22 replies to this topic

[Strontium Dog]

Hello,

The TS readme states that you can't side with Bodhi in Chapter 2/3 if you want to do the main Tortured Souls quest with Yoshimo and Kachiko before reaching Spellhold. On the other hand, I would like to do the Bodhi Flirt encounter of the Romantic Encounters mod, which requires you to ally with Bodhi. Is there any way to do both? Would it perhaps be possible to just use movetoarea() to reach the particular areas of the TS mod. In which case, what is the initial area-code for the TS mod, which kick-starts that particular quest? I seem to recall that there is a first cut-scene on the boat, at first.

[Chevalier]

You need to have set globals before you start the main Yoshimo and Kachiko quest. Do you want to dig though the game and find them all? They will both install alright you just have more choices in your game. Which path do you want to play?

[Chevalier]

I'm bound to foul up the game in some way.

Yes you are. I know I have many times. If you want to try and see if you foul up the game or not, you could play though the game and then look at the globals just before leaving for the island. Then play again through the Bodhi Path and set the globals and see just how bad things are. The 1 time I played though on the Bodhi path I was testing NeJ2 and you needed to to pickup one of the NPCs. The lastest version on NeJ2 is really good and adds some to the Bodhi path so you might like to try a play though of that mod and RE should work with it.

And, to be honest, I hate the idea of being forced to play with Drizz't just in order to play through half or more of the ROT quests.

Then you hate RoT and thats ok, just don't play it.

Back in the day before it was called Mega Modding, when it was just called BP and hosted on teambg.com we knew having all the mods installed means that you had lots of choices not that you could do everything on just 1 play though.

Good luck!

[Strontium Dog]

I'm bound to foul up the game in some way.

Yes you are. I know I have many times. If you want to try and see if you foul up the game or not, you could play though the game and then look at the globals just before leaving for the island. Then play again through the Bodhi Path and set the globals and see just how bad things are. The 1 time I played though on the Bodhi path I was testing NeJ2 and you needed to to pickup one of the NPCs. The lastest version on NeJ2 is really good and adds some to the Bodhi path so you might like to try a play though of that mod and RE should work with it.

And, to be honest, I hate the idea of being forced to play with Drizz't just in order to play through half or more of the ROT quests.

Then you hate RoT and thats ok, just don't play it.

Back in the day before it was called Mega Modding, when it was just called BP and hosted on teambg.com we knew having all the mods installed means that you had lots of choices not that you could do everything on just 1 play though.

Good luck!

Re Nej2:- I didn't, at first, install it as it was reported to conflict with the TS(or was it the CTB?) mod on a BP-install, and because NEJ2 was reportedly so buggy - it also seemed to cover Icewind Dale, which ROT also covers(though my memory might be faulty re this). If, as you say, it's OK now, and at the level of the other mods in terms of debugging, then perhaps I should try it out instead.
One other thing:- NEJ2 happens to have Shar-Teel, my favourite NPC in Chateau Irenicus, yet The Darkest Day mod also has Shar-Teel in it - would there be a conflict or would it just mean that there were 2 alternate Shar-Teels I could have join my party?


Re not doing everything:- I'm a power-gamer so I want to do every possible combination in one game - the last few games I tried, even with the unusually large amounts of XP granted by the Darkest Day mod, I still only managed to reach 26th-28th level, as a single-classed mage, without cheating, after having done every conceivable quest - so I had to resolve to add an extra level after every major scene after Suldanesellar for my mostly single-classed characters to improve matters. I would like to be able to easily reach, say, 30th level as a triple-classed fighter/wild-mage/thief, after having done every possible combination and quest from the mega- and mini-mods - so far, for BG1, after doing every possible quest in BG1Tutu and related mods, I simply doubled every xp-point I got to reach 8th/9th/10th level as an F/WM/T- with the new upcoming BG1 Quest Pack with its reputed 100s of additional quests, this XP-adding cheat likely won't be necessary any more for that game , and hopefully BG2 will eventually have enough quests to allow the same. After all, the XP levels now reach up to 50, and I want to take advantage of the Spell-50 mod I installed, etc.!

. I wouldn't mind ROT if I could get hold of Artemis Enteri at the start of the game, but, this way, I have to endure Drizz't until Chapter 6, to some extent. Also, if there was a proper ROT walkthrough, I could just use Drizz't for his specific quests, while doing all other quests with another NPC, instead.

Edited by Strontium Dog, 18 September 2007 - 09:22 AM.

[Azazello]

As to the walk-thru, I was under the impression that you were going to write that. I remember someone writing that you should do it, and you didn't say 'No'.

