With the release of a newer, better and more powerful BG2, I've decided it's time to 'retire' this mod once and for all.
Why? Many reasons:
- When BP AI mod was separated from the old pre-weidu mix back in 2005, it was the only mod of its kind. But during my "retirement phase" that followed, SCS surfaced. With its ongoing support, it eventually replaced BP as the AI mod of choice. Over 90% of users will use SCS by default, and most of those have never even heard of BP (or, associate the name w/ the mega-mod of the past). I'm fine with this actually. The community only needs one good blanketting generic enemy AI mod, despite what some would have you think. From my experience, installing 2 or more of these just leads to trouble despite modder's efforts.
- BG2:EE already adds some powerful new scripting commands, that BG2 can never benefit from. More are on the way. Eventually these will totally revolutionize AI scripting for the Infinity Engine. The BG2 version just can't compete with what is (even right now) possible. e.g., can you check the range between your nearest party member and nearest enemy, in BG2? Or a LOCALS variable on somebody else? No, of course not--but you already can in BG2:EE.
- To re-do BP for full benefit of the BG2:EE engine would require a reworking from the ground up, of at least 300 scripts. I don't have the time, nor the drive, to do this. Especially when 90%+ of the people will just use SCS anyways.
- The stock enemy AI in BG2:EE is much better than what you found in BG2. When playing BG2, I found something like BP mandatory. In BG2:EE, not so much. I had a very enjoyable playthrough with stock enemy AI.
BP Series will of course live on. There's a space for it in the modern era, and in this modder's honest opinion nothing out there that compares to it. I personally find them a quintessential component in any BG install these days, so you can say I have a vested interest in their continuation. BP Series will benefit from all the new scripting commands, pushing them to their full potential. BP Series will always work with BG2, but I don't know if I can push much more out of it. It will remain in a static state, barring bugifxes--unless something I concoct on the EE side would work on the BG2 side too. I made the latest version of BP Series with this in mind, without using any of the new scripting functions.
If I do anything on BG2:EE for enemy AI, I'd take a entirely different approach. It would not be a blanket AI mod like BP or SCS. Perhaps I'd do a small slice of generic AI, with a fresh twist. Something that compliments the current AI, doesn't replace it. But my emphasis would be on enhancing specific encounters here and there--in particular, ones I found a bit too easy.
I don't have anything planned at this time, but I've tossed and milled several ideas around in this skull of mine. If and when these become concrete, you'll be among the first to know about it. Some of you have been loyal fans of my work for over a decade, and I can't express how much that means to me. I'll show you the same loyalty, in return.
Just don't expect a Big Picture for BG2:EE mod. Maybe some day there will be a "Little Picture". If there is, I can guarantee you'll find it much more enjoyable than the Big Picture, ounce for ounce. Maybe I'll preserve some of the more popular snippets of the old BP, if such a thing ever surfaces? And I'll listen to your input (what you'd like to keep, or see happen), if such a thing ever happens.
This isn't to say, that BP won't work with BG2:EE. In fact, the next bugfix version of BP was tested on BG2:EE, and installed fine. The bit I tried played fine, though the animations were off (e.g., Duergar transform into Orog, not Frost Giant). I'm just not planning to support it, and build on it with the new technology. If I have to start from scratch anyways, I'll truly start from scratch and use what I've learned in the last decade or so (especially the last 3 1/2 years, working in the industry). It's time to move forwards, not look backwards, for this modder.
