13/03/2002

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Pack Name:  EPIC ENDEAVOURS - version 1.0.0
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Creator Name:  Elhoe
Creator Email:  epic@elhoe.fsworld.co.uk
Creator Web URL:  http://www.teambg.net/epic/
                  http://www.elhoe.fsworld.co.uk/
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Compatible Games:
-----------------

 [ ] Baldur's Gate
 [ ] Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast

 [x] Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
 [x] Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal

 [ ] Icewind Dale
 [ ] Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter
 [ ] Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter with Trials of the Luremaster

 [ ] Icewind Dale II

 [ ] Planescape: Torment

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EPIC ENDEAVOURS - version 1.0.0
-------------------------------

An UNOFFICIAL mod for Baldurs Gate 2 - Shadows of Amn.

*** This unofficial mod is not supported in any way by Interplay Entertainment,
Bioware Corp. or Black Isle Studios. ***

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Warning:
--------

*** This mod is *NOT* currently compatible with Throne of Bhaal or any other
mods! {note: It is now infact compatible with ToB and ToB mods.} ***

*** Once this mod is installed you will not be able to start a normal Shadows
of Amn game until this mod has been removed as many areas have been overridden.
***

ATTENTION: This mod will NOT work properly in MULTIPLAYER - you MUST start a
SINGLE PLAYER game.

It is ESSENTIAL to install the latest official Shadows of Amn patch before
installation of this mod. The latest patch can be found on Bioware's site. If
the patch is not installed it may cause this game to crash.

Although the majority of areas of this mod will run fine on a standard PC, this
is a very power hungry mod. In certain missions there are many creatures on
screen and will unsurprisingly require a very powerful PC. There is slowdown in
certain areas even on my machine (a 1GHz Pentium with 384MB ram) especially
towards the final few missions. You have been warned! Please do not e-mail me
with this problem.

If you see an earlier version of this mod (version 0.9.1) doing the rounds on
FilePlanet or other places, please disregard it and do not download it. It was
an early version designed for testing only and is missing several files (area
files and sound files). You will find some parts of this old, outdated version
very strange indeed!

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About the game:
---------------

This is a partial conversion for Baldurs Gate 2 in that you will play through a
whole adventure without any links to the original game. The mod takes place in
a generic fantasy world and is not set in any particular world or setting.
Although some areas may appear familiar to the ones in BG2 - SOA, all areas you
come across in this mod have been altered (the main reason why you will NO
longer be able to start a normal BG2 - SOA game). Many of the creatures have
also been altered. Gameplay-wise it will appear to be similar but it should be
noted that some areas have a light-hearted and tongue-in-cheek flavour (if you
are a movie or video game buff you may notice the references). This is not
designed to be a hard-core role-playing experience so please understand this
now before starting a new game. It was designed to provide gamers something
different to the challenges found in Shadows of Amn.

Battles in this mod are generally tougher than in BG2 - SOA so ideally it will
help if you have played through SOA first. Otherwise you will be thrown in the
deep end as the learning curve is steep. This game is also more tactical and
strategic than BG2-SOA and playing with a full party of six characters will
help enormously. If you are expecting character development and in-party banter
you will be disappointed as this is not the intention of this mod and there are
no plans for myself to develop this in future. (Although having said that if
somebody out there who wishes to add this in I will have no objections - so
long as it is good and relevant and you have sought my permission).

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New Monsters:
-------------

There are many more in the mod, but the following are the ones you need to know
about.

Guardians and Sentinels.
These are constructs similar to but less complex than the Golems. They do not
have the resistances or special abilities of Golems, however they are much
easier to build and are usually mounted with ranged weapons. They are generally
used for sentry purposes.

Pseudo Dragons.
Similar to their cousins the Wyverns and the true dragons but without the magic
spells, breath weapons or special attacks. However they are similar to wyverns
in that some species retain their deadly poisonous tails. These vary in size
from very small (familiars) to very large. They can be trained and once tamed
they are used extensively for air transportation by both sides (as you may have
noticed they are not strictly the D&D version of pseudo dragons).

