BG:EE / BG2:EE "Vanillalizer" ?

Aranthys

Heya,

I was wondering : Does anyone else sometimes feels like a "Vanillalizer" mod would be... well, kinda cool for BG:EE / BG2:EE to remove any of the "new" content that ... well, kinda stands out ?

Not to be disrespectful, but due to my knowledge of the game, the new NPCs are screaming "LOOK AT ME I M MODDED CONTENT" whenever I play with them, and it irks me to no end to have to play with these.

It's not just the content itself, but how it was implemented : IE, new NPCs often don't have as much spoken (As in, "with a sound file") dialog as vanilla NPCs (A prime example of that is right before confronting Irenicus, where every NPC will talk to you, except... well, you got it : Modded ... err ... Enhanced NPCs)

Finally, and it's the cherry on the cake for me : There's no official foreign dub (except German for BG:EE) for these NPCs, and if I ever want to play the game I like with the sounds i love, I feel like I'll just have to part with these characters to feel a real experience.

Shin

Can't see how a mod would be needed for this as you can simply avoid picking up the new NPCs. In some cases you might have to endure a ~10 second cutscene or click through some dialogue first, but you certainly don't have to play with them.

Illustair

I agree with @Shin.

But is it true that the new NPCs don't have anything to say just before the Irenicus confrontation? Wow, I'm surprised and I have to concede, that's lackluster indeed.

CrevsDaak

An GUI mod for this would be easy to do..... I came here thinking of that :P

Aranthys

Illustair said:

I agree with @Shin.

But is it true that the new NPCs don't have anything to say just before the Irenicus confrontation? Wow, I'm surprised and I have to concede, that's lackluster indeed.

They do.
It's just not voiced (at least it wasn't for Dorn and Hexxat for me)

Aranthys

Shin said:

Can't see how a mod would be needed for this as you can simply avoid picking up the new NPCs. In some cases you might have to endure a ~10 second cutscene or click through some dialogue first, but you certainly don't have to play with them.

Since I kinda feel like they are ... modded content, I'd be perfectly happy without the hassle of having to play with said mods, even if "they are just cutscenes" and "I can just ignore them"

Shin

@Aranthys Fair enough, just hardly seems worth it. It'd seem like installing a mod to remove Minsc rather than just telling him off when he gets out of his cage.

Aranthys

Shin said:

@Aranthys Fair enough, just hardly seems worth it. It'd seem like installing a mod to remove Minsc rather than just telling him off when he gets out of his cage.

For me, there's a substantial difference between Minsc and Hexxat/Rasaad/Neera/Dorn.. one that I explained in my opening message.
That or maybe I'm an elitist jerk that doesn't want its pure vanilla content stained by anything else

Isaya

I fail to imagine why one would want to spend a lot of time finding out how to write a mod that actually [u]removes[/u] content. Don't you think there are more creative ways of spend one's time modding?

If you want vanilla, why not play vanilla BG 2, without all UI or class/kit changes that must scream "modded" too. ;-)

Aranthys

Nah, Isaya - the UI and kit changes are pretty fine (Actually, I dislike the Red Dragon Disciple and Dwarven Defender kits, but it's mostly due to balance rather than due to their concept)

But Dorn/Rasaad/Neera/Hexxat, in their current situation, they stand out too much for me - even more considering I'll probably playing my next session using french sounds.
I want to play the game I like, using the sounds I like (IE : French sounds), and I don't want things that feel like modded stuff to disturb my enjoyment.

I have always avoided mods that weren't translated in my BGT installs for that very reason.

Anyway, I can probably mod that myself, I know weidu well enough to be able to alter things

Eudaemonium

In BGEE I think there are variables for DLC purchases for Dorn and Neera (even if they are included by default). It would probably be possible for you to set these to 0 and thus have everything except Rasaad not trigger.

Vedmak

I made account here right now just so I can post my agreement with Aranthys.

I do not like new NPC content and I would prefer not to have it in my game. Option to disable it should be available as it impacts gameplay experience.

In BG EE it was ok. I would talk to Wild Mage, kill three thugs, strip her of gem bag, kick her out, and just ignore Monk completely. So it did not bother me much.

But in Bg2 EE its ridiculous. In Bridge district there is far too long cutscene involving terrible voice acting that simply stands out as its that much lower quality than original. Then there is further waste of time forcing few selections in conversation in forced event, then Hexxat lines that are equally forced in Copper Coronet, then Trademeet Monk thing ...

I consider original Baldurs Gate Saga one of best RPG's ever made. A superb quality product. Having this mod-quality content forced on me, after paying price of basically new game (actually more considering how much I pay for some on Steam specials) I do not appreciate.

I like bug fixes, I like lot of changes, but I would really appreciate option to simply remove new NPC's and their quests from my copy of BG2 EE.