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The Black Wyrm's Lair - Forums > Released mods - Baldur's Gate II > Vlad's Compilation > Tortured Souls
Bill Bisco
Awhile ago I made some notes about all the Mods I played with during my last run-through of the game. Unfortunately, I lost them all. But at least I have my memory. I enjoyed the fact that you gave some more background to Yoshimo's past. I liked the fact that whenever you kick out Yoshimo or Kachiko, they go to the Sea Bounty's Tavern, which is unique among where NPCs go and I like this. I enjoyed the Chess match. And, I really liked the new Black Knight and White Bishop items that you gave. Pretty cool. I liked the fact that you turned Sime, once a character you say briefly into a potential new NPC to join you. And, I liked how you made her into a unique Ranger/Cleric. Dual-Wielding Maces is pretty cool. I really enjoyed the fact that I got to redeem and keep Yoshimo. I had never really played with Yoshimo before, and part of the reason that I didn't want to play with him was because I knew that I was going to lose it, so for me I had to ask myself "What's the point?" However this mod gave me another option and I liked that a lot.

There were some other things that I noticed about this mod too. While I was adventuring with Kachiko, I was hoping that she would say something for a change. "How do you feel about me working for Thieves? For a Vampire?" What do you think about me doing the Thieves' Guild Quests, Saving the Druid Enclave, Becoming a Hero of Trademeet, ect.

I was hoping for something. I was also waiting for a lovetalk before heading off to The Tortured Souls main quest. Maybe there was one and I gave up too soon. From my perspective anyway. Yoshimo and Kachiko were traveling with me for awhile, we did the Tortured Souls Quest, and then Yoshimo had to leave and Kachiko called him Sweetie as if they had been in love. I then proceeded to beat BG2.

After that, I got Yoshimo back. But once again, neither Yoshimo or Kachiko had anything to say. f What do they think about a Lich taking a young Girl's soul ect.? They don't comment on Imoen either. Where's this romance that I hear about? From my perspective, we went to Kara-Tur, they declared their love, went to Tob, and then suddenly live together for the rest of their lives. Very fast, and there's no build-up to it.

I saw that the ending featured one epilogue for Yoshimo and Kachiko living a happily ever-after. However, when I got Yoshimo back from Saradush, I kicked out Kachiko. In fact, I left her in Saradush and Saradush was destroyed. I could have easily gone to watcher's keep and fought the demi-lich and she could have been imprisoned. Would Yoshimo still have had a happpily ever after with Kachiko?

I noticed some bugs in the Nakanashi Stronghold? I believe. For one, the Traps are messed up. Forgive me, I forgot exactly how. Did your mod have a Rock Golem? I can't remember, but those things are awful. They are pure drone work to defeat. They are not fun and do not enhance the game.

Also, in that one area where you have to challenge the father and his children. You should really allow the players to rest there, otherwise, they have no way to regain whatever necessary spells that are required to beat those challenges. If I wasn't playing multiplayer, I would have had no chance whatsoever of beating him. My character is a Fighter/Mage/Cleric. I cannot use edged weapons and so if I cannot rest to get my Flame Blade spell, I die!

I would also think that they would let me rest so that they could potentially win a fair fight.

I liked Sime's fighting style, but I was a little surprised by her picture and voice. She was wearing that thief's cowl and I was expecting things to go with that. But when I heard that accent and saw that Bright blonde hair, I have to say that that just didn't go with the scene. The Sime that I see talk to me coming off the ship and the Sime that joins my party are 2 totally different people. It would be really good (in my opinion) to make these people the same for the player's sake and to make the game more continuous and make more sense. Personally (just my opinion) I would have rather seen Sime not say anything versus get that Blue text at the bottom.

I didn't pick up Dynaheir simply because I don't like NPCs dependent on other NPCs and because of the way Sime was.

I did pick up Coran and I was very thankful to get him. But again, he didn't have much to say. I don't think he even commented on the fact that there was this big ancient elven city right next door to him. How would he feel about Jon Irenicus? He had no comments at all in ToB. He didn't even have an Epilogue. I would assume that Dynaheir is missing this as well?

