19 replies to this topic

[galahad1313]

Having recently built my own computer rig to use as my back-up computer to use for movies and surfing as well as installing and playing all my old school games(my hunky game rig is for modern games that require tons of processing power, graphic card muscle etc) i had a question;

I'm sure you've seen this question asked umpteenth times yet i'm asking for myself anyways, as some threads i read tend to bog down into arguments or boil down to personal choices and gets confusing and contradictory for the average bear after a time. I'm not interested in huge transformations or tweaks that represents 1 person's personal preferences though i do not judge or begrudge those people's choices, freedom to play what you like is paramount to personal enjoyment(ie...mages casting in heavy armor...i don't agree with that but some do). I'll give a list of what i want and what i've heard good things about as a general mod/fix etc. Might give you a better idea of what i'm looking for. Also bare in mind, i'm recovering from heart attack #6 so my brain is essentially mush which means it has to be a simple thing to install and run. If it wasn't for the Nexus' mod d-load/install utility for elder scrolls and fallout i wouldn't be using them at all with those games. That gives you an idea about what's left of my brain can handle as far as complicated installations lol.

Here's what i heard good things about.....BG1tutu(i like being able to play bg1 with bg2 graphics/interface as well as some carry over as far as rules changes to conform more with bg2)...that makes the transition between games more balanced and consistant. Also heard good things about this banter pack(though not sure if that's for bg1 or bg2...or both). I also heard good things about baldurdash and something a bout flirt packs. so to summarize in bullet point for what i heard and like:

-Baldurdash
-bg1tutu
-banter and flirt packs

sorry to be repeating an oft asked question but for all reasons stated above and more, i need to ask in my own thread. And i appreciate any and all help.

[Jarno Mikkola]

-Baldurdash
-bg1tutu
-banter and flirt packs

That info is so last 5 years ago.
Baldurdash has been outdated, BG1Tutu is too, and Banter and Flirt packs ... well.

The one thing you want to consider is, do you want to build one or two separate games... the choise is between EasyTutu and BGT(-weidu)... BGT gives you option to play the whole lenght of the game using one engine, one game, and its installed ontop of your BG2(+ToB) install.

EasyTutu gives just the BG1 portion of the game, made seperate from the BG2(+ToB or without ToB, if my memory serves me).
The Baldurdash'es are, well, was overwriting patch for the original games and thus is incombatiable with either Tutu'es and BGT. What you need is the G3BG2Fixpack, but that should be installed before the BGT, or after you make the EasyTutu game from the BG1 and BG2 games.

After that, you can add any mods you want to the games you made.
One side note is that as the BGT uses the same engine through out the game, you don't need to run into a few problems the importing and exporting the characters from the BG1 content to BG2 ... as the BGT contains both portions in one game you can play strait through from Candlekeep/Swordcoast to the Throne of Bhall.
Also the BGT comes in the BiG World Project and the autosetup tool it has.

[Choo Choo]

I'd recommend against megamods if you're particular about what mods you like to use; better to have a select few that you handpicked, yes?

BGT and EasyTutu both do the same thing, they just go about it in different ways. Most BG1 mods are cross-platform and can be played with either, so that shouldn't be an issue.

I'd recommend BG2 Tweaks, because you can install each component separately. You don't want mages being able to cast in heavy armour, fine, you don't have to install that component. It's very user-friendly that way.

Aside from that... well, what are you after? Quest mods? NPCs? More dialogue? The PPG Banter Pack is for BG2, by the way, but if you use the BG1 NPC Project over on G3, banters (and romances, and quests) are included in that. Technical tweaks, cosmetic tweaks, class/kit revisions, better monster scripting?

[galahad1313]

Thnx for pointing that part out choochoo, i said i was going to add what i wanted....but never did. oopsies. I was looking over the bg2 tweaks info and that seems to be what i want so far though i haven't finished reading all the tweaks and changes yet. So is that all i'd need...bg2tweaks? or would i also benefit from some of those others mentioned by you and jarlo mikkola? I thought i tried that bigworld thingy but i had nothing but problems with it for some reasons which i can't remember(as i said, brain is mush and my memory is very very bad now). BG2 tweaks also sounds simple to install and use which is fine with me.

