87 replies to this topic

[Eric P.]

Shame on me for not logging in before starting all this Sorry about that! I'm the originator of this thread, obviously. Cheers!

[dabus]

Well, Mac can do sh, so you could try to convert to that format.
Or even better, get wine and you should be able to run the whole thing without manual labor. I guess you could copy the result and run it with your native version if the developers did stick with their usual format.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Hello,
In the interest of letting folks know how BiG World installation instructions work out on a Mac running OS X Tiger (10.4.11), I'd like to post at various points along the way during installing and playtesting. If this needs to move to another forum, please let it be so

Hello back to you too,
I don't see any harm on this being here... I'll actually cheer for your effort. ...even as I don't have a Mac, and will never have.

I wanted to post a couple screenshots, but am unsure how to do so. The game's first screen (whether SoA or ToB) looks different, and has some pretty graphic elements on it, as does the character inventory screen. I don't recall which mod alters the GUI elements, but suspect either TDD or RoT has done this.

You'll post the screen shots in SHS forums by first uploading the pictures to a site like this, then you'll gain an address to the picture, then you just copy it and put it inside this code:

[img]http://-address[/img]

The GUI change comes from the 'Region Of Terror', as it's installation include the GUI update. If you ever manage to get to the BGT-WeiDU mod, it will include a GUI installer(extracted during the installation in the PC version) which from you can select which GUI to use(setup-GUI.exe), that will allow you to install which ever mod GUI resource that's available(installed already).

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 08 March 2010 - 12:15 PM.

[Eric P.]

Some responses follow...

Hello,
In the interest of letting folks know how BiG World installation instructions work out on a Mac running OS X Tiger (10.4.11), I'd like to post at various points along the way during installing and playtesting. If this needs to move to another forum, please let it be so

Hello back to you too,
I don't see any harm on this being here... I'll actually cheer for your effort. ...even as I don't have a Mac, and will never have.

Thanks! I've been struggling with this project for a long time now. I feel closer than ever before to a breakthrough

I wanted to post a couple screenshots, but am unsure how to do so. The game's first screen (whether SoA or ToB) looks different, and has some pretty graphic elements on it, as does the character inventory screen. I don't recall which mod alters the GUI elements, but suspect either TDD or RoT has done this.

You'll post the screen shots in SHS forums by first uploading the pictures to a site like this, then you'll gain an address to the picture, then you just copy it and put it inside this code:

[img]http://-address[/img]

Let's see if I can get this to work:

[img]http://[IMG]http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/4836/picture2t.th.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img532.imageshack.us/img532/8115/picture1q.th.jpg[/IMG]



The GUI change comes from the 'Region Of Terror', as it's installation include the GUI update. If you ever manage to get to the BGT-WeiDU mod, it will include a GUI installer(extracted during the installation in the PC version) which from you can select which GUI to use(setup-GUI.exe), that will allow you to install which ever mod GUI resource that's available(installed already).

I don't plan to install BGT. I'm currently in the middle of installing item/merchant mods, and then I'll move to the joinable NPC mods, and continue. More details to follow.

Now, a report from my testing:

Attacking goblins in the hall leading left from the genie/ogre mage area on level 1 of Irenicus' dungeon, the game crashed to desktop Relaunching BGII and loading the game from the last save, I had a F/M cast Death Spell in the hallway, just short of where the goblins usually start. The party advanced to find no evidence of goblins having been there.

The party got as far as the exit of the dungeon, met Drizzt Do'Urden, and welcomed him into the party, as we already have Wulfgar. Drizzt's inventory screen shows him carrying boots, but no other gear. So, I used the CLUAConsole to give him his own armor and weapons, plus some additional items, and I saved the game with the party about to exit into Waukeen's Promenade.

There were more groups of enemies in Irenicus' dungeon than there are in the vanilla game, which was nice

More to follow, so stay tuned

Happy modding and playing,
Eric

[Jarno Mikkola]

Let's see if I can get this to work:

[img]http://[URL=http://img72.imageshack.us/i/picture2t.jpg/][IMG]http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/4836/picture2t.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://img532.imageshack.us/i/picture1q.jpg/][IMG]http://img532.imageshack.us/img532/8115/picture1q.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Erhm, you really should use this code as the address: http://img532.images...5/picture1q.jpg -> See, the upload page gives you a lot of options, I always use the one in the "Direct Link" one... cause it's direct, easy.

