Introduction
This
mod represents a compilation of
various house rules and PnP
related tweaks which are designed to change certain aspects of the
game. It works on normal Baldur's Gate II
games as well as either of the two Baldur's Gate conversion projects:
(Easy)Tutu
and Baldur's Gate Trilogy (BGT). The mod is divided into multiple components all of which can be
installed separately and are completely independent of each other.
In summary, aTweaks can bring several classes, races, spells, items and creatures closer to their PnP counterparts, add more consistency to the gameplay by making sensible rule adjustments and eliminating exploits, and make it easier to distinguish between creatures with similar avatars through the use of recoloring techniques.
Note:
In order to experience all of the new content introduced by this mod it
is recommended to start
a new game after installing it.
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Compatibility notes
This mod should be compatible
with most other WeiDU
mods. In particular,
aTweaks has been coded in a special manner which prevents unnecessary
content duplication in case one of its components is already contained
within other mods. For best results, always
install this mod after any other mods in order to ensure
maximum compatibility.
Note: If
you intend to install aTweaks alongside other mods please
consult the Compatibility Guide beforehand. Furthermore, since aTweaks and Rogue Rebalancing share certain resources,
it's very important to always install aTweaks last. To emphasize the
point, never install any component of Rogue Rebalancing after aTweaks.
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Installation
This mod is packaged and installed with WeiDU
and is
distributed as
a self-extracting archive. To
start the installation procedure simply double click on the
self-extracting archive (aTweaks_v31.exe) and point the installer to
your
Baldur's Gate 2 folder (default path C:\Program Files\Black Isle\BGII -
SoA\). In case you are installing this mod for a BG1Tutu or
a BGT
game point the installer to your BG1Tutu/BGT folder
instead. Before starting the installation procedure make sure
that neither
Baldur's Gate 2 nor any third party editors such as Shadow
Keeper and Infinity Explorer are currently
running. After installing the mod you can re-run
"Setup-aTweaks.exe"
in your BG2
folder to reinstall, uninstall or otherwise change
its components.
Note: This mod requires that Baldur's
Gate 2
and its Throne of Bhaal expansion as well as
the latest
official patch
(version 26498) are installed on your
system. Furthermore, it
is strongly
recommended
to also download and install the G3
BG2 Fixpack
before proceeding with the installation of this mod.
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Components
PnP tweaks
This group of tweaks strives
to bring various aspects of the game closer to Pen and Paper AD&D
rules.
Restore innate infravision to Half-Orc characters
This component restores the PnP innate infravision trait to Half-Orc characters which was missing in the unmodded game. In order for this tweak to work, you need to turn on the party AI for 5-10 seconds until the appropriate script block triggers. After that, you can turn it off again if you wish.
Prevent skeletal undead from being affected by Illithids' Devour Brain attack
This component prevents skeletal undead creatures (such as summoned Skeletons and Skeleton Warriors) from being affected by the Devour Brain attack of Illithids. Since skeletal undead have no internal organs per PnP rules, they should not be affected by this particular attack and thus cannot die from having their intelligence score drained to zero.
Change Spiritual Hammer into a ranged force weapon
This component changes the magical hammer created by the level 2 cleric spell Spiritual Weapon into a ranged force weapon, as per PnP rules. The hammer now deals magical damage and can strike from a distance. However, it is now affected by the magic resistance of the target and no longer adds the strength bonus of its wielder to the damage that it deals. Since the hammer is supposed to be controlled telepathically (rather than being actually held or thrown) the wielder does not receive the standard penalty for holding a ranged weapon when engaged in close combat.
Allow Dispel/Remove Magic to take down Globes of Invulnerability
This component changes the Minor Globe of Invulnerability and the Globe of Invulnerability spells and makes them dispellable by Dispel/Remove Magic, as per PnP rules. The original in-game descriptions of those spells suggests that this behavior may have been intended by the developers.
Magical arrows and bolts deal bonus damage equal to their enchantment level
This component allows magical bolts and arrows to deal bonus damage appropriate to their enchantment level, as per PnP rules. For example, this means that an Arrow +1 now deals 1d6+1 damage while an Arrow +2 deals 1d6+2 damage... etc. For reference, both BG1 and IWD1 had correctly implemented this feature, but for some reason, the designers of BG2 chose to omit the enchantment bonus to damage for arrows and bolts. Note that this tweak only applies to generic (+x) enchanted arrows, bolts and magical quivers. Special, yet non-enchanted, ammo varieties such as Arrows of Piercing and Bolts of Biting will remain untouched.
Allow Mages to scribe memorized spells onto scrolls
This component grants all Mages (except Sorcerers) of 9th level and higher the ability to scribe spells from their spellbooks onto scrolls, as per PnP rules. Only spells that are currently memorized may be scribed in this manner. Furthermore, the cost of any raw materials that are used in the process must be covered in full. Finally, inscribing a scroll removes one instance of the spell in question from the caster's memory. This ability can be used at will, as long as the environment is non-hostile.
Restore innate disease immunity to Paladins
This component makes all Paladins inherently immune to disease, as per PnP rules. It also adds an innate Cure Disease ability, usable once per day, to the True Paladin and Cavalier kits. The Inquisitor and Undead Hunter kits do not receive the Cure Disease ability due to their respective restrictions. Note: a new game must be started in order for this component to function properly.
