Nalia Romance Update
Wednesday, November 21, 2001 [7:44 AM PST] Deano99
Arnel's Nalia romance is going well, but he seems to be having a few problems lately, namely with his "Wedding Dialog". Any feedback or help that any of you could give to Arnel, i am sure he would gratefully receive with open arms. Go and check out his website and use the feedback form if you can give any help or general feedback as i am sure Arnel would appreciate that.
Legends of Deepwater Forum
Tuesday, November 20, 2001 [9:31 AM PST] Deano99
The
Legends of Deepwater MOD now has a nice brand spanking new forum for
you to go and have a look at. This has several discussion boards and a
set of 6 nice screenshots. Go and have a gander at these marvellous
pieces of artwork, and give some feedback to TheMindsEye, using the URL
given below:
http://www.xsorbit.com/users2/TheMindsEye/index.cgi
Kelsey Romance Update
Monday, November 12, 2001 [3:04 AM PST] Deano99
Well it seems that the Kelsey Romance is picking up pace. Kelsey is a male romance brought to you by Ghreyfain and JCompton on the Forgotten Wars team. On the website it seems they have got a few nice screenshots
for you to be taking a look at. These give a glimpse at some of the
Interactions that are going between the party, but also the reactions
of Edwin and Nalia. Also has a picture of Kelsey showing off a new
spell, Fireshield Green. Seems that this little Romance add-on is going
to be a great addition to Baldur's Gate 2, and give something better
than Anomen for the ladies. Go check it out!
Updated links and information!
Wednesday, November 7, 2001 [3:16 PM PST] KenTeamBG
The links on the right side here for MageDuel and the Planar Sphere MiniMOD have been updated.
Also in the news is a hint on the front page of TeamBG.com indicating that TeamBG.com
is looking forward to a new facelift soon. Not much more about this can
be said, except that its the first of many things to come from TeamBG
and our devoted community that will do everything possible to make
Infinity Engine gaming a living, evolving and ever changing thing for
years to come!
Forums are up + Short vacation
Saturday, November 3, 2001 [8:02 AM PST] Kuiriel
TeamBG.com
forums are back up and running. The site still has a number of updates
to come, and the forums no longer support attached files (and so forth).
I'm
off on a six-day holiday leaving Tuesday morning, checking out some of
the sights and sounds of Australia that I've missed so far. That's
Monday American time, rather, and I'll not have net access for three of
those days at least - so Deano will probably keep this up to date.
Reign of Virtue
Friday, November 2, 2001 [9:57 AM PST] Kuiriel
Alright,
alright, I'll do it.. I'm finally posting a proper update on here
despite my hunger pangs. Opportunities as a journalist [insert: PAID]
are finally presenting themselves, so I'll stop neglecting you all.
Besides, at this rate I'll have the apocalypse as my doing.. *sigh*
Anyway,
Deano has let me know about his latest piece of work. Reign of Virtue
is to be a new MiniMOD along the same lines as Freedom's Reign,
including new a whole new slew of items including weapons, but more
importantly clothing such as new armours, rings and boots and other
'gubbinz'.
This will be made for ToB, and will hopefully improve
the gameplay of the original Freedom's Reign too. He's hoping to add
more new stores, and a new Weaponsmith (so you can make up some of the
stuff like Cromwell) and some new encounters along the way too.
There's a forum
he's set up at that'll allow you to post ideas for the new reign of
Virtue, although it also provides Freedom's Reign support. He'll have a
webpage for RoV up soon.
"Please give the Forum a visit and get your ideas to the maker NOW!" and I quote. [Or join us in the chat, as mentioned below]
Ah, very well, I'll give in to the masses. If I'm still owing you an update on .org, email me (Kuiriel) and bug me about it if it's not up shortly.
TeamBG chat in IRC & MegaTokyo
Friday, November 2, 2001 [7:17 AM PST] Kuiriel
For all those chat addicts who are missing the HyperChat, pull out your old copy of mIRC and check out the TeamBG chat channel:
irc.funnet.org:6667
#TeamBG
Again,
I apologize for the lack of updates. Looks like I'm stockpiling them.
In the mean time, if you are a Boo or BioWare fan you'll love MegaTokyo. I know it's not MOD related, but laughter beats anything I have waiting.
Links, other info, and .com status
Monday, October 29, 2001 [9:30 AM PST] Kuiriel
The Darkest Day
has now been downloaded over 20,000 times - and that's just from
FilePlanet and 3DDownloads. Head over to the website to find out more,
and the forums for bug fixes, balancing issues and general feedback.
Leave them a positive note to show your appreciation ;)
Python
has surprised many of the members of the IE editing community (or will,
as soon as they look at his new site and what he has to show) with his
new website. Take a look - Khaal: The Beginning.
More information on the Nalia Romance Minimod is now available at the Nalia's Romance website
You're seriously missing out on something if you haven't checked out the Tower of Iron Will. Minto has some amazing screenshots up there, and he really has learnt from his experience in TDD.
More
people have begun posting what they can do for MOD groups in the
classifieds section, so pop in for whatever your needs are.
TeamBG.com is finally back in the process of being put online again. The Mithril Hall has been temporarily relocated to mhroleplay.proboards.com until such time as the old ones are restored. [EDIT: bad link fixed now]
If you require help with your BG games, check out the official BioWare forums instead of emailing me.. since I don't have your answers. If you require TDD assistance, check out their official unofficial expansion website and visit the forums there.
TeamBG .com and .net online
Saturday, October 27, 2001 [7:15 AM PDT] Kuiriel
As you can see by visiting the various hosted sites and TeamBG.com, the transfer is complete (or nearly so). Go ahead and start posting feedback in the TDD forums again :)
Please
don't email me if you can't access the sites. I know for a fact that as
of my writing, the TDD website is up, though the forums are yet to be
moved, and that the TeamBG.com server is still waiting. Just be
patient, and check out some of the other MODs I've linked to from here.
Or go play TDD already, if you haven't! :)
TeamBG server information
Friday, October 26, 2001 [9:18 PM PDT] Kuiriel
Ken posted this up a note at the old TeamBG.net and .com pages.
"TeamBG's Service Provider filed for bankruptcy and therefore TeamBG's server is without a network provider.
TeamBG's
site, the site for "The Darkest Day" and other TeamBG hosted sites will
all be migrated to TeamBG's hosting location on the Telefragged Network
over this weekend. All existing URL's will be fully functional again at
that time (by Sunday or Monday at the latest).
This has been as much of a surprise to me as it is for all of you, and I am sorry we could not have planned for this.
TeamBG fans can also still meet in the old TeamBG Yahoo! Club (Voice Chat) HERE."
TDD bugs
Friday, October 26, 2001 [8:03 PM PDT] Kuiriel
If you have TDD bugs, please do not email them by clicking on the 'Tell us about your MOD' link. The creators are the ones dealing with it, and have said that once the website is backup, fire your bugs away at the forum there.
Dark Side of the Sword Coast v1.0.3 released
Thursday, October 25, 2001 [10:47 PM PDT] KenTeamBG
That's
right, bug fixes (the few that needed fixing), some sound files made to
sound better, small portraits changed to 256 color rather than high
color (better for the engine), etc. DSotSC v1.0.3 is also packaged
differently than previous versions. Instead of being a ton of files
dropped into the Override folder, its all in one BIF file in the Data
folder (along with the few other files needed).
Additionally,
there is a DSotSC v1.0.2A Patch. This patch upgrades your already
installed version of DSotSC v1.0.2 to have all the bug fixes and
updates that are in DSotSC v1.0.3, but you still have everything in the
Override folder instead of packed nice and neatly in a BIF file.
You can get the latest version of "Dark Side of the Sword Coast" at its website.
TDD assistance since server is down
Thursday, October 25, 2001 [8:50 AM PDT] Kuiriel
I
apologize to the thousands of visitors to 'The Darkest Day' website for
the current downtime. It turns out that Ken is having network problems
with his service provider, and this affects TeamBG.com and TeamBG.net
sites.
In the meantime, if you are after The Darkest Day
download and its patch, please visit FilePlanet, 3ddownloads or
Wireplay Australia as follows for your download needs.
TDD Main 1.00 at FilePlanet
TDD Main 1.00 at 3ddownloads
TDD Patch 1.01 at 3ddownloads
TDD Main 1.00 at Wireplay
TDD Patch 1.01 at Wireplay
Bear in mind that you must install TDD over a clean copy of BG2:SoA and that it is still not compatible with ToB.
