WASD Character Movement
Mod Introduction
Explore Faerûn from an immersive Third-Person view and use WASD to move your Heroes.
Link to the modInstallation Guide
WASD Character Movement
Features
Directly move your character with the WASD keys (or others)
Character movement is bound to the same keys as Camera movement
Toggle between Character movement and Camera movement, by default with Caps Lock
It automatically toggles on combat start and end
Improve mouselook
When rotating, the cursor is hidden and stays in place and Interact is disabled
Rotate key + Leftclick = Forward
Fix input conflicts, when you bind Camera Rotate to the same key as Context Menu and Cancel Action. (Many people bind these 3 to Rightclick.)
Auto-move forward, by default with Shift+W
Toggle between jogging and walking, by default with Insert
Leftclick movement can be blocked in the config if desired
Supports both Steam and GOG
Supports both Vulkan and DX11
Supports multiplayer, even if the other players don't have it!
Does not affect Savegames. Can be installed or uninstalled during runs!
Does not affect Splitscreen or Achievements
Does not affect Controller mode, except forcing Analog Stick Selection = Disabled (BG3 default)
Hotkeys and settings can be configured. Features can be disabled. Edit BG3WASD.toml with a text editor. Press F11 to hotreload the config ingame.
Feature Backlog
Recommended Mods
Native Camera Tweaks: This mod is vital. It unlocks the camera pitch. The combination of the two mods is amazing! Just like WASD, it does not affect Multiplayer or Savegames, and it works with the Controller as well!
Aether's Immersive UI: Auto-hides parts of the UI. If you play the game for the first time, I recommend to only use the Contextual Action Bar part, because otherwise buttons will be hidden that you don't even know exist. Personally, I like to enable the minimap and the group display, because otherwise it can be a bit disorienting.
Remove Camera Move: Removes the annoying camera movements, when you shoot ranged weapons or spells. Very necessary, when you use Native Camera Tweaks. Best install it with BG3 Mod Manager.
Installation
A few important notes before:
I highly recommend to use Borderless Window mode. Fullscreen does not display error messages and does not work well with multi monitor setups.
After you installed the mod, when the game updates or you verify the game files, you might have to re-install the Native Mod Loader, because sometimes it gets overwritten. Then, the mod won't load.
The Larian Launcher will tell you that there is a data mismatch and corrupted files. Ignore it. It just detects the mod files.
EITHER Manually
1. Download NativeModLoader, extract the zip, and put both bink2w64.dll and bink2w64_original.dll in
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\bin\
When Windows prompts whether you want to overwrite the existing files, say yes.
The beginning of the path might differ if you installed it on another disk or if you have the GOG version.
2. Download this mod, extract the zip, and put both BG3WASD.dll (the mod) and BG3WASD.toml (the config) in
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\bin\NativeMods\
If the NativeMods folder does not exist, create it.
3. Put SDL2.dll from the mod zip in
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\bin\
and overwrite the existing file!
OR with Vortex
1. Download NativeModLoader with the Mod Manager Vortex and install it "as mod" or "as replacer", doesn't matter. Ignore error messages.
2. In Vortex, under the Mods tab, double click NativeModLoader, scroll down and set "Mod Type" to "Engine Injector".
3. In the Notifications, click "Deploy".
4. Do the same 3 steps for this mod.
Some people reported they had to swap steps 2 and 3.
When the game has an update, you will need to repeat ALL the steps!
FAQ, Troubleshooting and Hints
The game does not start
[spoiler]Maybe you use the ScriptExtender version from March 29. This has an issue that makes it incompatible with the Native Mod Loader, causing the game to not start.
Make sure to kill all bg3 processes in the task manager, download the most recent ScriptExtender version, and try again.[/spoiler]
The mod worked before, but stopped working!
[spoiler]Mods overwrite and add game files. Game updates often reset these files. So often, all you have to do is re-install the mod AND the mod loader! With all the precise steps! During Vortex installation, don't forget Engine Injector mod type.
The mod CAN break after game updates and might need an update to work again![/spoiler]
The mod isn't working or displays an error or crashes
[spoiler]After you installed it and started the game, see if in \Baldurs Gate 3\bin\NativeMods\ there is a file called BG3WASD.log.
If you do have a BG3WASD.log, look for warnings in this file. It can be opened with a text editor. See that the timestamps in there are up to date!
