Baldur's Gate & Baldur's Gate II Mod Thread

[Chaotic_Heretic]

Hey guys, I've been reading a few pages of this thread and there seem to be many mods around. I don't know if that makes sense , but I try to play games closer to their original form so I usually avoid to install any mods that add content or change the mechanics of a game, even if that change is for the better . Which means most of the times I only install bug fixes , resolution patches etc.

I wasn't very familiar with the series when it first came out, so I wanted to ask , to what degree is un-modded BG1 playable and enjoyable, and what are the essential mods that I need in order to have a clean and stable playthrough . I am looking only for the basics, no extra NPCs, quests items etc.

Ascension -> Fixpack -> Tweakpack

Though don't use all the options from tweakpack...only those that you require.

 

[octavius]

Hey guys, I've been reading a few pages of this thread and there seem to be many mods around. I don't know if that makes sense , but I try to play games closer to their original form so I usually avoid to install any mods that add content or change the mechanics of a game, even if that change is for the better . Which means most of the times I only install bug fixes , resolution patches etc.

I wasn't very familiar with the series when it first came out, so I wanted to ask , to what degree is un-modded BG1 playable and enjoyable, and what are the essential mods that I need in order to have a clean and stable playthrough . I am looking only for the basics, no extra NPCs, quests items etc.

Ascension -> Fixpack -> Tweakpack

Though don't use all the options from tweakpack...only those that you require.

Ascension? Isn't that a purely BG2 mod?

What you really need for a purist BG1 playthrough, in addition to the fixpacks, is the Widescreen mod, since the original feels cramped and looks butt ugly in 640x480 (I think it was) on modern, large monitors.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

oh didn't read he wanted gb1. my bad. those are for bg2

 

[hoverdog]

I'm playing BG with Strategems for the first time, and it's hell lot of fun. The difficulty is almost ideal - some encounters are still piss-easy, some are challenging, while a few make you bang your head against the wall (in a positive sense). For example, the spiders' part of Cloakwood was a walk in the park (and I still have trauma from my very first BG playthrough, ugh). Then there was Nimbul, a pretty cool guy that slaughtered my whole team ("it's only a bard with a couple of spells, how hard can he be?"). And then there's bandit camp: 40 thugs, hobgoblins, black talons, and those bosses from inside the tent all coming after you. R00fles!

 

[Rake]

I'm playing BG with Strategems for the first time, and it's hell lot of fun. The difficulty is almost ideal - some encounters are still piss-easy, some are challenging, while a few make you bang your head against the wall (in a positive sense). For example, the spiders' part of Cloakwood was a walk in the park (and I still have trauma from my very first BG playthrough, ugh). Then there was Nimbul, a pretty cool guy that slaughtered my whole team ("it's only a bard with a couple of spells, how hard can he be?"). And then there's bandit camp: 40 thugs, hobgoblins, black talons, and those bosses from inside the tent all coming after you. R00fles!

Pretty much this. Every time i play with SCS1+2 it makes me wonder how some guy in a basement manages that when so many profesional devs cannot(or do not want) make a competent AI to save their lives

 

[Grunker]

I'm playing BG with Strategems for the first time, and it's hell lot of fun. The difficulty is almost ideal - some encounters are still piss-easy, some are challenging, while a few make you bang your head against the wall (in a positive sense). For example, the spiders' part of Cloakwood was a walk in the park (and I still have trauma from my very first BG playthrough, ugh). Then there was Nimbul, a pretty cool guy that slaughtered my whole team ("it's only a bard with a couple of spells, how hard can he be?"). And then there's bandit camp: 40 thugs, hobgoblins, black talons, and those bosses from inside the tent all coming after you. R00fles!

It really is one of the most professionally and carefully made mods of all time, yeah. It was love at first play-through for me. The bandits calling for help is one of the most memorable moments I've had with Baldur's Gate, that fight really took it out of me.

 

[rafaninja888]

Preparing to play BG1 (BG2 later) first time (although ive had both games on disk and GOG versions for a very longtime... big backlog haha). Wondering at the essential mods for BG1 (i want to have setup for first playthrough - highly unlikely i will try again later for a longtime..). Where does Strategems sit in install order of essential mods for BG1 ?

 

[Lilura]

SCS is not recommended for newbs.

 

[Grunker]

Preparing to play BG1 (BG2 later) first time (although ive had both games on disk and GOG versions for a very longtime... big backlog haha). Wondering at the essential mods for BG1 (i want to have setup for first playthrough - highly unlikely i will try again later for a longtime..). Where does Strategems sit in install order of essential mods for BG1 ?

I'm a BG-veteran and I use Level1NPC to sculpt my team of guys to precisely the kind of setup I want, and SCS is still a somewhat difficult romp. So be warned that it might not be something you'd want to dive into as a newcomer unless you're the kind of person that goes for ultrahard on every first playthrough of a game.

