powers? In the normal game there is only Gram's Grief which grants a save, the sword of mask which is 15% and black razor which is only a +3 weapon...any weapons out there that have a regular, reliable energy drain?

Define "regular." Much higher than 15% with no save would be pretty blatantly overpowered.

First of, I apologize for..uh... necroposting, is it called?... earlier.

No need.

Second, does anyone know if the mod "Cassandra" was ever finished?
It was supposed to allow the party to 'adopt' the escaping clone of Ellisime instead of killing her.

Near as I can tell, no. Have you tried contacting the mod authors from the post on CoM?

I always thought it was bloody unfair I had to kill the poor girl, and several times I even pretended I didn't notice the door to the cloning room, and left the dungeon without killing her. So a mod that would allow me not only save her but also shape her character and abilities would make me a very happy player indeed.

You could do so yourself, you know. Either offer to "resurrect" the mod (see the "mod resurrections" forum on SHS for more detail), create a new NPC mod (with a different name?), or make a smaller mod that would allow you to talk her down from the confrontation and escape without joining her party, which would at least prevent the whole having-to-kill-her thing (and would be pretty trivial to accomplish).

Is it possible to have the game allow me to choose a Half-Elf Paladin or a Halfling Bard? I thought that sort of thing was hard coded but then i went to the wiki and i found nothing about that...

It's very possible to change the kit list for a given race+class combination but the number of "class" entries on a given race's GUI might well be hard-coded.

I don't have the time to sift through the thread for it; has anyone else noted that the file attachment limit has shrunk to 10MB?

What happened to the red-on-black theme?

The pseudo-thread format of PMs is nicely awkward and counterintuitive. What do the "x" and "page" symbols by the messages - err threads - mean?

What happened to the red-on-black theme?

This is just the next incarnation of the theme.

That's what I was afraid of.

RtW isn't a total conversion, as well, and it's not stopped either--just on hold.

These things take time, but that doesn't mean you should write them off.

Same for [Insert catchy title for what I've been referring to simply by it's primary new and only joinable NPC, Arkalian, here], which isn't a partial conversion by any means, but approaches that league in terms of ambition.

Although, it's not really "sandbox" at all. Personally, I am probably not likely to play such a game because I'm more attracted to the story anyway, but I would suggest that a good model to look to would be Fallout 2, which allows you to continue playing, if you choose, after completing the main storyline (I believe there is a cutoff, after a certain amount of game time, but it's pretty generous - four game years, something like that?). Unless you're hell-bent on ditching the BG2 plotline altogether, adding some of the open-ended features you describe, some more side quests, and the ability to return to the worldmap and/or travel between worldmaps after beating Melissan, if you choose to remain mortal, would be a useful angle for implementing some of this kind of functionality/feel.

I'm trying to learn a bit about the game engine and I guess this might be the best place to ask.
I didn't see any post guidelines, but if my thread is inappropriate in this forum any moderator is free to delete it.

My question is how the game engine handles proficiency bonuses and which file needs to be altered to change these?
I know that profs.2da handles how many points a character is given upon creation and how often they receive additional points.
Is there a table for the bonuses or is this aspect handled differently by the engine?

I know it's possible to modify which weapons are covered by which proficiencies because there have been mods that did that (lumping katana/wakizashi/ninja-to, and mace/morningstar, together in a fashion that actually has some logical relation to their design and use). The specific bonuses given by each point in each value of proficiency might be hardcoded, however. Anyone else care to weigh in?

I've got few old NPC ideas. Here's latest one - aim was to create scoundrel/trickster type of character with a bit of nostalgic fantasy-scheme story, who brings to game a bit of his many talents, charm and sharp tongue.

Name: Finvar
Race: Half-elf
Gender: Male
Class: Fighter/Thief/Mage
Alignment: Neutral Good/Neutral (I wasn't so sure about this one).
Stats: Str 14/Dex 16/Con 9/Int 14/Wis 11/Cha 16
Profinencies: 2* Long Sword 2* Crossbow 1* Staff

