I haven't got a single dollar. Instead, I paid as much as I could with my time, effort, and actual money to provide the best possible content for players to enjoy. But there is a limit to the resources I can invest in this.
I know that I speak for many others when I say how much we appreciate your work. Do you happen to have a Patreon or the like? I enjoy having fresh content and I'm sure that others would also be interested in being able to support your efforts.
I won't lie, I considered this before, but I think that was an option like 6-7 years ago, I don't know how much I can offer these days. Plus, behind every mod, there is a bunch of wonderful people: proofreaders, testers, and artists. I also had problems deciding how to set things up and... it kinda got "late" for this. But I do appreciate good words I actually hear quite often.
So I guess it's fine for now.
As for my previous post: I encourage people to discuss stuff like AI, what is an art and what isn't (et cetera), but let's remember this is a thread about a specific mod -- perhaps general discussion needs a separate thread. I can assure you, though, I will keep providing information in readme so you can decide if you want to install specific mods. Cheers!
BTW, some could actually argue, that when creating mods based on original BG art, I am also using other artist's work and none of these artists is being paid. And yes, it's using the existing resources for the same game, but so what? I am still copying and manipulating someone else's work and I use it to release my own stories etc. That's the problem with modding.
With all due respect, you're missing the point here. The condemnation isn't of the use of someone else's art exactly (because you're not profiting off of it or using it for malicious purposes, ofc, if you were, that would be a different situation), it's of the tool you used (a tool of mass-theft of art).
Using said tool normalizes its use, it helps to make it seem like something acceptable and ends up further propelling the awfulness that we're already seeing, of artists of all kinds losing jobs and having their art stolen by major corporations for profit without seeing a penny off of it. It helps send us into a world where creativity dies, as artists (the actual creative source of AI "art") starve and one company's AI just starts stealing from another's, in an endless loop of non-creative derivation (in fact, you can already see the lack of creativity in it, as AI tends to steal from the same few similar art styles).
You taking someone else's art from, say, google or from the game itself and then modifying it (as many modders do and have done for ages) isn't a problem, especially because you'd even be able to tell where you took it from, if you were asked. You'd know exactly what you'd need to remove from your game if the artist were to tell you to remove it and so on. Plus, you're not a machine, so you're likely to only find some art that is already visible (making it harder to pass off as your own), not art from a really small artist whose page barely gets any views and who might not even speak your language, for example.
AI "art" and its soulless, incohesive, mish-mash of stolen art further obfuscates all this information and facilitates art theft to a completely different degree. You (not you specifically, anyone using AI "art") are stealing from hundreds of artists, not just one, not just ten. And you're doing it a ton of times, for a ton of different projects, not just a few. It's much harder for artists to prove that their art is jumbled in whatever mess comes out (even if they can confidently spot their art style in it) and it's much harder for them to fight back cause it's happening much more often. It's not just a tool for art theft, it's a tool for obfuscation of information and for multiplication of instances of (much more serious than this) art theft.
To summarize: since you're not making any profit off of it or using the content with malicious intent, I'm not condemning your use of someone else's art exactly (we've all download some cool art from google for a character's pic, for example), but I'm vehemently against your use of AI, which normalizes the use of that mass-theft tool that's being used to harm artists.
Think about it: you don't even know whose art you took (unless you typed it in the prompt, ofc, which certainly would add a degree of shamelessness). Hell, you don't even know how many artists you stole from! Whatever you got could've been 99% copied from one person or it could've been 50% copied, you don't even know! It'd be a mess, if this was a more serious case (involving profit).
Rest assured, though, as I always include information regarding the authors and resources and actors and proofreaders in the readme. If you want to skip those mods that have anything to do with AI, do so. It's not like I get anything per download... I only pay for the servers to keep the mods available to people.
Ok, that's nice, but this is kind of a big deal (I'm far from the only person opposed to AI "art") and if you hadn't said anything in these comments, I wouldn't have known (well, I might've asked, since there's no cohesion in the art styles of different areas).
Saying something is in the readme is (to a much smaller degree, ofc) like a company claiming that something is in the terms of service: who reads those? That's why I'm saying that you should inform this in the OP, to make the information visible for all of us who want to avoid contributing to the normalization of AI "art".
Again, I understand the desire to make modding easier (it's a very laborious endeavor, I know, I'm a modder as well!) and I highly appreciate your work in other mods (I particularly enjoyed the Hephernaan NPC mod, it's the first NPC mod I've actually really enjoyed), but this is something seriously awful.
That's all I'll say on the matter, I'm not gonna further hijack the thread of your mod (that I'm sure is good in other aspects, as you're a great writer/coder and have some very creative ideas), as the point has been made.
I think I said all I wanted in the topic and it's also a matter of perception of more than one issue, and I don't think I feel like writing even deeper and longer texts about it.
And the fact someone says they don't read any readmes is never going to amaze me, as it is there that all possible incompatibilities, supported platforms and game versions are declared.
That's all from me. I'll stick to informing about updates and stuff like that. Have a good one!
