47 réponses à ce sujet

[goblinsly]

Hey everyone !

Its time for another playthrough of BG2+TOB. Until now i always played with tactics and ascension installed, its time to try something different.

I was thinking of installing ascension and SCS2. What do you think ?

As for the party, i plan on going berserker(13)/mage or WizardSlayer(13)/mage, cant decide here ( i want something that can cast timestop and at the same time being fun. I tried Kensei/mage already, soo something/mage this time ).

NPCs would be: Minsc, Jaherae, Haerdalis, Aerie, Yoshimo -> Imoen ( here i am not sure. I can detect traps and open locks with other chars. And Yoshimo will "steal" a lot of exp...prolly more then he can give me by his quest and opening locks/disarming traps. But then again, its not all about exp....

What else could i install with ascension and SCS2 ? I was thinking about that mod that adds quests that were removed from BG2 prior to release. Also, it would be cool if i could do all stronghold quests ( and maybe some other class related quests ).

Soo, what you think ?

[Grond0]

Gibberlings 3 Fixpack and Unfinished Business would complement SCS2 nicely. SCS2 by the way has a component allowing you to do all the stronghold quests. You might also like to try the Widescreen mod.

[goblinsly]

This sounds awesome. Soo, gibberlings 3 fixpack, unfinished business, scs2, ascension and widescreenmod. Also i like the tweakpack ( only for some minor adjustments like no helmets animation, etc. ). Soo in which order should i install all of this mods and will they be totaly compatible, i dont want any disruptions this time ( i said this like a director talking to his secretary lolz ), things like 6 mayors in WH, double bodhis, stupid enemies, etc.

What about some things from Tactics ? I have to say i did like some parts a lot, for instance improved maevar was awesome, i think maevar in scs2 will be insainely easy compared to the tactics one, or not ?

[Alesia_BH]

Welcome back to BG! I hope you enjoy your run.

In general, SCS does a nice job of boosting thieves assuming you have Potions for NPCs installed along with Smarter AI. I've never found the Mae'Var fight in particular to be what it should be, however.

Note well though, I can't really comment on SCS Mae'Var in full since my characters have basically assassinated him before he had a chance to show what he can do. I have observed that SCS does remove Mae'Var's armor as Tactics did so you may get some interesting action out of him if you give him a chance.

As for other quests, it's worth noting that SCS does incorporate some of the better executed parts of Tactics (Torgal, Faldorn, Bodhi, The Shattered One fight) and the Questpack (Beholder Lair). It's also worth noting that both the durables and consumabled Tactics introduces would likely be unbalancing. Going with Improved Mae'Var only, and skipping the rest of Tactics proper may make sense.

Enjoy!

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 17 novembre 2011 - 03:23 .

[The Cow King]

I actually made a thread about this very subject on the G3 forums, however, the board is down for maintenance, and you have to type the URL into google and view the cached google version.

http://forums.gibber...showtopic=23496

Wall of text incoming...

The first mod (after official patch) you want to install is ToBEx v21 (forum link). It's an .exe modification mod that fixes alot of hard-coded engine bugs in the game, and has some very cool optional tweaks & modifications if you want them (TobEx_ini/TobEx_ini.txt for full list & explanations). ToBEx comes along with SCSII as well, but it's using an outdated version (with bugs), and you definitely want to install the latest v21 version manually (SCSII detects this, and skips it's outdated ToBEx install). ToBEx v21 is also using the latest weidu version (230), and installing it first will auto-update every mod you install after it, to use the latest weidu version.

Next up, Ascension (the Weidu version from weidu.org).

- Delete the AR4500.bcs file from your Override directory. This script controls the addition of the extra David Gaider Bhaalspawn powers in ToB. However, they are bugged in the Ascension you download from weidu.org, you want the working versions from Unfinished Business.

Install G3 Fixpack AFTER Ascension. Installing G3 Fixpack after Ascension breaks the Slayer change dialogue (which enables you to turn into an Ascension Ravager), fix here. Or if you cba to do the fix yourself, here are the files, just plop them into SoA folder and run setup-ascensionfix. It's absolutely crucial you install G3 Fixpack AFTER Ascension, doing it the other way around creates xx amounts of bugs. Doing it this way and fixing the Slayer change yourself, is the lesser evil.

