Gods do I still love this cleric!

[DalreiDal]

Sorry if my subtitle doesn't make much sense... my French native-tongue shows sometimes...

 

Now everything's back on track with Gavin, but I thought I'd let you know my general impressions and some things that don't work for me/my install. I wonder, do you prefer that I post everything here, or do you want me to just email you will all the info? I got a pretty list of about a sheet of paper here of things I want to say to you about your mod

 

Don't worry, I kept a list of +'s and of -'s so you won't be totally despaired by my comments, eheh

 

Mostly I spotted some typos and two minor bugs.

[berelinde]

All feedback is very appreciated, positive *and* negative. Especially corrections. Nobody wants to have a mod out that has errors in it, whether they be big and plot-halting or small typos.

 

Prior to writing this, my idea of controlling what came out of my computer was more or less limited to using the calculator. It's been a learning experience.

 

This does you no good now, but I'm going to put up a bugfixed version because the duplicate Gavins bug is just too annoying. Can cause a problem with the quest spawns, too. Won't help if you've got a game in progress, unfortunately.

[DalreiDal]

(I decided to post instead of email because it's easier to consult again later what I wrote earlier) OK, so here it goes. If you already spotted what I'm going to say, then all the better...

 

I'll start with the - so you can remember the + at the end better

 

-

When I first recruited Gavin, I got an exclamation of the kind "Another pained family!" Well, for me personally, I rather got the feeling it got out of nowhere... wasn't he supposed to be waiting to have heard about my father being murdered before he said that, or was he talking about something else? I admit that he interjected with Ajantis at the same time, that famously mismatched talk, so it might have been that, too.

 

Which brings me to my second point, which is rather minor, really, but dialogs tend to get crammed together, I find. I get talks from Kivan, Ajantis, Xan and Gavin one after the other, one round after the other. It got spaced more evenly as I played, but at the beginning I would really get them all trying to speak to CHARNAME at the same time. It's the first time I play, so it might be just some big coincidence, and anyway as I said it's not too bothersome.

 

Sometimes, in the PID, I will get lines that repeat themselves. (Notably the "How are you, Gavin?") This is an intermittent problem, and I'm aware it's always hard to put a finger on it and root it out, but I thought I could at least say it.

 

Another minor point, but I'm the kind of person to be susceptible to that kind of stuff... When Gavin speaks, sometimes his music adds up to the "normal" music, and the two soundtracks play together. It's a kind of cacophony, and it's really a shame because Gavin's music is actually really nice.

 

When Gavin heals you automatically when you get hurt, is he supposed to be saying something afterwards? I'm not sure he is, it's just that the first time he did it, I got a flirt straight after, but it was just Gavin stumbling. I was just wondering if he was supposed to be saying something specific towards healing me. That's not necessary, just him leaving Ajantis and Kivan to fend for themselves and run back all the way to CHARNAME to heal her was a really really nice touch.

 

Now we enter the realm of typos... Beware!!!

 

During his talk about the ring his sister gave him: "...about the same Reed was starting to study magic..." Isn't there a "time" missing there?

 

During his talk about flowers: "...a more ambiuous meaning..."

 

When he does a mess at the inn: "...kind of surprising, becuase it..."

 

When you get him drunk, that one time he says you're so beautiful, the next morning he'll talk to you, and there's this: "...the gods did not endow me with the ability to forget my incautios..."

 

That was it for typos so far I hope what info I gave you was enough, that you won't have to search for those spots too much. I tried copying a phrase letter by letter so you could do a text search if it came to that...

 

Finally, I will sometimes get NO VALID REPLIES OR LINK in PID. Again, that's intermittent, but right now I'm stuck with one that won't go away, although I figure the only reply would be "End Dialog" as usual. Right now, each time I speak of nightmares, after the "Gavin takes your hand..." I invariably get NO VALID REPLIES OR LINK. I can send you the save game with that stuck line if it could help?

 

That was it! Now, the fun part!

