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About This Forum (Troubleshooting FAQ)

DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
edited May 2021 in Troubleshooting

What's this forum for?

This is not a Bugs forum. If you've encountered a gameplay issue that you can reproduce, report the bug at https://beamdog.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portals in the category for the appropriate game. The Troubleshooting forum is here to help you get your game working again when it stops working and you don't know why.

Mods broke your game? Post about it here. Edited saved game causing a crash? Post about it here. The community is here to help. This thread offers some solutions to common problems and answers to frequently asked questions. If you don't find the answer you're looking for in this thread, there's a good chance someone else in the community will be able to help.

What happened to the platform-specific forums? What if I'm having a problem with my iPad?

We've consolidated the platform sections to help us identify issues more efficiently. If your issue is something within the game, follow the steps described below to post a bug report in the forum for your game. If the issue is related to general performance on your system, start a thread here; the community has a wealth of experience and information with regard to a variety of devices, and we'll be more than happy to help fix the issue.

You can still view the old platform-specific forums here, but no new posts or threads will be created there.

This is not a bugs forum. This section is just for troubleshooting technical issues with your hardware setup. If you are experiencing a reproducible bug in the game itself, please follow the instructions for reporting a bug normally.

What's the Best Way to Avoid Losing Progress?

Save your game often with unique slots. While this does take some space on your drive or tablet, it also allows you to go back to any point, should you realize you missed something or need to go back and fix an issue in your game.

When saving your game, use the quick save slot to save minor progress only. Use the regular saved game slots periodically to save progress throughout the game, and keep those saves around throughout your adventure. You never know when reverting to a save a few minutes back would save you hours of playtime and effort.

I found a bug! How do I report it?

First of all, thank you for helping to make these games even better! To report a bug you’ve found in one of these games, follow these steps:

Step 1: Check for Mods

Make sure that you have no mods installed. If you do, try to reproduce the issue with a new game on a clean installation. We can’t fix issues with mods, and it’s often hard to tell where a bug came from if it’s only being reported on a modified game. If you can reproduce the issue with no mods installed, move to Step 2.

(If it turns out the issue was caused by one or more of your mods, check out the Modding forum and see if the mod's author can help you identify the cause of the problem. Your issue may help a mod designer/maintainer make their mod better!)

Step 2: Reproduce the issue.

If it’s a gameplay issue, try to go through the same steps you took to make it happen. The simpler the steps are the better, but it’s important to be precise so that we can isolate the cause and fix the problem. Be sure to create a saved game just prior to the steps you took, so that we can retrace those steps exactly.

If the issue is related to graphics or text, take a screenshot. On Windows and Mac, pressing PrntScrn during play will generate a screenshot in your Documents\Baldur’s Gate – Enhanced Edition\ScrnShots folder; you don’t need any external programs to make it work.

Step 3: Submit a Bug Report

Visit our support site - https://beamdog.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portals and file a report under the appropriate game section.

Following the instructions for bug report format is essential; without a proper list of steps and a saved game, it can be just about impossible for us to locate and reproduce the issue, which will naturally interfere with our efforts to fix it.

How do I change the game’s speed?

Baldur’s Gate’s speed is determined by a setting in Baldur.ini, one of the files included with the game upon installation. You can find this file in the same directory as your saved games; see the platform-specific posts below for its specific location.

The line you’re looking for here is as follows:

'Program Options', 'Maximum Frame Rate', '30',

In that line, 30 is the default frames per second for everything that happens in-game. Increasing that number will make animations play faster; it will also make everything else in the game speed up, which may affect gameplay and cutscenes. Change this setting at your own risk.

What is this “Console” everyone keeps talking about, and how do I use it?

Baldur’s Gate offers an in-line command system called CLUA Console, which can be used to spawn creatures, items, gold, experience points, or even variables for quests or NPCs. It can perform other actions as well, such as revealing the current map or moving you to a different location. The mode exists for testing purposes and debugging, which is why it’s called “Debug Mode” in the system. To enable Debug Mode and the Console, you’ll need to find your Baldur.ini file in your local game files and open it with a text editor; I recommend WordPad.

When you’ve got the file open, find this line:

INSERT INTO options ROWS (

And add the following in the line after it:

'Program Options', 'Debug Mode', '1',

Then save the file and start the game. To bring up the console, press Ctrl-Space. Some basic commands are listed below; there are other more advanced commands that we use for deeper testing, but these are a decent start.

@####”)

This moves the selected character(s) to the area, based on its area file name, such as AR1301. Be sure to put the area file name in quotes within the parentheses; also be sure to have your entire party selected when you enter this command, or you may leave one or more of your party members behind.

C: ExploreArea()

This command reveals the entire map for the current area. Note that it doesn’t remove the fog of war; if a creature is out of your field of vision it will still remain hidden.

C: CreateCreature(“crename”)

This spawns a creature, based on its creature file name, to the center of the screen (or nearest valid point). If you’re spawning a creature you know will be hostile, you may want to pause the game before entering this command for the safety of your party.

C: CreateItem(“itmname”,##)

This spawns an item, based on its item file name, or a stack of the same item, in the inventory of the current party leader.

C: SetCurrentXP(####)

This sets the Experience Point total for the currently selected character or characters to the value noted in parentheses. Note that this sets the total, rather than adding a value to your current experience points.

C: AddGold(####)

In contrast with SetCurrentXP, this command adds an amount of gold to your party’s total based on the number in parentheses.
Post edited by JuliusBorisov on

Comments

  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    edited October 2014

    Mac

    Is there a quick way to toggle Windowed mode?