Although I haven't played RoT all the way, I imagine that Drizzt doesn't really need to be in the party until just before going to Brynnlaw. So maybe it could be designed that Drizzt can be sent to the surface when in Hotel Irenicus, then pick him up later. Perhaps in the Promenade so that his dialogue about 'feeling weaker' triggers. Maybe also an option for leaving/re-joining the party. I haven't looked at the mod's code, so don't know if these are possible.

[Strontium Dog]

As to the walk-thru, I was under the impression that you were going to write that. I remember someone writing that you should do it, and you didn't say 'No'.

I'd love to provide a makeshift ROT-readme of sorts. The trouble is that I've been trying to make as big a megamod-installation as possible, with the least number of potential bugs occurring -so far, after 6+ weeks of endless installing/uninstalling and reading of forum topics and mod-readmes, I've got to the stage where I might even be able to achieve this. Should the current installation actually work, I'll start writing a basic guideline re quests from that point(hopefully, I won't confuse them with other megamod-related quests, though!).

Re Hoppy's mention of NEJ2:- I should add that I've checked the NEJ2 forum and other mentions of that mod elsewhere, and I've found that it's not really compatible with the other megamods, especially CTB. It's really meant to be played as a stand-alone adventure or with Improved Anvil.

Although I haven't played RoT all the way, I imagine that Drizzt doesn't really need to be in the party until just before going to Brynnlaw. So maybe it could be designed that Drizzt can be sent to the surface when in Hotel Irenicus, then pick him up later. Perhaps in the Promenade so that his dialogue about 'feeling weaker' triggers. Maybe also an option for leaving/re-joining the party. I haven't looked at the mod's code, so don't know if these are possible.

I'll keep that in mind.

[Hoppy]

@Strontium Dog:
Re: TS and NeJ2
If you can still get or have the version compatible with BP (v42b) then you can play the 2 together and has incompatibilities with CTB and I don't know how severe. Vlad doesn't host it any more and I was lucky enough to burn to CD during its existence.
Re:Sharteel
I played (in my last megainstall) with NeJ2 with TDD and did not get 2 sharteels but only one. The one that existed was the TDD one (prison). Probably TDD overwrites I think. If you like her and want her enhanced Vlad style (which I liked) you may have to play the standalone version of NeJ(691) which works with the Tortured Souls standalone. Maybe there is fix where TDD won't overwrite the NeJ Sharteel. She has a bigger quest in NeJ and more banters. Plus a new kit and portraits too (Firewalker)
Re:drizzt
Azazello said you don't need him at points which I concur, but I thought he was needed in Brynnlaw for the Spirit soaring and I got the clue about Maribur in the Underdark. I am not sure if the Djinni shows up wherever and wherever after the Spirit soaring so I can't give any insight as to GLOBAL altering.
Hope that helps you

[Chevalier]

Sharteel is only in the later non-BP version of NeJ2. If you have or can get someone send you version v42b it should work will with other mods, just remember the more bigger mods or mods that add animations can give you more bugs. It is not so much mod 'A' conflicts with mod 'B', but adding A, B C, D, E and F together.

If you want to power game you can set Globals and kick NPCs and if needed CluaConsole them back. You need just to be able have a slot or 2 free to be able to have them in your party when needed. I would have Drizzt join your party and get him out into the day light before kicking him from the party. Then when ready get him back into your party and play RoT quests.

[Hoppy]

Sharteel is only in the later non-BP version of NeJ2. If you have or can get someone send you version v42b it should work will with other mods, just remember the more bigger mods or mods that add animations can give you more bugs. It is not so much mod 'A' conflicts with mod 'B', but adding A, B C, D, E and F together.

Hey Chev, do you mean she is not in the v42b, the last version for BP with the most content?
I thought that when I had NeJ2 (v42b) installed with TDD that I only got her TDD character because of installing TDD after NeJ2. Sheesh, I got so confused with all of the versions because I played the standalone once, then tried to do the BP versions and started with the old basic v13(?) and couldn't remember what content was added/leftout in v42b.

[Azazello]

Azazello said you don't need him at points which I concur, but I thought he was needed in Brynnlaw for the Spirit soaring and I got the clue about Maribur in the Underdark.

...I imagine that Drizzt doesn't really need to be in the party until just before going to Brynnlaw.

[Chevalier]

NeJ2v42b.exe with the patch NeJ2v602.exe is the version that works well with BP and KD's animation scheme and has few (if any) other bugs. No Sharteel is not in this version (if someone knows better please correct me). The current version is not recommended to be used with BP and other non-approved mods.

