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]

B.
Installation

1.
I personally like to install via BigWorldSetup = BWS ( https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/44476...ogy-for-windows ). Im a sure you know about it and probably use it aswell. In my eyes there is no better way installing the game; with this tool the installation-process becomes fun even.

The Rjali-mod is incorporated by BWS alright (though BWS may have not updated to the last version of the Rjali-mod, but can do so on its own without problems).

Unfortunately there is a small disadvantage: The romance mod Petsy Chattertone, that is also adressed by the Rjali-mod, is not known to the BWS. I already made a request to add it to BWS ( http://www.shsforums.net/topic/58006-big-w...template/page-9 ), but that didn't have any effect until now. But now there is new hope, we have to wait and see. Nevertheless, it is always possible to install a certain mod manually during the BWS installation, only inconvenient.

The Rjali-mod has already reached its 8.xx-version and is therefore absolutely stable and even practically bug-free. But I guess I have to warn you just a little bit: Should you choose BWS for your installation, then it would not be unthinkable that this could create some minor problems, though I am not sure about them and I have not encountered them yet. This concerns the installation sequence of the various mods. The Rjali-mod gives very specific orders in which sequence all the different romance mods should be installed (see the README). The order, that is used by BWS, slightly differs from that. Technically that should be not a problem of BWS, but of BigWorldProjekt = BWP, because BWS uses the order that is given by BWP.

For more details on this topic you can have a look at the thread "BWS-Setup" right here in this forum ( http://forums.blackwyrmlair.net/index.php?showtopic=5349 ). I have mentioned two or three differences over there.

But nonetheless I can assure you that the Rjali-mod is working well for me so far.


2.
Should you be interested in the Ninde romance... No, let me put it like that: You should be interested in her, because she is really great. My opinion at least.

But she comes with a small letdown in that she is not voiced at the moment.

Now here comes a "little secret": Here you can manually download some really fitting voiceset for Ninde ( https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/40067...de-npc-no-sound ). Should you want to read more, go here: http://www.shsforums.net/topic/56044-can-y...eset-for-ninde/



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 error, change of formulation and I added content about the Ninde mod.

This post has been edited by Seewead: Jul 30 2017, 08:09 PM

[Seewead]

C.
Timing options

During the installation-process you will be first asked, if you would like any timing adjustments made by the Rjali-mod.

Here is the README for explanation:
"1) Timing Adjustments

- If not installed, the original NPC timings obtain.
- If any of the three options are selected, Horace's ability to expedite parking will be installed.
- In addition, if option 2 or 3 is selected, other romance mod timings will be speeded up."

My personal advice would be to go for option 2 or option 3 (meaning mod timing "a little faster" or "a lot faster"). This is especially true, if you should be interested in more than 5 (!) romances during your game (yes, that is possible with the Rjali-mod; this and many more astonishments await you; see further below for more details on that). Some of the romances can take quite some time. Nevertheless be advised that even if you should choose option one (no timing adjustments), you will always have the ability to speed up the romances via an in-game-option (*** SPOILER: you can ask the Djinn in the lamp, Horace, for that). BUT in any case you should choose one of the 3 choices, because otherwise an important aspect of the game will not be accessible for you: otherwise you will not be able to ask your love to wait for you at home. And this possibility is one of the great inventions of the mod. Wouldn't miss it for the world!


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 error and change of formulation

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

[Seewead]

D.
Cheat-options

So during the installation process you will be asked, if you want the cheat-options of the mod activated (Rjali equips the troops).


- WORK IN PROGRESS -




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: Work in progress


This post has been edited by Seewead: Jul 30 2017, 08:49 PM

[Seewead]

E.
Changing Rjali's statistical values a little bit

Now here is some delicate affair. I sincerely hope not to anger the mod-author with this post.

But I have to speak my mind: I don't like Rjali the way she is presented by the mod. She is - in my eyes - overpowered.


1.
She comes to you as a multiclassed human swashbuckler in her 7. level and cleric of 6. level. In spite of this she has already access to all cleric spell levels (all the way up to level 7) and she can cast 12 spells of every level. Therefore she joins you with 6 times the spell "resurrection", only to give you an example of her power.

Well, frankly, that is too much for me. Just to have her in my group feels a little bit like cheating. Personally I don't like that. Besides, I like my group members to become better over time, so I can relish a level up every so often. But with Rjali in her original trim, there is not that much of a reason for leveling anymore. At least reaching a new level will give you no reason to rejoice.

So I daresay, I use EEKeeper to make her abide by the rules. If you allow me. Here is what to do with EEKeeper:

a.
Under section "Cleric" remove all spells above level 4 completely.
b.
Rjali beeing level 6 cleric, she should have: 3 First-Level, 3 Second-Level and 2 Third-Level-Spells. Remove the rest.
c.
Yes, for her Wisdom of 18 she should get bonus-spells: 2 First-Level, 2 Second-Level, 1 Third-Level and 1 Fourth-Level, but that is taken care of by EEKeeper automatically without you meddling around.



