Rajaah's CRPG Blog

Urlithani

Urlithani

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TJT said:
I'll be going through BG1/2 this time around (been 6 years since I have) so I definitely want all the content mods that I can stand and the good Swordcoast Strategy one for the autistic exerpience.

Never rolled gnome before but illusionist fighter sounds fun its either that or Kensai Thief.
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I should probably try fighter/thief at some point. I'm always tempted by fighter/mage/thief and I never finish the run. One that I always want to try but never get to it is a dart thrower. By level 13 fighter you can throw 5 a round, and with improved haste in ToB you're throwing 10 a round. Last thing I'm going to do more for BG2 is pick pockets. A lot of money and high level spell scrolls on those nobles...
 
Kajiimagi

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These are all EET mods, which is the Enhanced Edition Trilogy. You need to own the enhanced editions of BG1, BG2, and SoD.

EET patches all 3 games together to try and make a seamless experience. It does change a couple of the rules for bg1 since it's running in BG2's engine (they changed weapon proficiencies, favored enemies, etc.).

www.gibberlings3.net

Mod Compatibility List for EET

MOD COMPATIBILITY LIST FOR EET -- LINK TO THE LIST -- This compatibility list will be frequently updated. It is highly recommended that you follow what is said in the linked list if you are planning to make EET installation with mods. EET project aims to be a mod friendly platform and tries to ge...
www.gibberlings3.net www.gibberlings3.net

Note that there are 2 categories in the list: mods that are compatible before you install EET, and mods that are compatible after you install EET. The list for before is short so I just do EET and pick from the after list.

Easiest way I did this was install EET, then download Project Infinity (you have to allow the app and process in Windows security: it thinks it's a Trojan). Inside Project Infinity are links to download the mods directly from the main websites.

The most time consuming part is putting together the WEIDU log with the mods in order. I had to look at several weidu logs and copy lines and put them before or after other mods based on how others set up their load orders.

Once I got past that part the game loaded up with no problems.

If you want to run someone else's modpack, you can download and use their weidu log, then download all the mods they're using and it should work fine. These two youtive links have weidu logs of their whole install order. I like the second one but you'll have to find the Made in Heaven (cant remember whats in it but i wish i got it) mod and I think Enhanced Extended Encounters (more bounty hunters after you in BG1 plus a few surprise encounters) which are on the PI list.


If you need any more help let me know. The instructions and process is pretty frustrating to decipher, and it took me a Saturday thinking about it and trial and error.
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So this looks like a bit of work to get going, I have one question first. Does any of the mods help with playing on a 4k screen? I suppose I *could* lower the resolution but but but 4k
 
Rajaah

Rajaah

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TJT said:
NWN has not aged nearly as well as BG that is for sure.
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So far FO1 has definitely aged the worst out of the few I've played.

BG1 has those pre-rendered type visuals like FF7 and other games of the era that even in higher res remasters just really doesn't age well visually compared to HD-sharpened polygons.

reavor said:
Drizzt you should already have met in BG1, but he's also in BG2, you'll meet him in a later chapter.

Demogorgon is in watchers keep.

Finished NWN, it was a PITA, the graphics and 3D pathing/modeling have just not aged well at all. Coupled with a very lackluster storyline, and very repetetive chapters (hub town with 3-4 exits that you go through to find 3-4 pieces of something to bring to the central hub
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I probably met him during one of the sessions where I was blitzed on an edible.
 
Rajaah

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The time of the sahagin is finally upon us! My God!
 
Rajaah

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I took a peek at Icewind Dale since I needed a break from BG2.

-Icewind Dale's main theme is REALLY good. The one that plays on the title/file/character creation screens.

-Is Heart of Winter necessary to play? I enjoyed the BG1 expansion and I'll certainly enjoy the BG2 expansion which is of course pretty crucial. I've never even heard of Heart of Winter so I'm going to venture a guess that it isn't really required and can be skipped.
 
Tuco

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Rajaah said:
The time of the sahagin is finally upon us! My God!
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The trip through the island, Sahagin area, etc etc is one of the greatest adventure arcs in any game I've played. You enter that journey as a mid-tier adventurer and emerge from the last zone in that arc as a true powerhouse. Returning to the slums feels like coming home and being ready to take on whatever the game can throw at you.
 
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TJT

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For real. Once you eventually make it back you're like oh thank god Athkatla!
 
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Rajaah

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New addition to the pile. I thought the System Shock 1 remaster was basically imminent, now it's got a "TBA" release date on consoles. So I didn't need to get this, possibly for a while. Welp.
 
