Regarding the game play (EDITED MAY 15, 2008), you'll see Options

[Bereth Darkides]

I have rewrote this 5 times because I am non too happy with the extreme game balance problem.
Is there anyway to tone down the power and or numbers of the nuclear skeleton warriors I am facing (at 9th-10th lvl) that does not include playing outside of core rules!

HOLY FAK!

You see I really hate having to cheat.

(PS,,, Vlad what were you thinking)?


(EDITED TODAY GO TO PAGE 3)

This post has been edited by Bereth Darkides: May 15 2008, 07:35 PM

[Bereth Darkides]

OK,, I'm at Dragons Eye;

Well..man oh man. Honestly. This is slowly becoming tedious and very much less fun than I hoped. First off, the ice trolls.
I arrive surrounded and they can cast slow (every round "oh and I get NO SAVE, + they do a lot more damage etc.) and ability score drain = souped up.

Next; Lizards.. a lot tougher,, quite a bit tougher.

Next; the Beatles= WTF...they have their original power + poison and stun + immune to certain area of effect spells.

Honestly, having to sleep after every single battle, is ridiculous. Guys, WTF ever happened to game balance. Has anyone here ever DM'd a paper and pen Dungeons and Dragons game? Sorry to say this but I'm not enjoying it.
Doesn't this defeat the purpose of making a mod that people will enjoy?

Don't get me wrong, I'm gonna play it, I'm stubborn enough for it, and I'll get through it, but only because I'll want to play a normal core game with respectable game balance, ie. now I just want to play the original game. Sorry Vlad. What else do you want me to say? What did you expect man? Why not just put a Dragon in front of every door, I mean hey why not? I'm sure eventually after reloading and reloading that it will eventually fail a saving throw.

Right? I mean, in essence it is what you've done. You realize this right?

Tactics? nah you can't use this argument on me. I know more combinations of spell effects than most would even think to do. I memorized every DM guide ever made. I was recognized by TSR years ago for my extensive background and knowledge. I know some people will get quite upset with me making any kind of negative comments it's ok I fully expect it, (ho hum). Some people will even consider me a noob (if only they knew how long and how much experience this dude has. In fact I bet I've been playing this game longer than some of you have been alive).

I'm a Solid 31 year veteran of DnD. I know more about AD&D than most creators of the game. I had memorized 50% of the entire Magica Arcana made in the 90's dudes.
I'm "almost wasting" hours of limited time (because of my love for the game itself) trying to play something that should take me 1 hour and it's taking me 5 hours of game play.

This is a complaint of sort. This brings me absolutely no joy in it's saying. I'm truly sorry, I'm so very, very sorry!
Somewhere along the line some part of the modders mind, I think was to "test" people on each battle. But in so doing, forgot about game balance.

Here, and I do hope you take this next point very constructively.

This is game balance:

At 10 lvl, a character is only then becoming skilled enough, to almost get out of any scenario alive "Based on" balanced creatures on a one to one basis. ie 10 lvl barbarian with a +2 weapon could take on a Shambling Mound (*Monster Manual 2- 1984 release for lookup*), This battle would come down to blows with one of the victors left very bloody but yet still alive.
Consider a Wizard at the same lvl vs 10 normal "Bombast Beatles". Still a doable battle but will get desperate once saves are made and wizards offensive spells start to run out.
You see, this is game balance, and it's a lot more fun.

Lastly and my most important point, consider the original game. It wasn't just superb in it's creation, but WOW, it was PERFECT in it's game balance. The right lvl characters vs enemies. Honestly this is an indisputable fact, and also lends to it's EXTREME success and popularity. BG, is and was and still is the most perfect game ever created for it's accuracy.

Why did you forget or choose to ignore these facts?

I want to play core rules, but your creatures aren't core rules set! By no means Vlad and to others, is this an attack on your efforts and work spent in doing this, but rather a point of fact that questions simply; why didn't you just base it on AD&D stats for balanced game play? You could have, but you chose not too. I think you made a bigger mistake than you realize. The success of this mod, could be better in doing so. Heck I could even give you some REAL tactical challenges to create that would still be balanced without souping up anything.

PS,, I really appreciate all the work and effort, so I hope you realize how badly and how long I've waited to play it. I know on the other hand that TS isn't quite this bad in it's game balance (unless you recently souped up everything in that as well) so I'm eager to play that again. (still your best work).
So please do not take my words too hard please. I'm still a fan!

Anyway,, back to the game!

This post has been edited by Bereth Darkides: Apr 16 2008, 07:12 AM

[Sikret]

Lastly and my most important point, consider the original game. It wasn't just superb in it's creation, but WOW, it was PERFECT in it's game balance. The right lvl characters vs enemies. Honestly this is an indisputable fact,

This is not true. The battles in the original game are too easy and totally laughable for any serious player (no need to be a tactical guru to realize this) and that's why most players look for mods which enhance the game's difficulty level not only by improving creatures AI to make them behave more intelligently, but also by adding diverse categories of new types of creatures and abilities to the game to make the player think during battles to solve tactical puzzles.

I remember that you were eagerly waiting for the release of the TS_IA compatibility patch. With the viewpoint you have expressed in this thread (= thinking of the original game's battles as being perfect), I don't think that IA is for you to play. The reason is not that you are not skilled enough. Less skilled players can also play IA if they prepare themselves for drawing a learning curve and improve their skills. The reason for which you can't play IA is that you *think* that you are already skilled enough:

Tactics? nah you can't use this argument on me. I know more combinations of spell effects than most would even think to do.

With such an attitude, you won't even start to improve your skills.

[Bereth Darkides]

Tactics? nah you can't use this argument on me. I know more combinations of spell effects than most would even think to do.

With such an attitude, you won't even start to improve your skills.

WOE, there Sikret. there is no need to lecture me regarding my experience with D&D. If you knew the people I knew, they would be laughing at your comment. Just because I don't Mod, means absolutely nothing. I know this game like the back of my hand.
All I'm saying is that I don't like having to take forever. I don't mind tough battles, heck I'm one of the very very few who killed the shadow dradon at lvl 9 in the orriginal game. (and some had said it earlier to make a point); "Do one cave then go back to Kuldahar and sleep before the next cave".

It's this aspect that I do not like, and is reminis of the games unbalanced creatures. Regarding any "Serious Players" as your comments suggest, answer me one question; The first time you played it completely through, from start to finish, did your main character ever die?

My point is realy to the point of elongating a game by means of creating unbalanced creatures (vs your lvl to enable you to fight continuosly or at least more than a couple of times before having to sleep). Perhalps you don't believe I'm not just some Shmoe off the street, with little to no experience with the game. Not entirely sure, but regardless, my argument isn't agains't making it more challenging, as you could put different types of elementals together for example (go ahead and try some area of effect spells with this combo), or Wyverns with Ancient Ankegs. Certain core creatures when put together are insanely lethal. There are a multitude of ways to make it more chalenging without making creatures up and giving them new powers that may seem unbalanced.

Not unlike my "Ollerand's Exploding Centipede" spell I had years ago (9th lvl spell combo with Creaping Doom)...
Talk about overkill!

Like I said, my experience is vast!

This post has been edited by Bereth Darkides: Apr 17 2008, 01:56 PM