Greetings!

Daeros_Trollkiller

Daeros_Trollkiller

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Hello, I was invited to this forum by Cahir. I am the creator of the SoD to BG2 Item Upgrade and EE Cosmetic Enhancements mods for the BG-IWD series of games over on Gibberlings 3. I've also created custom tilesets for use in U6 - Nuvie.

I've been a huge fan of RPGs ever since I was introduced to Dragon Warrior on the NES when it was first released, and the awesome Ultima: Exodus. I was 9 at the time, and I've been hooked since. What drew me in was how different these types of games were. They required one to "think" through problems instead of just mashing buttons at specific intervals, which turned into a lot of reply value. And when you are a little kid in the 80s, and NES games cost $50 a pop.... you want something you can play over and over and not get bored of it! FWIW - I managed to beat play through and beat the original Legend of Zelda on the NES when I was 7. No internet, no hintlines, nothing. I just figured that shit out, somehow, using nothing more than the manuals the game came with. So needless to say, I enjoy a challenge in games that I play.

I didn't get into PC gaming until I was 19, for the simple fact that my family couldn't afford it. After I saw the boxes for other Ultima games in the computer stores I'd go into, I always wanted to try out gaming on a computer. My first real CRPG that I actually played through on a computer was the original Baldur's Gate, which I got shortly after release. And man oh man, what world of detail it introduced me to. Fast forward 24 years, and I still love it. I find myself going back and playing games like the aforementioned U6, which I had only previously played on the SNES. While I do still enjoy the occasional new game, nothing, and I mean nothing compares of the charm of the classics!

One of my proudest moments though wasn't achieved through gameplay, but the creation of the BG mods I mentioned. I spent several hours of each and almost every day for two whole calendar years learning WeiDu, and painstakingly putting them together. It was a labor of love for me, and being accepted as a modder on G3 was amazing. Especially considering I waited until I was 41 to start learning the stuff, lol/

My favorite RPG's of all time:

Baldur's Gate 1, 2
IWD 1, 2
Dragon Quest 1-6
Final Fantasy 1-8, FF4 After Years
Ultima 3 - 7, Online
Breath of Fire 1, 2
 
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Urdnot_Wrex

Urdnot_Wrex

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Welcome to our Tavern!

I've had my eyes on your SoD item upgrade mod for BG2EE for a while now, planning to include it the next time I have someone reach Athkatla (too busy with other games right niw, though).

Siege of Dragonspear introduced so many cool items, it would be a shame to let them go to waste, and the way you spread them over the game and make them parts of either/or recipes for upgrades adds an interesting factor and keeps a balance. At least that's my impression without actually having used it yet. ;)

We're still a small place, but all good things had to start somewhere and grow. So be welcome, have a look around, get settled in (the mushroom will offer you a drink on the house) and if you like it, bring some friends if you want!
 
Antimatter

Antimatter

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Welcome to the forum! Henry Ford was one month shy of his 40th birthday when he founded Ford Motor Company, so 41 is a good start! It's impressive, nonetheless.

What do you think about strategy games if you enjoy challenges?
 
Daeros_Trollkiller

Daeros_Trollkiller

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Thanks much for the warm welcome everyone!

@Urdnot_Wrex - I appreciate the kudos, and those were my exact thoughts going into creating the mod and the end result I had hoped to accomplish. Along the way I had tons of requests to implement certain favorites of various folks on the forums, but I refrained from just throwing stuff into the mod. There were several rules I stuck to during the creation of the mod:

1. Placement of the item had to make sense and fit the game. A previous SoD item mod I had tried just threw everything on Ribald for you to buy back, which didn't feel right to me at all. Sure, Irenicus and the Shadow Thieves probably sold off most of your gear, but to the same person? And no one bought any of it while you were imprisoned?

2. Shore up item placement for classes that were lacking. SoD's new items took this approach, so I followed suit.

3. No overpowered items too early, and absolutely no "godmode" items. Completely ruins the game, imho, and there's plenty of that kinda thing already out there.

4. The upgraded versions of items needed to retain their "uniqueness" I didn't want to end up with palette swaps of existing items. I applied this line of thought to both the appearance and function of the upgraded items. Hell, even the upgrade components had to make sense, or I just wouldn't do it. This is what took the most time. I would build, scrap, rebuild, scrap, item upgrades and their new effects over and over until I was happy with their "uniqueness".



@Antimatter - I do like some strategy games, especially those with RPG elements like the old Shining Force series, Final Fantasy Tactics, and even some outliers like Dark Wizard on the Sega CD.
 
dmwyvern

dmwyvern

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60
Daeros_Trollkiller said:
Hello, I was invited to this forum by Cahir. I am the creator of the SoD to BG2 Item Upgrade and EE Cosmetic Enhancements mods for the BG-IWD series of games over on Gibberlings 3. I've also created custom tilesets for use in U6 - Nuvie.

