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BG1 Fixpack ?


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After the recent release of G3's BG2FixPack, I've wanted to have something similar for BG1. I am in no way, a great modder like CamDawg. I've only been playing around with it for the past few months. Anyway, I've put together what I hope will be the start of a weidu replacement for the Baldurdash fixpack.

 

I don't have TOTSC so there was no hope in patching any of that stuff, at least, by me. That said, I do have a working beta which includes all of the NON-TOTSC fixes found in Baldurdash as well as a couple new fixes that needed to be addressed.

I've not included any Dudleyville fixes as I know didley about dudley :)

 

What I'm wanting is people who would:

1. Test my beta version

2. Point out errors & solutions

3. Coders & Fixers to work on the TOTSC portions

 

Unfinished Business for BG1 can be installed before or after (I prefer before myself).

 

I'll post the actually download link here once I know that it is available for download at TheWizard's site. In the meantime, you can browse my subdir at IEGMC to see if it has been posted. http://america.iegmc.net/mods_by_ab/ Look for the directory/zip-file ABFixPack1

 

Thank you.

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This is great news!

 

Actually, at G3's Wikipedia, there is already a BG1 Fixpack work in progress started many years ago by Idobek and never completed thus far.

 

I think that joining efforts would be a very good idea.

 

About Dudleyfixes (I collaborated a bit with him in the past), I can say that most of his changes are seamless and I would be happy to help you out with those, if you like. Just PM me in that case...

 

Also, I think it is pretty much critical to cover also the TotSC part of the game as most players (I would think) have the expansion too (which is, by the way, very much worth its money so go and find one!! :) )

 

Cheers!

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This is a project we've discussed on PPG that should really be completed. I agree with Salk we should aim at making it compatible as possible - encompassing not only TotSC and non-TotSC but also BG1, Tutu and BGT. It could be Tutu, particularly EasyTutu, already includes a lot of the Baldurdash stuff, in which case it could be skipped. Though I never got a definitive answer on that. Not sure about BGT. I think Unfinished Business also addresses some of the Dudleyville stuff. He has a pretty thorough log at http://www.dudleyville.com/dudleyfix/index.htm - I was going to go through and compare it with the EasyTutu changelogs at one time but haven't gotten around to it. Maybe once I finish current projects. But it'd be great to have all the fixes in a central, compatible repository. :)

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Believe it or not, BG2 Fixpack was inspired by Idobek's BG Fixpack that he started waaaaaay back in July 2004. He had gotten as far as coding up and modernizing Baldurdash, Dudleyville, and working through many of the errors reported by NI, but it never reached a point where he was satisfied releasing it. Towards the end, in Alec's words, he had included a number of items that weren't strictly bugfixes (probably the equivalent of OBC stuff) which is his main reservation about it today.

 

If it would help, I'd love to see such a project revived, and I can offer Alec's last build of the BG Fixpack. Not that I can contribute much more beyond advice and an occasional spot of code... :)

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This is a project we've discussed on PPG that should really be completed. I agree with Salk we should aim at making it compatible as possible - encompassing not only TotSC and non-TotSC but also BG1, Tutu and BGT. It could be Tutu, particularly EasyTutu, already includes a lot of the Baldurdash stuff, in which case it could be skipped. Though I never got a definitive answer on that. Not sure about BGT. I think Unfinished Business also addresses some of the Dudleyville stuff. He has a pretty thorough log at http://www.dudleyville.com/dudleyfix/index.htm - I was going to go through and compare it with the EasyTutu changelogs at one time but haven't gotten around to it. Maybe once I finish current projects. But it'd be great to have all the fixes in a central, compatible repository. :)

I know we touched on the topic in the middle of another thread at PPG. As long as we can get a good fixpack for BG1 with/without TOTSC in any flavor or variety, we can have the discussion wherever you want it to be. :)

So let's discuss.

I've looked briefly at dudley, but I somehow missed his list of reasons why. I'll have to check again.

Also, I think it is pretty much critical to cover also the TotSC part of the game as most players (I would think) have the expansion too (which is, by the way, very much worth its money so go and find one!! )

I don't disagree. However, I want to make sure that the mod will work with a non-totsc install. I have ran across a few mods/components that were supposed to install if the game was TOTSC and bypass if it did not have TOTSC. However, some of these mods/components asked or tried to install anyway. I'll keep my game the way it is for now, so that I can be one of the non-totsc testers. Maybe down the road after the game has one centralized fixpack. :hm:

Towards the end, in Alec's words, he had included a number of items that weren't strictly bugfixes (probably the equivalent of OBC stuff) which is his main reservation about it today.

