1201 replies to this topic

[Argent77]

Hi,
recent version can't detect the type of my classic BG2 game automatically:

NI expects "BGConfig.exe" in the game directory to successfully detect oBG2. I don't see it in your file list.

[ALIEN]

Yep, that was it. Thanks!

[Yovaneth]

Small suggestion (only because it's irritating me!   ). On the Area Viewer, if you check 'Display search map', would it be possible to auto-display a list of what the colours mean in the 'Mini maps' area? When you move off 'Display search map', auto-hide the list.

 

-Y-

[Argent77]

Small suggestion (only because it's irritating me!   ). On the Area Viewer, if you check 'Display search map', would it be possible to auto-display a list of what the colours mean in the 'Mini maps' area? When you move off 'Display search map', auto-hide the list.

 

-Y-

You could always open the IESDP page for search maps: https://gibberlings3...ces/search.html

But I'll see if I can also find a good way to provide some info in the area viewer itself.

[Argent77]

Update: NearInfinity v2.4-20250611

Changelog:

• Reference search: Removed "GAM" file type from the default selection
• Improved BIFF path detection for original games in case the game's ini path definitions are incorrect
• Improved wording of labels and tooltips for the context menu entries to apply a value to all removable structures
• Creature Animation Browser: Added option to export animation sequences as a series of PNG images (one image per frame)
• Area Viewer:
  • If minimap layers are enabled (search, light or height map) then additional information about the coordinate under the mouse cursor is displayed in the info box
  • Added support for ENTRIES.2DA entrance definitions
  • Fixed slightly off-center ranged ambient icons
• Added more filters to the BAM Converter:
  • Color filter "Gaussian Blur"
  • Color filter "Edge Detection"
  • Transform filter "Resize": Added "Lanczos" scaling algorithm
  • Transform filter "Rotate": Added support for arbitrary angles
• Improved Mass Exporter:
  • Redesigned the GUI: Options are splitted into two sections to optimize dialog size
  • Added a Preview button that lists the resources matching the current export settings
  • Added a "Preselect exported files" option that allows to control which files should be exported
  • Added option "Close dialog after export"
• WMP Viewer: A click on a worldmap icon automatically selects the entry in the area list; a click with pressed CTRL key will unselect the current entry
• WMP Viewer: Virtual worldmap icon definitions (via XNEWAREA.2DA) should not be applied to WMP resources in saved games
• ITM View tab shows all available icon frames (e.g. if equipped and dragged variants exist)
• Open external file: Shows a confirmation dialog if file is very big
• Added a "Follow system color scheme" option to the Look&Feel section of the Preferences dialog which automatically selects a light or dark theme depending on current OS settings
• Added new color theme "BCS Dark" for BCS and DLG tree view
• Added "Specifics" field to CRE View tab
• Added display of human-readable in-game date and time on the View tab of GAM resources
• Added a "Sync" button to resource views that restores the resource tree selection of the currently opened resource
• Updated CRE status flags: BG2 and EE games repurpose bit 19 (DISEASED) to track the Deactivate() script action
• Updated supported resource types for IWD and IWD2 in opcode 206
• Improved text and resource fields in structured resources to prevent accidental alterations of content unless they were explicitly modified by the user (required for some new EEex features)
• "Find resource" (quick search) should not prefer game resources in saved games if they also exist as regular game resources (e.g. BALDUR.GAM)
• Deprecated Preferences option "Ignore Override". Option is largely superceded by the resource option "Open biffed resource in new window" and will be removed in a future release.
• Fixed icon display in list controls if filter mode is enabled
• Fixed display of the CRE kit field after restoring a manual field type conversion
• Fixed strref field updates without marking the file as "modified" under certain conditions
• Fixed potential freezes when using the "Find resource" (quick search) feature that could happen under very specific circumstances
• Cosmetic fix in saved results of search operations that filters out internally used regular expression markers
• Updated build.xml: Added "release" attribute that is considered by JDK 9 or later
• Various internal fixes and optimizations

[Andrea C.]

Is the latest build supposed to run on Windows XP 32bit? If not, what is the latest release that does?

[Argent77]

Is the latest build supposed to run on Windows XP 32bit? If not, what is the latest release that does?

