Wings Version 0.91b

Coutelier

There shall be wings! If the accomplishment be not for me, 'tis for some other. The spirit cannot die; and man, who shall know all and shall have wings...
- Leonardo da Vinci

This mod adds quite a bit of extra content for everyone's favourite wingless wonder, Aerie.

BG2EEWings091b.rar.

Russian Translation: BG2EEWings091b+RUS.rar.

What's added so far:

- A few small, minor character encounters, such as a new NPC in the circus tent (after beating Kalah) that Aerie can interact with.

- Aerie now has a chance to acquire her own familiar to do her bidding!

- A friendship path for Aerie. PC's not eligible to romance her may still pursue a friendship, learning all sorts about her past. PC's who are eligible to romance her will receive three new banters before the usual romance starts, but if they end the romance at any time will still have the option of pursuing a friendship instead.

- Quite a few new banters between Aerie and other NPC's in your party. She gets along especially well with Imoen.

- OPTIONAL: Restore missing banters. There are a few banters already present in Aerie's banter file that never appear in gameplay as they lack a set of trigger conditions. This just changes that.

- OPTIONAL: Remove the Hexxat conflict. It doesn't really seem in character for Aerie to start a fight, even in ToB, and especially not without talking about it with the party leader first. Even then, she'd have to be 100% certain the other person was up to no good. Which admittedly she is because of a much earlier dialogue in SoA... but that just leaves you wondering why if Aerie knows, lots of characters apparently don't (Imoen, Nalia, Jaheira, Cernd, even Minsc). So this just removes the banter in SoA and slightly alters the banter in ToB so that there's no more fight.

- There are some cosmetic changes to Aerie as well. I just changed her skin and hair color back to how it was originally. When Beamdog recolored a lot of the NPC's based off their portraits, I feel that due to the lighting in Aerie's case, they simply got it wrong. She's referred to as fair and pale a few times in the game's text, so better that she look the part. Also better to have slightly more variety in how NPC's look. (Okay, you'd probably have to look quite closely to really notice that is any difference). While it wasn't strictly necessary, I did change the lighting in her portrait as well from sunset to mid-day.



Still to come/being worked on:

A mini-quest for both Minsc and Aerie. She is his witch, after all, so they need to have more interaction.

A main personal quest for Aerie. This will involve Aerie facing off against the slavers who first captured and broke her before selling her on to circus. It will hopefully be a chance to actually see her grow as a hero adventurer.

Frkun

And the point is...?
As recommendation, don't announce anything until you have some real work. Everybody has ideas, some might know how to do it, but very few actually does it and completes it. If you have doubts, ask in the mod section, but keep your announcements for when you have something to show.

Coutelier

Frkun said:

And the point is...?
As recommendation, don't announce anything until you have some real work. Everybody has ideas, some might know how to do it, but very few actually does it and completes it. If you have doubts, ask in the mod section, but keep your announcements for when you have something to show.

I've announced that I'm beginning, and giving the opportunity for people to make suggestions or ideas before I decide or finalize anything, and when I have questions I will post them here in this thread rather than make many different threads. As mentioned, I already have lots and lots of material, so writing the dialogue won't take long; it's pretty much already written, just has to be adapted for the game and different player responses and determined how they might affect the outcome, if at all. Where I will likely need help is scripting fights and events, working out levels and gear for NPC's so that it's not unbalanced etc.

Shin

Frkun said:

And the point is...?
As recommendation, don't announce anything until you have some real work. Everybody has ideas, some might know how to do it, but very few actually does it and completes it. If you have doubts, ask in the mod section, but keep your announcements for when you have something to show.

Uncalled for - out of all the threads on these forums, this one's still a lot more constructive than most. Nothing wrong with asking for feedback on ideas and concepts - for many authors it's a big part of the mod-making process.

Frkun

I am just saying that it's no good to come to a forum and say "give me ideas" to someone that no one knows if he is going to do it or not. If he comes with real content people will be more willing to help. In the opposite side, if the forum gets filled with "look at my idea" threads that will never come true, my comment would be probably the nicest of all.

Coutelier

Frkun said:

I am just saying that it's no good to come to a forum and say "give me ideas" to someone that no one knows if he is going to do it or not. If he comes with real content people will be more willing to help. In the opposite side, if the forum gets filled with "look at my idea" threads that will never come true, my comment would be probably the nicest of all.

