44 replies to this topic

[Jarno Mikkola]

plainab, on Sep 28 2011, 08:31 PM, said:

Infravision is only useful IF you have party infravision off and your selected character is not an elf or half-elf. So if you have any elf in your party you can just turn party infravision on and you'll never need to use the spell infravision thus saving yourself a spell slot for something better. Its not a bug or an exploit really, just taking advantage of things that the game has to offer.

But the question was not how not to need to use the spell, but what does it give to the play that even makes it remotely useful ? As for me, the areas in the red background hue are as darks as the areas with blue background hue.

plainab, on Sep 28 2011, 08:31 PM, said:

you just said what i said only in different words.... only thing different is 'remove the game folder' which I figured would be a given when saying to uninstall -.-

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend, and hopefully you understand that when one thing for one is given, for others it's totally not. As you know what the WeiDU.exe does to the files when it installs them and when it uninstalls them... and in the current light, it's very possible that not having a clean override folder was the source of chuft original problem. Or not.

Quote

TotSC DX8 patch (don't ask)

I would actually be interested knowing what it fixes in your game ? If it fixes any.

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 28 September 2011 - 11:46 AM.

[plainab]

chuft, on Sep 28 2011, 01:45 PM, said:

Unfinished Business specifically mentions the Helmet of Charm Protection or whatever it's called, so I'm pretty sure it's from there.

I'm in a temple now and I see Raise Dead scrolls for sale. That is a pretty radical addition to BG1. Even more radical however is that they say the spell costs the recipient a Constitution point. I know this was the pen and paper rule, but it was not implemented in any of the IE games as far as I know, to discourage reloads rather than Raise Deads. Does anyone know whether the Raise Dead spell with the mods I listed actually slurps down CON points permanently? If so, does that also apply to temple Raise Deads? I really dislike incentives to reload rather than pay to Raise Dead, but losing CON points is pretty unacceptable. Even in P&P days I don't remember DMs enforcing this rule.

the Icewind Dale games appear to keep the pen and paper rule about not being able to Raise elves/drow at all, which is even worse. And there doesn't seem to be a mod to address that either.

*points to the other thread that you mentioned this in*

Oh and do check to see if the raise dead scroll even works. I seem to remember finding out when they were added to EasyTuTu that they didn't work and that the scroll's target needed to be changed from creature to dead character... even made code & (i think offered it up) for the mod (UB perhaps) that installed the raise dead scrolls to fix this. but i don't know if it actually got implemented or not....

The error is on the BG & BG:ToTSC side of things, but since those scrolls aren't used in a unmodded state they don't NEED to be fixed tho I probably should just to be on the safe side

[plainab]

Jarno Mikkola, on Sep 28 2011, 03:44 PM, said:

plainab, on Sep 28 2011, 08:31 PM, said:

Infravision is only useful IF you have party infravision off and your selected character is not an elf or half-elf. So if you have any elf in your party you can just turn party infravision on and you'll never need to use the spell infravision thus saving yourself a spell slot for something better. Its not a bug or an exploit really, just taking advantage of things that the game has to offer.

But the question was not how not to need to use the spell, but what does it give to the play that even makes it remotely useful ? As for me, the areas in the red background hue are as darks as the areas with blue background hue.

Try playing in the dark with the only light source being the monitor. I know I know that isn't what they say to do, but red is easier on the eyes. I personally did find it slightly easier to see, but that's just me. at any rate, i think they included the infravision spell simply cause they thought some players would want to ROLE PLAY and cast infravision on that thief who is scouting ahead for enemies....

not everything has to be useful to the game, so long as the player finds a use for it, whether that be actual use or merely role play use...

[chuft]

Jarno Mikkola, on Sep 28 2011, 03:44 PM, said:

Quote

TotSC DX8 patch (don't ask)

I would actually be interested knowing what it fixes in your game ? If it fixes any.

Well, you asked, so don't chide me for discussing such things....

One thing I am definitely not interested in doing is inserting a random disc from a set of 6 every time I start the game. So I use InfinityCracker to remove the CD check. It does not work on a regular patched TotSC, as I found out since this time I didn't bother to install the DX8 patch, but does work on one that is also patched with the DX8 patch. So I had to go back and install the DX8 patch in order to remove the CD check.

[chuft]

plainab, on Sep 28 2011, 07:35 PM, said:

Oh and do check to see if the raise dead scroll even works. I seem to remember finding out when they were added to EasyTuTu that they didn't work and that the scroll's target needed to be changed from creature to dead character... even made code & (i think offered it up) for the mod (UB perhaps) that installed the raise dead scrolls to fix this. but i don't know if it actually got implemented or not....

I reinstalled yet AGAIN this time without any Dudleyanything and started a new game. (I have been keeping my sanity by exporting my character and quickly zipping through things I have done in previous games.) The scrolls are still there when I go in a temple, since Unfinished Business is what adds them, so I will test one when I get a chance. The wording, of course, no longer mentions losing a Constitution point.

