Just Discovered IA and TBW! =P Options

[Overlord]

Greetings All,
I have been playing the IE based games for a little under a year now, and have been having a blast since. Now that I have played through most of the basic games, I have started to dive into the BG2 and BGTutu mod communities. Now from what I hear, IA is supposedly the "ULTIMATE" BG Challenge. So, I thought it would be best if I posted here to introduce myself, and find out a little bit about IA, and the TBWL Community.

First off, I have noticed there is a bunch of controversy and back and forth talk between the G3 and TBWL Communities when it comes to their respective mods and fixes to the game. I would like to start out by saying that I don't intend on criticizing anyone according to their work, or their affiliation. I am just here to have fun and make friends, =P.

Now, I have come here to find out where I should start after I have played the original games of BG, and want to spice up the game play. Where should I start? What mods and fix packs/tweak packs should I install first? I would really like to give IA a shot, but I want to make sure that my install is completely compatible and I have all the extras I am going to need to make playing IA the most fun. Any input on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

From what I have seen and heard, It seems that Sikret has some very nice work on this site, and a lot of people have recommended me to try out his mod list, and kits. So far they have been the most recommended. So, if anyone else has any opinions on where I should start. Let me know. Thanks a bunch everyone! Be safe!

[Overlord]

Sorry about being so slow on the reply! I have been away from home for the past several days, and have had no access to a computer =P.

Well I did not expect such a warm welcome from everyone, especially from Sikret, and Baronius themselves, =P.

From what I have read thus far, I have given it a ton of thought and I think that IA is due at least a try. There is one problem I did have when first playing though BG II, and that was its extreme simplicity. The game was, and only in my humble opinion, too easy. I have played the game on the harder difficulty levels, and I would have to say the tough battles are few and far in between. Probably one of the hardest battles I faced in SoA, would have to be Kangaxx. Unless you come with a backpack full of cheese and mega souped up characters, then you have one heck of a fight on your hands.

One thing that I like about what I have heard about IA, is that it eliminated a lot of that cheese, as Sikret said, most unskilled players use to get past battles that they would normally deem "Too Hard", or "Broken". I do agree that you should not down a mod, just because you are not experienced enough to play it to its fullest potential. In my opinion, if any mod is truly a good challenging mod, then it should take you a long time, a few dozen reloads, and a few sleepless nights before you figure out the correct tactics to beating the said encounter.

Anyway, there is one thing I can say. When a game is extremely hard, and tough to beat. Even though you may go to bed countless nights, hobbling to your bedroom in defeat. It is going to feel really good, and be ten times more rewarding when you finally defeat the challenge. As I said before, if there was one thing I thought that made my first play-through a little dull, was the lack of challenge, and I think that playing on core rules for your first time through should be considered challenging enough.

Basically what I am saying is, if IA is a challenge. Then bring it on. To be honest, I have more fun getting my group wiped and having to reload, take a snack break, walk away for a few minutes, and then come back and give it another shot. I really think that difficulty level really adds to the replay value of a game. I mean, who wants to play a game multiple times that is just click and move, click and move, without ever having to stop and think one time. I'll end my rambling here, as I am very tired from my trip home.

Thanks to everyone who replied to my post, and I cannot wait to get to know you all. Thanks, and God Bless! -Overlord