Making great MEGAMOD installation BGT (quality mods and opinions)

zur312

I would really like to know what should i install to make baldur's gate a great bigger game content wise like areas, npcs, quests and won't break the game with super imbalanced items or weird stuff like talking to megaman

tactical and AI mods are optional to mention because the point of this thead is to make a bigger game

long story short what is your opinion on mod X and is it gamebreaking?

ajwz

I like the idea of putting together a mod compilation set of a bunch of compatible mods which when combined totally overhaul the game experience. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to do this.

zur312

i think there is no time on this forum at all because there are no posts in this thread whenever and wherever i made it

is reviewing mods that someone played so hard? or players do only vanilla bg?

Shin

I usually play BGT with 60 mods or more, but shy away from the megamods - from the ones I have seen they either aren't written well enough for my tastes, or their size/importance/difficulty tends to be so different compared to the main game that they shift focus from it and ruin immersion.

However, some mods I regularly include that add a bit of content as well as immersion, and/or aligns well with the general spirit of the games:

- The Lure of the Sirine's Call
- The Tortured Soul Quest (rare gem, well written)
- Unfinished Business (likely very commonly used, includes some good stuff)
- SimDing0's Quest Pack (expands some game events and includes a couple of smaller quests)
- The Gibberlings Three Anniversary Mod (not exactly immersive, but great fun)
- Rogue Rebalancing (adds an extremely atmospheric, well-designed and quite challenging encounter)
- Aurora's Shoes and Boots (adds immersion and a pretty good store)

AI/difficulty wise I usually go with a combination of Sword Coast Stratagems and aTweaks. aTweaks changes some elements to be more like in PnP and reworks/improves certain enemies, like undead. SCS massively improves AI across the board and makes enemy casters notoriously hard to kill. Still, it never ends up feeling cheap or a matter of trial and error, like certain other difficulty-boosting mods.

Cuv

Looks like you are getting some responses. You might also want to try looking to the forums where all the mega mods are produced:

http://www.shsforums.net/
http://forums.gibberlings3.net/
http://forums.pocketplane.net/
http://www.baldursgatemods.com/forums/

zur312

Cuv said:

Looks like you are getting some responses. You might also want to try looking to the forums where all the mega mods are produced:

http://www.shsforums.net/
http://forums.gibberlings3.net/
http://forums.pocketplane.net/
http://www.baldursgatemods.com/forums/

yeah they are the best forums but it is like posting "google it" the same amount of content

@shin did great on topic thanks man! i hope people will add something here

Dee

You may have better luck in the Modding Forums, since that's where the modders are most active.

In fact, I'm moving this thread there now.

zur312

but this is not a thread about modding it is a thread about quality of mods and making megamods installations

Dee

The topic is still mods, which makes this the appropriate place for it. You may find that the modders themselves can provide better insight into how best to install mods so that they work well together.

If you want reviews of mods you can visit any of the links @Cuv provided above and find a lot of information about what each of them includes, or visit their forums and read up on player feedback.

Freche

I suggest looking up BiG World Setup (BWS) in the Mega Mod Help over at SHS.

Don't know if it's still maintained but last time I did a huge BGT install I used it and it was really nice when installing LOTS of mods.

Shin

What Freche said. You can get the latest version from http://www.shsforums.net/files/file/534-big-world-v114-english/ , seems updated in May so it should be good. It's a big help when setting up a game with a lot of mods, both to make sure you get the right order and ensure compatibility, and to find new mods that seem interesting.

zur312

@freche i know BWS but it is not "baldur's gate mod review" it is only installation tool

and i would like to know opinions on mods not installation manuals

Dee

If you want opinions about specific existing mods, maybe you could let us know what mods you're looking at? Right now we're sort of taking shots in the dark.

zur312

Shin said:

I usually play BGT with 60 mods or more, but shy away from the megamods - from the ones I have seen they either aren't written well enough for my tastes, or their size/importance/difficulty tends to be so different compared to the main game that they shift focus from it and ruin immersion.

However, some mods I regularly include that add a bit of content as well as immersion, and/or aligns well with the general spirit of the games:

- The Lure of the Sirine's Call
- The Tortured Soul Quest (rare gem, well written)
- Unfinished Business (likely very commonly used, includes some good stuff)
- SimDing0's Quest Pack (expands some game events and includes a couple of smaller quests)
- The Gibberlings Three Anniversary Mod (not exactly immersive, but great fun)
- Rogue Rebalancing (adds an extremely atmospheric, well-designed and quite challenging encounter)
- Aurora's Shoes and Boots (adds immersion and a pretty good store)

AI/difficulty wise I usually go with a combination of Sword Coast Stratagems and aTweaks. aTweaks changes some elements to be more like in PnP and reworks/improves certain enemies, like undead. SCS massively improves AI across the board and makes enemy casters notoriously hard to kill. Still, it never ends up feeling cheap or a matter of trial and error, like certain other difficulty-boosting mods.

this high quality mods

agris

Hey @zur312, I'm glad you got some feedback. @Cuv's response really is true, despite it sounding a lot like "google it", but unfortunately you aren't going to find a review for every mod, much less a good review.

