25 replies to this topic

[TDouglas]

Still plugging away at the revised BWP install guide.

 

Have hit an area that's more public opinion than anything, so thought I'd ask.

 

The mod in question is  BIG PICTURE v181_4611.  This mod installs it's own version of two other mods, namely Tactics and Ascension.  

 

I'm guessing this mods version of Tactics would be preferred, as it's more recent (and Leonardo cites it as "improved" in the PDF).  That's up for debate tho

 

Ascension is another story.  I'm guessing the new version would be preferred,not the least reason being that mods like Longer Road look for it in the log, and won't install if you only have the BP version. 

 

Since both Tactics and Ascension are installed later in the process, I'm guessing they're either going to (A) overwrite these components or (B) conflict with them in some ungodly way.  Possibly © both

 

For now I'm basically leaving component installation suggestions as they were in the PDF, but this could be confusing to new players.

 

Would appreciate any feedback on this issue

 

Oh, and one more thing.  The PDF is constantly mentioning compatibility issues with the mod TOB-Hacks.  I vaguely remember it, but can't find it anywhere.  Does anyone still use this?  Safe to remove references to it?

Edited by TDouglas, 08 February 2025 - 04:10 PM.

[eyre]

The PDF is constantly mentioning compatibility issues with the mod TOB-Hacks.  I vaguely remember it, but can't find it anywhere.

The TOB Hacks thread is here, and it is still available for download, though my guess is that the vast majority of players use TobEx instead.

[TDouglas]

Was thinking TobEx was it's replacement, but damned if I could remember for certain.  Thank you!

 

Think I'm going to remove references to it.  Don't think anyone would still be looking for it, and even TobEx is mostly deprecated these days (too many conflicts).

 

Any thoughts on the other issues?

[eyre]

... even TobEx is mostly deprecated these days (too many conflicts).

Interesting.  I'm curious as to the context in which TobEx is deprecated.  Perhaps because it is (essentially) subsumed by TobEx Afterlife? Or are you referring to something else?

 

 

Any thoughts on the other issues?

Not really.  I've installed both Ascension and Tactics in the past, but that was ages ago, and generally speaking I very much prefer BG1 content over BG2 (ToB in particular feels like such a slog).  Hopefully someone else will chime in and provide some guidance.

[TDouglas]

As for TobEX being mostly deprecated, yeah Afterlife replaces most of it, but consider some of the reported problems with TobEx.  This is from the install guide:

 

Blindness As Spell Description_____________________________________________[]     [spell revisions] =N                                                                   
Disable Stoneskin Grey Colour_____________________________________________[]     [tob-hacks] =N          [spell revisions] =N    [scs] =N                           
No Spell Interruption On Zero Damage_____________________________________[]                                                                                            
Use Caster Level On Mirror Image__________________________________________[]     [tob-hacks] =N          [spell revisions] =N    [scs] =N                             
 Allow All Races to Dual Class______________________________________________[]     [cdtweaks] =N                                                                          
 Allow Equipping Armor in Combat__________________________________________[]                                                                                            
 Disable Experience Boost__________________________________________________[]                                                                                            
 Disable Force Inventory Pause_____________________________________________[]     [Yasraena] =N           Also causes problems with inventory management                 
 Disable Silence On Charm_________________________________________________[]     [tob-hacks] =N          [scs] =N                                                       
 Level One Proficiency Restrictions_________________________________________[]       

 Remain Hidden On Pickpocket Success____________________________________[]     [tob-hacks] =N                                                                         
Drop Inventory on Frozen Death____________________________________________[]     [p5tweaks] =N

 

This list is not complete.  Other options are redone by other mods as well, but weren't listed in the PDF page.  One of the many things I have to keep an eye out for.

 

The component " Allow All Races to Dual Class" has a similar component in cdtweaks, so I added that warning myself.  The rest are all issues reported in the PDF.  Since these things have been corrected by Afterlife anyways, I'm recommending only the "TobEx - Core" component be installed with afterlife thereafter.  The problems are still listed in case someone doesn't want to install Afterlife for some reason.

 

I haven't had luck getting the new version of Ascension to install yet, but that could easily be because I'm working on this manual.  I have to install all these mods to check that the component options are correct (and collect debug information), which makes my game install folder a nightmare.  Lots of room for conflict here.
 

[TDouglas]

Well, it's been awhile.  I've not posted, but have been busy.

 

First of all, I wasn't originally intending to write a install guide.  The original project (and still the primary objective) is an installation troubleshooting reference.  Thus the reason it's a text file.  It's mostly usable at this point, and can be searched as easily by machine as by man.  The ability to do keyword searches on mod components (and look for issues) is helping more than you know.

 

I've got a lot more work to do on the text file, but have had to suspend it for now.  The issue is that I have yet to be able to get a working installation following the PDF. 