Rangers' Animal Empathy improves with experience
This component renames the Ranger's Charm Animal ability into Animal Empathy and adjusts it to more closely match its PnP counterpart. An animal attempting to resist this ability must now roll a saving throw vs. wands (with a -1 penalty) in order to avoid becoming charmed. The Ranger imposes an additional saving throw penalty for every three experience levels he has earned (i.e. -2 at 4th level, -3 at 7th level... etc.) up to a maximum of -6 at 16th level. Furthermore, if the animal fails its saving throw, it now becomes charmed for 5 rounds per level of the Ranger. Finally, being non-magical in nature, this ability now ignores any magic resistance of the target animal and can no longer be removed by Dispel Magic.
Additional racial traits for Dwarves
This component restores the +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against orcs, half-orcs, goblins and hobgoblins to dwarven characters. Furthermore Giants, Trolls, Ogres and Ogre Magi now suffer a -4 penalty to their attack rolls when targeting dwarves, as per PnP rules. In order for this tweak to work, you need to turn on the party AI for 5-10 seconds until the appropriate script block triggers. After that, you can turn it off again if you wish. Note: this component is fully compatible with the "Giants Receive Penalties When Attacking Halflings, Dwarves, and Gnomes" component of the G3 BG2 Fixpack.
Additional racial traits for Gnomes
This component restores the +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds and goblins to gnome characters. Furthermore Giants, Trolls, Gnolls, Bugbears, Ogres and Ogre Magi now suffer a -4 penalty to their attack rolls when targeting gnomes, as per PnP rules. In order for this tweak to work, you need to turn on the party AI for 5-10 seconds until the appropriate script block triggers. After that, you can turn it off again if you wish. Note: this component is fully compatible with the "Giants Receive Penalties When Attacking Halflings, Dwarves, and Gnomes" component of the G3 BG2 Fixpack.
PnP Fiends
This component brings all Fiends in the game closer to their PnP counterparts. Legitimately missing abilities are restored and spuriously granted benefits are removed. The Fiends' AI has been enhanced as well, and it now allows them to act in accordance to their PnP behavior and intelligence scores. In effect, these changes moderately increase the difficulty of dealing with Fiend opponents. Finally, the Blood War now plays a slightly more prominent role. Whenever Baatezu and Tanar'ri meet, they will taunt and fight each other. This will take precedence over any other actions unless the Fiends' existence is endangered by a more powerful enemy. Note: for compatibility reasons, this component doesn't alter the behavior and abilities of Fiends summoned by spells. The next component deals exclusively with that. More information is available online.
Revised Fiend summoning
This component alters several aspects of the Fiend summoning process. Firstly, summoned Fiends now more closely match their PnP counterparts in terms of behavior, statistics and abilities, as described by the previous component. Secondly, while summoned Fiends still remain uncontrollable, they now match the allegiance of their summoner. This allows the summoner to receive experience points for each opponent that the Fiends defeats, but it also applies the appropriate reputation penalty for each innocent that the Fiend murders. Thirdly, the nature of a summoned Fiend now corresponds to the alignment of its summoner. A Baatezu appears if the caster is lawful aligned, while a Tanar'ri appears if the caster is chaotic aligned. If the caster is neither lawful nor chaotic aligned, either one of the aforementioned Fiends may appear (50% chance each). More information is available online.
Restore innate infravision to Half-Orc characters
This component restores the PnP innate infravision trait to Half-Orc characters which was missing in the unmodded game. In order for this tweak to work, you need to turn on the party AI for 5-10 seconds until the appropriate script block triggers. After that, you can turn it off again if you wish.
Prevent skeletal undead from being affected by Illithids' Devour Brain attack
This component prevents skeletal undead creatures (such as summoned Skeletons and Skeleton Warriors) from being affected by the Devour Brain attack of Illithids. Since skeletal undead have no internal organs per PnP rules, they should not be affected by this particular attack and thus cannot die from having their intelligence score drained to zero.
Change Spiritual Hammer into a ranged force weapon
This component changes the magical hammer created by the level 2 cleric spell Spiritual Weapon into a ranged force weapon, as per PnP rules. The hammer now deals magical damage and can strike from a distance. However, it is now affected by the magic resistance of the target and no longer adds the strength bonus of its wielder to the damage that it deals. Since the hammer is supposed to be controlled telepathically (rather than being actually held or thrown) the wielder does not receive the standard penalty for holding a ranged weapon when engaged in close combat.
Allow Dispel/Remove Magic to take down Globes of Invulnerability
This component changes the Minor Globe of Invulnerability and the Globe of Invulnerability spells and makes them dispellable by Dispel/Remove Magic, as per PnP rules. The original in-game descriptions of those spells suggests that this behavior may have been intended by the developers.
Magical arrows and bolts deal bonus damage equal to their enchantment level
This component allows magical bolts and arrows to deal bonus damage appropriate to their enchantment level, as per PnP rules. For example, this means that an Arrow +1 now deals 1d6+1 damage while an Arrow +2 deals 1d6+2 damage... etc. For reference, both BG1 and IWD1 had correctly implemented this feature, but for some reason, the designers of BG2 chose to omit the enchantment bonus to damage for arrows and bolts. Note that this tweak only applies to generic (+x) enchanted arrows, bolts and magical quivers. Special, yet non-enchanted, ammo varieties such as Arrows of Piercing and Bolts of Biting will remain untouched.
Allow Mages to scribe memorized spells onto scrolls
This component grants all Mages (except Sorcerers) of 9th level and higher the ability to scribe spells from their spellbooks onto scrolls, as per PnP rules. Only spells that are currently memorized may be scribed in this manner. Furthermore, the cost of any raw materials that are used in the process must be covered in full. Finally, inscribing a scroll removes one instance of the spell in question from the caster's memory. This ability can be used at will, as long as the environment is non-hostile.