[Hoppy]

Re:CLUAing to KaraTur
If you do that too soon, you will miss out on the dialogs between Yoshimo and Kachiko as a prelude to the quest. I am not sure about this, but also if you neglect taking the Brynnlaw boat and going to KaraTur, you may get stuck trying to finish the quest. Just my thoughts.

[Hoppy]

Those Global commands are going to be very dependent on CHAPTER. If you are going to do it from scratch, you would need to change Chapter Global (because you need to go to Brynnlaw) after Bodhi's fight (I am sure there is a global for that too but don't know what it is). Basically Kachiko disrupts the plan to go rescue Imoen ( or a slight detour). So Bodhi has to be beaten first time. All of the Gaelan/Aran linvail/Shadowthieves/vampires drama probably needs to be done ( I don't know what globals those are either). Remember also, that once you set those globals you may have to change them back. My best advice since you want to be able to get the most out of your adventure is to have Near Infinity installed and Shadowkeeper of course. Near Infinity will allow you to look at dialog strings (by looking at DLG files) and BCS scripts. From there you can see the solid GLOBAL settings that activate the triggers that you want to proceed in a certain quest. I used it a lot in CTB to see where and how to complete quests.
Cool?

[Strontium Dog]

Those Global commands are going to be very dependent on CHAPTER. If you are going to do it from scratch, you would need to change Chapter Global (because you need to go to Brynnlaw) after Bodhi's fight (I am sure there is a global for that too but don't know what it is). Basically Kachiko disrupts the plan to go rescue Imoen ( or a slight detour). So Bodhi has to be beaten first time. All of the Gaelan/Aran linvail/Shadowthieves/vampires drama probably needs to be done ( I don't know what globals those are either). Remember also, that once you set those globals you may have to change them back. My best advice since you want to be able to get the most out of your adventure is to have Near Infinity installed and Shadowkeeper of course. Near Infinity will allow you to look at dialog strings (by looking at DLG files) and BCS scripts. From there you can see the solid GLOBAL settings that activate the triggers that you want to proceed in a certain quest. I used it a lot in CTB to see where and how to complete quests.
Cool?

With the Romance mods all I had to do was change the value of just one global command. If I really have to change several different global commands, as you claim, then there's no point - I'd just foul up the game. I suppose I'll just have to do the Bodhi-alliance quests, do the Bodhi-Flirt, and then reload an earlier save and ally with Aran Linvail, instead.

[Hoppy]

You can play two side games with different adventures. Think of it this way, if you are happy with the mods you have, then you can get optimal playability from starting other adventures, changing class,race,alignment. CtB is a perfect example because you can't get everything from one playthrough. You can save the editing until you absolutely have to to fix your install bugs or setting globals that don't set for some reason. You can count on both happening at least twice.

[Strontium Dog]

You can play two side games with different adventures. Think of it this way, if you are happy with the mods you have, then you can get optimal playability from starting other adventures, changing class,race,alignment. CtB is a perfect example because you can't get everything from one playthrough. You can save the editing until you absolutely have to to fix your install bugs or setting globals that don't set for some reason. You can count on both happening at least twice.

I've just read the most recent TS readme and it didn't mention this bug re Yoshimo/Kachiko quest not happening if you side with Bodhi - so, maybe it's been fixed by now - and the thread I got the info from might have been very out-of-date. I will, of course, do all other quests, and then save just before Spellhold and the Bodhi/Aran quests, and try both together to see what happens - if that really doesn't work, I'll have to do the Bodhi Flirt, and then reload my earlier save and side with Aran. I loathe playing two separate games at the same time because it's so easy to get confused between the two - in order to avoid temporary bugs/CTDs, I always make a point of saving beforehand(always using "named" save-files rather than just "quicksave" before the more important battles of the game - and I'd never remember which referred to which game). The other consideration is that with so many quests available, it would take a huge amount of time to complete just one game, let alone two.

[maximus2001]

You covered a bunch of things from different mods, so I'll just give you my 2 cents.

1)Shar-teel as npc is only in the newer NEJ2 (not in the one I use thats bp compatable NEJ42)

2)I always sided with shadow thieves except this time to try Bohdi. Did not have any problems in TS with Yoshimo/Kachiko quests. Just did quest to get thieves guild (maevar's) then back to Bohdi for order to kill Aran, then with that all finished Bohdi sends you on your ship (after yoshi/kachiko talk).

