4udr4n

Hey @subtledoctor are all of these tweaks designed to work with SR/SRR, or as alternatives to it?

I haven't messed with Soundsets, but for portraits I have a big folder of properly sized and named NPC and PC portraits that I dump into override and my portraits folder respectively.

UB lets you find a brooch (Fibula) that Kagain confirms belonged to young Silvershield. He then also makes comments at the Silvershield estate.

4 hours ago, Sephir6 said:

Oh if I knew you were here I would save the debug file. The only thing we check was when me or my friend equip a shield we couldn't save and if we checked the character page it crashes the game. It must be hard to debug multiplayer...

I had an issue with shields too, whenever I clicked on an equipped shield the game froze.

2 hours ago, Bubb said:

Could you please describe these crashes and provide the corresponding crash .dmp's? I'm grateful for all of the installs here trying out EEex, it is exactly what is required to battle-harden, and bug-proof a mod. EEex is perfectly stable in vanilla, but as you have seen, the vast amount of mods available for the IE can interact with EEex in unexpected ways. The one thing I will stress, (and I don't mean this in an accusatory way, so please don't take it as such), is that reporting a crash/bug is very important. Sure, there might be unknown crashes, and that sucks, but they will never be fixed if they aren't reported.

As for the multiplayer talk with EEex, sadly EEex doesn't handle multiplayer very well right now - I'll try to improve this in the next major version bump.

Absolutely understand, and I have been making some effort to report issues with full info.

Unfortunately most of my EEex isntalls were done with a list of mods that had other incompatibilities (overlapping quest stuff and messed up kits and proficiencies, probably not the cause of crashes, but could be) and while I was busy with work. I've nuked my install so many times since I'm not convinced I can provide the right .dmp's and weidu logs for you, otherwise I would.

Once I have a setup that is fully stable and functional without EEex, I'd like to reintroduce it and will provide reports. All I can tel lyou for now is that with it installed I got frequent but inconsistent crashes after chapter starts and cutscenes or when loading games and areas. After removing it those are gone.

I appreciate your commitment to fixing it and am not seeking to deter others from testing, but it's too much of a challenge when managing such a long mod list, so once I knew it was either causing or contributing to the crashes I had, I dropped it and moved on fast.

8 hours ago, subtledoctor said:

Okay: big idea here.  Digest and discuss.

I'm working through the "spell battle" system in my head.  Here are some things I don't like about it:

• Impossible to keeps straight what protects from what. Minor Deflection at 3rd level protects from 4 levels pf spells up to 7th level; Minor Turning at 5th level protects from 4 levels of spells up to only 4th level (!).  If you cast Minor Turning, you are completely vulnerable to 5th-level spells.  Deflection sounds a lot better!
• Turning is useless.  No player will cast a serious spell that will get turned against them; likewise, SCS AI will not cast spells that will be turned against it.  So why even have Turning?  This has been discusses ad nauseam.
• SR simplifies things by only having Deflection, but it is still complex (some defenses only protect against low-level spells) and too multi-layered (you can layer Minor Deflection plus Deflection plus Greater Deflection plus Spell Trap plus Spell Shield, and it will take FIVE magic attacks to get through that.  With SCS you can't cast breach until you've knocked down all those layers so... good luck.
• The AI isn't great in these games.  As far as I can tell the AI, even SCS AI doesn't really take advantage of all those layers.  It just uses its best protections.  Which is how it should be!  So let's design a system that encourages that sort of sensible behavior.

The first principle is: assume SR and SCS.  Notably, I will assume SR's "Deflection protects from AoE spells" is installed. 

Second principle: any deflection cast from any level spell can block up to 9th-level spells.  This is simple: Globes of Invulnerability block an unlimited number of spells, of certain spell levels; Deflections, by contrast, will block a limited number of spells, of unlimited spell levels.  That is a clear, sensible trade-off that is easy to remember and internalize.  So MGOI can block a hundred Fireballs but won't protect you against Disintegrate; MSD will block a Disintegrate or even Finger of Death or Energy Drain, but afterward you will be vulnerable to Chromatic Orb.

Stronger protection spells automatically add more layers of protection.  Casting Greater Spell Deflection will also automatically cast Spell Deflection and Minor Spell Deflection, giving you three layers of protection against magic attacks in addition to more 'spell levels' of protection against normal spells.  But, stronger magic attacks will remove multiple layers.  This can create a clear, easy-to-internalize contrast between weak attacks and strong attacks: you can chip away at the mage with three layers of protection by casting lowly little Spell Thrust three times; or, you can blast all three layers away instantly by casting Ruby Ray.  Lower-level mages will not be left in the lurch, utterly unable to pierce an opponent's defenses; but higher-level mages will have a clear advantage in the speed and power of their attacks.

