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How Does One Edit 2da Files?

ElrandirElrandir Member Posts: 1,664
edited March 2021 in General Modding
My question is as the title reads. Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but I didn't find anything about it.

I want to edit the encumbrance.2da file to fix the issue of 0 carry weight capacity when you have a strength over 100. (Yes, this isn't an issue that comes up in normal gameplay, but you'd be surprised how often it comes up in my personal games.)

I'm hoping it's a simple text change or perhaps some pattern recognition, but if I have to learn basic programming so be it. I don't know where to even find these files to begin with, however.

Comments

  • TarotRedhandTarotRedhand Member Posts: 1,481
    You can either use a plain text editor or a dedicated 2da file editor. Probably the best dedicated 2da editor is Yata, developed by kevL's. Even though it was developed for NwN 2 it also works great for NwN/NwN EE.

    TR
  • ElrandirElrandir Member Posts: 1,664
    @TarotRedhand Do I need to download the 2da file I want to edit? I've seen talk of that multiple times. And there are only three 2da files I can find in my base game's folders. And after editing, where do I save it?

    Sorry, I genuinely don't know a thing about this and its painfully difficult to figure out information. It seems everyone who does this already knows how, so trying to read messages in old threads (whether here or elsewhere) is like trying to decipher a foreign language where you only kind of recognize every few words.
  • ElrandirElrandir Member Posts: 1,664
    Never mind. I figured it out through trial and error. Finally I can cheat my STR score unimpeded. Thank you for your help!

    For anyone who might stumble across this thread that's in the same or similar situation as I am, here's how I solved my problem:

    1. Download Yata. (linked above courtesy of TarotRedhand)
    2. Download the 2da source files. https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/script/bioware-169-scripts-2da-files
    3. Use Yata to open up your intended file. In my case it was encumbrance.2da
    4. Edit the appropriate lines of text. In my case it was using f2 to add new lines from 101-255
    5. Save the file and copy/paste it into your ovr (override) file. I've read some things that suggest some files can/should be saved in the hak file instead, but ovr worked for this one.
    6. Profit.
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,829
    At least in the BG games, the .2da files and everything else are compressed together in general data packages (.bif files). You need a tool like Near Infinity to extract them. Use that to copy them to the override folder, then do whatever you want with them.

    If you later want to revert the modifications, deleting the file(s) from the override folder is sufficient. That tells the game to go back to using the copy bundled with the rest of the game data.
  • TarotRedhandTarotRedhand Member Posts: 1,481
    @Elrandir Do not use ovr. Use the override folder in - 
    C:\Users\your_user_name\Documents\Neverwinter Nights.
    Replace your_user_name with your user name and change the drive letter if necessary. The installation folders are reserved for BD's use only and are subject to change at any future patch.

    TR
  • ElrandirElrandir Member Posts: 1,664
    Thank you!
  • TrixterTrixter Member Posts: 237
    Does this process still work?
  • TarotRedhandTarotRedhand Member Posts: 1,481
    I would change the source of 2da files from the one mentioned above to this one from the vault -

    NWN EE: 8193.28 Full 2DA source

    Yata is still available and maintained. With EE you now have an alternative to the override folder (never, ever use the ovr folder for the reasons mentioned above), the development folder. Remember to put whatever you develop in either folder, into a hak file as soon as you've got stuff working correctly otherwise you can seriously screw up any module you play as they weren't designed with your changes in mind.

    TR
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