Hello! I am pretty new to the forum and have no knowledge of modding so I ask your help with some questions. To what I had understood, both BG1 TuTu and BGT let the player play the whole saga using the BG2 (or ToB perhaps ?) engine for Baldur's Gate 1 and 2. The difference that makes me want to play BGT is that it would let me give a marvellous sense of completition by merging the two stories and the two worlds into a single experience. Here I come with questions: is BGT enough bug-free to play the game without major problems ? Would you recommend installing it ? I think I have understood BGT is a TeamBG production and that their website has been down for a long time. Can you tell me why and what happened to the main coder of this great project ? What are the main differences between BGT and the mods BP-BGT / BP-BGT-DSOTSC which are hosted in Forgotten Wars ? Do they include more stable versions of BGT ? Are Wei-Du mods all compatible with BGT ? What are the system requirements for BGT ? Is there any valid documentation on the net which explains in the details how BGT works (installation and configuration) ? Can I take advantage of Dudleyville's fixes for Baldur's Gate 1 if I install BGT (or BP-BGT / BP-BGT-DSOTSC) even if they're not written in Wei-Du (they are installed in the Override folder of BG1) ? Please help me if you can. I am really interested in opening new horizions for Baldur's Gate and BGT seems what I do need to have the best experience possible. Thanks!

In most of the answers I'd be interested myself, as I don't know much about BGT. But what I can answer is the question about the mods' compatibility: As far as I understand BGT makes changes to ingame files in a way that the common mods for BGII or BG1 are not compatible. I guess only mods that are explicitely "BGP"-compatible can be played there.

It still has some annoying bugs, but definitely isn't as bad as certain people say or imply (due to the fact their mods are compatible with - in fact usually work ONLY with - BG1Tutu).
Some people get disappointed after trying BGT while others fall in love with it. My advice: it worths a try.


I don't know much information about Bardez, the author of BGT. Before TeamBG was closed, I remember seeing him, he had been working on BGT bug fixes if I remember correctly. I haven't followed the development of BGT (and Big Picture) so I'm not sure what the current situation is.

I don't think they contain more stable versions of BGT.
BP-BGT contains Big Picture (Big Picture is a mod for BGT, it does not work without the Trilogy). I don't know any details about it, neither about BGT-DSOTSC (hopefully this version of Dark Side contains less bugs than the original one...)


Its forums at FW should contain answers to these questions. If they don't, I suggest you to ask them there. I really don't want to tell invalid information on anything.

Again, Baronius and Jastey, thank you very much for your kind help!

I had posted this same message in the FW forums but after two days no answer yet. I posted it in what I thought to be the best section (Team BG) of the FW forum. What I was most interested was to know how buggy the program was and if there had been any development going on. I fear that we can't expect more fixpacks to be realeased for it though. About MODs compatibility, I must confess I care most for BG1 Quest Pack. And I was very happy to get good news about a possible version compatible with BGT.

I want also to thank the Black Wyrm staff for providing the mirror to IEGMC. I am currently downloading BGT!

I'd be still curious to know what happened to TeamBG and mostly to the project leader of BGT, Bardez. I know that BG TuTu is going to be much less buggy in the future due to the active support that the project has (fixpack 6 had just been released) but I cannot help being sad for BGT....

Thanks again,guys! Hugs!

I think you are mixing up cause and effect here, Baronius. I cannot speak for everyone, but for my part, when I understood, that the only efficient way to make BG1NPC was to make it for one of the two conversions, I looked at both BGT and TUTU and then chose one of them as the coding environment and the mod to install on my PC and play personally.

The people I discussed the things with included Horred

I weighed information I gathred and came to the following conclusions:

1) From the start iirc Bardez had had problems of CR nature, since his mod actually distributes CR material. As far as I know, Horred put a license checker on BP version of it, but I still feel uncomfortable about this aspect.

2) As a modder I also feel that I'd rather ask a player to make a good install and convert to TUTU, rather than upload a humangous mod in order to play BG1NPC.

3) I know that Seanas, Horred and Billy took over BGT maintenance, but I do not want to play a game where bugs come who knows from where and which contains mods of inconsistent quality. Horred's work on BP was monumental, and he had done a heroic deed. Yet, the result of it is not for everyone. I did not want to have a brown dragon added to Small Teeth Path... just for the sake of it being added.

4) My next objection to BGT was logical - I feel that BG1 and BG2 are different games, and my interest did not lay in taking the same protagonist from Candlekeep to the Throne of Bhaal. There is too many difference between the two games for me to believe that it was the same protagonist.

5) To my woman's eye TUTU felt like a smarter, more modern, more gracefull and flexible mod, while BGT felt like a huge, heavy, unmanagable thinggy of the past, whose only advantage was the automated party transfer between the two games.