As you put the forum code which will produce cheese and more cheese with cheese, and with the direct link, the browser will do resizing of the picture itself, and not give you a thumbnail.

Yeah, I see why you wished to show the picture, the GUI is terrible...

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 08 March 2010 - 11:10 PM.

[Eric P.]

OK, I understand to use "direct link" from now on, when adding images to posts. Thanks!

Here's the pretty screen I mentioned before:



As for the GUI, I don't know if it's fixable, or if, in a future run of installs, I should somehow prevent that mod from installing the elements that don't come out right.

If it makes any difference, I'm currently running the game full-screen, at 1024x768 resolution, with 3D acceleration on and with full understanding that having 3D on may cause slight issues. I can live with that

Happy modding,
Eric

Edited by Eric P., 10 March 2010 - 07:14 PM.

[Miloch]

Attacking goblins in the hall leading left from the genie/ogre mage area on level 1 of Irenicus' dungeon, the game crashed to desktop Relaunching BGII and loading the game from the last save, I had a F/M cast Death Spell in the hallway, just short of where the goblins usually start. The party advanced to find no evidence of goblins having been there.

I *might* suspect Aurora, but your WeiDU.log (at least the one you posted) doesn't say it's installed. It does have .sh files and should theoretically work for OS X, though I don't think we've had any confirmed reports that it does work. As I recall, we don't use the Infinity Animations .exe patch for new animations (since it probably doesn't work for OS X), just different existing (but normally empty) slots for new animations, as we do for SoA without ToB.

If you get crashes, make sure there's a line for 'Logging On=1' under [Program Options] in your baldur.ini, reproduce the crash and see if anything appears in baldur.err. At least this usually works for Windows, not sure about OS X. Also, doing weidu --change-logs on the affected CREs can help, as detailed in the pinned megamod FAQ.

[EricP]

Attacking goblins in the hall leading left from the genie/ogre mage area on level 1 of Irenicus' dungeon, the game crashed to desktop Relaunching BGII and loading the game from the last save, I had a F/M cast Death Spell in the hallway, just short of where the goblins usually start. The party advanced to find no evidence of goblins having been there.

I *might* suspect Aurora, but your WeiDU.log (at least the one you posted) doesn't say it's installed. It does have .sh files and should theoretically work for OS X, though I don't think we've had any confirmed reports that it does work. As I recall, we don't use the Infinity Animations .exe patch for new animations (since it probably doesn't work for OS X), just different existing (but normally empty) slots for new animations, as we do for SoA without ToB.

If you get crashes, make sure there's a line for 'Logging On=1' under [Program Options] in your baldur.ini, reproduce the crash and see if anything appears in baldur.err. At least this usually works for Windows, not sure about OS X. Also, doing weidu --change-logs on the affected CREs can help, as detailed in the pinned megamod FAQ.

I started a new test game today, after installing all the joinable NPC mods that I wanted. Just testing a bit before I continue (next mod on the list is Banter Pack). In the new game, everything appears where and when expected. Wulfgar had no gear at all when he joined the party, and I suspect the same will hold true when we take Drizzt in. I haven't installed Aurora's Shoes and Boots yet, but it's on my list...

Yes, I added Logging On=1, Debug Mode=1, and Cheats=1 in baldur.ini, as I always do. I've cleared out the entries in Baldur.err, so now there's nothing in it when I open it.

So far, the new test game has had no crashes. I've done everything except to go into the Air plane and to talk with the dryads; after doing those, I'll proceed to the second level of the dungeon and out into Athkatla.

If nothing unwanted happens *fingers crossed*, I'll proceed into Chapter 3 ASAP. My test games don't make it that far, so I'm looking for a first time

Happy modding,
Eric

[EricP]

Forgot to mention that sometimes the game moves very slowly (pendulum, animations, etc.), and at other times everything moves normally.

- E

[Eric P.]