That said, this is my list of mods for a BG1-runthrough:

Install BG1 and BG2, full installs. Newest patches. I use GoG.com versions.

Mods:

1) ToBEx
2) BWP Fixpack
3) BG2 Fixpack
4) BGT
5) 1PP v4.1
6) 1PPv3 Avatar Fixes
7) BG1NPC
8) BG1NPC Music
9) The Lure of the Sirine's Call
10) Baldur's Gate Mini Quests and Encounters
11) BG1 Unfinished Business
12) Rogue Rebalancing
13) Level 1 NPC
14) SCS
15) BGT Tweak
16) BG2 Tweak
17) aTweaks
18) BGT Music
19) Item Randomiser
20) LadeJarl's Tutu GUI
21) Widescreen mod

Of these, you definetely shouldn't install Level 1 NPC or Item Randomiser, and for a first time playthrough, I'd recommend trimming the list even more

 

[Somberlain]

Has any of you tried Divine Remix? I'm starting BG2 again, and I thought this looks pretty interesting. It adds spheres and new kits for divine spellcasters, and I always liked how many choices IWD 2 clerics had. I just wonder if the mod sucks balance-wise or something, since I couldn't find a single mention in this thread.

http://www.gibberlings3.net/readmes/readme-divine_remix.html

 

[hoverdog]

14) SCS

fucking liches, man.
fucking liches.

 

[Stokowski]

Has any of you tried Divine Remix? I'm starting BG2 again, and I thought this looks pretty interesting. It adds spheres and new kits for divine spellcasters, and I always liked how many choices IWD 2 clerics had. I just wonder if the mod sucks balance-wise or something, since I couldn't find a single mention in this thread.

http://www.gibberlings3.net/readmes/readme-divine_remix.html

Monk HLA changes are very nice. Appropriate, flavourful, reasonably balanced - not surprising as they are taken from Balthazar (sp?).
Cleric domain changes are fuckups. (e.g. Restricting a spell as essential in base gameplay as Chaotic Commands to only a couple of Domains/Spheres renders the other domains complete non-starters. Doh!)

 

[SwiftCrack]

Where does it list Monk HLA changes?

 

[Stokowski]

My mistake. The monk changes are a part of the Oversight mod (which just also happens to tweak clerics).
My point about Divine Remix's Cleric changes still stands.

 

[SwiftCrack]

My mistake. The monk changes are a part of the Oversight mod (which just also happens to tweak clerics).
My point about Divine Remix's Cleric changes still stands.

Looks great, thanks!

 

[Aeschylus]

My mistake. The monk changes are a part of the Oversight mod (which just also happens to tweak clerics).
My point about Divine Remix's Cleric changes still stands.

Looks great, thanks!

Oversight is for the most part pretty good, though I can't recommend the 'tougher Sendai' part of the mod. It's just gimmicky and poorly designed.

 

[J_C]

Preparing to play BG1 (BG2 later) first time (although ive had both games on disk and GOG versions for a very longtime... big backlog haha). Wondering at the essential mods for BG1 (i want to have setup for first playthrough - highly unlikely i will try again later for a longtime..). Where does Strategems sit in install order of essential mods for BG1 ?

I'm a BG-veteran and I use Level1NPC to sculpt my team of guys to precisely the kind of setup I want, and SCS is still a somewhat difficult romp. So be warned that it might not be something you'd want to dive into as a newcomer unless you're the kind of person that goes for ultrahard on every first playthrough of a game.

That said, this is my list of mods for a BG1-runthrough:

Install BG1 and BG2, full installs. Newest patches. I use GoG.com versions.

Mods:

1) ToBEx
2) BWP Fixpack
3) BG2 Fixpack
4) BGT
5) 1PP v4.1
6) 1PPv3 Avatar Fixes
7) BG1NPC
8) BG1NPC Music
9) The Lure of the Sirine's Call
10) Baldur's Gate Mini Quests and Encounters
11) BG1 Unfinished Business
12) Rogue Rebalancing
13) Level 1 NPC
14) SCS
15) BGT Tweak
16) BG2 Tweak
17) aTweaks
18) BGT Music
19) Item Randomiser
20) LadeJarl's Tutu GUI
21) Widescreen mod

Of these, you definetely shouldn't install Level 1 NPC or Item Randomiser, and for a first time playthrough, I'd recommend trimming the list even more

I love you for this list man. I'm thinking about playing the 2 games for the first time with BGT, and I think I try it with these mods. One quick question, which always bugging me. I know BGT recreates BG1 in BG2 engine and ruleset, but doesn't this messes up BG1? Thinking about balance and stuff.

Also, going back to your list, aren't there BG2 unfinished business mod? You missed that on purpose?

 

[Grunker]

I love you for this list man.

np, bruv

I love you for this list man. I'm thinking about playing the 2 games for the first time with BGT, and I think I try it with these mods. One quick question, which always bugging me. I know BGT recreates BG1 in BG2 engine and ruleset, but doesn't this messes up BG1? Thinking about balance and stuff.

