Baldur’s Gate 3 will have its first official modding tools in September 2024. Before you start making your own cool stuff, there are a few testing stages to go through. This guide will explain how Baldur’s Gate 3 modding support will be and how long it will take.
What Is Coming In Baldur’s Gate 3 Toolkit?
The Baldur’s Gate 3 Toolkit is a set of tools coming out in September that will allow players to create and share mods. With these tools, you can add new things to the game, like weapons, armor, classes, and even spells.
Here’s the description of what’s coming straight from the announcement:
- Access the editor to create your own mods.
- Upload mods directly to mod.io servers.
- Load levels read-only to look at all the local entities, as well as the setup, and test your mods in-game while creating them.
- Get access to our internal editors for supported asset types such as textures and visual models, allowing you to override them directly in your mod through the developer interface.
- Publish your mod via the editor, which will moderate it and make it visible in the in-game browser, or pack your mod locally to upload to a third-party site.
- Mod UIs through file editing. We will provide documentation that will explain how our internals are set up to solve mod loading/compatibility issues.
- Within Baldur’s Gate 3 itself, you’ll be able to:
- Download and manage your mods directly.
- Manage multiplayer and save game files through a verification UI.
More on this: Baldur’s Gate 3 Gets Official Modding Tools This September with Closed Alpha and Beta Testing Phases
What Are The Stages of Mods In Baldur’s Gate 3?
There are three stages for Baldur’s Gate 3 mods: Closed Alpha, Closed Beta, and Full Release.
Closed Alpha (by invitation only): This phase began on June 3rd, 2024. A small group of skilled modders are collaborating with the developers to try out the modding tools and adapt their current mods to the new system.
Closed Beta (open registration): Starting in July 2024, people using computers can sign up to take part in this testing phase. During this time, you will have the opportunity to test out the mods made during the Closed Alpha and provide feedback to make them better before they are released to everyone.
Full Release (September 2024): This is the time when the tools for changing the game become available to everyone. You can make and share your own changes with the Baldur’s Gate 3 community. The full release of Patch 7, which includes the modding tools, is scheduled for September 2024.
Who Is Getting Invited?
For the Closed Alpha, experienced modders are invited to share their thoughts on the modding tools. So, if you create mods and use plenty of them in Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll probably get an invitation. In the beta, you can make a request to join.
What Does Official Modding Support Mean?
“Official” modding support means that Larian Studios will give special help to mods who use their modding tools on mod.io. Mods with lots of code or mature content (unsuitable for young people) won’t get this kind of help, but you can still make them outside the official process.
What Is Mod.io For Baldur’s Gate 3 Mods?
Mod.io is a place where you can discover and download Baldur’s Gate 3 add-ons made using the official tools. It also allows add-on creators to upload and showcase their work.
What Is Included In Mod.io?
Mod.io gives you a place to handle your mods, like signing up and canceling them right in the game. It also allows creators to upload, label, and explain their mods.
Think of any other Modding service, because this is exactly what it is. The difference is that maybe Larian works better with this service than somewhere like Nexus Mods.
What Mods Will Not Be Available In Mod.io?
Since Baldur’s Gate 3 is inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, there are certain limits on mods to match the world’s story. Also, mods that use a lot of coding or have grown-up content won’t be found on mod.io, but you can still make them outside the official system.
What Platforms Will Get To Use Baldur’s Gate 3 Mods?
While anyone can play extras for Baldur’s Gate 3, only people using a computer can make them with the Baldur’s Gate 3 Toolkit. However, folks with a Mac, Playstation, or Xbox can still enjoy the extras made by computer users. Essentially, you’ll need a PC to make mods, but every other platform can use them.
