I enjoyed the Indira mod as well as the Branwen romance in addition to the other major ones. Not really a fan of the one that had Drizzt join you as you leave Irenicus' lair in BGII.
That fucking Imoen romance mod, yuck! Sure, some mods are dull. But I'll take dull over this abomination any day. The mod should be legally required to start with a huge trigger warning. Like this:
[Trigger warning: Sexual violence, incest, rape]
Why? Well...
I only looked at the installation files after reading hilarious things about the mod on the Something Awful forums. Never mind the incestous angle. It's easily the least controversial thing about this train-wreck. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the mod explicitly offers the player the option to sexually assault and to verbally and physically abuse the PC's half-sister in graphic detail. And afaik it's not done in such a way that the really offensive responses are hidden to the casual player. So among response options like "I love you" are also lines along the lines of "I'll beat you to a bloody pulp, you slut!". And those aren't just one or two lines. There are entire branches of dialog trees dedicated to the most vile abuse. All written by someone who apparently had such seething contempt for the character (and apparently the player) that it makes one wonder as to WHY they even wrote, let alone publish, a mod around her. Damn.
@klatu Haven't played the mod myself, but you should probably mention that most, if not every one of those jerk responses results in dire consequences for the main character.
I tend to be really allergic to romance possibilities in game/mods since some years. Mostly it sounds artificial/forced, and in the end it's for me too often an immersion-breaker. It prefer much more banters mods between the existing Bioware NPC, often with less ambition, but much more successful in terms of atmosphere/coherence/fun with the original game.
Bah. Maybe I got older, after all. Or maybe I'm waiting at first a good story, smart thematics and/or fun in a game. An not virtual romance. Real life is freaking much better.
But I tried recently Nalia romance mod, and I was pleased in a good way. First, because I always felt that the character had much more potential with its history, the events at the De'Arnise castle, etc. (like Haer'Dalis), and it wasn't developed enough in the original game.
And it was really enjoyable, a good story, -quite- well written, not too much over-depressing banters. And I'd say, probably one of the best romances mods I've ever tried. I enjoyed it as much as Jaheira's romance, which stays my favourite one. No ToB part, which is maybe the only drawback.
Else, I'd say that the ideal modlist was already given (SCS II, UB, Fixpack, etc. ). Romance mods are always controversial. And if a poor writer can't probably write a good romance, it doesn't either mean than someone with more talent will always be successful in that exercise.
Mainly you want the bg2fixpack and whatever people are using instead of Ease of Use nowadays. You can still use Ease, but there are more elegant mods out there now and people will get mad at you if they know that you're using Ease still. It's easy to go very wrong using most other mods. Keto is safe and fun, and there are plenty of other good ones out there. I wouldn't use some of the other mods mentioned in this thread, but we all have our preferences.
Never mind the incestous angle. It's easily the least controversial thing about this train-wreck. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the mod explicitly offers the player the option to sexually assault and to verbally and physically abuse the PC's half-sister in graphic detail. And afaik it's not done in such a way that the really offensive responses are hidden to the casual player. So among response options like "I love you" are also lines along the lines of "I'll beat you to a bloody pulp, you slut!". And those aren't just one or two lines. There are entire branches of dialog trees dedicated to the most vile abuse. All written by someone who apparently had such seething contempt for the character (and apparently the player) that it makes one wonder as to WHY they even wrote, let alone publish, a mod around her. Damn.
This might be a pretty late response, but maybe it reaches some people interested in the topic.
Which version of the mod did you use ?
I'm asking this because the mod has been slightly rewritten by the one in charge now (btw: the original creator retired). And that person is aware of the flaws it had/has (for example some inappropiate answers).
I'm looking for a mod that allows you to join the Athkatla city watch and fight both the Vampires and the Shadow Thieves but I'm having issues finding it
A "must have" being a modification one would not willingly choose to play without. Improved AI, UI, bug fixes and ease of use.
Throne of Bhaal Extender Sword Coast Stratagems One Pixel Productions BG2 Tweak Pack BG2 Fixpack Widescreen
I personally always play BGT, use the BWP Fixpack and include a number of other mods. These are mods that I know are of a high enough quality that while I could play without them, I'd rather play with them on every character. They generally fit in with the game so well I don't notice them as out of place.
Ascension Spell Revisions Item Revisions NPC Project Unfinished Business (BG1 & BG2) IWD Item Pack Lure of the Sirine's Call aTweaks, kTweaks, Turambar's Fixes, Ding0's Fixes, Baldurdash (various components in each, for tweaks/ease of use/fixes)
Conspicuously missing are NPCs, quests, major content additions, vendors, items and so on. The reason is simple, most of them are buggy, poorly written, introduce overpowered items, award too much experience, are noticeably out of place and so on. The rest are highly dependent on a particular character. Rogue Rebalancing might be great, but if you're not actually playing a Thief it's not relevant. NPCs like Gavin and Solaufein might fit in, but unless you're going to use them in your party who cares.
So I don't consider anything else a must have, at all. For a given character if you're going to use the item/NPC/kit or if you specifically want to try the quest/area content then add them in. Otherwise don't bother. With the large modifications like TDD, DSotSC, Tortured Souls, etc. take the time to checkout the readme, the reviews, and so on. I don't think any of them naturally fit well within the game to the point I'd make them a standard part of an install.
I love that mod, (ok it makes the game slightly harder by introducing less overpowered HLAs) but still what is not to love about unique stylish HLAs for every kit.
I'm looking for a mod that allows you to join the Athkatla city watch and fight both the Vampires and the Shadow Thieves but I'm having issues finding it
I believe this one is called 'Alternatives' Correct me if I'm wrong though, I have too many mods.
