Looking for mods advice

Stonewarrior · 03-02-2005, 02:36 PM

Hi all, let me preface this by saying I realize there are a TON of mod threads out there...so my apologies if this is repetitive.

We just finished the game for the first time the other night and I am wanting to try some mods this time round. I have installed Unfinished Business, Ease of Use, Virtue, Improved Oasis II and Quest. This will be the second time going through and I wondered if there were other mods I should try. I am thinking of added Ascension. We played Normal the first time through and I am thinking of bumping it up a notch (that or installing Tactics).

I am still trying to figure out what type of character to use. I created a Sorcerer and started in the dungeon last night...but am not sure I want to stick with her. I have also created an Undead Hunter, a Bounty Hunter and a Dwarf Fighter. I want to try a kit this time around...but am torn on what to choose as there are so many I want to try...such as a Kensai, a Bounty Hunter or Swashbuckler, Sorcerer or perhaps a multi or dual class. Do any of the mos work better with certain kits?

Any advice would be appreciated.2

SixOfSpades · 03-02-2005, 06:16 PM

Quest Pack shows promise, but I wouldn't download it yet. It may be publicly available, but it's actually still in beta.

The other mods you mention are all fine....except I would be wary of some components of Ease-of-Use. Some are overpowered (Shapeshifter "Rebalancing" essentially makes Cernd a better fighter than Korgan could ever be), and some are flat-out cheating (Wear Magic Ring with Magic Armor, etc). I only install components that don't affect the odds of winning a battle, such as Bottomless Bag of Holding.

Another excellent mod out there is aVENGER's Rogue Rebalancing. It makes the Thief kits more different from each other, brings back many BG1 items that weren't carried over into BG2 (and adds several new ones as well), and makes Bards and Thieves slightly more powerful. And it's all very in-character.

You absolutely must NOT install aVENGER'S Shadow Thief Improvements, though.

Certain components of Tactics are good. The quality of Tactics is all over the place, from the A of the Improved Guarded Compound to the F of the Improved Small Teeth Pass. I wrote up a nice big Review of Tactics, but it's a bit out-of-date by now....I really should jot down a nice, text-based, updated version. Hmmm.

An absolutely GREAT-sounding mod (that I haven't tried yet) is BG Refinements. Essentially, it seems to fix everything that was wrong with the game, except that which has already been done by Unfinished Business, etc. Refinements does all sorts of neat crap, like different HLA tables for every single class, kit, and Multiclass in the game. VERY well thought-out.

Also, look for Imrahil's thread called "Reviews of the mod NPCs." Are you satisfied with the 16 recruitable NPCs that BioWare wrote in? Me neither.

Q'alooaith · 03-02-2005, 06:47 PM

I'd recomend Refinments also..

Ascension is a must have if you've already compleated the full game more than once.

LennonCook · 03-02-2005, 11:35 PM

I would not recommened Refinements. Unless something has changed since last time I checked (which, admittedly, was quite a while ago), Refinements has some good ideas, but it implements them in very... hacky ways, that tend to break the game, and realy mess with other mods. For example, one aspect of the component to improve HLAs uses (or used?) "pseudo classes" which break Cleric Remix.

On that note, Cleric Remix is a good mod, although not quite... extreme enough for my liking. It makes Clerics a more viable class to play, but I think this could be better achieved by a complete overhaul of the classes (stuff like, making clerics viable by depowering the Mages and especially the Sorcerers).

Stonewarrior · 03-02-2005, 11:39 PM

i also installed Items Upgrade and am having some difficulties. Minsc continues to stop when walking. I had this problem this first time through wtih Airee and it was fixed after installing the patch and fixpack. I did not install each of the available options for each mod. Do any of you know if this is a bug? I wondered if it had something to do with the dialogue options I installed. I have looked at the readme's on how to uninstall portions and it says to double click on the setup ub.exe file...when I do this it asks my language and then goes through and asks again what I want to install. What am I missing?

Also, I found refereces to the dialogue.tlk file and fixing it, but have no idea how I would go about doing this. Any help is as always appreciated!

Stonewarrior · 03-02-2005, 11:40 PM

i also installed Items Upgrade and am having some difficulties. Minsc continues to stop when walking. I had this problem this first time through wtih Airee and it was fixed after installing the patch and fixpack. I did not install each of the available options for each mod. Do any of you know if this is a bug? I wondered if it had something to do with the dialogue options I installed. I have looked at the readme's on how to uninstall portions and it says to double click on the setup ub.exe file...when I do this it asks my language and then goes through and asks again what I want to install. What am I missing?

