9 replies to this topic

[Kaeloree]

This year, thanks to some generous donations, we've decided to host a small competition for 12 Days.

The prize? Digital copies of all Infinity Engine games.

To enter, write a review of a mod you've recently tried. The best review wins digital copies of all Infinity Engine games--that is, Icewind Dale, Icewind Dale II, Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II SoA/ToB and Planescape: Torment.

All entries also go into a draw to win an Infinity Engine game of your choice. Five such games will be awarded, and you can enter with as many reviews as you can write!

Rules:

• You can enter as many times as you like with different reviews.
  
• Each review counts as a separate entry in the draw.
  
• The reviews must be new and original.
  
• Bonus points if you review a mod that hasn't had many reviews.
  
• Each user can only win once.
  
• You must post in this topic with a link to your review, or you can include it in your post.
  
• Entries close on January 12th.
  
• Winners will be announced January 16th.

Get writing--we can't wait to read, and maybe check out a few mods ourselves!

[Crazee]

This competition couldn't have come at a better time - I've just currently decided to do a runthrough of BG2, for the first time in about half a year. Will definitely try to enter a review (or six). Question, though. I assume the reviews can be for mods from other sites as well - is that right? Thought I'd better check.

[Kaeloree]

Of course!

[Kaeloree]

Posted to Reddit. Let us know if that's where you've come from!

[Zyraen]

You could try promoting it on Facebook. That Reddit looks like CRAP.

BTW, maybe I'm missing something, but where are the reviews supposed to go? "In Your Post" or "Link" to some other forum where maybe its posted?

Edited by Zyraen, 28 December 2010 - 12:32 AM.

[Kaeloree]

Heh, usually they're great. With such a large community you get a pretty large ratio of trolls, too, unfortunately!

You can post reviews directly into this thread or just link to them in a post here.

[Zyraen]

Just a tuppence. I always felt bad for not reviewing the Tashia mod I so enjoyed back then

http://www.shsforums...hia-mod-review/

Edited by Zyraen, 03 January 2011 - 12:22 AM.

[Crazee]

Here you go. Never written a review before, so it's all over the place and a little bit messy, but hopefully it does the job, and shows how I felt about the mod.

[Milamber]

So here it goes. I post this since I'm not really where it should go, especially considering that it is an 'off-side' mod.

The Stone of Askavar

The Stone of Askavar (hosted at chosenofmystra.net) is a mod that add a main quest and several sub-quests. It takes place after chapter 5 of Baldur's Gate. This review is based on a play-through the mod installed on top of BGT.

Quest and Dialogues 7/10

The quest is decently long, but not to the point where it becomes annoying. You are liable to miss the initial encounter (and therefore the whole quest), if you haven't actually read the read-me. Once the quest is started, it is not too difficult to solved, so there is no need to rely on ?external knowledge?.
The dialogues, that lead you through the quest nicely done, if not as extensive as they could be. And it would the nice if the dialogues would actually allow you an alternative course to acquire the talismans.

Challenge 6/10

The difficulty is somewhat above the original Baldur's Gate, but significantly below the level of other BG1-(quest-)mods. The new NPC's do not profit all that much from SCS (if it is installed) and their own scripts are not all that good. Overall the mod is less challenging than it should be. Some of the NPC are actually level twenty (which is ridiculously powerful for BG1), yet you would never notice it when you fight them.

Balance 8/10

The mod is relatively well-balanced as far as BG1-quest-mods go. That means you will gain a noticeable, but not excessive amount of XP, the items you gain are powerful, but do not totally outclass what you find in the game originally.


Integration 7/10

With the original game:
The mod fits in neatly with the original game. None of the greater areas is reused from either BG1 or BG2. And it is relatively well balanced. There are few and only the quest relevant encounters in the added areas, which makes them feel slightly empty compared to original areas (the same is true for most other quest mods).

With specific other mods:
On the other hand as stated above the AI of the newly-added creatures, especially mages, is noticeably worse than those who profit from SCS. Also the one outdoor area, which has spawns is not changed by BGT Spawns, and therefore there will be fewer spawned creatures. This will distract slightly from the seamless feel only if you have those mods installed.

Overall 7/10

It is a good mod, which is fun to play more than once, because you can finish it before it become more of a chore than fun to play and it doesn't wreck the game-balance with over-powered items or huge amounts gold and XP.

[Kaeloree]

A big thank you to the three of you! I'll contact you all in the next week.

In the meantime, there's still one more game I'd like to give away, seeing as we didn't get enough entries! Post your top 3 mods and a brief explanation of why you like them to go into a draw to win it.