GameBanshee Forums

I'm a longtime BGII player. On my last computer I had the Mac version of SOA and TOB installed with no issue. Now I'm on a new computer- an IBook 1.33Ghz G4 laptop. I'm running OS 10.4.11. I'm re-installing the game after a long time away from the game, and I'm getting a problem I can't get around: whenever I save/autosave/quicksave, the game crashes.

This is a known bug for the mac- the [url="http://www.macplay.com/support/bg2.php#bhaalsave"]Macplay FAQ[/url] specifically lists the steps to work around it. However, I did those steps: Install game; install full game; install ToB; install patch 2.1.2. That's what I did, and it didn't work. I can't save.

So, I deleted my BGII folder, reinstalled only the basic game (ie: only step 1 above) and tried to save a sample game. It autosaved once, but crashed when I quicksaved or fullsaved. Now I have no idea why this is happening- I'm stumped.

Is there anyone out there with a new Mac that has gotten the problem and fixed it? Anyone? Bueller... Bueller...

Figured it out

After many hours of troubleshooting, I figured it out: it was a corrupted "temp" file in the original SOA install (who'da thunk that?!). I found this at the macplay FAQ, somewhat buried under the SoA section.

I wrote up a little guide for all Mac users on newer systems. Below is what worked for me. My game works and saves now, and this will be more help than calling macplay- they're defunct.

Cuch's guide to installing SOA and TOB on a Mac
I love this game and have played it through and through. However, it's getting old, and it's hard to make it work on new machines. My current machine is:

-1.33Ghz G4 IBook running OS 10.4.11.

Required stuff:

-BGII:SoA game discs 1-4
-BGII:ToB game disc
-Most recent patch for ToB, v. 2.1.2, available from MacPlay

Steps:

(1) Install game from Game Disc 1; this will require restarting.
(2) Locate a file in the BGII:SoA folder entitled "temp" and delete it and it's contents. It is corrupted, as per the Macplay site FAQ.
(3) After steps 1 and 2, make sure that the game will open and saves work (ie: open it up, save/quicksave a game, etc.)
(4) Install the "Recommended" or "Maximum" install from Discs 2, 3, and 4 of the game discs. To do this, insert the disc and click on "Install Baldur's Gate II: Mac OS X".
-Be careful to choose "Recommended" or "Maximum." I chose Maximum; the only thing that matters is that you make the same selection for all discs (2, 3, 4). Having "Maximum" on one and "Recommended" on the other will break the game.
-Do NOT, at this point, update SoA to the most recent update (1.1.2?), unless you want to just play SoA (ie: if you're going to install ToB, don't update SoA).
-After installation, make sure that the game will open and saves work (ie: open it up, save/quicksave a game, etc.)
(5) Install ToB.
-Note: When I installed the unpatched ToB and tried to play/save, the game didn't recognize disc 2 and wouldn't even open, let alone save. For me, this wasn't an issue, because of step 6.
(6) Install the most recent patch from macPlay, 2.1.2. After installation, check again to be sure that the game will open and saves work (ie: open it up, save/quicksave a game, etc.).

One last note- apparently dual processor machines can have other, similar problems with BGII. I don't have one, so I don't know about this. But if you've done all of the above and are still having problems on your dual-processor machine, that's the first thing I'd check.

It's a few days later and I'm still having problems. I've been informed that on OS 10.4, Spotlight can interfere and cause saved game crashes. Ergo, the word from MacEasyTutu Guide v 2.3 is to disable spotlight indexing on all BGII folders:

"If running OS 10.4.x Spotlight indexing has been known to interfere with the saving of games to disk. To circumvent this launch System Preferences, navigate to the Spotlight preference pane and exempt your BG II folder from Spotlight indexing (under the Privacy tab)."

Hopefully this will work.