[How to] Install mods on Android
Isaya
Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 752
Several months ago, @ScottBrooks, a Beamdog developer provided a method to work around the inability to change the text file(s) of the game for iOS (dialog.tlk/dialogF.tlk). A bit later, @WhiteAgnus reported on the BG1 NPC Project forum that the method was also working on Android. That method, which allowed me to offer a partial French version for BG2EE on Android, also opens the gate to using mods on Android, far beyond the currently limited set of override only mods that were already available (because of the restrictions).
You will need a computer pour install mods. However you don't need to have a computer version of the game installed on the computer.
You need an access to the content of your tablet/phone from your computer. To do that, you may need to install a driver or a software provided by the manufacturer of your Android device. For instance, for Sony, I had to install the Sony PC Companion software, which in turn installed the drivers to access the tablet file system.
Finally, you need to download the centralfix.exe software provided by ScottBrooks for Windows. It is not restricted to Windows though. The author also provided the source code, written in Go (a language created by Google and available here), to allow players running another OS to run the software (I'm afraid I can't give any hint on how to proceed for Linux or Mac OS X though).
This procedure was tested on Windows.
WARNING
This procedure was tested on the beta version of BGEE for Android available from Beamdog for volunteers who register to their google group. I can't confirm that it also works with version 1.3.2053 (latest official patch).
Version 2.5 of BG2EE (and potentially of other EE games) doesn't work properly with the method described below. 
However @Gusinda wrote a new guide for setting up mods for this version.
Building an environment to install mods (BGEE)
WeiDU is not available on Android. Therefore we need to build a game environment on a Windows computer that looks like a typical install of the game on that system. Fortunately it's possible to do that starting from the game files installed on your Android tablet or phone.
Note that you could use Linux of Mac OS X instead. In this case, you will need to ensure that you can run the centralfix software from its sources, as it is mandatory for the last step. I'm afraid I can't give any direction for that.
Starting from now, I'll use tablet as a generic way to refer to your tablet or phone.
- Plug the tablet to your computer though the USB cable. Alternatively use a wireless if you know how to do
- According to your operating system, perform any additional step required to get a new drive appear on the desktop or in the file explorer
- Using your usual file explorer, open the drive that just appeared
- If several drives appeared when you plugged (it may happen as some devices have the memory split into "internal memory" and an emulated SD card, or if your tablet has an additional SD card), use the one referring to "internal memory" (that's a translation of the term used in French, I don't know the term actually used in English)
- Go into folder Android/obb/com.beamdog.baldursgateenhancededition
- There you should find two files with an .obb extension:
- main.2106.com.beamdog.baldursgateenhancededition
- patch.2100.com.beamdog.baldursgateenhancededition
- On your computer hard disk, create a new directory named BGEE_Android (or any name you like)
- Linux: according to a discussion on the WeiDU forum, you should use a file system that is not case sensitive when to install the game when you intend to use mods
- Copy the two obb files into that new directory
- On the hard disk, rename the two obb files and replacing the .obb extension with .zip
- Now extract into the current directory (BGEE_Android) the content of the two .zip archives, starting with main.2106.com.beamdog.baldursgateenhancededition.zip - if your unzip tool creates a sub-folder for each, move their content to the BGEE_Android directory
- Once finished you should see the following directory content in the BGEE_Android directory:
- data
- lang
- movies
- music
- script
- chitin.key
Mod installation
- In the BGEE_Android directory, extract the archives of the mods you want to install
- Windows (recommended): make sure the mods you're going to install use the latest version of the WeiDU installer :
- Download the latest of WeiDU available for your operating system on this page
- Extract weidu.exe from the WeiDU archive into the BGEE_Android directory
- In the BGEE_Android directory, copy and paste weidu.exe, in order to get a new file name Copy of weidu.exe (or a similar name in your language)
- Select file setup-MOD_NAME.exe and delete it
- Select file Copy of weidu.exe and rename it as setup-MOD_NAME.exe
- Repeat the last three steps for each mod in order to update their setup-MOD_NAME.exe file
- Install the mods, in the recommended order
- Windows: run the setup-MOD_NAME.exe file of each mod
- Mac OS X: here is detailed guide
- Linux: open a terminal in the BGEE_Android and enter command weinstall MOD_NAME of each mod
Creating the mods archive to transfer to Android
The aim is to build a directory structure that includes only the files modified by the mods installation.- From the BGEE_Android directory, get into sub-directory lang/en_US (or your selected language)
Warning: this must match your game language choice in the previous step! - Select files dialog.tlk (and dialogF.tlk if your language has one) then copy them into the clipboard
- Create a new temporary directory, for instance Android_Files
- In Android_Files, create a directory structure lang/en_US (or your preferred language), as above
- Paste the dialog.tlk file(s) from the clipboard into that directory
- Copy the override directory from BGEE_Android into Android_Files
- Run your preferred zip tool (7-Zip, WinZip, ...)
