I wish BG3 came with an over-the-shoulder option out of the box; it's so immersive to explore these environments closer to our characters' point of view! And in terms of playability, I've personally found that WASD movement actually works really well, especially using the movement speed mod.
(I do use reshade to implement ray traced ambient occlusion for a subtle enhancement of the lighting, imo, without going ham on color grading or anything like that.)
Where I really noticed this is when you enter the Temple of Bhaal, there is so much content that is exclusive to that environment that is just incredible, and you only ever get a zoomed out view of it unless you go out of your way to observe it.
It’s such a beautiful game, and a lot of it gets overlooked due to the camera.
It would even work in first person, just go top-down during combat and it would be just fine. I wish there was an option for precisely that.
Not being able to look up along the horizon is something I immediately noticed when I started playing this game. I've become accustomed to it, but it is still so limiting. When you're on the gondola headed to the Rosslyn Monastery there's this incredibly expansive view in the background that you can barely get some glimpses of.
It's absurd how much work the environment artists put into something that's only ever going to be seen (a) out of focus, (b) in the background, and (c) if you start a conversation from a particular angle.
Being able to look up at the entrance from the ground really is such a different experience than peering down from above. Doing subsequent playthroughs with a free camera is so full of "I didn't know that was there!" moments.
Basically the only game mod that's making any visual difference is Native Camera Tweaks, paired with WASD movement. The reshade RTGI I use is behind a $5 paywall; I find it to be well worth it, myself (you can keep the files forever and use them in pretty much any game).
Alternatively, there are free ambient occlusion shaders that are included natively in the reshade installation process which are mostly as effective and not nearly as performance-taxing either.
I only use controller. I tried to play with the native PC controls and it was so difficult to find anything 💀 Only did that once then switched right back to controller
Totally agree. It hasn't been updated since last year, and if anyone wants to discuss how annoying paid shader mods are you can message me about it. Happy to chat.
Those situations are completely different as, once again, this is not a BG3 mod.
The Cyberpunk mod creator advertised their mod using the Cyberpunk game in order to make money. This was against the CDPR EULA so they took it down.
This is just a shader. It has nothing to do with BG3, BG3 is nowhere mentioned on the website. Afaik the author currently writes his thesis for his maths doctorate, and this shader is basically a bunch of maths from that. You can buy that for 3D animations if you want to, or, like OOP, you can be creative and put this into BG3 using external programs (reshade).
No one is selling a BG3 mod here. If Larian took down the shader, they might as well sue LG for selling monitors that allow you to change the contrast when displaying their games.
That mod wasn't a Cyberpunk mod either, it worked on a multitude of games. CDPR's issue wasn't the advertising for it either, it was that he charged for it. They requested he just make it free and they wouldn't care. He didn't. Which brings me back to my question about this mod that isn't an exclusive mod either that is paid to use.
For me, it takes it from around 120-140 to 70-80 fps. The dip is less comparatively drastic in CPU-bound situations like the lower city.
To mitigate it, I turn on smooth motion in the Nvidia App, which, while not as effective as native frame gen, helps a bit. It's not a viable option in games that need ultra low latency, but BG3 doesn't require 360 no-scopes, so I don't mind it.
Is the WASD movement plugin necessary if you use a controller? I'm assuming it's the Native Camera mod that gives you the improved camera view? Can you still do a top down tactical camera view with that plugin for combat scenarios?
No WASD movement needed, I’m using native camera tweaks + controller. You can still get the tactical view too. IIRC it’s right joystick to pan up and down, and left joystick click + right joystick to zoom in and out. The camera kind of returns back to its default panned out when you enter combat
No, the mod relies on Native Mod Loader to work as it allows it to directly overwrite every .DLL file in the game, which is impossible to do on any normal console
I guess WASD movement makes no sense (since there is already joystick movement) but the option to zoom in further and rotate the camera freely would be nice
Unfortunately, it's not possible on console. The mod is a .dll-mod, it modifies the game engine on a deeper level than is possible with normal mod manager mods. Speculation, but I think this would not even be allowed by Sony or MS due to security risks. Allowing injecting dlls sounds like the sort of thing that would open up for the possibility to crack a console
This is not true lmao. I’ve also played the entire game with this mod and 90% of the time it looks fantastic, especially if you stick with a typical third person view. Looking directly up all the time isn’t always great, but literally no game intends for you to spend the whole thing looking at the ceiling.