If the file does not exist or the timestamps do not match the system time, then you probably didn't install the mod or the mod launcher correctly.
Sometimes, the mod also displays an error or warning message on launch that can help.
It is possible that Windows blocked the zip or dll files, because it mistakes it for a virus. This is common, since the mod injects code to the game and listens to keypresses.
Rightclick the file, click Properties and see if, at the bottom of the General tab, it says something about unblocking the file.
If the mod complains about SDL version mismatch, you didn't copy the SDL2.dll correctly.[/spoiler]
The mod is not working, although the log file is updating
[spoiler]The Game Speed Mod by livelylion has a colliding hotkey! Capslock. So change it in either their mod config or mine.
Sometimes, it helps to re-bind the Camera movement hotkeys, especially if Shift+W works, but WASD doesn't.
Go to the game menu and bind Camera Left/Right/Forward/Backward. Character movement will be the same keys. Toggle between Camera and Character with Capslock.
When you clear both keys from a command in the game menu, the game sometimes binds the default values to the command without displaying them in the menu! This can lead to confusing hotkey conflicts.
Sometimes just restarting the game or the computer once can help.
See if you have any input scripts or tools running like AutoHotKey that might manipulate keypresses.
If you cannot move the camera during combat, read the section "I cannot move during combat" below.[/spoiler]
I cannot move during combat, camera seems stuck
[spoiler]If you cannot move the camera during combat or turn-based mode with WASD, press Capslock once.
That happens when the mod does not detect the combat state correctly and remains in Character movement mode.
So you have to toggle manually to Camera movement mode.
And no, character movement with WASD during combat is not possible.[/spoiler]
Conflicting mods
[spoiler]ScriptExtender: See FAQ "The game does not start"
Speedhack Mod: Also uses Capslock for something. The result is that you press Capslock to toggle between WASD and Camera movement mode, but then you also trigger some Speedhack Mod behaviour that will freeze the camera or something. The solution is to change the Capslock hotkey in either the Speedhack or the WASD Mod.[/spoiler]
AZERTY keyboards
[spoiler]Works out of the box. One thing to note though:
The hotkeys you set ingame will adapt to your layout. So W will still be Forward. But the mod hotkeys you can set in the toml file, do not adapt.
So you probably want to rebind ToggleAutorun to shift+key:z.[/spoiler]
My character is stuck looking into one direction and movement looks very weird
[spoiler]This is not a bug of the mod, but a BG3 bug.
It happens, when you drag an object, while you move your character.
To prevent it, wait a short delay and let the animation finish after you drag objects.
To fix it, just drag an object without moving the character! If it doesn't work, save and load.[/spoiler]
Changing keys or config values
[spoiler]You can change some mod settings by editing BG3WASD.toml with a text editor.
If you edit the file while the game is running, you can press F11 to hot reload the config.
If you want to change the movement keys, bind Camera Left/Right/Backward/Forward in the ingame menu. Character movement is automatically bound to the same keys. You can manually toggle between Camera and Character movement with Capslock.
Vortex users can find this file by going to the Games tab, opening the games Game Folder and then navigating to \bin\NativeMods\.[/spoiler]
How to disable Game Updates for BG3 on Steam
[spoiler]If you don't want Game Updates to break all your mods, you can disable them for BG3.
In Steam, rightclick Baldur's Gate 3 and click Properties. Go to the Updates tab and set Automatic Updates to Only Update This Game When I Launch It.
Then, when an update arrives and you want to play the game, you will see that it has an update. Don't download it, but let Steam go into Offline Mode.
Then, you can launch the game without updating.
Apparently, there is also a way to downgrade games on Steam, but it is complicated, so I won't explain or support it. Please google it yourself.[/spoiler]
The mod causes performance issues and low FPS
[spoiler]No, it doesn't. The game engine is just poorly optimized for the low camera angle that you have, when using WASD and Native Camera Tweaks. So what is causing the decreased FPS is the way you play with the mod, not the mod itself.
If your machine is struggling, there is a FPS mod that sets the process priority to high. You can also do that in the task manager. Maybe this helps a bit.[/spoiler]
Can I bind Camera movement to other keys than Character movement?
[spoiler]No. The intended way is to use one set of keys and toggling between Character and Camera movement.