I tend not to add mods that change the functionality of the game beyond improving the GUI - Widescreen and Font pack - I prefer those that add extra content so I add the banter packs, flirt packs, romantic encounters and whatever Romance mod I feel like playing, excluding new NPCs, I'm a purist on that front I prefer to stick to vanilla game NPCs (Romance is currently Keldorn as mentioned elsewhere, many many times).
The mods I consider "must have" are Ascension and BGTweaks, but I'll also generally have Dungeon-Be-Gone, Item Upgrade, Flirt Packs, Yoshimo Friendship, and Unfinished Business (though it generally reminds why sometimes cutting content is a good idea) installed.
At least the following! My favorites + they run great together :
BG2Fixpack Ascension component from Big Picture Wheels of Prophecy Unfinished Business Rogue Rebalancing Banter pack Atweaks Song and Silence Full Plate Packing and Steel SCS2 Dingo'sQuest Pack BG2 Tweak pack Spell Revisions (or Divine Remix. Having both seems to create problems) Item Revisions Item Randomizer Level1NPC
I have fixed the BG2 Imoen Romance V2.1. There were problems in the install and in the dialogs and scripts. Unfortunately, I can find no way to communicate with the originator to pass this along. Does anyone know how to get ahold of him/her?
Comments
A Sarevok/Charname slashfic told me so.
Sure, some mods are dull. But I'll take dull over this abomination any day. The mod should be legally required to start with a huge trigger warning. Like this:
[Trigger warning: Sexual violence, incest, rape]
Why? Well...
I only looked at the installation files after reading hilarious things about the mod on the Something Awful forums.
Never mind the incestous angle. It's easily the least controversial thing about this train-wreck. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the mod explicitly offers the player the option to sexually assault and to verbally and physically abuse the PC's half-sister in graphic detail. And afaik it's not done in such a way that the really offensive responses are hidden to the casual player. So among response options like "I love you" are also lines along the lines of "I'll beat you to a bloody pulp, you slut!".
And those aren't just one or two lines. There are entire branches of dialog trees dedicated to the most vile abuse. All written by someone who apparently had such seething contempt for the character (and apparently the player) that it makes one wonder as to WHY they even wrote, let alone publish, a mod around her. Damn.
Haven't played the mod myself, but you should probably mention that most, if not every one of those jerk responses results in dire consequences for the main character.
10th
Bah. Maybe I got older, after all. Or maybe I'm waiting at first a good story, smart thematics and/or fun in a game. An not virtual romance. Real life is freaking much better.
But I tried recently Nalia romance mod, and I was pleased in a good way. First, because I always felt that the character had much more potential with its history, the events at the De'Arnise castle, etc. (like Haer'Dalis), and it wasn't developed enough in the original game.
And it was really enjoyable, a good story, -quite- well written, not too much over-depressing banters. And I'd say, probably one of the best romances mods I've ever tried. I enjoyed it as much as Jaheira's romance, which stays my favourite one. No ToB part, which is maybe the only drawback.
Else, I'd say that the ideal modlist was already given (SCS II, UB, Fixpack, etc. ). Romance mods are always controversial. And if a poor writer can't probably write a good romance, it doesn't either mean than someone with more talent will always be successful in that exercise.
Which version of the mod did you use ?
I'm asking this because the mod has been slightly rewritten by the one in charge now (btw: the original creator retired). And that person is aware of the flaws it had/has (for example some inappropiate answers).
BTW: The team needs a capable coder to finish the v2 of the mod. Link: http://imoen.blindmonkey.org/forums/
Throne of Bhaal Extender
Sword Coast Stratagems
One Pixel Productions
BG2 Tweak Pack
BG2 Fixpack
Widescreen
I personally always play BGT, use the BWP Fixpack and include a number of other mods. These are mods that I know are of a high enough quality that while I could play without them, I'd rather play with them on every character. They generally fit in with the game so well I don't notice them as out of place.
Ascension
Spell Revisions
Item Revisions
NPC Project
Unfinished Business (BG1 & BG2)
IWD Item Pack
Lure of the Sirine's Call
aTweaks, kTweaks, Turambar's Fixes, Ding0's Fixes, Baldurdash (various components in each, for tweaks/ease of use/fixes)
Conspicuously missing are NPCs, quests, major content additions, vendors, items and so on. The reason is simple, most of them are buggy, poorly written, introduce overpowered items, award too much experience, are noticeably out of place and so on. The rest are highly dependent on a particular character. Rogue Rebalancing might be great, but if you're not actually playing a Thief it's not relevant. NPCs like Gavin and Solaufein might fit in, but unless you're going to use them in your party who cares.
So I don't consider anything else a must have, at all. For a given character if you're going to use the item/NPC/kit or if you specifically want to try the quest/area content then add them in. Otherwise don't bother. With the large modifications like TDD, DSotSC, Tortured Souls, etc. take the time to checkout the readme, the reviews, and so on. I don't think any of them naturally fit well within the game to the point I'd make them a standard part of an install.
Edit: Forgot Ascension.
I love that mod, (ok it makes the game slightly harder by introducing less overpowered HLAs) but still what is not to love about unique stylish HLAs for every kit.
My favorites + they run great together :
BG2Fixpack
Ascension component from Big Picture
Wheels of Prophecy
Unfinished Business
Rogue Rebalancing
Banter pack
Atweaks
Song and Silence
Full Plate Packing and Steel
SCS2
Dingo'sQuest Pack
BG2 Tweak pack
Spell Revisions (or Divine Remix. Having both seems to create problems)
Item Revisions
Item Randomizer
Level1NPC