[Mod Request] General SoD Improvements
Fennal
Member Posts: 2
Hey all!
Although I believe the foundation for a great game was delivered by Beamdog with their latest expansion, there are a significant number of gameplay improvements I would like to see with it. I am unfortunately inept at coding and the processes to creating mods, and would like to ask individuals to work on some of the following issues so that players with similar sensibilities (including myself) might enjoy the game more.
1) Allow more opportunities for reputation loss: Having played the game with both an evil and a good party, I found it quite difficult to lose reputation no matter what paths you took. Of the routes I took, I have found very few normal gameplay opportunities to lose reputation:
The only other way to lose reputation would be to kill an innocent, which in the other games would be a very small issue; however, there are very few opportunities to kill innocents in the game and at least one of them is paired with a rather harsh punishment
2) Fewer alignment restrictions on items: Having most recently played the game with an all-evil party, I found that there were a high number of items that could not be used by evil characters (and sometimes neutral ones). Conversely, I found only one new item that could not be used by good characters. Either adding additional items that can be used only be non-good characters or removing some of the restrictions would be appropriate responses.
3) Additional NPC choices: There are no traditionally unpaired melee warriors for good parties in SoD. Simultaneously, there are very few evil-aligned choices at all, ignoring neutral characters. Adding an additional warrior NPC for good parties and a few more neutral/evil NPCs would be appreciated.
4) Fix Voghiln: Voghiln is unlikable and generally ineffective. I found that he's too squishy to be a melee character as he is clearly intended to be (even with stoneskin), is incapable of using at least one of the bard instruments due to a low Wis, and does not have the THAC0 to be effective as a warrior at either melee or ranged. His best role is to load him up with wands and Melf's Minute Meteors, but he's not significantly more effective with those than a pure mage (who can do far more and better). A mod that could make him a viable melee combatant (whether that means increasing his Con, giving his helmet THAC0 bonuses, changing his class to Fighter/Mage, whatever) would make him a worthwhile addition to a good party, which could solve part of the above issue.
5) Ensure there are options for every weapon class to fight Belhifet: Some weapons do not get +3 variants in BG:EE or in SoD. These include daggers, clubs, and slings (bullets) off the top of my head, and I'm pretty sure there aren't any +3 maces or crossbow bolts. As is probably well-known, there is a required enemy who cannot be harmed by any weapons with a +2 or lower enchantment. This makes the fight extraordinarily difficult for characters who do not have proficiency in a weapon type without a +3 option, especially when considering solo playthroughs using these weapons. To make matters worse, the enemy in question has an exceptionally high magic resistance and regeneration, so warriors with these highly enchanted weapons are basically a requirement.
With these 5 gameplay issues changed with mods, Siege of Dragonspear could be greatly improved. There will certainly still be issues (in dialogues and story progression, as an example), but such issues become increasingly subjective.
Thanks for reading, and hopefully this either directs modders to some key issues with the game or allows people to direct me towards resources that fix some of these issues.
Although I believe the foundation for a great game was delivered by Beamdog with their latest expansion, there are a significant number of gameplay improvements I would like to see with it. I am unfortunately inept at coding and the processes to creating mods, and would like to ask individuals to work on some of the following issues so that players with similar sensibilities (including myself) might enjoy the game more.
1) Allow more opportunities for reputation loss: Having played the game with both an evil and a good party, I found it quite difficult to lose reputation no matter what paths you took. Of the routes I took, I have found very few normal gameplay opportunities to lose reputation:
Attacking Pritchard in the Coalition Camp and siding with the Coldhearth Lich (at the assault on the camp later in the game).
The only other way to lose reputation would be to kill an innocent, which in the other games would be a very small issue; however, there are very few opportunities to kill innocents in the game and at least one of them is paired with a rather harsh punishment
An invincible mage who casts imprisonment on CHARname if you kill an innocent in the Coalition Camp
This is of course an issue if trying to retain evil characters in a party, especially in an otherwise good party, as raising an already high reputation can force such characters out of the party. There are multiple occasions in the game that feel as though they have an opportunity to lower the party's reputation but do not.2) Fewer alignment restrictions on items: Having most recently played the game with an all-evil party, I found that there were a high number of items that could not be used by evil characters (and sometimes neutral ones). Conversely, I found only one new item that could not be used by good characters. Either adding additional items that can be used only be non-good characters or removing some of the restrictions would be appropriate responses.
3) Additional NPC choices: There are no traditionally unpaired melee warriors for good parties in SoD. Simultaneously, there are very few evil-aligned choices at all, ignoring neutral characters. Adding an additional warrior NPC for good parties and a few more neutral/evil NPCs would be appreciated.
4) Fix Voghiln: Voghiln is unlikable and generally ineffective. I found that he's too squishy to be a melee character as he is clearly intended to be (even with stoneskin), is incapable of using at least one of the bard instruments due to a low Wis, and does not have the THAC0 to be effective as a warrior at either melee or ranged. His best role is to load him up with wands and Melf's Minute Meteors, but he's not significantly more effective with those than a pure mage (who can do far more and better). A mod that could make him a viable melee combatant (whether that means increasing his Con, giving his helmet THAC0 bonuses, changing his class to Fighter/Mage, whatever) would make him a worthwhile addition to a good party, which could solve part of the above issue.
5) Ensure there are options for every weapon class to fight Belhifet: Some weapons do not get +3 variants in BG:EE or in SoD. These include daggers, clubs, and slings (bullets) off the top of my head, and I'm pretty sure there aren't any +3 maces or crossbow bolts. As is probably well-known, there is a required enemy who cannot be harmed by any weapons with a +2 or lower enchantment. This makes the fight extraordinarily difficult for characters who do not have proficiency in a weapon type without a +3 option, especially when considering solo playthroughs using these weapons. To make matters worse, the enemy in question has an exceptionally high magic resistance and regeneration, so warriors with these highly enchanted weapons are basically a requirement.
With these 5 gameplay issues changed with mods, Siege of Dragonspear could be greatly improved. There will certainly still be issues (in dialogues and story progression, as an example), but such issues become increasingly subjective.
Thanks for reading, and hopefully this either directs modders to some key issues with the game or allows people to direct me towards resources that fix some of these issues.
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