11 replies to this topic

[Scully]

I can't seem to find where to put my custom portrait.
I made a char already and don't want to start over just to change portrait, so I've been trying to use shadowkeeper. I put my portrait in the portraits folder inside BG2 install folder, with correct sizes. But I can't find it along with the rest of the portraits in shadowkeeper.

Edited by Scully, 25 November 2010 - 03:47 PM.

[Scully]

Another question unrelated. I dropped a quest item on the ground, traveled a bit came back and now it's gone. Is that normal for items to just disappear?

[Scully]

Can anyone at least explain which folder portaits are in. They're not in the portraits folder as you'd expect.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Can anyone at least explain which folder portaits are in. They're not in the portraits folder as you'd expect.

It's not really easy to find out, as the files are in a .bif containment file which contains a lot files and also people say that the normal portrait files are hardcoded... so for you to add a file something to the default portraits is to replace one already in them, and that's done by overwriting the file with a file that has the exact same name, but different picture. Now, you can place .bmp file into the "portraits" folder and you can then choose to use it in the normal game by selecting the "Custom" in this:

And then select the right file name, and as you should know, the game can only handle files that have 8 marks+ the .bmp extension, so the game can read "abcdefgh.bmp", but the "abcdefghi.bmp" cannot be read.

What comes to the ShadowKeeper and custom portraits, I don't think you can actually use it to change the picture, you need more powerful tools like the DLTCEP, Near Infinity, or WeiDU.exe to do that...

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 27 November 2010 - 07:29 AM.

[Scully]

Shadowkeeper does have an option to change your character portrait yes. And it's also very possible. But I still need to find the folder to put my custom one in.

Does BGT do something to change portraits folder? If not, I'll just ask over at the shadowkeeper forum. If there is one.

Edited by Scully, 28 November 2010 - 10:58 AM.

[10th]

Portraits:
Create a folder called portraits in your BG2 directory if it doesn't already exist. Every portrait in .bmp format with a maximum file name length of 8 characters in this folder is then accessible via the custom button during character creation and or customising your portrait later in the game.

Items vanishing:
Items will always decay if you leave them on the ground. Put them in a container or your inventory if you want to use them in the future.

10th

[Scully]

Portraits:
Create a folder called portraits in your BG2 directory if it doesn't already exist. Every portrait in .bmp format with a maximum file name length of 8 characters in this folder is then accessible via the custom button during character creation and or customising your portrait later in the game.

Only works when creating a new character. You mention customizing portrait later in the game, is this possible without such a tool as shadowkeeper?

[melkor_morgoth75]

Portraits:
Create a folder called portraits in your BG2 directory if it doesn't already exist. Every portrait in .bmp format with a maximum file name length of 8 characters in this folder is then accessible via the custom button during character creation and or customising your portrait later in the game.

Only works when creating a new character. You mention customizing portrait later in the game, is this possible without such a tool as shadowkeeper?

You can modify and create portraits with any tools such as Microsoft Paint or more accurated as Adobe Photoshop. It's sufficient you put your correct .bmp files in the "portrait" folder. You also can do that for all NPC in the game eventually,

mm75

[Scully]

I am aware of this... I have created a portrait and tested (it worked when creating new char). However I am unable to find the folder where all the NPC portraits are located.

[10th]

Open your character record (press R) and click on customise. NPC portraits are biffed aka in the game files. You can access those with Near Infinity, Shadow Keeper or with any program that can extract bifs (DLTCEP for instance).

10th

Edited by 10th, 29 November 2010 - 03:42 PM.

[Scully]

Seems to be a naming problem that was the cause of them not showing up. I had to tag my large pic with xxxM instead of xxxL for some reason.

[Dakk]

Seems to be a naming problem that was the cause of them not showing up. I had to tag my large pic with xxxM instead of xxxL for some reason.

You have BG2/BGT installed, I presume. BG2 have epilogue sized portraits - those are named xxxL.