5286 replies to this topic

[Roxanne]

I'm out of the loop. I haven't messed with a BGT/BWP install in years. I'd like to give it another go with BG:EE/SOD/BG2:EE. Is it possible to go BGT/BWP with the enhanced versions?

If so, what guide should I follow?

 

I'm interested in trying out most of the available mods to see everything the community has to offer, primarily focused on bugfixes and new content (quests, areas, dialogue).

The equivalent to BGT in the EE world is EET

http://gibberlings3....p?showforum=195

Install is supported by BWS.

Is there a guide for which mods to download for an EET install?

The overview is here http://gibberlings3....topic=27741&hl=

 

The issue is the same you may remember from BGT, i.e. the install sequence is a crucial point. Unless you want to read a lot of material, you may be interested to use the BWS for it.

 

Here is a rough guide for manual install http://gibberlings3....=50#entry255109

Edited by Roxanne, 28 December 2017 - 11:43 AM.

[The Imp]

@Roxanne, somehow you failed to just give the simple advice, and that is, use the BiG World Setup, from here. Not %&/¤ overview or manual install guide's that lead to offsite resources... that might rebound to the BWS... and you should learn to use proper links, not http-ones.

Edited by The Imp, 28 December 2017 - 12:37 PM.

[Jenavee]

@Roxanne Unless I'm very much mistaken, I think I found the reason for the MSFM issue the other day on line 1870 of Mod.ini. Looking through the BG2 EE/EET installer mod/component list, which is what I was using, and was causing the issue post-tests, I don't see a More Styles For Mages mod *at all*, but that's the mod in Mod.ini the BiG World Setup keeps complaining about.

[subtledoctor]

Quick announcement regarding Scales of Balance for any EE BWS users (BGT players, you can ignore this):

 

I've recently made major changes to the "revised weapon styles" component, fundamentally altering the way dual-wielding works to more closely approximate a 3.5E-style system:

- It only involves 2 stars, like the other styles, so you can get the full benefit earlier.

- With only 1 star, you don't make off-hand attacks; rather, you get a 1-point melee AC bonus for using a dagger in either slot.

- With two stars, you get the parrying AC bonus plus an off-hand attack.

- When mixing a dagger with any other weapon, you get a -2 thac0 penalty to both main-hand and off-hand.

- When mixing two large weapons, you get a -4 thac0 penalty to both main-hand and off-hand.

- Bastard swords and katanas cannot be equipped in the off-hand slot.

 

I have released this, but marked it as a pre-release so BWS won't pick it up, because I didn't want people using BWS who don't read the Beamdog forums to be surprised by this.  So, consider this post to be putting you on notice of the change, if you use that mod.  In a week or so I'm going to mark it as a full release and it will be what BWS uses.

 

Cheers, happy New year.

[Jenavee]

@subtledoctor Thanks for that, and good job! Very helpful since I tend to not read any of the multiple forums until I either want to read documentation or have a question the readme and forum don't already explain....

Edited by Jenavee, 28 December 2017 - 08:37 PM.

[enderandrew]

@Roxanne, somehow you failed to just give the simple advice, and that is, use the BiG World Setup, from here. Not %&/¤ overview or manual install guide's that lead to offsite resources... that might rebound to the BWS... and you should learn to use proper links, not http-ones.

 

I'm somewhat familiar with the old HUGE PDF guide from the BWP days, at least in 2013 when I last did one.
 

I'm looking at BWS for EET currently. It is nice that it downloads the mods for you, where as BWP used to have you hunt down and download all the files manually.

 

I'm trying to figure out which mods to include.

 

Are there any NPCs designed for EET to play through the whole saga? I assume most of the NPCs were designed as either BG1 or BG2 mods at one point.

 

Check the Bodies, Region of Terror and Secret of Bone Hill are Big Mods. From their description it sounds like they add tons of content and they seem interesting, but are red and disabled by default. Are they safe to enable, or will it break things?

 

EET Tweaks, Faith and Powers and Scales of Balance are disabled even under Tactical. I'm curious why, but I assume there is a reason.

 

Baldur's Gate Graphics Overhaulfor EET and BGT sounds awesome. Is it only red because of the download size and that it is a pre-release? If it isn't known to break anything, I'm willing to give it a try. I looked at the thread for it and it seems like there is an engine bug that leads to some visible lines, but that doesn't seem like a huge deal breaker if it improves visuals and fixes other things.

