State of mods

[jcompton]

Originally posted by dragon_lord: I have played the tashia and solaufein mods. Solaufein may have alot of dialogue but personally i didnt like him as an NPC.

Okay, so it's a mod that did everything you asked for, it simply didn't do it in the fashion you asked for.

I quite liked tashia's dialogue, but fit in with the game setting it did not.

I agree with you there.

I have played your mod also, skipping that boring dungeon is great for any one who has played through the game a few times.

I claim no ownership to DBG. I helped on the tech side and I did Jasper's voice, but Victoria Joyner wrote it.

If a modder cant come up with some new ideas, why not just post on a forum such as this? Im sure plenty of people have ideas on quests etc.

Yes. There is no shortage of Idea Men telling modders what they should be doing.

[Faceman]

Warning - being sarcastic in this one
and spoilerish (mostly IWD2 though)
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Why does anyone do powergamer-mods at all? For all the powergamers there's ToB
and most importantly IWD2 with lots of cheesy weapons, enemies with for more than 200HP ...

Hey to all you who try to get invincible by casting several spells - in IWD2 there's Aegis the spell that gives you Stoneskin, immunity to all elemental damage,Glode of Invulnerability, ... does it all in once the ultimate you can't touch me spell.
And there's the Club of Disruption that (with allowing saves though) slays not only undead but also Elementals and all kinds of demons. And you won't even have to run around the whole game and fetch parts for Cromwell like with CromFaeyr, it's right there in chapter 2!
Looking for a kickass weapon for your Paladin? Fight for it as if it was for your survival? No, just walk up to that stone in Watcher's Keep and pick it up.
And there's improved enemies with HP and attack rolls that would make Firkraag jealous to the extreme. Anybody ever noticed that a lot of enemies in ToB (and IWD2 of course) have more HP than a RED DRAGON?
So if you want to hack and slash your way to victory don't alter SoA just switch the game!

[andrewas]

ToB is not significantly harder than SoA.

Neither is IWD2 come to that, I suspect most of the apparent difficulty comes from having to learn a new ruleset and of course the different spell list. As for enemies that have more HP than a red dragon - HP dont really matter. I can knock more than 1000 off of anything in less than three rounds, unless its smart enough to defend itself. Which is where tactics mod comes in.

[Faceman]

I didn't say it was harder. It's just more hack and slash. With bigger/tougher enemies and bigger/tougher weaponry. Less plot-based and more fighting in a style I personally dislike.
HP matter to me roleplaying-wise. I just don't like the idea of some not-so-smart not-so-big worm being physically tougher than a mighty drake.

[dragon_lord]

Originally posted by Pirengle: Every great adventure starts with something odd. A party consisting of the Great Forgotten NPCs: PC, Haer'Dalis, Valygar, Nalia, Korgan, untried romantic interest. A ranger wakes up in Chateau Irenicus with grandmastery in dual-wielding daggers. Dwarven monks take up residence in Athkatla to solve the town's troubles. Play with Shadowkeeper and make yourself a wyrmling (baby dragon) PC. The possibilities are out there. You don't have to rely on the talents of Jason, Wesley, and Kevin to make your dreams come true.

I realise that, if i had scripting skills i would make my dreams come true [img]smile.gif[/img] . With that though your essentially your playing through the same events - just from a slightly different angle which isnt going to make the game that much more interesting. Especially when role playing options arent available to you. For instance would a pally really side with the Shadow Thieves (of course he wouldnt ever side with Bodhi) and be forced to help a criminal organisation? Or would he seek help through another means? And theres still much RPG fun to be had when we get to Ust'Natha. Good RPG mods would give you the choice to do such things. Or perphaps when playing an evil character when siding with Bodhi you could attempt (ie you fail) to usurp her leadership of the vamp guild. Im sure someone who could destroy bodhi and was a child of bhaal would gain respect from vampires quite quickly so its not unreasonable. This is why i believe to achieve good RPGing in bg2 we need mod makers willing to do the hard task of making quests with different paths to completion (heres an idea: How about learning new abilities from completing quests. Eg: A pally takes the good option and gets immunity to wing buffet etc. That way you might actually care which route you take in a quest) or coming up with different paths to brynnlaw.

[Russ]

You know, I use almost none of the mods, and I'm still quite happy.
Folks who have been through the game even once have a huge advantage...simply being forewarned is an overwhelming advantage. The kits in BG2 also give huge advantages... if things get a little bit on the Twinkie side, it's very easy to:

Not use a bunch of extrapowerful items...

I would definitely spend some lunchtimes making code for item and spell mods, though I'm hopeless with graphics, if I could learn the system -- though I've no real desire to start CLUA-ing my game experience to death. I definitely lean towards the idea that magic items should be minor, but interesting.

But you know what? Until I actually get off my arse and start learning how the code works, who am I too gripe because a bunch of twinkies want to extend and enhance the capacity of the game they like, or because a bunch of guys busting their humps for free haven't done things to my specs?

[SpongeBobTheDestoyer]

Here comes my two cents. After taking a break from the game for a while the mods are part of the reason why I'm so back. That's right baby I'm back, and the first topic I go to is one about mods. So I definately think they are one of the best parts of the game and the reason I repeatedly play. As far as the role-playing vs. powergaming aspect I think each perspective is addressed in the mods. I'm not an expert on either one but isn't adding your own bit of realism the whole idea of role-playing? I mean, the battles and enemies are tougher but you don't necessarily have to see them through. I remember reading someone's post about hightailing it out of the city upon running into Kurosian until they were of a higher level to come back. Or just giving him what he wants. If the difficulty of the battles is going overboard just take the difficultly setting down a notch. Having more powerful items in the game doesn't mean you have to use them.

The only problem I've ever had with any of the mods I've tried are bugs and hey, we don't live in a perfect world now do we. And speaking of mods does anyone know about the Improved Battles Mod that is supposed to be released today, I think. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[DJG]

Originally posted by Pirengle: Play with Shadowkeeper and make yourself a wyrmling (baby dragon) PC.

I've thought of playing through the game as a chicken. The idea arose when I dominated a chicken, saw spell slots, CTRL-Q'ed it and discovered it was a mage!

Or, you could, with some inginuity, play as a beastmaster and have animals at your side. No spell-casting chickens though! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I might do that in my new came. A solo as a chicken/sorceror! Imagine this....
SPOILERS

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Final battle. 4 demons and a slayer, versus a chicken! YEAH! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Xen]

Now I cannot imagine this,but i I try i see one toasted chicken.

[DJG]

Originally posted by Xen: Now I cannot imagine this,but i I try i see one toasted chicken.

[img]tongue.gif[/img]

But what if the Chicken was born with the innate ability to cast magic? It it happens to humans (Sorcerors) why can't it happen to chickens?