Restore innate disease immunity to Paladins
This component makes all Paladins inherently immune to disease, as per PnP rules. It also adds an innate Cure Disease ability, usable once per day, to the True Paladin and Cavalier kits. The Inquisitor and Undead Hunter kits do not receive the Cure Disease ability due to their respective restrictions. Note: a new game must be started in order for this component to function properly.
Rangers' Animal Empathy improves with experience
This component renames the Ranger's Charm Animal ability into Animal Empathy and adjusts it to more closely match its PnP counterpart. An animal attempting to resist this ability must now roll a saving throw vs. wands (with a -1 penalty) in order to avoid becoming charmed. The Ranger imposes an additional saving throw penalty for every three experience levels he has earned (i.e. -2 at 4th level, -3 at 7th level... etc.) up to a maximum of -6 at 16th level. Furthermore, if the animal fails its saving throw, it now becomes charmed for 5 rounds per level of the Ranger. Finally, being non-magical in nature, this ability now ignores any magic resistance of the target animal and can no longer be removed by Dispel Magic.
Additional racial traits for Dwarves
This component restores the +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against orcs, half-orcs, goblins and hobgoblins to dwarven characters. Furthermore Giants, Trolls, Ogres and Ogre Magi now suffer a -4 penalty to their attack rolls when targeting dwarves, as per PnP rules. In order for this tweak to work, you need to turn on the party AI for 5-10 seconds until the appropriate script block triggers. After that, you can turn it off again if you wish. Note: this component is fully compatible with the "Giants Receive Penalties When Attacking Halflings, Dwarves, and Gnomes" component of the G3 BG2 Fixpack.
Additional racial traits for Gnomes
This component restores the +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds and goblins to gnome characters. Furthermore Giants, Trolls, Gnolls, Bugbears, Ogres and Ogre Magi now suffer a -4 penalty to their attack rolls when targeting gnomes, as per PnP rules. In order for this tweak to work, you need to turn on the party AI for 5-10 seconds until the appropriate script block triggers. After that, you can turn it off again if you wish. Note: this component is fully compatible with the "Giants Receive Penalties When Attacking Halflings, Dwarves, and Gnomes" component of the G3 BG2 Fixpack.
PnP Fiends
This component brings all Fiends in the game closer to their PnP counterparts. Legitimately missing abilities are restored and spuriously granted benefits are removed. The Fiends' AI has been enhanced as well, and it now allows them to act in accordance to their PnP behavior and intelligence scores. In effect, these changes moderately increase the difficulty of dealing with Fiend opponents. Finally, the Blood War now plays a slightly more prominent role. Whenever Baatezu and Tanar'ri meet, they will taunt and fight each other. This will take precedence over any other actions unless the Fiends' existence is endangered by a more powerful enemy. Note: for compatibility reasons, this component doesn't alter the behavior and abilities of Fiends summoned by spells. The next component deals exclusively with that. More information is available online.
Revised Fiend summoning
This component alters several aspects of the Fiend summoning process. Firstly, summoned Fiends now more closely match their PnP counterparts in terms of behavior, statistics and abilities, as described by the previous component. Secondly, while summoned Fiends still remain uncontrollable, they now match the allegiance of their summoner. This allows the summoner to receive experience points for each opponent that the Fiends defeats, but it also applies the appropriate reputation penalty for each innocent that the Fiend murders. Thirdly, the nature of a summoned Fiend now corresponds to the alignment of its summoner. A Baatezu appears if the caster is lawful aligned, while a Tanar'ri appears if the caster is chaotic aligned. If the caster is neither lawful nor chaotic aligned, either one of the aforementioned Fiends may appear (50% chance each). More information is available online.
Gameplay tweaks
This group of tweaks makes
several changes in order to bring more consistency
to the gameplay.
Allow Breach to take down Stoneskin effects applied by items
In the unmodded game, several characters (i.e. Cowled Enforcers, Conster, Mekrath, Rayic Gethras, Terminsel... etc.) were wearing special rings which covered them with a semi-permanent Stoneskin effect. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the Infinity Engine, this Stoneskin effect could not be removed by the Breach spell. This component remedies that oversight and allows the Breach spell to properly take down any Stoneskin effects which are applied by such items. It also changes the Gargoyle Boots in a similar manner and allows enemy mages to take down its Stoneskin effect with the Breach spell.
Instant casting for warrior innates
This component eliminates the casting delay for all innate abilities of the warrior classes that are not spell-like in nature. In summary, you will never get the dreaded "Spell Disrupted" message while attempting to use Berserker Enrage, Barbarian Rage, Kensai Kai and Lay On Hands (both the Paladin and the Monk version). Minsc's unique Berserk ability is also affected by this change. Finally, this tweak will also prevent Wild Magic and Dead Magic zones from interfering with these abilities.
Revised Bhaalpowers
This component revises the Bhaalpowers which the Protagonist receives in BG1 (or at the start of BG2) due to his divine heritage. It can be installed in two ways. The first option converts the Bhaalpowers into slightly more useful and unique abilities whose effectiveness scales with the Protagonist's level. A detailed description of the revised Bhaalpowers is available online. The second option retains the original Bhaalpowers and merely reduces their casting time to 1 which is consistent with other spell-like abilities as well as the casting time of the advanced Bhaalpowers that the Protagonist receives by completing the pocket plane challenges in Throne of Bhaal.