Anywho, Do not get me wrong though. I did enjoy your mod. Just some thoughts smile.gif
Vlad
Bearing in mind that the mod has celebrated its 4th birthday, it was made with old TeamBG tools, it included all new features which were not available in mods at that time, it was the second big mod after TDD but very different in that it introduced very active and interesting NPCs, hundreds of lines of dialogues, banters and interjections written by excellent writer - Domi, three romances and relationships, one of them NPC-NPC romance, new quests and creatures like water elemental, chromatic demon, Kiotsi, samurais etc, two different paths - for good and evil character, and even joining Bodhi if you play the evil path... There are much more like first attempts at importing IWD animations which were not present in BG series, scripted and improved items, tactical battles (for example, duels) which need some thoughts in order to be won... I guess you really missed all this stuff if you didn't mention this in your review... By the way thanks for this review, I'm not sure it would help somehow because TS is a haunted mod nowdays, but I'll consider your nice comments and remarks for future development of the mod if it ever occures in future. By the way, I have no idea about the Rock Golem... I would highly recommend to you playing a non-WeiDU version (5.01-5.05), maybe a half-WeiDU version (5.5) without other mods installed or only with NeJ2. Eventually I just want to comment on Sime and her voice. Meira did a great job voicing Sime, and without any serious equipment or software, Sime is fully voiced in TS. I am really gratefull to Meira for this, and I consider any negative comment about her voice as offensive. The problem of appearance two Simes in your game is just another indication of that you played a WeiDU version which in my opinion cannot be compared to the stability of the original one. Just one last word - when it comes to judging mods there are many people but much less who wants to help. TS was a serious attempt to make some outstanding mod for BG2 but not many people were ready to help me. I remeber how it was difficult to get someone voicing our characters... I really want to use this chance and thank all those who helped me in making TS, and I remember well those who just criticised it.

By the way, TS is not for multiplayer! It's not scripted for multiplayer. I've occasionally added Multiplayer synchronisation but that's basically all...
kulyok
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Eventually I just want to comment on Sime and her voice. Meira did a great job voicing Sime, and without any serious equipment or software, Sime is fully voiced in TS. I am really gratefull to Meira for this, and I consider any negative comment about her voice as offensive.


I actually thought Domi voiced Sime. At least, her portfolio says so.
Vlad
Domi - Kachiko & Boo
Meira - Sime

smile.gif
Bill Bisco
I did notice the IWD areas and creatures, and Indeed those are pretty cool. I read about the 2 paths and that was very nice. I do appreciate mods that allow me the choice of being good or evil. My last run-through was with good characters and thus I didn't get to experience Bohdi. I am guessing one of the benefits to the good path was using Sime, but I did not use her.

I did hear about the Coran, Dynaheir, and Valygar Romance, and I think that that is very cool. However, during my run-through I was romancing Saerileth and so had no yearnings to romance anyone else. However, you mod allowed me to keep Yoshimo and get Coran. Two things which I liked and thus that's why I played it.

Alright, sorry about the Rock Golem. I must have gotten confused with TDD. It uses that same area.

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The problem of appearance two Simes in your game is just another indication of that you played a WeiDU version which in my opinion cannot be compared to the stability of the original one


I didn't see two Simes. No, there was still one. What I mean is, the Sime that I talked to after arriving in Brynlaw had join my party had a totally different personality. I let Sime join me for awhile and then later kicked her out. The Later "kicked out" Sime was totally different personality-wise than the Sime that joined my party.

QUOTE
Just one last word - when it comes to judging mods there are many people but much less who wants to help. TS was a serious attempt to make some outstanding mod for BG2 but not many people were ready to help me. I remeber how it was difficult to get someone voicing our characters... I really want to use this chance and thank all those who helped me in making TS, and I remember well those who just criticised it.


I hear ya there! That is an unfortunate human Tendency. And I have seen it throughout my life in different venues. In fact the Story of "The Little Red Hen" is an example of it as well biggrin.gif

If it's any consolation. Had I known about the BG modding community 4 years ago, I would have liked to help smile.gif

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I would highly recommend to you playing a non-WeiDU version (5.01-5.05), maybe a half-WeiDU version (5.5) without other mods installed or only with NeJ2


Thanks, but I cannot do that. The Benefit of being able to download any mod I please and integrate as many of them that I can into one game outweighs the benefit of a mod that I can already play. smile.gif Weidu is too good to go back. There are a lot of mods and things that I want to try out, and I'd like to try out as many of them that I can at once, and Weidu and the BP allows me to do this cool.gif

I did not mean to offend about my opinion on voicing. I very well understand that it can be hard for people to find voice actors period! And I too would be grateful for whoever agreed to help me. And, it is only my opinion. It does not mean that I am right biggrin.gif

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By the way, TS is not for multiplayer! It's not scripted for multiplayer. I've occasionally added Multiplayer synchronisation but that's basically all...


Thank you for what you've added. Btw, Multiplayer Rocks! laugh.gif

One thing that I forgot to mention is that if you kick out Yoshimo, you have the option of Sending him back to the Copper Coronet. Similarly, if you go to the pocket plane and try to summon Yoshimo, it'll tell you that he's dead or something, and he should not be if you play through this mod.
Vlad
Well, I'm pretty sure that mixing other romances with Sime and/or Valygar in TS would interfere somehow. That is why I strongly oppose installing TS (except BG2) with other romance mods, though some of them have been proven to be compatible such as Kelsey.

