Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Allow Blurring in Act 2

Hello,

First time baulders gate player. I love the game so much. but i have trypophobia and I havent been able to complete the game. This is a problem with any souls like game. There is always a texture like this in these types of games. I was wondering if you can create an option to blur this texture on the trees? I got to this area thinking I could handle it and have just gotten sick multiple times. at this point I can never finish the game which sucks.

If you dont have this condition I suggest you do not look it up and please do not post images in reply to this thread i beg you.

I am not sure if it helps, but have you tried to lower the contrast by either changing your game-graphics to lighter or darker? (In the Shadowcurse, I would guess darker does a better job.) It might not be the ideal solution, but maybe it hides the patterns enough to make it ok for you.

- "BAULDERS Gate" isn't really a thing. I'm not sure why people can't get it right to save their lives, but since this isn't a random youtube comment section I don't think it's to ask for too much effort to expect at very least to spell the name of the game you are playing correctly on its own official forum.
It's even up there, on the banner at the top of this very forum page.

- People should try to get over their phobias (and it used to be a thing to at least make an effort in that sense) rather than expect the world to bend to their own specific sensibilities.

It reads to me like OP did try to get through it, but couldn't. It happens. In which case asking for help seems fair.

OP, I don't know how likely this kind of change will make it into the base game. There could be mods, but I tried typing trypophobia in mod.io and it came up empty.

So you could make your own. Changing textures should be accomplishable with the mod creator, and a kind soul to look at the textures for you.

I appreciate that Flooter. Its not something that I can really look into myself without seeing images. And Anska i did not think to try that. I will give it a try.

I actually have tried to play through this, Tuco. I have gotten to the point where I got that guy in the town to fix the infernal engine. So I have tried getting though. But it literally makes me vomit if i stare too long with these in frame.

And to be honest i find it weird that people come into someone's post just to complain about "them complaining". This 'phobia' isn't actually a phobia. You should look into it, the actuality is quite interesting. Not to mention that most souls-like games have this issue. I had to stop playing a lot of games because of this, path of exile, the Witcher, new world, subnautica, i couldn't go into a certain area of the underwater world in tower of fantasy and more. Its not me asking the world to bend to my wishes, its me wishing to be able to play a long format game like this in its entirety, and I came here because this game has a history of listening to their fans and I figured they might actually hear me and it may be able to make a change across not just this game but others as well. That's how anything gets changed, it doesnt hurt to ask. And guess what? If its an optional on/off switch, you DON'T have to use it. Pretty great right? Just like how people who are afraid of spiders can turn on a switch in satisfactory to turn them into kittens. And if you dont care you dont HAVE to do it!

In addition, "baulders gate" IS in fact a thing. Its a "role-playing video game that was developed by BioWare and published in 1998 by Interplay Entertainment." (google is a great source of information isn't it?) There just so happen to be sequels and such. Be that as it may, I am a first time baulders gate player seeing that this is my fist time playing any of them with the name in it. And as the other members of this thread took from contest, they knew what I was talking about.

Thanks for reading and have the day you deserve <3

This is one of those things where, once somebody points it out to me, I'll see it everywhere - every time. I thought you meant the textures displayed towards the very end of Act II, which mostly repeats the motif we saw on the Nautiloid in the prologue, but I'm pretty sure you mean the beginning of Act II with the Shadow-Cursed Trees right?

I think there are maybe a half dozen Tree models that you would need to replace with something else, some other tree basically, for it not to feel janky.

Perhaps it would work using by replacing all those Trees in Act II with some of the Trees from the Swamp area in Act I?

Not sure if there's a simple replacement method for stuff like that, since at least they're not animated. It's not surprising, if were trying to create an unnerving sense of horror for this part of the game, that they'd play up sounds or visuals that would make many people feel slightly uncomfortable, but then pushed to an extreme, the same thing that makes one person mildly grossed out, might just make it entirely unwatchable for someone who has the legit phobia. I think this would be the equivalent of like unavoidable spiders everywhere for the Arachnophobes. I mean there are ways to avoid the Matriarch and the drider Karniss, but those trees are pretty much everywhere in the Shadowcursed lands, so it might be a bit of a chore.