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Rajaah

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For real. Once you eventually make it back you're like oh thank god Athkatla!
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No real Baldur 2 progress to update, I got kind of lost in the underworld. Left off in the Drow city with no clue what to do. Lost quite a bit of motivation in that section of the game for some reason. Maybe I'm a bit Baldur'd out? Spent about 25 hours on BG1, 12 on SoD, and 27 (and counting) on BG2 and nowhere near the end. 60-70 hours is usually where I hit a "I've done enough" wall with a game, regardless of how good it is. Happened with Fallout 3, Xenoblade, and a few others. Only From games like Elden Ring and Bloodborne have been able to go well past that wall without ever hitting it.

In any case, I switched gears back to Fallout 1 and am restarting it again. I had 2 hours or so of progress but I can probably catch up in 1 hour. The main problem is that my AP was low and I'd have to turnover after every single attack which got incredibly annoying. Found out that Agility makes that better and my Agility wasn't good. Third time is the charm, let's see what I have for stats now:

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Went with Gifted this time. You can see why I didn't pick it the first time because it straight-up says "5 less points per level" rather than "5% less". Edit: I think it might actually be 5 points. I remember getting 25 skill points in the previous runs and I'm getting 20 in this one. Still, it's a 20% penalty which isn't the end of the world for getting 7 extra stat points.

Instead of specializing in all the weapons I just went with Small Guns, since apparently those are good for like the first 90% of the game (Energy Weapons for the last 10%). I assumed stuff like assault rifles would be Big Guns. Nope, those are all considered Small Guns too. So that freed up some points for Lockpick and Speech which I think will help out. Maxed Agility for AC and action points, maxed Perception for attack damage, maxed Intelligence for the most gainz at level-up. From there I tried to get Endurance up for HP, since I was taking a bit of a hit on HP with this build. Hopefully Luck isn't great or anything because I tanked it to get more Endurance.

I think this character has a much better shot at being an actual enjoyable playthrough.

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Yeah, this is already better. I can attack 2x per round instead of 1x, which is a huge difference. I just wish the base movement speed were faster as I plod around.

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The overworld (and its music) is so eerie and atmospheric. Talk about doing a lot with very little. You can really feel the desolation.

Got back to where I was pretty quickly. Decent amount of caps, radscorpion cave down, got 3 ropes. I kinda wish I'd dropped Cha and Luck to 1 and put two more points on Strength because my main struggle so far is inventory management.

I don't know how to actually use an item so I'm clicking around the elevator shaft with a rope equipped like a moron and nothing's happening. Gotta do RL stuff anyway so I'll figure this out later.
 
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Raes

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Rajaah said:
No real Baldur 2 progress to update, I got kind of lost in the underworld. Left off in the Drow city with no clue what to do. Lost quite a bit of motivation in that section of the game for some reason. Maybe I'm a bit Baldur'd out? Spent about 25 hours on BG1, 12 on SoD, and 27 (and counting) on BG2 and nowhere near the end. 60-70 hours is usually where I hit a "I've done enough" wall with a game, regardless of how good it is. Happened with Fallout 3, Xenoblade, and a few others. Only From games like Elden Ring and Bloodborne have been able to go well past that wall without ever hitting it.

In any case, I switched gears back to Fallout 1 and am restarting it again. I had 2 hours or so of progress but I can probably catch up in 1 hour. The main problem is that my AP was low and I'd have to turnover after every single attack which got incredibly annoying. Found out that Agility makes that better and my Agility wasn't good. Third time is the charm, let's see what I have for stats now:

View attachment 467680
Went with Gifted this time. You can see why I didn't pick it the first time because it straight-up says "5 less points per level" rather than "5% less". Edit: I think it might actually be 5 points. I remember getting 25 skill points in the previous runs and I'm getting 20 in this one. Still, it's a 20% penalty which isn't the end of the world for getting 7 extra stat points.

Instead of specializing in all the weapons I just went with Small Guns, since apparently those are good for like the first 90% of the game (Energy Weapons for the last 10%). I assumed stuff like assault rifles would be Big Guns. Nope, those are all considered Small Guns too. So that freed up some points for Lockpick and Speech which I think will help out. Maxed Agility for AC and action points, maxed Perception for attack damage, maxed Intelligence for the most gainz at level-up. From there I tried to get Endurance up for HP, since I was taking a bit of a hit on HP with this build. Hopefully Luck isn't great or anything because I tanked it to get more Endurance.

I think this character has a much better shot at being an actual enjoyable playthrough.

View attachment 467687
Yeah, this is already better. I can attack 2x per round instead of 1x, which is a huge difference. I just wish the base movement speed were faster as I plod around.

View attachment 467686
The overworld (and its music) is so eerie and atmospheric. Talk about doing a lot with very little. You can really feel the desolation.