+

 

First, his initial greeting is reeeeally nice

 

His voice acting is very good, fits in well with the rest of the battle cries & cie of the other NPCs, and Gavin's got a real beautiful voice. You can repeat that to the guy who did the work

 

His flirts are all interesting, especially the "unique" ones (drunken, when he gives you a scented pillow, when he speaks to you at sunset).

 

His talks about his past, etc, are well-developped, believable, and give him a past and a personality. Moreover, he's original! For once we don't get the lack of trust or the troubled, guilty past!!! Hurray!!! When he speaks of his family are ones of my favourite "friendship" talks I ever got from a NPC.

 

All over, Gavin's a real nice NPC. I almost didn't download him because of the "beta", but I really don't regret my choice, even if I was not 10 days from a new version, lol. And did I say once or never that I do hope to see Gavin becoming available for SoA??? I'm volunteering for beta-reading if it will get me to see the material earlier

[berelinde]

(I decided to post instead of email because it's easier to consult again later what I wrote earlier) OK, so here it goes. If you already spotted what I'm going to say, then all the better...

 

Great stuff! I appreciate the quality control help! And I appreciate a public posting, because it's easier for me to reference, too.

 

When I first recruited Gavin, I got an exclamation of the kind "Another pained family!" Well, for me personally, I rather got the feeling it got out of nowhere... wasn't he supposed to be waiting to have heard about my father being murdered before he said that, or was he talking about something else? I admit that he interjected with Ajantis at the same time, that famously mismatched talk, so it might have been that, too.

 

Yeah, the mismatched talk is fixed in the next version, but there isn't much I can do about this one.

 

The grieving family quotation is in reaction to the Silvershield fibula. He isn't supposed to say anything unless he is actually in the party when the fibula is found. I thought I fixed this! I will have to revisit this, and possibly reorder the triggers to make sure this doesn't happen unless he actually hears the bandit leader speak.

 

Which brings me to my second point, which is rather minor, really, but dialogs tend to get crammed together, I find. I get talks from Kivan, Ajantis, Xan and Gavin one after the other, one round after the other. It got spaced more evenly as I played, but at the beginning I would really get them all trying to speak to CHARNAME at the same time. It's the first time I play, so it might be just some big coincidence, and anyway as I said it's not too bothersome.

 

No way to do this, really. I've got a timer in place so you won't get overlapping night-talks with BG1 NPC Project stuff, but each mod adds its own material, and I have no control over who says what when. But I do know what you mean! Sometimes you want to tell them to shut up, already (which is one of the reasons there is no penalty if you *do* tell Gavin you want some peace and quiet, even if the romance won't advance during this time).

 

Sometimes, in the PID, I will get lines that repeat themselves. (Notably the "How are you, Gavin?") This is an intermittent problem, and I'm aware it's always hard to put a finger on it and root it out, but I thought I could at least say it.

 

The only way for me to avoid repeating would be to make every response a unique, one-shot PID. You'd run out of flirts pretty quick, as I have no way to know if you're going to ask Gavin how he is once or 30 times. So, I've got a few random responses, and they vary by area type (city, dungeon, forest) and level of the relationship. I've tried to include more options for some that might see a lot of use...

 

Another minor point, but I'm the kind of person to be susceptible to that kind of stuff... When Gavin speaks, sometimes his music adds up to the "normal" music, and the two soundtracks play together. It's a kind of cacophony, and it's really a shame because Gavin's music is actually really nice.

 

The same thing happens with BG1 NPC Project. The only way around it is to turn the "music" slider down. Way down. Gavin's music, and the NPC Project music, uses the "sound affects" slider, not the music one.

 

When Gavin heals you automatically when you get hurt, is he supposed to be saying something afterwards?

Nope. He's supposed to just do it, without saying anything. He's a cleric and a healer, and it's his job to make sure that <CHARNAME> is healthy. He isn't going to make a big deal about it.

 

just him leaving Ajantis and Kivan to fend for themselves and run back all the way to CHARNAME to heal her was a really really nice touch.

Hmmm. Much as I appreciate that, I'm not entirely sure I want him to quit combat to heal the PC... wait! What am I saying! If the PC dies, the game is over. Yes, I want him to leave combat to heal him/her. But if it proves to be a pain, I might have give the PC the option to request that he stop doing that.

