First time adding mods to BG EE, what do I need to do?

Arkioz

So after reading a lot of the threads on here this strikes me as a resoundingly stupid question, but I've installed some mods in the past which have messed up the whole game so I want to be sure I am careful with Baldur's Gate EE. I'd like to know exactly what's involved with installing a mod for the game. I've read a lot about WieDU and override files, but I guess I'm just not exactly sure how I'm supposed to implement mods for Baldur's Gate EE (not worrying about BGII EE yet). Right now I have the game through Steam. Do I need an override file for any mod? I know this is sort of vague and probably very easily answered, but as someone who has never successfully modded a game before, I don't really know what I'm doing. Any help y'all could give me would be great. Thanks!

Big_Murray

Honestly, unless you're going majorly into it ... don't worry about override files or any of that guff. Installing mods is as simple as extracting the .zip/.rar file into your BG folder and running the .exe (which will usually look like setup-[name].exe). It's as simple as installing any other programme onto your computer.

The only thing you really have to worry about is installing the mods in the right order, since some mods can cause conflicts if they're installed after some other mods. Luckily, there's a list for what order to install your mods in here:
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/23726/bgii-ee-compatible-mod-list#latest

That's pretty much it. The only other thing is, since you're using Steam, to ensure that you have auto-updates disabled in the game's Steam settings. Automatic patches can mess up your mods. Happy modding.

Arkioz

Thank you, I kind of struggled my way through a mod to the point where it seemed to be working. But I think I may have almost broken my game in the process (an attempt at modding SW:KotOR ended this way, creating a great fear of modding generally). I'm hoping to get the BGII Tweak Pack and BG NPC Project on there eventually, but again fear for my game. Those are the only two I want (I've only ever played the vanilla version but from all accounts these mods add a lot to the experience). As someone who doesn't really know how to mod at all, and is in fact actively afraid of it, what would be the safest way for me to get these into my files and running with my game? I know the NPC Project is still going through some rigorous work and don't mind waiting for a simplified version to come out, in the interests of reducing the number of things that can go wrong. Any thoughts or advice? I'm still kind of mystified by RAR files as well, somehow got it converted the last time but I have very little idea how I did that.