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i have written a new guide! instead of publishing them here on tumblr, i’m just going to be posting a notification post like this with a link to it. it’s easier for me to control the formatting on my own website and then i don‘t have to do it multiple times.
anyway, here’s the new guide: Heroes of Might and Magic II - Installation Guide
Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition - Recommended Mods & Guide
updated January 21st, 2023
Essential Mods
Modmerge for STEAM or GOG users - you will need to install this to use some of the mods below, including the other essential ones.
Installation: make sure you have baldur's gate and baldur's gate 2 installed. Run them both once and then quit. Extract the file and then right click the modmerge.exe and click "Run as administrator". Click yes when windows confirms and follow the installation prompts.
The Baldur’s Gate 1 NPC Project - This mod adds tons of dialogue and content to the NPCs of Baldur’s Gate, particularly eligible party members. It adds a few romance tracks (Ajantis, Branwen, Coran, Dynaheir, Shar-Teel and Xan), and enriches the story. If you want my personal recommendations on romances added with this pack? Coran and Dynaheir.
Installation: download and extract bg1npc-v26.zip or the relevant update version to your Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition installation folder (the folder which contains the CHITIN.KEY file)(example installation path: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition”). Double click setup-bg1npc.exe. Press Y to open the readme and review the modules. Follow the prompts to install the modules. You can choose to speed up the conversations if you want them to pop more often. I get through the game really quickly, so I usually change the speed to 15 minutes, but 30 minutes might be better for the average gameplay speed. This mod will ask you about portraits - decide now if you want to use your own custom portraits or the ones the mod provides. If you don't want the custom portraits from this mod, don't install the portraits for Kivan & Deheriana, and Coran (two separate prompts). Those are the only components I don't install from the mod.
NPC Project Music Pack - trust me, you want this.
Installation: double click the bg1npcmusic-v6.exe or the relevant update version file. Confirm the install path is where your game is installed. Install option 1 for the best experience.
BG1 Unfinished Business mod - restores cut items and content, including quests, dialogue, and encounters.
Installation: extract bg1-unfinished-business-v16.4.zip or the relevant update version to your Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition installation folder (the folder which contains the CHITIN.KEY file). Double click setup-bg1ub.exe and follow the prompts to install.
Companion Mods
Ajantis BG1 Expansion - adds a friendship track and more romance content for the BG1NPC Project romance for Ajantis.
Installation: extract the ajantis-bg1-expansion-modification-17.zip or the relevant update version into your Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition installation folder (the folder which contains the CHITIN.KEY file). Double click Setup-AjantisBG1.exe. Follow the prompts.
Garrick’s Infatuation - allows Gorion's foster daughter to explore a closer acquaintance with her very first biographer through a series of 25 conversations and flirtations.
Installation: run garrick_flirt-Beta_4.exe or the relevant update version . Microsoft might confirm with you that you want to run the program because the author is unknown - click More Info and then Run anyway. It will extract to your installation path (confirm it). If it gets stuck on the black cmd box for several minutes (hangs) just X it out and double click the setup-garrick_flirt.exe in your installation folder. Follow the prompts to install.
Coran's BG Extended Friendship Talks - This mod expands Coran's Friendship talk sequence, adding up to eighteen (18) new banters with the protagonist (and one potential comment by Garrick) for a player character who is not in an active romance with him.
Installation: run coranbgfriend-v5.exe or the relevant update version . Microsoft might confirm with you that you want to run the program because the author is unknown - click More Info and then Run anyway. It will extract to your installation path (confirm it). If it gets stuck on the black cmd box for several minutes (hangs) just X it out and double click the setup-coranbgfriend.exe in your installation folder. Follow the prompts to install.
Companion Portraits
BG1 NPC Portrait Pack - I'll be transparent here; this is my pack and how I prefer the NPCs to look. If there is no replacement portrait, it's either because I've never seen one I like, or I prefer their original portrait.
If you don’t like either of those, here’s another portrait pack I recommend that is more artistically unified.
Installation: extract the desired .bmp files into "...\Documents\Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition\portraits". If you don't have a portraits folder, feel free to make one. It has to specifically be named "portraits".
