@Arthas my plan is to be done before August, but I can't guarantee that I'll be done before then. I will say that for the past two weeks or so I've been working on this mod constantly and doing pretty much nothing else.
Here are the things I have left to do:
*Modify the rest of Durlag's Tower, plus the cultists and Aec'Letec *Modify some parts of Chapter 7 that I haven't touched yet (namely, the Ducal Palace fight, the maze, and the final battle) *Finish modifying and WeiDUifying the items (this I'll do today; I'm almost done with it) *Finish modifying and WeiDUifying the spells (this I'll start today; I might be able to finish it today) *Finish modifying miscellaneous creatures such as Shandalar or the Flaming Fist (not too many of these left) *WeiDUify all creatures
The WeiDUifying is the easy part, since I just have to copy the modifications I've already made into WeiDU code. The hard part is when I have to modify a new creature, since I'm aiming to come up with unique ideas for each creature.
By this point, I've written WeiDU code for all the items that I'm modifying, with the exception of scrolls. The scrolls won't be a big deal though, since I'm usually only modifying their description. I'll deal with the scrolls tomorrow when I deal with the spells.
By this point, I've finished most of the spells. I've also modified all the familiars. Now they're all on par with the ones from Throne of Bhaal, or possibly a little better. They each have cool things they can do. For example, the rabbit familiar is a master assassin who has 200% in Hide in Shadows and Move Silently and a backstab multiplier of x8 (its normal attacks deal 2 damage). The cat familiar attacks 6 times per round and moves extremely fast (movement set to 255).
By this point, I've finished most of the spells. I've also modified all the familiars. Now they're all on par with the ones from Throne of Bhaal, or possibly a little better. They each have cool things they can do. For example, the rabbit familiar is a master assassin who has 200% in Hide in Shadows and Move Silently and a backstab multiplier of x8 (its normal attacks deal 2 damage). The cat familiar attacks 6 times per round and moves extremely fast (movement set to 255).
...How did you get my cat so faithfully reproduced in a videogame? Frankly an amazing coincidence!
Okay, I should be able to finish the spells tomorrow. Today I got the last big hurdle out of the way in modifying the spells.
You see, I was planning on making it so that creatures summoned by spells such as Monster Summoning 1 have the same ridiculous abilities as the normal versions of the monsters. However, that quickly leads to balance issues. If you can summon, say, an xvart, then you have access to a whole lot of Time Stop. That's a bit TOO ridiculous for a spell of level 3 or so. My solution was to rework the Monster Summoning and Animal Summoning spells so that they summon different sets of creatures; these creatures have cool abilities but aren't too overpowered. Each spell will summon a single creature which is chosen at random from a couple of creatures. Monster Summoning 2, for example, can now summon a kobold commando (which can use Greater Whirlwind Attack to fire lots of flaming arrows), a tasloi (which can use its berserking gaze to make enemies go berserk and attack each other), an earth mephit (which 50% Crushing Resistance, has Aura Cleansing and can use an ability multiple times which lets it spit a rock at an enemy), or a small troll (which has a good amount of HP and regenerates 1 HP per second but has -100% resistance to fire and acid).
If a character gets one of these spells as an innate ability, they get to choose which creature is summoned. The reason the regular spells can't work that way is because enemies use those spells and their AI can't choose which creature to summon.
Oh, and there's something I must mention about the spells in this mod. Many of the high level spells from Throne of Bhaal can be cast by certain classes or characters in this mod. These include Chain Contingency, Improved Alacrity, Energy Blades, various spell sequencers, and more. However, there are certain things that mages can't do. Spellcasters in the party do not have access to:
*Wish *High damage area of effect spells (Horrid Wilting, Incendiary Cloud, Comet, Dragon's Breath, Fire Storm). *Spells which cause enemies of medium level to die with no save (Storm of Vengeance, Death Spell, Deathblow, Improved Deathblow), though there are some available effects that cause low level creatures to die with no save, such as Great Shout. *Extremely powerful summoned creatures (Devas, Planetars, Pit Fiends, Genies, Mordenkainen's Sword, Elementals (with the exception of lesser elementals), Invisible Stalkers (which would be broken due to the changes this mod makes to them)). There are some weaker fiends that can be summoned.
