BG:EE mods; I'm stupid and I need help

Sidemi

Hey guys, I was just a little Bhaalspawn when I fell in love with this series. I've played it for decade but when it comes to mods I am like a... Let's just say I'm computer illiterate person. Never actually tried any mod (shame on me) and I'd like to. I've seen few topics that helped me a little but I'm affraid that's not enough.

First of all...
What's WeiDU and is it essential? Are there any mods that don't require it?
Is there any "one-click-install-manager"? You know... like Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim Mod Manager.
Can anyone recommend good mods that are compatible? Most informations I've found are outdated and I don't want to mess it up (for example this topic).
That BG vs. BG:EE thing is another problem for me. Again, I don't know what's compatible.
Is there mod install order?

Things I'd like to have:
- More quests. Unfinished business? Is it up to date?.
- Subraces (Yeah, drows. So what? Shut up!). Probably this one?
- Some tactical element. Improved difficulty.
- Banter.
- AI.
- Maybe better character models? I don't get it. PS:T is older than BG2 and it amazes me how good PS:T looks compared to BG.

...
You know. Must-have mods.

Would you kindly help me with this?

Dexter

@Sidemi, you are in the right place looking for mods. I can talk you about some I like if you want (we're talking about BGEE only right?):

-SCS. This is a *really good* tactical mod. Basically, it erases stupid monster behaviour from the game and avoid the player to run cheese tactics. Definitively worth trying.
-Faces. I like this mod. It adds a portrait to virtually any (named) NPC in the world you can talk to, so when you are talking to anybody you can see a picture of them. Just cosmetical tweak, but I found it to be great!
-IWDification. This mods adds some spells from Icewind Dale to BG. You know, the more the better
-EEKeeper, a save game editor, really easy to use. You can modify characters at will
-Dark horizons (didn't tried it yet, but it looks nice). Tactical mod with new encounters
-BG:EE NPC seems to be on its way (adds banters for orginal BG NPCs)

Take a look here: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/15380/mod-and-modding-tutorials-quick-links/p1

Now, installing mods. The best advice, read the readme and ask in the mod's thread if you have any questions. BG:EE mods tend to be compatible with each other, but that's something you'll find out in the readme as well.
Weidu is a tool that modders use to package their mod (I think), but like Imoen says 'I know nothing more' and for sure there's not need to know about it in order to install mods.

I think there are two ways you can install mods:

1. One would be mods that only require you to copy some files in your override folder. These are usually smaller mods that add items or tweak a creature.

2. The larger mods (like SCS) are usually an executable self extracting file. Installation goes like this: Download and double click. Do you want to install blah blah? Yes. Select the BGEE game folder (like C:\BeamDog\Games\00766) and click install. The mod files will be extracted and then a DOS window will pop up. Now you are actually installing the mod. Just follow the instructions on the DOS window ('do you want to install/uninstall this mod/component/tweak?...'). Some weidu magic and your game is modded.

And that's pretty much it. Hope it helps

Sidemi

Thank you, kind sir.
Yeah, that helped. Faces, IWDification and Dark Horizons seems nice. SCS is Sword Coast Stratagems (I hate acronyms)?

Dexter

yes, sorry, SCS is sword coast stratagems