61 replies to this topic

[Eric P.]

Well met!

Once again, I've restored critical BGII files from back-ups, and am testing out mods more carefully than ever (but it's so difficult to go slowly! *L*). My goal is to get all, or as many as possible, of the mods I've collected for BGII - SoA/ToB to work together and have a correctly functioning game. I don't ask for much, do I?

My game is a maximum install, with the only patch being the latest ToB patch (2.1.2) for Mac.

BG2 Fixpack was the first mod I installed, and then I added the 1PP remedy and Moinesse Avatars, knowing that these can all live happily together.

Got a bunch of joinable NPC mods, all designated for use with OS X, including Kivan, Yasraena, Chloe, Solaufien, Kelsey, and Keto. Also a few kit mods (morituri, NPC Kitpack, and the Nature's Ally kit component of the Azure mod, which I can't get to install the NPC herself). I install Divine Remix last of all the kits.

After kits, I install the Crossmod Banter Pack. I forgot to do this before adding the NPCs named above, so I reinstalled it after running a test game and noticing no crossmod banter, where I've had plenty of it between Kivan and Aerie, and between Chloe and Aerie, in previous test games.

A few test games have worked well, and before installing each additional mod, I'll delete the contents of /cache/data, as well as /temp. Then I'll run a new test game to see how things go.

Next on the list will be Sorcerer's Place Collection, then Refinements, and finally The Bigg's Tweak Pack and BG2 Tweaks. Oh, also The Bigg's Quest Pack, Dungeon Crawl, Enhanced BG2, a few small item mods, and Romantic Encounters need to be added at some point.

I fully expect, based on experiences up to now, that I'll eventually see a CTD...most likely when I try to rest the party. That's been the most consistent failure I've had, as my postings about it will support I've convinced myself to go one mod at a time, this time, to see if I can find exactly which mod is playing havoc. A friend who's more technically savvy than I am about OS X has speculated that either BGII itself, or one or more mods, haven't been written with OS X 10.4.10 in mind. I agree with this, knowing that the latest patch is a bit dated, and ToB's packaging says the game's minimum requirement under OS X is 10.1.5. Heh, the game's copyright is 2003 10.4.x is vastly superior to 10.1.x, of course, and so much has changed under the hood that it's possible to never have a properly functioning game. The alternative would be to install the game under OS 9.2.2, but I haven't tried that yet, and would like to avoid doing so if possible, as OS X is such a high-powered system by comparison.

So, I forge ahead, like the protagonist of some multiplayer FRPG If anyone has had trouble, or knows of issues, with any of the mods I've mentioned, I'd appreciate some knowledge being dropped. I'm paying attention not to install components from more than one mod that do the same thing, like banter accelerators within a given mod, when I've already installed another mod that does the same job...and this might possibly be the fix for some CTDs I was getting when an Imoen dream sequence would come up during the first two chapters. I'd suspected the problem involved the shortened cutscenes in those chapters from another mod, but now I'm not so sure.

Here I go. Wish me luck! I'll report my findings for the sake of sharing what I learn with others who might be able to benefit from it.

Happy gaming,
Eric

[SConrad]

Moved to IE Modding Discussion.

[Eric P.]

Hello,

Today I discovered a repeatable CTD apparently involving a mod from Chosen of Mystra, called BG2 Subrace. If my protagonist is an Elf or Half-Elf, the mod works just fine. If my protagonist is Human, I get a CTD whether I choose Human or "None of the above" as subrace. As this happens shortly after the initial conversation with Imoen, this renders the game unplayable. Reinstalling the mod has no effect, as the result is always the same. So, I've uninstalled and deleted the mod, and I recommend that no one who plays BGII on a Mac under OS X use this mod. I hope the issue will be addressed and a fix found at some point, as I'm very sorry to see it go!

On to further testing...after removing the mod, I've had to re-install the Chloe mod, because taking her into Irenicus' dungeon had the unwanted result (as happens whenever other mods cause trouble, so far) of her being struck dead, and a message saying that only a chosen of Akadia (or a word other than "chosen") may wield the scimitar, and that "you have committed sacriledge [sic]." I believe re-installing Chloe will fix this, as it has when I've had this happen in the past.

Happy gaming,
Eric

[Eric P.]

