Quick-save problems and stats advice

Arcada Xenon · Post by **Arcada Xenon** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 6:56 am

A good day to you, forum! I'm Xenon, and I require some assistance with Planescape Torment.
Well, here's the problem! My quick-save won't load... I have other saves, not too far away, but I would prefer to try and fix this, or at least try... (If I fail, I will have to drag around the sensory again, and other tasks cross the Civic fest hall, not too much of a pain, but still, it's an hour and a half worth of gameplay)
Anyway, I do not know what the problem is, but it seems that the pictures that represent the save are..... Corrupted. The portraits, and the save screenshot, do not load in the picture explorer. I tried replacing them with pictures from other saves, but it still won't load. (Until I replaced the pictures, clicking on the "Resume Life" tab would crash the game)
Also, some stats advice, if you wouldn't mind. I'm a level 9 mage, I have the +2 wisdom, charisma and intelligence tattoos, the godsmen blades that give +1 to char, so my int and char are 22, wis is 21, dex is 10, the rest are nine. I'm close to lvl 10, what should I upgrade next? I'm purely interested in dialogue options. Are there any checks for char and int above 22?

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:48 am

I can't help you with the quicksave.
As for stats: A point or two extra in WIS won't hurt. I think there's an INT & CHA option of 23, but it's at the end of the game. After that, CON is a prime candidate, I find.
Stat advice is pretty tricky if I don't know if you've played through before, because several of the "free" upgrades come with HUGE spoilers.

Arcada Xenon · Post by **Arcada Xenon** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 9:28 am

GawainBS wrote:I can't help you with the quicksave.
As for stats: A point or two extra in WIS won't hurt. I think there's an INT & CHA option of 23, but it's at the end of the game. After that, CON is a prime candidate, I find.
Stat advice is pretty tricky if I don't know if you've played through before, because several of the "free" upgrades come with HUGE spoilers.

Thank you! Well, I discovered several free upgrades, (The ones you get from interacting with characters, not glitch exploits, in case you had that in mind) No, this is my first playthorugh... (I'm in clerk's ward currently) Sure, I'll focus on wis, probably til I max it. (25, right?)

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 11:50 am

If you play your cards right, more than 23 "hard" points is a waste. More opportunities will arrive.
25 is indeed the maximum.
DSimpson's excellent walkthrough lists all the difficulties of the checks, but of course, it's spoiler heavy.
Your mental stats are ok, so in a few levels, I'd start focussing on CON. HP are added retroactively (IIRC) and the HP regen from a high CON is significant. I found that even as a STR 10 Mage, I could still fight decently (and have Dakh'on, Morte and Annah pick up any slack). Likewise, my AC reached -10 (again, IIRC) easily. I did have 16 or 18 DEX, though. However, this is far from necessary.

Aeronth · Post by **Aeronth** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 11:59 am

Yes, all stats are capped at 25.
The highest checks I found in the game are : 24+ CHR, 24+ WIS, 21+ INT.
Keep in mind that some dialogue options can be "unlocked" either with high INT or high WIS.

As for the save: is there an error message?

Arcada Xenon · Post by **Arcada Xenon** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 4:31 am

GawainBS wrote:If you play your cards right, more than 23 "hard" points is a waste. More opportunities will arrive.
25 is indeed the maximum.
DSimpson's excellent walkthrough lists all the difficulties of the checks, but of course, it's spoiler heavy.
Your mental stats are ok, so in a few levels, I'd start focussing on CON. HP are added retroactively (IIRC) and the HP regen from a high CON is significant. I found that even as a STR 10 Mage, I could still fight decently (and have Dakh'on, Morte and Annah pick up any slack). Likewise, my AC reached -10 (again, IIRC) easily. I did have 16 or 18 DEX, though. However, this is far from necessary.

I've had no trouble when it comes to combat as of yet... I'm playing on normal, the default difficulty. That really is respect-worthy, seeing as how most rpg's are pretty unforgiving when it comes to characters that focus on mental stats. Really, the whole game is amazing, with ifs focus on story and dialogue, as I'm sure you know. AC, is that thac0 in the game? I really don't get the accuracy system, but I know that in any rpg with combat like this, (dunno how it's called, d&d maybe?) my character misses like crazy....
Aeronth, yes, there is an error message. It says that:
"An Assertion failed in F:\Torment\Source\chitin\ChDim.cpp at line number 1922
Programme says: After expansion, uncompress in load game failed. Error code -5.
Please report this error and log at baldur.log file, too!"
I have the GOG version of the game, and all the mods they recommended in their guide.

Aeronth · Post by **Aeronth** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 5:19 am

In what order did you apply your patches and mods?
Did you convert your save after you did?

As for the combat system:
Torment is *supposed* to follow D&D 2nd ed. rules. It's not really complicated, but it does feel strange the first time.
THAC0 is accuracy. AC is the capacity to avoid (not mitigate) damage by any means: dodging, parrying, blocking, etc.
Every hit attempt prompts a d20 roll. The attacker's THAC0 and the target's AC determine how good the roll needs to be for the blow to land.

The math is simple: (attacker's THAC0) - (target's AC) = (d20 roll needed)
So if the target has an AC of 0, the roll needed is equal to the attacker's THAC0 value. That's why it is called "To Hit AC 0".
And yes, the lowest your THAC0/AC, the better.

