Will be Kensai Ryu's Brown Dragon also included in mod?
It is not part of Tactics. Or more exactly, Kensai Ryu's Brown Dragon linked to Faldorn is not part of Tactics. However if what you have in mind is the hell dragon you can meet in one of the challenges, then yes there is a modification but I am not sure about who wrote what. Dragons in Tactics are not that great, I like Firkraag and there is a super idea implemented for Adalon. Frankly I am not fond of SCS dragons, between the two there is an area of improvement. There is an additional difficulty I saw when looking at Ascension's Abazigal for EE, the dragon files are not really standardized. The original authors implemented dragon templates and specific creatures (+claws and innate spells/abilities), sometimes the template becoming the specific creature... A dedicated mod for dragons is welcome but that is a different project IMHO.
Shall I reduce the delay between the skeleton warrior "waves" ?
Personally, I do think the encounter would be more fun if the delay we reduced to half of what it is now.
But then again, maybe that would be too punitive for players who like to do that encounter at the beginning of chapter 2 when they don't have good equipment and levels yet. And of course there's something to be said for respecting Weimer's / Kensai Ryu's intentions.
I reduced the duration to 4 rounds. I think this is an encounter you can face early game (or when you have decent saving throw thresholds). For sure there are challenges which are much harder than this one. Nonetheless I think that Tactics2 was not built to systematically provide a hard challenge. I guess that the crypt king falls into this category. If the feedback is that it's still too easy then I will increase the rate or more likely make sure there is always at least three skeleton warriors till you kill the so-called king.
I have another dilemna. Tactics introduced the idea of mixing liches and pit fiends. (and in fact Kangaxx the demilich gets its demons too - I fully enabled this one). In the original mod there was a weird behaviour with such a demon gating because a "summoned" demon (this is their gender : summoned_demon) is created as goodbutred (alignment), probably assuming that the player herself gated such a demon. As a result, in some cases, the lich and its friends could initially turn against their own demon ally. Moreover every pit fiend is able to cast a non interruptible spell to gate another demon when its HPs become too low. I tried to fix it changing its alignment based on the condition of the summoner. I also faced a situation in which the demon is gated in a region from where it can not move (crooked crane). That was fixed with a teleport.
First point : However the animation (casting spell: gating vs createcreature) is very slow and there is still a short period during which the lich and friends can turn against the demon. Second point : which delay would you allow between the moment the second (and beyond) demon generation can be called and the moment the instruction becomes effective. At the moment I grant 3 seconds. This is A LOT but I had the solo player in mind. In other words you have 3 seconds to bring the demon HP from 50% to 0. Third point: The Tactics2 demons not only cast innate spells but they also cast "wizard" or "priest" spells. Their innate abilities are cast without delay but when they cast mages spells this may take more time up to the point they never really attack and spend their time casting spells (in the original mod). There are several options - leave it as is - make the casting immediate with a side effect, they can still cast spell during someone else time stop - duplicate all the pertaining spells and make them innate with immediate casting. Fourth point: the mod implements a particular spell aimed at fighting against hidden/distant creatures or creature protected against undeads. However due to the topology and implementation of some maps, three liches cannot cast this spell (this is just disabled in two areas : shadow/umar temple and the chapter 4 maze). While testing the shadow temple I got an expected configuration (unfortunately) in which the demon is created long before it can fight the PC. Therefore I also disabled such a demon gating in those areas. As a compensatory factor I wanted to implement some anti protection from undead features but I am not done yet.
4 questions for those 4 points: 1- Shall I trade the animation for efficiency ? That will not prevent a pit fiend from casting fire area spells on you thus burning the surrounding greater mummies for instance (I had great moments with this in the so-called ghoul village). 2- Well this is a matter of delay, I will be glad to collect your feedback about the right duration to implement here. 3- I suspect the right answer is: rewrite all of them as innate abilities... but I will welcome your feedback. 4- Would it make sense for the player to cover all the dungeon in Umar Hills without being able to use a prot from undead? I am personally archi-convinced that it must be implemented because I realy dislike this prot spell but your view matters. And of course most players will prefer the improved fiends from aTweaks and generic mages from Stratagems but that's a different matter!
Release alpha 49 The structure of the mod is substantially modified and it contains many more fixes. However this is an intermediate release as I still have many tests to run.
