I've been playing this mod and the new areas, while largely copy/pastes of different areas arranged in new ways, so far has been decently enough done for additional wilderness areas. A couple comments:
1. The Orc Priests in the Fields of the Dead drop an Orc Shaman's Cloak worth 500 gp. There are a lot of priests and therefore a lot of cloaks. The prevalence of the cloaks as loot makes this really feel like mod material and not something from the original game. Since I don't think the cloaks give a huge bonus to the effectiveness of the priests, who are mostly a threat due to their spells, I'd suggest just adjusting their drops to include a little bit more gold or some slightly more valuable gems, perhaps in the 100 gp range. If you want to have the Orc Cloak drop, then put it on a named creature.
2. The balance of items is still out alignment with BG1. The gear drops generally would fit for mid to late Shadows of Amn. For example, the Orc Shaman's Cloak has resistance bonuses that are out of balance with the gear from the base game and the charisma penalty is a non-issue considering how much charisma is a dump stat. A cloak item with +20% to Electricity, Fire and Cold would still be very good. There also isn't anything in the description that would explain the restriction against good characters using the item. On the flip side the Short Bow of Streaming Energy is a nice short bow that doesn't feel completely overpowered, while it is still on the more powerful end of the type of gear you can find.
3. I didn't realize that the secret area in the Firewine Bridge was mod content initially. Looking at the .tra file, some of the gear that can drop here I'd figure it out due to the aforementioned balance issues, but the content for the most part has merged fairly seamlessly with the game.
4. The fishermen quest with the Sirines and Salamanders is a bit thin on content. It really calls out for some more roleplaying content and options for resolving the situation. One of the sirines mentions Syl, who I believe is the sirine with an alternate resolution to the quest, from the Sirine's Call mod and who if you have resolved this quest in a non-violent manner I'd hope to be able to come to a non-violent resolution in the Northern Coast area. Also, there really needs to be more of a story about where these Salamanders came from and what they are doing there. The final resolution to the quest with the fisherman also feels out of place where the PC is only given the option to say that they don't need a reward.
5. @jastey if you'd like I can add this to my list of mods to provide more detailed feedback on, including some of the translation/item description text.
@Caedwyr I'm always interested in feedback, but with NTotSC it's the following: if someone provides nerfed items I'll include them into the last component which nerfs the current mod even further, and I'll also integrate proof readings and even new reply options for e.g. the fisherman if someone provides it, but I will not create "new" content for the mod myself any more.
The sirene Syl is not the one from the game which is named Sil. The former mod even called the two sirenes Sil but they are two different creatures so I renamed the one from NTotSC "Syl".
That's entirely understandable. I realize you are acting as a caretaker of this mod. I will see about the text edits and the item rebalancing when I get a chance.
@Caedwyr it's also that I spent an equivalent of 8 weeks full time revising the mod already and want to spend my time for my own projects in the future. I enjoyed polishing NTotSC, though.
Yeah, and I'm looking forward to a bunch of the things you have on the go for your mods. I can see why you thought NTotSC was worthwhile to put in some effort in cleaning it up. There's some decent content here that can fit pretty well into the base game. I'll see what I can do about improving things a bit more with the minimal amount of work required of you.
So, the biggest issue balancewise I've run into is the cloaks from the orc priests. Some other things I've found.
The cult NPCs who are archers in the temple zone shoot bows, but do not drop them. They do drop the arrows. If you don't want players to get a good bow from them, then just put a longbow/shortbow on them that they can drop so their gear is at least consistent.
The Temple of the Black Hand is supposed to be located Northeast of Ulgoth's Beard, however it is actually located southeast on the map. The area is also labeled on the map with a different name. I'd suggest changing the map name to Wood of Sharp Teeth as is constantly referenced in the dialogues and quest text.
The Woods of the Dead are supposed to be located south of the Fields of the Dead as per dialogue and the journal, but are actually located to the northeast.
There are a number of places that the markers can get moved around on the map, though I'm guessing that this could cause problems with the various other old mega-mods that added map locations. An easy solution would be to just change the dialogue and journal entries so the locations on the world map are at least consistent with where you are told you can find the sites.
Some issues that can be tidied up at the Northern Citadel, behind a spoiler.