Obviously, yes. Which is why we're using SCS and installing the options that ramp up the difficulty severely

BG1 with BGT + Level1NPC and SCS = much harder than just BG1.

Also, going back to your list, aren't there BG2 unfinished business mod? You missed that on purpose?

That said, this is my list of mods for a BG1-runthrough:

The above list is for BG1 only. Once I complete BG1, I keep my exported save, delete and uninstall everything else, then reinstall everything from scratch, when I transit to BG2. This is to keep installs for both games managable and make sure issues and complications are kept minimal.

So the above list of mods is my BG1-list only.

 

[hoverdog]

Preparing to play BG1 (BG2 later) first time (although ive had both games on disk and GOG versions for a very longtime... big backlog haha). Wondering at the essential mods for BG1 (i want to have setup for first playthrough - highly unlikely i will try again later for a longtime..). Where does Strategems sit in install order of essential mods for BG1 ?

I'm a BG-veteran and I use Level1NPC to sculpt my team of guys to precisely the kind of setup I want, and SCS is still a somewhat difficult romp. So be warned that it might not be something you'd want to dive into as a newcomer unless you're the kind of person that goes for ultrahard on every first playthrough of a game.

That said, this is my list of mods for a BG1-runthrough:

Install BG1 and BG2, full installs. Newest patches. I use GoG.com versions.

Mods:

1) ToBEx
2) BWP Fixpack
3) BG2 Fixpack
4) BGT
5) 1PP v4.1
6) 1PPv3 Avatar Fixes
7) BG1NPC
8) BG1NPC Music
9) The Lure of the Sirine's Call
10) Baldur's Gate Mini Quests and Encounters
11) BG1 Unfinished Business
12) Rogue Rebalancing
13) Level 1 NPC
14) SCS
15) BGT Tweak
16) BG2 Tweak
17) aTweaks
18) BGT Music
19) Item Randomiser
20) LadeJarl's Tutu GUI
21) Widescreen mod

Of these, you definetely shouldn't install Level 1 NPC or Item Randomiser, and for a first time playthrough, I'd recommend trimming the list even more

I love you for this list man. I'm thinking about playing the 2 games for the first time with BGT, and I think I try it with these mods. One quick question, which always bugging me. I know BGT recreates BG1 in BG2 engine and ruleset, but doesn't this messes up BG1? Thinking about balance and stuff.

Also, going back to your list, aren't there BG2 unfinished business mod? You missed that on purpose?

I think Grunker stated that he uses this installation only for BG itself, and has a different setup for playing BG2.
The one thing BGT really changes in BG1 are trash combat spawns, which are... controversial at best. Be prepared to get bored of fighting worgs and dire wolves by the time you reach Nashkel, or even sooner.
Two mods that I would add to the list are
1) Item Revisions for weapon changes only. stay clear of armor changes as they introduce 3rd edition-like heavy armor vs. dexterity bonus rules, which, though appreciated from a *bleurgh* realism point of view, do not really fit in with how BGs work.
2) Spell Revisions making mage fights even more fun.

 

[Hazey]

The above list is for BG1 only. Once I complete BG1, I keep my exported save, delete and uninstall everything else, then reinstall everything from scratch, when I transit to BG2. This is to keep installs for both games managable and make sure issues and complications are kept minimal.

So the above list of mods is my BG1-list only.

Any chance of posting your BG2 install? Would be much appreciated and sorry if you've already posted it in this thread.

 

[Melcar]

My mistake. The monk changes are a part of the Oversight mod (which just also happens to tweak clerics).
My point about Divine Remix's Cleric changes still stands.

Looks great, thanks!

Oversight is for the most part pretty good, though I can't recommend the 'tougher Sendai' part of the mod. It's just gimmicky and poorly designed.

Yeah, the "tougher Sendai" is really just Drow larping the Zerg.

 

[roshan]

Hi guys - looking for mods that tweak/improve/balance the various classes. Any suggestions? Is there anything that fixes shapeshifting and werewolves???

 

[Severian Silk]

Is there a tweak pack or whatever that implements a run/walk button? The characters are so slow....

 

[agris]

open game config, set 'AI updates' to something >30. It's the game's FPS. 35 to 45 is the sweet spot, imo.

 

[TedNugent]

No, but I felt like they move way faster if you use BG: Tutu, which puts it on the BG2 engine. Try opening up the Config then and go under Miscellaneous. There's an option to change the framerate. If you increase the framerate, it actually increases the speed of the game. So if the framerate defaults to 30 FPS, changing it to 60 FPS naturally doubles the speed of the game, and therefore it will double the speed of walking (also the speed of combat).

I found that somewhere around 40-45 FPS is pretty optimal to keep the pace of combat reasonably controllable without tearing my hair out from the agonizing NPC shuffle-walk.