FW Mod Newsletter, December 2002

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Forgotten Wars Report
(Baldur's Gate/Infinity Engine Mods From People Who Like Writing Mods For
People Who Like Playing Mods)
Issue 1.01
December 4, 2004

http://www.forgottenwars.net

1. Introduction

Published Mod Updates:

2. Kelsey
3. NPC Flirt Packs
4. Dungeon-Be-Gone

In-Progress Mod Updates

5. Keto
6. Embers of Empire
7. Rise of the Reaver
8. Rowan
9. NPC Banter Packs
10. de'Arnise Romance
11. Hirelings

12. Studios Snapshot

Introduction
------------

This is the first issue of the Forgotten Wars Report, intended to a monthly
(or so) status report from the Forgotten Wars Projects gang.

The idea behind the Report is to give everyone a snapshot update of the
mod projects we work on at FW. To get the up-to-the-minute insight, of
course, visit our home page at http://www.forgottenwars.net, and
especially our discussion forums, http://forums.forgottenwars.net.

Feel free to distribute this document (in its entirety and unmodified,
please) to any gamers who might be interested in extending their playing
experience for Baldur's Gate 2 and other Infinity Engine games.

- Jason Compton
jcompton@forgottenwars.net

Published Mod Updates
---------------------

Kelsey
http://www.forgottenwars.net/kelsey

Kelsey continues to be the most popular male human sorcerer NPC add-on for
Baldur's Gate 2.

Kelsey-SOA is currently at version 1.0.4, Kelsey-TOB (the continuation of
the character into Throne of Bhaal) is still on its original, pleasantly
stable V1 release.

Up next for Kelsey is Kelsey-SOA 1.0.5, which will correct some nagging
bugs, add new interjections, improve on a romance conversation or two, and
add Kelsey-initiated flirting and re-voiced sections. Shortly thereafter,
Kelsey-TOB V2 will deliver some bugfixes, audio fixes, and a touch of
improved content. Beyond that, there are SOA translations currently
underway into Spanish, French, and German.

Kelsey-SOA has been downloaded well over 10,000 times, and over 100,000
copies have been distributed on cover disks with PC Zone and Maximum PC
magazines. Kelsey-TOB has been picked up by thousands of TOB players. But
please keep spreading the word.

- Jason Compton, co-author of Kelsey

*****

NPC Flirt Packs
http://www.forgottenwars.net/npcflirt

Based on the flirting technology introduced in Kelsey, NPC Flirt Packs
extend the romances for the four Bioware NPCs by adding flirt sessions,
initiated by both the PC and the romance NPC, throughout SOA and TOB.

At V0.8, NPC Flirt Packs currently contain flirt packs for Jaheira and
Aerie. As we continue working on Viconia and Anomen, new versions of the
Flirt Packs will be released.

Thanks to our friends at Clan DLAN, there is an Aerie translation into
Spanish ready to go. The next version of the Flirt Packs should include
this translation, and potentially Jaheira if she is also ready.

We will declare V1.0 when all four Bioware NPCs (Aerie, Anomen, Jaheira,
Viconia) are available in the Flirt Pack mod.

- Jason Compton

*****

Dungeon-Be-Gone
http://www.forgottenwars.net/dbg

Dungeon-Be-Gone is Blue The Immortal Bard (Victoria Joyner)'s gift to you:
a way to skip the Irenicus start dungeon without missing out on the good
stuff. Let Jasper St. Baird show you the way.

DBG is in version 1.1. Blue is considering but has made no commitments to
making some minor tweaks for future versions. Thousands of Dungeons have
been Avoided. Join the club!

- JC

**************

In-Progress Mod Updates

Keto
Project forum:
http://forums.forgottenwars.net/index.php?board=26

Everybody's favorite lady bard with a dark past got a bit of a character
overhaul when project author Blue decided that she needed a bit of a
change. Keto will still be true to her design goal of having more banter
than you can shake a stick at, however.

Keto is in advanced internal development stages.

- JC

*****

Embers of Empire
Project forum:
http://forums.forgottenwars.net/index.php?board=21

Embers of Empire is the brainchild of Kelsey co-author Ghreyfain, a totally
new fantasy world developed on the Infinity Engine. Development is still in
early stages, but the pantheon of the world of Pate and the characters you
will meet within are all quite well defined.

Eckhard, Haarg, Grubezar, Onyx the Revolutionary... all will be your
allies, but friends may difficult to come by as you rise from humble
beginnings to rework the political landscape of Azmanorr in your own image.

Embers of Empire is actively seeking both writing and technical assistance.

- JC

*****

Rise of the Reaver
Project forum:
http://forums.forgottenwars.net/index.php?board=39

The brainchild of FW's Lady Alustriel, this mod aims to find a balance
between the elements that seem to be most desirable to the gaming audience
of BGII. Rise of the Reaver introduces a new NPC, a female elven Wild Mage:
Alassra Val'istar, who will add loads of banters and dialogs to the game.
Although the romance mods are extremely popular, we decided against making
her a romance option so we could focus on developing her more as a
character without the added complications of romance dialogs. She's an
elf that grew up in the insular Elven society of Cormanthyr, so she knows
little of the races outside her home from a personal standpoint, and what
she does know is negative in many ways. Hopefully I can bring her across
to you as someone that questions and expresses her opinion about non-elves
without making her sounding bigoted in the unfortunate manner of the Elves
of Suldanesselar. Greed and killing for the sake of monetary gain will
definately not earn you any points with her and if you insult her or her
magic, you'll get a chance to apologize. If you don't she's not going to
stick around for your amusement/abuse. She's far too self-sufficient for
that.