Already have ideas. Trust me; I've thought about it for ten years. During the week, I'll share more and some dialogue... like I said, I've already written most of it. It's just got to be implemented. It's like when Kennedy promised sending men to the moon before the end of the decade; the science was all done, it was just engineering that was left. Yes, I'm very much the JFK of the mod world... except for one thing about him of course. I don't like to drive.

DarkSpiral

A fine idea. Several of the NPCs suffer from a lack of any meaningful interaction, and unless you're romancing her Aerie is one of the worst. Her and Valygar. Its the main way that BG is showing its age, imho, so this is something I'd love to try out. I'll be watching the thread!

Coutelier

DarkSpiral said:

A fine idea. Several of the NPCs suffer from a lack of any meaningful interaction, and unless you're romancing her Aerie is one of the worst. Her and Valygar. Its the main way that BG is showing its age, imho, so this is something I'd love to try out. I'll be watching the thread!

She can have a fling with Haer'Dalis if you have them both in the party, although it doesn't go anywhere; she dumps him and he just moves on. But yes, contrary to some people's opinion, unless you romance her she is actually pretty quiet.

This will be a short quest independent of the romance, although I might put in some different dialogue and give an extra little reward at the end if you are romancing her.

Pantalion

So... a sidequest, an optional boss fight, a reason for Aerie to adopt her new badass ToB soundset, a bonus reward and some actual dialogue outside of "Boohoo No Wings + Dirt = Sad"?

I like it. Aerie needed more content, and this could be tied in to completing the Slaver quest in the slums quite easily.

You might introduce an investigative aspect where you either try to find out moree information (which will give the clues you mention) or just charge blindly ahead, potentially with different rewards for each, and maybe even a different effect on Aerie depending how you approach things (CHARNAME can play as a corrupting element, tempting her towards revenge and murder, or a stabilising element, with a neutral result resulting from Aerie doing things her own way) because the game needs more occasions where you can puppetmaster your so-called "friends".

Pecca

I thought this was a mod to give her wings:). But I like it.

Coutelier

Pantalion said:

So... a sidequest, an optional boss fight, a reason for Aerie to adopt her new badass ToB soundset, a bonus reward and some actual dialogue outside of "Boohoo No Wings + Dirt = Sad"?

I think her sadness about her wings is well covered by the romance. But losing them was really just the culmination of a long series of events, so I think it's worthwhile to look at those and allow her to really face down her past.

Pantalion said:

I like it. Aerie needed more content, and this could be tied in to completing the Slaver quest in the slums quite easily.

Maybe that'll be the first place the stranger directs you to, if you haven't done it already. Or maybe doing that quest is what will trigger him to arrive, since he'll know then you seem to have an interest in taking down slavery. Then Amra and another group of slavers will have returned to the area to try and find out what happened to the first bunch.

You might introduce an investigative aspect where you either try to find out moree information (which will give the clues you mention) or just charge blindly ahead, potentially with different rewards for each, and maybe even a different effect on Aerie depending how you approach things (CHARNAME can play as a corrupting element, tempting her towards revenge and murder, or a stabilising element, with a neutral result resulting from Aerie doing things her own way) because the game needs more occasions where you can puppetmaster your so-called "friends".

Maybe a visit to the temple of Oghma, or even Quayle if he's alive, to try and learn more about what Praxis could be up to? I don't want to do things that would impact the rest of the game or Aerie's banters too much. I think if you try to dominate her too much and turn her away from good she'll just get more miserable, or leave. I can see her changing from Lawful to Neutral, possibly Chaotic, but it wouldn't affect anything very much.

Pecca said:

I thought this was a mod to give her wings:). But I like it.

No; I think a strong part of Aerie's development is her creating and accepting a new identity for herself, and letting go of the old one.

Coutelier

Screenshot:

Coutelier

Screenshot:

Coutelier

Stand by.

DarkSpiral

By the way, is there a reason behind the name "Praxis?" I did a little Google search on the word, out of curiosity, and wondered if any of the various meaning attached to the word have ny bearing on why you've chosen the name for the villain.