I think that the following components can be seen as beta (vs alpha) Improved Ilyich Improved Torgal (your game won't crash anymore) Improved Guarded Compound (a few things I still want to try) Improved Twisted Rune (a few things I still want to try) Kuroisan Red Badge Improved MaeVar (a bit harder than the non EE version) Lich in the docks (I love this one, please note that I haven't fixed/re-enabled the initial trigger as I am not sure every player would like to be welcome with a triple skull trap as soon as they enter the house). Tougher Kangaxx (probably a few changes to the archlich to come, those used to this component should see several changes - actually fixes, btw now the lich (not the archlich) can use the scrolls she was supposed to use - this includes the nasty imprisonment (I can remove it if people complain), the fighter drink the right potions etc... Gnome Fighter Illusionist in the docks (it "works" but the various AIs (gnome and familiars) are clearly not synchronized) Improved Crypt King Always toughest random spawns - no longer "always" as I rewrote it from scratch so that you can enter your own values. I still have to include a modification to the first (others ?) pocket plane challenge in Hell. Improved Undead (nothing new was required) Smarter vampires (nothing new was required) Smarter Mages and Liches (well let's keep it as is) Smater Golems (I am unhappy with the result though) Improved Nymph (nothing new was required) Improved Copper Coronet (that's better if you use another mod providing an AI for those generic guys...) Tougher Druid Grove and I may add the Demon AI but it will surely change.
Hi this might be a stupid question, but how different this version of tactics to the tactics stuff included in the Big Picture Ascension?
Well, Big Picture is outdated, bugged, using it on EE is only for your own risk and latest versions are reported as broken, since installation is not working properly.
3- I suspect the right answer is: rewrite all of them as innate abilities... but I will welcome your feedback.
That's what SCS does, isn't it? From the SCS readme, 'Improved Fiends' section: "The component also enforces the fact that fiendly spellcasting is instantaneous and innate, so that fiends do not use up time getting their spells off, and cannot be interrupted."
4- Would it make sense for the player to cover all the dungeon in Umar Hills without being able to use a prot from undead? I am personally archi-convinced that it must be implemented because I realy dislike this prot spell but your view matters.
Personally, I only ever used 'Protection from Undead' against demiliches, and these days I don't use it at all anymore. It just kills the fun... :P But I guess some people like it?
Regarding demons Demons are not like mages. They have no magic scrolls or books and do not (except the most powerful magic) pronouncing spells. Spells are associated with their being. Most of their spells should be instant and definitely uninterruptible.
Regarding undead "Protection from Undead" should work ONLY against the mindless undead. Vampires and Liches should not be affected. This is not only my opinion, but also the original purpose of this spell.
Hi this might be a stupid question, but how different this version of tactics to the tactics stuff included in the Big Picture Ascension?
BP in general (not specifically ascension) includes some components also published in Tactics2, in particular GBlucher's and Kensai Ryu's mods. It also fixes a few issues. However I disagree with several choices (like the removal of Weimer's Kangaxx) and my work is focused on W.Weimer's tactics and not focused on such variants. Moreover BP is not supported on EE. It can install but beyond that it's your own business. I don't think there is any particular effort to test and make it run on EE even if it includes a more recent weidu version and perhaps the conditional(?) installation of DS. Those days, I do not recommend the installation of BP on the EE version with the important exception of Ascension (due to the lack of valid and complete alternatives).
@ineth Not fully knowledgeable about the SCS demons, I will have a look at the details. However my preferred mod for demons is aTweaks. Even though I try to adapt or tweak the W.Weimer's demon AI mod, it remains modest when compared with such other mods. From many perspectives Demon AI in Tactics is a nice add-on to the Smarter Mages and Liches. It has three main goals: -Reuse the spells cast by the vanilla version but make them available at will (instead of once) -Provide some liches and Kangaxx demi-lich with a pit fiend "ally" -Make the pit-fiend able to gate another pit fiend when their XP <= 50%. Again I do not wish to transform the mod so that it can compete with the more recent packages but I think I will duplicate the spells to make them available as innate with a short casting time. If you test the existing module on EE you will see that Demon Fear is already a nice "pain in the ass".
@Edvin With the release of Bodhi in the next package you will get an anti protection from undead mechanics. I diverge from my initial statement (adapt to EE and add nothing of your own) but in that case I think it makes sense.
3- I suspect the right answer is: rewrite all of them as innate abilities... but I will welcome your feedback.
That's what SCS does, isn't it? From the SCS readme, 'Improved Fiends' section: "The component also enforces the fact that fiendly spellcasting is instantaneous and innate, so that fiends do not use up time getting their spells off, and cannot be interrupted."
FWIW, I also think it's the right way to go.
