BG II and ToB on one host

Loredweller · Post by **Loredweller** » Sat Nov 10, 2001 8:20 am

Is there a way to have (and play) SoA and Tob on one PC? (I have some skill to work with registry, though i have not so much time just now to hack it myself, so it would be very helpful if somebody has it already done.)
TIA,
L.

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Sat Nov 10, 2001 9:07 am

Well, you can import your BGII char into ToB, if thats what your asking.

Loredweller · Post by **Loredweller** » Sat Nov 10, 2001 9:16 am

Well, not exactly. What i wish is to have working BG I, BG II and *separate* ToB on one PC.

L.

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Sat Nov 10, 2001 10:11 am

Oh, ok. Yes, there is. When you have both games installed, and you load them up, a screen will appear that asks what you want ot play (BGII, or ToB). From there, you can either start a game using BGII, or you can start a game using ToB.

Baldursgate Fan · Post by **Baldursgate Fan** » Sat Nov 10, 2001 10:34 am

Hi Aegis.

I recently did a full install of both SoA and ToB but did not get the option that you mentioned - I only get a prompt to insert the ToB CD.

Am I missing something?

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Sat Nov 10, 2001 2:37 pm

Nope. You use the ToB CD, and it loads the game. From there, you it should bring you to a screen where it gives the option to play using either BGII, or ToB.

fable · Post by **fable** » Sat Nov 10, 2001 3:13 pm

If what you're asking is whether you can have to independent instances of BG2--one with ToB, one without--on a single machine, the answer is

1) It can be installed twice, if you move the first installation and then deinstall the original location.

2) It will not run from both instances. The registry entries are setup in such a way that the executable looks for *one* BG2 location whenever it loads.

I tried to create SoA/ToB and SoA/TDD instances on one machine several weeks ago, and ran into just this problem.

sxty5stang · Post by **sxty5stang** » Sat Nov 10, 2001 3:46 pm

What about Partitioning a Hard drive and then installing the game twice, each in a different partition.

Loredweller · Post by **Loredweller** » Sun Nov 11, 2001 2:48 am

Partitioning should not solve the issue. The registry is still the same.
One way might be if you have dual boot, i.e. two (or more) instances on the same host. They even might use the same pagefile. Not sure if it is the case for 98th, though, never tried, but it is some solution for NT or 2K. The matters of resources, though, and it is not very comfortable. One instance should be main anyway (although it is possible to share applications, it usually isn't worth the effort). My problem is i have long periods of idle waiting mixed with irregular ones with high activity, BG is one of best ways to kill the time nearer to evening, emotional activity instead of intellectual is very refreshing

If the problem might be solved somehow then there wouldn't be problems with SoA extensions incompatible with ToB for one thing.

TIA,
L.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Sun Nov 11, 2001 9:58 am

How about using a freinds cd?

Loredweller · Post by **Loredweller** » Mon Nov 12, 2001 12:55 am

Originally posted by craig:
<STRONG>How about using a freinds cd?</STRONG>

Don't quite get your meaning, wouldn't you explain, please?

[ 11-12-2001: Message edited by: Loredweller ]

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon Nov 12, 2001 8:36 am

Originally posted by craig:
<STRONG>How about using a freinds cd?</STRONG>

The registry thinks, "Okay, a BG2 installation." It doesn't look first at the key disc number, just at the game. So you can have one instance of it on your machine. Attempting to put on a second will simply write over the first.

Loredweller · Post by **Loredweller** » Mon Nov 12, 2001 10:39 am

Well, seems nobody have discovered it. In fact i've already checked where in reg. the things might be. There are some doubts about DirectX - the game register itself for it. I'll try if i'd have leisure.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Mon Nov 12, 2001 10:47 am

You said a regestriry is what it finds yeah? and no to regestry is the the same as the next right? if it sees your friends then yours it load one or the other right?

Loredweller · Post by **Loredweller** » Tue Nov 20, 2001 5:54 am

Latest news

I have managed to set two properly working SoA instances on one PC.
I started by searching the registry for "BGII" and collected such keys. Then i copied the folder with SoA to another logical drive. All i need now to switch between them is just to merge a file into registry.
In my case file content looks like:
-----------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\bg2ep202.exe]
"Path"="L:\\Program Files\\Black Isle\\BGII - SoA\\"
@="L:\\Program Files\\Black Isle\\BGII - SoA\\bg2ep202.exe"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\BG2Main.Exe]
"Install"="L:\\Program Files\\Black Isle\\BGII - SoA\\"
"Path"="L:\\Program Files\\Black Isle\\BGII - SoA\\"
@="L:\\Program Files\\Black Isle\\BGII - SoA\\BGMain.exe"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectPlay\Applications\Baldur's Gate2]
"CurrentDirectory"="L:\\Program Files\\Black Isle\\BGII - SoA\\"
"Path"="L:\\Program Files\\Black Isle\\BGII - SoA\\"
"CommandLine"=""
"File"="BGMain.exe"
"GUID"="{8DAE4336-2B71-11D4-9A6C-006067325E47}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\GameSpy]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\GameSpy\games]
"bgate2"="L:\\Program Files\\Black Isle\\BGII - SoA\\BGMain.exe"
----------------------------------------

the other one has "L:\" replaced by "J:\"
Simple, isn't it?
Well, next time i'll have leisure i'll try TDD on one of the instances.

Loredweller · Post by **Loredweller** » Wed Nov 21, 2001 12:56 pm

Well, the heading might be a bit incorrect.

Now i can play both TDD and SoA on one PC. Yes, i've laid TDD on one of instances. Both seems working properly

So, i guess, if i'd decide to instal ToB on SoA (with right set in registry) it migh be i could play both ToB and TDD. Well, we'll see.
Cheers,
L.