so i made a "new" area ( by copy pasting an already existing area ) and everything so far is honky doory, except for the fact that for the life of me, i cannot get the travel icon to appear in game when i warp to this area
does NI possess the ability to make it so i can travel to the world map when i put the cursor at the edge of the screen?
Worldmap travel is triggered through the search map of an area. More specifically, search bitmap pixels of color index 14 (IESDP info).
my brain must be smoother than eggs because for the life of me i cant find any "search map" option anywhere nevermind being able to edit it
An area in the Infinity Engine is made up of several files; ARE, TIS, WED, MOS, BMP and, depending on the complexity of the area, references to BCS, CRE, ITM, BAM and ACM files. The role of each file type is outlined below, based on area AR0001 and standard naming conventions:
AR0001.TIS contains the area graphics
AR0001.WED contains the area region information (wall groups, alternate tiles, doors etc.)
AR0001.MOS contains the area minimap graphics (unused in BGEE)
AR0001.ARE contains the area definition (area type, animations, containers etc.)
An area in the Infinity Engine is made up of several files; ARE, TIS, WED, MOS, BMP and, depending on the complexity of the area, references to BCS, CRE, ITM, BAM and ACM files. The role of each file type is outlined below, based on area AR0001 and standard naming conventions:
AR0001.TIS contains the area graphics
AR0001.WED contains the area region information (wall groups, alternate tiles, doors etc.)
AR0001.MOS contains the area minimap graphics (unused in BGEE)
AR0001.ARE contains the area definition (area type, animations, containers etc.)
AR0001SR.BMP contains the area search map
AR0001LM.BMP contains the area light map
AR0001HT.BMP contains the area height map
AR0001.BCS contains the area script
so i found the ARxxxxSR.BMP but can't edit it at all?
so i found the ARxxxxSR.BMP but can't edit it at all?
Export it then use an image editor (MS Paint should be fine).
Edit: Save as 4-bit/16 colour bitmap.
okay, getting close, but now im getting wonky results, so lets start from the top:
the goal is: take AR2001 ( from IWD ) basically delete everything in that area to create AR2007 to use as my "you have been waylaid by baddies..." area
so basically make it so AR2007 is a clean slate with the only travel option being in the bottom left-hand side
so at first to make this happen, i just exported AR2001 and named it AR2007 change the area script to AR2007 ( instead of AR2001 ) and then i deleted all the extra stuff and everything was all good in the hood, ( except i couldnt world travel ) but i could walk around and couldnt walk through the rocks
now to get this seach map thing to work, i had to export the 3 bmp files over to AR2007 and AR2007 wouldnt recognize them until i changed the WEB file to 2007 as well, ( which i just exported the 2001.web file and renamed it to 2007.web ) then the search map finally matched
so i load it all up, and hey, world travel now works... although now i can walk ANYWHERE in the map without collision, which i shouldnt be able to do, and even the search map itself shows that i should only be able to walk in the yellow, but for some reason i can walk anywhere
now my slight suspicion is that for some reason it wants a AR2007.TIS file as well, but the problem is, when i go to export AR2001.TIS to AR2007.TIS it just shows up as a gray box
Please could we keep such discussions in a separate thread? It would be best to reserve this thread for new versions of NI only as many people (including me) have bookmarked this thread. I would then gladly provide you with input on area editing in that separate thread.
Please could we keep such discussions in a separate thread? It would be best to reserve this thread for new versions of NI only as many people (including me) have bookmarked this thread. I would then gladly provide you with input on area editing in that separate thread.
very well, started a new thread for all near infinity trouble shooting problems:
[*]BAM Converter: fixed creation of BAM V2 resources with frames of dimensions >= 1024 pixels
Thank you for this. I only wish I realised this was a bug 5 years ago, I simply assumed you cannot create bams bigger than 1024.
Anyway, everything works perfect for bams smaller than 2048 pixels, after that there is a glitch:
But even a double size maximum is huge convenience for my current purposes.
I don't know if this is even possible or too much effort.
But what would be really great is if NI had some kind of Gaussian blur filter in the Bam Editor filter section to smooth out artifacts from rendered animations or icon bams.
But I don't want to make any extravagant requests here that nobody but me would need.