I'm not going into any issues but the technical ones here (since I also use aTweaks): Make the spells to be cast as ``innates`` via the script using ForceSpell() or similar. Don't make innate copies of the actual spells unless you plan to make them limited or slightly modify them.
Always toughest random spawns - no longer "always" as I rewrote it from scratch so that you can enter your own values. I still have to include a modification to the first (others ?) pocket plane challenge in Hell.
Make the spells to be cast as ``innates`` via the script using ForceSpell() or similar. Don't make innate copies of the actual spells unless you plan to make them limited or slightly modify them.
I think I need both. Those few spells are cast through ForceSpell at the moment but I want to reduce the casting time. That's the only modification really required, hence the duplication (innate or not is secondary, you are right but it's a matter of standardization as some of those spells are already innate). Anyway that's not on my priority list yet.
Make the spells to be cast as ``innates`` via the script using ForceSpell() or similar. Don't make innate copies of the actual spells unless you plan to make them limited or slightly modify them.
I think I need both. Those few spells are cast through ForceSpell at the moment but I want to reduce the casting time. That's the only modification really required, hence the duplication (innate or not is secondary, you are right but it's a matter of standardization as some of those spells are already innate). Anyway that's not on my priority list yet.
ApplySpell() reduces casting time completely (IIRC). In SCS, fiends receive a (noticeable) Casting Speed bonus so they can cast spells fast with ForceSpell().
@Musigny Do you plan any cleanly own improvement? For example, Dragons or Ithilid brain would need a substantial increase HP.
P.S. If you want to become a truly legendary moder, you can try include Ascension in to Tactic. I have in this regard only minor knowledge, so I have no idea how difficult it would be.
I have in this regard only minor knowledge, so I have no idea how difficult it would be.
It depends in how much stuff you want to fix and change... I mean, you COULD just install the Ascension mod with some little changes so it runs, but it wouldn't be as good as if you installed a version specifically for the EE.
Is there any chance you could give each component a fixed component number that will never change between releases, and use the "subcomponents" feature for multiple-choice components (rather than manually blocking for keyboard input from the user)? Most of the modern mods like BG2 Tweaks and SCS do it that way.
It would allow me to conveniently upgrade to a new release of this mod by simple passing something like --force-install-list 10 13 14 15 16 17 19 22 23 26 34 35 37 38 to weidu, let it run on its own, and then return 20 minutes later to find it all finished...
Of course you should only do it if that doesn't make things inconvenient on your end.
Gebhard Blucher's Random City Encounters:
This component fails to install with ERROR: [vampsttp.bcs] -> [override] Patching Failed (COPY) (Failure("Cannot Apply Patch"))if the Check The Bodies mod has been installed prior to it. Full debug file is attached below.
This is probably not Tactic's fault - after all CTB is not even officially compatible with EE (I had to apply some hacks to get it to install). But I thought I'd mention it anyway.
@ineth The components already have fixed numbers because all components are declared even if they are not yet installable (Improved Irenicus for instance). However I can easily force a number for each component declaration - will do that.
I can also duplicate some code to use subcomponents but if i understand the suggestion, this more a question about auto-install. This can surely help you install several of them even though my menus are not yet final and they may entirely disappear at some point ... except with components where I really need a user input such as "always" toughest random spawns. If I have to use an alternative here that is likely to be a separate ini file. One of the plan was to introduce a core component (hence the room before the first number: 10) and from there, preset everything required by the other components but i haven't designed it yet. I have to finish the conversion first.
Random City Encounters. Well ... Not really my fault and unlikely Check The Bodies fault. That's one of the few occurences where I patch an original script. When two or more components modify the same blocks, that does not work well In that particular case I can try to use series of replacements by matching a single line but that will not be a general method. The random wild encounters component may experience the same type of issues. I installed them for testing purposes but I don't think I will often play with them (without a couple of substantial tweaks). Two issues: the random city encounters component make you feel like stepping on an anthill, relentless attacks ... no fun. The second issue is that they drop all their stuff which is sometimes exceptional (potions) and always very valuable, thus unbalancing the game even more. Not an excuse on my side but don't be sad because the installation failed...
I really suggest using the version v49 I published 4 days ago. There are many improvements to most components you installed (basically all of the Athkatla special encounters + MaeVar). Bodhi is not included (disabled) even though her code is included (you can reenable it if you want to), that will come in the next release.
You also seem to have other errors in your debug file. More specifically, your animate.ids file has been overridden and it seems somewhat damaged or more likely reverted back to the non EE version. (see line 150).