Yes, recent NI versions should still run on 32-bit Windows. At least theoretically. You may run out of memory if you use some of the more demanding features though (such as the area viewer).

[Argent77]

Update: NearInfinity v2.4-20260109

Changelog:

• Added several new Look and Feel themes for the app
• Added "InfinityLoader.exe" to the default list of game launchers if available
• Added Preferences option to enable or disable the warning dialog when opening the string table editor
• Saved games: Added option to export GAM > PartyNPC as CHR or CRE resource
• STO: Added options to sort store items by name
• Greatly improved performance of the Find resource (Quick Search) feature (especially noticeable on Linux)
• Improved the MUS playlist parser
• Improved feedback for unsuccessful WeiDU changelog operations
• Improved display of the result table for a WeiDU changelog operation
• Improved usability of opcode 319 by providing a customized "Power" parameter
• Improved parameter representation for opcode 342
• Updated opcode 112 parameters
• Updated opcode 303 parameters
• Updated field types in WED resources
• Expanded file type list for BCS reference search
• Slightly improved error handling if dialog.tlk is not available
• Several minor improvements to the "StringRef Lookup" dialog
• Area Viewer: Current viewport center is preserved when changing zoom level
• Area Viewer: Added keyboard shortcuts for Viewer Settings and Update Map
• Area Viewer: Updating map content also updates the enabled state of layer controls
• Area Viewer: Added context menu to copy current map position to the clipboard
• Area Viewer: Added option to display (un)explored regions of the map
• Area Viewer: Info box displays tile index at cursor position
• Area Viewer: Added option to drop pins for marking positions on the map
  • Added new "Pins" layer
  • Added context menu entries to add or remove pins
  • Pins are non-persistent but can be saved to or loaded from an external file (VMAP file type)
  • VMAP files can be explicitly opened with NI's "Open external file" feature
• BAM Converter: Relaxed frame definitions in session files
  • Frame paths can be relative to the session file path
  • Frame indices are now optional and default to 0 if not specified
  • Session export relativizes frame paths automatically if possible
• Removed deprecated "Ignore Override" option (superseded by "Open biffed resource" feature)
• Unified result windows for check and search operations
• Fixed BAM V2 encoding issues that caused glitched texture mapping under certain conditions
• Fixed biff list initialization in "Edit Biff" dialog if no resource entries are available
• Fixed context menu not opening in the resource tree for games with unmerged DLC archives
• Fixed LUA color scheme control being initially disabled in the Preferences dialog
• Structured resources: Fixed "Apply to all substructures" feature if a field type was manually changed to one of the predefined datatypes
• Current color scheme is applied to the clipboard viewer and debug console windows
• Disabled option to remove PartyNPC structures in GAM resources to prevent potential file corruption
• Many more internal updates and fixes

[Argent77]

Update: NearInfinity v2.4-20260111

This is a small follow-up release that mostly fixes usability of creature inventory slots.

Changelog:

• Greatly improved CRE inventory slot representation (that also fixes a regression from the previous release)
• Fixed signedness of the CRE Lore field
• Various internal cleanups

[Argent77]

Update: NearInfinity v2.4-20260322

Changelog:

