Improved Anvil mod for BG2 & TOB
VERSION 5


For my daughter, Kiana!

Author: Sikret

Forum: http://forums.blackwyrmlair.net/index.php?showforum=99

Improved Anvil is a mod for BG2 and TOB (It requires TOB).

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What does this mod do?
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1) Tactical challenges and Improved enemies

2) New quests and encounters

3) New types of monsters

4) Fixes and tweaks:
Improved Avil applies several corrections and changes (including fixes and tweaks) to the original game. For details see the related document which is provided in the download package.

5) Item Randomizer program:
A novelty introduced by Improved Anvil for the first time: A good number of powerful items have been removed from their original locations. Each time you start a new game with Improved Anvil, those items will be randomly distributed into new and difficult locations and/or in the inventory of improved and tough enemies. In other words, each time you play the game with this mod, each of those items may be in different places and you won't be sure where to look for them.

6) New item upgrades:
Cromwell and Cespenar have 92 new item upgrade recipes most of which require brand new components which are also added to the game by this mod.

7) A new Ranger kit, a new druid kit and a new fighter kit

All those experienced players who are tired of playing the same game over and over can now Play BG2 as if they are playing an entirely new game.

You can see players' comments and opinions about Improved Anvil on this web page

You can see Improved Anvil's download statistics (compared to other mods) on this web page

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Warnings:
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(1) Improved Anvil is "The mod for the experienced players". It includes some really difficult battles. If you do not have the required level of tactical knowledge, you will need to have patience and draw a learning curve for yourself and improve your skills gradually while playing the mod. If you don't have the time or the patience for that, you may need to postpone playing this mod to a later time.

(2) Never cheat during the game if you intend to play Improved Anvil. Cheating may look harmless at the first glance and may even help you win some battles, but many global variables are checking the events during the game and cheating may mess up the events in your game. Cheating is not confined to using console commands. Any action which is deliberately performed to exploit the game's engine is a cheat. See the attached pdf document after clicking here.

(3) It is strongly recommended to play Improved Anvil with as many party members as possible. Improved Anvil is not designed for solo characters or even for parties with fewer than five members. Take your time to choose and collect your desired NPCs normally (no need to hurry) in the game, but don't go too far into the game with a party of fewer than 5 members. A full party of 6 members is strongly recommended even over a party of 5 members.

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Documents:
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Nine other separate .txt files are included in the download package of this mod:
- Document I-Items.txt
- Document II-Tactical content & new adventures.txt
- Document III-Fixes.txt
- Document IV-Installation.txt
- Document V-Vagrant-Kit.txt
- Document VI-Auramaster-Kit.txt
- Document VII-Riskbreaker-Kit.txt
- Document VIII-level-progression-tables.txt
- Document IX-Terms-of-Use-and-Copyright

The first one will give you information about the new items and the ingredients to make them.
The second one presents general (not detailed) information about the tactical content of the mod as well as the new quests.
The third one gives you information about the fixes applied to the game by this mod.
The fourth one gives you information about how to install the mod and also about the known and probable incompatibility issues. Read the file very carefully before installing the mod.
The fifth document includes the description of the new ranger kit.
The sixth document includes the description of the new druid kit.
The seventh document includes the description of the new fighter kit.
The eighth document lists the new level progression tables.
The ninth one has two sections. The Copyright section is for fellow modders who want to borrow material from Improved Anvil; the Terms of Use section is for players who want to install and use the mod.

These documents are also attached to this topic. See below.

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Installation:
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Please see the text file "Installation.txt" presented in the "Documents" folder. It's also attached to this post.

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Version history:
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Version 5:
- More important fixes and tweaks are applied to the original game.
- High level enemy clerics will now control undead and turn paladin.
- Vagrant kit is revised a little bit and has (hopefully) become more attractive for players.
- Refinements are applied to all of the mod's improved encounters.
- More item upgrades are added and the recipe of some previous upgrades are slightly changed.
- New encounters, quests and tactical contents are added to the game.
- A new quest is added to the expanded ranger stronghold.
- Auramaster druid kit and Riskbreaker kit are added to Improved Anvil.
- More items are added to the item randomizer program.
- New level progression tables are apllied to all classes.
- A new 4th level, a new 7th level and a new 8th level wizard spells are added to the game.
- The tips the game displays every time you load a new game are revised. Some unimportant tips are omitted, some new and more helpful ones are added.

