hello from GimliTheCat
GimliTheCat
Member Posts: 9
Hi everyone.
I first played this game (the original CD version + Tales of The Sword Coast) many years ago but never managed to finish it. Having just successfully installed a different game from 1996 on my 64 bit Windows 7 laptop (after locating and downloading assorted patches) I thought I'd do the same for Baldur's Gate.
Well, the game installed successfully and runs direct from the original CD (circa 1998) without any fixes or patches. However, there is a major problem which makes it unplayable. There is an annoying flicker on some of the graphics and the "hand" mouse pointer leaves multiple copies as I move it over parts of the screen. I've tried running in various compatibility modes to no avail.
Does anyone know how I can fix this? The game console's Update button unsurprisingly points to a dead link. I've tried searching on this site but can't seem to find a simple location where such things can be found. I've probably missed something "obvious" but any help would be gratefully received.
I did find a thread (see below) where many people said they had the original version but I couldn't see any discussion or links to how they got it running.
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/22304/am-i-the-only-one-on-the-fourms-with-the-original-baldurs-gate/p3?
I first played this game (the original CD version + Tales of The Sword Coast) many years ago but never managed to finish it. Having just successfully installed a different game from 1996 on my 64 bit Windows 7 laptop (after locating and downloading assorted patches) I thought I'd do the same for Baldur's Gate.
Well, the game installed successfully and runs direct from the original CD (circa 1998) without any fixes or patches. However, there is a major problem which makes it unplayable. There is an annoying flicker on some of the graphics and the "hand" mouse pointer leaves multiple copies as I move it over parts of the screen. I've tried running in various compatibility modes to no avail.
Does anyone know how I can fix this? The game console's Update button unsurprisingly points to a dead link. I've tried searching on this site but can't seem to find a simple location where such things can be found. I've probably missed something "obvious" but any help would be gratefully received.
I did find a thread (see below) where many people said they had the original version but I couldn't see any discussion or links to how they got it running.
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/22304/am-i-the-only-one-on-the-fourms-with-the-original-baldurs-gate/p3?
0
Comments
I can run the original Baldur's Gate + TotSC on Windows 7 x64 just fine, without any glitches, so it should possible for you as well. Let's see: Since you say you are running the game from the original disc, I assume that you installed the game from the 6 CD set (with TotSC). If that is the case, you should patch the game first, because there are patches for the original release. To find out whether you need a patch, please do the following:
1. Start the game. Try to ignore the flickering for now.
3. Load a savegame (or start a new game).
4. Open the options menu (bottom icon on the left panel, looks like a chest).
5. Find the version number displayed in the lower left corner of the screen.
If your version of TotSC is anything below v1.3.5512, you are missing the patch. You can get it here:
If you have the US version, install the US patch.
If you have the UK version, install the UK patch.
If you have the International version, install the International patch.
Strangely, since writing my original post, I've managed to get rid of the flickering and related glitches by tinkering with the video settings (not sure which was the critical one though). However, I now have a new problem which seems to be something to do with this laptop as I have similar problems elsewhere. The game insists on running in a small 640x480 rectangle within the laptop's native resolution of 1600x900. So I now have perfect, but minute, graphics. A similar thing happens when I try to change the laptop's resolution to something like 800x600 - windows just occupies a small part of the available screen area. I suspect I've changed a screen setting somewhere which has caused this behaviour.
Anyway, I'll get hold of the patch and see what happens. Thanks very much for replying.
How do I find out which version I have? I'm in the UK but that's no guarantee of the version I guess.
The laptop has a dual graphics card system with Intel/Nvidia GT 630M cards and I'm running BG with the Nvidia one.
This being said, the BGEE game costs less than 20$. And it is really worth it. No display size issue with this refreshed code. You will feel like moving from the artic iceland shores to the south pacific islands.
Alternatively, you can make BG use your native resolution of 1600x900 by installing the Widescreen mod. However, the interface will look quite small then, and various screens such as the inventory screen, spell books, loading screen etc. are pushed to the upper left corner. You should try it out and see for yourself whether you want to play that way. Be sure to check out the Readme and the troubleshooting information.
Finally, the last option would be to get BG:EE, and I agree with Musigny that it is really worth it. BG:EE is made for modern computers and just feels way smoother than the original BG1, which did not age well at all in terms of playability.
The Intel integrated graphics card has a similar window with properties you can adjust and has a Scaling button with only one option. So it looks like I'm out of luck
I'll look at the Widescreen mod. I might go for the BG:EE option but I would like to complete the original first - if I can find a way of playing it. Perhaps I'll have to wait for my older desktop PC to be repaired/replaced?
Edit: I can't seem to upload the image. Anyway, in the left hand navigation pane, where your image shows three pages, i.e. 3D settings, Display and Video, I only have two, i.e. 3D settings and Video.
Given the scaling behavior you described, the current setting should be "Center Image". You should be able to change it to "Scale Full Screen". This makes any fullscreen application fill the whole screen. If you also see a third option called "Maintain Aspect Ratio", choose this instead, as it will make BG stretch to the screen's edge without distorting the game's 4:3 aspect ratio. When you save the changed setting, your desktop should stretch accordingly. You can then change your desktop's resolution back to 1600x900, then start the game (in fullscreen mode) and it should stretch. If the game is still as small as before, you can try setting your desktop's resolution to 640x480 before you start the game.
Thank you! That worked first time! I had to fiddle with one of the in-game graphics options to stop a trail of hand pointers (it was the last but one I think - something to do with sprites). So now I can play it again - and actually see what's going on at the same time. [Edit: minor correction to wording
It never occurred to me that the other options wouldn't even appear, greyed out or otherwise, if the desktop didn't need scaling.
I raised this scaling issue in another forum. I'll mention your solution there as well. Cheers and thanks again.
Now if you are nonetheless interested in the Widescreen Mod, this is how you should get it to work:
1. Since you have already tried to install the mod once, the mod files should already be located in your Baldur's Gate folder. Make sure you have the folder called "widescreen" and the EXE called "setup-widescreen" in your BG folder. Otherwise extract the mod again by running the executable you downloaded.
2. Run setup-widescreen.exe.
3. The black command window comes up. If the first question is "Install Component [Widescreen Mod]?", press u for uninstall, then Enter, and afterwards run the Exe again to install it. Here are the step-by-step answers you need:
4. "Choose your language", press 0 for English, then Enter.
5. "Would you like to display the readme?" - Press n, then Enter.
6. "Install Component [Widescreen Mod]?" - Press 1, then Enter.
7. "Installing [for the original Infinity Engine...]" - Enter 1600, then press Enter.
8. Enter 900, then press Enter.
9. Press y for confirmation, then Enter.
10. You should see a whole lot of "Copying and patching..." lines, then the SUCCESSFULLY INSTALLED message.
11. When you start Baldur's Gate now, it should run in 1600x900.
You are getting this error because I forgot to mention that the Widescreen Mod requires a full install of Baldur's Gate. When you installed BG+TotSC from your CDs, you likely did a default/recommended install, which only copies certain resources to the harddrive. However, in order for the Widescreen Mod to work, you need to do a full install. This means that when the Baldur's Gate setup asks for the install procedure, you need to select "custom" and then manually tick all the checkboxes (those are areas, movies etc. to be copied to the harddrive). The same goes for the TotSC setup.
If you want to try that, you need to uninstall the game (delete the widescreen mod files as well) and then reinstall by doing a full install of BG and TotSC. Then apply the TotSC patch. Then you can install the Widescreen Mod.
Hurricane, your latest suggestions worked fine first time. I might need to tweak a few things but, for now, the game is running fine in widescreen. Thanks again.