89 replies to this topic

[phlaphee]

Hi guys! It's been a couple of years since I've started modding the hell out of the BG series using either BWP or BWS. But after so many attempts at finishing even the BG1 part of the game I've reached some conclusions with regards to mega mods and have slowly started to filter the mods I'd use.

What I'd like to do here is list the mods I'd like to use on my future installs, by each chapter in the BWP manual. I'd like to discuss with the community here if there are any mods I should be adding, or if there are any known bugs/conflicts with the mods I'll be listing.

My focus will be:

- I don't want to add TOO much content, so therefore the big mods, Vecna, Fishing for Trouble or NEJ are out of the question. Plus, from my experience, the equipment found in there are overpowering + getting them to work together correctly seems to be a pain in the arse.

- As many improvements and bug fixes as possible

- I'm very interested in HLA table changing mods (especially Divine Remix, though I know it conflicts with Spell Revisions if I'm not mistaking)

- I really don't need all the kits the mods have to offer, so will limit myself to only a few.

- I'm interested only in high-quality NPCs, And by that I don't mean NPCs that you and other people LIKE, but NPCs who trully have personality (even if they get on your nerves) or actually bring something new to the game.

- I also plan on editing a few things in the install.bat, like mod options etc. But that will be discussed.

 

So I'l start listing the chapters and what I'll be installing from them.

 

 

I've added the whole list here, I'll be highlighting mods I've added / dropped / am not sure to install.

 

 

01. CORRECTIONS

- Throne of Bhaal Extender (TobEx) Beta

- BG2 Fixpack-v9.01

- Baldurdash Weidu v1.68

 

 

02. IMPROVEMENTS AND PRE-NEJ MODS

- igi's Key Names v2

- One Pixel Productions v2.7

 

 

03. NEVER ENDING JOURNEY (NEJ)

04. THE BIG BG2 MODS

 

05. BGT TRILOGY

- Baldur’s Gate Trilogy v1.15

- Jondalar Fix for BGT v1.1

- Restored Prologue Textscreen Music for BG1TuTu and BGT-WeiDU v8

- BGTNeJ2 v1.1

 

 

05a. NEVER ENDING JOURNEY 2 (NEJ2) - BGT COMPATIBLE

- Tortured Souls v7.04 // After a lot of comments about it, I've decided not to include it.

 

 

06. THE BIG BG1 MODS

- none!

 

07. BG1 QUEST MODS

- BG1 Mini Quests and Encounters v7

- The Lure of the Sirine's Call v11

- The Vault v7.2

- The Grey Clan Episode I: In Candlelight v1.8.T1 // it's okay, challenging, but doesn't fit the story overall

 

08. BG1 STORES AND ITEMS

- Herbs and Potions Add-in for Baldur's Gate 1.0.3

- ThalantyrItemUpgradeMod v3.7

- Lost Items Version Revised 2

 

09. BG1 NPC MODS

- BG1NPC Project v20

- BG1NPC Music Pack v5

- Indira _v10.4_BGT

- Mur'Neth v10

- Mulgore & Xavia NPC v5.0 for BGT and TuTu

- Xan's friendship path for BG1 v6

- Coran's BG Extended Friendship Talks for Tutu and BGT v3

- Ajantis BG1 Expansion v6

- Finch NPC MOD For BG1Tutu v3.0

- Gavin v8

 

10. BG1 RULES AND TWEAKS

- BG1 Unfinished Business v13
- BGSpawn system v1.11
- ktweaks v1.06
- Item Revisions v3
- Baldurdash Weidu v1.68

 

11. BG2 QUEST MODS:

- Expanded Thief Stronghold v2.20

- Adalon's Blood (Silberdrachenblut) v10

- Tower Of Deception v3.3.1

- Assassinations v8

- Tales of the Deep Gardens 9.9

- Innershade v5.1

- The White Queen v2.0

- Eilistraee's Song v3.1

- Every Mod and Dog v6 // convinced by comments to include it 

 

12. BG2 TACTICAL ENCOUNTERS:

- Azengaard Tactical Encounter MOD v5.0

- CoM Encounters v1.06 // seems to have quite overpowered items, I probably won't be installing it

