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Nostalgia Pack

BGEE BG2EE EET IWDEE

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#1 Andrea C.

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Posted 19 July 2021 - 01:25 AM

Nostalgia Pack
 

Putting the BG back into BG:EE.
 
Download | Readme | GitHub

Overview



This mod has had a very, very long gestation. It started way back in 2012-2013, when BG:EE was released and lacked the nostalgic punch I was expecting it to pack. No stony AD&D FR-inspired UI, no BG1 sprites & paperdolls, no BG casting sounds and voices... the list goes on. So I started looking into ways to bring all that stuff back into the Enhanced Editions and yes, it took this long to accomplish half of what was originally planned. I hope you'll enjoy this nonetheless!

Content


Restore BG Character Sprites

The component that started it all. BG1 sprites may not be feature-complete owing to their lack of support for dual-wielding, but they still look leaps and bounds better than their BG2 counterparts—and they make no use of that crime against aesthetics that is sprite mirroring. Enjoy thus of this component, that brings those sprites back to BG:EE in all their non-mirrored, directional glory.

There are, however, a few caveats:

- Contrary to what happens in the classics, the Enhanced Editions will not CTD if you equip an off-hand weapon on a character with a BG1 sprite. However, no off-hand weapons and attack animations were ever made for these sprites, so you won't be able to *visually* dual-wield (mechanically you can.) If you equip the off-hand weapon first and the main-hand weapon second, the latter will display and visually perform all of the attacks; if you go the other way around, no weapon will show up and it'll look like your character is punching their enemies to death. In both cases, you get all mechanical perks of dual-wielding (extra attack, bonuses from items held in the off-hand, etc..)

- Dual-classing a character that has a BG1 sprite will result in the character's getting a BG2 sprite of the wrong class, race, sex or any combination thereof. There's a technical reason why this happens that I won't bore you with; if you dual-class, be ready to use EE Keeper to assign the correct sprite back to your character. (Note: in the classics this is taken care of by ToBEx AfterLife; alas, there's no way around it in the Enhanced Editions unless the engine was fixed at source, which I doubt will ever happen.)

- The game is hardcoded to assign a BG2 sprite to newly created characters. If you want your character to use a BG1 sprite, you'll need to save your game, open it in EE Keeper, and manually assign the sprite. (Note: in the classics this is taken care of by ToBEx AfterLife; alas, there's no way around it in the Enhanced Editions unless the engine was fixed at source, which I doubt will ever happen.)

Note: The mod offers the possibility to patch your existing saved games so that the characters therein are given a BG1 sprite. I do advise against it unless you know exactly what you are doing. If you patch your saved games, they will never work again without this component (or they will, but everyone who received a BG1 sprite will look like Sarevok.)

Restore BG Paperdolls

If you're going to use BG1 sprites, you'll want the classic BG1 paperdolls to go with them (paperdolls in the Enhanced Editions are from 1PP.) Note that these are the BG1 paperdolls modified by Erephine to support displaying weapons in the off-hand. Because BG1 sprites cannot, however, only one weapon will ever display at a time. Either way, I secured permission from Erephine to use these and all credit should go to her.

Restore BG Portraits and Colors

This is pretty much CamDawg's Continuos NPCs mod except it also restores the original BG1 colors to the characters affected. I actually made this component before CamDawg's released his mod and I left it here, but if you're using his mod of course you won't need this.

Restore BG Item Icons & Appearance

This component ensures that all items that are common across the two games get their original BG icon and colors, whereas items that only existed in BG2 get their BG2 icon and colors. This component is necessary for the ultimate nostalgic experience because the Enhanced Editions applied 1PP wholesale across the board, which includes recolors of pretty much every item (and a few icon changes.) I've included a brute-froce icon dump from the classics as well because in the Enhanced Editions some item icons are way too tiny and this solves the problem (I won't bore you with the reason why.)

Restore BG Flaming Fist Appearance

Siege of Dragonspear changed the color scheme of the Flaming Fist so they could assign it to some other army that came along to fight against the crusade. Why they couldn't simply give the new colors to the other army is beyond me. This component gives back the original red and white color scheme to all Flaming Fist characters, and assigns a cleric sprite to them to restore the original BG look (this includes Flaming Fist characters from Siege of Dragonspear.)

Restore BG Amnian Guard Appearance

This component is for EET, which changes the appearance of the Amnian soldiers in Nashkel to that of the Amnian soldiers from SoA. I've never liked the latter look and I especially don't wanna see it when I play BG1, so here goes.

Restore BG Dimension Door Effect

In BG:EE, Dimension Door got the same animation as Shadow Door. However in BG1 it had its own animation that suits the spell better and, in my opinion, looks pretty spiffy. This component restores that animation with its accompanying sounds, courtesy of skellytz.

