Request: Ascension | G3 Fixpack | SCSII installation guide

[cowking]

As it stands, installing Ascension with G3 Fixpack AND SCSII seems to be a completely bug ridden *bleep*f***.

 

I'm positively amazed no-one has made a stickied, step-by-step, bulletproof, simpleton installation guide that covers & combines these three mods, because the end-user (like me) is completely overwhelmed with this setup. I'm absolutely positive the amount of debugging related to any part of this three-mod installation would decrease dramatically if such a thread existed, where the end-user could follow simple steps to install a bug free Ascension/G3 Fixpack/SCSII installation.

 

So here is my official request, for someone who knows the what, to make such a thread. It doesn't matter if the installation guide uses BP-Ascension or Weidu-Ascension, as long as all three mods work together with all currently circulating bug-fixes included. This means all hotfixes for SCSII included.

 

To elaborate my point, here is what I've found relating to Ascension, G3 Fixpack, and SCSII in unison. It's absolutely *bleeP' to assume a person with no in-depth IE modding knowledge can make such an installation on his own, with this much conflicting information, and user-made hotfixes floating around.

 

 

1.) Person has to manually install ToBEx (as of this writing, version 0021) before installing SCSII, to fix many ToBEx bugs present in the redistributable ToBEx (v19) that comes along with SCSII v19. Installing v21 of ToBEx manually also makes the "Make individual versions of Spell Immunity available" component of SCSII obsolete, as v21 of ToBEx has functioning contigency/trigger spell detection for Spell Immunity*.

 

* To make contigency spell detection to work, you have to remove the entry SPWI510 from CONTINGX.2da (with Near Infinity for example) to enable the spell (or the child spells) to be viewed in a contingency/sequencer menu. LINK.

 

 

2.) If using Weidu-Ascension, followed by G3 Fixpack, Slayer improvements are broken. End-user fix here. Some players still report continued damage even after shifting to human form. Wisp also suggested something I do not understand, under section A6. Can this modification be applied by the end-user, to make Ascension and G3 Fixpack install over each other without overriding the Slayer?

 

3.) I don't even remember where I read it (because all this information is spread over xx amounts of IE modding sites, which certainly makes things easier for people like me), but Weidu-Ascension restored ToB bhaalspawn powers are broken (namely: the last passive bonuses do not work). Workaround - don't install restored ToB bhaalspawn powers from Ascension, instead, install them from Unfinished Business (which has functioning ones).

 

 

4.) 2 pages of bugs present in SCSII fixed by -agris-, here. However, your typical user (like me) doesn't even have a clue how to install these.

 

 

5.) 3 hotfixes for SCSII here, from polytope. Is it somehow possible to install these fixes before installing SCSII in the first place?

 

 

6.) Another SCSII/Ascension hotfix from polytope, here.

 

Also, Ascension Abazigal's script is bugged - he doesn't cast "Feedback" (melspl10), "Shockwave" (abaz01), or "Lightning Aura" (abaz02) as intended - this was mentioned on Pocketplane earlier this year but Ascension (the Weidu version) doesn't seem to have been updated since.

 

I have no clue if this has already been fixed in the PB/something fixpack/Ascension XXX version. I also don't have a clue how to install this fixed script. See where I'm going here? I don't even know if it's required, considering he states this afterwards.

 

I just realized that SCS smarter Abazigal component should update finabaz, but doesn't, because it looks for "dw#fgmag.bcs" a file that doesn't exist in game (not mine, anyway); maybe it should look for "dw#fgmag.itm". It looks like I wasted my time rewriting his script, except that he is genuinely missing innates like "shockwave".

 

Even though I have no idea what it means, I presume it's somehow relevant.

 

 

7.) A whole load of mumbo-jumbo here. At this point, my brain imploded, and I began writing this thread instead. I don't even know where to begin with the PB-Ascension, how it works with SCSII, and what bug fixes are already in it (afaik there's also some kind of PB-fixpack whatever...).

 

 

So please, for the love of god, make a centralized, step-by-step, stickied, simian-proof, download links included, install guide for these three mods, with all their hotfixes included.

 

It's absurd to think a run-of-the-mill BG2 player will have the knowledge and expertise to construct the proper, bug-free install out of all this information, which is mostly modders talking to modders, excluding a rather large percentage of the BG2 player base.