These links will only be up temporarily, until the site is back up.
Darkest Day Patch and Custom Reviews News
Wednesday, October 24, 2001 [2:58 AM PDT] Deano99
The
Darkest Day team have been working flat out to bring us the new 1.0.1
patch for the Darkest Day. This includes various bug fixes for bugs
found in the game, including some bugs with Kits, Quests and various
typos. Visit the The Darkest Day Website for more information.
Also,
on the Custom Reviews front, I am a bit stuck. Now that the format of
the TeamBG forums has been changed, I have no file galleries to look
through at the present moment. So, if you want your Custom
Items/Spells/whatever, you can send them to my email at deano99@heavymetal.co.uk.
Nalia Romance
Tuesday, October 23, 2001 [1:10 PM PDT] Kuiriel
Arnel wrote to me, announcing Nalia's Romance. Click to visit.
A topic about it on the BIS message boards (TOB spoilers) has been created, with a number of responses.
I should have more on the storyline shortly.
Legends of Deepwater Demo
Tuesday, October 23, 2001 [10:12 AM PDT] Kuiriel
TheMindsEye
(aka Alex) has informed me that his Demo will be out for beta testing a
couple of weeks into November. Hopefully, he'll get it done earlier, he
says, but he'd hate to release an area which has taken him weeks to
build up without finishing off on the quality and satisfaction gamers
will get from it.
Still to come:
Illuminus Info & screenshots
Manverus IESDP & Dagor Laurelad info
Kelsey Romance Info
Darkest Day Review
More custom reviews by Deano
I apologize for the lack of updates lately - I'm not getting paid for this, so have been looking for work. ;)
TeamBG.com Makeover
Tuesday, October 23, 2001 [1:43 AM PDT] Deano99
TeamBG is having yet another makeover. Over the past few weeks it seems like the server has been having a lot of traffic and everything seemed to be slowing up. We should hopefully see the site back up very soon. Go to TEAMBG to get a preview of the new look.
Dark Side of the Sword Coast Website
Monday, October 22, 2001 [5:03 AM PDT] Deano99
The
Baldur's Gate 1 MOD, Dark Side of the Sword Coast has had its website
updated to a new, more friendly format. This is due to the new v1.0.3
that will soon be released as well as a patch to upgrade your v1.0.2 to
v1.0.2A (which is functionally equivilent to v1.0.3).
The site
also includes, a bright new forum for you guys to post on too in the
ever-growing YaBB format. Get going and check this out right now. Visit
the Dark Side of the Sword Coast Website. Have fun!
Sites operational again, extra mirror & area of the Week!
Thursday, October 18, 2001 [12:35 PM PDT] Kuiriel
We apologize for any inconvenience people may have experienced in their attempt to get to TeamBG.com and The Darkest Day Official website. Both sites are now back up and running.
If you haven't got the Darkest Day already, you can find out where to get it from The Darkest Day official Website.
They've topped 9000 hits Thursday, and TDD has been downloaded over
8000 times. There are currently four mirrors in place, and we're
looking at another very soon.
[TDD is the most popular file at
FilePlanet, and is now the second most downloaded file @ 3DDownloads
this week at 3DDownloads - after 2 days!]
As you can tell, we're very pleased. *chuckles*
He's told me he's been thinking of sending one of these in every week,
making them for MOD makers to use in their expansions. Feel free to
send in your own submissions, but please don't include the file in your
email - link to a place online instead for me to visit!Ah,
and something else. I recieved an email from an old companion - a
person who was on the area designing team for TDD a long while back -
the one person (so far, that I've seen..) who can compete with
TheMindsEye at his own game - Kazz! *trumpet fanfare* Now,
I've included here, first, one of Kazz' areas from my first interview
with TDD. What he was working on then. And below it, I've included his
latest submission. I name this AreaOfTheWeek, and credit Kazz for the
idea.
Alongside
this, I've been thinking about holding competitions of sorts on .org -
along the lines of the best custom area graphics, the best storylines,
kits, spells, items, you name it, donations to MODs or otherwise. With
Deano99 reviewing most of them, and perhaps myself joining in to
prevent his lovely bias ;) we should come up with the best on the net
and otherwise, and if things continue as planned, we could have a few
prizes up for grabs as well.
In other news, TeamDakTanion have a new homepage, and we have been offered exclusive screenshots & information on the Illuminus MOD, which now has an english version of it's website coming along. A team involved in the production of Illuminus are Rosenranken, who are also offering to do a german translation of The Darkest Day.
If
I have neglected to mention something you've informed me of, I
apologise and ask for a gentle reminder. I do have a few more things to
come, some including the Kelsey Romance, IESDP and Dagor Laurelad
interviews and more custom reviews by Deano99.
The Darkest Day available for Download
Wednesday, October 17, 2001 [7:45 PM PDT] Kuiriel
*Note: this was posted by Deano99*
Yes,
you heard me correctly, the MOD you have all been waiting for has
arrived at your doorsteps! Oh yes, the Darkest Day is here!!!
After
months of long anxious waiting and coverage it is finally here.
Weighing in at a massive 266mb of new quests, items, storyline, spells
and kits, it is a variatable feast.
Here is a feature list if you haven't already read about them :
- 9 New and returning NPCs (from BG1)
- 180+ new items
- 170+ new spells
- 39+ new creatures
- 75 kits
- 40 Minor Quests, 5 Major and 1 MegaQuest.
- Over 30 hours estimated MINIMUM of added gameplay.
So... "where do you get it exactly?" I hear you all cry. Well there are several places in the works, but you'll have to go to the TDD website to find out where!
Well why the heck are you still reading this already? Go and download this wonderful piece of work. My thanks goes out to everyone who has contributed but especially to Minto, Potencius, Kuiriel and of course, Ken. Now get your Download Manager ready and download this masterpiece.
NWN rolls on!
Wednesday, October 17, 2001 [1:44 PM PDT] Deano99
*Note: This was posted by Kuiriel*After
getting informative emails from concerned parties (ie one Lior
Israeli), we now know a little more about what's going on with the NWN
forums.
Well, not exactly, but you must admit that is somewhat funny. What we know is as follows..
Hi all.
We
are not sure why the messageboards are down, but rest assured that we
are continuing with the development of Neverwinter Nights. We don't
have any more information for you at this time.
===================
Derek French
Assistant Producer
BioWare
Someone that follows the politics between those Companies, wrote this on the BlackIsle Message Boards:
1) Interplay forced Black Isles president, Feargus Uruqhart to remove the boards out of spite.
2) BioWare asked Black Isles to remove the boards for concern of anything that could be used against them.
3) Many other reasons that I could not even hope to guess
If
you really want to know more about what's going on, it's all about the
new Bioware message board. More information is available at this pressrelease.
I'd like to thank Lior Israeli for the information.
NeverWinterNights.. gone?
Wednesday, October 17, 2001 [2:07 AM PDT] Kuiriel
Speculation: Here is something that Shaddiz pointed out on the forums.. the NeverWinterNights boards at the BIS boards
have been taken down. The NWN forum board at Interplay has also
disappeared. This could be put down to strangely timed maintenance..
except that the BG2:ToB forum is now being moderated by Overseer, who
works for Black Isle. That wouldn't be too bad.. except that if you
look at bioware employee posts, you'll see that they no longer have
their custom titles & signatures (Bioware Corp) underneath the
names.
All Overseer wrote was,
“I took the forums down for reasons I cannot discuss. Sorry.”
Various
members of TeamBG have been wondering (along with all other Bioware
enthusiasts) that this may be of the lawsuit Bioware recently filed
against Black Isle Studios.
Some say that the project may be
given out to none other than SSI - responsible for Pool of Radiance 2
and my favorite Submarine game on Macintosh, years ago.. shared with
Bioware, ofcourse. Ofcourse, it may just well be that Bioware has
decided to move the NWN forums to its new site that will be opened to
the public tomorrow sometime..
I thought people might find that tidbit interesting.. thanks again to Shaddiz for pointing this out.
Assorted updates - FW, Kelsey, FR, TK and TDD
Tuesday, October 16, 2001 [9:48 PM PDT] Kuiriel
The Forgotten Wars team have to moved to Dragons Breath Forge, and the Forgotten Wars website is finally 'go' again. I've updated the links on the right as well.Other
projects from FW include the Kelsey romance, which is well under way,
and I'm waiting on some interview questions now. A dozen lovetalks have
been written so far, and the aim is about 24, the same number as of
Aerie's lovetalks. Termlen's Keep is also coming along nicely. Click on
the thumbnail for a larger image. (Darn those dark screenshots!)
