Baldur's Gate & Baldur's Gate II Mod Thread

[Melcar]

The EE version introduced a new pathfinding feature: party members stick inside each other. Something that should be a BG3 feature

It simulates them humping each other.

 

[ds]

Infinite pathfinding nodes won't change the fact that the game considers one of your characters standing in a narrow corridor to be blocking the path of your other characters even when moving them together, sending some of your party on a wild detour. It also won't prevent characters from getting temporarily stuck when walking past other characters, which can already happen in BG1 without EE.

 

[Glop_dweller]

This is true; so what?

The PCs can exist separately anywhere on the map, or on
—different— maps; hence it scans paths for each character individually. Presumably the same system is used in combat as well.

The game was designed for early Pentiums that couldn't play an MP3 in real time. It does what it does. Higher number of pathfinding nodes ultimately solves the (otherwise unsolvable) problem, and at little cost.

 

[Ryzer]

Infinite pathfinding nodes won't change the fact that the game considers one of your characters standing in a narrow corridor to be blocking the path of your other characters even when moving them together, sending some of your party on a wild detour. It also won't prevent characters from getting temporarily stuck when walking past other characters, which can already happen in BG1 without EE.

This is why I can't stand a 6-man party in BG, it turns into chaos 90% of the time, and sometimes some characters can be wiped out stupidly, whereas a 2-3-4 man party has no issue. I had more fun with soloing personally because everything happens as intended.

 

[Melcar]

4 characters is really all you need to cover the bases. 6 is fine the first few times if you want to get the most out of NPC interactions and content, but subsequent runs can (and should) be done with 3-4 size parties. Less headaches.

 

[Glop_dweller]

Myself, I tend to play using the multiplayer option, playing four custom characters myself, and leaving room for two NPCs. I will sometimes be playing on two or more maps (interior) at once—especially with thieves burgling (as thieves will do), since it won't do to have a lawful paladin tagging along on their midnight maladventures; nor to have lawful characters knowingly accept stolen goods, which would be against their ethics (and so being an action out of character).

---

The problem I have with Infinity's pathing system is with Icewind Dale 2. where enemies in combat who lose sight of a party member on one side of a map will form a twisting conga-line directly to the rest of the party (even when completely obscured) hidden away on the far side of the map; it's absurd.

 

[Jarpie]

I'm thinking of replaying BG2, the original one of course, any mods you guys would recommend? I was thinking just Fixpack, some tweaks from TweakAnthology and SCS...but what components of SCS should I use?

 

[Melcar]

Fixpack and the AI components of SCS. Ascension if you plan to do ToB.

 

[Jarpie]

Fixpack and the AI components of SCS. Ascension if you plan to do ToB.

I thought SCS and Ascension weren't recommended to be used together?

 

[Average Manatee]

SCS accommodates Ascension and it's arguably the intended way to play given the amount of extra stuff that SCS does with it.

Fair warning though that even SCS components that say they make things "smarter" often give new abilities or otherwise buff enemies. I would recommend installing most/all of SCS (it is decently well balanced after all), but making sure to manually set the in-game SCS AI difficulty settings to basic or improved at the highest unless you're looking for a significantly challenging and non-vanilla like experience. Past that all casters start spawning with 30 buffs and you need to look up a flowchart of what dispel abilities to use in what orders.

 

[Melcar]

Fixpack and the AI components of SCS. Ascension if you plan to do ToB.

I thought SCS and Ascension weren't recommended to be used together?

Ascension battles can be hard and SCS would only make it worse, but the latest SCS lets you fine tune difficulty settings for various components. Then again, I would rather install SCS AI enhancements over Ascension.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

I never understood all the whining about pathfinding. Any problems vanished with BG2 once characters could push eachother. I rarely click across map, but even in Ulcaster when I send people to the exits they go directly where they are supposed to. I don't even mess with node count.

 

[Krivol]

I never understood all the whining about pathfinding. Any problems vanished with BG2 once characters could push eachother. I rarely click across map, but even in Ulcaster when I send people to the exits they go directly where they are supposed to. I don't even mess with node count.

When there is a bridge on the map and you need to get past it and there are still unexplored areas, you risk that your squishy mage will take a detour and will be killed by a fucking kobold with a bow.

EE adds a new type of pathfinding problem where your heroes are stuck inside of each other. It's not that common, especially in BG2, but is still annoying, and sometimes you click on the other side of the map and go make some tea, and when you are back, you are angry because some shitheads are fucking in the middle of the map and not progressing to the border.

 

[Average Manatee]

I never understood all the whining about pathfinding. Any problems vanished with BG2 once characters could push eachother. I rarely click across map, but even in Ulcaster when I send people to the exits they go directly where they are supposed to. I don't even mess with node count.

I don't understand it either. It's like BG1 is the one RTS game in the 90s where people expect to be able to click across the map and groups of characters always take the best/safest (depending on what the person is complaining about) route. People don't express the same disdain for games like Starcraft 1's pathfinding despite it being similarly troublesome and it being a true RTS rather than a pausable RTS. Everyone who has played any other RTS games has long ago developed the understanding that short orders are what you give unless the path is completely unobstructed.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

and sometimes you click on the other side of the map and go make some tea, and when you are back, you are angry because some shitheads are fucking in the middle of the map and not progressing to the border.

I usually just watch the smartest one reach the destination and then CTRL+J the rest of the party to him.