- Deeper_Shadows_of_Amn_v2.2.4 (DSoA)

- Domains of Dread-WeiDU v3

- Improved Asylum v0.981

- Super Firkraag Mod v1.5

- D's Odd Quest Mod v1 (früher Imnesvale)

- Arena v1

 

13. BG2 STORES AND ITEMS:

- Weimer's Item Upgrade v38

- Item Upgrade Audio - Cespenar Audio v1

- Enhanced BG2 v1.1

- RItemPackv2 = RPG Dungeon Item Pack

- A Mod for the Orderly – CliffKey v5

- Konalan's Tweaks v2.2

- Herbs and Potions Add-in for Baldur's Gate 2 v1.0.4

 

14. BG2 NPC MODS:
- Amber v2.6
- Angelo v4
- Kido v7
- Kindrek v2.5
- Kivan and Deheriana Companions for BG2 v13
- Saerileth v15
- Sarah ToB v3.1
- Tashia Remix v1.3
- Varshoon - an Illithid NPC v4.2
- Valen v45
- Worgas v1.1
- Yvette Romance v2.0

- Beyond the Law v1.35 // this mod was added due to sugestions on the thread

- Vampire Tales 1.03 // convinced by comments to include it

15. BG2 ONE-DAY NPCS:

16. BG2 NPC-RELATED MODS:
- Alcool v0.11
- Banter Pack v12
- Chloe v1.5
- Cloakwood Squares v4
- de'Arnise Romance v3
- Edwin Romance v2
- Garrick's Infatuation  // this one is supposed to be in the BG1 section of NPCs
- IEP Extended Banter v4
- Imoen Friendship v2
- Jan's Extended Quest v1.44
- The Jerry Zinger Show v4
- Korgan's Redemption v8
- LaValygar v1.0
- Mazzy Friendship v2.0
- Tsujatha v13
- Viconia Friendship v3.1
- Yoshimo Friendship v2.0

17. MORE BG2 NPC MODS:

 

18. MINI-MODS:
- The Holy Hand Grenade v1.3

- Lucy the Wyvern v4

- Quallo v1.14

- Shed's Mods v1.03

- Slandor - The Minotaur and Lilacor v1.6

- The Slithering Menace (Snakes) v 3.4

- Au service d'Oghma v1.6

- TurnipGolem v4

- Zalnoya and the Shadow Thieves v1.5

 

19. BG2 RULES, TWEAKS AND SPELLS:

- Ding0's QuestPack v2.3

- Drizzt Is Not Stupid (BGT) v1.1

- Fading Promises v6

- Ghost v2.1 // decided to skip it due to comments

- gMinion v2 // decided to skip it due to comments

- NPC Tweak v5

- Spell Revisions v3.1

- Lost Crossroads Spell Pack for Baldur's Gate 2 = SpellPackB6

- Teleport Spell v14

- The Undying v2.10 // comments suggest it brings some REALLY tough fights early in the game.

- Unfinished Business for BGII v19

- Wild Mage Additions v1.7 // due to the IMPOSSIBLE encounter it installs in conjunction with AI mods, not sure about this one

 

20. ASCENSION-RELATED MODS

- Big Picture v1.80c

- Lol's RezMod v2.5

- Sword Coast Stratagems v21

- Tactics v25

- Turnabout v1

- The Longer Road v1.5.1

- P&P Celestials v5

- Grimuars v3.3da

- Homeward Bound v6

- Throne of Bhaal Revisited beta 4 // Unfinished, seems to be buggy

- The Wheels of Prophecy v2 // convinced by comments to include it

 

21. KELSEY/SOLAUFEIN RELATED NPC MODS:

- Solaufein NPC v1.04

- Solaufein Flirt Pack v1.1

- Kelsey SoA 2.1

- Kelsey ToB 2.2

- Getting Rid of Anomen v2

- Keto v3

- Nathaniel v4.2

- The Luxley Family v1.1

- Kiara-Zaiya v1.6.2 // as it overwrites a lot of stuff on install, I'll be avoiding it