 

There are a LOT of problems with the original PDF folks.  Being a Linux user, I've always done manual installations and thus already knew that.  It was bad enough back in the day, but is damning now.

 

Anyhow, I've decided to post some of what I've learned in the event it helps anyone else that's trying to do a manual install for the original game (and likely the GOG version as well).

 

1)  You're going to have issues with BGT.  The PDF recommends using an earlier version, as the changes the more recent ones implement to the music break a LOT of older mods (starting with Check the Bodies).   More worryingly they also disrupt DLTCEP (which can't find the songlist).  There may be a work around for the DLTCEP issue, but to correct the errors with the rest simply don't install the music until towards the end of your install.

 

2)  You'll need to decide pretty early on if you're going to install either BP or SCS as your AI.  I don't recommend using both ... too many conflicts possible.  BP is better for people who don't have super powerful computers (SCS can take upwards of four hours to just install).  Problems happen if you're looking to install Ascension.  The new version has major issues with BP.  It also breaks a lot of older mods, which either won't install at all because of it or won't install Ascension specific stuff with it.  You can install the original, but if you do you'll also need to install BP's version afterwards to  get other (older) mods to work right.  The older mods won't work with the new Ascension (and basically require BP), so you'll need to make up your mind about that off the bat.

 

3)  Shadows over Soubar (sos) will write nonsense to your setup-gui file on original bg.  This is bad.  To make matters worse, BGT requires a (working) setup-gui.tp2, which at it's point in the install can only be provided by either SOS or The Darkest Day (TDD).  BGT complains about TDD however (WARNING: cannot find block matching [bgt/compat/tdd/replace/rar0300.baf]).  The solution I've found is to install TDD, move the setup-gui.tp2 to tdd/ ,install SOS, delete the (bad) setup-gui.tp2 it places, copy back the protected copy from TDD and proceed with installing BGT.  Things will now work correctly.

 

4)  On the subject of GUI mods, do NOT install BP's GUI additions and do NOT install the same from 1PP.  1PP in particular will destroy your setup-gui.tp2 file (and weidu will accuse you of using msword to edit it).

 

5)  Turnabout will install correctly with the original Ascension IF you've also installed BP's version (won't install otherwise).  Everything else seems to be ok for now.

 

6)  The Paladins of Faerun mod apparently conflicts with the Ding0's tweak component "NPC's & Summons set off traps"  (ERROR: [PF0152.ARE] -> [override/PF0152.ARE] Patching Failed (COPY) (Failure("resource [GNT2004.bcs] not found for 'COPY'"))                D0TWEAK.  One or the other folks.

 

And a million other things I'm not thinking about right now.  The project is ongoing, and will post back later once I've resolved a few more issues

 

 

[skellytz]

The project is ongoing, and will post back later once I've resolved a few more issues

I've merged this with your previous thread and renamed it "[WIP] Revised BWP Guide" in Mega Mod Help. From now on, please use this thread to post updates about your project.

[TDouglas]

Gotcha, and thanks skellytz   Didn't really know where to post about this!

 

Have been having some fairly nasty problems with the newer versions of 1pp.  Finally got one to install correctly by downgrading to v4.1.0.  Newer versions can't install component (Core Updates and Item Patches) - ERROR: Failure("resource [s#leat011.itm] not found for 'COPY'"), which uninstalls the entire component.

 

I've got most of the new versions to install before, but (of course) the game is not playable.  DLTCEP lists a LOT of animations and paperdolls with question marks in them, and says they're not listed in Chiten.key.  I've been thinking the issue was between 1pp and IA for some time, so hopefully downgrading these will allow them to work with the original game.  Will post more on that once testing proceeds.

[skellytz]

Have been having some fairly nasty problems with the newer versions of 1pp.  Finally got one to install correctly by downgrading to v4.1.0.  Newer versions can't install component (Core Updates and Item Patches) - ERROR: Failure("resource [s#leat011.itm] not found for 'COPY'"), which uninstalls the entire component.

OK, it looks like a typo in 1pp. This is the Dream of the Thief armor from Rolles mod; it should be s#leat01, not s#leat011:

 

// Dream of the Thief (Rolles mod)
ACTION_IF (FILE_EXISTS_IN_GAME ~s#leat01.itm~) BEGIN
	COPY_EXISTING ~s#leat011.itm~ ~override~
		LPF ~1pp_leat23~ END
	BUT_ONLY
END

 

I'll fix it right away. Thanks!

[TDouglas]

Figured I'd issue a warning to anyone installing on Linux.  The linux version of weidu will lie to you if you're not watching.

 

The problem is that several mods use old DOS .bat files to do various jobs.  Not compatible with linux, but weidu doesn't see them as errors.  The bat files do different things in different mods, but it's usually either processing sound, script or areas... and of course they don't get processed or installed.

