Help with modding, mod compabilitiy and mod order on EET (yes I`ve read the guide)

[rucker11]

Hi,
coming back from a bit dissapointing try at BG3 to start Bg 1 & 2 again. The last time I modded and played is a couple of years ago and in another post I was discouraged to mod the game via the extended world setup (or any other installer for various reasons), that`s what I did last time. So know i need some help with the manual installation and mod order. The mods mostly being additional content mods:

Sources: New Player`s Guide by pcamagna, Mod Combability List for EET by k4athos, forums on beamdog and github and of course the readmes of he mods.

1. Fresh install of BGEE1 + SoD and BGEE2 (all v. 2.6.6.0)

2. Download all mods in some folder

3. Install the DLC merger for SoD (v1.5)

4. Install mods prior to EET in BG1 folder
BG 1 Unfinished Business (v. 16.4)
Dark Horizons BG:EE (no idea which version, it says 213, it`s from 2016 of the chosenofmystra side)
Ahungry Tweaks for the HQ door fix in Dark Horizons
Drizzt Saga (v.3 last update Dec 21)
The Stone of Askavar (v2.2 made for BG:EE v2.3)
Twas a Slow Boat Kara-Tur (0.9 including the fix)

5. Install EET Main

6. Install mods after EET Main in BG2 folder

Atypical Content Mods:
Graphic Overhaul EET
Endless BG1 (readme says nothing about load order)
Portraits Everyhwere
World Map Mod v12.0.0 (not sure when to install this one)

Quest/content mods:
Ascension v2.0.26
Assasinations v19
Athkatlan Grounds Alabaster Sands v1.4
Athkatlan Grounds Bridge Block v1.6
Athkatlan Grounds Ooze Lounge v2.93
Athkatlan Grounds Southern Edge v4.2
Athkatlan Grounds Tangeld Oak Isle 4.2
Back to Brynnlaw v9
Baldurans Sea Tower EAOB.8
BG Mini Quest & Encounters 26.1
Black Hearts EET
DsotSC v4.2
Dreadful Tales: In Love v1.5
Dreadful Tales: Juniper v1.3
EILISTRAEE'S Song v7.3
Extra Expanded Ehacned Encounters v1
The Gorgons Eye v3.3
Hereos, Thieves and Moneylenders v4.3.1
Hidden Adventurers v7
Item Revisions v4b10
Jounrey to Windhill 1.2
Lucy the Wyvern 5.0
Nothern Tales oft he Swordcoast v5.0.0
Shades of the Swordcoast v8.3
Shadows over Soubar (I was advised not to use that one, since it´s so old and unsupported)
The Cowled Menace
The Darkest Day TDD (can´t find it though)
The Darkest Day TDDz (Extract the old TDD v1.4 but install it with the new TDDz)
The Minotaur and Lilacor v2.1
Sellswords v9.1
Slithering Menace
Tower of deception v4.0.6
Trials oft he luremaster v4.1 (does the xp fix collide with the one from EET fix?)
Unfinished Business v28

NPCs
BG1 NPC Project v32
Chatty Imoen v1.5
Imoen Frienship v3.6

Tweaks/tactical mods:
EET Tweaks 1.12
Tweaks Anthology
SCS (I know it states after EET_END but K4thos said it doesn`t matter)
SCS Tweaks (included in the SCS install)

7. Install EET_END

So any compability issues I oversaw?
Any old no longer supported by the game/EET version (looking at you drizzt and stone fo askavar)?
Any major mods I missed?

Last question: What would you recommend the EET xp tweak at, with all the new content?
25%? 50% but with original level caps (but i guess that would make some modded fights in BG1 and SoA super hard)?

Thanks for the help people!

[Graion Dilach]

Don't install the aHungry tweak to BG1.

PPE comes after quest mods.

EEEE should be v4 (it crops up a few pages later in the topic) by now, v1 is only SoD compatible.

TDDz is in worse shape than SoS at this point (especially if you use SoS's master build which went through some cleanup somewhat recently). I actually won't recoimmed TDDz at all.

Worldmap also comes right before SCS, but you don't "need" it for this list, all your mods fit into EET's own Worldmap.

Item Revisions should be before tweaks.

[argent77]

1 hour ago, rucker11 said:

Trials oft he luremaster v4.1 (does the xp fix collide with the one from EET fix?)

XP reducer from the mod only affects creatures and quest XP from mod-related content. The EET XP reducer works globally on all game content. You only need to install one of them, otherwise quest XP will be reduced twice.

[4udr4n]

I would recommend:

• Several of the quest mods have rather powerful loot, make sure you suppress XP and/or sell off any imbalanced items.
• Ditch the worldmap, EET's worldmap is great and covers your quest mods.
• PPE should go late otherwise mod added characters may not gain portraits. I think it can be safely installed last as it changes so little.
• Unfinished Business is recommended early in quests. I have UB, Almateria, then Endless BG1 as my first 3.
• Item Revisions should be after anything that edits items or their descriptions otherwise you risk a mismatch (also check out IRR). This probably means after all your quest mods. Don't use the item description component in UB.
• If you are using IWD spells from SCS, install those earlier, I think I have mine just after item revisions.
  
  For other mods maybe see my list (install order still WIP): 

 

[rucker11]

5 hours ago, Graion Dilach said:

Don't install the aHungry tweak to BG1.

PPE comes after quest mods.