Hey, Cam. I'm registered here now. :p

Optional But Cool is good to. We can certainly have a section reserved for such things. We just need to decide what goes where.

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Cheers, check your PMs. You should be able to see Alec's old BG Fixpack forum and his last build.
Did that and can't see either (get a 'forum outdated' message or some such). If it's an archived/private forum, why not just restore it to be public again? Would certainly be helpful for testing/development going along...
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I have always given BG1 Fixpack as much importance as the BG2 Fixpack has. Idobek has already done a good part of the job. The goal would be to have a team like the BG2 Fixpack's team work on it.

 

I am no modder but I got to know Dudleyville's fixes so I can help with a little experience in there to perhaps individuate those fixes that should be moved to OBC.

 

Also, it's a must to make it EasyTuTu/BGT compatible as well, just like Miloch said. Problems with EasyTuTu is that it comes "prepatched" as MacReady's intention is to make EasyTuTu as userfriendly as possible. At today, if I am not mistaken, BG2 Fixpack's corrections, despite reaching a pretty stable status, cannot be had on EasyTuTu which is very rigid in its structure. On the other hand, a BG1 Fixpack would not work on BGT for another reason (Ascension64 has coded his own BG1's fixes - very limited - in BGT but that doesn't mean that future fixes, if well documented, can't be included)... :)

Edited by Salk
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I have always given BG1 Fixpack as much importance as the BG2 Fixpack has. Idobek has already done a good part of the job. The goal would be to have a team like the BG2 Fixpack's team work on it.

 

I am no modder but I got to know Dudleyville's fixes so I can help with a little experience in there to perhaps individuate those fixes that should be moved to OBC.

 

Also, it's a must to make it EasyTuTu/BGT compatible as well, just like Miloch said. Problems with EasyTuTu is that it comes "prepatched" as MacReady's intention is to make EasyTuTu as userfriendly as possible. At today, if I am not mistaken, BG2 Fixpack's corrections, despite reaching a pretty stable status, cannot be had on EasyTuTu which is very rigid in its structure. On the other hand, a BG1 Fixpack would not work on BGT for another reason (Ascension64 has coded his own BG1's fixes - very limited - in BGT but that doesn't mean that future fixes, if well documented, can't be included)... :)

I certainly want to make it as compatible as possible to all the different versions. That's why I'm sticking with a non-totsc install. I want to make sure that it works there as well, just in case there are others who don't have TOTSC.

 

I know nothing about BGT, but we can certainly include it. Perhaps, we need MacReady (EasyTuTu) and Ascension64 (BGT) to join the bandwagon so to speak and give their input on how would be best to make a fixpack that would include their versions of the game as well.

 

Your input on Dudleyville will I'm sure be helpful.

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I'm not sure it would be wise to add a fixpack onto BGT-WeiDU, but as Salk noted, there may be a few things that might be worth including into it. I wouldn't advocate a BG1Fixpack version to be installed on BGT-WeiDU, unelss the fixes were inside the BGT-WeiDU installation itself.

 

Unfortunately, EasyTutu has an initiative to have their Dudleyville set of fixes, so I am not sure Macready would support this either. Don't take this for granted though: let him speak for himself.

 

In addition, the Developer's Documentation for BGT-WeiDU lists and describes the changes for every BG1 fix made to BGT-WeiDU. This resource may be useful in implementing fixes.

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My view for maximum compatibility is just do a check if the fix is already present (regardless of platform). If not, make the change; if so, skip. We can't account for what platform developers plan to include in their next releases (though we also don't want to be doing duplicate work). Likewise, we can't account for which release players are going to be on.

Edited by Miloch
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I have always given BG1 Fixpack as much importance as the BG2 Fixpack has. Idobek has already done a good part of the job. The goal would be to have a team like the BG2 Fixpack's team work on it.

 

I am no modder but I got to know Dudleyville's fixes so I can help with a little experience in there to perhaps individuate those fixes that should be moved to OBC.

 

Also, it's a must to make it EasyTuTu/BGT compatible as well, just like Miloch said. Problems with EasyTuTu is that it comes "prepatched" as MacReady's intention is to make EasyTuTu as userfriendly as possible. At today, if I am not mistaken, BG2 Fixpack's corrections, despite reaching a pretty stable status, cannot be had on EasyTuTu which is very rigid in its structure. On the other hand, a BG1 Fixpack would not work on BGT for another reason (Ascension64 has coded his own BG1's fixes - very limited - in BGT but that doesn't mean that future fixes, if well documented, can't be included)... :p

I certainly want to make it as compatible as possible to all the different versions. That's why I'm sticking with a non-totsc install. I want to make sure that it works there as well, just in case there are others who don't have TOTSC.

