I decided to start a new BG game myself after getting the series here a few months ago and, although I have been playing these games since they were originally released, I had never used any mods. I
had followed the modding community through the years, and was impressed by their dedication, sense of community and, most of all, their longevity, so I decided that, this time around, I would look into them. I did rather extensive research on most of the available mods, scrutinizing the differences between BiG World, BGT and BG1Tutu in particular, and I concluded that, for the most "authentic" Baldur's Gate experience (which is what I was looking for), while still benefiting from all the improvements of the BG2 engine and full widescreen support, the following collection of mods worked best for me:
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G3 Widescreen Mod Speaks for itself.
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BG1Tutu Most people know what this is. For those who don't: it is a project that brings the content from BG1 and Tales of the Sword Coast into the BG2 engine. This allows BG1 to enjoy all the benefits of BG2 such as new races, classes, kits, dual-wielding, an improved interface, etc.
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LadeJarl's Original BG1 UI for BG1Tutu A complete conversion of the BG2 UI that BG1Tutu utilizes, to the classic "stone" BG1 UI. Works seamlessly with the Widescreen Mod and BG1Tutu.
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BG1 Unfinished Business I was initially skeptical about this mod, but as I read a detailed summary of what it contained, I was very impressed. The mod basically restores many of the cut items, quests, dialog, and encounters from the game's final release, as well as tying up some of the "loose ends", and it manages to do this without changing the feel of, or or taking too many liberties with, the core experience.
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One Pixel Productions Replaces the BG2 paperdolls with the original BG1 paperdolls, and includes fixes to properly display dual-wielding, etc. I use this mod in BG2 as well.
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G3 Level 1 NPC's This one I used to adjust a few of the NPC's starting proficiencies (which are changed by EasyTutu to accommodate the BG2 engine) to make more sense, like giving Khalid the Long Swords instead of Bastard Swords proficiency and Jaheira Quarterstaves instead of Clubs.
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Ghostdog's PS:T UI Mod I only used a font from this mod to increase the dialog font size in the game, making it a bit easier on the eyes.
This selection of mods provides, in my opinion, an amazing "modern" BG1 experience while still retaining all of the original's nostalgic elements. And, even more important, it's a stable experience -- I have not experienced any glitches or bugs, and I plan to use this same collection (excluding BG1Tutu and BG1 UI of course, and using Pocket Plane's BG2 Unfinished Business) for BG2.
