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How do i make multiple installations?

Son_of_ImoenSon_of_Imoen Member Posts: 1,806
in General Modding
Having started to play BG:EE at last and liking it much more than Tutu, I want to run multiple campaigns that function separately on the same computer, just like I used to.

With Tutu, it was as simple as creating a copy of the game folder and start from the bgmain.exe in the new folder. The only thing you needed done if you modded the second install to be different that the (vanilla) original is make sure the baldur.ini points to C (or whatever drive):\the new folder\data.

You could make copies of the vanilla game, mod each one differently, or make copies of an existing modded versions which would thus have the same setup, but it's own save, portraits and character folders (while you could save space by having separate instalments share the same bg1data, movies & music folders).


Now I wonder how to go about creating separate installs for BG:EE?

If I just copy the contents of the installation folder into a new folder and start up the Baldur.exe inside the new folder (like I would do with Tutu), it uses the same Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition folder in Documents as the original, with the same save folder, so I can't start up a separate campaign that way.

I dare not use the GOG installer to create a fresh copy for fear of messing up the install I got now.

Is it even possible to create separated instalments of BGEE on the same computer or would I need to start a separate Windows user account just to play another (separated) campaign?

Sorry for the longwinded way of asking a simple question. I hope someone can give me a (preferably simple ;-) ) answer.

Comments

  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,433
    You can't change the documents folder of the game (easily), but if you're careful and don't rely too much on quicksave and autosave it shouldn't be much of an issue. The second problem may be the baldur.ini which is shared by all of your game installations and forces you to play all of your games with the same settings.

    Your idea about using different user accounts is probably the most straightforward solution. You don't even need to switch accounts everytime you want to play. Shift+right-click on the game executable provides you with an option to play the game as another user.

    Alternatively it is possible to change the name of the documents folder in the game executable itself with a hex editor (as long as the new name isn't longer as the old name), but if you're not careful the game may freeze or crash. So you should only consider it if you really know what you're doing.
  • Son_of_ImoenSon_of_Imoen Member Posts: 1,806
    @argent77 Thanks for your reply. It's a pity you can't change the Documents folder the game is using. I'm not familiar with hex editors so I won't go the route of changing the game executable, so I'm thankful for the tip of Shift-rightclick to open a context menu with the option of opening up the game with a different user account. It's probably not even necessary to copy the game folder if I want to play with an identical mod-setup?

    I liked the Tutu way better in this regard. Does Beamdog still take feature requests, or is BG:EE just about finished with patch 1.3?
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,433
    Son_of_Imoen said:

    It's probably not even necessary to copy the game folder if I want to play with an identical mod-setup?

    Correct. The game doesn't modify anything in the game folder by itself.

    Son_of_Imoen said:

    Does Beamdog still take feature requests, or is BG:EE just about finished with patch 1.3?

    I doubt Beamdog will change this behavior as the installation directory is more or less protected on modern operating systems.
  • oldman42oldman42 Member Posts: 27
    Dont know how it is handled on windows, but here on Linux its easy:

    (1) Make how many installations as you like in different folders. Mod each to your liking :)

    (2) for each installation, create a extra copy of "/.local/share/Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition/", name it differently according to your installations (its maybe a folder under "Documents" in windows)

    (3) before starting the game with "start.sh" from your desired installation, copy the corresponding "/.local/share/Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition/" to this location

    (4) after playing, dont forget to copy "/.local/share/Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition/" back in order to save everything

    This can be automated by scripts, maybe batch file in windows as well? I hope, its not too confusing :)
  • Son_of_ImoenSon_of_Imoen Member Posts: 1,806
    Hopping in to say thank you, @argent77. I made a separate Windows account and use shift-rightclick on the game shortcut now to play a campaign with my Avenger Sakhmet that runs from that second account.
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