Getting Started, Installation & Preparation for the RJali-Mod Options

[Seewead]

Hello everybody!

If you have never played the RJali-Mod before, then this thread could be for you. I hope you interested. This thread shall be dedicated to hints, ideas and suggestions about the installation of the mod and the first steps to take.

No need to tell you, that am a big fan of the Rjali-mod. Otherwise, why would I write here? The Rjali-mod is unbelievably vast and extensive (so many aspects that I couldn't even begin to tell about all of them). And it brings the game to a whole new era in that it gives us multi-romance possibilities that were unheard of before. With this thread I would like to give you a few pointers, so that you can enjoy the mod as much as I do and - maybe - become a fan as well.

So - getting started!

Hope it helps you, Seewead


Postscript: Be advised that this thread will bring you some little meta-knowledge (e.g. minimal spoilers).




A.
Do I have to play PSTEE and BGEE first before I should use the Rjali-mod (with BG2EE)?

1.
Well, it is true, that the Rjali-mod reminisces a lot about the content of PSTEE. So if you have played PSTEE before, it will be fantastic in that you will meet a lot of people again and see a lot of the old places. That is one of the many intriguing parts of the mod. And it is - as far as I know - truly unique in its kind: Where else can you meet Ravel, Annah, Fall-from-Grace and all the others again? And what is more: The Rjali-mod incorporates 3 different elaborate romances with these ladys of PSTEE. So you even get the chance to kiss them - if you can believe that.

I myself have never played PSTEE. But because of that, I might be in the position to evaluate and I can assure you: There is really no need to play PSTEE prior to the Rjali-mod (with BG2EE). Right, on a few occasions I didn't understand everything "right off the bat", because I simply had not the corresponding background information. But that didn't turn out to be a problem. Most aspects you catch on pretty quick, because it really isn't that complicated. And the few aspects that I didn't understand in their whole extend posed no hindrance at all.

2.
Same goes for the Jini-mod (written by the same author), which takes place during BGEE. I am sure it is great, but I have not had the opportunity to try it out yet. And though it finds its continuation in the Rjali-mod, it is not _nesessary_ to know it in any way. But it seems reasonable to assume that you would enjoy the story of Jini and Fay even more so if you had the prior experience of the Jini-mod in BGEE. So while it is not a requirement at all, one should guess that the Rjali-mod becomes even better when you have played the Jini-mod before.


Edit: small change in thread-title and formulation and added content about PSTEE and BGEE


This post has been edited by Seewead: Jul 30 2017, 08:10 PM

[Seewead]

H.
Which girls do you want to romance first?

Well, some planning in advance can be useful, sparing you some dissapointment ahead.


1.
As you know, there are only 5 free places in your group. Note, that you will have Rjali with you during the whole run of the game. It is not even possible to get rid of her. She simply won't allow it. Leaving you with 4 free places to invite NPCs to come with you on your travels.


2.
*** SPOILER ***
And you can romance Jini and Fay "as a bonus": Jini will not follow you on your adventures and Fay will accompany you like a familiar, therefore she will not occupy one of your 4 free places for NPCs.


3.
Now there is a very important distinction between the various romance mods, that you should be aware of from the beginning: For some romance mods, the Rjali-mod gives you the opportunity, to "park" a loved one in the de'Arnise Keep. Meaning, you can leave her behind in your new home, where she will be waiting for you, even if you continue with your adventures. Well, in my eyes this doesn't seem to be strange at all. On the contrary it seems only natural that you try to keep your love away from harm and let her wait at home while you slay the dragon, so to speak. Anyway, with this option you can pick her up any time later again; by then she will still be in love with you; you can continue the romance seamlessly. Normaly with the most romance mods (or is it all of them?), dropping a woman out of your group will lead to imminent end of the romance. You are screwed then. But the Rjali-mod gives you this special opportunity to ask a girl to wait for you at home. Because of this the mod allows you effectively to romance more than 5 girls (that have a place in your adventure group). Wow - can you imagine that?

Mind you, the option to "park" a woman in the keep becomes only viable, after the romance has progressed quite a while and after you and a romanced girl are in full love with each other. For the most girls that means, that a certain global variable (that you can find with the EEKeeper) has reached the value of 2. The name of this variable depends on the woman. Very often it is : [Name of the girl]RomanceActive, like "JaheiraRomanceActive" or "ImoenRomanceActive". In many cases this variable changes only at the end or at least after a big chunk of the romance has already finished. Which takes time. Fair warning: Don't mess with this variabel via EEKeeper!

So if you should be interested in romancing more than 5 women, then it would be important to start with the romances, that allow the girls to be "parked" in the keep later on. That way you could start another romance later, when your first love is waiting for you in the de'Arnise Keep.


a.
Here are the women that the RJali-mod lets you "park" in the keep:
Aerie
Annah
Branwen
Fall-from-Grace
Imoen
Jaheira
Nalia de'Arnise
Neera
Ravel
Skie Silvershield
Viconia deVir

b.
And some of these aforementioned girls even don't make you take them with you right from the start (when you first meet them). They accept waiting for you to pick them up till the end of chapter 3 (meaning you have to include them into your group before you go onto the boat for spellhold). So that leaves you some time to concentrate on the other girls first. The "waiting" women are:
Annah
Fall-from-Grace
Ravel

c.
And of course you can have Imoen not before you have rescued her late in the game.


4.
These are the girls that the Rjali-mod unfortunately disallows you to "park" in the keep (Edit: No, please let me put this the other way around: The mod enables parking, which is really awesome! I only wished that were true for even more girls ).
Amber
Dace
Fade
Isra
Ninde Amblecrown
Petsy Chattertone
Saerileth
Tashia
Tyris Flare
Yvette


So whatever you do, from these lastmentioned women you can only romance 4 (because your group consists of yourself, Rjali and only 4 free choosable members; and leaving one behind will terminate the romance for good). My advice would be: Make it a maximum of 3 of them. That way you would have at least one free slot to change in the one or the other of the "parked" girls. And you will have to rescue Imoen anyway, so make sure you have room for her.



This post was written concerning RJali-Mod version 8.4; look out for the changelog of future versions of the mod, because there could be changes.


edit: small spelling errors and change of formulation

This post has been edited by Seewead: Jul 30 2017, 08:12 PM