New Guy, Lots of Questions

sonny · Post by **sonny** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:06 pm

Hi, my name is Sonny and I just finished BG The Original Saga and the great people at GameBanshee Baldurs Gate Forum said you guys would be able to help me out.

I'm relatively new to computer games (started playing after I retired). BG 1 was only the 3rd game I've played. Wizardry Gold and Wizardry 8 being the other 2. Also I'm not very computer literate.

I have Baldurs Gate 2 The Collection, which I got off eBay. The seller advertised it as new and the box was sealed when I got it (for what ever that's worth).

I want to play what I believe you guys call the vanilla game. No mods added. Not experienced enough for that yet. Also I played BG1 with out using any walkthroughs or hint guides. I did that with the 1st game I played, Wiz Gold (my grandson gave me the game and a hint guide) and it ruined the game for me. So I want to play BG2 the same way I played BG1. If I get stuck or need help, I'll make a post. I've tried to figure this out by reading the threads, but the more I read, the more confused I get.

The game box included the following; Shadows of Amn 4 disks, Throne of Bhaal 1 disk and one Shadows of Amn Bonus disk. No instructions, no game manual, no map. So with all that out of the way, here's my questions.

1. Is there any way to tell if the game is already patched with the latest patch? (I ask this because I read somewhere that The Collection was patched or included the latest patch on one of the game disk)

2. If it's not patched. What patches do I need to make the game as bug free as possible?

3. Where do I go to download the patches I need?

4. What is the loading order for the game disks and the patches?

5. In BG1 my NPC character was a LG human fighter. Is this a good character choice for BG2?

6. Can you tell me how to bring my character from the final save in BG1 over to BG2?

I'm sorry for the long drawn out post, but I wanted to try and get all my questions on this start-up in one post.

I want to thank everyone in advance for any help you can give me. I look forward to playing the game and being a part of this forum. Thanks again.

fable · Post by **fable** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:28 pm

You might get some of your answers more quickly if you use search, you know. Very quickly.

But in any case: you go to the developer's website for patches. Just follow the menu links. Installation order is always game, then patch. No matter what the game.

If you ever add mods, they come third.

That said, I would strongly suggest you download at least 1 mod:the G3 BG2 Fixpack. Just go that link, and click on the readme, forum, and/or download areas to the left. It fixes a lot of problems left in place by Bioware, and never resolved. It's a great patch in itself, and should load after the official patch.

sonny · Post by **sonny** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:17 pm

Please bare with me, I'm not very good at this.

Where in the loading order would you load the Shadows of Amn Bonus disc?

At the BG2 Fixpack site, on the left hand side there are several choices, which of these do I pick.
G3 Mirror
IEGMC America
" " Asia
" " Canada
" " Europe
Gibberlings Three

Is it G3 mirror, IEGMC America or Gibberlings Three?

Thanks again

Greak · Post by **Greak** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:48 pm

sonny wrote:Please bare with me, I'm not very good at this.

Where in the loading order would you load the Shadows of Amn Bonus disc?

At the BG2 Fixpack site, on the left hand side there are several choices, which of these do I pick.
G3 Mirror
IEGMC America
" " Asia
" " Canada
" " Europe
Gibberlings Three

Is it G3 mirror, IEGMC America or Gibberlings Three?

Thanks again

Hmm, Shadows of Amn bonus disc? Do you mean the expansion, Throne of Bhaal by that? I think the collection contains that too, so I'm guessing it's what youre talking about.

Anyways, as a general rule of thumb the order to install stuff is:

1) First install the game itself
2) Then install any expansion sets to this game, in this case BG2: Throne of Bhaal
3) Then install any patches available. For instance, the patch you need is found at BioWare: BG II: Throne of Bhaal Patches (Scroll down for "Download English Patch version 26498 - BioWare (8 MB)", this is the link you need).
4) (OPTIONAL) Last step is to install any modifications you might want. However, I would not recommend installing any mods if you are not at least somewhat computer savvy, these things are fan-made and there's always a chance that the game will stop working when you install fan-made mods.

Oh, and those
"G3 Mirror
IEGMC America"
Are simply mirrors, different sites to download the files from: the files are the same, but you can download them from different locations, pick whichever is the closest to you and thereby the fastest location for you to download from.

sonny · Post by **sonny** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:57 pm

Greak wrote:Hmm, Shadows of Amn bonus disc? Do you mean the expansion, Throne of Bhaal by that? I think the collection contains that too, so I'm guessing it's what youre talking about.

Anyways, as a general rule of thumb the order to install stuff is:

1) First install the game itself
2) Then install any expansion sets to this game, in this case BG2: Throne of Bhaal
3) Then install any patches available. For instance, the patch you need is found at BioWare: BG II: Throne of Bhaal Patches (Scroll down for "Download English Patch version 26498 - BioWare (8 MB)", this is the link you need).
4) (OPTIONAL) Last step is to install any modifications you might want. However, I would not recommend installing any mods if you are not at least somewhat computer savvy, these things are fan-made and there's always a chance that the game will stop working when you install fan-made mods.

