Isewein

Congrats on the release! As I believe has been suggested before, it would be great if these Smiling Imp BG1 NPC banters could be coded to fire for other versions of the same character as well (e.g. Domi's Kivan with jmaeq's characters, for whom that mod does not include other crossmod yet).

V much looking forward to that. Thanks for what must have been a lot of busywork, Lava!

You *really* don't want Dark Horizons in there if you don't know what you're doing. Whatever reason you removed DSotSC for likely applies to this mod tenfold. Completely unbalanced encounters and equipment fresh off the boat from Candlekeep.

Only conceptual differences. I've been playing with both since basically forever, even though I don't even particularly care much for either.

Any chance that particular crossmod component could be made compatible with SCS (which TR itself isn't), @Morpheus562?

That's really a matter of personal preference. Since UI mods are usually save game compatible, I suggest you start playing before you decide whether you need one or not. Personally I love the classic BG1 stone UI look, but that's very much due to nostalgia.

The difference to me is that mods like Black Hearts or vanilla NPC banter expansions expand on the existing story and strengthen it, making them suitable for a first-time player's experience, while Lava's quest mods and most NPC mods in general are more geared towards us old-timers precisely because they provide a diversion from it. Almateria's RP is a good call, seconded!

That's still different though. IWD already offers the IE gameplay in its original form, while DSotSC is truly new content. I just feel like the idea of including IWD in old BGT somewhat made sense since many gameplay mods didn't work for it otherwise back in the day, but now with EE it seems utterly superfluous. NWN, admittedly, is a different matter... although in its case the design isn't any better than most mods in my book.

Personally, I just don't see the point in those mods. They don't fit the BG story at all, and now that the EE has ported them to the BG2 engine natively anyway, why not just play IWD separately?

I feel you! I only play most games once as well (BGT is the exception) and hate when people respond to requests for spoiler free mod recommendations by saying you should go vanilla first. I second Jastey's SOD mods and Black Hearts. For BG2, you can't really go wrong with all the IEP Banter & Friendship expansion mods, especially as a first time player who might not know yet in advance which NPCs you actually want to take along. Other quest mods which integrate seamlessly with the vanilla game and fill in story gaps are Reunion, Back to Brynnlaw and The Crucible.

Unfortunately, it turns out to be not that easy. EBG1, which itself should be installed "before quest mods" according to Jastey, asks in its readme to be installed after Jarl's, so one recommendation or the other has got to give. I'll probably keep to the install order above for now and hope that the only incompatibility with EBG1 are those chests in the ducal palace.

Luckily, not anymore, thanks to Subtledoctor's kindly indulging my pestering him about it.

Have you included and / or would BG BG be compatible with the Black Pits fixes from Jmerry's Tweak mod?

Pretty much all of Kulyok's mods fit right in, Reunion and Return to Brynnlaw even actively expand on the main plot. So does The Crucible. Tower of Deception has a very classic AD&D feel to it, as do Acifer's recent mods. The older Fishing for Trouble and Tales of Anegh mods do too, but they're a tad unpolished in places, though certainly playable. While Lava's quest mods are the gold standard in area design and creative writing, you might want to avoid them for some of the tonal discrepancies you worry about.

Where do people usually put BG2 UB these days? The BWP guide has it quite late in the quest mod section, for no discernible reason, while this list has it quite early on. My hunch is that as a restoration mod and due to its age, it should go near the very beginning. Any reports from experience?