34 replies to this topic

[OfDoor13]

When I first downloaded this mod it seemed it would be great; I had heard good things about it, and was excited about expanding the mage stronghold, which I always found lacking.

I had installed quite a large number of mods previously to this one, and they had all installed and played flawlessly. This was the first mod that would not install properly, which I should have taken as a warning. However, I simply attributed to the large number of mods I already had installed. I tried many times to install it, but it would just keep stalling and would not unpack completely. Alas, I uninstalled BG2 and ToB, and reinstalled all the mods. It worked this time.

I started up the mod and at first it seemed great. The stronghold seemed alive for the first time and I immediately liked the new spells. I wandered the stronghold for a while, and I quickly took a liking to it. I did some of the minor quests and thought they were pretty boring, but fun nonetheless. I then decided to embark on the main quest, where things took a massive nose dive.



--------------------------------Spoilers Ahead---------------------------------



























I thought the first battle, in which you fetch the relic, was fun and quite reasonable. The cut scene in which everything was explained was extremely out of the blue, and the storyline was a little too ambitious for its own sake. However, things made sense, for the most part. Everything was explained clearly and concisely. It worked, if only for the mere fact that as the chosen child of bhall, and one of the most powerful beings in the realms, you alone can defeat the antagonist. the inaccuracies (mystra is dead!) and sheer absurdity of the plot (khelban and elminster destroyed in an instant? give me a break..) could be excused because of this.

The government district was extremely difficult, but do-able. Keep in mind my protaganist was level 21 and I still had immense difficulty. The battle in the council of 6 building was ridiculous, I don't understand how anyone could find this remotely fun. disintegrate after flesh to stone after disintegrate, really wore on me. It was pretty much the never ending boss. I spent well over 2 hours before finally being able to beat the boss, after countless freedom, resurrection, and stone to flesh spells. i hated this battle.

I liked how the whole city transformed to make it seem more realistic, in that chaos was really reigning. the optional encounters were fun, relevant, and interesting for the most part. The return to the planar sphere was none of these.

ok, so these is where things go from being fun to extremely annoying and frustrating. the magical elementals and the slave of chaos were quite reasonable. the shade of vecna, was ridiculously difficult. i tried for hours, and could not beat him. unlimited absolute immunity? ridiculous. and his 4 goons were completely overpowered. the only way i was able to beat him was by converting to the slayer. finally, after beating the shade of vecna, i prepared for the final boss, which was supposed to be even more difficult. i had no idea how i was going to beat him, but i was glad and relieved that i had made it this far.

i head down the stairs, eagerly awaiting the final battle...

and...

nothing. no sorceror, no globes of energy, nothing. i seem to have run into a bug? this was extremely frustrating and i can't believe i wasted all that time for nothing.

I derived very little pleasure from this mod, mostly frustration and annoyance. i feel like i've wasted hours of my time, and sincerely wish i never downloaded it. i would highly recomend anyone against downloading this mod, as it is extremly instable, full of bugs and unfinished components. the dialogue is cheesy and the weak attempts at humor are cringe worthy.  the plot is misconstrued and doesn't really make any sense if you think about it. the battles are extremely overpowered, and the new enemies uncreative and uninspired for the most part. It seems like most of the creative content was just pulled out of what the mod creator picked up whilst playing Planescape:torment. in hindsight, this was probably the worst mod i've played for BG2, for the simple fact that although the premise of the mod was great, the execution was sloppy and i have yet to play a mod that has garnered so much frustration from me. i encountered numerous bugs; npcs that would just hover at near dead and never die (vecna, reloaded many times till it worked), had cinematics just freeze and not continue (when invaded) and crashing when i tried to enter buildings. the only thing i can say i got out of the mod that was good were the new spells, they were interesting, creative, and the descriptions were good too. Asides from the new spells, I see no redeeming qualities in this mod, accept maybe for the visual satisfaction of seeing your apprentices running around your stronghold. I reloaded the beginning of the mod and rejected the main quest, after wasting 6 or so hours on this mod, of which i truly regret.

i have yet to play the final battle, but i am told it is even more difficult than vecna. my question to the developer is this: what exactly were you hoping to accomplish by making such a ridiculously difficult mod? did anyone actually enjoy the end battle?

i would not recomend this mod to anyone accept powergamers.

Note: If anyone has encountered the bug in which you head downstairs and there is no sorcerer, do share if you encountered a way to remedy this. I wouldn't mind a crack at completing the mod, and my bitterness about it is surely derived from the fact that I was unable to. Maybe if I could, my views on the mod will change. Until then...

3/10 (and only for the new spell additions).

Edited by OfDoor13, 21 May 2008 - 07:20 PM.

