There seems to be little overt modding activity occurring at the Infinity Engine department of Spellhold Studios. The inmates have grown restless, and internal resources have been diverted to restoring order. That means having fun in the Recreation Room. Does Scipio ring a bell?

Spotlight on Faren NPC
What has been progressing nicely is the Faren NPC modification, conceived by Feuille and Miss Sakaki, the duo that brought you the Nathaniel NPC and Luxley Family modifications. For those of you who haven’t signed up onto his fanlist, Faren Blacknall is a human true neutral dual-class Fighter/Thief. The authors are apt to suspense, not giving much away about this new character. In their latest progress report, they have added some more encounters, romance conflicts, flirts, and talks to the modification. Check out what all the hubbub is about here.

You’ve got to pick a pocket or two
Kwiat_W has been working on a modification that gives players the ability to pick the pockets of hostile, unconscious characters. The concept utilises a special ability that forces the enemy to drop their items ‘in a panic’. Just imagine that your greedy thief always has slippery hands! Check out version 0.2 of Pickpocket Options here.

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Celestine and Kaelis, who have decided to step down from their roles as Staff members.

Both decisions have been spurred by the advent of busyness, and I wish both Celestine and Kaelis the very best in the future, and hope they stick around!

They’ve both been valuable members of the Staff, and I’d like to thank them for all of the hard work they’ve done during their tenure as Staff.

In the middle of the month that contains the fateful leap day, a hush descends upon the Infinity Engine modding community as you silently read the news that is to follow. (You were expecting me to say something grand, weren’t you?)

Many, many hundredths to Infinity
As the original Infinity Explorer meanders on to an integer version, bigmoshi contributes brighter areas, creature item flags, custom area resource viewing, and a duplicate resource fix to make this Infinity Engine file browser utility enter version 0.85. Check out the listed fixes and download the update here.

Lunette shields, for goodness!
Screw butt-kicking when you’ve got great looking in-game shields to direct your tunnel vision at. Dubbed ‘legacy bucklers’, Erephine has released a One Pixel Production version 3 preview of these round shields for your use, and has more recently tossed up screenshots of another set of shields for your piquance. Check out the zesty visuals here.

Five old mods. Five old mods. See how they run...
You’ll be right with these old modifications as long as they don’t get their tails cut off with a carving knife. Badgert has informed us of five old modifications combined into a single WeiDU installer. It adds some Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment items into a shop at the Adventurer’s Mart in Athkatla. Evaluate the edge, heft, and craftsmanship of the items here.

These updates should be enough to facilitate your illusions of grandeur for a little while longer. Till next time.

Although Zyraen has had it in progress for a while, we are proud to announce that Silmarillon, a new Total Conversion for Baldur’s Gate II, now is hosted at SHS.

Silmarillon takes place in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, and this occurs in the First Age of Middle-Earth, where the mighty High Elves strove against Morgoth (aka Melkor), a God that walked the world, for 3 jewels called the Silmarils, crafted by Feanor the greatest craftsman that ever was, who captured the Light of the Creation of the world within his perfect creations.

To give a quick comparison to the 3rd Age of Middle-Earth - Sauron is essentially similar to Gandalf, both are of essence Spirits (called Maia), whereas Morgoth was a God that predated the creation of the world. The Balrog that Gandalf encountered in Moria is also considered a Spirit-level being, and Morgoth in his time, ruled over all the Balrogs there were, and moved them in regiments over battlefields. Morgoth himself also was the creator of Orcs, and later on, Werewolves, Wyrms, Wyrms made of pure Iron or Flame, and Winged Dragons.

The Elves were by no means the pale pathetic shadow of the 3rd Age. Despite Morgoth’s power, the forefathers of Elrond besieged his realm Angband and the fortress of Thangorodrim, with relative ease, keeping it up for more than half of the First Age, almost 400 years.

The mod begins at the Havens, where you are a commander of Earendil and the remnants of the peoples there. Earendil has not yet set sail, but the Havens is under frequent attacks by Morgoth’s forces, and Earendil himself has taken ill, a condition unheard of among Elves. Elwing reveals that there is some disturbance in the timestream of the past, by an unknown force, and Earendil is channeling his powers to prevent its effects from washing over the Havens. Take a party back to the past, and get more party members to fix up all the events.

Check out the new Silmarillon forum for more information! 

Hello!

We now have the results of the Spellhold Studios’ Art and Fiction Contests! The entries were fantastic in both of them, but the people voted their favourites.

The winners of the Art Contest are…

1st Place Raide
2nd Place RedTyga
3rd Place Orthodoxia

The winners of the Fiction Contest are…

1st KedorLao
1st vilkacis

2nd Choo Choo
2nd Lysan Lurraxol
2nd K’aeloree

For more information and for instructions to the winners, please visit these threads:
Art Contest Winners | Fiction Contest Winners

Congratulations to all of you, and a big thanks to everybody who participated and/or voted! :)