Coming back to an old game

Tamerlane · Post by **Tamerlane** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 2:00 am

Although sometimes it feels more like coming back to old friends; having finally reclaimed an old copy of BG2 and being surprised that Windows 7 didn't overly complicate things. I would like to install a number of mods, however I wouldn't know where to start?

Once upon a time I used to run The Darkest Day and Soulafein mod. Not in any rush to tread down that old path.

So what would you guys recommend and do I need to install them in any particular order? I've made up my mind to grab WieDU's Ascension and Tactics Mod.

Xyx · Post by **Xyx** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:29 am

I consider these rather essential:

BG2 Fixpack
The spiritual successor to the Baldurdash fixes. Without some sort of fixpack, you're guaranteed to run into quest-breaking bugs. The Fixpack is not a guarantee that you won't, but just look at the ginormous list of fixes and you should get the picture. The Fixpack also contains a few "fixes" that I personally don't endorse (like the nerfing of Detect Evil, which is not a fix but a tweak), but I'll take the 1% bad with the 99% good any day.

Widescreen Mod
Play the game in a wonderful 1280x1024 or higher resolution.

You may also be interested in the BG2 Tweak Pack (same site as the Fixpack), but it's full of non-essential tweaks.

I'd also suggest a good AI script for your party, such as (insert shameless plug) this one.

Tamerlane · Post by **Tamerlane** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:48 pm

Thanks Xyx! You can shamelessly plug away, I still remember running your improved beholder pack once upon a time and thinking to myself I can either quit the game in frustration or grit my way through them. I found it to be quite rewarding in the end

roller1234 · Post by **roller1234** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 8:19 am

In addition to Fixpack and Widescreen mod you also need Tobex, an .exe hack, which fixes some pretty major hardcoded bugs, in particular dispel and blindness spell effects.

Space Invader · Post by **Space Invader** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:53 am

I would say BGII Fixpack, BGII Tweaks, Unfinished Business, Throne of Bhaal as essentials.
Then if you want to have more stuff and challenges install Tactics, SCSII, Ascension, Improved Asylum, Solafein, The Longer Road, Planar Sphere mod (it has some bugs you'll have to fix by yourself so, even if it is really a nice mod, it requires a bit a skill and patience to work properly).
There are a lot of other interesting mods (Valen, Saerileth, Kelsey, Tashia, and so on) but they depend on your taste

roller1234 · Post by **roller1234** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:38 am

Unfinished Business is actually just a random mod with random user-made quests. Wouldnt say its a must have. Compare that to Ascension, which is actually created by a Bioware employee, and a Dragon Age lead writer at that.

Space Invader · Post by **Space Invader** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 12:33 pm

In vanilla game it is obvious that some quests are broken and some items are missing, so I don't care that much who fixed it

As regards the Ascension, it is a must if you already finished the vanilla game.
Like tactics and scsii it's something you want to increase the difficulty.

roller1234 · Post by **roller1234** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:26 pm

But it is impossible to "fix" a missing quest other then by writing it. = user generated content = Not vanilla anymore = random mod. You can at best say that some mods have more justification to be in the game than others. To me Ascension is definitely the first on that list. And the only one, i might add, being made by game makers themselves. User generated content tends to be rather.. varying in quality.

Space Invader · Post by **Space Invader** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 2:43 pm

I got your point but still, even if I can't imagine a playthrough w/o it, it has the only purpose to make the game more challenging at the price of more redondant story.
To stay in topic: download them all, they deserve a try.

QuenGalad · Post by **QuenGalad** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 10:00 am

roller1234 wrote:But it is impossible to "fix" a missing quest other then by writing it. = user generated content = Not vanilla anymore = random mod.
(...)
User generated content tends to be rather.. varying in quality.

That's why we discuss and recommend them - or not - here in the forums. And please remember that what for you is "no reason" to include some content must not be the same for other users. I for one see absolutely no reason for Irenicus to be redeemable, as the game makes it fairly obvious that he's a complete monster with not a shred of humanity left. Ergo, I do not play the mods that make it happen, while other players think differently and do.

@Tamerlane, if you feel like some new companions, there are good npc mods out there, and there are horrible ones, too - depending on your point of view they can be one and the same

There's substantial info on many here on the forum if you do a search on npc's name.
The Assassinations mod is interesting - it does amount to going to a specific spot and killing whoever you find (and slightly naive at that), but it will get your reputation very low, offer you some possibilities to do evil stuff (IIRC, on one occasion, a whole family including a child must be killed) and it uses some parts of area maps that are usually never visited. Refreshing.

roller1234 · Post by **roller1234** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 6:48 am

i dont see me stating "no reason" anywhere in this thread. In fact i was making the same comment you did and replying to "Unfinished Business is essential", which it obviously isnt. Ascension on the other hand is an exception, because it contains developers writing, whether we like it or not. Thus i have no problems going along with it. Although i miss the B. fight, i admit, it was fun.

I personally like Chloe, the romanceable lesbian kensai half-celestial mod! Never played it, but still like it!

(not irony!

)

QuenGalad · Post by **QuenGalad** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 11:47 am

@roller, you did write about "justification for being in the game". Ascension was not distributed as an official expansion - it's still a mod. If you put additional importance on it because of who made it, that's fine, but other mod authors often have amazing writing skills and ideas. Not always, of course, and I really don't want to bicker on this

.

Unfinished business is a good mod by players' accounts, the content it adds often determined by items still found in SK that didn't make it to the game (these can be very strong indications as to what was to happen, like the bust of Sune) or other information. I haven't played it yet, though, and personally I don't believe any mod to be "essential" (apart from maybe the one that removes the visual effect of the cloak of mirroring - what were they thinking?).

I haven't played with Chloe yet, but I've tried Kivan and Deheriana, Valen, Xan, Solaufein, Ajantis, Amber, Auren Aseph, and Tsujatha and Ninde. They are listed ihere in descending order of my personal enjoyment, although Ajantis got buggy but it was probably my fault - writing was satisfactory. The last two I find abysmally bad, but that's just me.

Space Invader · Post by **Space Invader** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 12:55 pm

Oh dear... If you put things like this, there is no "essential" mod, it all depend on what you are looking for.
And again, Ascension is not an official patch. It has been written by DW, who worked at the game.
Even Unfinished Business is 90% made with .cre/.itm/strings that are already present in the vanilla version, but most of them were simply cut off to release the game sooner.
Is Ascension more important than Unfinished Business? No.
If I have to, would I choose Ascension over UB? Yes.
Why? Because, after so many playthoughs, a challenging fight is what keeps the game alive.
Will I, or anyone else, ever have to choose between them? No.
They both improve the easy and incomplete game in different ways, making it better.
Same as for SCSII and Tactics.
I even use LVL50 Spells mod, just to have a penality vs higher enemies. But even if I find it pretty necessary for my fun I wouldnt say it is a must.

Sykar · Post by **Sykar** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 5:33 am

My personal "essentials" list:

Swordcoast Stratagem II
Ascension
BG2 Fixpack
BG 2 Tweakpack
Widescreen Mod
Unfinished Buisness
NPC Kit Mod
D0Tweak
aTweaks
Rogue Rebalancing
Refinments

Main focus on with these mods:
Reducing Cheese
More story/quests
Closer to PnP ruleset