What about the rest? Maybe Bill needs to try insane? Or you can add special option for experienced players only? Too much insane...

Hi Vlad, thanks for your replies. In case it wasn't clear: Thanks a lot for this mod. I've really been enjoying playing it.

I missed a picture last time:



I was trying to say that the fact that you can talk to Mother Egenia and rest at will and fake rest at will combined with the treasure and high xp of the spawned lizardmen makes this a really attractive farming location.

1. I'll reload to an earlier point and go to the bar again to talk to Lysan
2. I hope Kresselack is not too deadly. Do I need to cast 6 death wards before talking to him again?
3. I guess you're right I don't recall seeing throwing spears in a Infinity Engine Game. Would it be possible to give some of these Lizardmen axes? Or are we limited by animations.

Hmm, if you're open to it, I could begin work on a Erevain Blacksheaf NPC for NEJ. This could be incorporated into the Main Mod or remain just as a mod mod if you wish. I could write the outline and the dialogues if you would implement the coding. Let me know.

Alright, I was mistaken. I did talk to Lysan briefly earlier. Apologies. This dialogue with Lysan can be broken though. If you enter the tavern under invisibility or Sanctuary the cutscene will not start.

Also, if you go behind the bar and reveal yourself, Lysan's pathfinding will fail to talk to you and the game is stuck in cutscene mode forever

Somehow Accalia got in a loop and is continually acting like she's casting a spell (her Animate Dead Spell never fired)



Dear Lord. This is the most trap filled area I've ever seen. Thank goodness my PC is a thief. I would really hate to turn Shar-Teel or Accalia into a Thief or neglect to convert Imoen into a Mage.



Hmm, what's this I pickpocketed? Albion's key hmm? Maybe I can open an area sooner than I was supposed to?



This guy has way too many copies of the same book



Hmm, it turns out that all these nice people living in these Dragon Caverns were really Yuan-Ti. Apparently, opening the door in the library was a grave offense. I hope I didn't break the game!

So, I'm guessing the fact that if you have the key, you don't need to open locks and as such you can just open this door which leads to the Yuan-Ti in the room. As such this won't cause the rest of the disguised Yuan-ti from revealing themselves

No

This key opens another door. Didn't you play IWD early?

I don't believe you hide the whole party, particularly when you are in the cities. In all BG-IWD series, the major trigger for many dialogues and actions is "to see" at least one of your group members. I have mentioned this also in the hints section. By the way, it would be nice if you read the hints and undocumented features, so it would save a lot of waste efforts.

You'll need to write all dialogues including joining and leaving for Erevain, at least 2-3 banters with each NPC, many event-connected interjections, tree-of-life dialogue and other similar important dialogues, and of course endings. If you write all this material, I'll add Erevain to the game after I finish Keldorn's Romance.

[EDIT] Ah, and you'll meet Xan in Halruaa, in the past, so think how you'll deal with their strange meeting, and what could be complications of such sudden meeting when your group is under disguise.

[EDIT2]



Like Senka said, you don't break anything here. It's a plot. There are several ways you can offend the snake people. Library contains some sensitive books which partially reveal their true nature. That's why you are warned that you cannot enter there. In fact, you can only rest there using their healer and trade with their book keeper. If you're done with that, you can oppose Albion in 2-3 ways or just do what you did - unlock some of the locked doors. Btw, if you release Marchon and his group, you'll have a significant reinforcement of your group to clean the area from the snakes. Just use Hrothgar to enter that locked round room in the middle, he will recognise Marchon then.

Hi Senka, I actually have never played IWD before so all of this is new to me. It might be fun to play through it one day and compare it to my experience playing NeJ. My hope and anticipation is that NeJ would be better.

You're right Vlad that walking around invisibly can cause problems. I was just testing earlier and found that the cutscene wouldn't start with invisible / sanctuary characters. It also highlighted how vulnerable cutscenes that require someone to walk up to you are: they can break if there are barriers.

