Author Topic: I am interested in any and all criticism!  (Read 120588 times)

Michael

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #50 on: December 11, 2005, 07:23:27 AM »
Nazarial:

I completely missed his "release" dialogue before I went back to hunt for it, because of all the confusion with Ehlan and the elves...

If I might offer a suggestion, and "uncork bottle" option could be used to let him out of his phalactery...  This could summon an "apparition" of the lich, which would get pissed if he's still underground, and be happy if he's aboveground.

Just a thought.

Offline SimDing0™

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #51 on: December 11, 2005, 11:47:38 AM »
I'd like to see something else involving Moiya's husband. I don't necessarily need a happy ending, but being able to release him (say, after the Irenicus battle, while exploring the remainder of the Asylum) would be nice. Journal entry could simply say "I hope he makes it home, but it's now out of my hands." As it is, his appearance and subsequent disappearance feels incomplete.
Yes, I'll do something along these lines.

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Also, I don't know if this concerns you or not, but wouldn't the maze spell he casts when he sees you mean an automatic game over for solo characters?
Yes, and the casting of maze itself is actually just an embarassing bug. I'll keep some sort of randomness to his behaviour, but he won't be casting level 8 spells for no reason next time.

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I'm curious to see what will happen when I exit the Underdark.
I, uh, wouldn't get too excited.

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One thing I'm scratching my head over is Simyaz's group of Githyanki. I'm assuming it's QP's AI improvements that has smartened them up (nothing else is installed that claims to do so), but am puzzled as to why they are able to power word: sleep my entire party into submission. As far as I know, that spell shouldn't affect any of them at all, as none of my party members have less than 20 hitpoints. (Hell, only Kelsey has less than 60.) And I'm still ticked that I can't just give them their damned sword and leave in peace. (At least that idiot Saemon will finally stay dead, thanks to Oversight and a critical hit by Minsc.)
Actually, I don't think the AI component touches their spellcasting at all, and it certainly doesn't make spurious changes to the functioning of Power Word Sleep. Perhaps you have Smarter Mages from Tactics or something?

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If I might offer a suggestion, and "uncork bottle" option could be used to let him out of his phalactery...  This could summon an "apparition" of the lich, which would get pissed if he's still underground, and be happy if he's aboveground.
Yeah, that's actually a pretty good idea-- it also opens up the possibility to release him in battles as a hostile-to-all summon in a similar way to Pit Fiends.

Offline Bex

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #52 on: December 11, 2005, 11:56:04 AM »
Nope, no smarter mages, tougher Githyanki or anything. Oh well.

Also, your Nazarial area is flirt-enabled. I got an Anomen flirt as soon as I walked in the door. It was rather appropriate to the situation ("I will protect you from any dweller in the dark who may mean you harm."), so I kinda liked it. Didn't think to try PC-initiated flirts as I was busy exploring.
Silverjon's Journal: a Baldur's Gate fanfic/semi-AAR, by yours truly

Offline jester

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #53 on: December 11, 2005, 11:59:16 AM »
Quote
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I'm curious to see what will happen when I exit the Underdark.
I, uh, wouldn't get too excited.
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Offline SimDing0™

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #54 on: December 11, 2005, 04:28:42 PM »
Nazariel being flirt-enabled should be fixed.

Offline Bex

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #55 on: December 11, 2005, 08:56:37 PM »
The Githyanki thing seems to have been a temporary glitch. I went back to that fight today and they still cast the spell, but it behaved as it should (no effect, as party members have too many HPs). Was very strange the first time to see them all get laid out one by one and then cut to pieces.

Yeah, Nazariel's finale was maybe a touch anticlimactic, though having anything more complicated happen right on exit would have probably been impossible. I really like the "uncork" idea.
Silverjon's Journal: a Baldur's Gate fanfic/semi-AAR, by yours truly

Offline Western Paladin

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #56 on: December 12, 2005, 10:53:22 PM »
By the bye, I've noticed that Gauths are somewhat more deadly than I remember them being. They used to attack quite slowly and I could usually run up to them before getting shot more than once. Now I tend to get a shower of Cause Serious Wounds, Paralyze, etc. EDIT: I'm assuming that's a General AI Improvement but I could be wrong.

