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Sergio's Content
There have been 10 items by Sergio (Search limited from 22-May 23)
#614967 BGT Graphics Overhaul
Posted by Sergio on 10 April 2023 - 12:11 AM in BG Graphics Overhaul
hello, why I would install this mod? What does it offers?
It's called "overhaul" but there are no comparison screenshots showing what is overhauled.
#614985 BGT Graphics Overhaul
Posted by Sergio on 11 April 2023 - 09:36 AM in BG Graphics Overhaul
Sergio,
check the pinned What is it? topic.
Thank you. I didn't even realize there was a whole forum section for this mod
#615132 Reviews
Posted by Sergio on 02 December 2023 - 03:56 AM in Mega Mod Help
So, I've posted a few reviews on Gibberlings 3 forum while SHS was down. Just for posterity reasons, I will copy them here
Note that the Author have answered my reviews here: https://www.gibberli...ergios-reviews/ (I will probably copy their answer just to give a full round up)
Acifer's answer: https://www.gibberli...#comment-326959
#615133 Reviews
Posted by Sergio on 02 December 2023 - 04:00 AM in Mega Mod Help
Black hearts (finished 26/06/2023) --> according to me, this is currently the best quest mod available for BG1. Install and play it. I even think that it could be a stable additions in my install all the times I will be playing BG.
You can find informations about the mod here: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/82484/released-black-hearts-bg1/p1
Given that the post above highlights what the mod adds, I will simply write my thoughts.
- If you told me this mod was a mini-dlc, I would have fallen for it. In my eyes, the mod matches a mini-dlc in quality and it is masterfully executed.
- Illasera is a captivating character and you enjoy talking with her; so much that I kinda loathed when the mod ended. I wanted more.
- The dialogues added by the mod are meaningful, provide enough choices for any character, and when the party members chime in to banter, their banters are on point. Well done on Imoen, especially.
- The quests given by Illasera are funny and provide RP choices. The RP choices do not punish you for going evil. That’s a fresh breath of air for me, considering that I play only evil <charnames>.
- The new sceneries are well done. Did you make them @AWizardDidIt?
- I liked the surprise you left with the
. The dialogue there was good too.
- You won’t believe it, but I liked that you respected the player’s agency. I will give you an example. Other mods (such as Assassination) do not respect player agency by forcing the player to read everything the modders themselves have written. In this one, in the end fight, you can simply click the first dialogue option, and the “bad” guy won’t speak or tell your motives. You go straight to business. That’s a bold choice. I enjoyed it a lot.
Some things to report (I played this mod in BG:EE)
1) I had some difficulties in the quest concerning the mirror. I didn’t expect that the “solution” was supposed to be provided with dialogue. I used Tiax and he has nothing to say for what is happening. I know it’s probably hard to write for him. Anyway, either get Branwen or Ajantis to proceed.
Also, a cleric <charname> should be able to do the exorcism himself.
2) It’s not easy to find the “northern gorge”; you’ve decided to make the way out only in the middle of Farmlands, and by doing so, I had some difficulties finding it. I was able to by using CTRL+4 after clicking “explore” in the map.
3) I met a bug inside the new sewer area. When you meet the girl mage and his second in command, she flees because she tells you that another area is currently under attack.
The issue is that when you enter the area (see 00:02 in the video I will be publishing a bit below), there is only 1 Cherise and Malachi, but they get duplicated instantly. And after finishing the first talk with Cherise, you get a second talk, that you are supposed to see only when you’ve finished the quest mod (in the Sanctum area).
Video here: https://streamable.com/68l8w6
Savegame here (the archive also contains the video): https://easyupload.io/bp35vb
4) Second thing to report is inside the Sanctum area: the sanctum portal has an issue with a graphical line (the archive above has everything)
5) Read the following images.
The statement I’m focusing on is: “leaving one of us dead or stranded behind”. Also, sanctum text error here: https://content.invi...2d6e53bcc1d.jpg
Are you sure it Is it correct that Illasera uses “one” and not “each”….
“leaving each of us dead or stranded behind…”
Some questions, as a player: 6) You can decide to give two different books to Illasera. 7) You find some “unholy symbol of Bhaal”, but they are void of power and use.
For the first one (The necromancer’s book), you can give her the book, but get in exchange the secrets it holds (some spells).
There is also a second book, the coded diary of the harpist. You can decide not to give it to her. What happens if you don’t?
