Baldur's Gate Mods

I finally found my copy of Baldur's Gate around my house, which I played but never finished around ten years ago. Since I have the free time, I decided to play it again, but looking at the trope page, it seems like some great content is only available through mods for the game. Which ones are most worth getting?

Baldurs Gate Trilogy. It combines together both games and the expansion into one connected game, and applies the BG 2 engine to BG 1, to boot. Getting it working well is tricky though, there's a list of a half dozen strongly recommended mods, that all need to be applied in a very specific order.

You can also use BG Tutu to play BG 1 in BG 2 engine. http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=content&task=blogcategory&id=143&Itemid=98/

There's also an restoration mod for some of the cut content. http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=161&Itemid=114

The also a mod to make the BG 1 NPC have banters and interjections (Will require either Baldur's Gate Trilogy or Tutu to play). http://www.gibberlings3.net/bg1npc/index.php

Those are the three I'm using now. They're probably worth it, though I haven't played it vanilla — the good thing about Tu Tu is that if you install it first and then add the other mods to it you can keep the original game files separate and vanilla.

It's also worth getting the latest version of the "Degreenifier" which will help with the green water problem.

Regarding the party banter mods, is there a reason that Imoen speaks a whole lot more than anyone else? Or is my version just bugged?

I have the second and third games, but from what I've heard the first doesn't sound as good. Is it worth getting for completeness, and will not having it affect my ability to apply the mods?

It starts slowly, but (like a lot of Bioware games) becomes really compelling about halfway through, about once you actually get to Baldur's Gate. Prior to that it's a lot of dicking around in mines and running into _really_ random side quests.

I'm honestly not kidding about that last point. Some are just weird. Though not as weird as the guy who melts when you drool on him in Fallout 2.

edited 18th Apr '11 9:15:16 AM by Nicknacks

I just finished Barkley Shut Up And Jam Gaiden, I doubt it's going to get weirder than that.

Will I need to have it for the mods to work properly though?

Wait, there's a third game?

Depends on whether you count Throne of Baal and Shadows of Amn as one game or two, I guess. I'm not used to WRPG conventions where you can add arbitrary numbers of expansions with their own titles to a game, and still call it one game.

Given that Throne of Bhaal takes place after Shadows of Amn, has an entirely separate plot, and brings the story to its conclusion, I'd call it a sequel. Its a mission pack sequel, but a sequel nonetheless.

It is a lot smaller than Shadows Of Amn, (but that's not very hard... So A is fucking huge.)

It is the least developed of all the three games though, I reckon, though it has some nice quests.

edited 18th Apr '11 3:40:45 PM by Nicknacks

^^^Ah. Yeah, I figure they're one game - much like I'll probably consider the three Starcraft 2 installments as one. I suppose it's a Lumper Vs Splitter thing.

Ohoho. I love Baldur's Gate II topics.

First point: Do not install NPC mods. With few—no, NO EXCEPTIONS, they are all badly written and painful to play through. Seriously, avoid.

Second, how interested are you in the series? I only finished them a year and a half ago (despite owning the games since 2002), but immediately started again. Why? Because I had been playing the vanilla game, now I was playing with mods. If you're planning multiple playthroughs, you might try playing the game through without mods and then with.

Third, unfinished business is your friend.

Fourth, the banter packs are worth it.

Fifth, Wesley Weimer's mods all cheat. That said, you might like Item Upgrade.

Sixth, the mega-mods might look good, but they all have issues. Like not playing well together. Again, multiple playthroughs recommended, and you might want multiple installations on top of that.

Seventh, BG 1 and 2 are very different games. BG 1 exploration and travel is time consuming as each area leads directly to another, meaning you might have to walk through several areas between towns (you can travel directly after you've been through somewhere once before though). There are also many, many companions around, few of whom are interesting, so might end up only using Jahiera, Minsc, Dynaheir, Imoen and Edwin anyway. (Khalid can sit in a house until it's time for Irenicus to kill him). BG 2 by contrast is vastly streamlined and the areas are fuller. I happen to like BG 1, if only because the protagonist is the one who gets the snarky lines, and the berserk rant you can explode into is truly a thing of glory.

Plus, $9.99 on GOG.com. Good deal if you don't already have it.

Lastly, there's this: http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/cebua/step_by_step_moddingguide_turn_baldurs_gate_and/

You can thank me later.

If I already installed, using the full installation, but into the standard folders, is there any way to go back and patch them without losing all my game data?