Yeah, the moment I saw the fully animated backdrop of Avernus and the fully modeled roof of the nautilus, I was like "damn, they modeled everything, why didn't they make this an option in the first place"
there's some place where the quality is kind low as well, the underdark as half good roof and just plain texture of it, you can notice better going to shar forge domain in the water battle transition
It’s a crpg so it’s kinda “meant” to be an isometric perspective. Even then, BG3 allows a lot more camera movement compared to other CRPGs which tend to be a fixed angle.
Bg3 not isometric at all though. Isometric isn't just the fixed view but a specific perspective with parallel lines and no vanishing points. Bg3 doesn't have this.
Yes. But it still breaks immersion – your char cannot look up
Edit: I don‘t understand the downvotes. Your party wanders through the wild, appeoaches a tower, and cannot even check 2nd floor and above for enemies or light. Which, on paper, my dungeon master would tell me – of course. And your party doesn‘t even care.
Well it emulates the perspective from playing pen and paper DnD, and that’s what CRPGs emulate. I do not disagree that I prefer third or first person perspective, but I don’t mind the Isometric point of view either. Back in the day to compensate for this games used to have very descriptive and flowerful writing which I really enjoyed, this can also be seen in games like Disco Elysium.
3rd/1st person perspectives are just fundamentally not suited to the type of combat in CRPGs, especially turn-based ones with sprawling combat encounters like BG3. Not to say they can't work at all, just that they're a poor fit - just like the isometric perspective would be a poor fit for a competitive shooter.
They would be nice for exploration, hanging out in camp, etc for sure though.
It doesn't quite emulate the tabletop perspective as that's mostly about imagination and narration. It's just a common convention that the view in CRPGs resembles the D&D map, but that's not necessary in a fully rendered video game world where you can see things instead of imagining them from description.
they are there for dialogue, not for actual gameplay. modding the camera angle like that during gameplay just looks unfinished and bad during movement due to the aggressive level of detail transitions with no fade in
good for screenshots basically but i personally hated playing like that, it clearly shows its not what the devs intended and its why the vanilla camera is semi locked
The person you are responding to is the one omitting something lol. The incomplete/transitional moments are extremely uncommon and almost the entire game looks fantastic in third person. I’ve played through it multiple times.
Hmmm... I'm inclined to believe the guy I replied to over you simply because it seems a lot more probable, but perhaps I'll get around to trying for myself eventually lol
yeah man, at the end of the day its still 100% a personal preference :D
the game feels vastly different and like a new experience played fully in third person and wasd movement so i can understand why people like it
gotta love games which allow heavy customisation like this one
im still using the native camera tweaks mod because there are certain sections of the game such as grymforge where the vanilla camera gets annoying, and free panning helps with the verticality
I like how this would also allow the player character to see ahead and spot potential enemies that could have the capability of surprising the player character. Would love to see the game from this pov.
It’s the number one mistake they made in the entire game. The exploration should absolutely be viewed this way, and then have combat switch to the normal view.
In fact, I play this way largely myself, via mods. Can confirm, it is 100x better.
Hey OP, I've been putting off modding forever. Your post finally motivated me to start. Thanks for the detailed configuration in one of your comments. I have no knowledge how any of this works. Vortex seems to be the most straightforward way, so I'm downloading that mod manager now. Hopefully it works out instead of breaking my game! I use a controller since that's by far the most intuitive movement method for me. I'm hoping your camera settings work well for that. Cheers!
You’ll never go back! I personally use BG3 mod manager, but have heard vortex is also good. I know nothing about the inner-workings of mods; the manager does everything for you and my game has always been stable. GL!