• Near Infinity can now be opened on empty game installations to modify external files (e.g. saved games)
  • For technical reasons a "chitin.key" file is still required, but it can be anything renamed to "chitin.key".
  • A game type that matches the files to be edited should be selected to avoid potential file corruptions on save operations.
• Improved string search:
  • Search text is highlighted in matching string entries (StringRef Lookup, String Table Editor, Check for unused strings)
  • Added support for unicode characters in a case-insensitive search
  • Improved error messages for syntax errors in regular expressions
  • Updated text component library
• Added new feature "Spell Abilities Generator":
  • Auto-generates level-scaled spell ability structures based on a great number of customizable parameters
• Added a "Clear value" button to "Unknown" resource fields that can be used to quickly zeroize unused content
• Added context menu option to export Effect structures in CRE/ITM/SPL resources as external EFF files
• Added option to EFF resources to copy the file content to the clipboard for use as Effect structures in CRE/ITM/SPL resources
• Added Preferences option to "Sort Override Files in Resource Tree by Type"
• Overhauled graphics conversion dialogs for BMP, MOS, PVRZ, and TIS files
• Shortcut Ctrl-C on resources in the resource tree can be used to copy-paste the resource in the system's file explorer
• WMP Viewer: Expanded "Show map icons" by option to display only map icons that are marked as "visible" on the worldmap
• BAM Converter:
  • Added Super xBR scaling to filter "Resize BAM Frames"
  • "Long-tap" on the "Add cycle(s)" button allows to add a user-defined number of cycles at once
  • Several improvements to the UI layout
  • Added option to activate or deactivate defined filters temporarily
  • Added scroll bars to preview display which are shown if the preview image is bigger than the preview window
• Improved display of relative offsets in substructures
• Improved error messages when loading graphics files
• Improved usability of color picker UI control that is used by several opcodes
• Improved labels of ITM unusability flags for mages and druids
• Context menu option "Open biffed resource" is now available in all resource display modes
• Updated fields in ARE "tiled objects" structures
• Improved name of opcode 250
• Removed unused field from WED overlay tilemap structures
• Dice fields in effects and abilities are treated as unsigned numbers
• Fixed DLG export as WeiDU .D file for resources in DLC archives
• Fixed context menu option "Create zip archive" for saved games and also added to NI's File menu
• Fixed display issue with SPLPROT "Creature type" labels used by opcodes 318/324/326
• Fixed several potential issues when copy-pasting resource substructures
• Fixed orientations in type B000 (AMBIENT_STATIC) creature animations
• Fixed removal of resource selection in the resource tree when pressing shortcut Ctrl-C
• Several more smaller fixes and updates

[Nathan82]

Would it be possible to add an option to export some files in a .csv format?

So, for example, you could run changelog on an item and then export all the versions to a .csv file to be able to easily compare them?

[Argent77]

Would it be possible to add an option to export some files in a .csv format?

So, for example, you could run changelog on an item and then export all the versions to a .csv file to be able to easily compare them?

Yes, having a machine-readable output format would be useful. Not only for the WeiDU changelog table. I'll see what I can do.

[Argent77]

Update: NearInfinity v2.4-20260616

Changelog:

• ARE: Improved area type flag labels in PSTEE
• GAM: Fixed file corruption when removing party member structures
• GAM: Added options for adding and removing (non-)party member structures
• SPL: Updated exclusion flags
• WED: Added options for adding and removing substructures of any kind
• WED: Added option to rebuild wallgroups section
• WED: Added fields "Animation speed" and "Rendering flags" to tilemaps structures
• WMP: Added options for adding and removing substructures of any kind (except Map)
• BAM Converter: Fixed list of cycle frames not always updating when selecting a cycle entry
• BAM Converter: Improved color exclusion dialog used by color filters
  • Color boxes scale according to screen resolution
  • Shift-click selects multiple color entries in a row
  • Added option to sort palette colors
  • Added option to store and restore color selections

• Text search > DLG: Added option to toggle search in state and response text structures on or off (can speed up search for script code)
• Added arm64 target to Linux AppImage packages (thanks Luke)
• Added option "Calculate bounding box" to polygon-related substructures in ARE and WED resources
• Added option to list MVE resources in the resource tree in IWD2
• Added Preferences option "Use Lowercased Filenames on Export" that automatically lowercases names of biffed resources on save and export operations
• Added CSV export option for results of search and check operations
• Added autoplay option to the WAV resource viewer
• Added zoom option to BAM resource viewer
• Added "ARE" resource type to the Find Resources dialog: searches for named areas (labels are fetched either from WMP entries or BGEE.lua tables)
• Added EEex-specific features to ITM resource flags and several opcodes (thanks Luke)
• Marked "Extended Search" as deprecated and will be removed in a future release (feature hasn't been maintained for some time)
• Improved parsing of biff resources (works around potential packaging errors in game patches)
• Improved context menu option to open resource references in text files: Entries in CLABxxx.2DA files are properly parsed
• Improved DLG state parent search logic which reduces likelihood of marking dialog states as orphaned in the Tree view (thanks podcherklife)
• Updated opcode 219 parameters
• Updated CRE animation field size
• Fixed opening of non-existing "memorized spells" entries in CRE view tabs
• Fixed a cosmetic display issue with area labels in the WMP viewer
• Fixed an issue in context menu option to open resource references in text files that failed if the resource reference was found at the end of a line
• Fixed potential parse errors when loading the biffed version of overridden BAM, MOS, or TIS resources
• Many internal fixes, improvements, and optimizations

[Vlan]

Hey there, I have some problem with editing the dialog.tlk file. 