When you kill the final boss, even if she is a deathstalker, she has no evil artifact on her. Given that it’s an endgame area, consider adding an evil (and strong) artifact on her for evil Charnames.
Well, after finishing this, I went to play the ToB section. It’s a good send-off. But still…
I hope you will find the time and will to expand Illasera and bring her to the later expansions.
For ToB I would really enjoy seeing a possibility to spare her during the confrontation inside the grove. Right before the final hit, she should fall off, unconscious. You should get a dialogue asking if you wish to kill her permanently, and if you don’t, you bring her (unconscious) with you to the pocket plane.
Given that Amelyssan would probably check where she is, I think that in the pocket plane, Illasera should tell Charname that she needs an amulet to avoid divination. Charname could probably ask Cespenar how to make one.
In the end it would be cool to surprise Amelyssan if she thought she was dead, but hey, she is still alive.
Said this, thanks really a lot for this mod. I loved it.
#615134 Reviews
Posted by Sergio on 02 December 2023 - 04:03 AM in Mega Mod Help
Thalantyr item upgrade --> really undecided about this mod.
First of all, even if the mod is named “item upgrade”, the mod adds all the containers of BG2 to Thalantyr.
Second, the mod adds a dialogue with a double space, the following: Can you make magic items or alter them? (The _ points to the unnecessary double space) I say original because I always install the mod that removes EE content, so I don’t know if EE introduces new weapons worth using. For sure, I haven’t gone back since seeing the weapon “stupifier” providing a 25% chance of stunning the target for 1d4 rounds with no save (read now on the wiki that it was nerfed). The "improved" dagger of venom has the following stats: This is insane. I don’t even disagree conceptually with the effects, what I disagree with is the fact that there is no real tradeoff to get such a weapon. You don’t sacrifice anything of value to get it. In fact the recipe is the following: I will post another example: you can ask Thalantyr to make a belt named Girdle of Bravery. These are the stats: Requires: I think that the recipe makes absolutely no sense for what you are going to get - the perk of the new belt are being justified by the presence of three ee not expensive and not rare potions that are giving you respectively a +1 STR and regeneration. You get: Girdle of Glory +3 AC
Third, the mod adds, as you can imagine, the possibility to upgrade items you find during your journey. This is a concept that I like really much, but personally, I find the execution very lacking, because improving these items most of the time feels unearned, due to the recipe being extremely easy to satisfy while getting unmatched power from these items.
I will offer some examples. Obviously, there will be spoilers.
Becomes a +3 weapon
Has a +1 additional attack per round
Has a new effect: Each hit slows down a victim for 15 seconds (saving throw vs death)
Dagger of Venom
Dagger +2
Oil of Speed(white)
strange Antidote
4000 gold
Do you think such a recipe is so hard to make? Why aren’t the enemies using these weapons then? For what you will be getting, the recipe is not expensive at all.
Girdle of Bravery
Strength: +1 bonus
Wearer regenerates 1 hit point every 6 seconds.
Armor Class: +3 bonus
Golden Girdle
Girdle of Bluntness
Girdle of Piercing
Potion of Frost Giant Strength
Potion of Cloud Giant Strength
Potion of Regeneration
5000 gold
I will make a comparison; for ToB there is a mod named “Item upgrade mod”, author Weimer. You can find the readme here: https://weidu.org/c2...temUpgrades.txt . Luckily, it offers a recipe using the three girdles. That’s the recipe:
Golden Girdle
Girdle of Bluntness
Girdle of Piercing
3 Bloodstones (rings, amulets, or gems, but no mix-and-match)
10,000 Gold
Now I have to ask you: which one of these would you be using in ToB, the one made by Thalantyr or the one made by Cespenar? I know which one I would use. The fact is, I don’t dislike items being this powerful. I dislike when you get a recipe that is so easy to satisfy that it feels unearned. I would use the dagger of venom, if it was hard to get (hard as, you have to sacrifice this or that good dagger; you have to spend a lot of money; you have to find the X item). I would still be a bit wary of using the Girdle too, but if the recipe was hard to obtain, why not?
On the other hand, there is also a recipe for the balduran’s cloak. By using it, you sacrifice a +2 cloak to gain a meager +1 saving throw. The cloak of Balduran is already the best cloak for <charname>, but if you want to make it better, you have to pay the price of sacrificing a cloak +2 (and to this day, I’ve found only one in Catacombs under candlekeep). This is one of the few recipes I find interesting.
