Both of these files run the game? I remember a friend talking about how you can play a clear SoA if you get the BGMain file from SoA, or something of the like.
What does ToB run on?
I noticed that it can be launched through BGMain.exe as well as baldur.exe.
In any case, if those two files won't let me run SoA, without ToB, can someone send me theirs?
Much appreciated.
BGMain/baldur.exe
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Crenshinibon
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BGMain/baldur.exe
“The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially.”
I don't mean to sound rude, but your friend does not know what he is talking about (assuming that you have reported his comments accurately).
The Throne of Bhaal Expansion Pack overwrites many of the original SOA files, including BGMain.exe and Baldur.exe. In that sense, there is indeed an SOA-version of those files as well as a TOB-version of them. But if you copy the original SOA-version of BGMain.exe to your TOB directory (hopefully after backing up the TOB-version of it beforehand) and try to run it, you will get an assertion error, and the game will not start. (I just tried it myself, so I know what I'm talking about.) Even if it did manage to start the game, you would probably get a lot of errors when "Shadows of Amn" tried to access the TOB-version of the DIALOG.TLK file and other data files, not to mention the thousands of extra files in the /OVERRIDE directory which came with new "resources" when TOB was installed. In short, if you want to play SOA without the expansion, then you need an SOA-only installation.
I have several versions of BG2 on my computer in separate directories, including the original SOA without patches, TOB without patches, and a couple of TOB games that have a bunch of different mods installed. (That's why I was able to conduct a simple experiment to see what would happen.)
BGMain.exe is the main executable file. You can start the game by running it directly (with a custom-made shortcut, from the command line, or by clicking on it). The game is normally started by running the Baldur.exe program. Baldur.exe is what people call a "front-end" program. It checks whether you have the game installed by searching the Windows Registry. If it can't find any information, it gives you the option to run the BG2 installation program. If it finds what it's looking for in the Windows Registry, then it starts BGMain.exe, which starts the game.
Since I have so many versions of the game that are not listed in the Windows Registry, I can't start them by running their respective Baldur.exe programs--they ask me if I want to install the game. I created my own shortcuts to the various BGMain.exe programs in their respective directories (bypassing Baldur.exe altogether), and that's how I start my games.
The Throne of Bhaal Expansion Pack overwrites many of the original SOA files, including BGMain.exe and Baldur.exe. In that sense, there is indeed an SOA-version of those files as well as a TOB-version of them. But if you copy the original SOA-version of BGMain.exe to your TOB directory (hopefully after backing up the TOB-version of it beforehand) and try to run it, you will get an assertion error, and the game will not start. (I just tried it myself, so I know what I'm talking about.) Even if it did manage to start the game, you would probably get a lot of errors when "Shadows of Amn" tried to access the TOB-version of the DIALOG.TLK file and other data files, not to mention the thousands of extra files in the /OVERRIDE directory which came with new "resources" when TOB was installed. In short, if you want to play SOA without the expansion, then you need an SOA-only installation.
I have several versions of BG2 on my computer in separate directories, including the original SOA without patches, TOB without patches, and a couple of TOB games that have a bunch of different mods installed. (That's why I was able to conduct a simple experiment to see what would happen.)
BGMain.exe is the main executable file. You can start the game by running it directly (with a custom-made shortcut, from the command line, or by clicking on it). The game is normally started by running the Baldur.exe program. Baldur.exe is what people call a "front-end" program. It checks whether you have the game installed by searching the Windows Registry. If it can't find any information, it gives you the option to run the BG2 installation program. If it finds what it's looking for in the Windows Registry, then it starts BGMain.exe, which starts the game.
Since I have so many versions of the game that are not listed in the Windows Registry, I can't start them by running their respective Baldur.exe programs--they ask me if I want to install the game. I created my own shortcuts to the various BGMain.exe programs in their respective directories (bypassing Baldur.exe altogether), and that's how I start my games.
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Crenshinibon
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So the only way for me to play SoA while keeping ToB, is to install it into a different directory?
