.exe files not installing, but .zip files will

[Hagatha]

I've been trying to install various BG2 mods, Soula included, but some install and some will not.  

I have just figured out that files that are downloaded as .zip files install beautifully, and files that download as .exe files will not install at all (dialogue.tlk error every time).  I have SOA and TOB installed, as well as the official TOB patch. I am downloading the files into a seperate folder for mods, and then trying to install them into my BG2 folder, but I keep getting the dialogue.tlk error.  No thing else BG2-related is running while I'm trying to install.

Any ideas what the problem might be?  This is one mod I've wanted to play forever.

[cmorgan]

The older .exe mods using NSIS installers look for a specific directory in order to try to help you install them. They automatically look for the expected vanilla install directory - which is not usually where modern BG2 games reside.

If the NSIS installer gives you the choice, check carefully where it is sending you (probably C:\Games\Black Isle\BGII - SoA\).
Change (browse to) whatever you have as your BG2 folder, and let it run from there.

Some versions of this packaging read this data from your registry, others manually set it, but in most cases they will allow you to override that setting. If they don't, you may have to do the following...

let it run, and try opening your C:\ drive folder and looking for the above directory, as the installer will create it if it can't find it. You can then copy and paste the mod folder, .to2, and setup-solaufein.exe into wherever your actual BG2 directory is. You may even find that the mod folder that you have downloaded the mod into in the first place is where it extracted - so you can just copy/paste into the game folder and then run the decompressed .exe.

Many folks nowadays use .exe distributions made with winrar or winzip SFX archives, as they can be opened by those programs directly, allowing you to decompress the output any way you want, anywhere you want, but NSIS is a different whole kettle of fish. The idea there is to take most of the potential problem of "where do i put this and how do I use it" questions. That still applies, in most cases, as many of the NSIS materials give you the option to change the install directory manually - but some of the oldest mods do not allow that.

EDIT:  Hey, wait a second - Solaufein IS distributed with a WinRar self-extracting archive (.exe). You have the option of directing it to where your actual game folder is - or simply unpacking it where you extracted it and copying it in. hold on for screenies...

ah. no way to do that directly. Here:

mod_install.png

The part that says 'E:\ie_modding_archive' shows that the current package is designed to unpack in whatever folder you place it in, letting you map it directly to your game folder by browsing. You probably have a bunch of mods already unpacked in your mod folder, ready to copy into your main game directory.