Modding Tools
Cadros
Member Posts: 253
I have never done any modding for this game but would like to get into doing so, could those who have some experience with it suggest some good beginner tools and if possible where to get them (legally of course).
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Comments
You could check for one: http://www.shsforums.net/forum/389-modding/
WeiDU
Near Infinity (NI)
DLTCEP
Edit: IESDP is also indispensable. It is community-made engine documentation.
WeiDU is the corner stone of IE modding and can do most of everything (you don't need to use any other tool, unless you want to; though it is common to use NI alongside). More specifically, it is a mod manager, compiler and decompiler of dialogue and game-script files, interpreter (in the programming sense, viz., a program that executes instructions written in a high-level programming language: "TP2" and D, in this case) and command-line tool. The WeiDU readme gives an introduction to using it, but it is rather focused on the D format (for producing or altering dialogue), whereas modern modding puts more emphasis on TP2 than olden-day modding.
NI and DLTCEP are both browsers/editors. They largely overlap in functionality but differ in presentation and a bit in utility. NI presents files in a format closely resembling their on-disk structure, whereas DLTCEP gives you an abstracted view.
There are tutorial indices at G3 and SHS which may be helpful, depending on what you want to do. There are also oodles of helpful people and yet other modding sites (some with yet more tutorials), if you have questions and such.
...and Hurray!!! there is now a modding forum!
edit: ok that step-by-step is a bit to much right now and the basic routine would do it for now;) thanks again!
1: 3DSMax create the world and render the result.
2: load it into DLTCEP(we found doing the search maps easier in gimp/photoshop and then import the bitmap rather then doing it in DLTCEP)
3: do the clipping in DLTCEP
4: export it out.
@Cuv: we don't have the tool source/binaries that work. From what we've heard from people that used the tools, DLTCEP is better, or at least has less sharp edges(Isn't that scary?).
From now on I will just post areas that can be used for BGEE then. Must overcome my old habit!!!
Part of IETME's crashes motivated me to add the area editor to DLTCEP. At the time we worked on DLTC aka Glory of Istar (hence the name).
is starting dltcep's area editor with the TOB setup.
How do I run this and what does it do?
Near Infinity (NI)
Also how do I run this and what does it do? There are plenty of download links but getting information about what this is seems challenging.
WeiDU
that link is old, current version is 236, you can find it here.
For an introduction to WeiDU read this and the official README.
Near Infinity (NI)
You need Java to run NI. If Java is installed, just double click the Near Infinity jar file, no installation is required. If you don't see any jar file and you are using Windows, be sure to enable file extensions.
You can use NI to browse, edit or create all kind of files related to the game (items, creature, scripts, dialogues, etc.). NI is not suited to create redistributable content like WeiDU, but it's more user friendly and very useful to familiarise oneself with the game resources or to mod one's own game.
I can get NI to run and everything but I get an error whenever I click an item and it won't let me save any changes, and I don't think it's recognizing where EE is installed at properly. How do you use it with the Enhanced Edition?
I'm not experiencing any of the issues you described.