1192 replies to this topic

[Roxanne]

Oh, I've seen the readme for Sandrah being uploaded. Does it mean that the mod itself will soon follow?

 

Waiting (im)patiently! ^^

The mod is there as well. Just scroll down a bit on the download page to find the links. SHS does no longer support the upload of mods itself.

[Samriel]

Oh, I've seen the readme for Sandrah being uploaded. Does it mean that the mod itself will soon follow?

 

Waiting (im)patiently! ^^

The mod is there as well. Just scroll down a bit on the download page to find the links. SHS does no longer support the upload of mods itself.

 

Yay!! ^^

 

Is the content for ToT also already finished?

[Roxanne]

Oh, I've seen the readme for Sandrah being uploaded. Does it mean that the mod itself will soon follow?

 

Waiting (im)patiently! ^^

The mod is there as well. Just scroll down a bit on the download page to find the links. SHS does no longer support the upload of mods itself.

 

Yay!! ^^

 

Is the content for ToT also already finished?

Yes

[Samriel]

I bow down to you Roxanne.

 

Is there a thread to discuss the EET version of Sandrah or any discussion related to the mod can still be continued here?

[Roxanne]

I bow down to you Roxanne.

 

Is there a thread to discuss the EET version of Sandrah or any discussion related to the mod can still be continued here?

It is here

http://www.shsforums...-support-forum/

 

However it is intended to have bug and problem discussion there, not some *I like/I like not* kind of stuff.

Edited by Roxanne, 23 November 2016 - 03:28 AM.

[Samriel]

I don't have yet( ) any like/dislike stuff though I got some questions that I guess are rather important before I can even start an install.

 

1. Are there any minimum specs requirements? I'm asking since I'm one of the few weirdos who still got windows 7 32 with around 4 GB of RAM ^^;

 

2. It just happens that I got a GOG version of BG1EE SoD and a Beamdog version of BG2EE. Can EET be used to connect such different version of the game or should I purchase either the complimenting version of GOG/Beamdog?

 

3. Errr...do you know where one can find a page with the EET versions of obligatory mods like Planar Sphere or Grey Clan episode 1? I noticed the Northern Tales of the Sword Coast in EET version on the page with the Sandrah download but I did not notice any other obligatory/highly recommended mods in EET version.

 

4. Do you know from your experiences during testing how much free space does the entire(all the Baldur's Gate EET Saga with all must/almost must mods installed) set take? The old version of Sandrah took me around 20-25 GB so I'm curious how much free space should I make before I start installing it all.

Edited by Samriel, 23 November 2016 - 03:54 AM.

[Roxanne]

I don't have yet( ) any like/dislike stuff though I got some questions that I guess are rather important before I can even start an install.

 

1. Are there any minimum specs requirements? I'm asking since I'm one of the few weirdos who still got windows 7 32 with around 4 GB of RAM ^^;

 

2. It just happens that I got a GOG version of BG1EE SoD and a Beamdog version of BG2EE. Can EET be used to connect such different version of the game or should I purchase either the complimenting version of GOG/Beamdog?

 

3. Errr...do you know where one can find a page with the EET versions of obligatory mods like Planar Sphere or Grey Clan episode 1? I noticed the Northern Tales of the Sword Coast in EET version on the page with the Sandrah download but I did not notice any other obligatory/highly recommended mods in EET version.

 

4. Do you know from your experiences during testing how much free space does the entire(all the Baldur's Gate EET Saga with all must/almost must mods installed) set take? The old version of Sandrah took me around 20-25 GB so I'm curious how much free space should I make before I start installing it all.

On the new support site I have linked above you will find the direct links to the most important EET pages where you will find almost all the aswers to the questions you have.

The GOG version of BGEE requires a tool called modmerge to be installed before you can install any other mod, otherwise the two parts are compatible, it is the same game just provided by different sellers.(Both parts must be v2.3). You will find all of that on the EET forum.