- Using drag and drop or another method, add directories lang and override from Android_Files into the archive
- In the zip tool, adjust the archive creation options and make sure you tell it not to apply any compression
For instance, when using 7-Zip (Windows), you should set Archive format to "zip" and Compression level to "Store" - Create the archive and give it a name such as Mods.zip
- Copy the centralfix.exe file into the same directory as the Mods.zip archive
- Open a command line windows and move to the directory where you created the Mods.zip archive
Nota : using Windows 7 or newer, a short-cut is to use the file explorer, select directory, maintain the Shift key pressed, then click on the right mouse button and select "Open Command Window Here" - Enter command
centralfix Mods.zip
It will update the archive so that it is recognized by BGEE/BG2EE (and most likely IWDEE) as additional content for the game.
Nota : the step involving centralfix is described only for Windows as I have has no experience with Go and using Mac OS X or Linux.
Transferring the mods archive to Android
- Copy the Mods.zip archive onto the tablet, into directory Android/data/com.beamdog.baldursgateenhancededition/files
Beware, this is not the same directory as in the beginning.
Notes on content to include in the mods archive
In the procedure above, files dialog.tlk/dialogF.tlk and the override directory are the bare minimum set of files to include into the mods archive. This should cover most cases.
According to what mods are changing in the game, you might have to add other items into the mods archive:
- for mods that build bif files, you'll have to create a directory named data into the Android_Files directory and copy the bif files created by the mods in BGEE_Android/data
- for mods that add music (common for NPC mods), you'll have to create a directory named music in the Android_Files directory and copy the files and directories created by the mods in BGEE_Android/music
- for mods that add new party scripts, such as BPSeries, you'll have to create a directory name scripts in the Android_Files directory and copy the filescreated or changed by the mods in BGEE_Android/scripts
Nota : the list above is not exhaustive.
As a general rule, use the ability to sort files by date in the various game directories in order to spot the files added or changed by the mods and build the same directory/files structure in the Android_Files directory.
Finally you'll have to add all those files when building the Mods.zip archive.
It is not necessary to transfer onto the tablet the mods directories created when you extract their archives, the game doesn't need them. However you'd better keep the BGEE_Android as it is if you want to be able to update, uninstall or add mods into your game. In case you change your mods installation, you will have to repeat the procedure to create the mods archive, centralfix it and transfer it to your tablet.
Note that the game handles the presence of several archives build using this method. I didn't try to identify if the game had any order when loading them. I suggest avoiding conflicts in the archives content if you want to use this capability.
In my test case, the two archives had non conflicting content: a French voice pack for the game (containing lang/fr_FR/data), and the mods archive (containing override and lang/fr_FR/dialog.tlk).
Example with BGEE
Using this method, I was able to install the BG1 NPC Project mod (together with its musics), BG1 UB, Find and Thalantyr Item Upgrade for BGEE. So far I didn't get very far enough in the game to check a lot of things, however I can confirm that the mods content actually appears in the game: I had the early meeting with Finch in Candlekeep with a newly created game.
BG2EE
The obb files are in Android/obb/com.beamdog.baldursgateIIenhancededition and are named (with the beta version):
- main.226.com.beamdog.baldursgateIIenhancededition.obb
- patch.220.com.beamdog.baldursgateIIenhancededition.obb
The mods archive shall be copied into Android/data/com.beamdog.baldursgateIIenhancededition/files
I used this method to build a partial French translation package. This is not strictly a mod but at its core, it's similar as it adds a dialog.tlk file to the game. Although I tested it with the beta version, I had confirmation from another player that the package works with the current non beta version (1.3.2064).
IWDEE
Thanks to @Kamigoroshi, who confirmed that this method worked with Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition, here are some more detailed information. The obb files are named:
- main.406.com.beamdog.icewinddale.obb
- patch.400.com.beamdog.icewinddale.obb
It is likely that they are located in Android/obb/com.beamdog.icewinddale, if Beamdog followed the same naming convention as for the data (see below).