On the other hand, some enemies do have access to these things. The good news is that I made it so that if you kill one of the enemy-only summons listed above, it gives you experience. Some of them even drop items such as stat-increasing tomes.
The idea of giving the party access to certain high level spells and abilities but not others has to do with the fact that there are certain spells and abilities (the ones I'm giving the party) whose power greatly depends on the power of the character using them. For example, Chain Contingency isn't quite as powerful when you're a level 4 sorcerer and you don't have lots of Horrid Wiltings and other high level spells to cast with it.
By this point, my mod's TP2 file is gigantic. It's over a megabyte of pure text. Fortunately, I've made it very well-organized, so it's not too hard for me to find things in it.
Oh, and @RVNS I don't really know when I'll be done with this mod. All I know is that I'm working on this mod like crazy every day right now. My plan was to be done before August, but by this point I don't think I'll be able to get it out that soon.
By now, I've cleaned up most of the mess I had previously made with NearInfinity. All item, spell, area, store, 2da, ids, bam, eff and projectile files that had been overridden with NearInfinity have been WeiDUified. There are still some creature and bcs files that are overridden (as of this post, there are 303 overridden files; the last time I checked was maybe a week ago; at that time there were over 600 overridden files). But before I deal with those, I think I'm going to finish Durlag's Tower. Here are the parts of Durlag's Tower I still need to finish:
*Floor with lots of doppelgangers DONE *Floor with the three paths DONE *Chessboard DONE *Floor before Demonknight DONE *Demonknight DONE *Cultists DONE *Aec'Letec DONE
Finally, I'm done with Durlag's Tower! I also playtested it by going through it with a party, and I was able to get all the way through it and beat the cultists and Aec'Letec. Durlag's Tower is still very challenging, but still beatable.
I'm almost done with the creatures. As of this point, there are only 75 creature files still overridden with NearInfinity. I plan to reduce that number to zero. The only other overridden files are a couple of BCS files, which are used by some of those 75 creatures.
I also finally got around to modifying the Flaming Fist. The Flaming Fists punch you with their flaming fists, and some of the more powerful members can cast Bigby's Flaming Fist on you.
Tomorrow I will work on Chapter 7, my last big-ish project.
Yesterday, disaster struck. My computer stopped working! When I pressed the button to turn it on, it didn't turn on. This was the computer I was using to work on the mod. It could be a while until the computer's problem gets fixed. In the meantime, I retrieved the hard drive from that computer and transferred the mod files to another computer. I'm going to continue working on the mod with this computer. I'm really close to finishing this mod, and I desperately want to finish it. This is by far the biggest project I've ever done in my life.
Switching to this computer had the added benefit that I am now working with the version of the game that doesn't have Siege of Dragonspear. Although I like SOD, this mod is meant to modify the base game only, so I want to make sure that it's compatible with the non-SOD version of the game. Now that I'm using the non-SOD version, I don't have to worry that the files I'm modifying aren't in the non-SOD version.
Today I finished modifying the final battle, and with that, I am done modifying Chapter 7! That was the last medium-sized project for this mod. The rest of the work is taking care of little things. Here and there there are a few small parts of the game that I haven't modified.
As of this comment there are only 65 creatures still overridden.
Finally, after so much time and so much work, I am done with the mod! The download link is on the first post. I already have plans for updates.
One thing I plan on doing soon is to divide the mod into components. This mod makes a wide array of changes to the game, including changes to classes and kits. I plan on making those optional. Right now they aren't, so if you don't like that then don't download it yet.
As @OlvynChuru 's big sister, I've had the opportunity to playtest this mod some. I had a lot of fun trying out NPCs I normally wouldn't include in my parties just to see what they were capable of.
SAVE OFTEN!
Personal recommendations: buy that amulet of shapeshifter detection and use it now and then. Be very afraid of squirrels.
If anyone playing this mod finds any bugs that haven't been fixed in the newest update and are not in the known bugs list, please leave a comment describing the bugs and I'll add them to the list. Consider this to be an open beta.
My next project with this mod is to finish modifying every creature in the game, including innocent people who you might not bother fighting. Currently there are many innocent creatures that haven't been changed by this mod at all.