Pique issues
@14 = ~Aye, this is what I thought too! Once the main garrison returns from the Coast Way, they would simply replace him as captain. There is more to it, something stranger. I saw him when last dark fell, when he dragged off the monk Montgomery. It was a masterful ambush when night was darkest, and I thought myself lucky to have discovered him. A single snapped twig gave away his position, and I followed slow, ready to leap to rescue. I stopped meself short though, when he turned and looked RIGHT AT ME! He knew my every move, as though he PLANNED for me to see him! His face showed no such cunning at that moment though. Blank he was, blank as the night around us. I had not the nerve to approach, and his eyes seemed to show sadness when I did not move, though his face remained stone cold. He walked away slowly, almost haltingly, while I sat there shivering. Here, take this. He dropped it, and I know not what it means. I am done with this place. There is something most unnatural here, and I want no part of it. Fare you well.~
This line is used here in the .d and Pique does not give the player anything.
IF ~~ THEN BEGIN 7
SAY @14
IF ~~ THEN DO ~SetGlobal("NTTalkedToPique","GLOBAL",1) EscapeArea()~ EXIT
END
Lenore gives the RESTORE.itm scroll, which is the Restoration scroll sold at temples. The description of this item does not indicate it is capable of doing what you need to do.
Lesser Restoration
(Necromancy)
Level: 4
Sphere: Necromantic
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
Casting Time: 2
Area of Effect: 1 creature
Saving Throw: None
When this spell is cast, the life energy level of the recipient is raised. This reverses any previous life energy level drain of the creature by a force or monster, and restores lost ability score points from sources such as the strength-draining touch of a Shadow or the thought-devouring attacks of a Mind Flayer. The casting of this spell is very draining on the priest and <PRO_HESHE> will likely require rest immediately after the casting, as it will cause days' worth of fatigue almost instantaneously.
Normal solutions to the problem, like Dispel Magic, Charm Person, Remove Magic, Chaotic Commands, Remove Curse do not resolve the situation as they should.
I recently completed a playthrough of BG1 with my games bookclub. Impressions of this mod are as follows:
Northern Tales of the Sword Coast: This is an interesting mod. Many of the minor components that are integrated into the game are seamless and highly recommended. For example, some of the extra assassin encounters, or the hidden dungeon in Firewine Bridge; even things like the extra mage tower in Larswood. However, the main component stuff were additional world map areas are added is a lot more rough. There's a good framework there and for the most part the items are not too unbalancing, but the non-hack and slash content is pretty threadbare and there's some weird things (like cultists that throw arrows and all sorts of NPC difficulty cheats).
I'll probably install it again because with the revisions made by @jastey and others, the weaknesses aren't too bad and the additional content that integrates well with the game is very much worth it. This is a mod that if more work was done to it, or expanded upon it by others could end up extending the content of the base BG1 game by quite a bit. Adding more dialogue options and quest breadcrumbs to the content, or even just alternate resolutions to some of the encounters would help. Plus, the new areas despite being remixed old assets could probably do with a few more events/encounters/quests sprinkled throughout them to make them feel more like those of the base game.
I used the following components:
a. Main Component
b. Spawn fewer monsters depending on game difficulty
c. Keelor the Dwarf
d. Llindellyn's Lucky Arrow
e. Pilar and Gheldehar
f. Fighting Encounters
@Endarire did you remove Roxanne's inofficial mod versions from your mod list yet, especially the ones where I made EET compatible updates years ago? Otherwise, I can't take your praises seriously.
@Endarire did you remove Roxanne's inofficial mod versions from your mod list yet, especially the ones where I made EET compatible updates years ago? Otherwise, I can't take your praises seriously.
I wanted to offer an alternative viewpoint to those who keep insisting items are kept in like with vanilla balance. In short - provide both version and let us select components, in a playthrough with all the other big mods, scs on insane and "the horde" mod for example, you face a challenge like 10+ orc mages pre-buffing with like a full page and casting 6th lvl spells in fields of the dead, each wearing an orc cloac with 40 ele resistance. The reward for going through this and doing a looong quest line is a generic +3 two handed sword and a generic -1 ac full plate with charisma penalty which is an insult. Similarly for the dsotsc but to a lesser degree. Allow us the choice to select out own experience, please.
@improbabile Thank you, that's great! There were some new contributions since the last release. Would you have a look at the current master and bring the translation uptodate with the newest commits?
@improbabile Thank you, that's great! There were some new contributions since the last release. Would you have a look at the current master and bring the translation uptodate with the newest commits?
@improbabile Thank you very much! I hope I'll find time to update the mod soon, there is some update work to do because of the great new components by Angel and fixes by Roberciiik.
