Play these two classic Dungeons & Dragons games in HD
As a fan of role-playing games, you have probably heard people talk aboutBaldur’s Gate. It’s almost always brought up in discussions about the genre and is often considered to be one of the best RPGs of all time.
Baldur’s Gate IIis great, but you’ll probably want to play throughBaldur’s Gatefirst, especially since you can keep playing with the same character and party across both.Baldur’s Gate, while a good game, is horribly dated. Black Isle, the makers of the series, learned a lot by the time work started on a sequel.
There is no arguing thatBG2is the better-made game, but it would suck to miss out on all of the content from its predecessor. I have some good news for you: you can playBG1inside ofBG2. Add some tweaks and bug-fixing mods, and you’ll have a seamless and amazing experience playing the two games together.
This week in The Weekend Modder’s Guide, I’ll show you how to mod your copies into one giant RPG.
Trivia:
Time:2-5 hoursDifficulty:Complex (easy to install, hard to get working right)What you need:Baldur’s Gate: The Original SagaorBaldur’s GatewithTales of the Sword Coast, andBaldur’s Gate 2 CompleteorBaldur’s Gate II: Shadows of AmnwithBaldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal.
1.InstallBG1andBG2, but not into the normal program directory. Install them into a folder called something like “RPGs.” Run each of them once so they can set up all of their configuration files.
2.InstallBaldur’s Gate/Tales of The Sword CoastEnglish-Language Game Text Update,FixPack, andBG1Unfinished Business. These will patch up all of the rough edges ofBG1.
3.Install theBaldur’s Gate Trilogy(here’s thereadme). This mod will bring all of the content fromBG1intoBG2and it adds some content to bridge the two games. Extract the download folder into yourBG2directory and run the installer from there.
4.Install theFixPackandEnglish-Language Game Text Update. This cleans up bugs and grammatical errors inBG2.
5. Optional:InstallTheBG2Tweak Pack, which allows you to pick from a selection of tweaks toBG2. Copy the installer into yourBG2directory and run it from there. You will get to choose between a crazy amount of minor tweaks with this installer. There is a readme that details all of the changes. This is completely optional, and if you decide to do use this, it will add a considerable amount of time to your installation process.Don’tdo this if you just want to play the game without having control over a bunch of tiny details.Dodo this if you enjoy playing with things like whether a bastard sword is one-handed or two-handed and what walking speed is better.
6.InstallUnfinished BusinessforBG2. This ties up a bunch of loose ends in the story and restores content that was cut from the game’s original release. Some of this was done by former Black Isle designerDavid Gaider.
7.Install theBG1NPC Project. This brings the great NPC banter fromBG2intoBG1. Now you’ll be able to romance your party members and hear them chat with each other. This installer also needs to be run from theBG2directory.
8.InstallBanter Pack,which restores party banter that was cut fromBG2. This has options to include some “adult” content, so kids beware!
9.Install theGibberlings 3 widescreen modforBG2. Pick your monitor’s native resolution when you install it. Sadly, there isn’t a really good UI mod out forBG2yet, so a lot of the game’s menus will still have black boxes around them, but it doesn’t look too bad.
Modding anything made in the Infinity engine can get tricky, and it might take some trial and error. The steps I have given you here are just the beginning. You probably will have issues, I know I did, but it’s worth it. I hope you enjoy playing through this absolutely insane amount of content. I’ll see you in 100 hours.
If you like cRPGs, be sure to check out The Weekend Modder’s Guide forPlanescape: Torment. To find more mods for theBaldur’s Gateseries, check outSorcerer’s Place.
