subtledoctor

Most stats already do two things, no need to invent anything. EDIT - STR and DEX already do two things. WIS grants bonus spells that increase with every point, so it is not a big deal. To the extent a mod wants to add more benefits to INT and CHA, it is inventing something anyway. And CON… well, CON is a tougher nut to crack. Well yeah, my gripe with the 3E system is that it is, for the most part, a 9-point system masquerading as an 18-point system. But even there, bonuses every two points is not necessarily a bad design. It’s only bad if you cast DUHM to buff yourself and there is no benefit. An easy alternative to providing a benefit for each point increase is to simply make sure that post-CharGen stats buffs increase stats by an even number.

Thanks!! That seems to be working!

I'm not yet at the point of dealing with compatibility issues. This mod adds a scene with connective tissues to BG2, and gives you a choice as to whether to go to SoD or straight to BG2 - after the fight against Sarevok. The resolution of the Sarevok battle is an important plot point here - his defeat actually causes a bit of a problem for you. So, of necessity, this will have to cover some of the same ground as EBG1 and Transitions, in that the game won't end in the Undercity Bhaal Temple. Again, this is not because I want to do what someone else has already done, but because it is the only way to make this added scene work. But I have no plan to do stuff like, put Ophyllis/Corwin/Fenster in the palace, do anything with Sarevok's armor/helmet, Elminster's appearance, or Imoen and Jannath. Basically this just covers the same ground as EBG1's main component, and the "Korlasz' Dungeon is in BG1" component. So I will try to make it compatible with all the rest of EBG1. Maybe I will try to use a very similar technique, and/or make the mod defer to EBG1 if it i installed earlier. First I need to actually write it, then I can compare the two and see how to merge them. I suspect compatibility with Transitions will be harder, so that is a bit on the back burner. I myself had a very similar thought! After all, who the heck is Semaj? He comes out of left field, never explained, just a random follower that you don't meet until the very last fight. And SoD similarly introduces Korlasz as this important person, who you never encounter until after the final fight? It's honestly pretty weird. I don't plan to fix everything about these characters. But I can put Korlasz on the same footing as Tazok, Davaeorn, Tamoko, and Cythandria: someone you meet and learn to be an ally of Sarevok before you finish off Sarevok. This was basically done by AWizardDidIt in Black Hearts, adding a new enemy who is described as an ally of Sarevok, and who you are tasked with defeating before the final fight. I think it works well in that mod, so I want to give SoD's Korlasz content the same treatment. I think if you play things in that order: escape Candlekeep, then interrupt the coronation, then go through the Black Hearts finale, then go through Korlasz' crypt to get the key to Sarevok's hiding place - it will flow pretty well and Korlasz will not stick out like a sore thumb. However, I do not think it makes sense for Korlasz to appear in the final fight after you defeated her in her crypt. First of all, you might have killed her. Second, if she is alive and gives you Sarevok's location (a key plot point in this mod), Sarevok would probably kill her. Third, if she is alive after you defeat her, she would not end up in the Undercity but be a prisoner of the Flaming Fist. And finally, if she were to escape and join Sarevok at the final fight, it would prevent the scene with her in the palace basement in SoD. So I think I will keep her in the same status as the Black Hearts antagonist or Cythandria: someone you go through on your way to Sarevok. I think this will make the end-game flow a lot better, and provide that linkage to BG1 if you don't go through SoD, and improve one of the most-criticized parts of SoD if you do play it: l'affaire de Skie.

Yeah… although that still involves text-matching, which means there could be some rather complicated localization issues. What if the earlier mod was installed in French, but my mod doesn’t have a French translation? Is it possible to check what language was chosen for a particular mod’s installation?

