Well, this looks very strange. I always have all mods you listed except sell scrolls and _TWMdemo_3.52R3_BG1. I glad you have resolved all issues, but there is clarification question.

Did you start looking for Cearwin after found dead messenger with note? Cearwing won't appear at Nashkel Carnival until you find killed messenger and get his posessions. And you must complete Cloakwood mines quest before you encounter messenger. This is proper quest start.

Actually I think your further problems may lay in this if quest didn't start properly. I played BigWorld several times (at least BG1 part) and never encountered problems with TSoA quests.

Well, fix may involve reloading save, CLUA-ing Jaheira returning variable to zero and resting 8 hours... time.. and space... everything has become complicated... ...Astrolabe... whirls... twirls...

Interesting. I know that timers in Infinity Engine are set as curent time (game or real - two types) + increment. So expiration time is absolute game (or real) time that is compared against current time. But I never thought that NEJ implements real time travel (i.e. changing game time back and forth).

Tom, yes,

This is game timer value that could be checked by some script via GlobalTimerExpired.

Jaheira's timer is set to 7 hours. You can try to exit game, then reload your save and rest somewhere. Jaheira may return.

Hi, Tom,

It could be or could not be an animation. Actually there are several reasons for Inifinity Engine game to crash: wrong animation, problems in inventory, missing creature file or effect (for example, I got problems with the Finger of Death assigned to Chain Contigency because of missing effect, but no problems when use it as single spell).

By the way, good point about Heng Horse Ranch. This is really a bug: game shouldn't behave in such way (i.e. it is OK if quest didn't start, but it shouldn't be the CTD).

You're welcome, Tom,

And thanx to The Imp for giving idea tocheck animation!

Hope, we will enjoy smooth gameplay.

Hi, Tom,

Those ones are on the 2nd level, where Yoshimo is.  Hope you have save file on the 1st level, before entering 'Youshimo's' portal. In that case you are fine. For all DUEARC02, DUEARC03, and DUEARC04 set animation to Fighter_Male_Dwarf, then save. To do so:

1. Select .CRE file you need to change

2. Go to Edit tab

3. Select 'Animation' field (where you see Fighter_Male_Dwarf_Low - 20738). You will see edit listbox below

4. Select Fighter_Male_Dwarf - 24834 - this value is one row up

5. Press 'Update value' button that is on the right of listbox

6. Press 'Save' button and agree to overwrite

Do this for all three: DUEARC02, DUEARC03, and DUEARC04

Doing so will prevent CTD when those duergars spawn on Yoshimo's level.

Load your save before entering portal to Yoshimo's level. Enjoy.

Yo had no problems with duergars because on the 1st floor they are DUEARC01.CRE - this CRE is OK. Those ones on 2d level are created by Big Picture mod and they are DUEARC02, DUEARC03, and DUEARC04 that have wrong animation causing CTD on spawn.

And yes, I passed Youshimo smoothly after I fixed animation.

I got problems several times when tried to modify some mod installed before biffing. So, manual update in my case is reasonable precaution and I would recommend not to reinstall any mods 'in the middle', especislly after biffing.

Theoretically if one reinstall BP with your update, he will have compatible TLK, worldmap etc and all saves should be usefult. In practice unbiff/chain reinstall/biff could break everything. You know that Leonardo recommends to reinstall whole MegaMod from scratch in case of problems, even before biffing. So, you can be lucky with minor updating of the modds in the middle of the list, but I have another experience. By the way, if cleanup was used, you won't be able to reinstall anything. So both our recommendstion are all have the right to live.

But I still insist that manually changing 3 .CRE files or using trivial .tp2 with your code is much safer and faster than reinstall BP that is the part of MegaMod, especially biffed.

PS: in my BWP 18.1.2 biffing packed .CRE files

No, I was just talking about preventing reinstalling anything after biffing in MegaMod. And yes, we hope that noone urgently save in Irenicus dungeon lvl 2. But I think even in this case everything is resolvable through NI: unpack save, edit area and creatures, pack again.