If you've got Freedoms Reign (which I strongly recommend), you'll probably want the latest patch
Finally,
The Darkest Day is close. Very close. So close I can practically taste
it. Go show your support to poor Potencius and Minto at The Darkest Day website for their incredible effort.
In other news, Near Infinity v1.15.1
has been released, and I can't seem to find the Khaal: The Beginning
website anymore - Pythons tutorials pop up instead. Email me if you
have information that.
More Reviews
Tuesday, October 16, 2001 [3:27 AM PDT] Deano99
Yep,
more reviews from me. Well I have now managed to get a slightly better
scoring system in place, so I get a wider variety of scores for
everything. This time i have gone for some different Customs, other
than items, such as some Creatures like the Displacer Beast and a new
player character, Krusk the Ogre.
I hope you enjoy the reviews a
lot, and of course you can send me an email if you wish to give me any
feedback on the new reviews. I shall be putting more up soon, so if you
want yours to get in there I suggest posting in the file gallery now!
PCZone UK Christmas Edition + TDD release!
Monday, October 15, 2001 [11:35 AM PDT] Kuiriel
PCZone
UK will be having The Darkest Day on it's Christmas Edition + CD, with
a review a few pages long and a fair bit on the cover. We've been
working on negotiating this with them for a while now, and everyone on
the team is glad things are underway. Hopefully the US will notice what
it's missing out on, and we'll be able to get some coverage there too.
Contact your local game magazine and get them to email me for more
information on TDD distribution, etc.
The Darkest Day is now out
of beta 2 and is being glossed over by Potencius. It'll be available
for download within a matter of days.
I'm attempting to confirm
rumors that FW may release a movie clip demonstrating the introduction
to their MOD via BG2 gameplay, along with a voiceover. More info on
this soon.
And finally, Deano has emailed me five more of his
custom reviews - one is actually of Freedoms Reign, and is by someone
else. Feel free to send in your own custom reviews, and I'll put them
up in the section if they're worthwhile. Deanos reviews will be up very
soon.
LoD Demo
Sunday, October 14, 2001 [3:21 AM PDT] Kuiriel
TheMindsEye
has released a little more information on his demo, expected out by the
end of the month, he hopes.. the screenshot is of the party standing on
a ruined bridge in the city. I have some information he left on the TeamBG.com forums:
It
will contain probably the largest single "dungeon crawling" type quest
in the game, and will be set in the lower half of Deepwater.
Brief history of "The City of Ghosts"
Long
ago, the the lower half of the city was flooded by a massive outpouring
of ocean water which bubbled up from under the foundations of the very
buildings and roadways themselves. The water poured through fissures in
the bedrock of the lower city, which were broken open by a powerful,
but unknown force. Those who did not drown, attempted to lay down
wooden planks to serve as roadways across the rising mud and water, in
an attempt at finding a way out of the doomed lower cavern. In response
to the disaster, an utterly bewildered Decadrim (ruler of Deepwater)
placed a seal on the gateway to the lower cavern so that the water
would not rise any further. Even those who escaped the initial flooding
could not pass beyond the magical ward...Within
a week the water had subsided, leaving a damp, desolate, swamp. Fetid
much covered hundreds of bodies, vile creatures passing through the
ruined city to feast on their remains..
..and still the seal would not be lifted.
The
*how* or *why* you will be facing the City of Ghosts I will leave a
mystery (until the full release), but expect some hardcore dungeon
action, and somewhat spooky ambience....well I think so anyway!
I
can't help but drool on this chaps custom areas. He really does have
some talent there. And from what I've read and heard, the story may
well be to match. Visit the Legends of Deepwater website to see more.
Another MOD
Wednesday, October 10, 2001 [7:43 PM PDT] Kuiriel
Mintosk
has been keeping busy.. I'm in awe of the progress on his new MOD
already. His new website is beginning to hold a HOST of information on
his next MOD and holds some amazing new screenshots. The thumbnails of
the shots will take you to his mainpage.
And
I too have been busy.. I decided TeamBG.org could use more screenshots.
So expect some regular shots that actually open up into bigger
screenies, rather than take you places.So
far he has 85+ new kits, 150 new spells and many more innate powers,
over 100 new items, many new graphics and areas (the world map looks
brand new!), lots of NPC interaction, detailed storyline cutscenes,
HUNDREDS of quests, over 10 new NPC's to date, and multiple famous
personalities - and it's a brand new level 1 game.
Next MOD due a little after Christmas!
Wednesday, October 10, 2001 [8:19 AM PDT] Kuiriel
Whaddaya
know. TheMindsEye is making incredible progress - Legends of Deepwater
is expected to be available either on CD or for download by sometime
just after Christmas. I presume the CD copy of it won't hit the
magazines until an issue or two after Christmas, since it'd need to
make magazine headlines, and The Darkest Day is what's going to be
hitting the UK and (hopefully) the US late this November (Xmas Edition)
Anyway, according to TheMindsEye, his current 'tally' is at:
Areas: 40% done
Items: 45% done
Spells: 10% done
NPCs: 50% done
..and
he expects to have a new site up shortly. I would actually follow his
estimate, since he's made rapid progress in the short time he's been
working on it. I don't expect it to be quite as big as TDD, however,
though that may be a good thing for people who've played BG2 through
many times. And he intends to have a demo up for you all by the end of
the month, featuring the main dungeon quest from Legends of Deepwater.
In other news, the FW website
is down until they find a better host. There's a notice on their
website explaining the problem. They'll change the redirector
appropriately once the address has changed, and say the MODs are still
getting done, so don't worry.. ;)
The Darkest Day Preview Interview!
Tuesday, October 9, 2001 [11:13 PM PDT] Kuiriel
It's
finally up. You may have noticed the link on the article page for a day
now - I had some finishing touches to do to the interview, however.The
Darkest Day was the second MOD interview I conducted when I first
joined TeamBG as a writer. Now, over half a year later, TDD is
practically completed. It is currently in Beta2 stages, and due out in
about a week, so I'm pleased Potencius was able to spare a few moments
for an interview.
For those of you who don't know what TDD is or want to know more, click the picture.
And if you've been wondering about Goo the NPC for a while now, I have info on him in the article section as well.
"Goo
the Disembodied Floating Eyeball is a totally integrated NPC for
Baldur's Gate II: SoA, with custom sounds, portraits, item, and stats.
He is unlike any previous NPC, and can be called the first 'true' NPC
to be publicly available for download (except for the one's in DSotSC,
obviously)."
Read the rest here.
The Dagor Laurelad and IESDP interview will be up shortly as well.
Oh,
in case anyones wondering.. a number of magazines have offered to host
TDD on their CDs/DVDs. So chances are it won't be that hard for us to
get our grubby fingers on it at all..
[And on a minor side note,
I'm moving to the UK round the end of this year. London to start with.
Norway would be better, but I'm not that fussy.. If anyone can assist
with job placement, or leads, email me! :)]
Custom Reviews Section is GO!
Tuesday, October 9, 2001 [6:28 AM PDT] Deano99
Well, you see that I have actually been doing something around here now?
Finally the first few reviews are up in the Custom Reviews Section. These are taken directly from the Custom Galleries from TeamBG.com.
I shall be doing more reviews in the next few days and over the coming
weeks, all taken from the Custom Galleries (mainly for Baldur's Gate 2
as this seems the busiest).
If you have a reason why you don't
want your Custom to be reviewed, just please place me a message at the
bottom of your posts telling me so, as i don't wish to offend anybody.
Well
all I can say is that I hope this will be a useful resource for those
of you at TeamBG, and will help you to decide what Customs to download.
I hope soon to have Reviews of the Planar Sphere up soon, and The
Darkest Day, when it is released to the public.
Also, Kuiriel
has a big update coming up for all you guys out there including a
number of new articles. He has numerous things to manage right now,
including writing to PC Magazines, etc, so bear with us on that one.
Anyway... enjoy!
Four new interviews & the review section..
Monday, October 8, 2001 [11:43 AM PDT] Kuiriel
..will
be up within a day. I apologize for the delay, but I've been busy
contacting game magazines and so forth. Deano99s review section is now
complete, and I've added it to the articles page. It'll move to its own
page later.