Here's what I have so far:

DEFENSES:

• 3rd level:  Minor Spell Deflection.  Blocks 4 levels of spells.  This means that anything 4th level or higher - anything that can bypass a MGOI - will be blocked but blast away the Deflection.
• 4th level: Minor Globe of Invulnerability.  Blocks all spells of 3rd level and lower; no protection at all against 4th level or higher.
• 5th level: Spell Deflection.  Blocks... 10? levels of spells.  This can block a single spell of any level, just like MSD, and then one more spell after that.  Or a handful of lower-level spells.  It also auto-casts MSD, so you have two layers of deflections.  (You can still only block 10 levels of incoming spells - the 4 from MSD do not get added to the 10 from this spell.  This 'layering' works solely against magic attacks like Pierce Magic.)
• 6th level: Globe of Invulnerability.  Blocks all spells of 4th level and lower; no protection at all against 5th level or higher.
• 7th level: Greater Spell Defection.  Blocks... 20? levels of spells.  So it can block two 9th-level spells and then one more spell of any level; or a bunch of lower-level spells.  It also auto-casts MSD and SD, so you have three layers of deflections.
• 9th level: Spell Trap.  Blocks 99 levels of spells. 
• 5th level: Spell Shield.  Blocks one magic attack, to protect all your layers.

ATTACKS:

• 3rd level: Spell Thrust.  Removes one layer of protection (up to 8th level - not Spell Trap).
• 4th level: Secret Word.  Removes one layer of protection up to 8th level, and also removes Minor Spell Deflection.  (So this is instantly effective against Spell Deflection, or against MSD + MGOI.  If cast against SD + MGOI (which is really SD + MSD + MGOI) the target would be left with one or the other. (I'm not sure which.))
• 6th level: Pierce Magic.  Removes one layer of protection up to 8th level, and also removes MSD and MGOI.  And lowers the target's magic resistance.
• 7th level: Ruby Ray of Reversal.  Removes one layer of protection of any level, including Spell Trap, and also removes MSD, MGOI, and SD.
• 7th level: Warding Whip.  Like Secret Word, but re-casting itself one round later and two rounds later.
• 8th level: Pierce Shield.  Removes one layer of protection of any level, and also removes MSD, MGOI, SD, and GOI.  Also removes all combat protections.
• 9th level: Spellstrike.  Removes ALL spell protections, and causes 100% spell failure for 6 seconds.  I've never liked that Spellstrike is blocked by Spell Shield.  Maybe I can make it such that Spellstrike will knock down the Spell Shield and prevent the target from raising another one...?  And maybe the spell failure should go through the Spell Shield, even if the other defenses are retained?  Hm, maybe it doesn't matter, nobody sensible will  cast Spellstrike against a Spell Shield when a Spell Thrust will remove it.

So: what effect would this have?  Well,

• Pierce Shield is more powerful, taking down multiple defenses and thus slightly stepping on Spellstrike's toes.  But it's an 8th-level spell, and I'd like to buff Spellstrike anyway. 
• Greater Spell Deflection is better - it now leaves you protected if you are hit with Pierce Magic or Secret Word.  Hm.  Not sure I love that.  Maybe Pierce Magic at least should be able to take this down in one go? 
• On the other hand, PM can take down SD plus a GOI, together.  So against low- and mid-level defenses, Pierce Magic is stronger.  
• Secret Word is notably weaker, because it cannot take down GSD.  But it  can take down both MSD and a GOI, so it is stronger against low-level defenses.
• Spell Thrust is  more useful, it can be used to tear down one layer of defense of any spell level; so against GSD, Pierce Magic and Secret Word won't expose the target, but you can follow up with Spell Thrust to finish the job.
• The MSD and SD are slightly stronger, because they block higher-level spells.  But on the other hand, they won't block many!  (This is for the sake of convenience/memory more than for balancing.)

That's the rough idea.  I know it sounds like Pierce Magic and Secret Word are nerfed, because they cannot remove Greater Spell Deflection; but in the current  suystem you  can layer MSD, SD, and  GSD, and it would take three Pierce Magics to remove them all, instead of just one Pierce Magic and one Spell Thrust. 

This would be meant to install over SR, and should work with SCS AI. 

Thoughts?

I am playiong through EET with SCS (almost at full), SRR, IRR and loads of your mods. This topic has come up a lot as the improved mages (and I think some of @Angel's encounters, need to start recording and checking what added who!) are brutal and use a mix of protections. I'm having to cross reference a lot of stuff to ensure that descriptions and notifications match reality and that I understand the effects of potential pierce effects. The system you describe sound much simpler and more sensible to me. Not sure how much of that is just seeing it laid out like this, rather than jumping around readmes and spell descriptions in game though!

