Spellhold Studios - Baldur's Gate Graphical Overhaul

Overview

This mod is probably the biggest visual overhaul of the game since it was released. It reinstates the extended night areas that are missing from all main areas. Now, when you open doors at night they show light from inside the building. Buildings actually have windows that are lit up. Many night maps have their own lighting map and interiors are equipped with candles, torches and lights.
As luck would have it, two met by chance in the Beamdog and Gibberlings 3 forums, respectively. The thanks here goes to Jastey. One was trying to deal with all the problems of the two versions not working properly for both engine variants. The other was just tweaking and beautifying the graphics further. Fortunately, when they finally got in contact, there was an incredible synergy effect. They understood each other right away and joined forces. Not only were all the old graphics from BG1 reworked, but they also decided to add all the areas from BG2, ToB, SoD, BG1EE and BG2EE without the original night map. This means that there are now 83 new night maps. In total 636 maps will be improved. These are the night maps and also day maps. Light maps are added, graphical bugs are fixed, animated water areas are added, animated candles, torches and lights are added. Especially with the animated candles, torches and lights, old maps can be improved at any time.

Key features

83 new night maps
over 630 improved day and night maps
7000 animated candles, torches and lights are added
removed graphical glitches

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Compatibility

Games supported

Baldur's Gate Graphical Overhaul is designed to work on the following Infinity Engine games:

The Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition (BG2EE) published by Beamdog.
The Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition (BG2EE) published by Beamdog.
The original Baldur's Gate II (BG2, or just SoA), with the Throne of Bhaal (ToB) expansion. Make sure you have Throne of Bhaal updated to version 26498. Use patch file for your game language, check the ReadMe files related to your patch in your game folder if necessary.
The conversion projects based on ToB, Baldur's Gate Trilogy (BGT) and Enhanced Edition Trilogy (EET).
The conversation project based on TUTU (never tested, but should work)

Other Mods Compatibility

This mod is a WeiDU mod, and therefore should be compatible with all WeiDU mods. Though we are striving to make Baldur's Gate Graphical Overhaul compatible with as many other mods as possible, there is always a chance that incompatibilities will arise.
This mod is compatible with all mods that do not overwrite are, wed, tis, pvrz and bmp files. are and wed files should be patched then.
Additional built-in mod compatibility:
-Lure of Sirines Call
-Baldurans Seatower
-Gavin NPC
-TDDz
If you encounter any bugs, please report them on the forum.

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Installation

Notes

If you've previously installed the mod, remove it before extracting the new version. To do this, run setup-mymod.exe , un-install all previously installed components and delete the 📁 mymod folder.

When installing or un-installing, do not close the Console window by clicking on the X button! Instead, press the Enter key whenever instructed to do so.

Disable any antivirus or other memory-resident software before installing this or any other mod. Some (particularly Avast and Norton!) have a tendency to report false positives with mod activity, resulting in failed installs.

Extract files from the archive using build-in "Right-click>Extract all..." Explorer fearure, 7zip, WinRAR, ZipGenius, or another file compression utility that handles .zip files.

Special Note for Siege of Dragonspear from Steam/GOG

Good Old Games (GOG) and Steam both package the additional content for Siege of Dragonspear in a method that WeiDU, the tool used to install this mod, cannot access. You must run a program called DLC Merger on your SoD installation before you can install this or any other WeiDU-based mod.

Enhanced Editions Note

The Enhanced Editions are actively supported games. Please note that every patch update will wipe your current mod setup! If in the middle of a modded game you might want to delay the patch update (if possible) as even after reinstalling the mods, you might not be able to continue with your old savegames. Alternatively, copy the whole game's folder into a new one that can be modded and will stay untouched by game patches. It is important that you install the mod to the language version you are playing the game in. Otherwise, the dialogues of the mod will not show but give error messages.

Windows

Mymod for Windows is distributed as an extractable compressed archive and includes a WeiDU installer.

Extract the contents of the mod to the folder of the game you wish to modify (the folder which contains the "CHITIN.KEY" file). On successful extraction, there should be a 📁 mymod folder and a setup-mymod.exe file in your game folder. To install, simply double-click setup-mymod.exe and follow the instructions on screen.

Run setup-mymod.exe in your game folder to reinstall, un-install or otherwise change components.

Mac OS X

Mymod for Mac OS X is distributed in the same compressed archive and includes a WeiDU installer.

First, extract the files of the archive into your game directory. On successful extraction, there should be a 📁 mymod folder, setup-mymod and setup-mymod.command files in your game folder. To install, double-click setup-mymod.command and follow the instructions on screen.

