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HTaM: Overview and Download Links


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Hello! Our Russian "Arcanecoast Team" has created a large mod for BG2

Project Page

Link: 

Download from G3

Download from GitHub

Overview:

This mod adds new quests, episodes and characters, several new areas, additional banters and interjections for NPCs from the main game and from some other mods (see the list of cross-mod content)
The mod consists of several independent components:
 

Spoiler

Component 1. «Interjections & Mini-quests» (by Austin & Arcanecoast Team):
- expansion of reactions of NPC (party members) to story events SoA&ToB
- a few new mini-quests (for example, if Cernd in the party, a mini-quest with milking a cow in the Slums will be available, in the Government District a nobleman will give a new quest, etc.
- If Aerie is with you in the Forest of Tethir, she will have a new small quest
- new NPC reactions to killing powerful monsters (dragons, lich Kangaxx)
- new dialogs between the protagonist and the NPC (for example, a large dialogue with Edwin in the Underdark)
- new banters between NPCs
- when you guess riddles in Spellhold, your companions will no longer be silent! Each of them (including the cross-mod NPCs from "BG1 NPCs in BG2" mod) will give their opinion on the riddles!
- extended solution to the quest about Kaza book, if the group has Keldorn, Edwin or both together (in this case, there will be a dispute between them)
- expansion of some standard quests. For example, to Umar Hills, the quest with the extraction of a gem from a chicken can now be solved in many ways - from using your ranger or druid skills to attracting NPC druids and NPC rangers
- after completing quests in Trademeet and defeating Firkraag, in taverns, you may meet a storyteller telling about it (but be prepared that in his stories everything will be presented a little differently from what it really was)
- after installing statues in Trademeet, the names of specific NPC companions will now be written on them, and not a general non-specific phrase
- Keldorn and Cernd's reaction to each other's family quests (if someone's quest is completed before the other and both are in a group)
- and other

Component 2. «First Calimport Bank Pack» (by Scheele & Austin & Arcanecoast Team):
Adds a new bank area on the Waukeen Promenade, quests, miniquests and various dialogues related to the bank, as well as an additional quest in Brynnlow at three new areas, many new characters (and on the EE version, the two creatures will also have new animations). New area maps drawn by Gorion.
In the bank, you can open an account, top up the balance, check the balance and withdraw money from the account. Each game week, 2% of the total amount will be added to the account.
There are two different ways to get quests - one quest branch will start if there is Korgan in the group and completed his quest about Kaza's book, and the second - if the player agrees to help the half-orc collector that the player will meet.
The beginning of one of the two quest branch will block the parallel quest branch, so both options can be completed only with two different playthroughs of the game.
Both branches will end with the quest "Pirate Legacy".
If you successfully complete the first branch of the quests, you can also ask a new ally for help in the fight against Bodhi in Chapter 6.

Component 3. «Shadow-Covered Love & Death» (by Alisia & Austin):
Adds:
1) For female protagonist: a big romance with the head of the thieves guild Aran Linvail (as with a non-group NPC) and a series of new quests (from large to microquests) that will become available as this relationship develops. Also included are flirting, reactions of other NPCs, a small episode in ToB, a new epilogue of the game with an active romance, the two quests listed below, and more!
2) For male protagonist: two quests in the Thieves guild: the first quest will be given by Renal after completing his task (you should wait for the messenger on the street) in chapter 3, and the second major quest will be given by Aran after the death of Bodhi in chapter 6, provided that the player earlier took control of stronghold thieves.

Component 4. «The Missing Troll Case» (by Alisia & Austin):
Adds two new interconnected detective-focused quests to SoA. The story begins after the player solves a problem with the Waukeen Promenade circus. Expect a messenger from the circus with a problem report. This component has one new area.

Component 5. «Unlocked original NPC reactions» (by Tipun & Austin):
There were situations in the game when only one of all the NPCs spoke, although the developers provided replicas for each. After installing this component, all NPCs in the party will speak.

