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[v3.4] Aura, a gnome artificer NPC for BG:EE + SoD

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  • ZaghoulZaghoul Member, Moderator Posts: 3,938
    Ok thanks, that's what I was thinking. I only noticed as the sword plays a part in NToTSC I am testing.
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    Updated to v1.3.
    • Updated qd_multiclass.tpa resource (no more abilities duplicating on multi-class kits)
    • Increased Alchemy stock to 99 of each potion
    • Added item checks for Improved Idol of Kozah
    ZaghoulThacoBell
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    Updated to v1.4.
    • Rebalanced the Advanced Alchemy innate: Alchemy is gained at level 1 and can be used at will. Stock is limited and replenishes after resting.
    • Improved runecrafting dialogue
    • Cast time on runes reduced to 0
    • Lightning Arrow no longer chains, instead always hits and penetrates through targets in its path (not party-friendly)
    RVNSThacoBellZaghoulGusinda
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    Interesting how this thread’s caught up to Drake’s in views and attention despite being announced a whole nine months later. I’m pleased and also somewhat nervous. Aura was definitely the hardest character for me to write because she’s a very different type of personality from what I’m used to and I wasn’t always sure if my ideas would work. While I sometimes feel I missed a few opportunities with Sirene and Drake I feel very ‘safe’ regarding them. Not so much with Aura.

    No updates or previews this time, just sharing some thoughts.
    RaduzielZaghoulThacoBell
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    v1.5
    • Updated SoD banter script to hopefully eliminate cases of stuttering
    ThacoBellRaduzielGusinda
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    I tried Aura out on a "Why not?" basis, and was pleasantly surprised. I haven't finished a full run with her yet due to (unrelated) mod bugs and updates, but I look forward to finishing her story.
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    v1.6
    • Improved a few item icons
    • Fixed portrait icons
    • Create Sunshooter Arrows: player may choose type of arrow to create at mk. III and IV in stacks of five, maximum ten arrows
    I'm experimenting with a new idea to make the Sunshooter more interesting. It may or may not work.
    ThacoBell
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    v1.7
    • Sunshooter: now configures between three modes: Rapid, Precise and Power
    Original plan for the Sunshooter was too complicated. It now has three modes that it can switch between.
    • Rapid Shot: +APR, -damage
    • Precise Shot: +THAC0 and critical rate, -APR
    • Power Shot: +damage, -THAC0
    This way the upgrades for the bow don't just stack on top of each other for a huge ball of stats. The bow can be configured by 'conversing' with the weapon.

    Also, new readme.
    ThacoBell
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    edited August 2018
    Preview: BG2-Aura gets a new portrait! edit: tried to fix the goggles a little

    Post edited by TheArtisan on
    ThacoBellmegamike15Raduziel_Luke_
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    v1.7.1
    • Sunshooter mk.III can no longer produce Static Arrows (BUGFIX)
    • Improved Long Bow of Marksmanship no longer says it increases visual range when it doesn't (BUGFIX)
    • Improved a few icons
    • Added new portrait
    RaduzielGusindaThacoBell
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    edited August 2018
    Bit of fun pointless trivia: Aura is currently my most popular mod NPC in terms of views and downloads overall considering the time she's been available. The fact that 'gnome' is in the title may have something to do with it? :D

    On another note, she was originally planned to be a BG2 side character for another NPC who I ended up scrapping. And when I decided to make her own mod, she was originally very different - a chaotic good, tomboyish, snarky, somewhat insufferable genius without the Kozakuran backstory. Somewhere in the middle of the planning stage I ended up completely rewriting her character. To this day I wonder which iteration would have done better - I just couldn’t stand writing an ‘annoying gnome’ archetype when the game’s got plenty of those already.
    ThacoBellmegamike15Gusinda
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    v1.8
    • Improved automaton AI and dialogue - can now put automaton on standby. Runes no longer have a one-turn lockout timer, applying a new rune removes the prior rune's effect instead
    • Automaton no longer stays with the PC when Aura is removed from the party (BUGFIX)
    ThacoBellCahir
  • _Luke__Luke_ Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,535
    edited August 2018
    [fixed] I cannot install the mod, probably a wrong resource for COPY......
    Post edited by _Luke_ on
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    @Luke83

    Updated with a fix.
    ThacoBell
  • _Luke__Luke_ Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,535
    edited September 2018
    [FIXED in v1.8.2] The mod installs fine now, but I noticed this:
    Post edited by _Luke_ on
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    @Luke93

    Yeah, I... figured it out, but I'm a little confused as to when this started becoming a problem. I hope fixing it doesn't cause any different issues.
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    v1.8.3
    • Fixed automaton animation
    v1.8.2
    • Fixed polymorph error in installation
    v1.8.1
    • Fixed installation bug
    ThacoBellZaghoulGusinda
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    edited August 2018
    v1.8.4
    • Elite ninjas will not drop fireballs on death if disabled (e.g. stunned) before death
    • Game now saves before end-of-quest battle
    Some quality-of-life improvements for that silly random out-of-nowhere quest.
    Zaghoulredline
  • _Luke__Luke_ Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,535
    edited September 2018

    Sunshooter: now configures between three modes: Rapid, Precise and Power

    Sunshooter mk.I lacks the "Power" mode: is that intentional?
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    @Luke93 yes
  • redlineredline Member Posts: 296

    v1.8.4
    Game now saves before end-of-quest battle

    Thank you for this. Unskippable pre-boss cutscenes are a crime against humanity (LOOKING AT YOU, SIEGE OF DRAGONSPEAR).

    I'm a big fan of the writing in your NPC mods and Aura is no exception. If you'll allow me some constructive criticism, though...


