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Completely inexperienced with installing mods.. Playing on Steam, using PC Windows 7

I have utterly no idea how to install a mod, but I am really hoping someone could give me a step by step instruction
on how to do so.

I have played the game several times, Both BG EE and BG II EE.. and I keep reading about all these wonderful additions that fellow players have created to enrich the game and rp experience.

Any help on what I need to download, where to get it from. How to use it, where to install it.. would be wonderful.

Thank you so much for looking and any help one might be able to provide. Have a lovely day!

Comments

  • Swifty_MageeSwifty_Magee Member Posts: 229
    edited November 2014
    Good places to download mods (other than the mod-specific threads on this forum) are the game hub at Sorcerer's Place (http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/index.php), the forums at Baldur's Gate Mods (http://www.baldursgatemods.com/forums/index.php), Pocket Plane Group (http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/), and of course, The Gibberlings Three forums (http://forums.gibberlings3.net/). I've also gone to the Spellhold Studios website for modded content in the past, but that site seems to not be working for me as of this typing.

    The installation process of the mods vary with each mod. Typically they will be packaged in zips or rars, and there will usually be a readme file detailing what the mod does and how to install it. Most of the mods I've downloaded for the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series' over the years involve extracting the files to a game's main directory, clicking on a setup.exe file, and following the instructions in the command window that pops up.

    If you are installing a big, heavy-duty, major-overhaul type mod, it will typically be comprised of multiple components. Most of the time, you can install these components individually to customize your game experience, although some components will be mandatory. Sometimes you'll even need to install other mods before or after you install the mod of your choice. Mod installation order can be very important in those cases, as installing multiple mods in the wrong order can cause bugs or even crashes. In those situations, make sure to check those readme files...reading the readmes can save you a lot of frustration!

    If you ever need to uninstall a mod, usually you can just click on it's setup.exe file again. Most of the time if you do this, the mod will have new options to uninstall or re-install the components you installed with the mod. This is a good way to get a game working correctly if you've installed multiple mods out of order; just uninstall the mods and re-install them in the correct order. Of course, you could always just completely uninstall and re-install the entire game again (which may be required, depending on the mod) as fresh installs typically wipe out any problem, but that can be a more time-consuming ordeal.

    So in summation: find a cool sounding mod, read the directions on how to install it, then install it. It may seem a bit daunting at first if you've never installed a mod before, but as long as you follow the mod's instructions, you should be good to go! And if you do run into any problems, forums like this are always here to help.
    Post edited by Swifty_Magee on
    JuliusBorisov
  • missescallamissescalla Member Posts: 17
    Thank you so much for your help, and the reference links.

    I am just wondering, do I need to install this WEIDU program in order to install a mod?
    What is the infinity engine, when I have tried to install a mod, I am told I don't have one installed.. the infinity engine I mean.
  • Swifty_MageeSwifty_Magee Member Posts: 229
    edited November 2014
    WeiDU is just the interface used to install the mods. Any mod you install for the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series will have WeiDU already set up. You know that black command prompt window that pops up when you try to install a mod for Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale? You can consider that WeiDU. As a player, you don't have to worry about WeiDU or having the latest version of it...it's a mod-maker's resource tool, basically.

    Infinity Engine is the game engine the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games are made off of. So you can't really install the Infinity Engine; it's the backbone of the games, so it's always there as long as you have the games installed.

    If you are trying to install a mod and it says you don't have the Infinity Engine installed, I would make sure you are installing the mod in the right directory. I've never actually seen an installation error like that, but it seems like the mod is telling you either the game is not installed or you're trying to install the mod in the wrong folder. Make sure to read the readme or any other instructional text that came with the mod. Make sure that when you are installing a mod, you extract all the files to the game's main directory (where all the game's data files are stored) before clicking on that exe file to install it. If you are just clicking on a setup.exe file inside the rar or zip that came with the mod, I could see how you could get an error like that.

    Also, some of the older mods may not work for the Enhanced Editions of the games. Like Auril's Bane, for instance; Auril's Bane is an excellent mod for the original Icewind Dale but it doesn't seem to be compatible with Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition. If you check the game-specific mod forums on this site, there should be threads describing what older mods work for newer games. For instance, this thread lists the mods that are currently compatible with Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/36477/list-iwd-ee-compatible-mods#latest.
  • missescallamissescalla Member Posts: 17
    You were right! I even found the spot to install one, and I followed the prompts and it said that it installed successfully! Thank you so much..
    I can't wait to get in game and see if it took root and manifests. *G*
    Swifty_Magee
  • missescallamissescalla Member Posts: 17
    edited December 2014
    Looking for more help now. *imagine that!*

    I downloaded Berlindes Keldorn Romance Mod. Everything is working fine. I have been able to fix and over come the odd little problem here and there. Making it work for Enhanced Edition. *go in remove the search for TOB command*

    I read another comment earlier, from someone who said that two of the conversations with Keldorn Crash the game.
    But, that she just went in and adjusted the LT variable to skip that conversation, I have now encountered the phenomena that she was referring to.
    I have tried to look at the GLOBALRomance thing.. but don't get any response that way. Nor would I have a clue how to adjust things there either.

    But, I assume that when she said she adjusted the LT variable, she went into the scripting thing.. but am I wrong about that?
    So, my question now.. how do I locate such a thing, and how would I figure out how to advance a variable.. From say 21 to 22.. is that a CluaConsole command or something done in the scripting editor thingy?


