GemRB

GemRB - Infinity Engine Open-Source Implementation

GemRB HomepageGemRB homepage

Information

Emulators	gemrb
Games Location	📂roms \ 📂 gemrb
File extensions	.auto .bg1 .bg2 .how .iwd .iwd2 .pst

BIOS information

No BIOS required

Controls

Controls are managed in-game.

GemRB / Infinity Engine games are designed for mouse and keyboard controls.

Touchscreens are compatible as mouse-replacement.

The gameplay consists of point and click actions and shortcut keys, like the most of C-RPG and RTS games.

Specific system information

GemRB is an open-source implementation of the Bioware's Infinity Engine. It runs Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Planescape Torment games, their expansions, sequels and mods.

GemRB is in heavy development since more than 20 years, a lot of effort has been put for games compatibility though it is not yet perfect.

Here is a table showing compatibility status:

Games	Playable	Completable	Polished
Baldur's Gate	YES	YES	YES
Baldur's Gate II	YES	YES	YES
Icewind Dale	YES	YES	YES
Icewind Dale II	YES	NO	NO
Planescape Torment	YES	YES	NO
Any Enhanced Edition	NO	NO	NO
New games	NO	NO	NO

Adding GemRB games

GemRB needs the original game files published by Bioware and Black Isle. It is not yet compatible with the Enhanced Editions by Beamdog.

For each games, you need to create a folder where all the files of the game need to be copied.

The folder name must contain an extension that identifies the game type you want to run and each game has its own identifier:

Games	Identifiers
Baldur's Gate +/- Tales of the Sword Coast	bg1
Baldur's Gate II - Shadows of Amn +/- Throne of Bhaal	bg2
Icewind Dale (without any extension)	iwd
Icewind Dale - Heart of Winter +/- Trial of the Luremaster	how
Icewind Dale II	iwd2
Planescape Torment	pst
To try game autodetection	auto

For example for the game Baldur's Gate:

Example of GemRB game folder

Change game resolution

Without any widescreen mod installed, games are only compatible with their native resolution(s).

Here is the native resolutions compatibility list:

Baldur's Gate +/- Tales of the Sword Coast	640x480
Baldur's Gate II - Shadows of Amn +/- Throne of Bhaal	640x480 / 800x600 / 1024x768 / 1280x960
Icewind Dale (without any extension)	640x480
Icewind Dale - Heart of Winter +/- Trial of the Luremaster	640x480 / 800x600 / 1024x768 / 1280x960
Icewind Dale II	800x600 / 1024x768 / 1280x960
Planescape Torment	640x480

To change the game resolution you need to edit the Internal Resolution option in RetroBat:

Unlike usual, you will need here to manually type the compatible resolution you want for your game, for example 800x600 in the edit box, then validate it:

If you leave the edit box empty, it will default to the lower game's native resolution.

Widescreen Mod

For a more modern widescreen resolution you will need to apply a widescreen patch to your game. Depending on the game, it may require also additional mods for the game interface to fit the screen.

You can download the widescreen mods here.

Follow the instruction of the mod then repeat the step above to change the resolution to the one you specified when applying the widescreen mod.

If this resolution is the same than your desktop's, simply type "desktop" instead of the full resolution.