[*]BAM Converter: fixed creation of BAM V2 resources with frames of dimensions >= 1024 pixels
Thank you for this. I only wish I realised this was a bug 5 years ago, I simply assumed you cannot create bams bigger than 1024.
Anyway, everything works perfect for bams smaller than 2048 pixels, after that there is a glitch:
But even a double size maximum is huge convenience for my current purposes.
There is currently another BAM V2 issue that may cause frame graphics on pvrz textures to overlap under certain conditions. I'll try to fix it for the next release.
I don't know if this is even possible or too much effort.
But what would be really great is if NI had some kind of Gaussian blur filter in the Bam Editor filter section to smooth out artifacts from rendered animations or icon bams.
But I don't want to make any extravagant requests here that nobody but me would need.
NI version is v2.4-20250303. Also for the most recent Nightly Build. Same behavior if NearInfinity.jar is in a case-insensitive directory.
I checkd for a Linux GOG BGII install, and also opened a Windows GOG BGII install I transferred.
For "Game -> Preferences -> GUI and Text -> Show Override Files -> In ??? Folders (CRE, SPL, ...)" and "Split between ??? and Override Folders":
The FFHUNT.DLG (in capital letters, in case this matters), located in "DLG", is displayed in NI with BGII strings like posted here.
For "In Override Folder":
The ffhunt.dlg (in small letters) (now in override) is displayed with the correct BG1 strings.
Checking ingame (spawning FFHUNT.CRE per cheats), the correct BG1 strings are used.
Not sure if this is considered a bug with NI, but I'll mention it anyways. This is about the projectile list in ITMs/SPLs for games that don't use .pro files.
I noticed if a mod adds projectl.ids and missile.ids to the override of a game that doesn't use those files, NI defaults to using these for the resource list (when looking in ITMs/SPLs). This gives the wrong names in the list for many and also shows .pro resource names. In case a mod does this, a possible change to NI would be to make it so the resource list only uses those ids for EE/BG2 games.
On the player side, this issue can be fixed by removing the ids files from the override, as well as removing any .pro files if a mod added them.
Hi All - I'm getting this odd error in NI editing a script in an oBG game? Is this due to an issue with the specific SPL resource or something; or is it a NI thing; or is it characters getting somehow corrupted in Notepad++? It seems to only be this specific spell, and only with this command ('Spell') - i.e. it's not showing an error for same spell with the 'HaveSpell' command...?
Update: I am getting this for both Champions Strength and Draw Upon Holy Might - the latter has previously worked fine and NI hasn't shown any errors for it in other scripts I've been editing in this install.
TIA for any help/guidance.
(EDIT: P.S. It may look like there is a space where the cursor is, but there isn't one. This is the column position 22 in the text string if that's what it means.)
Hi All - I'm getting this odd error in NI editing a script in an oBG game? Is this due to an issue with the specific SPL resource or something; or is it a NI thing; or is it characters getting somehow corrupted in Notepad++? It seems to only be this specific spell, and only with this command ('Spell') - i.e. it's not showing an error for same spell with the 'HaveSpell' command...?
Update: I am getting this for both Champions Strength and Draw Upon Holy Might - the latter has previously worked fine and NI hasn't shown any errors for it in other scripts I've been editing in this install.
TIA for any help/guidance.
(EDIT: P.S. It may look like there is a space where the cursor is, but there isn't one. This is the column position 22 in the text string if that's what it means.)
It's a syntax error in the script action. You have to remove the left parenthesis at the cursor position.
I'm seeing odd behavior when setting timers. For example when setting the timer to 10, I expect it to be for 10 seconds. However, when I compile and save and then go back into the script, the timer is now set for TWO_MINUTES. I've noticed this for some other timers, but this is an easy example to test.
I'm seeing odd behavior when setting timers. For example when setting the timer to 10, I expect it to be for 10 seconds. However, when I compile and save and then go back into the script, the timer is now set for TWO_MINUTES. I've noticed this for some other timers, but this is an easy example to test.
That's expected behavior. GTIMES.IDS resolves 10 to TWO_MINUTES. You can see the raw number in NI if you hover the mouse cursor over the symbol.
