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[MOD] Crucible v2.4

morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
edited July 20 in BGII:EE Mods
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In collaboration with Acifer, it is with great joy that I am announcing the release of our newest mod, Crucible.

You can download the latest version of the mod here.

Introduction

Crucible features a continuation of the story once the player closes their pocket plane in ToB. Instead of immediately beginning the final fight at the Throne of Blood, the player will find themself in Gehenna outside of Bhaal's kingdom. From here, the player will need to assault Bhaal's kingdom and fight to the Throne. This mod includes about a dozen new areas, created by Acifer, and delves into the lore surrounding Bhaal while offering many new and challenging opponents and tactical encounters. The player should expect the mod to add about 1 to 3 hours to the game.

Components

The player has the option to install the mod with or without ai generated voices for the NPCs. Please note: even if the player chooses to install without ai for npcs, the opening scrawl will still be voiced by ai.

Difficulty

Difficulty for this mod is heavily tied to the difficulty slider to include the numbers and types of enemies encountered along with the abilities they choose to use. Insane and LoB difficulties are going to be in line with Tactics/Ascension level difficulty while anything less will be much more approachable to users who avoid difficulty increasing mods.

Compatibility

This mod is for Enhanced Edition ONLY and is compatible with Ascension and mods that add IWD spells into Baldur's Gate. In both instances, Crucible needs to be installed after these mods.

Emerging Technology

This mod uses ai voice acting for net new characters courtesy of Replica Studios and ElevenLabs.io. Any characters with prior voice work, such as NPCs, do NOT have voice acting for any new lines of dialog.

Special Thanks
  • Lava, thank you for the numerous bam files, item outlines/descriptions, and feedback
  • lowman02, thank you for the testing and feedback
  • DarthNihilus530 for providing the Brazilian Portuguese translation.
  • All those who assisted in testing and providing feedback! I appreciate every single one of you for all that you do!
Post edited by morpheus562 on
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Comments

  • shevy123456shevy123456 Member Posts: 272
    edited February 20
    If you have the time, how does the AI voice "sound"? On youtube there are tons of videos with autogenerated narration, most of which sounds rather robotic. I see this, for instance, on cheaply produced documentary for videos involving animals, for instance; always shocks me when I then compare it to e. g. David Attenborough's (living legend still at age 97) clear narration instead.

    I assume for the AI voice, one needs to "feed" it a text? Are there means to tweak that?

    In regards to the mod idea (I have not tested the mod itself yet), it's always nice to see more ToB content; ToB always felt way more streamlined than SoA, which made it more linear and less flexible. Most mods seem to focus on SoA, probably in part because of that.
  • morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
    Different tools were used to generate voices for the characters with the ability to alter tone, inflection, cadence, etc. The characters voiced are diverse and I'm overall happy with how things came out.
  • UlkeshUlkesh Member Posts: 280
    I can vouch for the quality of the voices. I don't think I would realize it's AI added if Morpheus562 didn't say so.
  • morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
    It's also my first time putting my writing on display as I've hidden behind non story/dialogue mods.
  • ThrasymachusThrasymachus Member Posts: 911
    Wow! This looks really intriguing. Thanks!

    Regarding:
    Compatibility

    This mod is compatible with Ascension and mods that add IWD spells into Baldur's Gate. In both instances, Crucible needs to be installed after these mods.

    Just to be absolutely clear: this means that Crucible should be installed after SCS, right?
  • StummvonBordwehrStummvonBordwehr Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,385
    looks awesome. Well done
  • morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
    Wow! This looks really intriguing. Thanks!

    Regarding:
    Compatibility

    This mod is compatible with Ascension and mods that add IWD spells into Baldur's Gate. In both instances, Crucible needs to be installed after these mods.

    Just to be absolutely clear: this means that Crucible should be installed after SCS, right?

    Not necessarily. If using IWDification, that includes IWD spells. Additionally, you can do a split install of SCS to include IWD spells earlier (typically do this to install spells when other spells are being added), then install the remainder of SCS at a later time.
  • ErykErykErykEryk Member Posts: 41
    How super cool! So glad this game is still so much alive thanks to you guys. Any videos? Screenshots? It's so far to get to if its ending of ToB ;p Especially on SCS Insane ;p
  • OtherwiselyOtherwisely Member Posts: 21
    Definitely looks interesting! I *just* finished a TOB playthrough and I have a save just before destroying the pocket plane. I’ll have to give this a try!
  • Shin0b1G6Shin0b1G6 Member Posts: 23
    edited February 23
    Wow! This looks really intriguing. Thanks!

    Regarding:
    Compatibility

    This mod is compatible with Ascension and mods that add IWD spells into Baldur's Gate. In both instances, Crucible needs to be installed after these mods.

    Just to be absolutely clear: this means that Crucible should be installed after SCS, right?

    Not necessarily. If using IWDification, that includes IWD spells. Additionally, you can do a split install of SCS to include IWD spells earlier (typically do this to install spells when other spells are being added), then install the remainder of SCS at a later time.

    So the Install all spell tweaks, Add 9 new arcane spells, and Add 6 new divine spells components, do thoses count as IWD spells for the purpose of installing Crucible with compatibility in mind?

    Edit: components're from SCS.
  • morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
    I just use a few of the iwd spells for enemy pre buffing, if they are available. If not, I'll just skip them.
  • morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
    edited February 23
    @Llewren thank you so much for your review! I appreciate the good things you had to say and recognize your critiques.