It also has a technical reason. Allowing it would make development harder.[/spoiler]
I (don't) want my Camera to auto-rotate
[spoiler]The game has a auto-rotate feature so the camera always follows your characters orientation. However, this option is only visible in the game options, when you are in the Controller UI mode![/spoiler]
My Camera pitch is bugged
[spoiler]This is part of Native Camera Tweaks. Make sure to keep this mod up to date.[/spoiler]
Old FAQ entries
When I press Rotate Camera, my Character moves Forward
[spoiler]Most of the time this happened, when you tabbed into the game.
Usually, this is fixed by just clicking left once.
Might be fixed in 1.7.7[/spoiler]
When I release Rotate Camera, my mouse cursor moves to the edge of the screen
[spoiler]This is an engine bug and happens either when you play in Window mode or when your game is not on your main monitor. I probably won't fix this. You can set EnableMouselook to false in the toml config file to disable the improved mouselook feature, then this issue won't occur.
Update: It doesn't occur anymore for me, maybe they fixed it.[/spoiler]
Migrating from old Mod versions to a newer one
[spoiler]If you update from WASD 1.4: The mod does not require AHK to toggle movement mode anymore! Delete the AHK script!
If you update from WASD 1.5 and used the Rightclick Camera Fix AHK script before: You don't need it anymore, but you need to bind Camera Rotate to Rightclick instead of Middleclick.
If you update from WASD 1.4 or 1.5 and WASD doesn't work anymore, but Shift+W does, then please reset your keybindings, restart the game and rebind the Camera movement keys. Character movement is on the same keys as Camera movement. You toggle between them with Capslock.[/spoiler]
Uninstallation
To manually uninstall this mod, delete BG3WASD.dll.
To uninstall all native mods, delete the NativeMods folder.
To also uninstall the native mod loader, delete bink2w64.dll and rename bink2w64_original.dll to bink2w64.dll.
SDL2.dll does not need to be restored. It is just an unmodified SDL version 2.28 from SDLs official GitHub. If you want to restore the old SDL version 2.22 that ships with BG3, verify your game files.
Source
GitHub
Contributions are very welcome.
Credits
Ershin for contributions and support
dukethedropkicker for DKUtil and support
kassent for Native Mod Loader
Vectonauta on Freepik for the image
Thank you very much to the donators!
Features
Directly move your character with the WASD keys (or others)
Character movement is bound to the same keys as Camera movement
Toggle between Character movement and Camera movement, by default with Caps Lock
It automatically toggles on combat start and end
Improve mouselook
When rotating, the cursor is hidden and stays in place and Interact is disabled
Rotate key + Leftclick = Forward
Fix input conflicts, when you bind Camera Rotate to the same key as Context Menu and Cancel Action. (Many people bind these 3 to Rightclick.)
Auto-move forward, by default with Shift+W
Toggle between jogging and walking, by default with Insert
Leftclick movement can be blocked in the config if desired
Supports both Steam and GOG
Supports both Vulkan and DX11
Supports multiplayer, even if the other players don't have it!
Does not affect Savegames. Can be installed or uninstalled during runs!
Does not affect Splitscreen or Achievements
Does not affect Controller mode, except forcing Analog Stick Selection = Disabled (BG3 default)
Hotkeys and settings can be configured. Features can be disabled. Edit BG3WASD.toml with a text editor. Press F11 to hotreload the config ingame.
Feature Backlog
Recommended Mods
Native Camera Tweaks: This mod is vital. It unlocks the camera pitch. The combination of the two mods is amazing! Just like WASD, it does not affect Multiplayer or Savegames, and it works with the Controller as well!
Aether's Immersive UI: Auto-hides parts of the UI. If you play the game for the first time, I recommend to only use the Contextual Action Bar part, because otherwise buttons will be hidden that you don't even know exist. Personally, I like to enable the minimap and the group display, because otherwise it can be a bit disorienting.
Remove Camera Move: Removes the annoying camera movements, when you shoot ranged weapons or spells. Very necessary, when you use Native Camera Tweaks. Best install it with BG3 Mod Manager.
Installation
A few important notes before:
I highly recommend to use Borderless Window mode. Fullscreen does not display error messages and does not work well with multi monitor setups.
After you installed the mod, when the game updates or you verify the game files, you might have to re-install the Native Mod Loader, because sometimes it gets overwritten. Then, the mod won't load.
