78 replies to this topic

[Leonardo Watson]

Now finally a new update is ready to release. There are no new mods added. I aimed to fix a few problems occuring with the mega mod. So there is a change in the install order and some compatibility issues are fixed now. Also some new fixer from various modders are now added. Now there is an additional choice between TDD and Saerileth, Ninde, Kivan because of the Ellesime dialogue problem.

Included is the newest WeiDU. Despite of it's message "This is a non-stable version. Unless you're sure about what you're doing, consider downgrading" the installation works fine. You may have a virus alert if WeiDU wants to autoupdate already existing WeiDU.exe or WeiDU stucks. Both does not happen when you use the Installpack.

Thanks to Dabus the installation pauses if a mod was installed with warnings or errors.
Thanks to "fish" there is a new batch file to correct by some IDS files that had been possibly corrupted by some mods. This batch includes also a workaround for stupidly by some modders used "!" in some names. Maybe this batch can be used in some more cases in future, for example for replace out-of-date commands in the tp2 with newer ones.

Unfortunately I did not had time to update the guide yet. I will do it shortly. Also I was not able to test the game. But I thought you would not want to wait any longer for an update. So you act as my guinea pigs.

I've rather got the impression that the char and the NPCs level up too quick and get too high values. I'm interested on your suggestions how to set the values in the regarding XP changing mods.

There are some similar components both in SCS as in SCSII. I'm unsure whether some components in SCS could be skipped in conjunction with SCSII because the similar function is also covered with SCS

Please report your suggestions, improvements, criticism and experience here.

[-Hurricane-]

When you update the guide, please don't forget to correct the version number of BGT in the English and the German PDF. On page 15/16, it's supposed to say BGT 1.15, not BGT 11.5. Thanks.

[Azazello]

Leonardo, Congrats again to you and the BWP team on another great release!

[dreamer2007]

Thank you very much, Leonardo Watson! BWP is on its road to perfection, with you, Dabus, Lollorian and all the others from the BWP team working on it.

[Lollorian]

Yay for newer stuff (I'll be rummaging through the fixpack and nitpick about minor stuff soon )

[Test Person]

First off, the BWS side of things seems to working great (thank-you), - it certainly does not crash as much as it used to do ...and the presence of mod.ini.gz does not cause problems like it used to do, either.

 

Something which would be a really nice addition ('though it would require the co-operation of the modders) is better guidance on which portrait is which for the various NPCs. - Most of the time there is too little descriptive detail to be able to tell one modder's alternative portrait from another ...so the alternative portrait selections become largely meaningless.

 

As far as XP balancers are concerned, I am not a great fan of them and Igi's contribution for magic users, whilst a truly wonderful idea, is absolute hell to configure in the installer. - Some kind of pre-set (sane) options for this could be really useful ...and where SCS I and SCS II are concerned, I would trim the like components from SCS I, leaving only options for components which are not present in some form (or updated) in SCS II.

 

Additionally, the minor NPCs (one day and the like) could possibly be better amalgamated into one package. - I don't use them, myself, because I find most of them lack sufficient content to make them at all enjoyable or functional: they are like a tame dog, which will bark at an opponent and piss on your backpack but little all else and, yes, that is intentional - they are quick sketches, nothing more, but may become more at a later date if the modder is sufficiently skilled and/or motivated to expand on them.

 

...and something is needed regarding installation ordering in relation to SoA and ToB improvements. - I regularly see warnings from mods where components could not be installed because SoA or ToB improvements have yet to be installed. - Currently I am reinstalling these mods following new BWP installs, but I feel that this is probably not a good thing to do, and that it is likely to cause problems.

 

Finally ....exe files! - I have taken to using WinRar to modify the extract path of the .exe and .sfx files (NSIS files need to be extracted and then turned into a WinRar .exe or .sfx first, because Nullsoft installer scripts are an absolute beech to work with; although, thankfully, I only have one of those in my BWP install, - Yikari NPC). - The G3 files are serious offenders, here, because many are set to extract to the Program Files directory (not C:\Games, or the like), whilst other G3 files will extract to the directory they are in, etc. ...and generally totally mess with the install process as a result unless the extract paths are all modified prior to making a BWP install (which usually, then, results in having to force the selection of the modified files as a result of changed file sizes).  Note: files with changed extract paths need to be stored seperately and care needs to be taken over when they are added to the downloads directory (overwriting the existing files), because they will, otherwise, be overwritten when the installer detects that their file sizes have changed.