One thing I haven't yet made optional is the changes I made to the starting locations of Quayle, Eldoth and Tiax. I forgot about this when I was adding components in the previous versions. I know that there are other mods that also change the starting positions of those characters, so in the next update one of the things I'll do is make that an optional component.
@RVNS Currently it isn't. Since I don't use Big World Setup when I install mods I'm not too familiar with how it works. I could look into the matter and see if I could get the mod to work with it.
I looked up how to make my mod compatible with Big World Setup, and it suggested that I put the mod on GitHub rather than on this forum. So I made a GitHub account and put my mod on there. In the process I made a few changes to the mod, including making the changes to NPC starting locations optional. Thus, Version 1.4 is out. It's not that big of an update, but next stop is Big World Setup.
One of the things they ask you for in the Big World Setup template is the list of languages your mod is compatible with. Since my mod did not have any TRA files, I wasn't sure what to put.
In the newest update, the mod uses a TRA file. I spent probably over 18 hours working on the TRA file because I wanted it to be as organized as possible. Finally, it's done. Version 1.5 is out, but once again it isn't a big one (unless you want to translate my mod).
I believe the mod is now compatible with Big World Setup. I managed to get the mod's INI template up on Big World Setup's list of INI files on Bitbucket.
I just downloaded it with bws. THIS MOD IS CRAZY! It certainly is full of surprises and I just can't believe how high it ramps up so quickly. Not for the faint of heart or a very serious playthrough but if you are looking for over the top you can't beat this!
this is a great idea. I am looking for a mod where you can start the game more powerful and the only way that works is removing the xp cap and also making the game alot more difficult, will be back later.
@gabeperron This mod definitely makes you start the game more powerful, and it does make the enemies in the game much tougher. However, it does not remove the XP cap, for two reasons: 1: the removal of the XP cap doesn't change the gameplay at all until you reach the former XP cap, and 2: I intended the characters to be powerful in a different way than they are in Baldur's Gate 2. In Baldur's Gate 2, your characters are powerful primarily because of their high level. In this mod, characters are powerful for a different reason, which is because they start with all these great abilities. Removing the XP cap would remove that difference. I don't like that, because I wanted this mod to be a different experience from other high power adventures.
I'm working on the next update now, and it's a big one. This update will change the Know Alignment spell into a different spell called Identify Creature.
The picture below shows the spell being used on some people in Candlekeep:
I plan to give Identify Creature strings to most of the creatures in the game. So far I've made over 100 strings for the spell. If you cast the spell on a creature that doesn't have a string for it, it just says "the spell reveals no information about the target."
Comments
Here are the things I have left to do:
*Modify the rest of Durlag's Tower, plus the cultists and Aec'Letec
*Modify some parts of Chapter 7 that I haven't touched yet (namely, the Ducal Palace fight, the maze, and the final battle)
*Finish modifying and WeiDUifying the items (this I'll do today; I'm almost done with it)
*Finish modifying and WeiDUifying the spells (this I'll start today; I might be able to finish it today)
*Finish modifying miscellaneous creatures such as Shandalar or the Flaming Fist (not too many of these left)
*WeiDUify all creatures
The WeiDUifying is the easy part, since I just have to copy the modifications I've already made into WeiDU code. The hard part is when I have to modify a new creature, since I'm aiming to come up with unique ideas for each creature.
You got my genuine interest, sire.
You see, I was planning on making it so that creatures summoned by spells such as Monster Summoning 1 have the same ridiculous abilities as the normal versions of the monsters. However, that quickly leads to balance issues. If you can summon, say, an xvart, then you have access to a whole lot of Time Stop. That's a bit TOO ridiculous for a spell of level 3 or so. My solution was to rework the Monster Summoning and Animal Summoning spells so that they summon different sets of creatures; these creatures have cool abilities but aren't too overpowered. Each spell will summon a single creature which is chosen at random from a couple of creatures. Monster Summoning 2, for example, can now summon a kobold commando (which can use Greater Whirlwind Attack to fire lots of flaming arrows), a tasloi (which can use its berserking gaze to make enemies go berserk and attack each other), an earth mephit (which 50% Crushing Resistance, has Aura Cleansing and can use an ability multiple times which lets it spit a rock at an enemy), or a small troll (which has a good amount of HP and regenerates 1 HP per second but has -100% resistance to fire and acid).
