Cahir

23 minutes ago, subtledoctor said:

Yup, works with any NPCs, in any EE game. There’s only a bad interaction for multiclass priests between this and the Faiths & Powers sphere system, which I cannot for the life of me figure out. It’s driving me crazy. 

Apart from that, it should work great. 

That's fine, I kinda want to try Raduziel's DoF this time. Do you expect problems here, too?

Thanks for confirming it's working on IWDEE, though, that's great news!

Doc, does component 2000: NPC stat/prof/kit choices work with IWDEE? Lately I've been thinking to play IWDEE with all the NPC mods available installed. It would be great to be able to fiddle with their kits.

13 hours ago, Salk said:

Thanks, Cahir.

Yes, I can see how the difference style could be really bothersome and for some people (like you and me) break immersion. But wouldn't IR(R) replace the description of all items so that you wouldn't have a mix of the EE and IR(R) style?

Unlike Bartimaeus, I don't think the EE style is bad at all. I am not sure about which one I like better but it should be one way or the other.

The EE description comes without the usability text because the EE engine adds those dynamically so IR(R) would literally need to have duplicate strings for every such item. Perhaps it'd be just easier to convert to IR(R) style every item in your game that are still using the EE style.

But from what I am understanding, your main gripe is just with the Revised Armor and the Weapon Changes additional components?

I can very little/close to nothing about WeiDU so I cannot help you myself with that but @Mike1072 can perhaps help you with that, if he's around and it's not too complicated. If not, then in your shoes, I would not give up on IR(R) because of the style mismatch for two optional components. I would bear it, despite being annoying, or, if it really is unbearable for you, I'd not install the Revised Armor and Weapon Changes components.

Cheers!

Usability text is not a problem, I can remove it from the description. As for converting all items to IR(R) style that's a subpar solution for me, simply because I like EE-style better. IR, style is just slightly refined vanilla style. 

Revised Armors and Weapons are using complex regexp functions to scan all mod-added items and patch their descriptions to IR(R) style, adding all changes that come with those components. What I would love to see is to update those functions to also patch items to match EE style, so we could have both styles depending of which game we are playing. 

I reached Mike1072 already. He is busy in RL and I'm not sure when or if he would find time tk take care of this. 

I can probably skip Revised Armors and Items and try some similar tweaks from other mods (like Scales of Balance), but to be truth, I like IR version the best. 

9 hours ago, Salk said:

Can you give me an example of big discrepancy between IR(R) item description and EE item description?

@SalkHere is an example of original IR description and mine EE-style update. The most significant differences can be seen on armours.

Quote

@1822 = ~Viconia is one of the most promising clerics devoted to Shar. As a sign of her favor, the goddess herself imbued this armor with powers usually restricted to high-ranking clerics amongst the Nightcloaks of Shar.

STATISTICS:

Special Abilities:
 Mental Domination (1x per day)

Equipped Abilities:
 Saving Throws: +2 bonus
 Protects Against: Blindness

Armor Class: 4
Weight: 20
Requires: 6 Strength
Not Usable By:
 Good-aligned characters
 Mage
 Monk
 Avenger
 Kensai
 Shapeshifter

@1822 = ~Viconia is one of the most promising clerics devoted to Shar. As a sign of her favor, the goddess herself imbued this armor with powers usually restricted to high-ranking clerics amongst the Nightcloaks of Shar.

STATISTICS:

Charge abilities:
– Mental Domination, once per day

Equipped abilities:
– Saving Throws: +2
– Immunity to blindness

Armor Class: 4 (5 vs. crushing, 3 vs. piercing and missile, 2 vs. slashing)
Requires: 
 6 Strength

Weight: 20

As I already wrote, updating descriptions is easy. Updating Revised Armors and Revised Weapons components, unfortunately not (for me anyway).

@Bartimaeusthanks for honest reply. I guess, I need to either deal with immersion breaking descriptions, don't install Revised Armors and Revised Items components, or completely skip IR(R) in favour of other mods (i.e combo of Weimar's Item Upgrade and BG2EE to SoD Item Upgrade).