Story: Finvar is an outcome of as passionate as short romance between elven wizardress and human noble. He raised in castle of his father, but as bastard (his father had also a wife, so...) his childhood wasn't very pleasant. Because of his step-mother and 'brothers' which always regarded him as lower-kind, peasant and pain in the *ss he didn't needed too much time for deciding that he should leave father's keep so he did without any doubts. (here you can insert story about being interested in his beautiful sister and being kicked out from father's castle). He met kind-hearted old bard-trickster and shouted 'I want you to teach me everything about... about...' 'About what?' 'About swords... bows... magic... stealth... that stuff!' and when at start of his training young Finvar was thinking about coming back to father's keep and fight for that what (in his opinion) he deserved, he quickly forgotten about his past. Also, very quickly he became very proficient beguiler who thanks to his innate charisma, quick hands, a bit of magic earned enough money for bed, food and vine. And for long time it was enough for him. Also he served in few adventuring companies but he never could find his place. He wandered to Amn because of letter sent to him by his father (who was only one person who in his specific way accepted his presence in castle) who wrote to him, that he heard that his true mother was present somewhere in Amn or Tethyr...

Special Feature:
Finvar is a kind of great learner so many times in banters between him and his companions he can learn a lot of stuff. Yoshimo is showing him a bit of his secrets of pickpocketing (+5%), Anomen shows proper fighting stance (+1 to ThaC0), spellbook stolen from Edwin grants him possibility of learning few med-level spells.

Quests:
- Finvar posses a map which states where legendary pirate Oakhurst delSol is keeping his treasure! Of course when you try to look for it you're finding cave, where... there are few sea zombies and nothing else. Dawg.
- Storyline of looking for his mother, maybe they can meet up at Suldanesselar. Dunno.

Why not a bard? Most of the relevant skills without the experience penalty and it makes sense given his mentor.

Request updated slightly due to my conclusions about the game handling of time-of-day detailed in this thread

I've got Adobe Photoshop

That, doubtless, would help. x.x

1. What type of area artwork are you requesting: Indoor or Outdoor?

Outdoor.

2. Specifically what type of area - city, dungeon, forest, something else?

A small village in a streamside and roadside clearing in an otherwise hilly/rocky forested area.

3. Size of area artwork requested? (Remember that the game has size limitations.)

Large, probably full-size or nearly so (79x59 tiles = 5040x3776 pixels).

4. Where in the game will this area occur and which areas will it link?

The area location will be approximately as indicated in the attached image and it will serve as a worldmap link and hub area.

5. Should the area artwork have both night and day versions? (The artist will essentially have to create the area twice - think hard if you really need both)

[EDIT]Tentatively no; I want to experiment and see if the game will handle it the way it handles day/night with Umar Hills, Brynnlaw, etc. without needing a separate Night WED and such).[/EDIT]

6. Describe your vision of the area in detail! Give some backstory to the area, the intended use, a sketch of the intended area artwork...

The area is the outside map of Rookswale, a small village which originally grew up around an inn and trading post in northern Amn, in the foothills of the Cloudpeaks, consisting of the inn itself, several houses, a modest sized bunkhouse, and a shrine to Selune.  Although the inn and the shrine are still maintained by their original proprietors and still see some business from occasional travelers, the reduction in traffic along this particular trade route and the strange, subtle sense of unease the location exudes have resulted in Rookswale being largely abandoned.  Aside from the inn and shrine, most of the buildings have fallen into disrepair, though several have subsequently become home to vagabonds and the destitute.  The party arrives shortly after a group of bandits have taken over the town, though they are using the existing buildings.

7. Will the artist have some freedom to compose the area, or should the request parameters be followed to the letter?

The number of functional buildings is fairly inflexible, as are any details given about them, but otherwise the artist's innovation is encouraged.

8. Are there any special features you need? (for example a statue that opens to reveal a secret passageway etc.)

The northern area of the map should be rocky and hilly, with a small cave entrance that is partially obscured by brush and hence not immediately obvious.  A road runs through the area from east to west, at or south of the middle of the map; winding is fine.  Somewhat north of the road there is a good-sized stream which cuts across the map, from about northeast to southwest.  Between the stream and road are a series of buildings, including four houses/cabins, a bunkhouse(larger cabin), an inn, and a shrine.  Cabin graphics should be drawn from those in wilderness areas in BG1 and/or in Nashkel ([EDIT] Ulgoth's Beard wouldn't be a bad source either[/EDIT]) or the like; the interior graphics will re-use some from BG1.  The shrine should comprise a modest cabin adjacent to a small stone circle surrounding a flat stone, ideally with the symbol of Selune imprinted on it, and should have a sign of some sort, ideally with the symbol of Selune as well.  The inn exterior should use the inn from Nashkel in BG1, as the corresponding interior map will be modified slightly for it, and there should be a well fairly close to the inn.  The building should be fairly close together, and the set of buildings should occupy at most about 1/4-1/3 of the map.  In addition to the functional buildings noted, one or two that are too broken down for use would be a nice touch.  The area, aside from the stream and road, should be lightly forested (including the areas between buildings in this is fine), similar to what we see with Imnesvale, but there should be a few good-sized open spaces.