Arcada Xenon · Post by **Arcada Xenon** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 6:24 am

I installed them in the order that the [url='http://www.gog.com/news/mod_spotlight_planescape_torment_mods_guide']GOG mods guide[/url] suggested, and I started playing only after I've applied the mods.
Ok, I know it's some sort of pen and paper combat system converted to PC, so some dice rolling and stuff if going on in the background, calculated by the computer, right?
D20 is a 1-20 dice, I guess. There's a bunch of other ones, like d6, d4, d whatever? And the computer rolls for you, and the enemy? I know that some rpg's actually display this information... Oh, ac is armor class? It's -3 for my character... Lots of thing in torment are different than in other rpg's I've played... Like the spell system, (with no mana) the armor class being lower the better, and no armor-dexterity penalty.

Aeronth · Post by **Aeronth** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 6:44 am

The GOG guide looks fine... I don't understand this error, sorry, I think you may find better technical help at the modders' forum.
http://www.shsforums.net/

D&D is originally a pen and paper game. PC games using its rules generate random numbers to emulate dice. Many values are generated through dice in the game. Your can choose to display hit rolls in the options.
dX means a die with X sides.
AC means armor class, yes. I think it ranges from -10 to 10 in Torment (-10 being the best).

Arcada Xenon · Post by **Arcada Xenon** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 7:00 am

Aeronth wrote:The GOG guide looks fine... I don't understand this error, sorry, I think you may find better technical help at the modders' forum.
http://www.shsforums.net/

D&D is originally a pen and paper game. PC games using its rules generate random numbers to emulate dice. Many values are generated through dice in the game. Your can choose to display hit rolls in the options.
dX means a die with X sides.
AC means armor class, yes. I think it ranges from -10 to 10 in Torment (-10 being the best).

Well, thanks anyway, you two were of considerable help!
I guess I'll just reload the earlier save, not much to it...
By the way, any games that are similar to Torment? I don't know how far am I from completing it, but the game is just amazing... May be the best rpg I played with this type of combat.... (Even than Arcanum)

Aeronth · Post by **Aeronth** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 7:31 am

Definitely the Baldur's Gate series. I tend to think that Baldur's Gate 2 is the best CRPG in terms of combat system, while Torment is the best in terms of storyline. I am quite surprised you liked Torment's combat. It is awkward and poor compared to BG2.

Fallout 1 & 2 might be considered as similar in terms of story depth, but they don't follow D&D rules.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 9:20 am

I second these suggestions, and perhaps (this will get me some flak) some of Obsidian's games. (Most Planescape veterans are with Obsidian now.)
[url='http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/187975-planescape-torment/faqs']Here[/url]is a detailed description of AD&D tules in Planescape, along with other walkthroughs.

Arcada Xenon · Post by **Arcada Xenon** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:58 am

Aeronth wrote:Definitely the Baldur's Gate series. I tend to think that Baldur's Gate 2 is the best CRPG in terms of combat system, while Torment is the best in terms of storyline. I am quite surprised you liked Torment's combat. It is awkward and poor compared to BG2.

Fallout 1 & 2 might be considered as similar in terms of story depth, but they don't follow D&D rules.

Regarding torment's combat, I like it because it is the first that I have no trouble with. I had to quit playing Dragon's Age and NW2 because I kept losing all the time. The main focus of the game isn't combat, and that's the main reason I like it, I like combat because there's so little of it, and because that it's easy.

(And I'm playing on normal, and I couldn't beat NW2 and DA on easy) I also haven't finished Arcanum, dunno why....
Oh, and what do you think about SW: KOTOR? I've always wanted to play it, but there's so many mods, and that discourages me.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 9:37 am

KOTOR is very good, and part II is even better. I never used any mods for part I, and for part II only the patch/mod from Team Gizka. I think they released a final version recently.
Be warned that if you had trouble with NWN2 & DA:O, you might have trouble in KOTOR I & II. My feeling is that only the beginning can be tough in all these games, since it's very luck-based then.

Arcada Xenon · Post by **Arcada Xenon** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 2:29 am

GawainBS wrote:KOTOR is very good, and part II is even better. I never used any mods for part I, and for part II only the patch/mod from Team Gizka. I think they released a final version recently.
Be warned that if you had trouble with NWN2 & DA:O, you might have trouble in KOTOR I & II. My feeling is that only the beginning can be tough in all these games, since it's very luck-based then.

Yeah, I too do feel that way... It's more luck than anything. Still, when I played those game, I had no concepts of the regular tank/dps/healer party roles, I just went out with the lot of the.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 3:50 am

The system gets less & less luck based the more levels & equipment you get. (Bigger modifiers = smaller impact of the d20 roll). Knowing the system goes a long way towards making the games easier.

Arcada Xenon · Post by **Arcada Xenon** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 3:43 am

GawainBS wrote:The system gets less & less luck based the more levels & equipment you get. (Bigger modifiers = smaller impact of the d20 roll). Knowing the system goes a long way towards making the games easier.

Yeah, I ought to read the rule book a little.
Anyway, just this one last question? Is there a point in turning your lim-lim to stone? Caouse I just feel so bad now.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 5:34 am

No, there isn't, as far as I know. You deserve feeling bad for doing that to the poor thing!

Arcada Xenon · Post by **Arcada Xenon** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 4:36 am

GawainBS wrote:No, there isn't, as far as I know. You deserve feeling bad for doing that to the poor thing!

Oh, man..... I can't think up of anything more evil to do in the game. xD
Btw, is there a super bonus of sorts when you reach the 12th lvl in a class? I remember reading about it somewhere...

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 5:33 am

Yes, there is. Again, check either Gamebanshee's walkthrough (the hints section, I believe, so spoilers should be minimal), or DSimpson's walkthrough, which I linked earlier.