 

Compatibility:

BG2, BG2EE, BGT, EET
It is better to install AFTER all mods adding new NPCs (otherwise their names will not appear on statues in Trademeet, and some new cross-mod lines will not be used).
Compatible with "Romantic Encounters" mod ("Aran" episode) - while installing this episode and our romance with Aran, the content from "Aran" episode will not appear in the game. Added checks to disable this episode because they have a similar scene in our romance, but with further continuation of the romance. The consent of Kulyok (the author of the parallel episode) was obtained - she herself advised this solution.

 

Explanations:

Spoiler

In component 2:
To start the "Mae’Var’s Stash" quest, you need to have Edwin in the party during the last dialogue with Renal, while the player must NOT own a stronghold of thieves and must NOT have an orderly and good outlook.
There are also differences between the content of the mod on the EE version and in the classic version of the game. For technical reasons, I had to make some characters with different types of animation (this applies to Odrik and the Monster in the second component - they have new animation for EE, and the old one for the classic version), as well as different melodies in new locations (they are new on EE, on the classic versions are standard).

In component 3:
To activate the romance, it is necessary that the PC is female, by class - a thief (single or multiclass), by alignment - NOT lawful good, by intellect - above 12, by charisma - above 8, by race - human, elf or half-elf. You also need to complete Renal's standard quests and kill Mae'Var, as well as complete the first standard task from Aran. After that, in one day, you will receive a letter from which everything will begin.
To receive the largest quest, it is also necessary that the PC does not give up managing her guild (the loss of the guild is allowed, but initially it must be obtained).
Also, in order to see all the content, you need to select the option in one of the key dialogs in which the PC makes a promise to Aran (which one will be clear from the text). If you choose another option, the romance will be in a semi-active state, some episodes will not be displayed, but the possibility of parallel romance with other characters will remain.
For male characters, this component adds two quests in the Thieves guild: the first quest will be given by Renal after completing his task (you should wait for the messenger on the street) in chapter 3, and the second major quest will be given by Aran after the death of Bodhi in chapter 6, provided that the player earlier took control of stronghold thieves.

In component 4:
The new quest will begin one day after the circus is freed (wait for a messenger from Quayle). Launch conditions - must stay alive with Quayle and Aerie (in the group or not - it doesn't matter) and chapter 2 must begin.
If any mods are installed on Quayle, then the quest will still be available, but with additional conditions:
-If Smiling Imp's Quayle is installed ("BG1 NPC to BG2"): if Quayle is not already in the party, the quest will start as usual. If Quayle is already in the group, then the quest will start if Aerie is also in the group.
-If the Lava’s Quayle mod is installed: the quest will start if Quayle has not yet joined the group and Aerie is alive.

 

 
 
Small episodes you might have missed:
 
Spoiler

1. On the second floor of the bank, pay attention to the cat walking around the location. You can "talk" with cat.
2. If in the Jackal's quest line you did not share money with Sheila, then in chapter 6 you can meet her again in the Slums. She will look a little different and you will find out how her story ended.
3. In the dialogue with the city crier, you can now ask him if there is any news about the hero from Baldur's Gate
4. If the protagonist is an elf, the group is in the forest, there is Aerie in the party and the romance with her is not active, then an additional new dialogue will arise between Aerie and the protagonist
5. If the reputation of the group increases more than 17, and there is Edwin in the party, then he will start a new small dialogue with the protagonist
6. If in ToB the player decides to attack Marlowe instead of helping him, then good characters (Mazzy, Keldorn, etc.) will speak out against such a decision, leave the party or even attack the protagonist
7. If you have Viconia in your party, she will have interjections in the scene where the protagonist sees members of the House DeVir in cages in the Underdark
8. If there is Anomen in your party, he is accepted into the Order, and Anomen's father is dead, then try to return to Anomen's house - and an additional conversation will begin between Anomen and the protagonist. If there is Minsc in the party, then he will also take part in the conversation 
9. In dialogues with bank employees on both floors of the building, there are several reactions from Jaheira and Jan
10. In the Bridge area, Anomen will have a new dialogue with a prostitute
11. There are new characters in the Bridge area - a tramp and his little daughter
12. After defeating Firkraag and solving Trademeet's problems, go to the tavern of Umar Hills and the Copper Coronet. There you will meet an old storyteller talking about your actions. Many NPCs in your group will have reactions to this.
13. Cross-mod content is provided with the mod «BG1 NPC to SoA&ToB» mod - if it is found during installation, then in the dialogue with the senior clerk in the Bank there will be an option to exchange currency from gold coins to platinum and vice versa.

