7 replies to this topic

[Boradordin]

Been out of the loop for several years now and getting back into the swing of things. Though I still have my original disks I actually spent the money and bought a whole new set for back up purposes.

After having seen the advancements, a pleasant surprise!, over the years I am even more confused than ever as to what to install first. And yes, I want the whole kit and kaboodle and nothing less! So I download the Big World Project latest version and began the process. Looking over at ReEdit I followed the directions only to come to the realization the author was not too bright. 'Nuff said.

After I got down into installing BWS I came to the realization that a sizable chunk of the modules were missing. There were too many entries with the "Archive Modders.rar is missing." statements. After a three day travel through the Internet I now have the files I need for the exception of four or five. Here is my question.

The best site I found was the German Baldur's Gate web site and the accompanying forum. A truly wonderful site covering many of those hard to find modules. If it does not take you directly to the site containing the module it at least gets you close. My compliments to the moderator.

Here is what I would propose. A site much along the same lines as the German one with links to the modules I see people complaining about not being able to locate. I can see a site, with the much needed acknowledgment to the original author, whereby it would mirror the files. I would set the site up using the Joomla Content Management System I which I have familiarity with on my own server. It would not be a pay-for-play site.

Any thoughts on the subject?

[Jarno Mikkola]

Looking over at ReEdit I followed the directions only to come to the realization the author was not too bright. 'Nuff said.

Right, and you are an idiot, as:

Any thoughts on the subject?

This topic should be here.

You might have had just a bad turn in the BWS, and that's a reason why there was a lot of missing archives. The Beta should be more up to date, now.

PS: the BWS actually uses the links in the above mentioned site...

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 20 April 2011 - 06:20 AM.

[Choo Choo]

Jarno... Calling Spider, or anyone, an idiot for making such a small mistake as posting in the wrong forum is inappropriate, offensive and, well, stupid. Please refrain from doing it again. Thank you.

Thread moved to Mega Mod Help. I hope someone can solve your problem, Spider - and welcome back to the community!

Edited by Choo Choo, 20 April 2011 - 09:00 AM.

[Boradordin]

Jarno... Calling Spider, or anyone, an idiot for making such a small mistake as posting in the wrong forum is inappropriate, offensive and, well, stupid. Please refrain from doing it again. Thank you.

Thread moved to Mega Mod Help. I hope someone can solve your problem, Spider - and welcome back to the community!

Thanks Choo Choo,

Water, Duck, Back, to the comment made and I appreciate your moving the posed question to where it belongs. As for my suggestion I'm going to run with it. Yes, you were likely right about the bad run on BWS and I'm going to give it another run for fun and curiosity purposes. I know some of the missing files were because of typo errors in the "where is" URLs. An easily understood problem when you understand the undertaking the authors took on themselves. Some of the URLs were dead sites and I was able to find the files on other sites.

Best thing I can do is give links much as the German Baldur's Gate site did, again an excellent site, to the original author or group site and then, just in case provide a mirror service. Out of the hundreds listed I could only not locate some four or five which was I think was pretty lucky. I'm setting up a domain just now and deciding on which site template to go with. It was fun to the 9's to run through everyone's dusty attics though. A true treasureable community other than the odd Duck. Think of it as giving back with what I do know how to do.

Cheers.

[Sir Darian]

A truly wonderful site (...) My compliments to the moderator.

Thanks for the compliment, it means a lot to me.
I am the admin and site owner of the Kerzenburg (Candlekeep) Forum.

The "list of links", as we call it, was progammed by my Co-Admin Durandil and was filled and is updated with content by the community.
If I can offer any help to your proposition, let me know.

[Boradordin]

A truly wonderful site (...) My compliments to the moderator.

Thanks for the compliment, it means a lot to me.
I am the admin and site owner of the Kerzenburg (Candlekeep) Forum.

The "list of links", as we call it, was progammed by my Co-Admin Durandil and was filled and is updated with content by the community.
If I can offer any help to your proposition, let me know.

Guten Morgen Sir Darian,

Sie sind Willkommen and credit where credit is due which is the extent of my German. At present the only thing I need is a method to "pull" all of the images from BG1 and BG2 plus the expansions and mods. I have the Photoshop TIS filters and played early this morning with some TIS files I found on my drive. But just how to go about creating the TIS files and putting them all into a directory for each game is beyond my knowledge of the Infinity Engine. Once I have them all in one place I can write a Photoshop script to import and save the files as high-quality PSDs. It would be preferable to have the images at no less than 300ppi. And I am assuming there is some place where the tile width of each TIS is stored so the import filter can be set properly. Just now I am guessing at the tile width.

The same applies to the portraits and items and I believe that is a different set of routines to acquire the BMP images in a sufficient resolution. Any help gaining access to the various images I would require would be much appreciated. This also somewhat applies to the character images that would be used while exploring a map. I want to get the front matter of the site up and running first then I will direct my attention to the links to the files. I will try to send you a PM with a link to the proposed site.

[Jarno Mikkola]

But just how to go about creating the TIS files and putting them all into a directory for each game is beyond my knowledge of the Infinity Engine.

Well, you just export them... you can do that with Near Infinity. It's a Java program, and you should use the latest version of it... v1.33b20(the last file in the linked post).

What that has to do with the... I don't know, but you asked.

[Boradordin]

But just how to go about creating the TIS files and putting them all into a directory for each game is beyond my knowledge of the Infinity Engine.

Well, you just export them... you can do that with Near Infinity. It's a Java program, and you should use the latest version of it... v1.33b20(the last file in the linked post).

What that has to do with the... I don't know, but you asked.

Thank you Jarno as I was looking for the latest version. Now just how do I tell how many tiles wide to set each TIS when I import into Photoshop? I think, but am not sure, that while using Near Infinity (as per your suggestion) that it contains the area information in the MOS or WED file for each area. Looking at a WED file and then the TIS file I am fairly certain that the WED should contain the width information. I exported AR0011.TIS using Near Infinity but was unable to open the TIS file in Photoshop. The import and export TIS filter set I am using I found years ago online and the ZIP file is named TBGGPP(02).zip.

However, using an older version of DLTC Editor Pro (ver. 7.1) I can successfully export the TIS file and open it up using the TIS import filter into Photoshop. As long as DLTC does the export that is all I need. Now to figure out which file the width data is in.

Ah hah!!! Using Near Infinity and DLTC I figured out my workflow. Remember, all I need is high quality images for use in Photoshop and I am not doing any game development. I open Near Infinity and load my game file and do the same in DLTC. In NI I look at the WED file within which the first Overlay line gives me the width and heighth. Using DLTC I then load a TIS file and save it. Opening Photoshop CS4 I then import the TIS file exported by DLTC and give it the information from the WED file.

Yes, an odd way to do things but it fills my need. Obviously my TIS import filter for Photoshop is out of date for files exported using Near Infinity. A shame! Any idea how to get images from the BAM files for use in Photoshop?

Thanks for the link and the suggestion.