[Tassadar88]

Funny - what version were you playing? I was playing 2.6c and had no problems with it aside from one cutscene during one of the invasions, wher ethe enemies just stood around blue until I pummeled them first

[OfDoor13]

Funny - what version were you playing? I was playing 2.6c and had no problems with it aside from one cutscene during one of the invasions, wher ethe enemies just stood around blue until I pummeled them first

heh, i was also playing 2.6c.

i just read my review over and i realized it came across as extremely bitter...i didn't mean for it to turn out that way, but i was just quite upset after that brutal fight with the lich, and nothing ...

although, i am enjoying the new spells immensely. i decided i wasn't going to persue the main quest, it doesnt' really fit with the original story line.

all in all, great premise for a mod, less than great execution...oh well, can't get everything right!

[Zyraen]

From what you described, actually I'm impressed the author must have put in an incredible effort. It is common for Bugs to occur, and Difficulty to be either too high or too low (almost bound to happen since everyone plays differently). As for FR Lore, personally I *NEVER* go there, because I don't D&D, I know nuts about FR, and its too easy to step on someone's toes (like having xxx killed in an instant, impossible! but then again I didn't know xxx was a demigod...)

Off the side note, if the countless Petrifies irritate you, I usually find it helpful to have someone with Immunity to (whatever sphere it is, I think its Alteration), put the mage near the target. The rest can pummel from a safe distance, usually they won't be randomly targeted.

[Hoppy]

It is a big tactical mod and for that I give it a 8/10 just becuase I am not sure how balanced the items and spells are compared. Some of the best cinematics and equals the ones from Check the Bodies.
I thought the battle in the Government district and the council building were the best and quite fun. Since the mod went through different stages of writing and abandoning by different modders, I guess one just has to take it for what it is. Or do another overhaul. Just my thoughts. One of my favorite mods for sure and it is quite difficult.

[Duality]

Can't please everyone

Hmmm... The sorcerer didn't show up... that's a bad thing.
Would you mind posting your weidu log and exactly what happened when you entered the sorcerers plane? I hate bugs like this, when I can't replicate it, they are almost impossible to track down The fact that you encountered so many bugs is odd... Most were squished by the time 2.6c came out, including the cinematic freeze on invasion... Well, supposedly at least. The non-dying thing is an (unfortunately) un-squishable bug. As far as I can tell, it stems from the engine being unable to handle a stream of commands executed in short order. I used to have that problem on my old laptop with Irenicus....

I swear, I should have just removed the invasion cut-scenes. The sheer number of problems I encountered with them and the SHEER amount of time I spent trying to get them to work right....

Most of the complete deviations from FR lore is a hold-over from Inferno, however, I am no better myself. I did spend some time looking around trying to get things to match up but decided it wasn't worth it in the end since the mods so absurd anyway.

As for difficulty, well... lol. You should have seen the sorcerer before I implemented the changing scripts based on difficulty. He was so absurd that I had to implement that or no one would have ever been able to beat him. As it stands now, he ranges from beatable (on easy) to utterly beyond the pale (on insane). Hmm... Maybe I should have gone that route with Vecna....

Part of the problem is that I frankly suck at balance. Many of the battles go fairly smoothly if you use/abuse protection from school or magic immunity scrolls if you have them. But again, I tend towards more power oriented parties, and as such, things I find do-able aren't necessarily what other people find an acceptable level of difficulty.


Anyone else run into the sorcerer not appearing in 2.6c?

[SirLancelot]

i just read my review over and i realized it came across as extremely bitter...i didn't mean for it to turn out that way, but i was just quite upset after that brutal fight with the lich, and nothing ...

although, i am enjoying the new spells immensely. i decided i wasn't going to persue the main quest, it doesnt' really fit with the original story line.

all in all, great premise for a mod, less than great execution...oh well, can't get everything right!

So then you have realized the title of the post is excessive. It's not perfect, but i concurr with Hoppy, 7,5-8,5 over 10. The main quest is the main quest, though. You can divide this mod into two parts; the main quest plot & battles and everything else. I love both of them, even if the main quest plot is somekind of a parody.

Furthermore, for the mq haters, they still have plenty to enjoy in this mod!! The side quests are really fun, original and well done. But they come scattered in time, you cannot see all of them at once. And don't forget the events.

I honestly think people should be patient before evaluate this mod. See all its content and then, form an opinion.

Planar Sphere mod turns the planar sphere into a living school of magic, and more.

[Zyraen]

Well, Duality, on the bright side, the extremity of the Title probably brought this topic lots of views including mine, since I skip over about 99.9% of the topics that don't involve me or that I (feel) I can't really help on, lol.

