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Mod spotlight: The Darkest Day

inethineth Member Posts: 746
edited November 2022 in BGII:EE Mods
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  • Mod authors: TeamBG
  • First published: October 17, 2001
  • Adds content to: BG2 chapter 2+ (around Athkatla)

The Darkest Day (TDD) holds historical significance as the first proper mod that was released for Baldur's Gate 2.

It's a mega-mod which includes new worldmap areas, quests, items, NPCs, kits, spells, and rule changes, and is notorious for giving your party excessive amounts of XP and overpowered items.

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Because the original authors of TDD never added Enhanced Edition support, TDDz was made by other modders.

TDDz is a patch/installer for installing some components of TDD on BG2:EE. Only the area/quest content and one of the joinable NPCs can be installed; not the new kits, spells, remaining joinable NPCs etc.

The makers of TDDz also attempted to balance the mod, but did so in a rather unfortunate manner: By simply removing most unique items (rather than nerfing them), and by reducing the kill XP of TDD-specific monsters to a pittance while "standard" monsters in TDD areas keep their normal XP.
However, since it's the only way to play TDD on BG2:EE, this is what I'm basing the rest of this post on.

The following content is included:


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Purskal is a small mining village near Athkatla. Recently, miners have turned up dead with signs of rapid aging, and you are tasked with investigating the problem...

A straight-forward, self-contained little adventure reusing mostly BG1 and IWD map backgrounds.

To get there:
  • Buy the map from "Salesman" in the Five Flagons Inn in the Bridge District of Athkatla.
To start the main quest there:
  • Talk to Thorknar in the mayor's tent in Purskal.
Side-quests:
  • (help Dindil's son):
    Talk to Dindil in the healer's tent (just south of the mine) in Purskal.
Maps (and where they're from):

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Eshpurta is a weird "town" with not much of interest in itself – but it's the start and end point for a relatively large quest.

The quest is basically a trek through the Troll Mountains, reusing various area backgrounds from BG2 and IWD1, and is actually kinda fun (if you're into IWD-style combat-heavy gameplay). The custom monster types, such as Frost Worms, are a neat addition – although the custom-made end boss is quite overpowered, so don't come with a low-level party!

To get there:
  • "Kender" approaches you when you first enter the Gate district of Athkatla, and marks Eshpurta on your worldmap.
To start the main quest there:
  • "Traveller" approaches you at the main gate of Eshpurta, and marks "Snake Woods" on your worldmap.
Side-quests:
  • (kill the trolls and giants in Eshpurta):
    Talk to the Captain in the central building of Eshpurta.
  • (find King Heafnall):
    Accept the task from Ornamus in the barbarian camp in the Troll Mountains.
Maps (and where they're from):

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Riatavin is the largest town in the TDD mod.
It's main quest starts out as an inconspicuous detective quest, but turns into a grand journey on land, sea, and underdark, involving the infamous Entreri and Jarlaxle.

In addition, two of Riatavin's "side-quests" are themselves major expeditions: One to Orgoth's Tower, and one to Calimshan.

To get there:
  • Speak to Forp in the Copper Coronet (in the Slums district of Athkatla); he marks Riatavin on your worldmap.
To start the main quest there:
  • Redandon approaches you in Riatavin near the guardhouse, and asks that you speak to Amroch inside.
Side-quests:
  • Orgoth's Tower:
    Rivaldo approaches when you first enter Riatavin.
  • Helping Myrin get her memory back:
    Myrin approaches you when you first enter the mages district of Riatavin.
  • Recovering the Diamond:
    Enter the large building on the eastern edge of the mages district of Riatavin.
Maps (and where they're from):
  • [DD3300] Riatavin (BG1 Beregost)
  • + 41 more maps
  • [DD0200] Riatavin ▸ Mages district (PST Mortuary Area)
  • + 6 more maps
  • [DD7000] Orgoth's Tower (BG2 Spellhold)
  • + 6 more maps

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Trollford is supposed to be an abandoned village (or something), that you visit in order to rescue a young lad who went there in search of treasure.

The map choice (copy of a memorable BG2 map) is particularly jarring, and it doesn't get better inside the dungeon (Why would a ruins entrance in the wilderness lead to a city sewers style map? etc.)
I found this the least inspired of the TDD adventures.