The specific SHS forum 'Megamod Help' (http://www.shsforums.net/forum/193-mega-mod-help/) is where I learned everything about it, and is required reading if you want to setup a megamod.

The list @Shin put up is a good one, and he's right about a lot of mods not hitting the right note, tone, difficulty, etc. It's hard to know from readmes whether a mod has balanced items, fits the BG aesthetic, etc.

I'll add some of my recommendations, but this type of install is personal. I love the tactical combat, so I emphasize difficulty (whether from gear scarcity, encounter AI, etc), balance and believability (how well the mod fits into the game, this is highly subjective and I'm conservative in this matter, meaning I don't believe a lot DOES fit) in choosing.

-Ascension mod (even without the battle components, it's good. Battles are actually buggy atm)
-Baldur's Gate Trilogy (BGT, I like this method more than tutu)
-BG1NPCs is good, as long as you don't set dialogue timers too close together
-Xan in BG2 (but you really should use the original Xan soundset)
-Unfinished business for bg1/2
-aTweaks
-SCS
-Improved Mae'Var
-level1npcs (the best way to change in game NPCs. Great for your 101st playthrough)

Does anyone have comments about the Drizzt Saga? I see that my last megamod (2011) installed it, but I don't think I accessed the content. I have a vague suspicion that I thought the writing didn't fit.. but can anyone confirm that?

Stuff to avoid (imo, obviously)
-Any of the big expansions, DSotSC, etc
-Planar sphere mod
-big picture stuff (the last I used it, ca. 2011, the AI updates didn't play well with SCS and possibly atweaks)
-Infinity Animations (unless you're real familiar with the graphics, and know exactly what you're getting)


I posted a link to the megamod forums, and there are a couple of crucial things to get from that. 1) The Big World install pdf, which does a great job of dissecting compatibility problems and acts a prototype for install order. Also, the Fixpack is crucial and should be run before starting your megamod installation. There is also a semi-automatic megamod installer, but I have no experience with it so can't comment. The pdf also lists some invaluable tools that let you customize quest gold, xp, etc so that the game's power curve is still OK with all the extra content.

Since I don't use the installer, I wrote a batch file to automate my mod setup. I've attached it to this post so you can take a look at the components I install and how to do a manu-matic install like mine. Note that some mods don't support "component number" and require keyboard input. For any mod such as that, you use the "type" command to pipe (|) the contents of a text file to the mod, so it's tricked into thinking you actually typed the response. I keep a text file per mod that requires this, in a folder located in ..\BG2\custom-game\. So for a mod like BGT, which requires the path to your BG1 directory, my batch file calls

type _custom-game\bgt.txt | Setup-BGT.exe --language 0 --force-install 0 --skip-at-view

where the file bgt.txt has 1 line, "C:\games\BG1", and my batch file is executing in the main BG2 folder

This is handy for a mod like level1npcs which requires a LOT of input. You do it manually once, record your options in a text file, and then can have generic text files like "multi_wiz_war-katana.txt" that you can assign to any npc in the future, including profs and spells, automatically.

Link to batch file

zur312

agris said:

Hey @zur312, I'm glad you got some feedback. @Cuv's response really is true, despite it sounding a lot like "google it", but unfortunately you aren't going to find a review for every mod, much less a good review.

The specific SHS forum 'Megamod Help' (http://www.shsforums.net/forum/193-mega-mod-help/) is where I learned everything about it, and is required reading if you want to setup a megamod.

The list @Shin put up is a good one, and he's right about a lot of mods not hitting the right note, tone, difficulty, etc. It's hard to know from readmes whether a mod has balanced items, fits the BG aesthetic, etc.

I'll add some of my recommendations, but this type of install is personal. I love the tactical combat, so I emphasize difficulty (whether from gear scarcity, encounter AI, etc), balance and believability (how well the mod fits into the game, this is highly subjective and I'm conservative in this matter, meaning I don't believe a lot DOES fit) in choosing.

-Ascension mod (even without the battle components, it's good. Battles are actually buggy atm)
-Baldur's Gate Trilogy (BGT, I like this method more than tutu)
-BG1NPCs is good, as long as you don't set dialogue timers too close together
-Xan in BG2 (but you really should use the original Xan soundset)
-Unfinished business for bg1/2
-aTweaks
-SCS
-Improved Mae'Var
-level1npcs (the best way to change in game NPCs. Great for your 101st playthrough)

Does anyone have comments about the Drizzt Saga? I see that my last megamod (2011) installed it, but I don't think I accessed the content. I have a vague suspicion that I thought the writing didn't fit.. but can anyone confirm that?

Stuff to avoid (imo, obviously)
-Any of the big expansions, DSotSC, etc
-Planar sphere mod
-big picture stuff (the last I used it, ca. 2011, the AI updates didn't play well with SCS and possibly atweaks)
-Infinity Animations (unless you're real familiar with the graphics, and know exactly what you're getting)


I posted a link to the megamod forums, and there are a couple of crucial things to get from that. 1) The Big World install pdf, which does a great job of dissecting compatibility problems and acts a prototype for install order. Also, the Fixpack is crucial and should be run before starting your megamod installation. There is also a semi-automatic megamod installer, but I have no experience with it so can't comment. The pdf also lists some invaluable tools that let you customize quest gold, xp, etc so that the game's power curve is still OK with all the extra content.

