Kotor Tool - v1.0.2210.16738 (2006-1-19 12:38)

Fred Tetra · 01-19-2004, 05:21 AM

NOTE: Kotor Tool current version: v1.0.2210.16738 (2006-1-19 12:38)

You can download it at:
Kotor Tool site

You can check out the new features that will be in the next release here

For those who take the time for README files...

kotor_tool readme.txt

Some features of Kotor Tool:

*ERF Builder - create your own .mod/.erf/.hak/.sav files

*2DA Editor

*New image viewer built in (with extract)

*Text editor now more like a "real" editor

*GFF internal format viewer

*Editors/viewers for most all GFF files (.utc,.utd,.uti,.utm,.utp,.utt, etc.)

*Dialog editor

*Search for text in game files

*Project Manager

*3D Model extractor (with helper app)

*Module editor

*and much more!

CDRSeadog · 01-19-2004, 07:28 PM

My compliments - your program seems to be working flawlessly on my machine. Where I was having a great deal of trouble getting into various chitin files - your program makes the opening and editing of files a breeze.

With this newest tool out - I am quite sure the real expert "Modders" out there are going to have a lot of fun - and soon too :-)

Kitty Kitty · 01-19-2004, 07:53 PM

Indeed. I've also played around with it a bit and it seems to work quite well so far.

I can't wait to see how this shapes up as you expand the functionality. With all the collective knowledge that's been starting to peek through here and there, it'd be sooooo nice to have one tool that can do just about all the various things we need to really get in and mess with KotOR.

Heck.. even if some of the functions are just "shell out" buttons that pass correct parameters to the various command line utilities others have released already it'd be a big help.

Meh.. getting ahead of myself. Whole point to this was supposed to be to say thanks for the tool, and good job.

-Kitty

*edit*
Forgot to mention... I LOVE the 2da editor. With the spreadsheet style colored cells and division lines, it makes those things a LOT easier to edit (without winding up with the wrong value in half the fields) than using notepad or the like. VERY well done.

Lil' Jawa · 01-19-2004, 08:12 PM

Very nice program, and it really has some potential too like others have said before me - it could become the swiss knife of kotor modding

keep up the good work!

andargor · 01-19-2004, 09:20 PM

From what I see from the other posters, looks like a great tool.

But it uses the .NET Framework... *sniff* (which I refuse to install... I'm a whiner, I know

)

Is it written in C++? Would you perchance make the sources available so I can hack it into vanilla VC++?

Andargor

Fred Tetra · 01-20-2004, 12:23 AM

Actually, it's written in VB.NET. Not my first choice, as I have been programming since before there was a C++ language, but I had a fair amount of reusable code from other recent projects that made it a quick-to-write task.

I haven't yet decided if I want to release the source or not at this point. Maybe at some point.

Also, though you may oppose the behemoth .NET Framework install one either size, general MS fear or just general principle, it does mind its own business quite well, as it lives in its own folder.
I run several servers with it *and& my gaming rig, all with no trouble....

*T7nowhere* · 01-20-2004, 07:47 AM

First I would like to say is that when it comes to modding I am a major noob. I don't have any programing experience so most of what is discussed in this forum is over my head. I found a link for Lil' Jawa 's Darth Revan Reincarnate 1.1 mod on the Bioware forum and was hooked into wanting to mod SW-KotOR myself,but as I said I don't have much of clue about this stuff. The only thing I have ever done is made a few mods for Civ3 and Morrowind and that was just for personal use.

I borrowed NWN off a friend to use the KOTOR BUILDER , but I couldn't figure out how to use it.

This is a sweeet app.very intuative. Even I find this program easy to use.IThink now I might actually be able to mod something for KotOR .

Thanx for this i was begginning to think it would be hopeless for me

now i just have to figure out what all thoughs file types are I understand the purpouse of the 2dA and I know I can do something fun with them

So thank you for posting this it's a really cool program

darthface · 01-20-2004, 08:38 AM

great program.. I had to update my .net framework but it ran smooth after that

Fred Tetra · 01-20-2004, 01:10 PM

Thank you all for the kind comments!