    (( SO I HAVE FIGURED OUT, it is timer talk 11 that keeps crashing my game, so I assume i need to set the variable to talk 12.. now i just need to know know how, if anyone can help me with that.))
    Post edited by missescalla on
  • Swifty_MageeSwifty_Magee Member Posts: 229
    edited December 2014
    Unfortunately, I wouldn't know exactly how to help you on this one. This may be solvable using the game's console commands, but my first thought while reading your post was that you need to get a save game editor like EEKeeper (found at this link: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/16497/ee-keeper-updated-to-v1-0-2/p1) and adjust a Global Variable or Local Variable with that program.

    I vaguely remember playing the original Baldur's Gate in the past and getting a bug with a quest where for some reason an NPC wasn't triggering the next line of speech to complete the quest. I remember having to adjust a value of a Global Variable to get to the next part of the quest, and it kind of sounds like a similar situation you're having.

    Now if this is in fact what you have to do, to adjust a variable you'll first need to open EEKeeper. That's the easy part: just extract everything in the zip that you downloaded (make sure to download the latest version, which is 1.0.2.6 as of this typing) to a folder and then click on the "EEKeeper.exe" file. That launches a window, and it will ask you to setup a small game profile so the editor will know where the appropriate files are located. You can even setup multiple profiles if you have more than just BG2EE. Just follow the instructions presented and you should be fine; it should only take a minute or two.

    Once you have your game's profile set up, you can click on the open folder icon at the top menu bar to open the saved game you're having trouble with. When you choose the saved game, you'll be presented with another window of all your characters. You can adjust many aspects of your characters here (stats, skills, exp, money, inventory, etc.), but for this situation, you'll want to go to the tab labeled "Global Variables" and find the name of the variable for the Keldorn Romance Mod. When you find it, you'll need to change the value number so you can move onto the next step of the mod. Once you've made the proper changes, save the file and close out of EEKeeper, then launch the game with the new save file. Hopefully the next part of the mod will happen or will have been skipped.

    What the name of the variable you need to change and what number it's value needs to be changed to, I don't know. My advice would be to go to the BG2EE Mods thread and ask around. I just briefly searched "Keldorn Romance Mod" on Google and the first entry was a thread on these forums asking if the mod works on BG2EE (http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/33897/keldorn-romance-mod). You may want to check out that thread if you haven't already. If your answers aren't there, I'd consider creating a brand new thread and trying to get some help from the community.

    I'm not actually sure if EEKeeper is the solution to this problem, but I know the many iterations of that program have helped me a ton over the years. It can not only solve glitchy problems like this but improve the game in many ways, as well. For instance, I'm playing Icewind Dale EE right now and one of my characters is a Wild Mage/Thief, which is a multi-class combination that's not even possible in the game normally.

    I know this post is a lot to read, but I hope it's been of some help.
    Post edited by Swifty_Magee on
    missescalla
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • missescallamissescalla Member Posts: 17
    Thank you, for replying so quickly! I am excited to try and implement the fix..

    Sadly, every time i try to download EEKEEPER. I get this message..

    The sourceforge.net website is temporarily in static offline mode.
    Only a very limited set of project pages are available until the main website returns to service.
    Please visit the eekeeper project's files pages if you would like to download a file. (it repeats that message when I try to do.)
  • Swifty_MageeSwifty_Magee Member Posts: 229
    I just tried to download EEKeeper right now, and it downloaded fine. Try downloading it directly from this link: http://sourceforge.net/projects/eekeeper/files/EE Keeper 1.0.2.6.zip/download

    If that doesn't work, I've attached the zip of the latest EEKeeper.

    And to subtledoctor...yeah...that's not exactly a helpful comment, man.
  • missescallamissescalla Member Posts: 17
    **For instance, I'm playing Icewind Dale EE right now and one of my characters is a Wild Mage/Thief, which is a multi-class combination that's not even possible in the game normally.**

    Now that I have finally been able to download EEKeeper, I am pretty excited about well fixing the conversation, but to be able to make a thief combination that works... how I would like it to.. that would be so awesome. To be honest. I am not a fan of Nalia or Imoen, and the fact I lose Yoshi sucks. so I am going to look into that right away.

    Thank you so much Swifty for being such a fantastic mentor!
  • Swifty_MageeSwifty_Magee Member Posts: 229
    @missescalla You're welcome! I'm just glad I could help you out.

    If you ever want to do the Wild Mage/Thief trick, make sure to make your character into a Wild Mage first. Then, in EEKeeper, choose the "Mage/Thief" option for the class drop down list. That's what I had to do in IWDEE, at least.

    Right now, the latest version of EEKeeper has a minor bug with changing a different class to a Wild Mage, so I found out that making them a Wild Mage from the start and then multi-classing them to something else is the only safe way to modify your character. If you check page 34 on the EEKeeper thread (http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/16497/ee-keeper-updated-to-v1-0-2/p34), the maker of the program, Troodon80, actually submitted a fix for that issue. I haven't tried it yet though; I'm waiting for the next stable release.

    Anyway, I hope you get that Keldorn Romance problem settled. Good luck!
  • missescallamissescalla Member Posts: 17
    I will try that in my next run! Thank you..

    As for the romance.. I can't find anything called a LT Variable with EEKeeper.

    I know its lt talk 11 that crashes it.. but I can't find anything to like that, to change. I am going to try and make a post on the forum about it. *fingers crossed* *g*
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