2.
Then there is her enhanced movement speed of 10 (normal beeing 0).

Well, I don't know. Why is she so lighting-fast? Look, I know the Chloe-romance-mod (version 1.5, if memory serves). Now Chloe has a movement rate of 10 as well. But then she is technically a half god, beeing the offspring of Akadia, goddess of air and speed of movement.

So I hope you don't mind, that I change her back to normal (meaning 0) with EEKeeper.

Besides, her speed does me no good anyway. With Rjali not functioning as a typical "tank" / first-row-fighter, it is often very ill-fated to have her arrive first in a combat situation.



This 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 error and change of formulation

This post has been edited by Seewead: Jul 30 2017, 08:11 PM

[Seewead]

F.
Script change

Now this aspect could be overlooked quite easily in my eyes, so I would like to remind you of this.

Every NPC (and PC) has a certain script allocated to him or her, as you well know. That script decides how the character will act and react (like in combat or otherwise). Of course, it works only if you activate the party AI.

The default script, that the game gives every NPC automatically is called "ADVANCED AI". It is great, no doubt about that, because you can finetune it to your needs and your favourite play-style.

But when playing with the Rjali-mod, this "ADVANCED AI"-script bears a potential problem, that you should know about, because it could - theoretically - induce some serious problems for your game.

That is why the README of the Rjali-Mod urges you to change the script:
"Nota: BG2EE v2's new ADVANCED AI breaks dialogues, especially for all types of rogue who are forever going into and out of search-for-traps mode. I recommend that you not use it. Unfortunately, it is the default, so you have to manually change it for each member of your party including your PC and any new join/rejoin NPCs. [...]"

Now why is that?

Well, as far as I have understood: With "Baldur's Gate" a dialogue with more than two persons involved (like a group-conversation with three or even more people) is not that particularly stable and can get interrupted by other game events. Events like a thief activating or disactivating the "search-for-traps"-mode. Or a spell beeing cast. Or a priest activating his ability to "turn undead". And the Rjali-mod differs from other mods (and the vanilla game) in that it presents quite a few of these group conversations. Which is really awesome - one of the many very special things that you will enjoy a lot! But therefore a thief that is constantly going in or out of "search-for-traps"-mode via the "ADVANCED AI"-script could interrupt the conversation that is given by the mod. And an interrupted mod-dialogue could potentially lead to a problem: Maybe at the supposed (but due to interruption never reached) end of the dialogue there was a variable to be set? A variable that could rule the further game? Mind you, this is no problem or even "bug" of the Rjali-mod in any way. It is just that the Rjali-mod stretches your opportunities (by giving you to the possibility for group conversation dialogues), that the original scripts of the vanilla game were not prepared for a 100%.

Anyway, you see the potential problem. If you are interested in more details, you can read the thread "script problems" ( http://forums.blackwyrmlair.net/index.php?showtopic=5372 ) in this very forum.


Here comes my personal advice:
a.
You could keep away from the "ADVANCED AI"-script at all.
b.
Or at least make sure, that this script is finetuned not to allow the constant "search-for-traps"-mode (mind you, I have not tested this option a lot, but so far without any problems).
c.
And you could keep away from all thief-scripts, that enable constant "search-for-traps"-mode.
d.
But from my experience with the Rjali-mod so far, I deem it not necessary to stay away from scripts that enable spell-casting. After all, most of the spells will be cast during combat, when dialogues tend to be prevented anyway. Even the "turn undead"-option for priests, that some scripts offer, should be alright. As long as the script (like most of them do) uses this option only when undead are actually around (which will equal combat most of the time). Yes, that way, the possiblity remains to get an interrupted dialogue on rare occasions. So that way you would have to stay a little vigilant: If your group-members should fire a spell right in the midst of a dialogue and you feel unsure if the dialogue completed to the full, then you should seriously consider a reload of the last save. But that happens only on rare occasions anyway, like I said. Just keep this problem in mind, make saves and look out for problems. And let me assure you: That works without problems for me.



This 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 error and change of formulation

This post has been edited by Seewead: Jul 30 2017, 08:11 PM

[Seewead]

G.
Portraits

Well, some of us enjoy it to bring in portrait pictures of their own choice into the game. If you are one of these guys, you should look at this in the README:
"Q: When I use EEKeeper to change an NPC's portrait, some of your dialogues revert to the game portrait. Is this a bug?
A: No. You will also find that the epilogues revert to the game portrait, as well. To avoid this, do not use EEKeeper to change portraits. I know, it is convenient. To do the thing properly, you must move your portraits into the game OVERRIDE folder under the appropriate name.bmp. This will change the portrait wherever it is accessed in the game."