[Jarno Mikkola]

chuft, on Sep 29 2011, 06:53 AM, said:

I am definitely not interested in doing is inserting a random disc from a set of 6 every time I start the game...

Well, if you install the game completely with the custom option and check all the boxes in both components, you can play the game with only the play CD(the TotSC cd in this case) in the drive, and that drive can be an image drive with a .iso file as the image.

plainab, on Sep 29 2011, 02:46 AM, said:

Try playing in the dark with the only light source being the monitor. I know I know that isn't what they say to do, but red is easier on the eyes. I personally did find it slightly easier to see, but that's just me. at any rate, i think they included the infravision spell simply cause they thought some players would want to ROLE PLAY and cast infravision on that thief who is scouting ahead for enemies....

Well, I do play in the dark, but I cannot remember there to been a difference, it probably depends on the eyes, hmm, it's interesting, and of course it's true what you said about the role playing.

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 28 September 2011 - 09:57 PM.

[chuft]

I have had very bad luck with Daemon Tools and such things freezing my system completely so I stay away from virtual drives.

Infravision was probably more useful in vanilla BG1 without TotSC, since you could not set the game to auto-pause when an enemy was spotted, and often you could end up taking significant damage from enemies using ranged fire before even knowing where they were. I remember when this feature was added via TotSC (along with making unidentified magic items have a blue box background instead of just looking like mundane weapons) and boy, was that an improvement.

Infravision DOES make enemies, especially in woods, a lot easier to spot; it's just that if you have always played the game with the "Autopause when enemy sighted" feature, you always have plenty of time to scan around and look for those red circles when the game suddenly autopauses as you walk through the woods. Try playing without that feature and try to find those enemies before they find you, and you realize the value of infravision.

[Jarno Mikkola]

chuft, on Sep 29 2011, 09:06 AM, said:

autopauses

Autopause, how about just pushing the SPACE button when you want/need to. I never use the autopause.

Yeah, it's understandable if you have that kind of experience with DT.

[chuft]

Jarno Mikkola, on Sep 29 2011, 03:17 AM, said:

Autopause, how about just pushing the SPACE button when you want/need to. I never use the autopause.

Perhaps you use the Widescreen mod, where it is easy to see enemies a long way off. I have had nothing but trouble with that mod for both Planescape and BG1, so I don't use it. At normal 640 x 480 resolutions, it is quite common for enemies to be shooting you from off the edge of the visible play area, especially if the party is split up and you are not centered on the character being attacked. I find Autopause when an enemy is sighted to be invaluable; I get to see them as soon as, and sometimes before, they see me. It also lets me give movement orders to go from one end of the map to the other and I don't have to pay attention to the actual movement unless an enemy is spotted, at which point the game pauses and lets me know. I prefer to have my characters be doing the constant look-out for bad guys, rather than me.

[Jarno Mikkola]

chuft, on Sep 29 2011, 04:23 PM, said:

I have had nothing but trouble with that mod for both Planescape and BG1, so I don't use it.

That's because you don't use the GUI mods made exactly for this purpose for both games, the BG1 GUI has a few settings it's restricted to and the border will scroll oddly as the scrolling center is not reset to be in the middle, but the PS:T GUI should be almost trouble free if you read the forum about how to avoid the DDraw bug with it's fix.

[chuft]

Jarno Mikkola, on Sep 29 2011, 02:26 PM, said:

chuft, on Sep 29 2011, 04:23 PM, said:

I have had nothing but trouble with that mod for both Planescape and BG1, so I don't use it.

That's because you don't use the GUI mods made exactly for this purpose for both games, the BG1 GUI has a few settings it's restricted to and the border will scroll oddly as the scrolling center is not reset to be in the middle, but the PS:T GUI should be almost trouble free if you read the forum about how to avoid the DDraw bug with it's fix.

You assume much. No, it's not because of GUI mods. PST with the GUI mod and no DDraw emulation was jerky and unplayable. PST, with the GUI mod, and DDraw emulation via the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit, left mouse trails and crashed constantly when entering small areas. And no I don't have an Nvidia card, I have an ATI. BG1 was also jerky when I tried it and I decided not to get back on the merry go round since PST worked perfectly without the widescreen mod but crashed all the time with the widescreen mod. BG1 works fine in its native resolution. The widescreen mod has brought me nothing but headaches every time I tried to use it.

The Fallout 1 & 2 widescreen mods work fine, I am not opposed to the concept. But for IE, I don't think the existing mod works. It certainly doesn't for me. Maybe I'm unusual but crashes to desktop annoy me.

[chuft]

Just tried Horror out on some gnolls in my latest install/game. It still doesn't work. Their circles turned yellow and several of them said "Panic" as their action in the text feedback box, but they aggressively closed in and melee'd and chased my party when I retreated.

As noted in another post, the only thing this install has in common with the previous install where Horror didn't work is the game CDs, the official patches, and the Tweaks pack.