Make druidic shapeshifting uninterruptable
This component eliminates the casting delay for innate druidic shapeshifting abilities. In summary, you will never get the dreaded "Spell Disrupted" message while attempting to shapeshift as a Druid. Furthermore, this tweak will also prevent Wild Magic and Dead Magic zones from interfering with druidic shapeshifting abilities.
Prevent Mislead clones from singing Bard songs
This component prevents illusionary clones created by the Mislead spell from singing Bard songs. When ordered to sing, an illusionary clone will now only mimic the mouth movements of the original caster without making any sound and thus won't provide any battlesong benefits to nearby allies, nor hinder adjacent enemies in case the original caster was a Jester.
Prevent Project Image and Simulacrum clones from using quickslot items
This component prevents illusionary clones created by the Project Image and Simulacrum spells from using expendable quickslot items such as potions, wands and scrolls. In effect, this tweak closes the exploit which previously allowed the player to get infinite uses out of one-time consumable items such as Protection from Magic scrolls.
Restore the Dispel Magic vulnerability to Nishruu and Hakeashars
The Nishruu and Hakeashar AI scripts indicate that the developers originally indented for Dispel/Remove Magic to instantly kill these creatures. Unfortunately, due to a targeting bug, the script block responsible for this behavior could never properly execute for player characters (though it always worked fine for opponents). This component fixes that oversight and makes Nishruu and Hakeashars vulnerable to Dispel/Remove Magic cast by player characters. If the caster successfully makes a Dispel/Remove Magic check against these creatures, they will be instantly slain. Furthermore, Nishruu and Hakeashars are now also vulnerable to items which dispel magical effects on hit (i.e. Arrows of Dispelling, Staff of the Magi and Carsomyr).
Make alignment detection spells more accurate
This component slightly tweaks the Know Alignment and Detect Evil spells. In addition to displaying the alignment of the target on the Good-Evil scale, these spells now also display the target's alignment on the Law-Chaos scale. For example, casting Know Alignment on Keldorn will now display "Lawful Good" instead of merely "Good". Similarly, casting Detect Evil near Korgan will now list his alignment as "Chaotic Evil" instead of merely "Evil".
Bard songs break invisibility
This component modifies the Bard battlesongs in such a way that a Bard who attempts to sing must forfeit his invisibility due to the opponent's ability to locate him by sound. Bards who are under the effects of Improved Invisibility become only partially visible while singing. This tweak can be installed in two ways - the changes can either only apply to the Jester's song (since it directly affects enemies) or to the battlesongs of all Bards. Both options will affect the battlesongs from the unmodded game as well as the battlesongs which are introduced by the G3 BG2 Fixpack and Rogue Rebalancing.
Simple Thief script
This component introduces a simple player AI script which is intended for Thief characters. When assigned, this script will allow a Thief to either use his "Find Traps" skill or his "Hide in Shadows" skill whenever he is idle. By default the Thief will search for traps when there are no enemies nearby. Pressing the 'D' key toggles this setting and causes the Thief to attempt to hide in shadows as long as there are no enemies in his line of sight. Note that the Thief won't attack opponents nor defend himself while either of these skills is in use. Pressing the 'V' key toggles this setting and causes the Thief to stop using his skills and start attacking the nearest enemy. This script will never override player-assigned actions.
Simple Bard script
This component introduces a simple player AI script which is intended for Bard characters. When assigned, this script will allow a Bard to sing his battlesong whenever he is idle. By default the Bard will only sing when enemies are nearby and stop once they are out of his line of sight. Pressing the 'D' key toggles this setting and causes the Bard to sing constantly, regardless of enemy presence. Note that the Bard won't attack opponents nor defend himself while singing the battlesong. Pressing the 'V' key toggles this setting and causes the Bard to stop singing and start attacking the nearest enemy. This script will never override player-assigned actions.
Allow Breach to take down Stoneskin effects applied by items
In the unmodded game, several characters (i.e. Cowled Enforcers, Conster, Mekrath, Rayic Gethras, Terminsel... etc.) were wearing special rings which covered them with a semi-permanent Stoneskin effect. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the Infinity Engine, this Stoneskin effect could not be removed by the Breach spell. This component remedies that oversight and allows the Breach spell to properly take down any Stoneskin effects which are applied by such items. It also changes the Gargoyle Boots in a similar manner and allows enemy mages to take down its Stoneskin effect with the Breach spell.
Instant casting for warrior innates
This component eliminates the casting delay for all innate abilities of the warrior classes that are not spell-like in nature. In summary, you will never get the dreaded "Spell Disrupted" message while attempting to use Berserker Enrage, Barbarian Rage, Kensai Kai and Lay On Hands (both the Paladin and the Monk version). Minsc's unique Berserk ability is also affected by this change. Finally, this tweak will also prevent Wild Magic and Dead Magic zones from interfering with these abilities.
Revised Bhaalpowers
This component revises the Bhaalpowers which the Protagonist receives in BG1 (or at the start of BG2) due to his divine heritage. It can be installed in two ways. The first option converts the Bhaalpowers into slightly more useful and unique abilities whose effectiveness scales with the Protagonist's level. A detailed description of the revised Bhaalpowers is available online. The second option retains the original Bhaalpowers and merely reduces their casting time to 1 which is consistent with other spell-like abilities as well as the casting time of the advanced Bhaalpowers that the Protagonist receives by completing the pocket plane challenges in Throne of Bhaal.