The Larian Launcher will tell you that there is a data mismatch and corrupted files. Ignore it. It just detects the mod files.
EITHER Manually
1. Download NativeModLoader, extract the zip, and put both bink2w64.dll and bink2w64_original.dll in
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\bin\
When Windows prompts whether you want to overwrite the existing files, say yes.
The beginning of the path might differ if you installed it on another disk or if you have the GOG version.
2. Download this mod, extract the zip, and put both BG3WASD.dll (the mod) and BG3WASD.toml (the config) in
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\bin\NativeMods\
If the NativeMods folder does not exist, create it.
3. Put SDL2.dll from the mod zip in
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\bin\
and overwrite the existing file!
OR with Vortex
1. Download NativeModLoader with the Mod Manager Vortex and install it "as mod" or "as replacer", doesn't matter. Ignore error messages.
2. In Vortex, under the Mods tab, double click NativeModLoader, scroll down and set "Mod Type" to "Engine Injector".
3. In the Notifications, click "Deploy".
4. Do the same 3 steps for this mod.
Some people reported they had to swap steps 2 and 3.
When the game has an update, you will need to repeat ALL the steps!
FAQ, Troubleshooting and Hints
The game does not start
[spoiler]Maybe you use the ScriptExtender version from March 29. This has an issue that makes it incompatible with the Native Mod Loader, causing the game to not start.
Make sure to kill all bg3 processes in the task manager, download the most recent ScriptExtender version, and try again.[/spoiler]
The mod worked before, but stopped working!
[spoiler]Mods overwrite and add game files. Game updates often reset these files. So often, all you have to do is re-install the mod AND the mod loader! With all the precise steps! During Vortex installation, don't forget Engine Injector mod type.
The mod CAN break after game updates and might need an update to work again![/spoiler]
The mod isn't working or displays an error or crashes
[spoiler]After you installed it and started the game, see if in \Baldurs Gate 3\bin\NativeMods\ there is a file called BG3WASD.log.
If you do have a BG3WASD.log, look for warnings in this file. It can be opened with a text editor. See that the timestamps in there are up to date!
If the file does not exist or the timestamps do not match the system time, then you probably didn't install the mod or the mod launcher correctly.
Sometimes, the mod also displays an error or warning message on launch that can help.
It is possible that Windows blocked the zip or dll files, because it mistakes it for a virus. This is common, since the mod injects code to the game and listens to keypresses.
Rightclick the file, click Properties and see if, at the bottom of the General tab, it says something about unblocking the file.
If the mod complains about SDL version mismatch, you didn't copy the SDL2.dll correctly.[/spoiler]
The mod is not working, although the log file is updating
[spoiler]The Game Speed Mod by livelylion has a colliding hotkey! Capslock. So change it in either their mod config or mine.
Sometimes, it helps to re-bind the Camera movement hotkeys, especially if Shift+W works, but WASD doesn't.
Go to the game menu and bind Camera Left/Right/Forward/Backward. Character movement will be the same keys. Toggle between Camera and Character with Capslock.
When you clear both keys from a command in the game menu, the game sometimes binds the default values to the command without displaying them in the menu! This can lead to confusing hotkey conflicts.
Sometimes just restarting the game or the computer once can help.
See if you have any input scripts or tools running like AutoHotKey that might manipulate keypresses.
If you cannot move the camera during combat, read the section "I cannot move during combat" below.[/spoiler]
I cannot move during combat, camera seems stuck
[spoiler]If you cannot move the camera during combat or turn-based mode with WASD, press Capslock once.
That happens when the mod does not detect the combat state correctly and remains in Character movement mode.
So you have to toggle manually to Camera movement mode.
And no, character movement with WASD during combat is not possible.[/spoiler]
Conflicting mods
[spoiler]ScriptExtender: See FAQ "The game does not start"
Speedhack Mod: Also uses Capslock for something. The result is that you press Capslock to toggle between WASD and Camera movement mode, but then you also trigger some Speedhack Mod behaviour that will freeze the camera or something. The solution is to change the Capslock hotkey in either the Speedhack or the WASD Mod.[/spoiler]
AZERTY keyboards
[spoiler]Works out of the box. One thing to note though:
The hotkeys you set ingame will adapt to your layout. So W will still be Forward. But the mod hotkeys you can set in the toml file, do not adapt.