 

For example, starting up the editor, editing the dialog.tlk works fine, but as soon as I do some cross referencing, like checking out an area script, open up a .CRE file that is linked in the area script, then try to edit this creatures .dlg file by using View/Edit, and then add a new entry to the dialog.tlk, it always freezes the whole editor. Task Manager shows me that the NearInfinity is only using 800MB, and the Editor says that I have 7200MB available. 

Edited by Vlan, 14 July 2026 - 01:49 AM.

[Argent77]

Hey there, I have some problem with editing the dialog.tlk file. 

 

For example, starting up the editor, editing the dialog.tlk works fine, but as soon as I do some cross referencing, like checking out an area script, open up a .CRE file that is linked in the area script, then try to edit this creatures .dlg file by using View/Edit, and then add a new entry to the dialog.tlk, it always freezes the whole editor. Task Manager shows me that the NearInfinity is only using 800MB, and the Editor says that I have 7200MB available. 

 

The same issue happened to me occasionally in the past, but I could never find a reliable repro case. Unfortunately, the steps you described don't cause to freeze the string editor on my system either.

[Vlan]

Well, I have to say that my dialog.tlk file has like 360042 strrefs, and my overall install has more than 100.000 files. Still, I can 100% reproduce this problem by opening up a .CRE file from the .BSC of an area ("Open", or "Open in New Window"-option), and then try to edit the .CRE's dialogue (adding a new strref in the dialog.tlk). 

Edited by Vlan, 14 July 2026 - 10:10 AM.

[Isewein]

I know there isn't a comprehensive tutorial, but is there a basic introduction somewhere as to how to read and edit dialogues with NI (in order to troubleshoot)? For instance, what does "First Response Index" in individual states mean? And what decides whether a certain trigger-conditioned dialogue state is read as the root of a dialogue tree or an orphaned state?

[Argent77]

I know there isn't a comprehensive tutorial, but is there a basic introduction somewhere as to how to read and edit dialogues with NI (in order to troubleshoot)? For instance, what does "First Response Index" in individual states mean? And what decides whether a certain trigger-conditioned dialogue state is read as the root of a dialogue tree or an orphaned state?

I don't know about specific tutorials. However, there is the Near Infinity Wiki which explains many features. Cam's modding tutorials on Youtube also use Near Infinity extensively, including working with dialogs, so they might be helpful, too.

 

About the dialog questions, NI presents the dialog structure on the "Edit" tab on a fundamental level, basically how the structure is defined in the DLG resource. IESDP provides a good summary of the DLG structure. "First response index" and "# responses" defines the range of "Response" structures that are listed below a state in the dialog window (where the player usually can choose a reply from). The general flow of a dialog is recreated in the "Tree" view.

 

Only states with a defined non-empty script trigger can be used by the engine as an opening state, however. The index of the referenced trigger structure defines the order of execution, i.e. the state with the lowest trigger index that meets the condition is used to start the dialog. An orphaned state is basically a state that isn't referenced by any dialogs in the game. Detection of orphaned states is a bit unreliable in NI.

 

However, modders usually don't work on that level of the file structure when patching dialogs. WeiDU provides a special dialog syntax and a great number of functions to make working with dialogs a lot easier.

[Isewein]

Thank you, that clears up some confusion.

 

The index of the referenced trigger structure defines the order of execution, i.e. the state with the lowest trigger index that meets the condition is used to start the dialog.

I always thought this was handled by WEIGHT. If both conflict, I assume a lower WEIGHT takes precedence?

[Argent77]

WEIGHT is the high-level WeiDU counterpart. Internally it just tinkers with the order of the state trigger indices.