One question: Is TotLM compatible with Tipun's IWD-in-EET mods?
Probably not. It's highly likely that there will be resource conflicts since this mod (and probably Tipun's mod as well) largely uses the original IWD naming scheme for TotLM resources.
This should be an example of how to do a mod 'right' - anyone can import resources from one game to another, it's those extra leet things that you add/change that make the overall experience much better. Many thanks for this!
@argent77 Since tipun's has to be installed as all or nothing, I'm wondering if this would be a workable solution:
What if I simply ignore Hobart Stubbletoes in tipun's mod (eg at the Whistling Gallows Inn) and only rely on your version of Hobart at the locations where you added him? Or are the issues deeper than that due to the resource conflicts?
Since tipun's has to be installed as all or nothing, I'm wondering if this would be a workable solution:
What if I simply ignore Hobart Stubbletoes in tipun's mod (eg at the Whistling Gallows Inn) and only rely on your version of Hobart at the locations where you added him? Or are the issues deeper than that due to the resource conflicts?
You can certainly try. Installing this mod after tipun's IWD-in-EET ensures that conflicting files are overridden, so that additional improvements made by this mod are preserved. It's also likely that it won't cause game-breaking issues in tipun's mod itself (provided you're completing the TotLM quest with my mod) since the installed resources are still (more or less) faithful to the original IWD implementation.
Is this mod pretty similar to the source? I have beaten the orignal and the enhanced icewind dales, but I am afraid that no amount of practice is going to make me able to do something like ascension improved bosses, or SCS ascension, and god help me if I ever tried to mod a game with both at the same time.
Is this mod pretty similar to the source? I have beaten the orignal and the enhanced icewind dales, but I am afraid that no amount of practice is going to make me able to do something like ascension improved bosses, or SCS ascension, and god help me if I ever tried to mod a game with both at the same time.
Having hundreds of hours with SCS, I agree 100% that Ascension is fundamentally broken in terms of difficulty (and can only be beaten with cheesy meta-gaming).
BUT, playing through Trials of Lure Master will actually make Ascension viable due to the extra XP you'll get here. You can adjust the XP amount during the install.
In fact, I've found that the only consistent way to "fix" Ascension is by adding large quest mods like this one with a lot of extra XP while simultaneously removing the overall level cap (e.g. via EET Tweaks). With the extra XP and levels, you can play through SCS+Ascension without the need for meta-gaming, and it flows very naturally.
Is this mod pretty similar to the source? I have beaten the orignal and the enhanced icewind dales, but I am afraid that no amount of practice is going to make me able to do something like ascension improved bosses, or SCS ascension, and god help me if I ever tried to mod a game with both at the same time.
The mod is pretty much the same as the original, but with a couple of improvements (such as interjections from party members, small side quest, etc.). Especially the latest version (v3.0) improves creature types quite a lot. Combat also scales with selected game difficulty. SCS and other combat improvement mods (should) have no further effect on combat difficulty.
Sounds pretty cool. I think my days of rolling around with an avenger-tier mob of superheroes is getting old to me, and so I use the SCS overhaul quite modestly these days. I will lower the difficulty as far as neccessary to make life enjoyable with a band of bards, thieves and druids or something
Hi, I'm playing with SCS and the Ascension mod with EET. I didn't install anything related to Icewind Dale from the SCS mod. I just started Baldur's Gate 2 and was wondering if it would still be possible to install this mod or should I wait until another playthrough?
Hi, I'm playing with SCS and the Ascension mod with EET. I didn't install anything related to Icewind Dale from the SCS mod. I just started Baldur's Gate 2 and was wondering if it would still be possible to install this mod or should I wait until another playthrough?
This mod should work fine together with SCS and Ascension. If you didn't install the IWD spell components from SCS then installation order doesn't matter either.
The mod can be safely installed in a running game, as long as you didn't progress too far yet. You might miss some randomly generated container items (mostly spell scrolls), but that's about it.
Why do you say that the Dispel Magic fix from Spell Revisions prevents properly finishing this mod? How could they be made compatible?
Can you elaborate on this?