You can run setup-mymod.command in your game folder to reinstall, un-install or otherwise the components settings.

Linux

Mymod for Linux is distributed in the same compressed archive and does not includesa WeiDU installer.

Extract the contents of the mod to the folder of the game you wish to modify.

Download the latest Linux version of WeiDU and copy weidu, weinstall and tolower to /usr/bin. Then open a terminal and cd to your game installation directory.

Optional: run 'tolower' and answer 'Y' to both queries. You can avoid running the second option (linux.ini) if you've already ran it once in the same directory. To save time, the archive is already tolowered, so there's no need to run the first option (lowercasing file names) either, if you've extracted only this mod since the last time you lowercased file names. If unsure, running tolower and choosing both options is the safe bet.

Run weinstall setup-mymod in your game folder to install the mod. Then run wine bgmain.exe (or wine baldur.exe for EE games), and start playing.

Note for Complete Un-installation

In addition to the methods above for removing individual components, you can completely un-install the mod using setup-mymod --uninstall at the command line to remove all components without wading through prompts.

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Components

The installer includes the following components. The number of each is the component DESIGNATED number which gives it a fixed install position, lets other components and mods detect it and allows automated installers to specify component choices.

All optional components require the main component (they need to since it's the one that installs new content).

0. Main component

This component installs the mod itself.

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Troubleshooting

These are some general tips if you have problems getting the game working, with or without this or other mods. Many times, errors have to do with the game engine itself or the manner of installation or gameplay. The game recommends deleting all files out of the /cache, /temp and /tempsave 📁 sub-folders in your game folder to see if that resolves the problem before any further troubleshooting.

Symptom: Game freezes or crashes to desktop (CTDs)

Sometimes the game displays an "assertion error" in a pop-up window when this happens, but often times it doesn't. To enable the full error message, open the file baldur.ini in your game folder with a text editor (such as Notepad). If you find you can't edit it or save changes in Windows Vista or 7, see this topic for assistance.

Under the [Program Options] section in the file, type Logging On=1 (unless it's already there). While you're there, you may also want to make sure Debug Mode=1 is there to enable the CLUA Console for debugging and testing. Save the file and exit. Now go back into the game and try to reproduce the crash. Then look in your game folder again for the Baldur.err file and open it with a text editor to analyse its contents.

Symptom: Game crashes with no Baldur.err log and shows either a black screen or a pop-up window indicating an error at offset 005ca8a8

This usually indicates an animation-related issue. Make sure you have the latest version of the mod. If you've installed other mods after it and have this issue, install the fix available here.

Symptom:

ERROR: error copying [infinityanimations/content/somefile.bam]
ERROR: [SOMEFILE.CRE] -> [override/SOMEFILE.CRE] Patching failed (COPY)
Stopping installation because of error. (with no other error message)

Less-than-informative messages like these may indicate you're installing to a hard drive with a low data transfer rate or an antivirus program is active during installation (which can also affect data transfer). Try installing to an internal drive with antivirus protection disabled during the install. If unsure, disconnect from the Internet (either unplug your network cable or disable your wireless adaptor) and turn off all memory-resident programs during the install. To get a list of these, go to Start > Run and type msconfig where it says "Open:" then click OK. When the System Configuration Utility appears, click on the Startup tab. The only really necessary programs that need to be loaded in memory at startup are those related to your graphics chip (typically ATI or NVIDIA). Uncheck everything else, reboot and try installing the mod again. There are well-documented issues with installing mods while Avast antivirus is running, so make absolutely sure all components of Avast are completely disabled.

Other issues

If you have more than one large mod installed, please refer to the Megamod FAQ for more troubleshooting tips.

If none of this resolves your issue, or you have mod-specific issues, please report the problem in the mod's forum. Include the contents of your WeiDU.log file in the post, or attach it if it's large.

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Credits

Original author: WeiDU coding: Weigo (full revision)
Support: Weigo and SHS Staff

Special Acknowledgements to:

Spellhold Studios team for hosting the mod (Forums).
For the great support and help: Galactygon, Jastey, Salk, Sam, TotoR ... without the constant feedback, everything would not have been so possible
and many more, which I can't look up now, because the SHSForum is down. Should it work again, I will add all the others here, or they should contact me :)
Everyone else from The Gibberlings Three, Spellhold Studios forums, and the other Infinity Engine gaming and modding communities who offered their help and support.