Pikemen.
The major fighting component of the Western Principaltites. These soldiers are
armed with an extra long spear (pike) that allows them to attack from a greater
distance than using standard close range weapons. They are most effective if
used behind some cannon fodder as they can hit the enemy whilst the cannon
fodder absorbs the enemy's attack.

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Missions with slowdown:
-----------------------------------

You may want to get hold of a faster PC and as much memory as possible before
attempting these missions! (due to the numerous creatures, scripts, and spell
effects that the computer has to keep track of).

Mission 6 - Extraction
Mission 10 - Otherworld
Mission 11 - Defence
Mission 13 - Secure (This can get very slow if you allow too many creatures to spawn!)
Mission - Final Battle (This will get VERY slow if too many creatures are active.)
 
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Notes:
------

You should start off a completely new game with a new character. Ideally the
main character should be male due to the storyline and the party should consist
of at least 2 or more fighters as this is a more fighting-based game. The
alignment of the party should also be aligned towards good.

Sometimes you need to give the mission scroll in your quick item slot a couple
of good clicks before it activates (due to the waiting for the script to kick
in and to prevent accidental activation of the scroll). You may also have to
wait if there is a lot action happening in the same round.

The missions should be carried out in numerical order although there is nothing
to stop you from doing them in any order - it is your decision. Just note once
you start the final battle you cannot go back to try out the other missions.

In some of the larger battles you may want to switch off some of the auto-pause
settings, otherwise the game will be paused with annoying regularity. The
settings I use are: centre on party member, weapon unusable, enemy sighted and
trap found (these should be on whilst all the other auto-pauses should be
turned off).

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Known Bugs:
-----------

1) When moving to a new area the previous area (and scripts) may still be
active and running in the background.

2) Running on low-spec machines *may* occasionally cause the game to crash back
into windows. Reloading a saved game and playing through again will usually
work. Running the fully installed game on a high-spec PC will reduce this
problem. Whatever your machine you should still save as often as possible!

3) During mission 4 any summoned monsters will look like they are walking
around in the air! You may hear a falling and a crash sound as it was planned
to then kill off the summoned creatures. However my attempts at this was
unsuccessful so it may look and sound a bit strange.

4) Some of the playable PCs in the barracks may say strange things e.g. "a trap
has been set." when they are obviously standing there doing absolutely nothing.

(If you know how to solve these bugs please send me an e-mail!)

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Thanks to:
----------

The people at www.teambg.com led by Ken Baker for their sterling work and
effort. Also the people who have created and contributed to all the IE editors
that I have used for this mod. These guys and gals are the true heroes and this
mod is a tribute to their "Epic Endeavours."

Steve and Hlidskialf for their play testing and comments.

Bioware for their wonderful Infinity Engine which proved to be extremely
moddable with help from the tools and editors that have been created. This is
my first attempt at a mod and took me about three months to complete. Although
it may appear at first to be quite hard to create a mod, it only takes a bit of
effort and work to create something. The possibilities in the Infinity Engine
are infinite!

And to you for taking the plunge and playing it! 

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Credits:
--------

Epic Endeavours created and designed by Louis Ho. 

I have used a lot of portraits and sounds from a large number of sources and
most of it I have no recollection from where I got it from (as I downloaded
them before the faintest idea of this mod even came into my mind). If you see
anything that is yours please let me know if want to be credited or if you want
me to remove the offending piece of work from the mod.

Portraits downloaded from Havak and Lady Nightshade's websites and various
other websites. The picture used instead of the World Map was downloaded from
the Sorceror's Place website.

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Send any comments, problems or suggestions to:
----------------------------------------------

My current e-mail address is:

epic@elhoe.fsworld.co.uk

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Epic Endeavours by Louis Ho:
----------------------------

http://www.teambg.net/epic/
http://www.elhoe.fsworld.co.uk/

================================================================================
Visit the following sites to make your games more fun: 
------------------------------------------------------ 

http://www.teambg.com/  (game customizing programs/editors)
http://www.dsotsc.com/  (Dark Side of the Sword Coast unofficial BG/TotSC add-on)
http://www.teambg.net/tdd/  (The Darkest Day unofficial BG2:SoA add-on)
