CamDawg

Including an alternative portrait for the mod is an easy solution. Doesn't Kelsey come with multiple portraits?

Jan 26 - CD Currently prepping v0.2.0 for release. Most of the last few releases have been content and bugfix releases; the next one will include full compatibility with aVENGER's Rogue Rebalancing and Weimer's Shapeshifter Rebalancing. Also added artwork for the new items added by the mod. I'm hoping to get some new screenies up soon for everyone.

Setting up multiple BG2 installations on a single computer is easier than many people realize. You may want to do it to allow you to have games with different mods installed, or for testing purposes. Whatever your preference, here's a step-by-step installation process. This is best done on a new installation before mods. The following is written assuming that your first (primary) installation is at c:\games\bg2 and your secondary installation is c:\games\bg2alt. For your own setup, substitute the paths as appropriate. For a Shadows of Amn-only installation * Install Shadows of Amn and the latest patch * Optional: Install the latest BG2 Fixpack (see notes, below) * Optional: Set your preferences, configuration, and baldur.ini tweaks (see notes, below) * Copy the entire c:\games\bg2 folder--except for the CD2, CD3, etc. subfolders--into c:\games\bg2alt * In the c:\games\bg2alt folder, open the baldur.ini file. In the [Alias] section, change to Leave the CD1=, CD2= , etc. lines unchanged. For a Throne of Bhaal installation * Install Shadows of Amn, Throne of Bhaal and the latest patch * Optional: Install the latest BG2 Fixpack (see notes, below) * Optional: Set your preferences, configuration, and baldur.ini tweaks (see notes, below) * Copy the entire c:\games\bg2 folder--except for the CD2, CD3, etc. subfolders--into c:\games\bg2alt * In the c:\games\bg2alt folder, open the baldur.ini file. In the [Alias] section, change to Leave the CD1=, CD2= , etc. lines unchanged. Notes on the Optional Steps The reason why you should probably perform the optional steps is to save time. If you install the fixpacks and set your preferences and tweaks to baldur.ini before copying the bg2 folder, then your preferences will get copied along with the folder. However, some mods are incompatible with the fixpacks (or require a custom version) which is why that step is listed as optional. General Notes on Multiple Installations The drawback to this arrangement is that only the original install is referenced in the Windows registry, so any program that relies on the registry will only recognize the original install. For example, the default start menu shortcuts and the CD autorun menu will only "see" the original install. Other programs, such as ShadowKeeper and Near Infinity, will need to be pointed to the installation you are currently editing. Keep this in mind when editing, especially if different mods are used on different installations. To use one of your alternate installations, you need to activate it directly with the BGMain.exe program in your c:\games\bg2alt folder. To access the configuration program, you need to open the BGConfig.exe program in the c:\games\bg2alt folder. Using the links in the start menu or the buttons in the CD autorun or the baldur.exe menu will only access options from your original installation. Questions & comments can be handled in the associated Q&A thread.

CamDawg - Jan 18 Still working on interjections; probably through about 25% of them.

Jan 13 CamDawg Spent the weekend split between working on non-Delainy stuff (converted some old kits over at SP into WeiDU format) and the NFL playoffs. I can't remember a better weekend of playoff football. Bri already buried me with interjections, and now she's just piling on.

Jan 10 - CamDawg Three more builds since the last entry... Bri is writing copious amounts of interjectiosn which is keeping me more than busy. The biggest addition in the latest release is a small event at the circus... the PC will have the opportunity to win a prize for their beau, which can involve any of the romances you may have in progress (it's not Delainy/Durlyle specific). The topline spear upgrades (all 12) have received powerups and some compatibility issues have been fixed.

January 2 - CamDawg Happy New Year everyone! Just wanted to drop in with a quick progress report. The playtesters continue to keep me busy, and Bri is making her muse work overtime. Probably the biggest developments have come in terms of trying to balance Delainy and also bring her more inline with canon. She can no longer wear armor, but this is offset by giving her hybrid and wolf forms faster movement, slow regeneration, and immunity from normal weapons. We're also looking at increasing the potency of her spear--there are currently 17 variations of it. Other than that, I've been trying to add content in between the bug fixes the playtesters (and Kish in particular) have been finding for me. We should finish the mod by Tuesday. (Yes, I'm kidding about Tuesday)

Dec 27 - CamDawg The playtesters and Bri have been keeping me very busy. One more build is done, and a second one is nearing completion. I'm working on interjections into standard SoA quests and dialogues and coding the first of the love talks. Wrapped up a few details such as the self-healing script.

Dec 17 - CamDawg Not a lot going on in the public forum, but the playtesters have been great in spotting bugs and typos for us. I'll hand out a point to Kish, who has found several typos and grammar errors, and one to Useunfriendly, who found the first CTD bug. Thanks all.

Dec 14 - CamDawg Not too much on the development front as I've abandoned coding for a bit (save bugfixing) to play along with the playtesters. Point to Grey Acumen for the first bug report.

I didn't see anything in the Baldurdash forum; was it posted somewhere else? The method I'm using to determine Delainy's form (for dialogue and plot triggers) could be generalized into a general shapeshifter/disspellable paws solution. In its present form it would be, at best, inelegant and it still doesn't solve the offhand exploit.