[Duality]

Well, Duality, on the bright side, the extremity of the Title probably brought this topic lots of views including mine, since I skip over about 99.9% of the topics that don't involve me or that I (feel) I can't really help on, lol.

lol. Well, there is that.
Actually, this mod seems to engender a strong response either way. Some people love it, others are immediately annoyed by it's silliness/difficulty/OP'd items (should have seen them in 2.2 before I got to them ). I quit worrying about it some time ago.

Hmm... Taking a look at the script for the final area, it shouldn't be *possible* for him not to spawn. I apparently changed the way it works so there are no variable checks other than the toggle..... Hmm.... Does cut scene mode trigger?

The only thing I can think of it an engine hickup or something in the player.bcs that's interrupting it. But it's not the engine if it happens repeatedly and consistently which means.... Well, which means that I'm confused, since it seems very unlikely that something in the player.bcs is causing a problem.


Not sure, I'm gathering that no one else is having this particular problem?

[SirLancelot]

Last time I had played with the 2.2 version of this mod and since I am planning to start a new game with the 2.6c version, I would like to know if possible how exactly is changed the difficulty of the final battle? Is it easier now, in your opinion, compared to the 2.2 version (assuming both played on insane diff.) ?
I hope not, since I really liked the difficulty of that battle.

It depends on what level of difficulty do you face the encounter.

[Duality]

Well, played on insane diff, the final battle is probably harder then it used to be. A major change is that no longer will the Sorcerer bug and not switch scripts like used to happen. (I can't tell you how many times I tried to kill him in 2.2 only to have him stop at a sliver of life and the cutscene never triggered or that he would just stop moving all of the sudden and sit there while I pounded on him)

The readme has some information on what his spells are on the various difficulties, since I totally rewrote all of his scripts. Expect some serious hurt

Edited by Duality, 11 August 2008 - 08:27 AM.

[Duality]

You are going.... solo..... I'd put your chances of winning on insane at about 1:100,000,000,000
If you beat it, your a better player than I ever will be
Never did manage to make it through my one solo attempt. I was playing a sorc and got bored doing nothing but abusing project image for battle after battle after battle.....

Oh, and you can't hide on the edge of the screen anymore, out of the Sorcerers sight range. (I used to do that in 2.2, stand back on the edge till his shield wore off and he would just stand there like an idiot till I moved closer)

Yeah, 2.2 was full of random, weird and nasty bugs. Most of which were really hard to track down/replicate (which is why Hlid never fixed them) and most of which stemmed from really screwed up scripts. Hopefully, there wont be too many bugs in 2.6c, though I have heard scattered reports of odd bugs..... None of which I've been able to replicate.

[Chevalier]

(mystra is dead!)

Errr... Not until the release of 4th edition Forgotten Realms. This is set before those events.

Research is a good thing.

No, Mystra died during the time of troubles (the start of 2nd Ed AD&D). She was kill by Helm. Midnight was bestowed with Mystra's godhood and portfolio by Ao and she used Mystra's name so the public would not be confused.

'Research is a good thing.' Yes it is and you might try it sometime.

Edited by Chevalier, 07 November 2008 - 09:35 PM.

[Duality]

Are people still arguing over how little sense this mod makes? It's not supposed to make sense, just go with it

[Duality]

I have won and killed the sorcerer, winning: "sorcery" in my special abilities (and not only mine (charname is a warrior / mage) but also viconia, keto (mod character)...).

I use it, for seeing, but this does noghing?

It seems to "create" some invisible thing, because when i select all people (touch: =) and move in formation, i have 9 "markers":
6 of my characters, 3 of the "3 invisibles created things by my 3 sorcerers"... but what? bug? no bug?

has somebody a little explanation?

I... Um... Have no freaking clue. It's been way too long since I looked at it and the Sorcery ability was a carry-over from Inferno's work.... I don't think I ever really messed with it.

After a quick look I couldn't figure out so I'll sort through it tonight when I get home and try to figure out what it's doing. Or rather, what it's supposed to be doing.

[EDIT] Ok, after looking it over.. I'm now even more confused. There's definitely a mistake in what I did, apparently when I was re-organizing all the files, I somehow lost the dialog file that's supposed to pop up when you use the Sorcery ability.... Now, this would be a bigger problem, except that the original dialog file did... nothing.

Absolutely nothing, it played a cut scene when you used the ability and that's it..... And it's a boring cut scene of the main char being struck by lightning.... It doesn't actually DO anything. Then it resets itself and you can do it over again.... Why, I don't know, it's possible that it was something Inferno never go around to implementing or something that got lost when it was transfered to a weidu setup, though that's extremely unlikely since I'm staring at the scripts and they wouldn't have been changed.

If I actually had the patience, I'd make it do SOMETHING but I'm feeling lazy so for the moment it's just going to do nothing....


Though, for further oddness, it shouldn't be creating the invis guys since it's not calling the dialog file, what version are you using?

Edited by Duality, 12 February 2009 - 05:19 PM.