For the record, I agree that BGEE items are poorly done. BG2EE and (especially SoD items) not so much, I think these are done quite nicely, actually. If I decide to install a mod to remove some EE content from the game, BGEE items would be my only choice (I saw @Andrea C.has done something like that recently).

5 minutes ago, Salk said:

I understand what you are saying about IR(R) needing to improve in order to better support EE but I think there is a misunderstanding.

I was not saying that IR(R) was favoring EE. I was just saying that IR(R) should, at least in my opinion, be built with the classic BG items in mind as base modification. That is because both classic and EE players will both share the same items. If IR(R) shifts its core balance to account for EE added items, it would end up penalizing non EE players.

What can be done (but it is a big work) is to customize its changes in order to have (slightly) different item properties depending on whether IR(R) is being installed on an Enhanced Edition game.

The item descriptions should not be that hard to update depending on classic or EE edition (I don't think it is silly that it bothers you - it would bother me as well).

Can you give me an example of big discrepancy between IR(R) item description and EE item description?

I am currently working on porting the BG2 EE game text into BG2 classic so I am seeing quite a difference between the description of original items and spells so I think I understand where you are coming from.

Cheers!

I'm not at my PC now, but I can send you examples later tonight. As I've said updating descriptions is easy (even if time-consuming). The problem is to updste the code of Armor and Item revision components, that patch all modded items according to IR changes. Those components rely on using a regexp (in a complex way) and I'm not able to update them in a satysfying way. 

1 minute ago, Salk said:

My bad.

I misunderstood Rasaad's belt to be an item added by a third party modification and not being introduced by EE (I have nothing against BG EE, by the way). But even so, IR does cater to both the classic and the EE players but cannot shift its core balance in favor of EE added items. It is more sensible to strike a balance considering what items both classic and EE do have rather than assume every IRR player is going to obtain EE items.

But this is the point, besides providing EE compatibility it doesn't favor EE's at all. Maybe IRR does some more groundwork on a technical level to play better with EE's, but that's it. EE items, and especially BGEE ones, need IR updates badly. Unfortunately in majority of those cases it would need to be a complete rewrite, just loosely inspired by item overall theme. 

But setting those items aside... I can live without them. What is a showstopper to me (as silly as it sounds) is that both IR and IRR does not offer also EE style item descriptions. Having a mix of vanilla(ish) and EE style descriptions in one game is immersion breaking for me. I tried to fix that by myself, I really did, but all I can do is to update descriptions. I'm not skilled enough to update those regexp dependant components that patch all mod added items. 

44 minutes ago, Salk said:

I sympathize with the straight-up buffs to some items but I generally welcome the +STR items replacing the original ones. It is a good choice to avoid making unique and supposedly beneficial items be completely or almost completely useless.

I also don't think including Rasaad's quest belt can support your argument when talking about IR(R). It's an external item and IR cannot strike a balance with modifications that add new items. It must work on the original Bioware assets.

I'm also genuinely curious about how you managed to combine IR items to reach STR 25 on multiple characters (I assume multiple means at least 3 out of 6 party members) in BG2, let alone BG1.  

 

Including Rasaad's belt in the discussion is as good argument as any. Whether you like EE's or not, it's now the part of the core game experience. Besides, last time I heard IR(R) was not restricted classic versions. Has this changed and I failed to notice? 

1 hour ago, Endarire said:

From what I've heard, new race entries on the character creation screen are only possible with engine extensions.  There are many triggers in the base game and in mods which depend on the character's race.  Thus, if some NPC likes to romance humans, they'll romance any human subraces the same way.  (Icewind Dale II treats Aasimar and Tieflings as human subraces.)

If there are engine limitations, that's fine by me, to leave both Aasimar and Tieflings as a human subrace.

I've fixed the plural Aasimar, you're right, I suppose.

