@KhanBhaal: Okay, sure, I took a shot at you. The Jaheira romance is
not perfect. For instance, in the original game, if you advanced far enough in the Harper's quest to have rescued Jaheira from the Harper's Hold, then go to Brynnlaw, when you get out of the Underdark you will be intercepted by Dermin's party and attacked - causing the Elves to go hostile. Showstopper. Do you really think the game designers expected you not to take the Harper's quest that far, or wait for another interaction, before going to Brynnlaw?
Do I really need to demonstrate half a dozen other instances of things that can break in this romance?
You felt that people should know they can succeed with the romance without having to resort to a patch, or CLUA manipulating. Well, possibly. Come up with a dozen do's-and-don'ts to cover scenarios like the one above, and you'll have it foolproof.
But I guess you the type that cheats when things get tough.
Now that was uncalled for.
The statement against non-black Isle patches was not meant as a slur, but a clarification of a baseline, as non-OFFICIAL patches do, indeed change things within the game.
Damn straight they do. Do you know what I changed in the Glaicas script? WIZARD_DISPEL_MAGIC_TRUE was being used to dispel Glaicas' charm state so he could initiate dialog for a 22500 xp interaction bonus, not to mention handing over a flail head. What I think the developers overlooked was that the level the dispel was being cast at was too puny for Glaicas' level, giving it about a 5% chance of succeeding. I changed that one spell reference to FORCE_DISPEL_MAGIC which always succeeds. I didn't come up with that myself. Someone more experienced did. I just took the initiative of finding out where to look. Next you're gonna tell me that that variation on the encounter was an Easter Egg.
YES I know you make patches. So? It still has nothing to do with the fact that I have won the Jahera romance without it. and was stating as such so others could indeed feel they could do so too without the need to import some non-official software that MAY or MAY not interfere with the ToB expansion.
Kudos to you for getting through it unaided. Others have not been so lucky.
And yes I acknowledge your concern with ToB. What I find disappointing is that Bioware accepted Kevin's fixes for consideration, but ToB still has things broken that he brought to their attention. Carsomyr's damage is
still not as advertised. I don't think they had time to look at it thoroughly, and I think that can be said in general. Bioware is a company, with a bottom line, and time constraints. You and I are not.
I'll add to this. The work in Kevin Dorner's patches is as fine as anything created by the Bioware crew. Just 'cos they're part of the company doesn't make them untouchable. I think the real reason they didn't incorporate the Baldurdash work (or at least allof it) is because they did run out of time, and couldn't risk implementing it without testing - for support reasons.
Read non-black isle patch as UNSUPPORTED.
Not as bound by trade laws, but I wouldn't mind betting the bugfix enthusiasts are more responsive to feedback than Bioware.
See, this is part of my whole "attitude" (- problem, as you would have it). We're in a position to do more implementation and playtesting than they are. Their time is money, ours isn't. One of the really neat things about the Infinity engine is its modular design was very well done by Bioware (all credit to them). With the editing tools that are now available, it's so easy to go in and get an idea of what's going on. There is talk in some quarters about trying to convince them to release it under some kind of GPL once the franchise is finished.
Maybe you don't understand some people's desires to keep the game pure, and thus, fully SUPPORTED by Black Isle. Actually, I doubt that. I'm sure you do understand it, h but in your rush to judgement, you overlooked such a thing.
No, your first guess was closer to the mark. I'm mystified as to what you expect from company support. I don't know if you think that the game - as released - came out exactly as the designers intended (probably not). I certainly don't. And I think it's possible to ascertain what they did have in mind, and so do many others, and I'm sure that's what motivates people to create patches.
What we're all after is the most enjoyable game experience possible. I don't have a problem with how you decide to play your game. And I hope I've demonstrated enough reason for taking issue with your initial advice.
[ 06-23-2001: Message edited by: velvetfreak ]
[ 06-23-2001: Message edited by: velvetfreak ]