Yes. And then update BWP fixpack patches.

For those who is already playing Near Infinity solution would be the best: not to break current installation and save files. Not sure if making of small patch mod is reasonable.

I did found and resolved CTD issue. I even have faint memory about those numerous problems with duergars I encountered before.

Problem:

- Creatures DUEARC02, DUEARC03 and DUEARC04 have wrong assigned animations: FIGHTER_MALE_DWARF_LOW

Solution:

- Open those creatures in NearInfinity and set correct animation type: FIGHTER_MALE_DWARF

The fix for those _LOW animation IDs is included into Infinity Animations (IA)  mod. Those CRE files aren't fixed by IA mod. (according to its internal logs the only creature that was fixed is DUEARC01.CRE - this file was OK). Aurora shoes and boots also has corresponding component.

Root cause:

- Big Picture mod copies DUEARC02, DUEARC03 and DUEARC04 cre files instead of patching them (maybe those are new?). According to that fact that BP creatures components are installed after Infinity Animations, those .CRE files aren't patched.

Possible improvements of BiG World install: include _LOW animation fix running after mods that copy .CRE files to game. Maybe add it to the Lolfixer or whatever running late.

For now it is safe to change animation for those three .CRE files manually and continue enjoying the game!

Tom,
It looks like you should natively have no problems with IA mod because of 1252 ANSI codepage. So I think that Yoshimo problem isn't wrong IA install problem.

My native codepage is 1251. To be honest, I don't remember the exat moment when I switched CP to 1252. Probably, it was just before installation start. But IA content is packed with RAR, so this shouldn't be an issue. Unlike ZIP format, RAR and 7z are handling name codepages correctly. Do you have experience when IA content unpacked in non-1252 page broke insallation and this shot first time in Irenicus dungeon? (I passed all BG1 part and IWD part of NEJ without animation troubles)

By the way, if we look into name µJYA1.BAM, it has only 1st symbol in non-Latin CP. Search by unpacked folder with pattern ?JYA1.BAM didn't give anything.

Hi, All,   I have the same issue that Tomkaz reported: game CTDs after my PC refused to accept Youshimo's party. I'm not sure if this is Youshimo CRE issue because problem occures after Youshimo is escaped area. After that I see a bunch of messages about assassins (mirror imaged etc...) and then game crashed.   Tomkaz, did you have your crashes/reezes after Youshimo escaped area (if you refuse to join) or when he is still present?   P.S. MegaMod 18.1.2. I have a lot messages in TobEX.log about missing animations

I did install IA in cp1252 codepage, there were no errors ( and I see no those files in installation folder). Here I see the same issue and report that those missing files aren't a CTD issue. I also played without MACEDIS1.EFF IWD areas (somehow Improved Mace Of Disruption Fix by Extremist isn't installed so this effect is missing). I think I need to check this area, but lost area checker mod and didn't find in Google. Does anyone occasionally have a link to area checker?

