"Alarm goes off at seven, and we wake up town. We put in our eight hours, for the powers that have always been.” Sing it child. “Till it’s five PM.” Cookies if you can work out where the quote comes from. It’s another way to say ”We have motion!” because this fortnight ”We’ve got mail!”, and it is time to ”Engage!”.

Disentangling mega-modification installations
Michael has spent huge chunks of time programming the Infinity Engine Modlist Installer (IEMI), a web-based application that currently acts as a mod list, but will eventually allow you to customise your installation by selecting what modifications and components to install. The utility promises to give feedback on conflicts, advice on fixes, and a nice little XML to help you tame the beast. Check out the site here. A condensed announcement can be found here. Participate in the disscusion of the project here.

A legacy of small shields
A legacy of small shields have been passed down the generations to oust the old traditional ones. With the bucklers already propagating like a pandemic, there will be much blocking of stinking evil! Making space hamsters redundant. Check out Erephine’s One Pixel Productions component release here.

Duality’s duality
Forget about Rene Descartes, forget about ‘cogito ergo sum’, and forget about mind and body. This fortnight, bring in the Enemy Upgrade and the Odd Quest Mod. This duality by Duality will surely blow your mind, as you face buffed up opponents and thrash your way through an interesting fight in the Umar hills. Check them out here and here, respectively.

A girl named Vildra
FuzzT has done an all-nighter and has contrived a one-day NPC for Shadows of Amn. Her name is Vildra and she is a chaotic good fighter. Give FuzzT some support for the dedication to modding and see what this mysterious fighter is all about here.

Tutorials for the dainty
If Infinity Engine modding is something that makes you prone to swooning, there are two tutorials this fortnight that may restore the oxygen flow to the brain and put colour back on those cheeks. Michael has posted a tutorial on making new areas from old ones, and Kulyok has chipped in on an elegant method of writing dialogue code for talks with NPCs. Check them out here and here, respectively.

Hidden kits unveiled!
Sounds like an expedient headline for a tabloid. Zyraen has chalked up some kit ideas that are automatically applied when characters dual-class to certain class combinations. The kits themselves are shaping up to be quite the something to pine. Check out the current state of the idea here.

Planar Sphere revolves for the 2.6c-th time
The Planar Sphere modification, a derelict modification that has seen further development at the Mod Resurrections forum, has again been flushed of invasive bugs attracted to some key, and has been streamlined by the streamiest of liners - no boats involved. Get the updated mod here, check out what the modification is all about here, and give comments on the discussion thread here.

Be sure to schedule some time in your busy timetables to try these delicacies out. Till next time.

The NPC Damage mod is not for the faint of heart. As your party NPCs take Damage, their appearance will change accordingly to show the injuries they sustain.

This mod is inspired by Planescape: Torment, and was originally conceived and developed by Immortality, Grim Squeaker and SimDing0. As development slowed down to a full stop, the mod fell away from the community, until khayman and SConrad decided to take up the idea and finish the mod.

Only the day after the initial release, an update for v.1 has been made available. v1.1 includes a Spanish translation (both mod and readme) by Immortality/ClanDLAN. There is no need to re-download if you’re using the English version of the mod.

Related links:

• Download link
• Readme
• Spanish Readme
• Mod website
• Mod forum

Rogue Rebalancing strives to bring the Rogue classes (Bards and Thieves) and their respective kits closer to their Pen and Paper AD&D counterparts.

This release adds several new items to the game, revises some of the items which were introduced in the previous versions of the mod, further expands the “Revised Thievery” component with an option to use the PnP variety of thievery potions and enhances all AI scripts that are used in Rogue Rebalancing through Detectable Spells. In light of these changes, the compatibility with other mods and the recommended install order for Rogue Rebalancing have changed. Please consult the revised Compatibility Guide for more details.

Relevant links

• Mod homepage
• Download locations
• Documentation
• Discussion forum
• Compatibility guide

Spellhold Studios presents the NPC Damage mod--a new mod, but old idea, for Baldur’s Gate II SoA/ToB.

The NPC Damage mod is not for the faint of heart. As your party NPCs take Damage, their appearance will change accordingly to show the injuries they sustain.

This mod is inspired by Planescape: Torment, and was originally concepted and developed by Immortality, Grim Squeaker and SimDing0. As development slowed down to a full stop, the mod fell away from the community, until khayman and SConrad decided to take up the idea and finish the mod.

Version 1 includes portraits for all Bioware NPCs. Samples can be found in the mod forum.

Related links:

• Download link
• Readme
• Mod website
• Mod forum

Activity in Infinity Engine modding remains fairly subdued this fortnight while the inmates are dosed with Power Word: Sleep, but sleep does not stifle the Orb of Creativity of which its tendrils manifest in the IE Mod Ideas forum. This fortnight, we have musings of a mind flayer NPC, a trip into the secluded ‘aerie’ of the Avariel, and a musically deceiving weaver of spells (not lies, thank the heavens). If you do nothing else this fortnight, make sure you acquaint yourselves with these fascinating ideas and lend an iota of your constructive feedback. For more mod ideas, check out the IE Mod Ideas forum.