All is well as of tonight, with Refinements being the last mod installed. Chloe works perfectly, as do Yasraena and Kivan, so I'll continue on to install all the very small mods (add items to the game, such as herbs & potions, priest rings, swords, etc.), then RE (Romantic Encounters), and whatever else I have left to test. The Bigg Tweaks and BG2 Tweaks will be the last mods to install.

The glowing of Chloe's and Yasraena's weapons is cool, but I'd like to see flickering (tiny tongues of flame flicker on the blade's edge), as I get with the +4 flaming sword my protagonist has, but rarely uses. Not sure if there's a graphics pack that would do this or not.

An odd behavior with Kivan that I've never had before: while he's obscured, every few seconds I see his avatar sort of "blink" into a lighter image, then instantly go back to the normal obscured look. Pretty sure it's not a computer hw or sw issue, as I haven't installed anything lately. I'll have to see if a re-install of his mod will fix this.

That's all for now. Updates to follow as I have 'em.

Happy gaming,
Eric

[Eric P.]

And so, it came to pass that, after installing Enhanced BG2 v1.0 and running a new test game, that I again saw the Chloe death issue. I've re-installed Chloe, and started another test game.

In the interest of avoiding too much tedium, I'll do a small collection of mod tests, and then just post a brief account of what happens. There are only a few left, but I figured I could save some space here

- E

[berelinde]

Just so you know, Crossmod Banter Pack should always be installed *after* all other NPC mods, not before.

[Eric P.]

Just so you know, Crossmod Banter Pack should always be installed *after* all other NPC mods, not before.

Yes, I'm aware of that. I installed it after I'd done all the NPC mods. This brings a question to mind: when I have to reinstall an NPC mod, will the install process take care of everything for me, as I believe it does, or is it then necessary for me to reinstall any other mods? I'm aware of how the installer uninstalls then reinstalls things as needed, but this question has been nagging at me.

And now for the latest update: Reinstalling Chloe hasn't solved the Chloe death thing that happens when I bring her into Irenicus' dungeon, so I'm stumped now. I've had success with her prior to this, being able to bring her into Chapter 2, before installing Refinements. On a related note, I was pleased to see that the 1PP v3 Chloe weapon graphics can be added in without causing unwanted behavior, EXCEPT that, when I move the cursor over one of these, the text that displays is some sort of dialog text. Also, when Chloe joins the group, I see a bit of banter between her and Haer'Dalis, which is odd and obviously out of place.

The frightful thought that I may need to scrap my game entirely and reinstall from discs is creeping out of the shadows...I'm much more comfortable with the idea of restoring backed-up files and then installing all mods as new.

Any thoughts, speculations, hints? Please, do tell!

Thanks,
Eric

[Eric P.]

Heh, I just realized why Berlinde reminded me about Crossmod. I can't read my own notes properly sometimes, it seems *L* The actual sequence was: Divine Remix, then the six named NPCs, then Crossmod, and on from there.

- E

[Miloch]

If you're pinpointing your CTDs to particular mods, are you also reporting those in the forums/sites where those mods are hosted?

[Eric P.]

If you're pinpointing your CTDs to particular mods, are you also reporting those in the forums/sites where those mods are hosted?

I shall...although I realize that problems don't always lie with the first mod I suspect. Thinking a little farther along that line, it may become more difficult than I thought to find the source of conflict, if I have success using, say, seven mods, and then get an error after installing an eighth. In such a case, the conflict could be between the last installed mod and any one (or more) of the previously installed mods.

Some can o' worms...

Thanks,
Eric

[Eric P.]

Finally got an issue with my mod testing. Surprise, surprise, it came after installing Chloe...

All testing has gone well with Kivan and with Yasraena installed, so I installed Chloe and ran a new test game. Here are the unusual things that happened:

1. Three djinnis (?) appeared, in succession, at the corner in the corridor beyond the library room in Irenicus' dungeon, each giving the dialog about having something that belongs to the protagonist. Party able to proceed after talking to all three.

2. Chloe, and the other beings who appear with her when her mod is first invoked, appear at the open doorway into the Air plane! When any party member talks to her, she has nothing to say to them.

3. Chloe's mod still begins properly just inside the Air plane, and she joins the group. Upon exiting the Air plane back into Irenicus' dungeon, I get the Chloe death scene. She appears grayed out in my party. The Chloe who appeared outside the entrance to the Air plane still stands there, and doesn't talk to the party. If the party kills her, they can pick up her secondary sword (but the scimitar has vanished), but of course it's usable only by Chloe.