3)The general advice from Vlad was to have Y and K in party for some time in Chapter 2 for their relationship to develop and globals get set. Basically they have several conversations. The plot goes ahead even if you skip this but it makes less sense storywise.

4)If you clua around some globals may or may not be set, and could make things screwy (like bohdi not showing up on the kara tur island, or a character not saying anything)-whatever the mod/mods installed- because they are set when you come into a certain part of the map normally. Its sometimes hit or miss (cluaing), make sure you save games periodically before major conversations . Really no need to do this though (unless another mod is misfiring).

5)It is tricky to drop/add Drizzt. The clua code for Drizzt (think its "Driz21")- I've had him join after leaving ChatIrenicus because party was filled (had to clua in). Will only join with Wulfgar in party. You can release him, but need him for main quest of ROT which is spread out over several areas. I've basically had him now the whole game till chapter 6 (instead of adding/dropping him several times).

6)If you are worried about experience, just dont use the defjam xp fixer. Before I used it there was tons of xp which made game too boring, and too easy.

7)Check ROT quest list for Main quest outline:
Drizzt is needed in :
1)slums (when enter genie comes up and talks)
2)Arlax sewer (drow talks)
3)Monzuma's cave (quest to save buddies)
4)Umar hills (near cave another drow talks)
5)Westchar (quest to save buddies)
6)City of Gragha (quest to save buddies)
7)Brynlaw (talk to brother martin to get to cadderly)
8)Underdark (when enter genie comes up and talks)
9)Maribur (talk to Jolnar)
10)Mysterious cave (the endgame)

Each new area will show up on map after talking with whomever (they look for Drizzt in the party).

Good luck until I finish a walkthrough.

[Strontium Dog]

You covered a bunch of things from different mods, so I'll just give you my 2 cents.

1)Shar-teel as npc is only in the newer NEJ2 (not in the one I use thats bp compatable NEJ42)

I have TDD installed, so Shar-Teel can still be an NPC, so that's OK. Anyway, I'm wary of installing NEJ2 until it's been made more compatible with CTB.

2)I always sided with shadow thieves except this time to try Bohdi. Did not have any problems in TS with Yoshimo/Kachiko quests. Just did quest to get thieves guild (maevar's) then back to Bohdi for order to kill Aran, then with that all finished Bohdi sends you on your ship (after yoshi/kachiko talk).

Great, that means the earlier bug has long been fixed.

3)The general advice from Vlad was to have Y and K in party for some time in Chapter 2 for their relationship to develop and globals get set. Basically they have several conversations. The plot goes ahead even if you skip this but it makes less sense storywise.

The trouble is that I find both NPCs rather annoying. Still, I think I've installed some components which make banters appear faster than before, so....

5)It is tricky to drop/add Drizzt. The clua code for Drizzt (think its "Driz21")- I've had him join after leaving ChatIrenicus because party was filled (had to clua in). Will only join with Wulfgar in party. You can release him, but need him for main quest of ROT which is spread out over several areas. I've basically had him now the whole game till chapter 6 (instead of adding/dropping him several times).

I just tried a game where I had Wulfgar killed, I still could ally with Drizz't - I had the "Moddie" mod installed, allowing me to have an extra NPC in Chateau Irenicus.

6)If you are worried about experience, just dont use the defjam xp fixer. Before I used it there was tons of xp which made game too boring, and too easy.

I personally loathe the low XP gained in BG2. This usually means that mages have to continuously rest after very single major battle, in order to regain their spells, which is somewhat unrealistic and seems like cheating. I far prefer a high-level triple-classed group of 6 NPCs, who can keep on casting for several different battles without needing to rest - especially useful if you're fighting so many Tactics-mod-enhanced battles. Of course, the trouble with many AD&D-related games, is that the mages are invariably way-underpowered(eg:- NeverWinter Nights) by comparison to other classes such as fighters. TOEE is much better as a game in that regard.

7)Check ROT quest list for Main quest outline:
Drizzt is needed in :
1)slums (when enter genie comes up and talks)
2)Arlax sewer (drow talks)
3)Monzuma's cave (quest to save buddies)
4)Umar hills (near cave another drow talks)
5)Westchar (quest to save buddies)
6)City of Gragha (quest to save buddies)
7)Brynlaw (talk to brother martin to get to cadderly)
8)Underdark (when enter genie comes up and talks)
9)Maribur (talk to Jolnar)
10)Mysterious cave (the endgame)

Each new area will show up on map after talking with whomever (they look for Drizzt in the party).

Good luck until I finish a walkthrough.

Ah, I'd forgotten that there already was a rough sketch of the ROT quest. Thanks.