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Progress update - 15/01/07


NiGHTMARE

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Wow, has it really been 16 months since the last update? I guess it's about time to let you guys know what's been going on regarding the development of this mod.

 

 

The focus of the mod

 

Originally our goal with LoI was simply "to make an expansion pack". There were plans to include almost everything you can think of, with both new and improved areas, quests, creatures, NPCs, spells, items, kits, and so on.

 

Over time, however, many of these elements splintered off to become mods of their own. First there was Divine Remix, then Song & Silence, Sword & Fist, and the upcoming Arcane Remix.

 

We're now left with the focus on areas, quests, creatures, NPCs, and items. There will still be new kits in the mod, but they won't be available to the player; rather, they will be used by certain NPCs, both joinable and non-joinable. For the most part the same is true of spells; however, if both Arcane Remix and LoI are installed, AR spell scrolls will be dropped by certain LoI enemies. In fact, use of both Arcane Remix and Divine Remix will be highly recommended if you're playing LoI, though neither will be required.

 

 

Versions

 

As with the overall goal of the mod, over time our vision for the release of LoI has changed. We had planned to simply make a single major release once absolutely everything were complete, with future versions containing only bug fixes and perhaps a few more minor additions.

 

However, we've since adopted the approach more typical of the modern WeiDU mods: there'll be initial release with a reasonable number of features, but future versions will contain many more additions. We currently have a firm set of goals for v1, a pretty good idea of what will be in v2, and many ideas for v3+.

 

So, without further ado, here's what you should expect in LoI version 1:

 

- 1 major quest, "The King of Amn"

- 6 minor quests and encounters

- Pen and paper SoA dragons

- Around 100 new items

- Item revisions (see below)

- Names for over 80 formerly generic characters

- Portraits for over 100 non-joinable characters

- 41 new character generation portraits

 

What of this is already complete, you ask? Well, the pnp SoA dragons are finished (though untested), the item revisions are done, the names for formerly generic character are in place, and all the portraits have been implemented. Of the remainder, a good 80% of the quest dialogue has been writen (though so far it's completely uncoded), and around 90% of the new items planned for this version have been created.

 

Once v1 is released, work will immediately begin on v2, which should include the following:

 

- Another major quest, "A Dragon's Favour"

- At least 5 more minor quests and encounters

- Expanded Underdark

- New creature animations, including bug bears and driders

- Pen and paper ToB dragons, rakshasa, and kuo-toa

- More new items, including some of the new weapon and armour types (see below)

- Additional dialogue for formerly generic characters

 

Beyond that, you can expect:

 

- At least four more major quests

- Numerous medium-sized and minor quests

- "Consequences" (see below)

- Several new world map areas

- Expanded De'Arnise keep

- At least three new party members

- More pnp-based creature revisions

- Subraces

- The remaining new weapon and armour types

 

 

Item revisions

 

Something that I haven't revealed thus far is that LoI will make a number of changes to existing items. These changes generally fall into two areas: bringing the items more in-line with their pen 'n' paper counterparts, and making costs, weights, lore requirements, usability, and even names more consistent.

 

You will particularly notice the changes to bows, crossbows, and their associated ammunition, which feature extensive revisions to range, speed, and damage.

 

Another area I've given attention to regarding existing items is icons. Items which originally shared icons, such as the Cloak of Bravery and the Cloak of the Sewers, now have unique icons. Several of these are BG1 icons which are inexplicably missing from BG2, such as the Helm of Balduran, and Varscona +2.

 

(It should be noted that Galactygon has made similar (even identical in a few cases :rant:) changes in Lost Crossroads, though these are entirely co-incidental.)

 

 

New weapons and armour

 

Our aim is to introduce not just a large number of new magical variations of existing weapons and armour, but also a wide variety of new types of weapons and armour. Expect to be able wield new weapons such as broad swords, cutlasses, falchions, stilettos, pikes, glaives, and composite short bows, and to wear new types of armour like scale mail, banded mail, and field plate.

 

Due to limitations placed on us by both time and the IE engine, these new item types will use the same animations as the stanard weapons and armour; however, their stats will most definitely be different.

 

 

"Consequences"

 

"Consequences" is an attempt to do two things: firstly, to show that events in the country of Amn are capable of proceeding without the PC's direct interference, and secondly to have quests provide more of a challenge if you leave them until after you return from the Underdark.