I'm looking forward to trying this one. Thanks again Lava, for another mod. Speaking out of experience with your mods, I'm sure it's great
On another note, I believe it's better not to push yourself too much on something when you're feeling drained about it. So, I hope you take your time off from modding as much as you need to feel refreshed. Maintaining all those mods is a huge work by itself already. I'll be looking forward to your future mods in any case, but your wellbeing is much more important of course.
Wait... but in ToB you FIRST talks to Melissan outside the Palace, then go to kill Gromnir and then she should teleport to you after you kill Gromnir and while you are still in the Palace.
Anyway, Juniper does not add anything to that talk + you meet her and the quest starts after you leave Saradush, so I don't think this has anything to do with Juniper. She also does not interject into Milissan's dialogue.
This looks like it checks all the marks. ToB portion sidequest? Temporary NPC companion? New setting without too contrived a way to get there? Couldn't be more excited.
There is an option to ask her to stay after her quest is complete. Just in case someone liked her or a woman-PC decided she would like to romance Juniper, as Juniper may romance with another woman of PC isn't in any other relationship. Could also be cool for those that want to start a ToB-only run
Anyway, thank you for your kind words!
To clarify, the soft lock after Gromnir was from talking with Mel outside the palace after killing Gromnir. She wailed that the chance for peace with Gromnir was lost. (She already gave her intro speech around the time we arrived in Saradush.)
I mostly spammed '1' to advance her dialog.
I tried again and Mel gave her post-Gromnir wailing speech in the throne room before warping away. No soft lock this time. Unsure why.
@LavaDelVortel
Your mod is amazing! I have been waiting for TOB mod for ages.
Wonder if you could help me with the puzzle with a poem and five item slots on the floor? Thank you so much.
There are 5 items scattered over the new areas, you need to find them all and put one item in each slot. The poem tells you where each of the items goes.
The hardest part is probably getting the one item: the bile. To get it, you need to...
attack the Dybbuk.
I do not remember the order, but I don't think the puzzle should be really difficult once you get all of the items.
I'm very excited to try this mod but I'm running into an early blocking issue. After I meet the old man in Amkethran, the map marker that is supposed to appear does not. I have two other mods installed, LEUI and Argent77's ToTLM.
My two thoughts are:
1. Could LEUI be preventing the map marker from appearing correctly?
2. Is the mod not working correctly because I installed it mid-way through a ToB playthrough?
I did quite a bit of digging but couldn't find any known issue. Any help would be appreciated.
I ran into a similar issue as BrianW, but I am also using the big world
map, and unfortunately I clicked on the huge map indeed, so now I
can't find stuff in general anymore. That map is way too huge. :P
But, anyway - I actually found the sand desert thingy. It was, oddly
enough, in the top left area of the map. Not sure why, it seemed to
have a special area on the big world map? At any rate, perhaps you
may find it if you go to the top left part of the map (depending on
whether you use the world map or not; I don't know if it shows up
on the normal map view; a shame we can no toggle between the
different map types during runtime).
Speaking of which ... I am doing a run through right now, and I
have Juniper or Junyper, and I found the pyramid and I went
in. But there is some round middle thingy where Juniper says we
should investigate. Ok. We go there ... but then nothing happens.
Should some exit appear or should Juniper say something? In
the thread here items were mentioned, but I am not sure if
a dialogue option pointed at that, so I may be at an even earlier
problem.
By the way, having Juniper even before ToB would be nice - I
could get rid of Aerie that way.
But there is some round middle thingy where Juniper says we
should investigate. Ok. We go there ... but then nothing happens.
Should some exit appear or should Juniper say something? In
the thread here items were mentioned, but I am not sure if
a dialogue option pointed at that, so I may be at an even earlier
problem.
I really find it hard to answer when you say "some round middle thingy". I have no idea if you are in the main chamber of the Pyramid with two platforms that join in the middle of the area? IIRC she said you are supposed to cast a specific spell she mentioned - "Death Ward". I am unsure if that's the place you reached.
Comments
So I guess it's fine for now.
As for my previous post: I encourage people to discuss stuff like AI, what is an art and what isn't (et cetera), but let's remember this is a thread about a specific mod -- perhaps general discussion needs a separate thread. I can assure you, though, I will keep providing information in readme so you can decide if you want to install specific mods. Cheers!
With all due respect, you're missing the point here. The condemnation isn't of the use of someone else's art exactly (because you're not profiting off of it or using it for malicious purposes, ofc, if you were, that would be a different situation), it's of the tool you used (a tool of mass-theft of art).
Using said tool normalizes its use, it helps to make it seem like something acceptable and ends up further propelling the awfulness that we're already seeing, of artists of all kinds losing jobs and having their art stolen by major corporations for profit without seeing a penny off of it. It helps send us into a world where creativity dies, as artists (the actual creative source of AI "art") starve and one company's AI just starts stealing from another's, in an endless loop of non-creative derivation (in fact, you can already see the lack of creativity in it, as AI tends to steal from the same few similar art styles).
You taking someone else's art from, say, google or from the game itself and then modifying it (as many modders do and have done for ages) isn't a problem, especially because you'd even be able to tell where you took it from, if you were asked. You'd know exactly what you'd need to remove from your game if the artist were to tell you to remove it and so on. Plus, you're not a machine, so you're likely to only find some art that is already visible (making it harder to pass off as your own), not art from a really small artist whose page barely gets any views and who might not even speak your language, for example.
