1) I went into the Underdark knowing that there was a new area somewhere, but I purposefully didn't look up the AR reference you mentioned in the testing guidelines to see what area it was accessed from. I finished everything in the Underdark without finding it. I had to look up the AR reference in IESDP to find out where it was accessed from, and then scoured that specific area to find the cave. So I guess I would say that, yeah, it's pretty hard to find (though once I knew which area it was accessed from, I found it fairly easily - at the least, you should note the area explicitly in the readme). If you'd rather have it be an area that a player can easily find without having to be led there, I might suggest the NE area of the beholder cave... there's a passage there that doesn't lead anywhere that would be very hard to miss for anyone clearing that area.
I don't think the beholder hive's terribly appropriate for it (and I'm feeling lazy
). Instead, I've added a trigger that says ~As you make your way through this particular section of the gloomy caverns, a faint echoing sound coming from the rocky wall catches your attention. There is a passage concealed somewhere in the darkness.~ as you pass the transition.
2) The fight was -fun-! And quite challenging. Very well done.
Thanks. Really, it was just an excuse for me to play with the combat a bit with a bit of backstory thrown in, but eh.
3) Two grammatical/spelling errors in the conversation with the lich.
Both fixed.
4) Upon exiting to the surface, I received the message that Nazariel was freed, and the xp reward, twice. Not all that bad though, since nothing but a 5,000 xp reward for such a tough fight was pretty disappointing - at least I got 10,000 xp from the bug, heh. Since it was easily the toughest fight I had in the Underdark (about equivalent to Kangaxx, I'd say), I'd suggest the reward should be scaled up to something more appropriate. It doesn't have to be quite as nice as a Ring of Gaxx, but just 5,000 or even 10,000 xp is kinda... well... I hate to use the word "insulting", but it fits.
You now get 15000 XP for killing the lich, and 15000 for taking his essence to the surface. I think that's probably plenty.
1) A very moving tale, very well written. I haven't gone back to the Underdark yet to see if there's anything more to it, but in either case I did note two spelling errors in her tale: "alltogether" should only have one "L", and the same is true of "dispell". If there's no more to it than a good tavern tale, well, I'll say that I liked it, adds some nice depth.
It's just a tavern tale... don't expect anything to follow it up. All credit for the writing should go to Blue.
The 3 Potion Quest bugs you mention are fixed.
I don't see these as mutually exclusive. If you mean that the vanilla game portrayed Miranda as -enjoying- what she was doing, I didn't see that (though it doesn't say she -doesn't- like it either... but who would? I guess I just defaulted the other way than you did). In the new context I saw her "conniving" as a result of extreme measures, and didn't really see it as a "mischaracterization" but more of an added depth, an explanation of why she turned bitter and conniving (and pretty much man-hating) as a result of having been abandoned... but hey, that's up to you. If you really don't like the way the original did it, well, you shouldn't have to deal with anything you don't like, so I'm not going to agitate for you to put it back just as it was.
It's the little things. "Heh heh," she says, as she realises she's failing to con the Talosian out of the money. Screaming "HELP!! HELLLP!! THIS FIENDISH BRUTE IS ATTEMPTING TO CHEAT HIS OWN BLOOD!!" doesn't suggest to me that these are the actions of sombody who really regrets what they're having to do. Lanie informs us that Miranda describes the payments she cons men out of as "their dues", which doesn't seem a likely description to give if she knows they're innocent and isn't simply doing it out of malice. All these add up to the general picture that she's doing it because she can as much as because she has to.