That issue was reported over two years ago, and I provided a workaround as well as a fix in this post. There's also a paragraph in the mod's readme about it.
Hi, I'm playing with SCS and the Ascension mod with EET. I didn't install anything related to Icewind Dale from the SCS mod. I just started Baldur's Gate 2 and was wondering if it would still be possible to install this mod or should I wait until another playthrough?
This mod should work fine together with SCS and Ascension. If you didn't install the IWD spell components from SCS then installation order doesn't matter either.
The mod can be safely installed in a running game, as long as you didn't progress too far yet. You might miss some randomly generated container items (mostly spell scrolls), but that's about it.
Thanks for the reply. I installed it and I didn't bother installing the weapon nurf or the XP nurf because I plan to do it in Amkethran. TOB already has a bunch of +5 and +6 gear that you can only use for a little while before the game ends so I think it will fit in nicely at that point. I also use a 6 person party the whole game and can never hit the 8Million XP cap even with the EE content so this will probably get me closer and make no real difference towards late game TOB anyway. Cool idea and I'll let you know if I run into any bugs.
I'm planning to run my BG1EE&SOD run with SCS and other quest mods like Stone of Avaskar, Northern tales and Dark Side w/o XP cap. When this mod is recommended to install? After all quest mods, NPC mods prior tweaks & SCS?
This mod counts as a quest mod, so it should be installed earlier in the general mod order. However, I'd suggest to install the IWD-spells components from SCS before this mod because they provide a more complete set of spells. The same is true for IWDification if you plan to install it as well. Apart from that, mod installation order shouldn't really matter.
Hi @argent77, based on what you said previously, could I kindly confirm whether it's correct to install IWDfication before TotLM?
So TotLM will detect that IWDfication has already installed the IWD spells and skip those components?
Yes, ToTLM will detect the IWDificiation spells. There's no component to skip though - the import isn't a component in this mod.
Personally, I tend to split IWDificaton and only install the spell components and install every other component I'd like to among the other tweaks.
Yeah, I do something similar. I only install Expanded Polymorph Self, Allow Elves to be Druids, Thief Evasion, followed by the spell components.
Having reread IWDification's readme since my post, it also states that IWDification should be installed before TotLM.
The reason for my question is more of wondering what happens during TotLM installation, since there's no specific component to skip through, as you pointed out.
If they exist in the game, their respective spell scrolls placed in the ToTLM areas/carried by ToTLM monsters gets associated with their already existing respective spells.
If they don't exist in the game, ToTLM imports the spells and assigns the scrolls to the new imports.
The end result is that ToTLM keeps the loot accuracy via ensuring that all the spell scrolls are accurately converted. This is why the import isn't a separate component.
There's room to potential improvement here - the scroll filenames are fixed in IWDfication/SCS and deduplicating those as well wouldn't skewer SCS's Wider spell scrolls component towards IWD more. But it's just a polish issue.
Thanks for your clarification! While there's always room for improvement in things, I don't think it's worth the time and effort. As long as the end result is fairly stable, I think it's good enough!
I played through this in it's entirety and found just one bug. I took on the quest in Saradush but when I used the ring to return from where I came, it sent me to the Tavern near Umar hills. Problem with that is I can use the pocket plane power to go back to my realm but the pocket plane will only return me from where I came so I can't get back into Saradush. I used the console to teleport myself back to Saradush so I could continue on but it's something you might want to look into. I'm using EET, otherwise I doubt this problem would have reared it's head.
One suggestion I have is to move the quest in TOB to Amkethran. That way you can return there without the use of the pocket plane and it avoids the problem. It's also a more fitting place as it's a hub were you can choose to do side content with EE characters and choose which of the 5 to go after and travel to watchers keep as well. It just seems like a better place in the TOB section of the game to put this quest in my opinion and would avoid the problem I ran into.
I played through this in it's entirety and found just one bug. I took on the quest in Saradush but when I used the ring to return from where I came, it sent me to the Tavern near Umar hills. Problem with that is I can use the pocket plane power to go back to my realm but the pocket plane will only return me from where I came so I can't get back into Saradush. I used the console to teleport myself back to Saradush so I could continue on but it's something you might want to look into. I'm using EET, otherwise I doubt this problem would have reared it's head.
