Skie

[jastey]

Thank you very much for sharing. I'm all for making BG1NPC compatible and consistent.

 

Domi, cmorgan, and berelinde weren't around, probably. AstroBryGuy probably felt that this is Kulyok's, the others and my call.

It's not a "no thanks" from my side. I'd be more than thankful if you'd feel like making BG1NPC consistent in this regard and thank you for the will to contribute.

 

But, with old team member(s) "watching" over the work, declaring any edits as new content that has to be prevented by all means, I fully understand if people don't feel like getting involved.

 

I know that I don't have time (and no will to spend any) to look deeper into this, so I guess Skie's BG1NPC reactions concerning her father's death will stay as inconsistent as they are.

[Thimblerig]

Thanks, Jastey. Eh, well. I hope someone on the team picks it up at some point. (In my copy of the download, Skie's Angelo interjection is just dummied out which is sad, because she gets some wonderful lines, and I don't think it would take that much to adapt it to her already knowing.)

[jastey]

Kulyok just posted on PPG that she had problems loading G3 for the last days. Maybe I was jumping to conclusions in my former post, if so, I apologize.

[AstroBryGuy]

Thanks, Jastey. Eh, well. I hope someone on the team picks it up at some point. (In my copy of the download, Skie's Angelo interjection is just dummied out which is sad, because she gets some wonderful lines, and I don't think it would take that much to adapt it to her already knowing.)

Skie's interjection with Angelo was moved to x#ict3.d. The version there is active (although it does have a block if Skie already talked to Dora). This file combines interjections when multiple NPCs interject on the same dialog.

 

I'd love to have Skie's reactions to her dad's death be consistent. I've been ill the past week, and I've tried to write a reply here a few times. However, the cold medication-induced posts were a little wonky so I didn't post them.

[Thimblerig]

Oh dear, I hope you feel better soon.

 

Okay, I'll keep picking at this and see what can be done.

 

I've found x#ict3, yay! (This mod is a bit like a cathedral - beautiful, but easy to get lost in.)

[AstroBryGuy]

Rather than try to cover a dozen ways for Skie to find out about her father's death, I like your idea of forcing the Dora encounter. It's currently only set for AR0100 (NW Baldur's Gate). You're suggesting to add the following areas to the list:

 

AR0200 (N Baldur's Gate),

AR0300 (NE Baldur's Gate),

AR0600 (W Baldur's Gate)

AR0700 (Central Badlur's Gate)

AR0800 (E Baldur's Gate)

AR1100 (SW Baldur's Gate)

AR1200 (Baldur's Gate Docks)

AR1300 (SE Baldur's Gate)

 

Then Dora will spawn and tell Skie about her father. I like it! It's a simple fix that uses existing dialog.

 

Now, this would have the consequence of always blocking most of Skie's interjection with Angelo. Perhaps a minor adjustment (leaving the original sequence in case the player manages to artfully avoid Dora)

 

 

Skie   = ~You... you monster! If father were here to stop you, you would be... be hanging from the gallows!~
Angelo   = ~Ahhh, but sadly he isn't. A tragic, tragic loss to us all. But what is even more tragic is, that in her distraught state of mind his beautiful young daughter decided to take revenge on the men that she thought killed her father... Such a waste. *sigh* No matter...~
Skie = ~Then, tell me, Angelo... What happened to my father?~
Angelo  = ~I'm afraid your father, most regrettably, was diced over an extended period of time, by a person or persons unknown.~
Skie   = ~Wait, you... you're *lying*! Father's bodyguards were among the finest in the city's guard. They would never let mere thugs get within a breadth of him.~
Angelo   = ~Ah... well, due to the present state of emergency, those had to be reassigned to more important duties.~
Skie   = ~What?! More IMPORTANT!?! What's more important to the city than the life of a Grand Duke?~
Angelo   = ~There are the lives - and property - of all citizens to be secured by maintenance of public order. And, oh yes. There is the invasion from Amn to defend against. Or perhaps in your Grand Tour with your fellow thugs, you'd not heard of that?~
Skie   = ~The threat from Amn is YOUR invention! Liar!~
Angelo =~Guards! Silence that noisy wench. I have wasted too much time already on the case of these wretched assassins.~

[AstroBryGuy]

Argh! Everything past the code block went into the Void...