Well, normally if you send Sime away before sailing to Brynnlaw or after arriving to the Island, she is not joinable. I'll put this on my list though.

There is also Yoshimo-Kachiko romance in the center of the mod, but once again if you missed it, then the only reason for this would be an incompatibility with other romance mods.

Thanks.
Domi
I think that TS needs some... information and credits?

First of all, it was Merja who voiced Kachiko, and I voiced Sime and Boo.

Secondly, unless someone else wrote it, there was no Coran's or Dynaheir's romances in TS, Coran hardly had any interactions at all with the NPCs and so did Dynaheir; Coran came from Vlad's earlier mod, and Dynaheir was pretty much an easter egg, not really a full-scale NPC. Dynaheir did not even have her BG1 speech pattern for pity's sake. There were Valygar's and Sime's romances, very short and SoA only, with a tiny portion of Valygar's romance moved into ToB.

The only Coran's and Dynaheir's romances I am aware of are those I wrote for BG1NPC that take place in BG1, not in TS.

And, finally, as Vlad pointed out, the mod is very old, written at the times when Solaufein and Kelsey SoA v1 were the only mods out there. So, no, it does not have any of the icing the self-respecting NPC mod have nowadays - friendship sequences, interjections by the hundred, full flirtpacks etc. Adding all those things took time for the community to learn and develop.

By the time the more complex character devs were in style, both Vlad and myself moved on, leaving the mod in its current state. I would be the first one to say that it lacks content and is not au par with the modern NPC mods. It's just how it is and for my part I will definetly not be going back to it as my interests lie with other characters. biggrin.gif

EDIT: Actually, the content is all pretty much summarized in the FAQ, so there is no false advertisement about the degree of NPC development of any sort:

QUOTE

Tortured Souls is a mod dedicated to NPCs with troubled souls. It includes the following components:

Yoshimo's Family Quest: travel to a mysterious Island of Cursed Souls and solve a murder mystery. You will need Kachiko NPC to do that.
Kachiko NPC: kensai-mage, female, human, good-aligned, voiced; NPC-NPC romance with Yoshimo; 1 banter with all BioWare NPCs; participates in Yoshimo’s Family Quest.
Sime NPC: ranger-cleric, female, half-elven, good-aligned, voiced; 2-12 banters with all BioWare NPCs and Kachiko; Male or Female PC romance.
Valygar Romantique: additional character development (3-6 banters – some romance related only- with each BioWare NPC, Sime and Kachiko), friendship/romance option for a Female PC and a flirt pack.
Easter Eggs: Coran and Dynaheir “silent NPCs” and Veter Familiar.
Bill Bisco
QUOTE
Secondly, unless someone else wrote it, there was no Coran's or Dynaheir's romances in TS, Coran hardly had any interactions at all with the NPCs and so did Dynaheir; Coran came from Vlad's earlier mod, and Dynaheir was pretty much an easter egg, not really a full-scale NPC. Dynaheir did not even have her BG1 speech pattern for pity's sake. There were Valygar's and Sime's romances, very short and SoA only, with a tiny portion of Valygar's romance moved into ToB.

The only Coran's and Dynaheir's romances I am aware of are those I wrote for BG1NPC that take place in BG1, not in TS.


Ah sorry, Reading the Ad again on The Dragon's Hoard I can see how I got confused. It says original Valygar Romance, Coran, Dynaheir. Ah, yes. My bad on that one. Misread.

Anywho, I am not attacking anyone. And, I can understand the circumstances behind the way some things are. I have wrote only what I have observed.

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Well, normally if you send Sime away before sailing to Brynnlaw or after arriving to the Island, she is not joinable.


I got her, kicked her out, and then sailed to Brynnlaw.

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There is also Yoshimo-Kachiko romance in the center of the mod, but once again if you missed it, then the only reason for this would be an incompatibility with other romance mods.


It is possible. I experienced some errors with the Saerileth mod. Other people experienced them too. It's weird how romances would conflict with each other.
Domi
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Anywho, I am not attacking anyone. And, I can understand the circumstances behind the way some things are. I have wrote only what I have observed.


I understand, I am just used to replying to the feedback, and in this case, I wished to point out why I personally will not be taking any actions based on it smile.gif
Moongaze
QUOTE(Bill Bisco @ Mar 15 2006, 06:34 PM)
Personally (just my opinion) I would have rather seen Sime not say anything versus get that Blue text at the bottom.

You mean she's not vocally speaking, but blue text (subtitles) appear? Vlad mentioned this before, they're a few typos in the .tp2 file, as I recall. happy.gif Don't hit me if I'm wrong! biggrin.gif (I asked him the same thing, so...)

But about TS...it's a good ol' thing. I like it. n_n
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