Here's what I've added since posting the first weidu.log contents above:

~SETUP-TOD.TP2~ #0 #0 // Tower Of Deception Mod (Requires Throne Of Bhaal)
~SETUP-TOD.TP2~ #0 #1 // Improved Astral Shard Guardian
~SETUP-TOD.TP2~ #0 #2 // Encounter with Ustrain
~SETUP-DC.TP2~ #0 #0 // Dungeon Crawl, v5
~1SYLM-SETUP.TP2~ #0 #0 // Sylmar - Elves vs Orcs
~SETUP-TOTDG.TP2~ #0 #0 // Colours of Infinity: Tales of the Deep Gardens
~SETUP-TOTDG.TP2~ #0 #1 // NPC Reactions (Aerie, Viconia, Jaheira, Anomen, Haer'Dalis, Keldorn)
~SETUP-TOTDG.TP2~ #0 #2 // Add Deep Gardens to the Worldmap - suggested component. If this component can't be installed due to incompatibilities, skip it.
~SETUP-DSOA.TP2~ #0 #2 // Improved Copper Coronet: v2.2.4
~SETUP-DSOA.TP2~ #0 #4 // Ghost Shadow Dragon: v2.2.4
~SETUP-DSOA.TP2~ #0 #6 // Grothgar the Red Dragon: v2.2.4
~SETUP-DSOA.TP2~ #0 #8 // Curse of the Underground Shade Lord: v2.2.4
~SETUP-EXNEM.TP2~ #0 #0 // Exnem Vault v5, Install Items
~SETUP-EXNEM.TP2~ #0 #1 // Add items to creatures
~SETUP-EXNEM.TP2~ #0 #2 // Add items to areas (affects SOA areas only - not BGT, TDD, CtB, etc. areas)
~SETUP-BW_HERBS_BG2.TP2~ #0 #0 // Herbs and Potions Add-in for BG2 by Baronius, v1.0.3
~RTTITEMPACK.TP2~ #0 #0 // Install RTT Item Pack? **The items are added to the "special" store of Ribald (Adventure's Mart, Waukeen's Promenade) available after SpellHold.**
~SETUP-SELUNEARMOURY.TP2~ #0 #0 // Selune's Armoury v1
~SETUP-SPSTUFF.TP2~ #0 #4 // Creslyn's BG2 Item Pack: v8
~SETUP-LOTRITEMS.TP2~ #0 #0 // Replace Items in the Game with LotR items?
~SETUP-IIITEMMOD.TP2~ #0 #1 // Items [version 5]
~SETUP-Z#MISC.TP2~ #0 #16 // Uberweapon - for Testing Purposes
~SETUP-AMBER.TP2~ #0 #0 // Amber the NPC MOD for BGII:SoA
~SETUP-AMBER.TP2~ #0 #1 // Multiplayer-friendly flirting for Amber
~SETUP-TSUJATHA.TP2~ #0 #0 // Tsujatha v9 (BG2:SoA NPC) created by Sillara of the Tamari
~SETUP-BTL.TP2~ #0 #0 // Beyond the Law - Kova & Kiyone
~SETUP-BTL.TP2~ #0 #3 // Portraits for Minor Non-Joinable BTL NPCs
~SETUP-TASHIA.TP2~ #0 #0 // Tashia NPC Mod -> Full version (ToB required)
~SETUP-TASHIA.TP2~ #0 #3 // Tashia Add-on Pack by Bri and Lord Ernie (English only, Tashia ToB Required) -> Baldurized Dialogues
~SETUP-KIVAN.TP2~ #0 #0 // Kivan of Shilmista: v8.1
~SETUP-KIVAN.TP2~ #0 #7 // Install ToB Portion of the Mod: v8.1
~SETUP-FADE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Fade: An NPC for Baldur's Gate II
~SETUP-ARIENA.TP2~ #0 #0 // Ariena the Half-orc (Requires Throne of Bhaal)
~SETUP-KITANYA.TP2~ #0 #0 // Kitanya Conversation/Romance Mod for BG2
~SETUP-KITANYA.TP2~ #0 #1 // Wizardslayer Bugs Fix
~SETUP-KITANYA.TP2~ #0 #2 // Wizardslayer Enhancements
~SETUP-NEHTANIEL.TP2~ #0 #0 // Neh'taniel NPC Mod: v3.7
~SETUP-NEHTANIEL.TP2~ #0 #5 // Neh'taniel's alternative portraits -> Neh'taniel's portrait, by Lava Del'Vortel?: v3.7
~SETUP-YASRAENA.TP2~ #0 #0 // Yasraena v7 (BG2:SoA & TOB NPC) created by nethrin & Sillara of the Tamari
~SETUP-THEUNDYING.TP2~ #0 #0 // "The Undying" Mod (Requires Throne of Bhaal)
~SETUP-KIM.TP2~ #2 #0 // Kim for BG2:SOA (ToB: required) version 1.61
~SETUP-KIM.TP2~ #2 #1 // Installation of the readjusted axe
~SETUP-SARAHTOB.TP2~ #0 #0 // Sarah NPC Romance Mod for BG2:ToB: 3.0
~SETUP-ANGELO.TP2~ #0 #0 // Angelo NPC MOD for Baldur's Gate II, v3
~SETUP-NIKITA.TP2~ #0 #0 // Nikitalleria NPC Mod (Requires Throne of Bhaal)
~NINDE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Ninde NPC Mod for BGII: SoA: v1.1
~XULAYE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Xulaye NPC Mod for BG2:SoA
~XULAYE.TP2~ #0 #1 // Xulaye's Player Initiated Dialogues
~XULAYE.TP2~ #0 #2 // Korgan Fights at the Pits
~SETUP-HALDAMIR.TP2~ #0 #0 // Haldamir: 0.2 ALPHA
~SETUP-SAERILETH.TP2~ #0 #0 // Saerileth Romance Mod v12 (BG2:SoA & TOB NPC) created by nethrin and Sillara
~SETUP-TYRISFLARE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Tyris Flare NPC: v2
~SETUP-TYRISFLARE.TP2~ #0 #101 // Alternate Tyris Portraits -> Alternate Portrait 1: v2
~SETUP-ALLISON.TP2~ #0 #0 // Allison (One-Day NPC)
~SETUP-HESSANPC.TP2~ #0 #0 // Hessa NPC Mod (Requires Throne of Bhaal)
~SETUP-VILDRA.TP2~ #0 #0 // Vildra for BG2:SoA

