Kajana

I am reletively new to modding and computer gaming. I have played DAO since 09 on the 360 and recently (August 2012) got the game on PC and been happily modding ever since. Being an old frequenter of the DA wiki and its forums, I posted a similar topic a couple months ago, hoping for suggestions and a good debate of which I could take part in. I was immeditaly shut down by a modderator who said that this topic had been discussed and pointed me to an old forum. Disappointed at the lack of debate, I saved the post and moved on. I recently looked at the old post and found that the last entry was January of 2011. So apparently no good mods have come out since that time and/or no one who joined the nexus after such date has anything to say upon the matter, so there is no need to waste the valuable space for such a discussion. I don't think that is true. Let's try again. And perhaps there is no interest in such a topic but I would like to find out. If anyone would like to share their favorite mods, the ones they won't play the game without and (if inclined) why, I for one would like to hear it. However let us limit ourselves to either mods after January 2011 or posters who joined after such date and see if that pleases the nexus. And if no one posts, oh well, at least I tried. Atrast nal tunsha.

Trying to install Ancient Blood Magic: http://dragonage.nexusmods.com/mods/3436 and in the descriptions/comments the author says "Main file into the override folder and the readme copy paste into xml folder" I have searched the override and game files for an xml folder and have found several files with xml in them, but no folder. So not sure what to do. The readme is not for the talents themselves but for the descriptions of the talents to show up in game. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I looked and didn't see anything else about this and hope this is the right place to put this, but I noticed an issue with downloading from the Dragon Age site within the last month or so. Most of the time the pop up box that tells you to wait that the file you are trying to download in being prepared, doesn't go away. It stays even past the download and you cannot close it. If you try the window acts like you hit the 'back' button and the pop-up is still there. Only way to get rid of it is to navigate away from the site or close the window. Speaking of which when that doesn't happen after downloading a file the tab/window, or even explorer will close. It is annoying when a mod has a couple parts or an update you need to download, or even if you want to check instructions. Thought it might be a tempory problem but seems pretty consistent. Thanks.

Duncan's missing sword is IA. There is a fix (dowload) linked on the description page of the mod.

Wanted to say that I just encounted this problem. I've had DAO ultimate edition downloaded from Gamestop since August, been happily modding ever since. I installed the toolset and without even opening it got this same error on the game. No idea why, but there it is. Tried the fix Thandal listed credited to Dateranoth on BSN and it worked perfectly! Thank you very much, Thandal for finding and posting it. Thank you ever so much, Dateranoth for figuring it out. And Thank you to LemmingoftheGDA for being generally helpful. Maker smile upon you.

I'm a reformed x-boxer too and I will never go back! (Love the cartoon BTW ;) It really is pretty easy, once you learn the basics. Do read the article it is a great place to start and then a couple suggestions that helped me. Have a seperate folder (in my docs is good) where you download everything and give each download or mod its own folder. Some come with readme that you want to make sure stay with the main file, others have two and three parts or updates that you want to keep together and then you can label the folders by name, sometimes you get a modder that names his file "main" or "download" or "update" and then later you have no idea what it is. Also make sure to carefully read not only any readme that come with the mod but the description pages, most will give you pretty clear instructions on how to install, might even want to put a copy of it in the folder for easy reference. Lastly, only do one download one mod at a time, download it, unzip it, install it, and then go to next. You think that you will remember the install instructions, but don't risk it. Especially at first, trust me, one at a time. Good luck and enjoy, and believe me when I say it is worth the effort ;)

I don't know if it works with that origin but for some of them (human noble I know for sure) if a temporary companion dies during the origin you get all their stuff when you get to Ostagar. Like how after the joining you get all of Jory's and Daveth's gear. So you could try that and see what happens. Good Luck.

Agreed. It had to be something with emotional depth to it, something that had good and bad on both sides, some moral greyness. If it was something easy like doing the hokey pokey that didn't cost or mean anything what would be the point. Also, any diliema in fiction is a false dicotomy or a fake choice, it is construed by the author as such. Of course he could make up a different answer, he wrote it. But he didn't because it raises questions, it makes you think about the consequences. If you want a simple (and boring) happily ever after, read a fairy tale. Now that I think about it very few of those have happy endings and the ones that do make the characters go through hell first. Go watch a Disney movie, or a romantic comedy. But life usually isn't that easy. This choice is why I think that the female warden in love with Alistair is the most interesting story in DA. I don't think that there is anything in the male version that compares to it. If you decide to, you have to convince your lover to have sex with a woman he hates, if you don't one of you dies. So many emotions there. I still remember the first time I played it and walking down that hall thinking "how in the Maker's name am I going to convince him to do this?" That's good writing. For me the choice was fairly easy in that it is one night in exchange for the thousands after that. And you can say it is a selfish choice in that you don't know what will happen with the child, and it is, but that is what makes it interesting. A hero that isn't perfect, what will they think of next? And if you would rather have him all yours and dead... well, that is your choice.... the tiger instead of the lady, right? And before all the male wardens out there say anything... I think the male warden in love with Morrigan is the most tragic story. (Untill Witch Hunt that is) And while a male in love with Leliana or Zeveran is technically betraying them, given their histories, I don't think they would mind if it means you live. And they never have to know about it. As Rennn said, a touching and good story is about sacrifice and I think this is a good one. I liked the whole ritual idea, I thought it fit right in with the story and tone and realism of it all. You hear the whole game about how GW are needed to end the blight but don't know why, then find out you are going to die. The ritual itself is a bit of a deax au machina (I know I didn't spell that right but you know what I mean) at least they made it costly, a weighty emotional decision.