So you probably want to rebind ToggleAutorun to shift+key:z.[/spoiler]
My character is stuck looking into one direction and movement looks very weird
[spoiler]This is not a bug of the mod, but a BG3 bug.
It happens, when you drag an object, while you move your character.
To prevent it, wait a short delay and let the animation finish after you drag objects.
To fix it, just drag an object without moving the character! If it doesn't work, save and load.[/spoiler]
Changing keys or config values
[spoiler]You can change some mod settings by editing BG3WASD.toml with a text editor.
If you edit the file while the game is running, you can press F11 to hot reload the config.
If you want to change the movement keys, bind Camera Left/Right/Backward/Forward in the ingame menu. Character movement is automatically bound to the same keys. You can manually toggle between Camera and Character movement with Capslock.
Vortex users can find this file by going to the Games tab, opening the games Game Folder and then navigating to \bin\NativeMods\.[/spoiler]
How to disable Game Updates for BG3 on Steam
[spoiler]If you don't want Game Updates to break all your mods, you can disable them for BG3.
In Steam, rightclick Baldur's Gate 3 and click Properties. Go to the Updates tab and set Automatic Updates to Only Update This Game When I Launch It.
Then, when an update arrives and you want to play the game, you will see that it has an update. Don't download it, but let Steam go into Offline Mode.
Then, you can launch the game without updating.
Apparently, there is also a way to downgrade games on Steam, but it is complicated, so I won't explain or support it. Please google it yourself.[/spoiler]
The mod causes performance issues and low FPS
[spoiler]No, it doesn't. The game engine is just poorly optimized for the low camera angle that you have, when using WASD and Native Camera Tweaks. So what is causing the decreased FPS is the way you play with the mod, not the mod itself.
If your machine is struggling, there is a FPS mod that sets the process priority to high. You can also do that in the task manager. Maybe this helps a bit.[/spoiler]
Can I bind Camera movement to other keys than Character movement?
[spoiler]No. The intended way is to use one set of keys and toggling between Character and Camera movement.
It also has a technical reason. Allowing it would make development harder.[/spoiler]
I (don't) want my Camera to auto-rotate
[spoiler]The game has a auto-rotate feature so the camera always follows your characters orientation. However, this option is only visible in the game options, when you are in the Controller UI mode![/spoiler]
My Camera pitch is bugged
[spoiler]This is part of Native Camera Tweaks. Make sure to keep this mod up to date.[/spoiler]
Old FAQ entries
When I press Rotate Camera, my Character moves Forward
[spoiler]Most of the time this happened, when you tabbed into the game.
Usually, this is fixed by just clicking left once.
Might be fixed in 1.7.7[/spoiler]
When I release Rotate Camera, my mouse cursor moves to the edge of the screen
[spoiler]This is an engine bug and happens either when you play in Window mode or when your game is not on your main monitor. I probably won't fix this. You can set EnableMouselook to false in the toml config file to disable the improved mouselook feature, then this issue won't occur.
Update: It doesn't occur anymore for me, maybe they fixed it.[/spoiler]
Migrating from old Mod versions to a newer one
[spoiler]If you update from WASD 1.4: The mod does not require AHK to toggle movement mode anymore! Delete the AHK script!
If you update from WASD 1.5 and used the Rightclick Camera Fix AHK script before: You don't need it anymore, but you need to bind Camera Rotate to Rightclick instead of Middleclick.
If you update from WASD 1.4 or 1.5 and WASD doesn't work anymore, but Shift+W does, then please reset your keybindings, restart the game and rebind the Camera movement keys. Character movement is on the same keys as Camera movement. You toggle between them with Capslock.[/spoiler]
Uninstallation
To manually uninstall this mod, delete BG3WASD.dll.
To uninstall all native mods, delete the NativeMods folder.
To also uninstall the native mod loader, delete bink2w64.dll and rename bink2w64_original.dll to bink2w64.dll.
SDL2.dll does not need to be restored. It is just an unmodified SDL version 2.28 from SDLs official GitHub. If you want to restore the old SDL version 2.22 that ships with BG3, verify your game files.
Source
GitHub
Contributions are very welcome.
Credits
Ershin for contributions and support
dukethedropkicker for DKUtil and support
kassent for Native Mod Loader
Vectonauta on Freepik for the image
Thank you very much to the donators!
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