 

I know nothing about BGT, but we can certainly include it. Perhaps, we need MacReady (EasyTuTu) and Ascension64 (BGT) to join the bandwagon so to speak and give their input on how would be best to make a fixpack that would include their versions of the game as well.

 

Your input on Dudleyville will I'm sure be helpful.

 

Hm. I've played a lot of BG1 and I have to say I don't actually like some of the purported Dudleyville "fixes".

 

For instance, the so-called fix that removes the "infinitely respawning flesh golems" (the fix to AR3601) is in fact a Tweak, not a Fix, and should not be part of the FixPacks. I believe it's MEANT to be a feature of those caves, that flesh golems respawn every time you try to rest... yes, it's possible to abuse this for considerable experience, but you're also far more likely to *die* in there. Flesh Golems are tough enemies for BG1-level characters. The cave is meant to be a place in which it's extremely dangerous to rest. I believe this is intended to be this way.

 

Also, quite a lot of fixes could be regarded as superseded in BG2. If, for example, the game uses the BG2 versions of certain spells or items that were only tweaked in the Dudleypacks to be consistent with BG2, then that doesn't need to be included.

 

Against that, there's a couple of fixes or tweaks I'd like to suggest for BGTutu (with or without EasyTutu) that aren't, in fact, in the Dudleypacks. For instance, making a couple of shops accept stolen goods: Black Lily in the Thieves Guild, of course (hell, they're THIEVES, of course they will let you sell stolen goods to them). I suggest that Silence, also in Baldurs Gate city (east central section), should also let you sell stolen goods to her: she's clearly a person who'll deal with people on a "no questions asked" basis (hence her name). Of course, in BG1, the game just didn't have the capability to allow stores to buy goods flagged as stolen, which is why no store would accept stolen goods. BG2 has that capability. Neither Silence nor Black Lily should be pickpocketable, in that case. (In fact, stores which will both buy stolen items, and can be pickpocketed, in BG2, are utterly broken since you can abuse this by buying and stealing the same item over and over again. This needs to be fixed in BG2.)

 

And there is a serious need for a shopkeeper somewhere, ANY shopkeeper, that will actually buy crossbow bolts of any kind. Not a single shopkeeper in the whole of BG1 actually accepts the player selling his surplus crossbow bolts, even the magical ones. That's why I contributed the .STO file changes fixing certain shopkeepers to let them buy bolts - particularly the weaponsmith-type shopkeepers. The Nashkel Carnival weaponsmiths, Taerom Fuiruim of Beregost, a couple of armorers and weapon-sellers in Baldurs Gate city (particularly the ones who already sell large quantities of normal and magical arrows, sling bullets and crossbow bolts), Erdane at Durlag's Tower, the innkeeper/merchant of Ulgoth's Beard...

 

The NPC fixes in the Dudleyfixpacks may be regarded as superseded by the BG1 NPC Project for Tutu, or could be included in it, rather than in Tutu itself. However, the changes in question (particularly the ones to weapon proficiencies) all make sense.

 

Certain of the proposed dialogue fixes are entirely unnecessary and can be dropped. For instance, the whole farrago in the prologue about Firebead Elvenhair and his long-lasting Protection from Evil which actually uses the cleric-spell version rather than the mage-spell version. Instead of the hassle of editing the dialogue file and creating an entirely new "Firebead's Contingency" effect and text, why not just assume he is reading a Protection scroll of the kind that anybody can read, just like any player can read a Protection from Magic or Protection from Acid scroll? Which requires neither editing the dialogue file, nor creating any new effects. Alternatively, make Firebead into a Cleric/Mage multi-class or dual-class, and hey presto, he's allowed to legally cast the cleric version of the spell.

 

Likewise, yes, some shops are clones of each other (what you sell in one, will show up in the other), but I honestly think this does not need to be reflected in messing with the dialogue file to give them new names.

 

I'm kinda mixed on some of the spell changes. Especially to the wholesale Dudley rewrite of the cleric/druid spellbooks in BG1 that does NOT necessarily match BG2. Although a lot of it also makes sense, and it looks awkward when you've got "clerics" casting Entangle if Entangle is not to be a cleric spell.