[grogerson]

Off hand, the only tweak that has the slightest chance of affecting Horror would be the Breakable Iron Non-Magic Armor, Shields and Helms (it has a .spl file to activate the effect). And since you have a new install, may we see your WeiDU.log file? (I'll see about checking the spell out in an unmodded TotSC game in a few days.)

[chuft]

Here's the log file. Note this install also has Baldurdash and the Text Updates, which are not WeiDU. The last game (in which Horror also didn't work) did not, but it had Sasha's fixpack, which may have some Baldurdash elements in it, I don't know.

// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #0 // Ice Island Level Two Restoration: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #1 // The Mysterious Vial: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #2 // Additional Elminster Encounter: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #3 // Angelo Notices Shar-teel: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #4 // Finishable Kagain Caravan Quest: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #5 // Coran and the Wyverns: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #6 // Kivan and Tazok: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #7 // Branwen and Tranzig: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #8 // Safana the Flirt: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #9 // Appropriate Albert and Rufie Reward: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #10 // Place Entar Silvershield in His Home: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #11 // Scar and the Sashenstar's Daughter: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #12 // Quoningar, the Cleric: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #13 // Shilo Chen and the Ogre-Magi: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #14 // Edie, the Merchant League Applicant: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #15 // Flaming Fist Mercenary Reinforcements: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #16 // Creature Corrections: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #17 // Creature Restorations: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #18 // Creature Name Restorations: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #19 // Minor Dialogue Restorations: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #20 // Audio Restorations: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #21 // Store, Tavern and Inn Fixes and Restorations: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #22 // Item Corrections and Restorations: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #23 // Area Corrections and Restorations: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #24 // Permanent Corpses: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #25 // Elven Charm and Sleep Racial Resistance: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #26 // The Original Saga Music Playlist Corrections: v12
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #27 // Sarevok's Diary Corrections: v12
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #20 // Weapon Animation Tweaks: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #30 // Icewind Dale Casting Graphics (Andyr): 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #50 // Icon Improvements: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #60 // Force All Dialogue to Pause Game: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1010 // Make Cloakwood Areas Available Before Completing the Bandit Camp -> First Area Only: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1030 // Send Multi-Player NPC's to an Inn (DavidW/Zed Nocear) (BETA): 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1040 // Send BioWare NPC's to an Inn (DavidW/Zed Nocear) (BETA): 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1060 // Stores Sell Higher Stacks of Items: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1100 // Move NPCs from Baldur's Gate: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2030 // Change Experience Point Cap -> Remove Experience Cap: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2050 // Allow Arcane Spellcasting in Heavy Armor: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2061 // Wear Multiple Protection Items -> No Restrictions: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2080 // Multi-Class Grand Mastery (Weimer): 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2100 // Change Magically Created Weapons to Zero Weight: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2110 // Un-Nerfed THAC0 Table: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2120 // Alter Mage Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2130 // Alter Bard Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2140 // Alter Cleric/Druid Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2160 // Paladins and Rangers Use Icewind Dale-Heart of Winter Spell Tables (grogerson): 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3000 // Higher HP on Level Up -> Maximum: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3020 // Identify All Items: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3031 // Easy Spell Learning -> 100% Learn Spells and No Maximum Cap: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3053 // Low Reputation Store Discount (Sabre/Richardson/Weimer) -> Reputation Has No Effect, Stores Price Fixed at 60% (Luiz): 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3060 // Unlimited Ammo Stacking: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3070 // Unlimited Gem and Jewelry Stacking: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3080 // Unlimited Potion Stacking: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3090 // Unlimited Scroll Stacking: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3100 // Taerom Makes Additional Ankheg Armor (Icendoan/grogerson) (BETA): 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3110 // Happy Patch (Party NPCs do not complain about reputation) -> NPCs are never angry about reputation: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3120 // Neutral Characters Make Happy Comments at Mid-Range Reputation (Luiz): 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3130 // NPCs do not fight: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4000 // Adjust Evil joinable NPC reaction rolls (BETA): 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4010 // Give Edwin His BG2 Stats -> BG2 Stats Only: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4021 // Give Jaheira Her BG2 Stats -> BG2 Stats and Portrait: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4030 // Change Jaheira to Neutral Good: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4040 // Give Minsc His BG2 Stats -> BG2 Stats Only: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4051 // Give Viconia Her BG2 Stats -> BG2 Stats and Portrait: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4060 // Give Imoen Her BG2 Portrait: 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4070 // Make Khalid a Fighter-Mage (plainab/grogerson) (BETA): 3
~BG1TWEAKS/SETUP-BG1TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4100 // Make Xan a Generalist Mage (Mike1072) (BETA): 3

[chuft]

On the off chance that it was something specific to gnolls, I just went to the Xvart village and tried it there. Same result. They panic, their circles turn yellow, some even turn away for a split second, then there is a wave of "Xvart attacks Edwin" lines and they turn around and charge, yellow circles notwithstanding. It's like they're Horror'd for a split second, they get their courage back and attack (despite still having yellow circles).