Oh, and those
"G3 Mirror
IEGMC America"
Are simply mirrors, different sites to download the files from: the files are the same, but you can download them from different locations, pick whichever is the closest to you and thereby the fastest location for you to download from.

There are 6 disc in the box. 4 are Shadows of Amn disc 1-4. One disc is labled Throne of Bhaal and there is another disc labled Shadows of Amn Bonus
disc. The outside of the box says this bonus disc includes weapons, armor, character portraits and BG sound track. So where would this go in the load order, or does it matter.

Sorry for being so stupid about this stuff.

Greak · Post by **Greak** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:08 pm

sonny wrote:There are 6 disc in the box. 4 are Shadows of Amn disc 1-4. One disc is labled Throne of Bhaal and there is another disc labled Shadows of Amn Bonus
disc. The outside of the box says this bonus disc includes weapons, armor, character portraits and BG sound track. So where would this go in the load order, or does it matter.

Sorry for being so stupid about this stuff.

Hmm, by the sound of it the bonus disc contains optional stuff you really don't need to play the game at all. You could try installing the bonus disc after you've installed the 1-4 discs of SoA and the ToB disc, but it's not actually necessary to play the game to its fullest.

I would recommend simply first installing Shadows of Amn discs, then Throne of Bhaal disc, then downloading the patch I linked and installing that. After that, you're good to go. I've completed the game many times without any mods and I've never had a single problem.

And also to answer your questions about your character: a LG fighter is always a good choice, good solid class and alignment. I have never actually moved a character from BG1 to BG2, so I don't know how exactly it is done. I'll leave the explaining to others on that.

BlazingFist · Post by **BlazingFist** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:31 pm

Okay, probably the best thing about the bonus disc is the addition of two merchants in Athkatla (the city you begin in). One of them sells weapons and armour from the lands of Planescape: Torment, and the other selling weapons and items from the lands of Icewind Dale. Those items are expensive, but quite powerful. I think I installed it after installing the expansion, but don't remember 100%. I don't think it makes a difference whether you install it before or after installing the expansion.

fable · Post by **fable** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:47 pm

The Bonus Disk offers content that you'll find in the G3 BG2 Tweak Pack. I strongly recommend this over the Bonus Disk, because the latter only includes the merchants, while the Tweak Pack includes a ton of stuff that's described on the page I linked: cosmetic changes, content tweaks, rule changes, convenience tweaks, and joinable NPC tweaks. You can accept or reject any of dozens of optional tweaks, some of them very good, indeed.

Note that if you decide to get the Tweak Pack, your installation order should be:

Game: SoA and ToB
Latest ToB official patch (that includes SoA official patches, too)
G3 BG2 Fix Pack (this should always come directly after the official patch)
G3 BG2 Tweak Pack

The mirrors are, as somebody just mentioned, only different places that "mirror" the download G3 is offering. Logically, the one closest to you should offer the best download speeds, but that's sometimes not the case. I've always found G3's own download very fast.

If you have any questions regarding the Tweak Pack content, Sonny, feel free to ask.

sonny · Post by **sonny** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:57 pm

fable wrote:The Bonus Disk offers content that you'll find in the G3 BG2 Tweak Pack. I strongly recommend this over the Bonus Disk, because the latter only includes the merchants, while the Tweak Pack includes a ton of stuff that's described on the page I linked: cosmetic changes, content tweaks, rule changes, convenience tweaks, and joinable NPC tweaks. You can accept or reject any of dozens of optional tweaks, some of them very good, indeed.

Note that if you decide to get the Tweak Pack, your installation order should be:

Game: SoA and ToB
Latest ToB official patch (that includes SoA official patches, too)
G3 BG2 Fix Pack (this should always come directly after the official patch)
G3 BG2 Tweak Pack

The mirrors are, as somebody just mentioned, only different places that "mirror" the download G3 is offering. Logically, the one closest to you should offer the best download speeds, but that's sometimes not the case. I've always found G3's own download very fast.

If you have any questions regarding the Tweak Pack content, Sonny, feel free to ask.

Thanks very much. Will let you guys know how I make out.

Dummy · Post by **Dummy** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 5:49 am

if you want to play your BG I character you could import him and play BGII with your BGI char so you do not have to create a new char

and i would advise the fixpack too, since it is basicly for bugfixes and a few tweaks, which do not change the gameplay expirience, atleast not negativly

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 7:06 am

To continue your BG1 character, copy the save folder from the BG1 Save folder to the BG2 Save folder. If the Save folder doesn't exist yet in BGII - Soa. then simply create it, then copy the folder over.

When you start your new game with the character it should offer you the opportunity to select a kit for him. There are three choices, Berserker, Kensai and Wizard Slayer. As I recall you were considering dual classing your fighter to mage, Wizard Slayer doesn't really make sense. Both the other two have their strengths and weaknesses, the relative benefits of the kits can be found by doing a search on this forum, but beware spoilers.

sonny · Post by **sonny** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 8:59 am

galraen wrote:To continue your BG1 character, copy the save folder from the BG1 Save folder to the BG2 Save folder. If the Save folder doesn't exist yet in BGII - Soa. then simply create it, then copy the folder over.

