General Mod Information

[Lisnpuppy]

Hey everyone.

 

I am reluctant to show my inexperience in this but to my shame I never played NWN2 (or 1) until I got it this last Christmas on Steam. Now I have some mods in the game that work but really I think they do so more to luck than anything else.

 

I honestly find the different kinds of mods and where they are installed confusing. I did use some links I stumbled upon (probably at the Vault) but even then I found it to be confusing.

 

Would anyone care to take up the task of providing a thread better explanations and the most updated links on the different types of mods, what they do and where they all go? I think it would be nice to have this (maybe even in the Nexus Wiki if Dark0ne or whoever will add a NWN Section) for those that are coming back after a long while or those like me, that wish to experience this wonderful game.

 

Thanks very much to whomever may be helpful in this!! :biggrin:

[JEMcKellar]

Here's the sticky from the BioWare NWN2 forums:

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/172/index/5688433

 

That should be enough to get you started.

 

Installing modules and haks can be a little tricky, but bascially you put each file in the appropriate category in your NWN2 installation. .mod files go in the module folder, .hak files in the hak folder. Some files go in the override folder, but the mod builder should make that clear. NWN2 is also a little confusing in that there are two NWN2 directories, the install directory on your hard drive, and then a player directory under your user name (look for your desktop/libraries/documents folder to find in Win7). Either place works, though the general rule of thumb is to keep your main install pristine, and put all your mods in your user directory. Some folks even rig up multiple user directories, to switch between different mod setups.

[Lisnpuppy]

Thank you for that start....hopefully this will help clear some things up for me. Kudos for you!

[thestoryteller01]

I admit it's a little confusing because for Oblivion everything is called a "mod".

 

In NWN2 only adventures count as "modules" and adventures are generally stand-alone with no connection to the main campain whatsoever. So in NWN2 every "module" would be called a "total conversion" in the sense of Oblivion, because everything literally has to be made from scratch. Therefore a lot of modding for NWN2 is creating "prefabs"- for characters, monsters, exterior and interior areas which "adventure-module" builders import into their project. I have not created a single module yet but created 500+ creature prefabs and there are a lot of modders like myself who specialize in a certain area of prefabs.

 

Modding the Vanilla NWN2 campaigns is done with "haks" that mostly change textures, meshes and in-game stats/effects. Haks to make companions look better are of course very popular as well as haks to enhance conversations (romance or evil options). Unlike in Oblivion, you can't create mods that others simply install to have new areas, NPCS, quests etc. in their Vanilla campaigns.

 

But the biggest difference is, that you can actually get your own MMO, called "Permanent Worlds" in NWN2 (usually for a max of 64 users) online - you need to provide your own servers of course.

 

And NWN1 has even more of all the above. Even a handful of popular PW "modules" have been provided for download by the creators as gigantic prefabs so with a little patience and dedication a small group and bring their very own NWN1 MMO online within 3-6 months.

Edited April 19, 2012 by thestoryteller01

[Tchos]

Also, let me add that I believe they're called "modules" because the older pen & paper D&D versions put out adventure packs that were called "modules" because they were short storylines that you could fit modularly into a longer campaign you were running with a group.

 

In fact, many players of NWN/NWN2 seem to use them similarly, judging from comments I've seen. Since you can import and export your character from one module to another (or a whole party of characters in SoZ modules, or using Kaldor Silverwand's Deck of Trumps), you can select modules of specific suggested level, and play with the same character/party through a series of modules, choosing modules of higher level rating as you level up. This is creating your own campaign. In that way, it differs from a total conversion since you have continuity with your characters, but it would be up to you to choose modules that have similar world settings.

Edited April 19, 2012 by Tchos

[thestoryteller01]

You're right @Tchos, it's totally how we played D&D back in the 80ies. :happy:

 

Another difference to Oblivion mods/TCs is, that its quite common for NWN2 modules to be created for specific character classes. Afair there are popular module series for Mages, Thiefs and Barbarians (and probably a lot more). Some modules even have fixed characters, I know of at least one NWN1 module where you don't even have a choice of gender, you have to play a young noble women who is forced to become a thief PERIOD and its immensly popular, something I am not so sure that it would work in an Oblivion TC.

Edited April 19, 2012 by thestoryteller01

[Deleted4164833User]

Unlike in Oblivion, you can't create mods that others simply install to have new areas, NPCS, quests etc. in their Vanilla campaigns.

 

Sure you can, though it can be a bit tricky and it isn't commonly done. You can add additional NPC's, conversations, scripts, blueprints, etc. via the override folder or by adding them into the campaign folder. You can add additional areas by including them in a module and adding that module to the campaign. The tricky bit is that you cannot alter the existing modules except through script, so if an area lacks an on entry script, for example, it makes it difficult to alter objects in that area very much. In the OC Makeover I altered many things, and in the MotB Makeover I added additional areas, NPC's, quests, and more.

 

Regards

[thestoryteller01]

Sure you can, though it can be a bit tricky and it isn't commonly done. You can add additional NPC's, conversations, scripts, blueprints, etc. via the override folder or by adding them into the campaign folder. You can add additional areas by including them in a module and adding that module to the campaign. The tricky bit is that you cannot alter the existing modules except through script, so if an area lacks an on entry script, for example, it makes it difficult to alter objects in that area very much. In the OC Makeover I altered many things, and in the MotB Makeover I added additional areas, NPC's, quests, and more.

 

Wow - I totally missed this. My only excuse is, that I never cared to replay the official campaigns.

 

Maybe it's time for that ;)

[Deleted4164833User]

I never wanted to replay it either. That was my primary motivation for developing the Makeover - to make the OC something I would want to replay.

 

Regards

[Morbannon]

I found that experimenting with all of the various mod for NWN2 was part of the fun - just surfing the Vault and downloading what sounded cool. Sure there were some let downs, but organising all of the Mods in the override in separate folders at first then employing some of the Combined Haks in my projects, Insofar as modding the OCs the Override was the best place to determine which Mods could go together without conflicts and again later learning to combine the best ones that used 2da's for their functioning.