I posted this in the specific mod forum but I should have asked it here. I want to apply an ADD_STATE_TRIGGER to a particular dialogue state added by another mod, in an area where the mod's content intersects with my mod, in order to make things compatible. (Both mods are patching the dialogue of the same NPC.) When a mod adds states to a DLG, it numbers them dynamically depending on what states are already there. And this NPC has a bunch of mods adding little bits to their DLG. So I cannot just install the mod and look at the state number. Is there any way to a particular state in an instance like this? Are my options down to just REPLACE_TEXTUALLY? Thx all.

This seems to be a bug in Bart’s version. I don’t see that In the proper version of SR.

It occurs to me, compatibility could also be handled on The Calling's side, by conditioning the last part of the quest on some arbitrary variable being zero. No difference if my mod in normal circumstances. But then my mod could simply introduce that variable and set it to 1, and everything would work. Or is there some way I could manipulate the existing variables in The Calling? Have the area script detect CDBracerQuest = 20 and if so, set it to 50, or something? Maybe that change would take effect during the cut scene and before Thalantyr's dialogue kicks back in?

The issue is how to be conduderate if other modders. If, say, some mod wanted to bring Bentley into your party in TOB to battle Amelysan - if that mod scripts some events targeting the bentley script name, would it fail because of my DestroySelf action? I just want to remove Bentley from the player’s view. I suppose I could just move him out of his normal area and stash him in the tutorial, or the prologue version of Candlekeep or something. I am doing this in chapter 7 of BGEE, so the chance of something like this happening is extraordinarily remote. I just want to make sure I don’t mess anything up for others.

I need to remove an NPC. The IESDP says this: So if I want to, say, remove Bentley Mirrorshade from the game, would this be best practice to make the NPC still accessible by script name? IF Global("bentley_global","GLOBAL",0) THEN RESPONSE #100 ActionOverride("bentley",MakeGlobal()) SetGlobal("bentley_global","GLOBAL",1) END // ...is that ^ necessary? IF GlobalGT("CHAPTER","GLOBAL",6) Global("bentley_dead","GLOBAL",0) THEN RESPONSE #100 ActionOverride("bentley",DestroySelf()) SetGlobal("bentley_dead","GLOBAL",1) END Or is the first block unnecessary? (That would be added to the area script.)

The obvious problem with 3E ability scores (and 4E, and 5E, and Pathfinder, etc.) is that you can boost an ability score and get no benefit from doing so. This seems so shockingly bad to me, it boggles my mind that WotC has stuck with the system all this time. The answer seems obvious: have every ability score do two things, and give a bonus to each one on alternating ability scores. So for STR, a damage bonus for every even score starting at 12, and a to-hit bonus on every odd score starting at 13. For DEX, an AC bonus for every even score starting at 12, and a ranged thac0 bonus for every odd score starting at 13. Et cetera. My own mod's allocation of bonuses is quite idiosyncratic, due largely to the particulars of this game's campaign. But surely there is a way to be more systematic with stat bonuses without rendering every other point increase useless...

I really like the Netherese Bracers quest in this mod. However, I have further use for the bracers in a forthcoming mod, and so I would like to forestall the very end of this mod's quest. So my questions are: 1) Is that okay? 2) In order to do so, it looks like I would need to alter this part of Thalantyr's dialogue (spoilers for a reason, people, don't read if you have not played the mod): I am still learning to mod dialogues. I suppose I could do something like ADD_TRANS_TRIGGER thalan 120 0 ~[some global variable]~ and then EXTEND_BOTTOM thalan 120 [new transition] (EDIT - maybe don't even need to change that trigger, the transitions are evaluated bottom-up, right? So I could simply add a new transition with no conditions.) But the question is, how do I know this state will always be state 120? Depending on any other mods that modify Thalantyr's dialogue (there are several), things could be numbered differently. Is there a way to find this particular state while being agnostic about a particular player's mod loadout?

I'm pretty sure it is random. Reload the autosave from when you entered Taerom's, or from when you entered Beregost, and then try again. I think you can save-spam until to get a good result.