I was doing the Potion Quest, and it occurred to me it might be nice to have some way to keep track of which potions you've already given the guy. If it's not too difficult to program, it might be nice to have a new journal entry whenever you give him a potion that says something like "I have found and delivered a Potion of Insight".
« Last Edit: December 13, 2005, 12:03:35 AM by Western Paladin »
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Offline Bex

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #57 on: December 12, 2005, 11:25:09 PM »
The original had something like that, and I found it cumbersome. Twenty piddly journal entries, one for each potion. Or maybe I was only annoyed because they didn't auto-delete and I had to erase them all by hand. I don't remember now.

Anyway, I keep a notebook by my PC for gaming lists and stuff. Geek++
Silverjon's Journal: a Baldur's Gate fanfic/semi-AAR, by yours truly

Offline Bex

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #58 on: December 14, 2005, 08:12:25 PM »
And he's not recognizing that I gave him a potion of insight already, though I haven't seen if giving him a second one changes that.
I don't see what could cause this, however. It's possibly the same issue Turnabout suffers from, whereby clicking through a dialogue too quickly doesn't allow time for variables to be set. Let me know if you can reproduce it consistently.

Will do. I'm pretty sure that's the one I gave him right before suggesting he go speak to Sidhe, so it might not have registered properly.

And I may have spoken too soon pooh-poohing the journal entries, as such a thing would now possibly help me in narrowing down exactly what Mr. Jadarath still wants from me. Unfortunately, he seems to have forgotten several of the potions I did give him and refuses to let me complete the quest. I'll probably try CLUAing one of everything that I don't already have, but according to my records, he's collected 'em all.

He did accept a second potion of insight and doesn't want another, but he'll also take another potion of explosions, which was one of the first ones I gave him. Maybe splitting the quest up between chapters 2, 3, and 6 doesn't work so well.
Silverjon's Journal: a Baldur's Gate fanfic/semi-AAR, by yours truly

Offline SimDing0™

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #59 on: December 23, 2005, 11:00:48 AM »
Okay, I now see what causes Jadarath to accept potions multiple times: if he visits his family, his CRE gets destroyed and recreated, losing track of what he's accepted. I'm dumb for not noticing this earlier, but it's fixed now.

I removed the journal entries for each potion because it was enormously irritating having them fill the whole thing, and there was no satisfactory way to "cross potions off" the original list. I believe it's possible to edit journal entries yourself by double-clicking though.

Offline Bex

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #60 on: January 18, 2006, 05:44:04 PM »
The readme indicates that there should be some further involvement with Quallo, but I haven't noticed any difference. Should I try charming and dispelling him next time, or am I really missing something obvious?

Baisera used to not spawn until you talk to Mira (v.1?), but now she is always in the CC back rooms. This isn't a problem in itself, but if you skip talking to Mira, you can still tell Baisera later on that Mira has offered her old job back. I think you even have to tell her this if you're trying to resolve the quest in a non-cruel fashion (could be wrong about that part). I would also like to see Mira mention Baisera again when you talk to her next. Just a simple thank you for helping her out, similar to Bylanna re: Reynald.

You can refer to Booter as a gnome when you meet Carrack. Isn't he a dwarf? Also, the new torturer should have a second text after her initial introduction, instead of repeating her intro all the time. The "new" version of Booter will repeat his sad stories from before, and then revert to his new text again.

Carrack's quest needs interjections. Korgan should say it serves Booter right for being so loose-lipped. Yoshimo might mention really not wanting to get on thier bad side at some point. I think Nalia should comment on how terrible it is to lose your family... but that only makes sense if you've done the Keep. Jaheira or Mazzy instead, on the loss of a loved one and desire for revenge? Maybe Keldorn should say something there as well, though it could be tricky to get it right depending on the status of his family quest. Booter's stories call for some commentary as well, ranging from "That's awful! I can't listen to any more!" (Aerie) to "I would have done the same" (Viconia?).

