[Hank Parsons]

The result of this is that the game becomes very inconsistent: you've got really tough battles followed by comparatively very easy ones, and so on.

Such is life. It would be awefully linear if 1st level PC's faced 1st level monsters, and 20th level PC's faced 20th level monsters. Thankfully original BG2 was not like that, and Tactics is not like that either. Bosses are supposed to be harder -- virually all computer battle-games recognize this.

This alone is enough to break the immersiveness of the game, because it becomes painfully obvious that someone's just come along and decided something needs to be harder

Tactics is not designed for first-time players who have yet to experience the story. Nor is it for re-players who want to be continually immersed in the story-line (such people would do better with Banter Packs, Flirt Packs, etc.). Tactics is explicitly designed for people who have already beat the game, who want to go back and re-challenge the high level bosses, and actually be challenged, instead of waltzing through the entire game with your eyes closed for the 12th time. There's nothing immersive about that, unless bored=immersed.

A better approach would be an overall revision of all enemies to be tougher. This would result in a more consistent game, rather than one in which exceptionally tough battles are just scattered about.

First, that's what the Difficulty slider already does (very poorly, I might add). Doing a uniform increase in difficulty is fine if that's what you want, but that would not solve your requests for immersion or realism. It's more realistic to have Bosses be challenging (Faldorn, Bodhi, Irenicus, Firkragg), and have basic monsters fall quickly to heroes. The problem was when Bodhi fell faster than a Kobold, and Tactics helps to address this.

Besides, you appear to misunderstand Tactics, or perhaps have not actually played it. Surely you didn't think that Improved Druid's Grove was easy and only Faldorn was hard? Tactics does not fix only singular bosses, it fixes entire classes of creatures, and hence: the entire quests and maps they inhabit. Tactics increases difficulty of many entire-maps of BG2:

• Druid's Grove;
• D'Arnise Keep not just Torgal is enhanced, but the upstairs fight also;
• any map with undead such as Unseeing Eye entire quest;
• any map with mind flayers such as lair in sewers and lair in Underdark;
• any map with mages which is perhaps 1/5 of the fights in the entire game;
• any map with Beholders;
• The Ritual entire map;
• and more.

So it's far away from your description of the random enemy here-and-there who is improved. In actuality, Tactics has the effect of making SOME of the game challenging, as opposed to original BG2 which was 99% easy-as-hell. I sneezed at most original-BG2 bosses and they died.

Tactics does not increase the difficulty of kobolds, and you'll be so shocked and unimmersed when you leave Druid's Grove after 20 difficult fights with Spirit Trolls, and then beat a Kobold in 2 seconds. Hey, it's better than beating Druid's Grove in 8 seconds, followed by a Kobold in 2 seconds.

Tactics also does not account for different levels of play. I, along with many others, want more realistic AI (for convincing behaviour is once again paramount to game immersiveness), and perhaps a slightly greater challenge. Tactics, however, can only offer me something ridiculously hard. Responding to the difficulty slider would be a great virtue.

I fully respect your desire for a mod that suits you. That is your choice. I want something more challenging than you want, is that alright?

Tactics DOES make use of the difficulty slider on some encounters (namely, Improved Bodhi.) Weimer could do this more, if he wants to, but so far everyone on this thread only complained about the difficulty slider option. I really believe most of these people complained without actually trying the slider on Imp Bodhi.

neither is the ongoing joke that is Pontifex' dialogue.

Pontifex, the guy at the start of Tactics The Ritual? He was hilarious. Very well-written and funny dialog. What's the problem with this? It was great.

series of tough battles reminds me more closely of Serious Sam than an immersive role-playing game.

Yes, it is. You're right. I don't recall anyone claiming that Tactics is a role-immersion mod. It's a tougher battles mod. This is what it is supposed to do.

[ 08-27-2004, 07:00 PM: Message edited by: Hank Parsons ]