BG2/ToB mod installation order

[Lemernis]

I'm going to be installing the following mods for BG2/ToB. Is there any sort of prefered order of installation for this group of mods? Or does it not matter what order? This is the tentative installation order:

 

Unfinished Business

Quest Pack

Banter Pack

Flirt Pack

Divine Remix

Song and Silence

Keto

PP1 BG1 paperdoll and item graphics

[Grim Squeaker]

One-Pixel Productions should be installed first. Divine Remix should be installed last.

[Lemernis]

Thanks Feedback I'm getting elsewhere:

 

Any non-Weidu mods go first.

 

Then NPCs.

 

Then Banter/flirt packs.

 

Then quest stuff.

 

That sound right?

[Grim Squeaker]

That should be fine. The important things are that non-WeiDU mods go first, and that tweak packs (and mods like Divine Remix, Virtue etc) go last.

[SixOfSpades]

Okay, so the order is

 

1. Non-Weidu mod (maximum of 1) first.

2. NPCs

3. Banter/flirt packs

4. Quest stuff

5. Tweak packs

6. Divine Remix & Virtue

 

Are there any hard & fast rules besides these? I'm compiling data for the next version of Volothamp's Comeuppance, and I'd really like to be able to provide a comprehensive guide to mod installation.

 

What about mods that add items, such as Item Upgrade? Mods that alter existing items, like Ashes of Embers? Mods that add new kits, like Wild Mage Additions? Mods that alter existing kits, like Rogue Rebalancing? Mods that alter existing creatures, like Oversight? Mods like Unfinished Business, that fall into more than one category: It adds kits, but also quests?

 

And finally, even if the players know not to have any game editors, or the game itself, running during mod installation, they can still have lines from one mod appear, where they shouldn't, in another. How can players reliably avoid garbling their DIALOG.TLK file?

[Grim Squeaker]

Yeah that's pretty much it.

 

Ashes of Embers is a tweak pack really, in that it makes modifications to a large number of items, therefore you want it in that place in the install order. Unfinished Business is a quest pack in my opinion. The only possible issue with kits is that it should be before Divine Remix, but it already is.

 

Generally how you avoid a garbled dialog.tlk is don't uninstall mods then reinstall them in a different order (if you're continuing with your old saved games).

 

Oh and Crossmod Banter Pack is also a mod that should be installed last. Probably after DR in case I ever decide to have, say, crossmod material between Tiefling Sisters and DR (in order to kit Keli with a Silverstar kit). Doesn't really matter where it goes compared to Virtue, but just to be on the safeside, install Virtue last.

[SixOfSpades]

Generally how you avoid a garbled dialog.tlk is don't uninstall mods then reinstall them in a different order (if you're continuing with your old saved games).

Hmm. Okay, though it's not like making that mistake is a required step. On my old computer, I installed a few mods, didn't uninstall anything, and then saw Improved Ilyich spout a line from Kelsey. Couldn't tell you which mod I installed before the other, though.

 

More recently, I had to ditch my old install because I didn't know I had to install Virtue (close to) last, and so my Virtue never displayed proplerly on my Record screen and each party member had their own idea of what my Virtue was. (Led to some really weird crap, like Imoen and Korgan both being unhappy at the same time.) I uninstalled the mods, though I didn't make sure to do it in backwards order. Last night I tried reinstalling them, but wound up with Ashes of Embers items having Unfinished Business lines in their Item Descriptions and the like. Do you think that was caused by not uninstalling the mods in exact reverse order?

[Grim Squeaker]

It could easily be caused by installing things in a different order, if you continued a saved game, I think. However, the exact cause of the 'stroke Anomen's thigh' bug has never been pinned down beyond 'try to avoid changing your install order'.

[berelinde]

The following is only of interest to people who play with friends on multiple machines, and is wisdom gleaned from hard experience:

 

If you are playing on multiple machines, all mods must be installed in the same order, on all machines, even if other players do not intend to utilize any NPCs provided.

 

If there is a mismatch, people's lines get messed up and people have flirt options for names.

[Guest Amgot]

From what I've read from readmes and such, I will install mods for my next BG2 game in this order:

 

 

Baldur's Gate II : SoA

 

Patch 23037 English

 

BG2 Fixpack

 

NPC Mods

- Solaufein

- Kelsey

- other NPC mods

 

Banter Packs

 

NPC Flirt Packs

 

Crossmod Banter Packs

 

Unfinished Business

 

Quest Pack

 

BG2 Tweak Pack

 

 

I'll tell you how it worked once I've tested it.

[SixOfSpades]

Cool, thanks.

 

What I'm wondering about are the misassigned text strings in the original game. I just did a fresh install of SoA, ToB, the ToB patch, and the BaldurDash ToB Fixpack and Text Update and that's it--and I'm still looking at a gemstone called "Move out men! The enemy is everywhere," and a ring called "Your loveliness lacks only the proper ornament," and a scroll named "You! Are you for hire? As a mercenary, I mean," etc. One wonders if the G3 Fixpack does anything about these.

[Andyr]

Are you also using the G3 Fixpack and reporting bugs, or saying you're not and these are issues which need to be fixed with the?

[SixOfSpades]

Are you also using the G3 Fixpack and reporting bugs, or saying you're not and these are issues which need to be fixed with the?

I do not have the G3 Fixpack installed, nor will I for this next couple of runs (Assassin->Cleric and Generic Archer->Druid). I'm just idly wondering if these bad string references were noticed by CamDawg & Co. Even if they were corrected, I can't imagine what they would be corrected to, as none of those items can be obtained in-game.

[CamDawg]

I'm still looking at a gemstone called "Move out men! The enemy is everywhere,"

misc2h, a wardstone from Durlag's Tower and unused in BG2.

 

and a ring called "Your loveliness lacks only the proper ornament,"

ringjoia, the flamedance ring you retrieve for Joia from hobgoblins at the Friendly Arms Inn--another unused BG leftover.

 

and a scroll named "You! Are you for hire? As a mercenary, I mean," etc.

scrl5s, Dezkiel's Scroll, acquired on the ice prison in TotSC. Also unused in BG2.

 

One wonders if the G3 Fixpack does anything about these.

Nuttin'. None of them are used in BG2.