Mods adding custom portraits don't work

[Floyd]

Hello, I got a problem with portrait packs that can be find in many mod sites like Nexus mods because those custom pictures aren't appearing in the character creation. I have tried many things but the problem persisted

I got a portrait pack that have custom MC portraits and NPC portraits that I want to use. NPC portraits works fine and shows up in the character creation menu but custom MC portraits (male and female) don't show up at all! I have tried everything, from tweaking the names to re-saving it as 24-bit .bmp but nothing works, only NPC portraits show up in character creation. I really want to use Baldur's Gate II Ryoko Kui Portraits[www.nexusmods.com] after reading Dungeon Meshi.

I experimented a bit by making a copy of an NPC portrait (all L, M, S versions) with a different name and it doesn't show up so I guess it's on the nickname, I'm not sure. I also tried using other custom portrait packs that is available in Nexus mods and all of them doesn't show up too in the character creation. I haven't tried experimenting by making my own portrait but at this point I'm too frustrated and tired after celebrating 2023 to edit some pictures. I'm this "" close to just use a BG1 NPC portrait as my custom character portrait (I like the way Kui drew Garrick).

Does anybody know what should I do or can give me some advice on what to do? All installation guide told me to just dump the portrat into a "Portraits" folder but it doesn't work for custom characters. Any help or comment is appreciated.

tl;dr: Portrait packs doesn't fully work. NPC portraits have no problem showing up in character creation but the game doesn't detect custom portraits, need solution or help.

Thanks in advance and happy new year!

[Floyd]

Oh yeah, BG1 character portraits have no trouble showing up in the character creation but all portraits under the title "MC"s or any other custom name doesn't show up at all, even with the right format (<8 character; using L for large, M for medium, and S for small; right size and all of that). NPC names = okay ; any other kind of names = nope. I just don't know anymore and feeling like giving up. Just like I said before, I can just use a BG1 NPC companion picture that is detected, maybe I can rename the custom portrait that I want with the BG1 NPC name

[Hopper]

Where are you saving them to?

I just quickly tested that Ryoko Kui pack and it worked fine for me. The portraits show up on the NPCs and I can use them on my MC too.

All I did was copy & paste the BMP files to my override folder and my portraits folder.
\Documents\Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition\portraits
\Steam\steamapps\common\Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition\override

I might be stuck in my old ways, but when I make custom portaits, I use GIMP and I always do it like this...
Create a new image or crop an existing one to 169x266(can be bigger with EE but I like this size)
Save as 24 bit BMP to portraits folder(I always double check the 24 bit)
Then I make 3 copies of the image and rename them like this Fem01L, Fem01M, Fem01S
This method works for me 100% of the time.

My custom portraits using the above method.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2910718910

Happy New Year!

[Floyd]

I'm sorry my english language is fairly limited so I think some things I tried and will try to convey or answer might be lost in translation.

Originally posted by Hopper:

Where are you saving them to?

Thanks for the reply.I created a new folder named "Portraits". It works because I got no problem in getting the NPC portraits but no custom potraits.

Originally posted by Hopper:

I just quickly tested that Ryoko Kui pack and it worked fine for me. The portraits show up on the NPCs and I can use them on my MC too.

Thanks for testing the pack out. I got no problem in getting the NPC portrait to work on my MC too. My problem was that some portraits in the pack are supposed to be non-NPC characters which are supposed to be the MCs. I personally want to use the "mc4" portrait but it won't show up on the character creation. Does "mc4" and other "mc" portraits show up in your character creation?

Originally posted by Hopper:

I might be stuck in my old ways, but when I make custom portaits, I use GIMP and I always do it like this...
Create a new image or crop an existing one to 169x266(can be bigger with EE but I like this size)
Save as 24 bit BMP to portraits folder(I always double check the 24 bit)
Then I make 3 copies of the image and rename them like this Fem01L, Fem01M, Fem01S
This method works for me 100% of the time.

My custom portraits using the above method.