EEEE should be v4 (it crops up a few pages later in the topic) by now, v1 is only SoD compatible.

TDDz is in worse shape than SoS at this point (especially if you use SoS's master build which went through some cleanup somewhat recently). I actually won't recoimmed TDDz at all.

Worldmap also comes right before SCS, but you don't "need" it for this list, all your mods fit into EET's own Worldmap.

Item Revisions should be before tweaks.

So aHungry tweak after EET_Main in BG2?

Found EEEE v4.2, thx

Gonna ditch TDDz, SoS and Worldmap

[rucker11]

4 hours ago, argent77 said:

XP reducer from the mod only affects creatures and quest XP from mod-related content. The EET XP reducer works globally on all game content. You only need to install one of them, otherwise quest XP will be reduced twice.

Understood, I guess I´m gonna go with 25% on EET Tweak.
Just want to avoid making most of the original encounters in BG1 trivial.

Also running with the save penalty by caster level of the tweaks antholoy, so if I find myself fatally underleveled at some point I could always add some XP with EEkeeper or console.

[rucker11]

2 hours ago, 4udr4n said:

I would recommend:

• Several of the quest mods have rather powerful loot, make sure you suppress XP and/or sell off any imbalanced items.
• Ditch the worldmap, EET's worldmap is great and covers your quest mods.
• PPE should go late otherwise mod added characters may not gain portraits. I think it can be safely installed last as it changes so little.
• Unfinished Business is recommended early in quests. I have UB, Almateria, then Endless BG1 as my first 3.
• Item Revisions should be after anything that edits items or their descriptions otherwise you risk a mismatch (also check out IRR). This probably means after all your quest mods. Don't use the item description component in UB.
• If you are using IWD spells from SCS, install those earlier, I think I have mine just after item revisions.
  
  For other mods maybe see my list (install order still WIP): 

 

Thats amazing man, thank`s so much!!

[subtledoctor]

5 hours ago, argent77 said:

XP reducer from the mod only affects creatures and quest XP from mod-related content. The EET XP reducer works globally on all game content. You only need to install one of them, otherwise quest XP will be reduced twice.

To clarify this (and please correct me if I am wrong), the TotLM-in-BG2EE XP Reducer only affects that mod content, i.e. the TotLM quest. Not any other mod content  

I actually use both: a mod to reduce XP globally by 25% or 50%, and additionally the mod to further reduce TotLM XP by another 50%. Because I really want to bring down the TotLM XP rewards a lot, they can be out of line with the rest of the game. 

[rucker11]

10 minutes ago, subtledoctor said:

To clarify this (and please correct me if I am wrong), the TotLM-in-BG2EE XP Reducer only affects that mod content, i.e. the TotLM quest. Not any other mod content  

I actually use both: a mod to reduce XP globally by 25% or 50%, and additionally the mod to further reduce TotLM XP by another 50%. Because I really want to bring down the TotLM XP rewards a lot, they can be out of line with the rest of the game. 

Y I understood that part ^^
But good advise on the TotLM xp reduction on top, guess I`ll do it that way.

Oh and i always had the (self-imposed) rule that I can only use mod reward items if replacing original items, of more or less the same strength, with them.
This way I can broaden my options item-wise without getting overpowered to soon.

[jmerry]

9 hours ago, Graion Dilach said:

PPE comes after quest mods.

A bit more nuanced than that. PPE comes after those quest mods it recognizes and creates portraits for. Which ... you know, it would be really nice to have an actual list for that somewhere. I can see a few mods called out specifically, but I just can't tell in general.

Everything else, it could go either way. For a content/quest mod that PPE doesn't recognize, installing PPE after will not add portraits to any new named NPCs. But installing PPE before might; if an NPC is cloned from an existing NPC that was given a portrait, that cloning process carries the portrait through and you've given the new NPC a portrait too. For example, my "Noober's Game" component clones the key NPC from an existing (but unused) version of Noober, which PPE gives its Noober portrait to. Install my component after PPE, and he gets that portrait. Install PPE after my component, and he doesn't.

Then there are the category portraits. If a mod creates new NPCs with generic names (stuff like "Sailor" or "Beggar"), PPE will see those names and assign portraits that fit the category. If a mod gives a real name to someone that used to be generic, PPE will not give them a portrait (unless there's specific compatibility code, as in the case of Unfinished Business).

[4udr4n]

54 minutes ago, jmerry said:

if an NPC is cloned from an existing NPC that was given a portrait, that cloning process carries the portrait through and you've given the new NPC a portrait too.

I started checking what mods added vs edited items/spells/areas/creatures a while back to help understand compatibility and install order, maybe should add cloning to that list!

Sounds like as a general rule PPE should be after any mods for which it adds portraits (BG1NPC for example), but otherwise as early as possible to accommodate any that copy .cre?

[Graion Dilach]

11 hours ago, jmerry said:

For a content/quest mod that PPE doesn't recognize, installing PPE after will not add portraits to any new named NPCs. But installing PPE before might; if an NPC is cloned from an existing NPC that was given a portrait, that cloning process carries the portrait through and you've given the new NPC a portrait too.

In theory, I agree with you. In practice though, 90+% of the times people don't clone quest-related CREs dynamically. I've seen very few cases for that myself.

TBH, PPE is problematic in other ways as well, due to it's varied portrait sources and quality concerns. That project would greatly benefit from a portrait generator AI's output, for atleast the consistency that'd give.