The mods archive shall be copied into Android/data/com.beamdog.icewinddale/files
Comments
Was I suppose to extract the mods to the main.baldursgate.beamdog folder or the folder where I'm holding everything on the computer?
Will do mor later tonight, gotta go.
If it was possible to extract directly on Android, that would mean the first set of steps is useless. ;-)
The two file names are:
main.406.com.beamdog.icewinddale.obb
patch.400.com.beamdog.icewinddale.obb
After some testings, I also found out that it isn't necessary to include the 'override' folder within the Mods.zip archive. The game recognizes the files even if the uncompressed folder is copy/pasted into
Android\data\com.beamdog.icewinddale\files directory. For example, I successfully installed A Frosty Journey: The IWDEE Kitpack just by including the 'lang' folder with the modified Dialogue.TLK file into the .zip archive.
In any case, this tutorial of yours is a real godsent @Isaya! The joy of finally having a truly modded IWD:EE on the go is just indescribable.
In the step after MOD_NAME_setup.exe where you rename it to Weidu, for example, do I place that resulting file and folder in my computer's copy of the main BGEE files or the patch BGEE files?
For that matter, why am I renaming the setup mod executable file names? It seemed a bit odd, so I checked a few readmes and I never saw a step suggesting this. I mean this step:
You don't need a backup of the original setup-MOD_NAME.exe. It's still in the archive of the mod you downloaded. If you intend to backup anything, backup the mod archive you downloaded. It explained just before the procedure you quoted: Usually mods are released with the latest WeiDU version at the time of release. Most often it's not that important to use the latest version. However you need at least WeiDU 236 for the language selection in EE games to work flawlessly. Some mods still use an older version, even some of those released at the same time as BG2EE (WeiDU 236 went out and fixed a bug a few days after many of these mods were packaged).
This is only a recommendation, although a strong one.
WeiDU is able to automatically update the setup-MOD_NAME.exe if another mod in the same directory has a newer version. But there are several cases where this won't work, including a common case where you unpack a mod, install it, unpack an another mod, install it, but you started with one that using an older version of WeiDU that couldn't auto-update because it was alone at the time of installation.
@Kamigoroshi Thank you for the feedback. I'll update the IWDEE part with the information.
Yes, you can have the override out of the archive. However I suggest using the override inside a zip archive if you also have dialog.tlk or anything else that requires using this method. In any case the override and dialog.tlk are linked, save for a few mods that don't change texts.
Instead of having to read hundreds or thousands of file in the override, the game will read only one file. In principle this could improve speed as it does on a computer when you bif the override with the mod Generalized Biffing, just because browsing a directory can be very long.
My experience with ES Explorer displaying the override content with a thousand sound files (French voice pack) is pretty bad.
So I'm working with bgee_npc-setup.exe. I have the new Weidu.exe in another folder. So you are saying that I should delete the original bgee_npc-setup.exe and rename my Weidu copy to bgee_npc-setup.exe to update it?
I did that and ran it, got the fatal error message "This is not the game installation folder".
Should I have run the new (previous Weidu.exe) exe in main.beamdog. baldursgate or something? All of my installation files and folders for my mods are side by side to the main and patch folders I copied from my Android phone.
None of my mod setups recognize my faux game directories. I figure I have to do this with Weidu itself.
I don't know Weidu at all. Is there a short section for that here so I'm not loaded with unintelligible jargon from its readme?
I used a name, BGEE_Android, because I thought it would be more readable than "the directory where you extracted the game files and the mods". ;-)
I guess I have to use the newest Weidu to mark my holding folder as the "game directory" somehow?
Don't try to go further if you don't match the requirement listed at the end of chapter "Building an environment to install mods". Everything listed there should be present in the directory you created on your computer and that I reference with the name BGEE_Android in the procedure. A directory that matches this requirement is the "game folder". That is where you should extract the mods in order to be able to install them.
From the screen capture you sent me, it's obvious that this requirement is not met, as you seem to have extracted main.XXXX.com.beamdog.baldursgateenhancededition.zip and patch.XXXX.com.beamdog.baldursgateenhancededition.zip in two separate sub-folders. Move the content of the two sub-folders up.
