Lennon's Hints
This Page is divided into several sections, dealing with
The Software build :: Story Management :: Lovetalk & Memory Variables :: Clocks & Timers :: Cheat Tools
The game software
The game does not work at its best out of the box. You will/may have to patch the software. Before you start a game, check your game version ( this is displayed in Save File Dialogue) and if required get the latest patch (23037) from Bioware. The patch required from both Bioware & Baldurdash varies deending upon whethe you have installed the "Throne of Bhaal" expansion pack; Throne of Bhaal has both its own patch and Baldurdash fix patch. (See immediatly below for Baldurdash) . Bioware also has a technical support forum, and since they can read the source code, their statements should be the last & best comments.
In addition, and after the official patch, the web site Baldurdash has additional patches that relate to these quests & story line, together with other fixes and add ons.. You may get and apply these. I did and it fixed at least one problem. I used the omnibus fixpacks. Most game modifications created by the community assume that the Baldurdash fixpacks have been installed. You should best apply the patches and Baldurdash fix packs before starting the game.
You may wish to obtain the game file editor ShadowKeeper, this is a GUI based game file editor. This is hosted at http://www.mud-master.com. It allows you to read and adjust variables in the game file. It is also usefull because the romance state is not displayed through the game interface, and so you can only check up how you're doing by using CLUAConsole or Shadowkeeper. The game stores "story state" information in the game file. These can be inspected using CLUAConsole and/or Shadowkeeper. See below. If you have been romancing more than one character the interactions and valid combinations of the various variables could be very complex and easy to adjust using these tools such that they become invalid. This is likely to cause unexpected behaviour in the game. This is why I was advised to ensure that the software patches were applied before creating a game file, and why I repeat this advice. This site also has a Jaheira Romance FAQ.
Much of this advice came from contributors on the Planet Baldur's Gate forums, I am gratefull for their help. There are several links to this community site & forum throughout this site. Once again, read the disclaimer's on the software sites, they will come with their own statements on right to use etc.
Story Management
The game keeps track of how you are doing (as might be expected). It generates time triggered events (mainly chats) and plot triggered events i.e. events that occur as you progress through other quests. It would seem that at critical points in the romance story, a plot triggered event must occur for the story to continue. If you are in the wrong place and/or not far enough progressed along the plot line, this may lead to long periods of silence on Jaheira's part. i.e. the game'll chuck some flirting chats at you and get to a point where a plot event is required and it will wait until that plot event occurs before continuing. The dialogues and plot triggered events increment a game file variable called LOVETALK. This can be inspected at any time using CLUAConsole (or Shadowkeeper). See below.
LOVETALK and other memory variables
There are some critical variables stored in the game file. How to change them is documented in the cheating bit. This page discusses the key variables. An alternative/additional source is the Extremists Romance Guide at the Sorcerer's Place Games, Hints & Tips. This includes walkthroughs & hence spoilers, but they are quite easy to avoid.
LOVETALK counts the romance events and thus determines the next event. It starts at 0 and finishes at 70. There is an alleged conversational loop in the fifties. I'll say more when I know more. The Extremists Guide at the Sorcerer's Place is very explicit on the advice given on setting this variable; the author asks others not to rehost this information, you'll have to get the stuff yourself from the chosen site.
JAHERIAROMANCEACTIVE is the key variable determining the state of the romance * 0 is romance not started * 1 is romance in progress * 2 indicates she's committed * 3 is the romance is over . Please note the numbers above, three means you've lost the quest and she's dumped you. The winning end number for this variable is two. Please note I have contradicted Mysticsyn and while I have learnt an aweful lot about the game from his site, I think he's wrong here.
I suspect that there is a rule defining the relationship between LOVETALK and JAHEIRAROMANCEACTIVE. A list of valid pairs is held on Valecrion's Walkthrough Version 2 at Planet Baldur's Gate Be carefull when changing these. Its probably advisable not to specifiy an illegal/error pair.
JAHEIRAMATCH is a variable that determines if the romance can start. It takes the values '0' or '1', for False & True. It is a GLOBAL variable. JAHEIRAROMANCE is a timer variable which counts down to the next event. There are obviously other timer variables as well. Allegedly reducing this to '1' provokes the next event. How to do this is described below.
If using Shadowkeeper the critical variables are held in either Jaheira's 'Affects' tab, or the Global Variables Tab.
Clocks & Timers
There are a number of timers which work on the basis of real time. This includes the lovetalk timer. The various timer variables are updated in real time and not game time. This is why common advice is to pause the game and go and do something else; this burns real time and means that a timed event is will occur with less game time spent. The variable JAHEIRAROMANCE counts the time down and allegedly setting the value of this variable to 1, will cause the next event to take place. I am unclear what happens if the next event due is a plot based event, although I suspect that the event will not occur. This is most likly also true if you are in a location or chapter where the events can't take place.
CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomance","Global",1)
is the CLUAConsole string that does this. This transaction is best not undertaken using Shadowkeeper. The Baldurdash patch halves the time between timed events in the Jaheria Romance Quest. I can't find the name of the variable that holds this value. Its probably hard coded into one of the script files.
Using the Cheat Tools
What choice is there?
The game interface does not report on the state of the romance quests, a comment in the personal page of the protaganist and their paramours would have been good. Because the Jaheria Quest is long, convoluted and buggy, it is necessary to check what's going on and at times amend the game file variables to nudge the thing along. The choices are between Shadowkeeper & the game's integral cheat console.
Why use shadowkeeper?
It is incredibly easy to use, its advantage is that it is a windows program. This is also a disadvantage you can't use it while running the game. I advise that any changes you make, you save into a new game file and make the changes while the game is not running.
How do I turn on the Cheat Console?
Firstly enable the cheat console. Add the line Debug Mode=1 to
the [Game Options] section of the baldur.ini file using a system editor (such
as notepad). Restart the game and to activate the CLUAConsole, hit your [CTRL]
button and the [Space] bar simultaneously. This key combination is different
from the one used in BG1. The [Esc] button exits the Console. Further
instructions are held on your computer in
C:/Program Files/Black Isle/BGII - SoA/Power Users.txt
The baldur.ini file is also found in this directory. This assumes you have installed the game in the default directory.
April 2002 