It's not like it's very comfortable, because... well, it's just that we see these characters a bit differently. I think SI is somewhat more mad and quirky, I'm not sure it's perfect like that. Remember that SI's mod, now maintained by Austin and his friends, was created before EE was a thing. I actually remember that, because I was also in touch with Smiling Imp. He worked a LOT on his mod, he introduced many many many NPC options, but they were all created kinda... all at once. It's difficult task. REALLY difficult.
Since we are two different people, we write stuff differently. A comparison:
Few lines from my The Return of Xzar and Montaron:
@75 = ~Apprentice Two knew how to make fine borscht, but who would call that enough?! I needed more. I mean—they needed more. To succeed. And apparently, to survive. Ah, such disappointments, such disappointments.~ @76 = ~I thought I would try something that could be a proper pastime for myself. So, I suggested transplanting goblins' skeletons. You know, simply swap these between our subjects. How hard that can be?~ @77 = ~That's why we played with some of these little goblinoids and bone structures, also known as skeletons, but... again, they failed, even with a simple osteology experiment! I HIGHLY doubt their mothers are—were EVER proud of them!~ @78 = ~That's mostly why I care little that you put them to nice sleep. Good riddance.~ @79 = ~I am starting to appreciate Gorion's normal and even boring teaching methods...~ @80 = ~If not me, Harpers would send someone else to deal with your apprentices. I don't think that loss was avoidable.~ @81 = ~Well, perhaps it was always your destiny? To be an adventurer, not someone who stays in one place and tries to teach others.~ @82 = ~Look, I think it's best if we move on now. And... after hearing that story, I think we should limit our chats in general. For the sake of both of us.~ @83 = ~Hmm? Well. I never knew him. So what you said means very little to me.~ @84 = ~Have you listened to me? I. DON'T. CARE. Really. I don't. So just chill down a notch, like a... chill touch. Hmm?~ @85 = ~Hmm, maybe that's true. It's hard to say, considering I was their teacher for two days. I must admit the rest of the time I spent on something way more promising. My own passions.~ @86 = ~I wish I spent more time on my own experiments. Perhaps I would untap power in my own subjects, and make them realize their potential. And that of my own.~ @87 = ~Xzar...? What are you saying?~ @88 = ~You sound somewhat different. Are you feeling alright?~ @89 = ~Experiments? Power? Potential? That sounds uncomfortably familiar.~
Few lines from SI's BG1 NPCs for SoA & ToB:
@10 = ~Hehehehehe! That is where that girl was drowned. Never did find the killer. Shut up, shut up! We are not supposed to talk about that! STOP TOUCHING MEEEEEE!!!~ [xzar19] @11 = ~Hahaha! You take the high road, the story ends, you go back to the everyday world, like nothing ever happened. The rabbit-dragons approved, yes they did!~ [xzar20] @12 = ~All cities are mad, but the madness is gallant. All cities are beautiful, but the beauty is grim.~ [xzar20] @13 = ~Hahahaha! Did I ever tell you that I owned a shop right here in the Promenade? It was a lovely boutique called, I Change, that did body modifications.~ @14 = ~I had hundreds of noblewomen in there trying to change their nose or get their breasts enhanced. It all went to hell though when the authorities uncovered that I had been using human flesh I harvested from the graveyard to create those effects after a few of my clients complained when I made some additions of my own! Bwhahahaha!~ @15 = ~Good thing everyone believes that I was slain by a Harper assassin, because the guards would no doubt still looking for me. Maybe I'll open up shop again under an assumed identity.~ @16 = ~So these vast tunnels and chasms are all the creation of Torog, the King that Crawls, after he was imprisoned there before the Dawn War.~ [XZAR42] @17 = ~Come, let us see everything! I want to see every deadly creature this place has and kill them!~ @18 = ~When business is slow, sometimes me and Montaron would go digging for fresh body parts here in the graveyard.~ [XZAR39] @19 = ~With the way that fools get themselves killed in this city, we never had to worry aboutt he corpses being too old to use.~ @20 = ~You are sick in the head, Xzar and I am sorry I ever let you join us.~ @21 = ~Shut your mouth wizard, or I shall shut it for you.~ @22 = ~I don't want to hear anymore of your sick stories.~ @23 = ~Please tell me that you are joking.~ @24 = ~There is good gold to be made from harvesting body parts from corpses, <CHARNAME>. After all, just because someone is dead, it does not mean they cannot be useful.~ @25 = ~I wonder, <CHARNAME>, have learned anything other than your peasant magic during your travels?~
So you will see the characters we draw are somewhat different. Furthermore, I am a horror fan, I sometimes try to play with the tropes and themes. So, you will learn that Xzar in my mod has a favorite book: The King in Emerald. It's a reference to The King in Yellow -- I thought that classic supernatural theme, Lovecraftian themes would be a funny reference. And why emerald? It's Xzar's robe color.
I just do that kind of stuff, hide references in my mods, because I consider this fun, but I can imagine that some players look for other kind of content included in the mods they're playing. Because when they're playing such games they may prefer things to be simple rather than play on pop-cultural references or themes.
