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New versions of NearInfinity available

argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,428
edited July 2023 in General Modding
Near Infinity (or short: NI) is an open source cross-platform browser and editor for resources of Infinity Engine games.

Download latest release

Download latest development snapshots

Near Infinity Wiki


Summary of new features:
  • Supports the following Infinity Engine games, including expansions:
    • Baldur's Gate
    • Baldur's Gate II
    • Icewind Dale
    • Icewind Dale II
    • Planescape: Torment
    • Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
    • Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
    • Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
    • Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition
    • Planescape Torment: Enhanced Edition
  • Supports the following fan-made conversions and compilations:
    • BGTutu and EasyTutu
    • Baldur's Gate Trilogy (BGT)
    • Enhanced Edition Trilogy (EET)
  • Supports case-sensitive filesystems (as found on Linux and derivates) without the requirement of tolowered game installations.
  • DLC support (which is currently used for the "Siege of Dragonspear" expansion provided by GOG and Stream)
  • Native ACM and WAVC sound support (no acm2wav or acmtool required anymore)
  • Native Ogg Vorbis sound support
  • Native MVE movie playback support (the movie format used in the original BG1/BG2 and IWD games)
  • A creature animation browser, featuring:
    • Extensive customization of colors and equipment
    • Selection of animation sequence and orientation
    • Various animation-related options and properties
    • Export of animation sequences to APNG files
  • An area viewer (found in the view tab of each ARE resource entry), featuring:
    • Day and night maps
    • Simulation of different daylight lighting conditions
    • Overlay support (for displaying water, lava, etc.)
    • Visualization of various map structures (actors, regions, doors, animations, ...)
    • Map zooming (fixed zoom levels and auto-zoom)
  • A great number of resource check options (found under the menu Tools->Check)
  • Various conversion routines (found under the menu Tools->Convert):
    • a powerful BAM Converter
    • Image to BMP (supports transparency; required for images displayed in BG(2):EE's item descriptions)
    • Image to MOS
    • Image to PVRZ
    • Image to TIS
  • Syntax highlighting support and selectable color schemes for BCS scripts, GLSL and SQL resources
  • Advanced search (found under the menu Search)
  • and many more...

These are work in progress releases, so you may still find a bug or two, especially in the new features. You might want to browse this thread for more information or visit the download page once in a while to see if updated versions are available. Alternatively you can visit the main branch of NearInfinity, however it is updated much less often.

macOS-specific app packages for Near Infinity are provided by @AstroBryGuy and can be found here. These packages provide better system integration, such as Dock icon and system menubar, as well as the right access permissions for the home folder on more recent macOS versions.

Note: NearInfinity requires Java 8 or later. You can either download the original version from Oracle or the open source version.

Feel free to test it, especially the new features, and post your comments, bug reports or suggestions either here, on GitHub Discussions or on Spellhold Studios Forums.
Post edited by argent77 on
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Comments

  • BlucherBlucher Member Posts: 110
    Awesome. NI has always been my favorite. Thank you.
    jackjackCrevsDaak
  • CdawgCdawg Member Posts: 1
    You are a legend sir. Thank you.
  • AigleborgneAigleborgne Member Posts: 24
    Great, modding would be almost impossible without this excellent tool :) Thank you for the work!
  • BalquoBalquo Member, Developer Posts: 2,746
    @argent77 I tried exporting as PNG ar5100.tis but I got "Error while exporting AR5100.TIS"
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,428
    Balquo said:

    @argent77 I tried exporting as PNG ar5100.tis but I got "Error while exporting AR5100.TIS"

    This is most likely a memory issue. The export feature requires a lot of free memory for big maps. Unfortunately, I have only little control over the actual PNG conversion process.

    You could try out the tool "Hide NI DOS" which starts NearInfinity with enhanced memory parameters. You can find it somewhere in this post.

    Alternatively, you could start NearInfinity directly via command line. The syntax looks like this:

    javaw.exe -Xms512m -Xmx1024m -XX:PermSize=128m -XX:MaxPermSize=128m -XX:NewSize=128m -XX:MaxNewSize=128m -jar "NearInfinity.jar"
    If javaw.exe isn't in your path, then you have to figure out where you have installed Java on your system. In the case of "C:\Program Files\Java\jre7", you'll have to enter:

    "C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\bin\javaw.exe" -Xms512m -Xmx1024m -XX:PermSize=128m -XX:MaxPermSize=128m -XX:NewSize=128m -XX:MaxNewSize=128m -jar "NearInfinity.jar"
    It basically does the same as Hide NI DOS.