 

Almateria's Restoration Project is in red. A quick Google search and check of the thread for that mod says the error is only from "Restored Final Slayer Dream". So I assume this might be safe to install if I disable option 11 and 12?

Edited by enderandrew, 28 December 2017 - 08:52 PM.

[Jenavee]

I'm looking at BWS for EET currently. It is nice that it downloads the mods for you, where as BWP used to have you hunt down and download all the files manually.

 

Aye, I'm installing a customized MAXIMUM install for BG2 EE/EET at the moment with BiG World Setup. Note that if you use the Divine spell changes/additions from BOTH IWDification + Divine Remix together, you'll end up with duplicate but differently-working spells in cleric spellbooks, such as two types of Cure/Cause Wounds.

 

I also identified, but haven't tracked down, an issue with 'Protection from Alteration' not blocking Basilisk petrification gaze - it appears to be linked to changes made to their gaze, where it first slows you, then puts you into a permanent *HELD* debuff and changes your colour. 

 

Other than those, I spent a couple days with said install already and had much fun with only inconsequential issues such as stores having a few different items than normal. 

[enderandrew]

I'm looking at BWS for EET currently. It is nice that it downloads the mods for you, where as BWP used to have you hunt down and download all the files manually.

 

Aye, I'm installing a customized MAXIMUM install for BG2 EE/EET at the moment with BiG World Setup. Note that if you use the Divine spell changes/additions from BOTH IWDification + Divine Remix together, you'll end up with duplicate but differently-working spells in cleric spellbooks, such as two types of Cure/Cause Wounds.

 

I also identified, but haven't tracked down, an issue with 'Protection from Alteration' not blocking Basilisk petrification gaze - it appears to be linked to changes made to their gaze, where it first slows you, then puts you into a permanent *HELD* debuff and changes your colour. 

 

Other than those, I spent a couple days with said install already and had much fun with only inconsequential issues such as stores having a few different items than normal. 

Good to know. The duplicate spells doesn't seem like a deal breaker, but I assume I can probably disable just one component from one of those to remove that.

As for the Basilisk petrification gaze, I'd report that in the thread of that specific mod.

Edit: Did you include Check the Bodies, Region of Terror and Secret of Bone Hill in your maximum install?

Edited by enderandrew, 28 December 2017 - 09:13 PM.

[Jenavee]

As for the Basilisk petrification gaze, I'd report that in the thread of that specific mod.

 

Yeah, except as I said, despite digging through the mod/component list, I still haven't figured out wtf changed the basilisks, if anything. Either 'Protection from Alteration' is broken (even though it shows the buff properly), or the basilisks got modified. Did they always cause 1-2 rounds of Slow prior to *HOLD*ing you? I don't recall either the *HOLD* debuff or the temporary Slow.

[Roxanne]

@Roxanne, somehow you failed to just give the simple advice, and that is, use the BiG World Setup, from here. Not %&/¤ overview or manual install guide's that lead to offsite resources... that might rebound to the BWS... and you should learn to use proper links, not http-ones.

 

I'm somewhat familiar with the old HUGE PDF guide from the BWP days, at least in 2013 when I last did one.
 

I'm looking at BWS for EET currently. It is nice that it downloads the mods for you, where as BWP used to have you hunt down and download all the files manually.

 

I'm trying to figure out which mods to include.

 

Are there any NPCs designed for EET to play through the whole saga? I assume most of the NPCs were designed as either BG1 or BG2 mods at one point.

- Sandrah is especially designed for EET and has a huge story from Candlekeep to ToB and even afterwards. However, it requires some of the other big mods as well and it adds loads of additional stuff with all that mega mods do.

- Sirene is a mod NPC now spanning the complete Saga

- Some of the new EE NPCs, e.g. Neera

Generally, EET has the concept of continuos NPCs where applicable. It is discussed in detail in the EET forum.

 

Check the Bodies, Region of Terror and Secret of Bone Hill are Big Mods. From their description it sounds like they add tons of content and they seem interesting, but are red and disabled by default. Are they safe to enable, or will it break things?

The old big mods have just recently been overhauled for EET, i.e. old code was removed, no more biffing, overpowered items and enemies have been adjusted etc. The intention was to preserve their content but not necessarily all the extra tweaks and rule changes of the originals. They have been tested by some experts but not by a large player base yet. So, BWS treats them like new mods and marks them red for your attention. All known bugs from the originals and new one discovered from tests are fixed but they may still have undiscovered issues. I have played them without problems.

