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[MOD] Skip Chateau Irenicus

argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,494
edited July 2021 in BGII:EE Mods
I've noticed that Dungeon-Be-Gone is becoming more and more popular for veteran players who played this game more than just a couple of times. So I have decided to create an alternate (and less silly) version of it for BG2:EE and EET (and since v3.0 for classic BG2 and BGT as well).

This mod is unrelated to Dungeon-Be-Gone except for the fact that it also allows you to skip Chateau Irenicus. In addition it makes use of several EE-specific features, so that you won't lose any vanilla or mod-added items available in that dungeon.

Download (latest release)

Alternate Download (latest release)


From the Readme:
Overview

Are you tired of running through the whole initial dungeon over and over? Not anymore!

This mod allows you skip all the boring details of Chateau Irenicus. You can even collect all the items normally found within the dungeon. Just inspect the rubble of the destroyed building on Waukeen's Promenade. As a bonus you will also gain some experience and may find a bit of pocket change.

"Skip Chateau Irenicus" is meant as an alternative to the (in)famous Dungeon-Be-Gone mod which provides a similar option, but in a way that seriously breaks the fourth wall.

This mod requires BG2 (with or without ToB), BGT, BG2:EE or EET (Enhanced Edition Trilogy).


Installation

This is a WeiDU mod, that means it is very easy to install. Simply unpack the downloaded archive into your game directory and run "setup-SkipChateauIrenicus.exe". Follow the instructions and you are ready to start. You must start a new SoA game to see any effect.

Note: To get the most out of the mod, BG2:EE should be patched to v2.0 or higher.


Components

Main component: Skip Chateau Irenicus (requires BG2, BGT, BG2:EE or EET)

The component triggers moments after you are released from your cell. A rogue appears and opens up the opportunity to use the magical portals to leave the dungeon. Each portal will transport you to the other level of the dungeon or directly to the surface. Afterwards the way back is blocked like in the unmodified game. To loot the items from the dungeon inspect the rubble of the destroyed building on Waukeen's Promenade.

The item description of the dryads' acorns have been slightly altered to give you some information what you can do with it.

For BG2:EE before patch 2.0 and original BG2 the mod uses less advanced methods to transfer dungeon loot to the surface. As a result you may miss out on some minor stuff or have duplicate items, depending on how much you looted the dungeon before teleporting to the surface.

Note: For BG2:EE v2.0+ and EET there may be a general slowdown of the game for a few seconds after the initial cutscene on Waukeen's Promenade, which is caused by the item transference process.


Optional component: Deal with skipped NPCs (requires main component, requires BG2:EE or EET)

This component allows you to recruit NPCs which might have been missed because you skipped the dungeon. It comes in two flavors:

1. Vanilla NPCs only
This option deals only with the vanilla NPCs Jaheira, Minsc and Yoshimo. They can be found at their designated locations as if you dismissed them from the party.

2. All available NPCs
This option deals with every supported vanilla and mod NPC. In addition to the vanilla NPCs it adds code for Adrian Sianodel (by Rhaella), Chloe (by Lucythebeast) as well as Yasraena (by Sillara). They can either be found directly near the destroyed building at Waukeen's Promenade or at their designated waiting locations as if you dismissed them from the party.
Other mod NPCs that can be encountered in Chateau Irenicus may be supported by their respective authors. In this case they will be handled by this mod component as well. This mod provides an easy mechanism to make it possible. You can read more about it in the following chapters.


Optional component: More realistic opening cutscene (independent component; for BG2, BGT, BG2:EE and EET)

In the original opening cutscene of the game Imoen appears out of nowhere and frees you from your cell, which raises the questions where she was held prisoner and how she managed to escape. This component changes the cutscene, so that Imoen is imprisoned like everyone else, and her escape is portrayed more believably.

Note: This cutscene is fully compatible with the "Faster Chapter 1&2 Cut-Scenes & Dreams" component of Tweaks Anthology.


Compatibility

This mod skips an important part of the SoA main story. Although items will be transferred to the surface you may still miss certain mod-added content, such as quests, journal entries or NPCs. The mod provides a feature to deal with skipped NPCs, but only code for the vanilla NPCs Minsc, Jaheira and Yoshimo are included in this mod. Modders can use this feature to add their own code though. More information can be found in the next chapter.The mod is designed so that you can transport back and forth between the two levels of Chateau Irenicus until you decide to teleport to the surface. Afterwards the way is blocked forever, like in the unmodified game.