I've had the 1.1 version of the framework installed for so long I forgot that I had updated it. I'll add a note mentioning that it requires the framework and which version number to the readme file.

Thanks for the feedback!

Aven'aeris · 01-20-2004, 10:14 PM

i could be wrong, but i believe the spell.2da that comes with this mod is already decompiled. just open with notepad

eidospsogos · 01-20-2004, 10:15 PM

whoops. how did i know it would be something stupid i was doing.

i'll delete that really ugly post and get it out of the way.

Fred Tetra · 01-21-2004, 05:11 AM

Kotor Tool v1.0.1480.42651 (2004-1-21) Released today.

Main changes:

*Faster BIF tree building (~4.4x!)

*More types handled by GFF Editor

*Stopped assuming certain resource types were only found in
certain BIF/RIM files (Doh! What was I thinking... then again, look
at the posting times...)

* Added text view support for txi and vis resources

* Added Hex/Ansi/Unicode viewer

Is that enough new things for one evenings coding?

Download at link in 1st post (well, only if you want to...)

Cheers,
Fred

P.S. If any of you art-enabled folks think you have a great design for a 32 x 32 pixel icon for Kotor tool, send them my way; I'll pick one to use and give you credit for it.

*T7nowhere* · 01-21-2004, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Fred Tetra
NOTE: Just updated to Kotor Tool v1.0.1480.42651 (2004-1-21)

I wrote this tool so I could experiment with 2DA (v2.b) files and scripts.

I don't know what i did different this time ,but with Kotor Tool v1.0.1480.42651 I can't edit 2DA files.I always get error :"An unhandled exception has occurred in your application."and said it Could not find the C:\Program Files\LucasArts\SWKotORdata\2da.bif

It looks a type O in the path.

Kitty Kitty · 01-21-2004, 12:02 PM

It did that to me too. I think it's a simple clerical error.. probably when it reads its .ini file.

Anyway, there's an easy fix. Just open the tool, then click File > Manage Paths.

If you look close, you'll see the problem is, it's parsing SWKotOR and Data together as one folder name without the \ in between...

Sooo.. all I did was add a \ character to the top line (root path), and then I did a cut and paste on the third one (data path) making sure it DOES have the \ in the spot in question (which it did, but eh)..

Then I closed the path manager, closed the kotor_tool, and when I re-opened it, it worked like a dream.

Thanks again Fred. And I'm betting this "fix" workaround will be short lived.. cuz he'll prolly have it fixed in a day or two the way he's been going.

-Kitty

Fred Tetra · 01-21-2004, 01:04 PM

I did change the way I stored some of the path info and also forgot to mention that it's best (for most folks) to just toss your settings.xml file away and start fresh.

My favorite way to do the path configuration is to browse for the KotOR root path ("E:\SW_KOTOR"), then click the "V" button which fills in the rest of the important paths itself.

I was also thinking of adding a "detect installation"-type button, so if you really don't feel like browsing for the path (are we lazy, or what!) the tool will guess where your KotOR installation is from the registry info.

Fred

CDRSeadog · 01-21-2004, 06:34 PM

Once again, you have my appreciation for your hard work and efforts, Fred Tetra...

I've had some little fun with your original program - I don't know how much work I may attempt in Rim files, however - knowing my luck, I'll crash my whole computer (and that WOULD be a disaster - as I just built this thing last month as a Christmas gift to myself) *chuckles*

At any rate - got the newest - thanks again!!

Anach · 01-22-2004, 04:19 AM

no matter how i modify the paths. I still get this error " Could not find file "D:\Games\LucasArts\SWKotOR\2da.bif" "

Why is it looking in the root KOTOR dir for the "2da.bif"??

Kitty Kitty · 01-22-2004, 04:24 AM

Anach... look at the text it gives you for the error...

Quote:

System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not find file "D:\Games\LucasArts\SWKotOR\2da.bif".
File name: "D:\Games\LucasArts\SWKotOR\2da.bif"

It's looking for 2da.bif in the root KotOR folder.. which isn't gonna work. This means that somehow it's not getting your data path correct.