Coutelier

DarkSpiral said:

By the way, is there a reason behind the name "Praxis?" I did a little Google search on the word, out of curiosity, and wondered if any of the various meaning attached to the word have ny bearing on why you've chosen the name for the villain.

Taking a basic definition:

1. Practical application or exercise of a branch of learning.
2. Habitual or established practice; custom.

Essentially he was in charge of processing new slaves. Teaching them, by applying various methods of torture (physical and psychological), to make them compliant. Working on a similar theory to military training or boot camps but with no restrictions or limits, he basically traumatized people into conformity.

DarkSpiral

....and now I'm looking forward to this quest even more.

Coutelier

Stand by.

Tschakong

I like it too. Very good written dialogues. I m looking forward for it, maybe that's a reason to take Aerie with your party. Always looking for Banter / Questmods that are fitting into the game.

Your quotes show your talent for dialogues. Just don't quote too much, just for spoiler reasons

Good look and keep on doing this good work. I' excited for your mod.

Coutelier

Tschakong said:

I like it too. Very good written dialogues. I m looking forward for it, maybe that's a reason to take Aerie with your party. Always looking for Banter / Questmods that are fitting into the game.

Your quotes show your talent for dialogues. Just don't quote too much, just for spoiler reasons

Well, I have used spoiler tags for them. This is vanilla dialogue; in the final version there will be more choices and interjections I hope, and I might change some things a little bit. And a few other banters thrown in as well. Once I have actually released a version of the mod, I expect I'll take most of this down.

While putting all the characters and their dialogue into the game is easy enough, I do have to figure out levels and how much experience to give for then, what equipment the enemies. I figure there should be a special item on Praxis when you get him, and some suitable unique item for Aerie as a possible reward at the end.

Tschakong said:

Good look and keep on doing this good work. I' excited for your mod.

Will do!

Coutelier

Stand by.

Coutelier

On a side note, Aerie is obviously supposed to be more pale than most the other NPC's. Avarial are described as having pale, almost porcelain skin, and there are references to her being pale already in the game. So I'll probably change that on her avatar. I don't think it's necessary to retouch her portrait, as it's most likely just the warm lighting, like she's looking into a sunset, that's misleading. But I had a go this morning anyway:

Coutelier

Well, it's underway:

BG2EEWings01.

I've not implemented any of the main quest yet. So far, I've added a few extra banters between the main character and Aerrers, quite a few between her and Imoen, a couple of others, and a couple of little surprise encounters specific to the avariel.

Although I know all the banters work by ctrl-iing them, I've not had to chance to test it all yet on an actual playthrough. Although I can't plan ahead for every eventuality, the encounters so far seem to all work like they're intended.

Coutelier

Another side note:

As I continue to refine the dialogue and scripts a bit(and I think it would be good if some of the circus workers actually said things to Aerie), as I was going through Aerie’s banters I came across a few I’d never seen in the game, as they seem to not have any trigger conditions. I don’t know if any mod restores them, and I’m sure there must be some for other characters as well… but here’s what I found:

Yoshimo: Amidst tears and laughter, an angel rises! Hail Aerie, and welcome back.

Aerie: I--I'm sorry, CHARNAME, it... it won't happen again.

Yoshimo: No apologies from so fair a blossom. We were fools to let you fall.

Aerie: Please, Yoshimo, just let me--let me gather up my belongings.

Yoshimo: As you wish, lass.

--

Aerie: Jan, how come you're always telling stories?

Jan: Because they're true, every last one of them, even the one about my great grandfather slaying the dragon.

Aerie: A dragon? Really?

Jan: Well not really, but close. He thought it was a dragon. He was experimenting with glass, grinding it down to make prisms and lenses, you see, because his daughter, my grandmother, was so cross-eyed that, until she was twelve years old, all she ever saw of the world was the nose in the center of her face. You never had that problem as a child, did you?

Aerie: Me? Oh no, not that...

Jan: Good, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. So my great grandfather had put together a great series of lenses and prisms, I think twelve in all, and attached them to a leather helm he had, the strap of which always chafed under the chin. Then, all of a sudden, a cloud passed in front of the sun.

Aerie: Oh my! Was it the dragon?

Jan: No, no, it happened precisely as I tell it to you now: a cloud passed in front of the sun and my great grandfather looked up from his work so quickly that a dragonfly got caught between two of the prisms over his left eye and clung there for dear life. Of course you can't imagine the hullabaloo this caused, my dear!