 

I finally got a working game by downloading to the original version of 1PP and skipping Infinity Animations entirely.  The interesting thing is when I went to install Aurora (without IA) it choked, and I was able to see the tell tale message.  It will usually be something like /bin/sh path/to/file permission denied.  That's it.  And if you have dozens of lines of text flying across your screen, it's easy to miss.

 

Caught it with Aurora and did a wine install instead.  Sure enough, this time the bats flew and it patched bgmain to be able to work with the new file types.  I'm bringing this up because something like it could be at play with IA (and possibly newer versions of 1PP).

 

I'm too busy trying to get tons of data cross referenced in the manual to even think about starting a new install right now, but thought I'd give everyone a heads up on the issues you can sometimes run into with linux weidu.

[danemanuelk]

TDouglas .....thanks for sharing your experience of installing BWP, I learned a lott. Because now this project is very very rare updated and there are no more knowledgeable persons to make patches and help with errors every bit of new info is gold for those like me (I return to this project after a long period). If you could share fragments of info about installing and so from time to time, will be very nice. Thanks again and a good play

[TDouglas]

@ danemanuelk

 

Thank you for your kind words

 

I'm in the middle of trying to get a (working) mega-mod install, and frankly haven't been having any luck.  Many mods have been so modified to work with EE that they won't even install on BG anymore, and the ones that do won't work with other (original) mods.  I'm afraid to offer you any advise at this time, but I can tell you the following.

 

WeiDu v249   seems to be incompatible with the original game.  I'm not sure of this yet, but Leonardo himself commented on it in the PDF (specifically about using 249 when you'd already installed infinity animations ... you can't use generalized biffing).  Seems to be an issue with (non English or Latin) codepages.

 

I'm getting closer to a working game, but still have issues.  For one thing, downgrading to WeiDu v246 solves most of the errors I was getting with setup gui.  You'll need to downgrade Shadows over Soubar to version 1.15 (the link to 1.16 is currently broken).  Sadly, the new version (2.1.3) appears to be incompatible with the original game.  Mainly, the info it writes to setup-gui.tp2.  Weidu has a heart attack about it (undefined string references)

 

Moving to WeiDu 246 seems to solve many problems, but I still have yet to get a working mega-mod install.

 

On the list for the next install:

 

1)   problems with BGT   (in former installs (with 249)) BGT would not install without either TDD or SOS installed prior.  Apparently the new version doesn't create it's own version of setup-gui.tp2 and can't install without one.  Have been over the readme, but haven't seen any dependency listing.  Not sure if that was a (249) issue or not.  Will test tomorrow.  Have already warned you of the music problem with it as well.

 

2)  ToBEx-afterlife   The (countless) issues with CTD ... I'm just not sure.  Certainly didn't have them in the original game.  I don't think afterlife would have anything to do with it, but it does patch bgmain.exe to be more like EE.  Have decided to run a (test) install tomorrow without it.  Afterlife has the potential to be the bane of Skellytz existence anyways, as it doesn't issue component listings (so the user has no idea what (fixes) it's installed).  

 

Leonardo was having similar problems with TobEx ... namely other mods trying to change how things were working in game (mod space vs engine level).  In Ascensions case, the problem was with the PDF for not warning folks they'd already installed that component.  Now they have no idea, so you really can't blame the user for installing those components.  If any of the new mods (Infinity Animations, Infinity Sounds, etc) depend on those (mystery) components  ...

 

That's another thing I've noticed in the PDF ... the only mod that got singled out for potential incompatibility with TobEx  was P5Tweaks.  Not fair (IMHO), as that was simply the last mod (in the install order) that was changing things.  There were many others before.  Depending on your install listing,  well ...

 

The biggest thing I can tell you right now is do NOT trust the PDF when it comes to installation order.  Its advice is outdated and will end you up with an unplayable game.  I'm afraid you'll have to give me more time to set things right tho.  Too many variables at play here   As close as I got to a playable game on my last run, I (stupidly) trusted the PDF when it came time to run Lolfixer.  It came AFTER infinity sounds in the PDF, but the readme (for Infinity Sounds) clearly states that's not going to work (and it didn't).  One example, but I could give your many others.

 

@Skellytz

 

Think I've found another typo for you.

 

Am testing with the new version of 1PP (which you so graciously posted ... thank you!!!)  (v4.2.1), and get the following:

 

ERROR: Failure("resource [r#asmstff.itm] not found for 'COPY'")  --  from (1ppv4: Colourable Quarterstaves) and (1ppv4: Core updates and item patches)

 

Sorry to be such a PITA

Edited by TDouglas, 01 April 2025 - 07:48 PM.

[skellytz]

WeiDu v249   seems to be incompatible with the original game.  I'm not sure of this yet, but Leonardo himself commented on it in the PDF (specifically about using 249 when you'd already installed infinity animations ... you can't use generalized biffing).  Seems to be an issue with (non English or Latin) codepages.

