r/baldursgate • u/Xgatt • 1d ago
Releasing Born2BSalty's Infinity Orchestrator - Modlist Builder and One Click Auto Installer (Wabbajack equivalent)
Overview
Ever wished you could install a curated and stable modlist with one click? Are you a builder of epic experiences who always wanted to share your modlist with others? Well now you can. Born2BSalty's Infinity Orchestrator (BIO) is an automated mod installer that can install entire mod setups from 0 to 100% with a single click. It is also a powerful modlist builder that helps you build huge megamod setups for yourself or to share with others.
It's basically Wabbajack for IE games + a Project Infinity replacement, and it's available now.
Project Links
GitHub: https://github.com/Born2BSalty/Born2BSaltys_Infinity_Orchestrator
Discord (for quick help and discussion): https://discord.gg/Jf8CbySu5
Video Preview
Features
BIO allows you to Install, Create, Manage, and Share multiple modlists at the same time without touching your base game installation folders. There are four main sections of the app:
- Home - Lets you view and manage all of your completed or in progress installations.
Install - Browse a Gallery of curated Modlists to install with one click or use as a base for your own setup.
- BIO downloads any missing mod archives from official or your custom sources (the exact mod versions pinned in the share code), extracts all mods, sets up your installation directory, and runs through the entire installation from start to finish, fully hands off.
- The installation is automated using Mod Installer by @dark0dave
- This is where you go if you just want to get a full ready to play setup with minimal effort.
- Want to customize a modlist before you install? Just select "Yes, review and modify" on the install screen. BIO takes you straight to the fully featured creation view with that modlist set up and ready to edit.
- Import another modlist with a share code or .biolist file to install as is or customize.
Create - This is where you go to create a modlist for yourself or to share with others. Name your modlist, select a game type (EET, BGEE, BG2EE, or IWDEE), and choose an installation directory.
- Choose all the components you want (EET supported by showing you different tabs for BGEE and BG2EE) or Import existing WeiDU Logs
- Configure and download exact versions of mods that you want.
- Set up the exact per-component install order by drag-and-drop
- Pre-enter any prompt answers that mods may ask of you (e.g. "choose which portrait for this NPC" [1] or [2]).
- After everything is set up, you can install the whole modlist.
- Jump in and play or share your setup with others in just a few clicks.
Settings - This is where you can set up your app and all of its required settings and tools. At minimum, you need the actual game(s), WeiDU exe, and the Mod Installer exe.
Screenshots
https://postimg.cc/gallery/YSYj15g
Call to All Creators
We would love for the experts in the community to build and share their own modlists for others to enjoy. Please hop on the discord if you need help on creating a modlist. We've done a ton of work to try and make it so that your set up can be mirrored as closely as possible when someone else installs it. Of course, with things like SCS that create non-deterministic results or with non-github mods that don't reveal exact versions, it's harder to pin.
We'd love to see a modlist ecosystem grow for the IE games similar to what Wabbajack has done for Skyrim and Fallout!
Project Team and Credits
Project team:
- Project lead and creator: @Born2BSalty
- UI/UX, product vision, and development: /u/Xgatt
Credits:
- Building Mod Installer, which powers the installation step: @dark0dave
- Building out many of the modlists / share codes that helped a ton with development: @olimikrib
- For product inspiration: The whole Wabbajack team and its creator, /u/halgari
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u/Witless_Peasant 1d ago
Much as I hate to be negative, I find this new version a major step down from the one prior to the redesign (v0.1.0-beta.18 is the one I've been using, IIRC). I find it just introduces a bunch of extra steps and needless complexity, and makes the process of installing mods significantly more difficult and laborsome than it was before in either Project Infinity or the initial BIO.
The old BIO allowed me to define my mod and game directories and then install my mods in just a few clicks: scan mods, import WeiDU, install.
The new one requires me to start by selecting a username, creating and naming a mod list, all unnecessary steps when I already have WeiDU files for that purpose.
Then, it requires me to manually select a mod destination folder (instead of remembering it in the settings for each game, as previously), inside which it then creates a bunch of extraneous folders for mods and logs that I already have elsewhere, and a separate subfolder presumably for the game itself.
I'm confused. Still, I get to the next screen where I'm told that I have no mods available in the installation folder (why would I, have them where I have them for a reason). I switch the mods source to "global", and BIO somehow detects and deletes my existing modded game install from a completely separate directory whose path is not even specified in the program. Just wipes it out instead of even moving it into Recycle Bin, for my convenience.
Oh well, at least I'm making some progress with my test IWDEE install. I have my mods from the global directory on the screen and I can import a WeiDU log like in 0.18... except, wait, I can't. It still tells me that the mods aren't available and I need to download them online.
This is the point where I give up and go back to the previous BIO version. And Project Infinity, which I'll now need to use to reinstall my lost IWDEE game.
I really like the previous design, though, and will continue using it. All it really needed was support for the other Infinity Engine games.
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u/Xgatt 1d ago
First off, thanks a ton for the feedback. I love this type of feedback because it helps to catch things we may have missed.
Let me make sure to address each thing. First and foremost...
I switch the mods source to "global", and BIO somehow detects and deletes my existing modded game install from a completely separate directory whose path is not even specified in the program. Just wipes it out instead of even moving it into Recycle Bin, for my convenience.