1. Best advice is to read the descriptions and the readme's that come with the files, follow instructions to letter and you shouldn't have any problems. 2. As far as dialogue fixes go, MRP, Dialogue Tweaks (DT) and Zeveran Dialoge Fixes (ZDF) cover most everything and are compatible with each other. MRP and ZDF use the same files while to use them with DT just make sure you get the compatible versions of each. Quinn's I don't think is available anymore and even if it is, it hasn't been updated in years. Just about all its fixes are in the other three. 4. This mod changes the health bar and mana/stamina bars to make them easier to see for people who are colorblind. http://dragonage.nexusmods.com/mods/890 Hope that helps.

I would really like to see a couple of the rogue armors from DA2, more specifically from the DLC for DA2, imported into DAO. One bad thing about DAO is how little variety there is in armors, especially for rogues. If someone would please, I would like to see the Black Fox Jerkin from rogue pack 1 (I know there is a mod but it only does the male version), the Messenger armor from MoA and the Arms of River Dane from Rogue pack 2, for both males and femals and all races or at least human and elf. I would be very grateful. Thanks.

Not looking for new eye colors or skin colors or tatoos or eyelashes or eyebrows but some new eyeshadow and lipstick colors. I have seen some nice shiny lipsticks and such but not sure if you can only get those with the toolset or if there is anyway to use them in the chargen. Thanks.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. That is the Teagan conversation I was looking for. Didn't do the right combination of dialogue choices. Don't have to be dwarf commoner for 360, but that may be difference in games. I know a few differences like with Owen in the pc you can talk to him about the rumor that Isolde was having an affair with the tutor and may have poisoned Eamon. PC version is much better even without mods and with no comparison. Thanks again.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Already downloaded! I haven't played the vanilla game in so long I didn't remember if Morrigan's staff originally did spirit damage or not, but now that you mentioned it I think it was cold damage. I have IA which some people have issues with but I love and it also adds spirit damage to templar swords and maybe more, but they never had any visual effect. I recently downloaded a couple new area/quest mods which I think do add spirit damage staffs. I had resigned myself to uninstalling those new area mods because of the effect (I hate all personal/visual/spell/talent/poision/weapon/etc effects. At best silly/annoying at worst they slow the game.) But now I can play them! Thank you again. Ten minutes, deal! In fact, I'll throw in twenty more to bring it to the thirty minutes I spent going through my addin and override folders trying to find the effect and then blankly staring at the screen when I realised I couldn't find it and didn't even know what to look for!

I started a new playthough and now swords and staffs that do spirit damage (Morrigan's staff in particular) have this blue flame effect. They didn't before, I have every no personal, no visual, no effect type mod I can find and as far as I know this isn't part of the game so it must be modded in. But I've been through all my mods and I have no idea what is causing this. Also, would I need to start a whole new game to see if what I removed from override or dlc or whatever worked? Or could I just start from before I entered the area? I'm relatively new to mods, so I really don't know the type of file to look for. If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate it.

I orginally played DAO about a dozen times on the 360. Got the pc version a few months ago and have been happily modding away. However, there are conversations I remember having in the console version that I can't seem to find in the pc version. Don't know if bugged, or modded away or not there (as there are conversations in pc that aren't in console) or (probably) I forget how to get to them. So if anyone knows where they are or why they aren't there I would like to know. Orzamar Shaper of Memories: If you ask about the history of Orzamar, the shaper will tell you about the brothers that founded the city. Eldest became king, etc. Arl Eamon: After you wake up Eamon, you could talk to him about the fact that Alistair should be staying at Redcliffe and not traveling with you, this is before you go to Denerim for Landsmeet. Redcliffe Tavern: There was an option where you could convince Lloyd to give the militia free ale. Teagan: If female, when you talk to him in Chantry before night attack you can ask him about himself. If you do, you got a different comment right before he goes to castle with Isole. Comment starts "Brave and beautiful..." Sten: at some point there was an option to talk to him about children.

I'd be willing to test the mod, always interested in anything to make the combat more realistic. I have your smarter party for DAO and DAA, like it quite a bit. Don't have and haven't played DA2 for pc, not planning on getting it (or actually ever playing it again), so I have no frame of reference for a DAO version, which is good and bad. Let me know what you decide to do.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I figured it might be something like that but I've got so many mods I had no idea where to start. I do have the Advanced Quickbar and Advanced Tactics but never had this problem before. I tried disabling them and force loading after the battle but that didn't help. I think that I might have to do that before I arrive there the first time. I will try disabling Quickbar and going through it again (I can't do with Tactics :) Thanks again for the info.