Ok, I have made an attempt to update the descriptions and add some of the subraces I mentioned in my previous post. Feel free to use/implement whatever you like or tweak whatever you dislike.

Quote

SHIELD DWARVES: Shield dwarves, also known as mountain dwarves were among the most common of the dwarven peoples. Once the rulers of mighty kingdoms across Faerûn, the shield dwarves had since fallen by the wayside after centuries of warfare with their goblinoid enemies. Since then, shield dwarves were less commonly seen throughout Faerûn, though during the last decades the subrace, spurred on by the Thunder Blessing, began to retake an important role in local politics.

Shield dwarves have the following traits:

– +2 racial bonus to Saving Throws vs. Paralysis/Poison/Death, vs. Rod/Staff/Wand, and vs. Spell, with additional bonuses based on Constitution.

– Infravision.

– +10% Open Locks, +15% Find Traps, +5% Detect Illusion, +10% Set Traps.

– +1 Constitution, -1 Dexterity, -1 Charisma.

– +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against orcs (including half-orcs) and goblinoids (including goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears.

 

GOLD DWARVES: Gold dwarves, also known as hill dwarves are the aloof, confident and sometimes proud subrace of dwarves that predominantly came from the Great Rift. They are known to be particularly stalwart warriors and shrewd traders. Gold dwarves are often trained specifically to battle the horrendous aberrations that were known to come from the Underdark.

 

Gold dwarves have the following traits:

– +2 racial bonus to Saving Throws vs. Paralysis/Poison/Death, vs. Rod/Staff/Wand, and vs. Spell, with additional bonuses based on Constitution.

– Infravision.

– +10% Open Locks, +15% Find Traps, +5% Detect Illusion, +10% Set Traps.

– +1 Constitution, -2 Dexterity.

– +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against aberrations.

 

GRAY DWARVES: Also known as duergar, the gray dwarves of the Forgotten Realms live even deeper underground than their shield dwarf and gold dwarf cousins. The duergar share little in common with other dwarves and practice slavery in their monstrous subterranean cities. Often motivated by greed and a thirst for power, gray dwarves are known throughout the Realms as devious, efficient warriors. Duergar almost always have gray hair and skin.

 

Gray dwarves (duergar) have the following traits:

– +4 racial bonus to Saving Throws vs. Paralysis/Poison/Death and vs. Rod/Staff/Wand, with additional bonuses based on Constitution.

– +3 racial bonus vs. Spell, with additional bonuses based on Constitution.

– Infravision.

– Light Sensitivity: -1 penalty to hit rolls, damage rolls and saving throws made in the daylight.

– Spell-like abilities: Invisibility once per day.

– +10% Open Locks, +30% Find Traps, +10% Detect Illusion, +10% Set Traps, +20% Move Silently

– +1 Constitution, -1 Dexterity, -2 Charisma.

– +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against mind flayers.

– Duergar are more powerful than other races and gain 90% of overall experience.

 

MOON ELVES: Moon elves are the most common sort of elves in Faerûn. Also called silver elves, they have fair skin (sometimes tinged with blue) and hair of silver-white, black, or blue. (Humanlike colors are rare, but possible). Their eyes are blue or green, with gold flecks. They are the elven subrace most tolerant of humankind, and most half elves are descended from moon elves.

 

Moon elves have the following traits:

– 90% resistance against charm and sleep magics.

– Infravision.

– +1 racial bonus to attack rolls with bows, short swords, and long swords.

– -5% Open Locks, +5% Pick Pockets, +5% Move Silently, +10% Hide in Shadows.

– +1 Dexterity, -1 Constitution.

 

SUN ELVES: Sun elves are less common across Faerûn than moon elves, because most live on Evermeet, where nonelves are not allowed. Also called gold elves, they have bronze skin, golden blond, copper, or black hair, and green or gold eyes. These are seen as the most civilized and haughty elves, preferring to remain separate from nonelven races.