    Option-Return will switch your game between Full Screen and Windowed modes.

    Where are my saved games, custom portraits, and baldur.ini file located?

    The Mac version of Baldur’s Gate stores its local data (including saved games) in a somewhat hidden library. The location of that library is as follows:

    Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition:
    ~/Library/Containers/com.beamdog.baldursgateenhancededition/Data/Documents/Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition/

    Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition:
    ~/Library/Containers/com.beamdog.baldursgateiienhancededition/Data/Documents/Baldur's Gate II - Enhanced Edition/

    If you bought your copy from Beamdog, there will already be a shortcut in your Documents library linking to that directory; if not, you may find it easier to create this shortcut yourself. Inside that folder are your saved games; if you have custom portraits, you can also place those in this directory in a folder labeled “portraits”, following the normal requirements for custom portraits. Custom sound sets work the same way.

    My MacBook experiences lag when running the game! What do I do?

    Open up the Baldur.ini file (located in Documents > Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition), and paste the following lines after the line about INSERT INTO:

    'Graphics', 'Postprocessing', '0',

    'Graphics', 'Shaders', '0',

    Then save the file and run the game. The lag should be gone.
    Post edited by Dee on
  • CerevantCerevant Member Posts: 2,314
    Included some of the above to a new "How to report bugs" post in this forum, added an IWD:EE project in Redmine.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,758
    edited January 2018

    Win 10 save issue workaround

    Windows Controlled Folder Access

    If Windows Controlled Folder Access is turned on, it may cause issues when installing Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition, Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition, or Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition through Steam or when attempting to make saves in the Steam version.

    Should you encounter issues with installing or creating saves on the Steam version of these games, please try the following steps to allow the executables through Windows Controlled Folder Access:

    1. As an Administrator, open Windows Defender Security Center
    2. Click on "Virus and Threat Protection", or the little shield in the left side bar
    3. Click on "Virus and threat protection settings"
    4. Scroll down to "Controlled Folder Access"
    5. If this setting is already turned on, click on "Allow an app through Controlled folder access"
    6. Click on "Add an allowed app"
    7. Navigate to your Baldur's Gate: EE/Baldur's Gate II: EE/Icewind Dale: EE/Planescape Torment: EE installation folder
    - For Baldur's Gate:EE and Baldur's Gate II: EE click on Baldur.exe then "Open"
    - For Icewind Dale: EE click on icewind.exe then "Open"
    - For Planescape Torment: EE click on Torment.exe then "Open"
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,758

    Antivirus issue workaround

    We are receiving a lot of reports about BitDefender and other Antivirus programs blocking changes in Documents folders for our games.

    Just as the Windows Controlled Folder Access issue above, this can lead to players not seeing their saves, MP crashes happening, changes in the baldur.lua file not being saved, etc.

    If you use BitDefender

    This is what you have to do. The setting you have to change is the following:
    Please open BitDefender and:
    - click on the shield shaped icon from the left side
    - click on View Features
    Then, at the bottom of the "Safe Files" panel, click on slider on the small gear and remove the folder My Documents from the Protected Folders.
    Safe Files blocks any program that is not manually allowed by you to save the application's rights.
    You need to set your BitDefender Safe Files according to your needs.
    That is the way the Safe Files functions. It's the ransomware protection module of the antivirus.
    A detection list is not needed, you can simply remove the My Documents folder from the option that blocks games to save files in it.
    The folders still will be protected.

    If you use another Antivirus

    A similar process is required if you another Antivirus program (for example, AVG, Avast, Norton, Anhlab, Ransomware Shield) and get the same problem (not seeing your saves, experiencing constant MP crashes, seeing changes in the baldur.lua file not being saved, etc.)
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,758
    edited July 2019
    Can't connect to another game in MP (BG:EE, SoD, BGII:EE, IWD:EE)? Try these instructions!

    1. The first thing to check is to make sure Windows Firewall isn’t blocking the game. If you’re playing in full screen, the prompt to allow Baldur’s Gate (or other IE games) access through the firewall may not pop up in the foreground, and so you might miss it. If you’ve seen the prompt and allowed it through the firewall, the next step would be to ensure that Windows Firewall isn’t blocking some other service or port that may be required. The easiest way is to disable it entirely, though this may not be safe if you’re connecting your PC directly to the internet. You can do this through Windows Settings -> Network & Internet -> Status -> Windows Firewall. You will need to turn off the firewall for whichever network you’re on, though it may be easiest to turn off all three.

    vpu3lf063dht.png

    2. Since you’re probably connecting from behind a router, if this doesn’t work, you’ll need to enter your router settings. These screencaps will be from pfSense because it’s convenient for us to pull them from there, your router will probably look different and may not allow all the necessary configuration options, or it might have them simplified in some way.

    Make sure UPnP is enabled on your router. How strict you need this to be set up is up to you, we recommend a Default Deny policy (if your router allows for it) and then allow your specific device(s) access as needed, but if you’re less concerned about security and just want to get things working, you can allow by default.

    1ynfly3305x3.png

    3. If this doesn’t work on its own, you may need to enable static port mapping. On pfSense, this means enabling Hybrid Outbound NAT and adding a mapping for your device’s LAN IP. Again, depending on your router, these settings may be different depending on your make/model of router, but this should give you an idea of what to look for.
    Post edited by JuliusBorisov on
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,758
    Windows - Game Won't Launch or Crashing On Launch

    Windows (Steam) - Game Fails to Launch

    Windows - Corrupted Graphics

    Windows 10 - Failing to Save

    iPhone - Disappearing Sidebar Workaround
This discussion has been closed.

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