ok, first, forgive me if this has been asked before, but since is a rather technical question (as in, not the typical "can I use the installer again?" one), and I still don't know if this is one of these places where they close old threads, I'll just ask.

the question: I have recently bought baldur's gate 1 & 2 here on GOG (among a few other games... ). I have at least two computers in which I'd like to play BGT (the mod that combines both baldur's gate titles), since sometime I'm in the mood of playing it in my bed (in the laptop), but sometimes, I just want to enjoy my 22 inch screen (dedicated gaming PC).

obvious answer is: just install it on both computers, and there you go. but I don't really want that.

let me be clear: I'm used to steam. with it, I can put the game folder on a third PC which acts a data server, running linux. I have a full steam client running there under wine, so games can even update by themselves. and then, on my two playing computers, I just install the steam client (on windows or even on linux), add to it the server's library folder, and all my games are there, without need for any more. I can heavily mod any game I want, and it is available from whichever computer I want to play it (perhaps I have to manually change the resolution, but that's all). same for saved games, they are on the server, and I symlink the folder to wherever windows decides it wants to store saved games for a certain game, and that's all.
note: this is all running inside a gigabit ethernet lan, and the server's data disk is shared across it. it works flawless.

well. I want to do the same with my gog games. I didn't came here for all the DRM-free thing (although as a linux user I greatly appreciate it), but for games. I want to play them however I want, and that includes putting the game folder on the server, so I can almost-seamlessly switch computers and keep playing.

BUT. gog installers do what almost-every-installer-out-there does: they don't just install everything into a folder, they write in the registry, and who knows what else. *

So. how can I move a game folder (e.g. to a new computer, since all the server thing would then be just a matter of symlinks), WITHOUT having to reinstall the game? I mean, for vanilla games, reinstalling is not such a hassle but imagine what would be reinstalling a fully moded game. just... I don't want to do it.

*if anyone actually knows what the installer does, that could be a good start for what I want. I mean, one solutions is to just symlink a few things... but I'd need to know what things.

as a side thought: I'm really liking this site, with all the drm-free thing, and all that. I'm really considering partly migrating to gog.com (as in, buying my new games from here), but I need it to be easily adaptable to my specs (the whole centralized server thing, and all that). I like the steam installer because you just copy the folder and there you go. I want to do the same with my gog games.

PS: btw, English is not my native language, so, I'm sorry if something is not easy to understand. juts ask and i'll try my best to explain. also, sorry for the long post.

My guess is, that with most games here on GOG you could do almost the same.

Install the vanilla version on computer A and B, but choose your network drive as install location. This way both PCs will have set the proper registry settings.
Now create symbolic links on each computer to redirect savegame locations outside of the game's folder to your network drive as well. Of course there will be the one or the other game that doesn't like it, but the majority will run smoothly, at least all the older DOS games.

As for mods, I don't see much problems there. Most of them are simply placed into a game's folder (in your case on the network drive) and ignore the local registry.

If a game uses the local registry to store game relevant data other than configuration (e.g. game progress) you'll run into trouble though. You could write a batch that extracts the specific branch of the registry into a key file, store it on your network drive and write another batch that imports the key in the local registry and after that starts the game. Thus even your registries would be synchronized by simply starting the game.

The only problem later on would be uninstalling, as once you remove it from computer A you can't uninstall it on computer B as the files are already gone. Make a backup before uninstalling and copy it back for the uninstallaion process on your second PC.

ok, I'm writing as I try things. Else, when I finish I won't remember half of what i did...

first. I tried copying the baldurs gate 2 folder to the network drive, and changing the baldur.ini. then, launching the bgmain.exe from the laptop works as expected. so, if I install it on a computer, then I can move it and make it work by only changing the baldur.ini . that's good news.

second. I tried running that same installation (the copy on the network drive) on the gaming pc. the network drive had another letter, so I first had to change that. I had previously installed BG2 in there, though. Now I'm trying to uninstall it....

alright. I unistalled it. then I tried again with the copy from the laptop. Resolution is HORRIBLE, but... the game does work.

I'll have to do a few workaround regarding grpahics and configs, but, aside from that. IT WORKS.

so, thank you guys for your help. I would have surely been with this a few days, but thanks tou you, it's only been a moment.

oh. and RE: other games... I'll try. If they work, I'll be happy. and if they don't, I'll go to the relevant game forum and ask. since, well, BGT was my primary concern (modding it was easy but took a good while... ), but I want to play all my games this way....

another question, though... do you know where the (graphics) settings are stored? as in, which file? I obviously need different configs for each PC, but i'm too lazy to run the config program every time I switch computers....

EDIT: I had just tried Icewind dale. Same method (just copy the whole folder to the network drive, and change the .ini), and it also works. so... THANK YOU!!!! oh, and perhaps someone should write a guide about it. I had read that migrating gog games from one PC to another was not worth the hassle... well, at least for those games (I'm betting the whole D&D pack, and hoping for the others I bought), that's not true, since they ARE self-contained. they just have a .ini file that you have to tweak.

EDIT2: as a workaround: it still didn't work (although I think It had more to do with the save syncing thing), install BG2 on the second PC, then overwrite the folder with the BGT install from the other PC. this ensures the registry and everything will be as the game is expecting.

and to answer my previous question: most settings are in the baldurs.ini file, although I have yet to see the resolution.

The resolution shows as:

[Program Options]
Resolution=

[Config]
ConfigWidth=
ConfigHeight=

whoa, thanks.

tomorrow i'll look at that, since now it is so late here...

Hello guys! Thanks in advance for your help. I have recently bought a new computer and was playing BG1+BG2 (modified based on the old tutorial by GoJays2025 on this forum - not available anymore). I have backed up my installation folder, but cannot play on the new computer. I have tried editing the .ini file with the new folder directions but it keeps asking me to install the game. Is there any other changes I have to make, or edit/add any windows registry?

You need to install the game in a new system, you can't just copy files over. The registry needs to assign GUIDs to the games alongside install paths etc. It's a Windows thing.

Oh thanks dude. I wondered by reading the above posts that only editing the .ini file would be enough. I will have it installed again.

It is enough. Just launch bgmain.exe, not baldur.exe.