Version 4.2:
- Several More fixes and tweaks are applied to the original game.
- Two new tacical features are added to the game.
- A bug which would prevent Cromwell from forging one of the mod's new items is fixed.
- Two of the game's improved battles in the previous versions had minor glitches which are fixed

Version 4.1:
- Some spellcasters would not use their scroll properly in IA V4. The bug is fixed.

Version 4.0:

1- Many more fixes and tweaks apllied to the original game.
2- Many More tactical challenges.
3- New quests and adventures as well as expanded strongholds.
4- Many new additional encounters.
5- Many more new types of monsters.
6- Refinements applied to the tactical content of the previous versions of the mod.
7- Radomization program applied to the location of some of the game's items. In this program, some of the game's original items which were too easily available have been removed from their original locations. Every time you start a new game, the items will be randomly distributed among a number of tough and improved enemies and/or new and difficult locations in the game, which means that each time you play the mod the items may be with different opponents and you won't be sure where to look for each of them.
8- Polygonal scripting system: It's an advanced scripting method devised for and used in Improved Anvil. As a result, creatures can behave much more intelligently.
9- Some of the items' prices in the shops are increased. Also, cheesy methods to make easy money (stealing items and selling them back) are blocked and will not work anymore.
10- Some of the key items of the mod are made uncheatable and should only be gained or forged normally during the game.
11- Some of the original game's overpowered items and spells are nerfed.

Version 3.0:

1- Many more fixes apllied to the original game.
2- More tactical challenges and new encounters added.
3- Several new types of monsters added to the game.
4- Some minor refinements applied to the tactical content of the previous versions of the mod.
5- More content added to the strongholds.
6- New item upgrades added.

Version 2.0:

1- More new item upgrade recipes added to Cromwell's (and Cespenar's) repertoire.
2- A good number of items have new inventory icons and animations.
3- Some of the new upgrade components are moved to better locations in the game.
4- Many new tactical challenges and improved battles are added.
5- The improved battles of the previous versions of the mod are also refined.
6- More fixes are applied to the game.
7- Documents folder (containing the text files) added to the download package.

Version 1.1:

1- More Tactical challenges added to the game.
2- The first version of the mod had two known problems. Both problems are fixed as follows:
-- Boots of Improved Haste fixed.
-- A typo in Cromwell's dialogue fixed.
3- The text file (including the new items and their ingredients) added to the download package.

Version 1:
- Initial release of the mod.

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Testing Team:
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I have had the advantage of working with the best BG2 players during preparing the mod and testing its various features:

- thetruth
- Raven

- Dago
- Leonidas

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Credits:
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1- My special thanks to Baronius for hosting this mod in his great site (BWL), for teaching many helpful modding skills to me, and for his continuous kindness and helpfulness.

2- My special thanks to thetruth for testing a large number of the enhanced battles of IA v2.0 and the entire IA v4.0 (quests, battles, etc) and for making very helpful suggestions. Also, for reporting many of the vanilla game's bugs all of which are now fixed by Improved Anvil.

3- My special thanks to Raven for testing IA v5 and performing many other important tests and for giving me very useful suggestions.

4- My thanks to leonidas and Dago for performing many important tests and for sending me very helpful reports.

5- My thanks to Mordokai, Lionheart and methusalar for testing IA v4.0 before its public release and for sending very helpful reports and suggestions to me.

6- My thanks to smr49 for recording those high quality voice files.

7- My thanks to Valiant and Sir-Kill for making BAM/animation files for three of the mod's items.

8- Thanks to BWL site's Portrait City and the anonymous artists who have made the 3 portraits I have picked from the Portrait City for three of the mod's NPCs. And thanks again to Raven for searching the Portrait City to help me find the right portraits.

10- I also wish to thank:
- Silverstar
- (Ø=M)^42
- Romulas
- smr49 (again)
- Vardaman
- luan
- Fillian
- Noelle
- Mongerman
- Ryel ril Ers
- OTG
- Arkain
for their various kinds of help (i.e. comments, suggestions, reports, proof-readings,... etc)