Baldur's Gate 3 Modders Are Rebuilding Waukeen's Promenade in Style

For a certain kind of RPG fan, Baldur's Gate 2 is sacred ground. So when a Baldur's Gate 3 modder named Lotrich showed off a video of Waukeen's Promenade being rebuilt inside Larian Studios' newer RPG, plenty of old-school players sat up and took notice. This is not a tiny texture swap or a cheeky new hat. It is a detailed recreation of one of BG2's most memorable early hubs, and it is exactly the sort of passion project that makes the BG3 modding scene so much fun to watch. As of 2026, with official modding tools having had time to settle into the community's hands, projects like this no longer feel like pie in the sky. They feel like the opening act.

Baldur's Gate 3 launched in 2023 after three years in early access, and it quickly became a runaway hit. It sold more than 10 million copies, collected awards, and got slapped with the best RPG of 2023 label by plenty of fans and critics. Fast forward to 2026, and the game is still pulling people back in, partly because mods keep giving players new reasons to fire it up. Some mods tweak the rules, some add races and subclasses, and some, like Lotrich's project, reach back into RPG history and bring old locations into a shiny new engine.

Waukeen's Promenade is a big deal for Baldur's Gate 2 veterans. BG2 kicks off in a dungeon, but once the player escapes the villain Irenicus' base, the game opens up in Athkatla. The Promenade is one of the first places where the world feels wide and busy, full of shops, tents, and that unmistakable early-game buzz. Lotrich's video reportedly uses the Moonglasses Editor, and even in its work-in-progress state, the area looks remarkably detailed. Viewers can spot local shops and the tent where Aerie can be recruited, which is the kind of detail that makes BG2 fans grin like they just found a hidden stash of loot.

Here is the catch: players cannot actually visit this version of Waukeen's Promenade yet. Lotrich has not released the mod, and the area does not seem to have any real quests attached to it. So this is less a playable expansion and more a flex, a showcase of what the modder can do with the tools at hand. That might sound like a letdown, but it is honestly impressive enough on its own. Modding scenes thrive on this kind of technical show-and-tell. One person builds a proof of concept, another gets inspired, and before long the community is cooking up something bigger.

It also helps that Baldur's Gate 2 has been recreated in other games before. Neverwinter Nights 2 has seen similar fan efforts, so the idea of rebuilding BG2 content in a newer engine is not completely out of left field. With BG3's official modding tools out in the wild, the big question is whether someone will eventually go the whole nine yards and recreate more of Athkatla, or maybe even an entire campaign. That is a tall order, no doubt, but modders have a habit of making tall orders look like a fun weekend project.

Lotrich's Promenade recreation is not the only ambitious BG3 mod worth chatting about. Another project added real-time combat to Baldur's Gate 3, ditching the classic turn-based setup and completely overhauling how fights feel. That mod was already available as a work in progress, though it still lacked AI for party control. In other words, it is a wild swing, and like many wild swings, it is equal parts exciting and rough around the edges.

Right now, Baldur's Gate 3 has no shortage of excellent mods. Some change aspects of the game, some introduce new content such as more races and subclasses, and some aim for the moon. The scene is lively, a little chaotic, and full of the kind of experiments that keep a beloved RPG feeling fresh years after launch. For 2026, that is a good sign. It means BG3 is not just a game people finished and moved on from. It is a playground.

So what happens next? Ideally, Lotrich keeps plugging away and eventually releases something playable. Maybe the Promenade gets quests, NPCs, and enough polish to make BG2 veterans feel right at home. Maybe another modder picks up the torch and builds out more of Athkatla. Or maybe the community keeps doing what it does best: surprising everyone with projects that sound impossible until a video pops up and proves otherwise. Either way, Baldur's Gate 3 fans are chomping at the bit, and the modding scene is showing no signs of slowing down.

Recent analysis comes from Eurogamer, whose long-running RPG coverage helps frame why a Baldur's Gate 2 location like Waukeen's Promenade carries so much weight for players revisiting the series through Baldur's Gate 3 modding. That perspective makes projects like this feel bigger than a visual remake, since they tap into the nostalgia, city-worldbuilding, and party-driven storytelling that defined the earlier Infinity Engine era.