What I've got coming up is an interview with
Potencius all about the Darkest Day, and I'm just waiting on an
exclusive screenshot now. I've got a definition of IESDP from Manveru,
a page on Goo the NPC from Ghreyfain, and some more information on
Dagor Laurelad, a MOD - again, something from Manveru and his team.
Deanos review section currently has two items reviewed, and he's
working on the PlanarSphere MOD.
More once it's all up!
A helping hand from Interplay!
Friday, October 5, 2001 [12:54 AM PDT] Kuiriel
It looks like the IE MODing community is finally getting some recognition :)
I've been told there's a possibility of Interplay becoming keen to get involved with the promotion of The Darkest Day
and may offer several copies of BG2 to be used in competitions! More
information on this will be revealed shortly, but keep your eye on TeamBG.org for the latest.
Now,
what I need is information on what everyone in the community thinks
would be good, innovative or plain wild ways to entice other RPG fans
into BG2 and the MODs coming out, and to keep BG2 players coming back
for more. Competitions? Online warfare with Mageduel and the
BattleGround Infinity MOD we're looking forward to? Stories, ideas and
so forth, the best ones winning free copies? I'm looking for some
"mega-fan" input as someone put it, and am looking forward to hearing
from people who've played through BG2 a few times - and why.
Any thoughts, any thoughts at all - just drop me a line (click my name) and let me know!
Two new interviews!
Wednesday, October 3, 2001 [11:20 PM PDT] Kuiriel
Well,
Nacre and Mordan have really been making it much easier for me, and I'm
sure a lot of MOD makers are happy to get the attention too. Mordans
interview is linked to in the News Article below, and you can find
Nacre's new interviews through the links below.
Some info on CBissons unnamed MOD
The DarkHoly Saga - a few notes
I'd
like to apologize to the people who find that the news headlines take
forever to load, and mention that I will remedy that shortly, cutting
down the headlines to the last 5 or so as soon as KenTeamBG gives me full access.
And,
last but definitely not least, Deano99 has been mysteriously silent for
the past few weeks. All I'll say is that he's working on something
which should definitely get TeamBG.org a whole lot more interest.
I've also been wondering if TeamBG.org would look good in Flash - if people like the idea, feel free to email me at kuiriel@teambg.org and let me know. And never fear, I'll get permission from The Overlord before I try anything.
Legends of Deepwater interview with TheMindsEye
Tuesday, October 2, 2001 [6:54 PM PDT] Kuiriel
Mordan Dragon-Slayer has sent me an interview he conducted with the very promising TheMindsEye, all about the Legends of Deepwater MOD. You can read the full article here.
The Darkest Day delayed for Beta-2
Sunday, September 30, 2001 [11:49 PM PDT] Kuiriel
Looks like we've got another week or so to wait for TDD, as it is now going through intensive second stage Beta testing. The good news is downloads are going to be that little bit easier for Australian and NZ based players, as WirePlay Australia have offered to mirror it.
PlanarSphere minimod & slight vacation
Friday, September 28, 2001 [2:47 PM PDT] Kuiriel
Well, as Inferno writes,
There
have been several bugs in the minimod ,basically due to my mistake in
not including two vital scripts, (thanks to everyone who reported them)
The patch in the bg2 custom downloads sections should sort these
problems out and is downloadable here.
A short interview with TheMindsEye will be up soon.
LOD screenshots and Black Tidings site update
Thursday, September 27, 2001 [11:39 PM PDT] Kuiriel
You
just HAVE to check out the new LOD screenshots! Absolutely amazing..
remember these have been made from scratch by TheMindsEye - he's not
reusing anything from the BG games. They'll open in a new window. I
named them as I saw fit ;)
A moonlit wander
The Devils art gallery
Other than that, we've got a new Black Tidings website. Check it out.
We've
got a lot of MODs looking for help, so if ya got the time and want to
develop some new skills, check out the TeamBG forums. Or, even better,
advertise your interest in the MOD classifieds (left menu) and expect a
lot of response..
Khaal: The Beginning - Interview
Monday, September 24, 2001 [8:12 PM PDT] Kuiriel
First off, I never thought of myself as 'mighty', but if you insist.. ;)
I've been offered a helping hand by by Nacre, and it is much appreciated. He's gone and conducted a brief interview of the controversial Python about his Total Conversion, Khaal: The Beginning.
The TC holds an evil plotline, along with the ability to just live life
and work, and take it generally easy. Expect more reviews as it comes
along.
Read it all here;
Khaal: The Beginning interview with Python - by Nacre
Forgotten Wars: Kelsey update
Sunday, September 23, 2001 [10:03 PM PDT] Kuiriel
Jason says, "Work
on Kelsey, the human male sorcerer NPC/love interest, is progressing at
Forgotten Wars. Here's an archive of screenshots from a preliminary
build--it still shows a couple of bugs and formatting errors, but we're
aware of them. Check out the forums at http://forgottenwars.cjb.net for the screenshots.
We
are running into some snags properly implementing NPC/NPC dialogue, so
we kindly ask that anyone with experience in that department drop us a
line on the forgottenwars.cjb.net site, and perhaps we can solve the
problems more quickly and provide a rock-solid new companion in a
shorter time."
Black Tidings Update
Sunday, September 23, 2001 [8:34 AM PDT] Kuiriel
The Gods of BG have updated their website at www.members.tripod.com/bg_gods and provided some new information.
The release date has been reduced to the April Fools day next year, and as Paul Hunt/The Gods of BG says,
"The
MOD is going very well so far, we've got a lot of really great stuff
planned and we hope to have a test release out quite soon, well, as
soon as is possible given all the hex and the laborious editing (it's
all worth it in the end I suppose). I have started area editing, under
instruction from TheMindsEye, and Beldin is learning a bit about
scripting, however we still need an experienced scripter!
Thanks to TeamBG, TheMindsEye and free internet access!"
Release of Planar Sphere Minimod
Sunday, September 23, 2001 [8:21 AM PDT] Kuiriel
Thanks to Inferno, we've got a new minimod out!
A
3.97 mb download, it adds some minor quests to the planar sphere
stronghold plot and one major new quest. You can gain some awesome new
abilites including transforming into a Lich, and battle some of the
most powerful beings in the planes.
It includes the following:
40+ powerful new spells including;
Storm Force
Wave of Obliteration
Dance Macabre
50+ new items such as;
Robes of chaos
Gloves of spell weaving
Pains Shard +6
New monsters included:
Pain elementals
Nightmares
Night Hags
"The
minimod is installable in one .iap folder. Please read to read the
readme file, as I do not want to damage anyones work. REMEMBER always
back up your own items and dialog.tlk incase. Any bugs should be
reported to Inferno0121@yahoo.co.uk
Get it from http://www.teambg.net/planarsphere/psqmod.zip
TeamBG is back up
Wednesday, September 19, 2001 [3:59 AM PDT] Kuiriel
A virus, Nimda was the problem. Everything is back to normal now.
Find out more here.
Baldurdash
Tuesday, September 18, 2001 [10:15 PM PDT] Kuiriel
Now, you may or may not have heard of Baldurdash.
Run by Kevin Dorner, it contains a mass of fixes for BG1, TotSC,
BG2:SoA and ToB. Personally, I find them very helpful, as they fix
various bugs, spelling errors and effects of various items, scripts and
so forth. But, you may ask, what has this to do with MODs and editing
the IE?
Take a look here: ToB Tweaks & Cheats
contains enhancements for ToB, including giving the player what was
originally planned for them, but cut out due to reasons listed there.
It makes the expansion more of a challenge for veterans, and completing
these battles with a solo character now is a true achievement.
The enhancements are from BioWare's Senior Designer
David Gaider, and include such things as providing the player with the
Bhaalpowers originally planned for the Pocketplane, and improved
battles & AI. Abazigal is now a whole lot tougher, with a few drakes and another dragon included in the fight. Illaseru is much more like a member of the Five now, being a ranger/archer and is helped out by a number of companions. Gromnirs battle has been made a whole lot less boring, and has been spruced up a bit. Yaga Shura and his massive army is now a death-wish. I don't want to talk about it. [EDIT: That means it's good!] Balthazars AI has been improved as well, using his abilities more often, and his pupils have all been buffed. Lastly, the mighty Demogorgon, the prince of demons, has been restored to his originally planned difficulty.
So,
if you thought ToB was boring or too easy.. you know where to head.
Various people are doing a LOT of work on ToB, adding new romances,
quests and so forth, and Dave is doing some VERY interesting editing of
scripts that I'll let you all know about shortly.
NOTE: if your computer has difficulty handling normal battles, these ones will quite possibly be too much for your system.
