Made a post over at my site on how to activate third-person controls, with most of the ugly UI elements removed. I thought I might as well share it here if someone else like me fancys another playthrough. You can read the article here, or just check it below.
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One of the biggest problems I have with Baldur’s Gate 3 is how Larian Studios treats immersion when they have the tools and the visual fidelity to truly make this aspect of the game shine. I’m talking about third-person controls and an overflow of distracting UI elements that can’t be turned off by normal means. For example, the white outline when hovering the mouse over objects like benches, boxes, and so on. Third-person controls can be achieved somewhat by plugging in a controller on the PC, but it’s a horrendous experience since you are stuck with the slow and ugly controller interface. However, with time comes mods, and finally you can play Baldur’s Gate 3 in glorious third-person with keyboard and mouse controls, and it works splendidly. It’s just a shame Larian is too stubborn to do it themself and add it as an option, but as luck will have it, it isn’t too much work to get the good stuff going.
I present you this video below that I made, as an example of what it can look like:
Now that looks sweet, and something that should have been made possible from the start. So, how do you get all this stuff? Just pour a cup of Joe and I shall tell you. Most of the stuff can be found over at NEXUS. An account will be needed, but I assume most of you PC players already have one. Before we start for real, I highly recommend that you read everything on the mod pages. I will provide links, and install directions, but there is always more information to be found, especially if any troubleshooting will be needed. Anyway, let’s start with:
Native Mod Loader
You will need this one for other mods to work, like the WASD movement mod. Download the file, and unzip the file. Put the files bink2w64.dll and bink2w64_original.dll in your \Baldur’s Gate 3\bin folder. You will find it in the main install of the game. Either in Steam or wherever you have installed it if you use GOG (which I use).
WASD Character Movement
Next up is the WASD mod for camera movement keys, with the addition of “walking”, in which you can activate with the zero key on the Numpad. Download the file and unzip the contents. Copy the files BG3WASD.dll and BG3WASD.toml to the \Baldur’s Gate 3\bin\NativeMods folder. If the NativeMods folder does not exist, create it.
The SDL2.dll file must go into Baldurs Gate 3\bin\. With that, another step is done!
Native Camera Tweaks
Time to fix the native camera, so we can look around better, and make it feel more natural. Unzip the file as usual, and put the files NativeCameraTweaks.dll and NativeCameraTweaks.toml in \Baldurs Gate 3\bin\NativeMods\.
Aether’s Immersive UI
This is a mod that hides the UI when you are exploring. It’s highly optional, but I really like it. If you want a menu, you just have to mouse over the area where it exists normally. Just unzip the file and copy the Public folder and put it into the \Baldur’s Gate 3\Data folder for use.
A minor mod perhaps, but that removes another aspect of Baldur’s Gate 3 that really should be a toggleable option – floating subtitles from random NPCs and companions. Highly immersion breaking, since you know, I got ears to listen with. There are a few options to pick from here. I went with the removal of subtitles only.
Like the former mod, the unzipped folder Public goes into \Baldur’s Gate 3\Data. Just copy and paste, and you will be done!
Hide Highlights – Combat Preview Ghost and Stealth Ghost – DX11 Only
Now for a critical mod. If you are anything like me, you can’t stand the modern-day standard of UI overflow that constantly triggers the visual senses. This mod removes some of that, at least the most annoying one – the white outline for objects. It isn’t so bad in the top-down (isometric) view, but it’s very distracting when playing in third-person.
This one involves a bit more, however, it shouldn’t be too hard. You see, you need a few additional programs to make this work. The first extra program you need is Reshade. Make sure to download the version with full add-on support, otherwise, it won’t work. Install the program, and pick the bg3.exe (bg3_dx11.exe) one when it asks you to pick game/exe file. If done as instructed, this program should be installed.
Now you need the Shader Toggler Addon. Scroll down a bit on the site, and download ShaderToggler_v121.zip. Unzip the file and copy ShaderToggler.addon64 and put it in \Baldur’s Gate 3\bin\ where the exe files are.
When this is done, you will have to install the mod itself, the Hide Highlights one. Download the 1.2 version (if you haven’t already) and unzip the file. Copy the file ShaderToggler.ini and put it in \Baldur’s Gate 3\bin\.
Now you should be all set up for glory. I did, however, have one issue with the latest mod here, since it requires you to press Num Pad Decimal to activate it. For some reason that didn’t work for me. The solution for this problem is to press Home on the keyboard, while in-game so the Reshade menu opens. Then press on the Add-ons tab, navigate downwards to List of Toggle Groups, and edit the key for bg3 hud. I changed mine to the delete key on the Numpad. From that on, this mod worked too!
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If you have followed the instructions here, or on the mod pages (or maybe both) everything should work as presented in the YouTube video. To me, the game is now what it should have been from the start. It saddens me a bit that I have already experienced Baldur’s Gate 3, now that you can play through it like this… c’est la vie, I guess. Regardless, it’s time to roll a new character and see where this one takes me. Until next time, and good luck adventuring in the Forgotten Realms in third-person!