----
Copy the two obb files into that new directory
On the hard disk, rename the two obb files and replace the .obb extension with .zip
Now extract into the current directory the content of the two .zip archive, starting with main.2106.com.beamdog.baldursgateenhancededition.zip
Once finished you should obtain the following directory content :
[b]data[/b]
lang
movies
music
scripts
[b]chitin.key[/b]
----
I recopied from my Android, both the chitin.key and my data folders are still missing. >.<
1: The two folders weere hidden as "system files" on Windows
2: The files weren't in main.beamdog when extracted, but extracted OUTSIDE of the folder to sit sideby-side to it. o.0
I dropped the two files back in the main.beamdog folder and now my setup runs correctly from inside that folder too. Thanks everyone!
I tried the tutorial posted above, and mods, that only adds NPC and new items into already existing areas (such as Unfinished Bussines and Assasinations) works sweet, but mods, that adds new areas to game (like I shall never forget or Tales of the deep garden or Tower of deception) didn´t work well. Problem with those is, that whole new areas added to the game are always completely dark, only NPCs are visible, everything other, than NPCs is black/dark.
Somebody´s got same problem, or I just messed up something during mods installation?
It looks like an incompatibility between the original area graphics file format used in the old game (and mods) and the EE game engines. The EE games use a new format but, on Windows, the game still recognizes the old ones. It looks like the code to handle the old format is missing in the Android version. Or maybe the move to a new format was made because of mobile devices incompatibility with the old way of displaying areas.
I'm afraid that there is not much we can do but report the problem to Beamdog and make a feature request to support old area graphics files.
Thanks for reporting this issue, I'll add a warning in the tutorial.
Besides, the game should not be broken by that. You're just missing the view but you can still interact.
The ability to use mods on Android and iOS is new and not really officially supported. For all I know, if White Agnus hadn't reported that the method described for iOS was also working for Android, we wouldn't even be aware of it.
In order to get support for custom areas in the Android version in the future, provided there is nothing preventing it, you should probably post a request in the Feature requests forum.
In BG1 NPC, the two areas involved are reused from BG II, so they had to be included in the mod in order to work with BGEE. I made two tests:
- convert the tis file included in the mod (a renamed copy of the BG II file) using Tile2EE
- extract the tis and associated pvrz files from BG2EE, and rename them according to the naming pattern for PVRZ used by Tile2EE in the first case (for the record, Tile2EE produced one PVRZ file less than BG2EE)
In both cases, I noticed a slight change compared to using the original tis file: in one area (a copy of the tree of life room with the staircase revealed), I can see the fountain animation but everything else remains black. Unfortunately the game is unstable and after about two MoveToArea between the two areas, it crashes.Each set of files works properly with BGEE on Windows. Hence the problem on Android may have multiple causes. I'll make a final try with area data packed in a bif file.
The overview map is displayed properly on Android with the old file format. I didn't test the new format.
Link: bg1npc_maps.zip (1.7 MB)
I tried you files but it didn't improve the situation. In the first area, X#CH12, (shadow dragon one), the game crashes when I MoveToArea() to it. The other one works as with my previous attempts: everything except the fountain remains black.
To get an even more complete picture, I followed your idea of a potentially specific format. I didn't think about that possibility. So I extracted the graphic files from BG2EE on Android, renamed them according to the same naming scheme Tile2ee used, and archived them for BGEE on Android. I get the same behaviour I had previously: black area in X#CH12, black area except the fountain for X#CH13. The main benefit was that it looked more stable than with all my previous attempts: I couldn't make it crash this time.
I used to think I could try putting the files into bif files (it used to matter on some older engines, or was it is a bug then the extra header of the tis file was missing?). Being able to play the fountain animation makes me thing it's not worth trying.
I'm afraid using new area graphics on Android will need some extra help and probably work from Beamdog.
Would you like some tis/pvrz/whatever (wed?) files from the Android version to check their format?
I extracted the file with Near Infinity. I couldn't get the area view from the ARE file, more precisely it's just a set of big squares. I gather the file format is indeed different from the one expected from Windows.
From a first glance I'd say that the PVRZ file is encoded with the Ericsson Texture Compression format (more specifically the GL_COMPRESSED_RGB8_PUNCHTHROUGH_ALPHA1_ETC2 subtype), which doesn't appear to be supported by the Windows versions of the games. Near Infinity can't decode it either. I'll look into it further.