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

[Villagkouras]

So, here is the most retarded question you are probably gonna read, but I have to make it:

Is there any mod that makes tooltips that describe the actions each spell does when I hover on them? If I remember only the name of the spell appears, not the description.

 

[Somberlain]

So, here is the most retarded question you are probably gonna read, but I have to make it:

Is there any mod that makes tooltips that describe the actions each spell does when I hover on them? If I remember only the name of the spell appears, not the description.

In EE right-clicking an ability or spell will give you the description. I don't know about mods.

 

[Ivan]

Starting BG1 for the first time (regular ed. not enhanced)

which mods are advisable for virgin experience

 

[Sykar]

Starting BG1 for the first time (regular ed. not enhanced)

which mods are advisable for virgin experience

None to be honest. I played the original game without any mods multiple times without problems and had a lot of fin. At most get a widescreen mod.

 

[lurker3000]

Starting BG1 for the first time (regular ed. not enhanced)

which mods are advisable for virgin experience

None to be honest. I played the original game without any mods multiple times without problems and had a lot of fin. At most get a widescreen mod.

Widescreen is a must. SCS is also fun if you have played other IE games before and you know whats what.

edit: Also any and all mods that add content are 99% crap. Skip them at all costs.

 

[Sykar]

Starting BG1 for the first time (regular ed. not enhanced)

which mods are advisable for virgin experience

None to be honest. I played the original game without any mods multiple times without problems and had a lot of fin. At most get a widescreen mod.

Widescreen is a must. SCS is also fun if you have played other IE games before and you know whats what.

SCS is for people who know the game, system and especially the AIs flaws. I would not recommend it to a newcomer who has not played IE games before.

 

[Ivan]

Coo. got some widescreen + font. and tutu. sounds good?

 

[lurker3000]

That's why I said if you have payed other IE games before.

 

[Kaivokz]

Coo. got some widescreen + font. and tutu. sounds good?

The BG1NPC Project is the one "content-adding" mod that I use when playing BG1. It adds inter-NPC banter and NPC interjections/comments. It does add romances, but you can ignore them (I do). I probably have a soft spot for it because it adds a lot of content for my favorite character (Xzar), who is severely lacking without it. (Also for my second favorite, Tiax.) Whether or not you'll enjoy it depends on if you enjoy banter and interjections, of course. There are some banter previews on their website if you want a taste without installing.

You know, come to think of it, I might only enjoy the BG1NPC project so much because Xzar takes the piss out of all the companions I don't like (freaks out Imoen while she's sleeping, teases Khalid about his stutter, etc.). Hm.

 

[Nevill]

Coo. got some widescreen + font. and tutu. sounds good?

tutu

No.

It might be a good idea to play the game in the engine it was created in 'for the first experience'.

 

[Ellef]

stuff

Here's my most recent install order (for BG2 - I don't play them back2back because I use mods that are incompatible with such playthroughs, plus I find it good in experience to make fresh installs when you hop from BG1 to BG2):

1) ToBEx
2) BWP Fixpack
3) BG2 Fixpack
4) 1PP v4.1
5) Quest Pack
6) Wheels of Prophecy
7) Tower of Deception
8) Assassinations
9) The Sellswords
10) Isra
11) Ninde
12) BG2 Unfinished Business
13) Rogue Rebalancing
14) Level 1 NPC
15) SCS II
16) BG2 Tweak
17) aTweaks
18) Almateria's Restoration Pack
19) Item Randomizer
20) Crossmod Banter Pack
21) Banter Packs
22) IEP Expanded Banters
23) Widescreen mod
24) .cre Fixer
25) Generalized Biffing

Right, i'm going to follow this list because I never bothered with more than fixpacks and combat mods in the past. Has anyone used the Unfinished Business v26 beta, does it fix more than it breaks or should I stick to v25?

 

[Ellef]

Ok I must've clicked through some option without reading something using the above mods and I got 100k XP when Imoen got me out of the cage, and we both have 280k experience.

Any guesses to the culprit?

 

[Xeon]

Is there a mod that allows disarming traps and pickpocketing without breaking stealth or invisibility too maybe?

Edit: Also Toggleable Highlight if there is a way to do that, or setting the highlight key to a mouse will be even better.

Pocketing without breaking stealth is one of the BG2 Tweaks options, don't think I found a way to find and disarm traps without breaking stealth yet. I have no clue if trying to disarm traps break invisibility.

I did see a video of a guy who uses stealth and then find traps and be in stealth for a short durations after but that's not reliable.

 

[Modron]

Coo. got some widescreen + font. and tutu. sounds good?

tutu

No.

It might be a good idea to play the game in the engine it was created in 'for the first experience'.

You mean the infinity engine? What engine did BG 2 use? Tutu is fine, the worst thing that might happen is you choose a kit that you can use in the second game.

 

[Wintermute]

Ok I must've clicked through some option without reading something using the above mods and I got 100k XP when Imoen got me out of the cage, and we both have 280k experience.

Any guesses to the culprit?