Information for modders

The mod is extensible regarding how containers and items are transferred after returning to the surface. The subfolder "tables" of this mod is scanned for 2DA files which will be processed based on their content. Mods which provide items for Chateau Irenicus can simply put their own 2DA files into the folder, so that it will be taken care by this mod later on. Only items that can be acquired by special means (such as quest rewards or by scripted actions) have to be handled by this method. Items from containers are transferred automatically.

Each 2DA file may contain information whether to exclude specific containers from the item transference process, how to handle items acquired by scripted actions and what to do with unique or dungeon-specific items. You can find a more detailed description with example code in "SkipChateauIrenicus/tables/desc.txt".

The mod also provides an "addon" feature which can be used to deal with mod-added NPCs that can be found in Chateau Irenicus, but are skipped because of this mod. For that reason a modder can place a WeiDU script file with .tpa or .tph extension into the "npc" subfolder of this mod. A small number of predefined variables can be used to interact with this mod. You can find a more detailed description with example code in "SkipChateauIrenicus/npc/desc.txt".


Credits

Writing, coding and testing: Argent77

French translation: Gwendolyne
Polish translation: Cahir
Russian translation: Austin

Thanks to the authors of Dungeon-Be-Gone for inspiring me to create this mod.


Copyright Notice

The mod "Skip Chateau Irenicus" is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License".


Have fun! :)
Post edited by argent77 on
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Comments

  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    @argent77 I'm on it as soon as I get back from vacations :)
  • StefanOStefanO Member Posts: 346
    Very nicely done. You surely are productive: 4 new mods in the last couple of months! Thank you so much.

    There may be a problem with the Adrian NPC mod.

    You will meet Adrian at the end of the second level of Chateau Irenicus. Teleporting to the surface will prohibit his joining.


    Is this mod compatible with the randomizer mod?
  • GrimLefourbeGrimLefourbe Member Posts: 637
    Although items will be transferred to the
    surface you may still miss certain mod-added content, such as journal entries or NPCs. There is
    currently no technically feasible way to automatically collect all available NPCs.


    From the readme.
    You can probably console yourself to Adrian and recruit him then go back and use the mod.
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,494
    I'm already planning a possible solution for the NPC issue. Randomiser should not be affected as long as the randomized items are not assigned to creatures or available via script actions (e.g. as quest reward).
  • StefanOStefanO Member Posts: 346
    argent77 said:

    Randomiser should not be affected as long as the randomized items are not assigned to creatures or available via script actions (e.g. as quest reward).

    A quick test was successfull. No installation problems. And the items found at Waukeen Promenade were propper "randomized".
  • smeagolheartsmeagolheart Member Posts: 7,964
    The thing for me when playing bgt back in the day was if I started a bg2 game I always felt like I had to play bg1 for the tomes.

    Maybe a bag with the tomes would be a nice addition to something like this
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    @argent77 ok, I'm back... sort of. Do you plan to add more strings to a new version? I can probably find some time to translate it on weekend, so if you're going to release it soon, it would be great.
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,494
    @smeagolheart This might be a candidate for an optional tweak component.

    @Cahir The main component is pretty much set. For the most up-to-date version grab the tra files and readme from the devel branch of the mod. You should still wait a day or two, so that I can polish up the readme some more.

    I'll release a new version soon. It includes a couple of fixes and improvements that have been suggested over at SHS.
  • smeagolheartsmeagolheart Member Posts: 7,964
    Yeah about the tomes if I'm not starting BG2 with a 19 str human I feel like I'm doing something wrong or missed something haha
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,494
    @smeagolheart There is already a mod that adds these tomes: Fake Import Mod

    I don't know if it already supports BG2:EE though.
  • smeagolheartsmeagolheart Member Posts: 7,964
    I see.. Yeah there are other considerations such as pants and drizzt
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    argent77 said:

    @smeagolheart This might be a candidate for an optional tweak component.

    @Cahir The main component is pretty much set. For the most up-to-date version grab the tra files and readme from the devel branch of the mod. You should still wait a day or two, so that I can polish up the readme some more.

    I'll release a new version soon. It includes a couple of fixes and improvements that have been suggested over at SHS.