Mostly i wanted some bug fixes, minor tweaks that didn't overbalance the game etc and bg2tweaks seems to satisfy that need and as you said, i can simply say no to any i don't want installed. So any other ones you think fit into that criteria, can you just list them if they aren't already included BG2T. As said, i have to keep things simple which is why i'm avoiding things like new quests and such(imcompatibility issues) and trying to just stay with a few things that work well together and are simple to install.

[Jarno Mikkola]

@galahad... Well, what kind of monitor resolution do you play games usually ? I suggest using the Widescreen mod.

I would suggest this install order:
New BG2 game and new BG1 game, +patches to them...
G3BG2Fixpack
BGT v1.15
BG1 NPC Project
BGT Tweakpack
Banter Pack
BG2Tweaks
Widescreen mod ...(you can install and uninsttall and reinstall the last mod always, so you get to try different resolutions).

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 03 September 2012 - 10:25 AM.

[Choo Choo]

If you want more banters, I'd also recommend the Interaction Expansion Project, which has optional friendship tracks with several NPCs in addition to, well, the banters.

[Sir_Carnifex]

I like to add (in addition to some already mentioned):

Hard Times (Find it with EasyTutu at Pocket Plane Group) - Reduces the amount of coin and fancy items that you find.  I like it, though I imagine some people wouldn't.

The Gray Clan Episode I: In Candlelight (Blackwyrm Lair) - Adds a new quest with some difficult (for me at least) encounters.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Hard Times (Find THE EasyTutu/BGT VERSION at Pocket Plane Group) - Reduces the amount of coin and fancy items that you find. I like it, though I imagine some people wouldn't.

The Gray Clan Episode I: In Candlelight (Blackwyrm Lair), again make sure to have the EasyTutu or BGT version - Adds a new quest with some difficult (for me at least) encounters.

Depending on which one you choose(BGT-weidu/EasyTutu), some of the mods have with more than one version... the BGT version to the Hard times can be found at here.
Well, you do understand that removing items and then adding a guest meant to be done with the high end equipment... usually makes the quests extra hard ?!?

But both of those mods are included in the BWS... just like the 390 mods not yet mentioned here...yes, it's hard to install the first time you encounter it, but it's worth the hasle in the end.

[Choo Choo]

It's not worth the hassle if you don't want 95% of the things in it.

[galahad1313]

ok based on all this feedback then i think i'll go with that list without bgt and sans ToSC as my disc is too damaged to play and hopefully in the right order...

Bg2fixpack
easytutu
bg1 npc project
banter pack
BG2 tweaks
IE project for more banters
widescreen mod so i can play at least on higher than 1024x768 and no more than 16?? x ???? resolution escapes me atm but that's max for my small monitor adn i'll try different ones to see which looks better.

sounds about right and this is the easier route for me as most of these sound super easy to install and set up.

[Choo Choo]

Wait, Tutu requires TotSC to work - so does BGT. :/ You should've mentioned that you don't have a working copy. However, in case you get a new CD, or yours ends up working after all...

EasyTutu should go first, for starters, and the banter pack and IEP are for BG2, not for BG1. If you're using Tutu rather than BGT, they won't install. If you end up using BGT that's cool, but the content is for BG2. Otherwise it looks fine.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Bg2fixpack
easytutu
bg1 npc project
banter pack
BG2 tweaks
IE project for more banters
widescreen mod

Well...erhm, don't install the BG2Fixpack before the EasyTutu ... because the EasyTutu makes it's own game from the source material ... and you shouldn't ever modify the games at that point. But then again, not having the TotSC CD prevents the EasyTutu install...

[galahad1313]

bah! now we're getting into omfg this is getting complicated for this old mushbrain *sigh*. So even if i get a replacement disc for Totsc(which i may be in luck with as i'm on very good terms with the EB store here), i can't use tutu for the banter packs and since i don't like bgt it means no banter packs for my bg2 game *pouts*. so the list with tutu installed 1st and only the tweaks, fixpak and bg1 npc mod along with the widescreen mod. I guess it'll have to do.

[Jarno Mikkola]

bah! now we're getting into omfg this is getting complicated for this old mushbrain *sigh*. So even if i get a replacement disc for Totsc(which i may be in luck with as i'm on very good terms with the EB store here), i can't use tutu for the banter packs and since i don't like bgt it means no banter packs for my bg2 game *pouts*. so the list with tutu installed 1st and only the tweaks, fixpak and bg1 npc mod along with the widescreen mod. I guess it'll have to do.

