oldie bg2 player starting anew... need some help when installing mods

[Harkoliar]

i made a very very long thread.. but for some reason, my post did not make it . i hate to redo everything.

anyway, to make things short, i want to start bg2 all over again but when i saw all the new mods available.. i was astounded. i havent played over a year so this would be interesting indeed. I need to know what mods to install with so there would be no known conflict.

i need to know some of the sequence orders:

such as baldudash, weidu, npc mod, kits, and non-weidu. i know the only thing that goes first and that is installing SOA-TOB- and patches.

im planning to install alot (and i do mean alot!) of mods so im hoping with your experience guys, do you know any known conflicts with other popular mods? such as unfinished mod, shadows of soubar, ascension, improved creatures, etc.

thanks in advance!

[Xen]

If "improved creatures" stands for Tactics Mod I strongly recommend it. I have not encounterd any bugs. Same thing with Ascension Mod. I have not played UB, SoS so I can`t say anything about it. Also I recommend Oversight, Banter pack, etc ...

[ 07-31-2004, 08:59 AM: Message edited by: Xen ]

[Harkoliar]

hmm.. ill make this more specific:

can I install both baldurdash, and socerer fixpacks at the same time?

these are the mods i wish to install... i hope there wont be any conflicts with these mods... and which to install first.. non-weidu, weidu, quest based mods, kits, npc & npc related, scripts and item enhancement, & spells.

Which one goes first??

here are my mods I wish to install:

non weidu:
darkest day
shadows over soubar
tortued souls
deeper shadows of amn
romance friendly imrpisonment
- the big picture can handle all of this

npc mods:
kelsey
soulofein
choloe
valen
xan
neh'taniel

npc related mod:
npc flirt packs
banter packs
alternate bg2 npc pack

questbased mods:
acension & redemption
tactics
unfinished business
improved oasis
expanded thief stronghold
improved battles mod
planar sphere mod
desecretion of souls
improve firkaag
improved asylum
iron moddor

rules, tweaks, and enhancement mod:

ease of use
rouge rebalancing
drow innate abilities
ashes of embers
oversight mod
virtue
pnp celestials
g3 tweak packs
simdingo miscel tweak pack
high level fix

spell related:
spell 50

scripts:
none of the links work but i may get
sequencer
ai scripts (eseries)

item upgrade:
weimer item upgrade mod
improved valhalla
improved kithilx
bag bonus
cloak of shield upgrade (missing link)
flail of ages alternation (missing link)

kits:
druidic socerrer kit
acid elemental kit
cleric remix
runic bladesinger
champion of torm kit

[ 07-31-2004, 11:41 AM: Message edited by: Harkoliar ]

[Harkoliar]

it says on the sticky on the comprehensive bg2 mod list on installation:

<*Throne of Bhaal*>
1. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
2. Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
3. Official Bioware Patch for ToB
4. Baldurdash Fixpacks for ToB
5. Other Non-WeiDU Mods (Only one dialog.tlk-overwriting mod can be installed. See the Big Picture install guide for step-by-step instructions)
**OR** Total Conversions (no other mods should be installed after TC's)
6. WeiDU Mods

but the only thing is.. i dont know where to insert the scirps, kits, npc and stuff.. so i wish to make sure

edit:

here is the main big compatability questions..

is the bigpicture compatible with tactics, acension, and unfinished business???

edit2:

i found this interesting link:
http://forums.pocketplane.net/index....7851#msg217851
which says the compatability of unfinish business. acension and tacitics works fine with it however, partial to the big picture

edit3:
http://plaguezone.com/ipw-web/bullet...er=asc&start=0
and this one:
http://plaguezone.com/ipw-web/bullet...opic.php?t=521

compatibility of big picture mod (which integrates several of the non-weidu big mods). sadly though.. it seems that it is incompatible or they say "highly doubtful" it will work. it cant hurt to try it though.

edit4: more research here.. so it comes down to this.. either i choose unfinish mod or the big picture mod... both are currently incompatible sadly

with the unfinished mod:
compatible with all- tactics, acension, etc and all the mods i want except non-weidu
big picture- limited compatibility with "quest related weidu mods" not compatible ...

so which do you think i should do? install weidu mods with enhancements and new quests or several major new quests?

[ 07-31-2004, 11:59 AM: Message edited by: Harkoliar ]

[Hank Parsons]

Harko, I admire your full-fledged attempt. Let me give you some advice "outside the box".

You don't need that many mods. Play the game with just a few mods that work together. Complete the game, and see what these mods really do. Then uninstall everything and start over with a different mod brew.

OR, before you do anything: Learn about the "multi-install" trick. Make 2 copies of BG2 and put different mods on each.

I promise, you would never be able to enjoy all the mods you listed, in one install. For example you listed 6 NPC's -- that would be your entire party, consisting ONLY of 3rd party NPC's! No character for you to create yourself, and none of the in-game NPC's! Many of the mod-NPC's are made to be in the party with some of the Bioware NPC's, as they have banters.

Likewise, if you install the Banter packs and Romances, you would want to use some of the Bioware characters who say these banters, and who you can flirt with.

You don't need to install all those extra kits. If you install a major mod that has kits (like TDD or The Big Picture), then you should not install any additional kits on top of that. Think about this: You can only use one kit per character! And you cannot put a new kit on an NPC. So you've got enough kits listed to make a whole army of characters, and the game only lets you have 6.

I would skip all the Tweaks you listed other than: Baldurdash, Ease-Of-Use (some parts), and possibly Oversight and Virtue. The rest I just feel you're installing way too many things and you won't even have time to see what's been changed in the game.

I recommend you forget about the scripts you listed. They are for specialized uses, and other people's scripts tend to not work with my play style, at least.

My recommendation is: Follow the instructions from The Big Picture exactly. Nothing more, nothing less. (Maybe add Ease Of Use and Tactics, and an NPC and Banters). If you play all the way through that, then uninstall and try other mods.

[Harkoliar]

hmm... i guess im a little ambitious here . ah well.. i suppose it cant hurt installing and uninstalling (not that i like it). i was hoping for one major installation.

what is the "multi-installation trick"?? Can someone explain that to me?

[Hank Parsons]

Originally posted by Harkoliar: what is the "multi-installation trick"?? Can someone explain that to me?

This would allow you to have 2 different copies of the game, on your computer. I wish I had done it before I installed all my mods, but I didn't, so I am stuck with my particular package of mods until I finish the game and cleanly uninstall. Someone else will have to explain the technique, there are different ways of doing it. It sounds complicated but it's actually easy according to ppl who have done it.

[Harkoliar]

thanks hank!

someone out there can tell me or at least point to me a thread on the way of doing a multi-installation of baldurs gate2?