 

 

Oh, yes, this is also proof that BWP is alive and well and kicking ass ...so it should definitely have its own forum(s) now!

Edited by Test Person, 23 January 2013 - 05:59 PM.

[dabus]

You use the BWS to install?
Then you likely don't get some of the new benefits.
Change to the Batchinstall (click back when you are in the folder-selection-screen) or close the BWS when it tells you that the real install starts now.
I didn't have time to look at the new id-fixing part in the batch yet.
Will take a few weeks since I have other preferences right now.

Batch also has a preselection for igis, but since it not really translates into those fixed multiple choice-answers, I refused to rewrite the script for mods I actually dislike.
Downside whe using the batch is that you need an editor to set it up the way you'd do with the BWS (which may be a bit too much for some users).

Edited by dabus, 23 January 2013 - 11:43 PM.

[Test Person]

You use the BWS to install?
Then you likely don't get some of the new benefits.
Change to the Batchinstall (click back when you are in the folder-selection-screen) or close the BWS when it tells you that the real install starts now.
I didn't have time to look at the new id-fixing part in the batch yet.
Will take a few weeks since I have other preferences right now.

Batch also has a preselection for igis, but since it not really translates into those fixed multiple choice-answers, I refused to rewrite the script for mods I actually dislike.
Downside whe using the batch is that you need an editor to set it up the way you'd do with the BWS (which may be a bit too much for some users).

 

Fair enough, - thanks for updating us on this, - it was getting a little confusing with people saying one thing and the installer saying something totally different.

 

I am a little puzzled by what you say about using an editor to set up the batch the way you would do with the BWS. - I usually just run plain BWP by command line, and it is an absolute pain because you have to run through the options for each and every mod and have all the required files ready to go in the main BGII - SoA directory, or already installed, and you have to know the correct order to install everything in ...or you make a total mess of everything.  Also, there is no sanity checking with command line BWP, - unlike the BWS script, - so selecting conflicting components and mods is almost inevitable (short of a half and half solution, like you suggested).  If I were to automate it all, though, I would use a script ...but, then, one already exists - your BWS.

Edited by Test Person, 24 January 2013 - 11:57 AM.

[dabus]

Well, I think I'll take that as a compliment and thank you.

Since Leonardo "invents" the BWP, the order and new fixes and he can work with batch-files, the BWS usually runs behind the batch/installpack for some time.
I did the BWS in autoit3, which is a bit niche, but I liked it for the GUI-part and a lot of functions that batch does not provide.
So if you like to have that "ids-fixing", which is executed by the installpack after every time WeiDU had run, you'll have to use the BiG World install.bat to get it.
Maybe I'll convert it into autoit or just run that cmd every time in a few weeks.

If you want to use the batch, you can still select that installation method in the BWS (since it could not do installs at first, that was the first option for some time).
After extraction is done, it will exit and launch the batch. If you don't see the CMD-window after that, UAC may had a hand in it and you'll have to open it yourself.

With the batch, some tests are done, you can select between a few dozen (?) conflicting mods, set some preferences, select a version (recommended, standard, tactic, expert) and then the installer will install what Leonardo/people think would be fitting. If you want another install, you either have to go through the batch and edit it.
You can also edit the batch so it asks you what you want before WeiDU installs components - if it would run. Downside is that it would ask often, upside is that you get the hotfixes and the install-order right.

Here are some examples.
Call %INST% iylos "0 1 6"
-That will install iylos components 0 1 6 regardless of your choice if present.
%AD% Call %INST% NPCFlirt "0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15"
-This will install NPCFlirt ... if you selected to use adult mods.
%IFSD% Call %INST% Divine_Remix "0 100 103 106 107 109 112 115 118 121 124 127 130 200 203 403 406 409 412 415 600"
-This will install devine remix, if you chose Standard install.

Since I usually can't remember the values for the variables, I ended up creating a small script to replace them before I try to understand anything.
If you don't you might scratch your head some times, scroll a bit, search around or start to remove those variables, so things get installed anyway. But if you do, you sometimes have to make sure other possible conflicts are solved - like in the scs-mods, where you have those multiple choice options to make encounters AI "above average level", hard or harder. Those don't occur too often and Leonardo has added lots of lines that search the WeiDU.log for something, but sometimes you may wanted something different before and the test will not work, You'll also have to use the guide or other sources to convert the numbers into the components text so that you know what you have to select.