AI "art" and its soulless, incohesive, mish-mash of stolen art further obfuscates all this information and facilitates art theft to a completely different degree. You (not you specifically, anyone using AI "art") are stealing from hundreds of artists, not just one, not just ten. And you're doing it a ton of times, for a ton of different projects, not just a few. It's much harder for artists to prove that their art is jumbled in whatever mess comes out (even if they can confidently spot their art style in it) and it's much harder for them to fight back cause it's happening much more often. It's not just a tool for art theft, it's a tool for obfuscation of information and for multiplication of instances of (much more serious than this) art theft.
To summarize: since you're not making any profit off of it or using the content with malicious intent, I'm not condemning your use of someone else's art exactly (we've all download some cool art from google for a character's pic, for example), but I'm vehemently against your use of AI, which normalizes the use of that mass-theft tool that's being used to harm artists.
Think about it: you don't even know whose art you took (unless you typed it in the prompt, ofc, which certainly would add a degree of shamelessness). Hell, you don't even know how many artists you stole from! Whatever you got could've been 99% copied from one person or it could've been 50% copied, you don't even know! It'd be a mess, if this was a more serious case (involving profit).
Ok, that's nice, but this is kind of a big deal (I'm far from the only person opposed to AI "art") and if you hadn't said anything in these comments, I wouldn't have known (well, I might've asked, since there's no cohesion in the art styles of different areas).
Saying something is in the readme is (to a much smaller degree, ofc) like a company claiming that something is in the terms of service: who reads those? That's why I'm saying that you should inform this in the OP, to make the information visible for all of us who want to avoid contributing to the normalization of AI "art".
Again, I understand the desire to make modding easier (it's a very laborious endeavor, I know, I'm a modder as well!) and I highly appreciate your work in other mods (I particularly enjoyed the Hephernaan NPC mod, it's the first NPC mod I've actually really enjoyed), but this is something seriously awful.
That's all I'll say on the matter, I'm not gonna further hijack the thread of your mod (that I'm sure is good in other aspects, as you're a great writer/coder and have some very creative ideas), as the point has been made.
And the fact someone says they don't read any readmes is never going to amaze me, as it is there that all possible incompatibilities, supported platforms and game versions are declared.
That's all from me. I'll stick to informing about updates and stuff like that. Have a good one!
On another note, I believe it's better not to push yourself too much on something when you're feeling drained about it. So, I hope you take your time off from modding as much as you need to feel refreshed. Maintaining all those mods is a huge work by itself already. I'll be looking forward to your future mods in any case, but your wellbeing is much more important of course.
I got sent some nice improvements of the area tilesets. Version 1.1 with a texture update by Gorionar is now up.
-I killed Gromnir then talked to Mel outside the palace. She warped away then the game softlocked: The game was stuck in cutscene mode.
To my present understanding I have no other quest mods installed and nothing else installed that would affect this section.
Anyway, Juniper does not add anything to that talk + you meet her and the quest starts after you leave Saradush, so I don't think this has anything to do with Juniper. She also does not interject into Milissan's dialogue.
Anyway, thank you for your kind words!
I mostly spammed '1' to advance her dialog.
I tried again and Mel gave her post-Gromnir wailing speech in the throne room before warping away. No soft lock this time. Unsure why.
Thankee!
Thankee!
Your mod is amazing! I have been waiting for TOB mod for ages.
Wonder if you could help me with the puzzle with a poem and five item slots on the floor? Thank you so much.
The hardest part is probably getting the one item: the bile. To get it, you need to...
I'm glad you're enjoying the mod.
Thank you so much. I could not find the 5th one.
What is the fifth one? I search everywhere but could not find it
[/ spoiler]
The fruit worked! Thank you so much. I had it all along but did not expect it to be a quest item, lol
My two thoughts are:
1. Could LEUI be preventing the map marker from appearing correctly?
2. Is the mod not working correctly because I installed it mid-way through a ToB playthrough?
I did quite a bit of digging but couldn't find any known issue. Any help would be appreciated.
map, and unfortunately I clicked on the huge map indeed, so now I
can't find stuff in general anymore. That map is way too huge. :P
But, anyway - I actually found the sand desert thingy. It was, oddly
enough, in the top left area of the map. Not sure why, it seemed to
have a special area on the big world map? At any rate, perhaps you
may find it if you go to the top left part of the map (depending on
whether you use the world map or not; I don't know if it shows up
on the normal map view; a shame we can no toggle between the
different map types during runtime).
Speaking of which ... I am doing a run through right now, and I
have Juniper or Junyper, and I found the pyramid and I went
in. But there is some round middle thingy where Juniper says we
should investigate. Ok. We go there ... but then nothing happens.
Should some exit appear or should Juniper say something? In
the thread here items were mentioned, but I am not sure if
a dialogue option pointed at that, so I may be at an even earlier
problem.
By the way, having Juniper even before ToB would be nice - I
could get rid of Aerie that way.