Additional Mods
Romantic Encounters - BG1RE aims at populating BG1 with romantic encounters, intense dialogues, unexpected private dinners, romantic traces of long lost times, and real quests that all deal with true love, fulfilled or unfulfilled. WARNING: this mod can include adult content and triggering encounters if they are installed. They are, however, completely optional.
Installation: extract the baldurs-gate-romantic-encounters-modification-bg1re-7.0.zip or the relevant update version into your Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition installation folder (the folder which contains the CHITIN.KEY file). Double click setup-bg1re.exe. Please check the readme if you don't want to install specific encounters - some are adult in nature and some are even triggering. Follow the prompts to install.
In Closing
If you have any questions, need help or clarification, feel free to send me an ask or message me on discord if you have it.
Sims 2 Guide: How to Save a Home
saving the lot
i didn’t expect to be writing this tutorial, but it’s fun to learn all the things people don’t know and I (what? me??) can help with. so here is a little tutorial for saving homes in the sims 2 for use later or in another neighbourhood, and reinstalling them safely (with no sim references, which definitely do corrupt your lot and any sims that move into it, i have tested that one accidentally too many times 😭)
first step! find the house you want to save. if there are sims in it, move them out. once it’s empty, click on it.
you want to click on the icon on the bottom left with the combined arrow and network icon. it’s called “Package Lot” .
once you click it, another menu will come up. click to “Package Lot to a file” and click accept.
it will then tell you where the lot file was packaged and sent to on your computer.
so navigate there. you should see your packaged lot.
installing the lot
next, you’ll need to download and install TWO things:
Mootilda’s Clean Sims2pack installer located here: http://sims2pack.modthesims2.com/. once it’s installed, make sure your sims2.pack files open with it.
you also need to install Mootilda’s HoodChecker here: https://modthesims.info/download.php?t=456523
first, you will need to back up your neighborhood. You can copy the folder or simply zip it.
once you have hoodchecker, run it.
click start, select the neighborhood the house is in, and click next. click check, and then finish.
you will see any invalid family ties, relationships, wants or fears, and memories in the neighborhood. if it is clean, skip the next step and go straight to the sims2pack installer step. if it’s not, you’ll need to use the remove function.
follow the steps above until you get to remove or check. click remove, then yes (because you DID make a backup, right?). after that, you will get a report of what was removed. in my screenshot, it was unable to remove three memories, so i would have to remove these manually in simPE. that’s an advanced step, so i’m not gonna include that in this tutorial, but as long as you know these memories (or whatever it failed to remove) aren’t attached to the sims that were living in your lot, then you’re probably fine.
removing these are critical to making sure the lot is clean. memories and tokens can become attached to objects on the lot, even if there are no sims on it, which is what causes the corruption issues.
open up your lot with mootilda’s clean sims2pack installer.
i highly recommend you click “Install house only” as otherwise, it will install every object included on the house as well, including CC you probably already have. just click install, and then install again.
once it has successfully installed, you can exit the program and open the sims 2 back up. once you’re in your neighborhood, just click on Lots & Houses button (or F2) and they will be in the Lots & Bin!
Might and Magic VII - Recommended Mods & Guide
Mods
GreyFace MM7 Patch (https://github.com/GrayFace/Misc/releases/) This mod provides a lot of bugfixes, updates, and graphic updates that will make the game work in HD and without having to be fullscreen. Highly recommended.
Installation: double click or click and hit enter on “MM7.Patch.v2.4.exe” or the relevant update version. It will not auto-detect your installation so please make sure to find your installation directory. In my case, that’s “C:\GOG Galaxy\Games\Might and Magic 7”. Once installed, you’re good to go!
MouseLook key settings (https://sites.google.com/site/sergroj/mm/MM7MouseLook.rar?attredirects=0) This provides settings for mouselook for MM7. This mod allows you to look around freely utilizing your mouse rather than pressing the PgUp and PgDown buttons.
Save Editor
Might and Magic 7 Save Editor (https://shrines.rpgclassics.com/pc/mm7/Extras/mm7che.exe) Find the game too hard? Salty about losing some items or gold? Enjoy cheating? This editor is pretty straight forward and allows you to manipulate all kinds of things about your characters. Always back up your saved games before using an editor.