@Edvin I am already a legend in my house ... for spending too much time with this mod and game.
Illithids : why not, as an option. Dragons : I think they deserve a separate mod. I would like to do that but I don't have the time yet.
@CrevsDaak Good idea! I am hesitating now because in fact there are very few spells to duplicate and modify and, for instance, the pit fiends cast symbol fear (casting time 9 - so they would need a serious boost).
ApplySpell() seems underused, sadly. There are very nice things to do with it but I cannot do them in Tactics2, I try to stick to the original intents. Hey! in a dragon's mod for instance
Illithids : why not, as an option. Dragons : I think they deserve a separate mod. I would like to do that but I don't have the time yet.
I agree, but the moding BG is quite challenging. It may take years before appear another man such as you.
Illithid elder brain, Lavok, Shade Lord and Dragons were somehow excluded from original Tactic. These are important and powerful beings. Their killing should not be so simple.
All should get HP bonus, but also:
1) Elder brain = The brain would need some additional protection. Maybe a few extra guards. Two more golems would be sufficient.
2) Lavok = Hundreds of years old genius necromant should be MUCH stronger. He should also have some servants. Maybe two Bone Golems? Adequate protection for the necromancer.
3) Shade Lord = This guy is simply joke. Let me recall that this guy was able conquer temple of the God of the sun (which is his biggest weakness) and his servant is mighty shadow dragon. Seriously, wtf? He should be much stronger then regular lich.
4) Dragons = "Smarter Dragons" is good improvement so they need only more HP. +50 % boost sound right (maybe even little more).
P.S. Feel free to ignore me, it is your mode and this is purely my personal opinion. But I was able to finish BG2 countless times and every time I felt, that these creatures are not adequately strong.
I really suggest using the version v49 I published 4 days ago.
D'OH! That's what I meant to do. I had downloaded it, but then forgot to replace the previous copy with it before reinstalling . Thanks for telling me.
your animate.ids file has been overridden and it seems somewhat damaged or more likely reverted back to the non EE version
Hm, you're right. It looks like Check The Bodies did that - it has a bundled Animate.ids and ANISND.IDS and simply copies them to override/. Is this a big problem?
@ineth 1) Yes but SCS offers predefined options. The way I wrote Ishan's component makes you free to choose the values you want. A little try will be more explicit that all my explanations. 2) v49 is much better... this is the hugest update so far, even if it adds no new components. 3) As far as Tactics is concerned, animates.ids is not that important (only improved sahuagin which I do not consider beta yet) but that's not the only ids file being modified in your config. If the mods you install just append more or less useful lines to the BG2EE files then that's okay but as demonstrated by animate.ids, some of your mods simply overwrite the game files. If they do that on action.ids or stats.ids or spells.ids to quote some important files, then you may end up with damaged scripts (bcs and dlg, both vanilla and mods) referring to those files. If you want to keep your mod list as is, one possible approach is to compare the ids files in your override directory and the BG2EE vanilla files. You can use NI to do so and slightly modify the filenames in override to make such a visual comparison easier. Otherwise if you can use a Unix like OS (perhaps OSX, Linux for sure, any BSD etc) and export the pertaining vanilla game files, you are likely to have the right tools at the command line to perform a basic diff (well if this is not obvious for you let's forget about that). And, as a last resort, you may also simply destroy the IDS files in your override folder, there is a good chance that everything required is already present in the comprehensive BG2EE files. Don't do that if you deployed SCS or BP, do that prior to deploying the first of them (SCS for sure, less certain about BP). This remains risky - no lies. As you can read in this thread, some mods like to modify gtimes.ids so don't delete this one.
@Edvin I tend to agree with your remarks but I don't want to mix two different objectives : make Tactics2 fully compatible with EE and provide more/better tactical challenges. For now, I keep working on the former. Despite your enthusiasm and encouragements, I know where I come from and I am just a little modder but I am glad to make things work (when they work...).
I tend to agree with your remarks but I don't want to mix two different objectives : make Tactics2 fully compatible with EE and provide more/better tactical challenges. For now, I keep working on the former. Despite your enthusiasm and encouragements, I know where I come from and I am just a little modder but I am glad to make things work (when they work...).
I understand your attitude, but I do not share it.
Original Tactics was work of several people and its purpose was to provide better tactical challenges. Times have changed, game has changed and new man (you) is working on Tactics mod. There is nothing wrong if this new person adds something new to supplement gaps in mod. Think of it this way, you can finally complete the unfinished mode and provide better tactical challenges for last remaining significant fights.