All I did was, added a backslash to the END of the root path and re-edited it and the data path.

So for you, manually make your root path read:
D:\Games\LucasArts\SWKotOR\ (note the final backslash)
and your data path then needs to read:
D:\Games\LucasArts\SWKotOR\data (no final backslash seems to be required here)

Also note that if you DO add a backslash to the root path, if you then use the V button, you'll get two backslashes between KotOR and whichever item comes next for most of the fields, which you don't want. (in other words it'll look like this in most other boxes: D:\Games\LucasArts\SWKotOR\\data) You can edit that manually also though, so it's not a huge deal.

-Kitty

Fred Tetra · 01-22-2004, 04:25 AM

Quote:

no matter how i modify the paths. I still get this error " Could not find file "D:\Games\LucasArts\SWKotOR\2da.bif" "

Because I code until around 1:30 am

There's a new version v1.0.1481.27506 now available for download.

Fixed a few bugs, add ERF support, including tpc viewing (though you'll need to have tpc2tga and an image viewer installed.)

Fred

Kitty Kitty · 01-22-2004, 04:35 AM

MMmmmmm.... image viewing and direct conversion... sweet =)

I know this is getting pretty redundant.. but can't help saying nice job Fred.

-Kitty

Fred Tetra · 01-22-2004, 04:53 AM

OK, so I've put in most of the things I wanted in this app.

So what do you folks think would be the most handy to have?

Some ideas:

* ERF/BIF/RIM builders

* Integrated image viewing

* Script compiling/decompiling (integrated or external app-based)

* 2DA v2.b<->2DA v2.0 conversion

Let's hear your ideas! (Oh, and I still need a better icon. Anyone?)

Kitty Kitty · 01-22-2004, 05:15 AM

All those sound good.. BUT..

As my vote, I'd say priority one would be a script decompiler/compiler since we can't do that yet.

Yes, we have compilers, but that lets us change only what we have source provided for.. meaning any scripts inside the modules are about as good as being hardcoded for the time being.

If someone could come up with a proper decompiler for those, we could gain a lot of access we don't currently have.

Just my 2 cents.

-Kitty

Akira X · 01-22-2004, 05:35 AM

well i finally got it to work now I'm just trying to understand the feats and featgaining system.

Lofte · 01-22-2004, 10:17 AM

firstly just want to say thanks to Fred for the Effort, well done!

I have a question regarding attributes, i have succesfully modded the feats and powers but cannot find how to do mod the attribute level gains. Anyone got any ideas?

darthface · 01-22-2004, 10:58 AM

Great update, but I'm wondering if any of the file format wizards know why the PO_* files in the gui texture pack don't seem to be converting right, I'm positive that's where the character portrait images are.

Stator · 01-22-2004, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lofte
firstly just want to say thanks to Fred for the Effort, well done!

I have a question regarding attributes, i have succesfully modded the feats and powers but cannot find how to do mod the attribute level gains. Anyone got any ideas?

I'm not sure about adjusting the number of attribute points given on level up since I never looked. I do know that you can adjust the starting points in the classes.2da file. In there you will find the preset numbers that the game use when you click the recommend button. These can be adjusted so that a new character starts with all 18's for example. Hope that helps some.

Stator

Fred Tetra · 01-22-2004, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by darthface
Great update, but I'm wondering if any of the file format wizards know why the PO_* files in the gui texture pack don't seem to be converting right, I'm positive that's where the character portrait images are.

The person named Eiz wrote the tpc2tga converter and I know from reading the thread that it was quite difficult to decode the sub-formats that are supported right now. Hopefully the work will continue and we'll be able to convert all of them.

Lil' Jawa · 01-22-2004, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kitty Kitty
All those sound good.. BUT..

As my vote, I'd say priority one would be a script decompiler/compiler since we can't do that yet.

Yes, we have compilers, but that lets us change only what we have source provided for.. meaning any scripts inside the modules are about as good as being hardcoded for the time being.

If someone could come up with a proper decompiler for those, we could gain a lot of access we don't currently have.

