Problems with mods

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I've recently picked up BG2 again and wanted to install some of the mods found through this site.

Earlier I've used Tactics, Flirt Pack and Ease-of-use I believe. Then I sometimes couldn't initiate dialog, but a quick reload usually fixed that, so I didn't consider it a big deal

Now I'm using the above mentioned mods and I've also installed the Quest Pack. Again there's the old problem of people appearing busy when I want to talk with them, but now I'm experiencing some more rather annoying problems too. It seems like some sounds are missing from time to time. It's mostly during combat that I notice it. Attacking doesn't always make a sound and neither do dying.

Another problem, the worst problem actually, is that the game lags once in a while. It happens when facing spell-casters for some reason. When around them, the game suddenly runs very slow, the mouse jumps all over the place, but there is no lag when I go to Inventory or the Journal or any such. Only when viewing the general action. When facing three or more spellcasters, combat is incredibly frustrating, and I even experience lag when talking and getting missions from Mae'Var.

It looks like the lag and sound problems are because of the QuestPack, so I'm considering uninstalling it, but I'd rather fix it since I've gained a few missions and items through it.

Anyone else have any of these problems, and do anyone know a way of fixing them?

 

I'm not sure about your lagging problems, but I had the same thing where the target character would appear busy even though he was just standing there doing bugger all. There is a patch for this, it is either the balderdash fixpack or the latest ToB patch, either of which can be found here (I think). You might not think that this problem is all that bad but trust me, after awhile, it will drive you nuts.

 

I forgot to mention, before installing any mods, I installed the Baldurdash fixpatch.

But perhaps there are other patches that might help me here.

 

The 'to busy to talk' problem is solved with the official patch and/or Baldurdash. Install like this:

Official patch
Baldurdash
Other mods

The lagginess is from too much happening on screen at once, usually with spells and their animations. This happens with and without mods. Lag could also be why you're missing sounds.

 

I've got this problem with ascension...

It's the improved Yaga-Shura crashing the game. It happens in the final battle as well. It's probably because of my oh-so-slow computer, so there's probably no solution for it, except getting a better one. I tried a faster configuration, without the spell animations and such, but it doesn't help. It still crashes.

Bloody infuriating.

 

The sounds for attacking and for spellcasting are missing even when the game doesn't lag.

And I doubt that the lag is caused by my system, since it's quite capable of running BG2 and many more demanding games. The lag isn't because of too much happening. There can be just one single enemy mage standing still and the game will still lag. The second he dies, it's all back to normal. It is something about those spellcasters.

I tried the original ToB patch, but it said that there was a blocked file, that must because I still have mods installed. So now I'm thinking that I should uninstall all mods, re-patch the game and then install mods again. Hopefully it won't screw up too much with the QuestPack, though it's that specific mod that I so far blame for the lag.

 

Seems to be that way with my problem as well. My party's made up entirely of spellcasters, and it seems that it's the spells lagging the game and causing it to crash. Like for instance Nalia casting Time Stop and a couple of ADHW's -> *crash*, or having web, stinking cloud, death fog, chaos and storm of vengeance going on and then casting a couple of holy smites and ADHW's -> *crash*

And it seems that while improved Yaga-Shura's 'fire!' -attacks aren't helping the situation at all, it's that mage that comes along with her Time Stops and all the spells taking effect after them that really crashes the game. It's so incredibly frustrating!

