Page 1 of 1
Why mages are so ugly?
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:51 am
by Grey Human
I want to create a mage character, but his picture looks ugly. I am not fan of beards and dresses. Thief's picture looks far more better. Is there any way to create mage with thief's picture on the inventory screen?
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 10:40 am
by QuenGalad
Just download the Shadow Keeper editor for BG2 (I'm at work right now so can't supply a link, but it won't be hard to find).
It's a great tool for tweaking such things as character's silhouettes, colours and stuff. I use it regularly for such purposes. Playing an elven archer is twice as fun when you give him/her an elven thief avatar, so they get a neat little hood instead of a horned helmet
Oh, and you can use SK for blatant cheating and creating godlike characters, but who'd do
that?
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 1:05 pm
by Grey Human
Boo says: "Thank you!"
That was exactly what I was looking for! Here is the link:
Shadow Keeper
However I have another very serious problem. I can't start playing the game because I can't stop listening great menu music. I don't know what do!

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 7:33 am
by Lopov
Turn the menu music on in Youtube on repeat, then start playing the game.

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 4:04 pm
by willsanders84
The music's the ONLY reason I'd ever install ToB. And regarding the original thread, I love the mage paper doll - Nalia (illegally) looks far better than Imoen. Sure the hooded thief looks great, but you have to wear leather, and who wants an entire party of hooded characters? (Oh btw if you want a hooded mage there's POTENTIALLY a robe that gives you a hood.) The worst paper doll has to be the female fighter in plate - ERG. I LOVE female fighters, but this graphic looks so rubbish, I don't play them. "Steel is the only thing a woman can trust." !!!! Love it.
P.s. 139 views, about 5 replies on this thread, two cents people! Even if it's just what you had for breakfast!
Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 5:52 pm
by Ode to a Grasshopper
Grey Human wrote:I want to create a mage character, but his picture looks ugly. I am not fan of beards and dresses.
You think you have troubles, try making a female gnome mage...Why does my wild mage Princess Kashmir have a beard?!

Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 1:16 am
by QuenGalad
Maybe not the whole party, but rangers looking exactly like fighters - with those super-ugly big helmets etc - are just wrong. Especially elves, being thin and small. You put on the Helm of Balduran and you get basically a horned lollipop.
As to Immy and Nalia, I quite like that they have different looks. Immy is, by now, an experienced adventurer and traveller, and Nalia is still just a noble girl, so it makes sense that one is wearing a simple short tunic and the other a long dress. I usually change Immy to mage avatar in ToB to show that she's become more powerful.
Ode, have you checked Spellhold Studios? There's a modder there who works on that kind of stuff and I think i saw something for the Little Ladies... not sure though.
Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:01 am
by Devilock
Bump!
I've also used SK to edit the way my self-made NPC's look, but I'm also not entirely satisfied with the results.
I've edited my dual-classed fighter-thief to look like a rogue instead of a boring old fighter, but I can only see the result in the inventory screen/paper doll. The in-game model for the little guy still looks likea fighter. How is this possible?
I've also changed my dual classed fighter-mage to look like a mage, but as the original poster said: he is ugly as sin. I've noticed a 'Mage Human Male Low'-model in the SK menu, but I can't really tell the difference. :S Also, I love the way Xzar looks when you meet him in the Docks (with the hooded robe and everything), but I can't find the model for that. Is it possible to give your mage a hooded look?
Thanks!
Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:14 am
by QuenGalad
The difference between the "low" and "standard" physique remains a mystery. To me, at least.
The hooded mages - this depends on what you are actually wearing. A character's look is a mix of class avatar and armour used. A mage that is not wearing anything looks like he's got a cassock on. A simple robe adds a few details, a "medium" robe adds a cape and pads, and a "heavy" robe adds the hood and wide sleeves. However, IIRC only the Robes of Archmagi (good, neutral, evil) count as that.
As to why your fighter-thief looks like a fighter, you're probably wearing some heavy armour (chainmail, plate). A thief avatar has no animation for those, since he can't wear them, so he reverts to "default".
Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:22 am
by Devilock
I see! My mage is wearing the Robe of Veccna, so I'm afraid he'll just have to do without a hood. My fighter/thief is actually a kensai/thief (not high level enough for UAI), so he's not wearing any armor.
Thanks for the quick response, though!
Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 10:23 am
by QuenGalad
There's your answer, then. "Naked" characters look more or less the same, fighters, thieves, clerics et al. Only mages get preferential treatment

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:10 pm
by Ode to a Grasshopper
QuenGalad wrote:Ode, have you checked Spellhold Studios? There's a modder there who works on that kind of stuff and I think i saw something for the Little Ladies... not sure though.
Missed that one, oh well...I settled for giving her an extremely effeminate male voiceset instead. Didn't know that about the elven ranger-to-thief avatar though, will have to do that next time.
Devilock wrote:I see! My mage is wearing the Robe of Veccna, so I'm afraid he'll just have to do without a hood. My fighter/thief is actually a kensai/thief (not high level enough for UAI), so he's not wearing any armor.
Thanks for the quick response, though!
If it really bugs you, there's a program called NearInfinity that lets you edit and create items. It's a bit tricky to get the hang of but if you copy and paste effects from one item to another you can usually make minor alterations without crashing the game.
I used it to change the green trim on the Robe of Vecna to gold (amongst some other changes to various items).
Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 4:15 am
by QuenGalad
Ode to a Grasshopper wrote:Missed that one, oh well...I settled for giving her an extremely effeminate male voiceset instead. Didn't know that about the elven ranger-to-thief avatar though, will have to do that next time.
I definitely recommend giving rangers thief avatars, especially elven. With a green or brown color scheme they look great. There's just something wrong about a small, slender guy (or gel) with a huge, helmeted (sometimes horned) head, trying to remain unseen :laugh:
Female dwarves are finished, I think, and a lot of other content is on the way that's supposed to rectify the horrible treatment of short races in BG. You may want to rummage around [url="http://www.shsforums.net/forum/159-1pp/?"]this Spellhold Studios forum[/url].