Yet another (IWD) mod install order thread...

[draaglom]

After having only vanilla Icewind Dale for many years, I've finally got round to acquiring Heart of Winter (+ToTL) - and as the title suggests, I want to get some mods, specifically:

 

- Auril's Bane

- Unfinished Business

- Item Upgrades (possibly)

- Level 8/9 Mage spells (Removed)

- IWD Tweak Pack

- Widescreen Mod

 

My googling suggests that AB should go near the beginning of the sequence and the Widescreen Mod last, but is this correct - and which order should the rest go in?

Are there any incompatibilities between the listed mods? Are all of these mods reasonably polished? And are there any "must-have" mods/tweaks that I've missed?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Daulmakan]

Get the Trials of the Luremaster add-on. It's free.

 

And I don't see IWD NPC in your list. It's very good.

 

For the mods I use, I have them in this order:

 

1. IWD Item Upgrade

2. IWD Unfinished Busness

3. IWD NPC

4. IWD Tweaks

 

Plus generalised biffing if you're experiencing slowdowns in game. Never played AB and I don't have a widescreen monitor, so I can't comment on those.

[Jarin]

You have missed Trails of the Luremaster, which is an absolute must have, and you can download here

 

Level 8/9 spells is listed as incompatible with Auril's Bane on their mod compatibility site. So don't install it.

 

Unfinished Business is compatible with Auril's Bane, and you were right, it is probably better if you install Auril's Bane first (UB's readme mentioned that it skips the incompatible component if AB is installed, but I am not sure if it works vice versa, so just to be safe...

 

Item Upgrade should be compatible with AB, as if it would not someone would have mentoined it already (*crosses fingers*).

 

IWD Tweak Pack and Widescreen are compatible with everything. The Item Upgrade readme mentions, however, that "While the Icewind Dale Tweak Pack is generally recommended to be installed last, this mod will detect and apply appropriate changes if it is installed after Tweaks."

 

Widescreen should always be installed last, no matter what mod config you are using.

 

So my personal recommended mod order becomes

 

- Auril's Bane

- Unfinished Business

- Item Upgrades

- IWD Tweak Pack

- Widescreen mod

 

(I am not sure on the IWD Tweak Pack and Item Upgrades thing. Item Upgrades may detect thsoe changes the tweak pack has made, but I am quite sure that IWD Tweak Pack will affect IU normally if IWD Tweak pack is applied later in the install order. For safety, i'd go with the above list)

 

Also... May I recommend Icewind Dale NPC's? It is an rather awesome mod, although it might break with the original concept of IWD (Create your own party as opposed to getting one handed to you). If you choose to install it, install it before widescreen, but after everything else, as it's readme suggests.

 

I hope I have provided you with enough information, and have given you enough links to check stuff out for yourself .

 

Good luck, and happy slashing!

 

Edit: Judging by Daulmaken's "Ninja", I spent more then 10 minutes working on this post. So make it count, Draaglom .

[draaglom]

Get the Trials of the Luremaster add-on. It's free.

I should have mentioned that in the OP; already installed.

 

Regarding IWD NPC - I had a look at it earlier today, and it didn't really appeal. But I can't really tell from the readme - is it purely dialogue, or are there some gameplay changes along with it?

 

Anyway, re-ordered the list in line with yours, thanks.

[draaglom]

He ninja'd you, and then you ninja'd me!

 

As I said in my (slow) reply to Daulmakan, from the readme IWD NPC doesn't particularly grab me - though I'm now considering it, if only to supplement the woefully limited supply of character voices.

[CoM_Solaufein]

Soundsets?

[Ipsy]

IMO, all of the IWD NPC characters are great. It is definitely worth playing. It adds 5 characters that you can have in your party. They talk among one another and comment on game events, and some of them are romanceable. And you can choose which ones to add to your party, if you still want to use your own NPCs.

[Daulmakan]

Heh, sorry for the ninjing (sp?), guys.

 

As Ipsy said, IWD NPC it's only dialogue, no other gameplay changes. But I liked it, and it makes a welcome change to the game when you get tired of the hack and slash.

 

Happy gaming, draaglom.

[draaglom]

I've installed all my initially chosen mods, and I've downloaded but not installed IWD NPC - I'm saving it for another playthrough.

 

Thanks for all the advice, everyone (particularly Jarin and your in-depth post) - this seems a nice forum, I think I'll add it to my "To Lurk" list