Hi folks,

I have been reading a number of threads on modding BG1 and it appears that the best course of action is to import BG1 into the BG2 engine via BGT or Tutu. I have also noticed a great many voices that, whilst acknowledging the benefits brought by the aforementioned mods, complain that the addition of BG2 content in BG1 causes imbalance by affording access to classes, weapons or abilities that cause characters to quickly become overpowered. However, no further information is afforded and it is not clear whether or not the aforementioned imbalance can be avoided through decisions on the part of the player.

I have not played either game and whilst I see the advantages of porting BG1 into the BG2 engine, I would like to avoid imbalance and keep the gameplay as close to the original as possible. How can I achieve this, in other words, what classes, weapons and/or spells and abilties should I avoid on my first play through of BG1 with BGT/Tutu installed?

Many thanks in advance.

If you wish to play a vanilla, non-modded version of BG1/ToTSC, then just do that, and don't worry about making the BG1 into BG2 engine business.

Un-modded BG1 already allows you to play through that game and later import that character into BG2 itself, so I'm not too clear what the issue is here.

I can't see any reason why a newcomer to BG "should" play BG1 via TuTu or BGT. Yes, the BG2 engine is better and various things are improved, etc, but it certainly isn't necessary to play BG1 in the BG2 engine to enjoy BG1.

As for the extra and new classes and kits, well you get to choose them when you begin BG2 with an imported character anyway, where perhaps they are more appropriate and less over-powered. For example, play a Bard in BG1 and upon importation, you will have the opportunity to choose a kit at that time, say Blade or Skald. BGT and Tutu allow you to be a Blade in the BG1 game area and experience. Whether or not being able to play an Elven Archer, or a half-Orc Barbarian is appropriate for BG1 is up to you, really.

Basically, if you have concerns about this issue, I'd strongly recommend you just get the un-modded games, the official patch/s and, optionally, a 3d-party fix pack and play BG1/TotSC as it was designed. Later, you can always experiment with BGT or Tutu, as you please. Re-playability is, after all, one of the great hallmarks of both these games... :)

Cheers, thanks for the quick reply.

The main reason that I am considering BGT/Tutu for my first run through is that the BG2 engine does seem to improve the visuals.

I have no familiarity with either game, but the consensus seems to be that the BG2 engine does indeed bring improvements, as you yourself state. That is the only reason I wish to install Tutu/BGT. So, bearing in mind that I want the visual improvements but have no knowledge of either title, what can I actively do to avoid the content from BG2 in BG1? I am very familiar with AD&D 2nd edition rules/play so not everything you say will be lost on me. ;)

Spelling out exactly what content is different between BG1 and BG2 would be a big task. The primary difference is the new race, classes and kits.

So if you avoided the Half-Orc, Wild Mages, the Barbarian, the Sorcerer and ALL kits, that would be a good start. So no kitted Priests, no Kensai, no Stalkers, etc. Just choose class for the PC from the top line of the choices, i.e. the basic class and no kit. Same if playing a Multi-Class [which the game already imposes on you anyway, i.e. no kits for Multi-Class]. So you could choose a Ranger, but not a Stalker [a Ranger kit].

Note that this does *NOT* apply to Specialist Mages - these were in BG1 and would be legitimate to use therefor. So playing an Invoker, or a Diviner would be "legal" in terms of your desires...

In addition, there are some spells from BG2 that were either not available at all in BG1, or were exceedingly rare. I believe [but could be mis-remembering - it's been ages] that there was only a single Cloud Kill scroll in the game, and that one a bit of an Easter Egg, i.e. easy to miss entirely.

There are others in the same or similar category, i.e. you either couldn't even get it as a scroll to try to scribe, or it was a one shot deal for a single character.

What is changed, other than the above, is primarily game play, i.e. enhancements, not content of the game. So you don't have any additional quests in Tutu alone, without any additional mods, nor are the BG1/TotSC quests and events changed, at all, or significantly, compared to vanilla BG1/TotSC.

The primary "problem" [if indeed it is one] regarding porting BG1 to BG2 is really the kits - certain ones like the Archer and Barbarian begin quite powerful and end up being really very, very powerful, compared to their non-kitted compatriots. Many people feel that the Sorcerer is the same, indeed many people argue that there is no reason to play any sort of Mage if you have the opportunity to begin as a Sorcerer.

I can fully understand the desire to have the up-to date engine and graphics, and if you avoided the new race, classes and kits, that alone should give you a fairly although not completely vanilla BG1/TotSC experience. You have to decide which is more important; better graphics and smoother game play, or the "pure" BG1 experience... I'm sure people more knowledgeable than I will chime in, as well. :)

Excellent reponses, exactly the information I was looking for, thank you both so much.

One last point, the fan made Fixpack mod is the difference between BGT and Tutu.

Tutu = yes or no at your option but BGT = yes only... it's not a major issue unless you don't want to use it.

Thanks again, I have marked this as solved, but I wanted to identify all replies as the solution, I was not aware that I could only select one. Thanks olnorton for spelling out that "kits" actually refer to specialised sub-classes ;)

BGT drops the difficulty down a notch. So to be more vanilla you'll need to raise it back up (middle on slide bar)