Makes sense to me to interact with as many of the mod NPCs as possible during testing, before installing more mods. Some mods needed "fixing" by adding the changes from BiG World Fixpack files, which I performed manually, and some mods already had the changes made, so not too much work there

- E

[Miloch]

Forgot to mention that sometimes the game moves very slowly (pendulum, animations, etc.), and at other times everything moves normally.

This is probably going to happen with any major mods (and you have some pretty big ones there, like TotDG, iiItems and BtL) - really, any mod that uses regexp probably, at least until you biff the files in your override, but *do not* do that until you're happy with your install, or have like a backup or something, 'cause you're pretty much stuck with what you've got after you do that. Some of those mods just should not be used at all (e.g. Exnem, LotR Items) but I guess I understand if you're just installing them for testing purposes.

[berelinde]

Argh. You've still got Haldamir Alpha 0.2. The thing is bugged as hell. Alpha 0.5 is a lot more stable.

[Eric P.]

Argh. You've still got Haldamir Alpha 0.2. The thing is bugged as hell. Alpha 0.5 is a lot more stable.

Lovely, that means I get to back-uninstall everything, install the new version of Haldamir, then proceed to install everything after that...and then begin a new test game. I thought perhaps I could fool weidu-mac into believing Haldamir was the last mod I installed (by editing weidu.log to remove everything listed after Haldamir), then uninstall and freshly install the newer version, and finally editing weidu.log again to add back what I removed, and simply start a new test game.

This process may never end *LOL*

- E

Edited by Eric P., 10 March 2010 - 07:22 PM.

[Eric P.]

Well, Mac can do sh, so you could try to convert to that format.
Or even better, get wine and you should be able to run the whole thing without manual labor. I guess you could copy the result and run it with your native version if the developers did stick with their usual format.

Wine doesn't work on the good old PowerPC-based macs, like this one.

Confirmed. My technology is a bit dated, but it's what I've got My Quicksilver is about as performanced-out as it can be, with the exception of the OS and graphics card.

- E

[Eric P.]

Forgot to mention that sometimes the game moves very slowly (pendulum, animations, etc.), and at other times everything moves normally.

This is probably going to happen with any major mods (and you have some pretty big ones there, like TotDG, iiItems and BtL) - really, any mod that uses regexp probably, at least until you biff the files in your override, but *do not* do that until you're happy with your install, or have like a backup or something, 'cause you're pretty much stuck with what you've got after you do that. Some of those mods just should not be used at all (e.g. Exnem, LotR Items) but I guess I understand if you're just installing them for testing purposes.

I'm afraid to biff anything *LOL*

Why should such mods as Exnem and LotR Items not be used? Are there known unresolvable conflicts with other mods?

Thanks!
Eric

[Miloch]

Why should such mods as Exnem and LotR Items not be used? Are there known unresolvable conflicts with other mods?

