Intro

This section is designed to help you get everything set up, especially for the next section where I will create a class with examples. I will include examples along the way best I can. I am hoping to be extra through for the sake of clarity, but a rough TLDR can be found at the bottom. I highly discourage you from using it. Mimicry leads to confusion, understanding leads to success. If you really want to skip even this though while knowing nothing, head over to class creation to get started with what I consider the most simple yet informative guide I have.

Environment Setup

How you setup everything could essentially be up to you. With that I mean, choose whatever code editor you want, from notepad++ to atom. Name your directories what you want and put them where you please. Comfort is always nice, but this will come at a cost. If you are hoping to follow guides, work with others, etc, it will be difficult to not only follow along but to learn just what is going on! I am no expert on what everyone is doing and what is the most efficient but here is my crack at what is a pretty decent setup to help facilitate your modding. TLDR: SETUP IMPORTANT, FOLLOW ALONG

1. Create a folder on your desktop. I like to keep things in one place so its easier to find, so create a folder on your desktop named bg3_mods (or anything you want, but I will be calling mine bg3_mods if you want to follow along).
2. Download visual studio code. You can use whatever code editor you want, but I will be using visual studio code when dealing with my files.
3. Download the bg3 mod manager from https://github.com/LaughingLeader/BG3ModManager/releases/tag/1.0.9.7. As the name suggests, it will help you manage your mods 👍. The page includes install and setup instructions so I will not include them here, follow them there where they will be up to date.
4. Download the mod fixer from https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/141. Character creation bugs out without this.
   1. You need to get the mod fixer working with the mod manager. You can open the mod manager and drag the mod fixer to it or drop the mod fixer in the Mods folder for baulders gate 3 found in the %APPDATA% (not your mod files)
5. Download the bg3 modders multitool from https://github.com/ShinyHobo/BG3-Modders-Multitool/releases/tag/v0.11.1. This tool has alot of uses but we will cover them as we need them. Extract files for now.
6. Download the export tool from https://github.com/Norbyte/lslib/releases. Like the multitool, many uses we will cover later. Just extract files for now.
7. We should have a few file explorer windows open now. Here they are and what to do with them:
   1. bg3-modders-multitool : Create a shortcut of the bg3-modders-multitool application and move it to bg3-mods folder. Then move the entire bg3-modders-multitool to bg3-mods.
   2. BG3ModManager_Latest : Create a shortcut of the BG3ModManager application and move it to bg3-mods folder. Then move the entire bg3-modders-multitool to bg3-mods.
   3. ExportTool-v{whatever version number its on} : Go one directory deep by clicking on ExportTool-v{whatever version number its on}. Create a shortcut of the ConverterApp application and move it to bg3-mods folder. Take the entire folder you are currently in, ExportTool-v{whatever version number its on}, and move it to bg3-mods.
   4. bg3-mods : Create a folder that has the name of your mod. As I mentioned above, the example we will be doing later will be for creating a class called Quickster, so I will be naming my folder Quickster.

*Again, it doesn't need to be like this, it's just how I work with it. If you understand file structures well, do what is comfortable to you.

Here is how they look before I moved everything around/made Quickster:

With all the files/folders moved, the only folder we should need atm is bg3-mods. Here is what it looks like now:

We have one more thing to take care of (and a very useful but optional step too). Extract the mod fixer folder you downloaded from nexus. There should be a readme in there to explain what to do with the .pak in there but if not, open up your mods folder for bg3. You can find this folder by holding the windows key and pressing r. In the window that opens up, enter %LocalAppdata%\Larian Studios\Baldur's Gate 3\Mods which will take you to the mods folder. Drop the ModFixer.pak in. If you open up the mod manager you should see the mod fixer is in, at the bottom left. You may need to hit refresh.

This isnt that important but something I did to help speed things up. Use your quick access window on the windows file explorer. I pinned alot of my folders to the file explorer quick access window. If anything at least pin your Mods folder (where we placed ModFixer.pak) since everytime we make changes to our mod and pack it up again, we will need to drop off the pak in the mods folder, so pinning it helps speed up an action you may find yourself repeating alot. Think of that when it comes to pinning and setting up in general. The goal is make the process and fast and efficient as possible. We shouldnt be wasting our time running around looking for files, that time should be commited to crying about why your mod isnt working :)

Great, I think we are ready to go. Jump over to class creation to start modding. Remember to check out file insights to understand what sort of options you have when messing around with your files. Good luck, you got this👍

Learn About/Prepare Your Tools

TODO