Got back to where I was pretty quickly. Decent amount of caps, radscorpion cave down, got 3 ropes. I kinda wish I'd dropped Cha and Luck to 1 and put two more points on Strength because my main struggle so far is inventory management.

I don't know how to actually use an item so I'm clicking around the elevator shaft with a rope equipped like a moron and nothing's happening. Gotta do RL stuff anyway so I'll figure this out later.
Click to expand...

To use items you put them in one of your active slots (where your weapons go) then click on it, and then click on what you want to use it on. Not sure if it's an option in F1, but in F2 there's a walk/run toggle in the options menu. The extra hp from Endurance doesn't really scale well. Luck affects crits and random encounters iirc.

Yeah, weight limit on inventory is a bit of a hassle, this is somewhat negated in F2 because you get a car with a trunk. (Was a cool bug in F2 that would make just the trunk of the car show up in every area, even indoors, that was really helpful.) Not sure about F1, but in F2 you can let your companions hold shit too.

Before you play Fallout 2 I would recommend googling info about your stats as there are a lot of ways to raise them as you play the game, (plus wearing Power Armor ups your strength) so you don't want to max them out at character creation.
 
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Rajaah

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Raes said:
To use items you put them in one of your active slots (where your weapons go) then click on it, and then click on what you want to use it on. Not sure if it's an option in F1, but in F2 there's a walk/run toggle in the options menu. The extra hp from Endurance doesn't really scale well. Luck affects crits and random encounters iirc.

Yeah, weight limit on inventory is a bit of a hassle, this is somewhat negated in F2 because you get a car with a trunk. (Was a cool bug in F2 that would make just the trunk of the car show up in every area, even indoors, that was really helpful.) Not sure about F1, but in F2 you can let your companions hold shit too.

Before you play Fallout 2 I would recommend googling info about your stats as there are a lot of ways to raise them as you play the game, (plus wearing Power Armor ups your strength) so you don't want to max them out at character creation.
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Yeah I thought about topping stats out at 9 instead of 10 since there are probably bobbleheads lurking about. Hunting down all seven bobbleheads was one of the most fun things I did in FO3. Then I realized it's FO1 and I want to get it trounced ASAP so I went full 10 on the key stats.

I recruited the dredlock guy in town in the previous run, but not this run. As much as having an ally as a pack mule would help, he kept blocking me in smaller areas (like standing in doorways) where I had no way out and was essentially softlocked. Also heard they can (and do) hit you with friendly fire. That's all unfortunate, and my character can hold their ground solo for now.
 
Raes

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Rajaah said:
Yeah I thought about topping stats out at 9 instead of 10 since there are probably bobbleheads lurking about. Hunting down all seven bobbleheads was one of the most fun things I did in FO3. Then I realized it's FO1 and I want to get it trounced ASAP so I went full 10 on the key stats.

I recruited the dredlock guy in town in the previous run, but not this run. As much as having an ally as a pack mule would help, he kept blocking me in smaller areas (like standing in doorways) where I had no way out and was essentially softlocked. Also heard they can (and do) hit you with friendly fire. That's all unfortunate, and my character can hold their ground solo for now.
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Yep, companions can be annoying. As always, I don't remember if these options are in F1, but in F2 you can right click on a companion who's blocking a door and there's an open hand icon to shove them out of the way, plus there's a combat setting that's basically "try not to shoot me, asshole."
 
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Rajaah

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This part was hilarious. I had to basically tell her I was a eunuch to get her to back off. Dark Elf women don't mess around. Even being "taken" didn't remotely dissuade her.

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Was worth it to keep Aerie from having a nervous breakdown listening to hot dark elf banging in the next room.
 
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Rajaah

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After a couple weeks of tooling around in the Underdark (and barely playing), I'm finally out of Chapter 5. I have mixed feelings on it.

On one hand that was the most annoying chapter in any of the BG games. Being a drow errand boy got so tedious, and I was lost half the time since every time I stopped playing I lost track of who I was trying to swindle next.

On the other hand, the whole narrative came together really nicely towards the end. I managed to swindle both Phaere and the Matron Mother with fake dragon eggs and get them both taken out by the demon lord.

Still, was really happy to finally be done with that chapter and back on the overworld. Taking a real swing at getting the game done tonight. Well, the main story. Throne of Bhaal is happening.

20230409_191049.jpg

Here's Drizzt. Nice. I happen to have a sixth spot in the group.

What really caught me off guard was all the Drow equipment turning to dust after I reached the overworld again. I had everyone decked out in new upgraded +5 Drow Plate and whatnot and now they're all wearing piles of dust. It's actually kind if hilarious, and now I get to go shopping again.