I will read hints if I have to. I am trying to avoid spoilers to be honest as I want to enjoy the full experience and be surprised where appropriate (I have been surprised multiple times so far). Ideally a game progression is as smooth as possible so that one doesn't have to look online for help. I'd like my children to be able to play a fully modded BG2 game from start to finish (ideally)

Thank you Vlad for the opportunity. I'll create a new thread this evening to dedicate to the Erevain NPC expansion. I didn't know we meet Xan in this mod. That will be a lot of fun to write! I was hoping in the back of my head for an opportunity to have some inter-cousin dialogue. There's opportunity for some cross-mod content with the Xan BG2 mods as well.

Yes, no game engine is flawless.



Hints and undocumented features are not spoilers, but "pointers". Spoilers are in a different thread.

Yes, you are supposedly correct. The idea of NeJ came to me when after playing BG series, I decided to play IWD. I played a bit and stopped, because I have been already spoiled with BG. I couldn't bear the NPCs in IWD, which were completely silent, no group interaction at all. It was not for me, so I've decided why not to transfer IWD into a BG-style game plus much more. So, Jan started to write and it turned to be a never-ending journey. Eventually, the IWD plot became just a side quest.



I suggest you first complete the quests in Halruaa, and then you'll have more ideas about their sudden encounter.

Apparently you can't start the NeJ Quest Alone. I kicked Imoen out and it won't let me enter the area.



I can't go if it's just Minsc and me Either. I would like to be able to play NeJ without Imoen!

It's very cruel from you - to drop Imoen in that dungeon. There are several logic problems though, but I'll see what I can do about that.

Some more testing Notes

1. You can read this information even through the walls. I don't know if this is possible to fix



2. Perhaps under some conditions, one should be able to rest in the same area as the fake Eldathans?



3. Dar's Items break the standard BG2 Houserule of Protection Items not stacking with Magical Armor.



4. I skipped these people originally and went past them. Now, I have the Heartstone, but the dialogue is the same



5. When you return to Kuldahar and go upstairs to see Arundel, you don't actually have the option to return to Irenicus's Dungeon. Either without Hrothgar in the party or with him in the party and you refuse to continue with him. You can't do anything here and you're stuck. It would be nice to allow players to return home at this point. All of the dungeons so far are a large detour from the main BG2 game and some players might like to bail at this point.



6. One Kuldahar shop, the Eldathan shop and perhaps a couple of other locations offer the "History of the North Book". The date is off. 1368 is way in the future of IWD and NEJ.



7. If you start a fight with Erevain in Easthaven, he says some lines that he should not:




8. Vampiric Shadows See through Invisibility and Ignore Sanctuary.



9. Vampiric Shadows are completely fixated on CHARNAME. They never switch targets even if right next to another enemy. Currently I just send CHARNAME in circles.

10. Vampiric Shadow targets party members it cannot see.

Upon CHARNAME coming into vision range of the vampiric shadow, it decides to attack Shar-Teel.



11. Shadowed Elven Warriors spawns can be abused by making them spawn across chasms that they can't cross. Easy XP.



12. I give you credit for the challenge level in Severed Hand. This group is following my entire party. It's kinda nice to be ran out of the dungeon for once!

How do I escape this area? I cannot exit the way I came.



There is another exit but that is merely to the top of the school entrance which is a dead end

Try green picture

TY Senka.

Alright, I'm stuck. I've talked to everyone I can. Most of the wizards respawn eventually outside. I've collected a lot of scrolls. I don't know how to get into the elemental houses nor get past the secret door in the ToB copy sewers. Any help is appreciated. The only mods on these are Baldurdash and NeJ3

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6NOBpc3-0...iew?usp=sharing

Don't you read this one, didn't you?
http://forums.blackwyrmlair.net/index.php?showtopic=1823

Thanks Bill. Like Senka said, most of your comments and questions have been answered in the walkthrough and in the hint section here. If you're stuck, I suggest you take a look into the documented material. The quests are not easy any more. In fact, they are multi-step and complicated compared to vanilla game. The same is true about your comments above. If you cannot find a solution, we are here to help you.

If you open up a chest and all of Harluaa wants to slaughter you, is there a point at which you can leave Harluaa or are you forever borked because you killed everyone that was red circled to you (aka everyone)?

Here are some play through notes.

1. The problem I have with the below sequence, asking Geralith about the time machine instead of asking about Kuldahar, is that you have no opportunity to say, "Actually, send me to Kuldahar first instead"



2. This cutscene and music are nice. Good touch. It is too slow to pull up the text. Also, if we use the Kuldahar portal, souldn't we have a picture of Kuldahar background?



