63 replies to this topic

[horred the plague]

The (currently) 15 components of BP-weidu:

BP Core AI
Improved Spellhold
Improved Suldanessallar
Wand of Orcus
-----(all BP originals)-----
Small Teeth Pass by Kensai Ryu (KR)
Improved Kangaxx - KR
Improved Crypt King--KR
Gnome Fighter/Illusionist--KR
Improved Encounters (combo of City & Wilderness) -- KR and GB
Lich in the Docks -- Gebhard Blucher (GB)
Red Badge -- Westley Weimer (WW)
Kuroisan -- WW
The Ritual -- WW(?)
Level-50 ruleset -- void if TDD is installed
Ascension -- David Gaider and IEEAIS

Note that each of these components differs slightly from the original. All those non-weimer Tactics components were taken from original sources, not Tactics. I have author's permission to do what I please, and I have exercised it. Mostly bugfixes, but some actual improvements.

Still hardwired into BP (and there to stay):

Improved Mind Flayers -- GB
Improved Dragons -- KR
Improved Copper Coronet -- KR (goes nice with BP's Improved Slavers compound )
Improved Horns of Valhalla -- Cirerrek
Improved Tanner's -- Jacky-O (only appears in BP)
Improved Nymphs -- BP original--I never looked at Tactics version, so hard to say what differs
Improved Golems -- WW
Improved Undead -- WW (I didn't start with his work as a base, but he did it first)
Improved Drow -- KR (I believe D0Tweaks offers this component these days, so don't double up)
Horred's Lair (another BP original)
Improved Bodhi/Vampire Lair -- My own, nothing to do with Tactics
Improved Ilyich -- another BP original, entirely different from Tactics (not anywhere near as overpowered IMO, but much cooler )
Improved Beholders Lair -- My own AI for them (not Xyx'). Many recent improvements. Woe if you try this on INSANE with high-lvl party! *I'm also considering fusing SimDing0's eyestalk scripts with my own.*
(Slightly) Improved Sahuagin City -- a recent addition, not as tough as Tactics version

And probably several other things I cannot recall at the time. I have plans to improve Irenicus final battle as well, but haven't started yet. If I find the time, I'll add it before public release. If not....before the final version.

This does not include the dozens of improved creatures that BP itself has to offer (Demons, Beholders, Spiders, Vampires and "Shadows"--wraiths, mists, etc-- (all very different from Tactics!) and Hell Hounds --just to name a few I can think of offhand). Nor individual creature improvements. Nor AI improvements. Nor individual area enhancements (usually more monsters, depending on level/XP, number in party, and difficulty slider).

Note on AI/Creature improvements: It has always been BP's mission to offer more challenging, more intelligent, more realistic, more diverse opponents while resorting to as little cheese as is possible. I won't say there is "no cheese tactics" in BP, but as little as I could get away with and still keep things interesting.

As far as Enhanced Creatures goes, I have been in touch with the author, and made several important recommendations. I hope he truly considers them; without, there will be little-to-no chance of compatability.
I'd like to see it, too.

As far as any remaining Tactic components go--well, they will have to be looked at individually. Tactics is still an "old-style" weidu mod. Meaning: it doesn't do all of the fancy hex-patching we've come to expect (whether we are aware of it or not). It tends to overwrite existing game resources, which makes life hell on other people's mods. This was the original reason I petitioned Weimer and the other authors to "hardwire" their work into BP. That also includes BP's version of Ascension. Hopefully somebody (if not Weimer) brings this community classic up to date.

[Salk]

Thanks for the exhaustive answer, horred...Good luck with your project and thanks again!

[dragonian]

When will BP be released for the public?
Cause i`m waiting for BP before i`ll make reinstall of the game
I`m not going to make you work faser or anything like that - just wanted to know when will i probeably be able to continue my BG journey

[Salk]

When will BP be released for the public?
Cause i`m waiting for BP before i`ll make reinstall of the game
I`m not going to make you work faser or anything like that - just wanted to know when will i probeably be able to continue my BG journey

Horred is waiting for the release of BGT-WeiDu 1.00 before he will release BP-WeiDu. Unfortunately Ascension64 has been away from the board longer than he usually does. We all miss him very much...

Edited by Salk, 10 March 2006 - 01:47 PM.

[Chevalier]

We (the closed beta testers) were likely to be testing this week, but there was a bit of a set back.

[Anomaly]

Thanks Horred for these informations. Ascension64 is now very close to release BGT-WeiDU, it will be a great day for all of us and for the modding community.

About compatibility with Tactics :

- Improved Irenicus (lots of player will miss it...)
- Generic Archer kit
- Anti-paladin kit

Will these components be compatible with Big Picture-WeiDU ?

Will druid groove and de'Arnise keep be improved ?

Wand of Orcus

What's this ?

Improved Undead -- WW (I didn't start with his work as a base, but he did it first)

Will this be the same version as Tactic's one ? Because low-level undeads cheat and throw spells at you even when you are invisible, hidden in shadows or even under Sanctuary and this is very annoying.

