[released] Sir Ajantis for BGII mod

[Jab]

Hi. I have a few questions about Ajantis BG 2 mod.

 

1) As far as I know, there is also a possibility to leave Ajantis dead in Windspear hills. Is it a plausible solution for a good charname (possibly even his paladin fiancée)?

 

2) How much content does Ajantis add to Paladin stronghold (dialogues, quests, alternative way to Spellhold etc.)?

 

3) And finally - How close is the ToB version to its release? Although I like SoA slightly more than ToB, I generally don't play NPC mods without ToB content - after all it is the end of the story.

[jastey]

I am not sure I understand your first question. The mod extents the original occurrance in the Windspear Hills, in a way that the PC should notice that there is more to it than knights looking like monsters: They get a quest item from one of Firkraag's minions, mentioning the knights, Firkraag speaks to the PC about it, and if the PC returns to the Order in Athkatla before finishing the quest, he learns that there was something wrong with the knights' corpses. So, leaving Ajantis and the other knights as dead in the Windspear Hills would mean not investigating the occurrances further, but yeah, I guess the PC could do that. It definitely wouldn't make sense for a PC who is engaged to Ajantis, since I would assume her to be more than anxious to learn what happened to him, especially if there is hope that he is not dead.

 

2. The only thing(s) the mod adds to the Paladin stronghold is reactions (dialogues / interjections) from Ajantis. The mod introduces a way to receive the item from the temple for MaeVar without stealing (the same as in Alternatives) but no new way to Spellhold.

 

3. ToB lovetalks and friendship talks are written but not fully coded. Interjection points are identified but not coded. The rest is only ideas. I would say ToB part is about 40% done, but no release date as I only work on it if I am motivated enough, not too tired and have enough free time.

[Jab]

Thank you very much for the answers!

 

For the first question... I was hoping, that there is also a way to let Ajantis die (sort of a tragic death by mistake without a clear way how to resurrect him) and then let the charname to live with the consequences. I know, that this would need a whole new (hard to make) mod, but it would be somehow refreshing. It could be similar to what Jaheira must go through - with the difference, that charname is directly responsible for the death. I was recently reading some of the Dragonlance books. It is full of tragic deaths (for example

Sturm killed by Kitiara

), so that's where I got the idea from.

Edited February 16, 2011 by Jab

[jastey]

That would be a different mod, yes. You mean with more dialogues to deal with it, the funeral, etc.?

Because as it is, one could say the original game is the case where Ajantis is left dead in the Windspear Hills.

[Kulyok]

I guess something can be done in a single dialogue: i.e. if PC has Ajantis's ring or if it is established that she and Ajantis travelled together, she can have one "dialogue with herself"(just like in the Tree of Life) or with Anomen/Keldorn, if they're in party. This dialogue can happen upon seing Ajantis's body. PC has a chance to choose to do something(save Ajantis, return him, have him as a party member) or accept his death and say that though Ajantis was her love(companion, friend, groom), there's nothing to be done, alas, he is dead, let us bury him here(aka "Gorion's burial" dialogue with Imoen).

 

One script block, one dialogue. Problem solved. This way PC would have closure, and would feel free to explore roleplaying opportunities: a grieving bride who eventually chooses to have a new start with Anomen, for example, or just someone who chooses to have different companions in BG2, but wants to have closure to Ajantis, too(so that he's not lost somewhere/waiting for her somewhere/romancing someone else, gods forbid, but is irrevokably dead). I mean, better a dead ex than an awkward Kelsey-Ajantis conversation, right?

[Jab]

Yes, that' what I meant! Through dialogues on Ajantis funeral, through dialogues with people in paladins stronghold, through dialogues with Keldorn, Mazzy, Jaheira (!), Minsc (he lost Dynaheir) etc. or even Anomen (who would be trying to start his own romance with charname) you might explore the great guilt of charname - because she killed her fiancée.

Charname would probably question her decision to kill the "ogres" (was there really no other way? - or was it a vile decision of Bhaalspawn?). Ajantis family might appear in the game as well (trying to get Charname in front of the court of paladins or just to get revenge - after all to accept bhaalspawn to the family was probably very hard for them and now she killed their son/brother).

Its just an idea. Of course I respect that it is your mod. I just though, that there is a place for a "tragic romance" - even more because it could be a romance between noble knights. Although it might not be easy to sort of emulate the era of romanticism (which was full of tragic heroes).

Edited February 17, 2011 by Jab

[jastey]

BioWare let him die, I guess your suggestion would be a mod that completes the original idea. I don't feel like writing this path, though. I was rather proud about my "leave the original incident but let him live" idea. I was too selfish for letting him die, I wanted him to live. I honored the original occurrance, but did not stop there, but spun the story further so it makes sense that he and the other knights aren't dead although the PC killed monsters that turned to knights.