I would guess Level 1 NPCs. It's supposed to set NPC's xp to your xp when you meet them. Sounds like it set your's to Imoen's when she met you.

Rather than reinstalling, you might just want to reset your XP (and Imoen's) using the console (add Debug Mode=1 to baldur.ini under [Program Options], click character whose xp you want to change, type ctrl+Spacebar, type CLUAConsole:SetCurrentXP("X") , where X is the number of XP you want to start with)

Or you could also do it with Shadowkeeper.

 

[Tigranes]

Yeah, just use CLUA/SK to fix such simple errors as you go along. You might get a few, though the modlist you're using is a pretty good one so there won't be many.

(By the way, if for whatever reason you don't want to level up from 1 to ~8 all at once when using L1NPCs, you can use this cheat to level up incrementally. This is useful, for example, when you pick up an NPC in TOB, you want to relevel them, but you want to take the same HLA multiple times.)

 

[Nevill]

You mean the infinity engine? What engine did BG 2 use? Tutu is fine, the worst thing that might happen is you choose a kit that you can use in the second game.

They all use IE, but BG2 uses a different and 'improved' engine with more capabilities than BG1.

The worst thing that could happen is that you would lose on things that were modified and will never know they were even there.

- BG1 engine allows for charmed character to speak. BG2 engine does not (not unless you use TobEX or something). There are a lot of charmed dialogues in BG1.
- Spawning system works differently in BG1 versus BG2. Tutu is one of the worst offender in that regard, spawning hordes of monsters where there should be only a few in the original.
- Spell selections are different between the games, and even though there exist mods to restore the original system, they sometimes miss things.

There are enough of these differences that I would not recommend a modified playthrough of BG1 in BG2 engine for a new player.

Interestingly enough, the BG1:EE got the closest to that vanilla experience, though it, too, fucked some things up.

 

[Ellef]

cheers Tigranes and Wintermute.

When I started another game i got -3333 XP instead of +100k so it's just one of those easily solvable things rather than me fucking up the installation process I guess.

 

[Somberlain]

Is there a mod that allows disarming traps and pickpocketing without breaking stealth or invisibility too maybe?

I have no clue if trying to disarm traps break invisibility.

Disarming traps does not break invisibility.

 

[Grunker]

Ok I must've clicked through some option without reading something using the above mods and I got 100k XP when Imoen got me out of the cage, and we both have 280k experience.

Any guesses to the culprit?

Haven't read the replies to you but NEVER, EVER install IE mods without carefully reading the readmes for each mod as you select options. Most mods have options that will screw your game, that's why you say 'Ask about each one' during installation.

 

[Somberlain]

Ok I must've clicked through some option without reading something using the above mods and I got 100k XP when Imoen got me out of the cage, and we both have 280k experience.

Any guesses to the culprit?

Haven't read the replies to you but NEVER, EVER install IE mods without carefully reading the readmes for each mod as you select options. Most mods have options that will screw your game, that's why you say 'Ask about each one' during installation.

You are certainly right that one should always check readme, but there might still might be issues. For example, my standard installation usually has a bug that causes me to get to 80000 quest xp "for trapping Demogorgon", just for standing outside Watcher's Keep, even if I've never been inside. This bug happens very randomly, sometimes 2 seconds after I travelled to WK, sometimes never. I haven't been able to figure out which mod is the problem.

I'd guess it might have something to do with BP Ascension (I'm using EE so normal Ascension doesn't work), but I'm not sure.

 

[Grunker]

The thing is, my install (which is purportedly what LF_Incline used) should be 95% safe, especially with the .cre-fixer. But if he just hits "install all" and y, y, y, y or whatever, he can install some pretty weird shit. Level1NPC does not play well with random yes-clicks.

 

[Ellef]

Ok I must've clicked through some option without reading something using the above mods and I got 100k XP when Imoen got me out of the cage, and we both have 280k experience.

Any guesses to the culprit?

Haven't read the replies to you but NEVER, EVER install IE mods without carefully reading the readmes for each mod as you select options. Most mods have options that will screw your game, that's why you say 'Ask about each one' during installation.

It's true. I'm doing a fresh install to make sure of each option now. I appreciate all the options in some of the mods but i just err on the side of installing them when it comes to tweaks. Are all the pnp tweaks in atweaks a good idea? I don't really know how it'll all play out.

The thing is, my install (which is purportedly what LF_Incline used) should be 95% safe, especially with the .cre-fixer. But if he just hits "install all" and y, y, y, y or whatever, he can install some pretty weird shit. Level1NPC does not play well with random yes-clicks.

Sounds pretty accurate! I didn't install most of the obvious dumb fuck stuff hopefully.

 

[Grunker]

I don't actually like most of the P&P tweaks. Most of them are fine and in line with P&P, but BG is not balanced for them. YMMV.

 

[Ellef]

I don't actually like most of the P&P tweaks. Most of them are fine and in line with P&P, but BG is not balanced for them. YMMV.

I only installed it with your seal of approval
I wish I could just save someone else's mod preferences because i'm a bit when analysing which tweaks to leave in and out.