Just my 2 cents.

-Kitty

I don't see how one would decompile binary machine code back to asci nss, Bioware themselves had to include sources for their scripts in NWN they didn't(or couldn't) make a decompiler?
But if it is possible I definately think Fred Tetra can do it

Otherwise perhaps we could nag Bioware to release the sources for module scripts, maybe make a petition or something if you really must have them.

darthface · 01-22-2004, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lil' Jawa
I don't see how one would decompile binary machine code back to asci nss, Bioware themselves had to include sources for their scripts in NWN they didn't(or couldn't) make a decompiler?
But if it is possible I definately think Fred Tetra can do it

Otherwise perhaps we could nag Bioware to release the sources for module scripts, maybe make a petition or something if you really must have them.

I doubt it will ever happen, based on the nazi brutality bioware uses to deal with any mention of mods on their boards.

Fred Tetra · 01-22-2004, 02:27 PM

I take it they don't like mods, eh? But how bad can they be about it?

andargor · 01-22-2004, 04:20 PM

Bioware loves mods. NWN Toolset anyone?

The problem is LucasArts.

Andargor

Anach · 01-22-2004, 04:25 PM

Thanks mate. beauty

firehawk12 · 01-22-2004, 04:26 PM

Hi, when I run the program, I get the follow error when I try to extract a file:

Could not find a part of the path"E:\SWkotORdata\2da.bif".

For some reason, it seems to be missing a '\' between the 'SWkotOR' and the 'data'.

Am I doing something wrong?

Anach · 01-22-2004, 05:04 PM

get the new version released 22nd Firehawk

Only trouble with this release, where has the Editor button gone?

I now have to extract, then go to the menu to view 2da.

Lil' Jawa · 01-22-2004, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by andargor
Bioware loves mods. NWN Toolset anyone?

The problem is LucasArts.

Andargor

Then why are we sitting here posting on Lucasforums while every thread that as much as touches the aspect of modification is locked instantaneously on bioware boards?

kyrellic · 01-22-2004, 06:17 PM

A) LucasForums isn't a Lucas owned site.
B) BioWare cannot show support for any mods for this game because of licensing issues with Lucas. That is also why this isn't a straight up Aurora engine setup as far as files go. The 2da's were compiled, etc. to make it more difficult to modify.
C) Bioware actually does support mods to games that they are allowed to support them on.

Fred Tetra · 01-22-2004, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Anach

Only trouble with this release, where has the Editor button gone?

I now have to extract, then go to the menu to view 2da.

Double-click on any tree leaf (anything without something below it) and if and editor or viewer is available for it, it will open.

Anach · 01-22-2004, 06:48 PM

of course, thanks, how easy, i guess this was in the readme that i didnt read??

I should slap myself, or let you do it.

cheers again.

eidospsogos · 01-22-2004, 11:30 PM

you people can blame LA all you want for the modding difficulty. but modding has not been discouraged or shut down on any other LA game until KotOR. i remember downloading mods for LA games as far back as Dark Forces. and ravebn HAS released toolsets for the last two releases in the Jedi Knight series.

so what if bioware released one game with a toolset. that does not make them the mod-friendly community of the decade. they released the toolset with this game because it was one of the games marketed selling points. it was a marketing strategy plain and simple. maybe the reason KotOR didn't get a toolset is because they didn't make enough money with that particular ploy.

as far as i'm concerned, any primarily PC RPG company that throws themself into a contract with microsoft and starts releasing their games primarily for xbox before porting them to PC has lost alot of my respect. the toolset issue and banned modding topics only added to it.

oh, and fred, thanks for the great program. this is one brilliant program. completely intuitive in all aspects.

*tk102* · 01-22-2004, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kyrellic
The 2da's were compiled, etc. to make it more difficult to modify.

Going off-topic here --
Actually, I doubt that was the reason the 2DAs were compiled. The V2.b files are much smaller than their V2.0 counterparts by taking into account repeating values. Appearance.2da for example is <1/5 the size. Smaller files usually translate into faster gameplay.