    Spoiler Warning, the review can be found here: https://smolderingmodsbar.com/crucible-bg2ee
    Post edited by morpheus562 on
  • LlewrenLlewren Member Posts: 44
    Crucible was right up my alley in terms of what type of mods I enjoy, so I had to jump on it quickly. I just hope that my review can bring more people to try it out!
  • morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
    edited February 24
    Llewren wrote: »
    Crucible was right up my alley in terms of what type of mods I enjoy, so I had to jump on it quickly. I just hope that my review can bring more people to try it out!

    I think you're gonna like this next bit: I should be able to release an update tonight that makes ai voiced npcs optional. I also like your Stan Lee reference as I subscribe to the fan theory he is Uatu the Watcher 😜

    EDIT: Update to make ai voices optional is now released.
    Post edited by morpheus562 on
  • OtherwiselyOtherwisely Member Posts: 21
    edited February 26
    Just played through the mod and I really enjoyed it! The original jump from the pocket plane to Amelyssan always felt a bit abrupt. This was a nice area of transition. Got everyone an extra level too. A few thoughts (some of which refer back to Llewren's review):
    -The maps were so gorgeous. I can't overstate this. They were a joy to travel through.
    -Dialogue hubs are a bit awkward when returned to since it was an exact repeat of the intial hub. I think slightly rephrasing things so it sounds like an ongoing conversation would make it feel a bit more natural. (I admit this is a nitpick, though!)
    -Viekang and the Solar referred to my character as 'he' despite playing as a female (and my PC was the only one showing a speaking icon).
    -Stairways in the demon tower and garrison are hard to notice--I only found them by accident.
    -The meeting with Ao was interesting but I agree that making Noober his avatar is a bit much. I'm okay with the little easter eggs being Tymora's intervention, though. I think it's kind of sweet. Thanks Auntie Tymora!
    -I played with the dialogue enabled and personally found it entirely acceptable in quality. Having an option for voice or no voice was a good call, though. I recommended the mod to a friend who HATES having too much voice acting in BG mods, so he'll be happy.
    -On the topic of voices: I found Ao's voice a bit bland. I think it was a good idea not to go for a booming/echoing voice but he just sounds a bit too ordinary. Not sure what I would have done in your place, though.

    On a 100% personal aside: As an arachnophobe I was pretty freaked out by those new spider enemies. I'm used to the normal spider enemies but those were YIKES. Thank goodness for Story Mode and AI so I could just walk away and let my party handle things.

    Quibbles aside, I think I'll add this to my standard mod rotation. Congrats on making such a well-done mod!
  • morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
    edited February 26
    Just played through the mod and I really enjoyed it! The original jump from the pocket plane to Amelyssan always felt a bit abrupt. This was a nice area of transition. Got everyone an extra level too. A few thoughts (some of which refer back to Llewren's review):

    Thank you so much for the feedback, I appreciate it all. I ask that you please put the spoilers in the appropriate spoiler format so as not to ruin the twist for others.
    Post edited by morpheus562 on
  • OtherwiselyOtherwisely Member Posts: 21
    Thank you so much for the feedback, I appreciate it all. I ask that you please put the spoilers in the appropriate spoiler format so as not to ruin the twist for others.

    Ope! Sorry about that. Edited in a spoiler tag.
  • morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
    Thank you so much for the feedback, I appreciate it all. I ask that you please put the spoilers in the appropriate spoiler format so as not to ruin the twist for others.

    Ope! Sorry about that. Edited in a spoiler tag.

    All good and thanks again for leaving your feedback. I'll see what is going on with the dialog saying "he" and not updating based on PC gender. For v1.2 I'll be putting map markers into those towers to assist in transitions.
  • morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
    Official release for version 1.2 which brings the following enhancements:
    • Added Brazilian Portuguese translation courtesy of DarthNihilus530.
  • morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
    Official release for version 2.3 which brings the following enhancements:
    • Updated door transitions.
    • Updated item image.
  • MothorMothor Member Posts: 265
    The link doesn't seem to work.
  • morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
    Mothor wrote: »
    The link doesn't seem to work.

    Thank you, please try the link now.
  • trebuszętrebuszę Member Posts: 47
    This mod, Goddess call and Dark Tidings by Acifer are the king. Baldur's Gate is reborn, happy days :*
  • AciferAcifer Member Posts: 200
    edited June 5
    trebuszę wrote: »
    This mod, Goddess call and Dark Tidings by Acifer are the king. Baldur's Gate is reborn, happy days :*

    Thank you, I'm glad to hear that!
  • morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
    edited July 20
    Crucible official release for version 2.4 which brings the following enhancements:
    • Reduce Planetar use of Earthquake.
    • Removed Bhaal's Medallion from Pyroclastic dragon.
    • Added innate casting for celestials.
    • Enemies will remove Insect Plague from their allies (if able).

    https://www.morpheus-mart.com/crucible
    Post edited by morpheus562 on
  • Yoshimo0417Yoshimo0417 Member Posts: 1
    Hello morpheus562, I made some update for chinese translation, please check.
  • morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
    Thank you!
  • KarrgootKarrgoot Member Posts: 31
    "Compatibility

    This mod is for Enhanced Edition ONLY and is compatible with Ascension and mods that add IWD spells into Baldur's Gate. In both instances, Crucible needs to be installed after these mods."

    so after Ascension and SCS? if i use the IWD spells from SCS and nit from IWDification?
  • morpheus562morpheus562 Member Posts: 335
    Yes, that is correct.
  • roshanroshan Member Posts: 17
    Yes, that is correct.

    Can this mod also handle it if I added the IWD spells using Talents of Faerun?
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