I will add that I would have liked some other items too, like the possibility to merge the Helm of Glory and Helm of defense, but they aren’t available in the items.
So, after all of this, why am I undecided? Because I feel that the only recipe I would be using is probably the one for the Balduran's cloak. All the rest have an impact on the balance that takes me out of the game.
Some players opinions:
1) Inkal: https://www.gibberli...#comment-327108
2) Connelly: https://www.gibberli...#comment-327111
3) Mickabouile: https://www.gibberli...#comment-327114
#615135 Reviews
Posted by Sergio on 02 December 2023 - 04:06 AM in Mega Mod Help
Ayden’s project (finished 27/06/2023)
Hello, I’ve played Ayden Project. I will share my thoughts in bullet points.
1) I’m taking a look at two components:
Wands for Thieves: Enable the use of wands for all thief kits (including warlock). (Any)
Thief Proficiencies: Enable mace and spear proficiency for all thief kits. (Any)
Why haven’t you put the warlock class under the bard kit for Ayden, so Ayden can use wand?
And for the thief proficiency, wouldn’t it be easier if you just put these two points from the start on Ayden, rather than touching the kits? Or alternatively, add a weapon that can morph into a mace or a spear that can be used just by Ayden and that becomes stronger with him.
Having a npc mod actually changing the way a class works leaves me a bit conflicted. I could install them safely because I don’t use mods that touch classes or kits (for now).
Spoilers incoming, so I would avoid reading them if you wish to try the npc.
6) Ayden starts with the following stats: 10) Ayden has really a lot of work put into it. If you expanded Ayden, you could make it a stable inside every baldur’s gate 1 install. I will be more specific on how. I’ve taken a look at the features offered by Ayden and the crafting part left me really surprised.
2) It would be cool to have a dialogue option for <charname> that allows you to threaten the gnome to give the gem.
3) The gnome is a fraud, selling fraud items and you cannot tell him to give you back the money or part of the money after you find him in Gullykin?
4) If you don’t let Ayden join, he goes away calling you “Godchild”. I don’t think this is appropriate, considering that you are probably freeing him at the beginning of the game. He should just ask your name and pronounce your name.
5) If you let Ayden join, a banter will pop up out of the blue, that I don’t think it’s supposed to be here: https://content.invi...0b6623cff46.jpg
13/16/8/13/12/17 (79 total, not exceptional at all).
I fed him some cursed items and he was able to get the following stats:
15/19/10/17/16/21 (98 total, a very bad results)
I think these stats are insane, if you consider that I didn’t feed him all the cursed items. I’ve missed many, such as the Big-Fisted Belt (If I fed this to ayden, he would have gained +3 STR). By giving these items to Ayden he becomes a powerhouse out of the blue; I realize he is a warlock and mental stats are not that important (apart from charisma because your Warlock is based on charisma), but hey, food for thoughts.
7) The shadow walking is a cool feature, but I feel it’s risky in Baldur’s gate. I wouldn’t reinstall it.
8 ) After feeding Ayden a lot of cursed items, he proposed me to buy a forge for him. I never accessed the “refuge” (he never even spoke about it) and as such, I was never able to use the forge.
9) Ayden speaks a lot compared to other BG1 npc. He seems to be equivalent to bg2 npc; I think this should be made clearer in the readme. I particularly noticed that, given that this time I have played without BG1npc project and really, the npcs without it are mostly silent - I would go as far as saying they don’t speak at all.
When you speak to Ayden for the first time, you can choose to let him join or not.
Some people may choose to not let him join and that could open a second path with Ayden.
After leaving Ulcaster, he could talk with charname out of the blue when charname leaves Thunderhammer smithy. And he could propose charname a deal: work for him, by bringing him cursed items.
Then he would propose to get the forge/get the forge himself, and then started selling the items proposed by the crafting. This should be reworked and rebalanced too (and I could say you how if you are interested – but if you aren’t, writing would be probably useless). You could even step in and make Ayden available as an Item upgrade mod, hopefully a balanced one compared to Thalantyr item upgrade.
Thanks for the mod!
Author's answer: https://www.gibberli...#comment-327289
Considering that there is also a follow up that ends with feedback I just left today (today as 02/12/2023): https://www.gibberli...#comment-330802
#615136 Reviews
Posted by Sergio on 02 December 2023 - 04:07 AM in Mega Mod Help
Argent77 mods. --> I will review them all together
I have to make a statement before expressing my ideas about Argent77’s mods. Most of them are amazing and always in my install. Thanks Argent77!!