 

 

Cross-mod content:

The mod has cross-mod content with the following projects:
1) Smiling Imp's «BG1 NPC to SoA&ToB» mod
Additional dialogues of NPCs from this mod in new areas and in new situations, as well as the ability to exchange currency from gold to platinum in a bank on the Promenade. Especially many new lines have been added to Tiax. Also, almost all Smiling Imp's NPCs will speak out when solving riddles in Spellhold.
2) Ratatoskr and BCaesar's «Mega-Mod»
Additional lines of some NPCs in dialog with a dryad in Windspear Hills.
3) Kulyok’s «Tiax NPC for BG2» mod
Additional phrases of Tiax from this mod in new areas and in new situations.
4) Kulyok’s «Branwen BG2 NPC» mod
Additional phrases of Branwen from this mod in new areas and in new situations.
5) Jastey’s «Imoen 4 Ever» mod
Compatibility (if installed Imoen4Ever mod, then some of the lines will be changed so as to remove references to the abduction of Imoen)

Credits:

Spoiler

Austin, Scheele, Alisia - main authors
tipun - invaluable technical help
Gorion - maps of new locations
Apxu (Arkie) - partial translation of the first component into English, as well as ideas and texts of phrases
stn - ideas and texts of phrases
JamesMaxwell - ideas and texts of phrases
AGKanevchev - technical advice
And:
Vadim Ingwall Baranovsky – partial translation of the third component into English
MidnightVoyager, contralexical, Guest Raelis, Fishmalk_1 – proofreading English texts
NiGHTMARE - ideas and texts of phrases
fallen demon - idea & banter text
Gray - the idea of multiple lines
Tameon the Dragoon - idea and text of two lines
River Hard - idea for one line

Alizbar - theme song for romance with Aran
CO.AG - music theme for an abandoned house
thatDMan - portraits for new characters (Lorna and Yantina)

 Thanks also:
Cuv, theacefes, berelinde, Kulyok, saigon1983 – for modding tutorials

 

Edited by Austin
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Congrats on the release!

Putting the install after all NPC mods is bad for more compatibility, though - unless you want to include all crossmod into your mod. I would suggest making the crossmod an own component that can be installed later.

11 hours ago, Austin said:

5) Jastey’s «Imoen 4 Ever» mod

:wub2: You could make the compatibility also independent on I4E if you use the variables specified in the readme, but install order I4E before this mod makes sense anyhoe. Thank you for considering!

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Jastey, thank you very much!! :)

53 minutes ago, jastey said:

Putting the install after all NPC mods is bad for more compatibility, though - unless you want to include all crossmod into your mod. I would suggest making the crossmod an own component that can be installed later.

At the moment, almost all cross-mod dialogues are used only in CHAIN blocks with the corresponding IF_FILE_EXISTS checks (that is, if some NPC is not installed, then its texts will simply be skipped). Therefore, it would be too difficult to transfer them to a separate component, it would require a strong rework of the mod :(

The compatibility with "Imoen Forever" is done in the form of variable checks, so it will work as you said, anyway :)

Edited by Austin
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2 minutes ago, Austin said:

The compatibility with "Imoen Forever" is done in the form of variable checks, so it will work as you said, anyway

Ah, I got it wrong in the first post. Cool!

2 minutes ago, Austin said:

Therefore, it would be too difficult to transfer them to a separate component, it would require a strong rework of the mod

I understand. It would be possible to insert the comments later, though. I do it in Endless BG1 where the (I think) 2nd component inserts more dialogue lines into the ones from the main component, for example. Let me know if you want me to give examples how I'd do it.

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The archive with the mod has been updated!
- several corrections were made to the English version of the text (thanks to MidnightVoyager for the edits!)
- one of the names in the credits section has been clarified
- minor code improvements

Proofreading of most English text files still required!

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8 minutes ago, jastey said:

The English readme misses the mod title. 🤔

What program do you open the file with? If you open it in Word, then the title is written like this: image.jpg

But, probably, I'd better remove these embellishments of style and write just in text, since the file does not work normally in all programs?

Edited by Austin
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