Aerie: No, I can imagine it just fine, Mister Jansen.

Jan: There he was, throwing all his tools and turnips into the distance where he assumed his greatly magnified adversary to be, and he was running and hollering and telling us to get in the house while he tried to lure the ravaging beast into the backyard of our southside neighbors against whom he had always held a grudge.

Aerie: Whatever happened?

Jan: What do you expect happened? We just assumed that he hadn't been taking his herbs and berries again and all wrestled him to the ground, ruining his precious lens-helm in the process, I'm afraid. It took as a good hour to calm him down and figure out what the truth of the whole matter had been. Now, do you know what the moral of the story is, Aerie?

Aerie: Always wipe your lenses?

Jan: Hmm, that will do nicely. I hadn't come up with one for this story yet.

Aerie: And your grandmother, did he make her a new lens-hat so she could finally see?

Jan: What? Oh no, no, it was an idea doomed to fail, I'm afraid. Two years later she lost her nose in a bizarre harvest accident and she's been seeing just fine ever since.

--

Aerie: Isn't the... Isn't the forest wonderful, Minsc? All the birds flying about, making you dizzy!

Minsc: Boo likes the forest, but Minsc? Oh, every time Boo plays in the leaves, Minsc has to give him another bath.

Aerie: Haha! But Boo likes his baths, too, doesn't he?

Minsc: Of course he does, and it makes him squirm so much that I fear losing him. If he got loose... I worry what such a powerful creature would do if left unchecked.

Aerie: Well just make sure you don't clutch him too firmly, Minsc. Give him some... some space and room to grow.

Minsc: Aye, and when we face a foe, I shall show them his pointy teeth!

Coutelier

Version 0.2:

BG2EEWings02.

I think I've managed to fix it so that the new banters won't interfere with her lovetalks. They should come first, and then the romance will carry on as normal. I've not played with a female PC yet; the new banters don't specify gender, so they might play randomly (although in order) regardless of gender, which is fine by me.

Also, two more encounters. One of them requires Imoen being in the party as well.

And that'll be it for now. If that all works, then I'll get back to the main quest I talked about.

Shin

Will try it during my next BG2 playthrough.

Coutelier

Version 0.3:

BG2EEWings03.

Just a few small corrections/changes. Also, I've done the first part of the main quest up until fighting Amra. Still haven't figured out how to do journal entries though. I followed a couple of guides, but each time although it says in game your journal has been updated, nothing actually shows up anywhere.

Coutelier

Incidentally, is there any kind of formula for working out how much XP you get for killing enemies, or is it just pretty much arbitrary?

Coutelier

It's still going on. I've removed the banters I'd posted before on this thread; I'll put some more screenshots up in their place at some point. A lot of the dialogue and a couple of events after meeting Amra have already changed quite a lot from those first drafts anyway.

Part of the quest will involve a small dungeon crawl, I think, so that's going to take a little while I think. But after that all the bones will be done; it was never intended to be all that long or complicated. Then it will just be small revisions, a few more banters maybe, more player responses and NPC interjections, and maybe Aerie interjecting elsewhere (there are lots of points in Neera's quest where it would make sense for Aerie to interject, for example).

I've had some ideas for another quest in ToB... but lets get through SoA first.

Sagoth

@Coutelier I love this idea, but why not go all the way and give her wings back.

A few days ago i came across this mod http://www.shsforums.net/files/file/682-1pp-attachable-wings/

You could ask the author for a permission to use his wings and give them through the quest (maybe even in ToB) to Aerie.

I mean why not? Faerun is the world ruled by magic, anything is possible

Coutelier

Sagoth said:

@Coutelier I love this idea, but why not go all the way and give her wings back.

A few days ago i came across this mod http://www.shsforums.net/files/file/682-1pp-attachable-wings/

You could ask the author for a permission to use his wings and give them through the quest (maybe even in ToB) to Aerie.

I mean why not? Faerun is the world ruled by magic, anything is possible

That mod is already integrated into the EE I believe (if you look through the helms in EEkeeper, you'll come across an item called 'wings01'). I've used them for one of the characters in my mod.

At the moment I'm concentrating mainly on the SoA part... but, anything could happen later on.