--------------------------------------------
One of the biggest problems I have with Baldur’s Gate 3 is how Larian Studios treats immersion when they have the tools and the visual fidelity to truly make this aspect of the game shine. I’m talking about third-person controls and an overflow of distracting UI elements that can’t be turned off by normal means. For example, the white outline when hovering the mouse over objects like benches, boxes, and so on. Third-person controls can be achieved somewhat by plugging in a controller on the PC, but it’s a horrendous experience since you are stuck with the slow and ugly controller interface. However, with time comes mods, and finally you can play Baldur’s Gate 3 in glorious third-person with keyboard and mouse controls, and it works splendidly. It’s just a shame Larian is too stubborn to do it themself and add it as an option, but as luck will have it, it isn’t too much work to get the good stuff going.
I present you this video below that I made, as an example of what it can look like:
Now that looks sweet, and something that should have been made possible from the start. So, how do you get all this stuff? Just pour a cup of Joe and I shall tell you. Most of the stuff can be found over at NEXUS. An account will be needed, but I assume most of you PC players already have one. Before we start for real, I highly recommend that you read everything on the mod pages. I will provide links, and install directions, but there is always more information to be found, especially if any troubleshooting will be needed. Anyway, let’s start with:
Native Mod Loader
You will need this one for other mods to work, like the WASD movement mod. Download the file, and unzip the file. Put the files bink2w64.dll and bink2w64_original.dll in your \Baldur’s Gate 3\bin folder. You will find it in the main install of the game. Either in Steam or wherever you have installed it if you use GOG (which I use).
WASD Character Movement
Next up is the WASD mod for camera movement keys, with the addition of “walking”, in which you can activate with the zero key on the Numpad. Download the file and unzip the contents. Copy the files BG3WASD.dll and BG3WASD.toml to the \Baldur’s Gate 3\bin\NativeMods folder. If the NativeMods folder does not exist, create it.
The SDL2.dll file must go into Baldurs Gate 3\bin\. With that, another step is done!
Native Camera Tweaks
Time to fix the native camera, so we can look around better, and make it feel more natural. Unzip the file as usual, and put the files NativeCameraTweaks.dll and NativeCameraTweaks.toml in \Baldurs Gate 3\bin\NativeMods\.
Aether’s Immersive UI
This is a mod that hides the UI when you are exploring. It’s highly optional, but I really like it. If you want a menu, you just have to mouse over the area where it exists normally. Just unzip the file and copy the Public folder and put it into the \Baldur’s Gate 3\Data folder for use.
A minor mod perhaps, but that removes another aspect of Baldur’s Gate 3 that really should be a toggleable option – floating subtitles from random NPCs and companions. Highly immersion breaking, since you know, I got ears to listen with. There are a few options to pick from here. I went with the removal of subtitles only.
Hide Highlights – Combat Preview Ghost and Stealth Ghost – DX11 Only
Now for a critical mod. If you are anything like me, you can’t stand the modern-day standard of UI overflow that constantly triggers the visual senses. This mod removes some of that, at least the most annoying one – the white outline for objects. It isn’t so bad in the top-down (isometric) view, but it’s very distracting when playing in third-person.
This one involves a bit more, however, it shouldn’t be too hard. You see, you need a few additional programs to make this work. The first extra program you need is Reshade. Make sure to download the version with full add-on support, otherwise, it won’t work. Install the program, and pick the bg3.exe (bg3_dx11.exe) one when it asks you to pick game/exe file. If done as instructed, this program should be installed.
Now you need the Shader Toggler Addon. Scroll down a bit on the site, and download ShaderToggler_v121.zip. Unzip the file and copy ShaderToggler.addon64 and put it in \Baldur’s Gate 3\bin\ where the exe files are.
When this is done, you will have to install the mod itself, the Hide Highlights one. Download the 1.2 version (if you haven’t already) and unzip the file. Copy the file ShaderToggler.ini and put it in \Baldur’s Gate 3\bin\.
Now you should be all set up for glory. I did, however, have one issue with the latest mod here, since it requires you to press Num Pad Decimal to activate it. For some reason that didn’t work for me. The solution for this problem is to press Home on the keyboard, while in-game so the Reshade menu opens. Then press on the Add-ons tab, navigate downwards to List of Toggle Groups, and edit the key for bg3 hud. I changed mine to the delete key on the Numpad. From that on, this mod worked too!
-------------------------------------------------------
If you have followed the instructions here, or on the mod pages (or maybe both) everything should work as presented in the YouTube video. To me, the game is now what it should have been from the start. It saddens me a bit that I have already experienced Baldur’s Gate 3, now that you can play through it like this… c’est la vie, I guess. Regardless, it’s time to roll a new character and see where this one takes me. Until next time, and good luck adventuring in the Forgotten Realms in third-person!
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