I am going to try to make this as compatible as possible with EBG1, because there are several parts of EBG1 that I really like which I definitely will not try to replicate. But I need to get this together first, and then look at ensuring compatibility.

I dunno. First I need to make the thing. Making it compatible with other things will come after that. But, so I can keep it in mind, what EndlessBG1 content are you talking about?

No complaints here. It's good fun, in each instance. That's very interesting. I quite like the way EndlessBG1 handles Korlasz' crypt; so maybe I can mimic or tie into that, rather than come up with a third way. (That will be step 4 in this mod.) Looking at my nine-step plan... in step 7 there will be a break point where you can choose to move on to SoD or jump to BG2. It is similar in broad terms to how Endless BG1 handles it - two alternative dialogue options when talking to Belt. It will differ in that the "straight to BG2" option will continue the content of this mod. But if the player chooses to go to SoD it can match the EndlessBG1 method for handling party members, the campaign transition to Imoen being attacked, etc. Out of curiosity: does EndlessBG1 affect Entar Silvershield at all? I just played through this in my EET game, but it is not obvious to me (and take that as praise) whether the content involving Entar has been touched by EndlessBG1 or is straight from SoD. Spoilers: Entar has an important part to play in this mod - his resurrection will be made a bit more explicit, and will complicate things for Charname. In fact... this gives me an idea for how to make this mod work with SoD, rather than only instead of it. Looking ahead: step 2 and step 3 are really small and simple components. I need to find a spare hour or two to get them done.

