This page is somewhat
outdated.
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Last updated:
May 13, 2003 12:59
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| Text files (2DA, IDS, INI, BIO, RES) |
| The displayed text may be edited
directly.
Buttons:
- Find > in all (type) files
Allows you search through all files of the selected type (for example
2DA) for a specific string. The find dialog should be familiar
to users of Internet Explorer. Search hits will be highlighted.
- Find > in this file
Same as above only limited to the displayed file.
- Export
Allows you to export the selected resource to an external file.
Note that the last saved version is used.
- Save
Allows you to save an edited version to the override-folder. Read
more about editing.
Known bugs and weaknesses:
The find options only work if they are present in the main content
area.
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| Structures (ARE,CHU,CHR,CRE,EFF,ITM,PRO,SPL,SRC,STO,VVC,WED,WFX,WMP) |
For documentation of the different
structures, check out either The
Infinity Engine File Format Hacking Project or
the Infinity
Engine Structures Description Project. Editing
of structures is described on the using NI-page.
Buttons:
- Add... / Remove
These buttons are discussed on the using
NI-page
- Find > References to this file
Searches through all ARE, CRE, CHR, CHU, DLG, EFF, ITM, PRO,
SPL, STO, VVC, WED and WMP files for references to the currently
displayed file. The image below shows a example result. (References
to BEHOLD01.CRE)
- Find > Selected attribute
Allows you to select an attribute and search through all
files of the same type as the one displayed for a specific
value.
- View/Edit
Structures may contain other structures and attributes may
contain references to other resources (scripts, sounds etc.).
This button
allows you to open up a new window with the contained structure
/ referenced resource.
Known bugs and weaknesses:
Lots of the structures have attributes which meaning is unknown
to me (at this time). |
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| Images (BMP, MOS, PLT, TIS) |
Known bugs and weaknesses:
The color of PLT-images (paper dolls) is probably not correct. |
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| Scripts (BCS, BS) |
| The top frame shows the compiled
script as it exists in the game. Although you can edit this text
directly, this is probably not very useful given its highly cryptic
format.
More useful is the display of the decompiled script. In this form,
the script is in fact almost readable. The format of script sources
is documented in "Scripting Quick Reference.doc" in the "script
compiler" directory of Baldur's Gate 2 (And in similar documents
for other games.)
Buttons:
- Compile
Compiles the source present in the lower frame and displays the
result in the top frame. If any error occur, they are displayed
in a window as shown below. The line containing the error is
highlighted.
- Decompile
Decompiles the compiled script in the top frame and displays
the resulting source in the lower frame. This is done automatically
each time you access a new script.
- Save source
Allows you to export the source displayed in the lower frame.
Known bugs and weaknesses:
None
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| Animations (BAM) |
| BAM-files are used to store
animations, single frames and palettes (what a mess...). Each file
may contain several different animations.
Buttons:
- < Anim / Anim >
Selects previous and next animation.
- < Frame / Frame >
Selects previous and next frame in the selected animation.
- Play
Plays the selected animation at 10 fps in a endless loop. Press
'Play' again to stop.
Known bugs and weaknesses:
None |
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| Dialogs (DLG) |
| Read about the structure of
dialogs at The
Infinity Engine File Format Hacking Project: DLG files.
(Note that I have renamed 'Transition' to 'Response')
Buttons:
- Previous state / Next state
- Previous response / Next response
- Select response
Allows you to follow dialogs by selecting the currently displayed
response. The resulting state will then be displayed (dialogs
involving several dialog-files are supported).
The "Edit dialog"-tab allows editing of dialogs similar
to structures (described above). Known bugs and weaknesses:
If you are examining a dialog in a window other than the main
window, dialogs involving several different dialog-files will
not work properly. |
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| Music (MUS) |
| Read the notice about sound
on the download-page.
Songs in Infinity Engine games consists of several separate sound
clips played in order. The playlist displays the different clips
in the selected song and highlight the clip that is currently playing.
Buttons:
- Play
Starts the playback (always from the beginning).
- End
Many songs (typically battle-music) has special sound clips that
are played in order to stop the music in a natural way. If such
a clip is not present, Near Infinity will simply stop after the
current clip.
- Stop
Stops the playback as soon as possible.
Known bugs and weaknesses:
There is a slight pause between each sound clip in a song (annoying,
isn't it?).
No editing of MUS-scripts is possible (would anyone want to?). |
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| Sounds (WAV) |
| Read the notice about sound
on the download-page.
Known bugs and weaknesses:
In order to play sounds, Near Infinity first runs acm2wav.exe in
order to generate a playable WAV-file. This temporary file may
in some cases not be deleted by Near Infinity on exit. |
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| Movies (MVE) |
| In order to play the movies,
Near Infinity will write a file called _tempmov.exe to the directory
where Near Infinity was started from. This temporary file will be
deleted automatically when it's not needed anymore.
Buttons:
- Play Movie
Starts the playback of the movie. To stop, press the ESC-key.
Known bugs and weaknesses:
If there isn't enought space left on the disc to write _tempmov.exe,
bad things will happen.
Near Infinity might have troubles launching very lagre movies. |
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