[Release] AC's Miscellaneous Tweaks

I released this collection of tweaks over at SHS a couple weeks ago and felt it didn't quite have enough EE content to justify advertising in this forum. However the mod has grown in size and scope since then, and now covers enough EE stuff to warrant a, "Hello!" over here too.

Without further ado, here goes


This mod was born as a disparate assortment of tweaks and changes I wanted for my BGT playthrough, meant to be quick and dirty, with no documentation whatsoever and no best practices like DESIGNATED, LABEL, and the like. In time it grew in size and scope and I started adopting best practices "just in case", adding more and more stuff as I went along with my playthrough and realized I wanted it—which leads us to the here and now, where I decided to release the mod in case somebody else out there is interested in the same things as I.


DOWNLOAD LINK

Current version: 1.22 || 16/05/2022


So what does it do?


Miscellaneous Tweaks:

- Replace the Potion of Extra Healing's and Potion of Superior Healing's original icons with recolored potion icons from BG1 to better fit the look of the other potions in the game.
- Updated the icon for Marek's Potion of Antidote and Vial of Strange Liquid to the unique icons intended for them (and left unused in the game's files.) BGT only.
- Replace the icons for the Wand of Cursing, Wand of Spell Striking, Rod of Reversal, and Rod of Absorption with recolored icons from BG1 because I felt these items are too cool to live with the poor-looking icons they had.
- Change the icon and color of the SoA Battle Axe +2 to those of BG1's Battle Axe +2.
- Replace the Axe of the Unyielding's original icon with a recolored icon from BG1.
- Replace the Chill Axe's original icon with recolored icon from BG1 and change its color to better match the new icon. Siege of Dragonspear only.
- Swap the generic icon for the Silver Dragon Plate with a recolored icon from the Red Dragon Scale that IMO looks a lot better. Recolored the armor to look less metal and more silver dragon, including a pulse glow effect. Enhanced Editions only.
- Replace Rancor's original icon (clearly a recolored long sword) with a recolored 2H sword icon from BG1. Enhanced Editions only.
- Replace the Abyssal Blade's original icon (also clearly a recolored long sword) with a recolored 2H sword icon from BG1. Enhanced Editions only.
- Increased the size of Barrytil's Burden to match the size of other rings. (The original icon is actually a recolored Ring of Energy, so I simply recolored it again to get the bigger size without loss of quality.) Enhanced Editions only.
- Change the original icon for the Dragonscale Armor in Siege of Dragonspear with a recolored icon from BG2 and changed its color to better match the new icon. Siege of Dragonspear only.
- Change the original icon for the Martyr's Morning star with a recolored icon from BG1. Siege of Dragonspear only.
- Change the original icon for Severance with a recolored icon from BG1. Siege of Dragonspear only.
- Change the original icon for the Ward of Water Elemental Summoning with a recolored icon from BG1. Siege of Dragonspear only.
- Reduced the size of the Ring Of The Tiny Fiend by approximately 25% to better fit the size of other rings in the game. Siege of Dragonspear only.
- Restore the Cloak of Mirroring to its original behavior from Shadows of Amn, before the nerf hammer came along with Throne of Bhaal. The cloak now once again reflects direct-damage spells back at the caster.
- Restore the original icons for all bonus merchants' items in SoA if 1PP is installed. I like to play with 1PP but the icons it gives these items just don't do it for me. BGT only.
- Restore the infinite number of charges on the Cloak of Algernon. Enhanced Editions only.


Use BG/SoD portraits in SoA/ToB:

This component is pretty much the same thing as CamDawg's Continuous NPC Portraits, except it also restores the original BG1 colors to all returning characters. Though really, had I known about CamDawg's mod ahead of making this component, I probably wouldn't have. SoA/ToB, BGT.


Use original portraits for EE NPCs:

Restores the original pre-release portraits for Rasaad, Dorn, and Neera. I much preferred them to those that shipped with the game and I never understood why they had to alter them (except Rasaad, which made sense but the original still looks better.)

As it turns out, good old Glint Gardnersonson also had a different pre-release portrait from what shipped with Siege of Dragonspear. As of v1.2, this component restores that too and recolors his hair to match the new (or, technically, old) portrait. Enhanced Editions only.



