I would like a "wipe all mods" and a mod manager option

ajwz

Ok, a lot of mods are really well put together in thier optional component installs and clarity of how they interact with other mods.
But I was just playing the other day with standard stuff like BGFixes, BGTweaks, Widecreen, BGT, 1PP, Unfinished buisness, and I decided to turn off the enable all strongholds option, and It ended up taking up about 45mins to reset all the component, and when it had finished, some options that I had never switched on were selected, like bg1 walk speeds.

The point of this is not that I'm complaining about this problem. I'm certain someone here will tell me that one or more of these are not compatable, or that I did something wrong, the point is this:
With the amount of quality mods around, and hopefully with the release of bg:ee there will be even more, the override folder and bg system files quickly become very bloated. Granted most of the mods available have an easy uninstall option, but once you start loading up more and more mods, you don't want to have to do this for every mod, if you just want to return to a "clean" version of the install.

So some option to clean up all the modding in the click of a button would be really appreciated. Things like backup installations are really clunky to use. If not, then bg for some of us will end up looking like skyrim, where you end up installing so many mods, that when you come back to the game at a later date, you literally can't tell what the hell is going on.

tithin

A mod manager would be a fantastic idea, but given the way mods are written into the game (from what I understand) this may be a very difficult process. I don't profess to any expertise in the matter, but itemnames, character names, event names and text all seem to be stored in the same place / files, and they all seem to interact by writing to the "End" of the file in question, which is why if you have multiple mods installed, ocassionally you'll get, for example, an item whos description name and stats are conversations between characters.

Haxx

+100 vote on the mod manager idea. Those eager to get started with applying mods may be overwhelmed at the sheer volume of mods available. While it may be difficult to build in which are compatible there should be a configurable way to define what mods are compatible and the mod manager can organize the install order and prevent 'stomping' on other mods or making the game break in general. This in my opinion is the most important piece of allowing mods have a higher status within the enhanced edition.

The_Guilty_Party

A mod manager would be very, very nice. Honestly even a simple front-end that listed what you had installed and in what order, and let you pick things to uninstall. Half of the time I come back to my BG folder and I don't remember what was installed, what version it is, and if I got the order right the first time around.

Aliteri

Isn't a copy of the install directory a 'wipe all mods' failsafe? Or I'm saying something really stupid?

Ardanis

Mod manager like that would require 2^mod_num additional backup copies of files affected.

Yovaneth

The fastest way to return to a clean install is to make a copy of the override folder before you start adding mods. You then delete the override full of mods and copy back your original override folder. Of course, there's a catch with this - it will trash all of your current savegames because the content they rely on no longer exists. However, if you just want a clean install to start over, this is definately the quick method.

If you want to see what you've installed and in what order, take a look at the weidu.log in the root folder of your game. Bear in mind though that this will not show any non-weidu mods.

-Y-

mlnevese

Not only the override folder, but the dlk and key files, and the main executable if you're using any mod that patches it. There's a multi install tool that automaticaly do it for you. BWP also offers to backup before it downloads and install mods.

Nathan

A more graceful way of handling mods is definitely something we want to investigate, especially since we need to see how best to address the issue of mods on iOS/Android.

One of the good things about working with so many of the mod authors if that they've helped give us better insight as to what additional parts of the engine would benefit from being externalized in extra 2DA's and also the difficulties they've had in creating their own mods. This insight should be very valuable in helping to look at either an in-engine or external tool to manage mod content.

In theory there won't be any need for any other mods to patch the executable with BG:EE - we have the source code and have directly built-in the beneficial ones we've come across.

Yovaneth

mlnevese said:

Not only the override folder, but the dlk and key files, and the main executable if you're using any mod that patches it.

Whoops - yes. Forgot about that.

Lemernis

A mod manager would be great.

kiros

Mod manager, YES!
Would love to see a utility with an easy pick & install option listing current mods available.
It gets incredibly tedious and complicated when it comes to messing around in the Baldur's gate Folder for removing/installing mod content, also when a mod was incompatible with another mod..it basically destroyed your game.

mlnevese

BWP is the closest we have to a mod manager nowadays, although it does not allow uninstalling mods.

What it does in the current version is allow you to select which mods you want installed, choose the options or elements in each mod to be installed, warn of conflicts and pre-requisites, etc.It them procceed to download the mods you don't already have, uncompress, bugfix and install them.

The current version can be found here:
http://dabus.bplaced.net/BWP/bws.php

I'd like to see something like this implemented in the game, though, allowing easier management of mods.

Fake_Sketch

Ive never used mods, Id start if we got that option.

DavidW

A very fast way to uninstall mods:

1) before you start installing mods, make copies of the override folder, of dialog.tlk, chitin.key, and bgmain.exe. To uninstall, just delete those files and folder and replace them with the copies.

Anduin

I use Big World Setup or BWS made by Dabus at Spellhold Studio. It would be cool if there was something similar made for BG:EE that could not only load up the mods you wanted, but told you what mods you have installed and gave you an option to remove them from a screen integrated into the BG interface... Think I'm on a wishing well about to be pushed in...

Haxx

@Nathan Has the subject of implementing a mod manager been broached with the mod authors you are currently working with? It would be interesting to hear what approaches they have concerning the apparently popular request. Thanks.

Nathan

@Haxx not outright just yet - this will be something we'll have to approach post-shipment of the game, as we don't have much time left to get everything into Apple/Google certification for the game to be released when we hope it gets released so this is something that will come a little later.