                              Banter Packs
                               VERSION 13
              A Pocket Plane Group Project for Baldur's Gate 2
	              http://www.pocketplane.net


It's no secret that one of the most popular, enduring elements of
Baldur's Gate 2 is the inter-party dialogue, or "banter", that crops up from
time to time, making the characters and gameworld seem more alive.

While some NPC mods have added significant quantities of banter to the game, by
and large those banters have centered on the new NPC to some degree. But there
are still plenty of stories to tell and episodes to show between the original
"Bioware 17", the NPCs that shipped with the original game. The Banter Packs
seek to breathe new life into those old companions with new dialogue sessions.

Version 13 adds a Korean translation.


INSTALLING THE BANTER PACKS

1. Run the BanterPack.exe you downloaded, and accept the default directory.

2. Setup-BanterPack.exe should run automatically. You will be asked about
installing various modules. At present, there is a SOA banter pack, an SOA
banter accelerator, a TOB banter pack and a TOB banter accelerator.
Future modules will include any mod NPC-specific banter add-ons.

3. Load up your game and enjoy the new banters. You do NOT need to start a new
game.

4. To uninstall a component, run Setup-BanterPack.exe again and ask to
uninstall.


NEW BANTERS

The new banters may occur at any time, although of course some banters require
certain conditions to be met, such as a conversation before a big fight, or a
conversation in a particular place. If you start a new game, you will likely see
many familiar Bioware banters before you reach the banter pack content--this is
normal.

Some will involve only NPC conversation, while others will ask for PC input.
Especially...


JAN'S INVENTIONS

We know that Bioware at one point intended Jan to develop gadgets beyond the
items he joins the party with, and be able to manufacture more than just the
flashers. It never happened, officially. But through the Banter Packs, Jan will
gain the ability to create new, bizarre, and occasionally useful devices for
his companions. Jan currently makes three items: one is given to the PC, one is
given to Valygar, and a third is a new ammo-making capability in his Special
Abilities menu.


TECHNICAL/COMPATIBILITY NOTES

Banter Packs should be compatible with most mods. As usual, install all
non-WeiDU mods before the banter packs.

Banter Packs employ state weighting to move the new banters a little closer to
the beginning of the stack, but because of LOVETALKs and various other
potentially conflicting banter possibilities, we tried not to get too cute.


FAQ

Q: Do I REALLY not have to start a new game?

A: Really. Although to get the Imoen/Jaheira banter about Yoshimo, you must have
had the mod installed before you visited Spellhold (and have Yoshimo in the
party for the fun.)


Q: Is there anything special I need to do, like playing my game differently, to
see all this new banter?

A: A couple of categories of banter are a little different. There are currently
three banters that require that Minsc be wielding Lilarcor, and be in the party
with (once each) Nalia, Keldorn, and Jaheira. The only other particularly
"difficult" banter to see would be Imoen and Edwina, because most players will
go through the Edwina quest before rescuing Imoen, or at least before the final
showdown in Chapter 6. The banter requires that Bodhi be defeated, so it would
mean doing things a little differently, but we feel it is worth the effort.


Q: Hey! My favorite NPC has fewer banters than my least favorite NPC! What
gives?

A: We didn't have enough good ideas written in time for this release. Maybe
we'll get some new ideas, from our muses or from people like you visiting the
forum and speaking their mind.


Q: When will Jan make items?

A: Jan will announce his new inventions after he reaches certain experience
plateaus. For the first item, that is at 500,000 XP.


Q: So Jan shot me with this thing and talked about making new ammo. Do I get
anything good out of this?

A: Yes. Check Jan's Special Abilities (star) icon. He can now make "Swarmer
Mates", powerful ammo for his crossbow.


Q: Hey, Jan gave Valygar a crossbow but whenever I shoot it, it only hurts my
characters! What's the story there?

A: Jan told you what it did.


Q: Do the banter packs require that I play a romance?

A: No.


Q: Will there be more than just NPC/NPC banter?

A: Yes, there will be some PC/NPC dialogues, as well as expansions of
interjection and scenery NPC dialogues.


Q: I've read a BG2 fanfic that had a really great dialogue exchange that I think
should be in a mod like this. Are you interested?

A: Probably. If you know how to reach the author (or you are the author) that
makes it much more appealing. NPC/NPC dialogues are much easier to deal with,
since a dialogue involving the PC would need to be interactive in the game.



Version History:

V13: Added Korean translation (Tannedbear), 
updated to Weidu 231, fixed some typos.

V12: Added Russian translation (Prowler)

V11: Updated Italian translation (Ilot)

V10: Updated German translation (Leomar et al)

V9: Updated Spanish and French translations (DLAN, d'Oghmatiques)

V8: Added three new SOA banters (Nalia/Keldorn, Imoen/Viconia w/no Viconia
romance, Anomen/Haer'Dalis before Anomen's Test.)
Introduced code from K'aeloree to address objections from BGT players.
Thanks, K'aeloree. Clever editorial comment here.

V7: Updated French translation, thanks to Galathée
Added Italian translation, thanks to Scrooge, Grifis, Jakkus,
Sambu (Xeno.Team), Al17, Daniel	

V6: Added Polish translation, thanks to Damian Staniszewski
Added fixed Jan boots, thanks to Andyr
Added three new banters (Nalia/Minsc, Edwin/Mazzy in SOA, Cernd/Viconia in TOB)
Added a new Sarevok banter and four new Sarevok epilogues.

V5: Added German translation, thanks to Caswallon, Dragonheart and Fedegar, and
French translation by Matrim Cauthon (Including translation of the Nalia/
Yoshimo game, nice work!)

V4: Added a dozen new banters

V3: Added a dozen new banters
Tried to correct the bug that kept the Swarmer Mates cutscene from functioning
in SOA-only installs

V2: Moved Boots of Jansenkind to 500,000 XP plateau, put Swarmers in at 750,000.
Made Jan actually give the new crossbow to Valygar
Added over a dozen new banters
Introduced TOB banters and banter accelerator
Added highly sought after Cernd banters

V1: Initial Release


CREDITS


Jason Compton						Banter Author
                                                        WeiDU Ninja

Kish Moore                                              Banter Author


Victoria Joyner (Blue)                                  Banter Author


Jesse Meyers (Ghreyfain)                                Item Creation


Mara Robertson (Kirwond)                                Banter Author


Bonnie Rutledge (Bons)                                  Banter Author


Bhasbuto                                                Spanish translation


Caswallon, Dragonheart and Fedegar                      German translation


Matrim Cauthon, Galathée                                French translation


Damian Staniszewski                                     Polish translation


Thanks to Cybersquirt and Andyr for beta testing, and Chris for item tweaking.
Thanks to Andyr and Stoplight Red for banter suggestions.


Banter Packs were brought to life with WeiDU, Infinity Explorer, and Near
Infinity.


Audiovisual elements are Copyright © 2003-2008

Banter Packs were not developed, supported, or endorsed by BioWare or
Interplay/Black Isle.


REDISTRIBUTION NOTE: Banter Packs were created to be freely enjoyed by all
Baldur's Gate 2 players. However, this program may not be sold, published,
compiled or redistributed in any form without the consent of its authors.




LINKS

http://www.weidu.org:                 Home of WeiDU

http://www.pocketplane.net:           Home of Kelsey, and other fine
                                      projects!

http://www.idi.ntnu.no/~joh/ni:       Home of Near Infinity

http://infexp.sourceforge.net:        Home of Infinity Explorer