For Tutu and BGT, you need the BG:TotSC... and the BG1 NPC mod requires either one of those...
The Widescreen mod works on all the games.

For the BG2 game, let's hope you have the ToB...
These go well enough:
Bg2fixpack
banter pack
BG2 tweaks
IE project for more banters
widescreen mod


... make a note that you need to make a reinstall if you want to make a Tutu or BGT install after installing any of those mods(well, the BGT is installed after the BG2Fixpack, but in any event, you saves get fubarred).

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 04 September 2012 - 10:42 AM.

[Choo Choo]

No, no.

Tutu only covers BG1; you can install banter packs and IEP for your BG2 installation! The difference between Tutu and BGT is, in essence, that Tutu uses a separate installation from BG2, whereas BGT combines all games into one single big install.

So your installations would look like this...

BG1 + TotSC
EasyTutu
De-greenifier, if necessary
BG2 Fixpack (works with BG1 as well, as long as it uses the BG2 engine)
BG1 NPC Project
BG2 Tweaks (same as the Fixpack)
Wide-screen mod

BG2 + ToB
BG2 Fixpack
Banter pack
Interaction Expansion Project
BG2 Tweaks
Wide-screen mod

Oh, and to install Tutu, you need a clean, fully patched install of BG1 + TotSC and BG2, preferably with ToB.

[galahad1313]

ok i misunderstood what you meant. my bad. I just got back in fact with a newish copy of Totsc(used copy but in immaculate shape and free :-) ) and i had already d-loaded the de-greenifier after reading up info on the easytutu. I just finished my clean install of all games, all patched...ready to go. With my health in question, i intend to go old school for the next little while with bg/bg2, iwd/iwd2 and nwn 1 & 2. Hell if i understood more about dos i'd even install my VERY old school D&D silver and gold pack compilation lol but no.

Last question and i'll be out of e1's hair. I didn't read the read-me files yet on those tweaks and banter packs. are they self installing? or do they need something to install them with.. like that bgt or weidu thing, just as clarifcation. Then it's off to install and play. Though already i ran into a problem that sounds similar to the one i had with bgt long ago. I installed my bg2 as(E:program files\Black Isle\BGII - Soa) which is an exact replica of what i was offered under C: drive. But tutu keeps insisting on me specifying a path for "Baldur's Gate 2" as though it won't recognize BGII - SoA, yet asa i changed the file names in bgt long ago i started having issues.

Edited by galahad1313, 04 September 2012 - 11:53 AM.

[Choo Choo]

Most mods use WeiDU, but it's pretty easy to figure out - just put the mod files in your game directory and install using the exe.

Hmm. I don't know why Tutu wouldn't recognise BG2 if it's installed and patched correctly. However, for specific issues about certain mods, I recommend going to that mod's support forum - in the case of EasyTutu, it can be found HERE.

Good luck!

[galahad1313]

Thanks for all the help folks. Looks like everything installed fine. Now i just have to wait till i start actually playing them to find out if everything works but if it doesn't, i know exactly why already....issues with win7's supremely annoying and non-gaming friendly garbage like admin rights to name one of many lol. They definitely didn't make win7 with gamers in mind that's for sure. cheers.

[Jarno Mikkola]

I installed my bg2 as(E:program files\Black Isle\BGII - Soa) which is an exact replica of what i was offered under C: drive. But tutu keeps insisting on me specifying a path for "Baldur's Gate 2" as though it won't recognize BGII - SoA, yet asa i changed the file names in bgt long ago i started having issues.

Erhm, that doesn't actually give very clear picture of what you did.

The EasyTutu during it's install demands you to give it a path to a clean BG1 and BG2 directory'es, in it, it also gives you already printed default install directory that you get to change if it needed, and you mostly do.
Note that the E:program files\Black Isle\BGII - Soa does not do, cause it's doesn't have the correct directory format and all. But the- E:\Program files\Black Isle\BGII - SoA -should.

[Choo Choo]

Thanks for all the help folks. Looks like everything installed fine. Now i just have to wait till i start actually playing them to find out if everything works but if it doesn't, i know exactly why already....issues with win7's supremely annoying and non-gaming friendly garbage like admin rights to name one of many lol. They definitely didn't make win7 with gamers in mind that's for sure. cheers.

I'm glad it worked out. Have fun!