6) Additionally, to me the value of this transfer was negated because BGT does not further support the transferred NPCs in terms of content - otherwise, if I ever want to play BG2 again, I will be perfecty happy with exporting TUTU last save and starting BG2. I also thought that it is not inconcievable that a patch will be written for TUTU that will allow a smoother transition. I thought and I still think that it is more likely than BGT ever becoming slick and convenient.

7) Finally TUTU bought me with its flexible NPC kitting option.

Therefore, I chose TUTU and never even tried to download BGT. I am very greatful to Hlidskialf for porting BG1NPC-Ph1 into BGt format but myself I will never change my BG environment to BGT.

Thanks Domi, that's what I meant. Tutu will convert BG along with whatever BG mods are installed, whereas BGT is just BG. For example, Gray Clan really doesn't need a Tutu-specific version to be played with Tutu as the player could install BG, Gray Clan on BG, and then convert the lot. (I would still advocate a Tutu-specific build for practical reasons, but we're talking theory here.) If Gray Clan did not have coding specifically for BGT, there would be no way to play it with BGT. BGT used to have an additional problem (dunno if it still does) of having a maxed out music list meaning any mod, BG or BG2, that added music would be incompatible.

The idea that Tutu converts BG rather than bolting it on is why I consider Tutu a better conversion conceptually. Now if you could take the Tutu conversion and add in the continuity of BGT...

You're right in that my first post was a bit offtopic, so I'll try to address the questions specifically.


No.


TeamBG was hacked and is not returning. Bardez appeared once on the FW channel after it went down, but has not returned. This was a significant amout of time ago.


BP and DSotSC are combinations of BGT and some of the larger mods of TeamBG. BP-BGT, unlike vanilla BGT, is actively supported and has fixes available beyond what is available for plain BGT. However, BP's enormous size makes BGT look like... well, Tutu.


To a degree, yes. Most BG2 mods will be fine, whereas BG ones will likely not. However, if you go BP-BGT then the incompatibility list grows exponentially.


Same as BG2, though you'll need a great deal more HDD space.


The closest would be my install readme for BGT Mark3. Should be available somewhere on FW.


No.

Domi, my comment has nothing to do with BG1NPC. I referred to general conditions, i.e. that BGT is judged negatively usually by those who make mods for BG1Tutu. I've nothing against BG1Tutu (in fact several mods of mine are compatible with it), my point is just that BGT might not be AS bad as sometimes people say. To each his own.

I would also recommend Tutu over BGT.

First: thanks to you all for your answers! Very appreciated! With Domi, I have had discussion in the past and perhaps she (only now I find out you're a girl) remembers me.

In my personal priorities, the fact that BGT allows to live the experience as a whole saga with no "End of First Half" sequence, is of extremely high importance. Thus my decision to give BGT a try like Baronius recommended. I was adviced though to install the BP-BGT version instead since BGT is no longer (unfortunately) bug-patched and supported.

Domi's concern is understandable mostly from her point of view. Being a NPC-modder and NPC enthusiast, I can easily see why her preference goes to BG1 TuTu.

I also think that the way that BG1 TuTu converts the engine and its size is certainly more...elegant, so to say but for my need (and perhaps others'), BGT is still the best answer.

There is also another small thing that may have a certain relevance (at least according to my point of view): I think that the engine conversion that was made first had been a great example for the group/person that developed the other. I have special admiration for whom comes up with an original idea thanks to talent and pioneeristic sense. Such persons would deserve great respect even from people that later accomplish the same in a better way.

Absolutely I don't mean to praise one side and not the other with this (I don't even know if BGT came out before BG1 TuTu or viceversa nor if the first-comer took after another similar project for other games...). I just say: it's easier to follow the step when there is already a path to help. Big admiration for all modders, all the community that provides such great service to us simple users. You all guys (and girls ) are great.

BGT may be as slow and cumbersome as an elephant but I do believe there is space for improving it. As there is for BG1 TuTu. If only the latter could let me play all through the game with my same party. Well...Then the magnificent sense of completition would no longer be a great exclusivity of BGT! My dreams would be to see the two groups combine their effort for the creation of the ultimate engine conversion! After all, both projects aim to the same goal, right ? Will it always be just a dream ?

Good luck to both of the team groups, of course!

And thanks...

Work on Tutu picked up somewhat as we looked at BGT and thought "that's not the best way of doing it". It's based on the IWG2 source code, so it's Weimer's pioneering here which made it possible. If anything, I imagine it might also take influence from an earlier conversion project that predates BGT but never saw the light of day.


The project goals are pretty different, actually. It was a conscious decision while developing BG1Tutu that it should not allow players to continue on into BG2 after defeating Sarevok. The team didn't feel that creating an acceptable transition would be a light or desirable undertaking, and I don't believe BGT achieves this either. Tutu also aims to retain the original style and balance of BG1 to the greatest extent possible, while BGT's mandate is one of "improvement", by which assorted plot changes are freely thrown into the core package.

Hail Weimer!!