Unfinished Business comes after G3 Fixpack. The component you REALLY want here is "Restored Bhaalspawn Powers, by David Gaider". This installs the working powers instead of using the buggy Ascension ones. You can, of course, install any other UB components you like.

Finally, SCSII v19 (you really want to read the readme on this, same goes for every mod you install). You DON'T want to install it via it's auto-extractor (because there are several bug fixes you want to install). Open winrar, and use winrar to unzip the contents of SCSII-v19 to your SoA folder (the .rar contains the setup.exe, and the scsII folder).

Now, before you launch the setup-scsii to install SCSII, download these hotfixes. They and their function is explained in the google cache version thread I posted earlier.

The scsii folder you find inside the .rar file, just drop it in your SoA folder and overwrite everything. The Polytope fixes come with a readme and install instructions. The Abazigal fix is explained below.

Now you're ready to install SCSII. DO NOT install "Make individual versions of Spell Immunity available, so that players can use them in Contingencies etc." component of SCSII, because it's obsolete. You get the same functionality from installing ToBEx v21 manually, in a much more elegant/non-ugly way. You also WANT TO install all Ascension related components of SCSII, because they fix many critical bugs in Ascension.

After you've successfully installed SCSII, drop the FINABAZ.BCS in your override directory from the downloaded SCSII hotfixes you downloaded (and replace the existing file). This fixes Abazigal's combat script.

Personally, I recommend installing G3 Tweak Pack after SCSII. Avoid overlapping components (strongholds, removing cloak of mirroring visual effect etc...), just install the overlapping components from either mod, but not both.

Finally, after you've installed EVERY MOD YOU WANT, remove the entry SPWI510 from CONTINGX.2da with Near Infinity to enable selecting Spell Immunity from Spell Trigger/Contigency/Chain Contigency. Just replace SPWI510 with **** (+3 spaces) in the .2da. This step allows you to select Spell Immunity in Contigencies etc. with ToBEx v21 installed.

NOTE, I only made this install order for the mods that correlate with each other (in relative sequence). All other mods you install will come between/after the ones I've already mentioned. Eg. Tactics comes before SCSII.

That's about it.

goblinsly wrote...
What
about some things from Tactics ? I have to say i did like some parts a
lot, for instance improved maevar was awesome, i think maevar in scs2
will be insainely easy compared to the tactics one, or not ?

From SCSII compatibility page:

Tactics
Compatibility between Tactics and SCS
II depends on the components:

• Components which have a direct SCS
  II analogue: common sense applies, only install the ones you
  want. These are: Improved Bodhi, Improved Irenicus in Hell, Improved D'Arnise Keep, Improved Kangaxx,
  Improved Mind Flayers, Smarter Dragons, Smarter Beholders, Slightly Smarter
  Mages and Liches, Slightly Tougher Demons, Improved Golems,
  Streamlined Trolls (which overlaps with SCS
  II's "Resilient Trolls"), Tougher Druid Grove (the Faldorn part ovelaps with SCS
  II's) Improved Faldorn, Improved Sahuagin City, and Improved Demon Knights (which
  overlaps with SCS
  II's Improved Fiends component).
• Components with no overlap with SCS
  II: should be compatible. These are: Improved Ilyich, the Ritual,
  Kuroisan, Red Badge, Lich in the Docks, Fighter/Illusionist
  in the Docks, Improved Crypt King, Improved Nymphs,
  and the kits. Install these before SCS
  II.
• The "Improved Maevar" component is incompatible with SCS
  II's "Smarter Arcane Spellcasters". Only install one of them.
• The "Always Toughest Random Spawns" component is basically the same as the toughest setting of SCS
  II's "Increase difficulty of level-dependent monster
  groupings" component. I recommend that you use the latter, as it has the
  same overall effect but is coded in a way that
  will cause fewer problems for SCS
  II and other mods. (The Tactics version is known to cause some (harmless) warnings when installed with some components of SCS
  II.)
• Improved Undead is probably not 100% compatible with SCS
  II. If you want to try it anyway, it will need to be installed after SCS
  II (it's the only component of Tactics for which this is true).
• Tougher Druid Grove may or may not be compatible with SCS
  II's "Smarter Divine Spellcasters". Try at own risk.
• Tougher Fire Giants appears to be compatible with SCS
  II's "Improved Fire Giant Temple". Install the Tactics
  version first, and you should find that fire giants get both the
  Tactics and the
  SCS II upgrades.

goblinsly wrote...

i dont want any disruptions this
time ( i said this like a director talking to his secretary lolz ),
things like 6 mayors in WH, double bodhis

Very interesting... I had this very same NPC replication bug on my save with a very bare bones install. I can only presume it's caused by either G3 Fixpack or Tweak Pack, however, both are too good to pass up. Some modder responsible should REALLY look into it, super annoying bug. If I had to take a guess, it's caused by some component of G3 fixpack. The modders responsible seem to be very lazy to update it (this probably goes for investigating bugs as well).