On 5/27/2020 at 11:45 PM, Sephir6 said:

 

I'm playing with a friend so first, did you test your mods in multiplayer? And second, I also installed S9SoundsetsVol2, but I always get Invalid Text or a random text for the subtitles when I have one of the voice selected. And each install is random. Has that also happened to you? 

I haven't tried multiplayer at all.

I don't use subtitles and have not seen any such test issues.

On 5/28/2020 at 5:25 PM, subtledoctor said:

@4udr4n Have you had any trouble with buying direct healing services from temples?  It is reliably crashing my game every time.  Very annoying...

Nope, all working fine. Only crashes I've had are from collecting every book i nthe game into a mod added book container (maybe the BG1RE one?), stopped happenign when I ditched them.

I'm working on a big list of issues at the moment, will post over the next few days.

On 5/28/2020 at 10:43 AM, Sephir6 said:

EEex

Caused a few crashed for me so I gave up, can't justify it based on the 3 components it would enable for me. I really want Bubb's Spell Menu, but not enough to run an unstable game.

Universal Clubs seems to work in my install.

Tweaks Anthology

8 hours ago, Caedwyr said:

Any clue regarding Improved Shamanic Dance and your mod?  The readme of that mod says to install after any Shaman kits, which I would take to mean I should install it after your multiclass shaman kits, but I'm curious if anyone has experience running both mods.

Hmm, I have it, but installed before FnP, which may be a mistake. I haven't yet played a shaman (or made it to SoD) so I can't comment on compatibility. I'll let you know what I find when I do.

2 hours ago, jastey said:

Let me know whether you have the time and I'd send @4udr4n Ascalon's Questpack

Ready to go. I have it installed already, feel free to send me any updated WIP files or just indicate which ones have dialogue or item files in.

I've been taking notes as I play, and will at some point figure out what mod all the characters that need dialogue edits belong to and suggest changes.

5 hours ago, Caedwyr said:

Revised Dragon Disciples.  Does this change the existing Dragon Disciple Kit, or just add more Dragon Disciple Kits?

Replaces entirely with 4 new kits.

I am also available to proofread in english.

P.S. @Caedwyr, @Endarire, @Cahir and anyone else who wants to chip in, if you want edit permissions pm me.

On 5/20/2020 at 12:39 AM, Caedwyr said:

Keldorn Romance.  You may need to install Senesible Entrance Points from the Tweakpack (G3?) prior to installing Keldorn Romance in order for Keldorn to appear in the right location as per the mod's readme.

This shouldn't be necessary for the EE games. I'm not really interested in building a guide for the classic games as I don't own them anymore and compatibility is wildly different. I can give you edit permissions if you want to create an additional tab for classic stuff.

On 5/20/2020 at 12:41 AM, Caedwyr said:

There's a lot of stuff in there as well with the various megamods and Sorcerer's Place that probably needs a close look to see if they match the quality and balance you'd expect for your game.  They were mostly hit or miss, tending towards miss, back in the day and I don't see many of them having received any real rebalancing or other types of clean-up in the time since.  I haven't commented on them, since I didn't do more than take a cursory look at their current state.  At least most of them are now Weidu mods that don't just use Weidu to copy a dialog.tlk into your override.

I'm not overly concerned about including balance or quality information in the guide (though I am adding your comments) because it's so subjective, the content quality is likely to vary by language, and the balance can be all over the place depending on the combination of mods chosen.

I've added all of your other comments, thanks!

18 hours ago, subtledoctor said:

DR works fine with FnP.  (Well, DR kits - the DR spells component and sphere system do not work with FnP.)  IIRC the decision to remove DR was for other reasons.

EDIT - was ninja'd.  I guess 4udr4n said yes... but when I followed that linked post, I don't see any conflicts?

You're right, I was having issues with DR Druid Remix, but those are resolved. I removed it becasue I don't feel it adds anything I value.

 I have now enabled commenting, sorry @Endarire!

12 hours ago, argent77 said:

It's possible for a (single) regular familiar, but not generally for allies, summons or "7th party members". (Well, not unless they are unique and you know their script names.)