I remember him sending me a file, titled BGMain.exe, for the purpose of playing with those that lacked the expansion on GSA, and I remember that it worked. I do not know if it was in anyway altered or not. However, it would of course crash if a character exceeded the level cap of SoA or received items exclusive to ToB.
I remember him sending me a file, titled BGMain.exe, for the purpose of playing with those that lacked the expansion on GSA, and I remember that it worked. I do not know if it was in anyway altered or not. However, it would of course crash if a character exceeded the level cap of SoA or received items exclusive to ToB.
“The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially.”
To the best of my knowledge, yes.Crenshinibon wrote:So the only way for me to play SoA while keeping ToB, is to install it into a different directory?
As I've pointed out, you can certainly have more than one installation on your computer.
Well, if you actually used such a file and it worked, then there must be some way to do it. But I couldn't get it to work with the unaltered files on my installation, and I don't understand how it worked on yours.Crenshinibon wrote:I remember him sending me a file, titled BGMain.exe, for the purpose of playing with those that lacked the expansion on GSA, and I remember that it worked. I do not know if it was in anyway altered or not. However, it would of course crash if a character exceeded the level cap of SoA or received items exclusive to ToB.
Consequently, I will replace my previous remark about your friend with one that is more accurate: I don't know what your friend is talking about.
Since you said it worked for you, I tried it again. I'd really feel like an idiot for saying what I did if I turned out to be wrong.
I copied and recopied some files to make sure that my installation was indeed clean. (I don't have time to reinstall everything from scratch right now.) In addition to replacing the BGMain.exe file with the one from SOA, I also replaced the DIALOG.TLK file and the BALDUR.EXE file (although I have no idea what difference the latter might make). I was able to start the game, but the menus were seriously messed up. There was no logo in the center of the screen, and in the background I could see the split screen that you see whenever you start TOB. Clearly, the SOA-version of BGMAIN.EXE is trying to access resources that were overwritten by TOB. Anyway, there is no button in the middle to click on to start the game, but if I clicked on the SOA logo in the background to the left, I was sent to the menu that gives you the option to load a game or start a new one. That looked promising, but I have no idea if the game will run from there or crash.
That's as far as I got, and I really need to go somewhere right now, so I don't have time to mess with it. I'll check back with you later. The BGMAIN.EXE file does not appear to be available on the installation CDs (I looked at CD1 and CD2), so perhaps it is extracted from one of the CAB files when you run the installation program. My advice is to re-install SOA and try it for yourself.
Good luck!
I copied and recopied some files to make sure that my installation was indeed clean. (I don't have time to reinstall everything from scratch right now.) In addition to replacing the BGMain.exe file with the one from SOA, I also replaced the DIALOG.TLK file and the BALDUR.EXE file (although I have no idea what difference the latter might make). I was able to start the game, but the menus were seriously messed up. There was no logo in the center of the screen, and in the background I could see the split screen that you see whenever you start TOB. Clearly, the SOA-version of BGMAIN.EXE is trying to access resources that were overwritten by TOB. Anyway, there is no button in the middle to click on to start the game, but if I clicked on the SOA logo in the background to the left, I was sent to the menu that gives you the option to load a game or start a new one. That looked promising, but I have no idea if the game will run from there or crash.
That's as far as I got, and I really need to go somewhere right now, so I don't have time to mess with it. I'll check back with you later. The BGMAIN.EXE file does not appear to be available on the installation CDs (I looked at CD1 and CD2), so perhaps it is extracted from one of the CAB files when you run the installation program. My advice is to re-install SOA and try it for yourself.
Good luck!
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Crenshinibon
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Oooh, thanks for looking into that. I do not believe I actually overwrote anything when I did that last time. All I had to do was put the file into the directory. It was a bit shaky, like you could gain experience and get levels past the SoA maximum, however, if you took them the game would crash. I've contacted him again, asking for the file, so now I'm waiting for his response as well. The purpose of this was that so I could play online with people that have a clean SoA and those that have ToB without needed two installs. All I'd need to do is change the path to the appropriate .exe file.
“The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially.”