    Roger that, I'll start meddling with it Saturday/Sunday I think.

    Cool mod, btw :)
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,494

    New version: Skip Chateau Irenicus v2.0

    Changes in v2.0:
    • Relocated a container in the rubble of the destroyed building on Waukeen's Promenade to a more suitable location.
    • Added more transportation options to the lower level portals in Chateau Irenicus.
    • Vanilla NPCs Jaheira, Minsc and Yoshimo can be recruited later if you decide to skip them in Chateau Irenicus.
    • Added German translation.
    • For modders: externalized areas to consider when transferring items to the surface.
    • For modders: implemented "addon" feature that can be used to deal with skipped NPCs.
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    @argent77 Here is translated .tra's and Readme. I've added remark in Changes section of Readme for addition of Polish translation like:
    v2.1
    - Dodano tłumaczenie na język polski
    Feel free to change the number of version if it's incorrect. If you plan to add other changes, not only Polish translation, to the new version, just let me know, so I can add it to Polish Readme too.
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,494
    @Cahir Thanks a lot for the translations. Can you attach the readme again in utf-8 encoding? Without knowing the original ANSI code page all my conversion attempts resulted in garbled special characters.

    Btw, I prefer to keep the Credits and History sections in English since they change so frequently (and I don't have to bug you about it every time it's changing).
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    @argent77 alright, here grab updated Readme encoded in UTF-8. I also reverted Credits and History section back to English again as requested.
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,494
    Thanks. I've uploaded it to the devel branch of the mod in case you want to test it.
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    @argent77 thanks, I'll try to check it when I can.
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,494

    New version: Skip Chateau Irenicus v2.1

    Changes in v2.1:
    • Added Polish translation (thanks @Cahir )
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    And thanks again @argent77!
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,494

    New version: Skip Chateau Irenicus v2.2

    Changes in v2.2:
    • Added NPC support for Adrian, Chloe and Yasraena
    • Fixed harmless error messages shown during installation
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,494

    New version: Skip Chateau Irenicus v2.3

    Changes in v2.3:
    • Moved NPC-related code into separate subcomponent
    • Added error catching code to NPC addon feature to prevent mod termination because of buggy script files
    • Added French translation (thanks @Gwendolyne )
  • jasteyjastey Member Posts: 2,785
    This mod is great, and it fits itself in seamlessly gaming-wise. Thank you for this wonderful addition, or should I say 'subtraction', to the game!
  • YinepuhotepYinepuhotep Member Posts: 15
    edited July 2017
    I'm noticing a problem with this mod. While it takes care of Chateau Irenicus without any trouble, it also leaves Imoen in the party afterwards. This has happened on every run-through, without fail.

    And, yes, this includes when it's the only mod installed.
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,494
    @Yinepuhotep I need more info since I couldn't reproduce this issue myself.

    1. What is your game setup (BG2:EE or EET)?
    2. Which mod components have you installed?
    3. How exactly did you trigger this issue?
  • YinepuhotepYinepuhotep Member Posts: 15
    1. BG2:EE
    2. I installed the entire mod. All components.
    3. I start the game, Imoen shows up. Imoen and I rescue Jaheira and Minsc. I talk to the rogue and take the portal to the surface. The big fight ensues. Irenicus and Imoen are taken away. Imoen is still in my party. The game actually seems to create a second Imoen at the moment she gets taken away.
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,494
    I can't reproduce the issue on my installation even when following your instructions.

    Can you upload a save from before leaving Chateau Irenicus? I'd like to try it out on my own game installation.

    Btw, have you tried leaving the first dungeon without this mod installed? There may be leftover files from a previous mod installation interfering with the game.
  • YinepuhotepYinepuhotep Member Posts: 15
    I'll give it a try and see what happens.
  • YinepuhotepYinepuhotep Member Posts: 15
    Your suggestion of leftover files seems to be the problem. I had to wipe the BG installation entirely to clear out leftover files, but once I did that, it took care of the duplicate Imoen problem. It's definitely not your mod that's causing it.

    Looks like my next step is to start re-adding mods until I find the one that breaks things.
  • ArthasArthas Member Posts: 1,091
    Please clarify. This mod is an improved dungeon be gone, from what I see, because it also detects the mod-added npcs, so you can get them too. Am I wrong? are there any other differences?
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