Suggestions for BG2 ***SPOILERS***

[berelinde]

The encounter you're thinking of is the one between Lord Tremblethin's army and the party, at the Oasis.

 

It's entirely possible that there might be a dialogue between Gavin and some of the priests, but he's got to acknowlege that it's a political difference of opinion, not a moral one. They're not supporting an evil man, just one who opposes the PC. Naturally, Gavin would prefer a non-violent solution, as the other priests likely would, but compatibility with DingO's Quest Pack is an issue here.

 

Since Quest Pack already alters that encounter, and offers a non-violent solution, I'd naturally prefer to keep compatibility intact. Since it's likely that an NPC mod would be installed before Quest Pack, checking for Quest Pack isn't really possible.

 

So, with that in mind, I'm going to have to be very careful what I do with it.

 

But thanks for bringing it to my attention!

[Caedwyr]

How about just including the Improved Oasis II mod in the Gavin install (made detectable so the Questpack version would just ask if you want to reinstall it).

 

Besides, it tends to be best if you install quest mods earlier in install order as it reduces incompatibility issues.

[Kulyok]

General: Hold! I am General Jamis Tombelthen, representative of the King and Queen of Tethyr. You, <CHARNAME>, are accused of crimes against our nation and, indeed, all of humanity!

 

1. What?! What crimes?! I've done nothing wrong!

2. Exactly what crimes am I being accused of, here?!

3. Is there to be a trial? May I defend myself?

4. Bah! Your army will have no better luck bringing me in than any other!

5. I don't expect you to understand what I'm about, general.

 

General: You are a spawn of Bhaal and responsible for the destruction of the city of Saradush. Your execution has been ordered, <CHARNAME>. May the gods have mercy on your soul.

 

1. ...

2. Wait, wait! We have Gavin with us.

 

General: Ah. Well, that's okay, then.

[berelinde]

Yeah, he isn't that charming. Besides, including content from Quest Pack isn't exactly within the scope of the mod.

 

I'll check the priests' dialogue files, when I'm doing ToB interjections, and see if there's any good places, like with everything else, but I'm not out to alter the plot here.

[Eleima]

2. Wait, wait! We have Gavin with us.

General: Ah. Well, that's okay, then.

 

Thanks for making me laugh out loud!!

 

Seriously though, Berelinde, maybe that could work??...

Okay, no, never mind...

[berelinde]

Heh.

 

But there is one point I'd like to comment on: NPC mods should go before Quest Pack, ideally in the following order. Mind you, you don't have to use all these, but Quest Pack should definitely go after the NPC Flirt Pack, as stated in the Quest Pack readme. Also, if you want to take advantage of Quest Pack's AI enhancements, it should go toward the end of the install. Because the Edwin Romance overwrites Edwin's script file, it should go as close to the beginning of the install as possible.

 

Weimer's Solaufein

Valen

Kelsey SoA & ToB

Keto

other NPC mods

NPC Flirt Pack

NPC Banter Pack (order between NPC Flirt Pack and NPC Banter Pack can be switched)

Crossmod Banter Pack (it could probably go after Quest Pack, but after you've got all your NPC mods in, it doesn't much matter)

Quest Pack

[cmorgan]

Playing Logic StandPoint:

 

It certainly is canon that Good People Do Evil Things In FR To Support The Greater Good , and that it sounds reasonable that Gavin should be called to account if he is in good standing with that particular branch of worshippers... so it makes sense to break in with a side discussion between a minor priest that acknowledges the problem. Then again, RL has crusades... so it is perfectly fine to have a Priest of the MorningLord fight another Priest of the MorningLord (assuming differing alignment and differing political background).

 

Coding StandPoint:

 

nightmare. And I don't mean nIGHTMARE, I mean this is a huge mess to untangle. The problem is that there are multiple folks who mod the Oasis encounter, so even in the best of circumstances there will be likely conflicts. Assuming permission, you could incorporate someone else's mod directly within yours, or create ACTION_IF FILE_EXISTS_IN_GAME (Mod1) THEN BEGIN <<version1>> END ELSE etc. but that creates all sorts of problems because you have to get the other person to detect you mod and not install over the top of it, and of course you have install order problems...

 

I think from a player and coder standpoint, if the sequence is modified for Gavin (which makes sense no matter what) then one way to do it is to create a prequel scene where a priest intercedes/discusses. This could be a JCompton dialogue/lovetalk expansion tree, where all roads lead back to the same result no matter what pathway is taken (the safest way of doing it, so that the plot cannot be changed)

 

or

 

you could simply bybass everyone elses stuff and create an entirely new Oasis Encounter.

 

I like option 1, because I think that it is nicer to try to preserve everyone else's work too.

 

The third way is to add it as CrossMod content, which preserves install order, and allows you to do the STATE_WHICH_SAYS I_C_T'ing. That would allow detection of specific responses and pathways at the end, and a reasonable chance of creating a set of dialogues which add on to the states after all changing of dialogue states are completed.