Installs fine if I choose "2. no guardians", but if I choose to also install the guardians it apparently fails to patch archlich.bcs (debug file attached).
Raaahh, a stupid mistake! I forgot that some of those files were intially compiled. With a valid and modified IDS file it caused the failure. With an unmodded install I saw nothing.
@ineth I apologize. I published a working package. Your install should run fine with the version alpha50 attached to the initial post. I hope you will enjoy this reworked fight. I haven't modified the random encounters component yet.
@Edvin Understood. However that mod is not mine and I have to respect the original work. That does not prevent me from adding extra tactical challenges in a new and different package. Please be patient.
Do not get me wrong, this is not impatience or criticism. I'm just saying that you should not tie your hands, just out of respect for original content. What can be done better, should be done better.
Do not get me wrong, this is not impatience or criticism. I'm just saying that you should not tie your hands, just out of respect for original content. What can be done better, should be done better.
In fact Illithids require a good patch. The original target (random) selection does not work well on EE (I haven't retested it on the original game but I never saw such behavior). Trying to fix it now.
I encountered some strangeness with Mind Flayers as well:
1) They targeted some of their psionics (group buffs, I assume) at their allies in totally different rooms (which I hadn't even explored yet). The psionics spell animations shot right through the wall and fog of war towards the allies...
2) For each room after the first, all the Mind Flayers and Umber Hulks were already huddled together right at the door when I opened it, rather than standing at different positions across the room like they're supposed to. (Though I wouldn't be surprised if this was the fault of SCS's "Better calls for help" component, rather than this mod.)
3) They love to go invisible a lot (especially the Ulitharid). But that's probably intended.
@Ineth, Your first point is exactly what I want to fix. As far as I can't tell they don't target their allies, the projectile simply goes to the top left. I have already experienced it while tweaking the lich in the dock. It shouldn't be difficult to fix. Point 2 - no idea. However the vanilla mindflayer creatures have a "shout" script in common - the call for help is somehow implemented in the unmodded game. Point 3 - work as designed (hopefully).
Comments
Or more exactly, Kensai Ryu's Brown Dragon linked to Faldorn is not part of Tactics.
However if what you have in mind is the hell dragon you can meet in one of the challenges, then yes there is a modification but I am not sure about who wrote what.
Dragons in Tactics are not that great, I like Firkraag and there is a super idea implemented for Adalon.
Frankly I am not fond of SCS dragons, between the two there is an area of improvement.
There is an additional difficulty I saw when looking at Ascension's Abazigal for EE, the dragon files are not really standardized. The original authors implemented dragon templates and specific creatures (+claws and innate spells/abilities), sometimes the template becoming the specific creature...
A dedicated mod for dragons is welcome but that is a different project IMHO.
But then again, maybe that would be too punitive for players who like to do that encounter at the beginning of chapter 2 when they don't have good equipment and levels yet. And of course there's something to be said for respecting Weimer's / Kensai Ryu's intentions.
So... I'm not sure.
If the feedback is that it's still too easy then I will increase the rate or more likely make sure there is always at least three skeleton warriors till you kill the so-called king.
I have another dilemna.
Tactics introduced the idea of mixing liches and pit fiends. (and in fact Kangaxx the demilich gets its demons too - I fully enabled this one).
In the original mod there was a weird behaviour with such a demon gating because a "summoned" demon (this is their gender : summoned_demon) is created as goodbutred (alignment), probably assuming that the player herself gated such a demon. As a result, in some cases, the lich and its friends could initially turn against their own demon ally. Moreover every pit fiend is able to cast a non interruptible spell to gate another demon when its HPs become too low.
I tried to fix it changing its alignment based on the condition of the summoner. I also faced a situation in which the demon is gated in a region from where it can not move (crooked crane). That was fixed with a teleport.
First point : However the animation (casting spell: gating vs createcreature) is very slow and there is still a short period during which the lich and friends can turn against the demon.
Second point : which delay would you allow between the moment the second (and beyond) demon generation can be called and the moment the instruction becomes effective. At the moment I grant 3 seconds. This is A LOT but I had the solo player in mind. In other words you have 3 seconds to bring the demon HP from 50% to 0.
Third point: The Tactics2 demons not only cast innate spells but they also cast "wizard" or "priest" spells. Their innate abilities are cast without delay but when they cast mages spells this may take more time up to the point they never really attack and spend their time casting spells (in the original mod). There are several options - leave it as is - make the casting immediate with a side effect, they can still cast spell during someone else time stop - duplicate all the pertaining spells and make them innate with immediate casting.