This shouldn't be a rant against the batch since before that batch-install; it was a lot of manual labor and I surely wished for an automated install when I did my first install.

[Test Person]

Thanks, - that is helpful. - I have just got to the point where the installer had reached the the point of asking about Darkest Day and closed the command window because I still could not find the list of mods to be installed and the install process was at the point where I could see it answering my next question by proceeding with the install process and not giving me any further chance to update anything.

 

I've got to say that the process of editing your own batch file does seem overly complex. - It would be better if there was a batch template that would allow you to "just get on with it" and not have to spend 10 minutes providing answers which you are probably going to edit to something different later on anyway. - Important details, like BP or SCS AI, could be part of the template, so a player would still have to provide answers on their game AI preference, whilst annoying questions, like the type of install, could be skipped (as you would be building a custom install they simply would not be necessary, or have a place, in the template).

 

Anyway, for anyone who is uncertain about this, the file which needs to be modified, if making a custom install, is the Big World Install.bat, - the readme seems to point to the wrong file.  I am about to edit my .bat file after reaching Let The Madness Begin.

|

Start adjusting where you find:

 

:: EDITING
%.%
%.%
%.%1. CORRECTIONS | %M%
%.%
%.%

Edited by Test Person, 24 January 2013 - 06:46 PM.

[Test Person]

BiG World Installpack-11.3.7z: BiG World Clean-Up.bat (in the move to main folder) has the read only file attribute set, so Big World Install.bat is not able to copy it to the main BGII - SoA directory.

 

Answers to installer questions can be in small case .
 
The following file is not available when using BWS. - It can be found in Mod.ini, but does not appear to be available for selection in the GUI:

 

[Traduccion_Mejorada]
Name=Traducción mejorada BG2 y TOB
Rev=3
Type=R,S,T,E,F
Link=http://www .shsforums.net/index.php?autocom=downloads&showfile=775
Down=http://www .shsforums.net/index.php?app=downloads&module=display&section=download&do=confirm_download&id=775
Save=DLAN_BG2_TOB_v3.7z
Size=2601412
Tra=SP:0
Wiki=Traducción mejorada BG2 y TOB

 

Also, correct me if I am wrong, but does a zero in the component quotes within the install .bat file indicate that something is not installed, or does 0 denote the core files for the mod in question? eg:

 

%IFH% Call %INST% Traduccion_Mejorada "0"

 

%IFF%: French translation

%IFG%: German translation

%IFH%: Spanish translation

%IFI%: Italian translation

%IFRU%: Russian translation

 

As far as I can tell, mods lacking your language translation will not be installed unless you have selected a translation corresponding to that mod during the initial configuration of the BWP install process.

 

...and what situations would I require these special cases for?

 

Special cases
-------------
"BG1NPC Project", "Gavin"
-------------------------
In the BiG World Install vX.bat you will find lines like this:

 

Call %INST% bg1npc "0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9" 1
Call %INST% bg1npc "10" 1

 

The installer simulates an input "1". For this reason a file named "1" had been created in your main directory.
If you want another input instead simply overwrite this number.

 

-- ignore this line - quote box breaker line --
 

Edited by Test Person, 25 January 2013 - 06:17 PM.

[dabus]

%IFH% Call %INST% Traduccion_Mejorada "0" means that you get this mod installed if you selected Spanish and then it will install component 0 of the mod.

Other lines don't have that %IFH% at the beginning since you have to give your translations you want in your install. Then the mod and its translations are picked from BiG World Installpack\Tra.txt. If a selected translation is found, you'll get that one. But since you can have mods with several translations and you've got different text-fixes for pure BG2 (while you should only get one) the %IFH% is in there. Otherwise you'd get French and Spanish fixes while you would want to have only French (since BG2 is French).

 

The special case is the input for sub-components. BG1NPC has banters for component 9 that trigger every 60, 45, 30, 15, 90 minutes (or so), and it asks you if you what you want. 1 would be the first option.

[Test Person]

That's a relief, - thanks, - at least I have not gone too far wrong with some of the script! - Another hour of editing and I should know whether my other changes are good or not.

 

Also, as a suggestion for the BWS script, could it be changed to give a user the option of fully expanding the selection tree - ? - This would seriously help speed up selections for users, like myself, who like to cram as much as possible into the game without sacrificing stability in the process and who would be able to use such functionality to cross reference mod and component selections without all the usual hunt, click, and expand annoyances.

