Need help with Near Infinity new item creation

Zarugal

Hey all,

I'm trying to create a ring with the effects of Edwin's amulet (I want to create a conjurer with the same abilities, but I don't want to take Edwin).

I've managed to create said ring within NI and have it saved/exported to the Override folder, but when I try and give it to my character BG:EE is having none of it and says that the item doesn't exist.

Does anyone have any ideas where I've gone wrong, or can give me a basic set of instructions on item creation so I can see where I've gone wrong.

Thanks a million in advance.

argent77

NI doesn't offer any kind of guidance or help when modifying (or creating) items or other resources. You'll have to look up the ITM format description or other sources and come up with the desired modifications on your own. DLTCEP is more helpful in this regard with its more customized input masks, but it is Windows only and slightly more difficult to set up.

In your case it's probably much easier to create a copy of Edwin's amulet and make appropriate changes depending on your needs.

The best advice I can give is to study existing items and try to figure out the meaning of the respective resource fields and effects. The IESDP website is a great source of information in that regard.

Also take care that your resource filename isn't longer than 8 characters, has the right extension (.ITM) and doesn't use spaces.

Zarugal

I've created the item (ring in this case) and ID codes in NI and got it all working within the NI database (I simply copied Edwin's amulet and changed the name, type and images etc.)

The issue I have is that BG:EE isn't recognising the new item. EEKeeper can pick it up and I can apply it to my character in there, but it then doesn't show up in-game.
The CULA console just spits out "Item doesn't exist" if I try and create the item from there.
Is there a step I'm missing?

I'm currently away from my Windows PC for a few days so I can't give DLTCEP much of a look, but if I'm still having problems I will when I get back.

Zarugal

From reading through the forums, @Troodon80 may be able to help here, if he has the time of course.

argent77

The item not showing up in the game can have many reasons (such as incorrect item flags or a missing/incompatible icon). However, it should be possible to create it in the game console. Have you double-checked that the item is in the override folder? Did you enter the item name without file extension into the game console, e.g. C:CreateItem("MYITEM") ?

Zarugal

All icons should be correct, I copied those used for the Ring of Wizardry.

File exists in the override, and I've not used the extension in the console command (although I've tried just in case!)

I don't understand how EEkeeper can detect my created items, but BG:EE can't.

argent77

I was able to change Edwin's amulet into a ring for everyone to use just by modifying the two fields "Flags" and "Category" (not counting icons and descriptions).

Were you running BG:EE already when you added the new item to the override? The game doesn't register new resources while it's running. You have to quit and start again.

Zarugal

I've closed and re-opened BG:EE countless times while trying to get it to work, but it definitely wasn't open when I first added the overrides.

I've got the Category set to 'Rings(10)' and I've added the 'Droppable' flag, is this similar to what you've done?

Zarugal

There has to be a step I'm missing here. I just went into NI and changed just the name of Edwin's amulet, saved all changes to override etc. and loaded into BG:EE.
Using the create item command gives me Edwin's amulet with the default name, totally ignoring the new name I've given it.

There isn't anything extra I have to do to make changes apply other than make sure the edited .ITM file is in the override folder, right?

Mathsorcerer

You want a ring with the same ability as that amulet? I would start with the generic ring01 and add the effects to increase the amount of spell slots available. Do you care what it looks like? The trickier part would be any custom description but that is why WeiDU exists.

Troodon80

Zarugal said:

I don't understand how EEkeeper can detect my created items, but BG:EE can't.

Might be a silly guess, but are you editing BG2:EE content while trying to play/load BG:EE? If the item exists in one of the appropriate game's override directories, then it should work fine.

Additional question: what's the resource name? (i.e. filename)

Zarugal

Troodon80 said:

Might be a silly guess, but are you editing BG2:EE content while trying to play/load BG:EE? If the item exists in one of the appropriate game's override directories, then it should work fine.

I can't find BG2:EE items in NI, and NI is locked to the BG:EE chitin.key so it shouldn't be that.

Troodon80 said:

Additional question: what's the resource name? (i.e. filename)

MISC89.ITM (I presume that's the filename you mean?)

Zarugal

Problem solved! It appears NI doesn't like my Mac and it's directories for whatever reason - method worked flawlessly on my PC.

Thanks all for your help!