My current implementation of EET has 7,4GB for BGEE and 12,2GB for BG2EE (The EET itself is launched from BG2EE after having imported the whole BGEE with mods, i.e. I keep the BGEE installation for convenience although it is not needed after you installed EET = you may free that space once you have done EET install).

[Samriel]

Hmmm, which of the obligatory/highly recommended mods from the readme would you say are "safe"(relatively at least) to install? 

 

Since on the EET page the Vault, Planar Sphere, Siren's Call and the Region of Terror mods at least do not figure among the working ones.

 

Basically, are the Drizzt Saga and BG1 NPCS for BGEE and DSotSC, Ascension, TDDz, NTotSC and Grey Clan for BGEE2 enough to complete all of Sandrah's obligatory quests to start the RTF part?

[Roxanne]

Hmmm, which of the obligatory/highly recommended mods from the readme would you say are "safe"(relatively at least) to install? 

 

Since on the EET page the Vault, Planar Sphere, Siren's Call and the Region of Terror mods at least do not figure among the working ones.

 

Basically, are the Drizzt Saga and BG1 NPCS for BGEE and DSotSC, Ascension, TDDz, NTotSC and Grey Clan for BGEE2 enough to complete all of Sandrah's obligatory quests to start the RTF part?

Yes

 

NB - Siren's Call has been moved from BGEE install into BG2EE for EET, anyway it is not mandatory.

the Vault, Planar Sphere, and the Region of Terror have now been made optional for Sandrah, same for Dark Horizons

[Samriel]

So by "optional" it means that those mods are still being worked on for EET compatibility but are no longer needed right now to complete the Sandrah Saga right?

 

What about Secrets of Bone Hill, Longer Road or Expanded Thief Stronghold? Are these also still in the works or is there a EET version of them somewhere out since the readme mentions them as rather important for the Sandrah mod. Back in the older version of Sandrah I even sorta recalled how Longer Road was possibly obligatory even though I may be wrong...

Edited by Samriel, 23 November 2016 - 06:03 AM.

[Roxanne]

So by "optional" it means that those mods are still being worked on for EET compatibility but are no longer needed right now to complete the Sandrah Saga right?

 

What about Secrets of Bone Hill, Longer Road or Expanded Thief Stronghold? Are these also still in the works or is there a EET version of them somewhere out since the readme mentions them as rather important for the Sandrah mod. Back in the older version of Sandrah I even sorta recalled how Longer Road was possibly obligatory even though I may be wrong...

One of the bigger changes I made, was more independence from other mods. Sandrah is still "better" with those mods but can be played without. Sandrah and Irenicus (from Longer Road) is just more fun than most other NPCs...

 

Once Sandrah is in a stable mode, I may even do some work on other mods that have been abandoned to bring them into EET. I just do that right now for Chloe.

Edited by Roxanne, 23 November 2016 - 07:31 AM.

[agb1]

I've done a bit of work on SoBH's installation script to make it cross-platform (+ Linux/OSX), but haven't looked into EE(T) compatibility.  Rumor has it someone else did a basic conversion but it was too brittle for release.  I expect it will require a lot of time and effort to make it properly compatible (i.e., patching existing content instead of overwriting and deleting anything from other mods).  I don't know of anyone working on it currently.

 

Not sure about Longer Road - I just asked about it in the Beamdog forum thread.  The original author has been active there!

 

Expanded Thief Stronghold is reported to be fully playable on BG2EE, although there might be a few glitches.  It might need a bit of additional patching for EET (e.g., EET uses different chapter numbering).

[Roxanne]

I've done a bit of work on SoBH's installation script to make it cross-platform (+ Linux/OSX), but haven't looked into EE(T) compatibility.  Rumor has it someone else did a basic conversion but it was too brittle for release.  I expect it will require a lot of time and effort to make it properly compatible (i.e., patching existing content instead of overwriting and deleting anything from other mods).  I don't know of anyone working on it currently.

 

Not sure about Longer Road - I just asked about it in the Beamdog forum thread.  The original author has been active there!

