Sword Coast Stratagems v33 now available

[Guest karkh]

Please, make the no-rope for Abazigal lair an optional component.

To me it kinda clashes between quality of writing and items you show with the yellow dragon compared to odd dialogues and no loot from the dieing dragons you fight as soon as you come back.

 

[DavidW]

Dialog: Different people have different tastes. (Some people love the dragon dialog, some don't.) If you've concrete feedback on the dialog, I'd be interested to hear it. I'm reluctant to break up the component - I wouldn't rule it out 100% but this is a niche request and every time I do this it adds install complexity and the possibility of bugs.

Treasure: I'm not much moved by the lack of treasure on the dragons: they don't live there, they've just turned up to attack, why would they be carrying treasure? (There is a case for them having scales, as has been pointed out before; that might make it into v34.)

Rope: I'm not thrilled with this, to be honest, and might muck with it at some point. The underlying problem is that Abazigal's lair is just not that plausible in the first instance. Yes, it's silly that CHARNAME has to go back to Amkethran for rope; is it more silly than his only being able to make progress in the first place because the monk just happens to have some rope? But it's over a decade since I coded this, and perhaps it's time to think about it some more.

[tomasz86]

I am playing BG1 right now using a bard instead of a mage. I have noticed that enemies do not seem to try to target him at all, as they would with a mage. I can basically walk around the battlefield with no protection casting spells freely, and they do not seem to even try to focus fire on him. If I tried to do the same with a proper mage, s/he would be dead in a split of a second .

Is this supposed to be so? I would think that a bard should be treated no different than a mage, especially if there are no other arcane spell casters in the party.

[DavidW]

They should be treating bards pretty much like mages (lower priority than mages, but pretty much the same). I'll see if I can reproduce this when I get the chance. What's your party?

[tomasz86]

Hmm, that is strange then. I do tend to always play very carefully, so it may be just my imagination, but there have been at least a few situations that I was almost sure that the enemies would fire at my bard, but they did not.

For instance, I got waylaid by bandits quite early in the game, and I was certain that they would fire at the bard, but they did not. Later, I got ambushed by a pack of kobold archers while sleeping in the Nashkel mines, but they also did not target the bard. After that, I got surrounded by multiple enemies when fighting Mulahey, but they went for the thief instead. There have been a few situations like this, and in the end I think that the bard has not been hit even once in this playthrough yet.

The party is the bard (no kit), Jaheira, Khalid, Viconia, and Alora (5 people).

Just in case, I am attaching the WeiDU log, although I do not think that I have any other mods that could conflict with SCS in this matter.