That is no longer the case! Please install the latest Generalized Biffing, which supports non-ASCII filenames.

 

problems with BGT   (in former installs (with 249)) BGT would not install without either TDD or SOS installed prior.  Apparently the new version doesn't create it's own version of setup-gui.tp2 and can't install without one.  Have been over the readme, but haven't seen any dependency listing.  Not sure if that was a (249) issue or not.  Will test tomorrow.  Have already warned you of the music problem with it as well.

First of all, the GUI component is completely optional and BGT runs without it (using the default BG2 menu screens.) Secondly, BGT v1.23.1 does create GUI Switcher setup files:

 

// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~BGT/BGT.TP2~ #0 #0 // Baldur's Gate Trilogy - Core: v1.23.1
~BGT/BGT.TP2~ #0 #3 // Baldur's Gate Trilogy - Music -> Full Baldur's Gate/Shadows of Amn/Throne of Bhaal Music (WARNING: patches BGMain.exe): v1.23.1
~SETUP-GUI.TP2~ #0 #1 // Game Graphical User Interface (GUI) -> Baldur's Gate Trilogy (Elminster wielding a sword)

 

If you discover incompatibility with other mods, please let me know.

 

For Project Infinity, you need a dedicated version of the GUI Switcher.
 

ERROR: Failure("resource [r#asmstff.itm] not found for 'COPY'")  --  from (1ppv4: Colourable Quarterstaves) and (1ppv4: Core updates and item patches)

Yes, another typo. This item is from The Unusual Oddities Shop; it should be r#asmstf.itm. I've corrected that. Thanks!

 

[Nathan82]

@TDouglas, are you sure these aren't linux problems?

I've got a working install following the most recent pdf, including tobex afterlife, generalised biffing and far too many other mods. Yeah I've got a few issues but it nothing major, that I've found so far anyway. And the issues I have had on recent installs were usually my own fault for doing something dumb.

This is on a win10 machine.

Why do you say the pdf is that out dated as to be unusable?

There have been a lot of cool looking mods released recently for the EE games but I don't think there have been any major changes to mods that work on the originals, and so I don't see why the install order would have changed that much in the last 18 months..

Which ones are you having problems with?

I am tweaking a few things for my next planned install but again nothing major. I'm interested in seeing what you come up with, not trying to say don't bother or anything like that, if there is a better order I'll happily give it a try.

[TDouglas]

@skellytz

 

(That is no longer the case! Please install the latest Generalized Biffing, which supports non-ASCII filenames.)

 

That's the version I'm using.

 

 

[TDouglas]

@ Nathan82

I don't think it's a linux thing anymore.  The same problems were reported in the (windows) PDF.

 

There are sooo many (potential) problems you can run into with a mega mod install it's not funny.  Problem is, the PDF doesn't warn you about them. 

 

You're running on windows, so are likely using EE (which I don't support) and  using Project Infinity (also not supported).  All well and good, but that doesn't work for folks running original BG.  There are many, many differences.

 

No, these aren't just linux problems.  They're problems with the original game (as far as I can tell).

[Nathan82]

I'm not using the EEs, I'm using the originals.

The WeiDu log for my most recent big BGT-WeiDU install - new BGT install, new issues - Page 3 - General Mod Discussion - The Gibberlings Three

Edited by Nathan82, 01 April 2025 - 08:23 PM.

[TDouglas]

Interesting...

 

The PDF has all kinds of install suggestions that are simply not correct.  From installing LolFixer after Infinity Sounds to the many, many times it suggests you install a mod component that is going to (overwrite) a previous component.

 

I'm trying to fix these things, but it takes time.

[danemanuelk]

Wow so many new info ... Nathan82 thanks for pointing to me your tread from gibberlings (I totally miss it  ) ... TDouglas thanks for new stuff

 

All I can add on this effort to update/install the last BWP is a person on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@zentarin7793. He has 3 playlist from 2024 which include, in addition to the game playing itself, the installation of the project plus various situations with solutions to modes that produce errors. I don't know if is useful or not for you, but for me witch am a noob somehow (I just play in the past BWP, I have never made any mods or changed any internal settings of BWP) was very useful.

 

Edited by danemanuelk, 02 April 2025 - 05:32 AM.

[TDouglas]

Well, just finished installing bgt without any megamods, once using weidu-246 and another with 249.  They both worked just fine.

 

I'm scratching my head over this one.  Before, if I tried to install without a setup-gui.tp2 already in the folder bgt would fail to install.  Tried it using both the linux weidu and windows via wine ... same thing.

 

No idea what was causing the issues before.  Literally the only change to the line up is the new version of bg2fixpack (was released after I'd started working on this project)

 

Anyways, things seem to be working fine for now, so will continue testing