Mods affecting MINSC.CRE:
00000: ~SETUP-VCV10.TP2~ 0 13 // Improved Character Minsc & Boo (by Vlad): v1.10 BWP adaptation
00001: ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ 0 5 // The BG1 NPC Project: Give Minsc his BG2 portrait: v23.3
00002: ~SETUP-BGTTWEAK.TP2~ 0 2400 // Enemy items shatter: 11 (5 Feb 12) BWP Fix
00003: ~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ 0 230 // Revised Archery: 3.7.9
00004: ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ 0 4061 // Consistent Stats: Minsc -> Use BG2 Values: v8
00005: ~JA#BGT_TWEAK/SETUP-JA#BGT_TWEAK.TP2~ 1 6 // Match Minsc's Alignment -> Change Minsc's Alignment to Chaotic-Good (BG2 - recommended): 1.74 BWP Fix
00006: ~JA#BGT_TWEAK/SETUP-JA#BGT_TWEAK.TP2~ 1 32 // Minsc's bald head: 1.74 BWP Fix
00007: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ 0 1000 // Initialise mod (all other components require this): v31
00008: ~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ 0 206 // SBO - Hit Dice Overhaul -> Generous (above-average) hit points: v5.13
00009: ~BP/SETUP-BP.TP2~ 0 150 // Generic Creature & Script Processing: v181-b4611 BWP Fix
00010: ~REZMOD/SETUP-REZMOD.TP2~ 0 103 // Consistent Minsc Portrait: 2.6 BWP Fix
00011: ~LEVEL1NPCS/LEVEL1NPCS.TP2~ 0 60 // Fix BG1 NPC spells and innate abilities: v3
00012: ~XPMOD/SETUP-XPMOD.TP2~ 0 1 // Creature XP Reduction -> Reduce to 50%: 7
00013: /* acted upon in an indetectable manner */~GENERALIZED_BIFFING/GENERALIZED_BIFFING.TP2~ 0 0 // Generalized Biffing: v2.2 BWP Fix
00014: /* acted upon in an indetectable manner */~GENERALIZED_BIFFING/GENERALIZED_BIFFING.TP2~ 0 0 // Generalized Biffing: v2.2 BWP Fix

Mods affecting BOO.CRE:
00000: ~SETUP-VCV10.TP2~ 0 14 // Boo - Familiar of Minsc (by Vlad) (If you're going to install TS next, please install this component.): v1.10 BWP adaptation
00001: ~SETUP-RES_FIXER.TP2~ 0 0 // Resource Fixer: v1
00002: ~BP/SETUP-BP.TP2~ 0 150 // Generic Creature & Script Processing: v181-b4611 BWP Fix
00003: ~XPMOD/SETUP-XPMOD.TP2~ 0 1 // Creature XP Reduction -> Reduce to 50%: 7
00004: ~SETUP-CREFIXER.TP2~ 0 0 // Creature Slot Fixer: v2
00005: ~SETUP-LOLFIXER.TP2~ 0 1 // Creature Stuff - Creature Resource Fixer: 19022016
00006: ~SETUP-LOLFIXER.TP2~ 0 2 // Creature Stuff - Inventory Unborker (removes spurious references to the item table): 19022016
00007: /* acted upon in an indetectable manner */~GENERALIZED_BIFFING/GENERALIZED_BIFFING.TP2~ 0 0 // Generalized Biffing: v2.2 BWP Fix
00008: /* acted upon in an indetectable manner */~GENERALIZED_BIFFING/GENERALIZED_BIFFING.TP2~ 0 0 // Generalized Biffing: v2.2 BWP Fix

Well... I have some idea about what is going on. My Minsc that was transferred from BG1 has no Boo. But if I start a new game, everything is OK. I suspect that Boo was taken by BG1 --> BG2 transfer, like the other items. It is because Boo is removable now.

UPD: C:CreateCreature("BOO") is a workaround.

I didn't. Those badass Shadow Thieves who helped to put Minsc to the jail in Irenicus dungeon. Boo is somewhere, but where?

My monk finally came to the BG2 and I've encountered quite an old bug with cancelling commands given to Minsc. Details available here

Questions.

1. Does anyone still have this bug in v18.2 ? (it looks like this is NEJ related bug)

2. Is there less intrusive way to fix it? (I still not sure my solution will play well with Boo)

I have this bug in BWP 18.1.2

Bug caused by the code fragment you can see below.