 

By constructing such a step-by-step thread, you also save time in the future, trying to solve a bug for player XXXXX, who comes posting here how thing X is broken, trying to find the culprit from his 5^10 Weidu log.

[berelinde]

Just a hint, but it might be more helpful and more productive to collect all of your thoughts on a given subject and present them in one post. You made another post barely a half hour ago requesting clarification on a similar subject. Knowledgeable people exist, but they don't spend 24/7 on the forums. Gather your thoughts, post them together in one place, and give folks time to respond. Hells, most of the time, when I reply to a "Help me, I'm stuck!" post, it takes me more than half an hour just to figure out what the person is asking for... and then another half hour to four hours to figure out how exactly to solve whatever issue they're having. And no, I'm no help at all with SCSII. I'm useless with tactics mods, so I never bothered to learn the ins and outs of it.

[cowking]

Just a hint, but it might be more helpful and more productive to collect all of your thoughts on a given subject and present them in one post. You made another post barely a half hour ago requesting clarification on a similar subject. Knowledgeable people exist, but they don't spend 24/7 on the forums. Gather your thoughts, post them together in one place, and give folks time to respond.

 

It was a bit different subject, hence the different thread. It doesn't really have much to do with this, it's more like a simple question related to SCSII & Ascension.

 

Hells, most of the time, when I reply to a "Help me, I'm stuck!" post, it takes me more than half an hour just to figure out what the person is asking for... and then another half hour to four hours to figure out how exactly to solve whatever issue they're having. And no, I'm no help at all with SCSII. I'm useless with tactics mods, so I never bothered to learn the ins and outs of it.

 

And this thread is exactly about this very subject. By making a fool-proof installation guide for these three mods and their hotfixes (combined in the same install), it eliminates future "Help me, I'm stuck!" posts, since from what I've seen, most SCSII/Ascension "Help me, I'm stuck!" posts are caused by the end-user (like me) not having simple/enough information to install everything I've mentioned in this thread properly, which leads to bugs, which leads to "Help me, I'm stuck!" threads. Most end-users won't even know there are hotfixes available that resolve/prevent their bugs. It's taken me hours upon hours to google this stuff up.

 

Every IE modding site should have a "Ascension/G3 Fixpack/SCSII install tutorial" sticky with giant letters... in every section, considering how widely used Ascension and SCSII are. The information available to install all these three mods (and their hotfixes) properly is not nearly enough sufficient considering their status. The information that IS available, is split between G3, Spellhold, Pocketplane and Bioware forums, under several different sections. It's a total mess.

 

Normally, a generic install guide would do (official patch, followed by non-weidu mods, followed by G3 Fixpack etc..), but clearly, such is not the case here.

[polytope]

5.) 3 hotfixes for SCSII here, from polytope. Is it somehow possible to install these fixes before installing SCSII in the first place?

 

 

6.) Another SCSII/Ascension hotfix from polytope, here.

I suggested to reinstall under the assumption most people would already have SCSII v19 installed before discovering the bugs - the hotfixes can be added before WeiDu installation, which takes a while with SCS. I guess I should've made it more clear for players who might be new to this.

 

After unzipping SCSII but before installing, find the genai folder, replace the files "chase_top.ssl", "genai.tph", "hla.ssl" and "initial.baf" with my hotfixes. Then run the setup-scsii.

 

The finabaz script I posted in the bug reports thread wasn't really intended as a hotfix for players, it was for DavidW. For anyone who doesn't want to wait until the next release of SCSII; it's in bcs format, so throwing it in the overide folder after installation of SCS should work.

 

This is my "personal" fix for the script.

 

Otherwise, before installing SCS open the ascension folder, find ascension.tph and open it with notepad, find the "Abazigal" macro and replace:

 

ACTION_IF FILE_EXISTS_IN_GAME ~finabaz.cre~ THEN BEGIN

ACTION_IF FILE_EXISTS_IN_GAME ~dw#fgmag.bcs~ THEN BEGIN

 

with

 

ACTION_IF FILE_EXISTS_IN_GAME ~finabaz.cre~ THEN BEGIN

ACTION_IF FILE_EXISTS_IN_GAME ~dw#fgmag.itm~ THEN BEGIN

 

Abazigal will then act much like any other SCS scripted fighter mage.