 

I've actually started having a lot of trouble with ascension also and even though I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing about my bugs I'm going to mention in the hopes that someone is kind enough to take a shot at it. The first time I installed ascension, it was my first mod to install ever so I knew I'd make some mistakes and I did. When I got to the Throne, Melissan summoned Irenicus and Imeon, she dissappeared and the fight was supposed to begin...I put emphasis on SUPPOSED TO. Instead, Irenicus starts a dialogue box that has no content and no way to exit (I should mention that there were also a lot of other dialogue problems such as Balthy trying to sign me up for The Ritual). So I'm stuck. I reinstalled a newer version of Ascension and tried again. The dialogue went fine and the fight began but once again there were problems. Neither Imeon nor Irenicus turned from neutral to hostile. Imeon just stood there while I turned her to paste. Irenicus was throwing spells anyway but they didn't seem to be having the desired effects. Anyway, after killing both ( a sever annoyance when Jon Bon has pro. abjuration and protection spells up the ***)...NOTHING HAPPENED. Game over. I wonder if this happened because I installed it so late. I'm going to start a new game but I'd really prefer it if I didn't have to go through the entire game again to find out that this is a bug.

 

Okay so I tried uninstalling all the mods:

QuestPack
Tactics
FlirtPack
EaseOfUse
BanterPack
DungeonBeGone

and the problems are still there. Though after just uninstalling QuestPack, I could engage in chat with my romanced NPC. But all the problems with lag and missing sounds are still there.

Perhaps I should try re-patching the game. Otherwise there isn't much else for me to do than a complete re-install.

 

Baldurdash can not be uninstalled, so you're still going to be running the official patch on what is essentially a modded game. It could work, but there may be unexplainable weirdness further down the line. I'd recommend a reinstall to be safe.

Also, you should use the BG2 Fixpack instead of Baldurdash. It includes all of the Baldurdash fixes, plus a few hundred more. Install it in the same place you would Baldurdash--after the official patch, prior to mods.

 

Ok thanks, I'll go do that.

Do you know whether I can keep my save games and then just load them up after the re-install, or have they been affected by some of these mods too?

 

When reinstalling there are typically some persistent errors with old save games, especially if they're from modded games. If you have mod NPCs in your party there soundset will likely be incorrect (most NPCs include some form of 'string-fixer' since this is such a common problem). Some other mod items or stores may get funky, too. Mod kits also get really screwy after reinstalls--your kitted characters could change kits or drop their kit entirely.

So, a definite maybe.

 

I've tried reinstalling the game with the expansion. I ran the official patch as well as the new patch from the link above. Started up a completely new game with no mods, and the sound effects are still missing.

There are no sounds when casting a spell or when something explodes, someone is healed or such. Other action do make sounds.

I will try another reinstall of the game. This time without patches. I'm really running out of ideas of what can be causing this.

 

Oh, now this is starting to sound like an issue I've personally experienced: try turning off environmental audio in your sound options. I found that, especially in cutscenes, character lines would cut out because of this option.

 

Wow thanks, that did it. It's actually kind of hard to believe that it was such a thing because the sounds weren't blocked because of other noises. They were just missing. But now it's all back to normal.

Well, I guess I'll have to see if the game will still lag around spell casters.

 

Glad the sound issue is solved.

Even with a high-end graphics card and the fact that BG2 is now eight years old, I still get some slowdowns when there's a lot of graphics (i.e. spells or large creatures) being thrown around. You could try using your config program and picking low-perf options to try and eliminate it, but I don't think you're going to be able to completely mitigate the issue.

 

Lags are real pain for me too, and with my zillion mods it is no suprise. Last night I was fighting the 'Magic' foe in Planar Sphere mod, which is divided to arch-magis who are infact the incarnation of spell schools (Divination, Alteration, etc), needless to say, there were A LOT OF spells going around, the fact that all my six people were also casting spells at full speed did not help, and the game crashed three times, and my poor PC, spiffy Chorister boy died twice. (which has nothing to do with lag, BTW, but with all those improved Meteor Swarms and Disintegrate rays flying around! ) So I set the config. to low system and it helped...somewhat. I managed to beat them all, in the end.

 

So far everything is working as it's supposed to. I've installed various mods and I haven't encountered any problems yet.

I haven't had the lag problem either, but then again, it wasn't a regular form of lag. It was really weird. I know of the kind when there are like ten spellcasters all throwing spells around, but the one I had was much different. Seemed more like lag caused by a bug than lag caused by too much happening at once.