Use EE colors for joinable NPCs:

The Enhanced Editions recolored all joinable NPCs, in most cases availing themselves of the extended palette to better match the colors in each character's portrait. I find they did a good job and generally like the color combinations they went for, so I ported them to the classics. SoA/ToB, BGT (requires 1PP's extended palette entries.)


EE-style descriptions:

You know how the Enhanced Editions adopted a standardized template for item descriptions that is nice and clean and easy to read? With this component, you can have the same template in the classics too. SoA/ToB, BGT.


BG-style archery for SoA/ToB:

This component restores bows and arrows to their full BG1 glory across the saga. Fun for all versions of the game (except obviously BG1 and BG:EE.)


Restore BG/BG2 inventory icons and colors:

This one was born as a component for the Enhanced Editions (which can be found in the Nostalgia Pack), then slightly altered to fit the classics.

Why?

Two reasons: 1PP, which I always use, does not have a "purist" component that goes full-on BG1 on BG1 items and full-on BG2 on BG2 items; rather, it offers its own recolors which you may or may not like. Second, I did not know how BGT handled item icons and colors and adapting this component was quicker and easier than to go through a BGT installation just to check.

If you install this, all items that existed in BG1 will get their original icons, illustrations, and colors as they had in the unmodded BG1 game; likewise all BG2 items as in the unmodded BG2 game. Note that items that exist in both games get the BG1 treatment because I like it better. SoA/ToB, BGT.


Restore BG Flaming Fist & Amnian Soldier Appearance:

If you've played with Infinity Animations, you'll know that it changes all Flaming Fist fighters to use the fighter sprite, even though their cleric appearance in BG1 was, in my opinion, very much intentional. It gave Flaming Fist officers a unique look that set them apart and made them easily recognizable as the law enforcers in the game. This component restores their original look.

Similarly, Infinity Animations gives the Amnian Guard sprite from BG2 to the Amnian soldiers in Nashkel. I've never liked this change, as the BG2 animation really sticks out like a sore thumb in the context of BG1. Thus, this component reverses the change. BGT only (requires IA's component that restores BG1 sprites.)

Looking for something similar (or, rather, exactly the same) for the Enhanced Editions? Never fear, the Nostalgia Pack has you covered.


BG1 animations dual-wielding fix:

BG1 character sprites are arguably much better looking than their BG2 counterparts, and they don't dip their toes in that sin against aesthetics that is sprite mirroring. However they are not feature complete, as no dual-wielding animations were ever created for them nor was their underlying code updated to support displaying two weapons simultaneously.

Using Infinity Animations to restore BG1 sprites therefore means giving up on dual-wielding, and treading on thin ice as equipping a weapon in the off-hand slot pretty much guarantees a CTD.

Thanks to Insomniator's work, the CTD is no longer. Equip off-hand weapons on BG1 sprites to your heart's content and the game won't crash—just don't expect them to show up because, as mentioned above, no off-hand weapon animations were ever created for these sprites.

So how do they work then?

- If you equip the off hand first and the main hand thereafter, the latter will show and visually perform all attacks.
- If you equip the main hand first and the off hand thereafter, no weapon will show and it'll look like your character is punching their enemies to death.

In both cases, you will get all the mechanical perks of dual-wielding (the extra attack, the bonuses from the weapon you equip in the off-hand, etc..) It just looks weird, but I'll take that over a CTD any time of day and night.

Note that this fix is going to be integrated in the next release of Infinity Animations. When that happens, I will pull it from this mod. BGT only (requires IA's component that restores BG1 sprites.)


Dragon breath fix:

The implementation of dragons' breath weapons in BG2 is highly inconsistent, as some are set as magical attacks and others aren't, and most qualify as spells of the "generalist" school, which means generalist mages and sorcerers (and wild mages if you're using ToBEx AfterLife) get an unduly +2 bonus to saving throws against them. Blue dragons are a whole different chapter, as their breath weapon is a repurposed Chain Lightning spell so pretty much everything about it is wrong.

This component addresses all of these problems by assigning school: NONE and removing the "magical attack" flag from all breath weapons. It also fixes the casting sound and animation on the blue dragon's breath weapon.

The component will be pulled if/when this fix makes it into the BG2 Fixpack. SoA/ToB, BGT, BG2:EE, EET.


Random stuff no one wants:

A collection of changes tailored to my preference. I don't expect a great deal many people to want to any of this. BGT, BG2:EE, EET.

