A slight bug - cannot speak to NPCs

Remove all ads!

It's time for my yearly replay of this fine game, but I'm suddenly experiencing a rather strange and annoying bug during gameplay. It's nothing really crippling, but it has the potential to be very bad. I keep getting a "You cannot speak to ___ now, they appear busy" message when I click on certain NPCs. It seems to be extremely random. It hasn't really been a problem so far, but I'm a little worried that it might get worse in the future at a particularly bad time, such as when I need to speak to Bodhi, or purchase items from a shopkeeper. I keep thinking that I've heard about this bug before from somebody else, and that it was relatively easy to fix, but I've forgotten what the fix might have been.

I have many mods installed, although since it's been awhile since I last played I couldn't give you a list of them off the top of my head. Also, I'm using cheat codes. I've used the create item cheat to get the Mace of Disruption, an experience boosting cheat, and the money cheat. Also I've enabled cheat keys for things like healing characters and maxing out stats in the character creation screen. I don't know if either of those things have anything to do with the bug, but I figure I should mention them anyway.

Does anyone know what is causing this glitch, and more importantly, how I can fix it?

[ October 08, 2005, 02:56: Message edited by: Isis Dragon ]

 

Isis, have you applied the latest official patch? This is a well-known bug that this patch will fix!

Look here: http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/index_misc.php

If you have the patch installed, my guess is that it's your mods there's the prob. Which do you have installed?

 

Try using the official patch first, then, if you were like me and still have that <so-and-so> is busy and cannot speak to you, you should have better luck with the Baldurdash Fixpack, also found on SP.

Yes, it will cripple your game. I had it and found I could not talk to shopkeepers, quest givers, joinable NPCs and other plot characters I needed to speak to. Even reloading the game and/or map rarely helped. Though there are some things in the Fixpack I'm not fond of, I still need it so I don't have this problem.

 

I may have applied the patch some time ago, but it's been awhile so it probably bears redoing. I did try and update the game when I reinstalled it yesterday, but it just crashed when I hit the button. So thank you for the link, I'll likely need it. =) If that doesn't work I'll try the fix pack as kuemper suggested. I appreciate your help, both of you! ^_^

EDIT: All right, patch didn't work. It aborted when it found out I had Throne of Bhaal installed as well. Going to look for the Baldurdash fix pack now.

As for mods I have installed...I really have no idea. The only ones I've been able to identify so far is Dungeon Be Gone and the pack that shortens all the long, lengthy discussions in the cutscenes and replaces it with funny Noober lines. "I want to go to the Underdark!" that sort of thing. Oh, and the mod that allows for infinite stacking, and wearing two Rings of Protection at a time. I probably have others installed as well but I've forgotten which ones.

 

If you have Throne of Bhaal, try installing the ToB patch. It's in the link olim already posted. Some advice - uninstall all mods, install the ToB patch, Baldurdash Fixpack, then your mods. That should help with other problems. Good luck.

 

If you encounter this problem, quicksave and then reload, it helps sometimes so try it!

 

A good practice when dealing with mods, is to maintain your clean install at all times. This way, if you ever encounter any bugs (I have before encountered a 'x' appears busy after TOB patch installation, due to mod problems). This can be done be following this procedure:

Prior to installing ANY mod, you should:

a) Install the latest official patch
b) Instal any fixpack (e.g. Baldurdash)
c: make a BACKUP folder, and within it place a copy of:

Override folder
BgMain.exe
Chitin.Key
Dialog.tlk
Baldur.ini

If you ever want to erase all mods, and re-make your clean install, then manually delete:

Override folder
WeiDU.log

and copy

Override folder
BgMain.exe
Chitin.Key
Dialog.tlk
Baldur.ini
from your BACKUP folder to your main directory. (copy! Don't cut or "move" the objects. Select all, right click, choose copy - or simply select all, press [ctrl]+[c]).

This way you can always "re-do" your clean install!

[ October 09, 2005, 20:12: Message edited by: olimikrig ]

 

Thank you, everyone. Reinstalling the ToB patch did fix the problem with not being able to speak with NPCs, but now I'm encoutering some other minor bugs so I'm just going to uninstall and then reinstall all my mods. That way I know what I've got running and it'll give me a chance to install some fixpacks and so on. So your advice on clean installs is very fortuitous, olimikrig, and I am appreciative. =) I will follow your instructions to the letter.

Thanks again!

EDIT: Just realized I don't have a BACKUP folder. Should I just uninstall BG2 completely, delete all the mods, then reinstall it and start over the proper way, or is there something else I can do? Either way is fine with me, I've got no problem with uninstalling.

[ October 09, 2005, 20:34: Message edited by: Isis Dragon ]