Meaning, when you change a certain portrait of the romanced girls via EEKeeper, that only works partially. Essentially you will get a mixture of pictures then: Sometimes you will still be confronted with the old, original picture as well. That doesn't feel good. Breakes the immersion, as you can imagine. That happens not only during the epilogues, but especially - very annoying - when the Rjali-mods lets you (like an overview) take a look at all your loved ones. Just the latter possibility is one of the many new inventions the Rjali-mod is bringing to you. It is awesome, so we should make sure that it feels great all the way. Mind you, this is no "bug" of the Rjali-mod, but - as far as I understand it - depends on the programming of the vanilla game.

So changing portraits via EEKeeper is not doing the trick. This is what you need to do to remedy the problem:
a.
You have to take the pictures that you want to asign to a certain NPC and give it the right name.
b.
Then you have to copy this new-named picture in your override-folder (in the game directory).


Here are the right names, you have to use (for BG2EE):

Aerie: NAERIES, NAERIEM, NAERIEL
Amber: m#ambers, m#amberm, m#amberl
Annah: RJPSTAS, RJPSTAM, RJPSTAL
Branwen: BRANWES, BRANWEM, BRANWEL
Dace: t#daces, t#dacem, t#dacel
Fade: E3FadeS, E3FadeM, E3FadeG
Fall-from-Grace: RJPSTGS, RJPSTGM, RJPSTGL
Fay: RJFAYBS, RJFAYBM
Imoen: NIMOENS, NIMOENM, NIMOENL
Isra: rh#isras, rh#isram, rh#isral
Jaheira: NJAHEIRS, NJAHEIRM, NJAHEIRL
Jini: RJINIS, RJINIL
Nalia de'Arnise: NNALIAS, NNALIAM, NNALIAL
Neera: NEERAS, NEERAM, NEERAL
Ninde Amblecrown: lk#ninds, lk#nindm, lk#nindl
Petsy Chattertone: L3PetsyS, L3PetsyM, L3PetsyL, L3PetsyV
Ravel: RJPSTRS, RJPSTRM, RJPSTRL
Rjali: RjaliS, RjaliM
Saerileth: saerileS, saerileM, saerileL
Sky Silvershield: SKIES, SKIEM, SKIEL
Tashia: tashias, tashiam, tashial
Tyris Flare: G#TYRISL, G#TYRISM, G#TYRISS
Viconia DeVir: NVICONS, NVICONM, NVICONL
Yvette: YvetteS, YvetteM, YvetteG

I hope, I have catched everyone of them. For the romance-mods they are usually quite easy to find. Just look in the corresponding mod-folders for some "portrait" or "picture", "media" or the like.

Of course, they all share the appendix ".bmp". And naturally your pictures must have the dimensions and depth, that are necessary for all portrait pictures in "Baldur's Gate".


Supplemental
As far as I am informed, with the last patches of the Enhanced Editions, all you really _need_ is the largest form L. Unless you want different views/angles of the same NPC, of course. Then (and only then) you would need different pictures. But then you could go for M (not S) as well; at least make sure that the dimensions are 210x300 and not any smaller. There is no need for smaller pictures. Besides, if the game should need anything, it can downsize your picture on its own. Actually, the game should even accept custom portraits up to 652 x 1024 pixels.

Read here for more: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/42915...-portrait-sizes



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 error and change of formulation

edit2: small error in the portrait file-names.


This post has been edited by Seewead: Sep 12 2017, 02:06 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

[ALIEN]

Unfortunately there is a small disadvantage: The romance mod Petsy Chattertone, that is also adressed by the Rjali-mod, is not known to the BWS. I already made a request to add it to BWS ( http://www.shsforums.net/topic/58006-big-w...template/page-9 ), but that didn't have any effect until now.

And it won't be effect until you fill mod request template. If you want to have additional mod added to BWS, you need to do some part of the job.

[Seewead]

@ALIEN: I am really happy to receive your answer.

And it won't be effect until you fill mod request template. If you want to have additional mod added to BWS, you need to do some part of the job.

I've got to tell you that until now I had not understood what was meant with a "mod request template" at all. Well, after I read your post today, I took this as an occasion to try again. And I have seen the examples that are provided by the first post in the thread for BWS-mod-requests. But to be honest: I have no clue what to do with that exactly. Unfortunately, I am not the mod-author of the petsy-romance mod, that I would like to use via BWS. Even worse, I am not even a modder. So I hope I am not too blunt or even impolite, if I ask for your help. I can imagine you have your hands full, so to speak. But any help would be most appreciated!

Thank you, Seewead


Postscriptum: Posted the same text in the BWS-mod-request thread.

[Seewead]

So after some serious rechanging and reformulating of most of my hints (from A. till H) they seem to have reached a state by now that can be regarded as completed. I hope they are alright and can really help the new players.

Well, with the exception of the last installation option (Rjali equips the troops). I will still need to work on that. The rest can stay, I guess.


See you, Seewead


edit: small spelling error

This post has been edited by Seewead: Jul 31 2017, 06:04 AM