Just bought SOU and HOTU, general queries about both

[Epona]

Righty ho, I just today went out and bought SOU and HOTU (oh no, what to delete off my HDD to make room! ) and have some queries.

1. I have no manual for SOU. Is installing it the same as installing any NWN mod (ie it doesn't affect the original NWN install) or does it alter anything which may mean I can't play all the hundreds of mods I have downloaded?

2. Ditto for HOTU, if I install it, will I still be able to play my downloaded mods? (I am a huge fan of many of the mods out there especially the Penultima/Penultima Rerolled and Shadowlords/Dreamcatcher series!! I would be gutted if I couldn't play them, I'm halfway through lots of these mods)

3. Can I start SOU with a new character? What level do I need to be, and do I get a chance to level up to that required level and get equipment suitable for that level at the start of the expansion?

4. Are there any known issues or bugs with SOU or HOTU that I need to be aware of? What patches will I need?

5. Er... that's all I can think of at the moment, but I expect I'll be back with more queries later.

[Legolas]

You can simply install both of them in order (SoU first). The only two things to keep in mind are that
1. Any modules you save in the toolset from now on can't be played by people without HotU and
2. Some of your haks and overrides will be messed up. This is because they are made as follows (simplified):

Imagine that NWN came with 4 different choices for clothing. The game knows there are four choices. These are named 1, 2, 3 and 4. Someone makes a new set of clothing, but doesn't want it to override an existing set. Instead, that person names the clothes 5, and tells the game there are in fact five choices.
Now, along comes your upgrade. Hurrah, it includes a new set of clothing. The creators have named this one 5, and included a file telling the game there are five choices for clothing. The result is that you lose the custom clothing, unless you change it's number to 6 and tell the game there are six options now.
Because there are a lot of files that might need to be renumbered (if you downloaded a lot), it's not really worth the effort usually.

That said, you can still play old modules as normal without any real fear of losing key elements.
For games you have saved, it's even better. These files actually remember the module you were playing and they should (hopefully) remain entirely intact. Changing a module in the toolset has no effect on games you already started.

SoU was designed to be started with a new lvl 1 character, and it's this character that moves on to HotU. There shouldn't be a lot of problems there.

As for bugs, not really. Although HotU is in need of some serious patching, the singleplayer mode seems to work just fine.

Enjoy [img]smile.gif[/img]

[vesselle]

something you need to remember, as you install each expansion pack, you will be asked if you want the game to auto-create an "override_bak" folder. say yes! that means, after all are installed, you will have one override folder and an "override_bak" and an "override_bak0". i didn't do that and ended up with a completely b0rked installation and had to reinstall everything from scratch.

as far as patches go, when you finish the install just run your game updater. it will download and install the latest patches for you. if you're wondering, no, v 1.60 will not be installed.

and you should have a pdf manual for the games in your folders after installation.


BTW!! very important!!! the majority of english versions of SOU came without the game key-code printed in the manual. instead a red slip of paper with black writing was included. it was only about 1" by 3" and could easily be thrown away. please verify your cdkey BEFORE tossing anything away!! if you're lucky, you won't have that version of the game, but forewarned etc etc

oh yeah... consider registering your games at the official bioware forums. they give you the option of entering your game keycodes into your account on secure servers so that if you ever misplace them, you can retrieve them online! this has been a lifesaver for *looking innocent* Lil Miss Captain of the Blonde Brigade here who's been known to lose everything of any importance, while managing to hang onto broken pens, pieces of strings older'n herself and rubber bands with no rubber bandyism left in 'em.

anyways, have fun!

V***V

[Micah Foehammer]

Epona,

here is some more clarification:

1 and 2) Installing either SOU or HOTU will affect your original game. These are expansion packs NOT modules. If you are concerned about the Shadowlords series, i can promise you that those mods (and the Dreamcatcher seriers) ARE playable with SOU installed - I don't know how HotU might have affected that. Legolas' description of the how the mod content is affected is excellent. The biggest issue for the non-SoU modes appears to be trying to bring in "grenade-like" missiles from SoU into a non-SoU mod. If you purge your character of those items (alchemist's fire, holy water flasks etc.) you stand a better chance of running the mod.

3) SoU is designed for starting with a level 1 character; HotU is designed for a level 15 character at start.

4) The latest patch is version 1.61 - there are always some issues floating around but I haven't heard of any major issues with v1.61.

[SpiritWarrior]

Most of them top rated mods are being updated for HotU. I know shadowlords, dreamcatcher and myth drannor are for defo.

[ 12-18-2003, 02:07 PM: Message edited by: SpiritWarrior ]

[vesselle]

actually hotu is designed for a Level 12 to 15 character. if you finish up SoU, they assume you'll be about Level 12, so that char can be imported at that level into HotU. if you design a new char from scratch, however, the game will give you 15 levels on that char to enter HotU.

V***V

[Cloudbringer]

Originally posted by vesselle: actually hotu is designed for a Level 12 to 15 character. if you finish up SoU, they assume you'll be about Level 12, so that char can be imported at that level into HotU. if you design a new char from scratch, however, the game will give you 15 levels on that char to enter HotU. V***V

Yes, this is how it works and you can either have the program auto levelup or you can manually do it yourself, which is the best solution if you plan to use prestige classes.

[vesselle]

there's also a coupla of "bridging mods" that were designed by fans. they were the winners in a competition held by bioware. these are designed to take a saved character you esp like, who is below Lvl 15, thru the mod until she gets up to Lvl 15. iirc, they tie SoU and HotU together even more with a lil story, etc.

you can find the links on the official Bioware NWN/SoU/HotU forums. [img]smile.gif[/img]

V***V