Various party members could mention how this is further evidence of the brutality/ruthlessness of the Shadow Thieves. Interjections like this are appropriate at various points throughout the quest, and would provide further justification for returning in Chapter 6. Come to think of it, does Carrack resurface in Brega's quest? It would be a nice touch if he did.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2006, 05:46:21 PM by Bex »
Silverjon's Journal: a Baldur's Gate fanfic/semi-AAR, by yours truly

Offline Shaitan

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #61 on: April 24, 2006, 07:11:05 AM »
First of all, I enjoy this mod very much! But I don't understand when I install, it takes more than one and a half hour! I just don't get since other mods are way quicker to install. Why?

Offline Diana

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #62 on: April 30, 2006, 11:43:30 AM »
I guess bug reports should go in this thread rather than the announcement one for the latest release.

Found another one.  Sent an e-mail with a screenshot since I don't know how to do it here.  So here goes:  Party is under the patronage of the Order of the Most Radient Heart.  We're supposed to be going to the Umar Hills to save the Knights.  As soon as we step outside the OTMRH door, I see messages flashing in the text box about the Knights being attacked by the ogres, ettin, etc.

Party goes immediately to the Sir Alymar speech which is supposed to take place in the Umar Hills after normal travelling - but I think I'm stil lin the Temple District.  (Had to do an errand and stop play at that time) but they don't have buildings like that in the Umar Hills.

I'm beta testing a few mods - the ones I'm actively involved with do not do anything to that quest.  I've also loaded CoM's Fade but I don't think her coding does anything to that  particular quest either.

Offline Drew

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #63 on: May 13, 2006, 06:38:44 AM »
First of all, I enjoy this mod very much! But I don't understand when I install, it takes more than one and a half hour! I just don't get since other mods are way quicker to install. Why?
New areas, script assignments, and voice files tend to take up quite a bit of time.  The rule of thumb, here, is that the more shit you patch, the longer it's going to take. 
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Offline Bex

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #64 on: May 14, 2006, 09:20:43 PM »
An hour and a half installing does seem excessive though. Of course, that may depend on the specs of the PC in question too.
Silverjon's Journal: a Baldur's Gate fanfic/semi-AAR, by yours truly

Offline Hide and Seek

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #65 on: May 15, 2006, 01:04:42 PM »
For me, it only takes a few minutes.  ???

As for bugs, I was to write one, but it was already explained that Vithal was immortal. Too bad, I always kill him.

Another oddity, I never succeds to reunite the lost girl in the docks with her mother (she just gets the coin, and runs away).
Favourite Quotes from BG2
Minsc: Minsc will lead with blade and boot! Boo will take care of the details.
Saemon: Pardon?
Aerie: This is gonna hurt you ALOT more than me!
Sarevok: Now I return the favor!
Drizzt: Yes, yes, you have my attention.
Lilarcor: And this one's for Grandma, who said I would never amount to anything more than a butterknife!

Offline Bex

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #66 on: May 15, 2006, 02:19:18 PM »
If you're offering money to the little girl, then she should still leave. You have to ask questions about her mother to reunite them, but not offer money.

When was Vithal made immortal? Not that I've ever actually fought him, but it doesn't really make sense that a right evil bastard of a PC shouldn't be able to kill him at a high enough level.
Silverjon's Journal: a Baldur's Gate fanfic/semi-AAR, by yours truly

Offline SixOfSpades

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #67 on: May 15, 2006, 07:56:53 PM »
Not that I've actually played it, but my suggestion to SimDingo was to remove the exploit of playing nice with Vithal, getting your choice of items and the quest EXP, and then killing him just as he's Dimension Dooring away, for the additional EXP and the rest of the items. I figure if the player is going to be an evil bastard, they should be forced to do it only when Vithal has a chance to fight back.

So if Vithal is "immortal," it's only while he's Dimension Dooring away. I'm pretty sure.

Offline Bex

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #68 on: May 15, 2006, 11:42:22 PM »
Oh, ok. THAT makes sense.