To get there:
  • Johanna approaches you when you first arrive in Umar Hills, and marks Trollford on your worldmap.
Maps (and where they're from):

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"Onset of the Darkest Day" is a sequel to Shadows of Amn, although much shorter and less deep than Throne of Bhaal.

A fragment of the evil god Cyric has posessed a peasant woman, and causes darkness and plague to descend upon the land. So your party is sent to the Sword Coast, Icewind Dale, and Amn to foil his plans. (Some maps reuse IWD/BG2/BG1 area backgrounds; some are seemingly custom-made).

To start:
  • Original TDD:  Talk to Ellesime after defeating Irenicus at the end of BG2.
  • TDDz:  Talk to Elhan in Suldanesselar after unlocking the palace there.
Maps (and where they're from):
  • [DD6000] Candlekeep Library ▸ upper level (BG2 dream map)
  • [DD6001] Candlekeep Library ▸ lower level (BG2 dream map)
  • [DD1000] Easthaven (IWD Easthaven)
  • [DD1001] Easthaven ▸ temple (BG2 Temple of Waukeen)
  • [DD1005] Easthaven ▸ Azim's home (BG2)
  • [DD1007] Easthaven ▸ backsmith's home (BG2)
  • [DD1008] Easthaven ▸ tavern (BG2 Den of the Seven Vales)
  • + 7 more small indoor maps [DD1002, DD1003, DD1004, DD1006, DD1008B, DD1009, DD1010]
  • [DD1X12] Easthaven wilderness (IWD1 Easthaven wilderness)
  • [DD9400] Easthaven wilderness ▸ cave (IWD:HoW Burial Isle Barrows)
  • [ARPO05] Rusted Scabbard (photoshopped from multiple BG1 maps, I think)
  • [ARPO06] Rusted Scabbard ▸ inn ▸ floor 1 (BG1 Elfsong Tavern)
  • [ARPO07] Rusted Scabbard ▸ inn ▸ floor 2 (BG1)
  • [ARPO10] Rusted Scabbard ▸ home (BG1)
  • [ARPO25] Sky Citadel
  • [ARPO27] Sky Citadel ▸ floor 1
  • [ARPO28] Sky Citadel ▸ floor 2
  • [ARPO29] Sky Citadel ▸ floor 3
  • [ARPO30] Sky Citadel ▸ floor 4
  • [ARPO31] Sky Citadel ▸ floor 5

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At the time of this writing, TDDz only lets you install one of the joinable NPCs from TDD: Robillard, an Invoker.


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1) Download TDD v1.14 from here or here, and extract it into your game folder, but do not install it using the extracted Setup-TDD.exe because it's not EE-compatible that way.

2) Download the latest release of TDDz, and extract it into your game folder as well. Install the mod using the newly-extracted Setup-TDDz.exe. (This makes use of the files extracted in step 1.)

3) OPTIONAL: Download and install the BP-BGT Worldmap mod (at the end, after all quest mods).


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Post edited by ineth on

Comments

  • GraionDilachGraionDilach Member Posts: 590
    *TDD. TTD is Transport Tycoon Deluxe. But you were consistent.

    TDDz also has issues with PI due to the install procedure. But yeah, if the rebalancing was horrible, then it probably would be better if the original mod would get a recoding. Ahwell.
  • inethineth Member Posts: 746
    D'oh. And I'm not even dyslexic, I just somehow got that acronym stuck wrong in my head. Fixed now.
  • jasteyjastey Member Posts: 2,780
    Thanks for the review!
  • EndarireEndarire Member Posts: 1,519
    edited November 2022
    I've seen "The Darkest Day" officially abbreviated as TTD in some places, though it should be TDD and TDDz fixes that.

    What bugs did you find, if any?

    Thankee for reviewing this mod!
    Post edited by Endarire on
  • inethineth Member Posts: 746
    edited November 2022
    Endarire wrote: »
    What bugs did you find, if any?!

    Surprisingly few. (Although I might have forgotten some, since I haven't played all components recently - this mod spotlight has been languishing unfinished on my hard drive for over a year.)

    In the "Rusted Scabbard" village of "Onset of the Darkest Day", the door of one of the houses was linked to the wrong area code, I think, making me apparently miss out on an optional store.
  • BrockBrock Member Posts: 14
    Huhh I don't understand why in the EE with TDDz it was set up so that the visit to Kerzenburg by Elhan took place before Irenicus died? That doesn't make sense and above all the dialogues aren't adapted either
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