Ah, more MOD info
Tuesday, September 18, 2001 [9:39 PM PDT] Kuiriel
First, to anyone who's wondering, TeamBG.com does seem to be down. So you're not alone.
Second,
some more MOD info has reached me. Please submit any more information
you might have through the customization link at the bottom option in
the left hand menu, as that way you'll pretty much definitely have your
information posted on here. Or, you can just click HERE
instead, for now. If you only leave a sentence on page 3 of an obscure
topic in the forums, there is NO guarantee that I will read it, as
there are a lot of topics therein, and if I read all the topics, I
don't get time to update .org...
Now, the good news.
Although
the main Forgotten Wars MOD, 'Eternal Suffering' has been cancelled,
they are now working on a romance mini MOD for BG2. The FW team is now
a Customization & Request team, with a forum based site. You can
find them at forgottenwars.cjb.net
Therein
you will also find the beginnings of Termlen's Keep, for BG - TotSC. I
should have screenshots for it soon. Planned features, subject to
change ofcourse, include new creatures, areas, spells, and items, both
new and from other games. Ammo packs will be upgraded to match BG2.
Portraits from BG2 will be used instead. Strongholds similar to BG2
will also be implemented. Kevins bug fixes will be used. There may be a
few joinable NPC's, and a mini dungeon, but that remains to be seen.
Another MOD which I neglected to mention before is Khaal: The Beginning for BG2, by Serpent Productions. Anyone who wants to help should contact Python
for more information. Finally, a MOD that rewards the truly evil. It'll
allow you to take on employment and just enjoy accumulating riches and
so forth, rather than freak out about having to finish a story. I think
I'd love this, especially if it were part of BG2. Then I could really
say "Fine, I'm not going after Imoen. I'm gonna sit here on my oh so
unsexy rear and research spells." Thats something I'd like to see,
actually.. a spell system that allows you to put various components of
the effect and all together, research it and give you a chance of
success for creating a new spell. Ah, I digress. Khaal: The Beginning is expected to be released around the end of this year.
Thats all for now. Expect a few new interviews within a few days.
The past week in MOD news
Monday, September 17, 2001 [12:13 AM PDT] Kuiriel
First,
I apologize for the delay in the update. Second, if I've missed
anything, please let me know. Third, many MODs are looking for help, so
don't forget to check out the MOD categories at the left to see if
you're interested!
This past week has seen a lot happen in the
IE MOD field with new MODs being planned, The Darkest Day in its beta
stage and plans for a TeamAE to be created to deal with
NeverWinterNights and the Aurora Engine, making utilities and so forth.
With TeamAE working on it, I have faith that NWN will become more
incredible than anyone has imagined yet. However, it is a far way off,
and the utilities even further, so I'm focusing only on enjoying the
MODs on their way.
Visit these sites to find out more!
A very promising MOD for BG2, Legends of Deepwater led by TheMindsEye (a fantastic area creator, I must say!) is on its way.
Wizards of Eregion present Dagor Laurelad,
which they expect to finish around the end of the year. It uses Fallout
graphics for its areas, and I get the feeling it'll have a rather cool
technologically twisted storyline.
Secrets is a promising
sounding MOD by NIGHTMARE, with it would seem a great deal of story
already done and a fair bit of other stuff, but unfortunately there is
no website with information on it up just yet.
There's a Dragonlance module for BG2 on its way also, only in it's beginning stages at the moment.
Black Tidings is a MOD for BG & TotSC by the 'Gods of BG', with a release date expected around 01/09/02. A fair while away.
Gold & Glory, a BG2 MOD is being worked on. Some screenshots are up.
DarkHoly is working solo on The Dark Holy Sage, an add-on for BG2.
Here
you can find a MOD for BG2 undertaken by BaalZamon, and he too is
seeking assistance. There is currently insufficient information on this
MOD for me to say more or link to it in the righthand menu.
Team Dak'Tanion have set up a website here that lists some information on what MODs they are currently working on and have completed.
Lastly,
some delayed sad news. The Ravenloft Mod, hosted by TeamBG.net has been
cancelled. For more information, contact The Masked Marauder in the
forums. The makers are thinking of releasing some of their material to
other editors so their efforts do not go unappreciated. There is a
possibility of Manveru and TMM working together to salvage this, watch
this spot for more info. I don't think I mentioned that the Forgotten
Wars were shut down as well, a fair while ago.
"The Darkest Day" enters Public Beta
Sunday, September 16, 2001 [7:44 PM PDT] KenTeamBG
"The Darkest Day" has entered its short public beta testing phase, as can be seen at its web site and forum.
Get
the scoop, find out what you can from its creators and what you can get
out of the sworn to secrecy (no, really) beta testers.
An update
on the site already reveals that based upon fan feedback, an NPC's
class/kit was already changed based upon that feedback. That is
something unique, players being listened to!
If all goes as planned, "The Darkest Day" will be out of beta and ready for full version release by sometime next week.
"The Darkest Day" CD-ROM is Available for Pre-Ordering
Sunday, September 9, 2001 [1:40 AM PDT] KenTeamBG
By going to the web site of "The Darkest Day"
you can see that when it becomes available you can have the option of
either downloading all 300 to 400 MB of it or ordering it on CD-ROM.
Details of this are on the site for "The Darkest Day".
Needless
to say, TeamBG has specifically gained permission to make unofficial
MOD's available on CD-ROM as long as we follow Black Isle Studio's
guildelines, the details can be seen on the "Order CD-ROM" at the site.
So click on "The Darkest Day" link to the right here at TeamBG.org or click HERE.
*New* web site for "The Darkest Day"
Sunday, September 9, 2001 [1:35 AM PDT] KenTeamBG
"The Darkest Day" recently had web host troubles and has now moved in at the TeamBG Network. See the link to "The Darkest Day" in the menu on the right of TeamBG.org or click HERE.
Interviewers wanted
Friday, September 7, 2001 [3:04 AM PDT] Kuiriel
If you're interested in finding and following up leads on MODs, custom utilities and so forth, and are then willing to interview people, email me at Kuiriel@teambg.org and express your interest. You'll be credited for your interview, will be noticed for your efforts, and it'll be much appreciated.
New MageDuel Interview
Thursday, September 6, 2001 [11:34 AM PDT] Kuiriel
Well,
this was a hell of a ride, I must admit. Major stuffups on my behalf
and not following instructions given by the instructor (Ajoc) resulted
in my being caned by the almighty referee. It's not nice when you go to
look at your spellbook and get killed by successive lightning bolts
much to your opponents amusement. I mean, all I did was go up to him
and start hacking away at him, curious as to how many hitpoints he (the
ref) had. And starting up a match to discover you don't actually know
how to start... the match.. is probably something a fair few people
have gone through, never bothering to read the 'readme' files provided
with downloads. Its simple. DRINK THE POTION! Now, that said and done,
this little MOD rocks. I interviewed Ajoc back way when this was mostly
a concept, and it's nice to see a MOD go the distance. So, along with
some snazzy new screenshots by Ajoc and I, (these, incidentally, are
what delayed this interview being posted by nearly a week - DirectX8.1
problems) the interview and my small personal review, this is quite a
read.
Read the rest of the article here
Interview with ToddTeamBG
Thursday, September 6, 2001 [11:30 AM PDT] Kuiriel
This
interview was written a fair while ago, and has only just been posted.
The information provided therefore (for IEEP users) may be a tad dated.
It is still a good read on the creator of IEES and IEEP, however, and
provides a couple of links.
"ToddTeamBG, formerly known as GM
aka TL (at the time of this interview), is now a key member of the
TeamBG community, playing a vital role in the making of utilities used
widely by IE editors. Today, TeamBG.org is giving you the chance to see what is inside the mind of one of the major influences within TeamBG."
Read the rest of the interview in the MOD articles section, or here.
TeamBG.com reopens to the public
Wednesday, September 5, 2001 [9:06 PM PDT] KenTeamBG
After a weekend or so of incredible numbers of people trying to register to the TeamBG.com site/forum, we are now reopening the site/forum to the public (as before).
Basically,
the forum software we use (YaBB) has a few bugs that seem to amplify in
magnitide with over 400 members per day for 3 days registering. So, to
keep such problems from being so bad and affecting server performance
we have decided to reopen the site/forum for public perusal. Membership
to the forums is still required for posting and replying, as before.
Also
of note is the "evaluation" in place for a qualifying step in being
able to gain access to downloading IEEP. This measure is in place
still. Note that the purpose of this "evaluation" is that of education.