 

The world map issues with Ulgoth's Beard in TotSC are all, well, kinda weird. Somehow the player has to be able to reach UB from SOMEWHERE. And where can you go from, that would make it accessible?

 

Also, the world map issues with the area AR0400, north of the Baldurs Gate bridge. You enter this area from the south, and appear on the west side of the river - except the only way to make this area open up before Chapter 5 is by going north from the *east* side of the river. The fact that you can go north from the east side of the river and appear on the west side is somewhat weird...

 

The maps of certain towns and fully civilized areas (specifically BG city, Ulgoths Beard, Beregost) should probably be entirely clear/visible to the player, like Athkatla city in BG2, rather than being entirely dark until you clear it by walking through it. Some other civilized areas (Nashkel, Gullykin, Friendly Arm Inn) still have monsters in, and should remain hidden.

 

And there are indeed some dialog.tlk errors which need to be amended. However, the mystery of the multiple farmers in Nashkel and the Carnival called Lahl could be solved simply by editing the character .CRE files so as to point most of their names to being the existing string "Commoner" instead of even having to create a new dialogue string "Farmer".

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Thanks, JLE, this is useful feedback.

For instance, the so-called fix that removes the "infinitely respawning flesh golems" (the fix to AR3601) is in fact a Tweak, not a Fix, and should not be part of the FixPacks.
I think we agreed that such 'exploit' fixes should be considered a separate optional component of the fixpack (it's not really a tweak either). But that should solve the problem either way.
For instance, making a couple of shops accept stolen goods: Black Lily in the Thieves Guild, of course (hell, they're THIEVES, of course they will let you sell stolen goods to them).
This would probably be more of a tweak, or perhaps appropriate in something like Thievery (something I'll probably pick up again after the fixpack, and I'd already planned the addition of more fences :p).
And there is a serious need for a shopkeeper somewhere, ANY shopkeeper, that will actually buy crossbow bolts of any kind.
Another tweak, and one that would fit in well with existing tweaks to make clubs, quarterstaffs, etc. sellable.
For instance, the whole farrago in the prologue about Firebead Elvenhair and his long-lasting Protection from Evil which actually uses the cleric-spell version rather than the mage-spell version.
Is it even noticeable to the player which version he casts?
Likewise, yes, some shops are clones of each other (what you sell in one, will show up in the other), but I honestly think this does not need to be reflected in messing with the dialogue file to give them new names.
I believe this is an existing fix currently in the BG2 Tweakpack (under 'Exotic Items') we were considering moving to the BG1 fixpack (I don't know if it involves messing with dialog files, but not really a big deal in WeiDU either way).
Although a lot of it also makes sense, and it looks awkward when you've got "clerics" casting Entangle if Entangle is not to be a cleric spell.
This is an existing fix I've been working on.
The world map issues with Ulgoth's Beard in TotSC are all, well, kinda weird. Somehow the player has to be able to reach UB from SOMEWHERE. And where can you go from, that would make it accessible? Also, the world map issues with the area AR0400, north of the Baldurs Gate bridge. You enter this area from the south, and appear on the west side of the river - except the only way to make this area open up before Chapter 5 is by going north from the *east* side of the river. The fact that you can go north from the east side of the river and appear on the west side is somewhat weird...
Another known issue we're working on fixing (or discussing how to go about it at least :p).
The maps of certain towns and fully civilized areas (specifically BG city, Ulgoths Beard, Beregost) should probably be entirely clear/visible to the player, like Athkatla city in BG2, rather than being entirely dark until you clear it by walking through it. Some other civilized areas (Nashkel, Gullykin, Friendly Arm Inn) still have monsters in, and should remain hidden.
This I would consider a tweak, and indeed it is included I believe in some tweak pack or other (possibly igi's iiTweak).
And there are indeed some dialog.tlk errors which need to be amended. However, the mystery of the multiple farmers in Nashkel and the Carnival called Lahl could be solved simply by editing the character .CRE files so as to point most of their names to being the existing string "Commoner" instead of even having to create a new dialogue string "Farmer".
Agreed. :D
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Supposing I wanted to contribute some "fixed" files - minor bugfixes, single fixed versions of files, NOT touching the dialogue or scripting (even to fix spelling errors) because I don't know how. Is there a place I could send them?

 

And should I send the BG1 or the EasyTutu version of the file, given that EasyTutu seems to change the file name in many cases?

 

In fact, in the case of (for instance) an amended .CRE, .STO or .SPL file, is it likely that the amended file will actually be converted correctly by EasyTutu?

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