3. I really like this cutscene. This really makes me want to continue playing and see the story and find out how many times I've been replaying the this life. Makes me think of Planescape: Torment. I love it!



4. I'm disappointed that a charmed Priest of Oghma will still call the guards if he sees you open up a chest. Oh well, I'm no longer naked.



5. Yea, this guy and the whole level regenerates completely every time you visit it. I can get infinite xp (from lockpicking and killing), infinite gold (from chests), and infinite items (from chests)



6. I never fully explored the Irenicus dungeon. I actually just went straight for the portal. Now that I'm on the other side, I actually can't return to these 3 doors because I lack a key. It'd be nice to return to the portal I came out of and simply be unable to re-activate it.



7. Hrothgar likes to say crazy things



8. I'm glad Dar recognizes a half-orc here. He should of course, acknowledge Half-Orc status on the first talk with CHARNAME.



9. You get to keep items from your dream. Yay!



10. I still cannot leave without Hrothgar. Please let us end our NeJ journey if we wish without Hrothgar



11. It would be nice if we could tell this guy that we found a mythal



12. Hrothgar gives me this speech as soon as I exit the Irenicus cutscene. Should I get this immediately? Do I actually have an opportunity to say no not now?



13. All of these haters everywhere in Harluaa, but still a few blue people who want to talk to me.



14. These Harluaa Mages respawn outside. It'd be nice if they stayed dead



15. I moved my Mage to the Front and had her talk to the Tutor. Yet, CHARNAME is summoned for the Mage Test. Are NPCs allowed to take these tests at all?



16. Failing a Mage Test puts you in permanent Cutscene mode. You are permanently stuck



17. I found a bug with Vanilla game that apparently has never been reported.

If you pay Gaelan Bayle and get your first quest from Aran Linvale to find Mook in the docks. If you then pickpocket Aran and fail, the whole Thieves Guild will Red Circle you including Aran. You cannot join the Shadow Thieves and Arkanis Gax will never Spawn. You cannot proceed further in the game.

You missed this option early

Never? Really? Why?
No key. Golem opens them.
No way

Yes
Mage only

Load game, try again. Bug happens

If you decide to break the game do not be surprised result )))

1. Just a note that these doors should open else we're cut off permanently. Really, we should come back to the same portal we used to enter Easthaven.

2. The game tells us that we can leave NeJ before going to the Seldarine's Hand and that we can leave after the Seldarine's hand. In both cases, the player is prevented from doing so. That's a problem.

3. It would be nice if Multiclass NPCs could help. Erevain won't be able to assist otherwise. I note though that my other Mage multiplayer NPC could not take the test, my main PC ended up doing so.

4. No, it is a bug, but reloading doesn't help. Failing a Mage test puts you in cutscene mode.

5. Pickpocketing is part of the game. It should not break when you choose to do so.

1. Didn't you see alarm message just before entering portal? )))
2. I believe you didn't understand the scenario. This is whole mod - NeJ. The end is too far )
3. I always play multiclass. No problem. If you have Taffic he can do all these quest for you. He is multiclass.
4. Smth wrong with your installation maybe.
5. When you deal with important character you need to use save-load option. If you steal from them you need to load your game. Often. If you want to steal without problem you need to rise your skill to 200. But! I'm not sure about Aran. Is this enough I mean.

Bill, there is a warning on warning, very clear warning. When you click the portal, you are warned that you should explore the area and do the quests before continue, and you may not be given another chance to do so. Ok, some player ignored the warning, it means he didn't want to do the first level of the dungeon. So, this is the clear consequence of the role-playing, exactly what you like.