There are far too many people using IEEP to damage the multiplayer
experience of other people and twisting its use into something it was
never intended for. TeamBG.com
and our tools are first and foremost made for the purpose of creating
game MOD's (modifications or modules) and total conversions (completely
new games). Anything other than this is not the intended use of our
tools and is a waste of peoples' time if you post on our forums trying
to figure out how to make a spell, item, script or creature to aide you
in unbalanced game play in multiplayer and not utilizing our tools and
time for creating the large scale projects TeamBG.com is all about.
Please
realize that if you are too far off on the answers to these questions
you will appear to be a player-killer type and get automatically added
to the ban list data file for the TeamBG.com site/forum.
After
a very interesting test and introduction period for this strategy in
trying to influence how our tools are used, educate people (or get them
to educate themselves by getting them to actually read our FAQ),
and salvage our own reputation after being called the force behind the
destruction of online multiplayer gaming in IE games, I will let you
know how the scoring works in general:
- 0 to 3 points = You answered all the questions in a way that you are obviously familiar with the goals and facts around the TeamBG.com community. You "PASS" and get the file you are after.
- 4 to 11 points = You are not fully knowledgable of TeamBG.com and should spend some more time getting to know TeamBG.com by reading our FAQ and perhaps the areas of the forum that interest you. You "FAILED" but can always retake the evaluation (note immediately retaking is not advised as you will simply be guessing...go read...find the answers) and you still have full access to the TeamBG.com site/forum.
- 12 or more points = You fail miserably and are likely not paying any attention to the evaluation and think its a joke or are a player-killer type in online multiplayer. You get auto-banned from the TeamBG.com site/forum at this time.
This evaluation is NOT something I take lightly and is only in response to what has happened to online multiplayer due to some peoples' access to our tools and knowledge on our site. Thank them for these measures. As I already said, this is primarily to educate our users.
Legends of Deepwater
Wednesday, September 5, 2001 [7:18 PM PDT] Kuiriel
Ah, a promising MOD has been revealed by TheMindsEye. It looks like it won't be long before this one is out, and the screenshots depict the authors talent in custom made areas. Check out his recently made website at Legends of Deepwater for more info, and I'm sure there'll be an article on this shortly.
Critical Update re TeamBG.com
Sunday, September 2, 2001 [1:35 AM PDT] Kuiriel
Major changes in the TeamBG.com structure have taken place over the past few days. They're listed as follows, and it is crucial that you understand them.
1) There is now an alignment evaluation for downloading IEEP to weed out misuse of IEEP for making PKers and power duelers.
If you want IEEP, you MUST know at least a little about TeamBG, and it
is strongly recommended that you read the TeamBG FAQ. Don't go
inputting incorrect answers for the fun of it, as you may seriously
regret it.
2) TeamBG.com is no longer publically accessible.
You must register for the forums to get in. This has meant that in less
than 2 days more than 700 new people have joined, as opposed to 30 per
day previously. So many people are joining the forums that the server
has been bogged down, so we apologize in advance for any slow service
you may recieve.
Dark Awakenings
Thursday, August 30, 2001 [7:58 AM PDT] Deano99
The Dark Awakenings Website has now been updated with some nice looking new screenshots.
I
would highly recommend taking a gander at these, especially if you
enjoyed Dark Side of the Sword Coast. It's looking to be quite an
amazing MOD, but I always expected it from the team.
Dark Awakenings seems to be coming along nicely, I look forward to its arrival.
Dark Awakenings Homepage
MiniMOD Freedoms Reign Interview
Wednesday, August 29, 2001 [11:18 AM PDT] Kuiriel
After
a long break, I've finally got back to doing it all for TeamBG again. I
present to you the third of my articles. If you have a MOD or something
else in development for an IE game, let me know! Contact me at
kuiriel@teambg.org and chances are I'll interview you.
As
detailed in his most recent news post, Deano99 provided a brief outline
of his recently released MiniMOD, Freedoms Reign. I don't like 'brief'.
Like many people, I want a good idea whats waiting for me in the
download. So I caught him in TeamBGs chatroom, and judging by the
information provided, it's a pleasant surprise at minimal download
cost. Along with a few item descriptions, I've also provided some
information on his upcoming projects - along with a screen shot.
"..you
didn't get much from the dragons in general.. now they have their own
weapon hordes. Also, for completing quests, such as the Trademeet one,
you'll get a more useful.." read the rest here!
The Freedoms Reign Interview
Freedom's Reign
Wednesday, August 29, 2001 [1:49 AM PDT] Deano99
Welcome
back to TeamBG.ORG, things are coming in thick and fast. I will be
helping Kuiriel on this mad MOD fest, keeping you guys up to date.
Well, as you know, last week I released my new MiniMOD Freedom's Reign. This little MiniMOD adds over 80
new and improved Items and spreads them throughout the entire game
using edited Stores and Creatures, and some completely new Characters
are added to some of the maps. It only weighs in at a mere 46kb, and is
well worth downloading if you like your Items.
Head to Servants of the Shard to pick it up now. An article on it shall follow shortly.
MOD articles
Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [10:17 PM PDT] Kuiriel
I'd
strongly recommend clicking the view all news button at the bottom of
this page to catch up on all the developments. For easy access, since
people have been asking, here are links to my first two articles on
MODs.
If anyone knows anything they think I should know, or has
MODs up for reviews, or wants to point something out.. just email me by
clicking on my name :)
The Darkest Day
- whole article, including interview. This MOD is reputedly VERY close
to completion and should be out in a matter of a few weeks.
Mage-Duel
- whole article including screenshots & interview. Mage-Duel is
already out! Its hosted by www.teambg.net so make sure to download it.
A pity Ajoc went on vacation, or I would have interviewed him already.
TeamBG is still go - FRESH.
Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [12:19 PM PDT] Kuiriel
First,
I'd like to apologize to all those visitors who've noticed the mild
stagnation. Due to unforseen circumstance, the crew became
incapacitated.
At any rate, I'm back, after a long holiday. I've been given control of TeamBG.org
and am planning a few things with it - mainly, to constantly update
content and keep giving us, the BG (yeah, and planescape and all)
addicts new sources of custom files, MODs and so forth.
Current objectives to be pursued include:
* TheoTeamBG - IE Tileset Map Editor
* Potencius & Minto - The Darkest Day, MOD
* TL aka GM - A long overdue interview on IEES/IEEP, Editors
* Ajoc - Mageduel, MOD
* Kevin Dorner - bug fixes for SoA;ToB
* Dave G - Improved battles & Dialogue differences & Possible additional romances & so forth and on.
* Level 50 rulepack changes & updates
In the meantime, while the above objectives are pursued, it is strongly recommended that you read the following, here.
A COMEDY OF ERRORS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
MageDuel released!!!
Monday, July 2, 2001 [2:49 PM PDT] KenTeamBG
Okay, MageDuel is a BG2 multiplayer dueling add-on and its ready for people to play!
This
is actually the v1.1 release, but I waited to announce it until now as
v1.0 was kind of a public beta test that had some AI script problems to
fix still.
All I can say is that if you like multiplayer dueling
(and I don't mean the lame cheated character kind), then this MOD is
for you...and the AI scripting to make it all work is amazing. You have
to remember, these games are designed so that each player is an ally,
so anything summoned should be allies too. But this MOD changes how IE
works using AI scripts to create a whole new multiplayer experience!
Visit the MageDuel site (linked to in the menu on the right) to get MageDuel v1.1 now!
New Mini MOD announced
Monday, June 18, 2001 [12:30 AM PDT] Chrono
A new Mini MOD has now been announced by the group "The Reincarnates"
The MOD is the first in a series of three from the brand new team and as co-writer Nightfall said "the MOD scene needs a change, we don't need more MODS, we need more MINI MODS to go along with the full scale MODS"
Project Thunderbolt will be adding an all new extensive quest for the player to complete, involving the rescue of a city and the fighting of an old enemy thought long lost to time and the deeds of sons to avenge their fathers.
The sequel "Project Avenger" is currently in the works too and the plot has already been written.
Project Thunderbolt is due out in mid. August.
Inferno's beta test...
Tuesday, May 29, 2001 [5:39 PM PDT] KenTeamBG
Inferno
has enough testers working on his planar sphere add-on. The version
posted here has a fatal bug in it so discontinue testing it. From now
on, this add-on is in closed beta.