Fourth point: the mod implements a particular spell aimed at fighting against hidden/distant creatures or creature protected against undeads. However due to the topology and implementation of some maps, three liches cannot cast this spell (this is just disabled in two areas : shadow/umar temple and the chapter 4 maze). While testing the shadow temple I got an expected configuration (unfortunately) in which the demon is created long before it can fight the PC. Therefore I also disabled such a demon gating in those areas. As a compensatory factor I wanted to implement some anti protection from undead features but I am not done yet.
4 questions for those 4 points:
1- Shall I trade the animation for efficiency ? That will not prevent a pit fiend from casting fire area spells on you thus burning the surrounding greater mummies for instance (I had great moments with this in the so-called ghoul village).
2- Well this is a matter of delay, I will be glad to collect your feedback about the right duration to implement here.
3- I suspect the right answer is: rewrite all of them as innate abilities... but I will welcome your feedback.
4- Would it make sense for the player to cover all the dungeon in Umar Hills without being able to use a prot from undead? I am personally archi-convinced that it must be implemented because I realy dislike this prot spell but your view matters.
And of course most players will prefer the improved fiends from aTweaks and generic mages from Stratagems but that's a different matter!
(I am about to release a new version).
The structure of the mod is substantially modified and it contains many more fixes.
However this is an intermediate release as I still have many tests to run.
I think that the following components can be seen as beta (vs alpha)
Improved Ilyich
Improved Torgal (your game won't crash anymore)
Improved Guarded Compound (a few things I still want to try)
Improved Twisted Rune (a few things I still want to try)
Kuroisan
Red Badge
Improved MaeVar (a bit harder than the non EE version)
Lich in the docks (I love this one, please note that I haven't fixed/re-enabled the initial trigger as I am not sure every player would like to be welcome with a triple skull trap as soon as they enter the house).
Tougher Kangaxx (probably a few changes to the archlich to come, those used to this component should see several changes - actually fixes, btw now the lich (not the archlich) can use the scrolls she was supposed to use - this includes the nasty imprisonment (I can remove it if people complain), the fighter drink the right potions etc...
Gnome Fighter Illusionist in the docks (it "works" but the various AIs (gnome and familiars) are clearly not synchronized)
Improved Crypt King
Always toughest random spawns - no longer "always" as I rewrote it from scratch so that you can enter your own values. I still have to include a modification to the first (others ?) pocket plane challenge in Hell.
Improved Undead (nothing new was required)
Smarter vampires (nothing new was required)
Smarter Mages and Liches (well let's keep it as is)
Smater Golems (I am unhappy with the result though)
Improved Nymph (nothing new was required)
Improved Copper Coronet (that's better if you use another mod providing an AI for those generic guys...)
Tougher Druid Grove
and I may add the Demon AI but it will surely change.
From the SCS readme, 'Improved Fiends' section: "The component also enforces the fact that fiendly spellcasting is instantaneous and innate, so that fiends do not use up time getting their spells off, and cannot be interrupted."
FWIW, I also think it's the right way to go. Personally, I only ever used 'Protection from Undead' against demiliches, and these days I don't use it at all anymore. It just kills the fun... :P But I guess some people like it?
Demons are not like mages. They have no magic scrolls or books and do not (except the most powerful magic) pronouncing spells. Spells are associated with their being. Most of their spells should be instant and definitely uninterruptible.
Regarding undead
"Protection from Undead" should work ONLY against the mindless undead. Vampires and Liches should not be affected. This is not only my opinion, but also the original purpose of this spell.
However I disagree with several choices (like the removal of Weimer's Kangaxx) and my work is focused on W.Weimer's tactics and not focused on such variants.
Moreover BP is not supported on EE. It can install but beyond that it's your own business.
I don't think there is any particular effort to test and make it run on EE even if it includes a more recent weidu version and perhaps the conditional(?) installation of DS.
Those days, I do not recommend the installation of BP on the EE version with the important exception of Ascension (due to the lack of valid and complete alternatives).
@ineth
Not fully knowledgeable about the SCS demons, I will have a look at the details. However my preferred mod for demons is aTweaks. Even though I try to adapt or tweak the W.Weimer's demon AI mod, it remains modest when compared with such other mods.
From many perspectives Demon AI in Tactics is a nice add-on to the Smarter Mages and Liches.