[Arnidale]

Hi! Today I finished playing Baldur's Gate I and I think this RPG is great! I know that it was released 10 years ago but i was too young at that time to play and discovered this game recently when my friend told me about it after i pestered him with Dragon Age discussing (which is my favorite game), he said that DA is a sort of a successor of BG ideas and it was made by BioWare too. When I began to play BG for the first time i was disappointed that NPC didn't talk! But my friend gave me the link to this site and i downloaded BG1 NPC Project.

Jastey, thank you very much for developing Ajantis NPC, i really enjoyed playing romance with him! Ajantis is my favorite character from now on I think Ajantis is even more cute than Alistair from Dragon Age! I don't care that in BG we can see only text, I imagined everything in my mind quite well I think Ajantis romance and Alistair romance from DA have much in common, but in Ajantis I have found qualities which I missed so much in Alistair! Alistair is very indecisive and never proved his love to my character as Ajantis did...He even dumped her after Landsmeet because they had a small chance to have a child...i was shocked by this nonsense, and had to organize marriage with him by myself in my second play through So Alistair is not much of a man but i still was in love with this character because he was so damn cute and I just like Knights! In Ajantis I have found what I was looking for! He is the Knight of my dream I was really happy when he proposed to my character and didn't dumped me like Alistair after Bhaal heritage was revealed! Thank you so much for this mod!!! I think that without Ajantis I woudn't have enjoyed playing BG so much, and I'm looking forward to play BG2 SoA with Ajantis NPC for BGII. I have already installed it (the mod I mean, my Baldur's Gate version is BGT, i hope it will work normal with it)

 

P.S: Sorry for my English if i made some mistakes, it is not my native language...I'm from Russia myself.

[jastey]

Welcome to the forum! And thank you very much for the praise and the kind words! I am very happy you liked the romance I added to Ajantis in BG1. Let me know whether the BGII romance also meets your expectations, or in case it does not I am also interested in hearing about it (any feedback welcome!)!

 

The Ajantis BGII mod works fine with BGT. If you have any problems, let me know!

[Arnidale]

I began to play BGII yesterday and have saved Ajantis from Firkraag's trap. It almost made me cry when he was assumed to be dead:( I am glad everything turned out well!! But I have a couple of questions... why Ajantis think that they haven't slept in BG1 when I remember for sure that they did (dialogue after 1st party rest)... well, I suppose I should have chose the variant "to wait until marriage" in BG1 for logical outcome... but he was too cute

And most important question - how to turn off the solemn soundtrack which is constantly playing during dialogues? It prevents me from reading...( I deleted the folder c#ajantis_sva/sound/music but it didn't help!

 

P.S: I see that there is another knight Anomen But he is somewhat annoying with his bragging and whining! I like Ajantis much better!! I think I'll keep Anomen for Ajantis' jealousy talks...it seems like fun

[Arnidale]

The problem solved! I have found that annoying music in the override folder. I will tell about my impressions concerning the mod upon finishing playing, so far I'm enjoying it very much!

[jastey]

Glad you managed to delete the music.

For the other topic - I tried to phrase it in a general way, since there is no way to check in BGII (not BGT) for anything that happened in BG1. Blame Firkraag for his amnesia..

 

Anomen is not bad in romance mode. I liked his romance, actually. He is not as even-tempered, which also comes from the fact that he has a much harder childhood / family situation than pampered Ajantis.

But then - is Ajantis even-tempered?...

[Kulyok]

By the way, how are things with ToB? I mean, other than Gorion's Wraith(the most difficult part in any NPC mod I coded, really), there's nothing that difficult in ToB part, is there? Well, except for the amount of writing. Or are you planning a quest?

[jastey]

Thank you for the interest (also Shaitan in the other thread!). I think I planned too much (dialogues) already, so no quest in the first ToB release, I think. Well, for Ajantis, the whole evil god Bhaalspawn blood shed hell plane thing is kind of difficult, so he has a great urge to talk about it.

 

The reason why the mod's development is stuck currently is, as usual, RL reasons in combination with a motivation lack (also due to the RL commitments that consume a lot of my energy). But to give numbers: In my last "modding rush", I wrote 15 dialogues in three weeks. The ToB part needs three more romance dialogues, coding of the romance / friendship path, the NPC banters (I am planning 5 "group" banters, game event triggered, instead of 1+ banter with every NPC alone), creation of one item, coding of the whole, and testing. Currently, the (installable) package consists of the kickout/joining dialogue, the fate spirit calling, and some other basics that makes Ajantis generally available in ToB.

 

And, to be honest, I have ideas for the master wraith, but nothing in consistency with the game (tthere is no dead person in Ajantis' history who would fit.)

[Kulyok]

Yeah, quite a lot. I loved writing group dialogues for IWD NPC, though - here's hoping you'll enjoy, too. Best of luck with coding and finishing everything! It may take time, but it'll be worth it.