Is the ENTIRETY of TSL Achilles Game Balance mod compatible with TSLRCM?

[Rassius 10]

So I remember WAY back in the day I played this game loved it then probably got just as frustrated with it as a bunch of others when I realized it was like half done *sigh*. Now, of course, it's gotten it's proper revival with the TSLRCM.

 

One of the few very specific annoyances with the game that I distinctly remember is how much hype good old Darth Nihilius got and how much of an absolute joke he was to cut in half with my lightsaber (i'm talking grab popcorn and watch your Jedi auto attack him to death on the "Difficult" setting easy). Needless to say WAY to easy.

 

So lo and behold I find TSL Achilles Game Balance mod listed in the compatabilities thread and i'm wondering if the entire thing is compatible (only the autobalance.2da is listed).

 

From the readme itself:

 

PART II: File Contents (prt2)

 

This modification pack contains:

 

Autobalance.2da ? This file is responsible for all game tweaks

 

a_atrend2.ncs ? script edited to remove n_darthtraya001.utc file conflict (hex edited to reference n_darthatris001.utc

and/or n_darthatris002.utc)

 

a_atrend3.ncs ? script edited to remove n_darthtraya001.utc file conflict (hex edited to reference n_darthatris001.utc

and/or n_darthatris002.utc)

 

a_kreatris.ncs ? script edited to remove n_darthtraya001.utc file conflict (hex edited to reference n_darthatris001.utc

and/or n_darthatris002.utc)

 

a_sisend.ncs ? script edited to remove n_darthtraya001.utc file conflict (hex edited to reference n_darthatris001.utc

and/or n_darthatris002.utc)

 

n_darthatris001.utc ? Renamed n_darthtraya001.utc file in order to avoid conflict.

 

n_darthatris002.utc ? Renamed n_darthtraya002.utc file in order to avoid conflict.

 

n_darthnililu001.utc ? Modded Darth Nihilus .utc. file.*

 

n_darthsion002.utc ? Modded Darth Sion .utc. file.*

 

n_darthtraya001.utc ? Modded Darth Traya .utc. file.*

 

Would I lose restored cutscenes? Would the game simply not work? Would "Traya" not give me an uber (see: restored) ending? Or does this mod look perfectly fine to load up with TSLRCM?

 

Anyways a big shout out to Stoney for making what is i'm sure an absolutely ownage mod. Thanks all.

[evil q 16]

No, but you should be OK just using the autobalance.2da file only.

[Rassius 10]

Thanks for the quick reply.

 

So, judging by the readme the autobalance.2da file is more of a global modifier to make fights harder as it tweaks general difficulty settings in game. I think the more pertinent part of the mod i'd like to preserve are the boss fights. Having Visas scream "ZOMG WE GONNA DIE" as you proceed to lay into Nihilus makes things a tad immersion breaking not to mention just a minor bit of a let down . Though I guess Visas IS blind.

 

Q: What have you done for boss fights?

A: I really didn?t care for the way that OE made ?the Darths?. Instead of making them ?real characters?, they just

gave them an insane number of attribute points and some sick default saving throws. What I did was take the time

to build each Darth out as if they were a party member (starting with a certain number of attribute points, gaining

force powers at each level, etc). I designed Darth Nihilus to be a level 50 Sith Assassin, Darth Traya as a level

40 Sith Lord, and Darth Sion as level 30 Sith Marauder. Of course some tweaking was required to make the fights

beatable, but in my opinion, they are significantly more challenging than they were before.

 

Is it at all possible to keep the epicness of the boss fights (I assume the other modifications are those to the boss fights)? Or am I just SOL?

[Schutta 10]

There are some other difficulty mods changing the end bosses.

I have the Enhanced Sith Lords mod and Improved Atris mod, but I cannot find any link to them on Filefront now. Also, there is a Darth Nihilus Improved mod on Filefront, as well as a Stronger Malachor Bosses mod.

If you look around, maybe you can find something that works for you.