It has three main goals:
-Reuse the spells cast by the vanilla version but make them available at will (instead of once)
-Provide some liches and Kangaxx demi-lich with a pit fiend "ally"
-Make the pit-fiend able to gate another pit fiend when their XP <= 50%.
Again I do not wish to transform the mod so that it can compete with the more recent packages but I think I will duplicate the spells to make them available as innate with a short casting time.
If you test the existing module on EE you will see that Demon Fear is already a nice "pain in the ass".
@Edvin
With the release of Bodhi in the next package you will get an anti protection from undead mechanics.
I diverge from my initial statement (adapt to EE and add nothing of your own) but in that case I think it makes sense.
Make the spells to be cast as ``innates`` via the script using ForceSpell() or similar. Don't make innate copies of the actual spells unless you plan to make them limited or slightly modify them. Nice improvement there.
Do you plan any cleanly own improvement?
For example, Dragons or Ithilid brain would need a substantial increase HP.
P.S.
If you want to become a truly legendary moder, you can try include Ascension in to Tactic.
I have in this regard only minor knowledge, so I have no idea how difficult it would be.
Is there any chance you could give each component a fixed component number that will never change between releases, and use the "subcomponents" feature for multiple-choice components (rather than manually blocking for keyboard input from the user)? Most of the modern mods like BG2 Tweaks and SCS do it that way.
It would allow me to conveniently upgrade to a new release of this mod by simple passing something like
--force-install-list 10 13 14 15 16 17 19 22 23 26 34 35 37 38to weidu, let it run on its own, and then return 20 minutes later to find it all finished...Of course you should only do it if that doesn't make things inconvenient on your end.
Gebhard Blucher's Random City Encounters:
This component fails to install with
ERROR: [vampsttp.bcs] -> [override] Patching Failed (COPY) (Failure("Cannot Apply Patch"))if the Check The Bodies mod has been installed prior to it. Full debug file is attached below.This is probably not Tactic's fault - after all CTB is not even officially compatible with EE (I had to apply some hacks to get it to install). But I thought I'd mention it anyway.
The components already have fixed numbers because all components are declared even if they are not yet installable (Improved Irenicus for instance). However I can easily force a number for each component declaration - will do that.
I can also duplicate some code to use subcomponents but if i understand the suggestion, this more a question about auto-install. This can surely help you install several of them even though my menus are not yet final and they may entirely disappear at some point ... except with components where I really need a user input such as "always" toughest random spawns. If I have to use an alternative here that is likely to be a separate ini file.
One of the plan was to introduce a core component (hence the room before the first number: 10) and from there, preset everything required by the other components but i haven't designed it yet. I have to finish the conversion first.
Random City Encounters.
Well ... Not really my fault and unlikely Check The Bodies fault.
That's one of the few occurences where I patch an original script. When two or more components modify the same blocks, that does not work well
In that particular case I can try to use series of replacements by matching a single line but that will not be a general method. The random wild encounters component may experience the same type of issues.
I installed them for testing purposes but I don't think I will often play with them (without a couple of substantial tweaks). Two issues: the random city encounters component make you feel like stepping on an anthill, relentless attacks ... no fun. The second issue is that they drop all their stuff which is sometimes exceptional (potions) and always very valuable, thus unbalancing the game even more.
Not an excuse on my side but don't be sad because the installation failed...
I really suggest using the version v49 I published 4 days ago. There are many improvements to most components you installed (basically all of the Athkatla special encounters + MaeVar). Bodhi is not included (disabled) even though her code is included (you can reenable it if you want to), that will come in the next release.
You also seem to have other errors in your debug file.
More specifically, your animate.ids file has been overridden and it seems somewhat damaged or more likely reverted back to the non EE version. (see line 150).
I am already a legend in my house ... for spending too much time with this mod and game.
Illithids : why not, as an option.
Dragons : I think they deserve a separate mod. I would like to do that but I don't have the time yet.
@CrevsDaak
Good idea! I am hesitating now because in fact there are very few spells to duplicate and modify and, for instance, the pit fiends cast symbol fear (casting time 9 - so they would need a serious boost).
ApplySpell() seems underused, sadly. There are very nice things to do with it but I cannot do them in Tactics2, I try to stick to the original intents. Hey! in a dragon's mod for instance
It may take years before appear another man such as you.
Illithid elder brain, Lavok, Shade Lord and Dragons were somehow excluded from original Tactic.
These are important and powerful beings. Their killing should not be so simple.
All should get HP bonus, but also:
1) Elder brain = The brain would need some additional protection.