Since I don't use the installer, I wrote a batch file to automate my mod setup. I've attached it to this post so you can take a look at the components I install and how to do a manu-matic install like mine. Note that some mods don't support "component number" and require keyboard input. For any mod such as that, you use the "type" command to pipe (|) the contents of a text file to the mod, so it's tricked into thinking you actually typed the response. I keep a text file per mod that requires this, in a folder located in ..\BG2\custom-game\. So for a mod like BGT, which requires the path to your BG1 directory, my batch file calls

type _custom-game\bgt.txt | Setup-BGT.exe --language 0 --force-install 0 --skip-at-view

where the file bgt.txt has 1 line, "C:\games\BG1", and my batch file is executing in the main BG2 folder

This is handy for a mod like level1npcs which requires a LOT of input. You do it manually once, record your options in a text file, and then can have generic text files like "multi_wiz_war-katana.txt" that you can assign to any npc in the future, including profs and spells, automatically.

Link to batch file

wow if you are saying that installing any big expansions is pointless than i think i have got my answer for quality of mods ;P

thanks for additional files and stuff

agris

Well, I'm talking about "content expansions" or things that act like a classic expansion pack. You can also think of big expansions as things that radically change the AI of the game (SCS), rebalance spells and items (randomizer, IR and SR), and shift the power curve in addition to restoring cut content (BG2 ub). All those are good mods.

zur312

yeah but i was hoping for good quality "content expansions" as you said for more hours of baldur's gate

AI - changes are cool but how many time you can play a game where the only things different is a little AI

oh spells are being eveloped by 2 dudes on this forums and they said something about houndred of spells from PnP but it will take some time
@mordeus
here
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/comment/318365/#Comment_318365

i think spells are good addition too because bg2 spells are very limited for NON-mages

agris

yea, spell revisions does a lot of interesting stuff with divine spell casters. you should look at the readme

zur312

i actually know spell revisions

it would be cool if someone gathered all spells in 1 mod rather than installing 5 different mods for some new spells

let's hope mordeus delivers

Wisp

If you want content, you may want to have a look at Fishing for Trouble over at SHS. I haven't played it myself, but it's supposed to be a good mod.

smeagolheart

I tried FFT and I didn't like it a whole lot. I don't know if they fixed the bugs but it was kind of buggy. The dialogue was pretty, different.

The lines would be like you'd talk to Elminster:

Hi I'm Elminster!

1. Hello there I'm CHARNAME.
2. Elminster, I am trying to locate a baloor and wanted to ask you how long you have been wandering the sword coast and I wanted to know if you had any tips for an adventurer like myself?
3. No.

Just these long detailed weird replies...

There's a government westside map added to the map but it isn't explored like the other city maps.

zur312

wisp and smeagolheart those informatios are crucial for the sake of this thread and i hope someday we will have much bigger mod reviews database

thanks for sharing

Zafiro

I've spent about two years trying to balance things and put together as much as possible; I recently gave up. I'm satisfied with less, and I believe I'd get stuck at 1PPv4 if I try it in a megamod.

I can tell you, some of those quest mods are really nice; you should try them yourself. Sure, some of items may seem overpowered, but things get balanced with better AI and restrictions.

I recommend Classic Adventures for a change - http://classicadventuresmod.com/ -; I'm happy to say the mod works great with aTweaks and 1ppv4.

zur312

oh man two years and gave up? well that is a long time trying i hoped for something sooner than two years ;P

can you at least name from your memory mods area/adventure quest mods that would fit in this thread?

Zafiro

Well, um, besides those already mentioned: I enjoyed Dark Horizons - the items are bit crazy for BG1, but the battles are a treat; remember SCS and other mods that makes things tougher will keep balance. Grey Clan is nice as well. I enjoyed Secret of BoneHill, but some may not like it at all..

Thats about what comes to mind at the moment.

zur312

i found something some time a go but you won't be pleased with what i have found

World of Baldur's Gate

World of Baldur's Gate it is essentially BWS BGT with
-you can play BG1+TOTSC+BG2+TOB+Icewind Dale 1
-all big megamods
-scsii scipting (no instant prebuffs coz laggy)
-few "better" npc
-few small mods that are not gamebreaking
-nerfed many overpowered items in mods
-with spell revisions
-patches from Dradiel the creator of this compilation
-he is also working on including IWD2 to this


but the thing you won't like is
90% dialogs are in polish
http://baldur.cob-bg.pl/The_World_of_Baldurs_Gate?pg=3
from Dradiel's point of view it is a good idea for players that don't have time for compiling big amount of mods into the game or just don't wan't to read about every mods special conditions to install to make a big compilation that works. It is not without any flaws but it certainly a lot easier when you click just install and change resolution to have really big modification on your hard drive.
_________________________----------------------------_____________________
I gathered some more info on "quality mods" but this is will be my future post