 

Expanded Thief Stronghold is reported to be fully playable on BG2EE, although there might be a few glitches.  It might need a bit of additional patching for EET (e.g., EET uses different chapter numbering).

Just my personal assessment from having developped crossmod contents for all three of those mods.

- Expanded Thief Stronghold - the only issue is chapter numbering (while you are in Spellhold/Underdark)

- Longer Road - same (if there is a BG2EE version already?...otherwise normal EE compatibility would be required first.)

- Bone Hill --An EET compatible version can be easily achieved (This is on an island and only connected to the mainland/main plot at a few dedicated points) = the issue is to have EET compatibility + BGT + BG1 + BGEE in one package for whatever reason.

[agb1]

in one package for whatever reason

 

 

Of course the BGT versions of these old mods have been gathering dust for a long time, but when taking existing mods and making them EE-compatible, there's usually some amount of fixes that can still benefit the old platforms.  The classic editions aren't going away any time soon, and many players still want to experience content that hasn't been brought to EE yet, so it's definitely preferred to maintain backwards-compatibility when adding EE(T) compatibility.

 

If it was difficult to maintain backwards compatibility, it would be understandable to avoid the time and effort, but WeiDU makes it easy to maintain backwards compatibility through GAME_IS checks and INCLUDEs and techniques like SPRINT ~eedir~ ~/ee~ .. COPY ~mymod/items%eedir%/mace.itm~ ... so you can retain old-style resource files while also bringing in new ones that use EE-exclusive opcodes, etc.

 

Obviously this argument does not apply to new mods that are created with EE in mod, as there you would actually need to create additional resources compatible with the old platforms.  But if the old-style resources already exist in a mod that is being updated, why throw them away?

 

Edit:  To be clear, I am not including Sandrah in this "old" category.  You've done a lot of completely new development for EE, so you would need to create an entire additional set of resources to provide BGT compatibility.  Likewise, when any old mod converted to EE starts to have significant amounts of new content added to it, I would not expect that new content to be available on the old platform.

Edited by agb1, 23 November 2016 - 08:34 AM.

[Roxanne]

in one package for whatever reason

 

 

Of course the BGT versions of these old mods have been gathering dust for a long time, but when taking existing mods and making them EE-compatible, there's usually some amount of fixes that can still benefit the old platforms.  The classic editions aren't going away any time soon, and many players still want to experience content that hasn't been brought to EE yet, so it's definitely preferred to maintain backwards-compatibility when adding EE(T) compatibility.

 

If it was difficult to maintain backwards compatibility, it would be understandable to avoid the time and effort, but WeiDU makes it easy to maintain backwards compatibility through GAME_IS checks and INCLUDEs and techniques like SPRINT ~eedir~ ~/ee~ .. COPY ~mymod/items%eedir%/mace.itm~ ... so you can retain old-style resource files while also bringing in new ones that use EE-exclusive opcodes, etc.

 

Obviously this argument does not apply to new mods that are created with EE in mod, as there you would actually need to create additional resources compatible with the old platforms.  But if the old-style resources already exist in a mod that is being updated, why throw them away?

 

Edit:  To be clear, I am not including Sandrah in this "old" category.  You've done a lot of completely new development for EE, so you would need to create an entire additional set of resources to provide BGT compatibility.  Likewise, when any old mod converted to EE starts to have significant amounts of new content added to it, I would not expect that new content to be available on the old platform.

Yes and no.

 

Especially the old mega mods have been recently unearthed for EE (see TDDz), These mods include items, spells, enemies and tweaks for another generation of the game. Some of them are considered *overpowered* etc for the old game - but they are like this for a decade already and nobody ever did anything about it.

Converting them to EE/EET provides a chance to improve them especially by using new features (e.g. opcodes) that are not available in the old game. However asking to make these changes available for old game as well may a) be not possible or b) require the respective modder to double the effort and be familiar with both generations of the game. This may cause in the end the job not to be done. Having too many restrictions just keeps people away.

I see an exception in something like *Fishing for Trouble* where the original modmaker has explicitly made this a condition for upgrading his mod.