9. Any deadlines?

None.

10. What game and what mod is this for?

Arkalian, BG2/TOB mod.

11. Anything else you'd like to mention?

I will also need one or two modified versions of this map; I will decide exactly how to approach that once I've seen the original.

I might be willing to attempt this, but would you mind if it were in SoA's area style, rather than Baldur's Gate I's style?

That's fine with me; the only concern I had with that was the limited number of suitably weathered building graphics in SOA. I'm not particularly attached to what I had in mind with the inn's interior map if something else works better for you, for instance (then again, there's already precedent for building interiors not perfectly matching the exterior arrangement). I'm interested to see what you come up with. ^.^

[EDIT]Looking through the maps again, there's probably an adequate supply of cabin-ish buildings among the various ones, so this should be fine, particularly if parts of buildings were mixed and matched. And the main concern there is the weathered-ness anyway, so...

Linky to FFT Resources. Big file - +90Mbs.

-Y-

Thanks. Unfortunately quite a few of these just pop up messages to the effect that they weren't saved the right way in Photoshop to be viewable in anything else, but I wouldn't anticipate that causing trouble for most of the people who'd be working on the areas.

Are you opposed to something smaller than full-sized if it still has the required details?

Not strongly; I just want to make sure there's a fair amount of space. [EDIT]I should amend that. Full-size isn't critical, but it shouldn't be too small since there should be a reasonable amount of space around the village (the cave mentioned, in particular, should be some distance away from it on the map).

I suppose actually attaching an image would help:

Wait a few hours; I've just uploaded all the graphics resources I created for Fishing For Trouble including all of the buildings. I'm just waiting a reply from Kae as to the best place to make them available - you may find something useful.

-Y-

Awesome; thanks.

Heya Az

I made this area for Zyraen several years ago and it wasn't used. It has no night map, but one could probably be made. Yours if it suits your needs

Cuv

This is good and actually very much in the spirit of what I had in mind, but my first impression is that the details aren't quite what I'm looking for. I'll have to give it some more thought; it would be helpful if you posted or PM'ed to me the full-size bmp. Also, if I did decide to use this, would you be okay with modifying it slightly or allowing someone else to do so? (Or, slightly and then significantly, since I will also eventually need a somewhat modified version of whatever background I do go with for the initial village, for the return later in the game).

Also if you do decide to use Cuv's, which looks really good by the way (I love new areas!), I have a night light filter I use that gives it the slight blue tinge as in Baldur's Gate night maps.

That's definitely worth looking at; thanks.

PILGRIM/PROPETH/BETTER TITLE PLEASE

Evangelist?

[EDIT]

CRUSADER/DEFENDER OF FAITH/BATTLEPRIEST
- Can use any type of weapon

Unfortunately, the way item usability works, you'd pretty much have to make this guy a paladin subclass to pull this off, as I understand it (there was a druid kit that could use crossbows that had a similar problem, as I recall).

1. What type of area artwork are you requesting: Indoor or Outdoor?

Outdoor.

2. Specifically what type of area - city, dungeon, forest, something else?

Building-in-the-wilderness; BG1 style is probably preferable for consistency.

3. Size of area artwork requested? (Remember that the game has size limitations.)

Modest - comparable to BG2 AR6100 or BG2 AR2500 would be fine.

4. Where in the game will this area occur and which areas will it link?

The area is physically located on the coast South of Waterdeep and West of the Ardeep Forest; it is accessible via the Pocket Plane rather than the worldmap and links to a couple levels of building interior and a dungeon of sorts.

5. Should the area artwork have both night and day versions? (The artist will essentially have to create the area twice - think hard if you really need both)

Tentatively no.

6. Describe your vision of the area in detail! Give some backstory to the area, the intended use, a sketch of the intended area artwork...

