5 replies to this topic

[Leonardo Watson]

On the Internet, you can find countless true, half true and untrue statements about the installation of Megamods. Almost all are individual partial solutions from a single perspective on a particular issue, that randomly match for the one special case, but without taking into account the interactions with other mods.

Leomar in his day was tirelessly scouring the Internet to gather these informations and to separate the true from the false. Many experienced players had contributed their knowledge, so that all these multiplexed informations without these the proper installation is not possible are available in one place in one guide. It forms a unique and reliable foundation for all players and modders for years.

If you now begin to spout off your own each other competing manuals, you have not understood the idea behind it and this is not helpful for the gaming community. Additional guidance as to a "recommended installation" or a "installation for newbies" are as useful as a hole in the head because they are not different from any other installation, only that other parameters are selected. Apart from that, they only rehash what is already all in the PDF. That are partial statements about particular aspects, which are already partially incorrect and are largely outdated the with the next version of BWP due to the many changes. These "tutorials" spread out forever through the network, because the net never forgets. If an installation due to such "tutorials" fails, this falls back to the entire BWP and brings it into disrepute. Ultimately, this leads only back to where we started many years ago: namely, that countless half-true information about BWP buzz through the net and the players are irritated unnecessarily.

This "tutorials" are actually an experience report, and should better be called "how I managed to install the Megamod". You must have done something thoroughly wrong with your installation, otherwise the installation had not failed. Comments to the PDF would be better therefore, if something is not explained sufficiently to take them into account, and so the last errors can be avoided.

Only the PDF is consistent with the respective install.bat because both are maintained at the same time! For what reason a PDF and no HTML? Because the PDF is not crawled by the robots! If the PDF is updated, the previous old dates are really gone, while the HTMLs can be googled, even if that page no longer available.

[Quester]

No offense Leonardo, but the BWP pdf is pretty intimidating for a player new to the modding scene. It does take some significant effort on a player's behalf to actually understand what to do and why, in order to get a working Megamod installation. I remember that feeling well from when I was new to the whole thing a couple of years ago, thinking "ugh, do I have to read these 200 pages of complex instructions in order to play a big modded BG game? maybe I should just forget the whole thing...". The threshold for a newcomer to be able to mod their game as they want and start playing could definitely be lowered, if that was a priority for anyone. From that perspective, I can appreciate why someone would take it upon him/herself to help other newbies out by attempting to break it down into as easy a guide as the subject allows.

And, to be honest, I don't think it's really correct to state that someone had to have done something "thoroughly wrong" for an installation not to go as planned. That can occur from the smallest of things, in my experience. Infact, it's probably more rare for everything to go exactly as planned, than the other way around.

However, as you mention the PDF as the source of correct information: please look in the BWP 10.3 thread for some inconsistencies I found.

And, lest I forget, thank you so much for continuing to update the BWP every now and then. I think I can speak for all BWP players when I say that we really, really appreciate all the effort you have put into this project over the years.

[Leonardo Watson]

The PDF is parted into a general part and an expert part.

From the PDF:

You do not need to read the whole guide! Read carefully the chapters 1 - 3 and then let's go! The detailed instructions in the next chapters are intended for reference in the event that you want to change something or to see what happens and why.

You only have to read: "IN THREE STEPS TO SUCCESS"

But without reading these 5 essential pages it is no wonder that you fail.

[Quester]

???

Was that directed at me? If it was, what's with the confrontational attitude?

I know perfectly well how to install a megamod, having read the pdf front to end a number of times. I was referring to new players needing a bit more guidance. And yes, it's certainly possible to get a working installation by just reading the five pages that you speak of, but without doing any customising of their own people are almost certain to get things in their game that they really don't want. For me, at least, a customized installation is a must.

[Lollorian]

The language barrier doesn't help i guess Think happy thoughts Quester man

I wish I could comment on this but seeing the direction the newbie guide seems to be taking from the past week - read "recommended lists" etc. - I won't comment.

But I will say that I believe there is an advantage in having a forum thread (albeit a regularly maintained and stickied one) over a PDF guide One that details the installation process and maybe a few protips (like making a backup of the original BGII install etc) because:
- they are more visible by random people rather than expecting the guide to be downloaded and read
- they can be less intimidating like Quester mentioned (open the pdf and you see 200+ pages... n00b goes omaifakkingawd @^#& this ima play skyrim lol)
- they can be maintained actively by the community (which does require an active maintainer - and I'll vouch for ShadowTek for this, while he was here )

Personally, I don't see any glaring errors in the newbie guide's install instructions - and I don't feel it's a problem that the information in the BWPGuide has been duplicated in the newbie guide Dissemination of knowledge is good no?

[William Imm]

Well, the recommended lists would be a completly seperate thread, as I stated mutiple times....

I'm mantaing this list now - just the fact that I don't have much free time is getting in the way.

Edited by William Imm, 02 February 2012 - 05:50 AM.