  • CamDawgCamDawg Member, Developer Posts: 3,438
    @argent77, remind me, what does NI key on for determining if an install is BGEE or BGIIEE?
  • BalquoBalquo Member, Developer Posts: 2,746
    Was a memory issue indeed. Got it sorted. Thank you!
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,428
    @CamDawg

    BGEE checks for "movies/bgenter.wbm". BG2EE checks for "movies/pocketzz.wbm". Both paths are relative to the path containing the chitin.key.
  • AbelAbel Member Posts: 785
    This is a great update to an already great tool! Thanks to you, good sir!
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,174
    This is awesome. Thank you!
  • CoM_SolaufeinCoM_Solaufein Member Posts: 2,607
    Awesome. One of the best tools.
  • MonoCanallaMonoCanalla Member Posts: 291
    edited April 2014
    @argent77

    This is amazing. Thank you for making something like this. I play in iPad and I used this program with an iMac. I succeeded in modificating an item. However, the instructions in the website you provide don't explain much. Is there a more deep manual? For example, I saw that I can place a new criature in an area.

    Firstable, is there a list where I can see which area has each description code in the program, so I can know what I am doing? Also, how to identify the coordinates X and Y.

    Second, i can only add (and modify) existing creatures. So if I want to make a NPC mod, I can't create one from scratch. How could I do that? How could I also create items?

    I added to override the items made for subracing (the drow bands, the aasimar helmet, the svirnefli ring) and I managed to place them in a store, to buy them. Buy when I went to such story in the game, it wasn't there. As they are created, modded items, I am sure that was the problem. Same thing again, how to create new content or use someone else's content and place it in the game.

    And finally, how can I edit save games like I can do in EE Keeper. Or at least edit for example and item and move it to my Charname in EE Keeper, since there I can only add current items, not those new ones I added trough override.


    Much questions, I know. Is just great if I could make my own mods here. Thanks!!
  • CrevsDaakCrevsDaak Member Posts: 7,155
    edited April 2014

    I added to override the items made for subracing (the drow bands, the aasimar helmet, the svirnefli ring) and I managed to place them in a store, to buy them. Buy when I went to such story in the game, it wasn't there.

    If you already have interacted with the store, they won't show, as the store's info is in your save (don't mess with it) and not in the game's file that can be overriden.

    And finally, how can I edit save games like I can do in EE Keeper. Or at least edit for example and item and move it to my Charname in EE Keeper, since there I can only add current items, not those new ones I added trough override.

    Adding items with NI is very complicated, but it can be done. If you are browsing the EE, a Save directory should appear, just edit the .GAM, double click on *HRBASE (your PC) that will be at the right-top of the screen to edit the CHR on the .GAM, go to the Edit tab and scroll down, double-click the last line to bring the window to edit the CRE file.

    Firstable, is there a list where I can see which area has each description code in the program, so I can know what I am doing? Also, how to identify the coordinates X and Y.

    For the Area-code's values I recommend this site for BG2 and this one for BG1. To get the coordinates, press the key 'X' in the game, if you are plating iPad you won't be able to do so, but with the latest build of NI, you can see areas in the editor, which is pretty handy.

    Second, i can only add (and modify) existing creatures. So if I want to make a NPC mod, I can't create one from scratch. How could I do that? How could I also create items?

    I recommend using WeiDU for adding an NPC as you need the whole DLG (dialog) file, and it's just too complicated with only NI. I would recommend taking a look at an NPC mod and see how they are done.
    argent77
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,428
    @MonoCanalla

    As CrevsDaak already hinted at, NI is first and foremost a browsing and editing tool. It is rather difficult to create new content with it, and oftentimes you can't use your new content on different game installations without making additional adjustments everytime. WeiDU is much better suited for that.

    To answer your first questions, we don't have a readme for NI unfortunately, but there are a couple of tutorials and guides which also deal with NearInfinity. Good starting points would be the tutorial sections of the SHS and Gibberling3 forums.

    It also helps tremendously to get a feel of the different resource formats, files and structures supported by BG(2)EE. IESDP provides lots of information in that regard.
  • MonoCanallaMonoCanalla Member Posts: 291
    Thank you two. So this program is like a good extension of EE Keeper, to fix things that doesn't do what is supposed, or to customize more your game. However, it looks like a good tool to rewrite dialogues. But I guess not in original new content anyway.

    Just two more questions. Can I find Black Pits there? Like to add items to the vendors.
    And, I saw somewhere the rules for the classes. I can change por example, the minimum Str to be a fighter. Is there a way to create new kits?
  • wolpakwolpak Member Posts: 390
    @argent77‌

    Am I supposed to be able to view all the recently changed files?

    Like, GUIREC.chu refers to GUILS10.BAM, but that is blank for me. Also, all the PVRZ files say Unsupported File format. Everything else seems to work. I am using 7.51 Java.
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,428

    Can I find Black Pits there? Like to add items to the vendors.

    Black Pits uses the prefix "BP" for most of its resources (e.g. BPBAELOT.CRE for Baeloth or BPBREN01.STO for Brendak's store), so it should be easy to find the store you're looking for.