Useful Guide Websites
Mike’s RPG Center (https://www.mikesrpgcenter.com/mm7/index.html) have used this website for over a decade now. Guides are limited to the light path of MM7.
RPG Classics Shrine (https://shrines.rpgclassics.com/pc/mm7/index.shtml) with a bunch of useful stuff.
Tips
Monster corpses may sometimes “stick” when you click them to loot. This is a very useful exploit for dragons and titans, especially the dragon on Emerald Isle. Save the game before looting, and then loot the dragon. If it disappears, reload. If it sticks, save again before looting it a second time. Repeat this as many times as you like to get infinite loot.
Fighting the dragon on Emerald Isle: run around him in circles in real time combat, pausing only when he’s moving to shoot him with a few arrows, spells, or wands. Run when he’s about to use his dragon breath attack again. It takes about five minutes, but he will die.
Getting the wand on Emerald Isle without committing to the deal with the peasant (Malwick) by the potions shop: go pull a bunch of fireflies (at least 10-15+) towards the top of the island nearby. Enough of them will kill the guard there. Run behind Malwick to block him so that he can’t run away, or if he goes too far, use the Y button to try to yell at him and force him back. The fireflies will kill him and his corpse will have the wand. This also works on the bard peasant by the inn with the lute you need for the contest. There is no reputation damage for this as long as you don’t personally hurt the peasants, so be careful not to hit them with attacks.
Change your options settings so that turning is “smooth” and you’re on “always run”. I also like to turn the tutorial off by clicking on the hireling and turning her off, but if you’ve never played before, you should probably leave it on.
Bonus
Love the card game acromage in MM7 but always wished you could play it without having to go through the beginning of the game to get the cards? Never fear! Some great creators have recreated the game as a web-based open source remaster. Play here: https://github.com/arcomage/arcomage-hd
If you’re having issues getting it to work correctly in your browser (I use firefox, for example, and it doesn’t love it), here is the desktop version: https://github.com/arcomage/arcomage-hd#desktop-version
Dragon Age: Origins - Recommended Mods & Guide
updated August 9th, 2022
Game Fixes
Qwinn’s Ultimate DAO Fixpack V3.52 This is a bugfix pack for dialogue, quests, scripting, plot, and item bugs in DAO.
Dain’s Fixes A big bugfix pack for DAO mechanics.
Game Add-ons
Auto Loot A mod that makes looting much faster. It also adds an “auto loot” skill, which makes your entire party loot all containers within an area.
Extra Dog Slot Adds dog onto your party as a companion animal slot.
Skip the Fade I honestly think the Fade sequence is useless unless you enjoy the puzzles and other aspects. This mod skips the sequence and takes you straight to your companion’s dreams, and then the final boss.
Shortcut Through the Deep Roads I do NOT recommend this mod if this is your first time playing Dragon Age: Origins, as it skips several story related parts of the Deep Roads. However, if you have played many times and are tired of trudging through the deep roads again, this mod is great.
Aesthetic Mods
Dragon Age Redesigned I install three things from this mod: First, go into the folder “Dragon Age Origins”, then go to “Companion NPCs for Origin”, then “Oghren” and install Darkkami’s Oghren. Then I go to “Non-companion NPCs (contains Dracomies True Textures)”. Double click the .exe and first install Dracomies True Textures VI. When that finishes, install the setting you would prefer - I always installed the Enhanced Lore Edition.
Some Dalish Textures Fixes the low quality textures the Dalish had, importing some textures from Inquisition.
Theta HD Adds high quality textures for the world of DAO.
Retexturing DAO Another mod that updates the world of DAO with high quality textures. I use this, Some Dalish Textures, Theta HD and Dragon Age Redesigned all together.
SJC’s Vanilla Eye Texture Replacement and Eyes I only use the eye texture replacement, not the unique eyes. A comparison picture of the new eye texture is the last photo on the photos page. It’s a much improved texture.
SJC’s Patchy Skin Fix Check out the screenshots for the differences. It helps a lot for that ugly patchy texture DAO’s skin has, especially on darker skinned characters.