Thanks for the guide. I will maybe tweak the mc portraits later. Nice portrait btw.

[Hopper]

Originally posted by Floyd:

Does "mc4" and other "mc" portraits show up in your character creation?

Yeah they work fine for me.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2910743359

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2910744926

[Floyd]

Hmph... I have just tried it again but still no luck for me. Let's see here...

I'm currently on Baldur's Gate II: EE not I EE. I don't have an override folder, maybe that's the problem? My method is just copying the "portraits" folder from the pack and pasting it into my BG2 folder. I have tried creating an override folder and pasting all of the portraits in there but nothing changes. The game only detects the NPC portraits and not the "mc"s. When I click left after the first portrait, i just got another bald dude picture from the side. I have tried only having an override folder filled with all the portraits and no "portraits" folder but nothing changes, only NPC portraits.

"All I did was copy & paste the BMP files to my override folder and my portraits folder.
\Documents\Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition\portraits
\Steam\steamapps\common\Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition\override" I have recreated this step by step but I still have the same problem, the mc won't show up in character creation or in the character sheet appearance customization in-game!

I'm going to try experimenting with it a bit more, I just don't get why I don't have an override folder. I have also tried uninstalling and reinstalling

[Hopper]

Originally posted by Floyd:

I'm currently on Baldur's Gate II: EE not I EE. I don't have an override folder, maybe that's the problem?

The portrait pack works on both games for me. And it's normal to have no override folder if you don't have any mods.

Originally posted by Floyd:

I have tried creating an override folder and pasting all of the portraits in there but nothing changes. The game only detects the NPC portraits and not the "mc"s. When I click left after the first portrait, i just got another bald dude picture from the side. I have tried only having an override folder filled with all the portraits and no "portraits" folder but nothing changes, only NPC portraits.

The override folder will only effect NPC portaits, you have to use the portraits folder for the MC.

Are you installing your portraits into your documents, not your game folder? For me the exact location is.
C:\Users\Hopper\Documents\Baldur's Gate II - Enhanced Edition\portraits

The Portraits folder should be in the same location as your saved games and the Baldur.ini file. Like this.
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/919015595719559522/F423A1E23AC98992429BAE481866FD757755A9EC/

[Floyd]

Oooh, so that was the problem... Yeah I got it to work now by putting all of the .bmp files in the portrait folder in documents.

Originally posted by Hopper:

The override folder will only effect NPC portaits, you have to use the portraits folder for the MC.

Are you installing your portraits into your documents, not your game folder? For me the exact location is.
C:\Users\Hopper\Documents\Baldur's Gate II - Enhanced Edition\portraits

The Portraits folder should be in the same location as your saved games and the Baldur.ini file. Like this.
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/919015595719559522/F423A1E23AC98992429BAE481866FD757755A9EC/

I copy and pasted it into the game folder not the documents. That's why i only have the NPC portraits. Sorry, I think I skipped the "\Documents\Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition\portraits" part. Speedreading is bad and I should get some rest.

Thank you very much for the solution

[Hopper]

Woohoo! You're welcome.

[Teratus]

Guessing that overwrite folder is part of the mod?

But yea you only need the images in the Portraits folder in the BGEE Documents file.
This file also overwrites NPC portraits providing you have the 3 different sized images correctly named with the desired chartacter's name and a L, M or S at the end.

[MidnaFeetEnjoyer]

You don't need a mod for custom portraits. The link you mentioned has just a pack of portraits.

For the character - you go to "..\Documents\Baldur's Gate II - Enhanced Edition\portraits" and place xxxL.bmp as the large (character menu) portrait and xxxM.bmp as the small portrait (in-game UI).

For companion portraits you go to "..\Steam\steamapps\common\Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Edition\override" or wherever BG is installed, and put the replacements there if you know the right names for them. The "override" folder is not specific to any mod. It's there by design of the game for players to modify the game as they want.

They have to be 24-bit Bitmap format, and the vertical axis should be around 1,58 times larger than the horizontal axis. 38:60 for example or 455x721