EasyTutu

EasyTutu by Macready (FAQ) (Revision History)
for English language, PC versions of Baldur's Gate 1 and 2

03/27/2012 - EasyTutu is now over six years old! Over 4 terabytes of EasyTutu downloads have been served up here since the site's inception - amazingly, with every year seeing more traffic than the one prior. Many thanks to all EasyTutu users for your patronage and support.

For those of you just learning about Baldur's Gate Tutu: it is a spectacular project. It is essentially a total conversion for Baldur's Gate 2, allowing you to play Baldur's Gate and its expansion, Tales of the Sword Coast, using the enhanced Baldur's Gate 2 engine. The original Tutu was developed by the fine folks at Pocket Plane Group. If you haven't done so yet, stop by their site to read more about Tutu and the other great mods they have developed, or stop by their Tutu forum and introduce yourself.

EasyTutu is an alternate distribution of Baldur's Gate Tutu which aims for an easy, professional installation, a stable game play experience, and a complete realization of the enhanced capabilities of the Baldur's Gate 2 engine. If you are frustrated or confused by the Tutu installation procedure, experiencing game stability problems, looking for a simpler installation, or are interested in a more refined gameplay experience, EasyTutu is for you.

Some of the benefits of EasyTutu:

EasyTutu installs a stable, mature, extensively refined and tested version of Tutu using a professional setup program which runs flawlessly on modern Windows versions of both x86 and x64 varieties. All of the complexities of the Tutu install process are handled for you automatically.
EasyTutu performs a very clean installation, without leaving behind the hundreds of setup-related files found after a traditional Tutu installation.
EasyTutu includes a large number of features, bug fixes and add-ons over and above those included with traditional Tutu and Tutufix. Furthermore, EasyTutu exploits the enhanced capabilities of the Baldur's Gate 2 engine (e.g., the organized game journal) much more comprehensively.
All prerequisites for a stable Tutu installation are enforced at install-time. This makes unexplained game crashes down the road much less likely.
Your installations of Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 are untouched by the EasyTutu installer. You can still play both of them with EasyTutu installed, and if any Tutu-related problems occur, your original installations are unaffected.
Unlike traditional Tutu, EasyTutu is not dependent upon Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 being installed after setup is completed. Both games need to be installed only for the EasyTutu setup process itself.

Requirements (significant changes are highlighted in navy blue)

You MUST have version 3.5 or better of the Microsoft .NET framework installed on your computer. If you are using Windows 7 or better and have kept up to date on your Windows updates, you should already be set. Users of Windows XP/Vista won't have a new enough version of the framework unless it was installed manually in the past. The easiest way to obtain it is via the optional downloads section of Windows update. Select the latest and greatest version of the .NET framework, install it, and then run Windows update again looking for important / critical updates pertaining to the framework. Install those too.

If you aren't sure if you have the necessary framework version installed, there's no harm in trying to run the EasyTutu installer in order to see what happens. If the installer window opens without error, you should be set.

Users of Windows 95 / 98 / ME and non-Windows users depending on emulation are probably better off sticking with the old installer versions, linked here: SoA ToB.
You must already have performed a FULL installation of the English language version of Baldur's Gate and its expansion, Tales of the Sword Coast. If you are using Baldur's Gate: The Original Saga, the expansion is already included without having to be installed separately. Please note that for a truly complete installation (which is required), you will have to opt for a "custom" setup in order to select every possible optional component.
You must already have installed the English language version of Baldur's Gate 2. A full install is recommended.
There are two different versions of EasyTutu: one for those who have installed the Baldur's Gate 2 expansion, Throne of Bhaal, and one for those who have not. Please make sure you download the correct one (the non-expansion distribution should have "SoA" at the end of its name, and the Throne of Bhaal distribution should have "ToB" at the end of its name).
Your Baldur's Gate 2 installation must already have the latest patch installed. For those without Throne of Bhaal, that is Shadows of Amn patch 23037. For those with Throne of Bhaal, it is ToB patch 26498.
You will need roughly 3 GB of available disk space to install EasyTutu. Please note that you can later reclaim much of your 3 GB disk space investment by uninstalling Baldur's Gate after the EasyTutu setup process has completed.

Notes

If you remember to customize your Baldur's Gate 2 options prior to installing EasyTutu (by running the "BGConfig" program and by setting the in-game options the way you like them), your Tutu installation will inherit these preferences automatically, without your having to set them all again.
If you are interested in some of the tweaks available in Tutufix, make sure to use Tutufix v17 or better. Beginning with that release, Tutufix has been programmed to recognize EasyTutu and to offer compatible choices only.
You are free to uninstall Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 after the EasyTutu setup completes successfully. This distribution of Tutu does NOT depend upon either game being present on your hard drive after setup is complete.
The EasyTutu setup program makes absolutely no changes to your Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 installations. They will continue to function exactly as they did prior to installing EasyTutu.
EasyTutu does not copy over custom portraits from your Baldur's Gate 2 installation. If you wish to have your BG2 custom portraits available in EasyTutu, you must copy them from BG2's "portraits" subfolder to EasyTutu's "portraits" subfolder.