Next, I like the idea that some NPCs do not agree with your protagonist. One of them Hrothgar. Also Accalia, Shar-Teel and even Dar, Taffic and Melora, and eventually Leina. All of them are very strong characters, and they will make you to act the way they want. In this particular case, Hrothgar may say anything about leaving via portal in Kuldahar or continuing to SH, but you will follow him where he leads. You know this already. You don't like his decision to send you to SH, but you have no choice. You can click and stop the game, and he can click on his temporal device and send you whenever he considers it proper. You simply have no choice, and this is the core of NeJ. This is all about that people even in real life have no choices. Yes, we can choose between apple juice or hot milk, between brunette or blond, between working hard or going to drink with friends, but are these really choices? No, these are called preferences. We are led by our life, by situations, by people around, and we cannot do anything, just to observe and realise something in the present cycle which "we occasionally call life". It will be repeated of course, decorations are changed a bit, our perception of different decorations will lead to different preferences. But don't delude yourself. We come to this world and nobody asks us if we want to come. We leave this world and nobody asks us if we want to leave. We are doing something for 60-70 years, two steps left, two steps right, 100 L of alcohol drunk, 100 kg of chocolate consumed, 3-4 kids which grow pretty fast, a couple of partners, a few problematic friends... Bum! The end. And now tell me where is your choice?

Quests in Halruaa are all playable by most of the NPC mages - Nalia, Aerie, Kachiko, Taffic. Edwin may do some quests but he is really a pain in the a**, don't rely upon him in Halruaa. If your character is mage, you can do the quests yourself, there is no checks for your class. Even fighter or thief can do this quests. But there are quests which require casting spells, so fighter deciding to take the mage quest should be prepared for anything unexpected.

I'd like to see the bug that you're reporting and detailed report on what and how you cause it, if confirmed.

I don't promise that I'll fix the problems of the core game, but I have put a note for future updates of Baldurdash. Thanks, Bill.

1. Yes, there was a warning. I assumed that warning was about getting items and
XP prior to entering the NeJ questline. I also assumed that you would return to the same portal you entered NeJ to get to and there would be no need for Jaheira and Minsc to stay trapped in their cells forever. Yes, I do like games that allow you to live with (and still allow you to complete the game with) the consequences of your decisions. If Trapped cellmates forever was your intention, then very well, I accept your design.

2. I just want to be explicitly clear on this. There is a lot of text implying that CHARNAME and the remaining party members can enter the Kuldahar portal:

All of the below texts imply that the portal can be entered.






The cursor changing implies this



The post Hrothgar exchange implies you are about to leave




And then...



Nothing. Absolutely nothing. All this dialogue and text about leaving and nothing happens. Nothing. No text about "What, why can't we enter?" No Game Over Screen. Nothing. I have a hard time believing that all of this text was written and implemented without the intention of the party being able to leave. If it is truly your intention that there be no choice about leaving NeJ before Severed Hand, then there should be no text allowing me to do so at all, imo. Otherwise, this feels very disjointed and incomplete.


When we complete the Severed Hand, we still have the option to return to the Kuldahar Portal. The text heavily implies that we can enter it.





If we're nice to Hrothgar, he'll want to go with us. The dialogue ends with him or Shar-Teel. There is nothing beyond that other than a poof and cutscene to the next area.

Or, we can tell Hrothgar that we don't trust him. And he doesn't like that and leaves. Nothing implies that we can't leave now.



We can click on the portal even while Hrothgar is exiting and we get the same dialogue as last time.



And then....



Nothing. Abosolutely nothing. We can click on the portal and we just get blanks


However, if we leave via the Astolabe, we get the following Text:



Notice the Black Box reference. At least here it's implied that we need the Astrolabe and the Black Box to continue. That is not the same for the Kuldahar portal. There is no text anywhere stating that we can't just go use the Kuldahar portal or Hrothgar stating "Haha, you need me and my Black Box to actually leave. It feels highly disjointed that there are text and implications that we can leave and yet we cannot and the game is broken and unfinishable as a result.

3. My Installation is GoG BG2+ ToB. Followed by Baldurdash and then NeJ3. I have explicitly avoided installing any other mods to avoid any possibility at all that potential issues are due to other mods.

Failed Mage Tests in Harluaa put you in permanent cutscene failed mode. I'll try to find the exact one that put me in there.

Alright, Failing the Invoker Test for Theodoran. Simply exit the area with the spiders as soon as you enter it and talk to Theodoran, you will be stuck in Cutscene mode.



4. A General Note on Mage Tests

Perhaps it would be better to have the Mage Tests involve the person who speaks to the "test giver". You could add in dialogue with the tutor asking "Who will take the Test" and you'd select which party member would take it. I much prefer this method as it it generic and allows one to have CHARNAMEs that are not part Mage. For a multiplayer game, you can't let Player2 or further actually take the tests.