    And, I saw somewhere the rules for the classes. I can change por example, the minimum Str to be a fighter. Is there a way to create new kits?

    I can't help you there. You should open a separate topic for this.

    wolpak said:

    Like, GUIREC.chu refers to GUILS10.BAM, but that is blank for me.

    Those files work fine on my installation. Have you installed any mods?
    wolpak said:

    Also, all the PVRZ files say Unsupported File format.

    Can you upload one of those unreadable PVRZ files?
  • wolpakwolpak Member Posts: 390
    Not that modify that file. I am not using a standard install, just a direct copy from my iPad. But, like I said, everything else works.
  • wolpakwolpak Member Posts: 390
    @argent77‌

    Here's the file.
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,428
    edited April 2014
    @wolpak

    Very interesting. The PVRZ file you have provided uses a new (and rather exotic) pixel format. I'll try to incorporate it into one of the next NI updates.

    Can you browse through the rest of the PVRZ files and check whether all of them are using the same pixel format?

    The Debug Console (activate via Tools->Show Debug Console, or Ctrl+D) can provide the required info. The only interesting bit of information in this case is shown in the first line of each error block. It should look something like this:
    java.lang.Exception: Pixel format 'PVRTC_4BPP_RGBA' not supported

    The A*.PVRZ and O*.PVRZ files are most likely all encoded with the same pixel format. The MOS*.PVRZ files however might use different pixel formats.
    CrevsDaak
  • wolpakwolpak Member Posts: 390
    I have added the zip file, a MOS*.PVRZ, a .BAM and a .MOS file that don't show either.
  • CrevsDaakCrevsDaak Member Posts: 7,155
    edited April 2014
    I am not sure for BG:EE, but fore BG2:EE, the signature used for the Black Pits' content is OHB (OverHaul Black Pits).

    Also, iPad and desktop version might have differences, I don't think so but I am not sure and I cannot confirm that at 100% sure.
    argent77 said:

    And, I saw somewhere the rules for the classes. I can change por example, the minimum Str to be a fighter. Is there a way to create new kits?

    I can't help you there. You should open a separate topic for this.
    To create new kits use WeiDU, it's too difficult with NI, here you can find a guide for BG2:ToB, if you want to make a kit for the EE you should imitate a TP2 file from another mod, there are a bunch of kit mods working for the latest EE version, @dib made one that you could take a loo at.

    To change the Min STR for fighter simply edit the ABCLASRQ.2DA file by changing the numbers, you can do this with NI.
    Edit: I made a typo in a HTML code.
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,428
    edited April 2014
    @wolpak Thanks for the log. From a first look I'd say that the GUILS10.BAM issue is linked to the unsupported PVRZ format, since BGEE's BAM files also refer to PVRZ files for graphics data. The same is true for a couple of BGEE's MOS files.

    It looks like the iPad version of BGEE uses only one new pixel format for all of its PVRZ files. Implementing it shouldn't take too long (provided I can find some info about the new pixel format).
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,428
    @wolpak

    A new NearInfinity version has been released. It supports (among other things) the new PVRZ file format used in the iPad version of the games.

    Click here to see a more comprehensive list of changes.
    elminster
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    Wow this is great. Thanks! I've been using an older version for awhile and this is is very good :)
    Torgrimmer
  • ErgErg Member Posts: 1,756
    @argent77 many thanks for all your work on this. I don't know if you accept feature requests, but I'll try :)

    It seems that NI is still missing, correct me if I'm wrong, the possibility to choose the language for dialog.tlk (in the Enhanced Edition this is always English). I would really like, if possible and not too much bothersome, a menu option to select the language.

    Thanks in advance regardless of it is possible or not.
  • argent77argent77 Member Posts: 3,428
    Erg said:

    It seems that NI is still missing, correct me if I'm wrong, the possibility to choose the language for dialog.tlk (in the Enhanced Edition this is always English). I would really like, if possible and not too much bothersome, a menu option to select the language.

    This feature has already been added a long time ago to our to-do list. Implementing it as originally planned is difficult however because it requires some internal restructuring which is very time-consuming. I'll see if I can add a temporary "hack" that adds multi-language support for BGEE, but I can't promise anything.

    Currently NearInfinity uses the language defined in the Baldur.ini for the dialog.tlk (english by default). So as a temporary work-around, you can specify the desired language in the in-game options before working with NearInfinity.

    ErgCrevsDaakelminster
  • CoM_SolaufeinCoM_Solaufein Member Posts: 2,607
    Ain't dat purtty.
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    edited June 2014
    I love the multi-colouring :)

    So I was trying to make a CRE file that happens to be a dragon disciple. Only when I looked under kits the only two new kits that are listed are blackguard and sun soul (all the old ones, like shapeshifters and stalkers, etc are there). Any help you could provide would be appreciated.
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