Part 1: "The Abyss Gazes Also Into You" The first part is closest to the kinds of mods I have already made: make a new spell, and a cool new item, and place it in the game, with a few extra bells and whistles. First I create a new text file and save it as (working title) "Reflections.tp2." Put the basic stuff at the top: BACKUP ~weidu_external/backup/Reflections~ AUTHOR ~SubtleD~ BEGIN ~Reflections of Destiny Part 1: the Mirror Shard~ REQUIRE_PREDICATE (GAME_IS ~eet~) OR (GAME_INCLUDES ~sod~) ~ ~ DESIGNATED 100 I will do each of the nine parts as its own mod component, just for the sake of clarity and to allow working on one part without necessarily uninstalling/reinstalling earlier ones. May merge them all at the end, if appropriate. Also I am not going to bother traifying it, yet. That might have to happen in part 2, but here in part 1 there are only a handful of strings. First let's make something fun: a spell that casts Simulacrum on a hostile target, creating a friendly clone to help you fight that target. This is basically what is done to you in Durlag's Tower... and by Irenicus in Spellhold... and by the Spirit Temple witch in ToB... and in the pocket plane... jeez, this trope might be a bit overdone in these games. At any rate, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, right? How fun to be able to do this to Irenicus?? (I should note, I have already made something like this before, so it came together pretty easily. That may not be the case in later sections, as I will have to learn whole new sections of Weidu dealing with dialogues.) I will use the basic Simulacrum spell for this, but it needs to do a bit more than the basic spell, so I need to add some conditions so that, when the game see Simulacrum being cast in this way, it works a bit differently. Happily, this is possible. Every time you cast Simulacrum, the game engine automatically casts SIMULACR.SPL on the clone that gets created. Also, any permanent effects on the caster get applied to the clone. So the technique here is, apply a permanent effect on the caster when creating the clone, and then immediately remove it from the caster afterward. The effect will be a marker - I will apply a proficiency value in a part of the proficiency stats that the game doesn't use - and SIMULACR.SPL will apply conditional effects only to clones that have that proficiency value. The conditional effects will be to make sure the clone is created with a green circle, under the player's control. So you can use this on Firkraag and you will get a 60% strength clone of Firkraag fighting for you. But if Firkraag casts Simulacrum on himself the resulting clone will not go to your side, it will still keep a red circle and you will be fighting two Firkraags. I will try to build spells in the Weidu code itself, so you can see exactly what goes into each spell. The alternative is to build the spell by hand in Near Infinity, and then ust use Weidu to COPY it into the game. The latter method is easier for beginners, but worse for tutorials. The way I will do this, i think, will be to copy SPIN101.SPL, the Bhaalspawn Cure Light Wounds innate ability, and delete all its effects and replace them with new ones. So here is the basic code for a "clone your enemy" spell: We set up SPLPROT.2DA to allow detection of the value of proficiency #109, which is an unused proficiency in the base game. We create D5SI8049.SPL (the naming is to make it compatible with my other mod) which 1) applies the permanent op233 proficiency effect to the target so that the clone will inherit it, then 2) creates the simulacrum clone and does a visual effect, then 3) uses op321 to remove itself so that the permanent op233 effect disappears from the target. In this case, even though proficiency 109 is unused in the base game, we will use proficiency value (8<<8) i.e. the 12th bit out of its 32 bits. Actual proficiencies only use the first 3 bits, so if another mod comes along and want to use this as a real proficiency, the two mods will work together. We patch SIMULACR.SPL so that, only if the clone has the 12th bit of proficiency 109 set, it will cast D5SIMUL9.SPL on that clone. And we create D5SIMUL9.SPL to set the clone's AI type to a ALLY and then apply a Domination effect to make sure it is controllable. And Bob's your uncle! Now we have D5SI8049.SPL, which is a targetable version of Simulacrum! Now, we want this spell to be usable from an item. In this case I created the item by hand in NI, since items are a bit more complicated than spells. I want this to work like a wand, so I took the Wand of Polymorphing as the basis for it, and changed the icon, and deleted the normal effects and replaced them with a simple op146 effect which casts D5SI8049.SPL on the target. No saving throw... though, I am open to feedback on that point. I am also unsure of who should be able to use this shard: should any dumb fighter be able to just pick it up and reflect their enemy? Or should it actually function like a wand, i.e. only wizards and those with the Use Magical Device feat can use its magic? I saved a copy of this item with three charges as D5SHARD3.ITM, and another copy with only one charge as D5SHARD1.ITM. The Weidu code simply copies these items into the game and gives them names and descriptions: I was a bit unsure of what to use for the icon... I don't do Photoshop and I and not great with .BAM files. So for now, I have settled on a washed-out version of the icon for Black Blade of disaster, which actually kind of looks like some silvery-blue shards of glass with a bigger shard in the center: It looks better when it is not so large and pixellated. Now, we need to actually place these cool new items in the game. The first, easiest part is to simply put one on the Demon Knight at the bottom of Durlag's Tower. It will appear on the floor and seem as if it might be a piece broken off from the Mirror of Opposition beside him. For reasons that will become clearer later, I also want to put one of these in Chateau Irenicus at the beginning of BG2, and I only want this one to have one charge. And by coincidence (?), Irenicus has been researching cloning techniques and there is a creature trapped there that is the spitting image of the Durlag's demon knight. In the unmodded game you turn a wheel and the 'cambion' is freed and attacks you. It is pretty boring - I don't even think there is any loot when you defeat it. Well, we can fix that! I will add one of these shards to the cambion... but let's add some drama. Let's say, when you turn the wheel something malfunctions, and the Mirror of Opposition effect works on the cambion! So you get a little reenactment/callback to Durlag's tower. Which, if you played through the rest of this mod, will give you a strong hint as to what Irenicus has been up to in the course of kidnapping you. IDEMON02.CRE is the freed cambion. This creature actually has no override script. So we write a little script (D5IRECAM.BAF) that says "if you see a mirror cambion ("D5MICAMB"), attack it." Next we write a script for the mirror cambion, which is a bit longer and was basically copied wholesale from the mirror demon knight in Durlag's Tower in BGEE. This script says "if I die, do a fireball; and if the normal cambion ("D5CAMBIO") dies, destroy myself; and if I see the normal cambion, attack it." We COPY the normal cambion to create an identical mirror cambion, set its override script to the mirror script with WRITE_ASCII 0x248 ~D5MIRCAM~. This creature has no script name by which to identify it, so we will give it the identifier used in the normal cambion's script above, with WRITE_ASCII 0x280 ~D5MICAMB~. Then we patch the regular cambion, giving it the override script above with WRITE_ASCII 0x248 ~D5IRECAM~, and give it its own identifiable script name (the one from the mirror cambion's script) with WRITE_ASCII 0x280 ~D5CAMBIO~. Finally, we use ADD_CRE_ITEM to give the cambion a shard with only one charge. Figure, Irenicus may have used it and maybe a charge was used up in the scripted fight we just set up, so now there is only one charge left. Finally, we need to make sure that the cambion's mirror clone actually appears when he is released. Operating the machine to free him sets the "DemonWheel" global variable to 2, so I will add a block to the area script creating the clone when that condition is detected. The first area in Chateau Irenicus is AR0602.ARE, and that area sensibly uses AR0602.BCS as its area script. So we will check for the existence of that file (this mod may be installed on a basic BGEE+SOD game, and we don't want the install to fail if the BG2 area is not there), and then patch it: And, that's it! Even at this early stage, we have created a fully-functioning mod that creates a cool new item, adds it to two creatures so the player can find it, and scripts a dramatic little fight sequence in an otherwise-uninteresting area at the beginning of BG2. (And what sweet, cathartic revenge to be able to make Frennedan fight a doppelganger of himself!) EDIT - for anyone who wants to install it, kick tires, give feedback/suggestions/assistance, etc., I have put it up on Github here. For the little it does, this is installable and playable on an EET game now. But we are not finished! Let's give this item a bit more importance, tie it into the main game's story a bit more. What could help harness the power of an artifact like the Mirror of Opposition? The game already includes an answer to that question... but to get it, we're going to have to kill someone. We'll do that in Part 2.