Known Issues

As mentioned above, this distribution of Tutu is very stable and enjoyable. However, there is one issue worth mentioning:

In-game water will look green if you have 3D acceleration enabled, due to complications in rendering BG1 graphics resources in the BG2 engine. You have two choices in dealing with this issue. The first is to disable 3D acceleration, which can be done by running the BGConfig.exe program in your EasyTutu folder, clicking on 2D & 3D Options under the Graphics heading, unchecking the Use 3D Acceleration checkbox, and then saving. It can also be done by using Notepad to open the file named BALDUR.INI in your EasyTutu folder, finding the line which reads 3D Acceleration=1, changing the 1 to a 0, and saving.

If you wish to retain the use of 3D acceleration without in-game water looking green, you may download and install the EasyTutu Degreenifier. To start the installation, simply execute the linked program after you have downloaded it, and point it to your EasyTutu folder when it asks you. The installation will take several minutes and will consume an additional 1.5 GB of disk space, because a number of large graphical BG1 tilesets need to be extracted and then patched. You should only run this utility on a "clean" (i.e. not yet modded) installation of EasyTutu.

How To Uninstall

To uninstall EasyTutu, simply delete the folder to which you installed it using My Computer or Windows Explorer.

If you have installed multiple copies of EasyTutu, use My Computer or Windows Explorer to delete the folder to which you installed the unwanted copy of EasyTutu.

Download EasyTutu (FAQ) (Revision History)

Please make sure you've read this page carefully before downloading and using EasyTutu.

SAVEGAME COMPATIBILITY NOTE: If you have an EasyTutu game in progress, finish that game prior to uninstalling EasyTutu and installing the newer version. Please note that if you switch from one distribution of EasyTutu to the other (i.e., from the SoA version to the ToB version or vice versa), you will lose savegame compatibility.

Once you have downloaded the appropriate EasyTutu version, unzip the archive (which contains the installer) into a temporary folder (or a permanent one, if you want to keep the installer on hand for future installations). Then, to begin the installation, run the EasyTutuManager.exe program. You will be asked for the location of your Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 folders, and to select a folder to house your EasyTutu installation. Once you have completed the installation process, you can start playing by double-clicking the baldur.exe program in the folder to which you installed EasyTutu.

For those of you who are using Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn (no expansion), download the following version of EasyTutu:

EasyTutu_SoA.zip (last updated 08 April 2012)
MD5: 1F260FEF6E82ECE88B11CA7A6343F7BA

For those of you who are using Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal (expansion installed), download the following version of EasyTutu:

EasyTutu_ToB.zip (last updated 08 April 2012)
MD5: 9820D8F36E8A34257D76775A078F9DA3

Optional Add-Ons

EasyTutu "Degreenifier"
MD5: 4F71620F9A2898A6C35644FC1CED093C

For information about an optional add-on that will allow you to use the BG2 engine's 3D acceleration feature without in-game water appearing green, see the Known Issues section.

EasyTutu NPC Kit Selection
MD5: 54A4E9795C4B2F41EDF3C64203FDFCAB

Have you long dreamed of making Imoen the assassin she was always meant to be? Wanted Khalid to fulfill his destiny as the terrifying stuttering barbarian of the Sword Coast? Here is your chance. The EasyTutu NPC Kit Selection add-on allows you to select kits for most of the joinable NPCs in Baldur's Gate (you do NOT have to pick a kit for every NPC -- you'll be asked about each one individually). This add-on is intended as a direct replacement for the kit selection feature that is a part of the conventional Tutu installation process.

Because this add-on overwrites the default incarnations of the various joinable NPCs with "kitted" versions, it should be installed very early in the overall mod installation order, preferably right after the EasyTutu Degreenifier (if you are using it). Please note that you should absolutely not install this add-on after NPC-oriented mods (such as the BG1NPC Project), or mods which make heavy use of regular expressions (such as BG2 Tweaks), as you will run the risk of overwriting some of the work performed by those mods. Please see the "Mods" section below for a look at where this add-on fits best into the overall mod installation order.

If you have a game in progress and have already encountered a specific NPC, it is too late to pick a kit for them. You will need to begin a new game in order for your choice of kit to take effect.

To install the add-on, download this self-extracting archive and extract it to your EasyTutu folder. The installer will activate automatically. To uninstall the add-on, or to make changes to your original choices, run the Setup-EasyTutuNPCKits.exe program in your EasyTutu folder.

EasyTutu Spawn Randomizer
MD5: 83D1A2BE873AAB589E476FDD23397F95

The default behavior of the new EasyTutu spawn system is to populate every spawn point on your initial visit to an area, and then repopulate each spawn point one game day after it has been cleared. This add-on will allow you to introduce an element of randomness to monster spawning: you may select a base spawn chance (the choices are: 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, or 90%), and the selected percentage is used as the chance of any individual spawn point becoming populated when it is time for a spawn there. Spawn points will still be capped at a maximum of one spawn per game day with this add-on installed.