 

Now we enter the realm of typos... Beware!!!

I was warned.

 

During his talk about the ring his sister gave him: "...about the same Reed was starting to study magic..." Isn't there a "time" missing there?

Yep. Reported, and fixed for v1.1.

 

During his talk about flowers: "...a more ambiuous meaning..."

Ditto.

 

When he does a mess at the inn: "...kind of surprising, becuase it..."

Excellent. That was a new one. Well spotted.

 

When you get him drunk, that one time he says you're so beautiful, the next morning he'll talk to you, and there's this: "...the gods did not endow me with the ability to forget my incautios..."

Thanks for that one, too. I could understand it if he were still drunk, but you think he'd spell better sober.

 

I hope what info I gave you was enough, that you won't have to search for those spots too much. I tried copying a phrase letter by letter so you could do a text search if it came to that...

What you did was perfect. You gave the context, which let me identify the file, and the incorrect spelling, which let me find the words. Find and replace feature, and the whole thing was done in 5 minutes. Keep 'em coming.

 

Finally, I will sometimes get NO VALID REPLIES OR LINK in PID. Again, that's intermittent, but right now I'm stuck with one that won't go away, although I figure the only reply would be "End Dialog" as usual. Right now, each time I speak of nightmares, after the "Gavin takes your hand..." I invariably get NO VALID REPLIES OR LINK. I can send you the save game with that stuck line if it could help?

There are three ways to get the dreaded NVROL. One is to forget to add the IF ~~ THEN EXIT to the end of a dialogue block that has no PC responses, the second is to use END instead of EXIT at the end of a CHAIN, and the third is to include an IF ~~ THEN EXIT at the end of a dialogue block with PC responses. I've done all three, and have recently gone over the entire PID file. All 187K of it. I think I've gotten all of them. The nightmare one is fixed.

 

His voice acting is very good, fits in well with the rest of the battle cries & cie of the other NPCs, and Gavin's got a real beautiful voice. You can repeat that to the guy who did the work

Matt will be delighted to hear that.

 

Thanks for all the nice things you've said.

 

I almost didn't download him because of the "beta", but I really don't regret my choice, even if I was not 10 days from a new version, lol.

And I'm glad you did, because you helped make the new version a lot better. But that is the way of things.

 

If you're looking for new material, there is some new stuff: added romance conflicts for both Ajantis and Coran. Xan and he chat a bit, but there isn't really much for them to argue about. Xan thinks he's doomed, and Gavin isn't likely to push him.

 

I'm volunteering for beta-reading if it will get me to see the material earlier

 

Once I start writing for SoA and stop bugfixing Tutu (maybe this coming release...?) I hope to start posting proofreading material. My spelling isn't usually horrible, but some of the early alpha testers caught some truly horrible mistakes, both in terms of grammar and in terms of content. There were a couple of places I cringe to even think about.

 

But it's going to be a short while, maybe April, before I start on SoA in earnest. There's a BG2 paladin who needs some attention, and the deadline for that is looming large on the horizon. Having said that, I just wrote the first banter between Gavin and Anomen. The angry young man and the sailmaker's son are definitely going to have to work to become friends.

 

Also, Spellhold Studios has an upcoming NPC Interaction Expansion Project for Baldur's Gate 2 that deserves more than a second glance.

 

Thank you very much for the invaluable feedback!

[DalreiDal]

The grieving family quotation is in reaction to the Silvershield fibula. He isn't supposed to say anything unless he is actually in the party when the fibula is found. I thought I fixed this! I will have to revisit this, and possibly reorder the triggers to make sure this doesn't happen unless he actually hears the bandit leader speak.

 

Ah, so that was what it was about! Could Gavin be saying something because, for reason of inventory space economy, CHARNAME was wearing the fibula when she met him?

 

No way to do this, really. I've got a timer in place so you won't get overlapping night-talks with BG1 NPC Project stuff, but each mod adds its own material, and I have no control over who says what when. But I do know what you mean! Sometimes you want to tell them to shut up, already (which is one of the reasons there is no penalty if you *do* tell Gavin you want some peace and quiet, even if the romance won't advance during this time).