- Recolor the Plate of Balduran so that it's actually black like its icon.
- Recolor the Blue Dragon Plate armor to something closer to the color of the blue dragon sprite.
- Recolor the Red Dragon Scale armor to something closer to the color of the red dragon sprite.
- Recolor the Dragon Helm so it's more in line with the recolored Red Dragon Scale armor.
- Recolor the Dragon Scale Shield so it's more in line with the recolored Red Dragon Scale armor.
- Recolor the Crimson Chain Mail so that it's actually crimson; also allow spellcasting while wearing it.
- Allow spellcasting in Drizzt's Mithral Chain Mail.
- Recolor the Robe of Vecna to a more lore-friendly black and change its appearance to a hooded robe.
- Tweak the appearance of the Helm of Brilliance and both versions of the Helm of the Rock.
- Recolor Roranach Helm.
- Recolor and tweak the appearance of Vahilor's Helm.
- Change Corthala's Family Armor's appearance to leather armor and recolor to make it closer to its icon.
- Recolor Corthala's Family Blade to look closer to its icon.
- Change the icon of the Sword of Flame and Flaming Long Sword; give the latter the flaming sword model. (Requires 1PP if installed on BGT.)
- Recolor the Shield of Harmony so it looks closer to its 1PP icon when using the Legacy Shields component.
- Remove the minor and major colors from Semaj's Cloak.
- If using BG1 sprites, change Anomen's sprite to that of a cleric because looks.
- If Infinity Animations is installed, assign the Death Tyrant sprite to Death Tyrant CRE files (v6 of Infinity Animations should do this already.) In BGII:EE, assign the death tyrant sprite to death tyrant CRE files and fix the personal space and ellipse parameters in the relative INI file. (Requires 1PP if installed on BGT.)
- Replace the SoA long sword of Balduran with the actual bastard sword of Balduran from TotSC.
- Strip colors from Knave's Robe, Adventurer's Robe, and Traveller's Robe so that they keep the wearer's colors instead. They have also been assigned different armor levels to make it easier to distinguish them.
- Set colors for the robes of the archmagi as per Mr. Pennyway's Cosmetic Changes, with but a few minor modifications.


EE soundsets:

A very simple (conceptually; less so to code but thankfully skellytz saved the day) component that ports all new soundsets added by the Enhanced Editions to the classics. Some of them are really good. BGT only (requires ToBEx.)


EE portraits:

An even simpler component that ports all new portraits added by the Enhanced Editions to the classics. SoA/ToB, BGT.


EE slings:

In BG1, all slings automatically added strength bonuses to damage rolls. In BG2, none of them did except the Sling of Seeking, which added strength bonuses to damage rolls as its special ability.

The Enhanced Editions harmonized sling behavior across games by adding strength bonuses to damage rolls for all slings, and changing the Sling of Seeking's ability to being able to fire magical bullets when none are equipped.

In BGT, slings are treated inconsistently: BG1's slings add strength to damage rolls and BG2's don't. This mod component rectifies that by adopting the Enhanced Editions' solution for classic BGT. BGT only.


Revenant Animation Fix:

In the Enhanced Editions revenants make use of the zombie animation even though a dedicated revenant animation already exists within the game files. This component assigns the revenant animation to revenant creatures and restores its dedicated soundset (it would otherwise use the ghoul soundset.) Enhanced Editions only.


SoD sound sets for BG:EE:

Siege of Dragonspear has some badass soundsets for joinable characters. This component allows you to use them in BG:EE as well with all characters that exist in both games. The "mixed" version covers SoD CRE files as well and provides the SoD soundset integrated with a few selected lines from the BG:EE soundsets that will randomly play in alternative to the SoD ones. Enhanced Editions only (requires Siege of Dragonspear.)



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

I'm new to modding and, let's face it, not very good at it.

This mod would not exist without the generous, friendly help of people like skellytz (who single-handedly coded the soundset component), kjeron, Gamemacik, Jarno Mikkola, Insomniator, Graion Dilach (who was instrumental in making the SoD soundset component work), and ALIEN.

I would also like to extend my gratitude to Cuv, Miloch, CamDawg, Troodon80, and Argent77 for helping me with advice and coaching when I moved my first steps into modding and several times thereafter.

Finally, thanks to Beamdog for reviving interest in these games, birthing a new generation of modders while drawing veterans back, and still patching the Enhanced Editions almost ten years after their initial release.