 

EET Tweaks, Faith and Powers and Scales of Balance are disabled even under Tactical. I'm curious why, but I assume there is a reason.

They are not disabled? They are not pre-selected if that is what you mean, i.e. BWS has no preferences of which alternative settings the user should select. Reason is the EET is relatively young and very dynamic with more and more mods added to it. There is not yet the experience base we had in BGT to come up with *best* settings for the choices. Where applicable, BWS has dependencies and conflicts defined which will appear to help you in your component selection.

 

Baldur's Gate Graphics Overhaulfor EET and BGT sounds awesome. Is it only red because of the download size and that it is a pre-release? If it isn't known to break anything, I'm willing to give it a try. I looked at the thread for it and it seems like there is an engine bug that leads to some visible lines, but that doesn't seem like a huge deal breaker if it improves visuals and fixes other things.

 

Almateria's Restoration Project is in red. A quick Google search and check of the thread for that mod says the error is only from "Restored Final Slayer Dream". So I assume this might be safe to install if I disable option 11 and 12?

These mods have problems (time, health...) of their maintainers and may be fixed once the owner deels fit to do. So nobody else is trying to fix anything meanwhile. There was a very heated and ugly discussion not long ago about BWFixpack doing things to provide interim fixes for mods and this is not done for any mod that is still *alive*.

 

Edited by Roxanne, 29 December 2017 - 12:05 AM.

[enderandrew]

The old big mods have just recently been overhauled for EET, i.e. old code was removed, no more biffing, overpowered items and enemies have been adjusted etc. The intention was to preserve their content but not necessarily all the extra tweaks and rule changes of the originals. They have been tested by some experts but not by a large player base yet. So, BWS treats them like new mods and marks them red for your attention. All known bugs from the originals and new one discovered from tests are fixed but they may still have undiscovered issues. I have played them without problems.

I don't expect things to be perfect with a large collection of mods. I'll take that risk.

These mods have problems (time, health...) of their maintainers and may be fixed once the owner deels fit to do. So nobody else is trying to fix anything meanwhile. There was a very heated and ugly discussion not long ago about BWFixpack doing things to provide interim fixes for mods and this is not done for any mod that is still *alive*.

I don't want to derail the thread, but I assume there have to be reasonable ways to do this. Perhaps make it a separate mod that isn't part of BWFixpack by itself, but a new mod that cleans up and fixes other abandoned mods.

On a case-by-case basis, someone could also just fix and repackage the individual mod in question if the author made it clear it was abandoned and someone else could pick it up. Personally, if I created content, I'd want new players to have access to it over time to enjoy it.

Edited by enderandrew, 29 December 2017 - 01:53 AM.

[Roxanne]

I don't want to derail the thread, but I assume there have to be reasonable ways to do this. Perhaps make it a separate mod that isn't part of BWFixpack by itself, but a new mod that cleans up and fixes other abandoned mods.

On a case-by-case basis, someone could also just fix and repackage the individual mod in question if the author made it clear it was abandoned and someone else could pick it up. Personally, if I created content, I'd want new players to have access to it over time to enjoy it.

When I said *alive*, I was referring especially to mods that have NOT been abandoned, they just have authors or maintainers (i.e.people having adopted a mod from the original owner) that are very sporadic with updating/fixing things. But of course, nobody can hinder you to have your own private mod for fixing things on your local install. I have one myself that repairs all the things that modders are reluctant to repair, so I can enjoy my large install without need to bother anyone or step on their toes.

[enderandrew]

 I see in your Sandrah Saga thread you mention there is a 2.0 beta version of NTotSC. Is there a way to use that with BWS? It looks like BWS is meant to pull down 1.7. Also the Sandrah Saga instructions say to install Siren's Call, but I'm not seeing that in BWS.

[Roxanne]

 I see in your Sandrah Saga thread you mention there is a 2.0 beta version of NTotSC. Is there a way to use that with BWS? It looks like BWS is meant to pull down 1.7. Also the Sandrah Saga instructions say to install Siren's Call, but I'm not seeing that in BWS.

- BWS currently only supports the well-tested interim NTotSC for EET, the 2.0 beta is still under test. While the Sandrah mod supports both versions, it is the explicit request of the NTotSC maintainer to control when BWS is allowed to use the new version. If you still want to install the new one, you can do this:

1. Select the BWS supported one for your mod list and right click it *Pause prior mod*.

2. BWS will stop before installing NTotSC. You delete the mod folder and setup-exe's (both 170 and 171) in your game folder

3. You download, extract, and install the 2.0 (if you want Sandrah you need to install the main component and the Keelor option, you can make your choice of other components as you like.)