 

I thought so. It's OK.

 

Sometimes, in the PID, I will get lines that repeat themselves. (Notably the "How are you, Gavin?") This is an intermittent problem, and I'm aware it's always hard to put a finger on it and root it out, but I thought I could at least say it.

 

The only way for me to avoid repeating would be to make every response a unique, one-shot PID. You'd run out of flirts pretty quick, as I have no way to know if you're going to ask Gavin how he is once or 30 times. So, I've got a few random responses, and they vary by area type (city, dungeon, forest) and level of the relationship. I've tried to include more options for some that might see a lot of use...

 

LOL, actually, what I meant to say is that, sometimes, the line

8-How are you, Gavin?

will repeat itself, as in,

8-How are you, Gavin?

8-How are you, Gavin?

Like that in the PID... Although to be honest I don't remember if it's got the same number both times. Anyway, it will go away if you close the PID and open a new one most of the time... so not too big a deal, but I reported anyway (what can I say, people say I'm nitpicking, I say I'm a perfectionist )

 

The same thing happens with BG1 NPC Project. The only way around it is to turn the "music" slider down. Way down. Gavin's music, and the NPC Project music, uses the "sound affects" slider, not the music one.

 

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind and I'll have my winamp playing instead of the BG1 music

 

just him leaving Ajantis and Kivan to fend for themselves and run back all the way to CHARNAME to heal her was a really really nice touch.

Hmmm. Much as I appreciate that, I'm not entirely sure I want him to quit combat to heal the PC... wait! What am I saying! If the PC dies, the game is over. Yes, I want him to leave combat to heal him/her. But if it proves to be a pain, I might have give the PC the option to request that he stop doing that.

 

You're forgetting that Gavin will have his heart broken. Yep, better leave combat It never was a pain for me, as I tend to keep more than one warrior on the line, and the cleric is on the front line just as backup, but if you feel up to adding more code to give other players a choice, eh, go ahead!

 

During his talk about flowers: "...a more ambiuous meaning..."

Ditto.

 

Sorry... that's been itching at me for like... years. What the hell does "ditto" means!?!?

 

When you get him drunk, that one time he says you're so beautiful, the next morning he'll talk to you, and there's this: "...the gods did not endow me with the ability to forget my incautios..."

Thanks for that one, too. I could understand it if he were still drunk, but you think he'd spell better sober.

 

LOL. Yep.

 

the whole thing was done in 5 minutes. Keep 'em coming.

 

Mwahaha... just wait until I play another lonely weekend

 

 

If you're looking for new material, there is some new stuff: added romance conflicts for both Ajantis and Coran.

 

That sounds nice, but, where is that?

 

Once I start writing for SoA and stop bugfixing Tutu (maybe this coming release...?) I hope to start posting proofreading material.

 

Hey, good news! I know I got accused of being a slave driver by a writer on fanfiction.net, so now I'm more careful about how I phrase my impatience, lol

 

There's a BG2 paladin who needs some attention

 

Who would that be?

 

Having said that, I just wrote the first banter between Gavin and Anomen. The angry young man and the sailmaker's son are definitely going to have to work to become friends.

 

I can't wait to see that

 

Thank you very much for the invaluable feedback!

 

My pleasure, really

[berelinde]

The grieving family quotation is in reaction to the Silvershield fibula. He isn't supposed to say anything unless he is actually in the party when the fibula is found. I thought I fixed this! I will have to revisit this, and possibly reorder the triggers to make sure this doesn't happen unless he actually hears the bandit leader speak.

 

Ah, so that was what it was about! Could Gavin be saying something because, for reason of inventory space economy, CHARNAME was wearing the fibula when she met him?

 

Don't know if this is going to make any sense or not, but I've added an interjection to the bandit leader's first dialogue line. If she speaks, and Gavin is there to hear it, he will make an angry comment, if nothing else, just so I get the opportunity to set a variable dependant on his presence in the party, and he doesn't go talking about jewelry he won't recognize.