Comments
my brain must be smoother than eggs because for the life of me i cant find any "search map" option anywhere nevermind being able to edit it
so i found the ARxxxxSR.BMP but can't edit it at all?
Export it then use an image editor (MS Paint should be fine).
Edit: Save as 4-bit/16 colour bitmap.
okay, getting close, but now im getting wonky results, so lets start from the top:
the goal is: take AR2001 ( from IWD ) basically delete everything in that area to create AR2007 to use as my "you have been waylaid by baddies..." area
so basically make it so AR2007 is a clean slate with the only travel option being in the bottom left-hand side
so at first to make this happen, i just exported AR2001 and named it AR2007 change the area script to AR2007 ( instead of AR2001 ) and then i deleted all the extra stuff and everything was all good in the hood, ( except i couldnt world travel ) but i could walk around and couldnt walk through the rocks
now to get this seach map thing to work, i had to export the 3 bmp files over to AR2007 and AR2007 wouldnt recognize them until i changed the WEB file to 2007 as well, ( which i just exported the 2001.web file and renamed it to 2007.web ) then the search map finally matched
so i load it all up, and hey, world travel now works... although now i can walk ANYWHERE in the map without collision, which i shouldnt be able to do, and even the search map itself shows that i should only be able to walk in the yellow, but for some reason i can walk anywhere
now my slight suspicion is that for some reason it wants a AR2007.TIS file as well, but the problem is, when i go to export AR2001.TIS to AR2007.TIS it just shows up as a gray box
and im at my wits end on why its acting like this
very well, started a new thread for all near infinity trouble shooting problems:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/89232/near-infinity-troubleshooting/p1?new=1
Thank you for this. I only wish I realised this was a bug 5 years ago, I simply assumed you cannot create bams bigger than 1024.
Anyway, everything works perfect for bams smaller than 2048 pixels, after that there is a glitch:
But even a double size maximum is huge convenience for my current purposes.
But what would be really great is if NI had some kind of Gaussian blur filter in the Bam Editor filter section to smooth out artifacts from rendered animations or icon bams.
But I don't want to make any extravagant requests here that nobody but me would need.
There is currently another BAM V2 issue that may cause frame graphics on pvrz textures to overlap under certain conditions. I'll try to fix it for the next release.
I have added it in my TODO list, but no promises.
NI version is v2.4-20250303. Also for the most recent Nightly Build. Same behavior if NearInfinity.jar is in a case-insensitive directory.
I checkd for a Linux GOG BGII install, and also opened a Windows GOG BGII install I transferred.
For "Game -> Preferences -> GUI and Text -> Show Override Files -> In ??? Folders (CRE, SPL, ...)" and "Split between ??? and Override Folders":
The FFHUNT.DLG (in capital letters, in case this matters), located in "DLG", is displayed in NI with BGII strings like posted here.
For "In Override Folder":
The ffhunt.dlg (in small letters) (now in override) is displayed with the correct BG1 strings.
Checking ingame (spawning FFHUNT.CRE per cheats), the correct BG1 strings are used.
More context here: http://www.shsforums.net/topic/62076-v1231-ffhuntdlg-is-scrambled/?p=617599
I noticed if a mod adds projectl.ids and missile.ids to the override of a game that doesn't use those files, NI defaults to using these for the resource list (when looking in ITMs/SPLs). This gives the wrong names in the list for many and also shows .pro resource names. In case a mod does this, a possible change to NI would be to make it so the resource list only uses those ids for EE/BG2 games.
On the player side, this issue can be fixed by removing the ids files from the override, as well as removing any .pro files if a mod added them.
Update: I am getting this for both Champions Strength and Draw Upon Holy Might - the latter has previously worked fine and NI hasn't shown any errors for it in other scripts I've been editing in this install.
TIA for any help/guidance.
(EDIT: P.S. It may look like there is a space where the cursor is, but there isn't one. This is the column position 22 in the text string if that's what it means.)
It's a syntax error in the script action. You have to remove the left parenthesis at the cursor position.
Thanks A77! That was a bit obvious in hindsight.
Appreciate quick response.
That's expected behavior. GTIMES.IDS resolves 10 to TWO_MINUTES. You can see the raw number in NI if you hover the mouse cursor over the symbol.
Edit to add: Thank you!