 

The above would be a minor edit to allow the Skie-Angelo interjection to occur after the Dora dialog. It's replacing 3 lines where Skie questions that her dad is dead with a demand that Angelo tell her what happened (and I would leave the original lines in place in case the player managed to avoid Dora).

 

If that would an acceptable edit (along with apparently a couple others such as SORREL), Skie's knowledge of her father's death could be made more consistent and believable without major alterations.

 

Also, for Eldoth's dialog that currently follow's the Slythe & Kristin fight, it could be tweaked to come after the Dora dialog (just changing "them" to "her" in Skie's first line):

 

Eldoth: Skie! My dear! My heart! I grieve with you.

Skie: I... I heard her aright, then? Duke... my father... dead...

Eldoth: This is no place for you, dearest, at such a time as this.

Eldoth: Come now, let us away.

...

 

If there is objection to this, I'm fine leaving it. But, it would be nice for Skie fans to make her not talk about her father like he's alive after she should know he's dead.

[Thimblerig]

That sounds pretty good.

 

**

 

Her follow up lines for Angelo, @275 and @276 = ~Eldoth/<CHARNAME>, I... I do not know what to believe... Angelo is a liar, that much is true... but something feels wrong... Can we make time to visit the estate? I must know what has happened to my father.~ It works if she wants some more details on how Entar died, though a check whether she hasn't been there yet would be an idea: Global("X#SkiBip","GLOBAL",0) would work (see below).

 

**

 

At this point there's nothing written for if she does go back home. Chapter 7 behaviour gets rid of the previous Silvershield Estate creatures and adds Bip, who tells you that the estate is closed up. Suggested interjection for Bip:

 

INTERJECT_COPY_TRANS ~%tutu_var%BIP~ 0 X#SkiBip

== ~%SKIE_JOINED%~ IF ~InParty("Skie") Detect("Skie") !StateCheck("Skie",CD_STATE_NOTVALID)~ THEN ~Can - can you tell me how he died, Bip?~

== ~%tutu_var%BIP~ IF ~InParty("Skie") Detect("Skie") !StateCheck("Skie",CD_STATE_NOTVALID)~ THEN ~Oh milady, I wasn't even there; it was market day. All of us in the servant hall are wearing black armbands for your lord father, those of us who lived.~

== ~%tutu_var%BIP~ IF ~InParty("Skie") Detect("Skie") !StateCheck("Skie",CD_STATE_NOTVALID)~ THEN ~But I am sorry, milady, I cannot let you in. The Lady Brilla was clear we had to close this place up tight - and she mentioned you and your new friends specifically. And truly, there is nothing up there that you want to see...~

END

 

(Rewrite this any way you feel like, if you want.)

 

**

 

- Looks like the Tamoko interjection is fine - even if Skie has skipped Dora's news, she isn't all shocked and surprised either.

 

**

 

Her interjection into Sorrel (with additions from Eldoth) is:

 

@54 = ~Scar's dead? Wow... I... er... I... mean, my father always spoke very highly of him... And Eltan, too. Oh no! Wha... what about my father? Come on, we have to make sure he's alright!~

@55 = ~Ahhh...*if* your father is in danger, we should serve him better by retaining our freedom of action than by rushing headlong into an ambush. Not to mention what *he* would do about that freedom, if unambushed.~

@56 = ~But...~

@57 = ~No buts, my dear. You are distraught and so should trust in cooler heads. ~

@58 = ~Oh... er... I suppose so...~

@59 = ~I am sorry, girl... but your father is- er... you go, see Eltan.~

Um... I suppose you could put lines @55-@58 on the Dora check, if Skie had missed her. And change the last sentence of @54 to "... Oh no! And... and my father..."

 

**

 

The Eldoth-Skie banter that starts "My lady, I don't believe life on the road suits you" could do with a Dora check. If one of your writers feels in the mood for giving it an alternate, post-death ending, that would be nifty.

 

**

 

That's... actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. On the other hand, I've spent far too much time trolling through dialogue looking for ways to tell a teenage girl that her last family is dead. I desperately need to write something nice for Skie. Desperately.