Also, I found refereces to the dialogue.tlk file and fixing it, but have no idea how I would go about doing this. Any help is as always appreciated! Oh yeah, on other thing I noticed is that when I open chests outside of the dungeon the lid closes almost immediately! Very annoying.

Link · 03-03-2005, 03:47 AM

Have you installed your mods in the correct order? Check the Forum FAQ for more information if you haven't. It may be the cause of your faulty game.

Andyr · 03-03-2005, 03:38 PM

If you want to reinstall/uninstall components then yes, double-click on the setup-blah.exe file. The interface is the same as when installing - you'll be asked whether you want to uninstall, reinstall, make no changes or quit for each component.

Stonewarrior · 03-03-2005, 04:09 PM

That is what I tried doing for Unfinished Business (after reading the readme) and the only options I had were to install yes or no or quit. I will look again after work to make sure it wasn't reading uninstall since it was installed. Thanks.

dynimite · 03-07-2005, 10:12 AM

not sure if anyone here mentioned it but the best mod ive seen that adds BUNCH new quests and faces to join your group, switches locations around and what not and adds alot more difficulty plus some new spells and weapons is The Darkest day 1.0.3, using this mod u have to start over and start a new game but its well worth it.

03-02-2005, 06:16 PM	#2
SixOfSpades Dracolisk Join Date: September 16, 2001 Location: Bellingham, WA, USA Age: 46 Posts: 6,901	Quest Pack shows promise, but I wouldn't download it yet. It may be publicly available, but it's actually still in beta. The other mods you mention are all fine....except I would be wary of some components of Ease-of-Use. Some are overpowered (Shapeshifter "Rebalancing" essentially makes Cernd a better fighter than Korgan could ever be), and some are flat-out cheating (Wear Magic Ring with Magic Armor, etc). I only install components that don't affect the odds of winning a battle, such as Bottomless Bag of Holding. Another excellent mod out there is aVENGER's Rogue Rebalancing. It makes the Thief kits more different from each other, brings back many BG1 items that weren't carried over into BG2 (and adds several new ones as well), and makes Bards and Thieves slightly more powerful. And it's all very in-character. You absolutely must NOT install aVENGER'S Shadow Thief Improvements, though. Certain components of Tactics are good. The quality of Tactics is all over the place, from the A of the Improved Guarded Compound to the F of the Improved Small Teeth Pass. I wrote up a nice big Review of Tactics, but it's a bit out-of-date by now....I really should jot down a nice, text-based, updated version. Hmmm. An absolutely GREAT-sounding mod (that I haven't tried yet) is BG Refinements. Essentially, it seems to fix everything that was wrong with the game, except that which has already been done by Unfinished Business, etc. Refinements does all sorts of neat crap, like different HLA tables for every single class, kit, and Multiclass in the game. VERY well thought-out. Also, look for Imrahil's thread called "Reviews of the mod NPCs." Are you satisfied with the 16 recruitable NPCs that BioWare wrote in? Me neither. __________________ Volothamp's Comeuppance Everything you ever needed to know about the entire Baldur's Gate series......except spoilers.

03-02-2005, 06:47 PM	#3
Q'alooaith Emerald Dragon Join Date: December 10, 2003 Location: UK Age: 40 Posts: 961	I'd recomend Refinments also.. Ascension is a must have if you've already compleated the full game more than once. __________________ -Jenn

03-03-2005, 03:47 AM	#7
Link Jack Burton Join Date: May 15, 2001 Location: The Netherlands Age: 39 Posts: 5,888	Have you installed your mods in the correct order? Check the Forum FAQ for more information if you haven't. It may be the cause of your faulty game. __________________ Rowing is not a sport, it's a way of life Goal: Beijing 2008

03-03-2005, 03:38 PM	#8
Andyr Manshoon Join Date: September 29, 2004 Location: Oxford, UK Age: 40 Posts: 153	If you want to reinstall/uninstall components then yes, double-click on the setup-blah.exe file. The interface is the same as when installing - you'll be asked whether you want to uninstall, reinstall, make no changes or quit for each component. __________________ [url]\"http://www.gibberlings3.net/\" target=\"_blank\">\"We are the Gibberlings Three, as merry a band as you ever did see...\"</a> - G3: Home of IE mods<br /><br />[url]\"http://forums.gibberlings3.net\" target=\"_blank\">Forums</a><br /><br /><i>JCompton:</i> Suggested plugs include \"Click here so Compton doesn\'t ban me. [url]\"http://www.pocketplane.net/ub\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.pocketplane.net/ub</a> \"

