It must have been a problem with the original
IWD 2, because four years ago I got stuck at the exact same point, and that was before I even knew that there were such things as "mods". So it was just
IWD 2 vanilla...in German. These days I luckily I have the English version, too.
As a result, this is the first time I have (or rather: will have) completed
IWD 2, even though I constantly get a feeling of Deja Vu at certain locations like the Severed Hand, due to having played
IWD 1 in the past (I have to replay that too. It has been so long, I hardly remember what it was about).
I actually tried talking to everyone about everything (I always tend to do that). And I couldn't really talk to Lord Pyros because...well, he's kind of busy getting murdered on Day 2.
I wasn't so upset about the gold that Archon took from me. Actually, I was relieved to lose some money, and would have been even happier to lose more. You see, at the beginning of each game, I make a semi-solemn vow not to cheat in money, and just rely on the money that I earn or find (or..."acquire" through use of my Rogue/'wealth re-distribution specialist'/Thief/Pyromaniac Magpie.)...but my resolve is soon broken when I have to buy supplies. So I open the console, and cheat in the money. I do not mind cheating when just playing alone. I mostly play them for the story, so I do not worry too much about tilting the odds in a fight a bit in my favour with cheats. Keck, I'm playing at the easiest level right now (though I am perfectly able to play on normal or even high difficulty, but I often do not have the patience to do that.). And I think it is fair, especially in Infinity Engine games, because I don't get
XP for killing monsters with cheats (unlike NWN, which does still give you
XP even if you use a cheat key to kill a monster). Also, I would never use cheats while playing multiplayer (this actually applies more to Neverwinter Nights, which is so far the only game I've played Multiplayer that was not on my old AMIGA 500), because that's just wrong. (And since I'm a reviewer at the Neverwinter Vault, I should add that I also don't use cheats when playing a mod for a review. And I play at normal difficulty, not easy when reviewing, unless the mod turns out way too difficult. In that case the difficulty level change is noted, of course.).
Anyway, my point however is, that eventually I will always cheat in money, sooner or later. Usually I add a modest sum that still is enough to sustain me and lets me buy most items I'd need. Other times however, I go a little over the top. So right now I have something along 9million gold pieces, making me wonder if there's a coin purse of holding in existance. As a result, I tend to be glad about every opportunity to lose money.
Back on topic though, it seems the problem was with the Efreeti Summoning sequence after Lothar destroyed the embassy. I changed the value of the script that says that Lothar destroyed the embassy which resulted in him having the appropriate dialogue when I talked to him. However, nothing else happened. After that I tried another variable, which seemed to trigger the Efreeti sequence again, except it was only Lothar's part. This was sufficient though, because suddenly the ramp to the right had collapsed (which it hadn't done before, though I had wondered on which day it would do so. Thinking back now, I should have realised it had to collapse on Day 2, because it was collapsed on the Day 1 after all.), and Lothar suddenly started walking around the mainland ring instead of walking around the eastern shore around the ramp without aim or purpose. And when he reached the Western shore where Archon always has his boat anchored on the mainland, the Yuan-Ti started teleporting in and when I talked to Archon, the Fields of Slaughter were available (much to my relief). I had a small problem on Day 3 after that, but that was only due to Lothar getting stuck on one of the islands, and was fixed by a reload.
Oh, and yes, Izbelah is of no use whatsoever.
Seriously, the Magma Chamber sequence seems to be one of the buggiest pieces in the game (and the rest of the Dragon's Eye has its fair share of bugs to boast with too), because I've seen so many pleas for help while searching for a solution to my own problem. It's a pity really, as I think that part actually is a lot of fun, despite the bugs.
So now I'm in the Severed Hand. Yippeh! I just terrified Yquog the Barhest Whelp so much that it sent him running, by saying he'd make a good addition to my "Collection" of Dead things (One dead woman, one dead man, three dead cats, and several skulls.). This, for some reason, amused me to no end.
-
]), and remembered a while ago that I had never actually completed the game, though I couldn't remember why exactly. Now, however, I remember it. It was exactly this point in the game that prevented me from continuing. Though I think back then I didn't have a patch installed, since I wasn't that Internet-savvy back in 2003 (Around this time of the year back then I first registered in a forum, for example, despite having had Internet since...I think around 1998.)