This one's troubling. I want to make sure there's not a bug or two going around here. When you go to Create -> name, pick destination -> did you pick a destination that already belonged to your other modlist or a new one? If you picked one that's occupied, BIO should have shown a big yellow banner warning that the folder is not empty and given a choice of whether to clear contents or back up.
Regardless of that choice, the default in the next screen should have been "Global Mods Folder" and not Installation Folder. Let me know if yours showed installation folder by default if you started from Create.
Next, switching between Installation Folder and Global Mods Folder should not cause a full folder wipe. At most it clears all your selections, but if that did indeed CAUSE the folder wipe let me know. I'll track that down to see why.
By any chance did you point your IWDEE source at a fully modded source instead of a clean install (e.g. From steam)?
except, wait, I can't. It still tells me that the mods aren't available and I need to download them online.
This one is a miss on our part. We should've provided an option to apply weidu logs and ignore checking mod versions. The "needs fetch" means that the version you have doesn't match the configured one for those mods (the defaults). But you're right, there should be an easier way to just apply the logs and ignore all that stuff. I'll make sure to address it in the next update.
Then, it requires me to manually select a mod destination folder (instead of remembering it in the settings for each game, as previously), inside which it then creates a bunch of extraneous folders for mods and logs that I already have elsewhere, and a separate subfolder presumably for the game itself.
I want to understand this one a bit more. There is a global mods folder that's in settings that SHOULD pick up from the one you had in legacy BIO automatically. Did that not auto populate for you when you first opened the app?
The extra folders are not really extraneous. They get used while installing. One big change from old BIO to this is that the the new version enforces a destination folder that's DIFFERENT from your source folder. The old one let you point it at the original game folder itself and let you install over it. The new one expects the source to stay clean and unmodded all the time.
The "destination" folder you select at the start is where your modded game will end up. Outside of picking that one folder (per installation) and a one time set up in settings, BIO shouldn't be prompting you to pick the mods folder each time. Let me know if that part wasn't working.
And if you would like to resolve this over chat, feel free to hop into the discord too.
And once again, thanks for taking the time to give this feedback.
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u/Witless_Peasant 22h ago
When you go to Create -> name, pick destination -> did you pick a destination that already belonged to your other modlist or a new one?
A new one. I wanted to try IWD:EE, because it's the fastest mod setup to install, and - since the version I use doesn't support it - because I didn't already have any IWD:EE settings entered into BIO.
Specifically, I entered my Steam IWD:EE directory as source, and had "GAMES\IWDEEtest" as destination. BIO gave an access denied error message about "GAMES\Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition Modded" and deleted it. The curious thing about that, for me, was that the path to the modded IWDEE directory was never entered into BIO at all.
(Actually, I did try this design a few months ago and then went back to the old one. Might be that I had entered my game directory as the destination then and it got applied even though it didn't show on the screen this time).
This one is a miss on our part. We should've provided an option to apply weidu logs and ignore checking mod versions. The "needs fetch" means that the version you have doesn't match the configured one for those mods (the defaults).
Well, it's also on me not noticing I could just click past that screen. :D I was a bit demoralized by that point.
I want to understand this one a bit more. There is a global mods folder that's in settings that SHOULD pick up from the one you had in legacy BIO automatically. Did that not auto populate for you when you first opened the app?
Nope. Though it does at least seem to now remember the setting.
The extra folders are not really extraneous. They get used while installing. One big change from old BIO to this is that the the new version enforces a destination folder that's DIFFERENT from your source folder. The old one let you point it at the original game folder itself and let you install over it. The new one expects the source to stay clean and unmodded all the time.
I figured that, and that feature was one of the two reasons I tried out the update (the other one being IWD:EE support), since it would remove the minor hassle of having to first copy my clean Steam install into my intended destination folder.
The reason I said extraneous was that if I set the destination folder to be "GAMES\whatever", then I'd like the game to be installed in "GAMES\whatever", not "GAMES\whatever\Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition", and not create anything in that directory other than the modded game. It's a minor thing, but it's a thing that BIO now changes without informing me, and it does so before I've told the program to start doing anything.
I was able to get it working, but I still find the new version very unintuitive compared to the old. Maybe it's just a me problem, though.
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u/Xgatt 17h ago
(Actually, I did try this design a few months ago and then went back to the old one. Might be that I had entered my game directory as the destination then and it got applied even though it didn't show on the screen this time).
I think this is it. It remembered something from your appdata. I'll work some safeguards in so that it won't try to do this next time.
Nope. Though it does at least seem to now remember the setting.
Again may be an old vs new appdata thing. I'll look into it
The reason I said extraneous was that if I set the destination folder to be "GAMES\whatever", then I'd like the game to be installed in "GAMES\whatever", not "GAMES\whatever\Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition", and not create anything in that directory other than the modded game. It's a minor thing, but it's a thing that BIO now changes without informing me, and it does so before I've told the program to start doing anything.
Fair enough, I'll see if the communication around this can be better somehow.
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u/Xgatt 1d ago
I think I realized that a lot of what you saw could be explained by having old BIO appdata remaining when using the new one. I'll see if we could have BIO convert that automatically or at least ignore it so it won't muck things up for you. Anyway do get back to me when you can on the other questions I asked above.
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u/ChrizFader 1d ago
I am Shepard and this is my favorite mod installer on the citadel