I wouldn't sweat the name. I'm sure he was griefin' you for spelling it Baulder's instead of Baldur's, though I wouldn't take that to heart. I struggle mightily to type myself. I've been playing these BG games for like 25 years, and I still mistype it that way sometimes. Or sometimes I'll add a U by accident, or drop a U by accident. Cause Baldr is also a god in the Norse pantheon.

ps. perhaps this might work?

https://mod.io/g/baldursgate3/m/darker-shadowlands

There is a similar mod for the Gauntlet of Shar in Act II and Grymforge in Act I - they make the environmental lighting very dark. Basically obscuring everything in shadow, which might be easier than blur or using camera focus stuff, since in addition to the trees there's also similar texture on the buildings and the climbable ladders and whatnot. This mod seems to knock most of that out by just making it black.

I have a feeling that it might require you to go torchless or without the Moon Lantern, but at least that might still be scary in a way you find appealing, rather than hard pass.

I don't know if there is a mod to skip ahead by game Act, but that might be another solution. I'm sure they have one for the Prologue by now, but something that allows the player to advance directly to Act III might be nice. I'm not sure how it works with all the flags for the companions though, like if it's even possible to do that in a way that doesn't break a bunch of questlines or whatever, but also I think a time machine to Act II or Act III, might be interesting for players who have done the first third of the game to death, like in EA. It could also be interesting if they lowballed the XP, so for example trying to deal in Act III slightly underlevelled as a way to increase the challenge, though that's a pretty roundabout way to resolve your dilemma.

I'd maybe try the lighting mod though, so if it does the trick for you, or at least might make it easier to just blast past that part like a run through the dark

I appreciate this! Thank you, and yes i do mean the trees. all over act two, the path leading to act two, and as well as camp, etc. The textures on the nautiloid were rough, dont get me wrong, they are similar to that down in elden ring with the disease everywhere.

i see what you are saying w the name. even reading their message i didnt even notice. makes no difference to me but i appreciate it. i just become spiteful when people come in just to shit on someone else and are not solution minded. <3

I will check this out.

No worries. I did a test run with the Darker Shadowlands mod to see what you'd be up against.

My suggestion would be to make an immediate B-line for the Gauntlet of Shar and camp there, because the standard camp above ground is probably going to give you nightmares. It's pretty well lit. If you squint and turn off all the torches or just book it straight for the bedroll without looking around too much maybe, but I don't know. I think camping in the Gauntlet of Shar camp is your better bet, just gotta get there.

Out on the road I'd have everyone douse their torches and just run I think. Then get the blessings ASAP, so you won't take damage from the Shadowcurse for not having a light source up. Moonrise is also pretty dark, so if you keep your head down and stick to the main rooms maybe, but there's a lot of vines up top. Maybe there's a mod that turns off all the torches too, or dials back the glow effects on some of the environmental stuff?

I'm not sure its a great solution, because there will probably be instances where something looks even more pronounced or highlighted because of how things are lit in high contrast. You know like one second everything will be mostly black and in shadow, but then you round a corner and maybe catch something unavoidable on a wall or lit by an environmental torch or whatever. The Act II to III transition isn't really like the Act I to II transition, there's no way to blow past the Shadowfell or the big fight at the end of Act II. It's much more of a funnel here and gotta hit the main beats to advance the story, but I think you could probably avoid most of the side stuff. You'd be down some cash and underlevelled probably doing that, but could maybe make it up on the back end in Act III?

Anyhow, it's tough, since you wouldn't really no what to avoid till you get there. The main offender is probably the standard camp for Act II though, especially by Withers and along the cliff rocks. I think you'd just want to avoid it altogether.

The villainous path might be more straightforward since that get's you a bit closer to Moonrise Towers initially and you don't really have to fret off the lifting the Shadowcurse as much in that case. Going into much more is spoilerville, but trying to avoid the whole Shadowlands is very tricky. Like probably your optimal solution would be some sort of blur, or maybe moss or poison leaves or whatever to just cover over those visuals on those trees, but it's probably a lot of work. For Karniss I'd maybe use one of those mods that turns all the spiders into Sheep, or just try to avoid his cutscene so you don't have to watch his close up. Otherwise, if you can just get to the Last Light, Moonrise and the Gauntlet you can sorta portal back and forth. The House in Deep shadow will be harder to get to, but again maybe with a squint and dash. I would not linger in these lands over long though.

You requested no screens, so I won't go there. To preview what it looks with the Darker lighting mod I have a few screens on the last page of this thread at the tavern... The more recent posts will have spoilers for you though, since you haven't gotten there yet (also Dark Urge), but post 111 shows the above ground camp in Act II and one of the battles areas where the trees are very prominent, in case peeps are curious what visual elements are being referred to.
https://tavernrpg.com/threads/bg3-honour-mode-strategy-tactics-many-spoilers.388/page-6#post-11998