Convenient Enhanced Edition NPCs for BG:EE, SoD and BG2:EE --> will install always. This is a great mod. I use the no-equipment-from EE.
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Hidden gameplay options --> This is a cool mod that I always install, but I dislike the order of the components proposed when you install it. I install only the following three components, that I think can be used by any player (and they are thus the more popular), while the others are more “technical”:
Enable debug mode
Limit ranger/cleric spells
Improved cheat menu
If these three components were to be put first, the mod would be perfect.
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Golem construction for spellcasters --> this is a cool mod, but I don’t like the way it’s executed. As such, I’m undecided if I will be reinstalling it again. These are my impressions on BG:EE:
1) It would be cooler if it was the player agency that activates the mod, rather than the mod being activated from minute 0. What I mean is that you wouldn’t be finding bones or body parts, until you do a certain thing (wouldn’t finding the manual be a good moment?). Having bodies cluttered with different items is not as elegant as it should be, especially when I’m playing with a CG ranger. Why is my charname so fixated on these?
2) I would add that rather than finding all these items, especially when they are so “common”, an item that just siphons these parts without player input would be way cooler than having the player loot so much stuff and having to click so many buttons.
3) Not only that: knowing that I installed the mod, having all these body parts available and not taking them (I leave these items on the ground) makes regret starts sinking in, because I have never played the mod before, and as such, I don’t know how many of these items I need (and I would like to avoid taking a look at the spoiler manual).
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Magic store of vergadain --> cool mod, try it. I will always toss a coin if I have to reinstall it.
This is a cool mod, but:
- I dislike the limited amount of times you can use it daily (3). You should be able to tweak that.
- it can unbalance the game really fast, because you have temples’ services in the wilderness.
Rather than considering it a limit of the mod (https://www.gibberlings3.net/forums/topic/32357-magic-store-of-vergadain-visit-any-store-anywhere-and-anytime/page/2/#comment-323645) I think a good idea would be an optional component that makes building of the artifact and the single parts way more expensive. I would gladly pay 15k to build the “whole” artifact, due to the services that it offers.
Author's answer: https://www.gibberli...#comment-327231
#615137 Reviews
Posted by Sergio on 02 December 2023 - 04:07 AM in Mega Mod Help
Extra expanded enhanced encounters -> not a bad mod. Try it. Doubt I will reinstall.
You can find the mod here: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/73749/extra-expanded-enhanced-encounters-module-download/p1
This mod add new encounters. Some are well written, but of course, it’s all subjective.
I will just write about what I didn’t enjoy.
- The gnoll fortress component is cool, but after facing so many gnolls, it is sad not to find a stash or something valuable. Sadly enough, I doubt that gnoll would stash gold coins or jewels inside their own fortress. So I doubt this can be “fixed”.
- The Undercity Magma Bulwark Encounter kinda took me out of the game, because they are skeletons and they all have “human” names. That way, they feel more of an ester-egg added by a mod.
#615138 Reviews
Posted by Sergio on 02 December 2023 - 04:08 AM in Mega Mod Help
The dreadful tales – try it. I won’t reinstall it. (19/11/2023)
This is the mod I like the most by Lava.
On my eyes, it shows the growth of him as a mod author: areas are cool and interlinked without feeling “overabundant”, the dialogue is not bad, the story is not bad either.
But even with these good qualities, the mod shows what I think it’s the limit in every Lava’s mod – talking, moving around, is just a way to experience the content without having an impact. If you are going to play the mod 2 times, the content will always be the same, because the mod is pretty linear and the choices available for you do not have any meaningful impact.
Every mod I’ve played ends always on you killing the bad guy that is too desperate to be reasoned with or too keen in his evil way – I wouldn’t mind, if there were some real options available for the player.
In this case, there is a way to end the affliction of the land, but what if I didn’t want to end it and actually make it worse? What if I wanted to study what the girl did or have my Charname acquire something more useful than the simple thought of having done a good action?
Also, the re-use of some ideas feel redundant (for example, the kids following you and getting a useless power reminds me of the dream npc in another mod that can’t be enslaved) or the blacksmith not remembering his past and you having to talk with him).
I mean, I enjoyed the mod, but it’s not like I would say “reinstall it”. It’s Lava’s best mod, but it’s still not something I would reinstall in my every playthrough, because it simply shows the limit I always find hard to bear when I wish to replay something.
Thanks for the mod.
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