Make druidic shapeshifting uninterruptable
This component eliminates the casting delay for innate druidic shapeshifting abilities. In summary, you will never get the dreaded "Spell Disrupted" message while attempting to shapeshift as a Druid. Furthermore, this tweak will also prevent Wild Magic and Dead Magic zones from interfering with druidic shapeshifting abilities.
Prevent Mislead clones from singing Bard songs
This component prevents illusionary clones created by the Mislead spell from singing Bard songs. When ordered to sing, an illusionary clone will now only mimic the mouth movements of the original caster without making any sound and thus won't provide any battlesong benefits to nearby allies, nor hinder adjacent enemies in case the original caster was a Jester.
Prevent Project Image and Simulacrum clones from using quickslot items
This component prevents illusionary clones created by the Project Image and Simulacrum spells from using expendable quickslot items such as potions, wands and scrolls. In effect, this tweak closes the exploit which previously allowed the player to get infinite uses out of one-time consumable items such as Protection from Magic scrolls.
Restore the Dispel Magic vulnerability to Nishruu and Hakeashars
The Nishruu and Hakeashar AI scripts indicate that the developers originally indented for Dispel/Remove Magic to instantly kill these creatures. Unfortunately, due to a targeting bug, the script block responsible for this behavior could never properly execute for player characters (though it always worked fine for opponents). This component fixes that oversight and makes Nishruu and Hakeashars vulnerable to Dispel/Remove Magic cast by player characters. If the caster successfully makes a Dispel/Remove Magic check against these creatures, they will be instantly slain. Furthermore, Nishruu and Hakeashars are now also vulnerable to items which dispel magical effects on hit (i.e. Arrows of Dispelling, Staff of the Magi and Carsomyr).
Make alignment detection spells more accurate
This component slightly tweaks the Know Alignment and Detect Evil spells. In addition to displaying the alignment of the target on the Good-Evil scale, these spells now also display the target's alignment on the Law-Chaos scale. For example, casting Know Alignment on Keldorn will now display "Lawful Good" instead of merely "Good". Similarly, casting Detect Evil near Korgan will now list his alignment as "Chaotic Evil" instead of merely "Evil".
Bard songs break invisibility
This component modifies the Bard battlesongs in such a way that a Bard who attempts to sing must forfeit his invisibility due to the opponent's ability to locate him by sound. Bards who are under the effects of Improved Invisibility become only partially visible while singing. This tweak can be installed in two ways - the changes can either only apply to the Jester's song (since it directly affects enemies) or to the battlesongs of all Bards. Both options will affect the battlesongs from the unmodded game as well as the battlesongs which are introduced by the G3 BG2 Fixpack and Rogue Rebalancing.
Simple Thief script
This component introduces a simple player AI script which is intended for Thief characters. When assigned, this script will allow a Thief to either use his "Find Traps" skill or his "Hide in Shadows" skill whenever he is idle. By default the Thief will search for traps when there are no enemies nearby. Pressing the 'D' key toggles this setting and causes the Thief to attempt to hide in shadows as long as there are no enemies in his line of sight. Note that the Thief won't attack opponents nor defend himself while either of these skills is in use. Pressing the 'V' key toggles this setting and causes the Thief to stop using his skills and start attacking the nearest enemy. This script will never override player-assigned actions.
Simple Bard script
This component introduces a simple player AI script which is intended for Bard characters. When assigned, this script will allow a Bard to sing his battlesong whenever he is idle. By default the Bard will only sing when enemies are nearby and stop once they are out of his line of sight. Pressing the 'D' key toggles this setting and causes the Bard to sing constantly, regardless of enemy presence. Note that the Bard won't attack opponents nor defend himself while singing the battlesong. Pressing the 'V' key toggles this setting and causes the Bard to stop singing and start attacking the nearest enemy. This script will never override player-assigned actions.
Cosmetic tweaks
This group of tweaks
makes changes to the look and feel of the game without
altering the gameplay mechanics.
Use Icewind Dale's Dimension Door animation
This component replaces the default animation for the Dimension Door and Shadow Door spells with the higher quality animation from Icewind Dale. The actual gameplay effects of those spells remain completely unchanged, only their visual appearance is altered. This tweak can be installed in three ways - the new animation can either play at fast speed (as in Icewind Dale) at slow speed (as in Baldur's Gate 2) or it can be only used for the actual spells (Dimension Door and Shadow Door) thereby retaining the old animation for other visual effects such as portal appearances and creature spawning sequences.
Change the appearance of Valygar's armor
This component changes the appearance of Valygar's personal armor to resemble Studded Leather rather than Chain Mail. The color palette of the armor will also be altered in order to more closely match its inventory icon. The item's statistics will remain untouched.
Change the appearance of the Robe of Vecna
This component will change the appearance of the Robe of Vecna and turn it into a fully hooded robe, making it look similar to the Robe of the Good/Evil/Neutral Archmagi. The item's statistics will remain untouched.
Give Shambling Mounds their proper soundset
This component assigns a unique soundset to Shambling Mounds rather than having them mimic the Earth Elemental soundset. Interestingly, the proper Shambling Mound soundset already existed in the unmodded game but it appears to have been completely unused (SHAMB01-SHAMB07.WAV).
Give Mariliths their Icewind Dale soundset
This component assigns a new soundset to all Mariliths in the game. This soundset is based on Yxunomei, the Marilith from Icewind Dale. For reference, Mariliths had no unique soundset in the unmodded game. They were using a mixture of generic snake sounds and ghostly female voices.
