Custom characters required? Options

[Moongaze]

The more I read about IA, the less I seem to understand.
Minsc as Kensai, Edwin as Wild Mage, and a bunch of others that leave me wondering...

Does IA change those characters, does everyone use ShadowKeeper or some such (I admit I do, but usually only for visuals such as colours and different avatars, and the occassional alignment change), or are multiplayer games with powerful custom characters necessary?

[Shaitan]

Some does use SK to alter certain NPC to be better suited to IA I guess. You don't get into trouble by changing the colours? Many others have reported that changing coulours may cause crashes.

[Sikret]

The more I read about IA, the less I seem to understand.
Minsc as Kensai, Edwin as Wild Mage, and a bunch of others that leave me wondering...

Does IA change those characters

No, the only change IA applies to the NPCs classes is changing Imoen to a sorceress.

does everyone use ShadowKeeper or some such

Some players use SK to change the NPCs classes or kits. However, I don't recommend it. If you need an NPC with a certain class or kit, I recommend to make a custom NPC rather than tampering with the game's existent NPCs.

are multiplayer games with powerful custom characters necessary?

No, but they are fun and they can also help players to cutomize their parties in a way that they want. As I said, creating multi-player custom NPCs is much safer than tampering with the existent NPCs via SK.

[Arkain]

The more I read about IA, the less I seem to understand.
Minsc as Kensai, Edwin as Wild Mage, and a bunch of others that leave me wondering...

Does IA change those characters

No, the only change IA applies to the NPCs classes is changing Imoen to a sorceress. [...]

Mhm... doesn't IA change Cernd into an auramaster when it adds the kit to the selection?

[Jon Irenicus]

Hm, i didn't use SK to tamper with the existant NPC's, i just installed the Level 1 NPC's Mod which allows to change any npc you want to any class.Since i wanted to play some new classes that i hadn't had the chance to play yet or try some new combinations and since i hate costums npc's because they stay silent all the game i decided to use this mod and change some of the npcs current classes in a safe way, this way i get the fun of playing new classes and trying some npcs that i hadn't before.Rather have Edwin tell Minsc about the rodent he has in his pants, than a silent game.

This post has been edited by Jon Irenicus: Mar 16 2008, 05:42 PM

[Moongaze]

I see, I see.
Multiplayer NPC's or other mods that change characters' classes. *nods* Forgive me, I'm behind on most of the developments.
Thank you very much.

Some does use SK to alter certain NPC to be better suited to IA I guess. You don't get into trouble by changing the colours? Many others have reported that changing coulours may cause crashes.

Actually, no, not really.

[Sikret]

Mhm... doesn't IA change Cernd into an auramaster when it adds the kit to the selection?

Yes, sorry for forgetting the change to Cernd's kit in my previous post. In v6, Valygar will also have a new ranger kit as it's been announced.

PS: As a side note, installing other mods which tamper with the existent NPCs classes or kits is not recommended either. If you have installed such a mod, at least don't use it to change anything in regard to Keldorn, Valygar, Cernd, Nalia, Imoen or Anomen.

[Moongaze]

PS: As a side note, installing other mods which tamper with the existent NPCs classes or kits is not recommended either. If you have installed such a mod, at least don't use it to change anything in regard to Keldorn, Valygar, Cernd, Nalia, Imoen or Anomen.

So, for example, if I use the "NPC Kits" mod to give Anomen a Priest of Helm kit (passing his test), Berserker kit (failing his test), and changing Imoen/Nalia into an Adventurer kit thief/Specialized Mage (Abjurer, Invoker, etc), it will cause problems when used in conjunction with IA?

[Sikret]

Assigning a cleric kit to Anomen (or a mage specialty to Nalia) is illegal. You can't dual class into a kit.

Imoen is a sorceress in IA; so, I don't see the point of assigning a thief kit to her.

Assigning a thief kit to Nalia (or a Berserker kit to Anomen) may be ok if the mod doesn't apply any other changes to those NPC(s) and depending on how it is implemented; though I don't recommend it anyway. If you need a Berserker-cleric, make a custom NPC for yourself.

[Moongaze]

I understand.

[jastey]

Many others have reported that changing coulours may cause crashes.

Yes, it can cause crashes. There are certain colours for the different parts, meaning "metal" can only have metal colours, and might lead to crashes if "hair" colour is assigned to it. Unfortunately I don't know where to look up which colour range is valid for what, so this remark is only half helpful.
EDIT: Found the information. In SK, if you look at the fields where the colour can be set, you have to make sure to stay in the range. For example:

hair colour: 0x00 to 0x09
Armor: 0x1A to 0x1F

etc.

That should work.

This post has been edited by jastey: Mar 18 2008, 10:52 AM

[Caedwyr]

The NPC kit mod should work, though you may want to install it after IA in order to get its changes to take precedence. If you are really concerned about compatibility and install order, you can just choose to install the Imoen component after IA and the rest before as I don't believe IA makes any changes to any of the other NPCs affected by the NPC kit mod.

If you want to experience IA as Sikret intended, then disregard the previous information.

[Shaitan]

Thanks jastey!

[Sikret]

The NPC kit mod should work, though you may want to install it after IA in order to get its changes to take precedence. If you are really concerned about compatibility and install order, you can just choose to install the Imoen component after IA and the rest before as I don't believe IA makes any changes to any of the other NPCs affected by the NPC kit mod.

I'll appreciate if people don't send such misleading advice when they don't have enough information about IA.

As I've mentioned before, no component of that mod which affects Keldorn, Valygar, Cernd, Nalia, Imoen and Anomen should be installed with IA. Installing any of them after IA will be even a worse mistake.

Installing the component which affects Nalia may be less problematic and risky than others, but still not recommended.

[Caedwyr]

Ok, I figured since the using the NPC kit mod was similar to using Shadow Keeper to change the kits of party members, and I've seen a number of reports of that being successful with IA, that it would probably work just as well. However, if you say it will completely ruin the mod then I guess people should go with your assessment of the situation.

This post has been edited by Caedwyr: Mar 19 2008, 02:59 PM