- NPCFlirt Pack v1.02

- Romantic Encounters v6

- Haer'Dalis Romance v2

- Revised Battles v6.3

- The MTS Crappack v4 // for some reason, it doesn't install components 29 and 31 when it should

- Sarevok Romance v1

- Crossmod Banter Pack for Baldur's Gate II v14

 

22. KITS:

- Conductor Kit v1.0

- The Elven Package v0.95

- Legion of Hell

- NPC Kitpack v3

 

23. HLA-TABLES CHANGING MODS:

- Song and Silence (SaA) v5

- Divine Remix v7.1 // It conflicts with Spell Revisions and Spell Pack sadly. I probably won't be installing this

- Paladins of Faerun Kitpack v4 // It requires Divine remix, so probably NO

- Sword and Fist v7

- Rogue ReBalancing v4.50

 

24. POST-BP TWEAKS:

- aTweaks v4.01

- B!Tweaks v4 lite

- BG2 Tweaks v11

- BGTTweak Pack v11

- BuTcHeRy v3.2

- Cursed Items Revision v3.5

- Ding0's Tweak Pack v20

- Drows v1.1 // Decided not to install this one due to comments

- PnP Free Action v2

- Haiass el lobo v2.3

- Thrown Hammers v3

- igi's Item Mod v5

- Jarl’s BGT Tweak Pack v1.73

- Mix Mod v5

- Sword Coast Stratagems II v21

- Turambar fixes and tweaks 1.8

 

 

25. GRAPHIC AND PORTRAIT MODS:

- One Pixel Productions v2.7

- One Pixel Productions v3: Avatar Fixes

- 1ppv3: Female Dwarves

- 1pp: Thieves Galores v1.1

- Wizard Slayer Rebalancing 1.06

- Bard Song Switching (Icewind Mode) v1.5  // decided to drop it after comments

- Aurora's Shoes and Boots v5

- Hard Times for BGT v2.4

- Item Randomiser v6.8

- The Bigg Tweak Pack v2.61

- P5Tweaks v5.1

- Unique Containers v3

- Celestiales v1.2

- Replacement Lightmaps v1.3

- Infinity Animations beta 5

- IA Content: D2 Bear & Werebear v.1.0

- BGT NSC Portraits v2.1

 

26. CLOSER INSTALLATION:

- BP-Balancer-v0.33f // not really needed due to the list of mods I'm using

- BP BGT Worldmap v9.0.1

- Sword Coast Map Labels v2

- Creature Slot Fixer v2

- Resurrected igi's Spell System Adjustments Mod v7.1 // One needs to understand how this mod works, and posibly use his own files

- Level 1 NPCs v20

- Widescreen Mod v3.05

- Generalized Biffing v2.1

Edited by phlaphee, 21 March 2013 - 11:37 PM.

[phlaphee]

01. CORRECTIONS

- Throne of Bhaal Extender (TobEx) Beta

- BG2 Fixpack-v9.01

- Baldurdash Weidu v1.68

 

 

I think these are essential, so no real debate here.

[phlaphee]

02. IMPROVEMENTS AND PRE-NEJ MODS

- igi's Key Names v2

- One Pixel Productions v2.7

 

No "Oversight mod" as it's expert and also clashes with other HLA changing mods I plan on installing.

Probably no debate here either.

[phlaphee]

Nothing form the sections

03. NEVER ENDING JOURNEY (NEJ)

04. THE BIG BG2 MODS

 

All form the section:

05. BGT TRILOGY

- Baldur’s Gate Trilogy v1.15

- Jondalar Fix for BGT v1.1

- Restored Prologue Textscreen Music for BG1TuTu and BGT-WeiDU v8

- BGTNeJ2 v1.1

 

I'm interested in the 'Charming rogue' kit for Imoen, that's why BGTNej. Probably no comments here either.

[phlaphee]

05a. NEVER ENDING JOURNEY 2 (NEJ2) - BGT COMPATIBLE

- Tortured Souls v7.04

 

There have been reported issues with this mod in megamod installations. Seeing as I won't be installing ANY of the big mods, is this one gonna cause issues? I like the idea behind the mod, but I can as easily leave without it.