LOTC’s Female Eyelashes Replaces the default eyelashes.
Eyebrow Presets replaces the ugly original eyebrow presets in the game.
Vanilla Face Texture Replacer for Dragon Age: Origins This mod replaces some of the low quality face textures with updated high quality ones.
KH Blogspot Stuff - Part 3: Softer Hair and Beard for DA:O / DA2 Replaces the default hair texture with a higher quality, softer hair texture.
True Colors Redux This mod changes the default tints and textures to make them more realistic and give them more vibrancy.
Player Character Mods
45 Real Skin Colors Adds 45 realistic skintones.
SJC’s Tints and Textures Adds a variety of new tints and textures to the character creator.
KH Blogspot Stuff - Part 1: DAO Hairs Adds some nice hairs to the character creator.
Warden Complexions with Eyebrows This mod adds several complexions to the game for the player character to use.
Companion Mods
Unique Face Textures for Companions DAO Edition High quality unique face textures for the companions. I ignore Oghren’s and install everyone else.
Zevran ASAP This mod bumps the Zevran Loghain scene up to be right after the scene between Bann Teagan and Loghain, and you will meet Zevran after your Darkspawn nightmare following Lothering.
Lyth's Updated Morrigan - How can I not recommend my own mods? I made them because of the specific way I view the characters! This is a custom Morrigan face morph with updated 4k DA:I textures. This mod has additional dependencies not listed in this mod guide, so check the required mods.
Lyth's Updated Zevran - A fittingly younger and better proportioned Zevran with updated 4k textures and (optionally) better hair. This mod has additional dependencies not listed in this mod guide, so check the required mods.
Installation
Place your downloads into your "...\Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\override" folder. You can organize them into folders if you wish. None of the mods in this guide conflict unless otherwise stated. You may safely install all of them together. If you download additional mods, make sure you only have one .mor file for each character in the game, and always check for conflicts in the mod documentation.
For DAZip files, you must locate the updater.exe in your installation directory and use that to install them. You can typically find it here: "...\Steam\steamapps\common\Dragon Age Ultimate Edition\bin_ship"
Uninstallation: Delete the files from your override folder.
I’m done, now what?
Once you have everything downloaded you want to download, make sure to delete and clean out any chargenmorph files that came with your downloads. Instead of using those, use the new ChargenmorphCFG Generator. It finds everything in your downloads that belongs in the character creator and makes a clean, new chargenmorph file at the end. Just drag the .exe into the override folder first. Done!
I made an easy-play neighborhood 1 template for myself, so I figured I would share it. It includes houses pre-built on all empty lots, two new community lots where there was only sidewalk in oldtown and downtown, and (mostly) mild modifications to all other lots.
There's two versions. The second version has the original families from the bin moved in and homes furnished with their available funds (Bachelor, Pleasant, Roomies). Screenshots of most everything is on the link below.
Just pop the UserData folder into your installation directory and start playing!
Check it out here!
I also created a Sims 1 Essential Mods list. It's short but sweet. Enjoy!
Might and Magic VIII - Recommended Mods & Guide
Mods
GreyFace MM8 Patch (https://github.com/GrayFace/Misc/releases/e) This mod provides a lot of bugfixes, updates, and graphic updates that will make the game work in HD and without having to be fullscreen. Highly recommended.
Installation: double click or click and hit enter on “MM8.Patch.v2.4.1.exe” or the relevant update version. It will not auto-detect your installation so please make sure to find your installation directory. In my case, that’s “C:\GOG Galaxy\Games\Might and Magic 8”. Once installed, you’re good to go!
MouseLook key settings (https://sites.google.com/site/sergroj/mm/MM8MouseLook.rar?attredirects=0) this provides settings for mouselook for MM8.
Other Mods
Might and Magic 6, 7, and 8 Merge Mod (https://www.celestialheavens.com/forum/10/16657) I do not recommend using this mod if it is your first time playing any of these three games. This mod allows you to start on any continent and in any of the three games, and allows you to travel between all three continents. This mod cannot be installed with any other mods for any of the three games, and is stand alone.
