Hi there. Custom portrait questions are everywhere on a million forums but I still can't seem to find the exact problem I'm experiencing with Baldur's Gate TOSC.

Essentially, I followed the Readme advice to the letter: downloaded custom portraits of exactly the right size, saved them in paint as BMP files and put them in a "Portraits" folder in the install directory. After all that and also after several re-installs, downloading different portraits, putting the Portraits folder in every conceivable location (even weird ones that made no logical sense) and installing the game to various locations, the game can't seem to find the portraits. It's not the "question mark" problem others seem to have. They're just not even listed when I go into the custom menu. It's just blank.

I don't even really care that much about having the portraits, I was perfectly happy until I had the bright idea to customise my picture. Now it's become an absolute obsession because I just can't figure out what's wrong.

I hope this question isn't too stupid, perhaps I've forgotten something really obvious. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Just to cover the obvious:

- when naming the portraits, the Large ones end in and L and the Small ones end in an S?

- the portrait names (not including the .bmp tag) are seven characters long or less?

- when trying to choose the portrait in-game you're choosing 'Custom' during the appearance creation section?

- not sure if it makes a difference, but did you name your 'portraits' folder in all lower case letters? If not, try that.

Thanks for your reply.

Yes to all. Portraits names are the right length and end in the right letter, they're 7 characters or less and I've tried both "Portraits" and "portraits". I've tried the "Custom" menu both in-game and when designing a completely new character.

I'm starting to think it's a problem with my computer which in general does a lot of very strange things. I'm going to try installing it somewhere else to see if it works.

As I say, thanks for getting back to me so fast. I'll double check everything.

Ah, so of course after days of not knowing what was going on as soon as I post on gog I find the answer myself. I had to install the file to c:\GOG.com\Baldurs Gate and then do a search to find it. Once I went in there I could add the portrait folder just fine obviously. If I installed the game to anywhere else it didn't run and if I installed it to straight to programs then I couldn't find the directory at all.

That may make no sense to anyone who knows about computers/gaming but it does to my strange brain.

Thank you Coelocanth. and I'm sorry to spam up the forum with this.

One thing that was never asked - what OS are you using? Anything Windows newer than XP "protects" all files in *any* /Program Files folder or subfolder. First step is to install to something like C:\Games, then you should be able to see *all* folders from your file browser.

Hi, time to update this thread since I'm having the exact same problem and a similar obsession. I've followed the instructions given by the game, done everything GR00T above mentioned. Tried it both through the GOG.galaxy and directly from the browser installed versions (though it seems to connect to Galaxy anyway). Installed it at the same place that seemed to solve Stourbridgeharry's problem (except this is the enhanced edition). I first tried the "Super Ultimate Potrait Pack" from moddb (wich I also got my pictures from), but the mod didn't work on either versions. Yes, I've re-installed it an tried without the mod.

Does anyone know what the problem is?

Sorry, if this text is jumbled, I'm pretty exhausted by this and a lot of thanks for taking the time to read abut my problem!

Yes, the enhanced edition portraits go inside the appropriate folder in your documents, not the installation folder.

A 'portraits' folder is not created by default. You have to create it yourself -- it does *not* go inside of any other folder -- in the following folder:

..\Documents\Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition\

IT WORKED! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! YOU'RE MY HERO OF TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!