My first idea was to simply rewrite SoD. Caelar Argent causing untold death and strife just to rescue her uncle is just not believable enough. I get the themes the writers were trying to tap into, but it is simply too ham-fisted. (That is constructive criticism! The expansion on the whole is very well done.) So I was like, just rewrite it a bit. Caelar is a charismatic, well-meaning, aasimar military leader. Her very blood pulls her to do justice. And she just heard that a Bhaalspawn has become the most powerful Duke of Baldur's Gate, and intends to start a war, and she has read the prophecies of Alaundo... so, set Caelar's army to march against Baldur's Gate itself. You know, to "save" the city from its own duke, and to prevent Bhaal being reborn in Sarevok. Charname is tasked with proving his loyalty by negotiating a truce... but someone contrives to make the negotiation happen at Boareskyr Bridge, and Charname is outed as a Bhaalspawn, and Caelar thinks it is all a big plot, and after her army is pushed back to her base at Dragonspear Castle, maybe she is tricked into resorting to desperate measures... etc. When you return to Baldur's Gate you are castigated for failing to stop the war - for in fact making it worse - and you are disgraced, and forced to leave the city. Bing, bang, boom, job done and the Skie/Soultaker plot can be removed in its entirety. Keep the cut scenes with her but just play it for comic relief. I think that is a simpler, more sensible story. However, a lot of work, and so on the back burner. And then I was convinced that maybe the SoD content would in fact integrate better into the ToB section of the game. Which would be even more work. But even if we wanted to do that,. what to do about the BG1-BG2 transition...? And hey, I happen to have this idea kicking around, which is much more bite-sized. So, as I say, let's put it together as a proof-of-concept, and then someday if I want to work on shifting SoD to ToB, the first part will already have been handled. And here we are. I should say: as I have been reflecting on this (heh), I realized that a some of this covers similar ground to EndlessBG1 and Transitions. Specifically, pulling Korlasz's crypt forward from SoD to BG1, and then triggering the transition from BG1 to the next campaign through dialogue with the dukes. This is a common, sensible method. I very much don't want to step on other mods' toes or create competition or something like that. That's not my intent. As I say, I just want to write a little story-driven justification for it. It's not like Jastey is about to let me start writing content for EBG1; I could make a mod the requires that other mod to already be installed, but that gets really fiddly and annoying for players. So the only alternative is to cover a bit of the same ground.

