Mods for a BG:EE Playthrough ( first time modder, not looking for assistance just advice :) )

jobby

Hi

I have been planning a BG:EE playthrough with a few mods that i never got round to back in the day, I know some of these may be incomplete as of yet and as such I will be waiting for the final versions (BG:EE final patch also). I have a few questions regarding these mods however and would greatly appreciate any advice any of you would be willing to impart

IWDification
SCS
BG2 Tweaks
BG NPC Project
Rogue Rebalancing (possibly if a final ver gets released and I decide to go for a rogue)
Unfinished Business (If this ever gets ported or becomes semi-compatible?)

Question no 1:

I realise the top three mods I have listed are all G3 and as such I was wondering if SCS was balanced for IWDification (by that i mean: will the enemy NPCs utilise the new spells brought in by this mod? If not will that make the game unbalanced in favour of the player?)

Q2:

I have had a look through BG2 tweaks and have seen that it can be installed in a modular format, are there any modules you would recommend avoiding for someone who wants to maintain/increase the challenge of the game whilst adding new content and general re-balancing in the spirit of PnP/DnD.
Some of them are obvious (even to me such as the un-nerfed Bard spell progression table however the PnP spell progression table looked like a fair improvement imo)

Q3:

I don't think this is the case however I feel I should double check, do any of theses mods affect the level cap in a serious way? I one day intend to carry on into BG2:EE and I enjoy the limited progression within BG1 that ties in (fairly well) to BG2 starting levels.

Q4:

Are there any other mods in a similar vein I should consider? By similar I mean:

Not out of keeping with the BG feel.
Well written additional content which is seamlessly integrated.
Enjoyable for someone who enjoys a challenge.

Thanks for your time reading my hopefully not too annoying post, as I said my modding of IE games is highly limited however in the meantime I'm going to give IWD a shot with all the recommended user mods which will hopefully mean I wont need to bug you guys with technical questions

Note: apologies if this is in the wrong forum, couldn't decide between this and general modding.

Twani

Just as a note, BGNPC project is currently being ported, and will probably take a few months to finish being ported. So that one is out too.

SCS will not use the spells in IWDIfcation, but the SCS AI is generally good enough that you won't complain much. SCS AI is generally very smart and good, I really recommend it.

Personally, I like the Ease of Use parts of BG2 tweaks (potions and gemstones and arrows stacking forever, for instance), but that goes down to your own flavor. That's probabloy a bit cheaty, for instance, if your potions stack to 99 instead of 3/10... but to me, it's so worthwhile.

Mods I recommend? Try BG1 Quests and Encounters (http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showforum=148) for some new quests with interactions that are fun and amusing (and all but one have banter). For NPCs, I am extremely fond of Isra, over at spellholdstudios.... is it dot net? I don't remember. She banters twice with each NPC, and is fun to have.

jobby

Cheers for the reply, my main reason for wanting BG2 Tweaks was pretty pathetic actually: UAI and dual/multi-class paper dolls, although I thought the PnP bard spell progression sounded a bit more balanced for a tough SCS playthrough going into BG2 eventually (given that current bards are awful).

I don't think the potion stacking really concerns me, I might mod in a potion case though and the wand case mod looks like it could be useful for my good Bard playthrough.

Thats a shame about IWDification, did the original mod without SCS allow enemies to use the new spells? I take the SCS scripts aren't designed with that in mind (understandably).

I just had a look at the two mods you suggested and will deffo give BG1 Quests and Encounters a go, not so sure about the NPC I would have to change her portrait personally but if the banters good she could be useful for my "good" playthrough. Been planning for both a good and an evil playthrough although I was going to romance Neera in BG2:EE eventually, so I'll wait and see which appeals most depending on how good their chat is.

My evil playthrough involved Shar-teel in BG1 (NPC mod) and Hexxat in the second, I really like the idea of dualling her to a thief at level 1 or 3.

And yeah I am aware of the timeframe on NPC project (2 months might even be optimistic) that will prolly define when i start the games as initially that was the only mod I wanted.

Thanks again for your recommendations.

golingarf

Even though BG1NPC is not officially out, there are instructions for installing a preliminary version on the thread. I'm using it and it works just fine, if you're willing to EEKeeper things occasionally.

jobby

Yeah I've been following that thread, If i get impatient I might give it a go but I'd much rather have a "clean" playthrough if possible and if a BG:EE patch was released in that timeframe that fixed major errors i would be gutted at having to restart.