[Kulyok]

(if this forum's software disconnects me again, 'tis its own fault)

 

Skie = ~Then, tell me, Angelo... What happened to my father?~ - you mean this edit, right, if Skie already knows? Instead of

Skie = ~How dare you! My father-~

 

Me being me, I would suggest "What happened to my father, Angelo?" or even "What happened to my father? I demand you tell me!" because it's closer to "How dare you" (and "then, tell me," might feel as too calm, too many commas, implies curiosity, not anger). I don't mind strongly, both work, just a suggestion.

 

Okay, that indeed provides stronger consistency. Good solution.

 

Now, for Silvershield estate, I think the death of Skie's father is covered by in-game dialogue(I recall going to that estate even without Skie, and there was a line about him being dead).

 

 

As for a serious, in-depth Skie's reaction/Her Father's Death expansion, I love it as an idea, but I believe that it requires its own mod/expansion outside of BG1 NPC's scope. That's my short opinion.

 

Boring long opinion: I can't in good conscience say one or two lines will cover it and seriously make it better. I wrote a huge character arc for Nella dealing with Arundel's in IWD NPC. Heck, Nathaniel's arc in Dragon Age: Awakening barely covers him dealing with the death of his father, and that's a huge expansion. Jaheira deals with Khalid's death during twenty or so dialogues, though I readily admit THAT gets a bit repetitive if you're romancing her. I'm not a good drama planner and a worse writer, but I'd say that for me personally, it requires at least two Skie-related people in her father's estate, it requires a banter from Skie as soon as she hears about her father's death, with interjections from Jaheira/Coran/everyone, you'd need at least two banters with Skie grieving, Skie trying to deal, then her talking to PC and Eldoth, and finally coming to terms with this grief AND optionally interjecting during the final battle "YOU BASTARD !111" and talking to PC about it before the final battle - but that's only for romance interests/J&K, so I don't know about that part. And to make things more balanced, Skie needs the friendship arc to match that reaction. Currently Skie doesn't have that much content in the BG1 NPC mod; her content is sketchy, much sketchier than unromanced Xan/Coran, for instance. So I believe the current reactions should really suffice; but Skie's friendship could be right there with Coran's friendship, and I'd install it, myself.

[AstroBryGuy]

 

Skie = ~Then, tell me, Angelo... What happened to my father?~ - you mean this edit, right, if Skie already knows? Instead of

Skie = ~How dare you! My father-~

Me being me, I would suggest "What happened to my father, Angelo?" or even "What happened to my father? I demand you tell me!" because it's closer to "How dare you" (and "then, tell me," might feel as too calm, too many commas, implies curiosity, not anger). I don't mind strongly, both work, just a suggestion.

 

Yes, my idea was to create an alternative for these three lines in the Skie-Angelo interjection if Skie knows about her dad's death:

 

Skie = ~How dare you! My father-~

Angelo = ~Your father would do nothing, Lady Silvershield. Unless you raise him from his grave.~

Skie = ~What?!? Wha... what are you saying?~

 

And I like your revised line. It's more forceful, like the "How dare you!" line.

 

I think the goal with any edits to Skie in BG1NPC would be close holes where she has apparently has amnesia regarding her father's death, not to give her a full arc. Something like that would be a worthwhile standalone mod or supplement to BG1NPC, like the Xan and Coran friendship mods.

[Thimblerig]

 

Now, for Silvershield estate, I think the death of Skie's father is covered by in-game dialogue(I recall going to that estate even without Skie, and there was a line about him being dead).

A line about him being dead is not the same as a family retainer recognising the missing heir when she turns up. And Skie's Angelo interjection says she wants to revisit the estate, but she currently has no lines when she does. That's a hole.

 

As for a serious, in-depth Skie's reaction/Her Father's Death expansion, I love it as an idea, but I believe that it requires its own mod/expansion outside of BG1 NPC's scope. That's my short opinion.

Indeed. What a lovely idea. I might pick it up when the latest installment of bg1re is out. (Which is very literary, this time.)

**

AstroBryGuy - a family emergency has come up and I might not be able to post for the next two three days (we'll see what happens). In any case, this is about as much as I can contribute. You have my permission to use, reuse, remix, recycle, fold, spindle, or mutilate any notes or content I posted in this thread. All the best, T.