I have an idea for a smallish mod, changing and adding some content to (currently) the end of BG1. And as I have been planning it, it occurred to me, it might be nice to post about it in real-time, as I make it. Some of the things I want to do are things I have never done before. So maybe it can serve as a kind of tutorial for others, to see what my process is like to go from concept to completed mod, and to see some of the code to make mods in this game. I'll write about the concept, what the gameplay goal is, and I will post my Weidu code with explanations for what each bit does. Maybe that will be helpful for others. Maybe people will have advice, or criticism, or other feedback as we go, and maybe the evolution of the mod will take some turns this way or that. We'll see! Content-wise, the idea is basically a "Skip Siege of Dragonspear" mod. Now, I know there are already one or two of these out there. But those are very straightforward, just jumping straight from BG1 to BG2 like the old games did. I want to use some of the SoD content to fill out the end of the BG1 campaign, and create more of a story-driven transition. Moreover, I have always been a bit dissatisfied by the way Charname is handled at the end of BG1. You are whipsawed every which way, in a very short time. After Candlekeep you are wanted for murder, the Flaming Fist is actively hunting you down. You contrive to sneak into Sarevok's coronation ceremony, you trigger a violent encounter without any explanation, and as soon as it is over, Belt and Liia turn on a dime and you have their complete trust. They send you immediately to where Sarevok is, with no support or backup, and the task of bringing him to justice falls solely on this shoulders of this neophyte adventurer, recently wanted for several murders. You kill Sarevok, and are proclaimed the Hero of Baldur's Gate! But then, off-screen, something goes wrong and you are said to have left the city in disgrace. There is just too much going on there. I want to keep Charname on the knife-edge of being either a hero or a villain. The dukes should absolutely not trust you, even after you intervene at the coronation. You could be Sarevok's ally, trying to usurp him at the last minute. You could be the true architect of all the strife. You could even be a Bhaalspawn just like Sarevok...! The dukes should demand that you prove your loyalty. And as you try to do that, complications will arise... long story short, you will never fully clear your name, you will not be the Hero of Baldur's Gate, and the dukes' mistrust of you will dog you directly into the transition to BG2. I think this will be a kind of proof-of-concept mod - a way for me to learn how to do some script- and dialogue-modding to see what can be done. The irony of it is, in my own games I don't WANT to skip SoD. The SoD content is largely very good, and the gameplay is excellent. I have some problems with the story as written, just like I have problems with the end of BG1. But still, SoD is generally good Infinity Engine gameplay. So my goal here is not to actually cut that campaign out of the game. Rather, this quicker transition will enable the bulk of the SoD content to be used differently: either still between BG1 and BG2, but rewritten a bit, or moved and used for a very large quest mod later on in the BG2 portion of the game. But that would be a different and much larger project. For now, I will focus on this little thing. I have planned out what needs to be done and currently there are nine distinct pieces. I pretty much have the first part done, so I will post about it soon. Part One: The Abyss Gazes Also Into You Part Two: Death on Feathered Wings Part Three: Belt Tightening Part Four: Fight the Future Part Five: The Boy Who Lived Part Six: Not the End of the World Part Seven: Choose a Side Oddly enough, this idea came to me while playing through Durlag's Tower, and I was thinking about how cool it would be for the player to grab a piece of that broken Mirror of Opposition, and use it elsewhere in the game. And so, that is the first task here. The working title for the mod is "Reflections," for reasons which, if they are not already obvious, will be soon.