 

Please comment upon this!

[Beleg33]

05. BGT TRILOGY
- Jondalar Fix for BGT v1.1

Most likely useless mod by now (? Fixed within BGT?)

05a. NEVER ENDING JOURNEY 2 (NEJ2) - BGT COMPATIBLE
- Tortured Souls v7.04
 
There have been reported issues with this mod in megamod installations. Seeing as I won't be installing ANY of the big mods, is this one gonna cause issues? I like the idea behind the mod, but I can as easily leave without it.
 
Please comment upon this!

Not issues with other megamods that I recall, only install issues I remember were conflicts with NPC mods (Edwin romance at least) installed further down that I could manually fix (*). Currently playtesting it.

(*) Basically TS adds some variable (VP_on_island IIRC) to prevent some lovetalks, stronghold or quest messengers etc.. to trigger while on this adventure away from the sword coast. Then other mods have troubles when trying to REPLACE_XXX these script blocks, expecting vanilla ones, so I did the script changes manually.

[Lollorian]

JondalarFix can still be used BGT doesn't try to change Jondalar's dialogue because it wants to stay true to BG1, JondalarFix adds a line of dialogue to him (something BGT will probably never try to do unnecessarily )

 

About the Charming Rogue, Jarno would know more about it

 

As for TS, I'm not sure you'd want to install that because it adds practically megamod sized content (also, it's kinda buggy when used in a BGT setup... the BWP used to use a BP-compatible version of TS earlier, not sure why they decided to make the jump )

 

Also, the things you might wanna research about before installing lie in the Rules & Tweaks section of the BWP (some of them are really game changing)

[Eric P.]

01. CORRECTIONS

- Throne of Bhaal Extender (TobEx) Beta

- BG2 Fixpack-v9.01

- Baldurdash Weidu v1.68

 

 

I think these are essential, so no real debate here.

 

My understanding has been that we install either BG2 Fixpack or Baldurdash, but not both, and that Fixpack is the better choice of the two.

[dabus]

You can have parts of BDash if you use the BWP since it patches the tp2-file.

[phlaphee]

JondalarFix can still be used BGT doesn't try to change Jondalar's dialogue because it wants to stay true to BG1, JondalarFix adds a line of dialogue to him (something BGT will probably never try to do unnecessarily )

 

About the Charming Rogue, Jarno would know more about it

 

As for TS, I'm not sure you'd want to install that because it adds practically megamod sized content (also, it's kinda buggy when used in a BGT setup... the BWP used to use a BP-compatible version of TS earlier, not sure why they decided to make the jump )

 

Also, the things you might wanna research about before installing lie in the Rules & Tweaks section of the BWP (some of them are really game changing)

 

Well, I knew it added content... but that much? I don't really have problems with content, but it seems to throw things off balance for no particular reason.

Well, seeing that people say it's buggy and kinda large, that one's off the chart I guess!

 

Also, I know most of the changes which lie within rules and tweaks... but I'd rather discuss them when I get to that chapter.

 

More comments are still appreciated! I'll move over to the next chapter after a few days.

Edited by phlaphee, 21 January 2013 - 12:50 PM.

[phlaphee]

Ok, since no one's saying anything at the moment, here's the list of the next chapter's install:

 

06. THE BIG BG1 MODS

- none!

 

07. BG1 QUEST MODS

- BG1 Mini Quests and Encounters v7

- The Lure of the Sirine's Call v11

- The Vault v7.2

 

08. BG1 STORES AND ITEMS

- Herbs and Potions Add-in for Baldur's Gate 1.0.3

- ThalantyrItemUpgradeMod v3.7

- Lost Items Version Revised 2

 

09. BG1 NPC MODS

- BG1NPC Project v20

- BG1NPC Music Pack v5

- Indira _v10.4_BGT

- Mur'Neth v10

- Mulgore & Xavia NPC v5.0 for BGT and TuTu

- Xan's friendship path for BG1 v6

- Coran's BG Extended Friendship Talks for Tutu and BGT v3

- Ajantis BG1 Expansion v6

- Finch NPC MOD For BG1Tutu v3.0

- Gavin v8

 

So any comments on the above components? Any buggy mods / mod clashes or badly writtent NPCs?