4. You continue BWS and tell it to skip NTotSC

5. Sandrah installs in sequence after NTotSC and if she finds the main and Keelor component should install without issue.

 

- The full title is *Lure of the Sirine's Call* - make sure to only install the main component NOT the additional  *Extended Lighthouse area*, it crashes EE games.

[Jenavee]

I have one myself that repairs all the things that modders are reluctant to repair, so I can enjoy my large install without need to bother anyone or step on their toes.

 

You have my undivided attention. You don't make that available to others, do you? 

[enderandrew]

Sorry that I've got so many questions. I just want to make sure I've got a good install before a lengthy play-through.

This URL appears to be broken:

Wild Mage Additions: The Mod itself (burner1024-bg2-wildmage-2.beta3-0-g7d3c290.zip)
http://lynxlynx.info...24/bg2-wildmage

But it looks like the mod can be found here:
https://github.com/B...et/bg2-wildmage

I downloaded the wildmage folder from GitHub, threw in a copy of Weidu named setup-wildmage.exe and them put those in the zip file name that BWS was expecting: burner1024-bg2-wildmage-2.beta3-0-g7d3c290.zip

I presume that is what I need to do.

I want to remove the EXP cap. I'm selecting this option in BWS but it is in red. Is there a better/prefered cap remover?

Tweaks Anthology - Remove Experience Cap

Lastly, unless I'm blind I'm not seeing Southern Edge in BWS though it appears to be EE/EET compatible. Is it safe to install this separately after BWS?

[Roxanne]

Sorry that I've got so many questions. I just want to make sure I've got a good install before a lengthy play-through.

This URL appears to be broken:

Wild Mage Additions: The Mod itself (burner1024-bg2-wildmage-2.beta3-0-g7d3c290.zip)
http://lynxlynx.info...24/bg2-wildmage

But it looks like the mod can be found here:
https://github.com/B...et/bg2-wildmage

I downloaded the wildmage folder from GitHub, threw in a copy of Weidu named setup-wildmage.exe and them put those in the zip file name that BWS was expecting: burner1024-bg2-wildmage-2.beta3-0-g7d3c290.zip

I presume that is what I need to do.

I want to remove the EXP cap. I'm selecting this option in BWS but it is in red. Is there a better/prefered cap remover?

Tweaks Anthology - Remove Experience Cap

Lastly, unless I'm blind I'm not seeing Southern Edge in BWS though it appears to be EE/EET compatible. Is it safe to install this separately after BWS?

- I cannot comment on the current status of the Wild Mage mod, it is best to ask directly https://forum.bgforg...ic.php?f=4&t=17

 

- xp cap >>>I am using these with good experience

Spoiler

EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2002 // Total XP CAP -> Disabled:
~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2040 // XP for Traps, Spells and Lockpicking -> BG1 values (default):
~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2052 // XP for killing creatures -> Decrease to 50%:
~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2062 // XP for quests -> Decrease to 50%:
~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3000 // Disable hostile reaction after charm:
~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4030 // Remove junk from global scripts:
~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4040 // Import party items to SoA:

 

- Southern Edge >>>the modder did not allow the mod for BWS if you install it and you have other mods requiring BP-BGT worldmap, then you should install Southern Edge prior to worldmap.

[Jenavee]

I want to remove the EXP cap. I'm selecting this option in BWS but it is in red. Is there a better/prefered cap remover?

Tweaks Anthology - Remove Experience Cap

 

- xp cap >>>I am using these with good experience

[spoiler]EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2002 // Total XP CAP -> Disabled

 

EET_Tweaks mentions in that 2002 component that using Tweaks Anthology Remove XP Cap component is preferred.

 

Either way, though, as far as I know there exists a problem, and the reason disabling is 'Red': while Baldur's Gate EE has tables for everything up to 40, it LACKS the HLA tables entirely, meaning super-high levels in BGEE not only won't receive HLAs but also get stuck on the level up screen. I hear pressing enter can bypass that, though, and let you level up anyway.

[enderandrew]

I've been sitting on a "All steps to launch the installation are done" screen for over an hour, but the Back, Continue and Exit buttons are all grayed out. Is this normal? Should I continue to just let it sit? In process explorer/task manager I don't show Weidu or any install tasks running.

[Jenavee]

That isn't normal in my experience. I've reinstalled variations of EET three times in as many days, did not run into that.