One suggestion I have is to move the quest in TOB to Amkethran. That way you can return there without the use of the pocket plane and it avoids the problem. It's also a more fitting place as it's a hub were you can choose to do side content with EE characters and choose which of the 5 to go after and travel to watchers keep as well. It just seems like a better place in the TOB section of the game to put this quest in my opinion and would avoid the problem I ran into.
Good catch! It's caused by a missing area check. I'll fix it asap.
Btw, Hobart can also be encountered in the Amkethran tavern if you skipped the quest in Saradush.
Ok thanks for the heads up. I'll probably wait till Amkethran next time. Thanks again for your continued support of this mod. I'll include it in future playthroughs as it adds a bit of meat to TOB without unbalancing it and fits in nicely with the desert vibe of Amkethran, Oasis, etc. I would give this mod an "-A" rating. It's customizable and incorporates the entire expansion into Baldur's Gate without problem. With the one problem I had being fixed I can say that this is a regular install for my playthroughs. Only thing I can think of to improve it would be to add optional spawn points for the quest giver so people can choose where he will show up when they install it. Rather than have him show up all over the sword coast.
From what I can see, this conflict cannot be solved by TotLM without making the optional component "Make IWD spells available to the player" obsolete.
DavidW stated in another topic that he doesn't intend to 'fix' that kind of conflict in SCS. I agree with his suggestion to install the IWD spell components from SCS before TotLM. It should resolve most if not all spell conflicts.
Hi @argent77
Back in the day, I remember trying all the possible solutions (including every possible mod order) but unfortunately Trial of the Luremaster always ended up in messing my characters' spellbooks.
Unfortunately I don't precisely remember the details of the problem because it had been analyzed on Roxanne's forum that is no longer online. I remember though, that it caused Jaheira to miss some spells in her spellbook.
Since I'm starting a new playthrough in the near future, do you think after 3 years the problem has been solved?
I need to know if I can install TotLM, SCS, IWDification etc. with no problems.
From what I can see, this conflict cannot be solved by TotLM without making the optional component "Make IWD spells available to the player" obsolete.
DavidW stated in another topic that he doesn't intend to 'fix' that kind of conflict in SCS. I agree with his suggestion to install the IWD spell components from SCS before TotLM. It should resolve most if not all spell conflicts.
Hi @argent77
Back in the day, I remember trying all the possible solutions (including every possible mod order) but unfortunately Trial of the Luremaster always ended up in messing my characters' spellbooks.
Unfortunately I don't precisely remember the details of the problem because it had been analyzed on Roxanne's forum that is no longer online. I remember though, that it caused Jaheira to miss some spells in her spellbook.
Since I'm starting a new playthrough in the near future, do you think after 3 years the problem has been solved?
I need to know if I can install TotLM, SCS, IWDification etc. with no problems.
The quoted issue was already solved in version 2.0 of TotLM. But I'd still recommend to install SCS's spell component and/or IWDification before TotLM, just to be on the safe side. Apart from that issue I haven't heard about other mod conflicts yet.
Comments
Probably not. It's highly likely that there will be resource conflicts since this mod (and probably Tipun's mod as well) largely uses the original IWD naming scheme for TotLM resources.
This should be an example of how to do a mod 'right' - anyone can import resources from one game to another, it's those extra leet things that you add/change that make the overall experience much better. Many thanks for this!
What if I simply ignore Hobart Stubbletoes in tipun's mod (eg at the Whistling Gallows Inn) and only rely on your version of Hobart at the locations where you added him? Or are the issues deeper than that due to the resource conflicts?
You can certainly try. Installing this mod after tipun's IWD-in-EET ensures that conflicting files are overridden, so that additional improvements made by this mod are preserved. It's also likely that it won't cause game-breaking issues in tipun's mod itself (provided you're completing the TotLM quest with my mod) since the installed resources are still (more or less) faithful to the original IWD implementation.
I've beaten SCS Ascension.
