BG Series Mods

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I saw a few posts on this topic but I didn't really see a definitive answer. I've played the BG series through several times over the years but this time I wanted to mod it and give it a run through. The problem is I have no idea what mods are good ones for the series. I've read there is one that makes it into one complete game...which sounds cool......but I have no idea what mods to get or where to get them. Can anyone make any recommendations? Or give me any links to the sites? Thanks!

 

Sorry, I answered for BG2 or Tutu, not BG1. Here is an edit for BG1

There are many good mods, some that conflict.
However, there are a few mods that leave the game almost unchanged, but merely tweak it that I consider essential for an enjoyable experience.

I would provide links, but it seems that both Spellhold Studios and Gibberings3 are down at the moment.

G3 fixpack
http://www.gibberlings3.net/downloads/index.php
Successor to the Baldurdash fixpack, fixes many bugs in the game.

G3 Tweakpack
http://www.gibberlings3.net/downloads/index.php
Successor to the ease-of-use patch, provides many tweaks to the game to make it playable. You will want to pick and choose which ones you install, as not all of them are necessarily desirable, such as the "identify all items" which is a bit too much of a cheat for my taste, and others might be more annoying than they are worth such as the "remove helmets".

Early NPC mod aka Filipe_FR’s All NPCs at the Beginning
812kb Download
This mod changes the location of most of the NPCs so that you can recruit them at the beginning of the game. Included in the download are the BG/TotSC and DSotSC versions of the mod, as well as a readme with screenshots of the new NPC locations.
http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/dl.php?s=BG&f=BG/filipe_fr_all_npcs.rar

No wear limitations mod
Total cheat, but lets you wear any combo of magic items.
http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/dl.php?s=BG&f=BG/Itemexcl.zip

If the above is too much of a cheat, try
Unrestricted Ankheg Plate by OtisTDog (Submitted)
1kb Download
This tweak modifies the default ITEMEXCL.2DA settings for BG1/TotSC, to allow characters to equip one magical protection (i.e. ring, cloak, or amulet) while wearing Ankheg Plate Mail. The original settings treat this suit of armor as magical, and prevent you from wearing additional magic protection, but nothing in the item instructions indicates that it is magical, only very tough.
http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/dl.php?s=BG&f=BG/unrestricted-ankheg.zip

 

Oh, and for the mod you mentioned, there are actually two of them with pros and cons.
One is called "Tutu" and the other is called "Baldur's Gate Trilogy". Look both of them up and decide which one you want.
Tutu seems to be more popular than Trilogy, but enough people still play Trilogy to make it worth looking into, as it appeals to some people.
There are many discussions on the pros and cons of each
https://www.google.com/search?q=baldur's+gate+tutu+vs+bgt&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

 

I hope the link you put up goes live soon I'd really like to get started playing soon. Any other suggestions? Any mods that add new content or NPCs?

 

You might wish to look into the Ascention mod - it's made by mod David Gaider, a design director for Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal.
It majorly overhauls and improves ToB, introducing several things that didn't make it into the original expansion because of time constraints.

Some things i has to offer are better boss battles, new bhaalspawn powers including an improved slayer form, you can attempt to redeem sarevok and also recruit balthazar instead of being forced to kill him.
link : http://weidu.org/asc.html

also, i assume you're using the original games for this, since you're posting into the classic sub-forum. if you are playing the enhanced edition, some mods might not be compatible/up-to-date.

 

Definitely not playing the enhanced. Tried to but the loss of the cut scenes and then the rest of the mess that I played through totally turned me off. I got my current version of BG 1&2 from GOG. Did you see that Beamdog has bundled the originals with the EEs?

 

As for the original BG1, without changing to the BG2 engine (like tutu, or trilogy) I suggest that you look at the list in this thread -> https://www.gog.com/forum/baldurs_g...1?pp=632667547e7cd3e0466547863e1207a8c0c0c549

It has short descriptions of each mod, so you can try what you might enjoy.

 

I accidentally answered for BG2 instead of BG1. I've fixed that, but feel I left at least one mod out.
As an alternative to the G3 mods, you can use Baldurdash and ease-of-use, their predecessors that I used for over five years.

 

What loss of the cutscenes? EEs didn't cut any of the cutscenes, they only replaced the tiny ancient videos with newer ones (and removed a couple of unnecessary ones). Cutscenes were actually cleaned up and improved in many places. The newest version can be configured to look and feel pretty authentic and you still benefit from all the perks of the EE.