Distinctive creature coloring
This component will recolor certain creatures to more clearly differentiate them from each other. Most notably Flesh, Stone, Clay, Sand, Juggernaut, Iron and Adamantite Golems now all have distinctive appearances. Furthermore all Mephits (Fire, Ice, Lightning, Magma, Air, Earth, Mist...etc.) now have unique colors, Giant Trolls (tinted brown) and Snow Trolls (tinted white) can now be easily distinguished from regular Trolls, Imps (tinted red) can now easily be distinguished from Quasits (tinted green), Greater Mummies are tinged with golden colors which makes them stand out from regular Mummies and Nishruu are now tinted red which makes it easier to distinguish them from the gray colored Hakeashars. Finally, this component also makes it easier to distinguish between Balors, Pit Fiends and Nabassu. It also makes Bone Fiends, Maurezhi and Hellcats stand out from Bone Golems, Ghouls and Panthers, respectively. For reference, the new creature colors match the appropriate descriptions and illustrations from the PnP source material as closely as possible. A screenshot gallery is available online.
Use Icewind Dale's Dimension Door animation
This component replaces the default animation for the Dimension Door and Shadow Door spells with the higher quality animation from Icewind Dale. The actual gameplay effects of those spells remain completely unchanged, only their visual appearance is altered. This tweak can be installed in three ways - the new animation can either play at fast speed (as in Icewind Dale) at slow speed (as in Baldur's Gate 2) or it can be only used for the actual spells (Dimension Door and Shadow Door) thereby retaining the old animation for other visual effects such as portal appearances and creature spawning sequences.
Change the appearance of Valygar's armor
This component changes the appearance of Valygar's personal armor to resemble Studded Leather rather than Chain Mail. The color palette of the armor will also be altered in order to more closely match its inventory icon. The item's statistics will remain untouched.
Change the appearance of the Robe of Vecna
This component will change the appearance of the Robe of Vecna and turn it into a fully hooded robe, making it look similar to the Robe of the Good/Evil/Neutral Archmagi. The item's statistics will remain untouched.
Give Shambling Mounds their proper soundset
This component assigns a unique soundset to Shambling Mounds rather than having them mimic the Earth Elemental soundset. Interestingly, the proper Shambling Mound soundset already existed in the unmodded game but it appears to have been completely unused (SHAMB01-SHAMB07.WAV).
Give Mariliths their Icewind Dale soundset
This component assigns a new soundset to all Mariliths in the game. This soundset is based on Yxunomei, the Marilith from Icewind Dale. For reference, Mariliths had no unique soundset in the unmodded game. They were using a mixture of generic snake sounds and ghostly female voices.
Distinctive creature coloring
This component will recolor certain creatures to more clearly differentiate them from each other. Most notably Flesh, Stone, Clay, Sand, Juggernaut, Iron and Adamantite Golems now all have distinctive appearances. Furthermore all Mephits (Fire, Ice, Lightning, Magma, Air, Earth, Mist...etc.) now have unique colors, Giant Trolls (tinted brown) and Snow Trolls (tinted white) can now be easily distinguished from regular Trolls, Imps (tinted red) can now easily be distinguished from Quasits (tinted green), Greater Mummies are tinged with golden colors which makes them stand out from regular Mummies and Nishruu are now tinted red which makes it easier to distinguish them from the gray colored Hakeashars. Finally, this component also makes it easier to distinguish between Balors, Pit Fiends and Nabassu. It also makes Bone Fiends, Maurezhi and Hellcats stand out from Bone Golems, Ghouls and Panthers, respectively. For reference, the new creature colors match the appropriate descriptions and illustrations from the PnP source material as closely as possible. A screenshot gallery is available online.
Miscellaneous tweaks
This group of tweaks consists of
miscellaneous changes which don't directly fit into any of the
previously mentioned categories.
Slightly expanded storage capacity for containers
This component slightly expands the storage capacity of all containers in the game (Gem Bags, Scroll Cases, Bags of Holding... etc.). It can be installed in two ways, by either using the recommended setting of 999 items per container or by entering a custom value for the storage capacity. The difference between this tweak and similar components from other mods is that containers with the recommended storage capacity of 999 (or below) shouldn't slow down the engine as much as the truly bottomless containers. Note that this tweak won't lower the capacity of containers which can already carry more than 999 items (such as Ammo Belts).
Expanded temple services
This component slightly expands the selection of curative spells which can be cast by NPC priests in temples. The spell selection is expanded as follows:
Slightly expanded storage capacity for containers
This component slightly expands the storage capacity of all containers in the game (Gem Bags, Scroll Cases, Bags of Holding... etc.). It can be installed in two ways, by either using the recommended setting of 999 items per container or by entering a custom value for the storage capacity. The difference between this tweak and similar components from other mods is that containers with the recommended storage capacity of 999 (or below) shouldn't slow down the engine as much as the truly bottomless containers. Note that this tweak won't lower the capacity of containers which can already carry more than 999 items (such as Ammo Belts).
Expanded temple services
This component slightly expands the selection of curative spells which can be cast by NPC priests in temples. The spell selection is expanded as follows:
- Any priest who currently has the Dispel Magic spell under his service tab gains the Cure Disease spell
- Any priest who currently has the Cure Moderate Wounds spell under his service tab gains the Neutralize Poison and Lesser Restoration spells
- Any priest who currently has the Cure Critical Wounds spell under his service tab gains the Mass Cure spell
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q:
Do I need the Throne of Bhaal expansion and the latest official patch
in order to play this mod?
A: Yes, the Throne of Bhaal expansion
as well as the latest official patch (version
26498) are both required in order to play this mod.