The area is an estate of sorts with a sizable and comfortable but tasteful house built about a century ago by a wizard who subsequently left its upkeep and that of the surrounding grounds to enchantments, Invisible Servants, and the elements.  The land it is located on was once a small farm but has not functioned as one for more than that century, and has been largely overgrown; the crumbled remains of a very humble farmhouse (perhaps just the foundation stones and some boards) should be visible somewhere near the lower right corner.  The western edge of the map and the north-west corner end in a sea cliff, with some water visible below at the extreme left.  The house itself should use the "mansion" graphic from Beregost (BG1 AR3300, with the door around x3650,y920), optionally with some minor effects and edits to make it seem more weathered (this is not essential), and should be located within about 10-15 character spaces from the cliffside, near the upper left corner (the trees overlapping the mansion should be transplanted but the well-kept garden path up to it should not be); the path to the door is basically nonexistent, being completely overgrown.  Two graves with simple headstones should be visible a short distance away from the ruins of the farmhouse, and I will need an overlay tile/"door"/whatever for a third grave (newly dug, to the extent that effect can be achieved - perhaps without grass whereas the others have it) alongside them; an additional grave, with a natural stone rather than a carved headstone, should be located closer to the house but still a moderate distance away from it, in the general direction of the upper right hand corner.  The general area should be lightly forested, with trees and grass and brush and such taken from BG1 wilderness areas.

7. Will the artist have some freedom to compose the area, or should the request parameters be followed to the letter?

What's described above is strongly preferred, but I am amenable to suggestions regarding some of the details, and the landscape around what is specified is for the most part up to the artist.  There might be an old well about intermediate between the house and the ruins of the farmhouse, if one that looks like it hasn't been used in at least 15 years can be readily made and placed.  A small stream somewhere wouldn't be a bad effect either but it's not at all essential.

8. Are there any special features you need? (for example a statue that opens to reveal a secret passageway etc.)

Only as noted in the description: the overlay tile for the third grave and also one for the closed door to the house, also taken from the mansion in Beregost.

9. Any deadlines?

None.

10. What game and what mod is this for?

BG2/TOB, Arkalian.

11. Anything else you'd like to mention?

Nope.

Trying one more time, but realizing I may need to do this myself. >.>

On that note, photoshop is out of the question due to price range and forced circumspection on discussion of alternative pricing.  Any suggestions for free programs with a similar relevant feature set?

Just poking this in case anyone new is interested or someone who passed over it before has time.

I think you want more of a 3D modelling program to do most of this, unless you are strictly copying and pasting from other areas. Blender and Google SketchUp are both free 3D modellers. Most people who do IE areas seem to use 3DS Max, which isn't typically free, but has a free version for gaming Gmax.

I don't think I have TIME to do most of this in a 3D modeling program, though I've more or less resigned myself to that for certain indoor areas that should be more manageable on several levels.  Really, I'm reusing whatever I can without breaking immersion or the feel I'm going for.

Perfect; thanks.

1. What type of area artwork are you requesting: Indoor or Outdoor?

Outdoor.

2. Specifically what type of area - city, dungeon, forest, something else?

Something else - Saemon's ship in the open ocean.

3. Size of area artwork requested? (Remember that the game has size limitations.)

Should be sized to be full-screen even for people using high resolution mods, at least 1600x1200.

4. Where in the game will this area occur and which areas will it link?

The area is for a cutscene and critical dialogue set on Saemon Havarian's ship, en route to Spellhold, in the dead of night. There are no area links.

5. Should the area artwork have both night and day versions? (The artist will essentially have to create the area twice - think hard if you really need both)

It'll be at night, but from what I've inferred about how the game handles that it should be fine to make it from the day tileset (in fact, there isn't a Night one) and I'll just set the clock in script.

6. Describe your vision of the area in detail! Give some backstory to the area, the intended use, a sketch of the intended area artwork...

The area should consist of Saemon Havarian's ship from BG2 AR1600 (the ship in the lower left corner), reversed left to right, in what appears to be the open ocean - IE, no rocks, dock, etc. The water where the land features are removed could be filled in from AR1500 or AR1600 or AR1607, or really anything convenient from the game.

7. Will the artist have some freedom to compose the area, or should the request parameters be followed to the letter?

The area being pretty simple, it's probably best to stick to what's specified.

8. Are there any special features you need? (for example a statue that opens to reveal a secret passageway etc.)

Only what's specified.

9. Any deadlines?

Nope.

10. What game and what mod is this for?

BG2/TOB, Arkalian.

11. Anything else you'd like to mention?

Nope.