Is there modding life in the BG2 engine yet?

fable · #1 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 09:49 AM

The mod community for BG2 has never taken off like that of NWN and Morrowind, both of which were designed in part for modders. Still, BG2 has attracted some excellent mods. But given newer games that have drawn attention away from it, are we likely to see major mod efforts in the future, in your opinion? (Major *completed* mod efforts, that is. There are some impressive mods that have eternally been discussed, but never seen light of day.)

nephtu · #2 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 10:25 AM

Return to Windspear is quite far along, and looks exceedingly interesting, without being unreasonably ambitious.

With the Tutu TC for BG, you could really consider that as a rrecent Huge MOD for BGII, which it effectively is.

So, I'd have to say, yes, it probably will, ancient though BGII is (at least in game terms)

Mini Me · #3 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 10:28 AM

BP-BGT-NEJ

I think most of our best modders are working on this hehehe

NeJ itself is due to take 3 more years i believe. Check the Bodies is due for release soon too. That looks very good from what I have seen. Lost Crossroads is another in the making (with dedication)

fable · #4 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 10:51 AM

Return to Windspear, though, seems to be proceeding at a snail's pace, if one can judge from its forum. I sincerely hope they finish it one day, because it looks to be strong on roleplaying elements.

Tutu TC...? What is that?

UserUnfriendly · #5 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mini Me
BP-BGT-NEJ

I think most of our best modders are working on this hehehe

NeJ itself is due to take 3 more years i believe. Check the Bodies is due for release soon too. That looks very good from what I have seen. Lost Crossroads is another in the making (with dedication)

check the bodies is OUT, version 145, and fixpack b...kinda buggy, but absolutely playable...HUGE mod...just huge...

http://www.teambg.net/forum/?board=99

bg tutu, is like bgt, baldur's gate trilogy...essentially, it converts bg1 and tales of sword coast into the bg2 engine, so you can play a sorceror in bg1...

nephtu · #6 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 10:59 AM

Tutu is here

Return to Windspear is slow, but will (I believe) emerge before the heat death of the universe.

fable · #7 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by UserUnfriendly
check the bodies is OUT, version 145, and fixpack b...kinda buggy, but absolutely playable...HUGE mod...just huge...

You're right, UU, it does look huge, and it has a modder with a good rep behind it. Have you played it, or are you stating it's buggy based on that forum? I'm curious just how badly bugged CtB is, and how much work is currently going into fixing the bugs. I can't get a sense of either from that forum, what with the constant sniping among members, the growling at newbies, etc.

UserUnfriendly · #8 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by fable
You're right, UU, it does look huge, and it has a modder with a good rep behind it. Have you played it, or are you stating it's buggy based on that forum? I'm curious just how badly bugged CtB is, and how much work is currently going into fixing the bugs. I can't get a sense of either from that forum, what with the constant sniping among members, the growling at newbies, etc.

i've actually posted and notified cbisson about some bugs...but at this point, its completely playable, albeit with a little tweeking by me...its over 200 megs big, so truthfully, i'm awed by how few bugs there are, for such a huge project..and despite what may seem a less than totally friendly board, whenever anyone reported legitimate and serious bug reports, CB takes rapid action...which is all you really need, after all...and i'm afraid that the ie modding community boards have always been that way...

fable · #9 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by UserUnfriendly
i've actually posted and notified cbisson about some bugs...but at this point, its completely playable, albeit with a little tweeking by me...

You make it sound here as though the game really isn't quite playable, unless your tweaking is employed. Without quantifying matters, is the average member of this forum in your opinion likely to get frustrated over having the amount of work-arounds necessary to play it through?

its over 200 megs big, so truthfully, i'm awed by how few bugs there are, for such a huge project..and despite what may seem a less than totally friendly board, whenever anyone reported legitimate and serious bug reports, CB takes rapid action...which is all you really need, after all...and i'm afraid that the ie modding community boards have always been that way...

True enough. I know of at least one major modder (not the one under discussion) who seems incapable of replying to anybody without baring fangs. He also laments the way people join his team for a while, then leave. One wonders if the two could be related.

