Enhancing Baldur's Gate: Remaining Faithful to the Original

[Mr McC]

GYGAX LIVES!

Enhancing Baldur's Gate: Remaining Faithful to the Original

You require a copy of Baldur's Gate: The Original Saga and Baldur's Gate 2 Complete. They are both available on GOG and are frequently on sale:

http://www.gog.com/game/baldurs_gate_the_original_saga
http://www.gog.com/game/baldurs_gate_2_complete

1. Install the games in folders other than Program Files or Program Files (x86) - C: GOG GAMES, for instance. You will have a folder named Baldur's Gate and another named Baldur's Gate 2 after installation, create a folder beside them named Tutu. Launch each game and close it.

Tutu, by the Pocket Plane Group, is a simplified means of expressing "one to two", that is, a mod that ports the original game into the improved engine of its sequel. Unlike the other most frequently employed mod to enhance Baldur's Gate, BGT, Tutu retains the separation between each game rather than merging them.

2. Go into your Baldur's Gate 2 folder and run BGConfig.exe. Under Hardware, select the two boxes and max all sliders. Select 3D Options under 2D & 3d Options. I left display at 800 x 600 and did not unlock other resolutions.

3. Download EasyTutu, by Macready, and the EasyTutu Degreenifier, which are both available at the following link (the Degreenifier is linked under the Known Issues section):

http://usoutpost31.com/easytutu/

Enabling 3D accelaration once Tutu has been applied turns the water green, so we either disable it or apply the Degreenifier.

4. Run EasyTutu and point it to the Tutu folder we created. Once finished, our modded game and its corresponding .exe are to be found integrally in the Tutu folder, the original game folders remain unmodified and all subsequent mods will be applied to the game in the Tutu folder.

5. Run the Degreenifier.

6. Download and install the Widescreen mod, by the bigg:

http://www.gibberlings3.net/widescreen/

When asked to input the x and y values, make it 1024x768.

The widescreen mod enables higher resolutions; however, increasing the resolution increases the area of territory displayed, which may affect gameplay to a greater extent. Moreover, other resolutions are not compatible with the next mod, which replaces the GUI of Baldur's Gate 2 with the stonework style of the original, and higher resolutions will inevitably entail additional mods in an attempt to enlarge unreadable text.

7. Download and install the Original BG1 GUI, by LadeJarl, the links are in the top-right corner:

http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=134&Itemid=94

8. Gameplay:

When creating a character:
Race: Don't choose Half Orc
Class: Don't choose Sorcerer, Barbarian, or Monk
BG1 never had Kits, so you just choose the default option for each class (ie Paladin not Cavalier)
Mages could be specialized, but there where no wild mages.
If you play a thief, thieves couldn't lay traps in BG1, so you can choose not to.
And there was no dual wielding in BG1, so you can just choose not to do it.

(Source: http://www.gog.com/forum/baldurs_gate_series/avoiding_bg2_content_that_unbalances_bg1_post_bgttutu)

Note: if you wish to use custom portraits, you will have to create a folder named portraits within your Tutu folder and place them there.

9. There is a good guide to modding Baldur's Gate 2 stickied at the top of the relevant section of the GOG forums once you have completed the first game:

http://www.gog.com/forum/baldurs_gate_series/baldurs_gate_2_essential_mods/page1

 

[Mr McC]

bumping my own thread in view of the recently released "enhanced" version of the sequel, just to disseminate the fact that there is an alternative route