With the FF Pixel Remasters coming out in like 9 days, those are gonna take up my free time for a bit so the CRPG Crusade is gonna be on hold. At the very least I want to finish BG2 and FO1 before then, and if possible Throne of Bhaal too.

Edit: Blah, maybe Drizzt doesn't join? I got him to offer to help against the vampires, then when I saw him in the crypt he ran off with his party and disappeared through a door and that was it. Thought he was gonna join. Damn.
 
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Rajaah

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Baldur's Gate 2 is beaten. Feels good to cross off another one.
 
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TJT

TJT

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Rajaah said:
View attachment 468289
After a couple weeks of tooling around in the Underdark (and barely playing), I'm finally out of Chapter 5. I have mixed feelings on it.

On one hand that was the most annoying chapter in any of the BG games. Being a drow errand boy got so tedious, and I was lost half the time since every time I stopped playing I lost track of who I was trying to swindle next.

On the other hand, the whole narrative came together really nicely towards the end. I managed to swindle both Phaere and the Matron Mother with fake dragon eggs and get them both taken out by the demon lord.

Still, was really happy to finally be done with that chapter and back on the overworld. Taking a real swing at getting the game done tonight. Well, the main story. Throne of Bhaal is happening.

View attachment 468290
Here's Drizzt. Nice. I happen to have a sixth spot in the group.

What really caught me off guard was all the Drow equipment turning to dust after I reached the overworld again. I had everyone decked out in new upgraded +5 Drow Plate and whatnot and now they're all wearing piles of dust. It's actually kind if hilarious, and now I get to go shopping again.

With the FF Pixel Remasters coming out in like 9 days, those are gonna take up my free time for a bit so the CRPG Crusade is gonna be on hold. At the very least I want to finish BG2 and FO1 before then, and if possible Throne of Bhaal too.

Edit: Blah, maybe Drizzt doesn't join? I got him to offer to help against the vampires, then when I saw him in the crypt he ran off with his party and disappeared through a door and that was it. Thought he was gonna join. Damn.
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You should have killed his group and taken their shit.
 
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reavor

reavor

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TJT said:
You should have killed his group and taken their shit.
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yeah but as soon as you take drizzt stuff his friend shows up in the next town you go to and takes all his stuff back automatically. besides, drizzt gear isn't that great anymore, especially at the end game.
 
Chris

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Rajaah said:
View attachment 466770
At one point I got tired of all these rich people talking down to the protagonist so I just went postal on a bunch of them. Then ALL of my party members immediately ditched me and had a lot of choice complaints to make. It was hilarious. Then I reloaded of course.

View attachment 466771
A lot of the environments in this game are pretty incredible. When I first played Xenogears in 1998 I remember being blown away by some of the towns like Aveh and Bledavik. Getting that same sense of scope a bunch of times over in these Baldur games. Really feels like anything is possible and you could get lost for hundreds of hours seeing everything there is to see. If anything I'm shortchanging myself by only playing them for 20-30 hours and mainly doing the main story. Unfortunately it isn't 1999 anymore and time is my foe.

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It's getting steamy in here all of a sudden.

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She's barking up the wrong tree, cause Jaheira is wearing one of those "Not Gay" shirts.

Poor Aerie.

I really liked the 6th character in this group (can't remember her name) but she got arrested and I haven't re-found her.

View attachment 466772
The big battle with Nagafen was the toughest fight in the whole BG series thusfar and took a lot of tooling around to get anything winnable. Also the most memorable fight in the whole series. Doubt it'll top this, but later I fought Vishimtar and that was pretty cool too.

View attachment 466773
Teh Loots. Got the uber sword, which is why we're here. Not sure what to do with the Red Dragon Scales (and now Black Dragon Scales) that I've got.

Today's the big BGII day as planned. Got some errands to run and then I'll be plowing this a bunch more. On Chapter 3 of 7 (plus however much Throne of Bhaal has).
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I did a Aerie and Jaheira playthrough, it's very dangerous lol. Good luck getting them both to the end.

Aerie gave birth to my child but I had to follow a guide to avoid all of the possible incidents. The child is -1 inventory space on her lmao.
 
Chris

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Rajaah said:
I took a peek at Icewind Dale since I needed a break from BG2.

-Icewind Dale's main theme is REALLY good. The one that plays on the title/file/character creation screens.

-Is Heart of Winter necessary to play? I enjoyed the BG1 expansion and I'll certainly enjoy the BG2 expansion which is of course pretty crucial. I've never even heard of Heart of Winter so I'm going to venture a guess that it isn't really required and can be skipped.
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Icewind Dale is excellent, play it after BG2. I had Heart of Winter, I think it's similar to the BG1 expansion Tales of the Sword Coast where it's random improvements and more side quests.
 
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