Maybe a few extra guards. Two more golems would be sufficient.
2) Lavok = Hundreds of years old genius necromant should be MUCH stronger.
He should also have some servants. Maybe two Bone Golems? Adequate protection for the necromancer.
3) Shade Lord = This guy is simply joke.
Let me recall that this guy was able conquer temple of the God of the sun (which is his biggest weakness) and his servant is mighty shadow dragon. Seriously, wtf? He should be much stronger then regular lich.
4) Dragons = "Smarter Dragons" is good improvement so they need only more HP.
+50 % boost sound right (maybe even little more).
P.S.
Feel free to ignore me, it is your mode and this is purely my personal opinion.
But I was able to finish BG2 countless times and every time I felt, that these creatures are not adequately strong.
1) Yes but SCS offers predefined options. The way I wrote Ishan's component makes you free to choose the values you want. A little try will be more explicit that all my explanations.
2) v49 is much better... this is the hugest update so far, even if it adds no new components.
3) As far as Tactics is concerned, animates.ids is not that important (only improved sahuagin which I do not consider beta yet) but that's not the only ids file being modified in your config. If the mods you install just append more or less useful lines to the BG2EE files then that's okay but as demonstrated by animate.ids, some of your mods simply overwrite the game files. If they do that on action.ids or stats.ids or spells.ids to quote some important files, then you may end up with damaged scripts (bcs and dlg, both vanilla and mods) referring to those files.
If you want to keep your mod list as is, one possible approach is to compare the ids files in your override directory and the BG2EE vanilla files. You can use NI to do so and slightly modify the filenames in override to make such a visual comparison easier. Otherwise if you can use a Unix like OS (perhaps OSX, Linux for sure, any BSD etc) and export the pertaining vanilla game files, you are likely to have the right tools at the command line to perform a basic diff (well if this is not obvious for you let's forget about that).
And, as a last resort, you may also simply destroy the IDS files in your override folder, there is a good chance that everything required is already present in the comprehensive BG2EE files. Don't do that if you deployed SCS or BP, do that prior to deploying the first of them (SCS for sure, less certain about BP). This remains risky - no lies. As you can read in this thread, some mods like to modify gtimes.ids so don't delete this one.
@Edvin
I tend to agree with your remarks but I don't want to mix two different objectives : make Tactics2 fully compatible with EE and provide more/better tactical challenges. For now, I keep working on the former.
Despite your enthusiasm and encouragements, I know where I come from and I am just a little modder but I am glad to make things work (when they work...).
Original Tactics was work of several people and its purpose was to provide better tactical challenges.
Times have changed, game has changed and new man (you) is working on Tactics mod. There is nothing wrong if this new person adds something new to supplement gaps in mod. Think of it this way, you can finally complete the unfinished mode and provide better tactical challenges for last remaining significant fights.
Installs fine if I choose "2. no guardians", but if I choose to also install the guardians it apparently fails to patch archlich.bcs (debug file attached).
I forgot that some of those files were intially compiled. With a valid and modified IDS file it caused the failure. With an unmodded install I saw nothing.
@ineth
I apologize. I published a working package. Your install should run fine with the version alpha50 attached to the initial post. I hope you will enjoy this reworked fight.
I haven't modified the random encounters component yet.
@Edvin
Understood.
However that mod is not mine and I have to respect the original work.
That does not prevent me from adding extra tactical challenges in a new and different package. Please be patient.
I'm just saying that you should not tie your hands, just out of respect for original content.
What can be done better, should be done better.
The original target (random) selection does not work well on EE (I haven't retested it on the original game but I never saw such behavior). Trying to fix it now.
1) They targeted some of their psionics (group buffs, I assume) at their allies in totally different rooms (which I hadn't even explored yet). The psionics spell animations shot right through the wall and fog of war towards the allies...
2) For each room after the first, all the Mind Flayers and Umber Hulks were already huddled together right at the door when I opened it, rather than standing at different positions across the room like they're supposed to. (Though I wouldn't be surprised if this was the fault of SCS's "Better calls for help" component, rather than this mod.)
3) They love to go invisible a lot (especially the Ulitharid). But that's probably intended.
Your first point is exactly what I want to fix. As far as I can't tell they don't target their allies, the projectile simply goes to the top left. I have already experienced it while tweaking the lich in the dock. It shouldn't be difficult to fix.
Point 2 - no idea. However the vanilla mindflayer creatures have a "shout" script in common - the call for help is somehow implemented in the unmodded game.
Point 3 - work as designed (hopefully).