Q: Do I need one of the
unofficial fixpacks in order to play this mod?
A: It
is strongly recommended
to download and install the G3
BG2 Fixpack
before installing this mod.
Q: Can I use the Baldurdash
fixpack instead?
A: Possibly, but since Baldurdash
doesn't fix some
of the recently discovered bugs, certain issues may arise in that
combination.
Q:
I've found a bug in aTweaks. What should I do?
A: Visit the Bug Report thread on the aTweaks forum and follow the instructions provided there.
Q: I've found a
compatibility issue between aTweaks and another mod. What should I do?
A: Visit the Compatibility thread on
the aTweaks forum and follow the instructions provided there.
Q: I'd like to
translate aTweaks
into a different language. How
should I do that?
A: Visit the Translation thread on the aTweaks forum and follow the instructions provided there.
Q: I have a question
about aTweaks which is not covered by this FAQ.
What should I do?
A: Visit the aTweaks forum and post
your question there.
Note:
You don't need to
register on the Spellhold Studios forums in order to post
there.
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Version
History
v3.11 May 29, 2010
- Updated Russian, Italian, French and German translations
- Implemented new delivery mechanism for the "Scribe Scrolls" ability
- Updated to WeiDU 218
- Added the "Revised Bhaalpowers" component to the "Gameplay Tweaks" group
- Aec'Letec (the Nabassu in Ulgoth's Beard) will no longer grant multiple XP awards if he is slain multiple times during the battle with the cultists
- Balors will now use their Symbol, Death ability more efficiently against low level and summoned creatures
- All Glabrezu will now use their Plane Shift ability more efficiently
- Final update by aVENGER. Mod maintenance transferred to Wisp
- Added the "Make alignment detection spells more accurate" component to the "Gameplay Tweaks" group
- Added a new animation for the Plane Shift and Etherealness abilities
- Ethereal creatures no longer produce audible footsteps and are now unaffected by the Jester's song
- All Succubi now use their Etherealness and Teleport Without Error abilities more efficiently
- Kirinhale (the Succubus in Durlag's Tower) is now properly immune to +1 weapons and below
- Aec'Letec (the Nabassu in Ulgoth's Beard) and Kirinhale were previously missing a few PnP Tanar'ri traits on BG1Tutu. Furthermore, their race entries were set to "Human" rather than "Demonic". These issues have been rectified
- Constructs, Slimes, Elementals and Undead creatures are no longer susceptible to the stunning effect of the Cornugon's Barbed Whip
- Summoned Fiends now properly ignore their summoner if he has equipped the Staff of the Magi or the Sensate Amulet, both of which grant Protection from Evil
- Quasits will no longer use their "Fear" spell-like ability during the cutscene which transports Haer'Dalis and his troupe to the Planar Prison in order to avoid accidentally disrupting the sequence
- Slightly restructured the patching routine for the "Additional racial traits for Dwarves and Gnomes" components
- The Scribe Scrolls ability has been slightly revised. Inscribing a scroll now removes one instance of the spell in question from the caster's memory (i.e. just like casting the spell regularly would)
- Updated the Italian translation
- Updated forum and homepage links
- Fixed
a small issue which previously prevented the "Slightly expanded storage
capacity for containers" component from properly affecting certain gem bags and scroll cases
- The "Restore the Dispel Magic vulnerability to Nishruu and Hakeashars" component now allows Nishruu and Hakeashars summoned by opponents to grant XP when slain
- Hellcats are now affected by the "PnP Fiends" and "Distinctive creature coloring" components
- Updated the French and German translations
- Updated the Russian translation
- A more robust patching method for spells, items and creatures is now being used. Among other things, this should speed up the installation process and ensure greater compatibility on megamod installs
- Depreciated ALLOW_MISSING in favor of modern coding techniques
- Minor code optimizations
- The "Revised Fiend summoning" component will now patch all Fiend summoning spells in a more robust manner which will prevent them from becoming corrupted in case some other mod had given those spells additional extended headers beforehand
- The Abishai now uses the correct weapon
- The Maurezhi's Paralytic Touch ability will no longer affect Undead, Constructs, Slimes, Fiends, Trolls and Dragons
- Added the "PnP Fiends", "Revised Fiend summoning" and "Allow Mages to scribe memorized spells onto scrolls" components to the "PnP Tweaks" group
- Added the "Give Mariliths their Icewind Dale soundset" component to the "Cosmetic Tweaks" group
- Added a third option to the "Use Icewind Dale's Dimension Door animation" component. This subcomponent uses the new animation only for the actual spells (Dimension Door and Shadow Door) and retains the old animation for other visual effects such as portal appearances and creature spawning sequences.
- Balors, Nabassu, Pit Fiends, Bone Fiends and Maurezhi are now handled by the "Distinctive creature coloring" component
- Added two options to the "Use Icewind Dale's Dimension Door animation" component. These subcomponents allow the player to choose the speed at which the animation will play.
