HAY GUYS

1. Buy or download the games, Baldur's Gate, its expansion Tales of the Sword Coast, Baldur's Gate II - Shadows of Amn (SoA) and its expansion, Throne of Bhaal (ToB).
You can buy the complete collection from amazon or play.com
Or torrents, like isohunt. The old Ultimate RPG torrent that was on piratebay is no longer up, so don't complain if this one doesn't work and look elsewhere.

2. Install Baldur's Gate and Tales of the Sword Coast. Make a full install.
b. If you download disc images, use Daemon Tools to mount them.

3. Install Baldur's Gate II and Throne of Bhaal.

4. Download this pack and extract its contents into a separate folder.

5. Install the file BGII-ThroneofBhaal_Patch_26498_ENGLISH.exe in the BG2 installation folder

This is the latest patch for Throne of Bhaal. Well, technically not the latest, but most of the following mods require it so use it instead of the actual latest one in beta.

6. Install EasyTutu_ToB.exe

EasyTutu (or any version of Tutu for that matter) allows you to play BG1 with BG2's improved engine. EasyTutu ("BG1 to 2" -> BG1Tutu) will create a separate installation folder for BGTutu, leaving BG and BG2 untouched. You can select the "space saver" option, where EasyTutu will delete the original Baldur's Gate installation when it's done. If you don't plan on playing vanilla BG, without Tutu, I recommend using space saver.

7. Install EasyTutuDegreenifier-v4.exe in the BGTutu folder

This fixes some graphical effects, so your water is no longer green when using 3D acceleration.

X. (OPTIONAL) Install EasyTutuNPCKits-v2.exe in the BGTutu folder

This one is entirely optional, and kinda not that recommended for first time players. It allows you to switch some of the game's joinable character's kits, for instance, turning Imoen from a Thief to an Assassin (a subclass of thieves), etc. You don't have to change all the classes around, you get options for each, but if you want to use it, you need to install it at this point, and not later.

8. Install bg1npc-v18.exe in the BGTutu folder

This adds more NPC interaction and banter. You can select a range of options, but basically the purpose is to make your party characters initiate conversation with you and each other more often and have more to say.

8b. Install bg1npcmusic-v5.exe in the BGTutu folder

Additional music to go with the above mod

9. Install BG2_Tweaks-v9.exe in the BGTutu folder

Lots of smaller and bigger tweaks to the game. Pick the ones you feel like you'd like. Most of them can be ignored, I recommend stuff like stackable items at least and some of the rebalancing tweaks like "Higher HP on Level Up". More info on available changes here.

10. Install BG1UB_v12.exe in the BGTutu folder

Unfinished Business restores a number of items, dialogue and quests that were left out of the final game but the data still left on the discs. Like with Planescape's UB, fans have restored and fixed these. Optional, but I like the idea of some of the sidequests getting better closure and more dialogue.
More info on the contents here.

11. Install bg2_fixpack-v9.exe in BG2 folder

12. Install UnfinishedBusiness-v19.zip in BG2 folder

Unfinished Business mod for BG2. More info on the contents here.

13. Install TutuGUIv18.zip in BGTutu folder

Because Tutu makes BG1's content work on BG2's engine, the interface and icons will be BG2's as well. This replaces them with BG1 style interface again.



14. Install widescreen-v2.31.exe in both folders

The famous Gibberlings3 widescreen mod, making higher resolutions available. Unlike Planescape, the GUI doesn't need a separate mod to fix it afterwards.

15. ?????

16. YOU MUST GATHER YOUR PARTY BEFORE VENTURING FORTH

You can now play both games with just the Throne of Bhaal disc in the drive or mounted. When you finish BG1 and start BG2, you can transfer your old character.

You can also use custom portraits when creating a character. Google "Baldur's Gate custom portraits" and some decent ones should show up. You'll need two .bmp files, a small portrait (38 x 60) and a medium portrait (110 x 170), put them in the portraits folder in your installation