An *evil* BG2 MOD announced
Monday, May 14, 2001 [9:53 AM PDT] KenTeamBG
WoRm is back and he brings with him his project for those with an evil streak. Checkout ThE DaRk LeGiON, a MOD that is sure to be both fun and very interesting.
Torment MOD announced
Friday, May 11, 2001 [8:20 PM PDT] KenTeamBG
Many
of you have been waiting with baited breath, and now its officially
announced. The first (and only) confirmed unofficial Planescape:
Torment MOD is upon us. Visit the site for Torment: Bronze Reflections, and see what its all about.
This
MOD team needs more people to help on the MOD, so any customizers with
Torment talents or talents that make you a good candidate to use your
experience in editing any of the other IE games on a Torment project
instead, email the site's owner and project leader (The Giggling Gelugon) so that the project can be accomplished.
German BG2 MOD site now in english too!
Thursday, May 10, 2001 [3:49 PM PDT] KenTeamBG
The german team bringing you the BG2 MOD "Rosenranken" now offers an english version of their site.
The link to their site in the menu on the right side of TeamBG.org
pages now links to the english version of their site and they have
little flags in the upper right corner of their pages to always allow a
visitor to switch between german and english versions of their site.
All non-german speakers are thankful I am sure. ;-)
Good luck to the Rosenranken team and thanks for the english translation of your site.
TeamBG Network hosts MageDuel
Saturday, May 5, 2001 [10:01 PM PDT] KenTeamBG
TeamBG.net is hosting the MOD site for the "MageDuel" BG2 MOD. Their TeamBG Network URL is http://mageduel.teambg.net.
Welcome to your new host!
Check out the new site design and screen shots for MageDuel. Looking good.
Trophy Mini MOD announced
Sunday, April 22, 2001 [5:47 PM PDT] KenTeamBG
I, Ken
Baker, am announcing the details of my first set of Mini MOD's. This
will be a body part trophy system to be established in BG2, IWD and
then BG.
This will be fun by itself as an enhancement to the
official games or for large MOD projects to include with their MOD's.
These larger MOD's will then be able to expand upon the uses of these
body parts in any way their creative minds wish.
You can see the details from the BG2, IWD, and BG sections in the menu to the right of the pages on this site.
Chat: TL's Utilities Discussion
Friday, April 20, 2001 [7:57 PM PDT] ToddTeamBG
I
have scheduled a chat at the TeamBG Community Yahoo! Club (use the
"Voice Chat" link in the menu to the left). This chat will be about my
utilities (IEEP, IEES, IED, etc.) and the future of where I should go
with them. Some of this will be some discussion about 2DA
Importing/Exporting support with a TBG format and what possible
additions to the TBG format that should be made in the future.
Details:
Chat
meeting on April 26th at [10am-1pm PDT] [1pm-4pm EDT] [6pm-9pm GMT] ...
to discuss TL's Utilities and the future of where they are/should go.
SotU has released a sneak peek on the graphics
Friday, April 20, 2001 [10:52 AM PDT] Chrono
Yes that's right! Team Dak'Tanion has released two little tid bits of eyecandy as of the 20th of april.
The two small movies shows the lightning bolt and the new magic missiles. This is the work of their new graphics editor Fury.
I have previously mentioned Fury's work, so for your viewing pleasure, TeamBG.org links directly to TDT's website and the magnificent graphics. Take a look at this!
http://waterdeep.homeip.net/sotu/Releasedstuff.htm
Chrono
TeamBG.org
The best place for MOD news!
A Quick SotU Update
Saturday, April 14, 2001 [9:07 AM PDT] Chrono
News Flash!
It seems that Team Dak'Tanion (TDT) added a new member recently to their team roster.
Fury, being very much unknown, will be working on the teams all new graphics.
Currently
I've reviewed what was submitted to me last night of his work, and
though it's just a preview, I must admit that this is by far the most
beautiful in-game graphics I have yet to see.
We can only hope that TDT will allow the public to view this as well.
Thumbs up guys!
Chrono
Ravenloft: Domains of Dread
Friday, April 13, 2001 [2:46 PM PDT] Chrono
Breaking news on the Ravenloft: Domains of Dread MOD!
The guys at Ravenloft pulled out another gimmick for us this week.
Some cool new features is now being added to their great new BG2 expansion. Take a look here.
They are going to have some very important features which will make this MOD more enjoyable for all.
Firstly
this MOD is going to start BEFORE the original BGII. The items will not
be very powerful as the main lord Strahds own sword is +2.
But
they will have another part in the original game and after the end of
the original game, there will be a special quest for mages.
Now they have some features like Terror Tracks.
A terror track for non ravenloft knowledgable people is what happens to an evil person when he is noticed by the Dark Powers.
(They
are the REAL rulers of Ravenloft but never seen.) Slowly as the evil
person becomes more evil they start to change him to an evil entity.
Terror Tracks can vary from what happens to a NPC who follows your
orders without question...and what happens slowly to an evil mage.
(Example an evil thief in his first stage would look something like this:
"Stage
I:The PC gains the ability to Pick Locks as a 1st-level thief (add any
appropriate racial and Dexterity modifiers), but his eyes become beady
and his nose narrows, reducing Charisma by 1 point. "
it would progress until the tenth stage.
"Stage
X:The PC gains the ability to infect his victims with lycanthropy, with
a 2% chance per hit point of damage done. This includes damage done by
the PC weapon attacks. A strong smell of sewage now follows the PC
everywhere, dropping Charisma another 3 points, and causing nausea in
those that fail a saving throw vs. spell. "
Now doesn't this sound promising?
And very true to the real Ravenloft story telling too.
But this is not all the DoD guys have in store for us check this part out!
Besides
Terror Tracks there will be many Ravenloft style quests like when you
are in a little house and slowly one by one your NPC's
dissapear.......... Also like when you travel through a village rats
might start following until there is 20 of them.
Two more major features are that you can catch Lycantrophy(Werewolf) or even become a lich!!
My comment:
If this is true, DoD could very well turn out to be one of the greatest MODS outhere no questions asked.
Also a little treat that's coming up really soon is some screenshots from the new game begining they are working on.
Please keep watching here for the hottest news on YOUR favorite MODS!
TeamBG.org
Chrono
Shadows of the Underdark
Friday, April 13, 2001 [1:47 PM PDT] Chrono
New MOD Profile
Shadows of the Underdark
Yes I'm back with another MOD portrait. This time it's the hair rising thriller: Shadows of the Underdark.
I contacted ˝ leader Andy Halfelf and here is what I got.
The
story so far: Is that the MOD kicks in once you've finished off
Joneleth Irenicus. You aquire knowledge about a rival Drow city are
going to attack the weakened Suldanesselar.
At this point you
will be forced to choose between helping the Elves of Suldanesselar or
allieing with the evil Drow. Both sides offers great rewards, and once
the choice has been made there is no turning back. The only thing
certain is the promise of grim deeds to come.
Team Dak'Tanion (TDN) has yet to figure out just how big SotU will be but Andy's best bid at the moment is 150 - 200 mb
They plan on implementing all new graphics, and all new NPC's (8-9).
When
asked about when done, Andy shrugs and says it's still too early to
say. SotU has been delayed for some time due to RL and vacations
pushing on, so the current status is approx. 4-5 % done.
My evaluation:
If finished this could good be a great adition to the BG2 universe.
We have to keep in mind that the people behind SotU is somewhat inexperienced, but as far as I have seen they are doing great.
It's hard to tell how SotU will fare against the bigger MODS but only time will tell. All in all another go forth!
Chrono
Chat: General MOD and ICM Discussions
Thursday, April 12, 2001 [11:54 AM PDT] KenTeamBG
I
have scheduled a chat at the TeamBG Community Yahoo! Club (use the
"Voice Chat" link in the menu to the left). This chat will be to try to
find out how well the various MOD teams are going, are they getting the
people/support they need to get their MODs done, what else they may
need, etc. Also, I would like to find out just what the MOD teams think
of ICM and how they feel it will help in their efforts. I will also
talk about the scripting package I am putting together that I will
likely still need help on by the time this chat happens.
Details:
Chat
meeting on April 20th at [10am-1pm PDT] [1pm-4pm EDT] [6pm-9pm GMT] ...
to discuss issues like how MODs are coming along, are people getting
togther with each other for working on MODs, and how ICM is gonna help.
ICM released to testers
Wednesday, April 11, 2001 [3:57 AM PDT] KenTeamBG
Earlier this morning (for me) ICM was released to testers and I can assure the nay sayers, it is real. I can also say this...