UserUnfriendly · #10 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by fable
You make it sound here as though the game really isn't quite playable, unless your tweaking is employed. Without quantifying matters, is the average member of this forum in your opinion likely to get frustrated over having the amount of work-arounds necessary to play it through?

its over 200 megs big, so truthfully, i'm awed by how few bugs there are, for such a huge project..and despite what may seem a less than totally friendly board, whenever anyone reported legitimate and serious bug reports, CB takes rapid action...which is all you really need, after all...and i'm afraid that the ie modding community boards have always been that way...

True enough. I know of at least one other major modder who seems incapable of replying to anybody without baring fangs. He also laments the way people join his team for a while, then leave. One wonders if the two could be related.

CBGORCLD.DLG
AR3501.ARE
CBGORCLD.BCS

delete these 3 files from override as per the information in this post here...if you installed fixpack b...

http://www.teambg.net/forum/?board=1...threadid=11552

the tutorial area of candlekeep has a big bug, which cb says will be remedied by next fixpack...since most of the people playing it now is already past the tutorial area of candlekeep, its not a big issue...and have already played tag and hide-and-seek with the child imoen...

that's it...since i reported the bug originally, i've been keeping an eye on it...

and cbisson has been very impressively timely with bug fixes and patches, so i concentrate on that, and he/she has been very informative, and quite friendly...

i think i know the modder you're talking about..urg...

fable · #11 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 11:52 AM

Thanks, UU. Have you tested it with various WeiDU mods, like Kelsey or the improved banter packs? Or is this best run with an updated vanilla (latest official patches, Baldurdash patch) of the games?

UserUnfriendly · #12 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fable
Thanks, UU. Have you tested it with various WeiDU mods, like Kelsey or the improved banter packs? Or is this best run with an updated vanilla (latest official patches, Baldurdash patch) of the games?

tested with

tactics mod, ease of use, item upgrade,imoen romance mod, delainey werewolf romance mod...works great!!!

(delainey is an alpha build i'm playtesting for bri and camdawg)

its important to install over a vanilla build of bg2 and tob, then at your own risk, install weidu mods after check the bodies and fix packs...

follow good muti mod installing tips, like updating the weidu installers for all mods with the latest version of weidu you've downloaded....before installing any of them...

Galmar · #13 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 12:11 PM

I think we just need more fun pick up and play multiplayer mods, like that mage dual thingy. Its not often i really want to play SoA from the start with a party i cant control.

I remember gamespy a while back, played around 5 games.

1st game went well till we got out of the first dungeon, then the guy decided to try to pickpocket a few NPC's. needless to say the entire screen goes hostile and thats the end of that.

2nd game the guy had a level 40/40/40 F/M/T with spells like wail of the father... yeah that was real fun..

3rd game was another maxed stat character, who thought it would be fun to pickpocket evert item i got before backstabbing me with the shadow theif protecter's weapon (or is it the elven ones?) that sickeninly strong varscona edit.

4th the guy used a wildmage, did a wildsurge and i got a nice spell scroll, later on he did it and gated in a demon.

5th was pretty nice up till the de'arnise keep where at which time we missed 2 of the flail heads, and the PC was a fighter, he got the stronghold, went back inside and they were gone, PC got annoyed and left.

Still it was fun while it lasted, but it gets repetetive, some nice, highly chaotic stuff would be perhaps more enjoyable sometimes... hell i wanna see 2 conjorers summoning things to play capture the flag with.

fable · #14 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 12:31 PM

Good outlining of the problems facing anybody who wants to multiplay, @Galmar. I can't begin to tell you the sheer, constant volume of complaints we received in realtime when I worked for one MMOPRG--and they only had a constant, online membership of 17-20,000. Of course, we had rules in place and regularly locked up newbie killers and people who pickpocketed newbies, but still, each incident had to be dealt with individually by a live DM.

So if good multi mods are what you want, one of the basics needed would seem to be a way for the game to prevent parties that include newbies and high level characters, except for specific game-designated helpers in the latter category. Tough to implement. I know.

Galmar · #15 (**permalink**) 01-12-2004, 12:48 PM

I think everyone's too harsh on newbies really, the only way to really enjoy any multiplay game however seems to be with friends, it kind of runs the risk of making the games inacsessable to new players.

When vampire the masqureade: redemption came out i messed around as a DM with some people, had a lot of fun, in the end however the idiocy of some people just ruined he atmosphere, the solution was private games.

Just seems a shame to me that a few bad apples can ruin the barrel. At least with tabletop the other person is in striking range.