[cowking]

Excellent. Even I can handle that. That's two down.

 

However, the point still remains. Someone really should make an IE-intolerant install guide for the whole process (and STICKY IT). Naturally, every player wants hotfixes, since they, well... fix stuff. Nobody wants bugs they could prevent to begin with. When a new version of SCSII is released (eventually, in the far-off future), the sticky could be updated.

 

Even if I manage to get answers to all the questions I posed above, all the information will still be highly fragmented, and this thread will eventually slip into oblivion, and the next person wanting to install Ascension/G3 Fixpack/SCSII, will run into the same problems all over again.

 

A less computer "savvy" person than I, would probably be unable to install your hotfix without reinstalling SCSII on those instructions alone, because one has to manually open the SCSII auto-extracting archive with winrar, extract, place your fix in place, and then manually move the SCSII folder and setup to BG2 folder. Hence, a guide is required. A step-by-step, simian-proof, up-to-date (which means hotfixes), linky-dinky guide where all required information is consolidated in one post, in one place, in ABC manner.

[DavidW]

The problem is, you're effectively asking me to do this. And if SCSII is in need of hotfixes, it's usually because I haven't been around much and bugs have gone unfixed. (The current version of SCSII is a particularly egregious offender, both because it's more unstable than usual and because I was away for quite a while.) So if I were around to write a sticky, I'd be around to obviate the need for one.

 

(There is a basically-ready version of SCSII v20, but I'll hold off releasing it while we (or more accurately: other people) sort out G3's spam problem.)

[cowking]

The problem is, you're effectively asking me to do this.

 

Well, it doesn't necessarily HAVE to be you. All that is required is one IE-able modder who has the technical knowledge to put such a guide together with step-by-step instructions (for installing all the various hotfixes), with download links, yadi yada.

 

(There is a basically-ready version of SCSII v20, but I'll hold off releasing it while we (or more accurately: other people) sort out G3's spam problem.)

 

But, if you ARE on the verge of releasing SCSII v20, then I guess doing a comprehensive guide now is a bit too late. But make haste! Or I will have to play something else in the meanwhile. I cannot bear the thought of starting a new game knowing there are bugs present I could possibly fix.

 

Nevertheless, the Ascension/G3 Fixpack Slayer change bug won't be fixed in SCSII v20 (I presume?), so a professional hotfix (ala wisp) posted here would be fantastic.

[DavidW]

The problem is, you're effectively asking me to do this.

 

Well, it doesn't necessarily HAVE to be you. All that is required is one IE-able modder who has the technical knowledge to put such a guide together with step-by-step instructions (for installing all the various hotfixes), with download links, yadi yada.

Fair point. (& if someone writes a thread like that in a period when I'm busy, and PMs me, I'll sticky it. It's happened before.)

 

(There is a basically-ready version of SCSII v20, but I'll hold off releasing it while we (or more accurately: other people) sort out G3's spam problem.)

 

But, if you ARE on the verge of releasing SCSII v20, then I guess doing a comprehensive guide now is a bit too late. But make haste! Or I will have to play something else in the meanwhile. I cannot bear the thought of starting a new game knowing there are bugs present I could possibly fix.

 

No promises... (but it's fairly likely, fairly soon.)

 

Nevertheless, the Ascension/G3 Fixpack Slayer change bug won't be fixed in SCSII v20 (I presume?)

 

Well, it's not really in SCSII's remit - on the other hand, Ascension+Fixpack+SCSII is a fairly common install, so I might roll a fix into it to make life simpler.

[Salk]

No promises... (but it's fairly likely, fairly soon.)

 

First of all, welcome back!

 

Then one question: are you also planning a new release for SCS? If not other than to upgrade its ToBEx version, I guess?

[DavidW]

No promises... (but it's fairly likely, fairly soon.)

 

First of all, welcome back!

 

Then one question: are you also planning a new release for SCS? If not other than to upgrade its ToBEx version, I guess?

 

Yes, when I get around to it...

[DavidW]

The installation guide for Ascension + Fixpack + SCSII is (I hope!) now very simple:

 

(i) Install Ascension

(ii) Install Fixpack

(iii) Install SCSII