I think its great.
I do agree with others about having to get used to it.
But this is because this is NOT a game editor. It is a game BUILDER (or MAKER).
So far I find a few things wrong or odd and will be/am reporting them as I go.
I
love the world map editing...however it seems to be missing some
functionality...but maybe I am just missing something right now.
The
"Avatar Workshop" and "Source Scripts" features are disabled (as they
aren't complete enough for testing). Other smaller features are missing
or incomplete throughout.
For whatever reason I don't seem to be
able to find anywhere to do the area editing I saw in one of Gaelion's
example where he placed a water puddle in a corner. I also cannot
figure out the "Campaign Map" part of it. The first funny thing I saw
was my first attempt to view the World Map ordered me to use Infinity
Explorer to extract its MOS to BMP and place it in a specific location
first. Hehehe...I simply used MOSWorkshop to save the MOS as a BMP and
placed it where it needed to go.
Oh, and there is a CHR to CRE converter, people making MOD's should like that.
As
I suspected, this is NOT the magic tool many people thought. In that I
mean... just as nothing made before ICM made it as easy to make a
campaign or new game as it is to brush your teeth, neither does ICM.
But I can assure you that people who have been prepared for this tool
by being with TeamBG for the last 2.5 years will be able to work some
magic. Hopefully some newbies can figure it out too. And MAYBE some
people will have some time to make some tutorials.
(You can find a link to the ICM site in the TeamBG.com menu.)
TeamBG Network hosts Domains of Dread
Tuesday, April 10, 2001 [3:57 PM PDT] KenTeamBG
TeamBG.net is hosting the MOD site for the Ravenloft MOD "Domains of Dread". Their TeamBG Network URL is http://domainsofdread.teambg.net.
Welcome to your new host (and I like the new site, great job).
The Darkest Day Interview and Article
Tuesday, April 10, 2001 [2:00 AM PDT] KenTeamBG
Written by Kuiriel:
Right,
this is the second in my series of interviews on up and coming MODs and
Utilities. If you have a MOD or something else in development for an IE
game, let me know! Contact me at kuiriel@teambg.org and chances are I'll interview you.
The
Darkest Day happens to be one of the BG2 MODs thats been longest in
development. Therefore it is also probably the one closest to
completion.. Do you want to know what it's about? When it's due? What
it adds? Read on and find out - and we've got an extra special treat
this time. I managed to get CoM to give me two screenshots showing off
some of their animations and effects!
See the whole article, including interview HERE.
PotenciusNet now hosted by TeamBG.net
Tuesday, April 10, 2001 [1:59 AM PDT] KenTeamBG
That's
right. As far as customization sites go, the best of the best are free
to apply for hosting. Many may not want to move their site, and that's
okay too. However, I will not easily host a customization site. For a
customization site to be part of the TeamBG Network, it must be
actively and regularly updated and have a proven history of quality.
Visit PotenciusNet at its new URL: http://potenciusnet.teambg.net/
MageDuel Interview and Article
Tuesday, April 3, 2001 [2:14 AM PDT] KenTeamBG
Written by Kuiriel:
Since TeamBG.org
was started up with a major intent being getting us (the fans) to the
MODs, we’re planning on releasing a few tidbits of information on these
MODs, how promising they look and whether we think they’re any good. Of
minor note are the interviews we conduct.
;]~
Many a
DSotSC & BG enthusiast has heard of the rumors of a MOD in
development known as MageDuel. So I went and got some information on
it. Simple really. I asked Ajoc, one of the brains behind the brawn of
MageDuel to tell us a little about his project, what to expect from it
and when it’s due. A major extract of our conversation follows.
See the whole article, including interview HERE.
TeamBG Network hosts Shadows of the Underdark
Monday, April 2, 2001 [7:26 PM PDT] KenTeamBG
TeamBG.net is hosting the MOD site for "Shadows of the Underdark" by Team Dak´Tanion. Their TeamBG Network URL is http://sotu.teambg.net, this is in addition to their domain they use to get to the same location which is http://www.daktanion.dk.
Welcome to your new host.
Ravenloft: Domains of Dread DEMO released
Sunday, April 1, 2001 [5:47 PM PDT] KenTeamBG
The
minds behind this MOD have released a teaser (or sneak peek) demo for
your playing enjoyment. This can be downloaded from their site's "Add
on" section:
Ravenloft: Domains of Dread DEMO
First MOD portrait
Sunday, April 1, 2001 [2:17 PM PDT] Chrono
Ravenloft:
Domains of Dread
(BG2)
This is the first in a series of portraits of the MODS that we are doing, so that the public might benefit from our "insider knowledge."
I contacted Jon The Hellcaster and here is what he had to say.
Domains of Dread is going to rather big, as it seems that they are planning on implementing all new areas and totally new graphics, as well as editing a variety of other areas. Thus the result will be what is known as a "partial conversion" or "total conversion", depending upon the degree of the changes.
The main story line is of course not to be entirely revealed here, but I'll let you all in on some of it, though it's just an appetizer it seems very promising.
Lord Strahd is in love again and its of course with Tatanya who is reincarnated as an Ezrite priestess by the name of Tara Kolyana.
The south is being attacked by Illithids and Ildi-Thaan. The West has politiclal upheaval in the form of former Gundarakites being taken under Strahd's yoke. Also, there is an Elven vampire named Jander Sunstar who is originally from Faerun. He hates Strahd, and may be a valuable ally in the realm. Additionally, on Mt. Ghakis there is a spectre named Jezra Wagner who may also need to get into the action.
Sounds promising huh?
I asked Jon about the kits, though he seemed more secretive on this topic here is what I got.
There's already 14 cool kits that are finished, and if they stick to the plan they will implementing some classical Ravenloft kits like the Anchorite.
And more good news!
They will be implementing 12 all new NPC's and they all have strong personalities and are very cool, some of the voices are being done by Sorshana.
When will we see it released?
Good question, as of now they have a released a Demo for us to view, and know that I'll be testing it thoroughly.
The entire MOD is about 39% done, so we'll have to wait for a while yet.
Well this was the first in our series of small MOD portaits, be sure to keep watching as I'll do another portrait next week.
Chrono The Traveller
"The best lie is the one untold"
TeamBG-Radio
Saturday, March 31, 2001 [6:48 PM PST] KenTeamBG
Okay,
this may seem odd. I am streaming music. If you open the following URL
in WinAmp (Play Location...), you can hear the TeamBG-Radio streaming
audio:
64.194.19.133:5678 (offline)
I don't know how much I will be doing this, but enjoy.
Hello there
Saturday, March 31, 2001 [9:27 AM PST] Chrono
Introducing TeamBG.org News!!
Hi there, and welcome to TeamBG.org news.
I'll be keeping you guys posted on the latest development on the hottest topic as of now: MODS!!
Be sure to visit frequently, and get the latest info on the MODS and the best screenshots available.
Chrono The Traveller
Chief Editor ;)
"The Best Lie Is The One Untold"
TeamBG.org is officially opened
Saturday, March 31, 2001 [2:03 AM PST] KenTeamBG
This is the grand opening of the TeamBG.org
site. Currently there are links to all MODs "registered" with TeamBG,
the MOD Classifieds are up, of course I have this news script running
to conveniently post news items and the TeamBG Forums are linked to as
well.
Content such as design notes type articles that BioWare
has appeared in will soon be linked to. I will be building many
different resource links pages for everything from learning HTML and
finding a web host to hex editing and tutorials for how to use the
tools currently at our disposal to create MODs (or even just individual
customizations).
I will be filling up this site throughout this weekend at the same time I am also setting up hosting and/or TeamBG.net (TeamBG Network) redirection and email forwarding services for MOD web sites and possibly basic customization web sites.
Give me some time and it will all come together.
Also,
please see the MOD Classifieds for the ads there (note the two I
placed) and use the ads if you are someone needing the types of
services the ads offer in bringing people together.
MOD Classifieds are online
Friday, March 30, 2001 [1:33 PM PST] KenTeamBG
As many of you have already noticed, even though the TeamBG.org web site has not officially launched, our online classified ads system has been setup.
Please
be sure that any ads you post are in the right categories. Each ad has
a lifetime of two weeks and then it goes away. Let me know if you think
this ad lifetime needs to be adjusted in length.
This is a test...
Friday, March 30, 2001 [5:57 AM PST] KenTeamBG
This is a test of this web site's news delivery system.
This is only a test.