 

Sometimes, in the PID, I will get lines that repeat themselves. (Notably the "How are you, Gavin?") This is an intermittent problem, and I'm aware it's always hard to put a finger on it and root it out, but I thought I could at least say it.

 

The only way for me to avoid repeating would be to make every response a unique, one-shot PID. You'd run out of flirts pretty quick, as I have no way to know if you're going to ask Gavin how he is once or 30 times. So, I've got a few random responses, and they vary by area type (city, dungeon, forest) and level of the relationship. I've tried to include more options for some that might see a lot of use...

 

LOL, actually, what I meant to say is that, sometimes, the line

8-How are you, Gavin?

will repeat itself, as in,

8-How are you, Gavin?

8-How are you, Gavin?

Like that in the PID... Although to be honest I don't remember if it's got the same number both times. Anyway, it will go away if you close the PID and open a new one most of the time... so not too big a deal, but I reported anyway (what can I say, people say I'm nitpicking, I say I'm a perfectionist )

Ah, that's different. No idea why that happens, but it does. I had that with Dynaheir's PID menu, too, when I was running a male PC and romancing her, and I don't think that was fixable, either. I've got it set up to work on a random number function. Maybe the computer couldn't make up its mind which it wanted?

You're forgetting that Gavin will have his heart broken. Yep, better leave combat It never was a pain for me, as I tend to keep more than one warrior on the line, and the cleric is on the front line just as backup, but if you feel up to adding more code to give other players a choice, eh, go ahead!

I don't think I'm going to change this unless I have a massive outcry against it. He'll do this whether he's romantically involved with the party leader or not. He gave his word to lend his help and his talents to the PC's cause, and if the PC is seriously injured, his obligations are clear. Ajantis and Kivan can hold down the fort long enough for him to do a cure light on the PC.

 

Sorry... that's been itching at me for like... years. What the hell does "ditto" means!?!?

Ditto means duplicate. I think it was a trademark for a mimeograph company from back in the days before there were photocopiers.

If you're looking for new material, there is some new stuff: added romance conflicts for both Ajantis and Coran.

 

That sounds nice, but, where is that?

In the version I'm typing up now. I was hoping to have it done tonight, but it's not going to be ready until Wednesday. Tuesdays are off-limits for modding in my house, because boyfriend wants some attention, too.

 

There's a BG2 paladin who needs some attention

 

Who would that be?

You'll find out soon enough. The modder didn't want a flurry of "is it done yet?" questions. But it's getting closer. Just a little more patience.

[DalreiDal]

I know I should be a good patient girl and uninstall/reinstall everything so I can get the new version of Gavin, but I'm completely despaired at the idea of redoing all the wilderness areas I already did, so I continue with my old version of Gavin. Since I still spot some typos, I thought I'd post what I find here instead of the bugs thread... And I hope I will at least spot a few new ones, so my post won't be totally redundant.

 

So, we enter the realm of typos again...

 

When Gavin makes his big revelation about his past and his daughter and the woman he didn't marry, at some point he says "I could abandon my duty to the temple, and I had no legal claim on Miranda's affection." Er, do I miss something, or is it supposed to be "I could not abandon..."

 

Now, I admit I reinstalled BG because Monster (that's my PC, lol) was formatted, and I imported my save games and got a few real strange things happening with the reinstall... the "your voice sounds strange" applied a few times in a row on each NPC seems to have settled most of what happened, but it is still possible that a few things I am reporting depend on my reinstall rather than on the mod. This is the case for the following report. In the flirt when Gavin asks you what you'd have to make you smile, a line reads as follows: "Gavin's kiss is sweet, but briEF2." Obviously there's something wrong with the briEF, lol, but it also lacks the * at the beginning of the sentence to mark it as action instead of speech.

 

When we meet Reed, Gavin introduces Ajantis, "He's a paladin of helm,..."

 

And, finally, that's where I am tonight after a real long gaming day (hurray for repaired Monsters and end of lecture week), I just had the "big lovetalk". Wow, our man does get talkative all of a sudden!!! Anyway, just one nitpick, "I can not go on with this..." I wouldn't pick this up generally, but that sentence has a lot of short words close together and I guess it makes my french-acclimated eyes bleed more than the average... I think it would read better as "I cannot" or "I can't" although "I cannot" would better fit with the level of language you're using in that dialogue.

