Dragon Armors - Remastered Mod

Greetings all, I decided to try my hand at some modding since I enjoy so many of them from the community.

This one can be considered an Alpha in its current state, and what I am providing today is a preview of the final product:

The dragon armors in both BG1 and BG2 (especially 2) have always bothered me, they just seemed lackluster for what they should be. I mean for crying out loud, we have an amazing dwarven smith crafting armor from the most fearsome beasts in faerun.. shouldn't they be a bit more.... spectacular?

The goal of this mod:

Cosmetic improvements - these armors should really shine, and cosmetically, that's what I will try to do with them. That being said, the cosmetic improvements are not going to be overly gaudy or flashy (by my standards, at least). My goal is subtle awesomeness that stands out, but isn't over the top.

Ability improvements and changes - I will be making changes to the abilities of these armors to be more in line of what I feel they should be based on the respective color of the dragon they came from, as well as removing some of what I consider bothersome abilities currently on these armors. I am not looking to make these armors overpowered or the end-be-all.

Weidu compatibility - I've never made a Weidu mod before, but I would like the end product to be so. My goal here is to ultimately have it included as an option in the G3 tweaks anthology, since my first version of this mod is based off of armors that have already been modded for stealth/thieving/arcane in heavy armors in the tweaks anthology.


So without further ado, here is my first rendition of this mod. This first one is purely cosmetic, with one exception - these armors already have the base changes from the tweaks anthology applied for thieving, and arcane casting in heavy armors. I will release another version of this mod without this.


Usage: copy all contents of this file into your override folder. This mod has been tested with BG1:EE and BG2:EE. I have not tested other installations.

I appreciate all feedback


download link: https://megaupload.nz/Cfi6Q6x2n8/DragonArmor-Remastered_zip - this release is deprecated, see below.


7-14-19 update:

I have been working more on this mod getting the stat/ability changes where I want them. Getting the added abilities working correctly takes a lot of trial and error. Until then, I have completed the cosmetic-only changes to the basic armors. This pack does not rely on any other mods to be installed.

I have tweaked some of the colors and pulse glows from the previous release to be a bit more subtle and less harsh. The blue dragon plate in particular needed to be toned down.

Download: https://megaupload.nz/Y8h698z4n9/Dragon_Armor_Cosmetic_Only_zip


I am getting to the point where I will need to create updated item descriptions in game to reflect the changes I made to the armors. I am humbly requesting assistance with creating this last step of the mod. I can use Near Infinity to edit the dialog.txt directly, but that obviously wont work. Any modder that would like to assist me with instruction on how to get this into a WeiDu format that will play nice with other mods and such will be greatly appreciated.

Screenshot as requested, though they really don't do the mod justice, it looks much better in game. I tried to take these at the apex of the pulse glows to give an idea of what to expect:





7-15-19 update:

I have completed the first pass of stat/ability changes portion of this mod. I tried to keep in mind item placement and availability during the game's pacing in making my choices for balance purposes, as well as trying to give unique abilities that either aren't available via other items, or are few and far between. Lastly, I tried to add abilities that would make sense considering the host from which the armor was made. Here are the changes I have made to each:

Blue Dragon Plate:

- color correction to better match the icon
- added blue color glow pulse
- new ability: cast chain lightning 3 times per day


Red Dragon Scale:

- added red color glow pulse
- new ability: cast fire shield (red) once per day


Shadow Dragon Scale:

- changed equipped appearance to chainmail
- added violet color glow pulse
- new ability: cast wraithform once per day


White Dragon Scale:

- color correction to better match the host dragon
- added white color glow pulse


Silver Dragon Scale:

- added silver color glow pulse
- removed movement speed increase
- new ability: cast writhing fog 3 times per day

(Green) Dragon Scale:

- added viridian color glow pulse
- new ability: cast neutralize poison three times per day


*NOTE* The item descriptions have not been updated and do not reflect the changes I have made.

Download
https://megaupload.nz/h1k8Fbzcna/Cosmetic_Stats_zip



I will be doing more testing an possibly more tweaks to the mod before moving to the last step... which I again humbly request help with. Updating the item descriptions and putting this in a WeiDu format.

** small update ** I have tested the basic and full mods with the G3 tweaks anthology for compatibility and did not run into any issues. As such, the first release of this mod is now deprecated.


Please enjoy and share any feedback you have for this mod. Thank you!