 

Sun elves have the following traits:

– 90% resistance against charm and sleep magics.

– Infravision.

– +1 racial bonus to attack rolls with bows, short swords, and long swords.

– -5% Open Locks, +5% Pick Pockets, +5% Move Silently, +10% Hide in Shadows.

– +1 Intelligence, -1 Constitution.

 

WILD ELVES: The very rare wild elves are rarely seen by others, because they live in the heart of thick forests and they have incredible skill at keeping hidden. Also called green elves, their skin tends to be dark brown, and their hair ranges from black to light brown, lightening to silvery white with age.

 

Wild elves have the following traits:

– 90% resistance against charm and sleep magics.

– Infravision.

– +1 racial bonus to attack rolls with bows, short swords, and long swords.

– -5% Open Locks, +5% Pick Pockets, +5% Move Silently, +10% Hide in Shadows.

– +1 Dexterity, -1 Intelligence.

 

WOOD ELVES: Wood elves are reclusive, but less so than the almost feral wild elves. Also called copper elves, they have coppery skin tinged with green, and brown, green, or hazel eyes. Their hair is usually brown or black, with blond and coppery-red occasionally found.

 

Wood elves have the following traits:

– 90% resistance against charm and sleep magics.

– Infravision.

– +1 racial bonus to attack rolls with bows, short swords, and long swords.

– -5% Open Locks, +5% Pick Pockets, +5% Move Silently, +10% Hide in Shadows.

– +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, -1 Intelligence, -1 Charisma.

 

STAR ELVES: The green depths of the Yuirwood hide an ancient secret long forgotten by folk beyond Aglarond’s borders, and not widely known even within—the star elves, an elven subrace that retreated from Faerûn to an extraplanar refuge known as Sildëyuir. Sometimes referred to in ancient texts as mithral elves, the star elves concealed the existence of their hidden kingdom for almost two thousand years, leaving behind nothing but mysterious ruins and old, strong magic in the stone circles of the Yuirwood.

 

Star elves have the following traits:

– 90% resistance against charm and sleep magics.

– Infravision.

– +1 racial bonus to attack rolls with bows, short swords, and long swords.

– -5% Open Locks, +5% Pick Pockets, +5% Move Silently, +10% Hide in Shadows.

– +1 Charisma, -1 Constitution.

 

DROW: Dark elves, also known as drow, are the subterranean cousins of moon elves. Their black skin and pale hair are a curse for their allegiance with the spider goddess, Lolth. Drow societies are usually ruled by cruel priestesses of Lolth and their noble houses. Dark elves are known for their arrogance, cruelty, and penchant for civil war.

 

Drow have the following traits:

– 90% resistance against charm and sleep magics.

– Magic Resistance: 20% (+1% per character level).

– +1 racial bonus to Saving Throws vs. Spell.

– Spell-like abilities: Faerie Fire three times per day.

– Infravision.

– Light Sensitivity: -1 penalty to hit rolls, damage rolls and saving throws made in the daylight.

– +1 racial bonus to attack rolls with crossbows, short swords, and scimitars.

– +10% Pick Pockets, +15% Move Silently, +30% Hide in Shadows.

– +1 Dexterity, -1 Constitution, +1 Intelligence, +1 Charisma.

– Drow are more powerful than other races and gain 90% of overall experience.

 

LIGHTFOOT HALFLINGS: The most common type of halflings seen in the world, the lightfoots are the most likely to give in to their desire to wander. They are at home living side by side with folk of many different races and cultures. Lightfoot halflings are more likely to worship nonhalfling deities than any other halfling subrace.

 

Lightfoot halflings have the following traits:
– +2 bonus to Saving Throws vs. Paralysis/Poison/Death, vs. Rod/Staff/Wand, and vs. Spell, with additional bonuses based on Constitution.
– +1 racial bonus to attack rolls with slings.
– +5% Open Locks, +5% Find Traps, +5% Pick Pockets, +10% Move Silently, +15% Hide in Shadows.
– +1 Dexterity, -1 Strength, -1 Wisdom.