[Rassius 10]

Okay did some checking around for *other* difficulty mods (boss or otherwise) and didn't find all that much I liked. I couldn't find your Enhanced Sith Lords or Improved Atris mods (though I did find a thread requesting it lol) and both Stronger Malachor Bosses mod and Darth Nihilus Improved mod seem to modify utc files which is bad maybe... I think? No?

 

Okay so maybe I need to ask some better questions here.

 

IF I happen to just load it up (yes the whole mod) what incompatibilities will it cause exactly? Would it be BIG ones? Or do I just miss the hot coffee scene of Visas stripping in front of the camera (seriously who would care about that bring on the soul eater known as Darth Nihilus imo)?

 

Second, does modifying these particular Darth X utc files cause incompatabilities (Note: I know next to nothing about the modding of TSL)?

 

Lastly, aside from Enhanced Sith Lords and Improved Atris does anyone know of compatible boss difficulty mods (i've found more then one general difficulty mods)?

[Schutta 10]

I played TSLRCM with Achilles balance mod, so I guess utc files changing Sion and Nihilus

are OK. The basic problem is the handmaiden sister file a_sisend.ncs, which I deleted from the Override directory (otherwise you can get a crash or something). Some of the fights got irritatingly difficult at the end, so I decided to try some different enhancement mods, but maybe the problem was just my choice of equipment or prestige class. In any case, I assume most utc character files are not a problem, although I do not know the effect of the n_darthsion002.utc file on the Atton-Sion fight you get when light-sided (maybe none--I found Sion easy enough for Atton but really difficult for the Exile). I have not actually played through with these other mods yet, so I don't know how they compare.

 

Edit: I forgot to add that I used VP's Trayus mod which

(I guess) increases difficulty on Malachor, as well as Achilles autobalance.2da

Edited August 15, 2010 by Schutta

[Rassius 10]

I played TSLRCM with Achilles balance mod, so I guess utc files changing Sion and Nihilus

are OK. The basic problem is the handmaiden sister file a_sisend.ncs, which I deleted from the Override directory (otherwise you can get a crash or something). Some of the fights got irritatingly difficult at the end, so I decided to try some different enhancement mods, but maybe the problem was just my choice of equipment or prestige class. In any case, I assume most utc character files are not a problem, although I do not know the effect of the n_darthsion002.utc file on the Atton-Sion fight you get when light-sided (maybe none--I found Sion easy enough for Atton but really difficult for the Exile). I have not actually played through with these other mods yet, so I don't know how they compare.

 

If the only thing your ran into while running the mod (aside from the a_sisend.ncs file) was that the difficulty might have been too much then I can certainly breath a lot easier. Although i'll probably have to keep an eye on those shifty .ncs files just in case and maybe the .utc file for Trayus. But if the only thing I really have to worry about is the game getting too hard it'll never actually happen.

 

I'm one of those crazy masochists that decided it would be "fun" to install a 2 dragon + drakes fight into Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal while also deciding the last battle wasn't hard enough on Insane difficulty as well (it wasn't). The last fight became one of my own party members + the last boss of the second game + a miniboss from it + 2 monsters that fired arrows that one shot party members. The second part of the last boss was 3 LARGE groups of high level demons and the very last part had you facing at least 5 bosses from Throne of Bhaal + the last boss from the original Baldur's Gate + the very last actual boss of the series. If this sounds nuts - it is. I'm fairly certain it's unbeatable at a difficulty setting of "normal" or above (and I did days worth of reloads).

 

Anyways thanks to all for their responses. If anyone else knows any potential consequences or whatever i'm all ears.. or eyes? Until then I guess i'm going to be "beta testing" the compatibility of this thing.

[e-varmint 10]

I've never played the Achilles mod, but the "insane" level of Beancounter's Hardcore mod sure made things difficult, and early too. I had to equip Atton and Mira with special weaponry just to make out of a certain scene. I also had to give them both stealth, and play Atton as a Jedi. It was STILL the most fun I've had in TSL in a while. Took me over 10 "sneak-attack-and-run-like-hell" iterations to make to the NEXT group of near-immortal killers!