 

I really like Finch and Mur'neth, never played Indira and Gavin is a little too 'good of a guy' for my taste. Are the mods for the bioware NPC's good?

 

I've also heard very good thing's about 'Ascalons Breagar' but from my knowledge, it's not in English.

 

Don't know anything about 'Huple', except it's not in English.

[Nightfarer]

I've also heard very good thing's about 'Ascalons Breagar' but from my knowledge, it's not in English.

 

Don't know anything about 'Huple', except it's not in English.

 

Ascalons Breagar and Questpack are under proofreading. I turned them into English.

 

I also turned Huple into English, but proofreading is required.

[phlaphee]

So I guess by the time I'm done with my mod selection, there's a slight chance to have them available? That's cool.

 

Does anyone have any insight on the two mods in terms of NPC quality / ballance / bugs /content ?

[Nightfarer]

So I guess by the time I'm done with my mod selection, there's a slight chance to have them available? That's cool.

 

I'm not in a position to say that.

 

However, these mods (as well as others) are going to support english. (Sooner or later).

 

You may find infos about at the following topic: http://www.shsforums...r-various-mods/

[phlaphee]

No more comments? I take it all is well so far?

[phlaphee]

Ok, further down the road:

 

10. BG1 RULES AND TWEAKS

- BG1 Unfinished Business v13
- BGSpawn system v1.11
- ktweaks v1.06
- Item Revisions v3
- Baldurdash Weidu v1.68

 

I modifi the install.bat to use Dexterity penalty and speed /  movement penalty for armors for the item revisions part (though I don't think this is the part where THAT specific component installs)

[Lollorian]

You might wanna skip BDash if you're not installing NeJ or TS... unless it has some components you explicitly like

 

ItemRev changes lots of stuff btw and mod-added items stick out like a sore thumb with it installed (it also has a small-ish cosmetic conflict with 1PP's helmet graphics if you install that later)

[phlaphee]

ItemRev changes lots of stuff btw and mod-added items stick out like a sore thumb with it installed (it also has a small-ish cosmetic conflict with 1PP's helmet graphics if you install that later)

 

How exactly do items added by other mods stick out? Also, taking into account the fact that I'm avoiding the big mods, is this still relevant?

 

I remember installing full plate mod once... and yeah, items added by mods were quite obvious. Is this the same case?

 

I plan on doing my next install after ItemRev becomes compatible with 1PPv4. From what I've read, ItemRev is being worked on for that purpose.

[phlaphee]

Ok, moving on to the BG2 section:

 

11. BG2 QUEST MODS:

- Expanded Thief Stronghold v2.20

- Adalon's Blood (Silberdrachenblut) v10

- Tower Of Deception v3.3.1

- Assassinations v8

- Tales of the Deep Gardens 9.9

- Innershade v5.1

- The White Queen v2.0

- Eilistraee's Song v3.1

 

 

So are any of the above suffering from any bugs I should know about? Especially given what I've installed before? Unbalanced items perhaps?

Any other good quest mods? I've heard good things about Tales of Anegh and Fishing for Trouble, but those two seem to be pretty big.

[Jarno Mikkola]

My understanding has been that we install either BG2 Fixpack or Baldurdash, but not both, and that Fixpack is the better choice of the two.

You can have parts of BDash if you use the BWP since it patches the tp2-file.

Yeah, this is another one of those BWP/PC ONLY specific things... that a Mac user has to dismiss ...

About the Charming Rogue, Jarno would know more about it

Well, the BGTNeJ2 v1.1 compatibility editions of the kit that places it on Imoen will trash your game as Imoen will never show up on the BG2 - SoA start scene, as it's cheeses up the scene... leaving you to the cut scene mode indefinitely.
It's not the kit, but how it's implemented that make it happen. You can for example use the MegaModKits Charmong Rogue kit with Level 1 NPCs Imoen component to properly implement the kit.

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 04 February 2013 - 10:07 AM.