Spoiler

// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~LEUI-BG1EE/LEUI-BG1EE.TP2~ #0 #0 // lefreut's Enhanced UI (BG1EE skin) - Core component: 4.2
~LEUI-BG1EE/LEUI-BG1EE.TP2~ #0 #2 // lefreut's Enhanced UI (BG1EE skin) - BG2 vanilla fonts for descriptions: 4.2
~LEUI-BG1EE/LEUI-BG1EE.TP2~ #0 #7 // lefreut's Enhanced UI (BG1EE skin) - Show Quicksave button: 4.2
~LEUI-BG1EE/LEUI-BG1EE.TP2~ #0 #8 // lefreut's Enhanced UI (BG1EE skin) - Show Highlight button: 4.2
~LEUI-BG1EE/LEUI-BG1EE.TP2~ #0 #10 // lefreut's Enhanced UI (BG1EE skin) - Quests in journal collapsed by default: 4.2
~EEUITWEAKS/EEUITWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1050 // Adul's Unhide Chargen Options: 3.6
~EEUITWEAKS/EEUITWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1100 // Display max proficiency limits: 3.6
~HIDDENGAMEPLAYOPTIONS/SETUP-HIDDENGAMEPLAYOPTIONS.TP2~ #0 #0 // Install all Hidden Gameplay Options at once: 2.5
~LIGHTINGPACK/SETUP-LIGHTINGPACK.TP2~ #0 #21 // Shader script files for lighting control -> Enter lighting values manually: v3.0
~!BG1SOUNDS/SETUP-!BG1SOUNDS.TP2~ #0 #0 // Restored BG1 Spell Casting Voices: v3.42
~!BG1SOUNDS/SETUP-!BG1SOUNDS.TP2~ #0 #1 // Restored BG1 Spell Sound Effects: v3.42
~!BG1SOUNDS/SETUP-!BG1SOUNDS.TP2~ #0 #2 // Restored BG1 Weapon Attack Sounds: v3.42
~!BG1SOUNDS/SETUP-!BG1SOUNDS.TP2~ #0 #3 // Restored BG1 Armor Hit Sounds: v3.42
~!BG1SOUNDS/SETUP-!BG1SOUNDS.TP2~ #0 #4 // Restored Chunked Death Sound Effect -> Original BG1 Sound Effect (Lite): v3.42
~BGEECLASSICMOVIES/BGEECLASSICMOVIES.TP2~ #0 #0 // Restore BG1 movies to BG:EE -> Replace all movies: v2.3.0
~BGEECLASSICMOVIES/BGEECLASSICMOVIES.TP2~ #0 #2 // Show all movies in options without need to unlock them in game: v2.3.0
~BGEECLASSICMOVIES/BGEECLASSICMOVIES.TP2~ #0 #3 // Restore BG1 Chapter and Dream Screens: v2.3.0
~A7-CONVENIENTEENPCS/SETUP-A7-CONVENIENTEENPCS.TP2~ #0 #1 // Modify Enhanced Edition NPCs -> Disable all NPCs: v4.1
~BG1NPCBEG/BG1NPCBEG.TP2~ #0 #110 // Move Ajantis: v3.0
~BG1NPCBEG/BG1NPCBEG.TP2~ #0 #120 // Move Alora: v3.0
~BG1NPCBEG/BG1NPCBEG.TP2~ #0 #130 // Move Coran: v3.0
~BG1NPCBEG/BG1NPCBEG.TP2~ #0 #140 // Move Eldoth: v3.0
~BG1NPCBEG/BG1NPCBEG.TP2~ #0 #150 // Move Faldorn: v3.0
~BG1NPCBEG/BG1NPCBEG.TP2~ #0 #160 // Move Kivan: v3.0
~BG1NPCBEG/BG1NPCBEG.TP2~ #0 #170 // Move Quayle: v3.0
~BG1NPCBEG/BG1NPCBEG.TP2~ #0 #180 // Move Safana: v3.0
~BG1NPCBEG/BG1NPCBEG.TP2~ #0 #190 // Move Shar-Teel: v3.0
~BG1NPCBEG/BG1NPCBEG.TP2~ #0 #200 // Move Tiax: v3.0
~BG1NPCBEG/BG1NPCBEG.TP2~ #0 #210 // Move Viconia: v3.0
~TRAP_OVERHAUL/TRAP_OVERHAUL.TP2~ #0 #10 // Trap Overhaul -> Fast Trap Detection: 0.15
~RANDOMISER/RANDOMISER.TP2~ #0 #500 // Randomly replace the WIS tome normally found in TotSC with one of the 6 available types: 7
~RANDOMISER/RANDOMISER.TP2~ #0 #530 // Randomise scrolls: 7
~RANDOMISER/RANDOMISER.TP2~ #0 #570 // Randomise the appearance of cursed items: 7
~RANDOMISER/RANDOMISER.TP2~ #0 #1300 // Randomise items -> Mode 2: Randomise with WeiDU. No items are lost: 7
~RANDOMISER/RANDOMISER.TP2~ #0 #5075 // Slimes have no items equipped: 7
~RANDOMISER/RANDOMISER.TP2~ #0 #10100 // Remove Protection from Undead scrolls from stores -> All scrolls from all stores: 7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3040 // Reduce the number of Arrows of Dispelling in stores -> Remove Arrows of Dispelling from stores: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3505 // Wider selection of random scrolls: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4115 // Thieves assign skill points in multiples of five: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5080 // Improved textscreens in Tales of the Sword Coast: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5900 // Initialise AI components (required for all tactical and AI components): 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6000 // Smarter general AI: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6010 // Better calls for help: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6030 // Smarter Mages: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6040 // Smarter Priests: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6100 // Potions for NPCs: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6200 // Improved Spiders: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6300 // Smarter sirines and dryads: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6310 // Slightly smarter carrion crawlers: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6320 // Smarter basilisks: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7000 // Improved doppelgangers: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7010 // Tougher Black Talons and Iron Throne guards: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7020 // Improved deployment for parties of assassins: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7030 // Improved kobolds: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7040 // Relocated bounty hunters: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7050 // Improved Ulcaster: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7060 // Improved Balduran's Isle: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7070 // Improved Durlag's Tower: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7080 // Improved Demon Cultists: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7090 // Improved Cloakwood Druids: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7100 // Improved Bassilus: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7110 // Improved Drasus party: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7130 // Improved Red Wizards: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7140 // Improved Undercity assassins: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7200 // Tougher chapter-two end battle: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7210 // Tougher chapter-three end battle: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7220 // Tougher chapter-four end battle: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7230 // Tougher chapter-five end battle: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7250 // Improved final battle: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7900 // Improved minor encounters: 33.7
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #60 // Weapon Animation Tweaks: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #110 // Icon Improvements: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #130 // Force All Dialogue to Pause Game: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #140 // Fix Boo's Squeak: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #160 // Make Magic Shields Glow (plainab/grogerson): v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #182 // Unique Containers -> Unique icons and names: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #190 // Use Character Colors Instead of Item Colors -> For all shields and helmets: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #200 // Remove Blur Effect from Items, e.g. Cloack of Displacement: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2010 // Separate Resist Fire/Cold Icon into Separate Icons (Angel): v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1010 // More Interjections: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1075 // Send BioWare NPCs to an Inn (DavidW/Zed Nocear): v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1080 // Add Bags of Holding: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1090 // Exotic Item Pack: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1100 // Reveal City Maps When Entering Area: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1270 // Change Cloakwood Mine Chapter End Change Trigger to Non-TotSC Behavior (plainab) (BETA): v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2220 // Change Magically Created Weapons to Zero Weight: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3125 // Neutral Characters Make Happy Comments at Mid-Range Reputation: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3290 // Personalize automatic save names -> Use scheme: 000000000-Protagonist-Save-Name: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3300 // Death Cam: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4000 // Adjust Evil joinable NPC reaction rolls: v9
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4020 // ToB-Style NPCs: v9
~WANDCASE/WANDCASE.TP2~ #1 #0 // Wand Case: v1.3
~EEEX/EEEX.TP2~ #0 #0 // EEex: 0.8.6
~EEEX/EEEX.TP2~ #0 #2 // Make it possible to reach over 127% or under -128% resistance, and make it so a creature's spell is not interrupted by damage if the creature takes no damage: 0.8.6
~BUBB_SPELL_MENU_EXTENDED/SETUP-BUBB_SPELL_MENU_EXTENDED.TP2~ #0 #0 // Bubb's Spell Menu Extended: 3.5