I've been a huge fan of RPGs ever since I was introduced to Dragon Warrior on the NES when it was first released, and the awesome Ultima: Exodus. I was 9 at the time, and I've been hooked since. What drew me in was how different these types of games were. They required one to "think" through problems instead of just mashing buttons at specific intervals, which turned into a lot of reply value. And when you are a little kid in the 80s, and NES games cost $50 a pop.... you want something you can play over and over and not get bored of it! FWIW - I managed to beat play through and beat the original Legend of Zelda on the NES when I was 7. No internet, no hintlines, nothing. I just figured that shit out, somehow, using nothing more than the manuals the game came with. So needless to say, I enjoy a challenge in games that I play.

I didn't get into PC gaming until I was 19, for the simple fact that my family couldn't afford it. After I saw the boxes for other Ultima games in the computer stores I'd go into, I always wanted to try out gaming on a computer. My first real CRPG that I actually played through on a computer was the original Baldur's Gate, which I got shortly after release. And man oh man, what world of detail it introduced me to. Fast forward 24 years, and I still love it. I find myself going back and playing games like the aforementioned U6, which I had only previously played on the SNES. While I do still enjoy the occasional new game, nothing, and I mean nothing compares of the charm of the classics!

One of my proudest moments though wasn't achieved through gameplay, but the creation of the BG mods I mentioned. I spent several hours of each and almost every day for two whole calendar years learning WeiDu, and painstakingly putting them together. It was a labor of love for me, and being accepted as a modder on G3 was amazing. Especially considering I waited until I was 41 to start learning the stuff, lol/

My favorite RPG's of all time:

Baldur's Gate 1, 2
IWD 1, 2
Dragon Quest 1-6
Final Fantasy 1-8, FF4 After Years
Ultima 3 - 7, Online
Breath of Fire 1, 2
Click to expand...

Very cool! And picking up those computer skills is very inspiring. Welcome to the tavern! :D
 
Antimatter

Antimatter

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
1,206
Daeros_Trollkiller said:
@Antimatter - I do like some strategy games, especially those with RPG elements like the old Shining Force series, Final Fantasy Tactics, and even some outliers like Dark Wizard on the Sega CD.
Click to expand...
If you want something that shares its world with Final Fantasy Tactics, then both Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy 12 are excellent choices. The Divinity: Original Sin games scratch a slightly different itch, but mechanically they share several fantastic aspects with Final Fantasy Tactics (and I don't mean the games being Turn-Based only; height and distance, terrain - all these features are present in both series). Have you tried any of these yet?

Also, feel free to promote your mods openly on this forum.
 
Daeros_Trollkiller

Daeros_Trollkiller

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Messages
4
Antimatter said:
If you want something that shares its world with Final Fantasy Tactics, then both Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy 12 are excellent choices. The Divinity: Original Sin games scratch a slightly different itch, but mechanically they share several fantastic aspects with Final Fantasy Tactics (and I don't mean the games being Turn-Based only; height and distance, terrain - all these features are present in both series). Have you tried any of these yet?

Also, feel free to promote your mods openly on this forum.
Click to expand...
Thank you much for the permission to promote my mods. I am not currently working on anything major, two straight years of learning WeiDu and modding burned me out a bit, so I am taking a break from modding and actually playing games again for a change. Though I have been working off and on with the aforementioned tilesets for Ultima 6. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist, which is both a help and a hinderance at times. I am my own worst critic when it comes to work that I do on anything I am passionate about - I always see the flaws and think I can do better. It's damned hard for me to say "good enough" and walk away from something.

In my gameplay, it translates into me being a min-maxxer. I'll end up skipping out on games I want to play while I explore and complete every inch of one game. Bit me in the ass HARD when MMO's hit the scene in the late 90's. God almighty did I waste so many freaking years on UO, Everquest (1 and 2), SWG, WoW, KoToR. So now I'm going through a 20-year backlog of stuff I missed out on, and dang, did I miss a lot of cool games.
 
Daeros_Trollkiller

Daeros_Trollkiller

Habitué
Messages
4
dmwyvern said:
Very cool! And picking up those computer skills is very inspiring. Welcome to the tavern! :D
Click to expand...

Thank you! While I did the hard part of trial and error, I cannot take full credit for learning WeiDu. I had a lot of help from Mike over on G3. The guy has the patience of a saint, and really helped me wrap my head around things whenever I'd hit a brick wall that the online guides couldn't get me through. I also had help from several other folks from the BD and G3 forums along the way. The whole experience was simply amazing (and frustrating!) from start to finish.
 
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