In addition to the new NPC, there will be an extensive side-quest
associated with Alassra, and you will be allowed to choose to help her,
send her on her way, of most heinously betray her to her pursuers. This
side-quest begins the moment you meet her in the Umar Hills and will
extend to the end of SoA. Also planned in SoA is a small side-quest
involving Alassra and Jan. It's not a necessity to accept the quest, nor
even finish it, but it will net you a unique and useful item if you choose
to do so.

And finally, we're hoping to add in a few items that will fill in the
areas of the game that seem to be lacking. Darts and bullets spring
immediately to mind. Other than the few Sunstone bullets that you pick up
in the Umar Hills temple, there are no elemental damage darts/bullets to
be had in the basic game unless you count the throwing dagger Firetooth.
None of these are put together yet, although I am working on graphics for
the items. Alassra will come with her own custom items, one of which is
upgraded in TOB. Even her basic starting items will have custom graphics.

I'm always glad to receive input and suggestions, so please stop by the
forum!

- Lady Alustriel

*****

Rowan
Project forum:
http://forums.forgottenwars.net/index.php?board=18

Rowan, the human assassin/fighter struggling for redemption, remains in
development stages.

I need a dedicated proofreader (preferably female perspective,
although I won't gender-discriminate if a guy thinks he has or can muster
a strong connection with his feminine side) with good grammar skills and
preferable writing experience. This is for the friendship portion of the
mod, mostly, but it'd be even better to find someone who can help me out
with both it and the romance portion, possibly give me advice on where it
should end and where I should begin work on ToB. Finally, it needs to be
someone trustworthy--i.e., someone who knows her/himself well enough to be
sure they won't be tempted to show the work around. ~No one~ is allowed to
see it but the proofreader, because if you show it to one other person,
you're showing it to the world, because they'll think "oh, just one person
wouldn't hurt" as well.

- Wynne

*****

NPC Banter Packs
Project forum:
http://forums.forgottenwars.net/index.php?board=40

Banter packs are intended to add new banters, both NPC/NPC and PC/NPC, to
Baldur's Gate 2. Mod NPCs will be fair game but much of the work will
focus on further fleshing out the inter-party relationships among the
Bioware 17.

- JC

*****

de'Arnise Romance
Project forum:
http://forums.forgottenwars.net/index.php?board=35

de'Arnise Romance will add a romance and further character development to
Nalia. The Keep stronghold will be made available to all PCs, and Nalia
will (optionally) fall for a male PC (at this point, probably of the human,
elven, half-elven, or dwarven persuasion.)

This project should not be confused with the "Nalia Romance" originally
published by Arnel. That project appears to have been abandoned, and took a
view of the relationship I don't particularly agree with. His work is not a
basis for mine, I am taking a fresh approach.

My first priorities remain the completion of Kelsey-SOA 1.0.5, TOB v2, and
the release of NPC Flirt Packs V1.0, but Nalia is on my mind, and I look
forward to bringing my vision to your game.

- Jason Compton

*****

Hirelings
Project forum:
http://forums.forgottenwars.net/index.php?board=3

The Hirelings project aims to make it possible for you to add hired hands
to the party, that will fight at your command, but not count against the 6
party member limit.

**************

Studios Snapshot
----------------
http://www.fwstudios.net

Forgotten Wars Studios provides hosting for independently created mod
projects, ranging from forum support to full-fledged website and file
hosting.

Ambitious quest mod Return To Windspear moves ever-closer to release, with
a squad of beta testers hacking away at the latest prerelease builds.

The Chloe NPC project created and written by Lucy the Beast is now being
implemented by FW's Mael and Pace675. No release date has been announced
but technical work is ongoing.

Work on Allies From the Shadows (Callista, Scarab) appears to have resumed.

Recently added are such projects as Redemption (an Ascension add-on),
Chrysta NPC, and Kazrath the Necromancer.

Westley Weimer (who uses Studios for forum hosting) recently launched the
Tactics mod, a collection of dozens of tactical challenges he and other
BG2 modders have developed, along with rules tweaks and new kits. Most of
the modules were formerly stand-alone or packaged with Solaufein or Valen.
Weimer has also become the early leader in IWD2 mods. All Weimer projects,
including the WeiDU modding system, can be downloaded from http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~weimer/bgate

All of the FWStudios projects can be discussed at
http://forums.fwstudios.net

And as always, the Forgotten Wars flagship forums remain at
http://forums.forgottenwars.net

See you there!

[ December 06, 2002, 18:09: Message edited by: jcompton ]

 

Ahah. Forgot to check that you'd actually done that. Have sent off instructions to have the page updated. Thanks for putting it up and reminding me.

[ December 06, 2002, 18:12: Message edited by: jcompton ]