Thanks all. This is fantastically helpful information and gives me a nice shortcut between concept and implementation. This should be exactly what I am looking for. I can spawn the clone in a cutscene, in a particular location outside the fog of war, giving the visual impression that it was there already when you enter the area. And then have a script name for use in dialogue and a further cut scene. (This is a blue-circle clone, solely for exposition - not a combat encounter.)

Done, and the mod is updated to version 0.12.2

OK, so Imoen/Sirene/Brandock/Neera/Breagar left the party. I removed all their gear beforehand - I have no idea what the EET/EBG1 scripts do with it and didn’t want to take chances. Imoen got poisoned and Breagar ran in the room - apparently he has been hanging out in the palace with me! We went to recruit more. I want to pick up Minsc and Dynaheir - again, for story and again, temporarily. And there at the Three Old Kegs I ran into Drake. Would be nice to take Drake along… but that would make six, and no thief in sight. Would I bring him to the crossing, and then immediately remove him in favor of Glint or someone? Should I forget him altogether and take Safana? But story-wise, Drake was kind of the black sheep of the family, and he likes hanging in skeezy bars… so maybe he has a history of being a thief, before his family circumstances led him to join the Order of the Radiant Heart? I specced him as a thief, with the Rake kit (Drake the Rake!) dualled at 5th level to a priest of Tyr. And, holy moly this is a S-tier build! He is specialized with longswords, daggers, clubs and crossbows, as well as both the shield-fighting and dual-wielding styles, and has the ‘dirty fighting’ feat and a bonus to melee thac0. Plus having enough Find Traps and Open Locks to get me through, and being a full-level single-class cleric! Just, wildly good.

Is this possible? I vaguely recall that if you create a Simulacrum of someone, the simulacrum has no script name by which to refer to it. I would like to create an NPC that. matches the PC - race, sex, hair/skin color… well hat’s really it. The same sprite, basically. I guess this is done in Durlag’s Tower, and in Spellhold, and in the ToB spirit temple… does anyone know if I can generate such a clone without showing the cloning process, and have it appear in a different area? Or maybe better to cheat? Just have a bunch of different .CRE files, and have the area script check Charname’s race and sex, and spawn the most appropriate NPC? What about the BG2 dream sequence where dream-Charnane blasts the vampire/lich/pit fiend? Does anyone know if that sprite matches Charname’s? I don’t have a computer handy to look at those cut scenes, but if anyone has advice, it is appreciated.

You are assuming that stuff in UI.menu can be responsive to detectable conditions in-game. Which... well it may or may not be the case, I have no idea. But I am not optimistic. We went 20 years with a strong wall between things that can be done via spells and things that can be done via script. Now, the UI stuff is a third category, and I am not confident it can be integrated with the first two any more than they can be integrated with each other. But scripts can detect various aspects of the game's state, and respond with scripted events or spells. So if the combat triggers work, it would be fairly simple to add a block to BALDUR.BCS applying a spell disabling the inventory button for PLAYER1-6 whenever they are in combat. Spells can, to a lesser degree, detect game conditions. (One way to do this would be a repeating spell on all party members that disables the inventory button for six seconds, every six seconds; and have a second repeating spell that blocks the first one, but has the "non-combat only" flag. This should be effective, but applying the spell to all party members would be way more fiddly.) The only attempt I've seen at detecting game conditions and responding with a UI effect is yours - and if failed. So unless I hear otherwise, my assumption is this is simply cannot work.

Basically what I am (clumsily) describing. I already have (in fact, have already started working on) what I think is an interesting idea for the BG1-BG2 transition…

That has the unfortunate consequence of being punished by muscle memory, though. And, more importantly, is it any more doable than disabling the button? Could the inventory button itself be reconfigured? EDIT - oh dude, I never realized there is this: (Emphasis mine.) Could you just script in BALDUR.BCS a spell to be cast upon entering/exiting combat, which would use op144 to disable/reenable the inventory button? EE-only of course, but that's okay. I love this idea. If DavidW decides not to, I will take a stab at it.