 

 

[DavidW]

Priests are sometimes prioritized over bards, so that might be part of it. I don't think it can be a mod conflict - this is a pure AI issue and SCS' AI is pretty much a destructive overwrite of the AI and wouldn't be affected by other mods.

[tomasz86]

That could be it… although I was quite surprised, as both Jaheira and Viconia were quite heavily armoured, while the bard had no armour whatsoever . This is my first SCS playthrough without a mage, so there is that, and previously when I did have a mage in the party, archers always seemed to target him no matter what, hence the surprise.

[DavidW]

Don't overestimate SCS's AI. It's not clever enough to do a relative-armor check on spellcasters. Mostly it's working with a class-based priority list: if for the particular attack we're dealing with that priority list has cleric>bard, clerics will be prioritized. 

If you think that's anomalous, and it would be better to do bard>cleric, I can tweak it. (Sometimes, e.g. when we're explicitly targeting mages, it's that way round already.)

[velehal]

I have found strange behaviour of mages in the latest version (33.7), which was not present in the earlier version (33.4). When mages face someone who is immune to their magic (scroll of Protection from Magic or active berserking) they just stand and do nothing (if character is protected against magic completly) or occasionaly cast some damaging spell on berserker. In the earlier version they constatly move around and try to make the hitting them more difficult. When Tranzing was facing the berserker with active berserking, he was constantly moving, casting magic missiles and when he was out of spells he started to fight with his staff. Now he just stands on the stairs and casts magic missiles but he is not moving and fighting back, which makes him much more easier target. 

[tomasz86]

10 hours ago, DavidW said:

Don't overestimate SCS's AI. It's not clever enough to do a relative-armor check on spellcasters. Mostly it's working with a class-based priority list: if for the particular attack we're dealing with that priority list has cleric>bard, clerics will be prioritized. 