If you're gonna roll with the originals, you're probably gonna want BG Tutu (or BG Trilogy) to use the last version of the old engine, combined with ToBEx for some extra goodies, and the widescreen mod to increase the resolution. That should set up a proper environment to start playing around. After that, look into fixpacks, tweakpacks, content mods, etc. as mentioned.

 

Dang it! Screwed up! Anyways. What are some mods for BG2?

 

This is literally one of the worst times to ask, since both SHS and G3 are down at the moment, and those are 2 of the biggest mod repositories.
Thank god pocketplane is still up.

Even then, most mods are simply tweakpacks that contain fixes or things like improved AI scripts/NPC's/bosses/class kits/etc, there's not many that add a lot of new content to the game.
Some that do are :

Ascension : http://www.weidu.org/asc.html

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Unfinished business : http://www.pocketplane.net/ub

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Return to Brynnlaw : http://www.pocketplane.net/brynnlaw

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Reunion : http://www.pocketplane.net/reunion

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Then there's a few that i cannot find working links for at the moment since they seem to be housed at spellhold studio and/or gibberlings3, which are both down, but once they do come back up are worth checking out too :

Shadows Over Soubar :

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Eilistraee's Song :

 

Do any of those work with the Enhanced Edition?

 

I may have to wait a bit to mod the BGs that way I can get the mods off of gibberlings3/spellbound studios.

 

Check the thread on the beamdog forums here :
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/34882/list-bg2-ee-mod-list-additions/p1

it's the most current up-to-date listing of enhanced edition compatible mods i know of. (some google searches lead to an old and now defunct listing)

Mods that should work according to the list there are Unfinished Business, Ascention (ee-specific version 1.5 beta), Back to Brynnlaw and Eilistraee's Song.
Shadows over Soubar is also listed, but states that you need to "file change to find the dialog file" while at the same time neglecting to specify what changes you'd need to make to which files.

Keep in mind that with all the recent updates after 2.0 some of the old mods that were compatible might now be broken, and some mods might conflict with eachother.
In short :

[Profanity removed] - Beren

 

I should have left my post intact then.
I still recommend some of dTweaks or Ding0's tweak pack whatever they call it these days
especially the summoning cap remover and the improved goodberry.
http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=content&task=blogcategory&id=110&Itemid=83/

A few of the aTweaks from Spellhold Studios (site is currently down)

You can find a bunch more mods at the pockeplane site:
http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Unfinished Business mods are available for both BG1 and BG2. I recommend them.

BTW, if you use TuTU or Trilogy, you'll want to install the BG2 stuff I recommend or the BG2 version of the mods, if you use the original, seem my earlier post.

I have no idea what works in EE and what does not.

 

Reunion sounds like a good mod but I don't see it listed

 

From the readme of the reunion mod, it does seem it should work with it. (at least it's mentioned in the advice on what to backup in case something does go wrong.)

keep in mind that one of the more recent updates might have made it not work properly - if in doubt, shoot a message to the author.

EDIT : seems the mod is a quite recent one, and was made after the enhanced edition was released, but is just backwards compatible, so it should work for both the original and enhanced edition version of the game.

original thread here : https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/45482/reunion-mod-v1-available

 

I'll check into Trilogy and the other mods you mentioned for BG 1&2. I may have to wait until spellhold studios and gibberlings3 sites are back up to get all the mods but that's no problem. I'm getting ready to get a new gaming laptop and I don't want to have to set everything up again.

 

Well, just remember that you can substitute Baldurdash and Ease-of-Use for the two must-have mods from Gibberlings3 (G3). I actually did not bother to upgrade to the G3 version of the mods until I had to replace the hard drive in my Win98SE/XP computer and was re-installing everything from scratch about 5 years ago. Keep in mind I've had the games since 2003 and actually went looking for the item stacking aspect of ease-of-use practically from day 1 (I think it was actually day 2 or 3 of playing the original BG1, but I looked for it right away before ever playing for the first time when I moved on to SoA).

 

This will be my first play through in several years and I just want to add as much extra to the adventure as I can. Right now my gaming laptop decided to die after years of having it so I've been pricing new ones. I'm trying to keep the price reasonable because I just can't afford to spend a lot. It sucks when the gaming laptop dies! When I get my new one I plan on modding not only the BGs but also FO2. That's give me some gaming for a while. Especially with the BGs.