Baldur's Gate video loop

Labyrinthodont

Hey, I know this is BG: EE, and the version I'm playing now is the original PC Baldur's Gate. I didn't know where else to post this.

I've been having problems with movies going on loop. This is my second disk, so I know it has nothing to do with the disk itself. I use windows 7, so maybe that's an issue.

I've been trying for weeks to shut off the movies through the baldur.ini file by setting them to "0", but to date, I have seen no evidence that the file actually effects anything. Even when it remembers the changes I make, nothing different ever happens. I've tried setting it to "read only", and I've even reinstalled the game in "my games" instead of "Program files x86". Still no proof that the file does anything. Is there some other way to shut off the movies so I can play? Is there anyway to find and delete individual movie files?

edit: I've tried swapping the .bif movie files for text files of the same name, but I am now getting a blue screen. If I return the correct MOVIECD.bif file to the movies folder, it works again. Obviously the game is not fooled. Why?

lansounet

I'm pretty sure these settings only reflect if you have seen the movie once already (1) or never (0) in which case you can't cut the movie and have to watch it full.

Isaya

If you're playing Baldur's Gate (and non Baldur's Gate II), there is no simple way to disable movies globally. However you can still disable them.
Provided you made a full install, you should have in the Movies sub-directory 7 files (6 if you don't have Tales of the Sword Coast) called Movies.bif, MovieCD1.bif, MovieCD2.bif, ... to MovieCD6.bif (last is for Tales of the Sword Coast). You need to:

1. move these files somewhere else (out of the game directories) for backup
2. in the Movies sub-directory, create a new text file (though right clic menu) and name it Movies.bif (keep it empty)
3. create another empty file for all the other names

This will also removes the starting movies.

Labyrinthodont

Thank you, Isaya. I figured there must be something containing movie files, but I can't actually find it. I have scripts, characters, creatures, sounds, areas, etc. Nothing on movies, that I can see. Can you offer any explanation for that?

I wouldn't mind re-installing if I had to, seeing as I just did it earlier today. I'm not starting a new game until I get this sorted out.

Labyrinthodont

Nevermind. That's just what I did. I custom installed and included the movie files. I had to leave out a few files, but downloaded most of it. After that, I had the movie files. Then I basically did just as Isaya said.

However, despite the fact that the original .bif files are gone, I still have video sequences. How is this even possible? Is it accessing the moved files, or is it drawing information from the game disk?

lansounet

I think you need to edit the [Alias] part of the baldur.ini so that all entries (HD0, CD1, etc...) point towards the same path as HD0 or something like this so it only reads the fake files Isaya suggested you make.

Labyrinthodont

Thank you for responding, Iansounet. I've found the part of the baldur.ini file you're referring to:

[Alias]
HD0:=C:\Program Files (x86)\Black Isle\Baldur's Gate\
CD1:=D:\CD1\
CD2:=D:\CD2\
CD3:=D:\CD3\
CD4:=D:\CD4\
CD5:=D:\CD5\

How might I change this exactly?

Would I simply substitute \CD1\ with C:\Program Files (x86)\Black Isle\Baldur's Gate\, and so on for each CD?

Labyrinthodont

Alright, I did all of that. It seems to skip the intro movies, so I suppose that at least proves I can influence things with the baldur.ini file. However, when I try to head to the friendly arm inn, I get a blue screen.
It says it can't access CD2, and asks me to place the CD in the drive. If I return one of the original .bif files, it works, but the movie is still there.

Isaya

I understood you had problems with the movies but if it works with the movie and you can enter the area, why bother?

You didn't mention installing all the content on the hard disk, only the movies. If you want to avoid those requests for a CD, you have to check all the boxes of the custom installation. You can safely ignore the message that there is no enough room (provided there actually is enough space, around 3 GB), it's just that the installer is too old to count properly.
The blue screen could be because the Baldur.ini file does not mention where to find the CD (which letter). For instance, you need the CDn:= lines to look like this if you don't make a complete installation:
CD1:=C:\My games\Baldur's Gate\;D:\CD1\
in order to tell the game to look for files on the hard disk first, otherwise use the CD (replace with the actual letter assigned to your CD-ROM reader).

Labyrinthodont

I should clarify, not all of the movies loop. I've been testing the changes on the Friendly Arm Inn video, which works fine anyway. I've been hoping that if it skips that movie, I'll also be able to skip the later ones that tend to loop indefinitely.

The movies seem to be skipping now, with no other obvious side effects. I did pretty much as you said, although for some reason it was necessary to substitute the empty text files for empty .bif files. Thanks to you guys, I can continue with BG1. I appreciate it. You guys are all mages as far as I'm concerned!

Gate70

Late to the party here but is your baldur.ini file set to read only?
(appreciate it may no longer be an issue for movies but might want to check anyway)

Labyrinthodont

I have set them to read-only, although it seems to work regardless. So far I've made it to Nashkel, and haven't had any issues. I'm pretty optimistic, although it's hard to say for sure if a game is fixed until you actually finish it.

Thank you for responding.

Gate70

I meant make sure they aren't set to read only, should have been clearer. Once a movie is played the ini file should be updated to record the fact.