IF
	!PartyHasItem("Boo")  // Boo
	Global("VP_Boo","GLOBAL",0)
	!GlobalTimerNotExpired("VP_NoBoo","GLOBAL")
	!InMyArea("Boo")  // Boo
THEN
	RESPONSE #100
		MoveGlobalObject("Boo","Minsc")  // Boo
		ChangeEnemyAlly("Boo",CONTROLLED)  // Boo
		Continue()
END

This script block has come from NEJ3v702. This code somehow cancells commands issued to Minsc. Because scripts are running repeatedly in background this code also executed repeatedly causing cancelling of given commands (movement etc).  Removing this code block fixes issue. (Open Minsc.bcs in NearInfinity, cut this block, it is near the middle of the script in my installation, Compile, then Save).
 

Hmm... Tom, did you

Just yesterday read Sergio's review of NEJ and VC Nice work and great mods. I'll look into the building NEJ-driven not Baldur's Gate, but BiG World. And I have an idea to polish a bit SpellPackB6 and make it compatible with Halruaa quest (but if it is not re spell overhauls but lays in detectable spells AI mods, it would be difficult).

I was asking re big mods because I had not very good experience with playing RoT in BWP (some elder version IIRC): I just lost myself in quests. So I never completed it: been in northern town and other town with demi-lich in the basement and that was the end of journey in RoT. Probably, Sergio is right and RoT difficulty lays in unclear in-game questline description.

Thank you for TDD link, Sergio! I've read CtB review but somehow missed TDD. Looking forward into your NTotSC review.

Dear Jastey,

I am here to report content compatibility issue between DSotSC and VC. Found in VCv10 and DSotSC v3.0 beta

VC's component "Improved Shadows and Shadow Dragon (by Vlad)" modifies ICBONE01.cre creature - Bone Golem. It empowers it significantly adding immunity to normal and magically enhanced weapons up to and including +3. Also it makes such golems immune to elements, magic damage and poison. Howewer in DSotSC there are a couple of places where bone golems are present.

Due to that fact that this is BG1, party could be at approx. 10 level and there are no +4 and better weapons (no more Daystar, but even if it would be in place, party is too weak to use it for killing golems), such enemies are unbeatable. See more details here.

It looks like this could be fixed or workarounded. It could be detected by MegaMod installer and VC10 component skipped, but Imp proposed better solution.

Bone Golems in DSotSC could be moved to another CRE files, so any mod that empowers bone golems won't affect them. Moved - having complete separate copy of original CREs distributed with the mod, not just copying original to override in installer, because VC will be installed earlier.

One addition re issue with golems.

It looks like appropriate immunities (to +3 and lower weapons and elements) are given to golems by "Improved Shadows and Shadow Dragon (by Vlad)" component. It could be ok for SoA/ToB parts of the game where you can grab +4 and better weapons before you encounter bone golems (for example, before Tanner quest) , but in BG1/ToSC such enemy type is owerpowered (unbeatable without cheats?).

If we recall that BG1 part suggested to have party at ~11 lvl at the end of the ToSC (maybe a couple of levels higher according to DSotSC, NTotSC, BH and other mods) and rebalanced items, this is definitely the conflict of the mods  content .

To sum up, DSotSC is made not aware of NEJ/VC. VC Bdash component "Improved Shadows and Shadow Dragon (by Vlad)"  isn't aware of DSotSC and all of it results in having owerpowered enemies. So, couple of DSotSC quests are (almost) unbeatable due to enemies that couldn't be honestle beaten by PC. The only way to beat those quests honestly - slip by those golems under invisibility.

Re workarounds. Sergio in his wonderful reviews suggested that it won't be very lore friendly and interesting to install DSotSC, so we are all waiting his impressions of NEJ and other large content mods (BoneHill, SoS, CtB, RoT and of course NEJ, even if I think, this is good mod).    Maybe it would be Ok to choose one: VC+NEJ or DSotSC. Maybe it also would be Ok to add warnings re DSotSC+VC or just not install "Improved Shadows and Shadow Dragon (by Vlad)" component of VC if DSotSC is detected.

The most interesting topics for all who is manually customizing BWP.

Sergio, huge thanx! Please, continue, if you have an ability. This experience is very useful to select most interesting, lore friendly and clean mods.