I was reading it as though you could opt to fight him, and then discover that he's unkillable. Which would suck, but I think it's the kind of suck that Sim would agree with me about.
Silverjon's Journal: a Baldur's Gate fanfic/semi-AAR, by yours truly

Offline Hide and Seek

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #69 on: May 16, 2006, 06:06:03 AM »
I haven't played with an evil party yet, but my good party doesn't get the option to kill him, the dialogue goes as far to the "third share" and from there, you must accept an item, cause demanding it all only reverts back to the share options. I sacrificed the Time Stop in favor for all the other spells. But I would really like to have it all.
Favourite Quotes from BG2
Minsc: Minsc will lead with blade and boot! Boo will take care of the details.
Saemon: Pardon?
Aerie: This is gonna hurt you ALOT more than me!
Sarevok: Now I return the favor!
Drizzt: Yes, yes, you have my attention.
Lilarcor: And this one's for Grandma, who said I would never amount to anything more than a butterknife!

Offline Shaitan

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #70 on: May 16, 2006, 03:51:45 PM »
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New areas, script assignments, and voice files tend to take up quite a bit of time.  The rule of thumb, here, is that the more shit you patch, the longer it's going to take.
Thanks Drew, that helps me next time :) anyway it's easier to cope with.

Offline SixOfSpades

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #71 on: June 14, 2006, 04:24:37 PM »
... my good party doesn't get the option to kill him, the dialogue goes as far to the "third share" and from there, you must accept an item, cause demanding it all only reverts back to the share options.
Yep, I would call that a bug.


My criticisms (so far) for v2.3:

Miscellaneous Enhancements: Ribald isn't wearing an Archmagi Robe, I was able to pickpocket it from him.

Booter: I have some suggestions:
Carrack has only been imprisoned for a very short time, so there's no reason for him to suddenly become a withered old man with a long beard. I'd keep his avatar as that of a Male Human Fighter (I think that's what he is), and make him a Ranger, giving him the ability to Stealth out of the prison, making his exit from the Guildhall a little bit more believable.
I would alter Carrack's "I had a small cache of potions and equipment" line slightly, to mention that he was keeping them at a friend's house; not only is this a plausible corroborative detail, it gives Carrack a place to hide out while plotting his revenge.
The Trap blocking the stairs in Carrack's house should be auto-disarmed upon entering the building.
It would be nice if at least some of the thugs sent to Carrack's house were legal Thieves, not guys decked out in stuff that Thieves can't use.
I would double-check the placement of Booter-on-the-rack: In my game, he appeared not on a table, but on the ground next to a table. Also, when speaking to him, his first line is the groaning in pain that you'd expect; but talking to him again starts him off again about all the prisoners he's tortured.

Grand_dracolich

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #72 on: June 20, 2006, 05:07:21 PM »
The cloak of reflection (the one you get from the sahuagin priestess) is supposed to reflect spells like spell turning, but it just absorbs them. I got it to reflect once, but it won't. Does this mod do something to it, or can you do something to fix that? 'cause that's my best shot against beholders.

Offline Balathustrius

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #73 on: June 20, 2006, 06:02:07 PM »
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Miscellaneous Enhancements: Ribald isn't wearing an Archmagi Robe, I was able to pickpocket it from him.

Aha, I wondered about his apparent nakedness (in that he's not wearing a hooded cloak)  You can pickpocket it, huh?

Woot.   :D

Offline SixOfSpades

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Re: I am interested in any and all criticism!
« Reply #74 on: June 21, 2006, 03:47:08 AM »
The cloak of reflection is supposed to reflect spells like spell turning, but it just absorbs them. I got it to reflect once, but it won't. Does this mod do something to it, or can you do something to fix that?
The Cloak of Mirroring is changed by installing ToB. You can turn it back into its older, more powerful version by deleting the item file (though I don't know precisely what the name is) from your Override folder, though this will only affect games in which you have not already found the Cloak.


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'cause that's my best shot against beholders.
Aw, man! You mean, in your game, you actually have to hit Beholders in order to kill them? Jeez, that bites! They're supposed to just fall over dead as soon as you enter the room.

Slight sarcasm there.  ::)

 

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