Undo EE Changes

The Enhanced Editions brought forth a lot changes compared to the originals, ranging from very subtle to immediately noticeable. This component is about reversing these changes, and will be expanded over time as more changes are run into and reported.

Here's what it does so far:

- Remove extra items added to stores and characters that are not part of one of the new NPCs' storyline. This includes extra copies of items that were already there (e.g. Gauntlets of Weapon exprtise), new items added by the Enhanced Editions, and copies of BG2 items (e.g. katanas, wakizashis, ninja-tos.)

- Restore original stock in the Friendly Arm store.

- Restore classic Poison Weapon behavior.

If you're planning a character that wields eastern weapons such as katanas, wakizashis, and nina-tos, this component may not be for you.

FAQ


Why no UI component?
 
Because UI modding is uncharted territory for me. A port of the stony UI for this mod has been attempted many times by different people, most recently Kilivitz. If and when such a component is finalized, I will be happy to include it in the Nostalgia Pack.
 
Why no sound component?
 
Because skellytz's Infinity Sounds (currently in beta) already handles that.

Best Enjoyed With


Sam.'s BGEE Classic Movies

Argent77's Convenient EE NPCs

skellytz's Infinity Sounds

Acknowledgements


I'm new to modding and, let's face it, not very good at it.

This mod would not exist without the generous, friendly help of people like Scott Brooks, Erephine, CamDawg, Miloch, Cuv, Troodon80, skellytz (who single-handedly coded the Dimension Door component), kjeron, Argent77, Liam Esler.

Finally, thanks to Beamdog for reviving interest in these games, birthing a new generation of modders while drawing veterans back, and still patching the Enhanced Editions almost ten years after their initial release.


Edited by skellytz, 19 December 2022 - 01:35 PM.


#2 jastey

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Posted 19 July 2021 - 04:05 AM

Congrats to the release of this mod as well! Again, a very well sought out set of restorations.

 

 

This component is for EET, which changes the appearance of the Amnian soldiers in Nashkel to that of the Amnian soldiers from SoA.


It took me a moment to understand that what you write is what EET does, not your mod component. Might be an ESL problem though.

 

Well spotted with the color scheme of the FF soldiers in SoD. I noticed and didn't like what SoD did there, so this, too, is very welcome.



#3 Andrea C.

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Posted 20 July 2021 - 09:09 AM

I've just changed that component so it installs on BG:EE as well; I'm playing through it now and noticed that the Amnian Guard all have cleric sprites, which must be an EE thing, so now this component takes care of that too.



#4 Cahir

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Posted 22 July 2021 - 09:10 PM

Hi Andrea. Is it possible for you to upload some pictures comparing both EE and modded looks? I have to admit I haven't played classic versions for ages (like 15+ years) and nostalgia runs very low in me, but this looks intriguing.

Also are your tweaks friendly to use with other mods that changes, notably this one:https://forums.beamd...leased/p1?new=1 ?

#5 Andrea C.

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Posted 22 July 2021 - 09:55 PM

Is it possible for you to upload some pictures comparing both EE and modded looks?

 

Here are some sprite comparisons.

 

BG1 sprite on the left; BG2 sprite on the right.

 

Human Fighter / Human Cleric / Elf Thief

 

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U9tUKgt.png

 

 

Sprite mirroring:

 

hFTEc8c.png

 

gXsG1sv.png

 

The BG1 sprite isn't mirrored (which for me is a really big deal.)


 

Also are your tweaks friendly to use with other mods that changes, notably this one:https://forums.beamd...leased/p1?new=1 ?


Of course. You'd have to install my icon/appearance component first, then Daeros's mod. That way, anything his mod alters would get the looks he intended, and everything else would keep the Nostalgia Pack's looks.


Edited by Andrea C., 22 July 2021 - 11:28 PM.


#6 Andrea C.

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Posted 26 July 2021 - 12:14 AM

RC3 is up:

 

- Replaced katana with bastard sword in Droth's CRE.

- Restored original stock in the Thunderhammer Smithy.



#7 Andrea C.

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Posted 27 July 2021 - 11:22 AM

RC4:

 

- Cleaned up case inconsistencies in the tp2

- Restored original stock in the Feldepost Inn store.

- Changed the save vs. Death penalty from the Claw of Kazgaroth back to +3.



#8 Salk

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Posted 31 July 2021 - 12:19 AM

I can see why the sprite mirroring is a huge minus, Andrea C.

 

I sympathize. 



#9 Elforion

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Posted 30 August 2021 - 10:58 AM

Whenever I start a new game of Siege of Dragonspear alone the mod doesn't restore bg1 sprites. It can be done by installing the mod again and applying it to saves, but it works only for the current location of a team.

Whenever I start a new game of Baldur's Gate, it seems to work for the Candlekeep location, the inn etc.