If you think that's anomalous, and it would be better to do bard>cleric, I can tweak it. (Sometimes, e.g. when we're explicitly targeting mages, it's that way round already.)

Thank you for the explanation. I have not really studied the scripts to know all the nitty-gritty.

This can be a little tricky, as a bard may not necessarily be used strictly as a spell caster (e.g. the blade kit), but yes, I personally would suggest going for bard>cleric. This may matter less in BG2 with all the protective spells, but in BG1 bards (with no armour) are almost as fragile as mages, so I think that it would make sense for enemy archers to target them prior to targeting druids or clerics.

Relative armour checks would be cool though .

Edited December 20, 2020 by tomasz86

[steinar96]

In V33.3 it appears that in the brothel fight in bg vs slythe and kristen slythe did not use potions of invisibility as i think would be expected since he has cloak of non detection (perhaps luckily for us as we play with scs on insane). The game was a multiplayer game but usually assassins do use them. So maybe his script might be broken. When we played this 2 years ago i think he did use his potions correctly.

[Angel]

2 hours ago, tomasz86 said:

Relative armour checks would be cool though

The other day I was pondering, the difference between trying to hit a character in full plate with a sword or a mace is a massive -4 for the sword.  A lot of humanoid enemies could be made quite a deal trickier (especially in BG1) if they had the sense to switch to a mace or war hammer when confronted with plate armor.  That's what maces and hammers were designed to deal with, after all. ^^

[Guest Hetolk]

I believe there is something wrong with Flame Strike (probably because of IWD spells component, didn't check it). It is much weaker than 1d8 per level, I'd say it's about 10d8 fixed. When I deleted SPPR503 and SPPR503D from override it started doing full damage again.

[tomasz86]

I have a question regarding the Improved kobolds component. Basically, often I have encountered these seemingly double spawn ambushes. What I mean is that a group of normal kobolds spawns first, and then half a second later a group of kobold guards is added on top of them.

Is this the intended behaviour? If they all spawned at the same time, I would have no doubts, but this slight delay makes me wonder whether only one of the two groups was intended to spawn at that time. Especially since this delay is similar to the one that I have encountered and reported earlier regarding the dogs added to the amazon waylay encounter.

Edited December 24, 2020 by tomasz86

[tomasz86]

I think that I have encountered some kind of glitch when fighting Davaeorn.

The fight began with him casting a combo of web and stinking cloud, but then he somehow stopped doing anything. He walked close to the party and either stood in place or kept walking around a few steps, but otherwise neither cast spells nor attacked in melee.

I decided to start recording the screen once the game glitched, just to have this on video for evidence. Please excuse my mistakes and the overall fumbling around .

Here is the video. Please check the first half to see what the glitch was about.

This is my SCS installation. Also, the fight was played on hardcore difficulty with no other tweaks.

Spoiler

~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3040 // Reduce the number of Arrows of Dispelling in stores -> Remove Arrows of Dispelling from stores: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3505 // Wider selection of random scrolls: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4115 // Thieves assign skill points in multiples of five: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5080 // Improved textscreens in Tales of the Sword Coast: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5900 // Initialise AI components (required for all tactical and AI components): 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6000 // Smarter general AI: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6010 // Better calls for help: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6030 // Smarter Mages: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6040 // Smarter Priests: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6100 // Potions for NPCs: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6200 // Improved Spiders: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6300 // Smarter sirines and dryads: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6310 // Slightly smarter carrion crawlers: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6320 // Smarter basilisks: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7000 // Improved doppelgangers: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7010 // Tougher Black Talons and Iron Throne guards: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7020 // Improved deployment for parties of assassins: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7030 // Improved kobolds: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7040 // Relocated bounty hunters: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7050 // Improved Ulcaster: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7060 // Improved Balduran's Isle: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7070 // Improved Durlag's Tower: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7080 // Improved Demon Cultists: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7090 // Improved Cloakwood Druids: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7100 // Improved Bassilus: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7110 // Improved Drasus party: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7130 // Improved Red Wizards: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7140 // Improved Undercity assassins: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7200 // Tougher chapter-two end battle: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7210 // Tougher chapter-three end battle: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7220 // Tougher chapter-four end battle: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7230 // Tougher chapter-five end battle: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7250 // Improved final battle: 33.7
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7900 // Improved minor encounters: 33.7

 

 

Edited December 24, 2020 by tomasz86