My install was:

- Fixpack (core + beta)
- Tweak Pack
- BG1 casting sounds
- Widescreen

Replicating Garren Windspear

This one takes the cake

If I wanted to avoid this bug in the future, I would complete Windspear & Umar Hills without leaving either area (like back to Athkatla) until I've finished all the quests.

Modifié par The Cow King, 17 novembre 2011 - 08:01 .

[Alesia_BH]

The "Improved Maevar" component is incompatible with SCS
II's "Smarter Arcane Spellcasters". Only install one of them.

I just wanted to highlight this since it negates the possibility I mentioned earlier goblinsky.

Thanks for the info Cow King!

[goblinsly]

Thank you all for reply. Oh my, its kinda harder to install then it used to be. I just hope you got it all right, cow. It would be funny to spend 1 hour to install it JUST the way you mentioned, just to find out you were kinda sleepy and messed up a letter or 2 hehehhe.

Anyway, i will soon check all the links you suplied. I will not install Tactics, Ascension and SCS2 will be enough. Main char, berserker13/mage will be OK ?

ps: dont forget about the widescreen mod. I want that 1680x1050 resolution.

Modifié par goblinsly, 17 novembre 2011 - 07:19 .

[The Cow King]

goblinsly wrote...
Thank you all for reply. Oh my, its kinda harder to install then it used to be.

It's not really harder than it used to be, as you don't HAVE to install all those fixes... but that's the way you're gonna have to do it if you want to squash all the bugs (minor and otherwise) currently in Ascension/SCSII (coupled with G3 Fixpack). Oblivion is bliss (until you run into a bug) kinda thing.

goblinsly wrote...
I just hope you got it all right,
cow. It would be funny to spend 1 hour to install it JUST the way you
mentioned, just to find out you were kinda sleepy and messed up a letter
or 2 hehehhe.

Yes I double checked it several times.

When you edit the .2da, this what the end result should look like.

i42.tinypic.com/2mcvog9.jpg

The SPWI510 is removed from the first line under "5", replaced with ****.

goblinsly wrote...
ps: dont forget about the widescreen mod. I want that 1680x1050 resolution.

Yes it works just fine with all of the above, just install it last.

There are probably still bugs with Ascension/SCSII even with this setup, but they should be minor (nothing game breaking), and you might not even notice them in game. If you do run into some wierd bug, post it on the G3 SCSII forum.

Modifié par The Cow King, 17 novembre 2011 - 08:30 .

[goblinsly]

When should i install widescreen mod btw ?

As for SCS2, i plan to install everything exept watchers keep accesible between SOA and TOB. I plan to acces Watchers keep in TOB, soo i dont need this.

For last irenicus fight i dont know what to install. First phase i want 5 shards, obviously. What about second and third round vs SCS2 fight ( irenicus + demons ) ? What do you recomend ? Also, i love the option to save. I hate non saving, its frustrating.

What about TOB. What is difference with ascension melissan with or without SCS2 ? This last fight is the only one i havent been able to win on impossible ( had to tone down to normal ), basicly what got me lose hope was about a zilion demon archers and meles spawned in a second with 1 spell or ability.

As for TobEx, apart from core fixes, which do u recommend to install ?
I am not sure about some of them, it seems they are changing quite a lot ( like i said, i like moded game but only to the point until it doesnt take the orinal bg2 feel away, thats why i wont install any mods that add xy quests ( like ritual of Tactics, that is completely not for me.... ).
Concentration check on damage, awaken on damage, no spell interruption on zero damage, allow equipping armor in combat, drop inventory on disintegrate, frozen death, stone death.......i have some problem whether installing those or not.

Btw which one should i install for tweaks like remove helmet animation ?

Modifié par goblinsly, 17 novembre 2011 - 09:50 .

