Improved Anvil v3.0 released!

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Impressive programming skills, Sikret, to close those holes so efficiently.


Hats off to you and your mod,

 

Yes I think this is the first time I have heard something like that in any mod! Must have been quite a work!

 

IMHO, People who like to challenge won't cheat, while people who like to cheat will loot JD's ingredients as easily as they wish. So, I think that special code is not really necessary.

 

But then they start to tell everyone about their 'epic endavours' and spoil the fun of the new content!

 

@Tal Rasha

How can they loot JD's ingredients as easily as they wish without cheating?

 

Hey I'm strongly considering giving this a try and have a couple questions:

1. How strong does the new IA content tie in with specific NPCs? That is, will I be missing much content if I choose to use a party entirely created by me?

2. How much do I have to focus on maximizing character power in character creation? That is, do I need to spend a million hours rolling for stats? Do I need to be ultra-picky about weapon proficiencies? Can I feasibly beat the new encounters without making an uber-powergaming party and/or cheesy tactics? This keeping in mind that I'm not a particularly exceptional BG player (I've only beat the game three times unmodded and never with difficulty-enhancing mods).

3. Any classes that are particularly vital to success in IA? I definitely plan on bringing an auramaster, but beyond that are there any "rules" as to what classes I'll definitely want to avoid some major frusration?


THANKS!

 

1: This is the same you miss with a normal unmodded runthru: No NPC no banters/NPC specific quests.

2: You have to rethink all strategies. I'm very long with a "normal" CHARNAME when it comes to power and proves. Just don't do the old "what I'm used to" thing.

3: I would say no. Sikret recommends that a mages is included in the party.

 

Very little.

There is only one feature of the mod which will only work if either your main PC (protagonist) is a ranger or you have Valygar in the party (with a non-evil protagonist).

No cheesy tactics would be needed. In fact, the mod is designed to block many cheesy methods. You will need to think and find effective and clever tactics, however.

Having an Auramaster (specially Cernd) is a very good decision. Having at least a mage in the party is also strongly recommended.

One other point is that strongholds (except those of druid, thief and cleric) have been expanded by Improved Anvil and new quests and/or adventures have been added to them; hence, you can't see everything in a single gamethrough, because a protagonist with a given class cannot have all strongholds simultaneously.

I recommend that you wait for IA v4.0, because even if you begin the game with v3.0 you will need to start a new game after you update the mod to version 4. (IA v4.0 will be released within the next 15 days or so.)

[ November 04, 2006, 19:04: Message edited by: Sikret ]

 

Hmm ok I will wait for 4.0 but I'm going to be sad and bored until then because I'm very very very very very very anxious!

 

Start a test game with ver 3.0. There you are, just don't wait for the justice to be upon you

 

If it wasn't for the "randomization program", you wouldn't need to start a new game after updating the mod to version 4.

However, I think that the randomizing feature is sooo good that it surely compensates the need for starting a new game.

 

I have another quetion Sikret if you don't mind:

I have been looking at the Items section of the readmes to start to plan a possible party (what proficiencies and such to consider, etc.). My question is, do you have information available anywhere as to how many of the different "forging artifacts" (permanency scrolls, scrolls of memory boosting, manual of elaboration, etc. ) exist in the game? I don't want to know where these items are, but it would be very helpful for character planning if I knew how many existed the game.

 

I think the game will be much more interesting for you if you do not know the total number of these items in the game. It's enough to say that they are rare. I can just give you an extra hint. Scrolls of Memory boosting very very rare. They are fewer than the other two items; Manual of Elaborations stand in the middle and are fewer than Permanency Scrolls.

One other hint:
If you want to see more new adventures and quests, I recommend that you pick a good aligned mage or sorcerer as your protagonist. The mage stronghold has been expanded more than the other strongholds; and a good aligned PC can see more new things in the game.

 

^That is good to know, as I am playing a Neutral Good conjurer! Cool!

 

I'm reading the Improved Anvil 3.0 readme now, specifically, the "Document III-Fixes", and I've got some questions for someone with a bit of time on their hands Since I haven't played this game nearly enough, I'm not familiar with large parts of it, especially powergaming and cheesing, so some of the fixes confuse me, maybe you could explain to help me understand.

22- Mind Focusing potions grant fewer bonuses to attributes than they did in the original game.
Potions of Genius have been omitted from the game; new potions of Acid Resistance
are added.

I can guess that +3 dexterity for 12 hours is too good for the AC bonus, but what's wrong with Potion of Genius?

26- There was a critical error in the scripts of all enemy mages and clerics in the original
game which has been discovered and fixed. If you knew how to exploit The bug, you could
deceive them to keep attacking you physically without casting any spells. This error is
fixed by Improved Anvil. (In addition to fixing this bug in the original game, Improved Anvil
is the first and so far the only mod - with tactical content - which doesn't have this error
in its own custom scripts.)

I don't intend to use it, but it interests me. Can you tell me how to exploit that script weakness?

I'll also say that once I'm done with my current game, or maybe one or two more to learn tactics, I'll install and love this mod. It seems to be The Mod, with these fixes and additions to the game. Can't wait to try it out

 

Actually, the document includes the list of both fixes and tweaks. In IA v4.0, its name has changed to "Fixes and Tweaks". Item no.26 is a fix but item no.22 is a tweak.

Potions of genius have been omitted in order to make learning spells a bit more realistic. Players used to increase their characters' intelligence to god-like scores before trying to learn any new spell.

The exploit blocked by IA (in no.26) was that most of the enemy spellcasters (except those who see invisible creatures by default) who rely on global variables ("LOCALS","GLOBAL",etc...) to track their spellcasting procedure (and specially those who may have custom scripts from any other mod except IA), had a flaw in their scripts. If you could approach them with a solo and partially visible PC, under certain conditions, the variables in their scripts would set to wrong numbers as if they had already cast most of their spells. As a result, they would not cast those spells even after the PC's invisibility was dispelled and he/she was completely visible (or even when a second character who is completely visible enters their line of sight). This error is fixed by Improved Anvil. After installing this mod, spellcasters can use variables to track their spells without being subject to the aforementioned bug.

All other mods (except Improved Anvil) with tactical content or with their own custom scripts (for mages and clerics) have also the abovementioned bug even in a worse degree than the original game. That's why I always recommend against installing any other mod which allegedly improves mages or clerics' scripts. So far, Improved Anvil is the only mod (for BG2) which has bugfree scripts.

And thanks for the compliments in your closing paragraph.

[ November 07, 2006, 10:07: Message edited by: Sikret ]

 

I just found out that if you cast Protection from Evil 10' and then summon a fiend, you can kill it without any threat to your characters for 12500 xp. Do you fix this as well when you're disabling cheesy stuff?

 

This is, to my knowledge, total rubbish. I love Sikret and all, but he does come up with some strange ones. All other mods are bugged? That's a selling point I haven't tried before.

 

Thanks for drawing my attention to this point.

The cheesy method you mentioned can only be accomplished with the 8th level spell, Summon Fiend, right? (neither with the 7th level spell, Cocofiend nor with the 9th level spell, Gate)

I will consider and fix it. Thanks again!

 

IA3.0 was a very good mod.
I´m expecting version 4.0!
Just hope you do not make those items too weak.