Save Editor
Might and Magic 8 Character Editor (http://www.acidcave.net/download/mm8che.exe) Find the game too hard? Salty about losing some items or gold? Enjoy cheating? This editor is pretty straight forward and allows you to manipulate all kinds of things about your characters. Always back up your saved games before using an editor.
Useful Guide Websites
MM8 Guide (https://mm8-guide.tumblr.com/) A mostly complete guide for the game with reference images.
Tips
Monster corpses may sometimes “stick” when you click them to loot. This is a very useful exploit for dragons and titans. Save the game before looting, and then loot the dragon. If it disappears, reload. If it sticks, save again before looting it a second time. Repeat this as many times as you like to get infinite loot.
Fighting dragons and titans: run around them in circles in real time combat, pausing only when it’s moving to shoot it with a few arrows, spells, or wands. Run when he’s about to use his dragon breath attack again. It takes about five minutes, but it will die.
Change your options settings so that turning is “smooth” and you’re on “always run”. This will provide a better gaming experience.
Bonus
Love the card game acromage in MM8 but always wished you could play it without having to go through the beginning of the game to get the cards? Never fear! Some great creators have recreated the game as a web-based open source remaster. Play here: https://github.com/arcomage/arcomage-hd
If you’re having issues getting it to work correctly in your browser (I use firefox, for example, and it doesn’t love it), here is the desktop version: https://github.com/arcomage/arcomage-hd#desktop-version
Heroes of Might and Magic III - Recommended Mods & Guide
There aren’t a lot of mods I recommend, though there are quite a few out there. I was hoping that by now we would have a working factory faction mod, which the New World Computing team had experienced extreme backlash against at the time it was being worked on, and it was canceled by 3d0 and replaced with the Conflux. Unfortunately, I haven’t found one yet that I feel is balanced and well done.
These two mods are for the GOG or original complete edition of Heroes of Might and Magic III. These mods will not support or work on the 2015 Ubisoft re-release of Heroes III, as that release is often considered not up to quality standards by most players and modders.
Pre-Installation
Make sure you install Heroes of Might and Magic III complete edition outside of your program files folder, as it may cause issues for the game itself, and will certainly cause issues for the mods. If you have GOG Galaxy (https://www.gog.com/galaxy), you may need to uninstall it and reinstall it outside of program files (C:\GOG Galaxy). This will work out better for the older games you play anyway.
HD Mod (https://sites.google.com/site/heroes3hd/) Better HD features than Ubisoft’s version. It doesn’t change any of the actual gameplay, but fixes everything so that it works on HD resolutions and maintains the original NWC style
Installation: double click or click and press enter on the file “HoMM3_HD_Latest_setup.exe” once downloaded. It may say windows doesn’t trust this publisher; click more and then run anyway. It’ll ask where your installation is, and will not auto-detect your installation. Make sure you direct it towards the correct location, which is “C:\GOG Galaxy\Games\HoMM 3 Complete” if you read my first instruction. I also check for it to create a desktop icon, because it’s easier for me to quickly know and manage what games I have installed if their icons are on my desktop. Once installed, it will show you a configuration menu. Make sure to set your resolution and stretch filter. I use the SmoothSal x2 + Bilinear 2x Sharper setting. Then just hit play and check it out! It may ask you to install Direct Play, which you should definitely do if you don’t have it. If everything looks good, make sure you click “Create HD exe” to save your settings.
Horn of the Abyss (https://h3hota.com/en/gallery) HotA is a global expansion for the Heroes of Might & Magic III game, expanding upon the classic gameplay elements and adding brand new ones. It adds the Cove faction into the game, a sea-inspired pirate-like faction whose native terrain is the swamp. It is available on maps where the Conflux faction is also available. I included this one and not other faction add-ons because of the extensive playtesting and balancing the team worked to achieve. It also introduces a spell research function, and some creatures may attack with alternative function. Simply use the interface button or the Alt key. There are other tweaks you can read about in the documentation.
Installation: double click or click and press enter on the file “HotA_1.6.1_setup.exe” once downloaded. Like the HD mod, this mod will not auto-detect your installation, so be sure to set it. Once it’s installed, go ahead and play! Here’s an old strategy guide in case you’re not familiar with the gameplay, but want to play, or simply want to improve.