[Grond0]

Berserker mage works really well. Whether you want to go to level 13 depends on how you will play them. If fighting regularly then the extra levels are worth it, but if essentially a mage with extra HPs and protection then probably better to dual at 9.

[The Potty 1]

Wow, the bovine monarch writes a good install doc, I'm feeling seriously tempted.

@Goblinsly - when I came off tactics/ascension and installed scs2/ascension, I was quite confident of my brilliance, so I installed an xp nerf as well. Then I got hosed repeatedly, so I uninstalled the xp nerf. The hosing continued. My point is not that scs2 is impossibly hard, it's not. My point is tactics is initially a challenge, but once you figure it out it's often as easy as the standard install. SCS2 mages are difficult until you figure them out, then they're just challenging.

On scs2 mages, the prebuff script causes your game to freeze for several seconds whenever you encounter a mage. I typically don't install it for this reason. Not installing it makes mages very much easier.

If you don't go for Cow's build, rogue rebalancing is a nice addon to scs2.

[Alesia_BH]

Yeah. Thanks again The Cow King! It's wonderful to see you being so helpful.

Cheers,

A.

[goblinsly]

I installed everything as the Cow King suggested, my thanks for your help, its incredible to find ppl soo helpfull about such an old game. You made my life a lot easier m8 !

I welcome the challenge, i dont like frustration. I hope i will enjoi this playthrough. Some notes on how i will play, what i expect, etc.
Few things i will change on this playthrough: - no spell learning/deleting for exp boost, no steal/sell "cheat" for easy money, no lowering difficulty on level up for max HP, no lowering difficulty on level up for more spells/easier learning - i will store spells and use potions that increase inteligence and learn them all then, no using cheap skull trap in a rogue trap manner ( setting skull traps, resting, setting them, resting, etc. ). I used em only once, to kill 5 fragments of Tactics on insaine. This time i will kill them legaly, even though they will be without their help. After that i will have normal SOA ending ( soo only 2 phases, to try something "new" ). I will make sure every character is extremely usefull ( even if some buttkicking will be necesary !!!! ). Cause in some previous gameplays i noticed when i had kensei/mage i did 99% of all the work with him and basicly just tried to keep the rest of npcs alive. Wont make the same mistake. Whole SOA will be 1 big training to prepare me for last SOA fight. I will be testing combinations of my chars, seeing how i get best results with em, etc. basicly having loads of fun !
I installed basicly all SCS2 components, including mage prebuffing ( if i can prebuff, why cant they ), item and spell nerfing...
I think thats all, if i remember anything else i will be sure to let you know. Now its time to go to sleep, its 11 am, i have to get 1 or 2 hours of sleep, then study and work during the day and maybe, just maybe, in the evening, instead of going out, i will spend an hour or soo with my BG2. Darn, now i know i wont be able to get asleep !!

ps: if u want i can let you know how my experience went along. You have about 10 hours left to change my mind about berserker13/mage. Oh, and yoshimo is staying in CC until i plan on going to spellhold. I will use that empty spot to maybe do some character quests ( valygar for one....but are there any other npcs which can be used for quests...like they join and imidietly i can do their quest and then dump them ? I know most of them arent useable for this... ). Remember, i wanna max my experience, thats why i installed all strongholds ( i hope there wont be any problem, or do i have to do them in any particular order, or ? )

[goblinsly]

My main character has 34 hp. A bit low for a level 7 berserker with 14 constitution, dont you think ?
edit: tried creating the same char again, now he has 48 hp. I dont know whats wrong, i never got such low starting hp and i always started playing on insaine ( with no extra hp boosting/tweaks ). I like the challenge but this is seriously low, i mean imoen has 23 hp more then me.  I wont get far like this...
edit1:do u think i should install max hp at level up ( and maybe 100% learn spells ) ? Considering i have some pretty tough fights ahead of me, this hp trouble got me troubled. I cant fight like this... Its strange though, minsc with prety much same constitution got like 70 health while i got 34 and 48. Strange...

Modifié par goblinsly, 18 novembre 2011 - 09:55 .

[The Cow King]

goblinsly wrote...
My main character has 34 hp. A bit low for a level 7 berserker with 14 constitution, dont you think ?
edit: tried creating the same char again, now he has 48 hp. I dont know whats wrong, i never got such low starting hp and i always started playing on insaine ( with no extra hp boosting/tweaks ). I like the challenge but this is seriously low, i mean imoen has 23 hp more then me.  I wont get far like this...