- Resolved a minor compatibility issue with Spell Revisions which previously caused Hakeashars to die immediately after being summoned
- New installer logo added
- The Flesh Golem encountered during Xzar's quest (added by Unfinished Business and SimDing0's Quest Pack) is now properly handled by the "Distinctive creature coloring" component
- Updated the Spanish translation
- The "Beta Core Fixes" component of the G3 BG2 Fixpack would previously prevent the "Restore the Dispel Magic vulnerability to Nishruu and Hakeashars" component of aTweaks from working properly. This issue has been rectified
- Iron Golems recolored by the "Distinctive creature coloring" component are now more clearly visible in dark areas. Furthermore, Imps, Quasits and Snow Trolls are now also recolored by this component
- Updated the Italian, German, French, Spanish and Russian translations
- Added the "Rangers' Animal Empathy improves with experience" component to the "PnP tweaks" group
- Added the "Restore the Dispel Magic vulnerability to Nishruu and Hakeashars" component to the "Gameplay Tweaks" group
- Added the "Distinctive creature coloring" component to the "Cosmetic Tweaks" group
- The "Additional racial traits for Gnomes" component will now properly affect Bugbears introduced by the Classic Adventures mod
- The "Restore innate disease immunity to Paladins" component will now properly affect the custom Paladin kits introduced by the Classic Adventures and Oversight mods (Paladin of Sune and Holy Liberator)
- The "Bard songs break invisibility" component will now properly affect the songs of the custom Bard kits introduced by the Classic Adventures and Song and Silence mods (Harper of Twilight, Gypsy and Dirgesinger)
- Updated the German translation (courtesy of Leomar)
- The "Bard songs break invisibility" component will now properly affect Lingering Songs which are introduced by the Rogue Rebalancing mod
- The "Prevent Mislead clones from singing Bard songs" component of aTweaks now contains a redundancy check which triggers if the "Arcane Spells" component of the Spell Revisions mod is detected
- Restructured the tp2 to use ALLOW_MISSING in conjunction with dedicated macros in order to ensure better compatibility checks
- aTweaks (including all code and documentation) is now licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License
- Added a redundancy check to the "Restore innate disease immunity to Paladins" component in order to improve compatibility with the "Restored Paladin Abilities" component of Konalan's Tweaks
- The "Give Shambling Mounds their proper soundset" component will now also affect shamblers added by the Geomantic Sorcerer mod
- Fixed a small issue with the descriptions of the spells added by the "Expanded temple services" component
- Updated the French, Spanish, German and Italian translations
- Minor code optimizations
- The "Restore innate disease immunity to Paladins", "Additional racial traits for Dwarves" and "Additional racial traits for Gnomes" components have all been added to the "PnP tweaks" group
- Updated the French and Italian translations
- The "Expanded temple services" component will now properly handle mis-indexed temple stores introduced by some older mods (special thanks to Mike1072 and devSin)
- Added the Italian translation (courtesy of Andrea C.)
- Added the Russian translation (courtesy of Alina and the Aerie.ru team)
- Updated the German translation
- The "Magical arrows and bolts deal bonus damage equal to their enchantment level" component has been added to the "PnP tweaks" group
- The "Prevent Mislead clones from singing Bard songs" component has been added to the "Gameplay tweaks" group
- The "Prevent Project Image and Simulacrum clones from using quickslot items" component has been added to the "Gameplay tweaks" group
- The "Bard songs break invisibility" component has been added to the "Gameplay tweaks" group
- The "Simple Thief script" component has been added to the "Gameplay tweaks" group
- The "Expanded temple services" component has been added to the "Miscellaneous tweaks" group
- The "Simple Bard script" component now also includes an additional hotkey which allows Bards to switch between singing the battlesong and engaging in combat
- Improved compatibility with the "Item Revisions" and "Spell Revisions" mods
- The "Make druidic shapeshifting uninterruptable" and "Simple Bard script" components have been added to the "Gameplay tweaks" group
- The "Instant casting for warrior innates" component will now also apply to the Paladin's and Monk's Lay On Hands abilities
- The "Allow Breach to take down Stoneskin effects applied by items" component will now take into account other mods which change the Stoneskin effect of the Gargoyle Boots (i.e. Item Revisions)
- The "Slightly
expanded storage capacity for containers" component has been
moved into the
"Miscellaneous tweaks" group
- Added the French, Spanish and German translations
- First public release
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Credits
- aVENGER
The creators of the Baldur's Gate series:
Tools Used in the creation of this mod:
- WeiDU by Westley Weimer and the bigg
- Near Infinity by Jon Olav Hauglid
- DLTCEP by my namesake Avenger
- IESDP maintained by igi
- BAM Workshop by Glenn Flansburg
- Infinity Explorer by Dmitry Jemerov and bigmoshi
- SConrad and K'aeloree of Spellhold Studios for providing a forum and hosting for all my mods
- Kevin Dorner for creating the Baldurdash BG2 Fixpacks and in doing so inspiring me to start modding the game myself
- CamDawg and the G3 BG2 Fixpack team for letting me borrow some of their code
- Nythrun for letting me use her file validity checker and re-indexer macros
- Idobek, Littiz, CamDawg, Nythrun, devSin, the bigg, Ascension64, cmorgan and pro5 for clarifying various intricacies of WeiDU coding
- Erephine for letting me use 1PP's Attachable Wings in this mod
- Everyone else from the Black
Isle Studious, Interplay,
Bioware, Spellhold
Studios, Gibberlings Three, Pocket
Plane
Group, Black Wyrm Lair and the other
Infinity Engine gaming and modding communities who offered their help
and
support
- French Translation: Galathée, Mornagest and Graoumf (of the d'Oghmatiques)
- Spanish Translation: Immortality (of Clan DLAN)
- German Translation: Cronox and Leomar
- Italian Translation: Andrea C., ilot, Stoneangel
- Russian Translation: Alina, Prowler, Hawkmoon, Nikzy and the Aerie.ru team
- Toxeus, Shaitan, Daulmakan, yarpen, Lollorian and Quester
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Legal Notice:
BACK TO TOP- This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.