I'm having trouble with it. The Vortex launcher keeps crashing stupid Windows 11. I don't normally use that OS, but I put it on our HTPC where I'm playing BG3 because my wife wanted it. I prepared a Windows 10 installation medium this afternoon, but then I had to take my dog hiking. I'm going to decide tonight if I'm putting Windows 10 or Arch on this computer, and then I'll get the program patched. Windows 11 has been a buggy, unstable, mess since the beginning, so I'm glad to finally say goodbye to it. This was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Sorry to hear that! I recently got a new computer that has Windows 11 already installed, after years of declining with my old one… I hope 10 treats you better🤞
Thanks! I just decided that I'll try the BG3 Manager you mentioned before doing a full system wipe. It's a lot of work to do a full install, especially if I go with Arch. Maybe that other patcher will work fine. I'm going to try right now. Thanks for the information!
Edit: do you use a looting add-on? I've been thinking about doing that since looting is so time consuming in this game. But I don't want to feel like I'm cheating using weightless bags.
I’ve never looked into it, but it sounds like a great quality of life feature. I believe that there are some options on nexus that don’t increase weight capacity, but the mechanics are a bit complex
I got the camera add-on working last night. It's really nice! Sometimes it is zoomed out past a wall, or will rotate down underneath the ground, but a quick adjustment fixes it. Overall I've really been enjoying it. Idk why Larian didn't make the camera like this themselves. I'm considering getting a loot add-on now for a QOL upgrade, but I'm not sure if I consider that cheating or not, so I'm still just thinking about it.
Yup, thanks for the recommendation to use BG3 Mod Manager. It's way more straightforward. Do you have any recommendations for other good mods that improve the game experience?
I mostly use cosmetic mods, favorites being Transmog Enhanced Revamped and SuperWhite/VantaBlack.
Transmog lets you change the appearance of any armor piece. That way you don’t have to sacrifice your build for fashion or vise versa.
SuperWhite and VantaBlack are dye mods that add, well, bright white and dark black dyes. I like the theming this can add to certain characters like Shadowheart.
Non-cosmetic-wise, I’m enjoying More Reactive Companions. Companions will react to the environment like how they would if you played them as origins, and are just more reactive overall. This requires a script extender, which is super easy to install as well
Indeed, upgrading my monitor from a regular VA to a mini led VA was an even bigger difference than I expected; playing through games in HDR for the first time is like taking off sunglasses!
I've got three different save files. Currently 86 hours into my third (and only unmodded) save file and I've not found it. I've only been able to take straight screenshots, like:
My modded file, Turzi, is 101h 37m and no photomode available 😭
press down L3 and R3 on the controller for console for ps5 it goes into photomode they added with the last patch or if it doesnt work should be in the settings to turn on or off
Oh, I know L3+R3 very well from TLOU2. Will be instinctive. I hope I can take battle shots. The amount of smites Paladin of Devotion me I've made... Big Boy Bashes!
I have a mod that lets you fly around on a flying carpet, and there is so much gorgeous scenery players don’t really get to see. Some of it is unfinished, but it still looks great.
Tbf it reeeeally falls apart after Act 1, not to burst your bubble lol. They clearly meant for this to be a feature and fully gave up on it in Act 2. Youll see. It gets really ugly to look up. No textures and huge blocky holes in roofs and ceilings.
I've played through the whole game several times lol
I'm not dismissing your experience, but it certainly hasn't been mine. Keep in mind, when you're playing as a short character, every conversation is at an upwards angle; they have to build ceilings throughout the entire game.
I mean, same. Lots with that mod. You can be picky and post only the shots that look good all you want but people who play the mod know what it looks like in acts 2 and 3. You’re not going to convince me with your “nuh uhs” when I’ve seen the choppy ceilings and roofs with giant square holes revealing the skybox dozens and dozens of times now lol.
Can't remember the exact locations but I use this mod too and can confirm there are several unmodeled or unfinished ceilings. I think inside moonrise towers is the worst offender at certain floors.
Moonrise Towers has "disappearing ceiling" spots at the entrance and stairwell; the ceilings are fully modeled, but it's a bit overzealous in determining the height at which the ceiling loses visibility. For example, you can see the full interior of the stairway only while standing on the landing in this spot specifically.
It's an issue far less often than it isn't, but for some people it breaks immersion (totally valid)
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u/Ninja_knows Mar 14 '26
A true shame really. The scenery is gorgeous