 

Essentially, the chapter number will have a bearing on the number and strength of enemies in certain areas, such as the druid grove and Windspear Hills. It isn't quite that simple, however, as the storyline will also progress. For example, if Trademeet is still in danger when you leave for Brynnlaw, you will find that the town has been completely over-run by enemies when you finally arrive there. Note that quest giving NPCs won't be killed off in such events, so you won't have to worry about not being able to receive certain quests.

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In fact, use of both Arcane Remix and Divine Remix will be highly recommended if you're playing LoI, though neither will be required.
This reminds me there was an unresolved question in the Tutu compatibility thread re: installation order. If you're using both Arcane Remix (is this different from the Arcane/Divine Pack?) and Divine Remix, would you install the one before the other? Are there any potential conflicts?

 

Edit: Never mind - it seems AR is an upcoming mod... is there a public forum for it?

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pro5: I am hopeful it will be out sometime in the summer, but if not almost certainly sometime this year.

 

 

Miloch: Arcane Remix currently touches none of the files that are affected by Divine Remix, and I don't see this changing in the future. In other words, it shouldn't matter :rant:.

 

EDIT: Potentially the two mods might adjust the same .cre's in the case of cleric/mages and fighter/mage/clerics, but the changes wouldn't overlap. Besides, how many of either are actually present in the game? :D

 

The Arcane/Divine Pack is completely unrelated to either Arcane Remix or Divine Remix. In fact, I strongly recommend not using the arcane spell revisions of A/D with AR, as at the very least it will lead to descriptions being wildly inaccurate. A/D and DR should be fine for the time being, however.

 

EDIT: there isn't a public forum for Arcane Remix yet, but hopefully there will be soon. AR was in fact ready for release several months ago, but I didn't have time to write a readme and completely forgot about the mod until last week :). Since then I've decided to add one additional component to v1 of the mod, which I hope to have done by the end of the month.

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Nice to hear that Lands of Intrigue is still on its way. It sounds very comprehensive.

 

that it does, i am looking forward to it with great anticipation

 

 

hmm slight issue with arcane/divine pack. well since i dont have that i dont think i need to worry

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Hi, just wanted to have an update on this mod's status. Has any progress been made? LoI is definitely on the top of my list and I'm waiting for it to be completed before starting my next BG2 run. So please hurry because it really looks great!

 

PS: I'm already using Kivan and Deherianna mod, and I enjoy it thoroughly.

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Unfortunately, for various reasons not much has been done on the mod in quite some time.

 

Probably the most important reason was I temporarily lost interest in modding in general for several months at the beginning of the year, mainly due to the extremely negative and ungrateful attitudes of players in another community. Obviously that other community has nothing to do with this one, but those people pissed me off so much I began wondering what was the point of working on something if all other people would do once it's finished is bitch about it.

 

Anyway, time passed and finally did decide to get back to working on LoI. But then disaster struck, and I had one of those infamous hard drive failures which an unusually high percentage of modmakers seem to have, and lost several weeks of work. Fortunately the majority of the mod was - and is - safely backed up in multiple locations, and what I lost was mainly just item graphics. However, it was still very annoying and put me off modding once more.

 

I got heavily into the actual playing aspect of games, and decided to get a brand spanking new GeForce 8800 GTX in which to indulge this interested. My newly souped up specs led to me giving Oblivion a whirl once again, and while the game is extremely visually impressive at 1920x1200 with every setting up full, I quickly became bored with the default gameplay and decided to give some mods a whirl. I soon discovered that, while there are some amazing mods for the game, compatibility between different Oblivion mods is much more of an issue than it is with the IE games. I took it upon myself to attempt to fix that, and created and released several "compatibility patches" on TESSource (a site which unfortunately has recently died, though apparently a replacement is due very soon).

 

This got my modding juices properly flowing once more, and I am finally once again in the "IE modding mood". Sadly, the mood has hit me just at a point when I have very little free time in which to do indulge it (a 30 mile round trip to work every weekday tends to do that). Progress on LoI will resume soon, but I'm afraid it'll be at pretty slow pace... at least until the Christmas holidays.

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Guest Nahtanoj

Hey, just wanted to chime in and say, while its dissapointing there are delays, its completely understandable too. Good luck on finding time to work on this project, and if it doesnt take off, again, I know its what can happen when you are good enough to take your own time out to create something for others.

 

Other than that, Id just like to say that you guys are creating something that -in my opinion- is definitely worth being patient for!

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