Can I double-install BG2?

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Hi!

Is it possible to have two installs of BG2 on the same computer?

Basically, I want to maybe simultaneously play two games, but with different mod setups. (Improved Anvil on one, and SCS2 on another)

If this is possible, how can I do it?

I only have one set of the CDs, by the way.

 

dont know really, but i've tried before and wasnt able to, but maybe someone will know if its possible

 

It's possible. What happened to me is that I reinstalled Windows without removing the game from my hdd beforehand. I'm still able to play the game, though I have to bypass the standard startup program - because it thinks I still have to install the game - and start the game via the BGmain.exe directly. I've not actually done a second installation of BG2, but I have installed NWN twice this way.

Luckily, you probably won't need to reinstall windows to achieve this; it should be enough to remove any Baldur's Gate references from your registry to fool the game into thinking it is not already installed. Of course, be careful not to erase anything critical from the registry, as it might mess your Windows installation up, but you should be save enough if you remove only keys and registry values related to BG. To be safe, you could download a tool which can make a snapshot of your registry and can roll back to that version of it, but I've never needed any such tool.

One thing you should be wary of is to install any mods you want in the one installation before you remove all registry entries, as, depending on how the mod installation is configured, it might not recognize your older installation once you clean the registry.

 

I'm not 100% sure, but I think you can install the game normally and then copy and paste the whole game's file and then run the desired version from the respective program folder. To install different mods you would install them into the correct version's folder.

 

AFAIK there's a program (at G3) that lets you have multiple BG games installed. Try to take a look around at that fora. http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showforum=96

 

My current machine (XP side) five installs, only one of which is in the registry (and uninstallable using the regular uninstall routine): one on a primary drive that was the original install, which never gets played/opened/messed with - it operates as my clean original backup.

The other four (a lightly-modded playing install, a BGT, a heavily modded testing install, and a throwaway for when I am trying to help debug problems) are created straightforwardly -

1. Copy the original game folder
2. Paste it into the new location
3. Open the file "baldur.ini" in the game directory
4. Find the section marked

Code:

[Alias]
HD0:=D:\Program Files\BGII\
CD1:=D:\Program Files\BGII\CD1\
CD2:=D:\Program Files\BGII\CD2\;D:\Program Files\BGII\CD2\
CD3:=D:\Program Files\BGII\CD3\
CD4:=D:\Program Files\BGII\CD4\
CD5:=D:\Program Files\BGII\CD5\

or similar
5. Change these to match your new install directory (not all of these locations exist, but the game wants to look for a secondary location and you don't want to have it mix up differently modded versions in its searches)
6. Create a new shortcut from the "bgmain.exe" and move it to your desktop for easy playing, making sure it is labled - i.e.

"BGII-SCSII" and "BGT-modded" and "Test-BG2" and "Throwaway-BG2"

7. enjoy playing!

These act just like EasyTutu installs - only the first one is registered and uninstallable. The rest are just "delete the folder and copy a new one into place".

 

Wow, that's quite easy cmorgan, thanks!

Just to clarify:

When you say "original game folder", you mean the

CProgram Files\Black Isle\BGII - SoA

folder?

And when I copy it to a new location, that location can be on the same hard drive?


Thanks again!

Glad i don't have to mess with the registry... that stuff scares me!!!

 

Yep - that is the correct one. Good old "copy", then "paste" - on my machine it takes less time than downloading most mods, and it results in a folder named "Copy of BGII - SoA" or something like that. Just rename the folder at that top level, and drag n' drop if you want it on another drive.

(With multiple installations, I have figured out the hard way it is better to actually create those shortcuts to BGmain.exe rather than going in and opening the game by clicking on the .exe. In 4 months time, when you have three games in operation at once, it is nice to see what you are about to play before you start it up, with the notes added to the shortcut )

[edit]
Hey - I just thought - two points -

1. before folks go do this, remember that a single full install of BG2 takes up over a gig of space. This doesn't mean much nowadays, as one of my raptors can eat 10 installs for breakfast and still have room for CoH, NWN2, and a massively over-modded Morrowind, but for folks with less resources or older machines the link Shaitan gave has instructions for faking multiple installs off of the same base files to save space. I don't do this - but it might help someone if they don't have a gig or three to drop for each install. I just find this method easier.

2. when you add mods, remember that any modder who set up NSIS installers (some of the ones that are mymod.exe) is trying to read the registry and find your install for you. Make sure you manually change the path for extraction from the registry one, probably CProgram Files\Black Isle\BGII - SoA, to whatever the one is you want to install to, like CBG2SoA_SCSII or whatever. Mods with .zip, .rar, and winrar sfx .exe distributions make this easy, as they will make you browse to where you want the mod to go. Many NSIS .exe distributions are set up to make it easier for the novice who may not understand folders or folder structures, so they read the registry and try to tell you where to put the mod - which in this case is not the place you want it.

 

I have a mac which means if I want to run more than one copy on my computer I click on the folder the game is in and then go up to file and hit duplicate. Each one will one the CD in the drive to run but this lets me have a modified and not modified version of the game.