Hi there!
I created a new mod which is at a stage now where I urgently need beta testers. I already posted an announcement here (
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/177/index/5394304), but since this is *the* modding thread, I figured, I had to post it here as well. Sorry in advance, if this is considered a cross-post!
Here's a quick listing of its main features:
Almost every style in the Jade Empire is learnable. There are 12 martial styles; 3 support styles; 5 magic styles; 8 weapon styles - most of which can be upgraded; 9 transformations; and 2 unique styles.
(I included all of Lothario's styles (
http://www.lucasforums.com/showpost.php?p=2573902&postcount=280) btw and wrapped them in a small quest.)
I added a new way to learn styles: Through combat. Defeat an opponent who uses an unknown style and you may get a chance to learn it. How big that chance is, depends on how much damage you take in the process. If you do well, a special store will pop up right at the end of the combat round, where you will be able to buy that new style for a tenth of what it would cost at regular stores. I also added/modified a few opponents for the specific purpose of giving you the opportunity to learn new styles.
A number of styles have been modified:
Dire Flame does no longer produce Health power-ups, but Chi power-ups.
Stone Immortal now produces Focus power-ups instead of Chi power-ups. (or was it Health? I forgot...)
Storm Dragon is no longer a game breaker. You cannot paralyze opponents for sheer indefinite amounts of time anymore. You cannot do any damage to their health anymore. And you cannot start a harmonic combo with it, either.
You can do something completely new, however: You can replenish your Focus and drain that of your opponent with Storm Dragon. It has become the twin brother of Spirit Thief.
Drunken Master can be leveled now. You simply level it by using it. The longer you stay in that style, the more advancements are applied. Beware, though: If you switch to another style they're gone. Next time you'll have to get drunk all over again...
Horse Demon Transformation, Red Minister Transformation, Jade Golem Transformation and Toad Demon Transformation are no longer handed to you for free. You will have to pay lots of silver for them or win them in combat!
There are more style changes, but I leave it at that...
You no longer get free style points at level-up. You will have to earn them in combat. Your opponents will drop them in the form of black orbs that you can pick up. With the lowly gimps you have a 50 percent chance to get a style point, but your chances will sink, if you allow them to pummel you a lot. With the more dangerous opponents, you have a 100 percent to get not just one but several style points, but how many points you actually get, depends, again, on how well you do in combat.
If you re-play JE for the combat, you may start to find the cutscenes a bit annoying. Who wants to watch minutes of unskippable intro again and again and again? So I started to move the autosaves. I deleted the ones before the opening cutscenes and created new ones between the cutscenes and the combat. Upon reload you'll find yourself directly in combat. Perfect for re-play!
A bunch of new gems and techniques have been added and some existing ones have been modified:
There's a new technique only Open Palm characters may be able to aquire in a certain side quest in the Necropolis. It allows your character to (slowly) regenerate your Health, Chi and Focus while you're not in combat. The more Open Palm you are, the quicker you will regenerate.
There's a new gem, that only Closed Fist characters can equip, that increases the transfer-effects of Spirit Thief and Storm Dragon. How much the effects increase depends on how much you're aligned to the path of the Closed Fist. Additionally it comes with a damage armor, that steals Chi and Focus from every opponent who hits you. You may be able to acquire this gem in Tien's Landing...
Earth armor gems and fire armor gems have been added to the air armor gems, that already exist in the game world. Not only are they damage shields, but they also provide immunity to the magic that fuels them: an earth armor protects against Stone Immortal. A fire armor protects against dire flame. And air armor now protects against Tempest. You may equip only one armor at a time, though.
There's a new technique, you may be able to acquire in the Imperial City, that increases the speed of *all* your martial styles.
There's more, but I leave it at that...
I also made some changes to the economy:
You'll get more silver out of combat, so you should be able to buy a few goodies more.
Some more (but not all!) styles have been added to select stores. A few other items have been added as well.
The genie merchant has been made more useful. He now buys and sells at regular rates instead of the crappy ones from vanilla Jade Empire.
The effects have of the Lucky Hand gem have been increased.
Two NPCs - Hui and Abbot Song - now sell a few items as well.
There's more, but I leave it at that...
Specializations are an experimental addition. If you specialize on one of your stats you will do bonus damage. If you invest substantially more in Health, than in Chi or Focus, you'll become a Martial Arts specialist. Favoring Chi will make you a magician and favoring Focus will turn you into a weapon master. The more drastic the difference between your favored stat and the others, the bigger the bonus damage becomes. Specialization is applied after effects, which means your gems will factor in as well. It should be possible to change your specialization by carefully re-arranging your gems.
The mod comes in an English and a German version.
Since this is a Beta release, I don't want to upload it to a public server, just yet. So if you're interested in becoming a beta-tester, send me a PM and I'll mail the mod to you (ca. 5 MB)!