TDD Poll

[CM]

Now that TDD is compatible with TOB now i was wondering how many are playing TDD and what you think of it.

If people dont know about TDD the link is:
http://www.teambg.net/tdd

[fable]

Perhaps we could also hear from people who voted in favor or against it what the best and worst features of the mod are, in their opinions.

I'm also curious how compatible the now TOB-enabled mod it is with the Sola, Tashia, and Kelsey mods.

[Skuld]

I'm not going to vote, because the option I would pick isn't on the list just like in many other polls. My pick would be somewhere in between choice 1 and 3, but not choice 2. Yes I have played it, although only partially(up to chapter 3). But the reason why I stopped is because I was still experimenting and trying to get my perfect party. Now that someone made a Modswitcher, I think I'll give it another try. But here's my opinion on it anyway. It's a bunch of overpowered kits to go along with the ridiculous amount of monsters they've thrown in. But it's still fun to get to smack around Ettins at Nalia's Keep. And the original thing that drew me to it was that they brought back Kivan(didn't find him in my brief time playing it) and Kagain. Who cares about Monty, but I do like that they made him a Swashy and Kivan an Archer. And about those kits, the Rhythm Warrior is a blendor.

[CM]

Well

Since i am the only one who voted i guess i will go.

It adds 10 new NPCs 3 new ones, and the rest come back from BG1.
Though there is no NPC interaction is a bummer, but hell we cant have everything.
Though someone did say they were gonna add that as a seperate mod.

The missions are pretty good.
It is far more difficult than normal BG2, adds a great deal more items, more kits, more quests.
There are 5 or 6 more quests.
Which are diverse and have interesting concepts as well.
There is also a major quest after the hell scene, agains cyric which rocks.

It was very buggy.
Extremely buggy.
They went through around 15 to 20 patches, but it was worth it.
Now the TOB comp version is nearing patch fix up.
There are very few bugs being reported, but there are some still.

As for the Weidu mods.

Edit: I got the Weidu mod part wrong.
What you need to do is download the keyfix after the TOB TDD patch.
Then extra the songlist file with winbiff or nearinfinity.
Change it to a txt file (I think, i am still trying to figure this out)
Then you need to add a new line:

84 J#Blank J#Blank.mus

And save and close.
That is it. (I think)
And then place the new file in your override folder.

Tashia, Kelsey, all of wiemers mods etc.
I personally have not tried the new TOB version, i am waiting for all the bugs to be fixed and then i play it.
However from what i have read, many people are saying that there are no problems now at all.

I personally loved it.
The new weapons, new spells, new kits, new NPCs all rocked.
The major problem was there was less on the interaction of characters and more on hack and slash.
As in you have more quests, weapons armor etc/ but no NPC interaction like Kelsey or Tashia.
That of course is a personal choice which you like more.

[fable]

I haven't voted, @CM, simply because it's not my kind of mod--and I don't mean this as a criticism to the developers, who have really done a service to the BG2 community. I enjoy, in no particular order:

1) interaction between characters
2) the need for strategy in battle
3) a low count of enchanted and special items

As you can see, the TDD mod doesn't really fit into my kinda play. Boosting the power of enemies and allies makes for what I call the "atomic syndrome" in games, where strategy is set aside in favor of clashing amounts of brute force. ToB already has a fair amount of this; and it's the one area in which I honestly prefer BG1, a game I otherwise find considerably inferior to SoA. TDD promotes, IMO, atomic syndrome in SoA. Some will disagree with me about this being bad, but I think we'd all concur that it happens.

So I'm not going to vote, because my opinion is prejudiced by default against the goals the modders achieved. People who enjoy those goals could more fairly assess how well they were accomplished in TDD.

[CM]

There i agree.
I would love more interaction with the characters.
One of the reasons that made me enjoy BG2 so much, was the interaction, though limited.
That is why these Weidu mods are great.
I love the character interaction, Tashia and Quitches Imoen mod is a great idea.
If people are willing to do that with all the NPCs both SOA and TDD, it would be great.

As for less magical items, BG1 had a fair share.
But it wouldnt invite alot of people, if you are level 18 and fighting with a plus 1 sword.
Some might go for it.
I might.
But a great deal of the players like high powered items.
So i guess it is the group you cater to.

Lastly strategy, it is ok, some fights do require that.
But i think the TOB mod Return to Windspear would be more to your liking.
It has PST style dumb talk and other aspects.
Lot of interaction, different choices force different endings, alot of NPC interaction from what i have heard.

[Skuld]

I'm with Fable on this one. Sorry all you hack n' slash fans.