 

To which I ask - is it worth the effort? If this were a democracy, instead of berelinde's personal mod, I would vote no, in favor of time spent on other ToB content more interesting than that particular slugfest. (Or creating a Gavin/Imoen romance track. Not all of us are females romancing him, and some of us dudes like our buddies to get hooked up too. Makes us feel more cool, without the third wheel around all the time, y'know. Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, etc; plenty of places where NPC/NPC kissy face is good plot enhancement, and places PC romance efforts in perspective.)

[berelinde]

Good points, cmorgan, and I think I'd rather spend that time modding an encounter that isn't covered by another mod very, very well.

 

Besides, there's another point that folks are overlooking: Priest of Lathander is a valid PC kit. If these priests don't intercede for a Lathandrite PC, they certainly shouldn't if Gavin's in the party. It wouldn't be quite as bad as Phaere offering to sleep with him instead of the PC, but you see where I'm going with that. He's happy with his "sidekick" status, and so am I.

[cmorgan]

Never thought of that... yep, that kind of throws the whole thing out the window, doesn't it -

 

The joys of brainstorming - now I have the idea of a mod that adds Kit-based PC options for the game, as purely cosmetic:

 

BEGIN ~AMTGEN01~

IF ~NumTimesTalkedTo(0)~ THEN BEGIN 0 // from:
 SAY #71773 /* ~Hold!  I am General Jamis Tombelthen, representative of the King and Queen of Tethyr.  You, <CHARNAME>, are accused of crimes against our nation and, indeed, all of humanity!~ */
 IF ~ReputationGT(Player1,14)~ THEN REPLY #71774 /* ~What?!  What crimes?!  I've done nothing wrong!~ */ GOTO 1
 IF ~~ THEN REPLY #71775 /* ~Exactly what crimes am I being accused of, here?!~ */ GOTO 1
 IF ~~ THEN REPLY #71776 /* ~Is there to be a trial?  May I defend myself?~ */ GOTO 2
 IF ~~ THEN REPLY #71778 /* ~I don't expect you to understand what I'm about, general.~ */ GOTO 1
 IF ~ReputationLT(Player1,5)~ THEN REPLY #71777 /* ~Bah!  Your army will have no better luck bringing me in than any other!~ */ GOTO 1
END

 

EXTEND_BOTTOM ~AMTGEN01~ 0
+ ~Class(Player1,DRUID_ALL)~ + ~I fear no harbinger of civilization, tin man. Yield before the power of Nature.~ + C-PassingBackToExistingDlgViaCopyTransState

+ ~Class(Player1,THIEF_ALL)~ + ~Do you talk that much all the time, or did you just eat some beans for dinner?~ + C-PassingBackToExistingDlgViaCopyTransState

+ ~Class(Player1,CLERIC_ALL)~ + ~Do not interfere in the course of the gods. It will end badly for all concerned.~ + C-PassingBackToExistingDlgViaCopyTransState

+ ~Class(Player1,ASSASSIN)~ + ~Hmm. Hold still a moment. I need to see something... yes. One cut, just to the lower left of your jugular - there. Much better. Less noise now.~ + C-PassingBackToExistingDlgViaCopyTransState

+ ~Class(Player1,PALADIN_ALL)~ + ~The Order will not brook interference, my lord. Stand aside, or your petty territoriality will cause your blood to be spilled.~ + C-PassingBackToExistingDlgViaCopyTransState

+ ~Class(Player1,MAGE_ALL)~ + ~I command greater forces in my little finger than you do with an entire army, General. Do you really wish to contest with me?~ + C-PassingBackToExistingDlgViaCopyTransState

+ ~Class(Player1,MODDER_ALL)~ + ~Holy Toledo - this is a little overboard. Perhaps it also needs to be extended by alignment, and kit, and while we are at it, lets throw a color option or two, so that if PC is righ handed and has red hair, it is reflected in the dialogue choices... hmmm. Gotta get some more sleep. Cool idea, but just like buildable biographies, the level of detail is probably an exercise in frustration...~ + C-PassingBackToExistingDlgViaCopyTransState

END

 

I had better go make myself useful, before I start making more work for myself

[Eleima]

I had better go make myself useful, before I start making more work for myself

Heh. Well, barring being useful, at least you're giving the rest of us a good laugh!

 

Still, maybe this is a good time for me to throw in my two cents. CMorgan has a point, it's gonig to be awfully complicated to code. IMHO, as a PC-who-is-planning-to-download-installa-and-play-with-Gavin-BG2, perhaps it is best to just the encounter as it is, and just stick to an interjection here and there. I'm guessing a lot of us have Improved Oasis II installed (I know I do, I hate killing all thoses innocents ). Perhaps you could just have Gavin counsel caution and tact at the beginning?

Then again, maybe I'm just saying that so that we can have Gavin quicker!