Some questions about shadow keeper

QuenGalad · Post by **QuenGalad** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 2:57 am

Tadaam! I have finished my thesis! As a reward, I downloaded shadow keeper, and I'm poking around npc's. It's great fun, really. But I don't get some things, and i'd appreciate some explaining

1) when choosing an avatar ("appearance" in SK), you can get, for example, "female human fighter" and "female human fighter low". What's that, and what is the difference? When I open my save, Valygar has the "low" one, and Minsc does not, yet they look the same.

2) there's an awful lot of colours to choose, and they seem to be restricted, some work only for armour and some only for hair. I think that because I crashed my game a couple of times while trying to make Edwin red-haired

and choosing some unorthodox colours. Is it true, and how do I tell which is which?

3) on trying to change the npc's portraits via shadow keeper, I am given a number of pictures to choose from, but they are all the original BG1 and 2 portraits. How can I add something that isn't there?

Sytze · Post by **Sytze** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 4:51 am

First off, congrats!

Second, there really ought to be some SK FAQ.

Third, your questions.

- I've also noticed the difference between the "low" avatar and not in SK. However, whenever I selected a half-elf (I always play half-elf; versatility is the spice of life, non?) and chose low, there wasn't any difference at all. I'm unsure why the creators added the option, but there isn't any recognisable difference between avatars.
Perhaps you could make an indepth comparison between valygar and minsc and you might see a few small details (valygar more bent over, shoulders slumped... I really don't know).

- Encountered the same problem when I first started tinkering with the colours. As far as I know, any basic colour works, any colour that really shines out doesn't. What lies in-between should work as well. Just don't play with the very pretty looking, fancy ones and I think you should be fine. It's a trail-and-error process, really.

- Choose a portrait from some site (or one which you created yourself) and the rest will be explained by [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn-9/potraits-84774.html#post921241"]this[/url] post.
Edit: on a more specific note: when you are in SK, check to see what Minsc's portrait is called (NMINSCS and NMINSCL, I believe). Then, choose the portrait you want to be Minsc's portrait, make sure it's the right size, and name it exactly the same as the original portrait. Put it in your portrait folder (and perhaps override as well) and voila, Minsc's portrait will automatically be changed without you having to change it in SK.

Hope that helps.

QuenGalad · Post by **QuenGalad** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 6:25 am

1. thanks

2. thanks
3. thanks
4. thanks

:laugh:

As to the portraits, I always just added the new one to the override folder with the required name (NwhateverL,M,S), and it worked no problem. I have recently amused myself with bioware npc retouch, and put all the resulting pictures in the override. They all worked accept Jaheira (supprise!

). I checked - the size is right, the colour is right, pixels are right. She just wants to be crosseyed! :laugh:

Thank you very much for your help, shadow keeping half-elf

Crucis · Post by **Crucis** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 8:36 pm

QuenGalad, did you mean to say that you do you own portrait edits? If so, that's cool. So do I. Whether it's for IWD1/2 or BG2, I like to do portrait edits for all of my characters. I find that I feel more attached to my PC's when I also create custom portrait edits.

Regarding Jaheira, watch out for flipping the 'e' and the 'i' in her name. I replaced all of the NPC portraits that I intended to use and found that, like you, that Jaheira didn't change. In my case, I had flipped the 'i' and 'e'.

QuenGalad · Post by **QuenGalad** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 2:31 am

Yes, I do.

My avatar is actually a portrait I made for a druidess PC out of my own foto and then got fond of it. So I'm staring at you right now! Beware! :laugh:

About two months ago I was offered to collaborate on npc-retouch mod with Night Heaven, but there's been silence for some time. Busy, I expect. I hope we'll get to finish that, I'm anxious to hear oppinions on my work.

As to Jaheira, I think it's more complicated than that. I put three pictures in the override folder, and: the small one (38x59) is in. The big one (270x330) is in too, it replaced the old one on creating a character. But the medium one (110x170) somehow didn't load in. Strange. The name, the size and the format are all correct.

wise grimwald · Post by **wise grimwald** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 4:36 am

QuenGalad wrote:Yes, I do. My avatar is actually a portrait I made for a druidess PC out of my own foto and then got fond of it. So I'm staring at you right now! Beware! :laugh:

About two months ago I was offered to collaborate on npc-retouch mod with Night Heaven, but there's been silence for some time. Busy, I expect. I hope we'll get to finish that, I'm anxious to hear oppinions on my work.

As to Jaheira, I think it's more complicated than that. I put three pictures in the override folder, and: the small one (38x59) is in. The big one (270x330) is in too, it replaced the old one on creating a character. But the medium one (110x170) somehow didn't load in. Strange. The name, the size and the format are all correct.

I've had exactly the same problem. If anyone knows what is causing it, it would be helpful. I'm wondering what software you used to make a portrait out of a photo as I would like to edit my photo somewhat to make it into a portrait.

QuenGalad · Post by **QuenGalad** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 11:16 am

Well, I just open up photoshop and go artwork-frenzy!

I'm quite a... well, I'm not exactly a... oh, hell, I wanted to go to the Academy of Art and study painting, but I didn't pass the exams... sob... so off I went on french translating, and suprisingly, I'm good at it. But I'm also good in painting and drawing things. Send me the foto, I'll do something for you. And I won't be upset if you dont like it.

wise grimwald · Post by **wise grimwald** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:03 am

Here is a copy of my photo in case you didn't get it via e-mail. Thanks for the offer.

QuenGalad · Post by **QuenGalad** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 6:06 am

Well, here's my first attempt at our wisest member

I made the cloth green, because it's my favourite colour. It can be changed without problem. The size is 110x170 pixels, You can resize it in any program, or I can do it for You. Hope You like it, and if You want it otherwise, let me know. Sorry again about my mailbox...

wise grimwald · Post by **wise grimwald** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 5:32 am

Thanks a lot. You've done the bits that I don't know how to do, so I will continue from there. I'll let you see may finished portrait. It was a good idea to only have the cloak showing. Now he can be anything from a mage to a paladin. By the way, I don't consider myself particularly wise. I just had to find some adjective as somebody had already used Grimwald.

QuenGalad · Post by **QuenGalad** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 12:30 pm

You're welcome. It's been quite fun, really. And if You don't consider yourself particularly wise, that's the first step to true wisdom

Incidentally, has someone worked out the meaning of "low" appearance in SK by now? It's still puzzling me...