If a character gets one of these spells as an innate ability, they get to choose which creature is summoned. The reason the regular spells can't work that way is because enemies use those spells and their AI can't choose which creature to summon.
Oh, and there's something I must mention about the spells in this mod. Many of the high level spells from Throne of Bhaal can be cast by certain classes or characters in this mod. These include Chain Contingency, Improved Alacrity, Energy Blades, various spell sequencers, and more. However, there are certain things that mages can't do. Spellcasters in the party do not have access to:
*Wish
*High damage area of effect spells (Horrid Wilting, Incendiary Cloud, Comet, Dragon's Breath, Fire Storm).
*Spells which cause enemies of medium level to die with no save (Storm of Vengeance, Death Spell, Deathblow, Improved Deathblow), though there are some available effects that cause low level creatures to die with no save, such as Great Shout.
*Extremely powerful summoned creatures (Devas, Planetars, Pit Fiends, Genies, Mordenkainen's Sword, Elementals (with the exception of lesser elementals), Invisible Stalkers (which would be broken due to the changes this mod makes to them)). There are some weaker fiends that can be summoned.
On the other hand, some enemies do have access to these things. The good news is that I made it so that if you kill one of the enemy-only summons listed above, it gives you experience. Some of them even drop items such as stat-increasing tomes.
The idea of giving the party access to certain high level spells and abilities but not others has to do with the fact that there are certain spells and abilities (the ones I'm giving the party) whose power greatly depends on the power of the character using them. For example, Chain Contingency isn't quite as powerful when you're a level 4 sorcerer and you don't have lots of Horrid Wiltings and other high level spells to cast with it.
By this point, my mod's TP2 file is gigantic. It's over a megabyte of pure text. Fortunately, I've made it very well-organized, so it's not too hard for me to find things in it.
Oh, and @RVNS I don't really know when I'll be done with this mod. All I know is that I'm working on this mod like crazy every day right now. My plan was to be done before August, but by this point I don't think I'll be able to get it out that soon.
*Floor with lots of doppelgangersDONE*Floor with the three pathsDONE*ChessboardDONE*Floor before DemonknightDONE*DemonknightDONE*CultistsDONE*Aec'LetecDONEI also finally got around to modifying the Flaming Fist. The Flaming Fists punch you with their flaming fists, and some of the more powerful members can cast Bigby's Flaming Fist on you.
Tomorrow I will work on Chapter 7, my last big-ish project.
Switching to this computer had the added benefit that I am now working with the version of the game that doesn't have Siege of Dragonspear. Although I like SOD, this mod is meant to modify the base game only, so I want to make sure that it's compatible with the non-SOD version of the game. Now that I'm using the non-SOD version, I don't have to worry that the files I'm modifying aren't in the non-SOD version.
As of this comment there are only 65 creatures still overridden.
One thing I plan on doing soon is to divide the mod into components. This mod makes a wide array of changes to the game, including changes to classes and kits. I plan on making those optional. Right now they aren't, so if you don't like that then don't download it yet.
SAVE OFTEN!
Personal recommendations: buy that amulet of shapeshifter detection and use it now and then. Be very afraid of squirrels.
This version divides the mod into seperately installable components. Most of the components are changes to kits or rules.
My next project with this mod is to finish modifying every creature in the game, including innocent people who you might not bother fighting. Currently there are many innocent creatures that haven't been changed by this mod at all.
In the newest update, the mod uses a TRA file. I spent probably over 18 hours working on the TRA file because I wanted it to be as organized as possible. Finally, it's done. Version 1.5 is out, but once again it isn't a big one (unless you want to translate my mod).
It certainly is full of surprises and I just can't believe how high it ramps up so quickly. Not for the faint of heart or a very serious playthrough but if you are looking for over the top you can't beat this!
The picture below shows the spell being used on some people in Candlekeep:
I plan to give Identify Creature strings to most of the creatures in the game. So far I've made over 100 strings for the spell. If you cast the spell on a creature that doesn't have a string for it, it just says "the spell reveals no information about the target."