Guys, im playing EET with quite a bit of content mods, like soa, dsotnc, new npcs and many more, guess i can provide full list if anything.
I have found this "bug". I barely started doing stuff from ntotsc, so far i think its working, ive done one quest, found several npcs from the mod like the sorcs from beregost inn that spawn a demon if you harass them for too long but..
Ive tried to go to the location above gnolls keep, that is AR4600 (in vanilla), but i couldnt find anything from the mod while according to the ntotsc walkthrough, the area should be called AR40PB and be full of elves etc from the mod.
It appears that when i click on the location on the worldmap, it moves me to the vanilla area, rather than the modded one. Using console command, i can go to the modded area, but its kinda annoying that i have to do so.
Plus i dont know which locations wont work either. For example, lathander temple is all good.
@Selevan NTotSC does not exchange areas with the original game. All areas will have new icons on the worldmap. Did you install the BP-BGT-Worldmapmod? You need to install the Worldmapmod after NTotSC and start a new game. EDIT: the Worldmapmod is only needed for BGT.
Some areas are reachable from neighboring areas like in the original game. Some areas you need to get quests before you'll find them.
Which version of the mod are you playing? What game are you on? Did you use an automated install tool?
@Selevan The Northern Wood is at the North. It should be above Ulgoth's Beard even. It's not a replacement map but an addition. Think you're reaching it from Field of the Dead even.
If the walkthrough implies it should be reachable from the gnoll stronghold, then the walkthrough you're looking at is wrong.
@jastey NToTSC is EET Worldmap compatible, so BP-BGT isn't needed for the EET gameplay.
@GraionDilach indeed, the BP-BGT-Worldmapmod is also not needed for BG:EE. I misread the code in the tp2. (Not that I worked on that. It's been a while.) @Selevan all walkthroughs for NTotSC I know of are outdated. Use them with care.
Oh, so all the new areas are truly new, they dont exchange original ones? Well, i got confused that vanilla AR4600 (which is located north of the gnolls stronghold, in fact south of the bg1 map) looks same as the mod one AR40PB, just the entities are different.
And yeah, i just read that some are accessable after certain quests are done/taken.
<Nvm>
About my game version.. cant really remember most sińce i installed it like yr ago, and only started playing two weeks ago. Idk, newest versions that were there nov 2020. And yes, i used automated tool (ill check its name when i'm back home), but i think i added some small tweaks afterward.
Comments
4.2.0 - provided by Roberciiik
-Proof reading of Polish version.
1. The Orc Priests in the Fields of the Dead drop an Orc Shaman's Cloak worth 500 gp. There are a lot of priests and therefore a lot of cloaks. The prevalence of the cloaks as loot makes this really feel like mod material and not something from the original game. Since I don't think the cloaks give a huge bonus to the effectiveness of the priests, who are mostly a threat due to their spells, I'd suggest just adjusting their drops to include a little bit more gold or some slightly more valuable gems, perhaps in the 100 gp range. If you want to have the Orc Cloak drop, then put it on a named creature.
2. The balance of items is still out alignment with BG1. The gear drops generally would fit for mid to late Shadows of Amn. For example, the Orc Shaman's Cloak has resistance bonuses that are out of balance with the gear from the base game and the charisma penalty is a non-issue considering how much charisma is a dump stat. A cloak item with +20% to Electricity, Fire and Cold would still be very good. There also isn't anything in the description that would explain the restriction against good characters using the item. On the flip side the Short Bow of Streaming Energy is a nice short bow that doesn't feel completely overpowered, while it is still on the more powerful end of the type of gear you can find.
3. I didn't realize that the secret area in the Firewine Bridge was mod content initially. Looking at the .tra file, some of the gear that can drop here I'd figure it out due to the aforementioned balance issues, but the content for the most part has merged fairly seamlessly with the game.
4. The fishermen quest with the Sirines and Salamanders is a bit thin on content. It really calls out for some more roleplaying content and options for resolving the situation. One of the sirines mentions Syl, who I believe is the sirine with an alternate resolution to the quest, from the Sirine's Call mod and who if you have resolved this quest in a non-violent manner I'd hope to be able to come to a non-violent resolution in the Northern Coast area. Also, there really needs to be more of a story about where these Salamanders came from and what they are doing there. The final resolution to the quest with the fisherman also feels out of place where the PC is only given the option to say that they don't need a reward.