Otherwise my argument would be, do not touch the old stuff unless you are really dedicated to serve *both worlds*. If there is a fully playable version of the old mod in the old game, why bother? BGT players loose nothing, but you may prevent new players to ever experience some good old mods.

There comes a point (probably with IWD in EET - if not yet reached with SoD already) where we have to admit that the two Baldur's Gate series are significantly different.

Edited by Roxanne, 23 November 2016 - 08:56 AM.

[agb1]

Your points are valid. I come at this from the perspective of someone who is already supporting both worlds, since I am maintaining BWS and the BiG World Fixpack, both cross-platform.  It's all a trade-off of time and effort and knowledge vs. benefit.  I certainly would not argue that backwards compatibility is a must-have.  But if it can be done and kept in the same package as the new code, it usually makes my life easier.

[Roxanne]

Your points are valid. I come at this from the perspective of someone who is already supporting both worlds, since I am maintaining BWS and the BiG World Fixpack, both cross-platform.  It's all a trade-off of time and effort and knowledge vs. benefit.  I certainly would not argue that backwards compatibility is a must-have.  But if it can be done and kept in the same package as the new code, it usually makes my life easier.

Too bad but your points are just as valid - and this is the dilemma.

In the end the whole bunch of work sits with just a few people who have both the knowledge and the determination to do it.

[Samriel]

Hmmm, another few questions:

 

1. Which installation of the Drizzt Saga would you recommend? The default one or the one with the BP-BGT Worldmap version? I see that Sandrah requires the BP-BGT installation so does it mean that it should be the latter by default?

 

2. As a complete EET noob...does the EET need to only be installed within the BG2EE game folder to connect BGEE and BGEE2? I checked the instruction in the EET readme but I just want to make myself sure as to not install and reinstall stuff several times.

 

3. How much time it takes for the EET mod to complete its work? I recall how the installation process for the BWS took me like 2-3 hours so I wonder if I shouldn't just let it install before going to sleep if EET takes as much time or more.

[Roxanne]

Hmmm, another few questions:

 

1. Which installation of the Drizzt Saga would you recommend? The default one or the one with the BP-BGT Worldmap version? I see that Sandrah requires the BP-BGT installation so does it mean that it should be the latter by default?

Drizzt Saga v3 or above (select default option during installation - despite the name it's compatible with both EET Worldmap and BP-BGT Worldmap) http://forum.baldurs...e-compatible/p1

In the setup itself you select the default option - EET itself reads the necessary data and prepares it for worldmap automatically.

2. As a complete EET noob...does the EET need to only be installed within the BG2EE game folder to connect BGEE and BGEE2? I checked the instruction in the EET readme but I just want to make myself sure as to not install and reinstall stuff several times.

Look at these lists

http://gibberlings3....741#entry240673

The mods under point 1 are installed into your BGEE folder.

When you have everything you want from that part of the list, then you go to your BG2EE folder and install EET - this may need some time but I never encountered more than one hour with my PC.

After EET is finished, you install the BG2EE mods you want. Then you do worldmap after all the mods that add new areas. Finally you run the EET_end.setup, this one takes care of merging all the dialogue files from BG1, SoD, SoA and ToB.

3. How much time it takes for the EET mod to complete its work? I recall how the installation process for the BWS took me like 2-3 hours so I wonder if I shouldn't just let it install before going to sleep if EET takes as much time or more.

As an alternative to all this trouble you can just wait until the weekend - The guys from BWS have announced to publish a BWS version for EET installation tomorrow,

[Samriel]

Wow, so the upcoming BWS will be able to adjust EET and all mods compatible with it for the best EET installation?

 

That sure sounds handy!

 

I already installed the mod merger for my GOG version of BG1EE so I was just making my last preparations for installing Sandrah but maybe I should wait for tomorrow after all. Hmmm...

 

Another thing, TDDz is said to require resources from the original version. How should I handle that? Will BWS be able to "fix" that too?

Edited by Samriel, 24 November 2016 - 10:23 AM.