7d10 = 38.5 average hp

If you start a game without having "Higher HP on Level Up" component of Tweak Pack, or a low enough difficulty, your hitpoints are rolled randomly for the first starting levels. 34-48 falls completely in the average range of 7d10 hitpoints.

If you had 18 CON, it'd be 7d14 = 52.5 average. With Max HP (which I personally always use), it'd be 98.

Having CON 14 on a fighter is an absolute waste, you get nothing for it (no HP bonus). Max CON on any character whose <10 levels are fighter class, no questions asked. Personally, I find spell failure when learning scrolls a tiresome chore, it doesn't add anything to the game, so I always have 100% chance to learn installed (or use the difficulty slider).

Modifié par The Cow King, 18 novembre 2011 - 10:39 .

[Humanoid_Taifun]

The Cow King wrote...
If you had 18 CON, it'd be 7d14 = 52.5 average.

No D14 is used that I'd know of.
With Con 18, you get 1D10 + 4 per level, or an average of 9,5.
7 x 9,5 = 66,5

With Max HP (which I personally always use), it'd be 98.

And with difficulty on easy it'd be 108.

[The Cow King]

Humanoid_Taifun wrote...
No D14 is used that I'd know of.
With Con 18, you get 1D10 + 4 per level, or an average of 9,5.
7 x 9,5 = 66,5

Ah yes, fail on my part. Didn't really think it through.

Modifié par The Cow King, 18 novembre 2011 - 10:42 .

[PicklePepperPiper]

Yes, 14 CON is a bit questionable - even non-fighter characters should opt for 16 (any more than that is only beneficial to fighter type characters, so might as well make the best of that benefit). With patient rolling, it isn't too difficult to roll 18 in STR, DEX, CON and INT for your character, and dump any left over points in WIS. Extremely early in the game is an item that makes investing in CHA pointless, or alternatively you can always get a higher CHA character to lead for the benefits in conversation.

-PPP

[silenceall]

I would add that non-warrior types who are of shorty races would find maxing Con beneficial for the extra saving throw bonus.

[goblinsly]

Thank you, thats what i wanted to hear Cow King ( that ur using both tweaks ). I will install them right away to make my life easier ( and more fair ). Ok, installed using g3 twekpack. I hope i didnt break my install doing this, its a pain to install all of this. :/

[ussnorway]

Just one point about SCS is that the adjustment which will affect your game the most is % of potions dropped by the enemy are broken/ become usable… seriously, every man & his dog carries ½ dozen potions around and it adds up very quickly.

[goblinsly]

I installed it soo that 1/2 of potions will break.

[Grond0]

In relation to the debate about constitution your PC always starts with max HP at 1st level, so the average HPs are slightly higher than those quoted above, e.g. a 7th level fighter with 18 constitution would average 71 on core difficulty.

[goblinsly]

Well i started with 106 hp, which is quite a lot more. But i think my char in the end wont stand out much ( since he will be gaining 1hp per level while for instance, minsc will be gaining 3 ). And even though minsc is now at 70hp and my main char is at 106....they will eventualy get close together. I think i can be "forgiven" for using this, considering that i will play more fair this time and have some tough battles ahead of me.

[Alesia_BH]

ussnorway wrote...

Just one point about SCS is that the adjustment which will affect your game the most is % of potions dropped by the enemy are broken/ become usable… seriously, every man & his dog carries ½ dozen potions around and it adds up very quickly.

I agree that that the breakage percentage is important with Potions for NPC installed. I'm glad David and I had that conversation because he was reluctant to implement it at first on realism grounds.

As of v5, it's optional whether potions carried by your enemies are droppable. (As Alesia_BH pointed out to me on the Bioware boards, it's not exactly unrealistic that glass bottles get smashed in the heat of battle!) As of v10, you can choose any of six different rules for what fraction of potions are recoverable.

goblinsly wrote...

I installed it soo that 1/2 of potions will break.

I've been content with 50% breakage in Solo No Reload play with Warriors. If you are going to have arcane characters around, or even thieves who will get a lot of one hit KOs, you may want to increase the breakage.

Enjoy your run!

Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 19 novembre 2011 - 08:26 .