[dabus]

I guess you want what can be accessed by clicking Options > View > Show components from the menu on the upper left corner.

[Test Person]

I guess you want what can be accessed by clicking Options > View > Show components from the menu on the upper left corner.

 

C'mon, - how was I to know that? - I grew up on Windows and am used to +signs next to the menu with Javascript to crash the browser and make things expand fully ...and then I found Linux and discovered what a real OS is .

 

BTW: the red colouration for searched for items could do with being changed, because it makes it very hard to see what type of install level the searched for item is. - Maybe some kind of background highlighting, instead, perhaps?

 

Also, something to allow every mod to be downloaded at once - ? - This would be perfect for use with BWP, command line, and save players a lot of time messing around trying to download all they need, or might need, as seperate items.

Edited by Test Person, 25 January 2013 - 06:17 PM.

[Lollorian]

Ok took a while seeing that practically everyone's updating stuff like crazy these days My nitpickings with BWPFixpack v11.3:

- _IDS Files Backup's KIT.IDS still has old non-ToBEx values for BARBARIAN and WILDMAGE
- BPv180 still uses (my fail) exclusion list code for it's inbuilt innatefixer
- com_encounters has wrong VERSION (should be 1.08 now) and also misses a few fixed items
- CtB, Eilistraee worldmap patches not in
- DarkHorizons has lots of items that need fixing (already reported to Solaufein but until the package is updated, these should remain)
- DSotSC patches can be deprecated, but items and spells are needed to be fixed (even in the new version)
- FR_RoV was updated and quite a lot can be deprecated
- planarspheremod missing a patched item

Should be deprecated fully:
- darian
- iepbanters
- iylos
- nephele
- viconia
- xulaye
- yeslicknpc

Missing since the last BWPFixpack for some reason:
- BGT
- Divine Remix
- DQ (FFT's worldmap patch - why was it deprecated?)

Because I'm too lazy to look up the original file attachments themselves in the Fixpack thread, I'm attaching my custom BWPFixpack (yes I have one just for me ) so Leonardo can just do a quick compare and integrate as necessary

PS: I have the git version of BG2Fixpack in my custom BWPFixpack so you may not wanna include that

 

@Leonardo: Please tell me when you've got this attachment so I can remove it. I'm sure you don't want another version of the BWPFixpack doing the rounds of the interwebz

Edited by Lollorian, 27 January 2013 - 01:15 AM.

[Leonardo Watson]

BiG World Installpack-11.3.7z: BiG World Clean-Up.bat (in the move to main folder) has the read only file attribute set, so Big World Install.bat is not able to copy it to the main BGII - SoA directory.

Not true. You will find BiG World Clean-Up.bat in your main BGII - SoA directory.

[dabus]

Also, something to allow every mod to be downloaded at once - ? - This would be perfect for use with BWP, command line, and save players a lot of time messing around trying to download all they need, or might need, as seperate items.

If you only wanted to do the download, you could just tell the BWS to pause after the download and exit there. I also wonder why you'd want to skip the extraction (apart from your NSIS-problem you were chewing on),

As an alternative, you could use a button to list your usrl. That's located on the screen with the backup/test-options (after the folder selection). If you want to, you can edit the output a bit so that only urls show up so that you can copy and paste them into your favorite downloader/browser or use it as a template for something.

Maybe discussing those options over at another thread may be better than hi-jacking this one.

Edited by dabus, 26 January 2013 - 12:57 AM.

[Mad Mate]

...snip...

 

LOLL, some of the stuff are now in "_BWP compatibility" dir, like DQ, CtB, Eilistraee worldmap patches and works great...

Edited by Mad Mate, 26 January 2013 - 06:10 AM.

[Test Person]

Maybe discussing those options over at another thread may be better than hi-jacking this one.

 

Is not a post about the release of a new version, and a request for input from the community, not the best place to put forward suggestions for improvements / amendments and, also, the same for the related BWS? - Personally, I would have thought so ...short of there being a dedicated forum for BWP / BWS with seperate sections for these things .

 

...and my reason for wanting to download all the files is to help with an install of BWP (command line), - as it does not fetch required files it is necessary to provide them all, so utilising the functionality of BWS would make sense. - You have already suggested a HaHa solution (Half and Half), so I using that and, additionally, trying to expand on it.

Edited by Test Person, 26 January 2013 - 11:41 AM.