This also allows you to have modded Characters (like Erevain) without having to come up with NPC specific text for all of them. If there's interest, then the NPC can be coded for unique reactions.

There is a difference between the technically broken game and then game that is stopped by NPCs intentionally. I think you'll be quite disappointed with the ending of NeJ3, and I imagine all the comments that you'll put here. But I like it the way it is is written and implemented. All the screens from the portal at Kuldahar make me even more convinced that this is how it should be. You should feel this disappointment that in spite of the fact you really want the option to come back and all NPCs say that wow, we go back, actually you won't come, and there are no clues as to why and how and again why. Great!

Ah, and of course you can break the cutscene by clicking on the trigger for the second time the moment between the end of the dialogue and when it is about to start. Well, you can break many cutscenes in the vanilla game this way. You heard about updating variables in scripts and so on. Right?

Halruaa. Well, there are options of choosing the mage who is going to do the tests. I guess you have none of them in your party. Try bringing Nalia or Taffic, and you'll have the corresponding options in the dialogues with the mage specialists. I'll look into the test of Theodoran though. I must admit that we have tested this part many many times, and never encountered this problem. But if there is a bug, I'll fix it, of course.

Bitter spiders? Never have any problem failing this test. You need to patiently wait until Teodoran will teleport away. And don't click! ))))

As I've already stated Vlad, as a player the imlementation feels very clunky. If you wish to give the player the effect of "Oh crap, we can't go anywhere without Hrothgar" then that needs to be readily apparent and stated explicitly. Right now it feels like I can't travel back home because the mod is broken or unfinished.


1.
Also, I cannot escape out of this area at all: There is no exit. Sometimes this happens. Do note too that if any enemy dies nearby a sarcophagus, you cannot ever retrieve those items.



2. Nothing on the Ring of Might Description says Mage Only

Any game can be broken. You know this already don't you? And if you don't want to play mod' scenario... just uninstall the NEJ.

You didn't read walkthrough?

This ring is not ready yet

3. Failing Phineas's Test puts you in Cutscene Mode

How do you do that?
(use MM after pierce magic. And read walkthrough!)

Vlad is in vacation now. He will return early October.

Senka,

Quite easy. Don't have any protections on. Just talk to him and he'll cast spells at you and hurt you and then he'll tell you that you failed. After you finish talking with Phineas you'll be in permanent cutscene mode and the game is broken.

Ring of Might Quest Question:

So after talking with the Water Elementalist Lady she tells me to seek out the Air, Fire, and Earth Students. The walkthrough tells me that they're near the students' quarters, but I cannot find them. I have searched all through this Harluaan Academy with no luck. Where are they exactly supposed to be?

Didn't you listen what he said? Prepare yourself. You need to cast globe of Invulnerability. As wrote in walkthrough.

There is a lot of threads with such questions...
Genevera is in the building of the Conjurer Tests.
Owain is in building of the Illusion test.
Aulay is in the gallery.

Nope, absolutely no one in the gallery. Note that the Gallery and the place where the Illusion test takes place are the same place according to the walkthrough.



Just a note I auto failed after talking to the teacher here. I hope that these Ring of Might Elementalists aren't tied to this teacher's appearance as no one is spawning here.

Note too Senka that I try to play the game without a walkthrough and if I am stuck I may refer to one. I just try to play the game as it is.

No he isn't. As I said before smth wrong with your installation

Didn't you see cut-scene there? Between RayVon and another person?


All tutors are very clear in their quests. Why you constantly fail? Save-load always helps.

Bill, I must admit there is something in what you say. However, most of the problems you report are connected to intentionally breaking the plot. One of such invalid actions is for example, killing NPCs who give you quests. I agree the engine is far away from being perfect, but we have to live with that somehow. One of the methods to preserve the integrity and workability of the engine is not to break it intentionally by doing invalid actions or something which may result in invalid actions. This is all about BG2 and partially BG1. These games are far away from Fallout or Arcanum where basically you can do what you want ignoring many quests, NPCs without breaking the main game. In Fallout, I remember I've just cleaned areas without thinking or reading much. Here is a completely different game.