[kopywrite]

Originally posted by CM
But i think the TOB mod Return to Windspear would be more to your liking.
It has PST style dumb talk and other aspects.
Lot of interaction, different choices force different endings, alot of NPC interaction from what i have heard.

I'm really looking forward to that mod too...

However, I think the PST style dumb talk and descriptive dialogues have been toned down for the sake of continuity

[CM]

Kopywrite, i think it is fine as it is a new mod.
But hope quitch doesnt do it with imoen.
It is a good idea for sure, i was hoping someone would add dialogue to TDD like RtWS.
Any people here willing to do so???
Plus what do you think of TDD?

[kopywrite]

Plus what do you think of TDD?

Sorry, I haven't down loaded it yet mainly for the reasons that others have give above plus I'm still working through the Sola mod etc. (just beat improved Bodhi for the first time, yay)

I did briefly try the other big TeamBG mod, Shadows over Soubar, and as far as I could tell that contained a great deal of interaction with some new npcs -- at that point though I was playing two different versions of BG2 and NWN and I didn't have the time or the hard drive space to carry on. The mod community does seem to be in 2 camps at the moment...

[CM]

The Sola mod rocks.
I really liked it and the improved Bodhi is a tough one.
I tried to kill her with a level 10 11 party.
Got throughly whipped.
Then got lucky with Tashia cat doing something and she ran.
But it seriously requires you to finish all the Quests in chapter 2 and have some major spells and weapons to have a fair chance of beating Bodhi.

I havent played SOS yet.
I will get it soon, but want to play through TDD ToB first.

Yeah it is a shame there are two camps...i hoped they could work together. That would be great.

[jcompton]

Re: Well

Originally posted by CM

Edit: I got the Weidu mod part wrong.
What you need to do is download the keyfix after the TOB TDD patch.
Then extra the songlist file with winbiff or nearinfinity.
Change it to a txt file (I think, i am still trying to figure this out)
Then you need to add a new line:

84 J#Blank J#Blank.mus

And save and close.
That is it. (I think)
And then place the new file in your override folder.

Actually, this step shouldn't be necessary if the TDD-TOB people finally fixed their chitin.key. (What was happening was that WeiDU was pointing Kelsey to an old copy of the SOA songlist that the TDD-TOB people embedded in their data files, so you had to jump through a few hoops to keep this from happening.)

The real solution is to get their new chitin.key, and update Setup-Kelsey.exe (or Setup-Tashia.exe) with the latest version of Weidu.exe (you just rename it to the setup-xxxx.exe name) and run that. There is a very large data file in TDD-TOB that older versions of WeiDU couldn't extract from.

[CM]

Thanks J.
So in other words no need for all this patching?

Just download the keyfix and then update the Weidu mods and all should work?
Should Weimers mods also be updated with the lastest Weidu, or are they already updated?

[Quitch]

Originally posted by kopywrite

I'm really looking forward to that mod too...

However, I think the PST style dumb talk and descriptive dialogues have been toned down for the sake of continuity

I assume that you're talking about Return to Windspear here. I can assure you that we are still 100% PST style (actions) and layout (quotes). Thick talk is still in place. We have not even discussed toning down those elements.

You may be thinking of the Imoen Relationship MOD where these elements are being discussed on the forum.

[kopywrite]

My mistake, I must have my wires crossed -- would I be correct in assuming the RtW/PST dialogues are ok because of the isolated nature of the mod, whereas the new style in the Imoen mod is still under discussion as it runs through out the normal BG2 story line and any change in the format would stand out?

[CM]

I think that is right KW.
I agree with the PST dialogue.
Only thing i liked about the game (though i never got far).

As for imoen, i would prefer BG2 style, though it is boring but need to keep things in sync with the rest.
But what ever Quitch decides stands.

[kopywrite]

Originally posted by CM
As for imoen, i would prefer BG2 style, though it is boring but need to keep things in sync with the rest.
But what ever Quitch decides stands.

Agreed, she's Quitch's baby after all. It would be harmful to the mod, IMHO, if everyone of the new lines stood out...unless, as someone said elsewhere, some dedicated individual changed all of the dialogues in the entire game.

Not sure about the 'thick talk' for Rtw though -- its an excellent idea and works well in NWN, but why would the PC suddenly start talking like Terry Vennables...just my opinion.

[CM]

Yeah that is going to be tough as my BG1 paladin has an int of 10.
I guess i need a new character
Imoen hopefully will be BG2 style.
Oh well....i am thinking if RtWS will be TDD comp...but i dont want to bother guys during beta testing.
Might have to wait a while for all the mods i want to be ready.

[Quitch]

You do realise, of course, that 10 int is the average human int?

[Ambiorix]

TDD was too buggy for me. I deleted it after my bag of holding and scroll case were mysteriously emptied for the third time.