There is indeed a certain kind of dilemma that BG2 is lacking and needs more of, but this isn't it. The reason that the bulk of the BG2 quests have an obvious "optimal" solution is because, generally, the "good" way is also almost always the most profitable for the character, so be a goody two shoes and you'll prosper. I liked the quest originally because it seemed to be filling -that- hole... the player actually had to face the rare choice in this game between real "temptation of power" versus "doing the right thing" (I think killing Vithal or not is really the only other place where such a choice between significant in-game power and roleplaying has to be made, and you can even evade that issue with pickpocketing. Oh yeah, and the silver pantaloons too, which doesn't do anything for you till the end of TOB. That's about it). What you replaced it with is making the player have to choose between "temptation of power" and "sending a freaking madman chasing after a wife and daughter who are absolutely and justifiably terrified of him and running for their lives". I doubt she'll be thanking the character from the bottom of her heart for your "help" in putting him back in their destroyed lives!
Do bear in mind when sending him back to the sewers that getting the potion combination right means the same thing's gonna happen as last time... which was, by his own admission, a lot of killing. As such, it's not quite as simple as your "temptation of power" comparison makes out.
I'd actually say the new option of sending him after his family is -more- evil than having him make the potions, and when I got to the point after you find out there were never any bandits and his being a loon had -nothing- to do with the potions in the first place (he was apparently just chugging one potion after another for no apparent reason!), and his wife and daughter run off screaming, I wasn't exactly conflicted about sending him back into the sewer to finish the potion just to keep him away from them!
If some people see the option of sending him after his family as the better path (as I believe Murdane concluded-- correct me if I'm wrong), while some see it as evil, then I've done my job. Ideally it wouldn't be so obvious to you which was which, so I might see if I can make Jadarath reform a little more obviously before you send him off, but the fact the different interpretations are coming out is quite encouraging.
My advice: If you don't like the bit with Miranda and her child trying to find new "daddys" being involved, fine, but put everything else back, including the fact that bandits really -did- break into his home and that's why he chugged all the potions, trying to save his family, and put back the "happy" ending if you decide to give up power and do the right thing. (I do think the original ending was cute and funny, but again, your call if you don't like it). Cause as it stands now, I pretty much wanted to slit my wrists after taking the painful step of giving up whatever great reward would come out of the quest just to do the right thing, only to wind up terrifying a poor woman and child half to death and send them running in unadulterated terror. The ultimate goal is to have fun... and that wasn't fun, not even a little.
I don't buy the line that giving the player a painful decision to make equates to a badly written or unfulfilling finish. Additionally, the bandits line wasn't one that I found particularly believable: when I read it in the original, I immediately thought "Aha, he's lying!" If bandits break into your house and you want to protect your family, the last thing you do is gulp down a ton of potions which are more likely than not to kill you.
Sorry if any of that comes across as overly harsh... and if you decide that it's going to remain the way it is, I won't say another word. I just felt it important to give you the straight scoop from my perspective.
Please don't stop arguing on my account. I'm not gonna be offended if you continue to discuss stuff, although I'm unlikely to be inclined to change it purely on the basis that there's no clear-cut good path.
On the first part, yes. Actually, to give you the exact sequence of events, I got the "letter of transfer" from Renal in Chapter 3 but didn't give it to Gorch, just went on to Brynnlaw before doing any of it. In Chapter 6, the messenger asked me to talk to Brega, I said I would but I haven't yet. Instead I went and gave the letter to Gorch and started doing the quest normally from there. Works fine until Edwin.
I think this is the same bug that came up in another thread. Try setting "D0Maevar","GLOBAL" to 0.
I gotta beta test more often. That had to be the single most hilarious gaming experience of my life. That was just way too much fun, not just playing it but writing up this report too.
...ah. Uh, yeh. This doesn't appear to be an outstanding moment in my modding career.
I think the Shadow Thieves stuff going totally wrong should be fixed. The issue was, as you probably noticed, that the Brega and Mae'Var quests were getting mixed up. I've made them more distinct in the coding now, which should hopefully solve most of the bugs you mention (and create a load of new ones, I expect).
To all testers, I wouldn't waste any more time with the awful Brega stuff, because from the sounds of it, it really is pretty unplayable. If you're all still willing, I'll put up a new beta soon, and I'd appreciate it if you could confirm that it's slightly less of a disaster.
Thanks!