Edited by Anomaly, 12 March 2006 - 03:53 PM.

[horred the plague]

About compatibility with Tactics :

- Improved Irenicus (lots of player will miss it...)
- Generic Archer kit
- Anti-paladin kit
Will these components be compatible with Big Picture-WeiDU ?
Will druid groove and de'Arnise keep be improved ?

Unlike most Tactics components, I see nothing in Irenicus that should overwrite any files. I have not tested, but it "should" be compatible.

Eventually I will write my own Improved Irenicus, which you will possibly "prefer" to this version.

If you do not have TDD installed, the kits should be just fine. This goes for any "kit mod", most likely. If you choose Druidic Sorcerer, be sure to grab my recent "BP-BGT-NEJ2" compat files before installing.

I've done some improvements to both of the above-mentioned areas. Torgal BP is not as tough as Torgal Tactics--but he doesn't have such Uber items in BP, nor do his scripts cheat in any way.

If you chose Tactics Torgal over BP, I don't think it would break BP. It may break BP-Torgal....or possibly make it twice as hard as either version alone...

The Druid grove was touched up a long while back--haven't tested it recently. There are a few more spawns in the surrounding region, for starters. Some vast AI improvements to all druids in BP (they are actually druids, not half-assed clerics!), but again--no cheat scripts. A cheesy buff or two, tops...

I also added a nice surprise for those who choose the evil path. It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature!

Wand of Orcus. What's this ?

My very first mod EVAR, done for the old "TeamBG modding school" back in 2002. I got a gold medal for it (ooo, shiney!)
A remake of the 1E wand of the demon prince of the dead. You'll find it....in a very dangerous place. It has both some cool abilities and penalties, including a small chance of spawning the demon prince himself! Be sure he's "glad" to see you're enjoying his Wand so...

NOTE: I've cleaned this up somewhat from its original IAP version (some very strange things happened during 4-year storage! )

Improved Undead...Will this be the same version as Tactic's one ? Because low-level undeads cheat and throw spells at you even when you are invisible, hidden in shadows or even under Sanctuary and this is very annoying.

Again, the cheat scripts in BP are as limited as possible---a few specific things, like mage buffing and anti-cheese tactics. We try actual strategy as an alternative. The undead in BP "may" be casting spells (skeletons and zombies should not cast any spells, if they were coded correctly as [0.UNDEAD.(SKELETON/ZOMBIE)]. Wraith-types in particular have a special breed of "shadow magic". They are subject to the same sight checks that PC's are, however--no crazy "see-all" cheats (though True Seeing is a different story).


P.S: NEWS UPDATE...I just released final workshop version 174 to the crew today. I'll keep doing some improvements to various things while they are testing. Plus, get a TRA system and a ReadMe file for those interested in these items.

Edited by horred the plague, 12 March 2006 - 04:33 PM.

[dragonian]

And so the BGT 1.00 is released now we are waiting for the BP
Edit
This post don`t point on making this mod faster because i want it to be as good as it is possible. Just saying that because someone earlier said that Horred is waiting for BGT 1.00 to be relased.

Edited by dragonian, 15 March 2006 - 02:29 PM.

[melkor_morgoth75]

And so the BGT 1.00 is released now we are waiting for the BP

Please be patience ... all the fellows here just "work" for fun and thanks to them we have fun as well. It's not fair to put some pressure

mm75

[Jacen Saracen]

And so the BGT 1.00 is released now we are waiting for the BP

Please be patience ... all the fellows here just "work" for fun and thanks to them we have fun as well. It's not fair to put some pressure

mm75

What is this "patience" you speak of?

No, wait. I don't care. While I'm waiting for you to define this alien concept "pay... shence...?" I can pressure Horred and his crew.....

Hurry the hell up, dammit!!!

[horred the plague]

And so the BGT 1.00 is released now we are waiting for the BP

Please be patience ... all the fellows here just "work" for fun and thanks to them we have fun as well. It's not fair to put some pressure

mm75

What is this "patience" you speak of?

No, wait. I don't care. While I'm waiting for you to define this alien concept "pay... shence...?" I can pressure Horred and his crew.....

Hurry the hell up, dammit!!!

*Searches around for an industrial-sized flyswatter*

[Salk]

I wish to thank Horred and his crew now even if I'd have to wait 6 more months for Big Picture WeiDu as the wait would still be worth the while! Keep it up!

[ronin]

I am beta testing it and all I can say is the wait will be well worth it, Horred has done an excellent job, this BP is 5million times better than the original, the enemy AI actually make the game interesting again and your old tactics you used to fight no longer work. BP makes you actually think about battles and battle preparation.

ronin

[seanas]

1. When it is first released, should BP-WeiDU be compatible with the above installation, or will it initially only apply to a simpler install of BGT? Seeing I'm aiming for as big a game as possible (in the next month or two) I would have to make a trade-off between a big game and smarter opponents if there is a likely conflict there.

yes, it'll be compatible with this install. the general advice with BP-weidu is going to be 'install as late as possible', so installing on top of what you've currently got is actually yr best solution.