 

GHOSTWISE HALFLINGS: Ghostwise halflings are the feral, reclusive cousins of lightfoot and strongheart halflings. They are found most often in the southern forests of the Realms living in small communities. Ghostwise halflings are rarely seen in large cities, but occasionally set out to explore the world for reasons known only to them. Visitors to ghostwise settlements often report that the halflings have kinship so tight with their fellows that they can communicate without speaking.

 

Ghostwise halflings have the following traits:
– +2 bonus to Saving Throws vs. Paralysis/Poison/Death and vs. Rod/Staff/Wand, with additional bonuses based on Constitution.

– +1 bonus to Saving Throws vs. Spell, with additional bonuses based on Constitution.
– +1 racial bonus to attack rolls with slings and spears.
– +15% Find Traps, +20% Move Silently, +20% Hide in Shadows.
– +1 Dexterity, -1 Strength, -1 Wisdom.

 

STRONGHEART HALFLINGS: While the lightfoot halflings value the experience of travel and the sight of new lands and peoples, the strongheart halflings are a more organized, orderly, and industrious race.  Strongheart halflings often surprise those more familiar with their wandering lightfoot cousins with their confident and readily competitive nature.

 

Strongheart halflings have the following traits:
– +2 bonus to Saving Throws vs. Paralysis/Poison/Death and vs. Rod/Staff/Wand, with additional bonuses based on Constitution.

– +1 bonus to Saving Throws vs. Spell, with additional bonuses based on Constitution.
– +1 racial bonus to attack rolls with slings.
– +10% Open Locks, +10% Find Traps, +10% Pick Pockets, +15% Move Silently, +20% Hide in Shadows.
– +1 Dexterity, -1 Strength, -1 Wisdom.

 

AASIMAR: Aasimar carry the blood of a celestial, the begotten offspring from the union of a mortal and a deity. Aasimar are usually good-aligned and fight against evil in the world. They typically have fair skin, golden eyes, and often a birthmark in the shape of the deity's holy symbol. Aasimar are blessed with insight and personal magnetism and are typically paladins.

 

Aasimars have the following traits:

– Acid, cold and electrical resistance: 10.

– Infravision.

– Spell-like abilities: Sunscorch once per day.

– +1 Wisdom, +1 Charisma.

– +10% Find Traps, +5% Detect Illusions.

– Aasimars are slightly more powerful than other races and gain 95% of overall experience.

 

TIEFLINGS: The infernal counterpart to aasimar, tieflings are humans with a hint of the diabolical in their bloodline. Though their appearance is mostly human, they often have telltale signs that belie their ancestry. Tieflings usually have dusky skin and dark or reddish hair. Though many sport small horns, cat eyes, or other bizarre features, most tieflings try to hide their abnormalities from humans.

 

Tieflings have the following traits:

– Fire, cold and electrical resistance: 10.

– Infravision.

– Spell-like abilities: Blindness once per day.

– +10% Move Silently, +10% Hide in Shadows.

– +1 Intelligence, +1 Dexterity.

– Tieflings are slightly more powerful than other races and gain 95% of overall experience.

What a cool mod, I was looking for something like that for ages.

I have a couple of improvement and add-ons suggestions:

Improvements suggestions:

1. Each listed race ability should start with dash. Currently, the descriptions scream "mod added".
2. Even if you pick a subrace, the Character Generation screen does not reflect that (the race is still displayed without a subrace i.e Elf, Dwarf, etc). Not sure if this is possible to change, or it's hardcoded.
3. In the Record tab (in game) the race is displayed, i.e as "Elf (Drow)" or "Dwarf (Gold Dwarf)". It would be visually more appealing to display only the subrace (if selected), like: Gold Dwarf, Wild Elf, Drow, Strongheart Halfling, etc.
4. Aasimars and tieflings should really be separate races rather than Human subraces (unless this is hardcoded, and you cannot add new races). It would be perfect if you could create a new race called Planetouched and put Aasimars and Tieflings as subraces there.