Programs/Tools used in creation:

WeiDU, by Wes Weimer, the bigg and Wisp.
Near Infinity, by Jon Olav Hauglid, FredSRichardson, and Argent77.
Infinity Explorer, by Dmitry Jemerov / bigmoshi.
DLTCEP, by Avenger.
IESDP, maintained by igi and lynx.
G3 Debugging Suite, by CamDawg.
BAM Workshop, by Glenn Flansburg.
BAMWorkshop 2, by Andrew Bridges.
Notepad++, by the Notepad++ team, Don Ho, and the spellcheck plug-in.
WeiDU Notepad++ Highlighters , by Argent77.
Visual Studio Code, modern, cross-platform editor.
Visual Studio Code - BGforge MLS - Syntax highlighting and more.
Infinity Auto Packager, automatically generates Infinity Engine mod packages.

Copyrights

Shadows over Soubar is not developed, supported, or endorsed by BioWare™ or Interplay/BlackIsle, Overhaul, Beamdog or the Wizards of the Coast. It was developed by Charles Bisson, based on material from the game Baldur's Gate II and its expansion.

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal © TSR, Inc. The BioWare Infinity Engine is © BioWare Corp. All other trademarks and copyrights are property of their respective owners.

This mod was created to be freely enjoyed by all Baldur's Gate II players, and its content is free of rights. However, it should not be sold, published, compiled or redistributed in any form without the consent of the author.

Please note that any and all redistribution and/or hosting of this mod is prohibited without permission from the author.

If there are any copyright issues or this statement needs revision, then please contact me and advise me what to do about it. Most notably, if you see any artwork in this mod that might conflict with Copyright rules, please let me know as soon as possible, and I will remove the conflicting content immediately.

The modding community for the Infinity Engine has been going strong for more than 10 years now, and is the culmination of thousands of unpaid modding hours by fellow fans of the game. Modders produce their best work and players get the best, well-supported mods when we all work together.

There are two big ways to upset this harmony. One is to claim someone else's work as your own. The second is to host and redistribute a mod without permission from the author(s).

Be kind to your fellow players and modders. Don't do either.

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Modding

The new version is very modular. This makes it not too difficult to add new content for areas.
Is the area already included in the mod?
Yes: Just add the new files to the appropriate folders under :file_folder: bggo/base/... as well.
No: Open the bggo.tp2 with a text editor and add the name of the area in the corresponding table ("bg1_areas", "bg2_tob_areas", "sod_areas", "bgee_areas", "bg2ee_areas"). Then the new files will be installed automatically.
For the naming of the BG1 areas the labeling of EET is taken (BG0100), because the clarity of the area names is easier.

For example, if we want to add new candles to an interior map:
Create in the :file_folder: bggo/base/are_patch/... a file with the name ARXXXX_are.tpa where ARXXXX is the name of the area.
Copy the code
PATCH_DEFINE_ARRAY x_coord BEGIN 1235 235 785 END PATCH_DEFINE_ARRAY y_coord BEGIN 847 333 753 END PATCH_PHP_EACH x_coord AS index => x BEGIN LPM ~DELETE_EXISTING_ANIMATIONS~ LPF fj_are_structure INT_VAR fj_loc_x = $x_coord("%index%") fj_loc_y = $y_coord("%index%") fj_schedule = 0b111111111111111111111111 //Hours All fj_flags = 0b00000000000000000001000001000011 // Visible, blend colours, not covered by wall, don't remove in combat STR_VAR fj_structure_type = animation fj_name = FLAME2S fj_bam_resref = FLAME2S END END LPM ~CLEAR_ARRAY~
and add the correct coordinates. Now you have to check if the map appears in the lists of bggo.tp2. If not, you have to add the map to the list. Have a look at the examples in the existing files, there you can see different variants.

Compatibility with other mods is also taken care of. For this you can use the above mentioned ARXXXX_are.tpa or also the ARXXXX_wed.tpa in the :file_folder: bggo/base/wed_patch/... directory. Depending on what the compatibility requires, you can choose the appropriate files. Example:
TDDz: Here the are files must be patched. So we use for example the BG2900_are.tpa.
GavinNPC: Here a door must be added to the wed file, so we use the BG3300_wed.tpa.

Also with the searchmap you can prevent overwriting the files by using the SRmap_modding_tool. The ARXXXXSR.2da file created with this tool is always preferred to the corresponding ARXXXXSR.bmp. So only the changed pixels are added to the bmp file.

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Version History

See BGGO-Changelog.md

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