2. It's all very exciting, but what will BP-WeiDU do exactly? I understand creatures will "call" to other monsters nearby, and choose their targets more logically, but what else is there? Will they, for example, pick up better weapons that may be lying on the ground and use them? Will they run off to find friends if they are outnumbered as opposed to just yelling? These are just hypatheticals but the possibilities for improved AI seem endless and I'm curious to know what improvements will be made.

3. Does what is referred to by Horred above as the "BP Core AI" apply to all enemies (right through BGT), or just the ones listed below? In other words, will BP improve the entire game or just specific enemies. This matters, because the repetitive easy monsters are obviously the main source of predictable opponents in the existing game.

I've been reading the threads here and the arguments against making the monsters too tough and forcing "power play" are compelling, but as long as opponents act intelligently, instead of being artificially "beefed up" with better stats, armour, more hit points, more spells, etc, then it sounds as though BP is just what it should be.

better weapons: no. make much better use of their innate powers: yes. run away from area spells/ run towards ppl casting area spells: yes. outflank enemies (ie, yr party): yes. heal each other: yes. use effective (but legal) spell combos: yes.

BP AI applies in two ways: one, to specific creatures (undead, beholders, illythids, etc); two, to the generic combat scripts that apply to all creatures. the generic AI in old-style BP has always been a vast improvement over BG/ BGII scripting; the AI in BP-weidu is substantially better than the old-style BP. BP adds some spells and abilities to creatures, but only abilities than can be found in PnP; its major advantage is the AI, which makes creatures use what abilities they have much more effectively, and greatly improves their tactical skill.

[horred the plague]

1. When it is first released, should BP-WeiDU be compatible with the above installation, or will it initially only apply to a simpler install of BGT? Seeing I'm aiming for as big a game as possible (in the next month or two) I would have to make a trade-off between a big game and smarter opponents if there is a likely conflict there.

BP-weidu was tested by yours truly, with all the above and more mods, from candlekeep to bhaal's throne.

2. It's all very exciting, but what will BP-WeiDU do exactly? I understand creatures will "call" to other monsters nearby, and choose their targets more logically, but what else is there? Will they, for example, pick up better weapons that may be lying on the ground and use them? Will they run off to find friends if they are outnumbered as opposed to just yelling? These are just hypatheticals but the possibilities for improved AI seem endless and I'm curious to know what improvements will be made.

Picking up beter weapons would be a clumbsy, lag-creating script at best on the Infinity Engine; thus, skipped. In some cases, yes they will find friends...and those "yells" means something. Friends will come to their aid as well.

We're also looking at such anti-cheese steps as countering offscreen attacks. Restored PnP special abilities (one of my personal favorites is Telekinesis for demons and beholders). Or the somewhat obvious "big spider casts web". Still others are hooked on the duergar, with enlargement/reduction abilities intact.

Or the built-in BPDetectableStats (now being converted to Scriptable Spells package). I can detect dozens of spell states, such as "I am standing in a cloudkill--I'd better move" or "that guy has a fire shield surrounding him--maybe I should swing my sword at somebody different."

It's not as endless of possibilities as you may think--the Infinity Engine has proved somewhat "finite" in this respect. We modders can only do what the engine allows us to (unless we wish to rewrite the engine, like GemRB et.al.). But pushing its limits is one of BP's goals.

3. Does what is referred to by Horred above as the "BP Core AI" apply to all enemies (right through BGT), or just the ones listed below? In other words, will BP improve the entire game or just specific enemies. This matters, because the repetitive easy monsters are obviously the main source of predictable opponents in the existing game.

BP improves most enemies, from in-game or from mods installed before it. It rewrites the generic enemy AI scripts, (like the ever-popular WTASIGHT)--so it has lots of spillover into other projects. It only deals with unique individuals (with unique/custom scriptsets) in certain circumstances.

Thanks for your time. I'm sorry if my questions are outside the scope of acceptible questioning. The last thing I want to do is slow down the release of this much awaited mod by asking questions

Worry not about slowing release; it will be out soon, regardless. Keep in mind I'm releasing it in (stable) BETA stage, merely so that we can dispose of the unsupported "classic mods" and step this whole install into the modern era. Many improvements (and even enhancements) will be done in future releases. They are already planned, but too time-consuming to consider at this time.

[horred the plague]

And here is another little treat, hot off of the presses:

 BPv175_ReadMe.rtf   17.77K   386 downloads

Enjoy...

P.S: If I actually took the time to write a readme file, you know release cannot be "that" far away...

[Salk]

Salk's rubbing his hands...

[dragonian]

Truly if you wrote the readme we will soon experience the relase . Do what you must to get the gameplay better .
Edit:
I`ve noticed that it is already uploaded on the Wizards Mirror. Horray (As are the new wersions of Big Mods designed to work with BGT 1.00 Horray again )
GREAT WORK ALL OF YOU.

Edited by dragonian, 19 March 2006 - 09:07 AM.

[seden]

Great news indeed, sound like marsh will be a very intersting month for the IE modding community