Addon suggestions:

1. New elf subraces: Moon Elves, Sun Elves, Wood Elves, Aquatic Elves, Avariel
2. New dwarf subraces: Shield Dwarves, Wild Dwarves, Arctic Dwarves, Urdunnir Dwarves
3. New halfling subrace: Lightfoot Halfling
4. New half-elf subraces: Half-drow, Half-aquatic elves
5. New human subraces (this would be mostly fluff, no ability bonuses): Calishite, Chondathan, Damaran, Iluskan, Mulan, Rashemi, Tethyrian (those are the major human ethnic groups in Faerun)

@Gwendolyne@Austin do you plan to update also Saradas Magic (for BGEE)? : http://www.shsforums.net/topic/58027-saradas-magic-v-11/?hl=saradas+magic

@morpheus562Have you reported those issues in a sister thread at Beamdog's? I feel you have a better chance @Daeros_Trollkillerwill see this.

Hi Subtledoctor,

I've been wondering, since the patch 2.7 is apparently in the works, I was thinking if Beamdog could fix the issue with the Concentration check that you have mentioned in Scales of Balance readme.

Quote

NOTE: I've heard it said that concentration checks are bugged in the EE 2.0-2.5 engine, applying the 'damage taken' value on the wrong side of the equation:

(1d20 + Luck + damage taken) vs. (spell level)

This means that the more damage you take, the more likely you are to avoid spell interruption.

Could you please elaborate it more if possible? Or maybe provide a reproducible step by step case, if that's not too much to ask?

I'll tag @Galactygon, since he is visiting the forum. Maybe this could be added as to-do list for patch 2.7?

6 hours ago, Endarire said:

Did the moderators already contact all the authors of the game mods to be updated to EET?

Don't be so impatient. K4thos already stated that since there are only under 20 mods left to be taken care for EET compatibility, he would do it himself. But these things takes time. These updates can be easily done or complicated depending on the mod complexity. Besides both K4thos and moderators knows exactly what needs to be done, rushing them won't help, if only the effect will be opposite.

3 hours ago, K4thos said:

EET is not dependant upon EEex. It has been updated to patch 2.6 while EEex currently stays at 2.5. EEex is only used for the IWD2 portion of unrelased IWD-in-EET mod, which is not part of the EET core itself.

Sorry, I was not clear. I meant IWD1. Is it possible to separate IWD1 from IWD2, so that players that cannot or don't want to use EEex could play IWD1 part of IWD-in-EET and skip IWD2 part? 

19 minutes ago, Endarire said:

I'm a big fan of EET and I would prefer all mods for the Baldur's Gate saga have an EET version, but I know certain mod authors (like Lava) didn't use it due to personal preference and, thus, haven't coded for it.

For the record, the fact that Lava's preferred way to play BG Saga is to play each game separately, doesn't mean he is opposed to the idea of making his mods EET compatible. It just means that coding EET compatibility is not his priority. But there are folks out there who are more than happy to contribute a necessary chunk of code for him that makes EET compatibility a reality (and it was done in the past).

I don't feel opening such poll makes sense at all. Maintaining EET compatible with each and every patch version is not feasible. The only thing that bothers me is that the core mod is so heavily dependent on EEex. Don't make me wrong, all new capabilities that EEex has brought to the table are fantastic, but it brings a problem that EET development is often hindered for many months because of EEex development (and this is hindered by new patch released by Beamdog). I think that the Core mod should be EEex independent, and all EEex related features should be optional. This would also allow using core EET content by players that use OS currently not supported by EEex (like Mac OS).

I don't know how EEex stuff is implemented in EET exactly, so not sure how feasible this approach might be.

2 hours ago, jastey said:

Just use the older EET version if you want to play on 2.5. I don't understand some questions.

