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I would like to install several different modded BG2 installations on my computer at once. Then, I could play which ever game I was in the mood for at a particular time. What is the easiest way to accomplish this on a Windows XP machine?

Do I just install them in different directories and click the execution program in the proper directory? What part does the OS registry play?

Thanks for your advice.

AFAIK it does not play ANY role, just if you want to play via autostart

i would say you may want just to have different installations, or change your mods everytime, depending how much hard disc you have

this thread cld help
Building and Maintaining a Clean Install

rbeverjr wrote:Do I just install them in different directories and click the execution program in the proper directory? What part does the OS registry play?

I do something very similar to that. First, I install Shadows of Amn and the official SOA patch. I copy all of the data and movie files from the CDs and consolidate them into one /DATA directory and one /MOVIE directory. This eliminates redundancies, so the installation takes up less hard drive space. I update the path for each CD in the BALDUR.INI file. I also add in all of my own "universal" stuff which will apply to every installation in the future, such as adding the bonus merchants and the "safe" experience cap remover to the /OVERRIDE directory. That is what I consider to be my "base installation". You can name the directory anything you want, but be aware that it is considered to be the installation directory which is referenced by the Registry, so that is where all programs which consult the Registry will look for the game. I usually copy everything to a backup directory and call it something like /BG2_SOA_PATCHED_ORG and use the existing directory for new games.

Next, I install Throne of Bhaal and the official TOB patch. Again, I consolidate all of the data and movie files and update the paths in the BALDUR.INI file, and I copy the whole directory to a backup directory with a name like BG2_TOB_PATCHED_ORG.

I used to consider Baldurdash to be "part of any standard installation", but since the G3 FixPack has been released (and it replaces Baldurdash), I leave that choice for later.

I can then use either of those installations to create a new modded game. The directory I use for the game which I am currently playing is normally the one where I first installed the game, just because it's easier to use the original shortcuts. If you use shortcuts to various directories, just make sure that the BALDUR.INI file for each separate game specifies the correct path.

Whenever I get a new hard drive (which is something I do every few months), I just copy the game directories from the old hard drive to the new hard drive. When I re-install the operating system, there isn't any information about the game in the Windows Registry, but it never hurts anything. If a mod or a patch or a program like ShadowKeeper needs to know where to find the game directory, you can tell it where to look when it asks you for that information.

Thanks. Unfortunately, I think I still need some instruction. In the past, I have copied my entire game to a backup directory. I copied c:\Program Files\Black Isle\BGII – SOA to c:\BG2 BACKUPS\SCS2 020508\BGII – SOA. Then, I installed another game with Improved Anvil. If I decided that I wanted to play the other game for a while, then I would do more directory copying. I would copy c:\Program Files\Black Isle\BGII – SOA to c:\BG2 BACKUPS\IA5\BGII – SOA. Next, I would copy c:\BG2 BACKUPS\SCS2 020508\BGII – SOA to c:\Program Files\Black Isle\BGII – SOA. This procedure works and is better than reinstallation of the program and mods; however, there must be a better way.

If I go to c:\BG2 BACKUPS\SCS2 020508\BGII – SOA and click the baldur.exe file, the game starts, but it seems to be the game from c:\Program Files\Black Isle\BGII – SOA. If I change the paths in the baldur.ini file in c:\BG2 BACKUPS\SCS2 020508\BGII – SOA and double click baldur.exe file, I get the same result. It’s not the game that I want.

VonDondu, I’m sorry that I did not fully understand your instruction. You have obviously figured out something that works, and I’d appreciate your help in solving this problem.

I found these answers posted on the web:

First off the solution for me and others with big hard disks:
Game path: C:\Program Files\Black Isle\BG II - SoA. I made multiple copies of the main BG II - SoA folder. I have in the Black Isle folder now BG II - SoA, Original BG II - SoA, TDD BG II - SoA, TS BG II - SoA, and several others for the romance mods I'm beta testing. All I have to do is rename two folders to install/test a new mod or to switch games. This has worked for me without any complications. Haven't had to reinstall the game in a long time and if a mod messes up the game, I just delete that folder. Make more copies of the main installation as needed. About your post above - I'm glad to see a tool that will create multiple installations is being considered.

So, all I had to do was moved my saved games into the Black Isle directory and do some directory renaming to make it work.

For those who want to be more conservative of the hard disk space, you can try out this program: G3: Multi-Install Tool I've never used it personally, but it seems that it would do the trick.

rbeverjr wrote:Thanks. Unfortunately, I think I still need some instruction...

If I go to c:\BG2 BACKUPS\SCS2 020508\BGII – SOA and click the baldur.exe file, the game starts, but it seems to be the game from c:\Program Files\Black Isle\BGII – SOA. If I change the paths in the baldur.ini file in c:\BG2 BACKUPS\SCS2 020508\BGII – SOA and double click baldur.exe file, I get the same result. It’s not the game that I want.

VonDondu, I’m sorry that I did not fully understand your instruction. You have obviously figured out something that works, and I’d appreciate your help in solving this problem.

I apologize for the delay in responding to you.

I'm not sure I understand your question or the difficulty you were having. But keep in mind that I play the game on a computer that does not have any information about the game in the Windows Registry (information which could supply conflicting information about the game path), and I updated the path in all my shortcuts and all of the BALDUR.INI files.

rbeverjr wrote:I found these answers posted on the web:

So, all I had to do was moved my saved games into the Black Isle directory and do some directory renaming to make it work...

"Moving" directories mostly involves changing their names--the computer does not actually move the data from one place on the hard drive to another place on the hard drive. Just make sure that you keep the path in the BALDUR.INI files up to date if you ever move or rename directories.

The only problem with renaming directories is that the "Windows robots" try to outsmart you and follow behind you and mess up everything by changing the paths in the Registry without your knowledge. So that's another reason to avoid storing information about the game in the Registry.

I try to keep file copying to a minimum, but it's a necessary evil if you want to start with a clean installation. As I said earlier, I use one primary directory to play my current game with mods, but I am able to play the game from any of my directories.

rbeverjr wrote:For those who want to be more conservative of the hard disk space, you can try out this program: G3: Multi-Install Tool I've never used it personally, but it seems that it would do the trick.

I've never used that program, but I'm guessing that it allows you to play several versions of the game using one set of shared data files. Sharing the original /DATA and /MOVIE directories is easy enough (you simply put two paths in the BALDUR.INI files--one for the directory you're playing from, and one for the directory that contains the shared files), but handling the other files seems to complicated to me, I'd rather play it safe and use multiple directories, even if it means "wasting" hard drive space.

If the G3 Tool does not consolidate the /DATA files into one directory (that is, if it retains separate directories for each CD), then they really need to get with the program and eliminate the redundancies, since that was their whole purpose.

When I installed the game, I did it through the automated process, which puts it in the registry. I suppose that is why I could not succeed using VonDondu's method. I would have to find information on how to install the game manually so that it would not be entered in the registry, and then enter path names as required.

But I have found a method that is working for me. I switched games three times last night through the directory renaming method without problems. I hope that this technique will continue to work for me.

I don't know if the G3 program is good or not. I would probably have tried it if it wasn't for the fact that I have 3 modded games going currently that I would like to keep playing. Unless I misunderstand, this program allows you to make (i.e. in the future) multiple working installations while conserving disk space. I don't think it would allow me to switch games that have been previously installed before the G3 program. However, I am not very familiar with this program, other than it seems to have potential.