Next, my aim was to walk this thin line between madness and it all being a mask. I wanted to give players this feeling that it's hard to say if Xzar truly believes in everything he says or if it's more like a planned strategy, mixed with eccentricity. Have I succeeded? I have no idea. I just wanted to provide people with he feeling I had when I was playing BG1 for the first time many many many years ago. I'm not saying there aren't any crazy moments, but I think they are a bit different kind of crazy that what's present in SI's version of the character.
When it comes to Monty, I wanted to make him vulgar, crude, and opportunistic, but I didn't want to overdo him. That was much harder, but my proofreader helped me greatly. Smiling Imp's Monty is being rewritten/edited lately I don't know how it's going to be now. I suppose the main change here would be that in my version, you can be "friends with benefits" with him, it's not as deep as a romance and he doesn't care much about your gender, as long as your alignment isn't lawful. I think SI's and Austin's character has a romance.
I cannot tell you which one is better I suppose it all depends on what you desire, what sort of content you want to see, et cetera. Perhaps just check the .tra files in one mod and then in the other, and see which writing style you prefer. I think that both these mods have their strong points and weak points. I am far from saying X is better than Y or anything like that. I believe there is space for different interpretations and takes on these characters and it may be best for players to check the files, samples or just give both a try and decide on their own.
First off, I'm quite happy with any mod that brings this duo back.
That said, I don't know if I installed things wrong as I've been having weird issues almost immediately. For one, I had to manually create Xzar's body, as it didn't spawn with his death. And past that, the "door" under the sphere never showed up. I can't imagine it is inside the sphere itself (or is it?)
I want to delve into this mod more, am I missing something or is the mod glitched out for me?
Hello @LavaDelVortel, some time ago I was working on the translation of your mod The Return of Xzar and Montaron, starting from version 1.2, and now I’m back to finally finish the translation. But I noticed that your mod has been updated to version 1.4, and I just wanted to ask if you made any changes to the mod files, or if you only added those portraits for the characters.
September 2025 - v1.4.3 - v1.4.4:
-Improved the new portraits introduced in v1.4
-Minor text compatibility improvement with Khdalid BG2
-A minor typo fix
June 2025 - v1.4:
-New portraits that match BG2 style better (previous, BG1-based portraits are still available in the "portraits-alt" directory)
March 2025 - v1.3:
-Montaron and the Zhent's buffet fix
-Restored a minor missing script
-Restored a minor missing dialogue line
-Small conflict (Khalid & Zhentarim)
-The mod has a simple EET compatibility implemented, but I am not an EET player myself, thus consider this functionality a beta
The best way to make sure it's mostly ok is to check the number of lines in all .tra files.
Thanks! The new version is up! It includes your translation. Your name is also included next to the translation option (during installation) and in the readme! Cheers!
Comments
Since we are two different people, we write stuff differently. A comparison:
Few lines from my The Return of Xzar and Montaron:
Few lines from SI's BG1 NPCs for SoA & ToB:
So you will see the characters we draw are somewhat different. Furthermore, I am a horror fan, I sometimes try to play with the tropes and themes. So, you will learn that Xzar in my mod has a favorite book: The King in Emerald. It's a reference to The King in Yellow -- I thought that classic supernatural theme, Lovecraftian themes would be a funny reference. And why emerald? It's Xzar's robe color.
I just do that kind of stuff, hide references in my mods, because I consider this fun, but I can imagine that some players look for other kind of content included in the mods they're playing. Because when they're playing such games they may prefer things to be simple rather than play on pop-cultural references or themes.
Next, my aim was to walk this thin line between madness and it all being a mask. I wanted to give players this feeling that it's hard to say if Xzar truly believes in everything he says or if it's more like a planned strategy, mixed with eccentricity. Have I succeeded? I have no idea. I just wanted to provide people with he feeling I had when I was playing BG1 for the first time many many many years ago. I'm not saying there aren't any crazy moments, but I think they are a bit different kind of crazy that what's present in SI's version of the character.
When it comes to Monty, I wanted to make him vulgar, crude, and opportunistic, but I didn't want to overdo him. That was much harder, but my proofreader helped me greatly. Smiling Imp's Monty is being rewritten/edited lately I don't know how it's going to be now. I suppose the main change here would be that in my version, you can be "friends with benefits" with him, it's not as deep as a romance and he doesn't care much about your gender, as long as your alignment isn't lawful. I think SI's and Austin's character has a romance.
I cannot tell you which one is better I suppose it all depends on what you desire, what sort of content you want to see, et cetera. Perhaps just check the .tra files in one mod and then in the other, and see which writing style you prefer. I think that both these mods have their strong points and weak points. I am far from saying X is better than Y or anything like that. I believe there is space for different interpretations and takes on these characters and it may be best for players to check the files, samples or just give both a try and decide on their own.
Sorry, but that's all you're gonna get from me
That said, I don't know if I installed things wrong as I've been having weird issues almost immediately. For one, I had to manually create Xzar's body, as it didn't spawn with his death. And past that, the "door" under the sphere never showed up. I can't imagine it is inside the sphere itself (or is it?)
I want to delve into this mod more, am I missing something or is the mod glitched out for me?
The "door" isn't inside the sphere, but exactly under it.
The best way to make sure it's mostly ok is to check the number of lines in all .tra files.