edited by Kellen, 15 March 2007 - 08:45 AM.

[berelinde]

Sorry, I can't give a link, because Sorcerer's Place is blocked from my work computer. But I'll send it when I get home. It will let you read the banters uninterrupted by things like code.

Yeah, it isn't a bad idea to test on a clean install, but I think I put another post on to that thread about why I'm glad I'm using a modified install. Something about popular NPCs stealing my (as yet unwritten) interjections.

[Kellen]

Hmm. I'll see about finding it myself. Can't be too hard.

And now so many minutes later. Here's the page, if this is it. BG2: SoA & ToB NPC Interactions Guide by Dave Milward (Submitted)

From the author: Surfing the boards at both sorcerers.net and other sites, a lot of gamers out there are curious about how the various NPCs interact with each other. ?Can I have both X and Y together into a party without them killing each other?? ?I always use Jaheira, so what is Cernd?s personality like?? ?How does my favorite NPC interact with those other NPCs?? So on and so forth. Well, after a very gradual attrition approach on my part, I?ve finally put together a guide that includes all NPC random banters. Enjoy...

And I'm sorry for doing a bit of hijacking the thread

[ronin]

His advice probably comes in a few ranks higher than mine in this case.

The bold word should be: her

[Kellen]

I really ought to start checking these things. With Kae and BGhead. Sorry.

Uh have free cookies. I'm sure there's no forgetfulness powder in it.

[berelinde]

Well, yeah, but I use a male avatar and a gender-neutral screen name.

Now that Gavin's out and I don't have to keep advertising, I should look into getting a more appropriate avatar.