5. @jastey if you'd like I can add this to my list of mods to provide more detailed feedback on, including some of the translation/item description text.
The sirene Syl is not the one from the game which is named Sil. The former mod even called the two sirenes Sil but they are two different creatures so I renamed the one from NTotSC "Syl".
The cult NPCs who are archers in the temple zone shoot bows, but do not drop them. They do drop the arrows. If you don't want players to get a good bow from them, then just put a longbow/shortbow on them that they can drop so their gear is at least consistent.
The Temple of the Black Hand is supposed to be located Northeast of Ulgoth's Beard, however it is actually located southeast on the map. The area is also labeled on the map with a different name. I'd suggest changing the map name to Wood of Sharp Teeth as is constantly referenced in the dialogues and quest text.
The Woods of the Dead are supposed to be located south of the Fields of the Dead as per dialogue and the journal, but are actually located to the northeast.
There are a number of places that the markers can get moved around on the map, though I'm guessing that this could cause problems with the various other old mega-mods that added map locations. An easy solution would be to just change the dialogue and journal entries so the locations on the world map are at least consistent with where you are told you can find the sites.
Pique issues
This line is used here in the .d and Pique does not give the player anything.
Lenore gives the RESTORE.itm scroll, which is the Restoration scroll sold at temples. The description of this item does not indicate it is capable of doing what you need to do.
Normal solutions to the problem, like Dispel Magic, Charm Person, Remove Magic, Chaotic Commands, Remove Curse do not resolve the situation as they should.
Northern Tales of the Sword Coast: This is an interesting mod. Many of the minor components that are integrated into the game are seamless and highly recommended. For example, some of the extra assassin encounters, or the hidden dungeon in Firewine Bridge; even things like the extra mage tower in Larswood. However, the main component stuff were additional world map areas are added is a lot more rough. There's a good framework there and for the most part the items are not too unbalancing, but the non-hack and slash content is pretty threadbare and there's some weird things (like cultists that throw arrows and all sorts of NPC difficulty cheats).
I'll probably install it again because with the revisions made by @jastey and others, the weaknesses aren't too bad and the additional content that integrates well with the game is very much worth it. This is a mod that if more work was done to it, or expanded upon it by others could end up extending the content of the base BG1 game by quite a bit. Adding more dialogue options and quest breadcrumbs to the content, or even just alternate resolutions to some of the encounters would help. Plus, the new areas despite being remixed old assets could probably do with a few more events/encounters/quests sprinkled throughout them to make them feel more like those of the base game.
I used the following components:
a. Main Component
b. Spawn fewer monsters depending on game difficulty
c. Keelor the Dwarf
d. Llindellyn's Lucky Arrow
e. Pilar and Gheldehar
f. Fighting Encounters
We appreciate your modding work and like you for it! Thankee and alleluia!
Yeah, thought so.
Agreed, sir!
I updated the Italian translation (some strings for EE were still in English) and I improved it (it was absolutely necessary)
I attach the files
Done!
I have found this "bug". I barely started doing stuff from ntotsc, so far i think its working, ive done one quest, found several npcs from the mod like the sorcs from beregost inn that spawn a demon if you harass them for too long but..
Ive tried to go to the location above gnolls keep, that is AR4600 (in vanilla), but i couldnt find anything from the mod while according to the ntotsc walkthrough, the area should be called AR40PB and be full of elves etc from the mod.
It appears that when i click on the location on the worldmap, it moves me to the vanilla area, rather than the modded one. Using console command, i can go to the modded area, but its kinda annoying that i have to do so.
Plus i dont know which locations wont work either. For example, lathander temple is all good.
Sorry for my english, any ideas?
Some areas are reachable from neighboring areas like in the original game. Some areas you need to get quests before you'll find them.
Which version of the mod are you playing? What game are you on? Did you use an automated install tool?
If the walkthrough implies it should be reachable from the gnoll stronghold, then the walkthrough you're looking at is wrong.
@jastey NToTSC is EET Worldmap compatible, so BP-BGT isn't needed for the EET gameplay.
@Selevan all walkthroughs for NTotSC I know of are outdated. Use them with care.
And yeah, i just read that some are accessable after certain quests are done/taken.
<Nvm>
About my game version.. cant really remember most sińce i installed it like yr ago, and only started playing two weeks ago. Idk, newest versions that were there nov 2020. And yes, i used automated tool (ill check its name when i'm back home), but i think i added some small tweaks afterward.