A second component of the Spawn Randomizer allows you to configure the time interval used between spawn decisions. The default interval is one game day, but can now be set anywhere between one day and a week, in one day increments. You can also effectively disable respawning entirely by setting the interval to 1000 days.

This add-on may be installed at any point in the mod installation order, since it only affects EasyTutu-specific scripts. It may be installed if you have a game in progress, and will affect all future spawn decisions in that game. Please note that if you change your spawn settings mid-game, any areas you have already visited will already have either live spawns or, at the very least, spawn decisions already made, so you will have to cycle through the existing/impending spawns prior to your new settings taking root. You may find it most convenient to install this add-on after all other mods you will be using, as doing so will allow you to experiment with the various spawn percentages most easily.

Recommended settings: I've found that a base spawn chance of 80% with a respawn interval of seven (7) game days makes for an optimal spawn setup.

You must be using the 30 March 2006 (or later) version of EasyTutu in order to use this add-on. To install it, download this self-extracting archive and extract it to your EasyTutu folder. The installer will activate automatically. To uninstall the add-on, or to try a different spawn percentage, run the Setup-EasyTutuSpawnRandomizer.exe program in your EasyTutu folder.

Information on when to apply these optional add-ons to your EasyTutu installation can be found in the "Mods" section, below.

Mods

Mods are one of the really fun things about playing the Baldur's Gate games today. They allow you to customize your playing experience, and can really take your overall enjoyment to the next level. However, the use of mods can often be a source of trouble. Choosing unstable mods, playing with too many mods, or even installing mods in the wrong order can lead to game instability or worse.

If you are reading this page, it's probably because you have come looking for a user-friendly, stable Tutu experience. For that reason, I shall list below all of the Tutu-based mods I have personally tried and found to be stable, enjoyable, and exhibiting a true degree of professionalism. Further, I shall list them in the order in which they should be installed. If you wish to experiment with mods without degrading the stability of your Tutu installation, I encourage you to pick and choose from among any of the following, and then install them in the order in which they are listed. Please visit the home websites of each mod to learn more about them.

Finally, some EasyTutu-specific notes: because EasyTutu creates a completely separate installation for playing Tutu, any mods you choose to install should be installed to your EasyTutu folder, and not to your Baldur's Gate 2 folder. Furthermore, EasyTutu is only compatible with Tutu mods that are meant to be applied to an existing installation of Tutu -- any mods that are intended to be applied to vanilla Baldur's Gate and then converted to Tutu may not be used with EasyTutu.

EasyTutu "Degreenifier"

If you opt to use the EasyTutu "Degreenifier" in order to eliminate green water when 3D acceleration is active (details above), it should be installed first.

EasyTutu NPC Kit Selection

If you wish to have the option of assigning kits to most of the BG1 joinable NPCs, this add-on will allow you to do so (details above). Because it overwrites files, it should be installed very early in the overall mod installation order, right after the EasyTutu Degreenifier.

Hard Times

Hard Times is an EasyTutu-specific mod written to promote the May 2008 release of EasyTutu. Its main goals are to have the economy of the Sword Coast more directly reflect the ongoing iron crisis, and to reduce the proliferation of magic items throughout the game. Click the link above to read a much more detailed write-up, and for download information.

Tutufix by Pocket Plane Group

If you opt to install elements from Tutufix, you should not install the following components: core bug fixes, organized journal entries, journal entry titles, and the BG2-style world map (because EasyTutu already includes these components, and in some cases, includes vastly improved versions of them). Please note that if you use Tutufix v17 or better, you will not need to worry about what's OK to install and what isn't, because as of v17, Tutufix has been programmed to recognize EasyTutu and to offer compatible choices only.

Among the remaining components, the ones I have personally installed and tested are:

BG2 Ammo Stacks
BG1 Summoning Spells

BG1NPC Project at The Gibberlings Three

This is probably the most popular Tutu mod in existence, period. It breathes new life into BG1's array of NPCs by giving them BG2-style banters, as well as opening the door to friendships and romances.

Please note that you MUST use version 15 (or better) of BG1NPC when using the latest release of EasyTutu. This requirement is due to a deliberate design decision on my part that was graciously accommodated by cmorgan within the release of BG1NPC v15.

TutuGUI by LadeJarl at Pocket Plane Group

This one really completes the Tutu package. The GUI of the BG2 engine is transformed to look like that of BG1 (while still retaining the improvements of the BG2 engine). Don't miss it.

EasyTutu Spawn Randomizer

This EasyTutu add-on allows you to customize the new EasyTutu spawn system (details above). You may install it at any point in the mod installation order; however, you may wish to install it last, as this will allow for easy experimentation with the various options.

I'd like to conclude by pointing out that there are a great many high quality mods available for Tutu above and beyond what I've listed here. Feel free to try new things! The purpose of the above list was to give you an accounting of the mods I have personally played with and tested, and that will not detract from EasyTutu's goal of a stable playing experience.

Have fun!