To my knowledge, this mod is pretty close to the original in terms of content.
Having hundreds of hours with SCS, I agree 100% that Ascension is fundamentally broken in terms of difficulty (and can only be beaten with cheesy meta-gaming).
BUT, playing through Trials of Lure Master will actually make Ascension viable due to the extra XP you'll get here. You can adjust the XP amount during the install.
In fact, I've found that the only consistent way to "fix" Ascension is by adding large quest mods like this one with a lot of extra XP while simultaneously removing the overall level cap (e.g. via EET Tweaks). With the extra XP and levels, you can play through SCS+Ascension without the need for meta-gaming, and it flows very naturally.
The mod is pretty much the same as the original, but with a couple of improvements (such as interjections from party members, small side quest, etc.). Especially the latest version (v3.0) improves creature types quite a lot. Combat also scales with selected game difficulty. SCS and other combat improvement mods (should) have no further effect on combat difficulty.
This mod should work fine together with SCS and Ascension. If you didn't install the IWD spell components from SCS then installation order doesn't matter either.
The mod can be safely installed in a running game, as long as you didn't progress too far yet. You might miss some randomly generated container items (mostly spell scrolls), but that's about it.
Can you elaborate on this?
That issue was reported over two years ago, and I provided a workaround as well as a fix in this post. There's also a paragraph in the mod's readme about it.
Thanks for the reply. I installed it and I didn't bother installing the weapon nurf or the XP nurf because I plan to do it in Amkethran. TOB already has a bunch of +5 and +6 gear that you can only use for a little while before the game ends so I think it will fit in nicely at that point. I also use a 6 person party the whole game and can never hit the 8Million XP cap even with the EE content so this will probably get me closer and make no real difference towards late game TOB anyway. Cool idea and I'll let you know if I run into any bugs.
Hi @argent77, based on what you said previously, could I kindly confirm whether it's correct to install IWDfication before TotLM?
So TotLM will detect that IWDfication has already installed the IWD spells and skip those components?
TIA!
Personally, I tend to split IWDificaton and only install the spell components and install every other component I'd like to among the other tweaks.
Yeah, I do something similar. I only install Expanded Polymorph Self, Allow Elves to be Druids, Thief Evasion, followed by the spell components.
Having reread IWDification's readme since my post, it also states that IWDification should be installed before TotLM.
The reason for my question is more of wondering what happens during TotLM installation, since there's no specific component to skip through, as you pointed out.
The end result is that ToTLM keeps the loot accuracy via ensuring that all the spell scrolls are accurately converted. This is why the import isn't a separate component.
There's room to potential improvement here - the scroll filenames are fixed in IWDfication/SCS and deduplicating those as well wouldn't skewer SCS's Wider spell scrolls component towards IWD more. But it's just a polish issue.
One suggestion I have is to move the quest in TOB to Amkethran. That way you can return there without the use of the pocket plane and it avoids the problem. It's also a more fitting place as it's a hub were you can choose to do side content with EE characters and choose which of the 5 to go after and travel to watchers keep as well. It just seems like a better place in the TOB section of the game to put this quest in my opinion and would avoid the problem I ran into.
Good catch! It's caused by a missing area check. I'll fix it asap.
Btw, Hobart can also be encountered in the Amkethran tavern if you skipped the quest in Saradush.
Thankee!
Here you go:
I will also add this information to the mod's readme in one of the next releases.
Hi @argent77
Back in the day, I remember trying all the possible solutions (including every possible mod order) but unfortunately Trial of the Luremaster always ended up in messing my characters' spellbooks.
Unfortunately I don't precisely remember the details of the problem because it had been analyzed on Roxanne's forum that is no longer online. I remember though, that it caused Jaheira to miss some spells in her spellbook.
Since I'm starting a new playthrough in the near future, do you think after 3 years the problem has been solved?
I need to know if I can install TotLM, SCS, IWDification etc. with no problems.
The quoted issue was already solved in version 2.0 of TotLM. But I'd still recommend to install SCS's spell component and/or IWDification before TotLM, just to be on the safe side. Apart from that issue I haven't heard about other mod conflicts yet.