 

So that's it for now I'm still loving this mod by the way!!!

[berelinde]

Thanks for the report.

 

I caught the * and the EF2 myself shortly after its release, but it was too late and too minor to force everyone to reinstall everything over it.

 

I'll change the "I could abandon" to "I could have abandoned" because the point is that he could have just resigned from the temple when he realized that he was falling in love and might want to settle down. It might not have been reasonable for him to do that, but Gavin is inclined to take at least part of the blame for her infidelity. He thinks his absense was a contributing factor, even if the contribution was minor compared to her own motivations. Maybe he needs to say that.

 

I don't think I got the Ajantis one, so I'll fix that.

 

The talks are spaced out by at least a couple game days in the new version. They really do come at you fast and furious, without enough time to think.

 

I'll change it to cannot, if it's easier to read.

[DalreiDal]

I'll change the "I could abandon" to "I could have abandoned" because the point is that he could have just resigned from the temple when he realized that he was falling in love and might want to settle down. It might not have been reasonable for him to do that, but Gavin is inclined to take at least part of the blame for her infidelity. He thinks his absense was a contributing factor, even if the contribution was minor compared to her own motivations. Maybe he needs to say that.

 

Yeah, I had the feeling I was missing something, although explained that way, it makes sense.

 

The talks are spaced out by at least a couple game days in the new version. They really do come at you fast and furious, without enough time to think.

 

Lol, what I meant to say is that Gavin who usually speaks in two/three line dialogue suddenly starts speaking in huge paragraphs. It was rather cute and it really felt like he was letting out all that he had been holding back since the beginning

 

So I'll play some more today and see if I come up with anything else

[DalreiDal]

Another journey into the realm of typos...

 

During the "embarrassing lovetalk" lol, when Gavin asks you if you've ever made love, at some point he says, "since you have some understanding my need". Doesn't it miss a "of"?

 

A really minor one. During one of the flirts, it reads, "Gavins arms wrap around you".

 

Also, when Gavin asks you if he can sleep with you (did I say sleep??? ), the next morning, "Gavin's arms still encircle you, and features are serene." Missing a "his"? Also, two minor ones, "i know with great certainty that I shall do so with a smile." and "my perceptive and outspoken beauty.." And there's also, "I regret that you were so inexpereinced".

 

There's also something in the drunken flirt where, let's say, his basic instincts resurface. The next morning, he says, "but I want have all my wits..." Missing a "to"?

 

And, finally, during his "worried" lovetalk (aka world holding its breath), he says, "Anyway, worrying about it is going to help." Do I miss something or is it supposed to be "is not going to help"? And there's also some grammar rule of English I'm not sure about. Is it right "as if the world were holding its breath" or should it be "as if the world was holding its breath"? I can never tell...

 

Anyway, that's where I'm at tonight... I'm nearing the end of the lovetalks, I guess, even if I think I'm only half-way through the game. Oh, well, doesn't matter! At least I'll still get flirts!

[berelinde]

Thanks for the report.

[RavenBlack]

As long as we're on the subject of typos Despite my install being non-TotSC (and I'd kill for a copy), TotSC-specific stuff made it into my override (and thus shows up in InfExp). Perhaps that's an EasyTutu peculiarity. Dunno. Anyways...

 

If you tell Gavin he can't go visit his folks during the intro he gives upon arriving in Ulgoth's Beard, you get this line.

 

I understand. It isn't as if they're expecting me anyway. I'll just have to be sure not to mention my family name while we're here. I haven't been here enough as an adult for people to recognize me on sight, but all I need is for Mum and Dad to hear that a Fife was in town, but didn't visit them.

 

Wasn't his last name changed a while back?

[Nythrun]

Yeah, that's an Easy Tutu issue.

[berelinde]

Oops. Missed a reference. Bound to happen.

 

Don't know about the non-ToSC, but apparently Nythrun does