you could do this, for example: the three hexxat dungeons could be connected to one multi-level worldmap location. just a plain dugeon crawl. at the end of it you meet an ordinary lich, it doesn't even need to be korkorran. connect the areas thematically (they're already very similar), add some non-lame encounters, keep the "puzzles" and it'll be great.
hexxat could be completely detached from it and no major new dialogue would have to be created. just the lines that reveal the location to you...you could for example learn about the location from the red wizards or the thieves guild, or the cowled wizards could send you to investigate.
I think you underestimate the amount of work required to accomplish this. You're basically creating a new adventure from scratch with the (slight) advantage of having some game assets already available. It's certainly possible to do something like this, but a work of this scale should be done as a separate mod.
Changes: - Added options to keep all or individual NPCs from initiating conversations or events on their own. Affected NPCs: Baeloth (BG:EE), Hexxat (BG2:EE), Neera (BG:EE and BG2:EE) and Rasaad (BG2:EE).
Another feature that would be cool and would go along well with this mod would be to add the new items that are introduced to a new merchant NPC. Perhaps have one guy who sells all the available equipment from BGII in the Adventurer's Mart, and then have another who sells all of the ToB stuff placed somewhere (Pocket plane might be weird, perhaps have him spawn at Watcher's Keep, but only once the player is in ToB?)
This way people can still access the new items, without being forced to do the quests for the new characters.
I can only think of the Red Wizards merchant in one of Neera's areas and he's got only a single unique item to sell which you can't get anywhere else. Are there more?
Unique items you can find or get as reward are probably too closely linked to the respective NPCs and their quests. I don't think they should be available without having the NPCs in your party.
I was more thinking of the items you can get as you play through the new areas, such as loot from that adventuring group in the Amphitheater for Rasaad's quest, as well as the items for the Twin Goddess trials, also during Rasaad's quest. Also anything that is unique that can be gained in the different tombs for Hexxat.
Obviously anything TOO unique that is linked to characters would be weird to have for sale, but the other random rewards and loot I don't think is as big a deal. I look at it as somewhat of a compromise since you can't do ANY of the new quests without the new NPCs, which I hate. None of the original NPCs forced you to use them to complete the quests, it would be nice if there had been a way offered with the new areas as well.
It's certainly doable, but it may complicate things if you decide to reactive that particular NPC later by uninstalling the respective mod component. In this case you'd have access to two copies of the same unique items.
It took a while, but I have finally finished working on a new component that makes NPC-specific items available for everyone. Only items for disabled NPCs will be available though. Several items have been slightly altered, mainly to relax usability restrictions. You can find out more in the Readme. As a bonus I have also enabled a couple of items that are (probably) meant for specific NPCs, but haven't been added to the game (yet).
A complete list of items and their new locations can be found in the Readme and in the first post of this thread. Let me know if the list is complete or if you have suggestions about new item locations.
Fixed a bug in the new component "Make NPC-specific items available for everyone" which relocated items only for the first selected NPC if you chose to disable individual NPCs.
This release can be considered stable content-wise. I have labeled it as beta since the WeiDU installer required to install the mod is currently only available as beta. Windows and Mac OS X installers are included. The GNU/Linux version of WeiDU can be found here.
New in this version:
Added Siege of Dragonspear support (Read more about it in the included Readme)
Fixed a bug in BG2:EE where Rasaad could still appear even when disabled
@Mercilec This mod changes how Beamdog NPCs interact with your party before they have the opportunity to join you - regardless of your party composition.
I would recommend to install the option "Disable all NPCs" if you play with a full party of pregenerated characters. In this case you can also install the component "Make NPC-specific items available for everyone".
Basically yes. However, this mod also provides options to make NPCs less intrusive and provides more control over which NPC to disable or make passive.
Comments
connect the areas thematically (they're already very similar), add some non-lame encounters, keep the "puzzles" and it'll be great.
hexxat could be completely detached from it and no major new dialogue would have to be created. just the lines that reveal the location to you...you could for example learn about the location from the red wizards or the thieves guild, or the cowled wizards could send you to investigate.
New release: v2.0
Download link can be found in the first post.Changes:
- Added options to keep all or individual NPCs from initiating conversations or events on their own. Affected NPCs: Baeloth (BG:EE), Hexxat (BG2:EE), Neera (BG:EE and BG2:EE) and Rasaad (BG2:EE).
This way people can still access the new items, without being forced to do the quests for the new characters.
Unique items you can find or get as reward are probably too closely linked to the respective NPCs and their quests. I don't think they should be available without having the NPCs in your party.
Obviously anything TOO unique that is linked to characters would be weird to have for sale, but the other random rewards and loot I don't think is as big a deal. I look at it as somewhat of a compromise since you can't do ANY of the new quests without the new NPCs, which I hate. None of the original NPCs forced you to use them to complete the quests, it would be nice if there had been a way offered with the new areas as well.
New version: Disable Enhanced Edition NPCs v3.0
It took a while, but I have finally finished working on a new component that makes NPC-specific items available for everyone. Only items for disabled NPCs will be available though. Several items have been slightly altered, mainly to relax usability restrictions. You can find out more in the Readme. As a bonus I have also enabled a couple of items that are (probably) meant for specific NPCs, but haven't been added to the game (yet).A complete list of items and their new locations can be found in the Readme and in the first post of this thread. Let me know if the list is complete or if you have suggestions about new item locations.
New version: Disable Enhanced Edition NPCs v3.1
Fixed a bug in the new component "Make NPC-specific items available for everyone" which relocated items only for the first selected NPC if you chose to disable individual NPCs.New beta version: Disable Enhanced Edition NPCs v3.2-beta1
This release can be considered stable content-wise. I have labeled it as beta since the WeiDU installer required to install the mod is currently only available as beta. Windows and Mac OS X installers are included. The GNU/Linux version of WeiDU can be found here.New in this version:
New stable version: Disable Enhanced Edition NPCs v3.2
New in this version since v3.1:Also, Neera's Staff is not replicated according to that list, but I guess it's not exactly an awesome item.
Neera's Staff is too closely related to Neera. The same applies to the Robe of Goodman Hayes, which is also not available.
And you're welcome, of course!
New version: Disable Enhanced Edition NPCs v3.3
Changes in v3.3:I would recommend to install the option "Disable all NPCs" if you play with a full party of pregenerated characters. In this case you can also install the component "Make NPC-specific items available for everyone".