I'll see if reinstalling Chloe will fix this. I installed the Flaming Sword animation files, but didn't notice if they worked or not.

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K...

- E

[Eric P.]

Reinstalling Chloe fixed the problems; I'm continuing to test, and will report again with the next unwanted behavior I encounter.

- E

[Eric P.]

Installing Kelsey (both SoA and ToB versions) caused Chloe death again when brought into party and then out of Air plane, but reinstalling her mod and running a new test game fixed that. Perhaps Chloe should be the very last joinable NPC to install, for people (like me) who want more than one available. I do plan to use each one I install, btw...just not all at the same time I also need to find out if I can make Chloe's sword animation work properly (meaning not causing her death).

Back to testing...

- E

[Eric P.]

Another note about Chloe: I've found that choosing "reinstall" is not the way to fix problems that occur after installing other mods. Instead, I chose "uninstall" to remove the mod, then I installed it as though for the first time, and ran a new test game. The Chloe mod works as it should now, and I'm proceeding with testing to see how the other NPC mods work together, and then on to the rest of the mods.

- E

[Eric P.]

As I was finished installing joinable NPC mods, I installed Crossmod Banter Pack. This again caused the Chloe death scene upon leaving the Air plane, so I uninstalled the Chloe mod, then installed it as new.

Back to testing...

- E

[berelinde]

Eric, I hate seeing you struggle with this. Check your PMs.

[Eric P.]

Eric, I hate seeing you struggle with this. Check your PMs.

Oh, it goes from bad to worse with this Chloe mod thing...after placing the file you sent me, and running the installer to first uninstall Chloe (successfully), then to install the mod as if for the first time, I got an error involving a music directory that doesn't exist! The installer rolled back to previous state, meaning the mod was not installed This has never happened before, so I'm wondering about this new version of Chloe.tp2. I'll look through it, but I'll do so with untrained eyes.

Of course, the installer advised me to e-mail Setup-Chloe.DEBUG to Lucy, but she doesn't respond to e-mail at the address provided (at least, not to me), so I'm not sure how to proceed from here.

- E

[berelinde]

Send it to me at berelinde_@gmail_.com, deleting the underscores, of course, and I'll see what I can do with it. I suspect that whatever errors existed before were being supressed by other issues. Been seeing it a lot lately, with the newer versions of WeiDU.

[Eric P.]

Berelinde is a super-hero! Thanks to the help, and to my remembering how to fix some of the music directory pathnames in Chloe.tp2, the mod installed successfully, and is performing as expected in a new test game.

Strange thing about the music, though: I don't think any of the mods I have play their music, as I've only ever heard the BGII soundtracks during play. Not sure what I need to change to make the music files play, but I suspect it has to do with the backslash versus forward slash issue between Windows and Mac (Mac file paths use only forward slashes).

Back to testing

- E

[Eric P.]

OK, so I got too excited about the progress, and after successful testing with SP Collection (only the additional items component installed, none of the kits), I went ahead and installed everything I had left, including the food mod, herbs & potions mod, priest rings mod, tbtweaks, BG2 Tweaks, and finally Refinements. These are all in the most current versions as of this writing. Started a new test game, got Imoen, Jaheira, and Minsc in my party, went to the room where the party usually gears up, and where the golem stands, clicked on the Rest button, and...CTD Started another new test game after clearing /cache/data and /temp folders, got to the same place, had the protagonist and Imoen cast spells, and as soon as they began casting...CTD.

So, once again, I've restored everything from my _back-up folder, which took me back to a clean install. I'm installing mods over again, starting with Fixpack, then alternate soundtrack mod, then joinable NPCs (except for the six "special case" ones), Moinesse Avatars, 1PP remedy mod, kit mods (ending with Divine Remix), then the special case NPCs (Kivan, Yasraena, Chloe, Solaufien, Kelsey SoA and ToB, and Keto). After that will be the smaller mods (herbs, rings, etc.), and finally tbtweaks, BG2 Tweaks, and Refinements, all in that order. That will round out my mod install.

Looks like I'll have to go back to running a new test game after installing each mod starting just after installing SP Collection. Well, it wasn't all that work wasted, but I do have to go through all the installs again, and I can run only one or two test games in a day. This would go much faster if not for the annoying necessities of food and sleep

At least all my NPC mods are functioning properly

Back to the drawing board...

- Eric