Coming back to BG

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Hey!
After four or five years without, I recently went out and bought the whole saga (BG, TotSC, SoA, ToB) with the intent to give it another run-through.
So I'm planning to play through the whole story and therefore installed BG1Tutu (it was only in beta back then!).

So I'm wondering what mods work well with Tutu, would make the BG1-ToB experience more enjoyable, generally enhance gameplay. Or simply whatever you would recommend.

I'm planning to dual-class halfway or so through the game. I've never actually played past the Gromnir incident in ToB, so suggestions on effective classes at high (30+) levels would be helpful.

Thanks

 

I hope you have Easy TuTu, it is really easy and user friendly!

NPC project is a MUST mod to have! It adds great depth to NPCs, making them closer to their BG2 incarnations in all respects:makes a great game best game ever! It also has romances if you are interested. What can I say more?

I also enjoy Herbs&Potions mod, it is nice and convenient.

Sword Coast strategems is awesome. Just awesome, makes all battles harder and much more fun! You need to think and apply some good strategies to win important battles now! The improvements are just too cool! It makes BG an all new, and more satisfying experience!

Grey Clan Part One:In Candlelight:This mod rocks! A head-spinning story and adventure with the coolest battles! It is a little difficult though, so you may want the lite version which is easier in the battles. (normal version is still very doable if you are an experienced player)

 

Sword Coast Stratagems is a very good mod (and I'm a pain in the arse when it comes to mods). So far it seems very useful and balanced. Some components will make the game easier (like the one where you get to choose NPCs proficiencies from scratch) and others will make it harder (AI improvements and harder battles with fair enemy enhancing over pure cheese). I really like it and it'd be great if there was a SoA/ToB version.

I like the BG1 NPC project but some components seem to conflict with the SCS "choose NPC proficiencies" component, one that I considered essential, so I'm not using it this time.

Other cool mods:

- the NPC kit chooser, which is great (making Imoen a Swashbuckler and Kivan an Archer rocks).

- BG2 Tweak Pack also works on Tutu and has some cool components, such as including gem/potion bags and scroll cases, tweaking rules to make the game more like PnP, and so on.

- Divine Remix seems like a good, balanced mod, though I haven't really tried it (will do in the near future).

As Silverstar said, EasyTutu is way better than regular Tutu and you should definitely go for it.

As of class suggestions, I guess it's all up to your playing style and the party you intend to take with you. Personally, I like Bards because they can be very powerful (Use Any Item makes my day) and useful at the high levels, plus, they are a great compliment to any solid group which is very easily formed with the available NPCs.

 

Good recommendations I second the high quality of SCS, and The Grey Clan. I think Sirine's Call is pretty good, too, though of course very short.
If NPCs are your bag, Gavin is up and running (romanceable for females of the good pursuasion), and both Finch and Indira have lots of good press (though I don't usually run with them myself).
BG@ Tweakpack is the new TutuTweaks, so there are lots of customizations possible.

Check out www.gibberlings3.net in the General Mod Discussion area for a listing of tested Tutu-compatible mods and install order.

I haven't run into any conflicts - if there does appear to be one, please let me know, and we will fix it (though there is an install order thing to be dealt with if you use BG2 TweakPack and SCS at the same time). (p.s. I liked The BG1 NPC Project so much, I joined up, so I am not able to be impartial. I will just say that I have never played a Tutu game without it - and now it works on BGT, too).

 

Thanks for all the advice. I should have clarified, but I had already installed Tutu via EasyTutu.

In the end, I figured you can't beat a decent F/M/T. I really wanted to play a kit as well, so I used Shadowkeeper to make myself a Fighter/Mage/Assassin. In hindsight, perhaps Kensai/Mage/Thief would have been better? Feel free to call me beardy at this point!

To make the game a challenge, I've installed Tactics and Ascension.

In any case, I installed the BG1 NPC Project and the BG1Tutu TweakPack (which, iirc, includes everything from the BG2 TweakPack).

As for NPC's, I'm running with Kelsey and Solaufein since they were the only familiar NPC's I knew of. Are there any other NPC's with similar quality available?

 

Whoa there, you may want to check that install out... Kelsey and Solufain are BG2 mods that won't work in Tutu/EasyTutu, and both Tactics and Ascension only hit BG2 content as well... all of those are modding the BG2 directory. The Tutu TweakPack has been replaced by the BG2 TweakPack and a considerable number of bugs have been fixed. The mods installed in your BG2 platform will have no effect on your Tutu game, so if you are talking about BG1 content, then you have some things to change - if you are talking about your BG2 content on your BG2 install, you have alot of cool things to work with that wll not have anything to do with your BG2 stuff.

In short,

EasyTutu to create BaldursGateTutu directory,

BG2 Fixpack in your BG2 direcory,

Ascension, Tactics, Kelsey, Solufain = BG2 in BG2 directory,

BG1 NPC, SCS, Gavin = BG1 "Tutu" in your BaldursGateTutu directory

BG2 Tweaks run twice: once in your BG2 directory, once in your BaldursGateTutu directory

Then play Tutu, import your character into the BG2 side, and complete the saga.

The good news is that doing this will give you a month of Tutu playing to investigate the cool BG2 mods available, and install/uninstall as you see fit, tinkering until you get a <CHARNAME> ready for SoA

 

Ah, thanks for the advice. I thought EasyTutu merged the BG1 and BG2 directories?

Some good tips though - thanks!

 

Yup, three stand-alone installs (unless you ask EasyTutu to get rid of your BG1 install, a new option from House of Macready. You end up with

Baldurs Gate (BG1)
BGII-SoA (BG2, BG2+ToB, or BGT)
BaldursGateTutu (Tutu/BG1 in BG2 engine)

all three games can be run simultaneously. With all due props to big mods and the hard work on BGT, for the playing (rather than mod test/repair) I have a setup where I have a Tutu game and a BG2 game running concurretly, so that I can "graduate" a character into BG2 but can easily change the mods on one platform or the other between graduations. I envision a true BG-Fanatic could technically run a Tutu, BG1, BG2, BGT, and (if they had the space) a separate NeJ/Improved Anvil game all as separate entities, just so as to enjoy the mod conents without worrying so much about compatability.

 

Very clever.