Edited by Elforion, 31 August 2021 - 10:15 AM.


#10 Graion Dilach

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Posted 06 March 2022 - 03:17 AM

TBH, I only realized it just now, but something similar to the Avatar Morphing AI script of Tweak Anthology's could be used to force BG1 sprites ingame on characters without requiring a save-editor.


Edited by Graion Dilach, 06 March 2022 - 03:17 AM.


#11 The Imp

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Posted 06 March 2022 - 06:33 AM

Where's the longer load times component ?


Yep, Jarno Mikkola. my Mega Mod FAQ. Use of the BWS, and how to use it(scroll down that post a bit). 
OK, desert dweller, welcome to the sanity, you are free to search for the limit, it's out there, we drew it in the sand. Ouh, actually it was still snow then.. but anyways.


#12 Isewein

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Posted 03 October 2022 - 04:13 AM

 If you use this with EET, will the sprite and paperdoll changes only affect the BG1 portion of the game or all characters? I recall in BGT with 1PP it was possible to have a mix of sprites from BG and BG2 throughout, which was nice for diversity's sake.



#13 Graion Dilach

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Posted 03 October 2022 - 08:23 AM

It applies to all characters in both BG1 and BG2 portions.



#14 Andrea C.

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Posted 04 October 2022 - 02:14 AM

Technically you still get a mix of BG and BGII sprites as all dual-wielders are keeping their BGII sprite with the Nostalgia Pack.

#15 Endarire

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Posted 04 October 2022 - 09:36 PM

Andrea, what say you to allowing Rupert the Dye Merchant with your mod on BGEE/BG2EE/EET games to let users switch between BG1 & BG2/EE looks for individual PCs?  If not that, what about adding similar functionality via some NPC(s) in your mod?

Thankee!


Edited by Endarire, 04 October 2022 - 09:36 PM.


#16 Andrea C.

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Posted 05 October 2022 - 08:49 AM

I would have nothing against it, but its unfortunately beyond my skill.

#17 Endarire

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Posted 15 October 2022 - 09:55 PM

May we get this mod uploaded also to GitHub for posterity?

Thankee!



#18 skellytz

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Posted 16 October 2022 - 08:05 AM

May we get this mod uploaded also to GitHub for posterity?

Working on it.



#19 Graion Dilach

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Posted 21 January 2023 - 06:01 AM

So, the BG1 character sprites are broken.

 

Besides the obvious issue (broken dual-wielding - no, that workaround isn't acceptable, because it still breaks "disable cosmetic attacks" mode via attributing the off-hand attacks to main hand), there are additional multiple ones:

  • thief avatars lacks paperdolls
  • human female cleric animation has layer issues on helmet on the paperdoll
  • breaks the elven wings (there is an avariel on SoD, this affects the base game)
  • breaks the armor levels on all BG2 mage sprites (could someone explain why the robes needed new armor levels in this mod?)

The bottom two points are extremely crucial if one uses PnP Celestials' or SR's responsible component to change Devas to use a winged elf mage avatar.

 

A variant which only affects nonjoinables and would also exclude gnomes, half-orcs or winged elves would be cool. I have a local edit currently doing most of this, but I really don't understand why the robes had to be changed.


Edited by Graion Dilach, 21 January 2023 - 06:02 AM.


#20 Andrea C.

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Posted 30 November 2023 - 09:36 AM

  • thief avatars lacks paperdolls
  • human female cleric animation has layer issues on helmet on the paperdoll

 

Can't repro these on either BG:EE, SoD, or BGII:EE.

 

  • breaks the elven wings (there is an avariel on SoD, this affects the base game)


Fixed in the latest version.

 

  • breaks the armor levels on all BG2 mage sprites (could someone explain why the robes needed new armor levels in this mod?)


I posted an explanation here. I thought it was a public post but it was in a DM chain. I'll put some excerpts below:

 

 

[...] the code includes a check that says, "If the animation type of the item is W, and you are not a mage animation, then use armor level 1.  If the animation type is not W, and you are a mage animation then use armor level 1."

[...]

The issue stems from the fact that the engine identifies Mage animation types based on the slot they occupy. If the slot doesn't have "2" as its second figure (e.g. 0x0200), it's treated as a non-Mage animation.

 

Going by memory, none of the slots available for restoring BG1 sprites has 2 as its second digit. I believe Insomniator has a code fix for this for the classics, but for the EEs we're pretty much screwed unless Bubb were to provide a similar fix (and he's been standoffish about including fixes in his code, let alone a fix for an edge case such as this.)
 

 

 

 

I'm surprised you didn't mention dual-classing being broken—I assume you haven't tried it yet :D


Edited by Andrea C., 30 November 2023 - 09:37 AM.






Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: BGEE, BG2EE, EET, IWDEE