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03-02-2005, 02:36 PM	#1
Stonewarrior Manshoon Join Date: January 10, 2005 Location: Independence, MO Age: 53 Posts: 234	Hi all, let me preface this by saying I realize there are a TON of mod threads out there...so my apologies if this is repetitive. We just finished the game for the first time the other night and I am wanting to try some mods this time round. I have installed Unfinished Business, Ease of Use, Virtue, Improved Oasis II and Quest. This will be the second time going through and I wondered if there were other mods I should try. I am thinking of added Ascension. We played Normal the first time through and I am thinking of bumping it up a notch (that or installing Tactics). I am still trying to figure out what type of character to use. I created a Sorcerer and started in the dungeon last night...but am not sure I want to stick with her. I have also created an Undead Hunter, a Bounty Hunter and a Dwarf Fighter. I want to try a kit this time around...but am torn on what to choose as there are so many I want to try...such as a Kensai, a Bounty Hunter or Swashbuckler, Sorcerer or perhaps a multi or dual class. Do any of the mos work better with certain kits? Any advice would be appreciated.2

03-02-2005, 11:35 PM	#4
LennonCook Jack Burton Join Date: November 10, 2001 Location: Bathurst & Orange, in constant flux Age: 37 Posts: 5,452	I would not recommened Refinements. Unless something has changed since last time I checked (which, admittedly, was quite a while ago), Refinements has some good ideas, but it implements them in very... hacky ways, that tend to break the game, and realy mess with other mods. For example, one aspect of the component to improve HLAs uses (or used?) "pseudo classes" which break Cleric Remix. On that note, Cleric Remix is a good mod, although not quite... extreme enough for my liking. It makes Clerics a more viable class to play, but I think this could be better achieved by a complete overhaul of the classes (stuff like, making clerics viable by depowering the Mages and especially the Sorcerers).

03-02-2005, 11:39 PM	#5
Stonewarrior Manshoon Join Date: January 10, 2005 Location: Independence, MO Age: 53 Posts: 234	i also installed Items Upgrade and am having some difficulties. Minsc continues to stop when walking. I had this problem this first time through wtih Airee and it was fixed after installing the patch and fixpack. I did not install each of the available options for each mod. Do any of you know if this is a bug? I wondered if it had something to do with the dialogue options I installed. I have looked at the readme's on how to uninstall portions and it says to double click on the setup ub.exe file...when I do this it asks my language and then goes through and asks again what I want to install. What am I missing? Also, I found refereces to the dialogue.tlk file and fixing it, but have no idea how I would go about doing this. Any help is as always appreciated!

03-02-2005, 11:40 PM	#6
Stonewarrior Manshoon Join Date: January 10, 2005 Location: Independence, MO Age: 53 Posts: 234	i also installed Items Upgrade and am having some difficulties. Minsc continues to stop when walking. I had this problem this first time through wtih Airee and it was fixed after installing the patch and fixpack. I did not install each of the available options for each mod. Do any of you know if this is a bug? I wondered if it had something to do with the dialogue options I installed. I have looked at the readme's on how to uninstall portions and it says to double click on the setup ub.exe file...when I do this it asks my language and then goes through and asks again what I want to install. What am I missing? Also, I found refereces to the dialogue.tlk file and fixing it, but have no idea how I would go about doing this. Any help is as always appreciated! Oh yeah, on other thing I noticed is that when I open chests outside of the dungeon the lid closes almost immediately! Very annoying.

03-03-2005, 04:09 PM	#9
Stonewarrior Manshoon Join Date: January 10, 2005 Location: Independence, MO Age: 53 Posts: 234	That is what I tried doing for Unfinished Business (after reading the readme) and the only options I had were to install yes or no or quit. I will look again after work to make sure it wasn't reading uninstall since it was installed. Thanks.

03-07-2005, 10:12 AM	#10
dynimite Elite Waterdeep Guard Join Date: March 5, 2005 Location: Rockford Age: 37 Posts: 13	not sure if anyone here mentioned it but the best mod ive seen that adds BUNCH new quests and faces to join your group, switches locations around and what not and adds alot more difficulty plus some new spells and weapons is The Darkest day 1.0.3, using this mod u have to start over and start a new game but its well worth it.

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