There should not be any conflicts, what I meant was that the changes made by shapeshifter rebalancing (and rogue rebalancing as well) will not apply to Delainy since I haven't coded it yet. She doesn't use the standard WW paws and transform spells.

Install whatever mods you want; there shouldn't be any incompatibility issues yet, knock on wood. I haven't inegrated the shapeshifter rebalancing from Wes or aVENGER's rogue rebalancing, so don't expect changes from those in Delainy if you install them. I'm running with some ease-of-use, Oversight, Idobek's tweaks, SimDing0's tweaks, Weimer's item upgrade, banter packs (I anticipate the banter accelerator will be good for testing), and flirt packs.

Thanks, updated. Been awhile since I've seen the sketch... *wanders off to start a Monty Python thread in Noobermeet*

^^ *nudge nudge, wink wink, snap snap, grin grin, SAY NO MORE!* Check your PMs Harbinger.

If anyone can explore every avenue of cheese for playtesting, it's UU. The big question is if you find some horribly exploitable loophole will you tell us? :D Thanks to Grey as well!

Dec 12 - CamDawg Somewhere in wrapping up the loose ends for the playtesting alpha I forgot to add a diary entry! Artwork is rolling in from BigRob's unnamed artist, who shall henceforth be designated "The Artist Formerly Not Known As Anything." Only two icons made the playtest release; the rest are either stock or one of my poor efforts. Bri is working through the romance track--what is this about editors expressing disapproval? Very well done.

The key to a good mod is a lot of testing, and we're asking for your help. We've put together a special alpha build for the purposes of playtesting balance and bug hunting. It's your chance to help us while getting a sneak preview of the mod. What's included: * NPC-Delainy banters * Delainy's spear upgrades * Delainy's unique howls and skills * Delainy's three encounters What is not: * Love talks and romance tracks * Interjections into existing SoA quests and banters * Delainy's main quest * Audio (music and voicing) * Custom artwork Fixing bugs and addressing balance issues are our primary goals behind the release. We're also interested in suggestions on the banters as well as rewards attached to Delainy's encounters. The release will contain some mild spoilers and offer a preview of what will be in the full Delainy release. You will have access to a separate forum for the testing. If you're interested, please send a private message to Bri or myself. Thanks all!

Dec 9 - CamDawg Next major milestone passed. Fortunately I can't count and I had fewer NPCs to finish than I had thought. NPC banters are now done and weighing in around 1400 lines and 30k words, including several original poems and songs. Bri's been a busy girl! The three mini-quests are done, though I'm still making some tweaks. I am comfortable saying the mini-quests and NPC banters have reached 'beta' stage.

Dec 7 - CamDawg I was hoping to have the next milestone alpha out today, but I've run out of time. Spent the first part of the weekend changing my ToB install into SoA for compatibility testing since I suspected one of my spell effects was ToB-only. Confirmed and fixed. Third party interjections are almost complete (four more NPCs to go) and the third mini-quest still needs some debugging and testing. I especially need to get this done before Bri starts burying me with love talks. At Grim's suggestion I coded a love talk accelerator component that would decrease intervals between love talks for those that like to play BG2 quickly. "Four lines of code" suggestions are always welcome.

Dec 4 - CamDawg New dogs can learn new tricks. Spent most of the last four days recoding a lot of existing dialogues with some shortcuts and better triggers. Now that some quest stuff is coded, some quest stuff bugs are coded as well. Spent a lot of time actively trying to break the scripts, and I've been rather successful so far.

My wife and I are big Rouroni Kenshin (aka Samurai X) fans so we've been vigorously expanding our collection. Between my b-day and Christmas we'll probably have most if not all of the collection by the end of the month. We also nabbed the expanded Fellowship of the Rings DVD, which is approximately 418 times longer than the theater version.

Nov 30 - CamDawg New otaku DVDs kept me away from the mod for more time than I anticipated (but they were sooo good). Spent the remainder of the weekend coding quest-related goodies. The three "mini-quests" are essentially finished. Didn't get around to the third-party interjections since I needed a break from dialogue for a bit. Found and corrected some minor bugs. Delainy was a helluva pickpocket--for a wolf. Actually managed to play a bit of SoA for fun, not related to playtesting. (Well, kinda. Delainy's in the party ) First time I've gotten to do that in a while. I'm hoping to wrap up some more items and knock out some work on the major quest before Bri starts burying me with lovetalks. Ugh, I have to work tomorrow?

Nov 28 - CamDawg Had a great Thanksgiving--easily my favorite holiday. Now that it's passed I can finally stop being mad at all the Christmas decorations that have been up... since Halloween. :D Currently working on ~25-30 quest-related creatures. Coded in the finalized howls and a few items. I have an idea to fix the whole shapeshifter/disspellable paws problem and may consider adding it as a separate component to the mod if there is sufficient interest (and I can get it to work to my satisfaction). I'm hoping to have the three mini-quests of the mod coded in by Sunday along with the final additions to the NPC banters.

Nov 26 - CamDawg Alpha v4 completed. Passed what feels like a major milestone--coded the last of the NPC banters. All but two NPCs still need their third-party interjections added though. Interjections, encounters and quests next on the list.