David Gaider on Cailan, Anora, Celene & Loghain
In his PAX Day 3 Interview, David Gaider answered a pair of interesting questions regarding the subject of Cailan dumping Anora for the Orlesian Empress Celene.
- Was Cailan really planning on leaving Anora for the Empress of Orlais, or was Loghain exaggerating?
- David Gaider: Hahah! You know it's funny, that was a plot that was originally in Origins, and we couldn't include it. The Empress of Orlais was supposed to have been visiting Denerim during the time of the Blight. We had a whole plot prepared for it, but that's the way development goes. Things get cut all the time. So what you saw in Return to Ostagar was sort of a callback to what was happening there. The plan originally actually was yes, that Cailan was planning to divorce Anora ori…
vim addmhairi - custom console script to add mhairi after she has died.
Description: Here is a script to add Mhairi to your party at any time. It does not add her to the party picker the way zz_addparty or zz_gxa_addparty normally do with other characters however. Nevertheless the partypicker may be used to remove her should you desire to do so.
Instructions: Open the toolset and save it as vim_addmhairi.nss (a script file). The toolset will automatically compile it into vim_addmhairi.ncs when you save it. Place vim_addmhairi.ncs in My Documents>BioWare>Dragon Age>packages>core>override>toolsetexport and it will become available from within the console.
Standard Disclaimer: While I don't believe this script will harm your game, the possibility does exist that I may be mistaken.
Exceeding the Max Companion Cap - Other Issues
Three additional issues also exist when exceeding the maximum companion cap:
- Extra companions beyond the first three fail to get removed when the game forces you to play in solo mode. This can cause some weird issues to appear as mentioned in my zz_addparty post. Until this issue is fixed it is recommended that you first remove any extra characters before entering the Fade or other solo areas.
- Extra companions beyond the first three do not banter with the others.
- Extra companions beyond the first three (unless they are already explicitly written in) do not appear on the stage for group scenes and group discussions. You will hear no sound should they speak to you in those situations. Instead the camera will pan to a blank spot and you'll know …
Exceeding the Max Companion Cap - Intractable GUI issues
There are 2 significant GUI issues with exceeding the maximum character cap:
- Beyond 4 characters (Warden + 3 companions), additional characters do not get portraits. This makes it harder to select them, as well as to keep track of their health & mana during combat.
- Beyond 4 characters, additional characters do get quickbars, but unfortunately they are grayed out. This means this handy tool can't be used to quickly cast spells or activate talents/skills. Neither does pressing numerical keys or pressing buttons in the skill, talent or spell screens work. In fact there is no direct way to access their abilities so you have no ability to micro-manage these characters. All you can do directly is command them to move and/or attack. The one thing …
Exceeding the Max Companion Cap - zz addparty
For a player who wishes to exceed the cap with just built-in console commands, zz_addparty is definitely the way to go. But first I must share a warning:
If used to add a character that isn't currently a member of your party (either active or in camp), it may damage the continuity of your game. This is because this command basically accomplishes two things. First it adds companions that you've already hired to your active party, enabling you to exceed the cap. This is the effect we want. Nevertheless it also has a second effect. It may also be used to hire a companion that is not in your party and add them to your active party. This may be because you haven't yet encountered that character, or perhaps it may be because you've killed that ch…