Add these blocks to all global script files of the game (baldur.bcs, baldur25.bcs, bdbaldur.bcs):

  Hide contents

IF
  Global("A7_AutoHasteActive","GLOBAL",1)
  OR(2)
    !GlobalTimerNotExpired("A7_AutoHasteTimerFam","GLOBAL")
    !CheckSpellState(Familiar,A7_AUTO_SPEED)
  !TriggerOverride(Familiar,Detect([ENEMY]))
  !ActuallyInCombat()
THEN
  RESPONSE #100
    SetGlobalTimer("A7_AutoHasteTimerFam","GLOBAL",ONE_ROUND)
    ApplySpellRES("a7_wlk1",Familiar)
    Continue()
END

IF
  Global("A7_AutoHasteActive","GLOBAL",1)
  CheckSpellState(Familiar,A7_AUTO_SPEED)
  OR(2)
    TriggerOverride(Familiar,Detect([ENEMY]))
    ActuallyInCombat()
THEN
  RESPONSE #100
    ApplySpellRES("a7_wlk2",Familiar)
    Continue()
END

IF
  Global("A7_AutoHasteActive","GLOBAL",0)
  CheckSpellState(Familiar,A7_AUTO_SPEED)
THEN
  RESPONSE #100
    ApplySpellRES("a7_wlk2",Familiar)
    Continue()
END

 

 

Thanks, will try that later!

Is there a way for me to edit in the movement increase mid-game via Near Infinity?

Hey @subtledoctor, I have 200% movement speed outside of combat thanks to cdtweaks:3341. Is there a way to grant this to my familiar as it is now super slow in comparison?

1 hour ago, hardric said:

Hi, I am brand new to the forum but not the game.

First of all, great job with the mod. I am loving it.

My next question is that I hope to install Item Revisions with this. Will the Item Revisions pick up the new armours, shields, heavy weapons, light weapons etc with this mod? I am not even sure where to ask this question - here or the Item Revisions mod.

Hope someone can enlighten me. Thank you.

@Cahir was working on this, maybe worth a chat.

49 minutes ago, Cahir said:

Yeah, I saw your list but ended up building my own from scratch. I haven't start my game yet, so can't comment about any progress yet. 

But now I have another doubt. @4udr4ndo you use IRR and SRR or regular IR and SR? If the former, did you encounter any misbehaving with SCS? @DavidWstated that he doesn't officially support IR and SRR (yet), so I' m not sure how well those 3 mods play together. I really would like to avoid reinstalling with regular versions since I have spent so much time adusting item and (in much less degree) spell descriptions to EE format... 

My comment was to @Endarire, I know you've seen it!!!

I have IRR and SRR, and so far everything seems fine. I have SCS on fairly high settings, and though I am still in BG C4 those that I've met are behaving sensibly.

44 minutes ago, Cahir said:

I chose 75% exp reduction only to not end up overleveled in SoA. I'll probably uninstall this tweak after I start SoA, that's why I put it very last on my list. 

FYI I have 50% murder XP and no trap/lock/scroll XP. With the amount of added quest content I don't think it will be a struggle to hit XP limits late game.

5 hours ago, Caedwyr said:

I see that you have the Almateria Restoration Project on your list.  Are you using the patch posted here? I see you have a note regarding install order as noted by @Cahir in this post.  I also recall a post on a possible incompatibility between ARP and BG1 NPC, but I can't find it right now.

I have never had any issues or warnings with ARP, so no, I'm just using 8.4.

4 hours ago, Caedwyr said:

Was Divine Remix removed because of compatibility issues and getting the kits to work nicely with @subtledoctor's Faiths & Powers?

Yes, see here.

4 hours ago, Caedwyr said:

I notice that you still have Song & Silence on your list.  Have you been able to get that one working, or has it been trimmed as well?

I'm only adding the stores, Raoul is at the Nashkel Carnival. Only issue is that some of the images in the item descriptions are broken.

2 hours ago, Endarire said:

@Cahir
I recommend linked Google Docs for ease of use.

I made a significant list of mods to install via Project Infinity on Windows 10.  May it help you!

Saw your list, have you made much progress?

Mine is here in case you are interested, it seems stable so far - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fHxfvbWTJ8CIqu9V5--W0pxmERGz948KMJFWLp7YzfQ/edit?usp=sharing

3 hours ago, Caedwyr said:

Note that subtledoctor recommended against installing the Helm Kit component if you want to avoid some potential weirdness.

6 minutes ago, Cahir said:

Yeah, it seems I forgot to remove those additional components from NPC Kit. I wonder if I can leave component 420, though. 

You should only need to remove npckit:400:Anomen Gains Helm Kit on Passing Knighthood Test

This is probably not actually incompatible with Faiths_and_Powers:85:Apply FnP kits to NPCs, but because Anomen will already have the FnP Helm Kit before his test, it will be replaced, which might be odd.

Giving him the Berserker kit should be fine, as should preventing him getting a symbol.

All I can confirm so far is that Anomen starts with the FnP Helm kit in SoA in my install.