    Nothing new here, just more whining about the ninjas. The entire final quest - from the Undercellar onward - was more frustrating than fun, IMO.
    Invisible, poison, exploding, hide-in-plain-sight enemies are one thing; spawning them on top of the player pretty much guarantees a party death for every encounter, but without any real strategy or challenge, just "ugh, this again". I ctrl-Yd my way through the last one.

    Also, Taito himself is possibly stronger than Sarevok, or at least close (18/00 STR, level 13, -7 AC, immune to fire, incredible saves...). I don't use SCS and don't generally look for major challenges in the mods I play, so introducing an enemy that overshadows the final boss is a little jarring.


    Sorry if I come across as too negative here - the writing is great and I really enjoyed Drake's own encounter (using him for the first time as well on this run through). Just had the fights fresh in my mind and figured it was worth sharing.
    ThacoBell
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    @redline

    Okay, okay, I'll lower the Undercellar battle's difficulty by another notch next update...

    The final battle difficulty... I'll think about it, but the stats on all the enemies are actually legal (I created and exported every character). The AC and saves are due to a Potion of Invulnerability, and the immunity to fire is from the Protection of Fire cast before battle. I think both can be dispelled and once they are he's just a regular old 13th level Kensai - pretty strong, but not a cheater like Sarevok. I'm going to do a run through of the quest and see if it's really too hard and maybe find some reasonable way of tuning things down.
    redline
  • BrokenkatanaBrokenkatana Member Posts: 47
    I'll chime in and say I hope you don't change the battles. I loved having to think my way through them. Keep up the amazing work!
  • redlineredline Member Posts: 296
    edited September 2018

    @redline

    Okay, okay, I'll lower the Undercellar battle's difficulty by another notch next update...

    The final battle difficulty... I'll think about it, but the stats on all the enemies are actually legal (I created and exported every character). The AC and saves are due to a Potion of Invulnerability, and the immunity to fire is from the Protection of Fire cast before battle. I think both can be dispelled and once they are he's just a regular old 13th level Kensai - pretty strong, but not a cheater like Sarevok. I'm going to do a run through of the quest and see if it's really too hard and maybe find some reasonable way of tuning things down.

    Ahh, good to know about the buffs. I just ctrl-Q'd him and assumed those were all built in. That does change things, though going up against a level 13+ and his whole party at level 6 is a bit extreme, legal or no.

    Edit: I guess the difficulty there comes down to player taste, as @Brokenkatana 's comment makes clear. So I would completely understand if things stay as-is - it's an interesting fight, I'll give it that - though I would hope future content isn't quite so aspiring-demigod-like in its overall power level.

    For the ninjas, my complaint isn't about the Undercellar specifically - it's the spawn location for all of the ninja encounters (can't detect invisibility until they're already on top of you, can't use summon buffers for the same reason...) and the number of city encounters. It takes, what, three ambushes before things progress? I would just drop one of them, or use a different type of enemy in each. Just feels repetitive, and that adds to the frustration.
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    @redline

    When I get around to it I'll probably make the spawn distance of the enemies significantly farther away from the player characters - maybe throw in some archers in place of assassins, possibly remove their backup potions of invisibility. I did mean for the encounters to be somewhat annoying but I think they might be too much.
    redline
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    Going to update a few things including the aforementioned quest changes soon.
  • _Luke__Luke_ Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,535
    edited September 2018

    Going to update a few things including the aforementioned quest changes soon.

    • Aura starting hit points should be 4 instead of 6 [BG:EE].
    • [C0AUSW01.itm] Opcode #1 and #139 of one of the two headers have an invalid parameter1.
    • Consider the idea of adding
      sneakatt = ~0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0~
      crippstr = ~0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0~ 
      to the function fl#add_kit_ee for all those people who prefer to play the game with Sneak Attack ON.
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    @Luke93

    Will change all, except her .cre file already has 4 hp so I'm not sure what's wrong there.
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    edited October 2018
    v1.9
    • Enemies in the Undercellar come in groups instead of individually, enemies have been de-leveled and grant more time between waves
    • Elite ninja ambush leaders have been replaced with named individuals with different classes
    • Added a new weapon
    • Fixed string and APR error on the Blade of Howling Souls
    • Added compatibility with IWD-style sneak attack setting
    • Added flag to prevent Aura from gaining LoB bonuses
    • Recolored and significantly downsized automatons
    • Aura now appears in the Troll Woods and Coalition Camp in Siege of Dragonspear regardless of whether she's been in the party beforehand
    I went through several iterations of the Undercellar battle and wasn't fond of any of the results which were either just as frustrating as the original or worse in different ways. It may go through some more changes but for now I've just deleveled the enemies so they only backstab for x2 instead of x3 and come in 4 groups of 3 instead of one enemy every three rounds up to 10 enemies in total. This can be more difficult but I personally find it easier just because it's possible to remove their invisibility and take them all out at once. It's not entirely consistent but there's usually a slight delay between the time the enemies appear and when they actually attack, which gives a chance to prevent their first backstab. The outdoor ambushes were changed to be more individually interesting and rewarding.

    The automatons have had their size reduced - I wanted them smaller to begin with but there was a rather ugly animation glitch that I wasn't able to solve until now. They're only slightly taller than a regular human rather than one-and-a-half their size, which I really didn't like. If anyone who doesn't like this change prefers the old size, I'll add a separate component to add them back in next update.

    Before-after animation comparison:

    ThacoBellCaszidyRVNS
  • _Luke__Luke_ Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,535

    @Luke93

    Will change all, except her .cre file already has 4 hp so I'm not sure what's wrong there.

    Yeah, you're right. The component "Max HP for NPCs" of Tweaks Anthology is the culprit: it basically assumes that every Thief kit rolls d6 for hit points.......
    masteraleph
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