I think he meant if version 13 of EET works both with patch 2.5 and 2.6. In case it does, he can install it whatever the patched version he is using. In case v13 works only with patch 2.6 he needs to downolad RC12 to be able to use EET with patch 2.5, as you said. 

First of all, it's great to see you're back, K4thos! Man, I've been waiting for you for ages

1 hour ago, K4thos said:

Personally at the moment I'm leaning more to taking this opportunity to scale down IWD-in-EET mod content significantly, but the other option is also open. Let's wait for some feedback from community and see what are tipun's plans for his IWD mods in the first place (should have contact him via PM first, now that I'm thinking about it)

Second, with the all respect for tipun's work, I do believe that your version will be better integrated with the whole EET (given that you're the author of it), which is my (and many others) current IE gaming platform. Besides, you have put so much work to get this done already, it would be shame to see it wasted. Also, in case you will release it, please do update it to patch 2.6. Honestly, I see no point for not updating the game from 2.5 to 2.6, so it would defeat the purpose if one can play it being on patch 2.5 and could not play it being on patch 2.6. Especially now, after we finished translating SoD, and Polish translation is already included in 2.6, Polish players could experience the whole saga plus IWDEE in one single adventure in Polish.

As for the IWD2, I always treated is as a bonus (contrary to IWD1 content), so I would not mind more delay if it means well-polished experience later. But I do want it to be consistent (mechanically wise) with other games, so 3E mechanics would need to go in this case. And here I see definitely room for IWD2-in-EET and IWD2EE project (developed by semiticgoddes, Olvyn Churu and Bubb). On will be integrated with EET, 2E style adventure, second will be greatly enhanced original experience, for all who prefers 3E over 2E.

3 hours ago, Guest Sarah said:

What should be the install order for this mod? Previously I had to put it before EET to get it to work, is that still the case? or between EET and EET_end, or after EET_end?

Haven't tried it yet, but I guess it's natively compatible with EET, so you should be safe to install it after EET_Core as any other EET compatible yet. Following entry from 2.0 changelog kind of back my assumption:

13 minutes ago, jastey said:

@Cahir It was always that k4thos was absent for longer periods of time. It's not like other modders who dropped out slowly. I am not worried. And not always is giving a note in the forums the way to go. I left a gazillion "I'm done" messages in the moderator forums. Turns out all I needed was a break. Others post "I'll be back soon" and then they never come back again. So even if k4thos would post his intentions, it still doesn't mean anything. [In case you are reading this @K4thos you know how I mean it.] It's the experience that counts more imho. And the experinece is that k4thos is absent for longer time intervals completely. And when he comes back he has updates ready.

I know from my experinece that I do projects phasewise, i.e. I have motivation for a project for a certain amount of time and then my interests shift again. It never lead to me abandoning projects, it just means it takes a bit longer until they are finished. And in between I do not work on the other projects at all.

That was actually a good post  Very thoughtful and sensible. You may be of course right, @jastey, it's just there was a lot of teasing of IWD-in-EET in the past and I got maybe a little too excited.

1 hour ago, jastey said:

I'll only believe k4this to be gone from EET maintaining when he posts here a good bye note.

That's the whole point. We haven't heard anything from him for a long time. He could just drop to let us know he is doing a longer break, or he is stopping the development for whatever reason. Or anything. 

Seeing he is actively working on a completely different project on his GH, makes me worried he just doesn't care anymore about EET. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I just kinda lost hope. And EET is the only way I want to finish my journey with BG saga 

Did anyone try to contact K4thos, if he plans to continue developing EET or not? I was rather sure he is just waiting for patch 2.6 to happen, but now I'm more and more convinced he is not interested in IE modding anymore. The fix for 2.6.6 is still lingering in the forums and this is rather serious issue to fix directly in the main build 

Just now, Endarire said:

How 2.6 compatible is this mod?

Since basically the last thing Daeros did before 2.0.0 release was testing his mod on patch 2.6.6, I'd say it's pretty much 2.6 compatible. 

