Thinking of buying the EE's, but first i need to know - Do Weimer's oldest mods work?
Shalamayne
Member Posts: 12
As in his earliest, best known stuff - item upgrades, tactics, solaufein, valen, - the works.
Ive known about the EE's as soon as they were announced and part of what has kept me from playing them is that a great deal of now derelict, long-forgotten mods i keep in my dropbox hall of fame wont work. Im uncertain as to just how different the EE engine is.
Also, it didnt feel like a good idea to pile my usual 40-50 mods on top of a game that I've heard was plagued by ramapant bugs, (apparently no longer a problem as of 2015).
Here are some of the mods I'd like to have working in almost any given BG2 installation, but i couldnt find an EE version for:
If you happen to know which of these have been updated for the modern version, or will work anyway ( i have no idea how EE interacts with old mods), please do tell
And a rather strange request: I have this ancient mod that im *really* curious if it will work on an EE installation. Its a 267kb fighter kit http://www.filedropper.com/riskbreakerkitv6
Grizzled veterans of the bg2 mod scene may recognise this as a no-longer attainable early, standalone version of the Riskbreaker kit that has not been available separately from the ImprovedAnvil overhaul for the past decade.
So, yeah. If any kind soul could tell me if this kit can be slapped successfully on top of EE, I'd appreciate it.
Ive known about the EE's as soon as they were announced and part of what has kept me from playing them is that a great deal of now derelict, long-forgotten mods i keep in my dropbox hall of fame wont work. Im uncertain as to just how different the EE engine is.
Also, it didnt feel like a good idea to pile my usual 40-50 mods on top of a game that I've heard was plagued by ramapant bugs, (apparently no longer a problem as of 2015).
Here are some of the mods I'd like to have working in almost any given BG2 installation, but i couldnt find an EE version for:
1) weimer's old school stuff, as described above
2) longer road
3) com_encounters
4) item pack by Daulmakan
5) level 1 NPC mod
6) ascension (duh)
7) iep banters
8) kensai ryu's difficult brown dragon
9) exnem vault
10) spellhold gauntlet
11) rtt itempack
12) turnabout
2) longer road
3) com_encounters
4) item pack by Daulmakan
5) level 1 NPC mod
6) ascension (duh)
7) iep banters
8) kensai ryu's difficult brown dragon
9) exnem vault
10) spellhold gauntlet
11) rtt itempack
12) turnabout
If you happen to know which of these have been updated for the modern version, or will work anyway ( i have no idea how EE interacts with old mods), please do tell
And a rather strange request: I have this ancient mod that im *really* curious if it will work on an EE installation. Its a 267kb fighter kit http://www.filedropper.com/riskbreakerkitv6
Grizzled veterans of the bg2 mod scene may recognise this as a no-longer attainable early, standalone version of the Riskbreaker kit that has not been available separately from the ImprovedAnvil overhaul for the past decade.
So, yeah. If any kind soul could tell me if this kit can be slapped successfully on top of EE, I'd appreciate it.
Post edited by Shalamayne on
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I still have a complete 2004 installation of 5-CD version of BG2, mixed with 2004 versions of dozens of WeiDU and other mods, Solaufen & Valen included. It's stable, ready to play any time. I believe that's the best way to keep playing the old mods (no, I no longer play old mods).
Technically, what you must do is not to pile old mods on a 2016 EE version of BG2. Instead, try to find their post-2016, latest upgrades.
However, after you install 40+ mods (a collection of mods , such as Ascension, may be counted as a single mod, but is actually not), I am pretty sure you are installing 100s of individual mods, and I guess your game is not going to be very stable, as even the vanilla latest BG2EE crashes once in a while.
So, the best cause of action =
1) buy/download/install the latest BG2EE as usual
2) install it to a 2nd location (or duplicate the first one)
3) install the latest upgrades of your MOST favorite mods using 2nd copy (don't touch the 1st one!)
4) test the 2nd copy, and make sure it works
5) back up your 2nd copy by making a copy of it (your 3rd copy of BG2EE)
6) install a few more mods using 2nd copy. if the game still works, back it up by updating the 3rd copy
7) repeat above two steps until either everything is installed or until the game is unstable/unplayable.
Now, you can delete 2nd copy and only play the modded 3rd copy.
You can always switch to your vanilla official install of BG2EE any time.
Some have been updated by their authors to be compatible with both the original game and the EE, including:
- IEP Extended Banters
Some have gotten a separate EE port, including:- Ascension
- Longer Road
- Weimer's Item Upgrade
Some have gotten a partial/beta EE port that was never finished, including:- Weimer's Tactics – but what's there, worked mostly fine for me when I tried it.
Some definitely do not work on the EE, including:- Level 1 NPCs – Although there's now NPC_EE, which is an easier-to-use but more limited alternative. (And the EE Keeper savegame editor can now properly add/remove kits, too.)
Not sure about all the other mods you list; some might work (or sort-of-work) when installed with the BigWorldSetup tool, since it automatically applies mod patches from the Big-World-Fixpack, many of which improve EE compatibility. YMMV.I don't think your kit mod will work either, without modification.
The bottom line is that if you're looking to recreate the exact BG2 experience you had back in the day, with the exact same mod line-up, you're better off sticking to the original game.
But if you're open to try some new things, you'll find that the EE is an excellent modding platform, with mods doing cool things that go beyond what you're used to from classic BG2 mods (some of which only became possible thanks to engine improvements provided by the EE ).
E.g. look at Faiths and Powers, a much more ambitious and impressive "spiritual successor" to Divine Remix, which completely restructures the divine caster classes and spell system.
Or Afaaq, the Djinni Companion, which manages to effective add a 7th party member.
And many more.
See the list of officially BG2:EE-compatible mods. (Though a bunch more, especially abandoned quest mods, will work when installed with BigWorldSetup).
If you want to make the change yourself, find:
ACTION_FOR_EACH wild_magi IN neera8 neera 10 neera11 neera12 neera13 neera15 neera neera2 neera4
and replace it with
ACTION_FOR_EACH wild_magi IN neera8 neera10 neera11 neera12 neera13 neera15 neera neera2 neera4
It was Neera10. All the other NPCs seemed good to go.
Gus