I have been hoping that someone would do this and I know it is a huge undertalking. Good Luck! and will eagerly wait on the results. I agree on reading the exact lines used in the game and while it would be nice to have different versions for each line based on the voice selections if you are wanting to do only one voice set (at least to start) I would think staying close to a neutral voice (I can't think of a better way to say it) like the 'wise' voice set. I have never heard the voice work of the female Shepard but the male voice is pretty flat IMO. By neutral I don't mean flat I would like voice inflection appropriate to each line (some lines are obviously sarcastic, sweet, cocky, diplomatic, harsh, etc). With neutral lines staying neutral I think that would work for the most people and would be somewhat customiseable based on the dialogue choices. (A 'sweet' character would obviously say more of the 'sweet' lines, a 'sarcastic' one..., a 'cocky' one, etc.) I know I didn't say that very well at all but I hope you get the idea ;)

After battle in Redcliffe the chantry board, blackstone box and the doomsayer don't appear. Murdock and Tomas are there. I went into and out of the chantry, tavern and Owen's shop right after the battle, after leaving the castle, after curing Connor (got mages help for that) and after Honnleath. Still no board. I have this vague memory of reading about a similar problem but don't remember and can't find where. It isn't a big enough issue to warrrent cleaning out override and such since only the two side quests but if anyone has any info I would appreciate it. Alternatively, if someone knows how to add the two side quests ('Brothers and Sons' and either the Refugess or Caravan, don't remember which) that would work. Thanks.

Wasn't really looking for a list of good mods, more how different people had modded their games, the combination. I hadn't seen anything recently like it. But anyway, sorry to have wasted the space on something already talked about. Please close or delete thread at your discretion.

I know there are mods that allow you to recruit Ser GIlmore as a companion and even romance him then, that isn't what I want. I would like a mod that allows you to have a romance with him in the origin, much like Gorim in the dwarven noble origin. You wouldn't have to do much to dialgue, add a few pc lines implying something is going on between you (don't want to say much in the castle where others can hear, all he would really have to say is 'my lady/lord' or 'as you wish' which he does so have voice file) a stolen kiss in the larder, have a scene with him in bed with you, then him leaving because he hears something, a few moments later the dog goes crazy and the rest of the origin proceeds like normal, until the scene where you leave him, you could request a last kiss (doesn't matter who knows now). Would love if someone could do this.

People always ask "what mods are essential" and in truth there arne't any. Each person is different and what is essential for one might not even be appealing for another. So in this unofficial poll, I ask you... what are your 5-10 essetial mods? The ones you won't play the game without. For this purpose I will exclude mods that fix things, i.e. Morrigan Restoration Patch, does a lot of good things, wouldn't want to play without but not included in this poll becuase it restores things that were suppose to be in the game to begin with vs Improved Romance Scenes - Alistair, which would be includable, while it does fix a lot of bugged dialogue it also adds scenes and changes things in the original game. Got it? Good.... For me personally: Improved Atmosphere: love what this mod does for the entire experience of DAO IRS-Alistair with Royal Wedding and First Night Grey Wardens of Ferelden: adds DA2 Legacy GW armor Combat Tweaks Advanced Tactics Import Awakening talents into Origins (plus opt file to lower their requirements) Storage chests/the Magic box: why not in vanilla, I will never understand No VFX/PAR: hate all of that and game runs much better Skip the Fade: I hate the Fade Natural Bodies: can't stand people having sex in underware and the bodies look normal/real

I have purged origins of personal/visual effects, for talents, poisions, runes, everything. But I have recently imported awakening talents into origns and they have all their visual effects. Is there any way to get rid of these too. Thanks for any help!

I was thinking about what I would say to someone on their second playthough regarding 'essential' mods, and in truth there are none. There are popular ones, but really each individual has there own set of what they consider to be 'essential' What I would say is this, as you play the game for the first time, if you ever have the thought about 'boy I wish I could do this' or 'why don't they have this?' or 'I want something to do that' or 'Dear Maker, why do they do that?' remember that and write it down. and when you start modding, start with that list. For me personally, I desperately wanted a storage chest, so that was the first mod I installed; for me playing as a female rogue, I hated the available hair, now for a male character, may not be a big deal; I wished the dog was a different color and that there was better looking rogue armor; if you play as a warrior or mage, won't matter to you, etc. Don't just install a mod because it sounds cool or is popular, you can have too many mods, consentrate on the ones that matter to you and will enhance your game.

The other problem with the retext packages is that they will slow the game down. Even if you have the most super amped up computer ever, the game can only handle so much. I agree with Thandel, to me it isn't worth it. And to be honest, if the textures of the world are that big of an issue for you that you find you can't play the game without it, this probably isn't your game anyway. If the second time through (and trust me if this is your thing you will play it a second time) you think the trade off is worth it, more power to you. But I would go the first time without it. Along with the dialogue fixes you may want to look through for other fixes, quests that are bugged, things are should be obtainable but aren't, stuff like that. Again I would go fixes only the first time and then you will know what you want to change for next playthough. I know we keep saying what to do on a first playthough, assuming of course you play it a second time, but like I said, if this is your thing you will play it a second, third and more times. The game itself has great replay value without any mods at all. Enjoy!