Mainly because they're a) overpowered and b) out-of-character. As to the latter, you really don't want to be finding Sting or Bilbo's Mithril Jacket or The One Ring or Final Fantasy items in your Forgotten Realms game, do you? Well, you might, but if so, that's your bag, baby, not mine . As to the former, Exnem has +10 (yes, +10, I didn't add an extra zero in there somewhere) Titanium Rings (that also incidentally mention "Sauron" and "his knights" in the description, so even if you wanted LotR stuff in your game, you'd be sadly depressed there).

NB: The Silmarillion mod is an obvious exception to the above, because it's essentially a conversion (not a total conversion) but also sadly unfinished, so I'm not sure I would include it for that reason either (i.e. it's unfinished).

My advice would be to use the BiG World Project's Recommended Install, only even then, exclude mods you're not sure about as far as being OS X compatible (or those you don't want - and the Recommended install shouldn't include any of the type I just trashed - most of those are in the so-called "Expert" install). Then if that works, tack some on that you may want to add. If it doesn't, subtract some that may be suspect. And it probably helps having a big external harddrive as backup so you don't have to do constant reinstalls (though DVD-RWs will perform the same function).

I do wish you luck - though I don't have a Mac, I believe in inter-platform compatibility and try to make all my mods that way (in theory - I have enough problems testing on Windows, nevermind I am typing this on a Linux machine but would never dream of trying to install anything like BG on it, let alone mods).

[Eric P.]

OK, responses follow...

Why should such mods as Exnem and LotR Items not be used? Are there known unresolvable conflicts with other mods?

Mainly because they're a) overpowered and b) out-of-character. As to the latter, you really don't want to be finding Sting or Bilbo's Mithril Jacket or The One Ring or Final Fantasy items in your Forgotten Realms game, do you? Well, you might, but if so, that's your bag, baby, not mine . As to the former, Exnem has +10 (yes, +10, I didn't add an extra zero in there somewhere) Titanium Rings (that also incidentally mention "Sauron" and "his knights" in the description, so even if you wanted LotR stuff in your game, you'd be sadly depressed there).

[Me] Point taken. It was kinda cute to wield Anduril in the game, but clearly inappropriate. Ahhh, so now I know where those silly items came from, the ones that are godly powerful. Well, I've ignored taking those in games, so I might as well dump Exnem as well as LotR Items. [/Me]

NB: The Silmarillion mod is an obvious exception to the above, because it's essentially a conversion (not a total conversion) but also sadly unfinished, so I'm not sure I would include it for that reason either (i.e. it's unfinished).

[Me] I have a huge soft spot for Sylmar Battlefield, partly because I'm also testing it for Zyraen (and hopefully helping to inspire him to get involved in modding again, to whatever degree). So, I'm really hoping Silmarillion will go live at some point [/Me]

My advice would be to use the BiG World Project's Recommended Install, only even then, exclude mods you're not sure about as far as being OS X compatible (or those you don't want - and the Recommended install shouldn't include any of the type I just trashed - most of those are in the so-called "Expert" install). Then if that works, tack some on that you may want to add. If it doesn't, subtract some that may be suspect. And it probably helps having a big external harddrive as backup so you don't have to do constant reinstalls (though DVD-RWs will perform the same function).

[Me] I do a restore of backed-up critical files when things come to a grinding halt due to mod conflicts (resulting from wrongly-installing). Then I use weidu-mac in a Terminal shell to install mods manually. With any that aren't OS X specific versions, I've taken a two-step approach that's likely inefficient:

1. Open a new shell and run Install-mod.sh, drop a mod folder I want to add to convert it, then say No at the prompt to install it now (I do this with every mod folder I extract, really).

2. Open another new shell and drop the file "WeiDU Installer.command" onto it, select to update mods to WeiDU 213, select the BGII game folder, highlight the mods I want to update in the window that appears, and select to update the mod(s).

I've been toying with the idea of burning a "clean install plus BG2 Fixpack" to a DVD, but haven't gotten around to that yet. [/Me]

I do wish you luck - though I don't have a Mac, I believe in inter-platform compatibility and try to make all my mods that way (in theory - I have enough problems testing on Windows, nevermind I am typing this on a Linux machine but would never dream of trying to install anything like BG on it, let alone mods).

I thank you, and the entire IE modding community, for all the fine work you do to make the BGII experience the best it can possibly be!

Onward,
Eric