On 5/27/2021 at 11:55 PM, Cahir said:

I was thinking how to improve The Lore of Learning even more and I have one more idea. One that could slightly differentiate Lore from Identify spell a bit. As usual, I have no clue, how hard this would be to implement. What if, after reaching a certain (high) Lore threshold a character would be able to get an idea that some specific magic item lay rest somwhere in the area. This could be implemented as a short info in the combat log, something like was done for Tracking skill, IIRC. An this could be limited to specific, iconic items, like Carsomyr, Silver Sword or the parts of The Wave or Crom Fayer. The first threshold that gave more general vibe could be around 60-70% and the second, that would give more detailed info (with the exact nature of the item that is hidden in the area) could be get after reaching Lore value of 90+%. 

Expanding the idea, there can also be a hardcore version of this component. If there is no one in your party with enough Lore (let's say 20), those items can be hidden so well, that can be unavailable to the party. It's simply not there. It can be available again after one of the party members reach a specific Lore threshold. A combat log message can appear informing that there are stories of a powerful artefact hidden in X area, and it could be wise to visit it again.

26 minutes ago, temnix said:

This is a welcome mod. There is so little of anything for role-playing around here that this is less like a drop of rain in the desert than a frog from the sky. About books: wouldn't it be better to involve the player more actively in reading? Why not make him use an item ability instead? Do it a few times, and the book has been read, and the character gets a lore point. Giving passive bonuses simply for having items in the backpack is not very interesting and takes away interaction. It's true, some players may find clicking on a book a few nights in a row boring, but those are the players who would find leafing through a book boring. Why worry about them? I'm making some books myself now, to be sold in stores. Not to give lore but to give experience to the reader (I'll add a read-aloud option, too, I think, to benefit the whole party). And I'm going to make the player click on them. If a person isn't physically involved, a feature doesn't engage.

While I agree that adding more RP to the BG series would be welcoming, I'm also in the camp that reading the same book a couple of times to gain some bonus (or even opening the book a couple of times) could be tedious. UNLESS there would be a way to limit the book description while reading it for the first time to only a fragment and revealing following parts with each consecutive reading until the full book can be read (adding a bonus to Lore in the result as a reward). But I imagine this would be a nightmare to code (probably a couple of copies of the same book needs to be made which may not be feasible at all). If this could be implemented I would add it as an option, so the player could choose if he wants passive bonuses or prefers to seeking it actively.

43 minutes ago, temnix said:

Also, you are adding all these ways to gain Lore, so it would be nice to introduce some ways to use Lore. For example, why not make it suppress magic and elemental resistance on spell targets? You might be able to channel this before the main spell effects through Apply effects list - > Self - > subspell, if you put this combo on top of the stack, but even if it comes in too late, the effect will be active for the rest of the fight. Make it Non-magical, and it will be as if the character has scanned the enemy's defenses with the first spell and will now benefit from the knowledge, with next shots. 

While the concept of having a high Lore resulting in a way to be more effective vs various spells seems interesting, I fear it may overcomplicate things. I imagine that mage with high Lore may be versed to counter the spells of enemy spellcaster easily, in a different manner, depending on the spell used, but having for example different bonuses vs different spells IS overcomplicating things. BUT it could be interesting to find a universal bonus, that could be fitting during the fight with ANY enemy spellcaster. But I'm not yet convinced about this topic, to be honest.

As an addition to the second part of an idea from my previous post, the high Lore value could result with the description in the combat log, revealing what kind of monsters may roam specific areas. Apart from the obvious benefit of alerting the player that there may be specific danger in the area (which for example could result in casting appropriate defensive spells), this could also add a gameplay bonus vs this specific creature type, but ONLY in this particular area, where those creatures were previously detected via high Lore. This would be a small bonus, that may depend on the type of detected creature (bonus that is the most effective in the fight with this specific creature, like +1-2% of magic resistance vs liches, +1 AC vs missiles vs kobolds, +1 save bonus vs petrification vs basilisks, etc).