When you start your new game with the character it should offer you the opportunity to select a kit for him. There are three choices, Berserker, Kensai and Wizard Slayer. As I recall you were considering dual classing your fighter to mage, Wizard Slayer doesn't really make sense. Both the other two have their strengths and weaknesses, the relative benefits of the kits can be found by doing a search on this forum, but beware spoilers.

Thanks galraen. Great to see another familiar face. Was surprised to see that fable was a mod here to. Plan on trying to load the game and the patches and fixes this morning. Have a great day.

sonny · Post by **sonny** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:58 am

Ok just got back from church and getting ready to load game. 2 more questions please.

1. Do I need to uninstall BG1 before I load BG2? Would like to leave it there. I have 78% free space out of 166 GB. What ever that means.

2. Is there any advantage to exporting my Character from Bg1 to BG2. Not sure I understand how to do this and don't want to screw anything up. If it's better do do it, then I will keep trying to figure it out.

mcgregor · Post by **mcgregor** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 11:15 am

1. 78% of 166gb is easily enough hard drive space to install bg2, whiuch will take roughly 2-4gb depending on what level of install you choose. i would recommend full, as it will decrease loading times

2. the main advantage is merely continuity - the story line continues on from bg1. your character may also have increased stats due to the tomes in bg1 - but the game is still beatable without these increased stats. on the other hand, there are no disadvantages to importing either.

in order to import, open the bg directory and find the folder entitled 'save'. most likely, you will have to open the d drive, then 'program files', then 'black isle' then 'baldur's gate'. inside the save folder you will find a file by the name of whatever you named your save game. right click this to copy it, and then open up the 'save' folder in the baldur's gate 2 directory, also found in the 'black isle' folder. right click and then click paste to import the save game. then, when creating a new character, click the 'import' button.

hope that helps a bit

sonny · Post by **sonny** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:04 pm

Thanks mcgregor, that helps.

Now guys I'm stuck on loading. Installed SoA , then installed ToB. Printed out both readme files.

In the ToB read me file on page 2 was the following statment.

" Note: Do Not install the BGII patch After you have installed Throne of Bhaal. All of the patch fixes have already been added into Throne of Bhaal. This will not effect previously patech BGII"

I can not find the ver. number any where. Went to the opitions menu and clicked on every link, but there was no ver number on any page.

Should assume this means the game is already patched and skip the ToB official patch and now load the G3 BG2 Fix Pack and then the G3 BG2 Tweak Pack.

Again I have the BG2 The Collection.

Will wait to hear from you guys before I proceed. Also what disc will have the manual?

anarchistica · Post by **anarchistica** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 1:01 pm

You should install the ToB patch, if only to be sure. It probably means TOB includes all fixes made to SoA.

Importing your character has another advantage as well. The XP cap in BG1+ToSC is 140.000. Newly made characters start with 89.000 XP in BG2 SoA.

sonny · Post by **sonny** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 1:15 pm

Ok guys, I sorry for bothering you and being so stupid, but here goes.

Just figured out how to see what was on the different disc. On the ToB disc, I found the manual, which I now printing out. Also found the SoA manual and printed it (all 266 pages)lol.

Anyway on the ToB disc there id a folder titled "BG TOB PATCH" and inside that folder was a file titled "bg2 Tob_26498_eng" When I clicked on it a install wizard came up asking me if I wanted to install ToB patch 26498. I said yes and it did the install.

So does that mean I just patched the game? , and can now install the G3 stuff.

Man I don't know how you guys keep up with all this stuff. My hairs starting to hurt.

MindShadow · Post by **MindShadow** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 1:27 pm

Yep, your fully patched now and are all green for installing the G3 fixpack.

And don't worry about the hair, cause the payoff is definitely worth it.

sonny · Post by **sonny** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 1:49 pm

MindShadow wrote:Yep, your fully patched now and are all green for installing the G3 fixpack.

And don't worry about the hair, cause the payoff is definitely worth it.

Thanks so very, very much. At 60+ years, what little hair I have left, don't need to be hurting* grinz.

I feel better now that I know the game is patched. I clicked on that patch file twice to make sure I was seeing it right. Don't guess that will hurt anything. Guess now I'm double patched.

Anyway I'm going to chill out, just poured my self a glass of red wine, and now I going to load the G3 stuff and then see if I can export my character without any problems.LOL. Thanks again and have great day.

sonny · Post by **sonny** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:17 pm

When I went to run the G3 BG2 Fix pack, a message came up in the accept/decline window that read as follows:

"Please check the readme before installing the component entitled Beta Core Fixes"

I printed the readme from their website and have read it twice, and still don't have any idea what I should do. The only thing I understand is that it has not been "field tested", what ever that means.

Should I load this Beta Core Fixes if I'm allowed a choice or pass on it.

I'm really sorry guys, after I get his thing running, maybe I won't have to brother you as much. Been fooling with this thing all day, between reading and printing and holding my breath when I load something.

Thanks again.